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!!!