Hilongos Week 23
I never realized the height difference between Sis Malicdem and I until I saw this picture we took yesterday. o_O She really is short! (Or I really am tall. :])
My name tag is actually in English. At first, the missionaries would have Cebuano name tags (My teacher in the MTC had one) but now the name tags are in English. There are so many languages in the Philippines, that they just use English on the Church buildings and the missionary name tags. Because the Church is organized/unified!! In our mission, there is 2 languages that you might be learning, haha.
Last Tuesday we visited a part member family. Last week, the mother said she would pray and read the Book of Mormon. We came back to follow-up and she said said she hasn't. She said she didn't see why it mattered, because she was Catholic. We spent the rest of the lesson sharing to her our testimonies that the Church is true, and we know because we received answers to our questions. Not from other people, but from feeling peace, love, and feeling the Spirit of God tell our spirits that its true. Let's just say, I felt it was a pretty awesome lesson, even though we barely taught any doctine. ;)
Next week is transfer week! We'll see how that works out! But this week is my first COMPANION EXCHANGE for one day. I'll be the SENIOR COMPANION for the FIRST TIME! Ahhh! I'll be leading the area! AHHH.
We also had interviews recently. It's so amazing that you can learn to admire your mission president even though you don't see him very often. Just from our interviews and Zone conferences, I've been able to know that he REALLY is inspired of God to lead us. I understand that and feel the spirit when I listen to his trainings and advice. This work is not of man, it's of heaven! :D
At every interview, Sister Malit weighs us and takes our blood pressure to make sure we're healthy. :) I lost 3 pounds. haha! I have a 10 pound range that I've been in since high school. When I left the MTC, I was on the very top of that range (There is a LOT of food in the MTC). Now, for some reason or other, I have lost about 10 pounds since then. I'm at the bottom of my range now! Oh wow! And she gave me a de-worming pill. Do you realize what that means?! That means I've been in the mission field for SIX MONTHS!
This Sunday, we didn't attend sacrament. I'm sure you're wondering why. WHY wouldn't the missionaries go to church?! Because...
We went to the Temple dedication!! (By broadcast) AHHH! It was SOOOO AWESOMEEE. We attended ALL THREE SESSIONS!! I can't even begin to express how happy I am. I LOVE THE TEMPLE!!! And of course, at every session we got to hear from the Prophet. :) I haven't had so much Prophet-listening EVER. A few of my favorite quotes (some are paraphrased) from Thomas S Monson from the dedication:
"When you're on the Lord's errand, you're entitled to His help."
"You're not qualified to become a son of perdition!" (Hahah!) - referring to a wayward missionary
"It is good for us to be here." - quoting peter the Apostle
"I thought it was a temple city!" -referring to a member's house that has pictures of temples on every wall.
"In our homes, where we have rooms for sleeping, rooms for eating, rooms for studying and recreation, let us make room for Christ."
"Let the temple be a cornerstone in our lives"
"The Lord has brought us to His house" - quoting a member from Guatemala that spent 3 days traveling on a broken bus that miraculously arrived at the Mesa Arizona temple.
I love you all! I think of you as I'm out here. I'm sure you think of me too. <3 I have reassurances that I'm supposed to be here. I've come so far personally. So long till next week.
~the end~
Hilongos Week 22
I don't know what happened about last week's email. I forgot to add Jessie and Mom and Emily to the list, but I DID add Eva's email, so I wonder why she never received week 21? I sent it again just now, so hopefully it'll work now. :S
Eva~
Your new fridge sounds super awesome! I am jealous. :)
Mom & Dad~
I want to hear about your trip to see Eva! :) How is baby Jordan?
This week was a bit slow because we had a lot of events going on this week. On Tuesday, we had our Zone conference and were interviewed for our temple dedication recommends. Next Sunday is the dedication! AHHH! This is my first time attending a temple dedication.
After Zone Conference, the APs were persuaded to drive us back to our areas. But it turns out that Elder Cruz the AP has a very special technique for driving. There were at least 3 missionaries who didn't feel very well (including me) after they were dropped off. Ahahah.
The members here have been preparing for interviews and announcing the temple schedule every week for a month. So the Branch President spent an hour interviewing the members for recommends. It was so sweet because there is a less active family here that has one daughter (Shirlyne) who ALWAYS attends church. Every single week. She's only 10 years old, but she's so sweet and loves church! She came out of the Branch President's office holding a temple dedication recommend! <3<3 She's the only one in her family who even asked for an interview. I just love her. <3
We also went to Tacloban area on Saturday because Sis Malicdem had an appointment to get her patriarchal blessing. She's been waiting for 9 months to get it. They were supposed to get it in the MTC, but they told her "Ah, just get it in the mission field." So she's been waiting until now, when she could FINALLY get it. It reminded me of the time that I went and got my blessing. :) I really love knowing that it's personal scripture, just for me. Tacloban is a Waray Waray area, so my Cebuano was pretty much next to useless. Having a Tagalog companion helped. :P
Ah, I really miss the temple too. Being able to go once a week before the mission was awesome, and in the MTC as well. So, I'm REALLY happy for the members here, that Cebu temple is SOOO close. From Hilongos, it's only about $4 and 5 hour boat ride away. Our branch missionary leader actually comes home every weekend from Cebu because he goes to school there. So it is relatively really close!
