Phantastic Christmas Pheast

It was really good to talk to all of you! I'm a little nervous to come home though because for some reason I felt kind of overwhelmed seeing everyone on skype. But I was still very happy to see all of you. Wow, that's pretty trunky having my travel plans. Good thing I’m still really focused. When I get home, I will need a few days before I see everyone. There are only 3 Americans going home with me, Sister A and an Elder.

I’m a little worried about our 17 year old investigator. He hasn't come to church in 2 weeks. He has attended several activities and things recently but hasn't been coming to church.

We have a curfew again for New Year’s eve and day so we will spend it probably just chatting in our little air conditioned room. We are trying to look for sparkling cider today. We’re not sure if it exists in the Philippines, but we'll look.

Things are going well here in Bauang. I’m having a great time with Sister S. The work was hard last week because of Christmas, but we managed to teach a good amount of lessons.

The relief society president had us over for lunch on Christmas. It was awesome! We had lots of seafood and homemade sushi. She has a really nice house. Then we visited another family who also had a really nice, clean comfortable home. Don't worry, I don’t think I’ll ever move here permanently, but I’m really going to miss the Philippines! I keep looking at things and becoming all nostalgic.

Wow, good thing I got out of that apartment in Agoo! They had some problems with some drunken men and other things and some people tried to break in, so they're moving.

I just remembered what else happened this week. I got really sick! I was at a dinner appointment and all of the sudden I felt awful. So we left and then I went home and threw up a ton and then I went to sleep and felt 100% in the morning! It was very strange, but I’m glad I was only sick for a little bit and I didn't miss any proselyting time!

Love you! Have a great week!

 

 

 

 

 

Phar Phar Away on Philippine's Beach

Wow! I loved the Christmas video. [The young men in our ward, made a video for the missionaries. It had greetings from all of the missionary parents and our former bishop and current bishop.] It was awesome to see everyone! I’m freaking out over how big and luxurious everyone’s house is. Thanks for all the Christmas messages.  At our house, I saw a bunch of young women and mom announced that there were only 48 days left haha. I wonder how many there are now [36!] I’ve been trying not to count. Sister D is home. She emailed me. Pretty weird. She's sad to not be a missionary but she said she's really happy.

The apartment is good... by far the apartment with best living conditions on my mission (air conditioning in our room, non-smelly water, and even a washer). Haha, the washer has to be filled up with buckets of water though and the way it drains is that a hole just opens in the bottom and all the water comes out. The door to our bathroom is pretty funny. It’s completely broken. It is off the hinges. So when we use the bathroom we have to prop it up against the door frame.

The new area is ok. I'm happy to be here. The branch is very very supportive which is great. It seems more like a ward than a branch. Church was good. For the first time in my mission, I’m not the pianist. There’s a very capable lady that plays. Everything ran very smoothly... there was even a gospel principles teacher that wasn't a missionary. A huge portion of the branch is endowed and sealed which is awesome. I think the only reason we are still a branch is because the other branches in the district are still struggling and we can't become a ward until all of them are ready to become wards and then we can become a stake.

I miss the people in Agoo though. People over there are just so nice! Here, we have 3 investigators with baptismal dates. I’ve actually only taught one so far because everyone is busy doing Christmas things so it’s hard to teach everyone. All of the baptisms are all on January 24. They might need to be extended though. One of them is pretty difficult. He is 17 and is really good friends with an active member family. He lives alone though because his parents pretty much abandoned him and his mom now has a new family. He’s really hard to teach though because he stopped school for a long time and now he's going back. But he's at grade 1 level. So it's like teaching a child. He always comes to church and seminary though. Hopefully we can think of a way to teach him so he can understand it better and everything.

Our apartment is so close to San Fernando. It only took 20 minutes to get here and that's because of lots of traffic. On my first day here, we went on a morning run and accidentally ran into the Sevilla ward boundaries. Then we realized we were crossing zones and turned back haha. Anyway, my new companion, Sister S is great. She is half Japanese half American, grew up in Hawaii, and went to BYU. She only has 2 transfers left of her mission. She’s a little stressed because the area could be doing better, but we are getting along great. We live with 2 other sisters. We’re planning on buying some cream cheese later and attempting to make a cheesecake for Christmas. haha,

I had a good week. On Tuesday I hopped on a bus with some other sisters going to San Fernando. I got off in Bauang and my companion was supposed to meet me but she wasn't there. So for a few seconds, I found myself alone with two giant suitcases on the side of the road in Bauang, Philippines. Haha. Luckily I’ve been to exchanges in their apartment so I knew where it was. Then these two men run over to me and offer to carry my suitcases to my new apartment for me. One of them was super old and one was a little special... haha it was so funny. They kept saying "just trust us, just trust us." I didn't have any other choice, so I just trusted them. My companion was pretty surprised when I popped up at the apartment. There was a miscommunication and she thought I was coming later.

