Everyone knows everything.

So this week was full of adventures and fun times.  The fun began on Tuesday.  While waiting for 3 hours on the highway for my new companion to arrive, I began to get a migraine and I actually vomited on the street.  I know that is not the most appetizing way to begin my weekly stories, but it actually ended up being really funny because in the Philippines, everyone knows everything about everyone.  That means that in a few hours all of the members and investigators in our area knew that I had vomited earlier on the highway.  In every home we entered this week, the first thing said was, "Sister Copeland, nagvomit ka ba sa highway?"

My new companion is awesome.  Sister Brewer is super tall and is from St. George, Utah.  We are loving working together and are really sticking out like sore thumbs here in Sanchez Mira.  It is hard to hide when you are American, but even harder to hide if there are two of you. 

The most interesting part of the week is when the Lord presented us the opportunity to share with a member of Iglesia ni Cristo, possibly the most anti-Mormon church in the Philippines.  As missionaries, we respect their beliefs and respect them as fellow Christians, but we do not seek them out and teach them.  This member seemed to find us as we arrived to teach some of our investigators.  We taught our investigators, but the member of INC raised many objections to our teachings.  We testified to Him of the truthfulness of our message and closed our lesson.  He left and as we were speaking with our investigators, they told us that they did not feel the same way they normally feel when we share with them.  They could not feel the Spirit, even though they did not realize that that was the missing ingredient.  I know our message is true and those we teach know it is true because the Lord testifies its truthfulness to them through the Holy Ghost. 

The work here has been going good.  We are really focusing on our investigators and finding those that the Lord has prepared for the gospel.  Walter is one of the individuals that the Lord has prepared to receive the gospel.  He is 23 and ready to follow the Lord.  He has struggles, especially with smoking and drinking, but he knows that he can overcome all of His struggles with the help of the Lord.  I hope that I will be here in Sanchez when he is baptized.  When we taught him this week, we discussed his lack of

progress.  We asked him what more we can do to help him overcome the challenges he is facing.  He said, "Sisters, I have the scriptures, I know the gospel and its standards, I know what the Spirit feels like, now it is up to me; this is my personal choice."  Walter was right and I know that he knows how to righteously exercise his freedom of choice.  When we understand the Spirit, use the scriptures, and follow the commandments, we have all the help we need to chose the right.  It really is all about our personal choice. 

Many unexpected things happen to us as missionaries each day.  A few days ago, an investigator called us out for not "being sincere."  We set him straight right away and explained how much we love all of the people we teach, how we pray for them many times each day, how we fast for them, how we cry for them, study the scriptures to find answers for them.  I am a sincere missionary.  I am here for eighteen months.  I love what I do and I love the people I serve.

Learn more about the standards we hold:
http://www.mormon.org/beliefs/commandments

I want to ride a carabao...

 It is actually my most important life goal right now.  They are the ugliest, smelliest animals. but there are always crazy Filipino men riding them around in our area.  If my career plans in America do not work out, you may find me farming carabao here in the Philippines.

This week was full of fun surprises.

1. There was a coach roach in my desk.  My snack stash has been relocated to the fridge.  

2. Speaking of relocation, my companion is relocating to another area of the mission tomorrow along with two other sisters who have served with us here in Sanchez.  It will be hard to say goodbye to Sister Purification, but I am excited to work with Sister Brewer.  We are already good friends and served beside each other in Laoag.  

3. The diet is a struggle, but we are trying our best.  Rice is everywhere.  

4. We bought a huge container of "crocodile oil" conditioner for our hair.  It was 70 pesos ($2.00 USD). Is it really made of crocodile oil? Of course not! Is our hair soft and silky?  Yes!

It was a great experience to see Irenio Jr. baptized a few days ago.  He has made huge sacrifices to adhere to the standards of the gospel.  Only a short time ago, I thought he would be the last person in the world to become a member of the Church. But he committed to live the gospel standards, not drink or smoke, live a virtuous life, and stand as a witness of Jesus Christ.  The gospel of Jesus Christ is a message of hope and change for all of God's children, regardless of how lost they are.  As a missionary for the Lord's Church, I want to try my hardest to bring all souls unto Christ.  Learn more about my work and the work of 80,000+ young adults like me:

http://mormon.org/values/missionary-work#why_mormons_send_missionaries_around_the_world

This is the work of the Lord.  There is nothing else quite like it.   If any of you are sitting on the edge, get out there and serve the Lord.  I like a story I heard a few days ago.

