My dearest Pamilya!

    Wow! How are you all? Sounds like you had a blast at the Family Reunion! Thanks for all the pictures,

     As for me, life is great as always here in Camalaniugan. We just got back from Laoag today from a training from our Mission President, President Andrada. He is an amazing guy. He is very logical and owns a huge business, so he really focuses on Leadership Principles and strengthening the wards and branches where we are assigned. He has a great sense of humor. This week I finished the Lyrics for our Philippines Laoag Mission song. I thought I wouldn't be writing songs here, but I was wrong, haha!

      And this week, in our testimony meeting, one of the recent converts last April, Bro G, got up and bore his testimony. I felt like Brigham Young, when he heard the humble testimony of one man and was converted. When Brother G testified humbly and so thankfully for how the gospel has changed his life, I felt the Spirit so strongly testifying. Missionary Work is SO important. It changes the lives of people from Night to Day. Before, G was a heavy drinker and smoker. He would argue with his wife and not help out around the house. He is a new man because of the Gospel.

      Another experience we had this week, is we taught a Grandmother, whose daughter is a member in a different branch. As we shared, her other daughter came in to listen and participate. They had SO much good to say about their family members. They said, "Their family is so spiritual, they never say anything bad, they are close family!" And then the one shared how a different member of the church she works with gave her a book of mormon one day and said "Basahin nyo na lang ito" (You just read this.) It is so simple what the member did, but it made an impression on that nonmember. .

            I love you all, and have another great week!!

                   Sister Anderlin

 

Alariao family and Mauricio family

 

Snails, Snakes and the Spirit

    Dearest Family and pals,

      So I am here in Camalaniugan to stay! For this transfer at least. YES!! :) This is the last transfer of Sister Malobago.

So maybe you were wondering about the title of my letter. This week... wait for it... I ate SNAILS! It was actually quite delicious. I didn't know it was snails until I finished eating. Good thing too! Haha. And don't worry, I didn't eat snake. But this week, a snake randomly came into our apartment through the window. Snakes here are different. They are very long, and their bite kills. Two of the sisters were huddled in the corner and Sister Catubig, our brave Filipina, pushed it out with a stick. Sister Catubig is great, she has no fear. She kills giant spiders with her flip flop. Like spiders as big as your hand. She is good to have in an apartment. :)

       Our investigators are doing great! This week we had our first experience teaching a pastor. It was an interesting experience. Brother J A came to church for the first time. He took an absence from work. And that night he called us and thanked us, told us that he felt so happy inside. He also got a priesthood blessing to help him in the WOW and he felt a very different feeling afterward, like something entered his body. He is very spiritually sensitive.

 

      I love this work and I have a testimony that the Spirit is real. It is what need daily to guide us in our lives and guide us to help others. Treasure the opportunity of taking the sacrament each week. 

       Have a fantastic week!

                  SIster Andelin

P.s it is us four that live in an apartment. None of us will be transferred. YES! ;)

 

Zone activity in the Caves

Not district meeting, district EATING! haha and the caves!

Masaya! Naragsak! Magayaya! in other words HAPPY!!!

Hello hello hello! How is my dearest family?
 Are you all drying up with the heat? Here, it is Tag-Ulan! or Rainy season! It is raining every day or every other day. And we love puddle jumping! haha. The frogs here are ginormous by the way. The people here work so hard in the rice fields.

  Also, I tried some new fruits. Here you can eat just about anything on the trees. They even cook the leaves of one of the trees here, its called Malunggay, and it is delicious.

This week has been another great one. It is ALWAYS a great week when we are serving the Lord. I also continue to learn many things. This week, I really tried harder to love the people, and it really made a difference. Love is truly spelled T-I-M-E. When I was a new missionary, I thought that hard work mean teaching a lot of lessons. But its not that way. We are successful and hardworking if we give our hearts to the people we teach.
    One thing I realized this week that even though we have weaknesses, the Spirit can still work with us and be present. One of the most joyful things this week is to notice how our investigators view us. One brother, the Father of the A family, asked us why his skin tingled and the hair of his arms stood up every time when we teach him. We told him "Iyan po yung Espiritu Santo ng Diyos na nararamdaman mo."( That is the Holy Ghost you are feeling).  And he thanked us, and talked about how it was God who led him to meet us when we were teaching his sister.He said, I usually don't buy things at my sister's store, but God was the one who taught me to go there. He is so excited to go to church, he was smoking 2 packs of cigarettes daily and now, only a half pack. He says all of his prayers have been being fulfilled since he started taking the lessons.  Another brother told us since we started teaching him his work in the ricefield isn't tiring at all. And the M family thanked us and told us that when we met them, we opened the door for them to change their lives, that we are like angels. It is SO humbling and joyful to be a part of this work! Because you know it is NOT YOU who did anything. The Lord let us to meet them, the Lord helps us teach them and gives his Spirit to testify to them. It is amazing.
      I know that God loves us. That he is mindful of each of us. We can repent and change and receive his forgiveness. His son Jesus Christ is the Reason for our hope. And as we receive the gifts of the Gospel, the joy that we feel must shine out of our faces as "lights on a hill" and the gratitude we have must be evident in the way we live our lives. . I have the best family ever and I am so grateful we are sealed in the temple.
     Looooove,
        Sister Andelin

