Friday, May 25, 2018

The Golden State Awaits! (I know that was cheesy just roll with it)

Last week at the MTC boys and girls! That flew by faster than a Thanksgiving turkey if I do say so myself. I'm still alive too and I even drank the orange juice! (Weird MTC joke that I didn't understand until yesterday :))

So here's the big news! Only one sister in our whole zone got her visa! So the rest of us were temporarily reassigned- I'll be going to Irvine California ! I'm really excited!! They have tacos there :) AND people who are ready to hear the Gospel of Jesus Christ! I'm confident that I'll learn something amazing that will bless me throughout my mission and my life in California. And I know there will be someone Heavenly Father will use me to bless and help. And I'll have a chance to adjust to missionary work before I get hit with the culture shock and the language shock! 

One of our "investigators" is and "83" year old man who loves the Bible. He was having a hard time reading the Book of Mormon because he wanted to relate it to the Bible and get as much as he could out of it. But the Hiligaynon Book of Mormon doesn't have footnotes so he was having to do it on his own. To help him I made a list of like 50 or something times that the Book of Mormon and the Bible match up and support each other. It was so fun and it really opened my eyes so how much they work together to establish the full Gospel of Jesus Christ. And he loved it !! My teacher still has the list in his scriptures which it kind of cool. I hope it's blessing his life as well as "Jose'" Missionary work it the most fun work! 

Our Sunday devotional speakers were the MTC President and his wife- President and Sister Martino. They were both converting to the church as teenagers and they showed us this amazing family tree thing about how many lives those two missionaries have influenced on both sides of the veil- through their missions- their children's missions and their family history work they've helped over 4,000 people receive the gospel. Never underestimate how much good you can do! God will consecrate your efforts above anything you could imagine!
 
We watched Mountain of the Lord for our Sunday film! The pioneers truly understood patience! I've been actively working on patience for like 6 months now and maybe I've made a drop in the bucket! They worked on the temple for 40 years!! They had to start over! And stop to build the railroad! That's how important it was to have a temple that would stand as long as it is needed. They gave it all to God! They lived truly consecrated lives. I'm going to consecrate my mission like a pioneer!! Anything I gotta do! 

On Monday we did a successful English Fast! I probably only said 40 English words all day! It was so cool . The gift of tongues is real. 

I met a Zollinger at the store the other day! She was an employee! We're both related to Albert Zollinger Sr. but I was in a rush and didn't have time to figure out the connection beyond that! She was from either Minnesota or Michigan or Wisconsin ( Sorry by brain is devoted to Hiligaynon) So if anyone knows the connection you should let me know! 

Tuesday devotional was in one word a Gift. Our speaker was Elder Rasband. All day on Tuesday my companions and I had so many assurances that God knew and loved us. At the beginning of his talk he shared that we all have a special bond with an apostle because they assigned our mission call- and then he said that every mission call was perfect - "all full time missionaries, senior missionaries, AND REASSIGNED MISSIONARIES" It was like he was talking to directly to our the Philippines missionaries (Out of 40 missionaries that were supposed to leave for the Philippines on Wednesday only 5 got their visas) I know that Heavenly Father is 100% aware of our situation and He loves us. One of our Branch Presidency- Brother Taylor told us during district review that during all of his years in a district presidency he's gone to hundreds of Tuesday night devotionals and he's never heard and apostle say "Reassigned missionaries" Also our Branch Presidents wife Sister Mullen said that God can't always give us what we want but it usually isn't a flat out no if our desire was righteous it's more like 'I can't give you that but I can give you this instead' I feel like my heart is wrapped in a nice warm blanket. I feel so much peace. 
 


Yesterday my companions and I had to teach our investigator lesson in front of our whole district. We were kind of nervous before but as we started the lesson and focused on "Panfilo" and on the spirit we forgot they were even there and the lesson went amazing. If the lesson is about you you'll be nervous and it won't go well. But if it's about the person you're helping and about helping them feel the spirit it works and it goes well :) 
 
Also yesterday I memorized the first 8 articles of faith in Hiligaynon! Once again the gift of tongues is real!! Crazy raisins. 

I'm still reading Jesus the Christ and this morning at the temple I was amazed at how much it influenced my temple experience! I definitely recommend adding that to your personal study reading list if it isn't already! I promise it's not as daunting as it seems. It's just fun stories about our Savior Jesus Christ. It helps you understand the doctrine and make connections you wouldn't usually think about on your own :) 

Do something nice for someone else today!

Palangga ta kamo!!! Dios mangin sa inyo! (God be with you) 


Sister Zollinger 





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