Mother's Day Skype

May 11, 2014

We had an absolutely marvelous 45-minute Skype session with Megan!! Ryan, Becky, Tyler, Molly and I were all in Berkeley. I very cleverly invited myself to California for Mother's Day :-) We skypted in Mark right away. And during the course of the conversation, for limited periods of time, we also chatted with Marlee Redford and most of the rest of the Pincock clan - all of whom were gathered at Doug's house for a Mother's Day Dinner. Callie & Megan got all teary (what else is new?). And Megan got to chat with Grandma Pincock, post hip-replacement surgery. Megan has been very concerned about Grandma, so it put her mind at ease to SEE and TALK with her Gma!!

Megan looked great!! She simply radiated with joy and enthusiasm, which is pretty remarkable because the next day she was diagnosed with German Measles. So interesting.

It was a great conversation. Everyone got to participate. Megan is having a terrific missionary experience!!

Can Sister Bettilyon Eat Three Halo-Halos In One Day?

May 4, 2014 

Yes. Yes she can. So first off, halo-halo is a very Filipino desert that means mix-mix because they just put everything in there. The usual things include unflavored jelly in various colors, ube, bananas, camote, macaroni noodles, sago (like in bubble tea), beans, corn, sugar and apples and coconut. Then they put shaved ice on top, pour condensed milk over the whole thing and put a spoonful of caramel to top it all off. Then you mix-mix. It sounds mejo gross, but is really quite delicious and I definitely ate three in one day on Wednesday. I didn’t mean to, but it just sort of happened. Sis Deyro and I shared one in the morning when we were out working, then in the afternoon, we were waiting for an investigator and one of our members was selling, and she made us two more. Sis D is lactose intolerant, so she could not handle another dose, so….I definitely ate her share. I ain’t even mad.

Hilarious story for the week: we were out working, doing finding in our area since we inherited exactly zero current investigators when we found this nanay, she was nice, said that the missionaries had shared to her before in Sta Ana, so we sat down and started to teach her. It was going well, she was really knowledgeable about the Bible, and we were testifying of what was different about our church than in other churches (the God Head, Christ and Heavenly Father have bodies, we have the Priesthood etc) when out of nowhere she starts going off about how we need to be saved and how she prays that we can fix the error of our ways and is quoting all of these Bible verses and then she says “let me introduce myself to you, I am the pastor of the Born Again Chruch, let me help you be saved.” I just smiled at her and said we were happy to meet her, that God loved her and then we got up and left. Ambushed by the Born Again! It was so hilarious. I tried not to laugh too loudly as I walked away. As I was laughing, our fellowshipper said that she had heard stories from other missionaries about that woman and how she will let the missionaries teach her, but then will just flip the switch on them. Oh people, God just loves all of you. But a note is definitely going in the area book to save other missionaries from that unfortunate encounter.

In other news, we have this adorable investigator who is 11 and who looks exactly like Dora the Explorer. I am not even exaggerating. She and her little sister have come to church twice now and their uncle was a convert, but he died recently. We went to their lola to hopefully teach her and ended up meeting the little girls. The grandma does not like to listen to us, because every time she sees us, she thinks of her dead son. I keep praying that we can manage to teach her enough times to help her understand the Plan of Salvation so she won’t be so sad anymore. We have taught her twice, and every time, she just starts to cry. Last time I told her that her son is just waiting for her to accept the gospel so she can be sealed to him, we will hopefully teach her later today.

We also have had some great new people to teach, two in particular. Remy is a woman we met our first day here, and we set a return appointment and when we went to go visit her, we were there for two hours. She just immediately launched into her rags to riches life story and started asking all these questions about the church and what would happen to her if she were baptized and Sis D and I left feeling a little overwhelmed, but really excited. It was like Jeffry R. Holland said, everything she told us about her life, connected to the gospel and we could testify, then offer more. I am really excited to go back and teach her again. Then this other woman, Mariebell, we have taught her two times too and she also just has question after question. She is a little hard to teach, because she wont really let you answer before she asks another question. But I think we have a plan that will really work for her, so our teaching will be more effective.

We also had an investigator come to church on Sunday, his name is Lorenz and his family has been taught before and he told us that he believes the church is true and that he has prayed about it, and his aunt, who is a member, brought him to church on Sunday and when we taught him on Saturday, his dad asked us to come back next week, but later in the evening so that the whole family could be taught. Um, yeah, can do tatay! I am so excited about this area, I think there are a lot of people just waiting to be contacted converted. Its gonna be a transfer of miracles, I just know it!

Mahal Kita!

