Monday, March 24, 2014~Week 32
Pateros; 11:49 AM Mon (PH); 9:49 PM Sun (US)

Hello there errybody. First of all, HAPPY ANNIVERSARY MOM AND DAD!! Congrats on a long and successful marriage!! Thank you for being the best parents in the whole world! You're both my heroes! I love you so much and am so grateful for everything that you've taught me and for all the help you've given me my whole life. I LOVE YOU! Secondly, HAPPY 19TH BIRTHDAY MORGAN!! Ohhh my dearest darling Morgan. I'm so proud of you!! I think you're in Hawaii right now. I can't remember. But I want you to know that I'm so grateful for your example to me. You love this gospel SO much and I am so grateful to have a friend like you. You're so strong and amazing. Thanks for everything Sister!! ;) 

TODAY

Okayyyy soooooo let me tell you the number one reason why I love this area. EVERYONE here calls me Emma Watson or Sister Hermione. Like everyone. I love it! It's so magical! I JUST WANT TO LIVE IN HARRY POTTER'S WORLD SO BAD! Oh well. Next life na lang. Really though, it's great. I'm gonna be sad when I go home and Alena continues to tell me that I in fact do NOT resemble Emma Watson. Haha

Jeepney rides.

Jeepney signs.

So on Tuesday we had Zone Training and it was GREAT! Haha I love my Zone Leaders! They are so funny. Elder Harris is from New Zealand and he cracks me up. Anyway, they gave a great workshop on exact obedience! I loved it. They tied it in to the Atonement of Jesus Christ and it was so amazing. I'm so grateful for our leaders here in this mission. Anyway, I made a commitment to myself that I would try harder to be exactly obedient! It was just a good reminder to me. I loved it!

Pasig City

On Thursday I took a little adventure to the MRC..... the Missionary Recovery Center..... I may or may not have almost broke 2 or 3 of my fingers........ Hahaha just kidding. My ear was just bothering me really bad for the past week so they had Dr. Jackson take a look at it. I have an infection or something but it's not that bad and I just have to put ear drops in my ear. I don't like that feeling at all. Blehhhhhhhh. You know what i do like though?? Remember when I was little and I always had to take that nasal spray for my allergies? I loved that stuff man! It was my favorite and I miss it! Hahahahaha just throwing that out there.

MRC Trip!

 Me missing the temple and TIbs.

There I am! Haha

OKAY. So let me tell you something! Last week Sister Quiban was like, "I need to cut my hair!" And I thought she meant that she wanted to go get her hair cut at a shop but NO! She literally took her hair to one side and got some scissors and bent over the trash can and CHOPPED LIKE 3 INCHES OFF OF HER HAIR! And then she took it to the other side and cut off about a half an inch more! I was dying! I may or may not have let out a tiny scream because that is the LAST thing that I would EVER do to my hair! Haha but she just did it and then moved on! It didn't look half bad after I helped her even it out and stuff but holy cow. I died inside.

This is that two scoops of crazy with a
side of koo koo ka choo part of her. Haha 

So we had a family home evening last Monday at a member's home and it was SO fun! There was someone there named Ryan and we're just gonna be friends here I think! Haha he's the same age as Nick but he reminds me of Jake! He's so funny and so nice! He's a return missionary and he's super magaling with helping the missionaries. On Sundays, he stands there with the missionaries and helps greet everyone that comes in. I'm just grateful for him because he instantly made me feel at home here! All the members have actually made me feel at home but just espeically Ryan because he's someone that I actually would have been friends with him in my previous life. Plus he just really reminds me of Jake so he's like a brother.

Quiban

Phillies.

Last week we had 21 less actives come to church and this week had 17!! It's been so amazing!! Our focus is mostly on less actives here but it's okay! It's fun! I love this ward! I'm grateful that I was able to love them all so fast. Heavenly Father has really blessed me here.

I know this letter was really random and crazy but it's been a crazy week! Haha anyway, I love you all and am so grateful for all the love and support!! Have a great week! Mahal na mahal kita!!! 

Love, Sister Andersen

The neighbor children like to place their
toys outside of our house! haha

This one looks familiar... 

