Now That I Know What It Is Like To Be The Prettiest Girl In The Room, I Hate It.

NOVEMBER 17, 2013

So basically now that it is just me and another Americana, we get a lot of attention from the men here. Not my fave. Maraming wolf whistles and "hey sexy" and "you are so pretty" yelled at us. I mean, the ego boost is nice, since I mostly feel and look like a sweaty horse all the time, but now we are just super self conscious about weather people want to listen to us because we are American, or because of what we have to teach them. Its a tough balance to strike. Ill keep you posted.

So this week we taught Darryl, the good friend of Melchor Santiago our RC, and they were two power-house lessons. In the first, it was two hours long and the poor nanays who were fellowshipping with us left and went to sit in the air con car for a second. It probs didnt help that the lesson was in English, but you know, you roll with what works. So he is just questioning if he still wants to get baptized, so we went though all the baptismal interview questions with him and he answered them all beautifully and we testified and he testified and we all felt the Spirit, but at the end of the lesson he still said he was not sure. So we went back and we couldnt teach him because there was no woman present and that broke my heart. Then we went back again and taught him about faith and asked him to pray to know if the gospel and the church are true with us and we knelt down and he prayed and the Spirit was so strong that he said after he was done that he felt as though someone was rubbing his back. OH MY GOSH. The Spirit guys, the Spirit. But even after that experience he is still hesitant to turn his back on the Catholic church even though he comes to the LDS church every Sunday and reads the Book of Mormon for comfort in times of trial. Glory on high! This man is so prepared and I think that Satan is just trying to hold him back because he knows how much Darryl could do for this Branch. Blerg. Stop it Satan. Just stop.

So Jovan is still learning slowly. He still does not know how to read. But we taught him when his mom was just in the other room, not in the lesson with us and he focused so much more because she was not there to hide behind or to feed him all the answers. I think we got through a little bit about what repentance is, so that is good. But literally, every time we ask him a question he pauses and says "si Jesus Christ" and we are like, "...Yeah, thats great, but what is repentance?" by the end of the lesson his answer was "magsorry, magembrace and si Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ" Not totally the whole point, but I will take it! We will get there si Jesus Christ, slowly, but surely, we will get that child ready for baptism!

Cool story, have I told you about Jojo Real? He is the investigator who talks like a preacher who was not progressing at all? Yeah, Sis Abelhouzen and I went to go visit him after getting punted about four times in Cabaroan, we just kept walking by his house and I was like "not yet. Not yet" but then we kept walking by and I kept thinking about him and I was like "alright Spirit, please bless my companion as we try and rock this" So we go in and start to do the follow ups, we pray and before Jojo can get his groove on I ask "what do you think our purpose is, coming to teach you?" and he answered that it was just to talk about Christ, because he likes to talk about Christ and I was like "Yeah, but our main purpose is to get you prepared for baptism so that you can become a member of this church. We testify of Christ, but our main purpose is to help you start on the path that can lead you to live with Heavenly Father again and that starts with baptism." BOOM, what the what? It just like, poured out of my mouth and it shut him up for a little bit, which was a small miracle. He started to ask some more questions and we just kind of flowed into the Restoration and Jojo is so similar to Joseph Smith, we told him that and his story and challenged him to really pray to know about this message and he said he would. I am just happy that he knows what our real purpose is now. We will see what happens.

Mahal Kita!

Sis Bet

Oh You Know Ma English Is Going Out Tha Doo When I Write Attackted

NOVEMBER 10, 2013

So that wasn't me who said that, but Sister Keith did and I laughed so hard I almost peed my pants. She wrote it on a Teaching Record and it was just hilarious. So enjoy.

And guess who is trinatraining an Americana for real this transfer?! Yup. Me. And Sister Keith. So in all of Vigan--we have 12 missionaries--there are only two Filipinos. No joke. And ten of us have been out for six months or less. And all of us are training except the companionships with Filipinos. We may be having some struggs in the near future. But my new companion Sister Abelhouzen is a gem. Seriously I love this girl. When I opened my letter with the name of my companion I was like "well she is American" then I met her and I was like, "eh, we can do this" So now I am leading in all things, and it is a little scary, but I already feel the Lord helping me. It was like I all of a sudden understood Tagalog and am able to speak it pretty well too. I really have no other explanation other than the power of the Spirit. This work is real. rul rul.

