Monday, November 25, 2013~Week 15
Quezon City; 12:14 PM Mon (PH); 9:14 PM Sun (US)

Hey there fam! Hope everyone is doing well! First of all, HAPPY 2 MONTHS IN THE PHILIPPINES TO ME!! And in one month from today, it'll be Christmas! And we get to skype!! Hollaaaaaaaaa! I'm excited!!! But anyway, to be perfectly honest with you all, this has not been a super eventful week for me! Quite a shame after such an adventure last week So sorry in advance for the unexciting letter you're about to read. This is basically the gist of my week though!

TODAY!

So on Tuesday, we had zone training and that was pretty fun. Our zone just got A LOT bigger because of all the new missionaries that came in from Tacloban. Our zone leader Elder Roman was transferred to a different area called Morong and was replaced by a Tacloban missionary and it was actually very depressing because we LOVED him!! He was sooooo funny! He was Filipino and was just super fun and happy! He is actually pretty amazing because just a few weeks ago, his dad died form a heart attack. And the very next day he showed up for a zone meeting and was just his normal happy self! It was so incredible! He was able to go to the funeral and then he came right back and continued on with his mission. He's almost done though. He ends his mission in December. So anyway, we were sad that he left but our new zone leaders are both very very nice! So we had our zone training and then we all practiced our skit that we have to do for the Christmas Conference next month. Haha it's gonna be funny! Look up the song "Tracting in a Winter Wonderland." It's a missionary version of "Walking in a Winter Wonderland" and it's funny! That's basically the skit we're doing but we've changed a lot of the words and it's titled "Tracting in a Tropical Wonderland!" I'm excited for it! So we practiced that for a LONG time and then I had to go home and sit there with my leg propped up and I fell asleep and so did Sister Hepworth who was my companion for the night. We had to go on splits the whole week so that my area could get worked too. So that was Tuesday!

On Wednesday I stayed at home with Sister Hepworth except for we went to the church building because Sister Revillo told us that our mission doctor, Elder Jackson, was going to be there to speak at a Zone Conference. So we went over there and my little ol' leg was looked at by a real doctor!! It was exciting! He said that the medicines they gave me checked out and my wound was alright besides the fact that they did a HORRENDOUS stitching job and it was gonna leave a nasty scar!

Yummmmm 

One of the cuts was more red and puffy than the other and was super tender and he said that on that one, I might have hit some nerve tissue and that's why it was like that but it shouldn't really be a problem.

Mmmmmm 

He told me I'm not allowed to go up in the mountain and I need to keep it propped up to reduce swelling because my ankle was FAT! And to wrap it up with an ace bandage. He also said that I most definitely should NOT go back to that hospital to get my stitches out and that they would NOT be ready to come out on Monday. So he's going to take them out himself this Wednesday at our Zone Conference! Hahaha I just envisioned him up at the front of everyone giving a nice lecture while he's removing my stitches and I'm bleeding but it's no big deal. Haha that would be great. So just know, that I'm in good hands!

MY leg this morning! 

And Sister Revillo keeps telling me to go to the drug store and get this one medicine that helps scars go away. She's very concerned about the scars. Because she "has three daughters and ya know, I know, they want pretty skin! And I'm their mother! I want them to have pretty skin! So, ya know, you want to go get that medicine and just put it on your leg okay?" 

On Thursday, I stayed inside ALL DAYYYY. It was ridiculous! The time went by so SLOW! I literally wrote 10 letters. But it was still fun because Sister Strebel and I just watched things like "Legacy" and "Mountain of the Lord" and "Legacy" again AND we ordered McDonald's! They deliver here!! It was fabulous! And that was Thursday. 

With Sister Strebel ~ We're talented people.

Friday, we had weekly planning and then I went to one appointment in my area! It was with the Fuertes and so it was the scene of the crime!  Oh man it was great.

THE SCENE OF THE CRIME!

THE SCENE OF THE CRIME......AGAIN!
See those two little pointy edges? 
Those are what gave me the gashes! My blood is on that! Haha! 

 And some cute little men tried to cover up the whole with some wood and rocks so no one else would fall in it. But the boys were so cute. They were so concerned about my little leg. They said they prayed for me and that it would get better so that I could come back and teach them. I LOVE THEM SO MUCH! We taught them the Word of Wisdom and it was so fun! They are so adorable! And we had a ward missionary named Ivan with us too! He is super great and he's gonna work with us every Friday from now on! We're super excited! 