This is what it's ALL ABOUT!!!

Dear Family,

 

      This week was the T FAMILY BAPTISM!!! 

 

Ahhh it was the best. When we arrived at the church, they were already all dressed up in their white baptismal clothes and ready for pictures! The baptism was performed by a recent convert of February, it was his first time. My favorite part was when M C, the oldest daughter and her dad C bore their testimonies. C is so so quiet and shy, but he voluntary got up and shared his testimony and cried. I felt like a big bubble of joy was filling up the whole inside of me!! ;) As they were being confirmed on Sunday, I thought of just how much of a blessing the Holy Ghost is, Wow. They will have heavenly guidance daily, warnings, comfort, promptings, direction, and more. It is one of the best gifts to receive. 

       Also, the A family came to church for the first time! Sister R, the mom, has been so prepared for the message. She is really smart, And her husband J, has a lot of questions, especially because his brother recently passed away. We were able to teach his parents as well. Junior has great desires to quit smoking as well. I love them so much! And the M family is doing great as well. 

       On sunday was the first Camalaniugan 2nd Branch Conference in History!!! It was a privelege to be a part of it. We organized a choir number which was really special, Joseph Smiths First Prayer.

        And our new mission president! He is the best! He is from La Union, Philippines, which means he and his wife are ilokano speakers! His name is President Andrada, and he and his wife are both in their 40's. They are so kind, inspired and called of God. I have been so blessed by his counsel already!

       I just want to testify that I know that all of us have the privilege and gift of repentance. I had my own "Enos Experience" this week. The Atonement is Real. God is so willing to forgive and forget our sins as we confess, forsake and humble ourselves, pleading for his forgiveness. The Atonement is available to all of us. 

         I love this work and all of you too! Have the best week, and don't forget to love others around us as Christ does.

         Hugs and kisses from Asia,

                  Sister Andelin

Soggy in Laoaggy!!!

Hello family and magandang buhay!
 This week was a great one. How are all of you? It sounds like you are having a great time, the fourth of july celebration sounds like fun. We don't celebrate it here, of course. We are a different country. But Man! We celebrated it by having the Talosig family pass their baptismal interview!!! Whoo!! That is way better than fireworks. They will be baptized next week, I am excited to send pics.
     The Mauricio family is still doing great! And the dad FINALLY came to church this week! He had a great time, and they came even though it was a signal 1 bagyo. What faith! We taught them about fasting this week, and they fasted that very day. Their grandpa is in the hospital. He could use your prayers. We had already extended baptism to the Mauricio parents, but this week, we finally extended to the kids. And their daughter asked her dad. "Are we going to get baptized?" And his reply was so awesome.  He said, "If one of us gets baptized, we are ALL getting baptized!" This gospel is really for families.
      This week was a full one, filled with exchanges, baptismal interviews, traveling to Laoag for our MLC, and lots of great experiences.
       One thing I learned this week is the constant need the world has for service and love. There are SO many opportunities around us to serve others. We have to do what Sister Burton said... first observe, then serve. My companion is a great example. We stopped by the house of a recent convert who was going to work with us and found out she had a terrible fever. I would have left and prayed for her to get better, but my Christlike companion went in and got a damp cloth and cooled her hot forehead. And then we called the elders to give her a blessing. Service is so important and so needed. For the server and the one serve. We are all called to serve, No one is exempt. We were all placed where we are now because there are people we can help. I love you all and challenge you to show your love by God by doing an act of service you wouldn't normally do. Then tell me about it! :)
       Have a great great week!
        Nagmamahal,
                     Sister Andelin
      P.S. Don't worry about me, even though there are bagyo's. We just get lots of rain and wind and excitement. But the Lord's watching out for us here. Bye!

