Miracle in Hardship

11-21-16 (Monday)

Today we had an FHE with a recent convert family at Elder and Sister Jensen’s house. And boy was that a great experience. (: For our lesson we just read Alma 7:11-12 and bore our testimonies. But as all the other Sisters were bearing their testimonies about the Atonement of Jesus Christ it just hit me how incredibly important families are to God. Everything Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ do for us are for us to have an eternal family. Obviously the most central part of God’s plan is the Atonement. But I truly believe the most central part of the Atonement is eternal families. I better not mess up when I pick my husband. (:

11-22-16 (Tuesday)

Happy Birthday my Dearest Abigail. ;D I don’t know if it was a coincidence or not that the best day of my life was on Abby’s [Nelson] birthday, but I think Abby is my new lucky Lenny. ;D

Rizza and Maryann

Anyway.. This morning during personal study I wanted so badly to sleep, my eyelids were so heavy! And I straight up had a mini angel-devil battle on my shoulders kind of experience. (; I was like “it’s okay to sleep now, you used to fall asleep during studies all the time.” “No! You can make it 20 more minutes! Do it for the miracles!” 5 minutes later.. “Just sleep now so you won’t need to nap at lunch time.” “No! You set a goal not to sleep at lunch time anymore anyways! Magaral pa more! Kaya mo iyan!” [Learn more, more! You can do it!] And I am proud to say I did not heed to the temptations of my mini shoulder devil. (; (AND! I didn’t sleep at lunch either! SUCCESS! :D)

But after studies, while Sister Buna Cruz was getting ready to go out to work, the sleepiness hit me again. So once we finally left the apartment I didn’t want to talk to anyone. I did not feel like OYMing at all! But as we were walking down the street I saw a lady sweeping the leaves in her yard and luckily I saw an opportunity and took it. She wouldn’t let me help her, but it sure helped me. Ever since I finally opened my mouth I was on fire! I talked to everyone. (:

But the most exciting thing I have to say about today is that I am already seeing miracles in the work here AND my life. (: The first miracle is the referral our Branch President texted us this morning. President Bautista was like “can you go visit him today at 1:00?” Uhh. Heck yes! So we go out to work and eventually went to go find our referral, Arnold. And he lives in a barangay [neighborhood] that even Sister Buna Cruz has never been to so let’s just say… OYMs were a total score there!

But after we finally found A.. Let’s just say he is what we call elect! Oh my word, I wanted to see him baptized right then and there! The Spirit.. man, his heart is wide open. I have no doubt he will be baptized one day soon. (:  The best part was that we were literally able to answer all his questions in order with Lesson 1. He’d ask about prophets right as we were getting ready to talk about prophets. Then ‘why we have so many churches’ right before we talk about the Great Apostasy. It was just crazy to see the Spirit working through ALL of us. (:

Then… because I have been doing my best to show Christ I am truly focused and here to work, I have felt the Spirit in my life a lot more and a lot more powerful. And I am here to tell you.. when we have the Spirit in this great of abundance.. The gift of tongues is real. I was able to almost understand perfectly all of R’s stories. I didn’t understand or know every word, but I truly was able to understand her struggles, desires, and even random stories. BOOM panes! ;D Life is 100% when you give 100% of your effort to the Lord. (:

11-23-16 (Wednesday)

All kinds of stuff happened today but I’ll talk about our experiences with R today. This morning we went to go help her do the laundry so she would have time to go to the church for her interview. So as we were all doing the laundry and washing the dishes, the supply manager, Elder Pawasa called and told us he was at our apartment to fix things. So we had to hurry up with the laundry to get back home before we were able to teach R. So.. we just told her her baptismal interview will be tomorrow. Then later in the evening we went to go teach her and fill out her BCR [Baptism and Confirmation Record] and have her husband sign that it’s okay R will be baptized. And while we were visiting and teaching she kept talking about how happy it made R’s mom that we came to help R with her house chores. I don’t know.. But I believe that service will one day open R’s mom’s heart and door to hear the gospel of Jesus Christ. (:

For Bubby

Now.. Fast forward an hour or so.. R’s husband will not sign the “permission slip”. Ouch. I thought we were friends, R2. R, Sister Buna Cruz, and I were all completely heart broken. Like R was border line mad that we told her she can’t be baptized till her husband signs the paper. But as heart breaking as this is.. I still have a lot of hope.

But most of all, I feel just fine because I know I have done everything I can. Just because R2 is being a brat doesn’t mean I haven’t fulfilled my purpose as a missionary when it comes to R. But once again.. the desire to be exactly obedient is insane. I will do everything I can to help R accomplish desires. Obedience brings blessings. But I need miracles so.. That’s why I need to be exactly obedient.