Me and Sister Tibungcog! 

Saturday, I stayed home with Sister Strebel again and then we all went to the adult session of Stake Conference and it was so good! They talked the whole time about missionary work and about members working with the missionaries! It was great and I'll share some thoughts about it at the end of my letter! But anyway, it was great!

Yesterday we had Stake Conference and it was super great! We had a really difficult investigator show up! He left early but he came!! And Robin and Gio couldn't come. It's really really REALLY hard because their grandma is just always moody.  So we went and visited them yesterday after church and it was SO SAD! They had the guiltiest looks on their faces! And then they said really quietly that they felt guilty because they didn't come to church.

My boys!!

And we asked them why and Robin said that when we come to pick them up, their grandma will let them go because she respects us but when they ask if they can go by themselves she gets really mad and won't let them go. But in order for them to be baptized, they have to come to church two times by themselves! So we're going to have a nice long chat with grandma this week.

 And then! I had to tell them that we have to move their baptismal date from December 14 to January 4 and oh my gosh their faces. It was AWFUL! They were so stinking sad! But it's okay! We're going to push through this and we ARE  going to baptize those little angels!! I have literally put my sweat and blood into those boys and by golly we're gonna get them! So once again, as always, PRAY!! 

Look at these adorable sleeping children at our friends' house! 

So that was my week! But I just wanna leave with this thought! I want to encourage you all to work with the missionaries! Especially you Jake! It's the best way you can prepare for a mission! I wish I would have done it more! And Nick! You know that members are important! Everyone offer yourselves to the missionaries! They will LOVE you!! They will be so grateful!!! Lessons are so much more effective when there are members present! There's been a really strong push lately from leaders of the church for members and missionaries to work together! The success of missionary work is so much greater with the help of members! The ratio for missionaries getting a baptism straight from their cold contacting is 1:260. The ratio for missionaries getting a baptism from member referrals is 1:8! That's such a difference! Don't be afraid to give names to the missionaries! Don't be afraid to invite people to learn about the gospel! The worst thing that can happen is that they'll say no! And that's okay! You are still successful because the invitation was made! Invite = Success! Success is in the invitation! Not in the conversion! The Lord will take care of the conversion! Always! Elder Bednar said that "missionaries are full time teachers, [members] are full time finders!" Members mainly find, missionaries always teach and Christ carefully cleans! Joseph Smith said, "After all that has been said, the greatest and most important duty is to preach the gospel!" So go out and preach!! 

         

 I love you all so much!! Thank you for your prayers! My leg is healing just fine!! I hope you all have a WONDERFUL Thanksgiving! They don't celebrate that here obviously but I'll be celebrating it!! I am SO grateful for all of my friends and for my wonderful family! And for America! And for the gospel! And that I'm a missionary! And for the prophet, seer, and revelator Joseph Smith! And most especially for my Savior Jesus Christ!I am just so grateful for everything!! I love you all with all my heart!! I'll talk to you in one month from today!!! LOVE YOU ALL!!!! 

Love, Sister Andersen

 The place we took those pictures is called The Grotto.
It's just a little area that has trees 
and plants and bugs and stuff.
It's in Kaingin! 

A neat little lion thing in Kaingin! 

The Grotto! 

Monday, November 18, 2013~Week 14
Quezon City; 12:48 PM Mon (PH); 9:48 PM Sun (US)

MOM note: Hannah sent this picture and note first and then left me hanging for a good hour while she read letters and wrote hers:
"Heyyyyy mom! I'm here!!! I'm sending the TODAY photo first to keep you anticipating the story of my leg!! It's an exciting one! You know what they say! It's more fun in the Philippines!" (tease)

Hey there family! Sooo it's been quite the week here in the Philippines! First of all, I gotta say that I had NO idea how bad the storm was until I emailed you all last week and then found out it was even worse than I thought the next day from ward members and such! We really are in such a bubble still even though we're out and about in the world. We have no T.V., no radio, no internet, nothing! We had no idea what the heck was going on out there! It's so so so devastating! And now we have a ton of new missionaries that were transferred into our mission from Tacloban! It'll be fun and this is the perfect opportunity for the gospel to help people rise out of the rubble and rely on the Lord!

So apparently everybody knows that on Tuesday I did service at the church because I'm in videos and pictures all over the internet! #famous. So that's exciting. 

