Monday, October 14, 2013~Week 9
Quezon City; 12:12 PM Mon (PH); 10:12 PM Sun (US)

Hello family!! Guess what?? Today is my two month mark of my mission!! Whaaaaaat? I feel like missions are just weird time warps because I feel like I've been on a mission for FOREVER! But then I also look back and it's like, woah. That went by fast. Like when you're in the moment, it feels like an eternity. But then you look back at last General Conference or being dropped off at the MTC and you think, where did the time go? I don't know. It's really weird.

TODAY!

So this past week actually went by pretty fast because I had so many meetings!! I'll tell you all about them and such a little later in the letter but right now I have to tell you all the most important thing that happened last Monday. I HAD TACO BELL! We went to a mall (not the Mall of Asia because that's in Manila) and they had Taco Bell there and I almost cried tears of joy! It was so American and beautiful and I think I want to have that every single time that I go to the mall! AND as we were walking out! I saw that they had a Krispy Kreme!! Like what the heck?! I know I can't eat it but it made my heart so happy to see it! It was probably the happiest day of my life. So that was Monday and it was just really nice to be out and kind of relax. P-days are inspired. Missionaries definitely need a little time to just chill. And talk to their families. And friends. It recharges you for the week! I love it!

Me in front of the mosquito net kingdom!

Me inside the mosquito net kingdom!

And then on Tuesday we had Zone Training and we were taught by our District Leaders, Zone Leaders, and Sister Training Leaders! It was really good! But on Tuesday I started getting kind of sick. Just like a cold and cough and such and I was really really low on energy. So it was nice to be in the air conditioning for the first part of the day. After that, we went to our area and it was up in the mountain and it was so exhausting because I had no energy and it was unreasonably hot that day and we literally walked ALL OVER THAT MOUNTAIN AND NO ONE WAS HOME! It was insane! We ended up only being able to teach two less actives but at least we got that! One of them, J., said that he wanted to make us Python Adobo!!! He shared with us how he would just hang the python up after he killed it, peel the skin off, and then chop it up and cook it! I was like ummmm thanks but no thanks. I'm actually very frightened that he's going to make it and I'm going to have eat it and die. Yeahhhhh. But then after that, we went shopping for groceries and when we came out of the store, it was POURING! Harder than I had yet experienced here in the Philippines! It was so intense! And the groceries are put in these super thin, weak paper bags that if they get wet, they are just toast! And it was seriously pouring!! So we threw up our umbrellas and started for home and by the time we got to our street, we were SOAKED!! Hahaha and then we realized that our bags were ripping and the things we had bought were falling out from the bottom of the bags!! So we were trying too pick things up in the middle of the road and trying to stay dry and trying not to drop anything else and it was probably quite a sight to see!! I was laughing SO hard because there was absolutely nothing going right and I ended up just dropping my umbrella, running to pick everything up, grabbing my umbrella again and running to the door! I was such a mess and so was my companion and it was hilarious!! It was the first time I'd really let go and laughed like that since I've been in the Philippines so I'm so grateful for that ridiculous rain!! 

Wednesday was a good day because we got four new investigators!! I'm really excited about one of them! His name is R. and he's 14 years old and he's the happiest person I've seen here in the Philippines!! He's just always smiling and he wants to do everything we ask him to do! Please pray for him and his family! They need to come to church! Actually, please just pray that our investigators and less actives will come to church in general! That is our biggest problem here. Nobody comes to church because they live in the mountain and it's far away and kind of expensive for them because they have no money! So pray that the Lord will help them find a way to come to church!

Thursday we had Zone Interviews and that was good! We were taught by the APs and the Sister Training Leaders and the Zone Leaders! And we were interviewed by President and everything was swell! It lasted for 7 hours though! From 1:00-7:00 and then we had a dinner appointment and it was all really good food but we had to walk home and it took us an hour and so we were really tired when we got home! And that's all that happened on Thursday. But Sister Revillo said something that made me laugh! You have to imagine her saying it in her cute little Filipino accent! She said, "Do you know why the men have the priesthood? So they can reach the level of the woman. Cause you see without the priesthood  we are just so much better than them! That's why they have the priesthood!" What a grand lady.

Friday we had a Trainer and Trainee Meeting with the President and I got to see Sister Sims!!! It was so good to see her again! I've missed her so much!! We saw each other and we both just kind of got this look on our faces that said, "Oh my word I've missed you and this is kind of hard and I'm so happy you're alive!" And then we just hugged and she literally did say, "You're alive!!!" Hahaha but it was so good to talk to her and be with her for a few hours! And we got to see the other missionaries who flew over with us! Elder Houston (my Zupas buddy) and his MTC companion Elder Starr! It was so fun! They're all doing so good!! I'll send a picture of us later! Then after that we had weekly planning and that always takes like 5 hours. Literally. So yeah. We did that. And that was... fun. No it's actually not that fun but it's very necessary and so we do it!

Reunited and it feels so good!

And then I FINALLY got to see General Conference!!! It was soooooooooo good!! I LOVED all the talks so so SO much and am so grateful for them!! It seriously was the fastest conference has EVER gone in my life though!! But some of my favorite talks were Elder Bednar's about tithing! I loved it! And President Uchtdorf's about "Come! Join with us!" So good! Elder Packer is a sweetheart and I love his cute little voice. Elder Holland's made me cry! It was SOOOO good! I loved how at the end he said that "broken minds can be healed just as broken hearts and broken bones can be healed." And how he said that those who had these kind of problems would stand there in the resurrection with "breathtaking perfection " It was just so good!! President Eyering's was so good too! The "You were supposed to remember!" story made me laugh and I thought about what a kick dad would have gotten out of that one! Haha it just seems like something he would laugh at! Elder Scott is a gentle giant and I love how he pleaded with us all with such tenderness and care to use the Atonement! President Monson's made me cry too. He loves his wife so so much! It was all so wonderful and I can't wait until they give us the Ensign so I can go back and read it all again!! I'm so grateful for the prophet and all the apostles and all the other people who were called to speak! It was magnificent!!

Squished inside of a tricycle on Saturday! The other one is Sister Hepworth!
She's a part of the other companionship in our house!  It's like a motorcycle with a side car.
 They are so tiny and they try to fit in as many people as they can!
Her comp is riding on the back of the motorcycle!

Anyway! Last week was crazy busy and this week will be back to normal! We scheduled a lot of time for tracking so pray that we'll be guided by the spirit to the people whose hearts are ready to receive the gospel! 

I am so grateful for all of you! I pray for you all by name every single morning and every single night and I hope that you can feel my love and my prayers for you! I'm so grateful that Heavenly Father gave me the family that I'm in! You are all so wonderful and I miss you so much but I know that I'm where I'm supposed to be and yes it's hard being away from you but with the help of the Lord, I grow stronger every day and every day I realize more and more how important the work that I'm doing is. I know that I have a responsibility to share the gospel with these people and I know that I can and will touch the lives of many as long as I always rely on the Lord and trust in Him! Thank you for your support and prayers and love!! PINAKA MAHAL KITA!!!!

Love, Sister Andersen