Week 18 in the Phililppines Loaog Mission

July 4, 2016 

It seems every week is full of emotional turmoil and trials and then there are rays of sunshine and flowers blooming in between the cracks of pavement. I've been thinking about doing some paintings called 'futility' of kids throwing sticks for dogs, and flowers growing in the pavement. It's useless things that don't really add up to anything in the bigger picture, but that are beautiful in their own way. It's not meant to be depressing or anything, it's meant to show that some things are given to us by our Heavenly Father for no other purpose than to make us smile. 

I think that about sums up this week... i'm kidding!

The rainy season is officially here *dun dun DUNN* but that literally just means that it rains everyday at about 3 pm, which is the hottest time of the day so its been WONDERFUL. i swear Filipinos are part duck, when it starts raining they act like it isn't. People are still out walking in the streets, selling buying and basically just your ordinary day- it's just raining as thick as buckets of water. 

So fun story time!! We have mice! Yes, mice, not mouse.  I know that as I killed one and there are still freaking mice. I also found a cool mouse scull under the sink when I was doing some cleaning. I also found a freaking old bottle of booze next to the mouse scull but I was more interested in the scull than the alcohol- which I chucked at. I saw a mouse and was very excited to scare it to follow it to its hidey-hole so I could put poison out to get rid of it but it wouldn't scare... So I smacked it with my shoe. I honestly feel like a murderer, especially since one of my nicknames with one of my best friends is 'mouse.' But they eat my bread and they eat some written letters so i'll keep smacking the mice.... I don't know if that is actually a fun story... anyways....

So another fun story! During District meeting I heard one of the Elders jokingly say that your spouse will spend an hour in the gym for every hour you spend in the rain. So of course when it was time to go out and it was raining cats and dogs we went out! We were walking with our umbrella's at a slant to try to not get rained on in the heavy wind when we bumped into someone. Yes, bumped! Their umbrella hit mine so I stopped so Sister Hermosa bumped into me and we were all wet and laughing. The Lord will literally guide your steps to find the people ready to hear. Later when the wind died down I was able to hold the umbrella upright and found out a fun fact. My umbrella has holes; at every bend of the little metal thingies a hole has been made by constant opening and closing. So it didn't matter where I put my head under the umbrella, the rain would get through the tiny holes and get me right in the eye every time. Talk about walking blind in faith!

The beginning of this week we had Exchanges (where the leaders working the areas of the people they are over) so I got to work in Sarrat with the STL- last week I was in Laoag with the STL's companion so that doesn't count as I have to be evaluated by the STL. It was exhausting and hard but I learned a lot. Mostly I learned not to judge. We had just finished rearranging our schedule to fit the needs of an investigator who couldn't meet with us on any of the days we had scheduled when the STL's called and asked to do Exchanges two days early, so we rearranged our schedules again. Needless to say I was frustrated. I had scheduled and i'm more of a 'go with the flow' sort of person so scheduling is stressful for me. I was mad, but when I worked with the STL I got to see how truly wrong I was for being mad. You never know someone's background, where they are coming from or how they perceive the world. You don't know the trials they may be going through right then or in the past, and I was truly humbled by my STL's faith and diligence. 

Tatay Roman was going to be baptized on the 9th but he began to have doubts, not about the gospel, but about himself. To encourage him we wrote out a two week schedule for him to show how much he had to learn (not much) and we went over the Baptismal Interview Questions with him. I think he was honestly surprised by how well he was prepared. He answered nearly all the questions with confidence and shared insights on a few of them too. His wife, who has sat in on every lesson, was beaming by the end of the mock interview. We invited him to pray to know if he would be ready by the 9th or if he wanted to push it back to the 16th. His prayer was so heartfelt and I nearly started crying during it. It was in the village language ilocono so I couldn't understand a single word, but the spirit doesn't work in words. I was so sure he would be ready by the 9th but he called the next day and asked to postpone his baptism. He wants to sure that he is truly converted to the gospel and I couldn't respect that more. We don't baptize just anyone, we baptize those who have an understanding of the atonement and want to grow closer to God through the atonement and restored gospel of Jesus Christ, that is literally our purpose as missionaries. That is why we interview people before baptism, it's not to make the church or the gospel exclusive, but to ensure that you are prepared and willing to keep the covenants, or promises you make with God. It's rather straight forward really. 

 

I think the best part of this week was that Franklee and Rica CAME BACK FROM PASUQUIN!!! I had literally just given their information to the missionaries in that area and had basically just hoped that the other missionaries would find and teach them since we couldn't from Sarratt, but they are back! and they had days in mind for their wedding and Franklee's baptism! I couldn't be more excited! hopefully we will be able to have them married August 10th and Franklee Baptized the next week. 

