Happy Halloween!

October 31, 2011

I don't really get much of a Halloween this year. Although the stores sell costumes and it's listed on their calendars, it doesn't really exist the way it does in America. A member even admitted to us yesterday that the stuff set up in the stores are just props and that no one really pays any attention to Halloween. They just start celebrating Christmas in September. So, to let everyone know about my super exciting week.

Monday- We had a wonderful FHE with a family in the branch. Unexpectedly, several of their less-active nieces and nephews came as well. As a result of the lesson we taught about committing ourselves fully to whatever we decide to do, the nieces and nephews spent the rest of the night trying telling each other they ought to be going to church. It's funny how they all realize how important it is but none of them ever act on it.

Tuesday- The highlight of Tuesday was finding a ladder. Now you may be thinking, why do we need a ladder- and I'll tell you. My companion and I have really been wanting to head outside at night after we've gotten ready for bed but before bed time to look at the stars. Our house however, has several trees around it that block out a large portion of the sky. We decided that getting on the roof would improve our ability to see the stars. So we borrowed a members ladder and went star gazing after nightly planning. It was awesome. I really miss night time. Going from nocturnal to missionary was a very hard adjustment and I miss my stars.

Wednesday we did a service project for the previous branch president. We pulled weeds, got sunburnt, and had a fun time talking to his nephews who were all visiting (the oldest of which was 11)

Thursday- October 27th. One year as a missionary. Strange, huh? I don't like it, this means I don't have much time left. Not nearly as much as I want.

Friday- Nothing really exciting happened on Friday. I got sick, took some medicine, and then went out to work anyways because we had really important appointments.

The weekend was more missionary work- finding people to teach, teaching people, and keeping super busy. The word Saturday over the past year has completely lost it's meaning as a special day of the week. It's just one more day that we head out and do work. I literally don't have any days off- but that's okay with me, what I'm doing is far to fun to spend one day not doing it.

Palangga Ko Kamo!

Big News

But first PICTURES!!
One of our investigators in a coconut tree.

This is our front "yard" whenever it rains (which is almost every day)

My companion and I riding a carabaw at the Agsunod Families field.


October 23, 2011

My big news this week- Transfers was Friday! My companion and I spent all week stressing as we waited for the transfer announcement to arrive on Wednesday night to know what was going on. My companion felt certain that she was transferring, but neither of us wanted her too. We received a simple short text: "None of you are transferring." I don't think I've ever been so happy about a transfer announcement before. After how my two transfers in Oton turned out, I felt certain that I would never have two transfers with a wonderful companion (excluding the two with my trainer at the very beginning of my mission). I'm so happy I was wrong. This next transfer is going to be really fun.

Another thing that made this week so great was just this weekend. Since I've been in San Jose, we've been trying our absolute best to find new investigators so that more people have the chance to learn the gospel. We've had very little luck and in the last two weeks, most of those we found have let us know that they are no longer interested. Doing our best to not become discouraged, we headed out and started finding again. We started contacting some referrals that we had been given and learned only that they either weren't interested or that we had been given a wrong address. We didn't know what else we could do. Saturday, after running out of people to visit, we decided to look for another referral. This referral was the miracle we had been looking for. The very first person we asked not only knew who she was but took us to the correct house. Sister Eriza had already read the pamphlet and asked if she could have another because someone took it and she wanted to read it again. She is so excited for us to come teach her this week. Then, Sunday we were blessed with even more new individuals to teach, various families in the branch brought with them a non-member family member who each expressed interesting in learning about the gospel. I'm so excited for a new week of hard work!

Other than that, this week really has been good. I've just finished studying again about hope and really learned a lot about what it means. Hope is about looking to the future and knowing that it will be great, despite heartache and sickness and challenges. It's about knowing that Heavenly Father has wonderful blessings in store. Hope is light, it is bright, it is the glow that comes from anyone who knows that there is so much more to life than just breathing. My dear friends, please know that there is more to life than what you see! Life can be fulfilling, satisfying, and over-flowing with joy. I once heard someone tell me that they didn't need to improve their life because they were content. That is such a sad word. I could never describe myself as being content, I'm over-joyed and excited and nothing in the world could make me stop wanting to be filled with the sense of accomplishment and purpose that the gospel provides. For those of you who know little of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Days Saints, for those of you who feel that life has no purpose, that we eat, breathe, and die; I invite you to learn from missionaries serving where you live that which I teach every day. Life has purpose, and it is beautiful.

Palangga Ko Kamo!

