Sunday, March 27, 2016

Magandang umaga po so inyong lahat!


This week has been such a great week :) i don't have much time, so i have to make this email somewhat "short." last week, Tuesday, we had zone conference. as usual, president revillo started with his opening remarks. this time, his topic was about being/becoming a consecrated missionary. he referred to a talk given by tad r. callister; one of my favorite "missionary talks." throughout the rest of last week, i thought a lot about what i needed to do to become a better, more consecrated missionary. i was a little confused on what it really means to be "consecrated." this is what i came up with and wrote in my study journal :)

March 25, 2016
Being a consecrated missionary is hard. BECOMING a consecrated missionary is hard! when i think of being a consecrated missionary, i think of perfection; that being consecrated means you're hitting the standard of excellency every week, you're getting baptisms every week, everything goes the way you want it to, and the way it needs too; CONSECRATED. but, then, i sit back and think, not even Christ's ministry was "that" perfect. not everyone believed what he said, not everyone was baptized when he invited them to be. which makes me question again, what does it mean to be a consecrated missionary?

For me, it means becoming more and more of the person heavenly father intended me to be, each and every day. it means letting go of the things i love and miss at home, to fall in love with the things, here, on my mission. giving up time and people, that matter most to me, to take care of and tend to those who heavenly father finds important right now. 

Becoming a consecrated missionary means CHANGING. nothing changes over night. things take time to change. just like conversion and consecration. the lord knows we cant stop "cold-turkey" and just become consecrated. he knows its going to take time. and I'm convinced that's why nothing ever goes the way we want it to in life, especially, here in the mission field. elder holland, a member of the quorm of the 12 apostles, once stated that we need to be willing to pay a taken of the price that christ paid in order to be able to taste of salvation. when investigators don't accept baptism dates, when they don't keep the commitments we place with them, when our bodies are tired from being out in the sun all day...we start to become consecrated missionaries,we start to "pay a token of the price that christ paid." we start to realize that maybe its US that the lord is trying to "save;" maybe its us hes refining.
as we learn to accept the will of god, we become consecrated. as we learn to trust god and know that he is at the head of this work, we become consecrated.

"Nothing in this world is constant except for CHANGE."

I pray that you all have a great week and find something you can do to become a more consecrated missionary :) i love you all sooooo much!


Sis. Leausa

"It was Easter Sunday, right, so of course, I brought home traditions to our house. We had to search for our Easter baskets."

"And we made a big Easter breakfast just like we do at home.
We made cinnamon pancakes, scrambled eggs, bacon and drank chocolate milk."

"Here in the PHI we celebrate Holy Week. And it is a pretty big thing. Everything is closed. During Holy Week people act out the crucifixion of Christ. It's pretty crazy. They literally whip themselves. Like, people will volunteer to be whipped like Christ was AND THEN, people actually crucify themselves. Like literally hang themselves on the cross. There was a parade of floats on Friday night too. 

Sister Mendez and Sister Leausa

Sister Tropia and Sister Leausa at Zone Conference

"We had a district service project this Saturday where we just picked up garbage and stuff. These cute little boys helped."

Elder Souifa, Sister Leausa and Elder Brown

Sunday, March 20, 2016

Another busy week for these Sister Missionaries. These pictures are so beautiful.....

Sister Leausa and Sister Mendez 

"Starbucks tasted sooooo good!"

Sister Leausa and Sister Neilson (also from West Jordan, Utah)

Wednesday, March 16, 2016

Hi Everyone!


Medyo matagal yung huling sulat ko sa inyo. minsan, kasi, walang oras na magemail, hastening the work kami! :) pero, ngayon meron akong oras!!

This transfer is temple transfer! Woohoo! That would explain why I am emailing on Wednesday. We were able to attend  a session at the temple this morning and "rejuvenate" ourselves, spiritually, until the next time we will be able to go back; which will be not next transfer but the one after. I think it depends on when the temple is going to close for renovation.

Anyways, I love the temple. I can truly testify that temples are God's kingdom here on earth. There is no greater feeling than to be able to sit within the walls of Heavenly Father's house and be spiritually fed. I love it!

So this past week for Sis Mendez and I has been a little bit of a roller coaster. NOT within our companionship, we love each other, haha, but within our work. We struggled with trying to find people, specifically families, who have really been prepared by the Lord and who are waiting to hear the message of the restored gospel. We try to focus our hardest on families because we know that the blessings that come to families is so much sweeter than those that come to just one individual. And, we know that if we can help a family, after they are baptized they will be more likely to help one another stay active and stuff.

We struggled at the beginning of the week and by the time it got to Thursday, we didn't think we were going to to find a family in time for church on Sunday. BUT! the Lord had a different plan ....he had us wait one more day, until Friday night, when he lead us to TWO families: Cabilin and Calderon.

