A Week in Mindoro! Beaches, Exchanges, and Airplane Miracles

I don't have a lot of time today but just wanted to let you know that this week was AWESOME.  We spent it in Mindoro and did exchanges with the 3 sets of sisters there.  It was so beautiful!  I got tons of pictures, but unfortunately I don't have my card reader with me so next week na lang ang pictures.  We had a bit of a miracle with our flight this morning.  We were actually supposed to fly out yesterday morning, but there was a power out in the Manila airport so the flight got cancelled.  We were only on the waiting list this morning, and if we wouldn't have made it we would have had to take about a 15 hour land trip to get back here.  We were numbers 4 and 5 on the waiting list, and there were just enough spots for us to get on :)  Heavenly Father really does take care of us.

I had the neatest experiences this week while we were doing exchanges.  When we do exchanges with a companionship, I will work with one sister and Sister Consulta will work with her companion, and at the end of the day we have personal evaluations and companionship evaluations.  One of the sisters I worked with in the mission is a previous STL and is more senior than I am, but the other two were still fairly new in the mission.  I felt the Spirit there in all of our evaluations, but especially with the new sisters.  They were both struggling with things that I really struggled with when I was new, and as I talked to them about the things that I had learned in my mission and about the change and the growth that I have experienced, I could see that they were touched.  They are both amazing sisters, and as with all my exchanges, I think I learned more from them than they did from me.  But as I was sharing with them about my experiences and struggles in the mission, I felt the Spirit witness to me that I was given this calling because there's something that I can give to the sisters to help them.  I've questioned multiple times if this calling was really inspired, because I am so imperfect and I feel like the sisters do way more for me than I do for them.  But as I talked with those amazing women I felt the witness of the Spirit that even though I am so imperfect there is still something I can do to help.  It was such a witness to me that when we are trying to do what the Savior would do to help one of God's children, He will be here with us :)

Our high responsibility is to become women who follow the Savior, nurture with inspiration, and live truth fearlessly. As we ask Father in Heaven to make us builders of His kingdom, His power will flow into us and we will know how to nurture, ultimately becoming like our heavenly parents.  --Neill F. Marriott

Alma 38:2  And now, my son, I trust that I shall have great joy in you, because of your steadiness and your faithfulness unto God; for as you have commenced in your youth to look to the Lord your God, even so I hope that you will continue in keeping his commandments; for blessed is he that endureth to the end.

I love you all!!  Have a great week!!

XOXO

Sister Payton Pectol