8/21/2012

I am A-Okay!  When we were in the flood a couple of days ago, I would turn to S. Iosefa and ask how she was.  "Wet." was always her response, he he!  We have had a great time, I will get the pics to Pao for her to put on FB.  Enjoy talking to her!  

We were the only ones in our zone that did not get flooded out.  Next time I will tell more about it.  We really had an awesome time though.  I think we taught a total of 3 lessons the week of the flood, then 1 or 2 lessons per day last week--we taught the same amount of lessons on Sunday as we had the rest of the week!  Mostly doing rescuing and administering relief.  Quite awesome!  You are right Dad about it being a great way to turn people's hearts to God.  I just hope and pray it is permanent.  Unfortunately they are a bit too used to flooding here, even if this has been one of the highest in more than 50 years!  Good news is it was a calm flood--no typhoon, just lots of rain, so no houses were swept away, not serious damage except that done by rising water 

Spiritual Thought:  The Book (within the Book) of Mormon is really starting to become a favorite!   I really appreciate the summaries of Mormon and Moroni of the entire Book of Mormon, and the message they are trying to make to the world.  I really appreciate their great summary statements about the need to believe in Christ, repent, be baptized, etc.  So powerful!  Please read!  I will share just one verse, Mormon 9:29.  Here Moroni reminds us to be baptized and partake of the sacrament worthily.  There is such a great key here.  Michael, you were saying you had a zone leader council about how to increase baptisms and retention--this is one suggestion.  To retain people make sure they are truly ready for baptism, have a true testimony, and that they  have truly repented of their sins and as such are being baptized worthily.  A little while ago President DeLaMare sent us a reminder with a concern:  the presidency was concerned that we are focusing too much on people keeping the commandments, and maybe stopping previous sins, but that they are not truly repenting.  We tend to forget the Godly sorrow and the truly abandoning sins part of repentance and focus only on the stopping and keeping commandments part.  This reminder really hit me--the difference between true repentance and just stopping what you are doing. 

I love you all, and I am so glad to hear you are all doing so great!  Yes, the flood is pretty much gone in our area, but unfortunately there are still members staying in the church from the other area because there is still water, and now it is extremely dirty and gross.  Quite the awesome experience!

LOVE

Sister Biggs

8/10/2012

 We are very pleased with the progress this week, and are so grateful for your prayers and everything the Lord has done to answer them.  Things are opening up for the area to rocket off again!  Wahooo!  Please pray for both of us to truly enjoy the work, be excited to wake up in the morning, have energy, success in getting things moving and accomplished in the area, the members to step it up, our Bishop to be re-energized, and for S. Iosefa to be able to learn the area quickly, the language, and develop the confidence she needs.  Yeah, I know that's a lot of stuff, but we need it and I know it helps!  Thanks!   Marami, maraming salamat!
Spiritual:  4th Nephi & Mormon Chapter 1.  Here we see the dissolution of Zion and the return of the original state of things from the beginning when Lehi and his family arrived in the land (4 Ne v. 39).  Because of the wickedness and willful rebellion of the people, Mormon is forbidden to preach the Word of God unto them, even though he desires to (Mormon 1:16-17).  We learn from these passages the importance of studying history, especially spiritual history (not to mention the avoidance of pride, but that is a whole different topic).  A people who had such a great set-up gave it up and repeated the Same. Exact. Mistake. as their forefathers somehow thinking it was going to turnout better this time.  Yeah.  The results were disastrous, and even worse than that before.  For us:  this means we need to not only read, but apply the things we learn and avoid making the same mistakes as those we learn of in the scriptures.  Otherwise all we will end up doing is continue to repeat the sins of the past with disastrous results and no progression.  Remember, nothing but evil can be gained by willfully rejecting the laws and statues of God!

6/25/2012

This has been such a great week!  We had awesome attendance for our ward conference, and we were close if not spot on (or over) with all of our goals! It is so nice for Sister Roper and me to taste of the fruits of our labor together.  We had great lessons, great progression, and now we are working to make sure we maintain all of that.  The mercy of God has really been extended this week to us and those we teach.  Another awesome thing that happened--through which I experienced the most joy I have felt in a very long time--is some of the sisters in our ward who were unsure of serving missions have now announced they will be going and are making the plans!  The one that gave me the most joy was the sister who was my companion for our One Day Mission.  She is so great, and will have a great influence as a missionary.

 

We are having a lot of fun and enjoying ourselves.  Nothing specifically funny to tell you about, just a lot of laughing.  We all have fun teasing each other, telling jokes, and just having fun--while working hard, of course.  Some of our favorite jokes are You Know You're a Missionary When.....  That is what happens when you and your companion, and everyone in the apartment, is at the one year mark or just about there! 

