Week 57 - 2/23/2014

Wow, I can't believe it's monday so soon! This week just flew by but at the same time when I was thinking what to write, I thought, wow, it was just a normal week! I won't even know what to write! That's a first! and then I stopped for a second to remember...turns out it was crazy! 

The good news of this week is that we got to work in our real area 2 days! wow! The elders in our area are SUPER busy teaching all of our investigators and we're just stuck in the middle of nowhere finding new investigators to give to the sisters we're living with... It will really make us appreciate having a real area! But we got some good lessons in. One was a less active that we visited right before the storm that really wanted to come back and she did! Not because her house was destroyed, cause it wasn't and she was so happy to be back! And then I was surprised last week when she wasn't there! So we visited and she said one of the members- I don't even know who she was talking about- said that she only came to church to get help cause it kinda did look like that with the timing but not at all true! And we were there with Sister Rosales, a member who returned when I first got there in September and she was just perfect! It was a really great lesson and Borronda (that's her name) really recognized the emptiness in her life with out reading and going to church. She said "I pray always but it just isn't enough!" And she really desires to develop a relationship with God so it was a really great lesson! Also she said that she has expecting visitors for 3 days because she dreamed that 3 special visitors would come and then me and my companion and Sister Rosales showed up and she said you were the special visitors! It was actually pretty cool! So we've only had 3 real lessons in our area, but they've been good ones! We really need to choose wisely how we're going to use our very limited time in Naval! 

And we've had workers renovating our house while we're out working so we've been living in a construction site which has been crazy! our dishes in the living room, cement dust covering everything, we can live anywhere! And then on Thursday, we come home and the other sisters said that someone is coming to inspect our apartment tomorrow so the workers need to work through the night and so we need to go stay with the Sister in Cabucgayan, the next area over. It's like pretty late but we pack up and find some motorcycles to take us to their house and it's so fun! The whole time we're just laughing and trying to take pictures of the other companionship on the motorcycles, our arms full with our overnight stuff. So luckily the other sisters live in this huge nice house and all 8 of us fit perfectly! It's like a mansion! Especially compared to what we've been living in. and the craziest thing is it is the cheapest rent in the whole mission. So it was so fun to stay with Sister Kramer, Mier, Henshaw and Ralph and catch up then Sister Kramer made cookies from a pkg. she got and cooked them in the toaster oven for sister Pettijohn's birthday! It actually worked really well! 

The next morning, we were waiting for the people come to inspect the house when a member from Balaquid called and said Sister Robinson and Sister Somera were here to visit! I screamed, it was so exciting because they both went home and they are like my best friends. They've been living in a church in Tacloban helping to rebuild houses and stuff and they went back to their areas on Biliran island to visit all the members so we met them for lunch and then they were at the dinner appointment we went to that night at a members house. It was so crazy because the last time I saw them was in Manila then they went home to Luzone and America and I literally saw them before I saw the other missionaries in Tacloban mission who went back to different areas. It just worked out so perfectly! And it was so weird to see them not as missionaries...they just looked like they were in their p-day clothes! And then we went back to our apartment and it was beautiful! they painted the whole inside purple and the outside and finished tiling the whole sink and it was clean finally...So now it's great! Huge difference from before... I just hope they can find an apartment that meets these standards in Naval soon so we can actually work! 

And Church yesterday was great, we had an attendance of 163 (before it was always less than 100) and all the classes were overflowing. We got kicked out of the investigators room- there was absolutely no room! And we had to sit outside the door of Relief Society which was weird because we were literally in the room they did Priesthood so we basically ended up going to priesthood because that's all we could hear. But I'd rather me not be able to hear than the investigators! We are in desperate need of a church here... Hopefully it's not too much longer! Our zone leaders said 147 investigators attended church on this little island- that's so cool! that's 5 branches... The work is hastening. I love you all and hope you are doing great! 

Love, Sister Pike

Kitchen Before

Kitchen after