Maayong Hapon, my loved ones!
First off... HAPPY BIRTHDAY to so many! Happy birthday this week to Spencer, Next week to Laila bug, to Dad and Krista on the 28th and to Drew in a couple weeks! Yay for getting old!
What a week it's been. We finally got our flight plans! We fly out of SLC at 7:30 am on Monday morning going to Detroit!! (Gerber's country! woo hoo!) which means we get up around 1 or 2 in the morning..... All nighter? ;) Joke-lang. I'm PUMPED. The MTC has been awesome but I cannot wait to be in the Pines. From Detroit we fly all the way to Manila! We won't get there till 10:55 pm on October 22nd. 9:00ish am here in Utah time. Whew! A 19 hour flight.... What a rude awakening for a virgin flyer. :) I've heard rumors we'll stop in Tokyo to refill though... Wouldnt that be a treat! I'll see if I can send pictures.
I can only get mail up until Saturday at 2 pm so don't send anything after that or... I don't actually know what will happen... But it won't reach me :) I'll get you my new address asap! But just know that letters are estimated at around 6 week delivery and I haven't heard too many good things about Dear Elders being reliable, but try, and we'll see how it goes. I think I'll still have only an hour on Pdays in the Philippines to email, so if I don't get to everyone don't lose your testimony.
Another funny language mishap from this week (with Sister Ribelin again :) ) She was teaching me the word of wisdom in a role play, and at the end, I'm still not sure what she was trying to say, but it ended up coming out, "Gusto ko ang lawas mo!" Which is basically... "I want your body." I've made a mental note to never say that sentence :)
Probably better that it happens here rather than the Pines! Ahaha.
That package from you, mom (and Megan, and Cliff and Julie) couldn't have come a moment too soon! Those journals were a blessing! Wanna know why?
ELDER DALLIN H. OAKS came and did our Tuesday Devotional!! Pinaka Maayo!!! It was the MOST best. So good. And my other journal was already filled up... So when I opened that package right before we left for Devo, and it had those journals I was so happy. My first entry is Elder Oaks and his wife. It's the little things :) He talked about missionaries having the challenge to 1) Change, 2)To receive gifts of the Spirit and 3)to Become. So, so good. I wish these were available to everyone, but having them special for missionaries is so good too. He also talked about how ours is the True and Living gospel because we have 1) The Fullness of the Gospel 2) The Keys to the Priesthood and 3) A Unique testimony of Christ because of our knowledge of our relationship to Him. Ah. Spiritual bombing much?! Prophets and Apostles are truly the mouthpieces of the Lord. If you ever doubt that, then lean on my testimony, because the Lord strengthened what I already thought to be a sure testimony of Prophets and apostles of God.
This week I had sort of a "clunk" moment in my brain. You know those moments where things just finally clunk into place and you're like, "Oh, duh. I should have gotten this sooner,"?
Well, I had one of those. We were talking in class with Sister Tamang, and I was sharing a thought I had earlier last Pday in the temple, which was that the Temple is all about missionary work, and since the Temple is one of our ulitmate goals here in this life, it follows that Missionary work is also one of our ultimate goals! Everything we do; missions, having families, TEMPLES, all leads back to our purpose as missionaries, (our purpose as children of God, really,) which is "to invite others to come unto Christ by helping them receive the restored gospel." When we build families, have children, go to the temple, we are bringing souls unto Christ through the gospel! Missionary work is everything. In some form or another, it takes center stage here in this life. It's simply not enough to have it. We get to share it with the world! This is the best part. What a wonderful time.
Adam, Spencer and Jared... I thought of you all as I read in Alma this week.... A funny text conversation seemed to come to my mind as I read Alma 52:29 and 36. Hopefully I don't get struck down because I laughed to myself.
Welp, I'm alive and well, and praying to be so again when I email ya'll probably sometime around next Monday. It'll be a long week and a half, but I appreciate and feel all your prayers. I hope you feel mine... You are in my prayers all day long. Keep telling me about your missionary experiences, I love it! Thanks for sharing, Adam. You are all examples to me and I think of you often doing this great work with me.
One last thought: Sister Oaks told us in Devo when she spoke to remember that "[You missionaries] Go forth under the banner of the Lord. His angels go before you, His angels go behind you, and they are on your right and on your left." This was said to all of us set apart missionaries, but we are all working as member missionaries in the church to push forward this great work. What are we afraid of? Put your fears before the Lord and I promise He will replace them with courage. The angels are surrounding us! I love you all so much, and I am humbled and overwhelmed daily with the help and the family that the Lord has blessed me with. I bear testimony of the reality of Joseph Smith. This week we taught a few of our investigators the Restoration, we sang Praise to the Man in our Tuesday Devo, and i watched the Restoration movie on Sunday night. This week has provided many opportunities to help me grow my love for the Prophet. I'm so grateful to my Heavenly Father for this opportunity! Sometimes I honestly can't believe I am so blessed. I can't wait to tell you more about my adventures on my way to the Philippines, and what happens when I get there. The gospel is so true! My love goes with you.
XOXO
Sister Luke
1. I ran into elder Matua! I knew him in high school. Yay!
2. Loving our temple walk in the pouring rain! Just prepping us for the Pines :)
3. Sopping wet friends.
4. We made a trip to the outside world to go to the optometrist for Sister Haun.
5. This picture is for Carly... make sure to send it to her, mom :). Sister Char has the same lotion and perfume that Carly uses... i put it on in the morning and it makes me happy! Now our room always smells like carly. :) (That's a good thing..)
6. Just lovin it!