Helping Hand - Typhoon Yolanda/You Tube video:

  (Click here for PHOTOS of Helping Hands Relief Effort)

That's my second time being famous on YouTube! The first time stemming from our Senior Ball Rap which is still the most amazing video in the world I think. Shout out to mah gurls Alena, Jannie, Melissa, And Rickstuhh for making that possible! #seniorballrap2013 #youtubefamous #jbiebsandthegirls #loveyouall #kisses. How many hits does that have now by the way?  (781@ this post)

Okay but seriously. The church's relief program is SO amazing! There were a thousand people WAITING in the chapel for their turn to help out that day and there were already hundreds working! It was so crazy! And everyone was just so happy and smiling and I love this church so much! We put together SOOOO many relief kits for the missionaries and for members and nonmembers! And SOOOOO many bags of rice! It was truly amazing to see everyone working so hard and to see everything being put together to send to those people! The church hallways and rooms and sitting areas were all FULL of kits that were going to be sent and there are still bags waiting to be sent to more people! It was truly a miracle! So that was really fun to be apart of that! My back was definitely sore from scooping who knows how many pounds of rice into bags but hey it was worth it! 

The relief kits! The pile is taller than me! 

On Saturday, the youth in our stake did a roadshow and the theme was Disney and it was SOOO cute!! Before it started, we got to go help all the youth in our ward get ready! Every ward had a different movie! There was Hercules, Alladin, Beauty and the Beast, Lion King, Pocahontas, and our ward did Mulan! I got to do all the girls hair for it! Obviously that was a party. I love doing hair!  They looked great! Then we went and picked up Robin and Gio and their friend John Mark and took them with us to watch the roadshow! (By the way, Ruben is actually Robin....we just found that out this week. And Damdam is Gio.) And they LOVED it!! It was so adorable and they had such a great time! Our ward has been SO great with these boys! All the young men have fellow-shipped them and made them feel so welcome! It's been wonderful!! And then after it finished, all the youth were fed and they gave some food to Robin, Gio, and John Mark and ice cream too! They had the best time just hanging out with the youth and making real friends! 

Whenever they're at church or with the young men, they have the biggest smiles on their faces and it makes me so happy to see them so happy! The light of Christ is truly illuminating their lives!! I love them with all my heart! They had a new baptismal date for December 14 because they have to come to church four times in a row but their grandma is really really strict and moody and sometimes won't let them come to church and so we have to give them ANOTHER baptismal date because Robin has missed two weeks in a row now! We're hoping for December 17! Everyone pray that their grandma's heart will be softened! We need them to come to church! We need them to be baptized! They need to be missionaries one day!! PRAY PRAY PRAY!

My cute companion!

Okay so here's the adventure story for the week! Yesterday, we went on splits. Sister Tibungcog went with Sister Hepworth up to Kaingin for the sacrament meeting up there and I went with Sister Strebel to pick up the boys for church. So the ward we were taking them to started at 8:30 am and so we get there at about 8:00 am to pick them up and grandma is all moody and stuff and says that they can't go and that they can go to the 1:00 pm ward (which she told us on Saturday that they could NOT go to and they had to go to the 8:30 am ward because they were less busy at that time). So we said okay then we'll see them at 12:30! And we're leaving and as we're walking away, I step on a grate thing that's over the opening to a sewer and because the metal was all rusted, IT BROKE RIGHT WHEN I STEPPED ON IT! So there I go. My leg just goes straight through the grate and on the way down, two sharp edges of the rusted metal digs into my skin and my knee slams against the cement and I was a little bit in shock because it all happened so fast! And with some help from Sister Strebel and a few Filipino men whose faces I never even bothered to look at, I pull my leg up and then I just felt sick to my stomach because I look down and there's just blood.

The damage!

And then I can see where the metal had cut into and I have two nice deep gashes in my leg. One was more of a slash and then other was just like a chunk of skin that had been scooped out. It was gross! And miraculously, a taxi randomly decided to pull off to the side of the road and Sister Strebel and I call it over and we get inside and it takes us home. Then we called Sister Revillo but she didn't answer so we called the APs and they said they would come and get us and get it taken care of.  But while we're waiting for them to come and get me, Sister Revillo calls back and I tell her what happened and the little Filipino woman just says, "Okay that's alright. The APs are come to get you now. So just calm down and try to close the skin together with your two fingers. Okay let me know what happens. Ingat kayo!"  Umm.... okay I will give that a shot! Hahaha it was kind of funny! 