Spiritual:  I just gave a lesson in District Meeting, based on PMG Ch 6: Christlike Attributes.  I really liked the opportunity to have some things become more clear and simply laid out for me.  Basically, as missionaries we are representatives of Jesus Christ.  Therefore we should become like Him.  But not just us--all people!  It is our goal to become like Jesus Christ and Heavenly Father, is it not?  But we have weaknesses--Ether 12:27--we overcome them by humbling ourselves and coming to Christ.  Well, how do we do that?  Our purpose:  to invite others to come unto Christ through His restored Gospel!  As it says in PMG pg 115, the gospel is the enabling power through the Atonement by which we can change and become like God and Jesus Christ.  As we humble ourselves and become willing to change and live the Gospel, we become more and more like our Father in Heaven and Jesus Christ, until that perfect day in which we will "know Him, because we will be like Him."  This is what we should all be working for--to personally know Them, and help others to do the same!

Have a great, awesome week and enjoy your time on Trek and in Cali!  I sure miss you, and Keefer, good luck convincing them to go to a good roller coaster place!  Give all my love to Grandma and Grandpa Biggs!  Things are rockin' here!

5/28/2012

Spiritual

Thought while reading "Jesus The Christ" when Peter chops off the ear of the servant on the Mount of Olives in defense of Christ, Christ rebukes him.  He makes a comment about how if He prayed, God would send Him legions of angels.  What I want to point out here is the fact that He said prayed, indicating the need to ask.  We have recently had the problem with a lot of people either being ashamed to ask our Heavenly Father for things or thinking it is somehow disrespectful and bad.  Here is the prime example of the need.  Jesus Christ did not say "If I need He will send them", but He indicated that He needed to pray and ask first.  If He needs to pray and ask, how much more do we? Always remember his promise which is everywhere in the scriptures.....ask and ye shall receive, etc., and "and whatsoever ye ask the Father in my name, having faith, it will be given unto you".

Funnies

1) on Saturday people kept inviting us to things.  Really.  For example, during our morning jog a guy starting shouting at us "hey, hey you!".  We weren't really sure it was us, but on our next lap it was pretty clear when he was waiting for us at the end of the street (probably taking pictures of us jogging on his phone too) and started shouting again, asking us if we wanted to "join them".  Later we figured out that it was some sort of exercise group.  Go figure.  Another example:  as we were walking down the street Sister Roper said "hello po" to a group of men playing cards.  One looked up and asked if we wanted to join.  "No thanks...." Keep walking.  It was pretty smooth.

2) I have started pulling what we are calling "Sister Roper's", because, obviously, it is stuff and mistakes that she usually does.  Our favorite is when we were singing "There is Sunshine in My Soul Today" in Tagalog with one of our Less-Actives.  At the end of the first verse in the chorus, first verse mind you, instead of singing "si Jesus ay kasama" (Jesus is with [me]) I sang "si Jesus ay masama".......Jesus is evil.  Ah!  I looked at the songbook again and realized it was KAsama, not MAsama!  I kept singing hoping they had not heard, but then Sister Roper gave me that look....yeah. She burst out laughing, and of course, we all burst out laughing too, because, well, it is funny.  It was REALLY funny.  None of us could sing for about 20 or 30 sec. because we were laughing so hard. Every time we got to the chorus we would all start laughing again. It is a miracle we were able to get through all four verses of that hymn without dying on the floor because of laughter!  It is now the joke of the week...all one of us has to do is start humming that hymn or say what I said and we start cracking up.  

3)  On Sunday Bishop locked me inside the church and I was abandoned there for at least 30 min.  It was great!  No, he didn't do it on purpose....this time he just didn't check the bathrooms before locking up.  I guess he was in a hurry too because the lights were clearly on in both bathrooms.  I enjoyed the quiet time listening to the rain while I waited for Sister Roper to realize I had been in the bathroom way too long.  When she finally did come with the investigator we had just taught (who is so awesome, such a smart girl) I heard her say, "Oh, it's locked!" and then I started waving, which made them jump in fright because apparently they had not seen me at the door because of reflections on the glass. They were all (RS pres, her husband, and her husband's younger sister who is our investigator) surprised that I hadn't been scared.  How could I be?  I knew at some point in time they would have to come out, and Heavenly Father wasn't about to abandon me in a church building! Bishop isn't going to hear the end of that one for a while! ;p

5/7/2012

A comment about the law of sacrifice, from pondering pg 519 in Jesus the Christ.  It is interesting to me that when we "sacrifice", we give in one thing of lesser value for something of even greater value--it sounds quite the opposite from it's description of "sacrifice", doesn't it?  I guess it is termed that way because it feels like a sacrifice when we do it.  However, this is a part of the pattern by which we become perfected and obtain eternal life, the greatest of all:  learning to give up the natural man to become like God, our Father!