So with these two amazing baptism's lined up I'm getting a little paranoid. I will officially finish my training next week (iv'e already finished the actual training booklet last night) and so the missionaries around me keep joking that I will be transferred soon. Every time someone suggests that I feel like clinging o the nearest tree and refusing to let them take me away from Sarrat. I love the people here and I couldn't imagine leaving them. But I'm not the one who decides, the fun thing about being on your mission is you see how very present the Lord is in the dealings of man. He is literally the head of this church and He calls those to act in his place so wherever I am called- whether I get to stay in Sarrat or if i'm moved to the furthest mission it will be the Lord's decision for me so.... yeah. But if I got a say I'd stay in Sarrat. When I first arrived the members said "welcome to outer darkness" or "welcome to the hardest area in the mission" but the branch has grown so much and so many less actives have returned. Last Sunday I had the privilege of taking the sacrament which was passed by a brother who had been less active when I first arrived. Things are brightening up in Sarrat and I know the branch members see it too.

There have been several deaths in the town so it's been an interesting cultural experience to witness the different kinds of funerals. Of course I was not present for the funerals as I don't actually know who died... Apparently they have the tradition of turning their coffins three times counter clockwise and as they lower the coffin into the ground they behead a chicken. No idea why but there you go: culture. They also have a parade for the coffin as it goes to the cemetery . Everybody gets all dressed up and the coffin is put in this horse-drawn carriage and there is a marching band that plays as they go. Quite fun. Also members of the family wear white ribbons around their head and those who traveled from far away wear black to help them travel safely back, so that is a fun superstition. But after the funeral they all cook a bunch of food and play card games or board games and sing karaoke and basically just celebrate the life, not mourn the death. Love that.

Fun Tagalog word "bigkis" big-kiss (literally sounds how its spelled) it means to bond, like to bond a marriage. But anytime I hear the word or read it I just think of Nacho Libre and him signing his letter to Incarnacio with 'big kiss, little kiss, little hug, little kiss...' Speaking of Nacho Libre I met a 80+ year old Nanay yesterday named Incarnacio. I wanted to sing 'the Incarnacio song' for her but I refrained myself. 

So that is my week, mice, baptisms, and rain. Lots of refreshing wonderful cold rain.

From the sister now looking for a new umbrella

 

Sister Eldredge

Week 17 in the Philippines Loaog Mission

June 27, 2016

Sige.

So this week has been incredible. The first few days Sister Hermosa and I stayed in Laoag for the Training and to prepare the cake for President Andrada's birthday. Have I discussed this before? It took me about a month to plan alongside with Sister Andrada, and we had to travel to cook in 'the Mansion' as that missionary apartment actually has an oven. and a microwave. and a shower. and screens on their window. I'm not jealous. nope, not at all... But the oven cooked the cake uneven so there was a lot of stress and cutting off burnt pieces and hoping that there would be a cake left over after I finished cutting all the burnt pieces off!! But in the end the cake turned out great the the AP's gave us a ride to the meeting in their truck so I wouldn't have to try to not ruin the cake on a trycee ride!! 

I also got the opportunity to work in Laoag with Sister Owen, the STL's companion.

(For those of you that don't know the mission is set up like this. The mission president is called of God to serve for three years in a specific area. He then calls Office Elders and AP's -or Assistants to the President- to help in the general running of the mission. There are zones that are governed by ZL or Zone Leaders who report to the AP's how the missionaries in their areas are doing, within every zone there are several districts and the DL or District Leader reports how the missionaries in their portion of the area are doing to the zone leader (which is how he gets his information to send to the AP's) Along with the ZL's there are STL's who take care of all the sisters in the Zone -STL standing for Sister Training Leader- The whole reason why sisters get a separate leader to report to is because of exchanges and just emotional differences between male and female. Exchanges are where two companionships - 4 missionaries- swap companions for 24 hours. This is to evaluate the individual missionary on how they are teaching and to make sure true doctrines are being taught as well as making sure that they are following the rules and such.)

 So that in and of itself was a trip. It was the afternoon after our Quarterly training from President Andrada so we were all pumped. We just went right out and started finding. Find Find Find!! and wow was the spirit strong! We got home rather late so we just ate, updated our records, prayed and passed out. The next morning we realized we had not planned for the day!! We talked about each person we were going to meet and discussed where they were at and how to best help them grow closer to God. That is the end goal, in all honesty. Exchanges was awesome as I finally got to work in a area besides Sarrat! I love Sarrat, but it was nice to just get out of my usual routine and realize what I can do better. You tend to act different around people you know and people you don't know so I was able to evaluate myself and see what I needed to improve on. 