 Still had time to take a picture! It's all about the pictures!
These kinds of things only happen once!
Oh wait....nope this is the 5th time it's happened to me...ha. 

Anyway, so the APs pick us up and take us to the nearest hospital and oh my gosh I LOVE AMERICA! It was the sketchiest hospital I have ever seen in my entire life! Completely sketchy. Like it was bad. I was sitting down at a little desk where one of the nurses was checking out my wound and right behind me there was an unconscious man whose face was completely bloated and bloody and there was nothing covering him up. It was so sad. And it was like that everywhere. I just really love America and American hospitals. And America. GOD BLESS THE USA. Anyway, so after he checks it out, he tells me I need stitches, I freak out inside because this is the last place I want to get stitches, I would rather do it myself because I definitely trust myself more than the hospital. So we go into another room and I sit on the little bed thingy that has a sheet on it and that sheet definitely had blood on it that did not belong to me! And he starts getting all the stuff ready to sew me up and I stop him and tell him that he's not allowed to give me stitches until he cleans the dirt out from the wound! Because they hadn't cleaned it out yet! And so he kind of cleans it out and then he starts getting the needle out to numb everything around where he was going to give me the stitches and I look at it and it's definitely still dirty all up in there. So I let him numb me and then after it was all numb and I couldn't feel it, I told him to please clean it out a lot. I said, "Just go at it because I literally can't feel anything right there. So please just clean it out!" Haha so he did! He was kind of digging at it and getting all the stuff out and I felt MUCH better and I allowed him to stitch me up!

Sorry...might be a little graphic! The last stitch!

I got 8 stitches! One for every week I've been in the Philippines! I took pictures of the whole process and obviously I'll send them to you! After that, they put a bunch of gauze and stuff all over my wounds, gave me two shots of who knows what, and sent me on my merry way with some pills they told me I needed to take every 6 hours for a week!

This is how they bandaged it up! 

And ya know what time it was when I got out? It was only like 9:45 am! So we went home and were told by the other Sisters that I need to just sit there and rest my leg and not go to church but I went to church anyway because hello! I'd rather go sit in church for three hours and take the sacrament and be in air conditioning than sit at home doing nothing! So I went to church and then came home and my leg is still in pain and it actually really kind of hurts to walk on it and it's a little bit swollen but at least it's still there! And that was my adventure! It's more fun in the Philippines!

 Luckily, I had a HERSHEY bar that I'd bought to celebrate my 3 month mark!
 I hadn't eaten it yet! SO I ate it yesterday to soothe the pain! 

So yeah! That was my week! It's been a good one! I had a little bit of a light bulb come on this week during one of my personal studies. The reason that every day on your mission gets easier isn't because the actual mission gets easier! It's because every single day, you are praying and pleading with your Heavenly Father for the strength to go through the day. You're pleading for the gift of tongues. Your pleading for comfort and peace. You're pleading for your investigators. Every single day you are on your knees talking to your Heavenly Father and gradually, when you talk to Him, you stop talking about yourself. You start talking to Him about your family, the ward members, your investigators, the less actives, other missionaries. Every day gets easier because you begin to realize more and more your purpose as a missionary and your will begins to realign itself with His will. Your will becomes His. And that's the whole point! Missions are so great! I love being a missionary! I love sharing my testimony! I love telling people that they have a Father in Heaven that loves them very very much! I love the Book of Mormon! I love Joseph Smith! I love this gospel! And I love all of you!!! I hope you all have a wonderful week! 

Me today with my Christmas tree! 

Thanks for all the letters and prayers and love!! I pray for you all every single day multiple times a day!! You are all so amazing!! Thanks for everything!! Love you and miss you more than words can say!! Mahal kita!! I LOVE YOU!!!! 

Love, Sister Andersen

Helping Hand - Typhoon Yolanda

Monday, November 11, 2013~Week 13 
Quezon City; 12:31 PM Mon (PH); 9:31 PM Sun (US)

Hello my wonderful family and friends!! This has been quite the week! But first, let me assure all of you that I am safe! We were only slightly affected by the typhoon on Friday! The President texted all of us and told us to go home to our apartments until the typhoon passed over. So we went home at about 6:30 and we weren't able to leave until 1:00 pm the next day but it wasn't bad! So I'm safe! Thank you for the prayers though! Keep praying for the people who are being affected by it though! I've heard it's pretty bad! 

