Monday, July 28, 2014~Week 50
Antipolo; 1:16 PM Mon (PH); 11:16 PM Sun (US)

Good morning!! {To the Philippines...} Good evening! {To America...}

Well it's been like three days since I last emailed so that's awfully fun that you get two emails in so short amount of time! So let me start this out with a nice little story. So we went with Sister Atu'ake and Sister Brown to teach one of their investigators because they didn't have anyne else to go with them and you can't go teach a male if you don't have another female there. SO we went with them and his name is R. and he's the richest man in Antipolo! He's like 60 or something years old and super Catholic. ANYWAY. In the course of our just kind of talking with him, he asked me if I knew how to drive and so I said yes! And he asked if I drove a car here in the Philippines and I told him no because I'm poor. Hahaha anyway then he proceeded to tell me that if I DID drive a car here and I got in an accident with a Filipino, even if it wasn't my fault, the Filipino would tell me that it's all my fault. Would you like to know why?? Because, the Filipino would tell me that I shouldn't be here! That I should be in America and not in Philippines and that the crash never would have happened if I had just stayed in America. The problem is ME. Hahahaha I was like.....ummmmm okay.... thanks.....? I really had no idea what to say. It was really quite awkward there for a second. So that was an interesting conversation!

So these loom band things are H U G E here in the Philippines.
I don't know if they're big over there in the promised land but here,
 literally everybody has them. And they keep getting bigger
 and fancier and more colorful and it's crazy! Haha but here are some
that some little kiddos have made for me the past few weeks.
 If you know me, you know which one is my favorite:)

So let me tell you about one of our investigators! Her name is S.! She's 40 years old, has 9 children, and a million problems. We've been teaching her since my first week here in Antipolo. But we taught her yesterday morning before church about Repentance and the spirit was just so strong! We had a member with us that's preparing to serve a mission and when he testified, it just really hit home with her. And then, SHE CAME TO CHURCH!! We didn't think that she was gonna come because we waited for her and then sacrament started and sacrament meeting was already half way over when suddenly, she walked right in and then a member pointed us out and she came and sat down by us! We were singing a congregational hymn and while we were singing, she started crying. And then Sister Hernandez started crying. And then I just sat there smiling. one, because I was so happy that she came and two, because I was so happy that for the first time, Sister Hernandez really felt the true joy of seeing investigators progress and come closer to Christ. I was just SO happy! There's honestly nothing in the world like seeing these people make the necessary steps back to our Heavenly Father. I just LOVE being a missionary so much! It's a joy that I haven't found anywhere else and I know I'll never feel anything like it ever again! I'm just so blessed!

I'm just so in love with life right now! Lately, I've felt the spirit in more abundance and I've felt a greater joy! I don't know why or what I'm doing different but the past week I've just felt pure joy for the simplest things. I don't know how else to describe it except that I'm in love with my life. And as I realized how much I love my life, I made it a personal goal to a l w a y s, no matter what happens, just be completely and perfectly in love with life.

TODAY!
{New skirt that my nanay, Sister Jones, left me!
Yayyyy for hand-me-downs!}

Welp, that's all for this week folks!! Thanks for everything! You're always in my thoughts and prayers! You're all so amazing!! Miss you like crazy! Love ya even more! Have a great week!! LOVE YOUUUUUUUUUUUU!!!

Love, Sister Andersen

P.S. All the missionaries are laughing at the August issue of the Liahona because it's basically all about marriage and all the missionaries that are going home soon are getting t r u n k y. But if you haven't read it, you should read it. Because it's got some quality words of wisdom there. It kind of cracks me up that before the mission, everyone pushes you to go on a mission. And then whilst on the mission, especially when you're nearing the end,  all the leaders push to GET MARRIED!! People keep joking that when I go home, I need to follow the counsel of our leaders and get married on Valentine's Day {3 days after my homecoming}. So that's the goal! Who's up for the challenge?! ;)

Thursday, July 24, 2014~Week 49
Antipolo; 2:23 PM Thurs (PH); 12:23 AM Thurs (US)

Hello there! First and foremost, HAPPY HAPPY HAPPY BIRTHDAY MY DEAREST JANNIE MCKENNA!!! Jannie my dear, I hope you had a most wonderful birthday full of happy wonderful moments!! What a shame that I won't see my darling Jannie until literally a year after I get home but heyyyyy that's okay it's all for a good cause! You'll be leaving on your mission soon and I'm so dang excited for you!! You're going to be the best little sister missionary out there! Thank you for always being the most amazing example to me! You are so incredible and I'm so blessed to have you for a friend! All my love Jan Bug!! 