We had a branch Christmas party on Saturday and a seminary Christmas party on Friday. Both were pretty fun. We played games and ate. That’s what happens at all parties pretty much. By the end of next week, I will have had more dinner appointments in Bauang than I had in Agoo.

It’s been a little bit of struggle to teach people because everyone is so busy with Christmas stuff. Our apartment is by the market and in the center of everything. Yesterday, there was a parade there (we saw a little bit of it. It was pretty cute!) and there are all kinds of Christmas parties and whatnot.

 

For Christmas, we'll spend our day proselyting... we have a lunch appointment. We’re not sure if we have a curfew yet. Maybe not because president hasn't said anything. I just hope we have people we can teach... I don't really want to spend Christmas walking around... oh well. Whatever it takes. This Christmas season keeps motivating me to share the gospel with everyone I can find, but it's also really hard because everyone is too busy watching parades and street dancing and whatnot haha. But the Christmas season is making it easier to start talking to people about the gospel. I just really want to have some success in this area before I go home. We have been working hard and are trying to do everything we can.
 

Our area is partly in the beach! It is beautiful! I usually have sand in my shoes.

My time is up. Love you!

 

 

 

 

 

At a Korean restaurant in Baguio. It's delicious and they give you free costumes to wear!

 

Relaxing on the beach on p-day.

Phinal Transfer

Today for p-day, we went to the beach earlier and to lunch. We just discovered this surprisingly delicious restaurant... I enjoyed some tuna, calamari, shrimp, and scallops. Anyway, it was delicious.

We watched the Christmas devotional last night. It was awesome. My favorite thing was when someone (I can't remember who) said that we need to find joy in being obedient. haha, I was cleaning out all of my stuff earlier (every time I’ve been transferred I’ve just shoved all my stuff in my suitcase and not cared if there are lots of bags because the zone leaders just put it on a jeepney for me. But this time it changed and we now have to take a bus by ourselves to the new area. So I’m cleaning out all my stuff that has accumulated over the past 18 months.) Anyway, I found a letter from dad from the beginning of my mission. I remember writing home because I was very frustrated with what I thought were stupid rules and leaders that had strange ways of doing things. I remember getting dad’s letter and that was when I started to do my best to be exactly obedient... and have a good attitude about it. Ever since then I have been very obedient and I am so grateful that I chose to listen to dad and humble myself... even though I occasionally still think some rules are silly and stuff, I have done my best.

We had Christmas conference in Baguio on Friday. It was good. We had some workshops and stuff and then President had the missionaries that are going home tomorrow bear their testimonies. As they spoke, I realized that that was going to be me in 6 short weeks. President then gave a very good little talk. We then watched How to Train Your Dragon 2. I didn't enjoy it that much... I was just reflecting on my mission and everything. I’ve concluded that I have done my best. Sometimes it's frustrating because I have had relatively low numbers of baptisms. But I know that I have done what Heavenly Father wants me to do. I have learned that our success should not be measured based on stats, but on other things like fulfilling our purpose and having the Spirit work through you and working diligently every day no matter what. I am excited for the next six weeks. I am very excited to see all of you and there are a few things I'm looking forward to like a decent shower in clean water and the freedom to wear sunglasses and listen to an iPod, but I am very sad to leave. Oh well, I'll just do my best to not think about it and to give it all I have for the next transfer.

Only Brother MA and an investigator daughter of a less active came to church...that was disappointing.

Wait... the APs just called... I’m transferring! Ah man. Dang! I didn't want to get transferred. I'm going to Bauang. It’s pronounced "ba wang." with the a like "ah." My companion will be transferred too. My new companion will be Sister S. I actually really love Sister S, so I’m glad she'll be my companion. She’s from Hawaii. She goes to BYU. She’s one transfer behind me. I have a good attitude. It will be fun. I have just been on exchanges in their area... their stats are really low... it's a hard area. Most of their investigators are children... oh well. Hopefully we can fix it and get the area moving. Dang,I feel bad, my companion is sitting over here crying because she doesn't want to get transferred. She’s just moving next door. Same apartment, different branch.

