Proof That I'm in Asia; Great Faith

Only some of you will recognize what I'm holding in the picture I sent with this.  Probably only my very closest friends, and maybe even some of those close friends won't.  "My Neighbor Totoro" has always been and will always been one of my favorite mini movies of all time.  Very Japanese, very kid friendly, and my favorite.  When I saw this in an open market area, I knew it was meant for me.  It's hard for me not to smile when I see Totoro sitting on my desk.  There's a lot of Japanese/Asian influence here.  I would describe the Philippines as kind of feeling like Asian-American-Islander-Mexican.  Yeah.  But it's none of those things, it's better - The Philippines.

I don't really have much to say about this week, not that it wasn't good, but not much stands out a lot.  One of my favorite things was that when we talked in one of our meetings about "finding people to teach," one suggestion that an Elder offered was, "find trapped people."  He meant find people on jeepneys, or waiting in lines, etc. that are are just hanging around and don't have anywhere to go or anything to do.  Somehow though, "find trapped people" is super hilarious to me.

This week, we saw a miracle of faith.  Before I came to the area, Sister Cooper and her last companion had been teaching a son of a less active member.  The boy (10 years old) progressed quickly, he and his mom went to church many times, and then he was going to be baptized the next week.  However, the week before his baptism... he was run over by a motorcycle and one of his legs and his pelvic area were smashed.  He was then put in a half-body cast for two months and couldn't walk or move.  It was very difficult.

Last week, his cast was removed.  He still couldn't walk on that foot or leg at all, and crutches are difficult to come by here. He clearly had a good deal of pain from it still. Then, the next Sunday... up walked his mother with her niece (9 years old - baptized three months ago) her other son (2 years old) and... her 10 year old son who had been hit two months before.  She was CARRYING him.  She carried him about a mile to church.  We have no idea how long it took them to get to church, but that's the kind of faith the people have here.  They know what's important, and they prioritize it.  When I see things like that... it feels like my heart can hardly contain my feelings.  So many of these people are such great inspirations of faith and dedication.

I hope everyone has a great week and looks for spiritual experiences of your own.  There should never be a week where you don't feel like you've really progressed to become more like Christ in some way.

Love you all!

Sister Larsen

Merry Christmas!  We got Domino's pizza.  They put a bow on it and errything.  I literally have never been so happy to have pizza in my life.

  [I asked Marinda about last week's photos.  Here is that conversation.]

Allison: "In one photo you sent last week, everyone was making strange signs with their hands.  What was that about?  In another, y'all looked as if you had paint on you.  What was going on there?" 

Marinda: "hahahaha.  The strange signs... that's like, a cultural thing.  It means "pogi" or "handsome."  We played a game where if you lose, you get baby powder put on your face.  So there's a good explanation."