TODAY

Next, Happy Pioneer Day!! Yay for Pioneers and everything they did for us! They are beyond amazing! I'm so grateful for our brave ancestors who crossed that untamed prairie floor and sacrificed so much for us. I am forever grateful to them.

{Let's also take a moment to reflect upon the fact that I was once a pioneer. Twice. I'm awfully glad I do not have to wear those clothes ever again because they were H O T. And I think that if I wore them in the Philippines, I would literally die.}

So Typhoon Glenda I guess is old news now to everyone because it happened over a week ago but just to let you all know, I'M ALIVE! So this is what went down. After I emailed on Tuesday, we went back to the house and there we stayed for the rest of the day. We just sang hymns and other good missionary stuff like good missionaries. And then on Wednesday morning at about 5:00 am, we got a text from the zone leaders saying that no one is allowed to leave their apartments AT ALL because the storm was really coming. Aaaaaand we felt it. The wind was suuuuuuuper loud and strong and the rain was crazy hard and everything was just hitting against our roof and windows.

Hello there Glenda. 

I'll admit, I got a little bit nervous. Not because I thought I was in danger or anything, just because it was scary outside. At about 6:00 am Sister Hernandez climbed down from the top bunk and came and sort of curled up by me because she was scared. And she stayed there until we all got up and started moving. {It was kind of adorable.}

View from my window when I creaked it open for a second.

And then we stayed there ALL DAY on Wednesday. We just read our scriptures, wrote letters, sang songs, slept, etc. It was just a kind of relaxing day. The power was out the whole day and all through that night so when it got dark we got out our flashlights and told scary stories and just talked. Haha it was fun. Soooo yeah that's about it. Nothing really exciting here! But I survived a typhoon! Hollaaaaaaaaa!

Candle lit lessons 

Other happenings this week, I got sick again. Boooooooo. This time it was worse though. I had a high fever and my whole entire body hurt so so bad. I could barely move. I had absolutely no energy and I wanted to just die until the sickness went away. So I got sick on Friday and was in bed all day. And we asked the Zone Leaders to come give me a blessing. And then on Saturday I woke up and my fever had gotten higher and I felt even worse. I was like what the heeeeeeeeeeeeck! So yeah I was in bed all day on Saturday too. But by the end of the day, I had gained some energy back and could feel that I was getting better and by Sunday, I was all good!

But I want to talk about the blessing that Elder Romney gave me. When he blessed me, he didn't exactly bless me that I would get better right away. Actually he told me that I would just need to be patient as my body continued to heal. But something that he said struck me really hard.  He said, "Sister Andersen, the Lord knows the pain and the sickness that you are feeling and He knows how to help you."  I was just overwhelmed with the love of my Savior and I knew that if I just put my faith in Christ, I would heal and be okay because He would be there to help me know what to do. It was a gentle reminder to look to the Lord in everything. Especially in my low times. I was sooooo grateful for his blessing.

For the first time since my second transfer,
I had somebody else wash my clothes and I'm sooooooo happy.
They smell so good! #best150pesosiveeverspent 

Aaaaand one more exciting thing! I ate balot again!! But we ate what's called balot sa puti. Meaning that it's only 1 day old! So I did it, and it only took about 10 minutes, and I didn't cry, and it was only a little bit disgusting. So yeah! #truefilipinonow #whatupworld

 Action shot of loving life this morning. 

Doesn't she just have a wonderful face??

Me and my anak.
We have a height problem but we're working on it.

Temple Day!

I'm really sorry but I don't have much time for anything else!! I'm excited to talk to you all again in like 3 days!! Thanks for the support!! You're all the best!! Miss you! I LOVE YOUUUUUUUUUUUU!!!

Love, Sister Andersen

Friday, July 18, 2014~Typhoon Glenda 
Manila; 5:01 PM Fri (PH); 3:01 AM Fri (US)  

Brother & Sister Andersen,

We know there is some concern regarding the recent Typhoon experienced in Manila Philippines. Although your missionary will be contacting you on her regular schedule, we wanted to get information to you as soon as we could.

All of our missionaries are well and safe.  There was plenty of warning for us to make necessary arrangements in case of flooding or high winds, but in fact no one was harmed.  The storm was fast and except for power outages and a few water issues, there were no problems.

Some of you had missionaries scheduled to arrive home in the midst of the storm, who could not fly home on schedule.  Those have all either returned home, now, or will be soon.

