So, you heard the news! I no longer get to surprise you! But I definitely was surprised. It's been the most craziest week so I'll try to recap it all to you.
Tuesday: Missionary
life as normal. It started with district meeting in the morning. We had
our lesson on diligence which led our zone leaders to chastise, I mean
encourage us, to increase our key indicators. The week before, we were
in Bacolod for zone conference, and we were punted a couple of days,
followed by a rain storm Sunday morning so our numbers were lower than
normal. But it gave Sister Rey and I the encouragement and push to work
hard this week. So we leave district meeting, study, proselyte, etc...
the normal routine. Then, around 9 at night, the office calls saying
that we need to be in Bacolod the next morning to get my Philippino
driver's license... WHAT? They wouldn't explain why, but said my visa
was going to expire the next day so we had to do it now. So I though it was
for my visa and that probably other missionaries would be there too...
Wednesday: We wake up early
because the ceres buses are really crowded if you ride any later than
6:30 in the morning. Even though we left early, we ended up standing for
the half the ride to Bacolod, which is fine, but exhausting. We finally
arrive at Bacolod and head to the mission office where we were supposed
to meet.... no one else is there. just the office staff. so that's when I
knew something is up if it was just me getting my license. So we head
to the LTO and they just tell me to fill out the paper and follow the
instructions and they leave. So it's Sister Rey and I in the LTO office,
we fill out the papers, give it to the desk1, they call me to desk2 to
get my picture, and then were supposed to wait. They said it would take
about 2 hours so we knew we were going to wait. Two hours pass, and
nothing still. There's not even workers behind the desks. We keep
waiting thinking maybe it's lunch break. Nothing still. It's crowded,
hot, and way worse the DMV at home. Finally after about four hours of
waiting, we go ask what's happening, and they said the system is
offline. They said we can wait to see if it will come back on, but most
likely, just come back tomorrow. So, after waiting all afternoon, we
call the office, they tell us we'll just have to come back tomorrow.
That means, we travel the 2+ hours back to Binalbagan, and make the trip
again the next morning. We arrive back in Binalbagan around 6 pm and
head straight to proselyting. We get home around 8:30, update, plan, and
shower. While Sister Rey is showering around 9:45, the office calls us
again. They tell me that tomorrow morning when we come back to Bacolod, I
need to bring my luggage because I'll be transferring too... WHAT?
Total shock. Sister Rey comes out of the shower while I'm packing and
she didn't even believe when I said I'll be transferring.Sister Rey has
now been in our area for six months so we all thought, including the
ward, that she would be transferred first. So, I hurry and pack so we
can go to sleep on time.
Thursday: We wake up early
again and arrive in Bacolod around 8. We head to the LTO and after 30
minutes of waiting, they say the system is offline again... We call the
mission office, and they say that we'll just have to deal with it next week
since the system slowdown is a nationwide thing. We end up staying with the
sisters in Bacolod because transfers aren't until Friday. We go on
splits with them in their area which was exciting because I was with
Sister Neis from my batch! It's always fun to experience a new area, but
usually only for a day because you end up missing your old area. So
that night, I text the office asking what time transfers are the next
morning, and in the background I hear one of the elders say, "For office
sisters, I think 10" so that started my suspicion and then a half hour
later, President calls us and asks us if we can be at the mission home
at 9 the next morning.... what?
Friday: We arrive at the
mission home and the AP's are all like congrats, and everything, but I
still didn't know for sure what was happening. Then I have an interview
with President where he tells me that sisters will now be in the office
and that's me! I got to sit in on the highly confidential meeting also
so basically from now on, I'll know about everything that is happening
in the mission. Exciting! But the funny part is, because both my new
companion and we had baptisms this past weekend, he sent us back to our
areas, and our actual transfers are this afternoon. So, technically, I'm
not an office sister yet.
Saturday/Sunday: The past
three days have been full of goodbyes. On Saturday we had the baptism of
R and F. The baptism was really beautiful and I'm really excited for them both. Yesterday, Sister Tongson had us over for dinner, and
we find out she invited basically half of the ward so they even had a mini
farewell party for me. Bishop had me share my testimony as well in
church and announced that I would be transferring so it truly was a
depressing Sunday full of sad goodbyes. But it also was nice to have
the chance to say goodbye to everyone. I'm so sad to leave Binalbagan.
It really is a great ward... and my last couple days of normal
missionary life.
President
still emphasizes that we should focus on proselyting. I don't really
know what my schedule will be like yet, but I know that we get to at
least proselyte at night and on weekends... but we'll find out as the
week starts. We had two zones in our mission that were Cebuano speaking,
so that's why the Cebu mission took over those areas this past week, and
we pulled out our missionaries. This past week President has been
really busy because they've been reassigning all of those missionaries
and finding areas to put them in but I think they're mostly done by
now. Overall, a crazy week, but also exciting. I'm sad to leave Binalbagan, but I'm also excited to see what's in store.
I love you all! Sorry this letter is so jumbled...my brain is jumbled. It's my third trip to Bacolod this week and it always makes me feel a little sick traveling but now I'm here and will be staying.
xoxo,
Sister Fitzgerald |
| The first office sisters! Sister Canimo- Travel Secretary; Sister Fitzgerald- Mission Office Manager |
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