May 13, 2013

Philippines Mail #1

I just want to say this place is amazing!!! I love it. So this week has been packed full of adventure. On Monday, we left for the Philippines. We had a flight from Salt lake to LA which was an hour and then at LA we had a 6 hour layover. So, me and my companion were teaching to everyone and we met a lot of Philippinos. We then went from LA to Hong Kong which was a 15 hour flight. It was a pretty long flight because I could not watch movies!!! In Hong Kong we had a six hour layover and so I got to have Authentic Chinese food which was really, really cool!! Next we had a 2 hour flight to Manilla! We arrived late so our mission president wanted us to stay the night in Quezon City which was like a 4 hour car ride! We got there and there was all the Philippinos from the Philippine's MTC and I thought they were just random Philipinos but they all were so cool!!!! They helped us with our Tagalog and other things and we helped them with English!! We woke up the next day at 3 in the morning and all got on a bus for another 6 hours. The scenery is soooooo cool!! There are rice fields everywhere and Caribou which is like an ox. The mission home is really, really cool and so we had pictures and we had games and a feast! We stayed the night at a house that the APs stay at and then the next day was Transfer day such a cool time. I am with an American companion who has only been here 5 months and he says my Tagalog is way good for just getting here. I am in the Rosales Zone, Rosales Stake so I will probably be in the Urdaneta Mission. If I wanted to descibe to you the Philippines, I couldn't. This place is sooo amazing!!!! It's super humid and I sweat all the time, all the time 24/7. The houses are concrete and usually have dirt floors and most of them have TV's. There are children here running around naked and its just really, really different. I LOVE IT here though :) I love the people already.

I am sooo lucky though because I have a laundry lady!! So, I don't have to wash my clothes, which is nice! Our apartment is a pretty nice one! I live with 8 elders in 2 apartments. 

I want to tell you about an experience we had yesterday with the M family. She had not been taking the lessons until she got hit by a motorcycle. So, she is bedridden and it changed her attitude. We went to go teach her about repentence, but when we got there here mom B was there so we invited her to join and we taught them about how families can be together forever! In the middle of the lesson one of the members mission presidency came to bring food to them and he brought the other sisters. So, it was their whole family, 3 sisters and the mom. We all bore our testimonies and then Sister M gave the best prayer ever and started crying, then I invited them all to be baptised and they all said yes they wanted to be a family forever!!!! The spirit was super, super strong. The joy that brought me, I have never ever ever been so happy as I was yesterday, The gospel has brought such a great joy in my life. 

The E Family is a less active family and we helped them set a date to go to the temple to be sealed as a family!  We do a lot of work with less actives, helping them come back to church and receive Jesus again! 

Even though I have just been here 3 days, my heart is full to the Lord for his help in all things. The real teacher is the spirit, and I have to be karapat dapat sa espiritu santo!

The Lord's mission that he allowed me to go on means everything to me!! I can tell its going to be an amazing, amazing 2 years! I can not wait to see people come unto the savior and change their lives. It's all about them! He is helping me when I am tired and when my feet are tired and I just want to be in dry socks. He is with me always!! There are not just 2 members of our companionship there are 3, me, my companion, and Jesus!