The Most Tired I Have Ever Been In My Entire Life

JUL 20, 2014

Me and my yams - Ya gotta love the district. haha!

So remember how last week I emailed  you from Laoag? Well the very next day, I got to travel back up to dear ole Sta Te. We took a bus from Laoag to Magapit, then we had to wait in Magapit for the other missionaries from our Zone who were coming up on the bus right after us (they had to take the next one because all our luggage would not fit #missionaryproblems) so we waited in Magapit for like two or three hours, THEN we took a multi-cab to Gonzaga, they shot right past Sta Te on the Superhighway and then we had to go back to Sta Te so the cab driver could FINALLY drop me and my companion off at our house. Then still we had to go to the market to buy food, then we studied and planned for the next day because I told Sister Malobago that I could not go out and work because I was so tired. I think that is the best nights sleep I have gotten yet on my mission.

So on Saturday we had a branch FHE, my very first ever in my whole mission, and guess who cooked all the food and was at the church all day preparing to cook the food? None other than our favorite tatay, Tatay Fred. 

This is tatay fred and his apo and his daughter 

Yes. He is not even a member yet and he spent all day and night at the church helping to prepare for the event. One of the elders came in and was like "why isnt Tatay Fred baptized yet?" I looked at him and was like "I ask myself that question every day" But really, this week was a great week for tatay. He came to church (of course) then we had a lesson with him about the Kingdoms of Glory and we really stressed the need to pray to know about all the things that we teach him and he was like "yeah, and you need to pray about Joseph Smith, and I did and I know he is a true prophet" WHAT?! Yes! Those words coming out of his mouth are what I have been praying for for weeks! Oh, such a great brake through. He always believed, but to really know, you need to pray and he finally prayed!

Other awesome thing from this week, Marites Tayan came to church again and she brought her daughter named...MEGAN. She is named after Megan Fox (a detail I try to forget) but we committed her to bring her and she did! She even played nicely with the kids in primary and did not cry when her mom left the room to go to the Gospel Essentials class. Nailed it. The next step will be to get her to wear a skirt to church.

We also met a really great new investigator. She is the friend of a recent convert and when we went to go teach her she was really prepared and smart. She is Catholic and is really knowledgeable about doctrine-ie things, but she is really receptive. We taught about the Great Apostasy and she was like "Oh, I didnt know that the Apostles died and that that meant the authority of God was no longer on the earth." Yeah girl, now you know! She is crazy busy though because she watches the kid of the people who are paying her to go to school and she is going to school full time, but I am really excited about her.

So Sister Malobago is way different from my other companions. She is the first convert companion I have had and she is 34 years old and for 10 years before her mission she was less active. She came back to church and almost immediately started to put in her papers. She has only been out for 5 months and she just came from an apartment where she lived with Sister Keith. Haha! She is the only member in her family and her story is cray. There is no room or time here, but dont worry, its in the brain bank. Many good things yet to come.

Their house is that tarp covered shack behind us, but they are so sweet and happy! Those are not all their kids, some random Barangay Brats always show up when there is a white person around. haha!

Me and Sister Deyro. Everyone would ask if she was Chinese, so we took this picture as the Chinese and the American, but switched.

Mahal Kita!

Sis Bet

The Mission Really Does Change People

JUL 14, 2014

I think I might like pineapple. I know. Stop the presses. We had a lunch with some of the Branch Missionaries and there was all this pineapple (tis the season) and I ate like two big rings. And they were delicious. Its a big step.

So I just dropped off Sister Deyro. She is going home now. That is crazy. But what has been more crazy was how I got back to Laoag. So there we were, Sta Te, we left church an hour early so we could get into van going to Magapit junction where we were going to catch a bus that would take us to Laoag. But we got to Magapit just after the bus left, but they told us that there would be another one at 3...3:30...4...5...7...no buses. At about 7 we got into a van going to Clavaria where we were going to wait for another bus. We got to Clavaria at about 8:30 and met a group of women who had been waiting since 5 for a bus. No bus. So we wait for another two hours for a bus that came at 10 pm with no extra seats. Standing room only. So we got on that, stood for a while, then this blessed woman from Laoag ward 4 hooked us up with some stools to sit on and we made it to Laoag at about 1 in the morning. And all of this was interspersed with texts from President, the Assistants, our Zone Leaders, the other missionaries in the various stop overs that we had. All in all it was a very exciting trip, but now Elder Reber and Sister Deyro have been successfully dropped off to return back to their families and I get to pick up my new companions Sister Molobago. She is mejo bago (kind of new) and I hope she doesnt mind me making that joke with her name for the next week as I introduce her to our investigators. She is Filipino and is pretty fresh out of training. Its gonna be a good next transfer, I can just feel it!

