Sunday, February 8, 2015

Love Life!

This is the daughter of the lady who does our laundry.  So cute!

Sister Teo and I explored the jungle this week (: A lot of our area is actually pretty jungle-ey. Its so beautiful!! We were laughing this week that Heavenly Father really has a sense of humor of sending us both here.  

This is Benji- The awesome recent convert.  This is him pouring me some Bucol Juice, or coconut juice.  It is amazinggggg! He literally climbs the trees by his house to cut down coconuts before we come.

This is Joy- one of the less active members who has returned since we got here. I love her SOO much!!


Dear Family, 
Hello from Santa Monica!!! We are waiting to hear right now about transfers...So needless to say I'm a little anxious. But this week was soo awesome!! They say that the mission is full of ups and downs, and that is so true.  That's just true about life, but its through the downs that we really can appreciate the ups!
This week was definitely an up for sister Teo and I because...
 Jayson and Abigail came to church for the first time, and had a great experience!!
 Sister Teo and I finally reached our goal of 100 OYMS!! 101 actually (:
 Sister Parina gave me a suprise phone call because she goes home this week. (:
 The whole Cullumar family came to church for the first time in years! (They are less active.)
 We found some really solid new investigators.
 Elder Bowen came and talked to us! He is a member of the area Presidency. He talked a lot about obedience and the power of the priesthood. 

And way more fun things happen that are just a part of living in Santa Monica (: I have been the luckiest Sister Missionary in the whole world to serve here. The people, the area, the branch, my companions, ALL of it has been such a blessing and such a great experience for me! Now I just have to trust that Heavenly Father has something even greater in store for me!

Another really awesome thing this week...
Elder Zook, our zone leader, asked Sister Teo and I to speak in Zone meeting because he said that we are the best example of obedience in our entire zone! 
Sister Teo and I really have worked so hard to be exactly obedient every day.  I have gotten out of bed at 6:30 for almost 7 months now without missing a single day! For anyone who knows me, that is a miracle. Even though every day I totally have the temptation to sleep in, I remember that if I'm going to ask people to be obedient when its hard for them, I have to do it first. 
I'm learning so much here that I can totally see how you learned it on your mission! Like planning...we have to plan everything, and it always reminds me of your planner that you take with you everywhere. Believe it or not, I don't know if I'll be able to live without a planner now!! And going to bed and waking up at the same time everyday.  Its so awesome because during the day I'm not tired!! All of these little blessings that I learn  on the mission will really bless me forever. 
I love you so much mom! The longer I'm on my mission, the less I miss you guys, but I still feel so close to you everyday.  I feel the strength of your love and  your prayers, and its knowing the support system that I always have at home that really gives me that extra push when the days are hard. Thank you soooo much for everything!

This week we took the ward list and found ALL of the less actives in our area who were on our list! (there are A TON- so it was a week of miracles.) Most of them don't have exact addresses either so basically we just going around asking everyone "Do you know the Smith family? Or John smith?" Or the classic "Do any mormons live here?" Hahahaha, it sounds crazy but it really works!! Many of them aren't in a place in their lives yet to return, but many of them are, so it was really exciting.  And an adventure too!! 
This keyboard is really really hard to type on, so I'm sorry this email is short! I know that God lives and that as we are obedient to Him, He will give us so much more than we could ever make for ourselves! 
I love you all so much! I am doing great and totally loving life! I hope you are too!! Whether we are in an up, or in a down, God is always there and through his gospel we can always find the happiness He has to offer.

XOXOXO
Sister Lockwood

Well- the Zone Leader just called!!
I'm leaving Palawan!! 
I'm getting transferred to Makati 3B!!!
I leave here on Saturday!
MANILA HERE I COME!

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