Me and Sister Tibungcog!
(Pronounced: Tee Boon Cog [long 'O' in cog])

So saying goodbye to Sister Jones was pretty hard. We'd just gotten really close and so it was rough to watch her get in a taxi and drive away! And on top of that, my tatay, Elder Cendana, left too! So I am now an orphan here in the mission! Haha Sister Strebel and I had a complete sobbing session that night. We were literally wailing and moaning and weeping in front of our companions and it was slightly ridiculous but you know that situation where once you get started on something, it's just hard to stop and plus you're feeding off of another person and it just turns into a mess. Yeah that happened. My poor companion! She probably thought I hated her! Haha but it was actually probably really good to just let everything out. Like all the stress and missing Sister Jones and just the effects of change. So I'd say it was a pretty healthy cry and obviously we were laughing too because that's what you do when you don't know how to handle yourself! 

Anyway, my new companion is Sister Tibungcog and she is awesome! She's super easy to get along with and very chill and I love it! And she speaks great English which is also a very big plus! Heavenly Father is just spoiling me here because I have a great area, I had a great trainer, I have a great follow up trainer, I have a pretty great apartment, I have a pretty great ward, I have a great life! He's spoiling me! And I'm scared that I'm gonna be transferred soon and go into shock all over again because I've been so spoiled here! (Obviously when I say spoiled it's a completely different meaning here on the mish than it would ever be at home. If ya catch my drift... I'm still in the Philippines......) 

The other part of my area! The city part.

And! Great news! I have not gotten us lost ONCE! Which is a miracle for my area because everything is just everywhere and there are no such things as addresses! So holler at mah leading skillz!  Sister Tibungcog thinks that I'm going to train next transfer and that just makes me a little sick to my stomach! It's happening more and more here in our mission that missionaries train after their own 12 weeks of being trained! Especially with the sisters because the number of sisters is increasing a lot here! Sister TIbungcog trained after her 12 weeks! Bah! But yeah she's actually only 2 transfers ahead of me which is weird. I feel like she's so much older and wiser but she's only a few months older than me and has only been on a mission a few months longer than me. Crazy stuff!

The traffic is just crazy here!

So there's a problem here in the Philippines where a lot of people will get married and then either their spouse will leave them or something will happen and they both end up leaving each other and become separated  But divorce is illegal. You can get an annulment or something like that but it's SUPER expensive and so obviously nobody does that. So the church made a rule that specifically for the Philippines that if someone has had that happen to them and are living with someone else, they can baptized but they have to have been living with that person for at least 5 years. It's kind of confusing. But anyway, we have an investigator, his name his H., and he's living with a girl named H. who was married but her husband left her. H. and H. have been living with each other for 3 years now. So before H. can get baptized, he still has to wait 2 more years! His baptismal date is August 15, 2015! That's so so so SOOO far away! Anyway, he has a hard time sometimes because he has to wait so long so sometimes he drinks or smokes or something even though he knows it's wrong and it's really really sad. But on Saturday! We went to go visit him and he told us how much he wants to stop drinking and stop giving into temptations and how his new goal is to drink only juice! And he got a priesthood blessing yesterday too! So everyone just pray for him that he will stay strong! We're so proud of him for his desire but he just really needs help to stay strong!

This is Kaingin! The mountain.

 The biggest thing that's happened this week is that we opened up the group in the mountain for the less actives to come and take the sacrament again and it was successful! We had 14 people from the mountain there! And the spirit was so strong! One of the less actives was weeping throughout the hymns and the sacrament! It was so sweet! I'm super excited to see this grow! Yes it is kind of a sacrifice for us because we have to be up in the mountain by 8 in the morning and then we have church again at 1 pm but it's worth it! Even all the sweat it takes to climb up that thing! The poor ward members. We probably stunk at church.... Anyway, right now we just hold the sacrament in one of the members home but the bishop said that once we get 80 people, we can establish a branch up there and if this stays strong and members continue to come for 5 years, the church will buy a lot up there and build a church house! That's amazing! I won't ever be here to see that happen but I can honestly say that I was there to see it start! I just became a part of history for that mountain probably. And I spoke in church about "How to Develop Christ-like Love" and true to my nature, I didn't write the talk until about 10:15 Saturday night and had to be in bed by 10:30 so I definitely was winging most of it. I have a feeling I'm gonna get real good at that whilst being a missionary.