Bauang is between Agoo and San Fernando. Wait, I just remembered something awesome.... I'M GOING TO HAVE AIR-CON. That apartment in Bauang is the only one with air conditioning. Yay!!! Bauang is a branch. Anyway, the biggest restaurant in Bauang is a little burger stand I’m pretty sure. But it's close to San Fernando so you can go there on p day. My area apparently has the beach in it. So that's fun.

I got the Christmas packages! I loved them sooo much. Thanks a lot. I haven't opened the presents yet. We have been greatly enjoying the chocolate. I think I’m going to give the nativity set to the H family.

I've been planning all of the things I would like to do if I ever come back to the Philippines for a trip. We wrote a pretty good line up. It sounds like it would be the best vacation ever. Hopefully I’ll be able to come back at some point after my mission...

Ok my time is up. Love you.

 

Beautiful Waterphall and Phast Trip to Manila

Hello family! My apologies for the late email, we went to a waterfall and just got back. It was beautiful! This waterfall place we just went to was probably one of the most beautiful places I’ve ever been. We went with the six of us sisters and we brought a couple members. We rented a jeepney and drove down to Sison. The jeepney driver is included in the renting of the jeepney. Too bad, I would love to drive a jeepney!

There was a beautiful hike to get to it including a super long swinging bridge. It was awesome! Then you climb over all these rocks and whatnot and it is this waterfall thing partly enclosed in a cave with perfectly clear blue water. It was so beautiful. Don’t worry, I took lots of pictures.

The weather is very normal here. We haven't had any effect of the typhoon. I had a pretty eventful week. On Tuesday, I found out that I would have to go to Manila on Friday because they need your fingerprints before you go home. So I had to hurry and get the x-ray of my chest. Good news! Everything checked out.  It freaked me out though that I am going home so soon. The night I found out I had to go to Manila I couldn't sleep. I was very restless. Then the next day I just didn't even want to study. I just wanted to go teach everyone. The next day I dragged my companion everywhere and we taught 9 lessons and found 5 new investigators.

On Thursday night I went to San Fernando. Who was my companion? An elder! Awkward! I went to San Fernando with just one elder. It felt like a date. Then we met up with everyone else going home. There were 6 of us. Then we all got on a bus and drove to Manila.

So then we drove to Manila overnight. At night it took 6 hours to get there, but in the day it takes about 8 hours. We got there at 4:00 in the morning. When we got there we were so hungry and the guy wasn't there to pick us up yet so we walked to a fast food restaurant.... Manila was slightly creepy at 4 in the morning. There were lots of homeless children sleeping on cardboard. Then the guy picked us up and took us to the immigration place. Unfortunately it didn't open till 8. I don't know who planned that. So what did we do? We curled up like hobos outside of the building and slept on the cement until 8. We were at the immigration place for a few hours then we got back on our bus and came home. We got home at 7:30 at night. It was pretty tiring. It was really good to spend some time with Sister A though!

Manila seemed very different from the last time I had been there (first day of being in the Philippines). I think Manila looks awesome now. I wish we could have spent some more time there. They have a ton of giant nice malls and everything we could ever want. We tried so hard to convince our driver to take us to Taco Bell and Krispey Kreme, but he said no because it was out of the way. We were pretty annoyed with him haha.

Then, I have more good news. On Sunday we had 8 investigators at church! Hooray. Brother MA brought his two sisters, a friend, his less-active grandma, and Brother M and Sister R were at church. And even more good news.... Brother M had an interview with President and he cleared him for baptism! So their baptism should be on December 27. They just have to get married first. Weddings here are pretty expensive for people so I hope they can save enough money. Also, Brother MA's sister is really progressing. She is awesome. She accepted a baptism date of January 24 and we moved Brother MA to January 24 too because he isn't ready yet.

Brother MA told us that he is finally ready to give up the Catholic Church. He still really wants to attend simbang gabi though (I don't know what it's called in America--that thing where they go to church at night time before Christmas). But he says that will be his last time...

We teach his grandmother. She lives in the creepy place. It’s really difficult because she only knows Ilocano. We pretty much muddle our way through lessons and usually just make our fellowshipper teach most of the lesson.

