Dear Family and Friends:
This last week was a lot different from usual. We weren't in our area a lot because we had so many other meetings and things to go to. I also had exchanges, which means that we go on splits with the sister training leaders. So one of them comes to my place and then one of us goes to theirs for a day. I guess the reason they do that is just to check up on us, see how we work, and give us a break from our companion, though thankfully I don't need a break from her. She's awesome.
I think I have mentioned the Pua family before. It's an older couple who we met a little while back and they have taken us in as their own daughters. Last week we taught them the Word of Wisdom. And I was actually quite nervous about that. We have seen him drinking and smoking outside before with his buddies. A lot. And that's just what the men do out here. And I guess she drinks coffee every day. But we taught it to them and they said they were going to keep it. I didn't have much faith that they would, but I was wrong.
The next time we learned that they had been faithful. After we taught them that lesson, Papa Pua went outside and smashed all of his liquor bottles he had. He trashed his cigarettes too. Mama Pua stopped drinking her coffee. She's the one with a disease in her throat that makes her almost mute. But she related to us that she felt lighter and her throat hurt a lot less since she stopped drinking coffee. I really was so happy. They are really making changes. The only thing they are missing is going to church. There is always some excuse for not going. But they can't get baptized until they do. So pray for them to have the courage and motivation to go to church!
I didn't realize how blessed I was to have so many temples around me until I got out here. Even in the MTC I was able to go once a week, and that was at both the Provo and the Manila MTCs. But it's been a little over a month now since I've been to the temple, and I can really feel it. I would give anything to be able to go again. But I have about 15 more months left. Take advantage of the temple. Go as often as you can. It's such a blessing.
Happy Valentines Day later this week, by the way...The Filipinos go crazy over every holiday out here and Valentine's Day is no exception. There's nothing but hearts and roses and cheap candy and gifts everywhere you turn. Lots of love going around...
This is the last week of the transfer and I was thankful to find that I am staying here with my companion. We still have 6 weeks left in my training, but sometimes the President will switch you out half way through and give you a new trainer. But I was blessed this time to stay.
So apparently our area is one of the least desirable in the the whole mission because we can't get the members to work with us. I didn't realize how key they were until I came on the mission. You would think that the Gospel itself would be enough to keep people active and get them baptized, but it's not. Unfortunately we are all still imperfect humans and need to feel like we are wanted by the other humans around us. So if there are no members to help out investigators to feel comfortable, we aren't going to be successful.
Something I think members fail to understand is that the missionaries are only the special agents. The members should be the real missionaries. The members should be the ones finding people to bring to the gospel and to the church. We only have missionaries because we are trained and qualified to teach the doctrines they are required to know before they get baptized. But the members should be there the whole time. In a perfect world, there would be no such thing as tracting for missionaries. We should have our schedules filled up with referrals and members to fellowship each referral. "Every member a missionary" is not just a happy little statement made by our apostles to make us all feel awesome if we happen to talk about God in our every day lives. It is actually the most effective and accurate way to "feed [His] sheep" and "gather Israel" in the last days.
I'm giving a talk in sacrament meeting next week and you can bet that I am going to tell the members what I think about this...in a nice way of course. But firm. And in Tagalog so they don't have any question as to my meaning.
I love you all. Thank you so much for your support. I love being a missionary!
~Sister Lefebvre
This last week was a lot different from usual. We weren't in our area a lot because we had so many other meetings and things to go to. I also had exchanges, which means that we go on splits with the sister training leaders. So one of them comes to my place and then one of us goes to theirs for a day. I guess the reason they do that is just to check up on us, see how we work, and give us a break from our companion, though thankfully I don't need a break from her. She's awesome.
I think I have mentioned the Pua family before. It's an older couple who we met a little while back and they have taken us in as their own daughters. Last week we taught them the Word of Wisdom. And I was actually quite nervous about that. We have seen him drinking and smoking outside before with his buddies. A lot. And that's just what the men do out here. And I guess she drinks coffee every day. But we taught it to them and they said they were going to keep it. I didn't have much faith that they would, but I was wrong.
The next time we learned that they had been faithful. After we taught them that lesson, Papa Pua went outside and smashed all of his liquor bottles he had. He trashed his cigarettes too. Mama Pua stopped drinking her coffee. She's the one with a disease in her throat that makes her almost mute. But she related to us that she felt lighter and her throat hurt a lot less since she stopped drinking coffee. I really was so happy. They are really making changes. The only thing they are missing is going to church. There is always some excuse for not going. But they can't get baptized until they do. So pray for them to have the courage and motivation to go to church!
I didn't realize how blessed I was to have so many temples around me until I got out here. Even in the MTC I was able to go once a week, and that was at both the Provo and the Manila MTCs. But it's been a little over a month now since I've been to the temple, and I can really feel it. I would give anything to be able to go again. But I have about 15 more months left. Take advantage of the temple. Go as often as you can. It's such a blessing.
Happy Valentines Day later this week, by the way...The Filipinos go crazy over every holiday out here and Valentine's Day is no exception. There's nothing but hearts and roses and cheap candy and gifts everywhere you turn. Lots of love going around...
This is the last week of the transfer and I was thankful to find that I am staying here with my companion. We still have 6 weeks left in my training, but sometimes the President will switch you out half way through and give you a new trainer. But I was blessed this time to stay.
So apparently our area is one of the least desirable in the the whole mission because we can't get the members to work with us. I didn't realize how key they were until I came on the mission. You would think that the Gospel itself would be enough to keep people active and get them baptized, but it's not. Unfortunately we are all still imperfect humans and need to feel like we are wanted by the other humans around us. So if there are no members to help out investigators to feel comfortable, we aren't going to be successful.
Something I think members fail to understand is that the missionaries are only the special agents. The members should be the real missionaries. The members should be the ones finding people to bring to the gospel and to the church. We only have missionaries because we are trained and qualified to teach the doctrines they are required to know before they get baptized. But the members should be there the whole time. In a perfect world, there would be no such thing as tracting for missionaries. We should have our schedules filled up with referrals and members to fellowship each referral. "Every member a missionary" is not just a happy little statement made by our apostles to make us all feel awesome if we happen to talk about God in our every day lives. It is actually the most effective and accurate way to "feed [His] sheep" and "gather Israel" in the last days.
I'm giving a talk in sacrament meeting next week and you can bet that I am going to tell the members what I think about this...in a nice way of course. But firm. And in Tagalog so they don't have any question as to my meaning.
I love you all. Thank you so much for your support. I love being a missionary!
~Sister Lefebvre