11-24-16 (Thursday)

The closest thing I had to turkey on this Thanksgiving Day was a chicken sandwich from McDo… [McDonald’s] Kill me. (;

Anyway… Sister Buna Cruz and I went and talked to R2 today while he was at work. It worked out good. He opened up a bit and actually listened to what we had to say. He still hasn’t signed the “permission slip”, but I think he will sometime soon.

I just told him that him and R need to actually talk and try to understand each other in order to fix the tension in their relationship. I sure hope when we go to check on R tomorrow things will be better.

But on a brighter note, we were finally able to see J for the first time in a while since she’s always busy at work, and she’s still living the Word of Wisdom! :D So her, J2, AND J3 are still good to go for their baptism on December 10^th! :D Man, life is good. I’m truly seeing the miracles in my life now. I think they’ve always been there though.. I’m just now learning to recognize them. (:

11-25-16 (Friday)

Today was AWESOME! It was just one of those days where the plan for the day was actually successful. Like.. we didn’t get punted very often, but when we did we weren’t let down by our back up plan. (; Honestly it was just a good fun day. There’s nothing better than actually spending the whole day teaching instead of walking around saying “well, where do we go now?”

We did get to visit with R today and she told us she said sorry to R2 and that they talked and she thinks they’re better now. He still hasn’t signed the paper, but it looks like he might here pretty soon. Sana.. [should] (; But the miracle I believe I saw today was with one of our hardships.

So! Yesterday while we were visiting with R2 trying to get him to be okay with R being baptized, we met his friend J4. Now.. J4 is one of the most genuine and sweet men I have ever met. He was so cute! As we were talking I asked him about his family and he has a 7-year old, 4-year old, and a 1-year old. And he is actually married to his wife! So I was just super giddy as I was talking to him about his cute family. Then a little later while we were talking to R2 some more, J4 comes back to introduce me to his kids. And freak.. Ang cute cute nila! [They are cute, cute!] (: So of course after we were done talking with R2 we went to say goodbye to J4 because he lives in the same building that R2 works. And as we were saying goodbye we asked him if the Elders over their area could come visit them; and he said yes so we texted Elder Presenta and Elder Tindoe to give them J4's information.

So fast forward to today.. Elder Presenta and Elder Tindoe texted to tell us they were able to contact J4 and that he is just awesome. So.. I guess the strange miracle I see in my hardship is the possible reason why we have to post pone R’s baptism. Maybe Heavenly Father made it so we would have to go talk to R2 at work so that we could find J4 and his cute family. AND! If things continue to go great with J4.. That could possibly really help R2 listen to us with an open heart because one of his buddies is coming unto Christ along with R.. I don’t know.. I just have a lot of hope for this situation. (:

11-26-16 (Saturday)

Today was great and all but I really don’t have much to say. We did meet/find Tatay A though. Honestly I just felt so much love for him the moment we started talking. Him and his wife are separated and all 5 of his kids live in Manilla. I asked him if his kids ever call him and he said no, “They could care less if I was dead or alive.” Needless to say he is a very lonely and depressed 62 year old man. But man.. As we were testifying about God’s love for him I just truly felt what I would consider Godlike love for Tatay.  But for real.. we should never feel alone. Ever. Our Father in Heaven AND Jesus Christ are ALWAYS there for us. I told Tatay that when he’s lonely he should just talk to God. I shared with him how I was struggling while in my training and that I was constantly praying and just talking/venting to Heavenly Father. I think he thought I was a little weird, but whatever! That was something that really helped me draw closer to God and find comfort when I felt really lonely.

Aaand.. Sister Deyro [Mission President’s wife] told me I have to get a chest x-ray on Monday because I’ve had my cough for over a month and still isn’t getting better after two different kinds of prescriptions. [prescriptions were for an antibiotic and a decongestant]   Weird.. I never in a million years would have thought or guessed I would need to go to the doctor for a cough let alone get an x-ray! ;D Especially because I am in no pain.. But I guess as weird as this all is, it is a bit concerning that my silly cough isn’t going away.

11-27-16 (Sunday)

I like Sundays, I really do. It’s just nice to sit down and actually listen to someone teach ME about the gospel instead of the other way around. (; The STLs [Sister Training Leaders] also came over tonight to come to our District meeting tomorrow and they brought me a pouch from Sister L! AHH! That just made my whole life! That really made me miss her a lot. I guess she’s still having problems with always getting in trouble with the police because people keep trying to take her property. Gahh! She doesn’t deserve this! I really hope I can see her again before I go home. [Sister L was one of Sister Fivas’ first baptisms in her first area in Aguilar]. 

Questions:

What are most people afraid of in the Philippines? Ghosts and dogs. Dogs? Are they wild? Uhh.. I'm not sure. I'm sure a lot of them are though. Like.. There's always dogs and chickens running around the streets just living life. 

What options do they have for vocational or college education? I believe it's similar to what we have in America.. Just.. Not as good. (;

Describe your apartment. Uhh.. It's an apartment complex so it's on the second floor. It has one room and a big open space for our study desks and kitchen table. This kitchen is also in the same big space which consists of a sink. Haha. We do have a camping stove top thing we use to cook. There's also a bathroom and a little room to wash your laundry. 