I was close to a cliff and the Lord told me to come to the edge.  I told the Lord, "I can't."  But he told me, "Come to the edge."  I told the Lord that I couldn't but he insisted that I did.  I waited, unable to move.  I told the Lord again, "I can't."  Then, the Lord pushed me off of the cliff and I flew.

I am flying right now.  Sometimes I feel like the Lord is walking with me and my companion.  That does not mean that this is easy, but bringing souls unto Christ is the the true work of God.  Alam ko po na ang ebanghelyo ni Jesucristo ay totoo.  And Simbahan ni Jesucristo ng mga Banal sa mga Huling Araw ay totoo.  Sometimes I am discouraged because Tagalog is hard and Ilocano (the language most spoken here) is seemingly impossible to understand, but the Lord is helping me each day.  I promise to do my best and to save our brothers and sisters here in the Philippines.  

Love you all!

Learn about the Church in the Philippines and how we have helped others to come unto Christ after the recent tragedy in Tacloban:

https://www.lds.org/church/news/-welfare-and-self-reliance-are-rebuilding-the-philippines?cid=HPTU030414539&im=true&lang=eng

Let Them Eat Cake!

The giant America package came this week.  A shout out goes to my mom and also to Bishop for bringing it across the world for me.  The best parts of the package included a cake mix, granola, and and extremely mini and awesome umbrella. As for the cake mix, it took it a long time for us to figure out how to make it.  Ovens are nearly nonexistent in the Philippines, but using our creativity, we made pancakes out of our cake mix.  It was excellent. My mother also kindly sent some old pictures of me and my friends from high school and college.  These pictures immediately struck a conversation in the apartment how I was much prettier and...skinny....before the mission.  We are going on a diet!  Less rice and more jogging!  Good thing the cake mix is already gone.

Here are some of the more spiritual highlights of the week:

1. We met a Methodist missionary who called us over and immediately asked us for a "Mormon Bible."  She told us that she wants to learn more about Jesus and asked us a series of questions about the contradictions of religion and science.  She was a little bit of a crazy person and talked about a mile a minute, but it was cool to interact with someone also trying to bring souls unto Christ.  For more information on the "Mormon Bible:" http://mormon.org/beliefs/book-of-mormon.

2. We committed Gladys Fillomena to baptism.  She is a member of the most anti-Mormon Church in the Philippines but understands that through the Restored gospel, we have the complete gospel and accompanying authority of God on the earth.  For more information on the Restored gospel :http://mormon.org/beliefs/restoration.

3. Irenio Jr. is all set to be baptized this week.  It is great to see the members of his family see his example.  They desire to follow him because they see that he has been made happier through the gospel.  We hope his dad and older brother soon commit to the standards of the gospel and feel the joy that Irenio Jr. has already acquired.  To learn more about the Perfect Example: http://mormon.org/beliefs/jesus-christ.

In other news, my companion is really trying to grow her English vocabulary.  Her English is already nearly perfect but I am helping her to learn new words that she picks out of the dictionary.  I thought it would be a good service to help her learn the language of my people, but it has completely backfired.  One of yesterday's words was "obnoxious," and now when she finds any opportune time, she calls me obnoxious.  Maybe we will focus on more positive words that she can use to describe me, like "brilliant" and "gorgeous."

I have an inspirational story for all of you!

Twenty Dollars
Author Unknown

A well known speaker started off his seminar by holding up a $20 bill. In the room of 200, he asked. "Who would like this $20 bill?"

Hands started going up. He said, "I am going to give this $20 to one of you - but first, let me do this."

He proceeded to crumple the 20 dollar note up. He then asked. "Who still wants it?" Still the hands were up in the air.

"Well," he replied, "what if I do this?" He dropped it on the
ground and started to grind it into the floor with his shoe. He picked it up, now crumpled and dirty. "Now, who still wants it?"

Still the hands went into the air.