We also teach Brother MA's sister and she is doing really well. Sometimes she says things and I’m like "Wow, that's exactly what was in my head," such as: "I think that I will know the truth not from you, you are just like guides. But I think I will know the truth from God through diligent scripture study and prayer." She told us that she is really searching for the truth--searching for a way to be saved. I hope she had a good experience at church yesterday. Our branch is a little crazy sometimes... but good news! We had an attendance of 90 yesterday! It went up by a lot. Hooray!

We have Christmas conference this Friday in Baguio. It should be fun. I’m pretty excited. For our Christmas conference, each missionary makes a photo of 3 words that have meaning to them. When I was trying to think of what to do the only things coming into my mind were things like. "See ya later" "Sister Mortell out" "one month more" but I decided to do "All My Heart." I took a picture of me holding an x-ray up to my chest with a heart.

Other things that happened this week... I saw this giant group of men looking at this giant iguana thing. One of them had just bought it…new pet apparently. So I took a picture of me holding it. It was huge. The scariest thing this week was worrying while Brother M was being interviewed that he wouldn't be able to be baptized. Also, that swinging bridge earlier today was pretty scary. The funniest thing this week was probably in Manila when I saw a guy with his pants fully down tinkling off a bridge. (That might also count for the yuckiest). The most spiritual thing was probably just in our teaching. It is just great to be a missionary and feel the spirit helping us know what to say and seeing the spirit change our investigators.

 

I am almost for sure not going to be in this area for their baptisms. I pretty sure I will get transferred next week. I really wish I could just stay here though. Oh well. People almost always get transferred for their last transfer and after training; the trainer almost always gets transferred. But don't worry, I let President know that I would really love to not be transferred, but if I absolutely have to be transferred I would love to open an area with Sister S. We'll see if he takes my suggestion into consideration. haha

Oh yeah, I got one of my packages when I went to San Fernando. There are 4 packages for me there. They are holding all packages until the Christmas conference. It took some convincing, but I finally persuaded the APs to let me take one. It is the one with the giant bag of bacon. haha we love it. We have been having a hay day with our bacon bits. You’re the best. I hauled that package to Manila (good thing because we were hungry on the bus). Too bad I didn't look in the bottom of it until I got home though, because I had forgotten toilet paper on the trip to Manila. So we just had to make do without. [There was a nice, soft roll of toilet paper in the bottom of the package.]

Sister T says that the transition out of missionary life is hard, but she's doing pretty well. She’s working part time at a hotel. I’m not sure there's much hope I’ll ever see her again.

Love you! Have a wonderful week.

 

Phunny Things, Phlaming Goats and SnowPhlakes

We had a good Thanksgiving feast. It was awesome. We had stuffing, tons of mashed potatoes, gravy, rolls, green bean type of thing, “yams,” and chicken. My yam stuff was a hit. It was delicious. Everyone loved it so much. We also had cake and ice cream and cookies. It was so great. We were all very happy. Sadly, Sister A just emailed and said she spent Thanksgiving with no running water.

Here are some funny little things that happened this week.

1. This week I was on my morning run with Sister M. I look to the side of the road and see a dead goat being blow torched. 100% black. I saw it and screamed and sprinted away. Horrifying! Apparently it's some Igorot dish.

2. One of our returning less active families doesn't have a clock. So, on Saturday night they borrow Sister C’s watch so they know what time to come to church. They made it to church!

3. This week we were teaching someone and there was this really old grandma there. I open my eyes after the closing prayer and find her squatting about a foot away from me. What was she doing? Tinkling.

Our branch attendance is usually about 40 or 50 nowadays (counting 6 missionaries and about 10 investigators). Our branch is struggling quite a bit. There are some really great members though. People are very kind here and I will be sad to leave this branch.

Three of our investigators came to church. One of them hasn't smoked in 5 days so everyone just cross your fingers that it continues. He still needs to get married though. So, hopefully everything works out there.

Well, let me just tell you about our other investigator. He’s quite a handful. We had a great lesson with him on Saturday. It was probably one of the best 5 lessons of my mission. We taught the restoration really well, we had a perfect member present, we were asking him great questions, and the spirit was so strong. It couldn't have gone better. I asked him, "If you have come to know that this is the restored church of Jesus Christ on the earth, why do you then need to join/go along with other churches?" He was quiet for a minute and then said, "That’s it. Because I'm catholic!" We just don't know what to do. He is definitely receiving answers to his prayers but he is refusing to accept it because he is scared to leave the Catholic Church. At the end we all knelt down and prayed and he prayed very sincerely about what he should do and if he should be baptized and stuff and which path was the right path. We all felt the spirit very strongly. Then we asked him now he felt and he said he didn't feel anything. Most of our energy has been going to him lately. Hopefully he just softens his heart a little bit and gains the courage to leave the Catholic Church.

