Splits and Miracles
Ok so really just one story this week!
So we always have tons of youth from the ward that come and work with us and a lot of the time we have 2 or 3 that are older than 18 so we can do splits. Because my Tagalog is so bad and because I don't know the area very good we haven't done splits. . . . until yesterday.
I'll be real when my companion told me we were going to split after church I was basically peeing my pants. We have really just recently been able to trade off teaching our investigators instead of just me bearing testimony of the lesson at the end.
Yeah I had members with me which helps, but they aren't missionaries so they don't know the lessons enough to really trade off with me like a companion would. So yeah I was freaking out!
So after church I went up stairs and knelt and prayed and this wasn't just "God please help me!" this was like:
"Ok listen Father, we both know there is no way I can do this. My Tagalog is still so trash and I still get so nervous teaching that my Tagalog gets even worse. We both know I can't do this without my companion. I need you to be my companion and make me able to do this! Amen."
Then I went downstairs still very much panicking. We get my member companions and my companion gets his and we leave.
So I'm riding in the jeepny just like freeeeeeaakkk...... because here's the thing I've always been very confident, often to the point of pride. Yeah that is gone I had greatly lost my confidence here (being terrible at almost everything does that to you). Anyways I'm just like "Yeah I can't do this." and basically just being a little whiner and then all of a sudden I just realized like wait, "I'm a missionary of Jesus Christ! His name is also on my tag. Jesus Christ has got my back. How can I even doubt." and suddenly I got crazy excited.
So we hop off the jeep and here's the thing to reach our weekly goals we still needed to get 5 new investigators (also we just really need new investigators) and so I'm like alright I have no idea what I'm doing well. . . "Let's go down that road I guess." We go down that road and the member who was my comp was like "Hey can we stop by my house real quick my shirt is a long sleeve and its really hot." So I was frustrated because I hate wasting time but "Ok yeah "mabalis" fast
We go and me and the two other members who are working with me are waiting for him while he gets changed and his neighbor walks out of his house and one of the members working with me is like "Hey get in here we have a missionary with us!" and I'm like "hmm All right this seems good"
So I meet the neighbor and teach him lesson one and he is straight up gold! Miracle!
Next we leave and I just see this old woman smiling at me. So I come up and talk to her and apparently on like my second day I had smiled at waved at her and said "Good afternoon" in Tagalog and she just thought I was the nicest "Joe" she had ever met. So I told her I was a missionary and that I'd love to teach her about the gospel and she was like yeah how does Saturday sound? Miracle #2.
Next we teach one of our current investigators who isn't really progressing a ton. So were teaching and we leave and as we are leaving I see this guy who I already tried to teach and he had said no. So I wave but keep walking and the members are like hey we gotta teach him and I was like well we can try again.
So I did and he was like "Yeah I'm ready for your lessons now come back Saturday! Miracle #3
Anywho by the end of the day 7 new investigators!! God is so good!!
The Lord really does always provide the way even when you are a whiny complaining 18 year old who's Tagalog is trash.
So we always have tons of youth from the ward that come and work with us and a lot of the time we have 2 or 3 that are older than 18 so we can do splits. Because my Tagalog is so bad and because I don't know the area very good we haven't done splits. . . . until yesterday.
I'll be real when my companion told me we were going to split after church I was basically peeing my pants. We have really just recently been able to trade off teaching our investigators instead of just me bearing testimony of the lesson at the end.
Yeah I had members with me which helps, but they aren't missionaries so they don't know the lessons enough to really trade off with me like a companion would. So yeah I was freaking out!
So after church I went up stairs and knelt and prayed and this wasn't just "God please help me!" this was like:
"Ok listen Father, we both know there is no way I can do this. My Tagalog is still so trash and I still get so nervous teaching that my Tagalog gets even worse. We both know I can't do this without my companion. I need you to be my companion and make me able to do this! Amen."
Then I went downstairs still very much panicking. We get my member companions and my companion gets his and we leave.
So I'm riding in the jeepny just like freeeeeeaakkk...... because here's the thing I've always been very confident, often to the point of pride. Yeah that is gone I had greatly lost my confidence here (being terrible at almost everything does that to you). Anyways I'm just like "Yeah I can't do this." and basically just being a little whiner and then all of a sudden I just realized like wait, "I'm a missionary of Jesus Christ! His name is also on my tag. Jesus Christ has got my back. How can I even doubt." and suddenly I got crazy excited.
So we hop off the jeep and here's the thing to reach our weekly goals we still needed to get 5 new investigators (also we just really need new investigators) and so I'm like alright I have no idea what I'm doing well. . . "Let's go down that road I guess." We go down that road and the member who was my comp was like "Hey can we stop by my house real quick my shirt is a long sleeve and its really hot." So I was frustrated because I hate wasting time but "Ok yeah "mabalis" fast
We go and me and the two other members who are working with me are waiting for him while he gets changed and his neighbor walks out of his house and one of the members working with me is like "Hey get in here we have a missionary with us!" and I'm like "hmm All right this seems good"
So I meet the neighbor and teach him lesson one and he is straight up gold! Miracle!
Next we leave and I just see this old woman smiling at me. So I come up and talk to her and apparently on like my second day I had smiled at waved at her and said "Good afternoon" in Tagalog and she just thought I was the nicest "Joe" she had ever met. So I told her I was a missionary and that I'd love to teach her about the gospel and she was like yeah how does Saturday sound? Miracle #2.
Next we teach one of our current investigators who isn't really progressing a ton. So were teaching and we leave and as we are leaving I see this guy who I already tried to teach and he had said no. So I wave but keep walking and the members are like hey we gotta teach him and I was like well we can try again.
So I did and he was like "Yeah I'm ready for your lessons now come back Saturday! Miracle #3
Anywho by the end of the day 7 new investigators!! God is so good!!
The Lord really does always provide the way even when you are a whiny complaining 18 year old who's Tagalog is trash.
love you and miss you all!
Elder Roberts
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