Dear Grandma and Grandpa Swan, Grandma Peck, and Family!
I'm not sure what it's like in Guatamala or Africa, but I can imagine it could be something like this. I'm amazed every day at the conditions here. But less and less all the time. Yesterday, while we were tracting, I looked around and thought, this is incredible. I'm tracting grass, bamboo, tin, and cinder-block homes -- in the tropical rain (the rainy season is about to begin), on the border of a dense jungle, walking across rice fields, eating mangoes and bananas every day, and rice with every meal, occasionally with my hands, finding myself many times a day sitting cross-legged on the floor, or on makeshift chairs, talking about the gospel. Everybody is really communicating in a different language, and I'm really teaching, this is the first time they've heard the important message of the restoration of the gospel of Jesus Christ.
Culture shock is real! This really has been a shock. Sometimes I think what a beautiful language English really is, and how nice it would be to understand the culture in order to find and teach more effectively. But I know that Heavenly Father has something important to teach me, here, in the Philippines, and that thought is very encouraging. This is a very different part of the world.
The past week has been incredible as far as the language goes. I found myself at an appointment this week listening to the testimony of a member, and I was actually listening! I blinked a couple of times, and straightened up in my seat, it surprised me so much. Not that I don't usually understand some of what's going on. In the lessons, I understand everything (except for some of the comments of the investigators, which happen to be very important). There's nothing like asking a good, soul-searching question during a lesson, and not understanding their sincere answer. That's frustrating. But this week, things have really been coming together. The long strings of Tagalog are becoming distinct and separate words -- it's an amazing thing, and I know the Lord is helping me immensely.
I had an incredible experience this week. There is a stalwart sister in our ward, and she introduced us to a friend of hers last week, a devoted Catholic, and we set up an appointment to visit her. The first lesson went okay, and we set up another appointment, at the home of the member. This time, we could tell something was wrong, and she broke into tears and told us she'd really been having a hard time, that there were some familial problems, and after sharing a short message about our life on earth, and from the Book of Mormon, and it was a tender time. We all shared our testimonies, and the spirit was very strong there. She'd heard about blessings of comfort from her member friend, and asked if she could recieve one. It was my opportunity to give it, my first in Tagalog. It was a very special experience for me. It was a simple blessing, with simple words, but it came through the spirit. Two nights later, we had the opportunity to teach her about the Book of Mormon, and I felt the spirit so strongly as I related my experiences and testimony about that incredible book. It was unlike any other teaching experience I've had, becuase I know that the spirit was saying a lot more than we were. The most powerful moment came when her good friend related her conversion experience, and her knowledge that the Book of Mormon was true. It was powerful. At the end of the lesson, we left a reading assignment in 3 Nephi 11, and said we knew this was very new material for her, and we asked what her questions were. Holding her new copy of the Book of Mormon, she tearfully said, I don't have any yet. I think I'll just start at the beginning, I'll read it.
Her trials have really softened her heart, and I can see the Spirit of the Lord working in her heart. I think the Lord lets us experience all the rejection and hard times so that when something like this happens, it's that much sweeter. I know the Lord really is going before us, and the Spirit is softening and preparing the hearts of the people here.
Thanks so much, everybody!
Elder Peck
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