4/25/12

Spiritual:  In Jesus the Christ Ch 27, Elder Talmage comments on the parables of the Lost Sheep, Lost Coin, and The Prodigal Son.  He says this of the three:  one was lost because they wandered, one was lost not necessarily because of what they did, but because it was not properly cared for and looked after, and the third willfully severed his ties.  This draws powerful parallels to our less actives, and how important it is to not only look for those who are lost, but to take preventative action by diligently caring for the flock and making sure there is no neglect.  This falls under establishing the Church, not just helping it grow.  The careful and structure growth of a vineyard is far more useful than that of a wild patch that just continues to grow, no matter how fast it is growing!  The one will continue to produce while the other will eventually turn into unfruitful wilderness

 

No, I was not transferred, and neither was Sister Roper!  Kami pa rin sa darating transfer (it is still us this coming transfer)!  I am so grateful.  We have in no way reached even a part of our potential together.  I am excited to achieve that this transfer, especially because I think I am going to keep my pattern--two with each companion!  It is now or never!

My behavior on Sunday will serve as a funny (because it was pretty darn funny).  Another funny is that on Friday I straightened my hair for fun just to see what it would look like.  Not bad actually.  It about reaches my shoulders when it is straight--it is genuinely much longer now.  I even have a real pony tail, even if it is short.  Back to the story.  So I was also curious to see what my straight hair would so in the humidity.  By the end of the day it was in really big soft curls, as if I had taken a big barreled curling iron to it.  It was pretty nice looking.  So the funny.....my shadow looked like Darth Vader, he he.  So I made Darth Vader noises.  That was fun.

About pictures....I will try really hard next week.  Promise.

I love you all so, so much!  Have a great week! 

4/4/2012

Family!

Spiritual: Helaman 12:1-2.  Here Mormon is lamenting, but I want to focus on the good part--the evidence that when we really do put our trust in the Lord and obey Him, He literally will provide EVERYTHING for our happiness and welfare.  The promise in the scriptures really is true, and our for the taking.  The Lord is waiting on us--when are we going to do something about it?

I am so excited about General Conference!  So special!  Our Bishop watched it this weekend on their computer at home.  And that the MTC choir sang.  Wow.  We are so jealous of the MTC choir--when we were there we wanted to sing for Gen Conf too! 

The only plans we have for Easter right now are making chicken curry and s'mores at Bishop's house.  Yes, we still have squatter's area.  It is pretty much unavoidable here, unfortunately.  But I have definitely gone a step up!  It is not ALL squatter's area!  It is cushy too because my area is the closest to the apartment (in all my other areas it was not) and it has the grocery stores and fast food.  I have eaten more McDonald's in the past 3 weeks than I have in the past 5 years!  About us both being blond, etc.:  we don't get too much more attention actually (from my standpoint anyway, from hers we are getting more--I guess she never got this much when she was with Filipino companions.  That is what happens when your companion is Barbie).  It just means people try to speak English to us more and try to cheat us more too....which is a bit frustrating.  Oh well.  Good thing we have been here long enough to know when we are being cheated, and it doesn't take too long to get them to speak Tagalog to us (the English usually is not very good, and the conversation is much easier in Tagalog).

Thanks for telling that funny story about Jac.  So cute! he he he.  I love cute little stories like that.  Is she still carrying the White Handbook around?

News!  So last week we found out we may have been exposed to TB (tuberculosis), so our entire apartment got to go to the health center and get a skin test.  All of us except Sister Shumway (myself, Sister Roper and Sister Shumway's companion, Sister Sarmiento) had positive skin tests.   Because of this we had the great privilege of having our chests x-rayed to make sure we did not have TB.  Blessedly, none of us do.  All clear on the chest x-ray!   Needless to say it has been a bit of a tough week especially because all of these events occurred over about 5 days.  Sigh.  All done now. 

Well, time is up!  I love you lots family!  Enjoy the upcoming week, and enjoy Easter! wahooo!

PS Michael, I am so excited for your baptism, and your awesome companionship!  They don't have all the hymns in Tagalog, either.  Maybe that will help Elder Gonzalez feel better