The training was absolutely amazing. We talked about John 21 a lot, and we talked about how as Jesus was on the shore waiting for his apostles to come back so he could tell them off for going fishing again he cooked them breakfast. In all honesty that stood out to me the most. He could have been exasperated with his apostles, after telling them over and over again that they had been called to take care of His fold, not to fish, but he helps them fish, cooks for them, and reminds them of their love for Him. He does not yell and tell them what to do. He simply reminds them that they are so much more than just fishermen. That is the moment that Peter goes from the 'cutting off people's ears' Peter, to the the Peter that people lay in the street just so his shadow can pass over them to be healed. It's not about telling people what do do and them doing it. Its about reminding them of what they can be and letting them. 

That leads onto the next big event: Lorenzo's baptism. People kept coming up to Sister Hermosa and I congratulating us, but I did nothing. I simply talked to him and he converted himself. (kudos to anyone who can catch the quote "I don't want to ____ you, i'm going to talk to you, and you are going to ____ yourself.") Lorenzo is the shyest person I have ever met, but his understanding of the restored gospel is astounding.  Its like 1+1=2. It's a simple fact, everyone knows it. But now relate it to the gospel. Gospel is truth, and truth is unchanging- like facts. Lorenzo sees the gospel as facts. He simply knows. He put in the effort to pray and think about what we taught, applying our teachings to his life, and he knows. Pure and simple. I did not convert him, God extended His hand to His son though us and we were able to teach him despite rain, work, heat, language barriers, and distance. I wish I could truly describe the simple and overwhelming joy last week when he quit smoking, and when he passed his Baptismal Interview. This joy simply fills you up and you feel like dancing (but dancing is bawal- or forbidden) so you simply hum and explode from happiness. Lorenzo was baptized on June 25th 2016, as - I guess- a sort of birthday present for Sawyer! haha! Happy birthday! 

Did I ever stress how important visiting and home teaching is? What you are doing when you do your home/ visiting teaching is making a child of God feel welcome in the social aspect of the church. The Gospel is true, and I have a few investigators who truly know and believe, but cannot get over the social aspect of going to church.

Next we have Tatay Roman, the miracle. Sister Hermosa and I were on splits with some youth from our branch when I got to teach Tatay Roman again. He isn't hiding from us anymore so that is super duper. Sadly though we had to move his baptismal goal date as he needed to meet with us more to finish all the lessons and he has to come to church four Sundays in a row. (I'm not the one who sets up the requirements for baptism, if you have questions ask your local missionaries or simply pray about it.) He was super sad that he had to have his goal date moved but is super amazing and we will be able to meet with him more now!! Can I just say how amazing his wife is? She has been a loyal and active member of the church basically her whole life, she visits with our Recent Convert Nanay Myrna often, and simply radiates love for her family and for her husband. She truly is amazing.

Well that is this week in a nut shell. I'm slowly loosing my English, which is both a good and bad thing. It's good because that means I am finally learning Tagalog, but it sucks as English is kind of a big part of my identity. I'm a writer, it's what I want to do as a career, and If I can't do it well I can't really do it for a living now can I? I'm glad I have the opportunity to write these letters to practice my grammar, check spelling and just keep the language in my head. I'm almost done with my 12 weeks, I'll finish in two weeks! I'm excited to finish my training but I don't feel like much will change besides more proceliting time and less time stuck indoors studying. 

     Well goodbye from the Sister who may or may not forget her native language..

Sister Eldredge.

P.S.

Did I mention that I am a Disney Princess? I MADE A COMIC ABOUT THIS BUT I FORGOT TO ADD IT, MOMMA COULD YOU JUST ADD IT LATER? SORRY A baby bird flew into the apartment and was quite confused on where the sky went and I just walked up to it and it got scared of me so I simply chirped at it and it chirped back and we had a connection. I picked him up and was able to get him back outside. It was quite fun. 

During the training I also got to meet up with my old MTC companions! They are doing great and Sister Rosser is actually serving in the Area where Brother Franklee and Sister Rica just moved to so we were able to help them find them and they will be able to get back in touch with the missionaries!! I'm so excited for them! It was so nice to be able to meet up with my old companions, and I hope that we will be able to be companions again in the field!

DESCRIBING THE BIG OPEN FIELD AND THE PICTURE OF MY HOUSE So the range of housing in Saratt can go from dirt floor and no electricity to three story monster houses with AC. Sister Hermosa and I live in a two story house basically in the center of Sarratt, which is really nice for walking. I love our house, I just wish we had screens to keep the wild critters out. (not that I'm complaining about Baby Cakes, Grumpy Gills and Scardy Pants (the three cats that like to come into our house and make a mess and eat rats) it's more a bug problem. Not to mention the treasure trove of forgotten luggage in the attic. Love that. It's really crazy here in the Philippines, with a shack living next to a three story building.