 Toys toys toys

Monday, March 17, 2014~Week 31
Pateros; 2:59 PM Mon (PH); 12:59 AM Mon (US)

Kamusta!!! So this past week has been pretty crazy. First off though, I HIT MY 7 MONTH MARK! SUP SUP SUP I'M A BIG GIRL NOW. Almost. It's soooo weird that I only have 11 months left. I feel like I just barely left for the MTC! I don't have too much time so this is going to be kind of short but I'll try to fit in as much as I can!

Happy 7th Month Mark to me!

Sooooo after I emailed you all on Tuesday, we went to Taco Bell for the last time together and stuffed our faces! It was indeed #mypleasure to eat there with my Tibs and Monti. And thennnnn I came home and I had some nice righteous desires to pack my things or write some letters but I decided to give in to the natural man and take a much needed nap instead. Haha and then after that, I went to my area to say goodbye to some people. The only investigator I said goodbye to was Cesar. I was REALLY sad about leaving him. He's just so so prepared and I'm so excited for him to continue to progress. 

Brother Cesar!

Cesar's Family!

 Then after that I said goodbye to the Sudario family. Haha actually just Sister Sudario and Ivanne because Vanessa wasn't there which was actually very sad but it's okay. I'm going back to visit soon enough. Believe it or not, I didn't really cry. I was praying so hard that I wouldn't cry and that I would be okay and I was! I was actually shocked with how calm and at peace I was. Then I went home and packed up all my things and went to bed!

Sister Sudario and Brother Ivanne 

Wednesday morning I got up and gathered all the little things that I left out and then we took my luggage over to the chapel. We waited there for a while until they got a taxi. And then I had to say goodbye to my dearest Tibs. That's when the tears started to come for me. I just gave her a big hug and told her how much I loved her and we just kind of sat there for a minute hugging and not really saying anything. I was trying so hard not to cry and I came off conqueror  because I made myself laugh with stupid jokes. Haha it was the sweetest goodbye. I can't wait to see her again.

 My last picture of Tibs. Haha I miss that girl.

And then I headed off to Pateros to meet my new companion Sister Quiban! Haha I love her! She's just a cute, goofy girl and she's super adorable! She makes me giggle. Sometimes she's very very serious but then randomly she'll just be two scoops of crazy with a side of koo koo ka choo. She really is a koala bear! She hangs on to me like Strebel said she would haha. AND my Tagalog has gone WAY up since I got here because unlike Tibs, she's not fluent in English. In fact, she can't actually speak very good English at all. So she usually just speaks to me in Tagalog. I honestly though, have never spoken this much Tagalog consistently my whole mission. It's fun!

 Sister Quiban!

Yesterday in sacrament meeting they had the new missionaries to the ward bear their testimonies. The other new Sister, Sister Rimano went first and then it was me. This next thing I'm about to tell you is absolutely dreadful and no one should EVER follow my example on this one. That was the very first time I've ever born my testimony in sacrament meeting. I mean yes, I've given plenty of talks. But I've never actually just born my testimony. It felt good to do it. AND I did it in Tagalog. I'm actually surprised by how much Tagalog I know. I've said things these past few days that I didn't even know I knew how to say! It's been pretty amazing actually.

As far as the area goes, it's so confusing! It's so big and there's so many streets! And I have no idea how the heck I'm supposed to learn it but hopefully I will soon! Haha and it's soooooo much more quiet! It's weird. I'm so used to hearing loud jeepneys and karaoke everywhere and there's honestly none of that here. It's super different from my last area but it's still good. I'm excited to work here!

My new house!

A couch!

My room!

The kitchen!

The washing room!

The bathroom!

So everyone remembers my celestial teacher Brother Mansfield right?? And how is girlfriend got called to this mission?? Well......she's here! She lives a few doors down from us and she's adorable! It was so weird because I was in my room on Wednesday night and I heard that someone had come into the house and so I go out to see who it was and it was another Sister and following her was Sister Kylie Oyler! I was like Whaaaaaaat?? Hiiiiiiii!!! She was really really tired but super duper cute. Haha anyway. That was just a fun fact.

