Dear Family and Friends:
The title of this week really has to do with only one incident this last week that I just thought was so funny, I still chuckle to myself about it a week later.
So one of the sisters living in the apartment with us has had lice for a very long time (don't worry mom, I have been careful not to get it too). Well she was so tired of it and wanted to get rid of it. But for some reason she refuses to use the lice shampoo. I don't get it. Anyways, one day she comes in to me and my companion in our room and asks if we have any gasoline and matches (all in Tagalog of course because she's a full Filipino). My companion looks at her and asks why. She then gestures to her head and says, "Lice, kasi". My companion then just yells in English, "Do you wanna die!?" Apparently she thought that if she set fire to the lice it would fix the problem. I guess it didn't occur to her that it might create other problems like, I dunno, hair loss or severe injuries. I am just so glad that she doesn't live by herself.
Anyways, that companionship actually got pulled out because one went home and the other got transferred. So my companion and I actually have the house all to ourselves now. And it is simply wonderful. I am grateful that this happened with a companion that I love so much.
I'm going to be honest, the work right now is really slow. We can't get any of the investigators we have to keep commitments and so they are dropping like flies. It's sad. But for most people I will meet on the mission I will be just the sower until another missionary can come along at the right time and do the harvesting. Both jobs are equally important. At least I keep telling myself that.
We actually had one previous investigator come to church yesterday, just out of the blue. She's a Muslim but her husband is fully active in the church. Missionaries have been working on her for a very long time. My companion and I had dropped her around the beginning of February because we had taught her everything but she just wasn't coming to church. They have a 3-year-old grandson they are raising and she often uses him as an excuse to not go to church. But when she showed up yesterday with him and her husband we were blown away. So we are going to go back to her this week and see what's up and if she's ready to be committed.
I need a favor from everyone that reads this. Please pray for my companion and I to be able to have to will power to work through the heat. We are both winter people and so it has been really difficult to feel motivated to work our hardest when every time we walk outside we feel like it's the Second Coming...and we obviously missed the whole "lifted up" part of that event. It's so hot. And people say its not even the hottest month yet. That's April. Yay.
So for my birthday yesterday, I talked to a ton of people. There's this little shop on the main road that sells roasted chickens. And they always have this loud pumping music blasting. So last night what I did was stand on the other side of the street and dance. My companion hated it. She stood a considerable distance away from me so she wouldn't be recognized as an affiliated party. And dancing was probably not allowed. But the traffic was bad so my intent was to entertain while people were waiting in traffic. When I would get the attention of a particular car or Jeepney I would go over to them and invite them to church. We invited a ton of people to church that night. Great birthday. :)
Other than all that though, I do really love being a missionary. I love having the Spirit in my life so fully and tangibly. I can feel the help from the other side as I try to open my mouth and share this Gospel in a funky language. But where truth is spoken, even if it is spoken poorly, the Spirit will accompany it. That's a promise! D&C 50:17-20
-Sister Lefebvre
The title of this week really has to do with only one incident this last week that I just thought was so funny, I still chuckle to myself about it a week later.
So one of the sisters living in the apartment with us has had lice for a very long time (don't worry mom, I have been careful not to get it too). Well she was so tired of it and wanted to get rid of it. But for some reason she refuses to use the lice shampoo. I don't get it. Anyways, one day she comes in to me and my companion in our room and asks if we have any gasoline and matches (all in Tagalog of course because she's a full Filipino). My companion looks at her and asks why. She then gestures to her head and says, "Lice, kasi". My companion then just yells in English, "Do you wanna die!?" Apparently she thought that if she set fire to the lice it would fix the problem. I guess it didn't occur to her that it might create other problems like, I dunno, hair loss or severe injuries. I am just so glad that she doesn't live by herself.
Anyways, that companionship actually got pulled out because one went home and the other got transferred. So my companion and I actually have the house all to ourselves now. And it is simply wonderful. I am grateful that this happened with a companion that I love so much.
I'm going to be honest, the work right now is really slow. We can't get any of the investigators we have to keep commitments and so they are dropping like flies. It's sad. But for most people I will meet on the mission I will be just the sower until another missionary can come along at the right time and do the harvesting. Both jobs are equally important. At least I keep telling myself that.
We actually had one previous investigator come to church yesterday, just out of the blue. She's a Muslim but her husband is fully active in the church. Missionaries have been working on her for a very long time. My companion and I had dropped her around the beginning of February because we had taught her everything but she just wasn't coming to church. They have a 3-year-old grandson they are raising and she often uses him as an excuse to not go to church. But when she showed up yesterday with him and her husband we were blown away. So we are going to go back to her this week and see what's up and if she's ready to be committed.
I need a favor from everyone that reads this. Please pray for my companion and I to be able to have to will power to work through the heat. We are both winter people and so it has been really difficult to feel motivated to work our hardest when every time we walk outside we feel like it's the Second Coming...and we obviously missed the whole "lifted up" part of that event. It's so hot. And people say its not even the hottest month yet. That's April. Yay.
So for my birthday yesterday, I talked to a ton of people. There's this little shop on the main road that sells roasted chickens. And they always have this loud pumping music blasting. So last night what I did was stand on the other side of the street and dance. My companion hated it. She stood a considerable distance away from me so she wouldn't be recognized as an affiliated party. And dancing was probably not allowed. But the traffic was bad so my intent was to entertain while people were waiting in traffic. When I would get the attention of a particular car or Jeepney I would go over to them and invite them to church. We invited a ton of people to church that night. Great birthday. :)
Other than all that though, I do really love being a missionary. I love having the Spirit in my life so fully and tangibly. I can feel the help from the other side as I try to open my mouth and share this Gospel in a funky language. But where truth is spoken, even if it is spoken poorly, the Spirit will accompany it. That's a promise! D&C 50:17-20
-Sister Lefebvre