Week 16 in the Phililppines Loaog Mission

At Our Desks

6/19/2016

     This week has been absolutely nuts...We have literally been run off our feet to meet with everyone, but the good thing is we have officially mapped out the area so we can go and visit people according to area. So one day we will meet with all the people in Brgy 1 and 2 instead of going 1, and walking all the way to 4, then back to 3. Though my leg is doing that weird bumpy muscle thing that runners get from all the walking we do! So that's nice. We have so many investigators who are ready and willing to learn, it's just up to us to try our best to meet with everyone when they are available! Scheduling has become hectic as we try to arrange with their availability, areas, and times. Coming from someone who hates setting up exact schedules and times to be places, this has been a blessing to learn as we become more effective in our teaching. Though a few more missionaries in the area would always help... I'm literally dreaming about it, it's quite funny, though of course the new missionaries that we got in my dream had the ability to fly and only met with our newer investigators as i'm selfish and don't want to share my investigators... so we will see. In the meantime I am loving all the exercising i'm getting, but I wish we had more missionaries, especially if they lived in the further brgys! 

     My areas basically are the central town and then this one brgy that is closer to the next town than to Sarrat! Many of the people there are poor and do not have the money to come to church every week, in fact most of the people there are less actives or past investigators! There are so many amazing people up there that need and want the gospel, but simply don't have the means to get to town. Sister Gladys, a less active, recently lost her brother, who was in his late 20s. He worked as a police officer and was killed on duty, its been really hard for her and her family, and we have tried our best to visit often and she wants to come to church but her father will not allow her unless she has someone to go with. We have been meeting with other Less Actives and previous investigators to try and set up a carpool to help them, so we will see how that goes. If we had missionaries who lived up there they would he better qualified to help and visit with these people, as it's hard to meet with them more than once a week!

     We officially have a baptism coming up! Two, in fact! Sister Judette, who has been taught by the Elders, and Lorenzo!! Lorenzo is our 18 year old investigator who reminds me of Gabe. He has officially been able to overcome his addiction to cigarettes in an amazing amount of time. A few weeks ago we suggested he wean himself off them by lessening the amount every week (ex: 3 the first week two the next, then one and then the next week he would never smoke again.) We suggested he start at 4 a week and then he would be ready by July 2 but he insisted he would be ready by the 25th, and he is!! I wish I could describe the joy I felt when he told us he had refused the opportunity to smoke twice and only smoked once after we gave him the challenge and that he hasn't smoked since. He is truly amazing and the look on his face when he told us was simply amazing. 

     Our other progressing investigator is Tatay Roman. (He is the brother who experienced the miracle- where he was hospitalized due to excessive drinking and has fully recovered and quit drinking cold turkey) He has ben struggling these last few weeks as he has had to work and missed church last week. It hurt him to miss and I know he was feeling bad, but we will keep working with him and help him to know that he is so close and what a miracle he is. His family (all members) are truly supportive and they have begun to have family prayer! It will be too bad that he cannot be baptized this Saturday- especially since Sister Bagalay will be returning this week on vacation- but he will be ready soon so long as we can fix our schedules.

     Sadly Franklee and Rica are still MIA. Theyve spent the last three weeks in Pasuquin taking care of brother Franklee's sick mother, and we have not been able to get in contact with them. We may have to transfer their information to the Pasuquin missionaries, and as much as that pains me its more about helping them progress than what I want. It doesn't matter who marries them or who baptizes Brother Fraklee, just so long as they are truly converted and get the blessing of the Holy Ghost through baptism and confirmation.  That is all that matters. *cries*

     This week we got to go on splits with members! Last week we did mostly contacting and finding but this week we did actual sit-down lessons! We are reteaching a less active sister, Sister Marielle who is a senior in high school. (In the Philippines that means she is 16, as they have less school years but they just changed it to be K-12 so there are a lot of people who are having to adjust to that.) She was a referral from the sister we went tracting with last week and she is amazing! I honestly don't feel like we are teaching much, she has such a strong testimony and she knows and remembers all the doctrines. It's a great joy to be able to 'teach' her. 

