Teaching with the Sisters

The highlight of my week was to go out and teach two families with two of our greatest sister missionaries. On Thursday evening the sisters came and picked me up in a trycie (motorcycle with a sidecar). Two of us sqeezed into the sidecar and the other sister road behind the driver on the motorcycle. We drove across town, got off and walked down a tiny little dirt path, past numerous small homes to the door of the investigators.

The home was very humble, it was made of cinderblocks which stopped and there was open space between the walls and the tin roof. There were two openings off the side of the room with material hanging as a door. In the back of the room I could see a lean-to type of room which was their kitchen. The walls were very dark and yet they had made sure to hang a few lovely pictures and a mirror from the walls. They had four comfortable chairs along one wall (they were made out of bamboo) and two crude wooden benches along the other. On the wall near the opening to the "kitchen" there was a large hutch with tv, vcr and a collection of figurines, all wrapped in plastic. I met the sweetest mother, she had studied to become a Methodist minister, father, and four children. Also living with them are several nieces and nephews who attend school in Cauayan. In front of the front door was a hammock. There was a lot of love in their home, you could just feel it. The father has a twinkle in his eye and you could tell that he is fun loving. He works as a waiter for a catering company. The little five year old girl was really proud of her school "Barbie" backpack and brought out some homework to work on while the sisters taught the family. They speak Ilicano and Tagalog and some English. We had fun visiting about our family and theirs. I showed them pictures of our family and they thought our sons were very gaupo (handsome) and our daughters and grandchildren were beautiful. The sisters taught a wonderful lesson and got the family to read from the Book of Mormon. They asked me to share some thoughts with them and I talked about my life since I became a member and how I could trace all the best parts of my life back to my membership. Sister REsendes asked them if they would be baptized on Aug. 21 and they said "yes." The sisters had been teaching them periodically for a month or so and so they were very happy to hear that the family was wanting to be baptized. Now they have a lot of things to teach them before they will be ready.

Next we got on a tricycle and went further out on the edges of town. We walked through tall grasses to a little shack. The family was outside with the mother doing the wash by a pump and the father caring for their little baby. They invited us inside and this home was the size of the first families living room. It was divided into four tiny rooms with cardboard boxes, serving as walls. They had a tiny bench that they insisted we sit on, while they sat on the floor. (I found out later that they shared that home with two other families!) This was a young couple who wanted to get married but couldn't afford the price of the marriage certificate. They have a child together who is 11 months old and has cerebral palsy. They can't afford his medication and so he is unable to hold up his head. I felt bad because every time he looked at me, he started to cry. The father is an inactive member and the mother wants to join the church, however they don't have a way to come to church and also can't be baptized until they are married. It's so tempting to just give them the money to pay for the marriage license, but we have been asked not to do that. They could go through the fast offerings from the branch and the sisters are working with the branch president on that. The sisters are trying to work with the members to see if anyone has room in their cars or trycies to pick them up. It's a real challenge because most families cram onto a trycie, very few have cars. I met one family who come each week on a trycie (they have 6 children and two parents all on one trycie!) Still the sisters taught them a lesson and even though I couldn't understand it, I could feel the spirit. They asked me to share a few thoughts and I told the story of my mom having a stroke in her 40s and how prayer helped me through that rough time. I shared how I remember feeling like I was being cradled in loving arms when I was feeling so desparate. I know that was the Holy Ghost acting as a comforter when I needed it.

One day Rudy and I were at the gas station and a little boy came up to the window. His eyes were very clody with cataracts or something. He motioned to his mouth, held out his hand and said, "Hungry, mam'm." We've been told we can't offer handouts to beggars. They say missionaries would be hounded if word got out. Instead I could have given him some food, but didn't have any with me. I told him I was sorry and then we drove off. It was just so sad and I cried all the way to the store. I have thought of his longing eyes as I've drifted off to sleep since then and vowed that I will keep some food in the car in the future.
Sister Carlos