Wowowowowowowowow!!!!!!!!!

 Beautiful Philippines!

Wash and dry!

This is HOW WE DO IT!!!!! Brownie the bumba (water pump) and our handy dandy homemade water filter!

Large snails, and the sting rays tail I bought from an old man

 

 

 Our tribute to our "Dying" mission president

June 21 
 My deeeeeeearest family,

         This week has been a huge learning and miracle-witnessing and testimony building week. On Tuesday, we had our transfers and I was reunited with my dear Sister Malobago. I just want to tell you more about her. Sister Malobago is incredible. Her whole family is nonmember or less active. She was converted as a 19 year old, but then was less active herself for 13 years. But the Lord has led her and guided her to come back to the church, and the next year after that, she left to serve a mission... she is incredible! 

         

       We had one... really tough thing happen in our branch. The only child of a young less active couple got electrocuted and was killed this week. He is only 4 years old. We went over to their home that night to give them strength and comfort. We shared with them about the Atonement, prayer, God's perfect love, and the surety that that child is going to the celestial kingdom. At the end of that, we sang the hymn Families can Be Together Forever. As we sang the words, I was filled with joy at the knowledge that we have, that whatever happens we will see our families again. The Spirit testified to me of the truthfulness of that message. That is the first message we share to our investigators, how there is power for their family to be sealed together forever.

        

       We have seen many miracles this week. Sister Malobago is an incredible teacher. She focuses on the investigators really understanding the doctrine. We saw that "True doctrine, understood, changes attitudes and behaviors. The study of the doctrines of the gospel will improve behavior quicker than a study of behavior will improve behavior.-boyd k. Packer" Sister Malobago teaches in a way that makes them thirsty to know the answer, She leaves them hanging by saying "Next time, you will know why... etc"  It is such a joy to teach with her, and to see the investigators in awe at knowing the truth. And because of how we taught the doctrine, we had two families come to church this week!!!!!!  At first, we didn't see one of the families, and we were so sad, "Why didn't they come to church?" Then we found out they came to church in the afternoon! In the other branch. I am really witnessing conversion, especially brother Christopher Talosig, the father of Merry Cris, Clarissa and Christian. He used to be very shy quiet, wouldn't answer questions, read or pray in front of us. Now, he is reading, even though it is hard for him. He prays out loud without hesitation. He has stopped coffee. He is the one encouraging his kids to come to church. He is a changed man. And all of this I have seen in the last 2 months. We are excited for their family to be baptized next month.

        The gospel is for families. It is for everyone. But the gospel really blesses the family. I pray that each of us will strengthen our families through the tools the gospel brings.

            I love you all so much and I am so thankful for my mission. This is the most incredible miracle of all... to see the gospel change people and families. I am so happy for Jess and Tim, so excited for them to build a gospel cultured family! And Catherine and Hyrum will soon follow. We are on the half mark, 6 married, 6 single! 

        Have the best week. Cherish live and share the gospel.

             Mahal ko kayo,

                         SIster Andelin

 

Walong Buwan Na!!!!??

Hello hello hello!!!! Happy Monday! And where you are... Sunday evening! Thank you for your great letters and love and prayers. I am so happy to hear about the special funeral service for dear nana moore. She must be so happy in Spirit Paradise. :) And L Tom Perry, I didn't hear that. I will miss his great talks and Spirit. Heavenly Father has a perfect time for everyone to go.

    . Emily, have fun at 5th Grade Camp! Do the swing from the highest level, I didn't and I have regretted it ever since hahaha... And Mom, you do it too! ;)

     We had a great week with 3 sets of exchanges. I love meeting people even when they are not in my area and I love learning from the special daughters of God from Tonga, and the Philippines. In our whole zone it is all Tongan and Filipina sisters except me :) 

      I am sorry that I don't have a lot of time to share but I will share a small portion of all the miracles I have seen. 