So the peeps came to church! Fred is still faithful, but we have kind of hit a wall with teaching him. He already considers himself a member, so I think that has cut him off from really accepting the new things we are trying to teach him because he thinks he knows it already. But he really doesnt. We taught a really good lesson about the Spirit World and we asked him at the end what the Spirit World was and he started talking about how you need to pray to receive repentance. That is true, but that is not what we are talking about. I think the big problem with that is when we commit him to pray to know about what we teach, he is just like "I already know its true" that is great, but you also need to pray about it. No matter how we explain it to him, he just misunderstands. I know that he will make it, but our last few lessons with him have been really frustrating. I still love him but, ugh! Just pray man! It will all make sense if you just pray about it!

The super great family that I told you about? The referral of Fred? Well the dad came to church! We saw him all over the way this week and he came to church and it was so great. The Elders Quorum really stepped up and fellowshipped and I cant wait for his family to come too.

Angelica also came to church again! Roland is still working on Sunday, but that will change. I just know this next transfer is going to be a harvest. Big things. Big things. I know the paragraph about Fred makes this week sound like a bad one, but it really wasnt, we met a lot of new people and a lot of people came to church. Sister Deyro asked what I would describe my mission as if I only had three words and those three words have kind of become my mantra these last two transfers. Its a process. And it is. But its a delightful process.

Mahal Kita!

Sis Bet

The Windows Of Heaven Opened

JULY 6, 2014

Okay, so basically the best thing ever happened this week. I go FIVE packages. Yes. FIVE. It was exactly like the scriptures say, there was almost not enough room to hold the blessings. But we managed and I just want to shout out and thank all those involved, Big D, Pops, Ry, Becks, Teb, Mol, Dellers, Gma, The Barnes clan, Pagels Bagels and Lana. So yeah, thanks for being awesome guys.

Nailed it yall, well done. and maraming, maraming salamat!

In other news, there was a little bit of a slump in sacrament attendance this week. Dont worry, Tatay Fred is as faithful as ever and is now going to all three meetings, but Angelica and her husband and Marites did not come! Even though they all said that they would for sure be there. It was so disappointing. All through sacrament meeting I kept glancing out the window at the gate, just waiting for them to round the corner and walk into church. Boo you Satan. Keep your gubby mitts off them they are MINE! It is especially disappointing because we had an amazing lesson with Marites on Saturday night. We were planning to teach her about faith, so we go in and we ask her about her reading assignment--Alma 32--and she basically taught herself the lesson. It was incredible. When we first started teaching her, it was really hard for her to understand the scriptures, but now she is just flying through them. We ended up adding on the lesson about repentance and she just understood everything. Then, she didn't come to church. Blerg. I am just so sad. But we have a Family Home Evening set up with her later tonight, so we will get to the bottom of all this nonsense.

So we also met two really awesome families this week. The first is a referral of Tatay Fred (uh yeah, he is just that awesome) and we went on Wednesday afternoon and met Reggie's kids and holy moly they are smart little suckers. We set up a return appointment and when we went back, the mom was waiting for us and she said "the kids said you were coming so I didnt go out" Uh, go kids! Then when we started the lesson, the oldest son, Richie, totally remembered how to pray and was super involved in the whole lesson. We set up a return appointment so that we can also teach Reggie, but man, they are going to get baptized, I just know it! The other family we met are former investigators, the daughter has come to church for two weeks in a row and we got to teach her and her mom yesterday. Another return appointment for the whole family. Baptize the world!

It is kind of strange because this week is Sister Deyro's last week, it is even stranger to think that my last week in the field is only six months away. Gulp. Lets not think about that. More stories next week when I can tell you who my new companion is!

Mahal Kita!

Sis Bet

Put A Bird On It

JUNE 29, 2014

So this morning, after we were done cleaning, I was eating breakfast and Sister Deyro was doing the dishes, a BIRD flew into our house. This is the second time this has happened, and the first time, the bird few in for a little bit, then found his way out quickly. But this dumb bird had to fly around for 45 minutes before our land lord could even catch him to throw him back outside. I tried not to laugh too hard at the absurdness of the situation, since dear brother Domin was trying so hard to catch the little fellow. He was running around out house with our broom in one hand and a giant decorative fork in the other trying to coral the bird. In the end, man prevailed and only a few feathers were lost.