Last week, I think we broke our record of the number of lessons in one week. We were pretty happy about that.

It’s been sad saying goodbye to my missionary friends who are going home. I was so sad when I said good-bye to Sister T. Today, I’m saying good-bye to Sister D [been together since the MTC]. She’s going home this month. Luckily, I’ll see her at BYU.

Also, don't worry I’m not trunky during the week. It’s ok to be a little trunky on Monday because on Tuesday I go right back to working hard and only thinking about the work. Don't worry; we are very focused and productive.

I'm also glad I’m staying that transfer, but I do wish I could be home for Christmas. Oh well. You’ll be happy to know that I have decked out my apartment in snowflakes. I didn't have any paper so I had to use the back of various church talks and whatnot.

I think I might have some major culture shock when I get home. I haven't received travel plans and no one has told me to go get my x-ray yet. I think they forgot about me. I’ll just keep being a missionary here forever apparently.

Before you go home you have to get an x-ray of your chest [to make sure you don't have tuberculosis]. I do already know my stomach is clean though from that one time I had to give a stool test. Worst moment of my life!

Ok, on that note, I’m out of time. haha. Love you! Have a wonderful week! Good luck with everything!

I thought the little man on the caribou should join the nativity crowd.

 



 

Thanksgiving Pheast and Musical Phireside

We are planning to have a Thanksgiving feast. We are going to have a Thanksgiving lunch with the other sisters. On the list is mashed potatoes and gravy, chicken, corn, stuffing (from my package). We were also thinking about doing some sort of yam type of thing because they have this stuff called kamote here and I think it's the same as yams. We don't have an oven, but we do have a toaster oven and a stove, so hopefully we can make it work.

This week I banged my head on a water pump. Yes, it bled. I had this big cut on my forehead. Haha. I looked like Harry Potter. As much as I love Harry Potter, I do not want to be him. Actually... I take that back. I wouldn't mind being Harry Potter.  It is mostly healed now though. I don't think there are any vitamins or anything to put on it in Agoo, so I've been putting sunscreen on it. I don’t think it will scar. Literally everyone asked what happened to me. We were teaching this one lady and then she interrupts in the middle of the lesson and says in English (haha this is the first time anyone has spoken to me in English in Agoo) "What happened to your face?" I explained then she said, "Oh, so it seems you were very what's that called? Clumsy. You were very clumsy at that time." haha.

Yesterday at church I just watched a mom pick the lice out of her kid’s hair for the whole Sacrament meeting. I was afraid one was going to make the leap into my hair.

We had a musical fireside with the other branches on Saturday. The missionaries were in charge. Sister S and I made this nice little arrangement of “Count Your Many Blessings.” We were so proud of ourselves. The second verse was staccato. It sounded so great in the practice. Then we got to the actual performance and apparently everyone thought the staccato was funny. We were standing there in front, like right in front of where the people presiding sit. The stake president had one of the elder’s bottoms in his face, so during the staccato part he just starts to smack it to the beat of the music. Haha, all the elders lost it and our song was destroyed. Things we learned from this experience…Don't Do Staccato in the Philippines!

Our Sacrament meeting attendance was about 30 yesterday and about half of them were missionaries and investigators. I taught gospel principles yesterday... Second coming. It turns out that's a little hard to teach to a giant group of investigators. I’m glad that's not in the missionary lessons. It went well though. Everyone was complaining because the gospel principles class was way bigger than the gospel doctrine class... and we have this big beautiful chapel but it is so empty... really sad. The other branches are doing much better than ours.

Our investigator with the next baptismal date came to church as usual. He is still struggling. He wants to be baptized but is still attached to the Catholic Church. He has been praying to gain a testimony. His concern goes back to apostasy and Christ establishing His church. We’ll work on it. We are trying to not get frustrated with our investigators. We are just going to do some finding so that we can find some people that will actually progress.