Some of you had missionaries arriving in our mission on the day of the storm.  They arrived safely, and all are in their areas with their trainers.

Please don't worry.  We were blessed and protected. Your missionary is back to work as usual.

Thank you for the support we receive and always feel from all of you.  This is the best mission in the world, with the best missionaries.

President Carlos G. Revillo, Jr.
Philippines Quezon City Mission

NOTE: We received word from a ward member on Sunday that Sister Andersen will write to us on Thursday (our Wednesday). Please check back in a few days for her Week 49 update.  Thanks. 

Tuesday, July 15, 2014~Week 48
Antipolo; 11:35 AM Tues (PH); 9:35 PM Mon (US)

Heyyyyy family! Soooo this was a pretty interesting week. First of all, I would like to announce that transfer announcements came and luckily, I'm staying here!! Yayyyy!!! We all guessed that Sister Atu'ake would transfer because she's been here for three transfers now and she's been with Sister Brown for 2 already but to our surprise, we're all staying!! Haha this is the first time that this has ever happened to me where everyone in the house is staying. There's always been at lease one person that transfers. So we're pretty excited because everything's just gonna be super normal still.

What do you mean you don't want to do this any more??
 #preachmygospelvideos #bestpartoftraining
#onlymissionariesunderstandhowgreatthispictureis 

Alrighty so it's been a while since I shared a HannsBoNanns moment. But this one is just so typical that I HAVE to share it! So last Wednesday, we were out working in the morning and we were just standing near the chapel talking to some tricycle drivers about the gospel and we were finishing up our conversation when suddenly it just started to rain really really hard. And so we ended and then Sister Hernandez and I turned to go into the chapel for a minute and we open the gate, and I'm walking on the muddy cement and then BOOM! My foot slid right out from underneath me and I fell right smack dab on my bum! I was already wet but now I was wet AND muddy! But I just kind of laughed and then quickly got back up and then took another step and then BOOM! Same thing happened! Hahaha and I fell right back down but this time I slid on my bum a good foot and half! By this time I was cracking up! I was so dirty and so wet and it was just so funny!! And so Sister Hernandez helped me to slowly walk underneath the shelter of the church and I was laughing so hard I could barely breathe! And then I kind of washed off my legs and arms in the rain but only for like 30 seconds because it stopped raining! It rained for like a minute and half and then stopped! I was like, it literally rained just so that I could fall down! Hahaha ohhhh man it was good. I love those moments. They never get old.

And then that same day, I got super sick. I had the flu. It was not fun. I threw up a couple times and I was burning up but I felt chilly even though it was just as hot as ever. I h a t e being sick on the mission because I don't know what to do. Haha you just have to sit there and suffer and the only time I ever really get kind of homesick anymore is when I get sick because I just want mom and dad to take care of me. I never know what to eat or drink when I'm sick but mom and dad always knew and they always made it perfect. So being sick is just NOT fun. I was sick on Wednesday and Thursday. Which also is a shame because that's so many appointments that you miss. So that made this week kind of hard. But it's okay! Because I got better and all is well now!

And then. On Friday. I ate......... BALOT! {For those of you who don't know what balot is, it's a fertilized duck egg. With feathers. W E T   F E A T H E R S.}

#balot
(It's pronounced baloot. It's fertilized duck egg.
Yes there were feathers. Hahaha) 

Yeah that was the stupidest idea e v e r. So what happened was, Sister Hernandez and Sister Atu'ake said that Sister Brown and I had to eat it because what if someone transfers and you're not truly a missionary in the Philippines if you don't eat balot and blah blah blah excuses excuses and Sister Brown and I were stupid and said yes! So that night on the way home, we bought balot that Sister Hernandez and Sister Atu'ake said was okay { I later found out that it was 18 days old which is definitely NOT okay!}  And we came home and I prepared myself to die.

I was nervous. 

 Hahaha soooo basically here's the run down. We all started to peel our eggs and I stopped after I barely peeled the top off and I sat there staring at it and then slowly...... I just started to cry.

It. Was. Disgusting. 

I couldn't help it! Haha I don't know why but the tears just came! And they didn't stop! I kind of just cried and little by little {it took an hour} I ate my balot.

I didn't like what she just pulled out of the shell. 

Hahahaha I wish I could send you the video but it's 20 minutes long! That's something you can look forward to for when I get home. It's actually super duper hilarious and I believe you will thoroughly enjoy it. I was cracking up after because I really just look so pathetic and scared.

