Ratatouille

Sheesh what a week. This week was actually one of the longest of my mission with lots of highs and lows. We had a half mission conference, a baptisimal interview, transfer calls, extended two baptisms and a rat in the toilet. Yep. Let's get into it.

JULIE

So sister Julie had her baptisimal interview on Tuesday and was supposed to be baptized on Saturday but she got sick so we are hoping to do it sometime this week! She's still going strong and it has been awesome watching the spirit work on her!

This is us after her interview! Feat. Elder Andersen, Elder Cabugnason and the Maza family.

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ELDER REVILLO VISITS ILOILO

So this past Thursday we took a 4 hour bus trip to Iloilo for our conference with Elder Revillo. It was half of the mission so it was fun to see lots of missionaries. We had like 12 sisters in one apartment for a night which was wild. Also the next day when we got back to Antique I stepped out of the van and immediately threw up. Vibes. Here are some pics. *not of the throw up*

Otw

Just some sisters chillin in a chapel

Waiting for the Revillos to pull up.

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RATATOUILLE 

I have a story for you.

So after we got back from the conference and I threw up we dropped our stuff off at our apartment and sister Pecundo went to use the CR (bathroom). Guess what we found. Yep there was a rat in the toilet. Very much alive but it couldn't get out. So we left it there and decided to just deal with it later. So that night our District leader was like “just flush it”. So we did and it went down. So then we proceeded to use the CR and shower in there and stuff. All quiet on the western front. Also we found some evidence that he may have visited my bed so I had to wash all my sheets. The next morning we were all so tired. It felt like I had been hit by a semi truck and then he decided to back over me a few times for good measure. I staggered to the bathroom and guess who decided it was a good idea to still be alive. Remy. He was resurrected and in the toilet again. I snapped. Something inside of me broke. I put some water on the stove and got it boiling. I suited up with a mask, tall socks and strapped two garbage bags to my arm. Then I straight up boiled that sucker in the toilet. Once the water cooled down I reached in with my bagged hand and grabbed it out of the toilet. This day shall be known among rat nations. If they visit me again they will find no mercy. They have made a powerful enemy. I am Sister Larson, The Rat Boiler.

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MGA TATAY

This week we extended baptism to two Tatays (like Dad aged men). 

Tatay Barcenal

Tatay’s son Jovie is on date for baptism but we really want for his whole family to come unto Christ. We fasted for this Tatay and Sister Pecundo and the Holy Ghost whipped up a fire lesson. We shared several verses about people being in a “deep sleep” and needing to wake up. We ended up saying basically “its time to wake up Tay”. Watching his face while Sister Pecundo was spitting facts was amazing. You could see it starting to make sense first in his head and then in his heart. He accepted baptism and will hopefully be baptized with his son in April!

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Tatay Rufino

I've written about this tatay before. We met him one of my first weeks in Antique and gave him a Book of Mormon. He is mostly deaf and only speaks Tagalog. Everytime we have visited him since he has been reading the Book of Mormon. These past two weeks he was in the hospital so we just got to visit him yesterday. We get there and after we sit down he goes “lets read”. He told us he read the whole time he was in the hospital and he's literally in ETHER. As in he's almost read the whole Book of Mormon in a little over a month. Yah. He was making analogies about Nephi. So we start kinda sharing about faith and repentance kinda warming up to baptism and he interrupts us to tell us how he read in Alma about how baptism is one of the most important things we can do on earth. Then we asked him if he wanted to be baptized and he said what translated to “of course I do”. The miracles are unreal. As long as we can get him to church he will be baptized as well! Tatay Rufino is a prime example of someone that God has been preparing, maybe for years, and as missionaries we just needed to tell him where to find the truth.

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TRANSFER CALL

This week has been one of the most rewarding and also one of the hardest of my mission. On saturday we got transfer calls and found out Sister Pecundo will be transferred to Mandurriao and become STL. Proud companion moment. And I will be staying In Antique and training. Since I found out I will be training its been really hard not to see all of my faults and the ways I fall short. My grammar is messy, I still get lost in our area sometimes and I still don't understand what people are saying sometimes. The one thought that keeps coming to my mind is- who the Lord calls he qualifies. I know that training will be a challenge but I'm doing my best to remember that as I rely on Christ I will be magnified and even my clumsy efforts can yield miracles.

SEE THEM IN WHITE

I know this email is long so I'll keep this short. “See them in white” is something I heard first from Sister Pecundo. When we meet people on the street I try to imagine them wearing white at their baptism and then wearing white again as they become a forever family in the temple. Keeping the temple in mind as the long term goal for each person we meet helps me see them more like God sees them. This concept not only applies to missionary work but also to everyday interactions. I would challenge you all to imagine the people you work with, go to school with or just see on the street wearing white ready to go to the temple. It will help us treat each other more like the sons and daughters of God that we truly are. We all have celestial potential, it's just a question if we choose to reach it.

I love missionary work. I love my savior Jesus Christ, I love the Book of Mormon and my family.

Over and out

Sister Larson