All I Feel is Gratitude

Oh my family!!! Another week gone by. We went to the temple today, which was awesome. I haven't been since august so it felt so fulfilling. Love it. One of the perks of being in the city, right :) About the clothes being made in Mindoro, I left the material there and hopefully (as in seriously hopefully!) she finished them and sent them up with president this last Saturday after Mindoro's zone conference. I went shopping at the mall today too. It's officially decided. I hate malls. I hate shopping. All it does is make you want all this stuff that you don't need and i just wanna go sit on my kawayan floor in a Philippino shack to remind me none of that matters. It's slowly breaking me in for sure so I'm not in complete shock in the states though. Good news though, I bought 4 pairs of shoes today! For a total of about 40 dollars. Haha, love it. I felt like pretty woman with all these service ladies bringing shoes to me. ahah. You think I'm kidding, but the service in the Philippines is pretty much top notch. But SO excited to get my hair cut!! Thanks for making the appointment ma :) Mom, I really don't think you need to worry about the ear. I've gotten this awesome cold this week that's just been draining everything out. Truly, don't waste the money. I'm pretty sure it's ok now. 

Thank you for the packages! I loved the letters. They're always my favorite, of course. I think Tyler’s was the most funny, but that's no surprise. And the milk. I've already drank half of it. Haha, and I don't feel a bit bad. And the countdown Joan sent was so stinking cute. We've been loving it. You guys are the greatest. 

Ryan's new ward sounds about like the entire Philippines. Haha, welcome to my entire mission. Maybe he's starting to see now why it'll be super important to make sure all his investigators are strong with their testimonies and that they're getting baptized for the right reasons, because sometimes, the wards can't hold on to them. Their testimony is the only thing that'll keep them going. 

I don't have a ton of updates, so I'm just gonna spill out whatever comes off the top of my head. 

This week was crazy. As in, I've never experienced an area like this. We're opening area right now. There's a total of 6 member families in our area, 2 that are active and 4 that are less active. And we have about 4 investigators.  No joke. Add that up, and then how many hours we have to use in a week and it makes for a lot of blank time. I've never tracted so much in life. As in, my mouth hurt at the end of each day because my companion knows how to say about 4 things in Tagalog. But Saturday I just couldn't help but laugh. The hard part is they're all INC and Baptist and they won't even give you the time of day. They just say, go to someone else (rough translation). I wanted to tell them, that's like me saying I hate Philippinos when I don't even know a Philippino. Come on people. This is not working though so it's time to take a new approach. Tonight we're going to go talk to a few members and find out who has contacts with the barangay. Then tomorrow we're going to go to the barangay and see if we can do a community activity on Family History, and/or service activity. Even pair up with some other churches. Try to just get people to open up a bit. This door to door thing is ridiculous and super ineffective.  

We have a sweet new investigator right now. He's a Baptist pastor and understands the atonement and other doctrine better than most members. Wowsa. He even asked us if we believe that Christ went and taught the spirits in the spirit world for the 3 days he was dead. And that there are actually 2 kind of deaths, a temporal death and a spiritual death. When Adam and Eve ate the fruit it was a spiritual death, not temporal, because they became separated from God. What the?! Next lesson is the apostacy. 

I talked to a few of my fellow Mindorians at the temple today....we're all missing Mindoro. Elder Quinton was hilarious. He goes, "Just kill me. Seriously. You're so lucky you're just going home. I told president, just to drag my face to the box back in Mindoro. I'm trying to figure out a way to get emergency transferred that isn't too disobedient". Bahaha, I laughed so hard. So apparently it's not just me. 

I've been super lucky to be here for the last few weeks. Like I said, there was a greater purpose in this and it was all for me. Just to help me out. I don't feel sad anymore, upset, nothing. All I feel is gratitude. And I love Sister Lorente. She told the ward her "twin" finally made it back to the main land. Haha. Pretty much every night I go over to their apartment and we just sit and talk to 10:30. She is my blood sister, I swear, even if we're different colors. 

For Christmas, I think I'll just call you. It's cheaper that way.  I'll probably call around 7 am here I think, so like 4 pm there. Will that be ok? Hope so. And Yay, there's SNOW!!!! Just praying it's stay and gets added to. Love you all and talk to you soon! Have a fab week! 

Transferred...to Pateros :(

Greetings from Pateros...I am no longer in Mindoro :( Long story short, Sister DeLaMare wanted to get my ear checked out and make sure everything was ok, and the best way to do that was to just have me come back to Manila to see the doctor here and stay here for the last 3 weeks of my mission. I found out last Monday night and then flew out early Wednesday morning. It honestly felt like my heart had been ripped out. Still kind of does. When she called, I just sat on the kitchen floor and sobbed for 30 minutes. I think it was the first time on my mission that it fully registered, "I'm leaving". I've been in such denial, I wish I could explain it. It doesn't feel real to me that I'm leaving the Philippines; that was the first moment that it felt real. It hurt. I went to the mission home with the zone leaders because they were having ZLC and after I went to the doctor (found out there's just built up congestion in my ear that hasn't drained from the infection/fungus. That's why I can still feel pressure and sometimes a twing of pain. It just will take a while to soak back into the tissue daw), I felt just sick. I had to leave my area for nothing basically. And I had tears welling in my eyes with 30 elders starting at me like I'm crazy. And I couldn't hug a single one of them for just a second. I just cried to President when he interviewed me. Shoot. 