I was a happy camper. Can you tell?

#balot 

Oh man. But hey! At least I can say I ate balot! But be assured it is NEVER happening EVER again! #imsobrave #gohanns #praythatidontdie

My Moon
 {My camera literally has the best zoom ever}

And then I've got some sad news too. So our investigator, A., who is super duper amazing and I love her to death! She can't get baptized yet :( It's that same situation where she had a husband before but they split up and now they each have different "spouses" but there's no divorce in the Philippines and annulment is soooo expensive. So the church policy is that if that is the case, they can still be baptized as long as they have been with their new spouse for a period of at least 5 years.  A. has only been with her new spouse for almost 2. Soooo we went over and explained to her the situation and you know what she said, "Ayos lang yan Sister! Pagsubok lang ito. Kaya ko ito!" Which means, "It's okay Sister! This is just a trial. I can do it!" We were like OH MY GOSH WE LOVE YOU! Anyway, so we set a baptismal date for December 2, 2017! Sooooo we'll all just have to pray that she'll stay strong until then! I'm not worried about her though. Because she's super strong in her testimony. She's already made it to Mosiah in her Book of Mormon reading which is kind of basically a miracle because it's so hard to get people to read the Book of Mormon! But aside from that, she lives with a super active recent convert and the ward all knows her and loves her. So I know that she'll be okay. Still, prayers!

This is Mark. He's so adorable!!! 

 Hello Super Moon!

#supermoon #superview

 Sister Atu'ake and Sister Brown! 

We're at the very tip top of our area and the
view was sooooo pretty that night with the moon.
The camera could not capture it. 

As for the typhoon that's coming, in answer to your questions, yep it's going to affect us. They told us that we need to be in by 12:00 pm. I don't know how strong it is or anything. I just know that we have to be inside and we have to wait there until they tell us it's okay to go out again. They said probably until Wednesday morning. So probably what's gonna happen is there's gonna be some poppety corn and movies such as the Joseph Smith movie and the Testaments and Legacy playing nonstop until we've got the clear to leave. My cute little anak is scared though. Actually, every time there's super hard rain, she gets really nervous because it takes her right back to Yolanda. She's nervous too because she said that right before the storm, it seemed like nothing was wrong. The weather was just super calm and normal and then it just hit hard. So she's nervous. But it's okay! We'll be fine! Sister Brown has her water tube ready to go so all is well! Hahaha ohhh man. I love my kabahays. 

Oh ya know. Just praying with a water tube.
Just in case our house floods or something.
 Better safe than sorry right??

Anyway, it was a good week full of all kinds of adventures! I'm just super grateful for be out here in the mission field. Because yes times get hard and it's super rough some days but I've found through out my whole mission that there is always something in every single day that makes me laugh and makes me happy. And I'm so grateful for that. Heavenly Fatehr really loves me. He's never made me go a day without giving me something to smile about! I love my mission! I love the Philippines and everything that comes with it! I'm super excited for this upcoming transfer! I know it's gonna be great! It's a pretty big one because I turn 20 this transfer AND I hit my 1 year mark. Whaaaaaaaaaaaaat?? Who can believe it?? Not I!! Yesterday was my 11 month mark which means I've only got 7 months left to work my tail off! Time is going by so fast! Only 5 transfers! Bahhhhh. Plus! My nanay, Sister Jones, and Sister Hepworth go home tomorrow! That's. So. Weird. It's weird because I literally remember saying to Sister Jones one day, "When you go home, I'll be where you are in your mission." And it's here! It's so crazy!

TODAY

Time goes by so so fast! Don't let a minute pass you by! Live every day to it's fullest and you'll be able to look back and say to yourself that not only are you satisfied with what you've done, but you're perfectly happy with everything you've accomplished! So go! Live! Make mistakes! And then go again! Turn your cant's into cans and your dreams into plans! I hope that you all have a wonderful week! Thank you for the constant love and support! You're all always in my prayers! Miss you all! LOVE YOUUUUUUUUUUUUUU!!!

Love, Sister Andersen

Loren Mendoza
{Bishop's daughter} is sooooo talented!!
This is one of her paintings!

Family Home Evening last night.
#itsmorefuninthephilippines

Monday, July 7, 2014~Week 47
Antipolo; 4:05 PM Mon (PH); 2:05 AM Mon (US)

Hello there everybody!! I hope you all had a wonderful 4th of July!! I sure did! I had a great American meal complete with hamburgers, hot dogs, french fries, pizza, and drinks! And I even went and bought a bag of Ruffles because that's always definitely a part of the 4th of July meal and since I missed out on mom's potato salad, I thought I might as well have mom's favorite chips!

