I give unto men weakness

Zone Activity at the beach! We are the luckiest to be the missionaries on Palawan!

This is the Quisido family who is being reactivated!!! They are the best (: We had an FHE (Family Home Evening) with them and the other Sisters last Monday. 

Sister Teo and I treated ourselves to some cake at this cute bakery because we went into Bayan (aka civilization..) for interviews!

Dear Family,

I love you all so much! I hope that all is well in Ohio! It looks like y'all are having a ton of fun with all of the snow! 

This week was hard. Which is good! I think it would be really weird if every week I wrote you and never had a hard week. But despite the fact that it was hard, I am SO happy and am SO SO thankful for my Savior. 

Missions are really funny because we literally give all of ourselves to Heavenly Father and say "Alright, do what you will!" We give our time, our energy, sometimes it feels like even our agency haha, and all of our thoughts up to God.  In Ether 12:27 the Lord says, "And if men come unto me, I will show unto them their weakness." As a missionary, because I myself have come unto Christ, He has showed me my weaknesses! And some days, it feels like He shows me them all at once.

In my interview with President Ostler, he said that Heavenly Father wants to change who we are, and He gives us promptings and direction on how to become who He wants us to be.  He encouraged me to not resist these promptings, because only by giving in and giving up our will for God's will, can we attain ALL of the blessings that our Heavenly Father wants for us.  This kinda freaked me out, because now I had to figure out what changes I was resisting! 

The scripture in Ether continues "I give unto men weakness that they may be humble." Well, lets just say as soon as I made the decision to hear and heed the promptings to change, Heavenly Father humbled me! From Friday to Saturday, it almost felt I couldn't do anything right. From just teaching in the lessons, or being late to a baptism, it was just rough.  Even on Sunday morning, we went to pick up our investigators for church and they were still sleeping. I was just so frustrated and I just felt overwhelmed with everything I needed to be better at! 

But I love that the scripture in Ether then says "and my grace is sufficient for all men...for if they humble themselves before me, and have faith in me, then will I make weak things become strong unto them."

As we sat in church, I felt defeated and had no idea how to overcome all of these weaknesses.  I found myself dwelling on the past, and past short comings that I've had.  But something amazing happened! Every week at church, we have the opportunity to take the sacrament.  Usually I try to make the sacrament meaningful, but until this Sunday, I have never desired the strength and enabling power of the Atonement from the Sacrament.  As we ate the bread and water, my thoughts were changed.  Rather than feeling angry or upset about the past week, I felt hopeful and excited about the week to come.  I really felt the love of my Savior who promises us that when we will come unto Him, He will give us rest. 

I am so thankful for this mission! I know that as I have the opportunity to teach others about the love Jesus Christ has for them, that I discover it for myself as well. I know with all my heart that Christ's grace is sufficient for all of us! He is the source of hope and of help that we all need every week to move FORWARD, and especially on the weeks when we feel that we have more weaknesses than we can overcome on our own. 

Not very many people came to church... so lame! But its okay because Brother Segovia moved back (he had left for work) and the whole family was at church! Also the Lopez's and Joy are still doing really really well. 

I love you tons and tons and tons!! 

XOXOXO

Sister Lockwood

Isa Pa ...means "one more"

This is Sister Falgui!  ...the Filipino in our apartment who I LOVE!

Also, here is a random picture of one of the houses we teach in! Thought you might find it fun to see. That's probably like the average house here, and most of the houses we teach in are like this one.