Mission Conference with Elder Quentin L. Cook

11-15-16 (Tuesday)

Missionary Council Meeting
 with the Hundred Islands Branch. (:

Today the STLs told us to go on exchanges with our kabahay [room mates]. So this morning sister Alversado was my companion and after lunch until tomorrow Sister Reyes is my companion. I liked being with Sister Reyes because she treated me just like a friend.

11-17-16 (Thursday)

This morning we had to wake up early so we could get to Urdaneta on time for our big Urdaneta Mission Conference with Elder Quinten L. Cook. (: Yeah.. I don’t want to brag or anything but I got to shake an Apostle’s hand. (; But honestly today was great! I got to see ALL my friends, since the whole mission came together. Like Sister Miller.. Freak, I miss her. And my two anak [sisters], Sister Diaz and Sister Alpino! And all the Elders that were in my District in the MTC! And let’s just say Elder Budge will be my favorite person forever.

It was just so good to be around my friends again. OH! AND! I saw Sister Tanielu and she told me the D Family got baptized! YAAASSSS! I couldn’t be happier. Even though R and T weren’t baptized with the rest of the family because they’ve been in San Carlos.. they’ll be baptized in December and that’ll just be the best day ever. (:

But anyway… during most of the Mission Conference people shared examples of miracles that people were able to see on their mission and/or because they opened their mouth; and man.. I will do ANYTHING to see miracles, like the people in their stories, in my own life. I promise you all, and myself, that I will do everything I can to be the type of servant that sees miraculous miracles regularly in my efforts to do the Lord’s work. I will be myself while doing my all- time best to confidently do and understand the promptings of the Holy Ghost. Being a robot isn’t going to open doors or people’s hearts. But a sincerely loving, and goofy 20-year old girl is just what at least one person here in 100 Islands needs, and I will do everything I can to find them. (: #baptizepamore (:

It's been my dream to get a picture like this because
it straight up reminds me of Mulan. (; 

11-18-16 (Friday)

Today I did everything I could to be worthy to receive and see miracles in my work AND respect the agency of others and it was great! We found an awesome family today that I have great hopes for! I asked them if we could come back and show them what a Family Home Evening is and they were a little “Ehh… we can’t set a specific time or day because we never know if we’ll be home or not.” But I don’t care. One of these days I will pack snacks, go to their house, and make them have an awesome time as a family and testify that families can always be that happy with Christ and His gospel as the center of their home.

I also did my very best to listen, understand, and follow the Spirit. And because of that Sister Buna Cruz and I were to better understand Sister R’s concerns. She should be baptized tomorrow, but she just seems to be afraid of something so we obviously pushed her baptismal date back. But during our lesson I felt we should go through the BIQs [Baptismal Interview Questions] to help her see for herself if she’s ready to be baptized or not. And when we got to question two that’s where we found her problem. She still has questions about Joseph Smith which is interesting because she has a pretty solid testimony of the Book of Mormon. So I think we’ll be able to help her out simply enough. (: But yeah.. Today was great! I want so badly to be exactly obedient!

11-19-16 (Saturday)

I saw miracles today! :D First! We finally were able to address Nanay R’s concerns and she said she will be baptized on the 26^th! :D It was the best moment of my life when she said yes! Because honestly during our lesson I got a little frustrated because the whole lesson she was testifying to us about she finds all her answers in the Book of Mormon without realizing it! Then she said every time she reads, it talks about baptism and she prays and asks God if that’s an answer. Literally though.. for probably 20 minutes she just testified and shared her experiences, answers, and blessings she’s received because of this gospel. But she doesn’t recognize her feelings and experiences as the answer “Yes! This is all true. Get baptized NOW!” But then something happened, I don’t even know what, and when Sister Buna Cruz asked her if she’ll be baptized on the 26^th this coming Saturday she looked at us and said “okay, I will.” YAAASS! I about died! I am so happy she listened to the Spirit and finally said yes! :D

I don't even know.. ;D

Second! As we were walking down the street after one of our lessons, we OYMd [street contacting] these two ladies. They were both super friendly and just great. But one was especially promising and said she’d love for us to come over and that we can teach her whole family. AWESOME!

Then later as I was doing my laundry during lunch I was pondering life and then it just hit me hard. That super awesome and very potential lady has 5 children and lives close to the church. I don’t know if she and her husband are married yet or not, but I have very high hopes! Because if she is.. This could be the family I’ve been looking for ever since my follow-up training when President Deyro told us all to pray to find a married couple with 5 kids that lives close to the church. I truly believe that OYM was the start of a new miracle. (:

11-20-16 (Sunday)

We honestly didn’t do anything today. After church Sister Buna Cruz had a headache so we didn’t go to work till after 5:00. But we did get to go visit Tatay P in the hospital. And boy was that such a bitter sweet experience. It was super great to see how happy and grateful he and Nanay were that we came to visit them. But man... he straight up looked like a shriveled up raisin in this joke of a hospital. It’s still hard for me to see how most people have to live their lives here and know how we live our lives in America.. I just can’t help but think “it’s not fair.”

