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| Going to lunch with the District President's wife |
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Eating sea snails
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Surprise birthday party from the sisters of my zone
One member made me a cake! I am so lucky, and don't worry, I was really spoiled for my birthday
Goodbye to Camalaniugan
The S family
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| The T family |
August 30
Pinapabilis Niya Ang Gawain
Dearest Family,
First of all, I have to thank you all for
your super sweet and hilarious letters. Man, I am so blessed to have all
of you for my family. You are all so special to me and I feel your love
and hugs and prayers from many miles. It is crazy to hear you had a
crazy windstorm over there! I hope everyone is safe. And what fun you
have all been having, trying to use up this final week of summer! haha. I
can't believe it, school is starting for all of you this week! The
summer flies when you are having fun.
All is well
here in Camalaniugan. All is wonderful. It is the last week of Sister
M! She will be going home next sunday. It is crazy. And this week
has been a joyful one. I really see that the Lord is Hastening the
work. This week, we were teaching in Casili. The people of Casili are
great. When we start to talk to them, they say, "Kunin mo yung mga
upuan!" (or get the chairs!) And they sit us down and are ready to hear
the message. They are very polite. And this friday, we were just about
to start our lesson, when two men came over to us and said "Can we join?
What is your religion?" Man, heavenly father prepares people. And the
funnest lesson this week to teach was at the neighbor/ relative of the
M Family. For a long time they have wanted to be taught, but were
shy because they don't understand Tagalog, only Ilokano. They were
surprised to know that we speak Ilokano! haha and the M family
came with us when we taught their family. These are the most precious
lessons for missionaries... lessons with members present who are already
close to/ friends with the investigators. The testimony and friendship
of members does a TON!
Oh and this week, the A parents and their cousin came to
church! Also, Sister P, the daughter of a less active who
has not yet been baptized. It is so exciting.
The
miracles continue daily. I am so grateful as well for the Spirit that
always sends us little thoughts that are actually promptings, and as we
follow them, we see where he needs us. I am so thankful as well for my
companion, who is so Christlike and patient with me. She is also very
crazy. I will miss this crazy Filipina... Mom, she is like a mom to me.
She is always cooking, cleaning, teaching me how to do things more
effectively haha. She is special and will be missed. We'll see what this
next transfer brings!
I am so happy, and thanks again for all your birthday wishes. I am leaving the teens behind! Love you all.
Sister Andelin
August 16, 2015
Magandang hapon po sa inyong Lahat!
Hello dear Family? How is the week!? The pictures are great! How fun to
have all the nieces, nephews and siblings around! :) Thank you so much
for all your letters, emails and prayers.
This week was
fantastic, the C and M family was interviewed for baptism
and they rocked it! :) And we celebrated their birthday with a fun
family home evening. It was a one in a kind family home evening because
our district president and his wife attended, and our MISSION PRESIDENT
and his wife attended! I love them so much, I need to take a picture
with them so you can see them. They are so good with the missionaries,
and are always wanting to spend time with us, give us food, and joke
with us. They are also hard workers, and we are seeing a lot of changes
in the mission because of them.
I was inspired this week
during one of our exchanges. Sister B came and worked in my area.
She is from Kiribati, a small island near Tonga and Fiji. When she came
to the MTC, she didn't know any English or Tagalog. Even now, she still
struggles with the language, but she is such positive, kind and strong
person. I was really inspired by her conversion story. She is also an
only member in her entire family, baptized in 2013! Straight to the
mission. Wow.
And in our exchanges we taught an older woman,
and she told us that this blue house of their neighbor, there are
mormons that live there, the M family. I didn't know that, so of
course we went to investigate. When we came in, I recognized the old man
who lived there with his kids and grandkids. This old man
comes to church every sunday by himself faithfully. But I learned that
he is very deaf, you have to yell in his ear for him to hear. And yet he
comes to church weekly, he can't hear the songs, the speakers,
anything. He apologized that he didn't attend priesthood, because he
cannot participate.
After we left the house, I asked
myself, why does that man go to church every sunday? He can't hear! And
then it hit me... the Sacrament. That grandfather knew the importance of
the sacrament.
Here in the Philippines I have really come to love and appreciate
and anticipate the sacrament. It is such a miracle that we can be
forgiven of our sins, and receive the Spirit to be with us always. The
Spirit is what sanctifies us and purifies us every week. It is our guide
in every day. And because of the Atonement of Christ, the Spirit
becomes available to us. I hope we can all consider and treasure our
weekly partaking of the sacrament.
I love you all
so much and have a fantastic week canning fruit and enjoying the cool
sun! ;)
Ingat palagi
Sister Andelin
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| Ad The beautiful aparri... this is the very top of the Philippines, the ocean. We went jogging early in the morning |
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| Zone Activity |
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Still teaching piano lessons
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| Sagun family with sis Lucy and us... Cagayan river |
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| Add One year party of Sister V | | | | |
They are so incredible, and I learned so much. And right when they entered the room Sister Haynie hurried to me and handed me a gift for Elder Shayne and Lynette Bowen, they had written a card and sent me some candy for halloween, because I'm their only relative here. Our family is so thoughtful, man. Elder Haynie is an incredible teacher, he shared with us the remarkable history of the Philippines as to missionary work, it is the country whose membership grew from 0 to half a million faster than any other. And he pointed out about "isles of the sea" references from the Book of mormon, about scattered israel. I was just refreshed and renewed as he taught about the importance of the missionary calling, and how to view a mission. It's hard to explain. 
I am loving all the crazy and great experiences we have and learning to laugh about it, and accept it, knowing that it is going to make you a better person. I love feeling the Spirit's presence in our lessons. It is my absolute favorite. We taught the G family about the Book of mormon, and read with them, and I just felt impressed to share my thoughts on how the book of mormon had blessed me as a teenager, and also blessed my family. 
We then asked them how they felt...one said "Paraang Diyos mismo ang nagsasabi nito sa amin."(It's like God himself is telling us this)" Another said "Sobrang magaan sa loob ko pag binabasa natin ito"(I feel so light inside when we read this) And then when we committed them, there was no hesitation, they said they will really read it... I think because they felt the power of God testify to read it.. I see our investigators growing a lot in their desire... when we teach them, they are the first ones to say, "Magsisimba kami sister!(We will attend church!)" And this week finally, the C family came to church with their daughter. The members did a great job fellowshipping them, It was so awesome to see. And M l has been coming to church every week, and getting less shy... he will be baptized next week :) It is just such a joyful work, and it is the best feeling to lose yourself. This is not only for missionaries, but for all of us. We can all look for ways to serve and bless others. I love you all so much and hope your week is AWESOME! :)