Haha me in front of the trashhhhhhhhhh

Trashhhhhhhhh 

There's that moon of mine!

I think there's a lot more that I wanted to say but I don't remember and I'm out of time. I'll just make notes and put them in my email next week! I'm glad everyone had fun at Morgan's farewell! She's going to be SO great! And the pillowcases turned out lovely! Good job to those who did that!! I love you all and hope you have an amazing week!! Talk to you soon! LOVE YOUUUUUU!!!!

TODAY

It's summer now and I'm dying of heat!
Kawawa naman ako

Love, Sister Andersen

Tuesday, March 11, 2014~Week 30
Quezon City; 12:32 PM Tues (PH); 10:32 PM Mon (US)

Hello hello hellooooooooooooo. So big news! I'M NOT BEING TRANSFERRED! I'M STAYING HERE STILL!! Hahaha joke lang yan. That would be insaneeeeeeeeee. I'm being transferred to..... drum roll please....... Pateros! Haha I started laughing this morning when the Zone Leader called and told me because it's literally where everyone gets transferred to after they've been in this area. Everyone except Hepworth who went back to Cogeo. Literally everyone else though. Haha but I saw Sister Strebel last week because we had Mission Tour and she said, "Hey, I'll see ya in Pateros! We all know that's where you're getting transferred to!" Aaaaand I am. But! I will not be seeing my dear Strebs there. I'm actually replacing her. Therefore, my new companion is Sister Quiban. I don't know much about her except that she's Filipina and apparently she's a cuddler, according to Strebel's letters. I'm excited though. I think this is a much needed change for me. I've been here for a very long time and I'm super comfortable and at home here. And that's when Heavenly Father says, "Alright, it's time for you to move on." So that's my plan! Oddly enough, I'm not really freaking out inside like I thought I would be. I've been praying so hard that I'll be at peace with wherever I go and I know that Heavenly Father is blessing me right now. I think a little part of me is comforted by the fact that I'm going where Strebel has just been. I don't know why but for some reason, that makes it seem like I'm going somewhere that's already familiar to me. I know I'm going to miss this place and the people here with all my heart, but I also know that I'm going to be just fine!   I always am!

Me and Tibs at Banapple last Tuesday :)

Rooftop views.

The Dulalia family!
 They have fed us every single Thursday since I've been here.
Sister Dulalia is a doctor and is the reason I'm still alive! 

So this past week has been a good one! It's been a long one but it's been good! On Friday we had our mission tour where Elder Echohawk and his wife came and spoke to us. It was a m a z i n g! I felt the spirit so strong and was truly uplifted and edified there. Sister Echohawk reminds me of Mrs. Clause. She was just so sweet and had these cute little rosy cheeks and a voice as soft and smooth as velvet. She was magical! Literally! Elder and Sister Echohawk are both converts to the church but they both have the most amazing testimonies and the power that they have when they speak is beyond compare. The spirit was just so strong! It was a great experience! I learned so much! I'm just so grateful for the opportunity that I had to be there and listen to them speak. Haha actually, we met them the day before the mission tour because they came and checked our apartment. We knew beforehand that they were coming so obviously we deep cleaned that place like never before! It was the cleanest it has ever been and probably ever will be again! So they just came for 5 or 10 minutes on Thursday and talked to us about our apartment and everything. They're the sweetest couple ever. I loveeee the leaders of our church so much!

Me with Elder and Sister Echohawk! 

We celebrated Sister Tibungcog's and Sister Monticalbo's
birthdays on Friday at the Sudario's house
and Ivanne bought them this cake.
MontiBungcog. Haha

