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| With my new companion, Sister Sarte |
Hello everyone :)
This week I said goodbye to two
companions and got one new one. :) Sister Sarte is my new companion! :) We've
always had a special connection ever since the day we arrived in the field
together. We met on the bus on the way from Manila to Urdaneta and have kept in
touch ever since then :) She was the one who bought me my first coconut shake
and first made jokes about my poor Tagalog and my American accent at first. She
is 23 and from Bulacan, about 4 hours away from where we are, close to Manila.
she worked at the international airport in Manila for 3 years, so she speaks
English better than she speaks Tagalog haha. She is loving and loves to tease
me and works so hard :) She is a leader through and through and has been an STL
for 4 transfers now, so I know I'm going to learn a lot from her! :)
I need to tell you about a really
special investigator, Sister Mylene. Sister Mylene was a referral from a member
and was referred to us because she has lung cancer. When we first contacted
her, we walked into her tiny one room bamboo shack and could only stand because
her bed takes up the only space there is. She is so frail and couldn't talk to
us. She used a tattered notebook and pen to write short phrases and words to
communicate with us. We learned that she is 32 years old, has three kids and
was left by her husband. She now lives with her mother. I was so humbled by her
circumstances and could barely speak through my emotion as I testified to
her of the power of the Atonement and the hope that comes from knowing Heavenly
Father's plan.
The second time we went to her, Sis Mylene was not doing well. She was hooked up to oxygen and had an IV going
into her arm. She couldn't speak and all we could do was sing her hymns and
pray for her. She couldn't communicate to us what she felt, but her tears said
more than words could. I will never forget the look of gratitude and longing in
her dark sad eyes... It broke our hearts to walk away from her house that day,
not knowing if we would ever see her again in this life.
We went back to her this past Thursday
and nearly cried tears of joy when we approached her tiny house and heard a
woman's voice coming from inside, It was Sis Mylene, sitting up on her bed and
talking on the phone! MIRACLE!! She was able to get some medicine that gave her
a lot of strength and is helping her infection. It was such an answer to our
prayers!! :) We taught her and her mom and her nephew about the restoration and
how families can be together forever. She cried again and told us that she
though that families would be separated after death. We were so happy to see
her smile and have hope for a better world after this life :)
But the biggest miracle of all
happened yesterday when Sister Mylene came to church!! She could only stay for
the first two hours, but she was there! It's amazing to me to see the faith of
this humble and sweet investigator. I love Sister Mylene and am so excited to
see how the Gospel can change her life!
I want to be a better, more
consecrated disciple because of her example :)
Have a great week!
Love,
Sister Gustafson
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