which is a definite clue that i’m old in the mission! haha.
thanks for all the love and emails this week! still panicking slightly at the fact that i have my flight plans and date for speaking in church…weird. but its exciting too. but honestly i’m gonna cry like a baby when i leave the mission. i don’t want to stop being a missionary! yes of course i’ll be a missionary my whole life…but i’ll miss this time of being a full time missionary with an eye single to the work only and no distractions of the world and having the calling and authority and speaking these crazy languages, etc. anyways. i’ll miss a ton of stuff! but all good things must end. all missions for sister must end after 18 months haha
oh before i get into it, just so ya’ll know i’m totally recovered now! turns out i don’t even have dengue….see “awkward” haha
- awesome: getting to go to mcdonalds in tacloban. in america you would never find me there hahaha…but here in the middle of a rice filled country, mcdonalds is such a pleasure haha
- awesome 2: our church attendance yesterday! we’re working to grow this branch and bring back the LAs. had 13 LAs at church yesterday…and so many of them priesthood holders. just what this branch needs! an elders quorum with more than 5 active members 🙂 direct blessings from prayers and fasting!
- awkward: i don’t have dengue! or at least not the kind they tested for. we went to tacloban early. and on tuesday i got my blood drawn. the test was negative! so either a different strain, or a different virus. anyways. all is well. so much for “the dengue diaries” videos that i made during the whole process (which are dramatic video segments i made during all this which you will surely enjoy when i show you someday haha)
- awkward 2: that i literally cannot remember english expressions.
- awkward 3: finding out that so many of the missionaries know about my mission blog and read it before they came to the field….
- we had MLC on tuesday and wednesday. so that was a good time. and a good time to rest my body and not work in the field. it definitely helped with the recovery. by friday we were back to work.
- my email to president: Hello President!How are you? I hope that things are well for you and Sister Maurer. Things are going well for Sister …. and I here in Catbalogan! It was wonderful to see you in Tacloban and I’m so grateful for all the things that I learned from MLC. MLC is always uplifting, powerful, and motivates me to work harder and strive to be a better missionary and person. Also, thank you for calling on Sister … during the counseling! She often has great ideas, comments, concerns, etc. to share, and she’ll share them with me. But when I encourage her to raise her hand she is more than just a little reluctant. So thank you for recognizing she had a thought to share and calling on her 🙂 I was shocked to read the results of the dengue test, “negative.” Sister Hansen and I both really thought that I had dengue! I am grateful that I’m not a member of the “dengue club,” but also a little curious about what sickness I really did have! But all is well, I’m feeling much better now. Some of my joints still ache even now, but by Friday we were back to our usual hard working schedule. I’m thankful for the days of MLC that helped me to recover a little bit too. We had a great Sunday. Before my mission I really didn’t like fasting. Probably because I didn’t have much of a testimony of it. But I’ve really grown in my understanding of the purpose of fasting and grown in my testimony as well. I love fasting now and look forward to fast Sunday every month! This Sunday was an especially rewarding Sunday as we had so many LAs attending church! So many of our LA priesthood holders. We had 13 LAs at church! And I counted that there were 27 priesthood holders (or potential priesthood holders) at sacrament meeting. Which is super exciting because we’ve been working to build the priesthood here in Catbalogan 1 since we only have about 7 or 8 active priesthood holders on a usual Sunday. This once again builds my testimony of Heavenly Father truly answering my prayers and fasting. I don’t want to go home. Of course I’m excited to see my family, shower in a real shower, eat American foods, etc., but I don’t want to stop being a missionary. I don’t want to stop preaching the gospel at every waking moment. I know I will sorely miss this. So I’m working to give even more of my heart, might, mind, and strength to make these wonderful days of my mission really count.I’m so grateful to serve. I love my mission. I love this gospel. Thank you for all that you do for us. We love you!
- sorry i forgot (again) to take pics of the apt. p.s. sorry for lack of pics this week. i’ll do better next!
ummm i’m out of time. sorry. just know that i’m healthy now, that i love my mission, and i love this gospel. i love being a missionary!!!!
the church is true. heavenly father loves us!
love,
sister brereton
Destination Tacloban 