I'm starting the Book of Mormon again, and still working on finishing the New Testament. :)
Waaa, I love you all. I think about you and miss you all too! Life is so short, so do what you can today!
"Never let a problem to be solved become more important than a person to be loved." -Prophet Thomas S. Monson
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~the end~
Hilongos Week 21
Jessie~
I get the pictures in the emails just awesome! I love google! (Myldsmail has upgraded to google servers now...) Your hair is VERY long now! :O
Mom and Dad~
I love you :)
Eva~
WOW! You sound SO happy and perky! Ahhh I'm so happy your life is so goooood! :D
Katie~
I finally saw your fianche's picture! About my mission photo album, we had a crisis this week where a member accidentally gave a virus to my memory card so most of my pictures got deleted! =O But my companions have back ups of other photos, so it's only the really recent ones that were LOST FOREVER! Where are you going to school? What are you life plans now?! Your bridal shower was on the same that that Julius, our investigator was baptised! ;P But we were 16 or so hours ahead.
Tomorrow is zone conference. It's in Sogod chapel again. Waaa! I love zone conferences.~
My birthday was this week! I told the zone leaders so they came over for lunch and we took pictures. (But they were lost. So I told S. Malicdem that we have to have another party to take pictures again. ;) ) The elders brought dorian, a smelly fruit here in the Philippines. It looks like a spikefish, but more smelly and it grows on trees. He said it "Smells like hell, but tastes like heaven." But I actually think heaven tastes more like spongecake.
Christopher and Janice were baptised! :) They're going to be attending the temple dedication too! YAY!! When we went to teach them this week, a HERD of children/youth followed me around and asked about what I was doing. They said that I was an artista (actress). I haven't heard of that until now. :P So this week, we actually have a lot of new investigators. xD
Spiritual highlight this week:
We taught a new investigator named Gwen. She used to come to the church when she was a teenager, but her parents didn't allow it. Now that she's 24 she's old enough for herself. Her best friend (Geanna) is a YSA here. She REALLY wants to understand, and she's REALLY searching!! She said she's attended Iglesia, Baptist and Catholic but she still hasn't found answers to her questions. She was shy to pray at the end of the lesson, but we encouraged her, so she did. AHHH IT WAS AMAZING!! I could feel her sincerity!! We're going to teach her on Friday and show her the restoration video. :)!!!
We also decided to teach a former investigator for the first time named, Floramae, who is the girlfriend of a member and lives at their house. She didn't get baptised before because she didn't want to get married, even though she was living with them. A couple days after our visit, we heard from a member that she wants to be baptised and she's going to get married! AHHHH! We will have future updates in the weeks to come. ;)
I'm in Philippians in the New Testament right now. :)
--
~the end~
May 24, 2010 Hilongos Week 20
Jessie~ I'm so glad you added me to your blog list! :) Now I can hear everything going on with you! Yay IAN! I'm so excited for your new job! :D
Cyrena!~ I got your letter that you sent! :P If you want, it's faster to email now than to use. My companion, Sis. Malicdem says hi! And she wants to be your friend too. :)
I received my "special surprise" from Nanoy's brother this week. :) Sister Malicdem laughed when she saw they were gummy candies. She says they're for kids, but she ate them anyway! (She must be a 5 year old in disguise). And I got a nice letter from Cyrena and Sister Baker. :)
I opened my email this afternoon and heard that I have a new nephew!! Yay! :) I wondered why there was no email from Eva this week, she was a little busy apparently in the Hospital. ;)
I've decided to start using the washboard again when I do laundry. I'd rather not have scars/sores all over my hands from trying to only use my hands.
Work in Hilongos is coming along as usual. We were able to get the standard of excellence for RCLA, Recent Converts and Less active lessons, which is missionary lessons taught to members. As a result, we got to meet several members that I've never met until now. Even though I've been here for (a while) we never looked them up. I also really want to update the member list that we have in the apartment. Several members have moved or have special circumstances that would be good to know.
CEBU TEMPLE DEDICATION IS JUNE 13!! :D
We have a new investigator this week. He's been to America before so he really insisted on speaking English. Turns out he wants to be baptized ASAP because he thinks the church (or me o.O) can help him get to America. We think he probably has a small problem mentally, so we're just going to see if he comes to church...