I don't know why, but every time I see these banners
 I can't help but think of Sadie.
It just reminds me too much of "Bvvvrrrttt." ;D

But today was pretty good all together; especially because we had 11 investigators come to church. :D Most of them aren’t 15 yet so they can’t be baptized without their parents, which sucks, but hopefully we can help their parents start to come to church too. (:

I really want to train again. I want to be able to follow all the rules, even the little simple ones like leave the house at 10:15 and 30 minutes of nightly planning, and not be scared to enforce the “rules”. I want to be the missionary that Christ trusts to give me special assignments in His work. I have 100% learned from my mistakes here in the mission and I see them as blessings now because the change in my heart that I received through the Atonement and repentance process is INSANE. I want so badly to become a true miracle worker because I’m just that close to Christ. (: The drive I have right now is real, and I do not want to lose it! I will not lose it!

Have you seen any crazy wildlife lately? No.. But I did eat crab a couple weeks ago. Like.. real crab. It's freakishly hard tearing apart and eating a crab. And 100% not worth the effort. ;D 

What do kids in the Philippines want to be when they grow up? All kinds of things. I hear seaman and policeman a lot though.

How do the people spend their spare time? And honestly.. They do nothing. They just sit at home or if they want to visit they chill on the side of the street with their friends. 

Photos From Two Great Days

Sisters Buna Cruz, Cabahug, Ikafanga, Reyes, Alversado.

I have nooooo idea what I'm doing.. HAHAH! ;D

I should be on a calendar! ;D

Sister Ikafanga and Sister Alversado
Are you wearing lipstick????!
Yeah.. They made me because I was the only one not wearing makeup..
 Well, it looks nice.
No.. no.. don't expect it again. (; 

HAPPY ONE MARK TO ME! 

My birthday party. (:
[In the same outfit she entered the MTC in Provo and Manilla]

"HAPPY ONE MARK TO ME!"

11-7-16 (Monday)

JeanKyle

Today was the best! I was my normal happy self for the most of the day. YAAASS! :D I don’t know.. I guess I just tried my best to do whatever Sister Buna Cruz wanted to do so that she would be happier and essentially help me be happier. (Haha! I had to ask Sister Buna Cruz how to spell essentially! ;D There’s something wrong with that. (;) But we both ended up kind of doing what we both wanted to do without really talking about it! So.. that worked out better than I thought it would. (;

Sister Ikafanga

Anyway.. Today in one of our lessons I really tried my best to apply what I learned in zone training this morning. And it was total success! :D I straight up told them that I was going to apply something in our lesson that I just learned earlier today. And they’re like yeah, sure, whatever. That’s cool. So I told them about how as missionaries one of the most important questions an investigator could have is one of the most difficult to answer. And that is “How do I know if I have received an answer from God? How do I know I have felt the Spirit testify to me the truthfulness of the missionary’s lessons?” So! We all read in the restoration pamphlet about how the Spirit testifies in many ways but that they’re all beautiful feelings and/or thoughts. Then we were able to teach them the Word of Wisdom which went great AND THEN as we were wrapping things up and getting ready to commit them to live the word of wisdom I asked them what they felt during our lesson and they answered in a way that it all makes sense and they’re happy. Then we re-read the part in the pamphlet that we started the lesson with then I testified that the Spirit was in our lesson and that I felt it and that I truly believe that their hearts were open and they felt the Spirit too. Then they all committed to live the word of wisdom and be baptized as a family on December 10! BOOM PANES! ;D Life is great. (:

Allen

11-8-16 (Tuesday)

Honestly I thought today was great! I had a ton of fun! I had exchanges here in 100 Islands with Sister Ikafanga from Australia. So, yes. I had the time of my life spending the day with another foreigner that actually speaks English. AAND we’re actually alike so we had a blast while working. (:

  

11-10-16 (Thursday)

So today when we went to teach A and M we had a total blast! When we got all sat down and ready, Sister Buna Cruz and I both realized there were too many little kids that were joining our lesson to be able to have a formal/focused lesson. So we turned it into a Family Home Evening. It was total success! So in our last lesson with them we read some of 1 Nephi 8 so that’s what they’ve been reading on their own the last couple days. So for our lesson we blindfolded M and gave B a chocolate bar to try and convince M to eat what B was trying to feed him while everyone else yelled stuff like “no, no! Don’t eat it! It’s dirty!” or I guess you could say it was more like “Huwag! Wag-wag! Marumi iyan!” (:

But eventually M took a bite and was obviously grateful. (; Then we tied all that to Lehi’s dream and it was just perfect. (: Then we played some games and everyone was just laughing and having a great time then the next thing you know, practically the whole compound is all hanging out with us being amused by the fun all the kids were having. Man.. It was just a great time seeing how happy everyone was. I really hope that broke the ice for some people [so] we’ll be able to teach more people that live by A. (:

11-11-16 (Friday)

HAPPY ONE MARK TO ME! :D We all went over to the Mina’s to cook food for the picnic we planned last week to celebrate my one year mark. I was expecting we would be able to go out and work around 5:30 or 6:00, But no.. of course cooking took 5 years. So we finally got to the 100 Islands Park around 6:30 for our picnic. I really did enjoy our little picnic while we were all eating together. And I got lots of cute pictures. (:

Also! I totally wore the same outfit today that I wore when I entered the MTC on November 11^th 2015. (:

Jeankyle's mom and Kim. (: 

11-12-16 (Saturday)

JeanKyle was baptized today! Yeah baby! That’s 3 weeks in a row with a baptism! We’re actually baptizing every week! Success! :D

I also talked to a guy from Washington as he was walking past the church while we were out taking pictures. Turns out he’s a member! He explained how grateful he was that I’m serving a mission and said he was baptized after 24 hours. That’s cool and all, but how and why was that ever allowed! Anyway.. He’s less active because “he doesn’t understand anything anyway.” So I told him he should come and I’d translate for him. He was all like “wait. You go to church here!?” (Uhh.. yes..) “Then I’ll see you again sometime.” Oh man, I sure hope he comes to church tomorrow. (:

ALSO! I forgot to mention JeanKyle’s mom actually came to her baptism! YAASSS! And the members, especially the Relief Society, did a fantastic job at helping her feel loved, missed, and welcomed. I sure hope she felt the Spirit and remembered why she was baptized in the first place, and comes to church tomorrow. That would be true success! I have high hopes/great expectations for tomorrow. I really hope I’m not let down too bad.

11-13-16 (Sunday)

I honestly had a great day. (: I don’t know why or what happened, but I enjoyed life today. Church today was great (and so was the aircon. (;! Even though both the American guy and JeanKyle’s mom missed church.. Sayang.. [alas] But! JeanKyle was confirmed a member today which makes up for that! ;D She’s so cute and just makes me happy. (:

  

"It's helpful with the work being a blonde American in the Philippines"

100 Islands

10-31-16 (Monday)
Today we went to the 100 islands! :D AHH! It was so fun looking at all the cool boats and souvenirs. I’m honestly so excited to actually go to the islands one day. I wish I could go with all my friends, but we all know that’ll never happen. ;) Elder and Sister Jensen actually went to the islands for Elder Jensen’s birthday and said they went zip lining! AHH! I want to go so bad! :D And they said it’s only 250 pesos for about a half a mile long ride! That’s less than $5! AHH! The excitement is real. (: Other than that.. nothing else really happened. 

11-1-16 (Tuesday)
So today we had an early curfew because of All Saints Day so President Deyro said to go out and work at 8:00 and just do studies in the evening. It was kind of a love-hate relationship with that schedule because I just felt off all morning. I didn’t get to read the Book of Mormon before we went out to teach and it just didn’t feel right. But then while studying tonight I was very grateful because I was really able to focus and put in real effort trying to find answers to my questions because I wasn’t sleepy like I always am in the morning. (:

Sister Buna Cruz

But work today was great! We found lots of super potential investigators today; which is great because I’m determined to have two baptisms every week in the month of December. Even though I’m in the tropical Philippines for Christmas again, I WILL have a white Christmas. ;D

Anyway.. my favorite part of the day was companionship study. I know Sister Buna Cruz is having a hard time right now because her mind is on stuff/people at home so I just felt inspired to share my thoughts and feelings of when I was struggling while in my training and just testified that we’re meant to be here and that we have a purpose here. I don’t know exactly what I said but the whole atmosphere of our companionship changed. I think she felt more peace and I felt more love and patience. And honestly.. I even felt a lot better and happier. (: We truly are here to help our companions just as much as everyone else. (:

11-2-16 (Wednesday)
This morning we went to the cemetery to OYM people because that’s what President Deyro said to do.. And I had a really interesting experience. So while Sister Buna Cruz and I were walking through the meydo [pretty] creepy movie perfect cemetery looking for people to talk to, Sister Buna Cruz really was getting creeped out and wanted to leave. But I kept walking and she was like “Where are you going? Can we go?” So I was like “wait, let’s check there to the left.” 

So we walked a little further, turn left, and see a family (which were the first people we saw in a while)! So I asked them “Hey! Have you seen any tombstones around here with the name Santos on it?” (With Alfred and Beth Santos on my mind/excuse to talk to people.) Then they’re like “no” so we just started to talk to them getting ready to OYM them then one of the girls is like “Hey.. This one says Santos.” And I kid you not, I about died. The tombstone this family was standing right in front of while looking at their tombstone was for a Santos family! WHATTTT!? They asked if that was the right one and I said no but we were able to talk to them and give them Plan of Salvation pamphlets and all was great. 