Our front "yard" whenever it rains (which is almost every day)

A Wonderful Birthday Week

October 16, 2011

This week, for those of you who may have forgotten, was my birthday... strange huh? It's incredibly bizarre to think that I'm a whole year older than I was last year at this time. I think this is in large part due to the fact that it really doesn't feel like a year worth of time has passed. As a missionary in the Philippines, time flies primarily because it doesn't seem to be moving. Every morning we wake up and do the same thing. We head out into either hot or rainy weather and teach people. The sun always rises and sets at 6:00, the leaves never all turn brown and fall of the trees, and if it ever feels cold- it only lasts till the rain stops and the sun comes back out. Essentially, I have so much trouble believing an entire year has passed because the world outside looks exactly like the world I looked at on December 29, 2010 when I arrived.

Yet there are many ways in which I can see that time has passed. I'm a very different person now. I've served in three areas, become friends with several companions, and and am currently working on learning a 4th and 5th language (Kinaray-a and Filipino Sign Language). (for those of you who have lost count on my languages: #1 English, #2 Tagalog, #3 Hiligaynon.) When I look at what I have accomplished in the past year, I'm somewhat surprised that it has only been a year. But regardless of how I perceive it, time continues to march forward at a constant rate and I'm just trying to keep up with it all.

So, what has made my birthday week so wonderful? A lot of things. This week has been a lot of hard work and a lot of great blessings. We began the week with a firm determination to do much better than last week, and this is something we did a great job of doing. I celebrated my birthday on Monday (our p-day) by going out for pizza and buying myself a new shirt which I waited to wear till my actual birthday. On my actual birthday, I opened a present from my "Nanay." Nanay is the Tagalog word for mom, and it's what the sisters call their trainers. This transfer, I've been blessed with the opportunity to be house-mates with my "nanay" again, so though I was not with my literal mom, I still had a mother figure with me. It was really nice. That night, my companion and I made a dessert that I have decided to name "apple-pie-lumpia." Lumpia is a Filipino food that is kinda like and egg-roll, and we decided to make and apple-pie-like filling to put in it, it was pretty delicious.

This week, I had the opportunity to watch the General Relief Society broadcast. As Conference talks are published, I highly encourage each of you to read President Uchtdorf's talk about the Forget Me Not flower. He teaches how we must not forget that Heavenly Father loves us and knows us individually. He states how the being who created the stars and heavens knows our names. This phrase really stuck out to me because of my great love for the stars. Some say that as one studies astronomy, one discovers how insignificant they are in the grand scope of the universe. Yet I have always felt differently. No matter how large the universe may be, regardless of the number of stars and galaxies that fill our night skies and stretch out far beyond our ability to see, He knows and cares for each of us. He created it for each of us. From the grandest galaxies and nebulae to the dust in Saturn's rings, it's for us because He loves us.

My birthday celebration continued on Saturday as we had a baptism. (picture included). This is the Agsunod family- Resli, Loui, and their mom. They are the cutest, shiest family and they were so excited for their baptism. They really have such a strong testimony of the church and of Heavenly Father's love for them. When we asked Sister Resli why she wanted to be baptized, she said that it was because she wanted to be a part of Jesus Christ's true church and knew that by being baptized and receiving the Holy Ghost so that she can always have Heavenly Father's guidance in her life. I'm so excited for this family, I love them all so much. I feel so incredibly blessed to be where I am right now and to have this opportunity to be serving the Lord. He arranged so that I would be surrounded by people I love and in a beautiful place for my birthday. I've come to realize so much more than I ever did before that Heavenly Father really does know and love each of us.

Palangga Ko Kamo!

Crazy/Hard Week!

October 9, 2011

Well, this week has been an absolutely crazy week. However, it ended beautifully with a full weekend of conference and spiritual nourishment, I really hope you were all able to attend. Please- let me know what your favorite talks were and why.

This week has literally been and "every-other-day" week. We've had a great day...every other day. The day's in between were hard.

Monday- like all p-days, was super fun and busy.

Tuesday- due to District meeting, studies, and physical therapy for my companion (she injured her back a few months ago) we only had a few hours of working time. Those few hours were all in the rain and no one was home- or if they were home, they were unable to let us in.

Wednesday was amazing- we started with a service project with one of our members where we helped her in her bread shop. Then we visited one of our less-active members who was very excited about conference and promised to come, a promise which she kept, even showing up before we did to get a good seat.

Thursday- not quite so amazing. I got a wretched headache, bad enough that my balance was thrown off and we really couldn't work. We visited a few less-active members to give them invites to general conference, but my companion definitely did all the talking and we weren't able to teach anyone.

Friday- another amazing day! We shared messages with all the less-actives we weren't able to teach the day before, as well as inviting several more. It was a fast and busy day. We both felt like we accomplished a lot.