TODAY!!  
Sister Jones left me with this skirt.  :)

This was definitively a rambling letter sooo I'm sorry about that. Anyway, it's been a crazy, busy, exhausting week but that's how it's supposed to be right? Every single time that I ever am about to feel a little homesick maybe or tired or anything else, I remember dad's words to me in a letter he sent while I was still in the MTC. He said, "Just turn to the Lord and move those feet!" And that has helped me so much! I can testify that if you just work and work and work while you're on a mission, you won't feel homesick, or worried, or unhappy because you don't have the time for that! (Ain't nobody got time for dat! {Sweet Brown reference}....) If you come home tired every single day, you're doing it right and you will be so much happier! I know that is true because that's exactly how it is for me! I know that working hard is the ONLY way that I am going to stay happy on my mission and the ONLY way that I'm going to have success in helping others come unto Christ! I love being a missionary! The actually missionary part is not hard! It's fun and I love teaching people simple truths of the gospel! The hardest part is just being away from family, friends, and home but like I said before, if you're working hard, you forget about that stuff and everything becomes worth it! I just really want all my cute little friends and little brothers who are preparing to go on missions to know that! Because there really is nothing in the world that can ever truly prepare you for what you'll face on a mission! But just know, IT'S ALL WORTH IT!!! I am grateful to be a missionary! I'm grateful to all of you for all of your love and support and prayers! I pray for every one individually every morning and every night! I miss you and love you all SO SO much!! Love you!!!

Love, Sister Andersen

P.S. This Thursday is my 3 month mark in the mission! That's crazy!!!

P.P.S. I'm excited for everyone's Christmas names! It's all perfect! It's weird that I'm not the one doing all that kind of stuff! I've ALWAYS done it! It's weird!

P.P.P.S. LOVE YOU ALL SO SO MUCH!!!

Tuesday, November 5, 2013~Week 12 
Quezon City; 2:04 PM Tues (PH); 11:04 PM Mon (US)

Hey there fam! Well, I've made it to the end of my first transfer!! Holler at me!

TODAY!

Sad news though! We got the call this morning to tell us if any one would be transferring and Sister Jones is. I'm soooooooo sad! We've just gotten really really close and she is so sweet and has taken such good care of me! I really am going to miss her with all my heart! She has been the best trainer and nanay to me. She's going to an area called Pasig. Neither of us thought that she would be leaving because we figured that she would stay at least one more transfer to finish my training. She's been in this area for 6 months so it kind of makes sense that she would be transferring but it's still really sad! It means that I'm getting a follow up trainer and I'm a little bit nervous! I actually kind of had a hunch a couple days ago that Sister Jones would be leaving. A thought just sort of popped into my head that she's done everything that she can in this area and it's time for her to go to another one. And then another thought popped into my head saying that she's gonna end up leaving because Heavenly Father is sayin, "It's time to step it up Hannah!" So I was shocked, but like, not really... I'm scared though because I have to lead the area! I have to know where everyone's houses are and that's hard for my area because there are NO addresses! Everyone just lives in the mountain all over the place! And we have so many new investigators! And there's a sacrament service that's being started in the mountain for the less actives who can't afford to come all the way to the chapel and now I have to kind of lead that! AND I'm giving a talk in church next Sunday! I'M STRESSED OUT! The good news is that Sister Strebel and Sister Hepworth are staying! So they'll be here to help me get through this and keep me calm! My new companion's name is Tobungcog. I think she's Filipino. I have no idea. Oh well though! It'll still be a really great transfer! Everyone just pray really really REALLY hard for me!

We bought these BOO cookies for the other sisters. :)

Bought them in one of the little malls.

I'm glad that everyone had such a fun Halloween! I'm slightly jealous! I miss Halloween and all of mom's decorations and all the fun food and costumes! But I'll have you know that I started the day out right by eating a candy bar with my breakfast. (That's actually probably not good but it was Halloween so I said YOLO!) It was a good day though because we found a family to teach! Their names are Jake and Erika and they have a 1 year old son and 3 week old son! They are so cuuuuute! We've taught them three times already and they are just accepting it! They have the sweetest spirits! But they live in the squatters so it might be hard for them to come to church! Sooo as always, pray! Then! We went to the Dulalias, a member in the ward, for dinner and she fed us some nice Filipino food and then she brought out a bag of Reese's Peanut Butter Cups!! It made my whole day!! And when she saw how happy I was, she sent me home with a little container full of them! So, I basically went Trick or Treating! I was so happy! They tasted like Heaven! It was a Happy Halloween to me!!