So this week was really strange because we went up to Laoag for most of the week, then have had shorter proselyting days because of travel, weekly plainning--I survived--and Sunday. But before we went up to Laoag Sister Keith and I worked in each other's areas for the day and in Sister Keith's area we met the creepiest old Jo. His name is Roger and oh my gosh. When we met him I could feel the Spirit leave. So he is this middle aged guy from NY who, by the sounds of it, is just living off his family's money and is in the Philippines to trap some poor, yet attractive, Filipino into marriage. He has lived here for five years and does not speak a drop of Tagalog--his phrasing. He had these creepy blue eyes that popped out of his head, a fanny pack and the littlest twelve year old feet. I really cant even tell you how gross he was, but he was gross.

In other news, thing really are just quite spectacular in Vigan, I dont have any crazy stories to tell this week other than creepy Roger. I speak a lot of Tagalog now...I am leading lessons and planning and life...I have not even felt the effects of Typhoon Yolanda...my new apartment is infested with ants...but I do have a flush toilet now and a shower, but I think I really prefer a bucket shower. Look at me, going native.

Mahal Kita!

Sis Bet

TYPHOON HAIYAN

On Friday NOV 8, 2013 one of the largest storms EVER recorded came ashore in the central Philippines. Locally they are calling the storm Yolanda. Internationally it is being called Tyhoon Haiyan. You've all read and seen the reports of incredible destruction and despair. Here is a link Ryan sent me to a Deseret News/KSL story about some sister missionaries in the area hardest hit:

http://www.deseretnews.com/article/865590735/Surviving-the-typhoon-A-story-of-fear-faith-and-what-it-means-to-be-prepared.html?pg=1

Early the next day, NOV 9, I received this email:

Greetings,

We would like to let you know that the typhoon Haiyan(locally known as Yolanda) did not affect any of the areas in the Philippines Laoag Mission.

All the missionaries here are safe. Thank you for your love and support.

Sincerely,

Philippines Laoag Mission

Fortunately, Megan was well out of harm's way! Here is what she had to say about it on NOV 10, 2013:
Oh man, like all of my emails today are about the Typhoon. Yeah, we did not even experience a drop of rain or anything. But there are a lot of people who are effected by the storm, but I think I probably know less than you do because we can't watch the news or read newspapers. So yeah. But I have definitely felt the love.

Look Out World! I'm Trinatraining!

Sunday, NOV 3, 2013

Yup, my 12 week training is done and now I get to have my very own trainee. Heaven help that poor sister. Joke lang. We will do just fine. I just hate not knowing who she is, not knowing where she is from and most importantly NOT KNOWING IF SHE SPEAKS TAGALOG. Yeah, that would be my biggest worry. I am okay in the language, like I can manage, and on exchanges the other day my Sister Training Leader said that I should be fluent by the end of November--lets all hope for that--but I dont feel 100% sure of myself if I have to do the bulk of the language-ing. Ya know? We will just Tim Gunn it and make it work.

This week feels a little bit like a dream because everything was so crazy because of transfers and we had to be locked in on Thursday because of another storm, then on Saturday we moved apartments and on Tuesday we were at the hospital with Sister Sese's distant relatives and everything just was crazy this week.

So Tuesday, we went to the hospital, again. Sister Sese's brother in law's cousin was in the hospital there (we all know I know how random family relations work) and he asked Sis Sese and I to drop by and arrange for the cousin to have a priesthood blessing and Elder Crandal and Elder Mabunga showed up, but forgot oil, so they had to go back to their apt and look for some, could not find any, so they had to go to the store, buy, consecrate then come back and give the blessing. The whole process took about an hour and Sis Se and I just sat in the creepy hospital with the poor old nanay who had staples in her neck and sang Christmas songs. It sounds like a strange day, but really, it is kind of just how things go here in Vigan.