When our investigators don’t come to church, they always have an excuse. Excuses, Excuses. Filipinos are the kings of excuses. But there's a motto here that is very true. "kung gusto mo, maraming paraan. kung ayaw mo, maraming dahilan." "If you want something, there's lot of ways. If you don't want it, there's lots of excuses."

Also, I’m not being trunky... but do you think we can make stuffing when I get home? I kind of miss snow. I miss seasons. Do you think there will still be snow when I get home? I also miss being cold. The only time I’ve been cold since being in Agoo was when I randomly got a fever and then took a shower and it was freezing. I've probably gotten sick the most in Agoo compared to my other areas.

Ok, looks like my time is up. I will talk to you next week. Good luck out there! Have a great Thanksgiving! Eat some turkey and stuffing and pumpkin pie for me.

Make sure to bring me a coat and some real shoes to the airport because I’m going to hop off in my crocs and short sleeves. Well, on that trunky note, have a great week! love you!

 

One of our shortcuts

Doing some service in Agoo

 

 

Phood for Thought

I have good news!! Our mission president extended our internet time. We now have 20 more minutes to email! And he made p-day 2 hours longer. Everyone is pretty happy around here.

We came to Baguio for p-day. The big, fancy mall is decked out for Christmas! I just ate a quesadilla and French fries. I plan on buying some peanut butter later. We can buy some things in Agoo. I think my problem is that nothing is really appetizing so I don't buy a lot. For example, when I was assigned in Baguio, my groceries every week usually cost about 800 Philippine pesos [$18.24]. In Agoo they cost about 200 pesos [$4.45].

Yesterday we completely ran out of food. I guess we didn't buy enough food last p-day. We found a cup of noodles for breakfast and I had this weird soup stuff from a packet for lunch... we were so hungry yesterday. Good thing we're in Baguio today so that will not be happening next week! Here is our lunch plan for next week (we have all the Baguio goods to make it happen): sinigang, sopas, (those are both Filipino things), tacos, fajitas, and chicken and mashed potatoes. So things will be ok. :)

We don't really eat dinner. Dinner time is set in our schedule for 9:30. We just have snacks or something if we're hungry. It’s been like that my whole mission. Yesterday I was very hungry and the talks were in Ilocano at church so I couldn't understand, so I thought about where my first meal will be when I come home. Weirdly, Jimmy Johns was the top of my list. I would just like a sandwich. haha.

There are 3 branches in Agoo. They should actually really just combine them together so they can be stronger. Our attendance is only about 40 people. Quite a few people in our branch have to walk to church. I play the piano a lot in my branch.

Here’s the bad news. Our investigator will not be baptized on November 22. He's not ready yet. Now it's set for December 13. This time it is for sure. One of our other investigators really wants to be baptized but he is still just working on some things.

Here are some fun little tidbits. One of our investigators sells ice cream on his bike. He plays songs through the loud speaker thing (like the ice cream man). One of his songs is "I know that my Redeemer Lives" the efy version. haha. It’s the best!  Also, they are building another house next to ours. I looked out there a couple days ago and saw them slit the throat of a duck and then drip its blood onto all the corners of the foundation. It was creepy! Apparently it's a Filipino tradition.

Also, I have been in the Philippines for well over a year now, and I still have culture shock sometimes. We taught this lady last week. Everything was so dirty. There were 5 of them living in this little house thing. The "house" is not even the size of the mudroom and it only has 2 walls made of tarps. The other 2 walls are open. Their pigs next to them have nicer living conditions. It was really sad. Maybe they'll accept the gospel.

Here's a spiritual thought. There is member in our branch who is very active and awesome. She’s a return missionary. In relief society we were talking about being fully converted. She mentioned that there is a difference between being fully active in the church and being fully active in the gospel. I never really thought about it like that before, but she is very right. If we are active in the church but not the gospel, it will get us nowhere. We need to make sure that we are actively applying the principles of the gospel and the Atonement constantly in our lives. Fulfilling our calling and doing our visiting teaching and baking things for the ward party will not benefit us one bit unless our heart is in the right place and unless we are truly converted to the gospel.

I am very sad to leave my mission soon, but the other day I was showering and almost gagging because it smelled so bad and I just thought to myself "hmm... i would enjoy a decent shower." So I’m also excited to come home.

 

 

Pharewells and No Phine!

Is anyone there? Or are you all sleeping? It’s ok if you are, you're probably tired. It’s normal that people forget about missionaries when they've been gone for 15 months.... haha just joking!

