Thank you so much for the emails. Things just keep getting more interesting/complicated here in the mission. My old companion went home yesterday so we are in a temporary three-some right now. Then in an hour I get a new part time missionary....as in she is living somewhere in Bacolod and is probably waiting right now for her mission call. I think we will only be companions until next week transfer day, but it's all kinda crazy. I'm overwhelmed because it's more than training... i need to be the MTC for her too and get her all excited to leave on her mission for real soon. Sooo pray for me! k? thanks!!!
So the coolest part of the week..... a new family moved in to our ward. They are from Tacloban (On the island that was so devastated by the recent super typhoon). They are the nieces and nephews of Brother Fernando Ramos, our recent convert that has all the little crazy boys. By a miracle this family was saved. Their house is completely gone and so is all their stuff. Tons of people died and they told us about living through the destruction. But somehow they were able to move to Bacolod. So about 2 weeks Brother Ramos's mom died... she lived just across the street from them. The Ramos family moved into her house, so they had an empty house... for the new family. Isn't it interesting how things work out?
So we got to start teaching them like the 2nd day they were here. Oh my goodness they are so good!!! They speak Waray Waray... not Hiligaynon or English.... it's kinda a struggle but we are able to understand each other well enough. I am trying to pick up some Waray.. It's hard though. maaram ak nga ini gugma ang dios sa inyo... I know that god loves you... that's all I really need to say right?
So 2 of the girls came to church on Sunday and it was soo good. They are all so great. There are 2 twin boys (19) and 2 girls (17 and 13) Oh I love them. They are soo good. So we taught them about miracles and how they had this experience so they could be close to God and after the lesson the 19 year old, Ulysses, prayed and said "Thank you for sending your messengers to us. I am sorry we have forgotten you. We know you have given us this second life and so we want to serve you. I want to be closer to you." Sooo good!!!!!
This is God's work. I just feel blessed to be an instrument in his hands during these miracles.
We went to lunch with the senior couple, the Sinemas, this week, and Elder Sinema was talking to me about paying tithing for 25 years and not really seeing the blessing, but he finally was really really blessed financially. It just made me think of Dad keeping the Sabbath Day holy by closing the chapel even when it's hard. So many blessings from that and i think one of the greatest is that our family has been blessed spiritually. We have all become faithful in the gospel because we learned from dad how to sacrifice for being obedient.
Elder Sinema also said, "Just work hard and the Lord will bless you. Just go out and work! He is not going to bring you miracles while you just sit in your apartment." I have found that that is soo true.
We also talked about the idea that some plant, some nourish, and some harvest. All are so important though. So even if my investigators are not progressing right now, we are still doing an important work.
And about Sister Bendoy. I didn't find out anything about her family until Wednesday, It was really hard to accept. I had a lot of thoughts and questions and worries, but I turned to God and the scriptures and found comfort. I still don't know how everything is going to work out and I want to cry every time I start thinking about it, but I know we need to trust God. He has not forsaken Sister Bendoy but is very aware of her. He has her under His arm and He will take care of her. Thank you so much Mom and Dad for writing her. I am excited to write her next week. Thank you for being such a strength that I am sure she NEEDS right now. Maybe we were companions so you could help her now.
(Note from Chris: Sister Bendoy was Kim's mission companion until 2 weeks ago. They were together during the super typhoon. Sister Bendoy's family lived on Tacloban and we found out last week that 8 of her immediate family died in the storm. She has just one brother and one sister that survived. They are all now in Manila. We are so heartbroken for her and just can't even imagine being in her position. But we, like Kim, have faith that Heavenly Father is looking out for her and someday when we can all see the big picture we will understand why this happened. There has been a fund set up for her by some of the families of the missionaries in her mission and enough has been donated to take care of them for a long time. Thankfully money goes a long way in the Philippines. If you want to do something to help, please donate to the LDS Church humanitarian fund. They are doing so much to help the people there. Here is a video put out by Mormon Newsroom that talks about what happened there. About halfway through the video it shows Sister Bendoy's surviving brother as he talks about trying to save his family.)
i love you all so much!!!
Love Sister Foote
P.S. Please pray for my new temporary companion to see the miracles of missionary work and catch the excitement :)
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