The family is out of our area, which is a bummer, but man.. The way everything ended up going was just too weird and perfect to be a coincidence. I really hope something comes out of that experience for that family. (:

11-3-16 (Thursday)
I honestly don’t even know what happened today. Haha.. I did do weekly planning today which was kind of nice. I felt a lot more accomplished in life since I planned because Sister Buna Cruz isn’t exactly the planning champion. (;

Also! This morning I was just in some kind of blah mood so I kneeled down and prayed for help to cheer up and feel more happy and peaceful in life. And while I was praying one of our neighbors started blasting their music and the song was that “You Raise Me Up” song by Josh Groben and I about died! I couldn’t stop thinking about/remembering growing up and jumping on the tramp and hearing dad sing that song [through the window]. Oh man, it just made me smile that I was able to feel God’s love for me through a cute memory I have of my earthly father. (: Gosh.. I just love my parents. (:

11-4-16 (Friday)
Today I realized I don’t like to do the talking in lessons. I love to ask questions and get to know people and pretty much have them teach themselves and truly figure out what they believe and why. I love getting people to talk about simple truths that they know without even realizing they actually know/have a testimony of a gospel truth. And as they tell me about their life and the things they’ve learned through their life experiences I simply testify of the truthfulness of what they said and tie it to the lesson/gospel principle they need to better know and understand. Honestly I just love getting to know people, especially if they’re super talkative. (: 

But anyway.. D is super excited for her baptism tomorrow and so am I! (: She’s super nervous about having to bear her testimony after though.. Haha, I hope she’ll feel comfortable/brave enough to actually enjoy sharing her testimony.

And also.. We went through the BIQ’s [Baptismal Interview Questions] with J today and she’s all ready for her baptismal interview on Sunday. Yeah baby! We’re doing the work! ;D

11-5-16 (Saturday)
D’s baptism was great! She was so cute and giddy while we waited for people to show up. (: It was good to see how excited she was to be baptized. But as great as her baptismal service was.. I’m pretty disappointed that no one from her family came to support her.. That was just heart breaking to learn that even though her parents are very supportive of her decision.. They don’t really care about it.  Blahh… Her mom’s even a member.. She should have come!

Me, Sister Buna Cruz, Danica,
 Sisters Reyes and Alversado

11-6-16 (Sunday)
Honestly today was exactly what I needed in my life! I was incredibly upbeat and happy all day which was awesome because that’s what I was fasting for.. To simply be happier and enjoy myself/time here in 100 Islands. And I truly did! Haa! And I thought all this time food was what makes me happy in life. ;D Maybe what really makes me happy is aircon.. I don’t think it’s a coincidence that I was sitting in a building with aircon all day and it’s the happiest I’ve been here in 100 Islands. (; 

Haha Anyway.. Lots of great things happened at church today! First! This couple came to church and no one knew who they were so of course we talked to them to welcome them and turns out they were the daughter and son-in-law of a random lady we OYM’d on Wednesday! Whaaat!? Haha, that just truly made me realize that no effort is wasted. (: They were so cute! They were like “our mom gave us this and told us we should come.” While showing us a pass along card we’ve been handing out with the address and time of church. Man.. That just made me really happy. (: 

Jeankyle. (:

Then! D was confirmed a member and there were two baby blessings all before Sacrament. Ahh, what a great start to my day. (: AAANNND! J passed her interview! YAAASS! We have another baptism! :D I’m super excited! And to make things even better.. We had 11 investigators come to church! Even though I don’t always like it anymore, it’s helpful with the work being a blonde American in the Philippines. (:

Welcome to 100 Islands!

I'm officially a Filipino. (;
(Yes.. That's rice.. And I'm walking on it..)

10-24-16 (Monday)

Oh my word! Today was the best! Honestly, I love it here! Anyway.. I LOVE Sister Buna Cruz! She is just the best. I kid you not, she is the best companion I have had in lessons. She is the perfect amount of silliness and knows perfectly how to take control of lessons. And the way she teaches, Oh my word, her insights are insane! She is truly led by the Spirit. (:

Another thing that I absolutely loved is how she would ask me to pick the scriptures we used and share my insights and actually be the one to start teaching some of our lessons. That sounds silly, but I am so grateful for that/her because usually when I get transferred I get lazy because I don’t know the area or the people and my companion usually just takes over all the time because they too know they’re leading the area. But NOPE! Hindi ako magiging tamad kailanman! ;D [I won’t be lazy here!]