One of the hardest things that I am learning on my mission is patience in the Lord's timing. I think if we would have found either one of these families any earlier than we did they would have not been as ready as they were/are. I am not going to lie, being patient in the Lord's timing is hard....and sometimes it really sucks; especially when you want things with investigators to progress so quickly. I can testify that blessings are so much sweeter and so much more appreciated when we wait for them, when we accept and realize that everything will happen in the Lord's time (Ecc. 31)

Only the wife and her kids came to church on Sunday, but that is okay. All we really asked for was a family to teach. Sis. Cabilin coming to church was just an added bonus.  Speaking of families, that probably is my favorite thing about The Church of Latter-Day Saints;everything is centered on families.  I catch myself all the time thinking about my own family, how blessed we are because of the gospel of Jesus Christ. We are in no way perfect, and I am convinced that there is NO such thing as a "perfect family" but, I know and I have witnessed the gospel bless and change families lives.

My goal before coming on my mission was to help make families eternal. Not only my family at home, in Utah, but also my families here in the Philippines. And...of course, my future family will be eternal.

Magsasama-sama yung mga pamilya habang buhay. mahal na mahal ko yung pamilya ko. kung wala sila, hindi ko alam kung ano gagawin ko. ibinigay ng diyos yung mga pamilya sa atin dahil sobrang mapagmahal siya. alam niya na hindi natin kaya yung buhay na ito kung walang mga pamilya natin. inordain ang mga pamilya ng diyos :) gustong gusto ng diyos bumalik tayong lahat sa kanyang piling bilang mga pamilya, hindi bilang mga individual lang. pinagpapala ng ebanghelyo ang mga pamilya. sana isang araw magiging "eternal" yung pamilya ko! at syempre, may goal ako na magiging eternal yung future familya ko. uuwi na ba ako?! haha! jokes :) 10 months pa! kung pwede, bumalik ako sa unang araw ko sa field. grabe naman, ang balis yung mission ko :/ sayang! alam ko ang simbahan ni jesucristo ng mga banal sa mga huling araw ay totoo! siya yung tanging totoong simbahan ng diyos dito so mundo. meron tayong katotohanan. sa pamamagitan ng ebangehlyo ni jesucristo kaya natin malaman na yung plano ng kaligtasan ay totoo at talaga, magsasama-sama yung mga pamilya habang buhay. wana nang mas matamis pa kaysa ebanghelyo ni jesucristo. pinangpangako ko sa inyo na magiging mas masaya at mas matatag yung mga pamilya nyo kung iapply mo yung ebanghelyo sa inyong buhay :)


Mahal ko kayong LAHAT! Hanggang sa susunod :) ingat kayong lahat sa linggo na ito!

Sis. Leausa

Sunday, March 6, 2016

Hello!

I received an email from Sister Leausa last night and she and Sister Mendez are doing very well. She did not have time to write her "weekly email" but instead sent these beautiful pictures.

Rice fields.

Sis. Mendez and Sis. Leausa

"These boys came to shower so I decided to help them pump the water."

Metro Manila in the background. 

Rice fields

Sunday, February 29, 2016

Magandang Umaga Sa Inyong Lahat!

Another week, another weekly email. This week has been one for the books. I don't think I have ever laughed so hard, worked so hard, studied so hard, and been rewarded to much in all my life! This week was amazing!!.

This past weekend Taytay Stake had stake conference and we were privileged to be able to hear from Elder Shane Bowen,  a member of the Quorum of the 70, and member of our area presidency here in the Philippines. He gave such a great talks on both Saturday and Sunday and my spirit was definitely fed.

My "message" for this week however, comes from Sister Mendez and my companionship study. A couple of days ago, we decided to watch some Mormon messages on the USB that we have. For those of you who don't know, Mormon Messages are inspirational video clips based on doctrines of the gospel of Jesus Christ sponsored by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. Hence, the name "Mormon Messages." We came across one titles, "Feed My Sheep!" by Jeffery R. Holland, a member of the Quorum of the 12 Apostles (one of my favorite!). He referred to the New Testament story in John concerning the incident with Jesus Christ and Peter on the shore of the sea of Tiberias. Jesus asked Peter three times if he love him and all three responses of Peter were "Yes, Lord, I love you." The third time Jesus replied to Peter and said, "Feed my sheep." Now, this doesn't literally mean go out and find some sheep and start feeding them. Hahaha! Jesus Christ  was referring to us; me, you and our brothers and sister all around the world. As followers and believers in/of Jesus Christ, what are we doing to feed the Lord's sheep?

Whether they be sheep within our own families or our sheep friends, haha! Are we sharing our testimonies with others? Offering small acts of service every day? Having daily family scripture study and prayer? What are we doing to help Christ feed his sheep? Helping our brothers and sisters come close to Christ doesn't require you to travel half way around the world and serve a mission. All it requires is a willing heart and a desire to help others know and understand the truth. I can promise you that your next door neighbor is in need of your service, the person that you always see at the grocery store is longing to hear a heart-felt testimony, your family is eagerly awaiting for this weeks family home evening to be spiritually rejuvenated for the upcoming week. There are so  many way we can help our Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ feed their sheep.