Sis Bet

Zone Training Meeting (Elder Leifi sent these pictures) - Megan's camera is broken :-(

Spiders, Lizards, Cockroaches, Mice and Ants, Oh My!

April 27, 2014

Yes. So our new apartment in Sta Te is...nice. It really is nice, it just has not been really well taken care of for a while, so basically all the little critters that you dont want to see ever have made their homes in our walls and ceilings. I have gotten better at killing cockroaches now, but they still have the power of flight and make me squeal every time one rears its nasty little head. But I usually get the last laugh when they are squished under my stomping slippers. But then all the ants come to mourn his funeral. Its a constant battle, but me and Sister Deyro seem up to the task.

So Sister Deyro, she is great, she used to be and STL and these are her last two transfers, so she basically has the whole missionary business on lock down. I am really excited to learn a lot these next several weeks. She is from the Philippines, but she is one eights Chinese, and that one eighth is pretty strong, so everyone asks her if she is from China. Her favorite movie is National Treasure and Balto and she loves pizza. She is also an amazing cook, so that is awesome and not good at the same time. Dont worry, we walk a lot.

The reason we walk a lot is because neither of us knows anything about our area yet, but the branch is super fantastic. We have fellow shippers every single day, its incredible. There is this one family that is just the rock of the branch. Nanay Pajarillio is an RM from back in the 70s and she told us the other day that she has been having dreams for two years that she would be working all the time with the Sister missionaries. What the what?! Sister Deyro and I are the first Sisters in Sta Te ever. She told us that she and her family fasted and prayed about where they should live, because Nanay is from Tarlac and Tatay is from here, and the Spirit told them they needed to stay here. I know without a doubt it is because Heavenly Father needs her to build up the church here. We need her too. She has so many referrals prepared for us, I am just so excited to see the miracles start a flowen'!

There is this thing here called Lechon Manok, which is basically rotisserie chicken, and I knew about it before, you can buy it at a lot of different places, but I just never quite got around to it. We bought one this week and I was like "what have I been doing for the past nine months?!!?" It is so delicious, I am taking time to write about it. Its just that good. Dont worry, we are buying another one later this week. 

One other random cool thing: Do you remember the Corpuz family from Vigan? Maybe I didnt write about them, but Tatay Corpuz was the Branch Mission Leader and his son was the Branch President and their family was just super active and super awesome. Anyway, they have relatives who are RC/LAs here, and when we visited them yesterday, they said that Nanay and Tatay Corpuz are coming up for a vacation next week! I am so excited, I really hope I get to see them.

I am really excited about this area, and this branch is so strong. They are so excited to have Sisters finally. Opening an area is hard work, but I feel blessed that Heavenly Father thinks I am up for the challenge. I anticipate many splendid stories to follow.

Mahal Kita!

Sis Bet

You Are Getting Transfered....To The Next Town Over

Sun, Apr 20, 2014 at 8:52 PM

So transfers happened and I am getting transferred to Sta. Teresita C. I will be opening and area with Sister Deyro, who was an STL [Sister Training Leader - similar to Zone Leader], but is stepping down to open an area with me. Holy wow. We will be the first sisters ever in Sta. Te and it will be the first time I will live with just my kasama. And it will also be the first time in nine months that I will not be living with Sister Keith. I half expected that we would be companions this transfer, but that seems not to be the case...yet.

The Elders will be taking over Sister Dollete's and my old area. Good luck to them, all our investigators are female. Ummm...sorry...all the husbands are farmers and never home. But maybe it will be good for the area because the Elders can talk to the husbands, man to man, ya know? Also, the ZLs [Zone Leader] are the ones who are transferring here, so we know it will be in good hands. And I will be close by if they have any questions.

One miracle of the week, Melchor Vallejo texted us on Tuesday and he said that he had stopped smoking! He said that he stopped because the people he works with started to fight with him when they would drink and smoke, so he decided to really stop now. Yay! It is a little sad because we have not seen him in a week and a half, and I wont be able to see him again, but I know that the Elders will take care of him. Once the harvest is over, they should be able to teach him again. He was just too prepared to disappear for too long.

Also, EmyRose's step father died, and she told us that she was talking to her mom the other night and she said that she wants to become a member. We went to visit her and we shared a message about the Plan of Salvation with her and she started to cry. My knowledge of the Gospel is such a source of comfort in my life, and I hope that it can become a comfort for Emy and her mom too.

It is hard writing about an area that I know I wont be in anymore. We found some great people this week, but I won't know what happens to them in the future. I love transfers because it means something new, but the thing I realized about serving a mission is that it is just a long series of good byes. When you leave home, then at every transfer, then again when you go home. The comforting thing is that they are only temporal good byes. Like Elder Uchtdorf said in Conference, our souls are made of the stuff of eternities. This life a blink of an eye, and we have to make the most of it, but we have the comfort that the next life will come and that we can all be together again.

