Week 56: Things are happening

Dearest Family and Friends, 

This week was crazy. As in. What Happened?

This is what happened: So last week we Found Alma. (she's totally awesome by the way. I love her) This week we got very punted by Alma. hahaha. Eventually we were able to teach her Saturday night, (along with her son, Albert and her niece, Beverly). Reviewed Lesson 1, and Gave her a Book of Mormon (which she was so happy to get!). She then BEAT US to church on Sunday! (She got there at 8:40. We got there 8:50) Albert looked just absolutely happy after YM/YW :) Now that we know she gets home at 5 (not at 2 like we thought) the punting will be considerably less of an issue :)

Nanay Emma didn't make it to church. *sigh* 

Met and Taught the Australian whose house I've been walking past on a weekly basis. Let me just say, I now know why I serve in the Philippines. I am generally a mild mannered person who doesn't do well with people with tempers. Filipinos don't really have tempers, Which is nice when you're teaching them about the Book of Mormon and when they don't want to accept it along with the Bible, at least they're polite about it. Goodness, this Australian wasn't very nice about it! (But at least it strengthened my testimony of about everything in the Restoration of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Joseph Smith is a prophet of God, and The Book of Mormon is the Word of God!)

It's crazy how people are taught by the Spirit, but then Satan just comes in. Erluz has been having a lot of doubts these past weeks, and when Sister Glori met her she was like, "Why do you keep visiting her? She's not progressing at all!" but then Wednesday came by, and Erluz said, "Sisters, I've been doing a lot of thinking, about how I've had kulang (umm.. something missing) in church, following God's commandments. You two come here and teach and help me understand, but I haven't been doing my part." So we asked her, "So what are you going to do?" "Go to Church! obviously!" 

But then she doesn't come to church. *sigh* 

But that's why we're patient with people. Patience really is something I've come to appreciate here. learning to be patient with Myself, Companions, Investigators, Members, EVERYONE. It's so important that we are patient. 

Like for example: Joan. Joan is a member on our Branch Presidency's 15 Names. (most the 15 names live in my area, actually) and for 5 months I've walked by her house, she was very rarely home, and if she was home she was too busy to let us in. Then one day Sister Fabella and I saw her on the road, we talked a bit, and she made the comment along the lines of "Maybe it's getting to be time for me to come back." We dont' teach her. We stop by (Sister Glori and I) to visit her Active neighbor (Bico) to try and get some referrals. Bico wasn't home, but Joan was. Shared 3 Nephi 13:31-33 (one of my favorites, by the way) and. . . she didn't come to church. But YESTERDAY. Yesterday Nanay Bico picked Joan up, and they came to church. Joan came to church for the first time in 2 years! 

Been walking by her house for 5 months, stopping by, trying to catch her. Patience really pays off. Charity and Love are so important. "People won't care how much you know until they know how much you care." as my ZL liked to say. 

Anyway. I love you all. (A LOT! I miss you too!)

Have a great week!

-Sister Smith

 "Corn Bread"

Julie's bread-shop labeled this as "Corn Bread." I saw the label and got SUPER excited (I mean, Thanksgiving is coming up, and then cornbread just sounds super yummy.) but then I saw the actual bread. . . Well, I got a good laugh.

Sister Mango

Hey, look what I bought for $1.07! (And we now know why Sister Hallet calls me Sister Mango. haha)

Letter 55: Finding is FUN!

Dearest Family and Friends, 

So Sad News: Our Couple Missionaries went home. Definitely missing the Taylors. They really inspired me, and I must say, I do want to serve a couples' mission in the future! 

So Cool News: Because the Taylors have moved out, their house is EMPTY. And there are two new inhabitants thereof. The Zone Leaders! So Elder Walmer and Elder Krueger will be joining us in the Branch. 

And since they're here, they needed somewhere to work. So we gave them half of our area, and we took part of the other sister's area. (mostly, the city part of this very small town place) which means we have lots of new houses to visit, and people to share the gospel with! 

Splits with Elder Del Mundo

Our Traveling Assistants came and worked with us. Pretty much got scolded for going into the bukid everyday (not that we had a choice before. just saying) and were told to stay closer to the city. Now we can be in the city. YAY for following revelation?