But over the past few days, I've been able to see why. First reason is for me. Like I said, I've been in denial, so my head and heart haven't registered yet that I'm leaving the Philippines. I keep telling Heavenly Father to help me prepare because I know it's going to hit so hard. So what happens? I get transferred. Not quite as hard to leave an area you've only been in for 3 weeks and where you know no one. Especially where in Mindoro, I was with all my old companions.  I love the people there, the branch, my zone. He's just easing me into reality real slow like so I don't go into depression or something. And I feel at peace. My work is done in Mindoro. The Lord needs me here.

Second is for my companion. My new companion is Sister M. She's from Australia and has quite the story. She was originally assigned to a different mission, but was reassigned here because she had to have brain surgery. Her brain was swollen with water. The cause: her dad has beat her for about the past 12 years. Makes my heart ache. She's the oldest and her mom died in 2005. She has a hard time with remembering things though. She's been in the area 1 week, so we're basically opening the area together. There's so many sisters coming in next year, President told me she needs to be ready to train. We have much work to do. 

I got a tender mercy though. I got to be with Sister Suarez for 2 weeks and then here my next door neighbor is Sister Lorente. Yay!!! LOVE that girl. Shoot, I've missed her! So I get to be with her for the next few weeks and see everyone else at temple day and Christmas conference. And I'm heading back to my old areas the week before I head home. It just feels like my goodbyes are complete. walang kulang. I'm finally starting to feel like I can leave the Philippines now and be ok with it. 

So as for the culture shock. After being in the province for the last 11 months, wowsa, Hahaha, I just had to laugh at myself. These are the things that have shocked me the most so far this week. 

1: my apartment has a toilet seat! Honest to goodness, I opened the door and was nearly in shock. Busted up laughing. 

2: I also have a shower head. At first I assumed it didn't work, so I started looking for the bucket. When I couldn't find one, it finally dawned.....maybe the shower head works... pleasantly surprised when I turned it on and water came out. Oh my goodness.

3: Everyone's clothes match so well! I'm slowly becoming more conscious of what I'm wearing. Haha. Their outfits are so well put together with so much style, not the gym shorts, ripped jeans, pj pants and old t-shirts I'm used to. Seriously, I find myself staring at people because their clothes just look so nice.

4: So much technology. Everyone has a phone that they're on all the time. What the heck.

5: The ward is organized. Everyone knows what's going on. Ward council was a breeze.

These are the not so great ones.

6: so much gossip that goes around the missionaries. I hate it. I got here and it was like all the sudden this bombardment of chismis that I don't even care to know. I love that about Mindoro. You're in your area and you do your work. The end.  

7: people are pasay. That's means disobedient. It's like, they're lax about their work. Today our entire district meeting was about being obedient. Here it's like, "not cool" to be obedient. They call it being a "prophet". I hate it. That would never happen in Mindoro. Our motto there was, We don't have time to be disobedient. We have work to. Wasn't even an issue there. Shoot, it's hard to describe. Elder Froude and Sister Sanchez have been struggling with it too though. And I miss my zone leaders. They're such great Elders. Definitely set the tone for the entire zone. Kind of homesick for Mindoro. 

So we won't be able to skype on Christmas, but no worries, I'll see all your faces soon enough :) I think I'll still call at 8 am here, 5 pm Christmas eve there if that's ok. I'll let you know if anything changes. And I got your packages today! I haven't got to open them yet, but I'm super excited. When's the appointment for my hair? Just curious, I'm in that much dire need :) Also, don't worry about the ear. We're good to go now with that. I got my flight schedule today too, but I can't remember the times or anything. I'll look at it again and let you know when. 

Love you all much and I'll talk to you next week! We have a temple week next week, so it'll be on Tuesday, not Monday, just so you don't get worried like with Tate :) And I'm echoing Dad's statement.....I need snow! I'll starting praying, no worries. Have a fantastic week!! mahal ko po kayong lahat!

PICTURES!!!

Brother Exequial that Candace has been teaching. He has no teeth, as in, not one. Such a funny/cute smile.

The beach...Mindoro 2012

Love the beach sunset

Candace and Sister Abonitalla

Baptism this Week

Hello my dearest family and welcome to December!! Haha, I still feel like it's July. I'm seriously in a perpetual cycle of summer over here.

As for questions first, the fungus is still there I believe. Right now it's just like pressure in my ear with a twing of pain every once in a while. But who knows if it'll come back in full force. I started a new medicine last week, but walla. Nada. There's pretty much not much I can do. So we'll just hope it doesn't blow my ear drum or my equilibrium and pray it'll go away? I try not to think about it too much because there's really nothing I can do at this point. Gotta love being stuck in the middle of nowhere. The PAT ring, is the Tagalog CTR ring. It stands for "Piliin ang tama".  