Wednesday I went on exchanges with Sister Jarmillios and she is just a delight. And a great boost to my confidence level as far as speaking and teaching go. She also had some great insights on how to handle Jojo--preachy guy who gives us bananas--because he is just NOT progressing. He does not remember anything we have taught him and I think he just sees our visits as an opportunity for him to preach to us about Jesus and show how much he knows. Not really the point. So I will be going back with my fresh new companion and see what happens. I think we are going to really ask what he thinks our purpose is and hit him hard with the Gospel of Jesus Christ and emphasize baptism.

Saturday we had to move. It was a monkey show. I hate moving and I hate waking up in the morning, thinking it is going to be a normal day, then realizing that, no, you have to pack up all your crap, clean an apartment, move your stuff into that smaller apartment that you just cleaned, organize, clean some more, make food, then wake up at 6:30 the next day. Luckily the Elders helped and things went as well as could be expected. I just hate hate hate moving. Did I mention that I hate it?

Church was sweet, everyone was saying goodbye to Sister Sese and Kenfield and taking pictures and it is cute to see how loved they are. I am just so scattered right now with everything happening and training and moving, but next week I will have a new companion to tell you about. Lets all hope she is a Filipina. Kay? Thanks.

Mahal Kita!

Sis Bet

Just Take A Right At The Dancing Tatay

Ahhhh.  .  .

All the Sistah's in our Apartment

Melchor's Baptism

Sis SeSe's Massive Spider Bite

Megan's Heat Rash + Multiple Mosquito Bites

The Worst of Megan's Heat Rash. Yikes!!

Melchor's Baptism (He's on the left)

Vigan Environs

Sis. Sese and I walked, straight, for an hour and a half the other day. And we were fasting. Awesome. But you would think "sisters, you should have been talking to people and trying to make contacts" and you would be right. Except for the fact that there were rice fields on our left and on our right and only mga baka to buoy us up. So yeah. That was awesome. But as we were mostly done with our long walk back towards some semblance of civilization, we came to a street where we had made contact with a referral about three weeks ago. So since we were just trudging along, we went to see if he was home and if we could teach him. He was, but there were no sisters so we set up a return appointment. But the best part of that story is how we recognized the street we turned down one night three weeks ago: you just hang a left at the Dancing Tatay. Yes. The old man who is the land lord, and is not totally there if you know what I mean, just stands on the side of the road dancing and waving money around. True story.

Next story. Tuesday night Sis Se and I were on our way to see if an appointment we had scheduled for later in the week was available, just because we were in the area. As we are walking up to the house, it is about 7:30 so it is pretty dark, I remember that there is a monkey chained to the tree that is right by their gate, so as we walk in, I look into the tree and see Mr. Monkey creepily hiding in the crook of the trunk. So we talk with the woman, she was not available, and as we are walking towards the gate, I have the thought "you cant trust a monkey..." and sure enough, just as we approach the tree, Mr. Monkey lunges out at us, to the extent of his chain and scares the living day lights out of me and Sis Se. You know how easily I startle, even when I am expecting it. I am just glad that he didnt throw any poop. Monkeys do that right? You cant ever, EVER trust a monkey.

Megan in the tourist-ie part of Vigan with Elder Randall looking like Bigfoot!

In another lesson on Saturday, the worst thing in the world happened. My water bottle opened in my bag. I think I almost cried. There was a lot of "Oh my gosh! Oh my gosh! Please Heavenly Father nonononononononono!!!!!!!!!" Dont worry though, the damage was really minimal, my camera is in a water-proof case, my scriptures were mostly saved by my case (thanks to the Barnes ladies) but my poor little planner was pretty damaged even though it is in a cool little case too. And to all you former/current missionaries, you know how devastating that 

 is. The planner is EVERYTHING. So I get to have a slightly damp, ripped and bled through planner for the next four weeks. But the scrips and camera are okay, everything is mostly fine.

