Monday, March 31, 2014~Week 33
Pateros; 10:59 AM Mon (PH); 8:59 PM Sun (US)

Well hello there my dearest friends and family! Sooooo I've got big news! Haha I was emergency transferred yesterday! I am now on the beautiful island of MINDORO!!! This is the coveted island that everyone wants a chance to be assigned to sometime in their mission and woo hoo I'm here!!! I don't know why I was transferred but #YOLO! It's gonna be pea ay are tea why PARTAY!

 But let me tell you about this past week in good old Pateros! So first of all, last week on Thursday, all of the non-English speaking missionaries had to go to Aurora for an English Training thingy and the AP texted us and said for me just to come along. Haha I was like....okayyyyy surrrre!

The ride to Aurora.

So I went and then while everyone was in the training, I went and worked with Sister Monticalbo's and Sister Tibungcog's companions. We went to one appointment and it was the weirdest thing in the world for me. When I found out that I would be working in the area of Quirino again I thought it would feel like I was home and back where I belong! But it was sooo not like that. The streets that I'd walked a million times felt so foreign to me. After that appointment, we went back to the chapel, I picked up Sister Quiban and another Sister and we went to lunch and then we went back to my old apartment for language study. After language study, we went on splits again with Sister Monticalbo and her companion Sister Doucette. I went with Sister Doucette and Sister Quiban and Sister Cudangos went with Sister Monticalbo. Again, it was sooo weird. We ended up getting punted but we talked to these three guards on the street and taught them a lesson right there. After that, Sister Quiban, Sister Cudangos, and I went back to the chapel because Sister Cudangos had to give a workshop for the second session of the English Training thingy.

But on the way back, I just got the strongest feeling that this is not where I belong anymore. Even though I knew the streets, I knew the members, I knew the area, it wasn't mine. It was just so incredibly clear to me how much it wasn't my area anymore. I was so grateful for that because it really helped me see and understand that there is a time and place for everything. There's a reason that missionaries are assigned to certain areas at certain times. My time was up there. And that night when Sister Quiban, Sister Cudangos, and I were on our way home, I literally felt like I was going home. It was a tender mercy because I could very literally feel that Pateros was where I was assigned and that's where I needed to be. Ha... and now I guess I need to be in Mindoro!

Kids just being kids here in the Phillies :)

Also, the CRAZIEST thing happened on Friday! So the Sister Trainer Leaders came to work with us on Friday which is always fun. I worked with Sister Wilson again! We have so much fun together! Hahaha probably too much fun. But anyway! It was the craziest thing! Because we went that morning to a few appointments and got punted and so we didn't really have anywhere to go so we just started walking so that we could OYM and suddenly this lady comes up to us and says, "Ma'am! Ma'am! You speak Tagalog?" And we both said yes and then she asked, "You know how to pray?" And we nodded and said that we did. Then she grabbed both our hands and started leading us across the street and said that there was someone who had just given birth and she was not doing well at all and she needed something really bad. There was so much stress in her voice and we were kind of freaked out. Then she led us into this little house and it was SO hot! Like, it was ridiculously hot! And then she leads us to a little tiny room and there's a young lady, probably early 20's, just laying there sweating death with her eyes kind of rolling around and you could tell she was in SO much pain. And the lady kept saying, "Pray mo siya! Pray mo siya! Please! Pray mo siya na! Pray mo siya!" She wanted us to pray over her and heal her. And then Sister Wilson calmly explained that we can pray for her but we do not have the authority or the power to heal her. She gave a really short explanation of kind of what the priesthood was and that we don't have it. Everyone was just so stressed out because I'm pretty sure that she was dying. She looked SO bad. It was really kind of scary. And then we said that there were priesthood holders near by that we could try to go find really fast if they wanted. They said yes they wanted that. So Sister Wilson and I booked it to the member's houses who had the priesthood but no one was home! And so we went back to the house and told them that they weren't home but that we would say a prayer for her if they wanted. They said that they did. The young girl, Mary Joy, was holding some weird statue of Jesus Christ. Sister Wilson told her that that statue will not do any good and if anything, it will hinder the spirit that could be there. So her cousin took the statue out of her hand and Mary Joy kind of started groaning and reaching for it and Sister Wilson said to me, "She just wants to hold something. Do you have anything she can hold?" So I looked in my scripture case and the first picture that I pulled out was one that mom gave me of Jesus Christ drying the tears of a young girl. So I put it in Mary Joy's hand and she just clutched it and held it next to her heart. Then Sister Wilson offered a prayer while we held her hand. It was really hard not to cry because we could both feel the stress that everyone was feeling and we knew that this girl was in so much pain and all we could do was pray that she would be okay. During the prayer, both Sister Wilson and I were dripping with sweat. It was sooooooo hot. Like it was hard to breathe. But Mary Joy was so cold. After Sister Wilson finished the prayer, we asked them if they would be there later and they said that yes they would. We told them that if they wanted, we could come back with priesthood holders. They said that would be okay. So we texted our zone leaders and asked if they would please come to our area to give this girl a blessing. Our area is pretty far away from our zone leaders area so it took them a long time to get there. But they came and we took them to the house and they came inside the room and they were literally getting ready to give the blessing when this guy comes barging in, yelling and being loud and he starts to pick up Mary Joy and Mary Joy starts to groan because he's not being gentle at all and so she starts crying. Sister Wilson tries saying to him to wait just a minute we're going to give her a blessing and the cousins and everyone are telling this guy to wait just a minute but he just yelled in Tagalog, "DO YOU WANT HER TO DIE RIGHT HERE RIGHT NOW??" And then he picked her up and he left to take her to a hospital. We all just kind of sat there in shock. It happened so fast. Anyway, we thanked the zone leaders for coming and they left. We were so stressed out and we felt so bad because we just really wanted her to be okay and that dang guy just came in out of nowhere and ruined it all! But one of the zone leaders said that maybe it was Heavenly Father's will. I mean what are the odds that all the priesthood holders in that area aren't home and then RIGHT before the zone leaders were going to give the blessing, that guy came in to take her way. We still don't know what happened to her or if she's even okay but we hope that she is. It was a crazy experience! 

Brother Navarro and his kids! Favorite family in the ward! Sooooo cute! 

Jared and Liahona! 

And this is Migs. He's tooooo precious! 

Anyway, it was a crazy week but it was full of tender mercies and spiritual experiences and I loved it! Oh and by the way, APRIL FOOLS! I'm definitely still in Pateros. I just had to pull an April Fool's joke even though it's tomorrow. Haha I love this area and I love this ward and I love my companion and I love being a missionary! It's the best! Good luck to my Morgy dear who enters on Wednesday!!! Good luck out there you crazy thing! I'll see ya soon!:) My guess for Jannie is either Italy or Maine! SYDNEY YOU GOT YOUR CALL TO MEXICO!!!! I'm so proud of you!! You're gonna convert all the lil spanish peeps!! Thanks for all the love and support! You're in my thoughts and prayers! Love you all! Have a great week!! LOVE YOUUUUUUUUUU!!!!

TODAY

Love, Sister Andersen

Do you know what this is? This is an empty coke bottle. Do you know why it's empty? Because I drank it. Do you know why I drank it? Because it would have been rude to say no. Do you know how I feel? I WENT 19 AND A HALF YEARS WITHOUT A LICK OF COKE AND NOW ALL MY EFFORT IS WASTED! It was a rough moment for my soul. For the record though, it's disgusting.