Going "Home"

Me and some of my adoring fans in the ward. What can I say, little 14 year old girls love me!

Me and the best Ward Mission Leader ever! Brother Richards! He is handicapped physically, but super strong spiritually! Same with my mom. :-)

June 30, 2014

Well, tomorrow I leave for INDIA!!! Ahhhhh! I'm going home!!! I can't wait! Yes, I do love the Philippines, and I'm very glad I got to serve here, but I'm ecstatic to go back to my mission home. It's kind of like how going to India has made me love America more. Yes, I LOVE India, but being in that country has made me appreciate my home country so much more. That is exactly what the Philippines has done for me in relation to India. I can't wait to go get some spicy rice again!

To be honest, I've probably been getting pretty area trunky here... it's just tough to stay motivated, knowing in a couple of days you will be leaving this country never to return again. Hopefully, I won't get trunky at the end of my mission, because at that time I'll be leaving another country (India) never to return again. Well, actually I might go back to India, but not for a while at least. Mostly it was just with learning Tagalog that I got trunky with. It's hard to put effort into learning a language that you know you will never speak again in a matter of days! Haha well, at least I learned my Tagalog testimony while I was here, so that's pretty good, right? :)

This week we had the Baptismal interview for Apple DeVera and her children! Apple has been an investigator for THREE YEARS! But at long last she is ready to be baptized! I'm a little sad that I will be missing her baptism this Saturday, but it doesn't really matter whether or not I personally baptize them, only that SOMEONE with proper priesthood authority from God does the baptism! 

These last couple of weeks we have been working on building Apple's faith that now is the time for her to be baptized, and that this is the right thing for her to do in her life. She comes to church every week, but she was hesitant to make the commitment that this is what she needs to do for her WHOLE life (and beyond!) Inch by inch though her testimony has been strengthened, until now she is ready to go! I'm excited for her and her family. :)

This last Friday was also Apple's birthday, so me and Elder Consego bought her a delicious chocolate cake! She was very very grateful for it. In fact, she said thank you like... 20 times. Haha no joke. I was happy that our small offering could make her so happy! This actually illustrates something I have learned on my mission: how to SPEND money, especially on other people! Most people say they learned how to spend money on their mission, as in they learned how to NOT spend money, but really I have learned how to blow money on my mission! Haha before my mission I was very stingy with ever penny, but now I've learned money is meant to be spent, and it brings me joy being able to spend a little bit of money to bring happiness into the lives of others. Just one of the many things I've learned on the mission!

Also, I wanted to tell you something that I think Dad would be most happy to hear. On my mission I've finally come to realize that I wasted far too much of my life on video games and Facebook.... :P They have a lot of internet shops here in the Philippines, and the shops are always loaded with teens playing their online games. And all I can think is "You're wasting your life away!!!" There are so many good things to be doing right now, and you are going to spend the next couple of HOURS playing League of Legends?! And then when I'm at members homes, sometimes some of them won't join us for the lesson, because they are too busy on the computer... are you kidding me? You're going to message your friends pointless things on Facebook instead of coming and hearing the word of God? REALLY? Truly, I am going to spend significantly less time on FB and gaming after my mission. And much MORE time in the scriptures! I'm ashamed that every day I would spend 2 hours on Facebook, and barely more than 2 minutes in the scriptures... Was I even active in church?? Barely. I will do much better post-mission!

Well, I'm gonna go email some of my peeps, and then go to the biggest mall in our mission before I leave back to my Un-American home that I love oh so much! Have a grand week!