     I think that the main reason most of the less actives in our area are less active is due to the 0% visiting and home teaching. (visiting and home teaching is a calling you recieve in the church. You dont get paid, but your 'job' is to go at least once a month to the people you have been assigned and share a gospel message. But really its a call to freidship. Two sisters from the ward/ branch do Visiting Teaching to individual sisters in their ward or baranch, and Home Teaching is done by two brothers who meet and teach familes as a whole.)  If you are truly doing your home teaching and visiting teaching you create a relationship with those you have been called to serve. If you are truly serving and getting to know them you can't help but love them.

    I am litteraly looking for excuses to buy ice cream here, and while there may be no bluebell there is still ice cream. This week my excuse has been a bet. While Sister Hermosa and I were walking back from one of our further brgys we saw the moon. It was about half full so you couldn't tell if it would get bigger or smaller. I told Sister Hermosa that if the moon got smaller within the next few days then she would have to buy me ice cream. She said the same, but if it got bigger. Needless to say I lost the bet as I think it was Sunday night it was a full moon. But who cares, because now we get ice cream! It's fun. 

     Speaking of fun... Lorenzo lives in this cool house back behind a pasture and as we were walking back to the road we saw a group of his friends who were heading to his house. We waived and said hello, and as we did so I stepped right in the middle of a cow pie. Just let that sink in... and it was not a solid step in step out, it was a step and slip. I'm honestly lucky I didn't fall flat on my back! I was wearing these shoes I bought specifically for the rainy season so they are basically just a woven string of plastic with plenty of holes to make a way for the water to drain out... but that also leaves plenty of room to let poop in... needless to say I was disgusted. The rest of the walk home I did my best to step in every single puddle I could to try and rinse it off before we got to the apartment. Fun stuff, cool story. I should tell it at parties. hahaha!

Love you all!!

Week 15 in the Phillipines Loaog Mission

So! IT'S BEEN A LONG DAY OF EMOTIONAL TURMOIL AND DINOSAUR FIGHTS!   I'm kidding! That's just a quote (to the best of my memory) from Meet the Robinsons. So first things first, we did not get as much work done this week due to two things: 

     1) bad timing

     2) Illness (ours and our investigators)

     So let's cover #2 first. Yes, I'm fine. No I don't need anyone to come get me. I just have low RBC (red blood cell count) so I just have to eat a lot of green leafy foods ("yay... salad" I say sarcastically) and drink my body weight in water. so that is always fun..... but the worst part is that our progressing Investigator, Brother Franklee hasn't been able to come to church the last three weeks because he has been in Pasuquin taking care of his sick mother! Sister Hermosa and I have sent them the address to the church house in Pasuquin so that they can attend but we are unsure if they have attended or not since neither of them have load. (A "load" here in the Philippines is what they call if their phone is registered. You register  or reload, your phone once a month.) So we can text them, since you pay for outgoing texts, but they cannot respond or receive calls. So lots of prayers there.

     So every time we go to meet with our investigator JayR we wither had just missed him, he had been gone for a while, or he was in the process of leaving. His work schedule is super missed up but we hope to be able to fix it this upcoming week. He thought he would be free in the mornings but his schedule got all mixed up and he isn't even sure when he is free! Eventually his schedule will be fixed and the Lord will bless us to be able to meet with him! Sunday his sister remarked that we had the worst timing and I couldn't help but agree! This also extends to other investigators. Here in the Philippines you don't ask if you can come by a specific time, you just ask if morning or afternoon works better and just try your best to be there when they are. So we will keep trying and praying for better timing!

     Last week I had the opportunity to have lunch with President/ Elder Tan from Manila who is the Branch President in Bangui. According to him the apartment we are living in used to be haunted!!!! You can imagine my excitement! So of course as soon as we found some free time we went upstairs (where we never go because it is soooo hot) and into the attic. There we found old trunks and suitcases full of super old blankets, clothes and coins. (Don't worry we put everything back where we found it, folded just as it was.) The coins dated from 1942-1973 and had both the American and Filipino emblems on them! I was doing a happy dance when Sister Hermosa opened the first trunk. This is because it took me a good 20 minutes trying all the keys on the key ring we found in all the locks. Turns out they were unlocked. So after I literally sweated over trying to open them Sister Hermosa just leaned over and opened them. Pretty crazy. 

