1:37 AM
Dear Mom,
My time is extremely short right now because we spent too much time at the zoo this morning so forgive me if this email is unusually short.
On Wednesday we had our Zone Conference. I was really surprised to see Elder Posadas walk in to the meeting that morning who is now also in the office as of that morning. It's going to be a blast to be in the same zone with him again, at least for the last few weeks of the transfer.
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| The Primary President arranging the kids. |
Saturday was a special day - Lester's baptism. Lester is probably one of the smartest kids I've ever taught. He memorizes nearly everything we teach him and memorizes hymns like nothing. We did our best to make his baptism special, since this will possibly be my last to see here in the Philippines, and in turn, it came out special. We woke up really early to scrub the font down and clean the church and then spent nearly the rest of the day in preparation. It turned out just fine - all the people that mattered to me and Lester were there, so as far as I was concerned, although it wasn't exactly the full congregation, it was just enough.
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| Lester and his Aunt - Sister Joy. |
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| Sister Young the Primary President and Sister Tapan, bishop's wife. |
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| This is what nurses wear in the Philippines. |
This week has been a little better, but pretty sad. It was Kuya's last week before he leaves to Ilo Ilo tomorrow. He was able to work with us nearly everyday to try to
squeeze out every last moment to help us and spend time with us since I
will be gone by the time he gets back. I will miss Marcie a lot. We've
had our times and disappointments as
well as times that we just didn't understand one another, but we've
learned a lot from one another in turn. I guess it's the theme of the
mission and the theme of life - endless, but hopeful goodbyes - when in
the Gospel.
I've been a bit nostalgic this past week with my mission coming to a close in just a short matter of days. I've thought to myself and asked myself what has changed? People say I'm supposed to come back a "man" but I feel like I'm coming back a "mom". I felt like for the most part, all I've learned to do is clean, cook, and get mad at other elders for not cleaning and cooking. (Mom I included a picture today of something you would have yelled at me for - putting an empty juice bottle back in the fridge haha.) Thinking about all that, I decided that if I haven't changed, I needed to figure out what I had to do to change, because I don't have all the time in the world left.
After a lot of thought, I thought about something Kuya Marcie had shared in a lesson last week about how the Lord works line upon line, precept upon precept. I thought about how that also applies to how we shape our lives. One decision on top of another, adding up to a chain of decisions over the years of our lives.
I concluded that if I wanted to change, it's really a simple thing. It takes thought - just like you always say mom. "Think before every decision you make" those words still ring vividly in my ears since the day you said them when I got set apart; as well as dads call to not procrastinate on the same day. We change one choice at a time, one day at a time, and eventually, these series of good decisions and days add up to a lifetime that we will look back at and not regret.
After realizing that after my mission I won't come home perfect, but I will hopefully come home improved, my mind was brought to peace. I will do my best to make the best of what I have left, maybe not by making miracles, but doing the simple right things that I know I need to be doing.
Love,
Elder Corpuz
