Hello my wonderful family!!
This week is transfers!!!
Tomorrow is our transfer day, so I don't know who my companion will be
yet, but I've learned some interesting things this past week about this
upcoming transfer. We got a call a couple of days ago from the office
elders and they talked first with Sister Abonitalla. I've been saying
for a while that she will be training this next transfer. She'd be a
natural, but she resisted and said it wouldn't happen. And guess what??
They told her she'd be training. No surprise. :) She then handed the
phone to me. They asked me how I thought Sister Abonitalla would do with
training, and I told them she'd be awesome. Then after a little more
small talk he said something that I thought was a joke. He said, "And
guess what? You're going to be training, too!" WHAT???? "Nagjojoke ka ba
elder?" (Are you joking elder?) . When I realized he was serious, I was
in shock to
say the least. I JUST finished going through the training program! Wow.
I didn't know what to say or how to feel. I had to fight back the
tears. SO overwhelmed! He told me we had a meeting at the mission home
the next morning to meet with all the other trainers and talk about our
calling and role as trainers of the new missionaries coming in. So
yesterday morning Sister Abonitalla and I went to the mission home to
meet with President DeLaMare and the other missionaries. We received a
booklet containing the 12 week program for the new missionaries, and a
smaller book for us trainers explaining our role. We read together,
discussed, and then had an activity in which we learned more about our
role as trainers and the role of the trainees. We discussed some more
and then President DeLaMare spoke to us about the magnitude of our
calling. He blessed us in the name of Jesus Christ with the power of
discernment for the new missionaries coming in and with the
ability to fulfill our callings if we put our trust in the Lord. What
blessings! He told us that the weight of what we are feeling is normal
and can be lifted if we place it on our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.
We do our very best, and he will take the rest. Like Elder Turbovsky
said in his last email, "he won't do anything for you that you can do
for yourself." I am finding that to be true. I know I was on my knees a
lot this last transfer asking for help, and I have a feeling I will be
on my knees even more this transfer. There is still SO much I don't know
and SO much more to learn. But like Jerry said, just when we start to
feel comfortable in one spot, change happens. This is definitely not a
change I was expecting, but I will put my trust in my Heavenly Father to
help me. It's definitely going to be a test of faith! Here goes!
Yesterday was an eventful day. After the meeting, we
had a lunch appointment with the Ogay family in our ward and later that
night Sister Acenas was picked up by the office elders because she's
going home! She is now done with her mission. It's amazing how much you
can grow to love someone, despite huge differences in personality or the
like. She has been an awesome missionary, and it was hard to see her
go. She was having a bit of a hard time, too. The house is very quiet
with her gone. She was definitely the life of our house. So now it's me
and Sister Abonitalla, and we spent the evening last night and this
morning cleaning the house and getting it ready for our new companions!!
We'll finish up later today when we get home.
I will have to tell you all about my new companion
next week! I'm nervous, excited, and scared to death! Haha. But Sister
Abonitalla and I had a planning session in which we talked about how we
want to be obedient in all things, and we want to be open and honest in
all things. We established how we will handle shopping/cooking/cleaning
each week and how we will rotate it. It felt good to be on the same page
and to discuss things that we want and don't want to do. Communication
is so key! I am really looking forward to this next transfer.
Thank you again for all your love and support! You
are in my prayers every day, and I love you all!! Elder Turbovsky, thank
you for the referral!! I will send it in. It's not in my area
unfortunately, but I'll send it to the office elders and they'll send it
on to the missionaries in Sebu! :)
All my love,
Sister Harston
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