Sister Burton

And on a side note… Sister Buna Cruz is 23 and from Bayambang Zone. Wait, what? Bayambang Zone…! Isn’t that in the Urdaneta Mission? Haa! Yes, yes it is! ;D Sister Buna Cruz is totally serving in the mission she lives in! Yiiikes. (: I guess when she applied for her mission she was living/studying in Manila so that was her address when she submitted her mission papers. But man! I find that really interesting that the Lord sent her to the mission she’s from. I never would have guessed something like this would happen. But no matter what, I am sure grateful she is here. (:

10-25-16 (Tuesday)

Well today started out as the best ever! I thoroughly enjoyed life this morning! I REALLY like this area! It’s a lot like Aguilar except bigger and less poor. But it’s more rice field than anything. (: But yeah! I went out to work this morning with the right attitude and it sure paid off with 4 lessons before lunch. (:

Sister Buna Cruz, Jimuel, Rosaldo, me

10-26-16 (Wednesday)

Today was actually an awesome day! I really truly enjoyed all that happened. (: So to start.. I just have to say, Sister Buna Cruz is literally the best missionary ever. I kid you not she is fearless! She does not care if people are ayaw [unwilling] or not. She will teach, testify, repeat, and extend baptismal date. Even when we’re just on the street OYMing people. She’s literally my idol. But.. It also makes me very aware of my weaknesses because I see how good she is at literally everything. So therefore I’m a little insecure at times. But! I am determined to get over that and just learn as much as I can from her. (:

Sister Alversado, Buna Cruz, Jimuel,
 Rosaldo, me, Sister Reyes

So my favorite experience today was in our lesson with Tatay A. Oh my word. He wanted to Bible bash so bad! You would think it would be a frustrating situation, but I was kind of like whatever. He honestly wasn’t rude but man.. He is so incredibly misled! Like, Satan’s got him gooood. But after Sister Buna Cruz and I were able to get A to listen to us I just testified to him what I know to be true. And that the Book of Mormon is true. And it was translated by a prophet of God named Joseph Smith. . And that we can all come to know what I know if we simply open our hearts and ask Heavenly Father to help us come to know the truth.

But what was crazy.. I honestly don’t think I was the one talking. I kid you not my Tagalog seemed perfectly fluent AND I just talked.. I was not thinking in English and having to translate into Tagalog. My mouth was literally being filled by the Spirit. It was the most powerful testimony I have ever borne. I don’t know if Brother A felt the Spirit or not because his heart truly is shut tight but he had nothing to say after my testimony. That’s the best thing about bearing a testimony; people can’t try and debate it. They may not believe or agree with what I testify, but they can’t argue with me if I know what I testify of to be true or not. (:

10-27-16 (Thursday)

I really love this area! It honestly reminds me of home. And as silly as this might sound… when we were riding in a trike to a further area and I was looking out “the window” at the scenery, I honestly felt like I was going for a ride up Middle Canyon [in Tooele]. Haha, I don’t know how or why, considering there’s not a single pine or maple tree in the whole Philippines, but I just felt very at home today. (:

I also saw a firefly again today and it made me miss my Raymond. (: I actually told Sister Buna Cruz about how fireflies always remind me of dad and she just died! Haha, she was like “AHH! I need to marry someone like your dad! ;D” But for real.. I got pretty lucky to have my dad show me my whole life what I want my husband to be like. (: [Raymond is a firefly in the movie The Princess and the Frog]

 

And.. I really do love Sister Buna Cruz! She really makes sure I talk just as much as her in lessons. I’m honestly not used to that.. Usually my companion just takes over because they can get things done faster than I can in Tagalog. But nope! Not Sister Buna Cruz. (: She is very helpful and supportive of the effort I put into learning Tagalog. It’s great. She definitely knows how to make sure I don’t get lazy. (;

10-28-16 (Friday)

We got to go to a wedding today for a returning, less active couple. And man, it was so cuuute! Oh my word it was just so precious seeing how sacred the marriage was to Jesse. You could just see how good he felt that he was finally marrying Jeanny. AHH.. The Feels! (;  

Sister Buna Cruz, Jeanny, me

10-29-16 (Saturday)

Man.. Today was just awesome! I got super lucky getting assigned in this area because it is very progressive right now. (: So! With that said.. We had a baptism today! Jimuel was baptized by his father, who was just baptized this last March! :D But I kid you not, it was a sweet moment when they both walked into the water together and Jimuel had to wipe away tears before he grabbed his dad’s hands. Gahhh! I love how happy the gospel makes people! (:

Also.. After Jimuel was baptized, Sisters Buna Cruz, Reyes, Alversado, and I sang “Come Unto Christ” and I had multiple solo parts. AHHH! They all think I have a good voice so they made me sing more than them.. I really hope I didn’t embarrass myself in front of everyone! (;

But then after the baptism we went to Danica’s house to fill out her BCR [Baptismal and Confirmation Record?] and have her mom sign the parental consent form for her baptismal interview tomorrow. Yesss! We’re actually baptizing every week! Kaya namih iyan! ;D