     There have been some storms here but luckily no flooding. Its been strange. I honestly have only seen the sun twice this week due to cloud coverage and rain but as soon as the sun came back I was excited to see it go. Its incredible, without the sun the weather here is actually rather cold- especially at night- but its much more pleasant to walk around in than in the sweltering heat! Also, fun fact, Sisters are allowed to wear PANTS during the rainy season. Did I emphasize that enough? PANTS, ladies and gentlemen. I nearly cried for joy. Obviously they will be suit slacks and all that, but any pants are better than no pants, right? If you don't know I am not the 'girlie' type. I much prefer pants over skirts (as you can see by my excitement) and honestly the biggest trial when I was preparing to come on my mission was the thought that I would have to say goodbye to my precious pants. So pants are back! *Excitement galore*

     This morning we had the opportunity to go with the Zone Leaders to the Dragon Fruit farm to scout it out for the upcoming Zone activity. They have a bunch of fiberglass creatures and animals throughout the farm as well as a few pools that since we are missionaries are bawal, or forbidden. Ever time I say bawal I think of the scene in Naco Libre where the priest says "It is forbidden!" When they find out Nacho is a wrestler. Anyways we also went to the oldest building in Sarrat, which just happens to also be the Catholic church. This building is crazy old and is simply full of history. We didn't go when they were giving tours but our branch president, President Zabala gave us a quick tour around the grounds. I would love to come back to these ruins later to take fancy-smancie pictures later! 

     I've been growing a lot in the language and I'm beginning to believe my trainer when she says that I'll be fluent by the end of this cycle, which is a comfort to me. Its always fun to see the expression on some peoples faces when they realize I speak Tagalog. 

Love, Sister Eldredge

Week 14 in the Phillilpines Laoag Mission

ATTACHED VIDEO IS ME EATING BALUT, A BOILED FERTILIZED DUCK EGG. (Didn't attach the video in the blog, but still thought I'd let you know what we do for fun here.)

Hello po! Kamusta po kayo? (Hello, how are you?)

     This week has been interesting to say the least. I had to say goodbye to my first trainer, Sister Bagalay, and hello to my followup trainer Sister Hermosa. The work was been hard this week, as we adjust to working with each other and discovering how well we know the area. Luckily we have not gotten lost yet but there have been some meandering paths. 

     Sister Hermosa is an English Teacher for Koreans. She decided on that career to help her overcome her fear of speaking, and I truly admire her for her courage. She has a sweet soul and a caring heart, we get along quite well. We have similar interests, ranging from drawing, similar movie tastes and general outlook on life. Sister Hermosa likes to say that I will be fluent by next cycle (By the end of this 6 weeks) so we will just have to see how well I keep speaking my language. I'm honestly surprised by how much I know, since Sister Hermosa is soft spoken I have been talking more in the lessons and just in life in general. I have been improving, but I feel like it's more me trusting in the Lord and less me actually knowing the language! The Lord truly can do wonders once we show our trust in Him!

     Fun language fact, in Illocono (the village language here) Apo Diyos |(meaning 'our God') is pronounced 'ah-po d-yo-s' or "apple juice." That's basically the only work I know in Illocono so it'll sound like gibberish with the word apple juice mixed in every now and then. At first it really threw me off hearing apple juice over and over.

     This week, while we were meeting with our Investigator Lorenzo we realized that we had written the scripture wrong! The scripture we had written down didn't exist! Luckily we had prepared and were able to find a different scripture that fit his needs.  It was quiet funny as we just sat there in shock that we had both written the scripture wrong!

     It's fun teaching lessons, and I'm learning new ways to teach, as well as teaching Sister Hermosa the acronyms I've learned like SAKIT. (tagalog for sickness) 

S-sigarilio (ciggarets) sig-are-rill-lee-oh

A-alak (alcohol) a-lack

K- kape (coffee) ka- pay

I- Illigal na druga (illigal drugs) illigal, na droh-ga

T- tsaa (tea) cha-ah

     Patience is going through trials with a cheerful attitude and trust in God. Patience has been my biggest trial this week, mostly with myself. Apparently I have a low red blood cell count and that coupled with not eating enough green leafy veggies (I have been eating veggies just not green leafy ones because I'm not good friends with salad) has led to me being quite sick this week. Luckily we have some amazing Elders in our area and I was able to receive a blessing of healing. In the blessing I was told that I would be healed. The next day I felt better, I wasn't sick, but i still felt weak. By the afternoon I got sick of being sick and decided that if I was going to get better I needed to go and do the Lord's work. Trusting in the Lord and in the blessing I received made it so I would teach, go to church, and now- Monday- I feel one hundred percent better. I'm truly blessed to be apart of this gospel and to have the true power of God (the priesthood authority by which I was blessed) to bless and guide me in my life.

     This Sunday we had 71 members present, which is more than any other Sunday last year! Its exciting to see the ward strengthening and progressing. We are blessed to see many less active members  become fully active again and to see some investigators progressing in their faith. An example of this growing faith is Tatay Leonardo. (tatay meaning a respectful name for an older male) The first time we met with him he was struggling in his faith and in keeping the commitments he had made at his baptism back in the 90's. This week when Sister Hermosa and I visited him we saw him in the window of his house and he was reading the Book of Mormon! It made me so happy to see that he was reading on his own, despite how hard it is for him to see. 