       On saturday we stopped at the home of one of our part member families that is moving into a different house. Their new house is old and in need of much repair and renovation. We decided to stop and help them, and sana to soften the heart of their father, who is not wanting to be taught. We helped clean and work there for an hour and then proceeded on throughout the morning. I just noticed a special spirit as we taught through the rest of the morning. I felt the Spirit speaking through me. We taught a very sweet and truth seeking woman named W and though she didn't believe that God would appear to Joseph Smith, the Spirit softened her heart and she said she will pray about it. She thought that all miracles stopped Jesus was taken into heaven, and that God only worked miracles through people. We testified that miracles have not stopped, and of the love Heavenly Father has for us. Then, we were about to teach an RC when one of her neighbors, E,  walked in and wanted to be taught. She opened up to us about how her son was in jail and for the pain she feels as a mother to see her son in chains. She asked us if there is still hope. We were so blessed to share with her in Moroni 7:41 about the Atonement and Jesus Christ who give us hope to repent and be forgiven. She said that when we taught her, she felt the Spirit pierce her heart. 
I believe that it is because of that service we gave that we really got the Spirit. Once we got in the mode of our calling, which is to serve and give of ourselves, the Spirit could speak more clearly to her through us. It is one of those things we must always work on, to forget ourselves and focus on loving and serving and becoming a blessing for others. 

          I love the mission and I learn every day. I see how much I need to improve and how patient and attentive Heavenly Father is. It is THE best :)

        Have a faaaaaaaaaaaaaaaantastic week! 

                   Sister Andelin

Ready for Interviews

 The sisters of APARRI ZONE!!!!!!!!!!!

Our Church Building

My Model Companion

Teaching Obama

America!

Top of the philippines

Pag-Aayuno at Binyag!

Hello hello hello!! My dearest fam! I am so happy to hear from you!  I loved the pics of Bowen, I can't believe he is two! And as chubby and cute as EVER :) My week has been amazing! There is never enough time to write every miracle and blessing and beautiful happening. We had the baptism of Z and T this week, it was so special. They are great missionaries to their mom and dad who are not members. They both shared their testimonies. :)

I also got to go on exchanges with two special sisters this week, Sister Bobier and Sister Conde. It is such a great blessing to learn so much from them, and get to see their area, meet their special investigators and help them get more excited about the work. We saw the hand of the Lord.

     I just want to testify about fasting real quick. We fasted on Saturday for our investigators and were sad to see that only four came to church. But then we realized that some of the members had brought their investigators friends and family members! And then we had an amazing branch council meeting, where EVERY auxiliary attended. That is a big deal. And we thought, we have no rice at home, which is like saying "we have no food " in the PHilippines. If you are out of rice you are in trouble. But when we came home to break our fast, we saw our rice cooker was FULL OF RICE, and we thought, where did this manna come from!? And then we found that our neighbor who is a member just randomly gave us a bunch of rice. Heavenly Father is so mindful. And fasting is real. If you have a problem, question, or see someone else who does, Fast, and ye shall receive. :) I love you all so much and I am sorry this is short. I love this work and the Lord, and this is not a sacrifice at all to serve, it is a privilege and honor. 

              Pagmamahal palagi,

                          Sister Andelin

 

Add capt

Zone Activity at the top of the philippines! Don't worry we didn't touch the ocean :)

ion

Mga himala, dagiti milagro, MIRACLES!

Dearest Family and Friends,

   Hello from the Philippines! I am loving it here in my new area of Camalaniugan. It is a beautiful place with such special and humble people. As you might have guessed from the title, we have seen a lot of beautiful miracles this week. Each one just testifies to me of the love of our Heavenly Father for each of his children and the concern that He has for their salvation. It is such a privilege to serve a mission. 

     First of all, I want to introduce you to some of our great investigators. We have Z and Tr, they are 8 and 9 years old with lots of questions about the gospel. . We taught them a special lesson about missionary work this week, and at the end, as we usually do, we ask if they have any questions. T said that he had one. We said.. "what?" and he said, "Should I give one of these pamphlets to my dad?" It was so sweet, the Spirit and the faith that children have. 

    Also, We are teaching the C Family.

    The T family... they are the greatest. their dad came to church for the First time this sunday! Miracles happen. The dad's name is C and he has three kids, M, C and C. They have a hunger to learn the gospel and have been coming to church.

  

      I am starting to see what it looks like when a person is really converted to the gospel of Jesus Christ, what they are willing to do. We had a typhoon pass through last week, maybe you heard about it. Don't worry it was just a small one;) But I really see the strength of some of the recent converts in our ward. When the typhoon happened, they still came to church, and the next time we taught them, we asked them why. Their answer was this "That typhoon was just another test, or trial." They have a firm testimony of the gospel of Christ and act accordingly. Anything in the way of keeping God's commandments is just a trial or test. 