Mahal Kita!

Sis Bet

The Gapas is My Worst Enemy

Mon, Apr 14, 2014 at 12:11 AM

The most beautiful part of Gonzaga has now become our worst enemy. The
bukid. Or, the field. Everyone is harvesting because everyone is a
farmer in some aspect of their lives. Even the children are out in the
bukid all day helping to harvest rice and corn. So this means that we
have only taught about 2/3 of the lessons that we had hoped to this
week. Blerg. But that's okay. One must always have a positive attitude
in the Work of Salvation. No one wants to be saved by Marvin the
Robot. We are channeling the doors from the Heart of Gold instead. I
have no idea where that came from, but it just kind of came out. Wow
brain, you really are a steel trap of useless knowledge.

This is a picture I (Deon) found doing a google search of "gapas"
The caption said:"I saw two men and an old woman who do the harvest. They do it manually with their hands and the use of a rakem. The procedure is called gapas."

So the family I was so excited about last week? Well they are all now
in Tugegerao--if that is how you spell it--which is the closest large
city that happens to not be in the PLM boundaries, so that is a big
fat bummer. Hopefully they are just vacationing there and will come
back within the week. The good news on that front is that we did find
at least one new investigator through that family before they bounced.
No effort wasted!

We had a really great lesson with one of our investigators who has
some real potential this week. We are only able to teach her like,
once every two weeks, but every time we go, we leave and are like, "oh
my gosh, she is so prepared!" and she really is. We taught Maryjane
about the Plan of Salvation and she asked all these clarifying
questions about Pre-mortal Life and the Spirit World and the three
Kingdoms of Glory and the fact that she did that really shows that she
is paying attention, rare. So we teach her the entire Plan of
Salvation and then she launches into telling us all the problems in
her life with her husband and family and everything really. As she was
talking, she started to cry and she kept apologizing for getting
emotional, but she said that we are higit pa sa mga kaibigan niya, or
like, above her friends, so she feels like she can really talk to us.
We really don't know this woman very well, we have only taught her a
hand full of times, but despite that, she can really feel that we are
representatives of Jesus Christ. Even though we are two 20 something
girls, she can feel the love of Christ through us. Our conversation
with her was a really powerful witness to me of the mantle of being a
missionary.

Apparently they will be adding Elders and Sisters in each area,
meaning there will finally be Elders again in Gonzaga. It has been
many a moon since Gonzaga has had Elders. Everyone is really excited
about it, except that it means our tiny area may be cut. Hopefully
not, but I may not be here to worry about that any way. By next
Monday, I will know if I will be transferred. I don't think I am ready
to leave Gonzaga, but you never know with President Barrientos.


Mahal Kita!

Sis Bet

I Ate Balut

Sun, Apr 6, 2014 at 10:49 PM

Yes, as a half way treat for myself, I finally ate Balut. It was not the horrific experience everyone seemed to make it out to be. It was cooked by one of our members, so it was really pretty good. The one thing was, I didnt really know how to eat it. Like, you peel it like a boiled egg, but then you have to drink the broth that is inside and the only thing everyone kept saying was "you have to eat the whole thing!" so once I figured out how to get to the point where I could eat it all, I just knocked it back and it tasted like a hard boiled egg with this oddly shaped hard part around the yolk. Omer could probably make Balut, as a fun food adventure for the Virgin townsfolk. Just take 14 day old fertilized duck eggs and boil them for about an hour. Then peel and enjoy. Dont forget to eat the whole thing.

In other news, none of our investigators or members are currently coming to church because it is harvest season. Ugh. We have had two weeks with zero investigators at church because they are all harvesting corn and rice.

However, it was fast Sunday yesterday and Sister Dollete and I started our fast Saturday afternoon so we wouldnt have to work all Sunday while fasting. One of the things we fasted for was to find families. We have been teaching a lot of really great, smart women, but we have not been able to teach their husbands, bummer. So we open our fast and go out to work and guess what we found? A family of four. Yes. Just like that. We have a nanay, a tatay, and two anak. We taught them a really quick lesson, because nanay said she just did not have any time, but she listened and they were all really intent, even tatay, which is AMAZING since most men here wont really sit to listen. And they are really close as a family too, their house was filled with pictures of their kids and the fact that tatay stayed to listen shows that they have a lot of unity as a family. I am so excited to go back and teach them again, I think they are really prepared by the Lord. Why else would we have found them so quickly?