     This upcoming Thursday- our Zone conference- is our Zone leader's birthday so we are trying to sneakily set up a quick party for him. The STL's, Sister Hermosa, and I are splitting the fare for a cake and our district leader (our district is us, the DL, his companion and the two  ZLs)

     All and all it was a hard week, for me personally, but I have grown so much and will continue to grow, as will this area.

Week 13 in the Phillipines Laoag Mission

So where to begin...

First with the funny stuff!! So I like to imitate sounds (which comes in really handy as I try to learn this language) but usually I replicate animal sounds. So Sister Bagalay and I were walking to an appointment and there was a goat tied to a rock. It was bleating and making a lot of noise so I responded with my own goat noise and the goat stopped bleating and turned and stared at me with its mouth hanging open. It looked so shocked to hear me respond! It was really funny because maybe the goat was saying "I'm lonely where is everyone?" in goat language and i accidentally offended it by saying something in goat language about its mother or something. Hahahah

This week has been a complete and total roller-coaster. This was my last week with Sister Bagalay, as she is going home, and it's been rather emotional. I know I have not talked much about her in my previous updates but I honestly feel like I've know her my whole life and its hard to see her go. 

   

     Sadly we did not have the baptism or the marriage of Brother Franklee this week as we had hoped. Our Branch President (who I love working with) was called out of town for work and the Branch President of Pasukin who was going to perform the marriage was also called out for work and we had to postpone the wedding. When we first heard about it Sister Bagalay an I were in a District Meeting so we asked our District Leader and Zone leaders (that is all who we have in our district, the DL and the ZL, their companions, and us) and we were all stumped. So after a LOT of praying and pleading to the Lord we went over to tell Franklee and Rica. They were super understanding and were real troopers. I know Franklee was really upset, his face looked like when we had to move his baptism. He was absolutely devastated, but he knows how much we care for him and he knows that this is the right path for him and his family. He is truly amazing. 

     Sister Rica is currently having second thoughts about the marriage. She loves Brother Franklee but is scared by the statistics of divorce. We have been praying for her that she may be comforted. 

     Sadly I am an extremely forgetful person So i am currently looking for my camera. I'm 99% sure I left it at the Mission Office as we had a "trainer and trainee reunion" this week so I'll send pictures later. Sorry....

     The "Trainer and Trainee Reunion" was awesome. I got to see my MTC companions Sister Rosser and Sister Banham and they have been learning and growing and staying strong. We all struggle and there is always something to learn from your trials. That applies to everyone. God doesn't give busy work, every person we meet, every trial or experience we gain is for our betterment. I would not be who I am today if life was just an easy thing. Trials make you stronger if you let them. Otherwise they can destroy you. Be as strong as God knows you are and you can overcome anything.

    We had the blessing of receiving a referral from the branch and Sister Bagalay and I went to teach this Tatay (respectful name for an older male) who had stopped investigating the church. It's been five years and he has never stopped praying and reading from the Book of Mormon. He knows it is true and he loves the gospel, but he had some bad experiences in the past with members. We extended to him a baptismal date and he accepted. He is positively golden, we just need to help him see that while the gospel and this church is perfect it is run by imperfect people.  Sometimes people reach out and are trying to help but they may say something wrong and it may offend. But, isn't that how normal life is? I can say "Wow! your hair!" and depending on the way I say it (the inflections of my voice) it can either mean that I think that person's hair looks amazing or that it looks awful. I may mean to say 'wow i really like your hair!' but it comes out wrong and someone is offended. So here is my advice to you: don't be offended. Nobody is perfect, so if you are offended by something someone says- especially concerning religion- know that they probably don't mean to offend. In this brother's case the member was trying to encourage him towards baptism but the message was taken the wrong way. Just be Christlike in all you say and do.

     Also, miracles of miracles. The Tatay that received a blessing for health last week (was that last week? It was after the funeral service that Sister Bagalay and I participated in) Sister Bagalay and I were present for has started to take the lessons! He is married to a member and his oldest son has served a mission her in the Philippines. His family is partially active and they are the absolute best. When Sister Bagalay extended the baptismal invitation to him he asked if we could move the baptism sooner! He was hospitalized because his liver was giving up due to his drinking but after the blessing he has been healed and he has absolutely no desire to drink! The Lord has truly done a miracle here and I an so blessed to be a part of it.

