I've been here six weeks now. That's one whole transfer! It's quite the accomplishment if I do say so myself. I still have six weeks left of being a trainee, for which I am grateful because I still have lots to learn.
The goal in our mission is to teach 40 lessons every week. This week we were the closest we've ever been to achieving 40 lessons. We normally get in the high thirties, but we've never gotten 40 before. On Friday we were pretty depressed because we had only been able to teach three lessons for the whole day. We had worked hard, we just didn't have much success. So we decided to work extra hard the next day. We woke up early, changed our study schedule around to make the best use of our time, and prayed for a miracle. And it was a miraculous day indeed. Not only did we have a good quantity of lessons (11), they were also quality lessons. The Lord really blessed our diligent efforts. That left an achievable amount of lessons for the next day in order for us to achieve 40. We worked hard again and did all we could, but by the end of the day we were still one lesson short of 40. It was pretty depressing, I must admit. But it has caused me to reflect. Yes the numbers are important because they help to push and motivate us. But at the end of the day it's not the numbers that the Lord cares about. It's our efforts. I'm grateful that we have numbers to motivate us, but it's important to remember that the reasons behind the numbers are even more important.
On Saturday we were able to teach a lesson to a young, less active mother. We hadn't planned on teaching her, so we didn't have a plan on what to teach. A lot of times since I'm still new, my companion will just take the lead on these kinds of things. But as we began the lesson with a song and a prayer, I kept praying in my heart to know what we should teach her. Like I said, usually my companion will take the lead, but this time when it was time to teach the lesson she turned to me. I had a question come to my mind. I asked this woman about what was important to her in life. She talked about her family. I testified about how families are central to God's plan. I explained how the church focuses so much on strengthening families. I shared about my family, how much I love them and how close we are as a family. I bore testimony that it is because of the church and living the gospel of Jesus Christ that we are such a strong family. I loved that lesson for many reasons. One, because I got to talk about something I love: my family. Two: I felt like I had truly been inspired about what and how to teach. Three: I was able to just teach and say the things I wanted in Tagalog. I hadn't practiced and studied how to say what I did, I was just able to say it.
Tagalog is still slowing coming along. Not all lessons go as good as the one I just talked about. But I'm understanding more and more. I'm most familiar with gospel discussions and vocabulary because that is what I study the most. I usually have a pretty good idea of what is going on in lessons. But as soon as someone starts talking about something that is not gospel related I get lost pretty quickly. The hardest/funniest is when people are talking about me or asking me a question. There was one day we were at a member's house for Family Home Evening. One of the teenage girls was sitting next to me, and she said something to me in Tagalog as she helped tuck some hair behind my ear. I didn't understand what she said but I was guessing she had complemented my hair or something, so I smiled and said "salamat" (thank you). Turns out she had actually asked me how old I am. Me and my companion still laugh about that.
So we got some happy news this week. In our mission we are now allowed to email our friends also, and not just our family! Yeah!!! So when people email I will be able to email them back! I'm excited! I still have the same amount of time to be on the computer though, so it's not a guarantee that you'll get a good long email back. But it will be nice to not have wait so long for you to get my response. Although I still love real mail, so don't stop sending me handwritten stuff too.
Love,
Sister Abish "One Transfer Old" Curtis
Pictures:
1. My and my companion with some members in the ward
The goal in our mission is to teach 40 lessons every week. This week we were the closest we've ever been to achieving 40 lessons. We normally get in the high thirties, but we've never gotten 40 before. On Friday we were pretty depressed because we had only been able to teach three lessons for the whole day. We had worked hard, we just didn't have much success. So we decided to work extra hard the next day. We woke up early, changed our study schedule around to make the best use of our time, and prayed for a miracle. And it was a miraculous day indeed. Not only did we have a good quantity of lessons (11), they were also quality lessons. The Lord really blessed our diligent efforts. That left an achievable amount of lessons for the next day in order for us to achieve 40. We worked hard again and did all we could, but by the end of the day we were still one lesson short of 40. It was pretty depressing, I must admit. But it has caused me to reflect. Yes the numbers are important because they help to push and motivate us. But at the end of the day it's not the numbers that the Lord cares about. It's our efforts. I'm grateful that we have numbers to motivate us, but it's important to remember that the reasons behind the numbers are even more important.
On Saturday we were able to teach a lesson to a young, less active mother. We hadn't planned on teaching her, so we didn't have a plan on what to teach. A lot of times since I'm still new, my companion will just take the lead on these kinds of things. But as we began the lesson with a song and a prayer, I kept praying in my heart to know what we should teach her. Like I said, usually my companion will take the lead, but this time when it was time to teach the lesson she turned to me. I had a question come to my mind. I asked this woman about what was important to her in life. She talked about her family. I testified about how families are central to God's plan. I explained how the church focuses so much on strengthening families. I shared about my family, how much I love them and how close we are as a family. I bore testimony that it is because of the church and living the gospel of Jesus Christ that we are such a strong family. I loved that lesson for many reasons. One, because I got to talk about something I love: my family. Two: I felt like I had truly been inspired about what and how to teach. Three: I was able to just teach and say the things I wanted in Tagalog. I hadn't practiced and studied how to say what I did, I was just able to say it.
Tagalog is still slowing coming along. Not all lessons go as good as the one I just talked about. But I'm understanding more and more. I'm most familiar with gospel discussions and vocabulary because that is what I study the most. I usually have a pretty good idea of what is going on in lessons. But as soon as someone starts talking about something that is not gospel related I get lost pretty quickly. The hardest/funniest is when people are talking about me or asking me a question. There was one day we were at a member's house for Family Home Evening. One of the teenage girls was sitting next to me, and she said something to me in Tagalog as she helped tuck some hair behind my ear. I didn't understand what she said but I was guessing she had complemented my hair or something, so I smiled and said "salamat" (thank you). Turns out she had actually asked me how old I am. Me and my companion still laugh about that.
So we got some happy news this week. In our mission we are now allowed to email our friends also, and not just our family! Yeah!!! So when people email I will be able to email them back! I'm excited! I still have the same amount of time to be on the computer though, so it's not a guarantee that you'll get a good long email back. But it will be nice to not have wait so long for you to get my response. Although I still love real mail, so don't stop sending me handwritten stuff too.
Love,
Sister Abish "One Transfer Old" Curtis
Pictures:
1. My and my companion with some members in the ward
2. The four of us
3. In the middle is our investigator Bernie, with his wife and son in the background. Next to him are his two fellow shippers Arnold (a recently returned less active) and Tatay Rudy (a recent convert).
No comments:
Post a Comment