I only have a few things to report this week. First of all, Sister Mariza got baptized on Saturday! Yay! She is honestly so amazing. She bore her testimony after the baptism and I found out things she'd never told us before. She said before she met us, she promised herself she would never join a different religion. She used to be Catholic. But then she met us and we told her just to ask God, and so she did. And after that, everything changed for her. She said, she sits and waits for us to come to the house because when we're there it feels different. She told her husband, it's a different kind of happiness, it's not a normal happiness. I think sometimes as people that have grown up in the church and have had the spirit with us much more on a regular basis than others, we honestly just don't notice, or appreciate it as much as we should. This week she asked us a question about polygamy; she asked why if in the 10 commandments it says to only have 1 wife, but Abraham had more than one wife. We explained to her a little bit, but honestly, if we would have told her, "we don't know", it wouldn't have made any difference for her. She doesn't need to know it in her head, because she can feel it so strong in her heart. Her faith is incredible. I feel priviledged to be the one to teach her.

You know the little kids that got baptized last month? Their parents are now fully back in the church. They just finished the Temple Prep classes and Brother Rodolfo has started saving for them to go to the temple. So excited for them. They're such an awesome family. And we're teaching Sister Felicia how to read. She's from the Badjao tribe where they literally build their houses on the ocean, hence, she didn't go to school at all growing up.

Brother Exequial moved to Pasig last Saturday :( It was a really sad day to say the least. But we made sure the missionaries there knew he was coming. His baptism is in a few weeks. Such a cute little old man.

I had an idea for us though! You wanna Skype on Christmas!?! The Whitings offered their computer to Skype at their house. That way you can meet my companion(s) and the Whitings too. I was thinking that if we Skyped, it'd probably be on Christmas day here, about 8am, so about 5pm for you on Christmas eve. I need to check with the Whitings first though and see if that's still ok. Also, if we did that, I'd need to have twit get my Skype ID and password off my laptop. I totally forgot it.

And one last thing....Can you send Grandma's Brownie recipe to me? I'm going to try and make brownies for Christmas, but if i can't figure out how to get them to cook, no worries, we'll just eat the batter :)

Love you muches! Don't worry mom, I'm going to buy material right after emailing :)  

Thanksgiving with the Whitings

Hello my dearest family!! I'm late emailing because, as is normal San Jose fashion, we didn't have power all day. Haha, gotta love it. They got it turned back on now, thank heavens. We had Thanksgiving dinner at the Whitings today and it was so much fun!! We all cooked and just ate and played games and hung out. Seriously so much fun. We even had mashed potatoes and gravy and apple crisp. Seriously, life is just more fun in Mindoro! Love the Whitings and Candlands. 

I'm so sad the snow is gone! It better come back before I do, or else. I'm ready to just roll in some snow, It's been so burning over here. I knew it felt hotter in this place! My goodness, 111 degrees...that's gotta be a record. Add the stickiness and no electric fan with no power...patay. Too bad swimming in the ocean is bawal :)

The fungus is back. my goodness, it's haunting me. And it's getting worse. And the doctor here is a joke. He thinks it's all in my head. Well, he's partially right...it is in my head, specifically in my ear. Haha. That was such a mom joke. Anywho, today I got a new medicine; it's an anti-fungal that works through the blood stream so we'll see how that works. Oh man, I'm praying it works. 

So my friends, are you ready for this update!?! As for the new girl in the apartment.....Bahahaha, it's Sister Suarez!!! Oh my goodness, I've never been so happy! I heard she was coming down and literally jumped in the air. This means, I have been companions with ALL 3 of my roommates right now. Haha, that hardly ever happens, and it's awesome! I already know them, their stories, weird quirks, and of course so many inside jokes and things in common. It's been so much fun. I think it was the Lord's tender mercy for me so that I can be with 3 of my favorite companions for a little while longer before we part. I truly feel blessed, you have no idea. I got all the updates from Morong too. It makes me so happy to see the progress they've all made. I'm super stoked to go back and visit them. Oh yeah, and I bought a PAT ring! That's super happy too. 

Sister Marisa had her interview this last week so she'll be getting baptized this saturday. She is stellar. In Tagalog that's about 500+ pages. Yes, I've read it in Tagalog, but only half way....about 380 pages so far. it's quite the process. We've been working with the Relief  Society in the branch as well....let's just say, I'm learning how to be a relief society president. haha. Our area really is starting to progress. I feel so grateful. 100% know it's nothing I've done. Heavenly Father just has a way of working things out the way he wants them to and I just follow along. It's hard to explain, but I know that's what's happened in this area. 

I hope boo had fun in DC. Seriously love that city. I'm gonna move there one day, if I can find a way to make that happen that is. Haha I'll see what I can do about the skirts. I've been thinking about what kind of dress I want made, don't you worry, way ahead of you ma :) 

Also, for calling on Christmas....how do we want to do this? When is Ry planning on calling. I seriously would love to talk to him, even if we just have to 2 phones together, I'm ok with that. Let me know when would be best for you. I'm still thinking over here. I think we can call though starting Dec 24 at noon until Dec 26 at 6. Something like that. I'll have to check again.

Anywho, hope you have a fantastic week! Sounds like the other missionaries are still doing well....just learning :) They'll look back though and be grateful for every one of those experiences. Love you all! Until next Monday! :) 

Last transfer...staying in Mindoro

Hello my dearest family! Transfers are already here. Breath Candace Breath. Haha. So here's the news! Sister Sanchez flew out this afternoon at 1 so we'll be getting a new sister in the apartment! Whoohoo. I'm so happy. I'm still here with Shumway who will going running with me. Yay! This will be her 5th transfer here. Just like me in Morong. I'm praying for a fresh new one who's excited to be here and just go go go. 

