A Missionary's Work: A lost hope, but a new found love

8/21/2017

HEy everybody it's your Elder Peterson again! We're just working hard and sweating it out in the bukid,ha! 

So this past week we had transfer announcements and as surprised as I was I am now a trainer. Which means I get to help a super new missionary adjust into the field. So he's the new greenie and he's pretty darn awesome! And so Elder Anazario and I are in Paco Roman (yup I'm still there). So by the time I'm done training him I'm be close to 8 months in this area and that's really long for 1 area. But I love my trainee hes cool and from Bacolod city (The city of smiles daw), and actually is friends with my last companion before they both came into the mission. 

Also this week was cool we were just working one day, going to visit one of our investigators, and the community was making some bamboo fences. So we immediately put our bags down and went to work. They were glad for our help because there were only a few of them and they were sort of older. it went blazing fast with the 4 extra hands. I absolutely love those times that we can just put down our bags and serve in anything. Its nice to go home with some dirt on your pants, a smile on our face, and love in your heart.  

Anyway this week we visited a member who has had a hard life and not to go super deep but he is now half paralyzed, has a young kid, is separated from his wife, and has no work or support, and mostly never any food, he's 60 plus years old. We taught him and I felt his hopelessness and my heart just cried on the inside. Sort of like lifting a huge rock above your head for a long time then feeling like there's no one to help you, start to give up in fatigue. Now why would we give up! I know life is hard and there will always be trials. I think we sometimes give up because we either don't know or don't see. That guy that's been holding the rock for a long time and feels like giving up never saw the amount of help right behind him. He never turned to them for help. So he gives up, exhausted from something that others and  especially a certain one would want to help us with. We have never been out of reach of God's hands, but its really hard to get back up and going if we don't extend the effort to grab his hands and continue. As people we are weak, but in God all things are possible. When we talked with him the other day, we told him God loves him and so do we and gave him a hug. like all of us, he's a child of God and God wants us to turn to him and become more. I know he's there for us, he was there went dad died, he was there when I chose to serve two years in the Philippines, he was there when I was nervous out of my mind, and he is still here. I love you all and know these things are true, God really does love us. In the name of Jesus Christ amen.

P.S.- We ate some goat intestine soup we call it poop soup, ya that's the one thing here, if given, its a mental challenge,haha