Palangga ko kamo!

Written 3/23/14

Helllooo!

Hi. I don't know what's happening to me, but air conditioning makes me really tired now. Haha and there's air con in this email shop right now, so I'm feeling rather lethargic. The Philippines does weird things to you. Also, excuse any typos... This keyboard is not the finest. (I'm having flashbacks to reading that exact sentence from my brothers as missionaries....)

Well, this week was good. And a little frustrating too. Sister De Castro has been suffering from migraines this week and so we were inside again for 2 days. It was reminded to me again that "an idle mind is Satan's playground". I know how Satan gets at us when we let ourselves get lazy or stagnant, so I made myself clean the house, wash garments, write letters, write in my journal, study and sing hymns. Despite the frustration that we couldn't go out and visit all our peeps, I decided to make the most of it and stay positive. And I didn't go crazy! The Lord blessed me to keep my sanity and my positive attitude. I also decided to make a list in my journal of all the things I have changed about myself in the past year. I've had a hard time lately recognizing growth in myself, so I decided to list it all out (an idea from my dear friend Davis) and take a look at it all. I would encourage you all to do the same! It ended up being a real eye opener to me of the hand of the Lord in my life, and His role in helping me become who I should be. I recognized that I have changed, and the Spirit showed me even more areas that I can continue to improve. That was definitely a tender mercy this week.

A rather unexpected experience from this week.... We got a text from Brother E. the other day that said, roughly translated, "I must tell you frankly, Sister Luke. I've fallen in love with you."

So. There's that. We haven't been able to visit him this week because of sister's sickness... But we aren't sure if we can go back. he sent a few more texts edging on the creepy side of things, and I've felt just awful about it for the past few days. Pray for the Brother. He's slightly crazy but has so much potential! And the gospel is for the crazy people too.

If any of you have a Preach my Gospel, go read page 221, "The Commitment to Stay Active in the Church." I just finished 4th Nephi this morning and watching the Nephites go from being so righteous, to falling into such wickedness little by little was so devastating! It reinforced in my head my own personal commitment to be active in the church, not just a few years or for my mission. Sometimes we get asked here what we as missionaries do when we go home. Sometimes we have to explain to people that we still go to church, we still do all the things we are telling them to do right now. The gospel about us ALL staying active till the very end. It's not enough for a person to be active for just a while... It doesn't matter how long a person stays active unless it is for eternity. When looking at the gospel with that perspective, it shows us how we don't try to fit the gospel into our lives... We must fit our lives into the gospel. We must be active with our heart and mind and actions in the church ALWAYS, if we are to gain salvation. That perspective has helped me a lot when facing trials or hard times. It's given me patience and helped me feel the love that Christ and Heavenly Father have for me.

The language mishap of this week: "Nalibugan" in Ilonggo is "confused", but in Tagolog, I found out this week it means "aroused" which is infinitely more awkward. It's correct to say that Joseph Smith was confused using "nalibugan" in Ilonggo, but there are a lot of Tagolog speakers here in Silay. So that was a fun realization to realize that for 6 months of my mission I've been telling people that Joseph Smith was.. Well. Good thing I know better now and that the Spirit is the real teacher anyway.

The gospel is the most true, even when you're sick or healthy, happy or sad. Isn't it nice to know we have that constant? Never forget that  I love you all and I pray for you.

All my love,
Sister Luke

1. Our trip last week to this sweet place called Belaring. There's kilometers and kilometers of bamboo bridges that are the coolest (and scariest) things to walk on. We got to climb one of the towers there and see the ocean. So pretty!

The pictures are taking FOREVER. So I guess just this one today. Sorry its not an especially cool one!