Church was epic this week. We had three investigators come to church, and they all stayed for all three hours. Of course, the ever faithful Tatay Fred was there, but we also had two new sisters come. Angelica is a former investigator who we have been teaching, she and her husband are very interested and he was also going to come to church this week, but he got called into work early on Sunday morning. However, Angelica still came by herself even though she had a baby and a young, rowdy son to take care of. Super star. Then Marites also came to church, her two year old daughter is named Megan and is the first Megan I have ever met in the Philippines. Turns out Marites is Angelica's aunt even though they are not that far apart in age. So that was great for them to be able to sit together in classes and talk about what they did not understand and just generally share the experience of the first time at church together. They even sat, of their own choice, at the front for the combined Relief Society and Elders Quorum meeting. I am through the roof.

Something kinda sad. We did not have any new investigators this week. That is the first time that has happened to me while I have been on my mission. We usually find about ten new people a week, but this week, wala. As in talaga. It was a sad moment to write that big zero on the key indicators list. Its all good though, we have a new area that has been added to our current area that we will be exploring this week, and we have some referrals that we need to contact this week as well. Big things are in the works here. On the other hand, we had 16 recent convert or less active lessons this week. We have a lot of recent converts here, also a lot of less actives, what else is new.

We did also have a woman straight up say to us "ayaw ko ng Mormons" or "I dont like Mormons" thanks lady, God loves you too.

Went on exchanges this week, and sorry Italy, I did not get to go on exchanges in a place like Pisa, but I did get to walk the beloved streets of Gonzaga again. And I got to have the amazing experience of teaching a truly changed man. He is the uncle of a returned less active and when I was serving in Gonzaga, he was a drunk. His brother died suddenly, and they had the funeral at the church and he collapsed during the service because he was drunk/dehydrated from drinking so much. He was always nice, but Sister Morris told me that he used to debate with the missionaries and prove the Book of Mormon wrong. NOW, he has come to church 8 times, cut down the booze and is one of the happiest people I have met, so curious, so willing to learn and even though I taught him Obey and Honor the Law (one of the silliest lessons in Preach My Gospel) I just felt blessed to be able to teach him. The Atonement really does change lives and people. It has surely changed me and Brother Louie.

Mahal Kita!

Sis Bet

Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ Have Bodies of Flesh and Rocks

JUNE 22, 2014

So in Tagalog, the word for bones is buto and the word for rocks is bato. So as you may imagine, I still get those mixed up sometimes even though I have been out for about a YEAR (holy shoot yall, when did that happen?). So this week I have definitely testified to people that Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ have bodies of flesh and rocks. Thank goodness for companions.

So Tatay Fred is still doing well, he is struggling to understand the doctrine, it is like when we teach him, we are talking about the Restoration and prophets and he is thinking about Adam and Eve. We are not really sure what is up with that, but I know that when he starts to read the Book of Mormon everyday and start praying more regularly, he will start to really get it. But he did come to church yesterday and he has been following the Word of Wisdom for about two weeks! He has gone from smoking a pack of cigarettes a day to only smoking three. He no longer drinks alcohol and is just drinking warm milk in the morning! It has been really cool to see the change this has had in his family. His son, who was a recent convert verging on less activity started to come back to church and we are going to start teaching some more of his family and friends! Man, I love this tatay.

We have also been meeting a lot of really prepared people this week. We had six people really commit to come to church, but then Satan thought it would be a fun idea to plan a parade on Sunday morning, the participation in which was required for all school kids. BLERG. So of course, our little congregation of 120 dropped to 68 and only two of our investigators came to church, one of which took a fair amount of convincing to get into the tricie to go to the chapel. Get behind us Satan. Next week we are going to have ALL THE INVESTIGATORS! All I tell you!

Stubborn Catholic nanays are still being stubborn and Catholic. But one less active former Catholic nanay who started going back to the Catholic church has really been warming up to us. I think she is close to coming to church. More to come.

All in all, it was a really good week, in spite of the Satan parade on Sunday.

Mahal Kita!

Sis Bet

You Know Its Hot When You Break Into A Sweat Clipping Your Finger Nails

JUNE 15, 2014

Yeah, that happened this morning. Grabe. Right now, I really just break into a sweat no matter what kind of activity I am doing.

So Tatay Fred Milanes, the man we met when he was drunk? Well he came to church again and this week was District Conference, so that meant that he had to go all the way to Gonzaga to go to church. And you know what he did? Went to Gonzaga and was on time and stayed for the entire morning session. Sis Deyro and I went to pick up and elderly recent convert and when we were riding in the trike back to the jeep terminal, I saw Tatay Fred standing on the side of the high way watching for a jeep to take him to Gonzaga AND he was waiting with his recent convert son who has kind of gone a little less active. Oh my can I just express how much love I have for this man?! I have taught prepared people before, but something feels different about Tatay Fred, he is just so willing to do all the things we ask of him and he is reading the Book of Mormon and he is already uniting his family in the gospel even before he is a member and good golly gosh wow this man!