 That basically sums up the whole week, really. I don't think I have ever been so stressed in my life. Satan's presence is real and he is doing EVERYTHING he can to stop the progress here in Sarrat. Pero, (but) where there is great opposition there is even greater potential. I want to be able to see Sarrat turn into a ward, and I know we can. This week Sister Bagalay and I have officially reactivated two brothers worthy of the Melchezedic Priesthood and a young man who will prepare himself to receive the Aaronic priesthood as he is 12. We will be getting Franklee and eventually Lorenzo will also be able to be baptized within these next few weeks and I know that the Spirit is strong here in Sarrat. I know we can and have done miracles.

Week 12 in the Philippines Laoag Mission

May 23, 2016  

This week was... something. It feels like there was something going on every day this week! Last Monday was P-day and paying for the electric bill. Tuesday we did our best to find people in brgy #6 but everybody was "busy busy" so we mostly did member training. Then our Investigators Franklee and Rica asked us to accompany them to the political office of Sarrat to help them process their marriage papers! That was a very fun experience, and they are just waiting for the papers to process and that should finish this upcoming week! 

   We then had the opportunity to serve at a funeral service.  Sister Bagalay gave a talk on the Plan of Salvation and I was asked to sing.  After the service we went with the Zone Leaders who gave a blessing to a brother in our branch who was at the hospital sick.  

      Wednesday was pretty hectic and terrifying. We had exchanges with the STLs (Sister Training Leaders) and I was in charge of the area of Sarrat- which means that I was the one telling Sister Gabut where we were going, who we were going to see and how to get there. It was terrifying. 

     We luckily, only got lost for one hour and it was raining the whole time. That in and of itself is a funny story. Poor Sister Gabut was very patient with me while I dragged her all around Sarrat, and then it turned out I was right at my first guess. We were literally just wandering in circles and I think I know Sarrat a bit better from that experience.

Sister Gabut & Me

     By the time we finally found the investigators house it turns out he had left for Laoag to find work and so instead of teaching JayR, his sister and his father (who only speaks Ilocono) we just taught Benelyne (JayR's sister) but that lesson was wonderful. We also taught a lesson to our Recent Convert Mary Rose, but she was too shy to get anything out of the lesson as she didn't know sister Gabut. Then we went to teach our 18 year old investigator Brother Lorenzo, who originally had a baptismal date for next week. (Please continue to pray for him that he may be able to quit smoking.) We usually teach him and his friends but his friends were too shy and so we just taught him.We then taught a really powerful lesosn with our Investigator Sister Maan, we were also planning on having dinner at a member's home but received a text to come by the next day.

     It was a little frustrating because Sarrat has a reputation for being a hard area and I wanted to show sister Gabut that Sarrat really is amazing and that we have amazing investigators and a few supportive member families. I'm very grateful for the lessons we were able to teach and the powerful spirit that was there. I know Sister Gabut felt it too.

     On Thursday we had an incredible member training with the Ver family where we did Role Playing on how to fellowship the less actives, recent Converts, and Investigators. I honestly almost cried when I saw how enthusiastic they were about building trust with these people and making them feel loved.

    Friday, Saturday, and Sunday went by in a blur with some amazing lessons and the opportunity to participate in the All Woman's Broadcast, and Stake conference. This week has been hard as Sister Bagaly and myself have been on and off again sick. We are on the mend and are feeling fine now, so no worries! We have been blessed that even if we are not feeling well to be able to go out and serve the Lord and have the strength to do so. Saturday after the conference Presidant Andrada, my mission president, approached me and told me that he loved reading my weekly letter every week as I always make him laugh. That made me very happy. He said that he loves to read my letter first so he can get a good laugh out of it.

     So funny story for the week: we were out teaching and since one of our investigators was busy we decided to do some finding. We were in the middle of a lesson when lightning struck. It was really really loud and rather close to where we were. We all jumped up right out of our seats! It was funny because we all reacted the exact same way.

     Another funny story is here in the Philippines it doesn't rain cats and dogs. It rains mangoes! Sister Bagaly and I were walking down the street and a mango fell right on top of my umbrella! Scared me so bad, it was really funny!

    Every time I am invited to introduce myself I always turn into Incarnacio from the movie, "Nacho Libre":

     "My favorite color is light tan. My favorite animal is puppies, playing volleyball... I like serving the lord." 

As soon as I figure out how to say that in Tagalog I'm going to say that every time. 

    Fun culture fact: spaghetti. Spaghetti is the prime ribs of the Philippines. If it's a special occasion its spaghetti, which you can also get at McDonald and basically any fast-food restaurant. Its strange.

"Pinakamakapangyarihang" (don't ask me how to pronounce it I can't, yet.) it means Almighty.

"ing-ing" means the sound of a violin.