Monday, June 30, 2014~Week 46
Antipolo; 2:11 PM Mon (PH); 12:11 AM Mon (US)

Kamustaaaaaaaaaa!!!

Hello everyone!! First and foremost!! HAPPY {early} BIRTHDAY AMERICA!!! I hope everyone has a wonderful 4th of July because it's basically one of the greatest holidays ever invented. Ever. I feel so blessed to live in a place where we are so free. I truly know that America is a blessed land and that Heavenly Father prepared it for His children so that we could be free to worship as we feel. What an incredible concept! I can truly say that I'm proud to be an American! Despite the fact that at the moment we may have corrupt leaders that are trying to distort the laws laid down by our founding fathers, I know that the Lord will never let it go far enough so as to take away our freedom to live our religion. He has promised that the work of Salvation shall never be halted again and it doesn't matter how many corrupt leaders we have, they cannot stop the hand of God. What a comfort and a blessing to know that! I have so much pride in my country and if I had an American flag I would probably wave it around with me the whole day and tell everyone that I LOVE AMERICA!! #GodblesstheUSA Have fun with all the fireworks and snowcones and swimming and hot dogs and chips and soda and family and friends and pictures and sparklers and music and FREEDOM!

We wanted to go to this last p-day.... 

 But of course.... the only day it's closed is Monday.

So we took a walk instead.

Look how far away from the city I am! 
I couldn't be happier out here!

Anyway, this week was gooooooood as always! On Saturday, the STLs came and did exchanges with Sister Hernandez and I. Of course, I'm super used to it. I've got no problem with it because now it's just part of life. Hahaha but Sister Hernandez was soooooooo scared. She was freaking out! She was going with Sister Rimano and I kept trying to tell her that it was going to be okay because Sister Rimano's the nicest human being ever and she's one of the greatest missionaries I've ever seen! But she was still super nervous! I on the other hand was going with Sister Franks. She's from Ohio and she goes home in November. I've never ever really met her until this transfer because we've never been in the same zone or anything. So it was a fun experience. After the day when we were doing evaluations, she told me two things that were kind of like "Okay phew, I'm doing okay." First, she told me that I'm one of the best at speaking Tagalog of all the foreigners she's heard. {I don't entirely think it's true but it's okay... we'll pretend for a minute.} And she also told me that both she and Sister Rimano can tell that I'm a really good trainer. She basically told me that I'm doing everything I should be doing and more. She said that one of the most important parts of training is making sure that your trainee feels loved and she said that's something that she can CLEARLY see. I told her that that was the easy part of training her! They said that because I'm training her the right way, she really already has become such a strong teacher. And then because of that, they left us a commitment to have Sister Hernandez lead EVERYTHING. Meaning that she will lead all the lessons, all the planning, all the coordinating with leaders, the area, everything. Hahaha I wish you could have seen her face when they said it. It was priceless. But I know that she can do it! She really is so amazing!

Eden!

Training has given me a new perspective of parenthood. Whenever I see Sister Hernandez learning and growing and getting stronger and happier, it just makes me feel so good! And so happy! And it made me think about my mom and dad who basically went through the same thing except on a deeper level. Mom and dad knew A LOT more about life than we ever did {and they still do} and they tried to teach us everything we could so that we could be successful in life. They got sad when we made decisions that didn't benefit us or help us to grow. But I'm sure they must have just been so happy when we made the right decisions that helped us to progress and become stronger and more wise. And it's the same thing with our Heavenly Father except for that it's at an even deeper level of love. Heavenly Father has given us all that He can to teach us and to help us know how to make right decisions. And I know that He is so saddened when we choose to disobey or rebel or make wrong decisions that halt our progression. But can you imagine the joy that He must feel every single time that one of His precious children makes a choice that leads them back to His eternal presence?! I literally can't imagine it! But I know that it must be soooo immense! What a blessing to know that we have a Heavenly Father who is always there for us and who rejoices with us when we succeed!

Top of the mountain on Saturday!

Sooooo it's been a pretty great week! Friday will be a great day because it's the 4th of July, Sister Hernandez celebrates her 1 month mark, and Sister Atu'ake celebrates her 1 year mark!! We're gonna p a r t y. {As much as missionaries can party...basically it means we'll probably buy some chocolate and soda or something! Woo hooooo!!!!} Anyway, I hope you all know how much your Father in Heaven loves you! If you don't know, go find out for yourself! But I promise everyone in the whole entire universe that he does!! And guess what?? I love you all too!! Thanks for all the support and prayers!! You're all amazing!! Have a great week!! Miss you all!! LOVE YOUUUUUUUUUUU!!!

TODAY!

Love, Sister Andersen