The highlight of my entire week though was last night! Oh by the way, Cesar is staying here! He didn't go to Boracay! Yayyyyyyyy. Anyway. So we were on our way to teach Cesar after we had just finished a family home evening with a family in the ward and when we get to Cesar he asks us if he can take us to teach his friend Cheryl and her family and we're like, "SURE!!!!" {Referrals are the best thing in the world. Referrals from investigators, that's prime.} So we follow Cesar and he takes us to this house and introduces us to Cheryl and we sit down and then we met Cheryl's husband B-Boy and Cheryl's mom Sonya. THEN we met her 16 year old son Bryan. Bryan is a little special. Not physically, just mentally. And he's wonderful! We started talking to him and he was so sweet. He was telling us about all these languages he could "speak." He could speak German, Nigerian, Chinese, Espanol, English, etc. Cesar asked him if he could speak Japanese and Bryan said that he wasn't gonna learn that until he was 18. Haha it was so cute! And then we met Kim! Kim is 13 years old and she too is a little special. They said that she didn't used to be but then a few years ago she just started getting really stressed and it messed with her head a little bit and so now she's a little off too. Seriously though, the moment that we sat down in that house, the spirit was there. It was the most amazing thing in the world. I could INSTANTLY feel the love that their Heavenly Father had for them. These are two of His most precious children. I was overwhelmed. After we kind of just talked to them and got to know them a little more, we started in with the lesson. Sister Tibungcog gave a beautiful prayer, praying for each person by name. And then we started to tell them about who they were. That God is our Heavenly Father and we are all His children. Literally. And he loves them each so much. We testified that He has a plan for them. For each of them and for their family. The spirit was SO strong. And they were SO receptive. I could see it in their eyes that this was what they needed to hear and that made sense to them. Sonya began to talk about how it was really hard for Bryan because he never leaves the house. He just stays inside. But he LOVES basketball. He never plays though because the kids that play in the street won't let him because of how he is. That's when things kind of hit home for me. It was the most incredible feeling to be able to tell her that we had young men who play basketball every week at the church and that Bryan was COMPLETELY welcome and that they would not only let him play without hesitation, but they would WANT him to play. At that moment, I felt so grateful for this gospel for the specific reason that as members of the church, we know who we are. We are ALL children of our Heavenly Father. And because we know that, we don't ever turn away anyone that needs to feel loved. We promised her that if Bryan and Kim came to church, they would immediately make friends. Real friends that would love them and care for them and make them feel like they belonged. Sonya and Cheryl both had tears in their eyes and I know that they could feel that what we were saying was true. Bryan was so cute when Cesar asked him if he would go to church with him next week. He said, "Ummm oh sige sige. I will go." It was just the most amazing lesson in the world. I feel so so blessed to have met them before I transferred. I'm SUPER jealous that Tibs gets to keep teaching them. It made me miss Margo and going to Special Needs Mutual with her every week. They're not that severe, but they're still just as pure and beautiful. It was a tender mercy for me. {And as a side note that's a little on the less spiritual side, my Tagalog has never been better in a lesson. It was the best Tagalog I have ever spoken. #winning

She's a cutie di ba

Kaingin

 Just some random beautiful children in Kaingin.

 And then me with the beautiful random children in Kaingin.

View from Kaingin.

Me and Monti.

Anyway, it was a wonderful week filled with so many spiritual and happy moment and I feel so blessed. I'm excited for the new adventure I'm about to go on. It'll be different but it'll be good. I'm so grateful for the time I spent in this area and the people that I've met here. My testimony has been strengthened immensely. And of course, I'm so grateful for my Tibs. I can't believe I got to stay with her for 3 whole transfers. I am just so lucky! She is one of the most amazing people I have ever met. She has such courage and strength all the time and she has such an amazing testimony of this gospel and the blessings that come to us from it. She will forever be one of my greatest heroes. I'm gonna miss her like crazyyyyyyyyy. It's aight. I'll see her around. We still have 10 months together in this place.

Companionship Unity. Talaga.

TODAY! 3 in 1

I just want you all to know that I know this gospel is true! I know it with all my heart! Nothing will ever be able to take away my faith in my Savior Jesus Christ. I'm so grateful that I have a testimony because it means that I can look ahead into whatever the future holds without fear. I can just push through, putting all my trust in the Lord. It's the most amazing thing. Hope you all have a great week! Congratulations to Nicholas for the haircut! You look GREAT! You can now be Slick Nick again. Welp, I miss you all like crazy! Always will! 7 months down, 11 more to go! Love you all so much!

Mahal kitaaaaaa!