Saturday- first day of Conference, so it started out totally amazing. By the time conference was over though, it was my companions turn to have a headache. She laid down to rest for a few minutes and didn't wake up for several hours. Another day without work, but she's all better now- so it's a good thing we didn't work.

Sunday- Second day of Conference. Another amazing day. Three of our investigators came to conference and had a wonderful experience. Then we visited those same investigators to confirm their baptism for this upcoming Saturday as well as visiting with a newer member who has just come home from Manila and was unable to attend conference because he had a flu.

Crazy week- di ba? (right?) But we had a good time regardless of the difficulty. That's all that matters in the end.

Palangga Ko Kamo!

Look Up!

October 9, 2011

The last two days (Saturday and Sunday) have been absolutely amazing. For the Philippines, it was General Conference weekend. To those of you unfamiliar with General Conference, twice a year the living prophet and apostles of the Lord speak. They share counsel and revelation from the Lord specific for our day and time. Counsel that I have found very often provides specific help in my life through the trials I face between General Conferences. This conference is broadcast worldwide in dozens of different languages. Due to the time differences, we watch the sessions on a rebroadcast a week after they have been broadcast in America. So, this weekend I got to watch General Conference, which is one of the reasons October has always been one of my favorite months (that and maybe my birthday).

So- what was so great about conference this year? A lot! Nearly every talk seemed to share something straight to my heart. My companion and I turned to each other several times with shocked expressions as apostles answered questions we had asked and discussed with each other in the past few weeks. One of the talks that really stuck out to me though was Elder Carl B. Cook's talk- Look Up. I've asked my mom to include a link to this talk if you would like to read it. (Link at bottom of page) He shares a wonderful experience in which he receives the counsel that "it is better to look up" during difficult circumstances and trials. How very true this statement is, both literally and symbolically.

I've always tried my hardest to keep a positive and upbeat attitude in the face of difficult, especially serving as a missionary where they trials and concerns I face are nearly endless. Though to be frank, this past month has been incredibly I have been blessed with an amazing companion to work with during the trials that have been faced, yet they are still taxing both physically and mentally and often leave us both worn out and unsure where to go. The missionary work itself has been slow and difficult, and then it's been combined with challenges of illness and a long-term injury of my companions which still causes her great pain. This week in particular, as it's lead up to such a wonderful weekend, has been nearly completely halted in work with scheduling conflicts and Sister McBride and I taking turns getting sick. But I must agree with Elder Cook that "it is better to look up" And here is the why:

Literally- The Philippines is a beautiful country. The sky is a brilliant shade a blue and the clouds at sunset take on millions of shades of purple and red. Antique is filled with huge green trees and large fields. If we keep our eyes upward, it is impossible not to feel blessed with where we have been called to serve. Yet when our head grows heavy and we cast our eyes down, the scene changes greatly. What lies in front of our feet is a dirt road that is more mud than dirt because of the consistent rain. Even the paved roads are dotted with muddy potholes. There is an abundance of trash nearly everywhere. And then we have our own battered and dirty feet in their very old shoes. It is literally much easier to have a happy attitude if our eyes our towards the heavens. Especially after sunset when the stars come out- my favorite time of all.

Symbolically- Looking up doesn't just refer to the sky, but to our Heavenly Father. Looking up reminds us to pray to him and rely on his strong strong arm, instead of the skinny, pale ones I see when I look down. When I look up to my Heavenly Father, I'm reminded that He loves me and has a perfect plan for me, no matter what confusion and disappointments I see here on earth.

So this week, as trials and troubles head your way, Look Up! See the beauty of the skies above you, the freedom of the birds in flight, and remember the Father in Heaven who loves you so very much that he will never abandon you, no matter how difficult or dirty things get here on earth.

The link to watch and/or read the talk Elora refereed to is: Elder Cook

It's October!

October 2, 2011

Another week and another month are over. It's now October and I'm really starting to feel like my mission is going way to fast. It is outright bizarre to realize that this month marks a full year as a missionary. Life as a missionary is totally crazy, but every day is so very worth it.

I will have to apologize as this is about all I have time to say about my week. Part of our email time each week is supposed to be used to email our mission president. I wrote my mission president a long, beautiful email and then went to hit the send button. Tragically, an bright red error screen popped up and my beautiful letter was lost to the depths of the internet. This meant I had to rewrite my entire long, detailed email instead of turning over to write my family and blog email. I'm now nearly out of computer time and I've not written anything besides this for my mom to post to my blog or to send to my family. I figured I would write anyways to let you know that I am still alive, I've had a great week, and I'm looking forward to the best month of the year. (Yes- October is the best month of the year, no arguing with me- that's just a fact). Well, hopefully you will all hear more about my life next week. Till then- Take care and don't forget I love you!

Palangga Ko Kamo!