I challenge each of you this week to find at least two (the more the better) sheep and "FEED" them...whether big or small the feeding, I promise you that both you and the "sheep" will benefit from the outcomes/blessings. I love being an instrument for my  Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ in helping my brothers and sisters come to know the goodness of the gospel. I witness miracles in peoples lives everyday because of the gospel; especially in my own life.  I testify that Heavenly Father loves us all and wants us all to return to him. And...by helping him feed his sheep we can make sure we all get home safely.

Mahal na mahal ko kayong lahat. Maraming salamat sa inyong support at pagmamahal. Sana magkaroon kayo ng magandang linggo :)

Sister Leausa

p.s. Don't forget to follow my mamas blog (sisterleausa.blogspot.com) for pics and whatever else she puts on there. Haha! Shout out to my mama!! You're the best, ma.

"My first star apple."

"It is a fruit that is sweet and milky inside."

"Birthday dinner with the Reyes family."

Monday, February 22, 2016

Hi  Everyone!

It's transfer week! and I am happy to report that I WON'T be transferring. Woohoo! I was hoping I would be staying here in TayTay, and I am ! I love my area so much. Staying here also means that I will be able to finish Sister Mendez's training, which is what she says she was hoping for. So, good new for the both of us. This upcoming transfer is going to be a long one, 8 weeks! Normally transfers are only 6 weeks but because the native Tagalog speakers, now, have to stay in the MTC for 19 days, instead of 12, the transfer is a little bit longer so that we can get all the transfers back on schedule and stuff like that. It is kind of hard to explain. Just know that this transfer is 8 weeks long and I will be staying in TayTay. :)

Alright, so my "spiritual thought" for the week :) so yesterday, Monday, Sis. Rafique, my kabahay (roommate) left to go home. She is from Pakistan! (cool, right?) I did not even know the gospel was in Pakistan. But, I guess it is. So that left her companion, Sister Arroyo, without a companion. Transfer day when everyone transfers, if they are moving, is not until tomorrow, Wednesday. This means that yesterday and today I will be in a "tri-some". Me, Sis. Mendez and Sis. Arroyo.

The first thing that came to my head when I found this out was "bleh". I don't wanna be in a 3-some. That is too many missionaries in one tiny little house and I am already HUGE enough!! Obviously I was not very fond of the idea. Hahah! But yesterday, during our lessons, I was extremely happy to have Sis. Arroyo in our lessons. Having Sis. Arroyo with us added another testimony/testifier of the gospel of Jesus Christ which made our lesson a lot "stronger." Last night while I was writing in my journal about this whole experience, it made me think about the people we surround ourselves with. I don't know how, but it did. Teachings of the Holy Ghost. :)

The more people there are around us who are negative and a bad influence on us, the greater the chance of us becoming like "them" and following their examples; the greater the chance of sinning; the greater chance of the Holy Ghost NOT being around. BUT, the more we surround ourselves with people who have the same standards and goals as we do, the more likely we are to succeed....right?  When we surround ourselves with those who invite/welcome the spirit, the more likely we are to stay on the right path.

You can fill a room with missionaries, but that does not necessarily mean that the holy ghost is gong to be there. Of course, it should be, but it all depends on us, right? In order to invite in the Spirit, we have to act the way the Savior would act, we have to do the thing the Savior would do, we have to say and speak the way the Savior would speak and say things. In Alma 34:32, we are taught that our promise in this life is to prepare to meet God; to become more like Jesus Christ. How can we become like Jesus Christ if the people who surround us are more like Satan? It is pretty hard. I know that choosing and making good friends is essential to our spiritual progression, here, in this life. I also know that just as important as making/choosing good friends is .....BEING a "good" friend is just as important,   Be a good friend. Help those around you come to know who Christ is. Help them understand the gospel of Jesus Christ. Strengthen someones FAITH.

We are taught as missionaries that we have to make "friends" before we make converts; which is totally true. We cannot just jump right into getting our investigators into the waters of baptism. We have to build trust, strengthen faith, set a good example, and be a friend. :) I have made so many incredible friends while I have been here in the Philippines and I am so extremely grateful that my Heavenly Father has helped me find my "group."

I challenge each of you this week to re-evaluate your "group" of friends....if they aren't helping you come close to the Savior...maybe you need some new friends. :)  We become who we surround ourselves with.

I love you all so much and hope that you have an amazing week!

Mahal Kita!

Sis. Leausa

"This is where we live."

"This is Sister Lei. We started teaching her a couple of weeks ago. On Friday we went back for another lesson and she had on this shirt. Even all the way over here in the Philippines..... we rep the U."

"This was taken at the Valentines Day activity for the Young Single Adults in our ward. As much as I wanted to join, we couldn't because they were all looking for their future companions. Hahaha!"