MAGANDANG BUHAY.
Well. I have to be honest, this week has been the biggest struggle for me in my entire mission. I'm not exactly sure where to start... This week, I have been exposed to the very real power of the devil. He is a real and dark being. But just as real as I've come to realize he is, I know with an undying faith that Our Father lives, as does His Son. And things will always end up okay, if we just trust in Him.
It is a very common thing, at least here in my mission, that there are always unusual presences in the missionary apartments. (I know that the adversary works hard to stop the messengers of the truth). But I've never had any real problems with anything. But this week....has been a terrifying, overwhelming and exhausting trial of my faith.
On Thursday night, right as we were getting to bed, one of my kabahays got possessed with an evil spirit. I had never witnessed something like that until then. I don't really want to describe it right now....but it was a very dark, very real thing. I was beside her all night, trying to help her, trying to bring her back. The other two sisters were terrified. When it first happened, we knelt in prayer and I offered up my soul pleading with Heavenly Father to help us. We could feel the darkness in the room...it was so thick. After the prayer though, I could feel a warmth inside me. I ray of light. He was with me. The sister kind of came back...but then her eyes rolled back again and she was possessed. The things "she" or "it" said....still scare me. The eyes that stared into mine were not the eyes of my fellow missionary sister. It chilled me to the bone. I called the APs and they came to our apartment at around 2am. After blessing her and blessing the apartment...it still didn't get better. I don't want to describe all that took place... But around 6am we decided to all leave the apartment. We drove to the nearest sisters apartment. But even there....the Sister was still possessed by something dark and she didn't come back. After talking to our mission president on the phone, the senior couples came and took her to the Missionary Recovery Center.
We returned back to our apartment. I hadn't slept in over 30 hours. The Sister's companion was in shock. She just cried and cried and I held her. I told her to get some sleep because she needed to rest. But she was scared to sleep. I had her head in my lap and I tried to calm her down and help her sleep, but she just pleaded with me to not let her fall asleep or "they will come for her too". I told her to only think about Jesus Christ. Nothing else has power over her unless she lets them. Well.....as I was holding her.... the same thing happened to her. She also became possessed with something evil. She began twitching and then she started singing with her eyes closed....the things she sang, I don't even want to mention. It gave me chills. Then she suddenly opened her eyes and stared me down. It was not her. It startled me so bad, I backed away from her and she just stared me down. But a few minutes later, she was sobbing crying for "Sister Oyler". I came rushing to her side and she just clung to me, crying....but then the next minute, she snapped. And then she was ATTACKING ME!!! She threw me to the next bed and was kicking me over and over and I was so startled, I didn't know what to do. I didn't want to fight back because I would probably hurt her. Luckily the other sister in the room (who was assigned as her temporary companion), pulled her off of me. She was just a violent rage. We called the District Leader and he came. Everything was just so dark. I can't even begin to describe the sick, evil atmosphere that was in our apartment. Long story short, she was taken as well to the Missionary Recovery Center and we slept in a different apartment.
The next day, the doctors said that it was probably just a mental breakdown, due to emotional stress.... They both were still in the MRC, but we were sent back to our apartment. But both me and Sister Panis knew that there was something wrong in our apartment. These last few nights, it has just been us two, sleeping in our house... but I haven't slept very much. We sleep down on the second floor... and even though we hear knocks and doors slamming upstairs, we just pray and sing hymns and ignore them. I know that they are just trying to scare us. I will admit. I am scared. But I have to make myself not scared. My faith has been tried tremendously this week. As my eyes are drooping with exhaustion and I see moving shadows behind my eyelids, I somehow have had to find Him through it all. I have had to trust Him in a way I have never had to before. I have to tune everything out, trust in Him and let myself try to sleep.
Our mission president has talked with us though and tomorrow is transfer day. He is pulling us out of the area. He will be assigning elders in our place. I am now being called to train a new missionary again. And I will be whitewashing an area in Tandang Sora. An old elders area. So we will both be like brand new. We will have no guide in the area, just me and my little trainee, and we will get down to work. Ha :) I'm overwhelmed, but excited as well, this should be fun, even though it will be hard.
There are so many stressful things right now. But I know He will help me through it all.
"God, make me brave; oh, braver than this.
Let me straighten after pain, as a tree straightens after the rain,
Shining and lovely again.
God, make me brave; much braver than this.
As the blown grass lifts, let me rise
From sorrow with quiet eyes,
Knowing Thy way is wise.
God, make me brave; life brings
Such blinding things.
Help me to keep my sight;
Help me to see aright
That out of dark comes light."
I love you all. Always remember that He is there. No matter where, no matter what surrounds you. Turn to Him no matter what, and he will lead you through.
MAHAL NA MAHAL KO KAYO!
Sister Oyler
Gotta love the pelengke :)
FHE at Timboy's!
Don't mind that I look disgusting... but we found a little white Filipino girl!!
Us at the computer shop right now. I'm gonna miss Sister Panis :(
