Monday, April 9, 2014~Week 34
Pateros; 3:20 PM Mon (PH); 1:20 AM Mon (US)

Hey there errybody!

First off, President Eyring told me to send a smile to my mom RIGHT NOW so :)! That's for you mom! Haha

TODAY

 I saw a pillar of light...... Joke lang.
 Right outside our apartment, the sun peeks
through this tree every morning and I love it!

So this has been a C R A Z Y week!  First of all, we had a service project on Saturday where we went and cut down a bunch of grass and weeds in this huge field and we all got hats and machetes and it was funnnnnnnn!

 The field that we chopped down! 

But I definitely don't have a picture of myself with a machete on my camera. I'll get it off Sister Oyler's camera next week! It was really fun though. I love the missionaries in my zone! They're all just so dang funny! They make me laugh so hard! {Not that it's very hard to make me laugh.....}

Our zone leader
Elder Quihencio

Elder Ah Hong at the
Service Project

Behold!
Sister Kylie Oyler!

 And our other zone leader
Elder Harris

Sunset.  Phillies style.

And then we went to the General Women's Broadcast and OH MY WORD IT WAS SO AMAZING!!  I loved it!  Those women just glow with the spirit!  My goal is to one day literally shine the way they do! And then President Eyring!  He's just so sweet and soft and wonderful!  I love his shakey voice when he gets emotional!  I just seriously love the leaders of our church so much and I CAN'T WAIT UNTIL I GET TO SEE GENERAL CONFERENCE!!  It sounds like it was pretty amazing and so I'm super duper stoked!!!  This is my favorite thing in the world! :)  Secondly, my dear companion Sister Quiban has a goiter!  {Shes likes to tell people that she's pregnant in her neck.}  SO! This week we got to go to St. Luke's Hospital which is one of the nicest hospitals in the Philippines and I was in H E A V E N!

 Because first of all, the streets all around in that area are so clean! There's no jeepneys or tricycles or anything like that! Only cars! So the streets are clean and quiet and there's trees and it's beautiful! I felt like I was in America! Almost like Salt Lake! It was so amazing! And then you walk in to the hospital and it was SO BEAUTIFUL AND BIG AND SMELLED LIKE A REAL HOSPITAL! It was pretty much the best experience of my life almost.

I think the secretary is Mormon!...

Anyway! So we went there on Monday to get some blood tests done and then we went back again on Tuesday to get another blood test and for her to get an ultra sound on her neck. And honestly, I was really grateful for the opportunity that I had to go there with her. Because watching the nurses pull her blood just got me really excited to do that when I get home. Like, it was kind of a confirmation for me that that's what I want to do while I'm going to school. And I know that I'd be good at it. So it was fun for me to see that!

My future:)

So mom! When it's about time for me to come home, figure out what I need to do to get right on that! And THEN! She went and got her ultra sound and that was just super interesting to watch! Technology is so dang amazing! Like seriously!! It's so incredible!

The other part of my future! .....kind of. 

So THAT got me super excited to work in the labor and delivery field! It was actually a tender mercy I think because that's kind of been weighing down on my mind a little bit. Because I keep reading my patriarchal blessing and it tells me that I need to choose a career that takes advantage of all my talents and gifts that I've been blessed with. And so I kept thinking, well I don't know if nursing actually does that! What if there's something else that takes better advantage of the gifts I've been blessed with? But I realized that the gifts that I do have can definitely be put to use in that field. And I also feel like the desire that I have to go into that field is from Heavenly Father too. He wouldn't bless me with a desire to go after something that I wouldn't be good at it. So for right now, I feel very at peace with that. :)

Tingan tingan pag may time.

Her response when I asked what it means: Looking looking when there's time. Haha.... It's a common phrase here in the Phillies. You just repeat a verb twice and then say pag may time. Like, sulat sulat pag may time. Or update update pag may time. It's super popular. Haha"
Alsooooooo! Today we got to go to the temple and let me tell you. It was very much needed! My heart and soul have just been craving that peace and comfort that comes from going to that holy place and it was just so wonderful to finally be there! I am so blessed to be in a mission that is so close to the temple.

Sunrise at the temple!

And today I just felt extra blessed because one, it's usually super hard to stay awake and I was able to stay awake and alert the WHOLE time without a problem. Two, I went through for a girl named Mary Magdeline Cook born on July 25, 1898 in North Carolina. I don't know why but that brought me some comfort. And three, I had a very tender personal experience in the celestial room.

Long time no see.

 Ya know when you hear those stories about how people say a prayer and asked a question or something and then they opened up their scriptures and HOLY MOLY THIS VERSE JUST SOLVED ALL MY PROBLEMS! Haha well I've never had one of those experiences. Until today. So I got to the celestial room and I was sitting there for a minute just thinking and then I bowed my head and said a prayer. Then I just decided to open the Book of Mormon and I literally just let the book flop open in my lap and I started to read what was there. Now what I read didn't actually answer my questions directly or solve all my problems or anything huge. But it was EXACTLY what I needed to hear and because of what I read, I just felt so much peace and relief and love from my Heavenly Father. It was a tender experience for me and I'm grateful for the opportunity that I had to go to the temple and that I can continue to go every six weeks for the rest of my mission. It's so incredible. Do NOT take the temple for granted! I testify that we can get personal revelation there in ways that we can't anywhere else in the world! The blessings of the temple are literally beyond compare! I LOVE THE TEMPLE!

This is the story of an American's life in the
Philippines. Even if you're not huge,
you're huge when compared to a Filipino. 

So sorry that this is kind of a short letter! It was a good week though. I learned a lot about myself. I'm so grateful for my mission. I've learned more here than I have ever in my life and I know that I will continue to learn and grow here. Thanks for all your love and support! You're all so incredible! I miss you all!! Have a great week! ! LOVE YOUUUUUUUUUU!!!!:)

Love, Sister Andersen
P.S. Just to let you know, Mary Joy ended up passing away. So pray for her family. 

Sooooo I FOUND PINK LEMONADE FROM AMERICA!
And so I bought it!
Aaaaand it was on the day Morgan went in to the MTC
so I thought it was an appropriate action
seeing as that is "our" drink :)