Princess's family is all active, sealed in the temple, one of the stalwart members. Her cousins are the ones who just got baptized last week.  And yes, she is so flippin' cute. And thank you for the password for HP. Elder Froude will be very happy as well. Haha. As for the package, you totally didn't need to send anything, but I appreciate it just the same. I honestly have the best family ever. I'm trying to find a wood carved nativity set to take home. Oh yeah, and I'm getting a skirt sewn right now. It's a total of 80 pesos, about $1.90. Haha. love the Philippines :) 

So updates for the week! First of all about Sister Marissa. She is so awesome. Honestly one of my favorites here. She is the sister in law of a less active and we just started talking to her one day and invited her to join the lesson. And then, yeah, now she's getting baptized! She is so sensitive to the spirit. She can recognize answers like no other and everytime we go there, there's always something new she's learned that she needs to change in her life. She's already in Alma 25 in the BofM which is pretty incredible considering the BofM in Tagalog is so stinking long. To get to Alma in Tagalog is about 400 pages. Sheesh. She's 30 years old, has a 11 year old daughter from her first live in when she was young and then got married about 5 years ago to her current hubby. They have no kids, but she wants kids so bad. Maybe that's a blessing just waiting for her, like the Susa family in Morong. 

We have this new investigator, Sister Jill. We've only taught her 2 or 3 times. This last time we taught her this week, we taught about the premortal world to kind of help her get some perspective with her life. So we asked her, Do you believe that you lived before you were born here on this earth (awkward English translation. Haha). She just started laughing and she goes, are you guys joking with me?? Hahaha, she seriously thought we were kidding. After we explained it to her though, she believed it. I think it's just interesting how one of the most fundamental truths, people just don't know: We are literally children of God. I think we're the only religion that teaches the premortal life the way we do. The only one of heard of so far anyway. 

So this week I re-read Elder Scott's talk from last april about personal revelation and I had an 'ah-ha' moment that I'd like to pass on to the other missionaries out there. He said, "When we are acting as instruments on behalf of others, we are more easily inspired than when we think only of ourselves. In the process of helping others, the Lord can piggyback directions for our own benefit". Re-read it again. This is SO true! I have so many experiences where I've been teaching a principle, or used a scripture, or whatever and all the sudden I understood it differently and on a deeper level. That's personal revelation. And I am witness it happens way more when we're helping others than if it's just for us. The sad thing is, I didn't write them all down! I wrote some of them down, but not all of them. So here's the advice for all of you: When you get out of a lesson and you've had one of those 'ah-ha' moments (you'll know what I'm talking about), make sure you write it in your journal. Don't take them for granted just because they happen all the time as a missionary. I wish I would have done this so I could go back and remember when I learned that and the situation and what I felt. I can remember some of them, but definitely not all. Too bad I'm figuring this out at the end of my mission. Oh well, life's a learning process! :) And Chanae-la, don't worry about the emotional swings. They're the worst in the first 6 months, but after that, it'll start to level out, promise. Haha, oh man, love reading their letters. Being a missionary is just a whole different experience. 

I have a favor....can you look up the weather in San Jose Mindoro and then compare it to Morong and Quezon City. I swear it is a MILLION times hotter here and so so dry! As in, I use lotion here because my hands feel so dry! What the....! I'm just curious to know what the temperature is. I'm feeling like Ryan....a popsicle melting on the 4th of July. Dehydration is like a never ending battle for me here. 

Quote from my comp for the week...."justifying our sins will little by little destroy us". I felt that was a very true statement. 

Love you all and we'll see you on Monday! Maraming pag-ibig....Bahahaha, that's an awkward translation. Much love na lang!!

PICTURES

Candace taught Princess the wave from the "Little Rascals." Seriously can Candace just bring this little girl home with her.  So dang cute!

Candace had lunch on banana leaves while hiking for a zone activity.  How fun!!!

Candace with Elder and Sister Whiting. Thank you to all couple missionaries!!!

Beautiful picture of the island of Mindoro.

 Candace and her companion taught the little kids of this family. The parents were already members. Their dad baptized them and now the entire family attends church together.

What a cute bunch of kids!!!

Last transfer...so sad

We just received an email this week. Candace's release date is January 3, 2012.  We are excited to see her, but are sad that her mission will be over.  Definitely mixed emotions on that one :)

 Hello my dearest family!!!!

Oh my goodness, I'm still in shock about all that snow!!!!! Loving it! Truly makes it feel like it's actually close to Christmas. I mean, I hear Christmas music and see lights on houses, but when it's nearly 100 degrees, it just doesn't have the Christmas ring. But 2 feet of snow sure does!!! Ha, I'm gonna freeze in Utah. The ear is good, They cleaned out the fungus last week. I'm still supposed to use the drops for the next couple weeks or so. We'll see how it all works out. I think it'll be fine. But ma, if you're going to be making appointments, above all else I need you to make me and appointment with Stacy to get my haircut. Perferrably the second I touchdown in Utah. Ha, it's that bad. Just imagine 1 1/2 years of humidity and no cut. It's practically a lion’s mane. And Tate's companion sounds like a mess. Oh man, I do not envy him, not one little bit. The trunky ones are the absolute worst. 

