Sister Amanda Marie Smith: Day 196 Carcar, Philippines Bisdak ko. 6 months!!!!!

What a crazy awesome long week. We had ZTM (Zone Training Meeting), CSP (service), and exchanges with the Sister Training Leader (there's only one, but her comp is Sister Sousa!!!). Plus, the Christmas package from the ward came!!! Thank you everyone for being so thoughtful! It totally made my day. I love the pictures from the Primary, especially. And I can't believe how many missionaries there are in our ward now! Wow! Thanks for remembering me on the other side of the world, haha.

My area had been closed from 1987 to 2007 and then opened with Elders. So i'm the first foreigner sister to speak Cebuano in my area! Everyone here is pretty shocked, haha. Sister Zamora opened it with her previous tri-panionship, and then I came with the two other new sisters in my apartment (Sister K and Sister Minguez).

While I was writing in my journal this week, I was reflecting back on a few of my thoughts while I was waiting on the roof during the typhoon. Since we waited and laid there for several hours, I had a lot of things running through my mind as you can imagine. I remember looking out into the storm and seeing all the destruction, seeing the school full of families, and other people stranded on rooftops too. Then I was thinking about how many other thousands of people seeking shelter from storm, or the many who were unable to find safety. I began to think about the Atonement. Jesus Christ has experienced all the fear, pain, desperation, and terror of the typhoon. Not just for one person, but for every single person that experienced the typhoon. Then, I thought about all the natural disasters that have ever been since the creation of man. Then, all the different types of pain, sin, and trials that man can experience. My mind was blown open to just how infinite the Atonement really is.

We really had just an AWESOME week. It was the kind of week where Sister Zamora and I would jump up and down in excitement after leaving each lesson. Our investigators are really progressing. We're looking to have four baptisms in January! :D When I came, there were two investigators with a baptismal date, but they had stopped progressing. We felt like there were other people ready to hear the gospel, so we stopped visiting them as much and had faith that we could find the elect. Soooo, this past week we went finding and . . . found two new investigators who now have baptismal dates for January! It just goes to show that people are being prepared all the time for us to teach, we just need to let go of our comfort zone, of what we can see, and have faith that the Lord will lead us to those that are ready.

So MC is golden. His sister I too. At first, they were unsure about baptism and set the last week in February as their goal. Last night we returned and asked him how they were feeling about their baptism. M responded that he wanted to be baptized the first week of January FOR SURE! bahaha! Sister Zamora and I laughed at how excited he and his sister were. Both of them really really want to go on missions too. They're incredible with the gospel. They attended church this past Sunday and took notes during Sacrament Meeting and the other classes! Can you say GOLDEN?! We also got permission to take them a trip to the Cebu temple! I'm sooooo excited! I absolutely love talking with them about the gospel because they have the most genuine desire to learn and apply. They're the kind of investigators where I really don't have to do much but open my mouth. They ask the perfect questions, read and pray about the Book of Mormon, etc. Love them.

Meagan share the coolest scripture with me in her Christmas letter. She shared Alma 26-----the same chapter where the lyrics of my mission song are from! I don't have time to explain everything this week, but read the first seven verses. SO COOL! The first five verses are lyrics to the Tacloban mission song and verse 6 and 7 talk about how the storms and whirlwinds cannot destroy the people and that they are in the hands of the Lord.

I almost forgot: I'VE PASSED MY 6 MONTH MARK!!! Craziness. Life goes by too fast.

Song of the week: Hymn 230 The lyrics are really good. :)

Love you all!