     We also had an interesting opportunity to teach the father of a boy who had just drowned. It had been only 4 days, and the grief was still thick in the air. We felt prompted to testify to them about the Resurrection. This father told us that he wasn't sure about if Resurrection was real or when it would happen, he had lots of doubt. We testified of the hope in Christ and that he would see his son again. We talked about eternal families, and how we can be sealed together forever. I know that he felt the Spirit and has a desire to know where his son is. 

    On Wednesday we resolved to go with more bold commitments. We decided to do finding and invite every person to church and to baptized. We found some ready, ready people! N, she is so ready. she is always saying "Maniwalang-maniwala ako!" Which means, I really really believe! We met a sweet mother named G. She has 4 kids and the oldest is 5. They live in a tiny house with one bed and room.Yet she is smiling always, she has the sweetest spirit and faith in God.

One thing I love about teaching people is that I learn so much from every person I teach. These people are so humble talaga. They have such a love for God and their families. They are so happy even though they live in hard circumstances.

R, the sweetest member, 18 years old,   worked with us this week. She shared her testimony about missionary work and an experience she had. As she was sharing, I saw her glowing. I saw the excitement and joy she had in missionary work. I saw her love for the Lord and those she shared the gospel to. The Spirit witnessed to me that this work is a work of great joy.

I am so happy. Sister M is an amazing companion, and we work hard and it feels great! She is an inspiration for me, and has really taught me about loving the people, being genuine and being filled with gratitude. She is a very Christlike person. She is from Tacloban, and she was actually the first sister missionary to leave Tacloban after that crazy natural disaster there. She has had some seriously hard experiences she went through, but she is filled with gratitude, and always the first one to point out the miracles.   Ahh! I love this work. I want to testify that I know God lives and loves us. Jesus Christ lives and his power is there to strengthen us. It is only through living the gospel that we find the satisfaction and joy in our lives, it has absolutely nothing to do with material things or those around us. I pray that we all be more diligent in sharing to those around us the gospel of Christ. Every person needs it. 

   The Lord works by our faith! You can do it :)

    I love you all! Mahal ko kayong lahat!

Ayayaten da kayo amin! 

             Sister Andelin

 Us and the Zone leaders

 Apartment mates!

 Creepy bug that likes the color purple?

Lizards. They are everywhere, always crawling on the walls. But don't worry,they are very kind :)

 The wheelbarrow spaceship! Our transportation!

Pupunta na ako sa APARRI!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

My dearest Family,
 Man! I have learned and experienced so much this week that I cannot write it all. Lets just say I am so grateful for trials. I am really learning what the Atonement of Jesus Christ means. I know that there is no limit to Jesus Christ's power to help us, strengthen us and bless us as we are faithful. No limit, no end to his power, as Boyd K. Packer said in last years conference.

    I learned a lot about the Lord's timing. We, as humans want our answer or solution right away, but God truly knows the best timing for His children. I find so much comfort in reading the words of God. Heavenly Father is always telling us to have faith, quiet confidence, and endure. He is never telling us to be afraid, discouraged, negative or self-criticizing. We just keep going. "Don't you quit" -Elder Holland.

      I saw some great blessings in our area this week. We were able to teach E and R again, and teach the daughter and friend of Sister J. I really learned this week how important it is to focus on the temple as we teach. When we focus on the important differences our church has because of the Restoration, that is when the people around us will feel the Spirit and act. They both have baptismal dates now. I would challenge each of you to explain to someone you know about the temple, and the possibility for families to be eternal. Ask them if that is something they want, and invite them to learn more through the missionaries. If we only focus on baptism, thats missing a bunch of the picture. This work is about eternal salvation through temple ordinances. There is only one way for people to be saved and if we are too shy we are denying that brother or sister of ours the opportunity to be saved as an eternal family. 

     As I said in the heading, I have just found out that I AM GETTING TRANSFERRED! I will be going SO FAR AWAY! It is called Aparri, and it is a place where there are no Mcdonalds. Haha. I am BEYOND excited. Aparri is about 6-7 hours away from Laoag. I will be serving in an area called Camalaniugan. :) Wooohooo!!!! I will miss my ward here a lot, they are like family, but we just look forward you know? I am so excited to tell you more next Sunday! Mother's day has come so fast! :) Love you mom! 

      Thank you my dear family for your love prayers and letters. I have the best family in the world, so many wonderful examples in my life. Have the best week EVER! :)

      Naimbag a malem!

               Sister Andelin

The four of us :)

L and her little sisters baptisms, 2 Bye LAOAG!!!!!

Beautiful Ilocos Norte! These are the pictures I took on the drive to my new area.