Hello family! It's almost Christmas here in the Philippines. They've been celebrating it since September haha. I can't believe how fast time is flying here in my first area Sablayan, especially this transfer. It doesn't feel like Christmas because it's hot haha. I'm used to it being cold, but it's nice because everyone here is so enthusiastic about Pasko!
On Monday we had zone training. It was so great. We got to hear from our wonderful zone leaders Elders De Dios and Ezekiela. They gave a workshop about learning to recognize and rely on the spirit. How important is this?! The spirit is everything in missionary work. It is necessary. We cannot teach or find, or do anything without it. I learned that the spirit will give me a prompting and then it will leave and let me use my agency to decide whether to follow the prompting or ignore it. The spirit wont tell us everything to do. He respects our agency. But he will prompt us, with a still small voice. I must be willing to listen carefully and always be worthy of the spirit in my daily work.
We also did a role play about the atmosphere we teach in. We had 2 elders "teach" other sisters while the rest of us made noise and had normal conversations while they were teaching. After a few minutes we stopped and evaluated. The zone leaders concluded that it doesn't matter what atmosphere we are in when we teach a lesson...noisy, kids running around, etc. We need to be focused solely on the investigators, keep eye contact and listen carefully. I loved what they told us, how "being distracted is a choice." I'm grateful for this zone training. The spirit will be with us if we focus and listen.
Tuesday a typhoon came to Mindoro! It was a signal 3 so we couldn't work all day. It was kind of nice because I had the opportunity to recover from my fever. It was actually a blessing for me haha.
This week Elder Pedrosa and I got punted a lot...more than I ever have before since being a missionary. A lot of lessons fell through because our investigators were never home this week. we didn't reach our goals and it was disappointing. It's frustrating when we plan for a great lesson and we need to teach our progressing investigators, but then they aren't home or are "busy". This week wasn't the best. It resulted in only 4 investigators at church. But one of our investigators named Christian is progressing! He's been to church twice now. I know he'll be baptized. A lot of our investigators have potential and I'm still excited for the upcoming weeks.
I know this week will be better for Elder Pedrosa and me. We just have to continue to find and teach! This week is Christmas and I'm excited to bring people unto Christ! (the real reason for the season). My testimony continues to grow every day being a missionary. I feel so grateful to be a representative of the Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. I know this church is true, and this gospel gives us so much hope! I love you all family. That's all for this week. I hope y'all have a great Christmas and I can't wait to talk to y'all on Skype!
Love,
Elder Johnson
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