Happy Halloween!

Then on Saturday, we had a really great lesson with this man named Marcos and his 16 year old son Marc! They are so great! They have such great questions and are very very receptive! I'm excited to keep teaching them! But at the end of the lesson, he told us that he had a 22 year old son who had A LOT of questions and he was reading the pamphlet and researching us a little on the internet and we were just like, ohh noooo. This is gonna be bad. So we told him we would come back on Sunday to teach his son. And we were definitely nervous. But we got there, and he was SO nice!! And he was just really curious about Joseph Smith and our beliefs and he had great questions and it was wonderful! And after I had finished teaching about how God is our loving Heavenly Father and how the gospel blesses families, he stopped me and said to us, "I really like the way you teach. You are so happy when you talk about God. And you have a light when you teach. It is a reflection of Jesus Christ." CAN YOU SAY GOLDEN?! Oh man. It was great! So super excited about that! 

AND Ruben and Damdam came to church!!!!! We went to pick them up and they came! It was so great and I was so proud of the young men in our ward because they literally swarmed them and were with them the whole entire time and talked to them and laughed with them and Ruben and Damdam LOVED it SO much!! They are even singing with the rest of the young men in sacrament meeting on Sunday!! They just had the biggest smiles on their faces the whole entire time and I was so happy!! Then we went and taught them on Monday and they were so excited to see us and they are SO excited to come again next week and they even have a friend that wants to come and he joined in on the lesson we taught and they're just the happiest little people and I love them!!! Their baptism dates are moved to December because they have to go to church 4 times in a row but they really do want to be baptized! All it took was one time at church!! So pray that they'll keep coming!! I'm so excited for them!! 

Then yesterday we had like a last little zone meeting thing where everyone just bore their testimonies and talked about what they learned from the zone and from their companions and it was really really great! I'm going to miss my district leader so so much! He was so nice and he really truly cared for us all! If we ever needed ANYTHING he would come running to fix it! He's being transferred to the Morong Zone. I think it's straight up province. He's been here for 6 months too. But he keeps calling us his angels and telling us how much he's going to miss us. He really is sad to leave us! And we're so sad that he's leaving! He was seriously the BEST district leader in the world! I'm gonna miss him! We bought him a bunch of candy bars and a coke and gave him a nice little card and everything as a goodbye gift. It's hard to say goodbye! 

The thing that he's in is like a swinging bed!
Everyone has them hanging in their houses! 

This week I've learned that change is hard but necessary. I don't want to have to start all over with a new companion when I was just barely starting to get to know the one I have! I don't want to have to lead the entire area by myself! But I know that it's what's best for me! And I know that I will grow so much more and that whatever my new companion has to offer is exactly what I need and that having to lead the area will be good for me! This will be a hard transfer I feel like. But I think I'm still gonna have fun and I know that I'm going to grow soo much! I love being on a mission! Some days are harder than others and sometimes I forget how amazing it is that I'm in the Philippines! But then I'll be in a lesson and I'll be bearing my testimony of the gospel and it's so clear to me why I'm here! I'm here because I love this gospel and I am so grateful for it and I want other people to have it! I want other people to feel this JOY!! Or I'll be riding in a crowded little jeepney and realize that I'm surrounded by Filipinos and how amazing it is that I can feel so at home here and that I'm starting to understand what they're saying! Heavenly Father has been so generous with me these past 6 weeks in giving me little reminders every day that I am SO blessed! And I am so happy! I feel so lucky that every day I can find a reason to laugh and find a reason to keep on going no matter what! I feel spoiled! I've said it before and I'll say it again, missions are hard. But they're so worth it! I am so grateful for all of you and all of your love and support and prayers!! I pray for each and every one of you individually every morning and every night! Thank you for praying for our investigators too!! You are all such a blessing in my life!! Thank you so much for EVERYTHING!! I miss you more than words can say! And I love you even more!!! Have a great week!! LOVE YOU ALL!!! 

Love, Sister Andersen

 I just wanted to show you where little smurfy was!! Always there!

My desk

The stairs I fell down two weeks ago.

Cleaned the bathroom today :)

Cooking area and sink 

The house...it's a disaster right now!  

{About Elder Smurfy....He has been on a mission to Argentina, Dominican Republic,

 Russia and now Philippines.....always carrying the light of the gospel.  :)}