Miracle of the week. Benedict Dupay (less active) came to church!!!! In the last lesson I had with him and his wife together, he would not look at us, he would not talk to us, he was 100% unresponsive and it was just breaking all of our hearts. But, we went to go visit him and Alysa (wife) in the hospital because Alysa is having a sensitive pregnancy, and there was just something different about him. He was smiling, and he was interactive when we shared our spiritual thought with them, and, I dont know, they just had a different feel about them. Because before, Alysa was thinking of moving out, and Benedict was just like "okay, thats fine" but now, OH! They just look so happy. They only came for the last 15 minutes of Sacrament, but I dont even care, I am taking it!

The miracles are right, and big and bright *clap clap clap* deep in the heart of Vigan!

Its not a perfect fit, but you will deal.

Mahal Kita!

Sis Bet

The Itchy Adventures Of Sister Rash and Sister Spider-bite

SEPTEMBER 30, 2013

So about a week ago, Sis Se and I came home from teaching and we get inside and, of course, kneel down to pray, and as soon as I kneel down the backs of my knees are on fire with itchy-ness. So I just try and focus on the prayer that Sis Se is giving, but really my mind is counting the seconds until I can stand up and itch the crap out of the back of my legs. Sis Se says 'amen' and I rocket off the ground and go over to the mirror to see what in the heck is going on down there. The backs of my knees are just all puffy and itchy and bumpy and gross. So I just say "Ewww! What is it?! Ewww! It itches!!!" Oh, it itched like you would not believe. Plus, I have developed a nice bit of heat rash that has spread all up my calves. So I am just walking around, looking like a diseased freak, all I want to do in lessons is itch my legs. Just itch and itch and itch.

So I don't know what the back of my knees is all about, and it took a good week and a half to figure out that my heat rash was indeed heat rash. But now, a jar of itch cream (that turned all my rings brown because it had sulfur in it) and some prickly heat powder later, it all seems to be clearing up. My legs still look gross, but I dont want to chop them off anymore. So yeah!

But Sis Se got bitten by a spider while we were riding in a tricie to District Meeting two weeks ago, and at first I thought she was fine, she was tearing up a little because of the pain, but as we walked into DM, she was saying she was fine, no she did not want a blessing and she is not the kind of person who likes to be fawned over when she is injured, so I just go about the normal thing, but during Elder Mabunga's training, I look over and she is fanning herself like there is no tomorrow, and she is crying and there is even a little snot dribbling out of her nose. I see all this and I just think "good gracious woman, how are you such a mess?!" Turns out that spider bite did a number on her. The place where the spider bit her swelled up to the size of a baseball and was all hard and hot and itchy and gross. But we got her some meds, and she is also healed up nicely. Needless to say, there were many a Spider Woman joke made in her honor.

Other cool thing this week, we got two new sisters in Vigan. A huge help for the work here, our area is just too big to handle, and even with the two new sisters, it is still a little big. But we are making it work, even though the six of us are crammed into the same small apartment and things are getting a little tight if you know what I mean. But it is only for one more week, then they move into their own apt and we have all our space back.

So this week, Sis Se and I taught a family that I have not been able to meet yet, they live in this little raised bamboo shack behind a nice house that is off the national high way. It was an amazing lesson, I was using all sorts of great Tagalog, and the Spirit was so there, and this sister who used to run and hide when the missionaries came by came into the lesson half way through and just sat and listened, then at the end she was like "sure sisters, I'll pray" it. Was. Awesome. Sis Se and I also looked exactly like the picture on page 60 of the September Liahona. We were even teaching a 21 year old woman and her three children. Oh Vogue, photo shop my life!

ALSO Melchor Santiago's baptism was on Saturday. He is going straight to the Celestial Kingdom I am sure. He is just so solid. He has never fallen through on a commitment, he is on time to church every week (Filipino standard time is worse than Deon Standard Time.) and he even brings his friend Darryl (who also has a baptismal date) and they are seriously golden. Melchor's wife even said at the baptismal service that she wants to be baptized, but she can never come to church because their baby has been so sick. But I am confidant that family is Temple bound. Slowly, but surely. So during Melchor's testimony, a cat got into the chapel (oh the Philippines) and was meowing and trying to jump out of closed windows and being all kinds of distracting, but you could tell that Melchor just could not even hear it, he was so intent on sharing his beliefs. It was amazing.

