Preach the Gospel to Every Creature

Hi Everyone!!

Well, as usual, it has been a great week!!  Last week I received literally 4 packages at once, so to those who sent me stuff THANK YOU and there are notes in the mail for you :)  We have had great lessons and funny experiences and lots of learning, so it has been a successful week :)  I think one of the things that Sister Udarbe learned about me this week is that I have a killer smile.  As in, I can still smile even though I might want to kill someone lol.  Let me explain.  As a (very) white girl, I attract a lot of attention here.  I really don't like it, but I've gotten to the point that I can ignore it.  Well, we went to try to contact one of our less actives this week, and there was a group of teenagers (guys) by the house.  One of them came up and started talking to us, and we were just being our typical missionary-friendly selves.  He told us he was from one of the other wards, so we small-talked for a bit, then went to leave.  As usual, we shook hands before we left.  But when he shook our hands, all the other guys standing a little ways off started whooping and cheering.  I think it was a dare, to see if he could shake our hands.  I walked away with a smile on my face, and as soon as we were out of sight I started strangling imaginary teenagers. Sister Udarbe was laughing at the fact that I could still smile at them.  BOYS ARE SO DUMB.

That's one of our funny moments :)  I also had a very cool experience over Friday and Saturday.  Friday morning, I was stressing about something major that I don't really have control over here, and I ended up crying to Sister Udarbe a little bit.  Then I just went up to our room, and knelt down and prayed.  At that point, I couldn't really even talk to Heavenly Father, so I just started my prayer then cried, and just felt all the stress and worry and hurt like a big tangled knot inside of me.  I told Him about my concerns, and why I was worried, and how confused and directionless I felt.  Then I just sat there and listened.  And as I did so, the hurt left.  It was completely gone, and instead I felt like my soul had just been washed clean, and I was just so full of peace.  I didn't have any answers, but I had peace, and I had the strength and courage for that day.  As I pondered Saturday morning, I thought of all the things that are causing stress.  Big decisions, people I'm worried about, what I need to do...and I felt the same peace again.  I realized that Heavenly Father isn't going to give me specific answers and specific direction right now, because I don't need it.  Instead, He gave me what I needed, and that was the peace and the strength for that day.  I was reminded of Elder D Todd Christofferson's Daily Bread Experience, and how he found the strength to go from day to day.  I learned that that's what Heavenly Father gives us.  Even though we don't always see the complete path, He gives us enough light to help us move forward a couple of steps, and that's what we need.

Our theme this week has been Preach the Gospel to Every Creature.  So every time we see a dog or a cat(which is often--there are a zillion of each here) we ask them if they want to be baptized.  We tried a rooster, but he also rejected us.  But, even though we got rejected, we know that we did our part as missionaries, and we worked hard XD

  

Mormon 9:22  For behold, thus said Jesus Christ, the Son of God, unto His disciples who should tarry, yea, and also to all His disciples, in the hearing of the multitude: Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature.

The real voyage of sicovery consists not in seeking new landscapes but in having new eyes.  Marcel Proust.  When we change our perspective a little, and take a step back from everything, the big picture comes together, and we can gain that perspective and that knowledge that helps us be the best that we can be.

Lots of love!  I hope you all have an amazing week!

XOXO

Sister Payton Pectol



FISHBOWL AND FAILED ATTEMPT AT A JEEPNEY PIC.

The fishbowl is basically chunks of dough dropped into oil and fried.  it was actually pretty yummy, but it's basically just a heart attack attached to a bycicle lol.