me and my beautiful comp. her last comp was also from arizona (sister peavler) and gave her an ASU shirt!
and this is our beautiful little house
that bucket in our bathroom..yeah that's also our shower :)
Well...I got transferred!! Just 6 more weeks and I would've spent a whole year in the Sta. Ignacia Zone. But God knows better and now I'm ending my mission where I began...in the city! I'm now in Tarlac. I'm actually about a 30-45 minute jeepney ride from Tarlac City (and the mission office). My new companion is Sister Salde. She is from Bacolod, the city of smiles. I really love Sister Salde. I was able to go on exchanges with her twice when she was assigned in Camiling and she told me the other day that on our last exchanges she just felt like we would be companions before I went home. Well she was right! She is a great missionary and I am learning from her. I'm no longer a Sister Training Leader, which is kind of sad because I loved serving in that position. But it's also really good because I have a little lighter load and I can breathe. It's just the two of us in our little house, it's nice and quiet. I think this new area is good for me. I've felt better and more healthy so far, but it's only been a few days so we'll see.
For the first time ever I'm in a branch! It actually has about the same attendance (about 90) as my first ward in Cabanatuan. We share the branch with our district leader and his "anak" aka trainee. Our branch had a coordination meeting with almost all of the auxiliaries represented. It was awesome! I'm pretty sure I've never had a coordination meeting like that my whole mission. This branch is really picking up speed. They just need to put their good intentions into action. And I'm so excited to help them learn how to do just that! I feel like I finally know what I need to do and I actually know how to do it! I am starting to understand what other missionaries told me about getting to the end of your mission and finally feeling like you know what you're doing. They were right. Now that I'm nearing the end, I finally get it. Well I guess that's the way life is and that's how we know when it's getting about time to move on :(
This week I just have been wanting to get back that feeling of being a new missionary. I want to love people like I was able to when I first got to the field. I want to listen to others like I had to when I couldn't understand Tagalog. I have made some goals for this transfer to help me get back to that feeling of being a new missionary with that zest and excitement for the work and that pure love and desire to help others.
There are a lot of things about my mission that have really come full circle. Like crying. I would cry all the time when I was new in the field because I was frustrated that I didn't understand and wasn't being understood, or because I miss my family, or just because. Now, sometimes I just cry. Because the thought of leaving this behind is really hard. I try not to think about it, but sometimes just out of the blue I get sad and cry. It's hard. Being a missionary is weird. And I love it. I love all the ups and downs and most of all I love sharing my testimony of our Savior Jesus Christ. He really is my Savior and He is your Savior. He loves us and knows us perfectly. Ahhh. I just have a lot of feelings...
I love you so so so so much! Let's all be missionaries for the rest of forever, ok?
Sister Larson
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