Perspective

We were out walking a few months ago, and I felt cool.  I hadn't "felt cool" since we arrived in July, so checked the weather on my phone to see the temperature...30C!  I have never in my life thought that 30C with humidity would feel cool.

As cool season continues on, we have stopped using the A/C at night, and I often put on a sweater.  The temperature the other day was 23C when we got out the door in the morning.  I am loving it.  It can stay like this all year!

In Canada, where everyone wants to have tanned skin, I have always been almost embarrassed by my "pasty white skin".  Here, where everyone has a built in tan, they wish their skin was whiter.  They love my white skin.

It's funny how our perspective changes.

Our bodies adapt and get used to things being different, and we soon don't notice those things that we thought we would never get used to.

I usually feel short, being the shortest in my family growing up, and I am still the shortest in my family.  Elizabeth, Sam and Abby will probably all be taller than me when I get home.  But here in the Philippines  I am tall!  I am still shorter than most foreigners, but among the Filipinos I am tall.  It is still strange for me to not be looking up all of the time.

These Sisters are both under 5' tall.  The Elder, on the other hand, is 6'7"!

I used to think 50 was old...not so much any more!

One of the great blessings of growing older is that we begin to realize how quickly time passes by, and that it is important to focus on what is truly important each day.

This amazing young missionary below was determined that having a broken foot would not slow her down. She "cannot rest" in sharing the gospel as a missionary.  Her perspective was not "Wo is Me!", but, "How can I still work in spite of this difficulty?"   She used the crutches for a few days, but was happy to move to a boot, because then she could get around better.  She proudly reported to me this week that she is now fully healed.

I think I wrote before about the lady I met that told me of her circumstances in life, and how very poor she was.  She lives in a very humble home.  But then she told me, with glowing eyes and a full heart, that she really was very rich, because she had the gospel of Jesus Christ in her life, and that was what was really important.  We meet many people here that have the same perspective as her, sacrificing much for the true joy that comes from obedience to the gospel plan.

Sacrificing meals so that they can afford to get their family to church.
Closing their Tindahan (a very small corner store) at great personal sacrifice on Sundays in order to keep the Sabbath Day holy.

We were blessed by meeting a wonderful family this week.  They are suffering many trials in their life right now. There was not a single chair to sit on, so we sat all sat on the floor together.  Poverty makes life so very hard.  But in the same sentence of telling us of her trials, this young mother also shared her gratitude "that at least her family were all healthy".  Her faith and testimony was particularly humbling for me.

Filipinos in the main are particularly poor, but they are the happiest of all people; loving family, friends, and life in general. These examples help me to remember what is truly important.

I think that this is one of the great blessings of faith.  We still faces hardships, and often faith does not change our personal circumstances, but it does give us perspective on life and a vision and purpose.  How truly wonderful and valuable this is.