Found out about the election about as soon as it happened. Our investigator texted us about it. Ah, so sad. But you know, there's a reason. The Philippinos love Obama....it's because he's black. Sounds about like half of America. Just hope the senate doesn't follow him. 

Oh my goodness, so this week was about a billion times better than the last week!! You wanna know why? I gave myself and attitude adjustment. Ha. It's actually quite interesting...I've learned this lesson about 3 or 4 times now in the mission. It's just better to accept the will of Heavenly Father and trust him to pick up the rest than to worry and try to push progress and what you want that's just not on his time frame. Apparently it's a lesson I needed to learn again. Ha. But on the bright side, the first time it took me a few months, the second time a couple months, and this time only about 3 weeks. So I'm thinking that's improvement :)

So updates for the week! I just have a lot of stories apparently (from what's written on my sticky note). First about Brother Exequial. Haha, he is just the cutest little old man. We went to him this week and left him a WofW pamphlet after the lesson. He looks at it and goes, this is about smoking isn't it? Ha, how did you know. Turns out when we first started teaching him, he was smoking 10 sticks a day. Has since he was 17. But he's been slowing cutting down, without us even knowing it. He know only smokes 1 stick a day. Haha, how cool is that?! It's just crazy how once the start to feel they spirit, they know what is right and what is wrong, even if we haven't taught it yet. So awesome. His baptism will have to be in December but he's so excited. His friend from the branch, Tatay Carlito is going to baptize him. Char :) Haha. Sister Marissa is our other awesome investigator. She's just so quite and so humble. If you teach her something, she's just do it, no questions asked. She gets answers like crazy fast because her heart is so soft. Her baptism is coming up in a few weeks.

Next...so we have this Less Active that we're working with. She is awesome and I absolutely love her to death but she is one of the offended members that are just so hard hard hard. Teaching her just opens up all her frustrations about the leaders, the members, everything that's happened to them, blah blah blah and I hate it because it just drives that spirit away (obviously). So what we've been doing with her is just reading the Book of Mormon. She's never read the BofM. She loves the Bible, has read it multiple times, but has never read the BofM. She's now in 1 Nephi 17 and I just wish I could describe to you the difference in this person. It is night and day. She is receptive to the spirit and her heart is soft. Her prayers are more sincere and she understands the gospel better. And she's just reading about Nephi, it's not even doctrine that she's been reading. Holy hannah, it's incredible. And you wanna know what else...sometimes she'll switch over to reading the Bible instead and I can tell. I can tell when she's only read the Bible and when she's been reading them both. When it's just the Bible, she's more hard headed/hearted. It's incredible. Just a testament of the power of the Book of Mormon. I think sometimes we don't see or notice it, but those around us sure can. 

We got a referral from a new missionary in our area that just got home. He says to us, He's "INC..." (meaning Iglesia ni cristo), then he goes, "....incomplete". Hahaha. Loved that one. Philippino cultural fact for the week.... so if a girl goes to a guys house, even if they're just friends, it is a huge no-no. If they want to hang out, the guy can come to the girl's house; but you don't go to a guy’s house unless you have another girl with you or you're practically engaged. Little strict with their dating rules. It's improvement though considering it used to be if you touched hands with a guy, you'd have to marry them. It's a strange thing dating here....

Just a quick question.....Elder Froude, he used to be assigned here in Mindoro, he texted me the other night and goes, I need you help.....haha, and now I need you're help. What is the password to the Gryffindor common room in the first book? The very first password they have? It's been on my mind trying to figure it out for about 3 weeks now. Both Froude and I would feel much better if we knew that little tid-bit of info. Haha, salams! :) 

I think that's all for the week! I'm a wee out of time and I want to send some pictures still. Transfers are next week. I can't even believe it. Time is absolutely flying here. patay. Haha.  Mahal ko po kayong lahat! Magusap tayo sa susunod na linggo! 

Life is on Super Speed

Happy Birthday to Twit! Happy Birthday to Twit! Happy birthday to TWWWWIIIIIITTTTT!!!! Happy Birthday to you!!! Shoot, has it seriously been a year?!!? My life is on super speed right now. So how are you my dearest family?! That storm that hit New York sounds insane. I just barely heard about it last Thursday. Wowsa. Also, SUPER stoked for the presidential election. So interested to see how that'll all work out. Still didn't get to vote. Guess that's just life. I'm curious now to hear what happened with Tate....that doesn't happen very often. Actually, like at all. I guess we'll see next week.