Last, I cleaned the dirtiest apt on Saturday. It is the one the new sisters will be moving into, and it is a nice apt, but the woman who lived there just does not know how to clean like a real person. I cleaned the bathroom and I was trying so hard not to gag/die while doing so. I think I killed 50 spiders and scrubbed and scrubbed and scrubbed, and the floor still looked like it had dirt on it. But it smelled clean and looked a bettilyon times better than when I started. So that is a plus. I did feel super accomplished after I was done, and was dripping sweat. I didn't know I could sweat that much. It was really impressive.

Well, sure love yall!

Sis Bet

Guess Who Has Two Thumbs And Is Training An Americana?

SEPTEMBER 23, 2013

Ope, not this sister. That is for sure. But really, it was a big possibility that I could have been training at the end of six weeks instead of the usual twelve weeks. It happened to my trainer and Sis Keith's trainer and, as you know Sis Sese is Filipino, but Sis Kenfield is totally as American as they get, and she really does not speak Tagalog very well at all. So when our phone started ringing on Thursday morning, my entire body started to shake and I couldn't feel my arms anymore. But good news is that we are all staying for one more transfer dito sa Vigan and are getting two more sisters! So exciting because we seriously have too much to handle with the four of us right now. Our area is so big, and there is just not enough time to visit all the people who need us. Buuuuut, President told Sis Keith and I that we will for sure be training next transfer. So hopefully I will be fluent by then...so yeah! Maybe Vigan will become a Stake soon after all. It would be so cool for the members to finally have a patriarch. My blessing has brought me so much insight for my life, it just breaks my heart knowing these people don't even have the opportunity to receive one.

Also, don't worry. We survived the Super Typhoon. Yes. That is what they called it. A Super Typhoon. We stayed inside all day, which was disappointing, especially since we had planned thirteen lessons that morning to potentially teach that day. But the wind was so bad and the rain. Oh my goodness. THE RAIN. It was like Niagara Falls outside our door. I really cant even describe how hard it was raining. I am pretty sure if I stepped out in it, the force of it would have knocked me over. But we were safe and dry inside, even when the wind blew open our door and scared the living day lights out of us all. The power also went out for a while, but we just sat, ate cereal, sang hymns in Tagalog, read old issues of the Ensign, did laundry and watched the storm.

We also had Zone Conference this week, so we got to go up to Laoag and I got to see some of my lovely batch mates. Everyone is doing well, Elder Payne had a guy get stabbed outside his apartment his first day. So that is a thing. Apparently he is in a really dangerous area and they sent him there because he looks all big and tough, but the joke is on them, he is the biggest teddy-bear you have ever met. But so far, nothing scary has happened to them directly, just...around them...needless to say, I pray for him and his companion nightly. Also, apparently Elder Moyle's area is haunted. That is a legit thing here, like, evil spirits and stuff. So I pray for him too. It makes me happy to be in Vigan, or "the paradise of the Laoag Mission" I'm going to enjoy every moment.

We also have another baptism for this coming week! His name is Melchor Santiago, and he is so golden. He was the first person I invited to be baptized, and preparing him has been such a delight. He really understands the message and just wants to follow Christ and share his message with everyone. We have been teaching him and his friend Daryl at the same time, and Daryl is also pretty golden. He has come to church twice in a row now, and my heart just bursts with joy every time I see the two of them. We committed Daryl to live the Word of Wisdom a week ago, and he is a big coffee drinker, but he accepted our invitation, and has been trying so hard to quit. I think it is so amazing when people are so willing to do hard things and follow the commandments because they feel the truth of our message.

Other heart warming moment! John relieved the priesthood last Sunday and has passed the sacrament two weeks in a row. Oh! That young man! I see a future missionary. I just hope and pray that the ward will nourish him and Jaydel so they can grow to be strong priesthood holders. Something that this area desperately needs.

Mahal Ko Kayo!

Sis Bet