Wednesday, August 20, 2014

Ola ola ola!

August 11, 2014
~
So sorry, due to some reasons, I haven't sent my weekly email last week.

Dear Family and Friends,

How have you been? This past week was full of miracles!
I don't know where to start. haha

Well, I guess I'll just leave it as one of the entries in my journal. :p

Yesterday, President and Sister Jordan visited Kettering ward. After the sacrament meeting, he approached me and said, "Sister Ordanza, you've been here in Kettering for four transfers now. You know what that means, right?" I said to him, "Yes, President. That means crying on the night of 25th and the whole day of the 26th and 27th." He just laughed.

Seriously though, thinking to leave Kettering this transfers is so hard for me. I've grown to love the area, the people and the ward so much. Ugh. But what do you do? This is the sad part of a missionary's life. To come and to go.

Now, I speak to those who are facing hardships in their lives right now.
I know life isn't easy nor will it ever be. Yes, Heavenly Father allows us to face difficulties in life for us to learn and to grow. But sometimes, we tend to be like Laman and Lemuel, murmuring "Why do bad things happen to good people? I follow the commandments. I do all my best. Why me?" That's a part of us being a natural man. Elder James B. Martino of the Seventy said, "Our Heavenly Father who loves us completely and perfectly, permits us to have experiences that will allow us to develop the traits and attributes we need to become more Christlike. Our trials come in many forms, but each will allow us to become more like our Saviour as we learn to recognise the good that comes from the experience. As we understand this doctrine we gain greater assurance of our Father's love. We may never know in this life why we face what we do, but we can feel confident that we can go from the experience." Heavenly Father didn't promise us to have an easy life, but He promised us that He'll be with us in every step of our journey. Hold on. :)

Heavenly Father wants you to check in with Him through a sincere and fervent prayer. Remember, you are never alone. Never forget you are loved. Never doubt that someone surely cares for you.
-President Thomas S. Monson

I will close this email by a miracle we witnessed last week.
Our Filipino investigator has been suffering kidney failure for four years now. She seems that she's losing hope and her faith is wavering because of that, we told her that maybe Heavenly Father wants her to learn something about patience and He has a plan for her for something better. Last Wednesday, we are on our way to find some people near the town centre and we walked already, probably a mile, when me and Sister Silva just turned to each other and said, "Let's visit *insert her name* to see how she's doing!" We walked back and knocked on her door and her husband answered us. We've had a good chat and taught them both the First Lesson and he was so interested for the fact that we have a living prophet. After the end of our lesson, he excused himself to go out. So we chatted few minutes more with *insert her name* and she told us that she's so amazed that her husband talked to us about religion because he never entertain that topic on his home. We settled an appointment with them last Saturday to help them do their garden. So last Saturday, we arrived on their home and and helped them. We were cutting the bushes when she received an unexpected call from the hospital that she needs to be there because there's a kidney donor waiting for her and she needs to have a transplant. She cried and asked us to offer a prayer for her before she left to go to the hospital. Yesterday, after Correlation Meeting, we received a call from her. I talked to her and she said that the operation is successful! She cried once again and asked me to offer a prayer for her over the phone in Tagalog (our native tongue), I did and she said, since she met me and Sister Silva, we gave her a new hope for life, she receive so many blessings that she never expected! She asked us to visit her when she gets home from the hospital after a week. :)
Fyi, the hospital is in Leister which is not a part of our mission so we can't visit her. :(

I love y'all!
Til next PDay.

-Sister Ordanza

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