So updates for the week! Wowsa, it was an interesting one. Haha, I've actually been able to breathe this week. But literally. The past couple weeks I haven't been able to breathe properly. My nurse companion informed me it's because of stress. Go figure. But today I can actually breathe normal so that's improvement!! We had some interesting experiences this week. We did a wee bit of finding in our area because our new investigators are slowly dropping like flies. We came across a few interesting cases. #1: Mr. Island. Yeah, he owns an island. It's this little white sand island off the coast here that I've always wanted to go to and he offered to take us! Shoot, too bad it's bawal. haha. But he's been an on and off investigator for almost 40 years! He first met the missionaries in 1974. He knows some of the doctrine, but it's pretty jumbled for him. Has read some of the Book of Mormon, believes it's true and that Joseph Smith is a true prophet. Was almost baptized, but you know, he likes to drink so he just couldn't give it up. I said, "Brother, what is more important...your alcohol or eternal life??". Haha, the elders are going to him this Tuesday. #2: a lot of Iglesias. One of which was thrown out of the church and excommunicated because she married a catholic. Talk about church of the devil with no agency. They need to read a few certain exerts from 2 Nephi 26.  So insane.

So we've been teaching this group of kids. They're referrals from a member, his niece and nephews, about 13, 14, and 16. Their parents aren't interested at all and they can't be baptized, but as a favor for the member, we go and teach them about once a week. We've started to grow in numbers though. Haha. The daughter of our former investigator started joining and also a few of their cousins have started coming. So this week we taught about baptism. We just finished the plan of salvation, so now they know that you have to be baptized to enter the celestial kingdom. So we talked about "Can babies be baptized"....explained that baptism is about washing away sins and making a promise with God. So does sprinkling on your head wash away your sins? "hindo po". And can a baby make a promise? "Hindi po". Hahaha, it was so funny. It's so incredible though because you just teach it simply and they understand it so simply. None of this, "well but...". I guess that's why we're all told to be humble like a little child. It nearly

broke my heart though when Lindi, she's 10 goes, So does that mean that we still have our sins?? Wow, profound question for a little 10 year old. She's smart. Her follow up question was, "Why do people think that you can baptize babies then? Why does everyone say different things?". So we'll be teaching restoration this week. I just pray that they'll remember the things they've learned and when they get old enough to make decisions, it will all come back to them.

So we have this couple missionary that works in Rizal and Calintaan. Oh my goodness, they crack me up. Elder Candland has a PHD in physics and Sister Candland takes notes like mad. You have a conversation with her and she'll take notes on the conversation and what was said. Bahahahahaha, they make me laugh so hard. So they worked with the other sisters this week and they told us how they would do family prayer. So you take the date, (ex: 3, if it's the 3rd of November), divide it by the number of people in the prayer (3/4). Then you take that number, and if it doesn't divide evenly, then you take the remainder instead (ex: 3/4 the remainder is 2....I think, haha), and the person that is that number from the oldest, so 2nd from the oldest in the circle is the one who prays. Ahahahahahaha! Can you imagine doing long division in your head every time you said family prayer. I honestly busted up laughing. 

That's about all for this week! Super excited to see the voting results on the presidential race. Gonna be intense. Thanks for all the support and prayers....I can feel them comin' my way :) We'll see you next Monday! Mahal ko kayong lahat ng sobra!!! Ingat!

Learning Charity

Hello my dearest family!!                                               

Shoot, I'm not sure what to even report on right now for this week. Honest to goodness, it has flown by! First of all, yes, all Filipino children are just so stinkin' cute. My absolute favorite. Sister Abonitalla is awesome. She is an amazing teacher....I always seem to luck out with the awesome ones when I'm training :) She has the craziest life story too that I'll have to tell you sometime. We've just clicked really fast though! Ha, I feel like we've known each other forever. No flight info yet. I still need to fill out the paper and turn it in to mail run this Saturday. So no info for a while. That's ok with me though. Poor Ryan doesn't get conference yet. I swear I used Elder Hollands talk all week this week. Haha, my favorite still, "then Peter, what are we doing here again?? Did you learn nothing??". Conference is always so helpful with teaching. And I just love the Jensens!! They're so cute. I love the couple missionaries...they're just like my parents here. 

Oh man, the Less Actives this week are all trying to teach me charity. Ha, I nearly lost it this weekend. We went to multiple less actives this week that have all at some point been offended for one stupid reason or another. And they just go off and start bashing on every member, leader and their dog, and you can't stop them. It's incredible to see the anger and hurt that they're still holding on to. And for what? By the 4th time it happened within 2 days, I just sat there and stared at my lap because I knew if I opened my mouth, it would be me speaking, most definitely NOT the Holy Ghost. Then when I'd pulled myself together a bit I was able to give a 3 minute reality check for them before closing the lesson. Oh my goodness, Morong's offended members are a joke compared to this branch. I think it's the rural mentality?? All so prideful and so concerned about reputation and status? No idea. Yesterday I thought, it's a good thing that Sister Shumway is here because she puts a damper on us. Sister Sanchez, my comp, and I are all a little bit passionate. Haha. But holy cow, I sure am learning lots from them about what I NEVER want to do or be like. "The natural man is an enemy to god (and I might add, to yourself)....unless he yields to the enticings of the Holy Spirit and putteth off the natural man...and becometh as a child, submissive, meek, humble, patient, full of love, willing to submit to all things". They refuse to let themselves be healed. It's super frustrating, but more than anything, super sad. 