Honestly.. a ton happened today, but I don’t know what to write because it was all just so happy. Well.. This morning we helped with the branch’s Family Day Activity which was a ton of fun. It was an all day sports fest and we even had about 6 investigators there playing with everyone. It really was a lot of fun seeing how bubbly this branch is. I think I’m really truly going to like it here. (:

10-30-16 (Sunday)

So! Jimuel was confirmed a member and received the gift of the Holy Ghost today AND D passed her baptismal interview! YEAAAH Baby! Now that is a good day! ;D

Anyway.. This branch is stinkin’ loaded! People here are dang rich! This branch has a church all to themselves that’s only like maybe five miles away from the “stake” center AND it has aircon. For real.. I’ve never heard of something like this here. Or even in America as a matter of fact.. But I’m not complaining at all! I love it! We have aircon AND our investigators have enough money to get to church on their own. (: All 9 of them that came today! ;D wait… That was a lie we paid for one because we all rode in the same trike. But either way.. Life is great here in good ole’ Hundred Islands!

 Especially tonight at our dinner appointment. I honestly love how amazed people are with my Tagalog. They truly help give me confidence. Like yesterday when I was OYMing a guy he was like “Dang, you’re really good at Tagalog” probably 3 or 4 times and finally asked me if I grew up here in the Philippines! HAAA! YES! I’d say thats the best “compliment” I’ve gotten in my life! I call that complete success! ;D

Bagyo Lawin

10-17-16 (Monday)
I saw Sister Tanielu today and she said R didn’t pass his interview because he didn’t know who Joseph Smith was. What in the world, R!? That was the best lesson we taught you! At first it made my stomach hurt that he didn’t pass, but then I became grateful because now he has more time to make sure he’s converted to Christ, not just me. BUT! Jayann and Jess both passed their interviews so they’ll be baptized on Saturday. And even though I won’t be there.. I still count them as my baptisms because I taught them every lesson. (:

10-19-16 (Wednesday)
Tomorrow there’s supposed to be a stage 4 bagyo [typhoon] and I’m actually kind of scared. I don’t know why though because I know I’m completely safe, but I’m still a little nervous; maybe it’s just excitement though.. Haha, I don’t know I guess I am a little excited to see a real bagyo. (;

10-20-16 (Thursday)
I am now a survivor of bagyo Karen and bagyo Lawin. (; Haha, anyway.. Because of bagyo Lawin today we had to stay inside till about 3:00 pm but honestly.. I feel like we could have gone out at normal time because today’s bagyo was just like the last one.. It seemed like another rainy day with extra wind. [Typhoon Lawin hit the northern Philippines at a category 4. Kelsey was about 180 miles south of the eye] Since we had to stay inside all morning and early afternoon playing with our thumbs.. I did A LOT of pondering. 

10-21-16 (Friday)
Today was just a good day. I have realized how much I want to be more obedient with our schedule. Like.. If we get out of the house late and it’s my fault I just feel yucky inside. I don’t know.. I really do want to be exactly obedient. I know how important our obedience is as missionaries.

10-22-16 (Saturday)

The Nicolas Family

Today was great! Ahh man, it was just a nice day for me. In a sense it was just so relaxing. (: Anyways.. I really do like Sister Burton. She LOVES to talk and tell stories, which makes life while walking from house to house a lot more exciting. But for real.. She doesn’t stop talking! Like.. I can never get to bed on time because she’ll just talk to me while I’m trying to write in my journal but by the time she’s done talking at like 10:45, I still need to write in my journal! ;D haha, the struggle is reaaal! But oh well, I’m happy. (:

10-23-16 (Sunday)
Well today was my first time at church with the Urdaneta 2nd Ward and it was great! It was my first time going to church here on my mission in a ward. (; Woo! But honestly my favorite part was MCM [Missionary Correlation Meeting?] I just had a ton of fun with the ward missionaries. We were all joking around and teasing each other and man..! It was just like being at home messing with my best friends. (: But as awesome my first day with the ward was.. It was also my last. Haa! 

I caught Sister Burton playing
 with moms makeup again.
 HAHAHA! ;D

Yeah.. The AP’s called at about 8:30 pm telling me I’m transferring tomorrow morning at 6:45 am. Thaannks for the heads up on time to pack. (; But it’s all good because I never really unpacked when I got here; so it’s all working out pretty good right now. Except.. I will be late once again. (;

Anyway.. Where am I going? Wait for it… 100 ISLANDS! :D I’m pretty excited, not going to lie. It’s a very touristy place so I think that’ll help me call less attention to myself as a big white blond American, because there’s probably lots of Americans that go there. (: But I’m also pretty excited because I’m pretty sure the STL’s [Sister Training Leaders] over the Alaminos Zone are the STLs that live in Aguilar! [Kelsey’s first area] YAAASS! I might be able to go back to Aguilar! :D Oh man, that was my dream ever since I left! :D