We had a lot of cool experiences with finding new investigators. One woman, Alma, was SO SO prepared. Definitely a Referral from Heavenly Father. :) We walked down a street, and got rejected a lot. And when we came to the intersection, we were like, "alright. Do we just go right and try somewhere else or do we keep going forward?" The member with us told us she thought we could try a few more houses down the road. Found Alma, Painting her nails :) we joked with her, found out she took the lessons about a year and a half ago or so. Lost her house in that massive typhoon, and then lost contact with the missionaries. Used a deep Ilonggo word I didn't understand that I later learned meant "Immersion." She was totally supposed to get baptized, but just lost contact with the church and everything. We pulled out the Restoration Pamphlet and Sister Glori told her that we had the same message to share that she'd heard before, and she just broke out into tears! 

She then committed herself to get work off on Sunday and Come to Church.

We were an answer to her prayers, and she was an answer to ours. :) Heavenly Father is such a great Dad, isn't he? :)  

Got a cold on Friday. Stayed home on Saturday and slept. (did the cool 1 Missionary and a Member in Each area, and Sister Quent and I stayed home) Coughed through Sunday. (took Cough medicine. I promise) 

to Quote Sister Scicluna, "Sister Smith, does your body know what an immune system is?"

But I'm ok now :) as always. 

The Church is true!

I love you all, 
Sister Smith

ps. Sister Quent and Sister Scicluna found the POST OFFICE. I can send mail again. YAY! 

pps. Sorry. No pictures. I'm convinced this computerhan has viruses. the connection is better. . . but I'm gonna have to go back to the old shop. 

ppps. Woah, did everyone just decide to get engaged an married last week? That's the news I got from everyone! How crazy! (Congrats to everyone :D)

Letter 54: Hellos are Fun!

Dearest Family and Friends, 

Say Hello to my New Companion! Sister Glori!

Sister Glori Kag Sister Nitura

So this week was really weird. On Monday we went to an FHE in the other area (which is Bawal/Forbidden) but I had to go because we were in a trio. :) Tuesday I went out and worked with Sister Scicluna and Sister Quent. and then on Wednesday we made Sister Scicluna stay home because she's too sick to be an effective missionary. So I made a Plan of Salvation diagram thing! (I've just always used my companion's). I must say it's pretty cute. Kami ni Sister Quent did Sister Scicluna's laba (Sister Quent and I did Sister Scicluna's Laundry) while she slept. Doing your own laundry by hand is fine, but when you add even more clothes, your fingers take a beating (you basically get a rug burn.) But hey, Mosiah 3:17!

Didn't Transfer! (YAY YAY YAY) So Thursday I went up to Iloilo to get her and go to MLC (went by myself. That was WEIRD. The "Never be alone" rule doesn't apply when President just tells you to come by yourself. . .) 

She's from Cavite (Hey, that's where Dad's Cousin is! She recognized the name "President Tye"!)  And goes home the transfer before I do. She just barely got called to be an STL, and she'll be giving her first training tomorrow. (she's not very excited. Very nervous actually) Speaking of Training. . . I have NO IDEA what I'm training on tomorrow. *sigh* it was a weird MLC. 

Friday I was asked to CSP to do some brush lettering on a school wall. That was fun :)

Painting

Our District President moved to Cebu and the Second Counselor in Branch Presidency moved to Kalibo. The The Couple missionaries here will be leaving this week. :'( There will be a lot of rearranging within the next few weeks. Also, because the couple is leaving, our Zone Leaders will be moving into their house until the New Couple comes in January. Last night I made them an Area book for their Temporary area (of about 9 weeks.) It's mostly full of Less actives and Former investigators. We did rearranging on the area boundaries yesterday, and now we have more area to work in! It will be nice to have more members in the area! 

No one came to church. Try Six. We've decided on a cure for this. FASTING, PRAYER, PATIENCE, REFERRALS, and DILIGENCE. I'll let you know how it works. 

Anyway. Didn't work in my area that much because of everything that happened (haha, DL called, "Sister, What happened to our Key Indicators this week?" "Well Elder. . .") I'm gonna start working on my training for tomorrow. (still don't know what it will be. *sigh*) 

the Church is true! I love you all, 

And All is Well :)
Sister Smith 

Letter 53: Goodbyes are Never Easy

Dearest family and friends!

It's another week gone and done in the Philippines! it's crazy how time flies!

Big news: Sister Fabella went home. Sent her off in a taxi after a last breakfast at Macdo. (her favourite. and there are no Macdos on Guimaras. So it was fun taking her to one in the city before departing.)  

I really admire My lola. She really went the right way. NOT trunkie and working hard just as always.She's awesome, and I hope I'm like her in 6 months. (palangga ta ka sister! halong ka guid so imo bago nga kabuhi!) 

Returning with Honor

Hugs Goodbye

the next stage of Life. haha. 

whoops. I seem to have taken a bit too much time doing other things today. FIVE MINUTE LETTER START AND GO. 