Haha, ok. False alarm. I already told Sister D that my family had forgotten about me. I guess I’ll tell her false alarm. [We didn’t forget about her!]

I didn't get transferred, but Sister D [from MTC group] did. We were all so surprised. She’s going home next transfer, so now that I think about it, it might have been hard to be with her when she goes home. I miss her lots though. Other news... Sister T [long time companion in Baguio from Kiribati] and Sister LT [trainer from the Philippines] are both home now. I got to talk to both of them before they left. I’m going to miss Sister T a lot! I love her so much!

This week I taught the young women how to play the piano at their mutual. I also accompanied the primary in their program on Sunday. It went well.... well actually it was a little chaotic, but the kids were so cute so it's all ok. Our recently baptized family was very cute on Sunday... all three of them had a little part in the primary program. They wanted a family because the song was "Family Prayer" so they chose the H family!

Everything is going ok here in Agoo. We experienced some more disappointment with only one investigator coming to church yesterday. We have some serious chastising to do tomorrow. Haha. This week I realized what an easy and carefree life I’ve had. We found out some things about some of our investigators... I’ll probably just tell you some more about that when I get home. One of our investigators who blew us off a few weeks ago called us and we went over and taught her. We had a good lesson with her and she was super emotional and promised to come to church and live the Word of Wisdom and everything. Then, she didn't show up at church. That was pretty heart breaking. So, basically to sum up the week... there are lots of problems with our investigators and whatever but we have been doing our best. So I’m pretty content even though it's hard for me to watch these people not accept the truth. We’re not giving up, we’re working on them. One of our investigators with a baptism date is doing well though.

We have to go to the dentist after this. My companion has a toothache and has to get her tooth pulled because root canals are very expensive here. That’s sad.

Today this angry little man from the barangay got mad at us for putting our trash in a place we weren't supposed to (we didn't know any better). Luckily I convinced him to not give us a 500 peso fine. [about $11.00]

Here’s what I’ve noticed about Christmas in the Philippines. You just have a lot of food-- pansit and spaghetti. Also you go and visit all your friends. People are just popping in each other’s houses giving food and whatnot. There are lots of decorations...made out of who knows what. They can make some pretty cool things out of recycled things like bottles and straws and other trash. Also, the decorations and music start in September. They always say that it’s ok when the "ber" months start.

I feel like the things I say are just the same every week. I’m happy, missionary work is awesome, the gospel is true. That is pretty much the sum of my life. I’m excited to see all of you and to start school but I’m also really sad to stop being a missionary.

Sorry I’m out of time. To quickly answer your questions—

 

I am feeling good, tired, and happy. The weather is hot! The funniest thing this week was the little angry man. The yuckiest thing was the same old usual stuff. The most spiritual thing was when we taught this guy named Brother R. He was having a lot of problems. The spirit was very strong in that lesson. The spirit told me to use a certain scripture and then it turned out it was the perfect scripture for him. It just shows that we should just be instruments for Heavenly Father to help these people.

Love you! Have a good week.

 

 People have skulls of pigs and various animals hanging outside of their houses.

 

 Baguio

 

 Three American MTC Friends.

 

 

 

 

Mom, Don't Phreak Out!

We have been trying to teach the Filipinas in our house the concept of trick or treating. We said "yeah, everyone has free candy for the children except for the occasional grumpy old people that turn out their lights." haha, I’ll just leave it at that. We explained it pretty thoroughly. It involved a demonstration. The only celebration of Halloween I saw here was everyone going to the cemetery, more drunk people than usual, a couple scary masks and everyone puts candles outside of their house. We were having dinner at a member’s house though on Halloween. For a Young Woman activity, they went "trick or treating." It was cute. They dressed up and went to a few members houses who had prepared little treats. Too bad only one young woman showed up. haha So, it was just her and two leaders. Also, the dinner we ate was pretty good…sisig (made of pigs ears). It is supposed to have this uncooked egg on top too but then she looked at me and the other American and realized we probably wouldn't like that so she cooked it.