We found some awesome new investigators this week though! We were trying to find a less active and we just happened to decide to tao-po at this house and we met this guy, brother Zeldy. Seriously, he has studied religion. As in. Most Filipinos have no idea about the history of Catholicism, the protestant break off, world events during the apostacy, teachings from the bible....but this guy has studied it for reals. And as a result, he's pretty much given up on religion because none of it adds up. In his words, he's just decided to step back and observe because it's such a mess he doesn't want to be a part of it. Ha, so he loved the story of the restoration. We've only taught him a couple times, but he gets it, and at a much deeper level then most. So fun to teach. Brother Exequial is hilarious. We weren't able to get back to him for a couple days, so we showed up on Wednesday and he tells us he was about to get on his motorcycle and start

driving around the church to see if he could find us. Bahahaha, he thought we'd forgotten him. I just started laughing.  He has a baptism date for November. 

I learned how to make snowflakes this week! The awesome kind where you can put frosty the snowman and temples in them. Super excited. We're going to have a snowflake making party to decorate the apartment. Boo, I'm working on the list of questions for you. Don't you worry, I didn't forget! It's just taking me forever with how busy it's been. Maybe by the time I send it it'll get there just before I do. haha :) I can't think of anything else right now. Just another week in the mission. We have zone interviews this weekend. I'm going to ask president if I can go back to the mainland a little earlier before going home so I can go visit people in Tandang Sora and Morong. I've heard of other missionaries that have done it, so I'm crossing my fingers :) Love you all and hope you have a fantastic week! Until next Monday! 

PICTURES....Mindoro

The seashore on the island of Mindoro.

Beautiful children!!!   The little girl is Princess that Candace referred to in a letter.

Candace looks so happy. I'm sure she would prefer to just stay in the Philippines surrounded by everything that she loves.

Candace with her new companion.

What is left of the frog legs Candace consumed. She said it was actually good. It looks like a bow legged cowboy :)

This picture is for all you Aggie fans.   Chanae sent home a picture wearing the same t-shirt :)

More beautiful children. The kids are all cousins/siblings. Candace can't tell who belongs to who. Kind of sounds familiar with all the Weller cousins.

Comp Arrived

Well hello my dearest family!! 

I don't have much time to write, but I'll try to get in as much as I can, eh :) So transfers are over and I my comp finally got here! Her name is Sister Abonitalla and she's from Cagayan de Oro valley in Mindinao. She's 25, a nurse, and has been a member all her life. Both her parents are RMs, although they're separated and both remarried. Her Dad and all the rest of her family are actually in California. She's the only one left here in the Philippines. So happy she's a filippina, there are no words! We're still getting to know each other, but just from observation, she's super prepared and bold, which I love! The people in this area are a bit more hard headed than most, so it's perfect for them. It's been way fun to work with her, even if it's been just a few days. There's still fungus in the ear. Who knows...but it doesn't hurt, so that's good news. I'll be using the drops til November and then maybe go in for another check up?? I'll keep you posted on that. 

So for conference. We had the main room in Tagalog and another room for English! Thank heavens! Probably because we have the Whitings here so they were sure to work it out so there was English. Conference was awesome. I can't help but always feel a little homesick when conference time comes around. This will come as no shock but one of the things that really stuck with me was when he did a call for all RMs and said, "this is also for every returned missionary whoever stood in a baptismal font with their arm to the square and said, Having been commissioned of Jesus Christ. It was to change your convert forever, but it was especially supposed to have changed you forever as well". Ok, that was just a paraphrase, but it was something like that. And no, I haven't ever done that, but it applies to anyone who has ever been in a baptismal font.  Honest to goodness, one of my greatest fears is getting home from the mission and finding I haven't changed at all. His whole talk just nailed it on the head. Do you love God? In the end, that's the question. Whoosh, so good. But I also loved Elder Eyring's talk. It was perfect for a few of the less actives we're working with. I don't know, there was a ton! It's hard to pick just one. In the end, they're all just about becoming a disciple of Christ in word and deed. I have much to work on :) 

 Salams for all the application information. blugh. I just got my letter today  to turn in for flight information. Makes me sick. I'm thinking I'll just head back to the apartment and burn it, destroy all evidence you know :) haha.  Tell Tate it's not just him. The mission is hard sometimes, especially at the beginning where you're learning all those hard lessons. Don't look at other's outward show of perfect contentment, because it's never a true reflection of what's going on within. We all go through it, and he just learned one of the most important lessons for his mission and for life. 

So I have a sweet story. The elders in our branch have this investigator from

Ireland. Weird right. Well he's an anthropologist here doing a study on language and religious conversion. So of course he got interested in a couple of foreign missionaries teaching the gospel in a foreign language and country. So he started meeting with the missionaries. When they first started meeting with him, he was an athiest. He talks to religious leaders for his job, goes to church about 14 times every weekend to every church imagineable, but he was still an athiest. So the elders started teaching him....they just had to start with basics. And he now believes in God. And what's more, he really is starting to believe this is the true church. He told the missionaries he can't be Mormon yet though because his boss would fire him, especially with the project he's doing. But that at least means he's thinking about it. Haha, when they taught him the plan of salvation, he goes, so I'm actually worse off then for meeting you because now I'm accountible for everything you've shared with me. Ha, you got it! So cool. But he came to general conference yesterday. It was interesting to meet him. The gospel changes people.