Love, Sister Andersen

P.S. I've had a cough for like 3 weeks now or something but it's just really funny because people literally keep telling me to stop barking. Haha I sound like a dog. It's exciting. Haha

P.P.S. Remind me sometime to teach you about the word 'daw' because it's         g e n i o u s and should be used in America. 

 Look at the sign.....

 Now look a little closer....

The very first time I've ever seen a hedgehog in real life!
It was at a member's home. :)

Monday, March 3, 2014~Week 29
Quezon City; 2:23 PM Mon (PH); 11:23 PM Sun (US)

Olo. Soooo I actually like really like the fact that it's only been 5 days since I last wrote you all instead of 7. That's a nice effect of temple day. I very much enjoy that. But it also means that I have less to talk about....so this might be a short letter. Haha #sorryyyyyy

So Friday was Jenie's birthday and that was fun! We went and had pansit at her house and just celebrated for a little while! It was fun!

 I love Jenie so so much! She is soooo beautiful inside and out and such an 
A M A Z I N G example to me of true conversion. She has had so many struggles in her life but they haven't ever shaken her faith in the Savior Jesus Christ ever since she learned who He was and all that He could do for her. She is such a strength to her family and I know that Heavenly Father is blessing her so much for all that she's doing. I have SEEN firsthand the blessings that have happened in her life since she truly truly put all her faith and trust in our Father in Heaven and His Son and it's been the most incredible experience for me. Knowing Jenie has been the biggest blessing in my life and I'm so so grateful.

Not to mention the fact that her son is dang precious and I want to adopt him and he always gives me flying kisses and hugs and now he knows how to kneel and Jenie and Arnel will say, "Pray ka na! Pray ka na!" and he'll just say "Jesus! Jesus!" But it sounds like "Hey shoooos. Heyyy shoooos." I love him.

After that, we went to a member's house for dinner. Hahaha that was fun because I was already so full. But I ate still! And they have the most DARLING little baby girl! Haha I don't have a picture of her but I'll have to get one before I leave here! She's so precious! And when she talks, it's sounds like some alien language. It's like "tiketakegekatckaeiktcka" That was a really good example I know. Haha but really. She was just so funny! She just kept running around in circles and making herself dizzy and speaking her little language! Preshhhh.

Chillin in the Phillies. #itsmorefunhere 

 It was exactly this time when I thought to myself,
"This is the best weather I have felt
 since I've been in the Philippines."
It felt like h e a v e n. 

Saturday was GREAT! We got some really really great support from the Relief Society for the very first time since I've been here!! There was a Relief Society Caravan in Kaingin where 12 women all dressed in their cute little pink RS shirts came into Kaingin with us at 9:00 in the morning and split up and visited the less active women up there! It was awesome! And I think that if we keep this kind of support from the ward, we'll really see miracles happen! Because honestly, the missionaries can go to the less actives all they want, but unless they feel loved and accepted by the ward members, they won't have that desire to attend church and in turn, won't have the amazing opportunity to partake of the sacrament every week. So I'm super excited about the support that we've been receiving from the ward lately! But especially from the Relief Society this weekend! It was incredible!

Sunday morning.
Waiting for the members in Kaingin.

Me. In a jeepney. haha 

The inside of the driver's jeepney.
He happens to be one of our investigators.
See that book right there.
#sup #hetakeshisBofMwithhim #success 

 Two members that live in Kaingin.
Father and son. They both recently
received the Aaronic Priesthood.

 The inside of a jeepney.

All filled up.  :)

The other thing we've been starting to do is Family Home Evenings with members and that is FUN! Just thought I'd throw that in there.

Anyway...sorry this is a short letter but at least I wrote di ba?? Haha guess what?? NO HANNSBONANNS MOMENTS THIS WEEK! #sup #improvement #proudofmyself #youshouldbetoo Okay well I want you to know that I love you all and I love this gospel and I know it's true! I'm so grateful to be a missionary! Next week is transfer week and I know I'm leaving. I've outstayed my welcome here. I'm gonna miss so many people here but I'm at peace with leaving. I'm just excited to come back and visit in 11 months:) Life is good! Love you all SO much!! Mahal kita!!

Love, Sister Andersen

Today!

Tibs Today