Sacred Time

Dear Family,  How are all of you? Thanks for all the reminders that I only have one month left. I am very aware...and not gonna waste it. This has been one of the weirdest and one of the best weeks.  On Tuesday, I got to talk to my old District Leader, Elder Asuro, again. The one that reminds me of Mr. Bean. The one who whitewashed my area in Jaro when I was switched to Leganes. He is assigned here in Antique Zone now. It was soooo good to hear that Jaro 1B is progressing now! Finally! They even had 2 baptisms in August--they broke the streak! (Jaro 1B hadn't had baptisms since December 2012.) Yay! I was so excited to hear about how Jaro was doing when he left.  On Wednesday, I rode the van all by my lonesome self to Arevalo....when I arrived, the APs, Elder Ortiz and Elder Singley, were getting ready to make some coconut shrimp, as requested by Sister Aquino. That was a funny few hours. Just cooking in the giant mission home kitchen with the APs, no big deal. haha. I slept over at the Arevalo Sisters' apt. with Sister Nonu and Sister Mendez and the other sisters that night, then I woke up at 3:45 in the morning to get ready to fly to Manila at 6:20am. Talk about TIRED. 5 Elders (E. Gille, E. Mariano, E. Leon, E. Bates, and E. Pierce) and I traveled together. We went to the Immigration office in Manila for fingerprinting, pictures, and signatures. I got to see my MTC district mates!!! (S. Smoot, S. Dixon, S. Van Slooten, S. Livingston, and S. Nielson) It was awesome to see them and talk to them about the mission. Bacolod Mission is sooo different from Iloilo. I'm grateful I am a PIM missionary. :) Then me and my 5 body guards...I mean the 5 Elders in my batch...went to MOA (aka Mall of Asia) for some lagaw lagaw (strolling around) before our flight. We ate at IHOP, Coldstone, and Subway. It was delicious and we were broke by the time we were done. haha. Then we flew back to Iloilo. I had to chill in the mission office for the evening, because it was too late to catch a van back to San Jose. It was really fun and funny to spend so much time with the Elders. Elders are weird. And their favorite topic of conversation is Marriage. hahaha.  It was weird for me to be flying solo and away from my area for two days. But I realized some things. The next time I get on an airplane for Manila, I won't get to come back and pick things up where I left off and be a full-time missionary again. This time is sacred. And it is limited. I will never pass this way again. No matter how much I'll wish I can. I came to the conclusion that this last month I need to show the Lord how grateful I am for the first 17 I've had to serve Him. I can honestly say I've done my best so far, and now I just need to raise the bar and finish as strong as possible. He is in perfect control of this work. It has been amazing to see how His timing works out perfectly. This is the spring board for the rest of my life.  Yesterday was a day of miracles. Elna's husband Robert came to church. HE CAME TO CHURCH. For two hours! If you had told me this would happen back in July before Elna's baptism, I would've said "you're joking!" But it happened! And he even smiled about it. Wow. But not just that. Glenn came to church, and brought his girlfriend. And Hernie and Chonna have a marriage goal date set for November 24. As in gid na gid! (Really!) They are going to get married that day. And then Hernie will be baptized onNovember 29. I am so excited for them. And Sister Condes' referral, the Salde family, came to church too, and Francis and Nerisa accepted baptismal goals for November 8. The windows of heaven have opened!  I hope you all have a great week. I love you all sooo much. See you in just a bit. Don't forget about General Conference--Ponder it and study it and APPLY it. Halong kamo!  Love, Sister Winward Sister Cassie Winward Philippines Iloilo Mission May 2013 to November 2014