All of our investigators came to church yesterday. Hallelujah moment or what!?! I was so excited. Now we just need to get the LAs as excited. haha. So I think that's all for now. I don't have many other new updates. Salams for the rice pudding recipe! Might just make that later today:) Love you!! See you all next Monday!

Staying and Training :)

Oh my goodness, this has been the week of craziness, but lots of goodness!! First of all, my fungis is almost entirely cured!! I got some drops last week and about 2 days later, the difference was incredible!! Let's just say, I was doped up on ibuprofen for the first 2 days. Haha. But thank you for all the prayers. There is strength in numbers. 

So crazy about General Conference right?! I'm dying to watch the whole thing. You lucky ones over there already saw it all. I do happen to be on the lucky list because the Whitings are here and as a couple missionary, they have a computer with internet access whenever they want to. So we did get to watch the first part on Sunday night after dinner at their house. That'll make such a difference for missionaries going into the field. The Lord is saying, it's time to get to work! Love it :) P.S. speaking of the Whitings....Dad, President Whiting reminds me so much of you. Bahaha, it's hilarious. The way he jokes, when he's serious, when he talks about sports. It makes me laugh and of course super happy cuz it's just like a little slice of home. 

So transfer announcements!! My comp is leaving. Sad day, I love Sister Madelo. I'm sad to see her go. And other news, I'm training again. Elder Waite called and I said, "Elder, you know I love talking to you, but not so much on Monday morning before transfers". Ha just laughed.  Praying for a philipina. Ay nako, I'm not sure if I'm ready to lead this area with a newby, but then I think of Ryan and say to myself, "ha, this is a piece of cake. His is 10X worse. I got this!". God has been really kind in always preparing me before hand for the challenges he gives me. Poor Ry just gets thrown in the fire. Haha. It's because he knows Ry can handle it; I can't. That's a compliment Ry :) Shumway and Sanchez are staying in the house with me too. I'm so so happy about that. Love them both and it's just so good to have support around. Sanchez is hilarious. She said my eyes are like spongebob. Not sure exactly what that means...

Other updates for this week. So our area is starting to progress so much better. We found a new investigator last week, Brother Exequial (pronounced ezichial). He's 60 (I don't know what's up with all the old men...just noticed that...), grew up as a Jehovah's Witness, but never believed any of it. He's listened to a ton of different missionaries, but just said he's never found any that have interested him. Until us that is...oh the church is so true :) We've had a couple cool experiences with him, but my favorite was we were teaching about prophets and we taught about President Monson. We had a picture to show him and he grabs it and just said, "So this is God's prophet, Thomas S. Monson". And then bam, the Spirit just hit the lesson so hard. Ha, I was caught of guard to be quite honest but we just let it sink in for him. So awesome. Needless to say, he's really excited for general conference. When we were leaving yesterday he gives us 2 thumbs up and goes, "I believe you". Haha, what a cute old man. It's fun to teach him. 

We have a few other investigators that are awesome too. They just get it. One is Bro. Raymund; He's 25, a teacher, and he just cracks me up. He's so quirky. But last night we were teaching the plan of salvation, and he asked a question about Christ as a god. And the thought came to me, tell him that's the point, that all of us have the potential to be Gods if we follow Christ." Ha, first time I've ever thought to share that ever with an investigator. Most people it just blows their mind. Said a little prayer....um, you sure about this. Yep. So we shared it and he totally got it! Love it. We just have some fun investigators right now.

Less actives on the other hand.....they're coming along. Progress is just slower and it's sometimes harder to get things through to their heads, let alone their hearts. No worries though, I'm the same way sometimes. It just takes time. I love being in this zone. It's just a super focused zone, but we still enjoy. The best way to describe it is, we work hard, but we play hard. So much fun. So there's this little girl in our area, her name is Princess. She's 5 years old and she's seriously crazy, but I just love her. Absolutely hilarious. This week we were teaching at their house and she's just so loud. She screams everything… as in, screams. And I had this flashback to when I was a little kid and dad would always tell me, "Candace, you don't need to scream. We're all right here. Use your inside voice". Bahaha, he used to tell me that all the time I feel! Am I right? What was I like as a little 5 year old?? I have this strange feeling I was just like Princess as a little kid. Ha, scary, but hilarious. 

Our breaker blew up yesterday while we were out working. There's been water dripping, we're not sure where from, but it got into the box and Bam! Good thing all the walls in the Philippines are cement or it would have burned down the whole complex. So now we have a nice big fire mark on our wall. Got our electricity back though, so that's good news. 

Funny you should say that about working at the MTC...I've been thinking about maybe doing that. It occurred to me this week that it's kind of getting crunch time for applications and lets just have a reminder here, I have NO plans and NO life waiting for me. Patay. I don't even want to think about it, but I need to have some kind of plan. So I was wondering if you'd mind looking up the dead lines to apply for EFY and also the Hill Cummorah pageant. Just trying to get a few ideas together :) Shoot, reality is going to hit me like a 10 ton brick I think. One other random request...can I get the recipe for rice pudding? I think I might have asked for it once, but I can't find it written anywhere. 

Anywho, that's all my dear family! I hope you have a fantastic week and we'll see you on Monday! Send a few prayers my way that I'll get a philippina for my companion :) Mahal ko po kayong lahat! Ingat!