Oh and a put-put driver tried to rip me off again on the fare price. So yea, same old same old. :P I explained what happened to a member and he said: "Sometimes they see white people and think: 'Portahan'" Meaning door. Door to money?
I think being on a mission has helped me a lot though with perspective on life. I meet all kinds of families in lots of situations. I realize how fortunate I am in lots of ways.
Thanks for all the love and support from home.
How's your Book of Mormon reading going?--
~the end~
May 17, 2010 Hilongos Week 19
I've included some pictures of our trip to the caves here in Hilongos. There are a lot of bats there! (It smells!) And on the way, we saw lots of monkeys!!
I also included a picture of Julius, our recent convert. He really wanted to speak at Agnes' baptism, but had a really bad fever this week! :( It was so sad seeing him lying on a bed and barely being able to speak. He's usually so perky.
News: I am staying in Hilongos for at least one more transfer (just like you wanted, Eva :P) Now I get to see the baptisms of our investigators this month!! :) Christopher and Janice are an interesting couple here. When we taught them, Tupe (Chris's nickname) was immediately touched in his heart. Even though at the time, I couldn't understand what he was saying, I could tell that he meant he felt something in his heart (burning bosom, methinks?). He's been progressing ever since. He even reads the Gospel Principles manual and looks up all the references in it back to the Book of Mormon!! Janice has come a long way from before. It's funny how I always feel surprised at investigator's answers when we have the interview preparatory for baptism. They couldn't be baptized at first, because they are in a "live-in" situation. Here in the Philippines its VERY difficult to get an annulment. (There are no divorces) Mostly because annulments are expensive and lengthy. So it's quite common to have a married (but separated) person living with a new partner. Because of that, they couldn't be baptized at first. But because they've been attending church for a while, and have the intent to stay together as a family, they can be baptized. (But they cannot go to the temple :[)
Reasons I am now a Filipina:
1) My favorite sud-an (rice topping) right now is fried fish. So plain and simple and yummy! It's way different than fried fish in america. They take the whole fish (because its only about 6 inches long) and salt it, and cook it in oil until its crunchy! Eat it with soy sauce / vinegar!!
2) I am now much more brown than before. Literally. Because of the CSP we had recently, I was able to get a very large amount of sun.
3) My hair is longer now. The standard for long hair here is MUCH longer than in America. And of course, that re-bond (straight perm) that I had a while ago helps. The beauty here is white skin, tall nose, black and very straight hair.
I'm continuing to memorize scripture mastery scriptures right now. It's actually a LOT more easier than I thought it would be. Maybe there's a certain special gift for learning that comes with the missionary calling.
Alma 41:10 Wickedness never was Happiness
2 Nep 28:7-9 Eat drink and be merrry = foolish doctrine
--~the end~
May 10, 2010 Hilongos Week 18
Morgan~
I never properly said thank you for all of your efforts in sending me
my CDs. :) These will last me a long while for many Sundays and
mission days to come! <3
Happy Mother's Day!
Happy Birthday Emily and Lizzie <3
The mother's day phone call last night was actually at 12 midnight.
haha I put the phone next to my bed so that if you did call, it would
wake me up. :) But I didn't know what time it was when you called,
except that it was past 11 until I looked at the clock afterward.
Hearing voices is so much cooler than email. It shows so much more
personality and emotion. :)
Today is election day in the Philippines. We've been hearing campaign
music for the past month in cars that drive around with the local
candidates. Everyone asks us who we're going to vote for, but I have
to remind them that I'm not a citizen. ;) Sister Malicdem says she's
going to vote for Sister Loveland.
I'm not actually going to go TO the Cebu temple for the dedication,
even though it's really close. 200 pesos (about $4) and 5 hours and I
can be there from Hilongos. ;) But of course, that would interrupt
the work here and Cebu is a different mission anyway. But I'm excited
for the dedication because this is the first time I'll be attending
one.
We're here with the Zone Leaders because we had lunch at a members
house, and she taught me how to cook Curry Chicken with Coconut milk.
Lami!! (Yummy!) And they said they were going to receive information
about transfers right now, so we're waiting on that. :)
S. Malicdem taught me how to make yummy fried fish during this
transfer, so I'm almost completely Filipina now. I also keep learning
Tagalog from her, because she uses a lot of Tagalog. And just two
days ago I realized that Sister Malicdem actually uses very little
English, but I never noticed until now because I've been able to
understand her speaking Cebuano-English to me (aka, Bisglish, because
Cebuano is also known as Bisaya here)
How's your Book of Mormon reading going? Our scripture mastery this
week is 2 Nep 28:7-9. It's a long one! :)
I love you all so much! :) Bye-byeee~
--
~the end~