Week 24:

Dearest Panimalay kag mga Abyan,

Hello from HOT Iloilo (but actually not today or yesterday. There's a storm somewhere down south, so it's been cloudy and a little chilly.)

I literally don't think I can get everything I want to write down in this letter in time. As in: so much HAPPENED this week.

Una: Monday. Went pedal go cart racing as a zone activity. (man powered go carts :D with bicycle pedals. it was pretty awesome). Won some Mangoes with Sister Massé as a prize for OYMing the most people in 15 minutes. But We split it with two other sisters because they beat us in numbers, but they missed the time limit.

 i AM ILOILO! From Gocarting

 IkaDuha: Got followed by a Buong on Tuesday. (Buong means "Mad, Crazy," or as I prefer to say it, "Not in the right state of mind.") He definitely was not in his right state of mind. He followed us all the way from the church down the road, through a neighborhood, where we hid at an investigator's house. Yeah. there's a lot more to the story, I promise. Ask me to tell it to you one day.

IkaTatlo: Around 7pm Wednesday night, while Sister Massé and I are in a lesson, we get a call. Strange number: ignored. 15 minutes later a text. (don't bother looking at it. texts are ignored while in lessons) the phone vibrates again with a call. I look at the number again while Sister Massé teaches, because calls tend to be more urgent, and this person obviously is trying to get a hold of us. This time it's a number I recognize: President Aquino.

Here's something I didn't tell you last week. While at interviews Pres. Aquino pretty much told me things along the lines of, "You're training is done. You're a good missionary. You can hold your own." but the most important thing he said was, "So just wait for our call." Well. His call came.

I excused myself from the lesson (haha, I just walked like, three feet away.) answered, told President we were in the middle of a lesson, and he told me to text when we're free, because he wanted to talk to Sister Massé and I.

We finished our lesson, texted President, and waited for him to call. I answered, and our conversation was very short. It went along the lines of, "Sister Smith, tomorrow I would like you here in Aravelo at 7:30 in the morning, because you're going to be training a new missionary."

(He then asked to talk to Sister Massé, and from the look on her face, I knew he was telling her that he was extending a call to become a Sister Training Leader. Like EVERYONE had predicted. hahaha.)

So the BIG news of the week. I'M A NANAY! And this (picture attached!) is my Bata, Sister Taufanga. She's from Tonga (lucky for me, she speaks very good English.) and was trained in the Manila MTC where she learned: Tagalog (not so lucky for either of us).

 Sister Taufanga, Me, Sister Massé, and Sister Fabella.
Four generations of trainers and trainees!
 (there could have been five,
but Sister Orani wasn't at Transfer meeting)

A lot of cool things happened at Transfers. Elder Swan is training: Elder Swan (it's seriously the best thing that happened at transfers. they aren't related at all.) And they're opening up a new area. (two elders with the same name, let loose on an area that hasn't had missionaries in it before. They will have way too much fun). A fellow, "Just finished training" missionary, is also opening up a new area. A lot of our zone was closed, and we're now the smallest zone in the mission! (Smaller than Guimaras zone. which is crazy.)

Our District sang at transfer meeting, Have you heard "Come unto Christ"? yeah, it's stuck in my head ALL the time now.

IkaApat: General Conference: was AWESOME. Saturday seriously was calling the world to repentance, Sunday a day of Comfort and Possibility. One of our investigators came on Saturday because she hadn't been able to get Sunday off. Grr. Work is the worst.

Alright. About Sister Taufanga. (Tah OO funga. I guarantee you aren't pronouncing it right. NG is N, but not with the tip of the tongue, the back of the tongue against your soft pallet. Like when you say, "Sing, or Ring" But there's no hard G sound) She's the youngest Sister in the mission (Guess who's been the youngest for Three transfers. OH yeah, me.)

Unlike me, she's not shy. But like me, she's fairly quiet. But she's making my job as a trainer very easy because we express our feelings similarly, and she isn't afraid to open her mouth to testify and teach, even if it's a mix of English, Tagalog, and the small bit of Ilonggo she knows. I'm already a "Proud Mom" hahaha. I get to teach her how to cook just like how I had to learn how to cook. I no longer have my Ilonggo Books because she's using them (eventually it will get to the point where we can share. but she needs them more than I do right now. Maybe I'll borrow her Tagalog books and learn that.)

anyway. Crazy Crazy Week. Love the Work, Love the Lord!

Love,

Sister Smith.