We had a couple creepy things happen to us this week. Mom, don't freak out. I’m very safe. We were walking out of a lesson one night this week and we were about to go home. Our investigator asked us if we wanted him to walk us out to the highway but we were like “oh, no, we'll be fine! Don’t worry about us." Then we started walking and saw this very small woman. She was way shorter and skinner than Maddy. I accidentally shined my flashlight on her face. Her face was horrifying! Her teeth were black and brown and yellow and her face looked so old, but her body looked like she was about 11. Then she kept talking to us and saying things like "it's late, you should go home." or "Mormons!" so I just thought "oh that’s a pretty creepy looking lady." But I just kept walking normally. Then my companion turns to me and says "she's creepy. Hurry up!" I said "No, she's really small. She can't do anything." My companion starts jogging to get away from the lady. I’m just casually walking. All of a sudden, I hear the lady come at us! She just starts to sprint towards me. So I take off sprinting too and so does my companion. So we just sprint sooo fast out to the highway. Then we couldn't find a trike so we sprinted down the highway a little bit. Luckily we were much faster than her. When we got on a trike we saw her emerge onto the highway and start to look for us. SO CREEPY!

Here's creepy story #2. So, we were trying to find more less-active members in our area. One of the elders told us to go to this place that is technically in their area, but it is very close to our area. Basically, one big family lives there. They are literally all members. There are so many of them that the place is named after their family. It’s like a whole barangay. So we went there and started to look for members. We cross over the bridge into their territory and all of a sudden, everything just felt different. There were soo many people and they were all just staring at us…mostly me! This place is just like this little city. The houses are just built on top of each other. It’s weird because the rest of Agoo isn't like that. So anyway, we taught a few people there. One is actually the grandmother of one of our investigators. Turns out she's a member. Also, she doesn't speak Tagalog so that lesson was rough. There are probably about 100 members over there. Then we met this old guy that seems to kind of be the leader of the colony. He was sooo mad. He told us that all of them got offended because the church wouldn't pay for this operation his son needed on his arm. It’s this whole big giant story. He kept saying, "He is not a child of God. Who could do that! HINDI SIYA ANAK NG DIYOS." He was soo mad and this happened in the 80s. Anyway, we were just very creeped out over there because everyone is scary and it just has an awful feeling. So, we left. Then we mentioned to some investigators that we went there and they were like "Sisters!! You should never go there, especially at night." Turns out this family is well known here for being pretty violent and creepy. They always apparently have wars with each other. Yes, wars! And they fight with machetes. People in Agoo don’t have anything to do with them, and good news! They’re all members!

We were telling the elder that sent us there this story. And he's like "yeah, it's pretty creepy over there. That’s why I just went there once and never went back" ok... so it's too creepy for him so he just sends the sisters in his district. That’s cool....

As far as missionary work, things are going ok. Our investigators have soo many problems. I don't know why. Something that I have always struggled with on my mission is disappointment and rejection. I feel like I have been rejected soo many times whether it be people refusing to listen, people falling away from the church, or people choosing not to accept the gospel even after they have had spiritual experiences and I know that they have a testimony. I discovered that since this had happened so much, I was starting to lose my faith in people. But this transfer I have been trying to restore my faith in people and believe that things will work out. We have been working so hard to get these people baptized. We have been doing everything we can. I was thinking about this a lot and I got a letter from one of my old roommates from BYU last week. She just randomly wrote me and said a lot about how she wishes that on her mission she wouldn't have taken all of that upon herself. Her letter was great! So right now I feel kind of disappointed and really sad for some of these people because I really love them. But I know that I did everything I could, so I’m not disappointed in myself. (That's a quote from Preach My Gospel.)

On the plus side, a former investigator that we started teaching again came to church. Also, we started teaching one of our investigator’s older sister too. She is awesome and has a lot of potential. I’ll let you know how things go.

There was an area broadcast last night from Elder Oaks for the whole Philippines. It was pretty interesting. I’m not really sure if they do things like this for all countries, but it sounds like the church is pretty worried about the Philippines. In my opinion, that’s rightfully so. The Philippines has so many baptisms, but soooo many less actives. Here are some of the highlights of the broadcast-- return missionaries should not go abroad to support their family, don't get in debt; pay your tithing, save money. Don’t just moan about your poverty, get out and get a job. Go to school. Get a part-time job while you’re in school. Fathers should not rely on mothers to be the primary bread winners. Don’t postpone marriage. It was very interesting to me. All of these things are very Filipino. In Filipino culture it’s very normal to be super dependent on those around you. He said that he loves Filipino culture, but when Filipino culture conflicts with the gospel culture, we must change. The gospel culture should be more important in our lives and families than any culture of any country.

Photos from Baguio

 

 

 

Agoo