Farewell Conference, and Still Smiling kahit Mahirap :)

This week has been exhausting, but good.  We had our very last zone conference with President and Sister Revillo on Wednesday, which was super fun but also really sad.  It's going to be hard to see them go; they've been my mission parent the whole time out in the field and I have learned so much from both of them.  Our new mission president and family will be arriving this week and next week we'll meet them, so it's going to be interesting to see what happens.  We sang "God be with You til We Meet Again" to close the conference, and there might have been a couple of tears shed.  I'm really going to miss them.  We have one last STL meeting with Sister Revillo tomorrow, so I'm excited for that.

I think that one of the things I'm learning from this area and my companion is to just stay positive.  Our area is really kawawa (pitiful/suffering) right now, and neither me nor Sister Gican really have any idea what we need to do.  It's hard to not feel lazy when you're so close to going home and you're area isn't progressing (it feels like we can't do anything), but we're both really trying to push and finish strong.  We aren't seeing any success yet from our efforts to help this area, but we're just really trying to focus on being positive.  And somehow it happens.  Even when we're dead tired from exchanges and we're sick of the pollution and we get punted from our investigators we were hoping would be baptized this month, we still end up smiling and expressing our thanks to Heavenly Father at the end of each day.  So it's working out, kahit pa-paano.

I believe in Christ, so come what may.  Hymn #134  I was reading through this hymn yesterday at church, and I just felt so grateful for my Savior and for all that He has done for me.  Missionary work is not easy, and sometimes it's downright discouraging.  But every day, we receive the help that we need in order to do the things that He would have us do :)

2 Nephi 4:30  Rejoice, O my heart, and cry unto the Lord, and say: O Lord, I will praise thee forever; yea, my soul will rejoice in thee, my God, and the rock of my salvation.

Sorry short email...we report on the exchanges we do so my time's a bit limited :)

LOVE YOU ALL!!  Have a great week :)

XOXO

Sister Pectol