General Conference: it kind of makes me home sick to see Temple Square and the Conference Center because I am like "man, that is my place! I can imagine the drive from Texas St to that very spot" and it is a strange feeling. I am going to try not to focus on that and just listen to the great messages. Oh how I love Conference.

We also had a great experience with one of our RCs, she just got confirmed on Sunday with Alexis, even though she was baptized in January (its a long story) and the Sunday before she got confirmed, she gave us two referrals! This week we went to go teach them, and we were sitting outside one of their houses, which is right along one of the main walk ways in Minanga and when we started the lesson, there were four people listening. Then we sang and prayed and there were seven people listening. Then we started sharing our message and there were ten people listening. Then we started talking more and there were fifteen people. Then we testified and closed because things were getting a little out of hand. Its like, come, listen to the white girl speak Tagalog, freak show, free of charge, you just have to accept our return appointment and take our pamphlet! All ages welcome! Family friendly!

I was reading in Ether 2 the other day and by the other day I mean yesterday, and I stumbled across this little gem. Ether 2:23 "...for ye shall not go by the light of fire." This is when Christ is telling the Brother of Jared that he will have to come up with a way to light the boats that he has made and that fire, will not be good enough. So I pondered this for a moment. They would not go by fire, and neither can we. Fire is always lauded as the most important discovery of man, it is what started everything, but we are not to go by the light of fire, or by the brilliance of the accomplishments of men. We are to be led through this life by the light of our faith, just like the Brother of Jared. Faith is what brings us through the difficulties of life and it is what brought the Brother of Jared to the promised land. I know that faith is real, and I can feel its light leading my life.

Mahal Kita!

Sis Bet

Sister Dollete Really Hates Cockroaches

Mon, Mar 31, 2014 at 1:04 AM

So earlier today, while we were getting ready to go out, a cockroach made his way into our apartment. Sister Dollete saw him, screamed, then ran into our bedroom and locked the door. Me, Sister Keith and Sister Iremia tried to get the nasty guy out, but to no avail. We kept shouting his location to Sister Dollete who would shriek every once in a while in complete disgust. Then I went into our room to get something and Sister Keith said that the roach was headed to the bedroom and Sister Dollete screamed again and ran into the bathroom, which is inside our room, and locked the door again. At some point, Sister Iremia got him by the antenna and coaxed Sister Dollete out of the bathroom and started waiving it in her face. Die laughing I did.

Sister Dollette is hilarious. I think she had a headache, but this is what she did when we were accounting one night!

Alexis got baptized! It was a little touch and go for a second, but it all worked out. We had not been able to contact her all week and were really worried that she would not be at the church on time because we still needed to teach her one lesson (pray often and scripture study, both of which she does every day, but rules are rules) so it was about 30 minutes after the baptism was supposed to start and only two of the baptismal candidates were there, typical Filipino time, and in walks Alexis. Oh my gosh, it was like a literal weight had been taken off my chest. We took her into a room and taught her a five minute lesson, got her fitted into her baptismal clothes, took pictures and it was amazing. She was confirmed on Sunday and she is now the first member of The Church in Sta. Clara. In her confirmation blessing, it talked really specifically about her being a missionary, and I know that that is true. She is going to do a lot for The Church in her area and I pray that she gets to serve a mission some day. We just need to get her really involved at church. She has two really good friends who were at her baptism, one active member and one investigator, they were so cute helping her get ready after she was baptized, brushing her hair and running to the bathroom with her clean clothes. Missionary work y'all! Lets do it!

In other news, we have this one less active nanay who really likes to run away from us. Like she is 65 and she will literally RUN away from us. So we cornered her into a lesson with us (once you get her into a lesson, she is fine, but its the getting her there that is difficult) and we asked her to pray and usually we just ask her to pray, then bow our heads and are like "sige nanay, we will wait for you" and then after about 20 seconds of silence she will pray and she prays really well. But this time we bowed our heads, then about 30 seconds later, Sis. D says "nanay ran away" she had literally gotten up, while we were not looking to go find tatay to pray for her. Oh nanay. What are we going to do with you? Keep chasing you down with the Christlike love of  two missionaries.

We also had a RC who talked in a lesson for 46.20 minutes uninterrupted. His assignment was to read a conference talk we had given him, then share to us about it. We will not be doing that again. He just kept going and going and going. It was good-ish stuff (he has a hard time seeing the real application of the gospel in his life, but thats a different story for a different day) but basically it reinforced to me why we need to stop and ask questions for investigators to feel involved in lessons. No one likes to be talked at.

Well to close it is really hot here, but people are being baptized and its all okay.

Mahal Kita!

Sis Be