My good ol' American meal! Happy 4th of July! 

Haha so it was fun! Plus!! That night we were having Family Home Evening at an investigator's house and all of a sudden it just started POURING rain and it was pounding on their tin roof! And it didn't stop! And so we walked/ran/danced through the rain and the flooded street with the other Sisters and the ward missionaries that were with us! Hahaha it was the funnest thing! It reminded me of years ago on the 4th of July when it was pouring that beautiful St. George summer rain and we were all just running through the streets! It was a little tender mercy from Heavenly Father just for me:)

But before that, on Tuesday, WE MOVED!!! Yayyyyy!!!

The Movers 

Everyone clap your hands for joy because we moved out of the cockroach infested house!! {Little did I know that when I left my cockroach friends, I would meet my spider friends. Hence, the reason I acquired my third hand!}

Spider #2

Spider #1

My third hand! And my new best friend!

So yeah. Moving. That actually was a very very tiring experience. I learned on Tuesday and Wednesday that I do NOT want to ever move again. It is wayyyyyyy too much work! Hahaha holy cow! My body was so exhausted! So on Tuesday, we moved all of our stuff over to the new house and set up as much as we could that night. 

This is our new front yard. #welcometothejungle

And then on Wednesday, we c l e a n e d.  Mother, I just think you ought to know that you trained me well. I have now earned the reputation in Antipolo as the best bathroom cleaner ever. One member said that I should have a license. Hahaha no but really. The bathrooms were disgusting when we got there and I scrubbed that thing for a good hour and a half to two hours until it was beautiful! Thanks mom for teaching me how to clean and how to do it well! So that took up most of our day on Wednesday and I will tell you that I was T I R E D. I'm never moving again. Ever.

 I dig that city view.
(Meaning, I like being away from the city
and looking at it from afar} 

 I found my best friend in the Philippines! 
{Alena Rose} 

Random note before I forget! Someone ask Stephen Anderson if he knows Sister Hernandez! She says that she knows him because he was assigned to them! She said he probably wouldn't know who she was but I said I would find out! She said ask him if he knows the Garcia family. 

Well, this morning we went on an adventure and I loved it because I haven't been on an adventure in a very very long time! 

TODAY! {Part 1} 

We went hiking in the jungle as a zone this morning!  Luckily, it was really cloudy and a little windy but no rain! Perfect weather!

We went hiking in the jungle! 

The {semi}straight and narrow path. 

Meet Billy! He's a goat! 

We hiked through a bunch of trees and corn stalks and grass and mud and rocks and reached the top of the mountain and it was sooooo beautiful!! Definitely worth the dirt that we picked up along the way!!

The view from the top of the mountain! 

We just kind of sat at the top and stared at the beauty that was before us! Definitely unlike anything I've seen so far!! And then we all made sandwiches, {the zone leaders don't want me to do that so they bought lettuce so I could make a lettuce wrap} and ate up there! And then we came down from there and went back to the chapel and just played games! It was the best zone activity I've had so far! 

My cute anak!

The kabahays.

This place is so beautiful!!

Zone Picture!

We're on the top of the world!

Every time I get the chance to see a view like we did this morning, I'm just so grateful to my Heavenly Father for blessing me with the opportunity to be here in the Philippines. This place is so beautiful in so many ways and I am one lucky duck missionary! There's no where else in the world I would rather be! Missions are the best thing in the world and I'm so grateful for the examples that have gone before me and showed me how to LOVE my time here! I can't believe how fast it's going by! But I want you all to know I'm loving every minute here:)

Ang cute namin diba?

I'm excited for this next week because it will be a normal working week! Which means that we should see a lot of miracles!:) With moving and cleaning and readjusting and meetings this last week, I've missed just working! Haha so this should be a really really good week! Pray for us that our investigators will keep progressing!!

TODAY {Part 2}
 {We changed in the bathroom
so we could come email right away} 

Anyway, thank you, as always, for the love and support that you all give me! You're all so amazing and I'm so lucky to call you all my family and friends! You're always in my thoughts and prayers! I miss you all!! Thanks again for everything!! Have a great week! LOVE YOUUUUUUUUUU!!

Love, Sister Andersen

So I found this odd bug at the church and
luckily my macro is awesome and got all the detail. 

One of our favorite little ward missionaries
here in Antipolo! Von Bruce!