"My friends, you have all learned a very valuable lesson. No
matter what I did to the money, you still wanted it because it did not decrease in value. It was still worth $20."

As we read in Doctrine and Covenants, "the worth of souls is great in the sight of God."  I know that the Lord is our Shepherd, willing to find the one lamb that has wandered.  He loves us.  He communicates with us through the Holy Ghost; we may have chills, feel peace or inexplicable happiness, or we may hear a whisper.  He wants us to know that we are His children.  He wants us to return to Him. Have a great week!  Ayo ayo!

Learn more about me and what I believe: http://mormon.org/me/BHZ4

Walang himala! Nasa akin ang himala!

 

This week was super and full of miracles (himala). We went to Allacapan for our quarterly interviews with President Barrientos.  It was good to hear that some good friends in San Nicolas have received their own mission calls and that some other mission calls are on their way (President gave me the down low on some calls that have not yet been received...lucky me!).  Congrats to Kenny for her call to Cavite; she is going to change lives.  At interviews, we also recieved training from President and his assistants.  President kept calling on Sister Purificacion and I for information on how we reach our goals and how we have so much success in our area.  Although it is nice to see that hard work pays off and that President views our area as a model for the mission, I am grateful for the Lord and his blessings.  He is the real reason that we are having success and finding those that He has prepared.

 

After our interviews and training on actual missionary work, Sister Barrientos gave us some real-life training on how to wash laundry, mend, and iron.  It was actually really all very funny and definitely aimed at the elders.  It was my moment to shine when I was called on to show how to properly mend pants.  Don't worry, my mother taught me well and I gained some brownie points from Sister Barrientos. 

 

As Sister Purificacion and I tried to apply our trainings to our area, we once again saw the hand of the Lord in our work.  We spent a whole day walking around Sanchez Mira and talking to everyone about the gospel.  Obviously, most of them were too busy to listen or just uninterested, but in the coming days, the Lord placed those He had already prepared in our path.  One example is Walter, who wants to change and give up His addictions for Jesus Christ.  He just has not know how until now.  We commited seven people to baptism this week in only two days.  I am thankful that the Lord blesses us when we are dilligent. 

 

I am grateful to be a member of Ang Simbahan ni Jesucristo ng mga Banal sa mga Huling Araw (The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints).  People know what I believe; they know what the members of the true church believe.  You will rarely hear someone call out members of other faiths for acts of disobedience, but people will always say, "That person is Mormon, but I thought they didn't do that in their church." I live what I believe and I try my best to abide by all of God's commandments.  I am a witness of God at all times, in all things, and all places.  I hope that we all try to become more like Christ each day and become a little more perfect each day. 

 

http://www.mormonnewsroom.org/article/mormonism-christ-centered-faith?cid=HPWE021914482&im=true

 

Happy Valentine's Day!

 

We were busy this week and the baptism of Junel was awesome.  Because the weather was really cold and rainy on Saturday, the river was absolutely freezing for him and President Obispo, who baptized him.  It was sad to see them shiver in the water, but shivering is a small price to pay to be cleansed of all your sins, right?

Obviously we did not really celebrate Valentine's day this week, being missionaries, but I do have a scandalous story to share.  We were traveling to Allacapan for a meeting this week.  We took a van and when we get in, there is this giant Australian man also in the van.  He is about to marry his Filipina girlfriend and they were just touring together.  We obviously talk to him because he is white and like us.  He also happened to be fluent in English; who would have guessed?  So we arrive in Allacapan and get out of the van and the large Australian man also gets out to bid us farewell.  Then I put my hand out to give him a nice handshake and he pulls me in for a hug and a kiss on the cheek!  For those of you who do not know, missionaries only shake hands.  I was in shock and then the next second he also hugs and kisses Sister Storey. Us two are always getting in to trouble. The other sisters were lucky to have a second to prepare themselves to say "no."  We just were not that lucky.

Besides the XOXO action this week, we were busy working our hardest and speaking to everyone in our path.  We are not letting anything stop us. The work of the Lord is never easy, but if it was, we would never have the opportunity to grow.  Let's feel the love of the Lord by loving eachother.  

http://www.lds.org/pages/gods-love?cid=HPFR021214493&im=true&lang=eng

Love you all, Paki send some fan mail,

XOXOXOXO,

Sister Copeland

P.S.