This week we also got to go to Laoag to listen to Elder Ardern from the area presidency speak. His training was so good. He just kind of started talking and went where the Spirit took him. We seriously talked about everything from how to help our investigators feel the Spirit to marriage advice to how we develop talents to what the Beatitudes mean. That man is called of God, fo real. So we went for that awesome training AND I got to see all the people. Sis Keith is now near Laoag, so she is way far from me now :(. But I got to see Sis Abelhouzen, she is looking so good and is now in Cagayan as well. Sis Sese was there and Sis Kenfield and it was so good to see all of them. I squealed more than one time.

Other awesome thing from District Conference, we sustained and set apart EIGHT new Melchizedek priesthood holders and THREE of them are from the Sta Teresita branch and ALL of them are preparing for missions and TWO of them are recent converts that live in my area. When they all stood up, I could almost not contain my joy, but I did because we were in a room of, like 300 people and that would have been awkward. But, really people, this is HUGE. This district is growing by leaps and bounds. Last march they set apart another three priesthood holders and there are just more to come! Its gonna be a Stake soon. Maybe next year. So awesome.

Last, one of the awesome priesthood recent converts mentioned above has this aunt that is quite possibly the most busy person I have ever met, next to Deon Bettilyon, but I have seen this woman sit down maybe twice ever. We always try to teach her, but she is always like "sorry, busy" so this last wee we were just standing and talking to her, then we started teaching about the Sabbath Day and then we shared a scripture and testified and ended in a prayer and while it was all happening, I was like "of course, if we are going to teach Evelyn we just have to stand." So we did and it was awesome. It is going to be hard, but I think she has a lot of potential too.

Also, its my freaking BIRTHDAY!!!!!!!! Thanks in advance to all the happy birthday emails I have not yet read. Love yall too!

Mahal Kita!

Sis Bet

Riker Zyke, Kurt Axel and Wrecker Flynn

JUNE 8, 2014

These are all names of babies that I have met in each of my areas. Its like their mothers want them to rebel and start a garage band. Apparently the generation of Filipino babies being born right now is the generation of two names. Random fun Filipino fact for ya'll.

So this week we had an unexpected-awesome-surprise-yeah! The father of one of our recent converts came to church! I will explain why this is so amazing: the first time we met this man he was drunk and he asked us to come visit him. We set up a return appointment thinking there is no way he will remember. He remembered. And every time we saw him he was like "sisters, why didnt you come visit me?" ummm...because you are kind of creepy? Well he digs wells for a living and he was working on the well outside the church this week, so we saw him a lot and he kept asking us to go visit him, so we did finally and it was like, what the what?! Before we could teach him, we needed to find an adult female to fellowship, then it was raining so we couldnt teach him at his house because there is no where to sit inside and it was raining so outside was not an option, so we ended up teaching him at the house of another recent convert who is also his neighbor and through all this fiasco, he was very patiently, sweetly waiting for us to be able to teach him. THEN before we even start the lesson, he was like "Im going to come to church tomorrow." Sige tatay. AND THEN at the end of the lesson he said a kneeling prayer and it was so good. And guess what, on Sunday, he came to church. In a white shirt. And he was going to leave after sacrament, but we convinced him to stay for the gospel essentials class. We could not go to class with him because it was so full (#servinginstate) but the Elders said that he answered a lot of questions and said that he was going to come back again next week. Can you say GOLDEN?! I can. Golden. So freaking excited!

Sad part: Lorenz left for school. But we had lunch at his house the day before he left and it was great. We taught about family prayer with his mom and she is really opening up to us. We are still waiting to see if Lorenz will be able to come home for the weekends, but in the mean time we are going to try and teach just his parents tomorrow. It could be a struggle, but I have high hopes.

And have you ever tried to tell two old Catholic nanays that their baptisms are not valid? Maybe one of you does, shout out Italy, but I think the rest of you might not know how that goes. Its a bit rough. We have these two part member nanays who we are teaching and they have both been fighting accepting a baptismal date. This week we re-extended to them and it went well, but not the way we wanted. Each of them was like "I have already been baptized" and in my missionary life, that has always been a hard concern for me to explain. But as me and Sister Deyro testified and explained to them the necessity of God's true authority for baptism, I felt so guided by the Spirit in everything I said. They still did not accept the dates, but I know the Spirit was there in the lessons, and now it is up to them to accept and pray about it or not. I have high hopes.

Each week has good moments and bad moments, but the work rolls on! And side note, this week we get to go alllllllll the way to Laoag to hear Elder Ardern speak. He was the guy in General Conference with the SUUUUPER thick New Zealand accent. I am pretty stoked.

Mahal Kita!

Sis Bet