Alright. umm... AH. New investigators are awesome! Eric and Jessa were a referal from the Elders on the end of the island. They are AMAZING. We've been teaching them for about 2 weeks and Jessa has already said yes to baptism and Eric says, "I'm catholic, but I'll support her." they are so awesome. (by the way. Eric is an ilonggo born and raised in Guam. so he's an american citizen who completely understand english (understands and speak ilonggo now too) and I probably understand more tagalog that he does!) The only problem is that they aren't marrried. . .and can't get married until Eric pays his Overstay Fee because his Visa ran out. *sigh* obstacles to come over. 

No one came to church. Is it just because I'm in this area? I can't decided. (this happened last time too.)

So I'm going to be in a Trio with Sister Quent and Sister Scicluna for the next Three days. FUN! Mostly just waiting to find out if I transfer and my area is whitewashed, or if I stay. That's life right now. 

Time's up! Sorry it's short!

I love you!
Sister Smith

In a Tricycle

Cool Tag Shot

Letter 52: 365 Days Later

Dearest Family and Friends, 

Abaw, Time flies, it's been over a year now that I've been wearing a tag that says mine and Christ's name over my heart. Crazy, no? The Elders of our district called to say "Congrats' and then proceeded to ask if our celebration would consist of cake and ice cream. We looked at each other and had a "You buy the Ice cream and I'll buy the cake!" And that's what we did. 

1 Year na Kami

1 Year pa Ako 

 So one year, come and gone, and another 6 to go! (which is ONLY FOUR TRANSFERS. And if you really think about it. If I stay in this area: New companion. So the transfer doesn't count because you have to get used to them. and then after that's it's a new area, and that doesn't count as a full transfer because it goes by to fast. and then after that it might be another companion, so that transfer doesn't count. and then it's the last transfer, and that doesn't count at all. So in reality. . I'm already at the end!.) (not really. I still have Dugay Pa! (a long time left!))

We went on Exchanges this week. Sister Quent came over with me to my area :) it was kinda funny, because we worked together the day before our year mark. Haha, it's funny how things have changed. We both speak a new language now (She still can't speak Ilonggo. haha. Pure Tagalog siya) and we actually both know how to teach! 

Sister Aquino came and worked with us a day! That was a surprise, so our plans of "No plans! lets to find people to teach" didn't fly. Instead we went to investigators and Less actives that we planned for the next day. Gotta love it. :) Her example was great. My favorite part is when we were teaching, and the lesson was going well, but was starting to end on a sour note, so she just took over and taught the Plan of Salvation! She's awesome. 

Sister Fabella has never gone caving on her mission, and so our district just went (despite that both I and Elder Walmer greatly dislike caving) so now I'm sitting in the Elder's area emailing in very wet pants and it's COLD. 

Caving

Have I ever mentioned that I think 65F is absolutely freezing? 

Anyway, it was fun because we ended with a . . Pruda (?) fight. Basically, you lay rice, meat (fish) and other food out of Banana leaves and all just eat it with your hands. YUM! 

4 Weeks of No one coming to church. Yay. Next week!!!!! 

Went to a Beach Baptism on Sunday. Got Sunburned. My neck and throat and back and head hurt. Been kinda miserable. haha. (I laugh because it's over. YAY.) 

Nanay Emma is Slowly getting rid of Coffee, and we got to teach Tatay kinda one of one. He's never really be seriously interested, so we mostly just invited him to be united with his wife in investigating the church (they literally do EVERYTHING together. But this.)

We're really trying to go out to an area that we've never really been, and find those prepared for us, but our plans keep changing and we can never make it out there. I really pray that we can get there this Friday, so that we can get some solid new investigators. 

Anyway. See you all in SIX MONTHS. 

I love you all, 
And all is Well, 
The Church is true, 
And the Book of Mormon is Too!

Sister Smith

ps. I'm sorry there are no pictures this week. (Sister Quent and I even took a cool "1 Year Na Kami" picture. But. . the Elders advised us NOT to plug our stuff into these computers. . .And I'm not very fond of viruses. both on my camera card and in my body)

(Mom's note: Hannah sent pictures with the next week's letter so I edited this post.)