The neighbor's dog (who thinks he lives on our property) is dying.  It is coughing blood everywhere and weighs nothing.  We informed our neighbor and she told the other neighbors.  While we were studying and scary shirtless man stormed on our property with a rope (intending to take the dog and probably cook it for dinner), but he saw the skinny almost dead thing and ran in the other direction.

Dog Eat Dog World

 

So let us first discuss this weeks surprises and adventures.

1. Sister Purificacion and I are walking in our area and see a tricycle (motorcycle and side car thing) turn the corner.  Inside of it was a dead dog and large bucket of blood.  We were super disturbed all morning.  A few hours later, we were walking back to our apartment, we saw some men butchering an animal on wood pallets next to a home.  There was a pile of four legs next to them.  My life will never be the same.  I cannot really explain what it feels like to see man's best friend cut up like that.  I understand the people here live in poverty and have nothing, but it is sad that they cannot find any other way to feed themselves.  For those of you who do not know, eating dog is illegal here in the Philippines.

2. We went on a jungle journey earlier today.  I am not joking when I say "jungle."  We climbed a mountain to a waterfall and drank out of coconuts.  I am thankful for the member that was our tour guide and for his machete.  We were on our way down the mountain and it began to downpour.  We used palm leaves as umbrellas.  It was a Pinoy experience for sure.  To make it even more authentic, a jungle leech found a home on my leg.  It hurts now but it is cool that I can say I was once attacked by a leech.  

We had some great experiences in my area this week, too. We have been taking the role of detectives and finding all of God's children who have been baptized but have since fallen away from His church.  We met with Mercy who opened up to us and shared her embarrassment of not remaining active in the church.  Her life is hard and she has a difficult family situation, but I know she will return to church next week.  The husband of our investigator, Salve, may not return to church as quickly, but I know he remembers the covenants he has with the Lord.  He has burn marks all over his arms from when he attempted to burn off his tattoos after becoming a member.  Even though that was an extreme attempt to undo a past transgression, the burns on his arms are a symbol of his past devotion to the Lord.  Someday he will return to the flock.

The work here is solid.  I am loving it each day.  The people here love the missionaries and the missionaries love the people.  Junel will be baptized this week and we have many more souls to save here in Sanchez.  

Masaya laman.

This week I broke a spoon at a member's home.  It was a little bent and I tried to simply bend it back into place, but it broke in half and flew across the room.  But that was the worst thing that happened to me all week, so I am not going to complain at all.  

In other news, Jimmuel was baptized on Saturday.  It was great to see him be baptized, especially because he will be serving a mission in a year and helping others follow his example and most importantly the example of Christ.  Also, Jimmuel's mom attended his baptism.  We have been teaching Jimmuel's mom for a few weeks but she was already active in her own church and therefore would not attend Sunday services at our church.  She would always have and excuse for why she could not attend and she told us that "I can never promise that I will attend your church."  I am thankful that Jimmuel has shown a great example to his mother and that he invited his mother to his baptism.  When she was about to go home after the baptism, she took my hand and said, "Sister Copeland,  I will be going to church here tomorrow.  That is a promise."  Sister Mary Lou kept her promise and attended church.  She also told us that she will attend again next week.  The best learning occurs by example and persistence.

I am loving my mission more than ever.  One of our lessons this week was for a dentist and her daughter.  The dentist pointed out how we were like the apostles, working and teaching regardless of the weather or time of day.  Although she was not very receptive to our message, she told her daughter that she would pay for her mission. She said that she wants her daughter to become hardworking like us.  I was grateful to hear that that woman has noticed the sacrifices that we make as missionaries.  We do what it takes to bring people unto Christ.  

Amok nga ti Simbaan ni Jesucristo ket Pudpudno.  Amok nga ni Jesucristo ket sibibiag.  Ti Libro ni Mormon ket sao ti Dios.  Amok nga gapo ken Joseph Smith ne isubli ti Simbaan ti Dios.  Adda sibibiag tayo a propeta.  Ibatik dagitoy ti nagan ni Jesucristo, amen.