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!
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| Me and Tibs at Banapple last Tuesday :) |
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| Rooftop views. |
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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!
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| Me with Elder and Sister Echohawk! |
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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
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| She's a cutie di ba |
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| Kaingin |
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| 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.
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| Look at the sign..... |
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| Now look a little closer.... |
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The very first time I've ever seen a hedgehog in real life!
It was at a member's home. :) |
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