Letter 51: Don't Worry, God has a Plan

Dearest Panimalay kag mga Abyan,

This week was an "Things are getting better, slowly" week. (even if no one came to church. . . again,. . *sigh*)

Today, I think I should just testify that God's Plan of Salvation is PERFECT and True, and how lucky we are that He has not only prepared one Kingdom for His Children, but THREE. That's something I find I've never really written about. Mostly it's "Prophets are True. The Church is true. Heavenly Father loves us." This random testimony probably comes from the fact that our investigator told us that he doesn't like our "Mormon doctrine of Three Glories, and that We should teach it like the bible does with just "Langit kag Imperyno" and that we should be going to people telling them that they're going to go to "Imperyno" unless they join the "Mormon Church"" 

(not that he wants to join the church. Needless to say, he's "Dropped us." Also he believes in the bible and only the bible, but not in 1 Corinthians 15:40-41 btw) 

Anywho, just wanted to say that God is our loving Heavenly Father, and that He has better plans then just Condemning His children, and that Jesus Christ suffered in the Garden of Gethsemane and on the Cross of Calvary just for us to be able to repent of our sins, and one day have Eternal Glory in the Celestial Kingdom of His Father. (Sa ngalan ni JesuKristo, Amen.)

Other Cool things of this week: 

We taught Nanay Emma about the Word of Wisdom, and she's now giving up Coffee. I wish all investigators responded to the WoW like she did, "Of course it needs to go. I didn't drink it yesterday, and my head hurt. I must be ADDICTED. That's bad!" 

The Elders in our district are awesome and did a CSP at our house.They 
1. Cut down the Branches in the tree with a Machete (there's much more light now. it's less spooky at night and more inviting during the day.)

One of many Scary Spiders that live here. 

2. Lit all those branches and leaves on fire, (yay that's totally legal here.)
3. And made our fence chicken proof. (there were chickens in our yard the next morning) 

Elder Fogavai in our tree

It's funny how it works. They come do the hard labor, we make the food. haha. Somehow it reminds me of the talk by Elder Chi Hong Wong, about the man with Palsy

"His home teaching companion from the elders quorum and the tall and strong full-time missionary would have pushed really hard from below. The Relief Society sister would have reminded them to be careful and given them words of encouragement."

It made me laugh last week :)

Interviews were fun, (Yay Chastisement (or: Improvement opportunities!)) and so was District Conference (I definitely prefer President Aquino giving Improvement Opportunities to the Members. haha) 

The church is true!

I love you all, 
And all is Well, 
Sister Smith

Letter 50: Rain Rain Go Away

Dear Family and Friends, 

Normally, when I sit here in the Computerhan I think about how fast the week has gone and nothing new has happened, and it feels like just yesterday I was sitting here. But today, I feel like it's been weeks since I've sat at this computer. . even though not much is new. Again. But that Number 50 at the top of this letter is pretty big. . .whoa.

Selfie in a Tricycle

Zone meeting was last week. Once again it comes and goes. Stressing over training comes and goes. Interviews were supposed to be last week, but instead they'll be this week.

So for some big news: I was told for the first time in my mission to "Stay Home, Do Not Go Outside" because of the weather. It rained for 24 Hours, and then rained most of the time for another 24 hours, and then rained a bit more for another day after that.  We actually went out for the first day, and we came home completely soaked to the bone. We got a call around 7pm telling us to go home (which was funny, because I was already home in my sweats and a jacket, heating up some water for a cup of Milo) We got another call the next morning telling us to not go out. And then we were told we could go out around 4:30pm that evening. Saturday we went out in the morning to invite people to come to General Conference, I forgot my umbrella (Sometimes I'm so not smart) and the sunny weather turned into a downpour. Came home Soaked, and then went to General Conference. 

Of course we don't have running water during all of this, but hey, there was an endless supply falling off our roof being caught into several buckets outside.

Catching Rainwater

There are pros and cons to Rain water showers: Cons: it's REALLY Cold. And there's a few twigs and leaves at the bottom of the bucket you decide to ignore. 

Pro: Rain Water is good for your hair. 

Anyway. Now the sun is shining and it feels hot again. Funny how quickly the weather changes

Nanay Emma is doing good (even if she did her Laundry instead of coming to church) We taught the Word of Wisdom, and she said it wouldn't be a problem to give up coffee

General Conference was AWESOME. (I rediscovered that I'm loosing my English vocabulary. I sat there for a few minutes trying to figure out what President Uchtdorf meant when he kept saying "Vistas") 

But seriously, how amazing is it that Heavenly Father loves us so MUCH that He calls 15 Prophets, Seers, and Revelators in this dispensation to help us along our way? I know Thomas S. Monson to be God's Prophet here on the Earth today. I was sad that no instigators or Less actives in our area made it to conference, but hopefully next week, some of them come to church :) 

The Church is TRUE, and Guided by Jesus Christ at the Head. 

I love you all! (a lot!) 

-Sister Smith

FHE at Nanay Bico's