Wednesday, October 30, 2013~Week 11 

Quezon City; 4:47 PM Wed (PH); 2:47 AM Wed (US)

Hellooooooo family!! I feel like it's been forever since I've talked to you! But I also feel like it was just yesterday! The days are long and hot and hard but time really does kind of fly! I can't believe that next week is the end of the transfer! That doesn't even seem real to me! I've survived a whole transfer here in the Philippines!! Only 11 more to go!! Woooo! 

It was a pretty good week! After I emailed last week, we went home and we played Monopoly Deal! (I very much miss playing that at the Nelson house! And just games in general with the Nelsons and the fam!) But it was fun and it felt good to just kind of relax! After that, we visited a ward member who invited us over because it was her sister's birthday and they had a Belle cake!! It was so adorable! I didn't get a picture but it was so so cute! 

 Sister Jones loves dark chocolate so I bought her a
dark chocolate Hershey's bar for her 9 month mark!!

We had MTC Exchanges again this week and we got to go with Sister Garcia! She's from Arizona and she was so so cute! And completely fearless! We were so proud of her! She came with us to teach the Fuertes family! And this time, I extended the baptismal invitation to Anna Mae and she accepted as well! Then Sister Jones asked if she would prepare herself to be baptized on the 23rd of November and she got really really quiet and didn't say anything and we got really nervous. And then her face got red and we thought she was going to cry! And then she just said really quietly, "I'm just glad that the truth came to us." So yeah, she said she would be baptized on November 23 with her brothers! So that was exciting! BUT! We need prayers for them because we think that their grandma is not letting them come to church! So pray that she'll let them! And that they'll come! Because if they don't come to church, they can't get baptized! After we dropped Sister Garcia off, we went up into the mountains and we were able to teach this man named Markos! And he's basically blind but he has a wife and I think he said 3 daughters. After we taught him, he said he wanted us to come back and teach his family on November 2 because it's a holiday and everybody will be there! We were like, ummm okay!!! So hopefully that works out! 

Cendana, Salisbury, me, Jones,Hepworth, Valikoula, Marcelino, Strebel

Last Friday was my one month mark in the Philipppines!!! I just thought I'd throw that out there.

We started teaching this couple this past week and they are perfect! Their names are Jomil and Mauna and they got married like a year ago and she's pregnant and they are just so prepared to hear the gospel! And it's the cutest little love story because Jomil is 39 but looks like he's 27 and he's really chill and awesome and Mauna is like 35 but looks like she's 45 and she has a throat problem so she sounds kind of funny when she talks and she's so sweet and they're so in love!! It kills me! But we're really excited to teach them and we're hoping to give them baptismal dates tomorrow! We also started teaching this girl named Kathy! She's 19 and she's so cute! And she also GOLDEN! She just accepts the gospel and she KNOWS it's true and she just keeps saying how grateful she is that we found her and she wants to come to church so so bad but the problem is, she's living here in Quezon City because she works for this rich family and her boss is super strict. They only 1 day off a month! And so she can't even come to church either! We're not sure what to do! Soooo again, PRAY! Pray that we'll be able to find some way to keep teaching her and that she'll find some way to get to church! 

 Princess Saberon. A cute baby in the ward!

On Sunday, I finished the Book of Mormon!! I started it over when I went into the MTC and I finished it! I LOVE the Book of Mormon so so much! It made me sad that I had to end! But it's okay because I can start again! I will never tire of reading it! It takes on new meaning as a missionary! And I wish I would have truly STUDIED it more before I left! But I am so grateful for the time that I have each morning to study for an hour! It's my favorite part of the day! I love it!

Yesterday we went on splits with the Sister Trainer Leaders and it was pretty fun! Sister Jones went with her trainer Sister Sabiano and I went with Sister Harston! (Mom don't be mad....I forgot to take pictures......SORRY! LOVE YOU!) I was just a tad bit nervous because I had to lead my area but luckily, I was going to the easiest part and the part I knew the best! So it wasn't that bad! But it was cool to work with her! She's been out for a year and she's really really good at Tagalog. But she's so sweet and it was nice to work with her! 

My first visit to the Manila Philippines Temple!

My "Dad" & "Mom" in the mission.

My District at the Manila Temple.

And today! We got to go to the temple! It was exciting! The Manila temple is really small and very simple but it was so peaceful and so CLEAN! Which is definitely something the rest of the Philippines is NOT! So that was wonderful! We got up at 5:00 am and got ready and left the house at 6:00 am and it's a 15 minute drive to the temple! Then we just waited outside the temple and took pictures until we got ready and we were in the 8:00 session! I miss going to the temple so much! It's hard to go from going every single week to once every 6 weeks but I know that I am so lucky that we can go at all! It's a huge blessing! I love the temple with all my heart and I very much miss the St. George temple and going with mom and dad. It's okay though! Just know that I will be dragging you there with me very often when I get home! 

The Manila Temple this morning!

After the temple, our zone went to this mall called Landmark and it smelled like Christmas!!! And there were Christmas trees and other Christmas decorations and it was wonderful! And our whole zone ate at Taco Bell! It was lovely! There's an Elder in our zone that's ending his mission and he gets to go home next Wednesday and everyone was so jealous of him! But he had to miss THREE Halloweens because the transfer just happened to roll over two week from when he came on his mission!! I can't even imagine missing three Halloweens!! That's awful! I'm missing two Thanksgivings and two Christmases but only one Mother's Day, one Easter, and one 4th of July! And one birthday! So that's a relief!

Quezon City South Zone

Anyway, it was a good week! Thank you all for writing me and for sending all the pictures! Molly's cage looks AMAZING!!!!!! I love it and I am so happy for her! I miss my little puppy! Give her some love from me! I love you all so much! I get so much strength from you! It's hard being away from you but I know that it's only for short time and I know that it's for a great cause! It doesn't even seem real that I'm actually on a mission already! I want you all to know that I know that this is the true church restored on the earth today and that it was restored by the prophet Joseph Smith! I know that the Book of Mormon is true!! It is the most wonderful book in the world! I know that the Plan of Salvation is REAL! Heavenly Father loves us all so much and wants nothing more than for us to return to him! I'm grateful for this gospel and I'm grateful to be a missionary and that I have the opportunity to share it with the people here in the Philippines!! I love and miss you all SO SO much!! Have a great week!! LOVE YOU!!

Love, Sister Andersen

P.S. HAPPY HALLOWEEN!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! EAT A LOT OF CANDY FOR ME AND WATCH A FUN MOVIE AND GO TRICK OR TREATING AND EVERYONE DRESS UP AND HAVE FUN AND EAT MORE CANDY!!!