Sister Hannah Lynne Andersen

Monday, December 1, 2014~Week 68

Cainta; 4:43 PM Mon (PH); 1:43 AM Mon (US)

Yoohooo!! Family!! {Frozen reference....because I can do that now:) haha} This has been a crazy week. Just like every other week, it's had it's ups and downs. First of all, last week, I got my trunky letter.... and I cried when I opened it. Because it tells me exactly what time I need to be ready on February 9th and has all these crazy things about going home and workshops and planes and hotels and bahhh. Haha I just put it back in the envelope and probably won't look at it again until I absolutely have to.

TODAY

Last week we had Thanksgiving dinner at a member's house in our ward. The San Diego family!! It's funny to me that both of my Thanksgivings have been spent in homes where the members prefer to speak English. There's just been some comfort in that I guess since Thanksgiving is an American holiday.

Fruit!

Green Salad! For like the first time in forever!

My Thanksgiving feast!

Ham!

Mashed Potatoes! #myfavorite

It was a great experience because we had two nonmembers there and after dinner we all went around and said things that we were grateful for. I was chosen to go first and I was glad because I didn't want anyone to take mine! Haha but I said that I was so grateful for so many things, family, friends, etc. But this year especially, I am so SO grateful for the Atonement of Jesus Christ. And I'm so beyond grateful for the opportunity that I have to share my testimony about it right now as a full-time missionary. The feelings are just so sweet and wonderful. I can't even describe it. So my Thanksgiving was G R E A T!

Look what came on Thanksgiving Day!
A package from Sister Sims!
Containing.... BABY FOOD!!!

BABY FOOD!!
With my cute lil' personal baby spoon I brought from home.

The absolute BEST part of this week was the baptism that we had on Saturday for our wonderful investigators, Emma and William Dressler! They are the cutest couple ever!

Aren't they precious??

Nanay is so so SO converted to this gospel and has an unwavering testimony of every aspect that she knows. And every time she learns something new, she just follows the counsel because she knows it's right. I'm so amazed by her example! And Tatay! Tatay is so makulit and so silly and sometimes I wondered about that little old man. Haha he's 68 and so he's getting up there in age and it shows. But when he got up to bear his testimony after his baptism, I was blown away. He also knows of a surety of the truthfulness of this glorious gospel! I love them so so SO much! I couldn't hold back the tears as I watched them enter the font and make that sacred covenant with their Father in Heaven. It was such a beautiful sight! I can't wait for the day that they'll enter the temple!

Emma and William's baptism

The four of us with Bishop and his wife

And the turn out for the ward was great! Because they've been coming to church for a year and so when everyone heard they were finally getting baptized, they were all SO excited!! While they were changing into their clothes after their baptism, we were all singing Christmas hymns and I was reminded of the true meaning of Christmas. Christ came into the world as a humble baby so that these two wonderful people could receive a remission of their sins and have the chance to make it back to the presence of their Heavenly Father as an eternal family. It just makes sense! This is what Christmas is all about! This IS Christmas! And I could not be happier! :)

#justme

Sister Jo!! She's my favorite person ever!
She refuses to speak Tagalog to foreigners
and she's sooooooooooo funny!

I don't really know what else to talk about because that was just the most amazing part of the week and definitely the most important. I guess I'll just add how much I LOVE my companion. We're so stressed out with our area right now because neither of us really know where the members or less actives live and it's hard area to go finding in {we're working with the members though so that should get better} but no matter what's happening, we just work things out and we help each other to laugh and smile and love and life is still grand! Because we're still missionaries doing the happiest work on Earth and right now we're doing it in the happiest time of the year!

Yesterday after church. #sefliesforlife

Since I've been on my mission, I've realized that Heavenly Father has blessed me with an extraordinary gift. I didn't see it as a gift before my mission but I see it now. Before my mission, I thought that maybe I was just kind of a crazy, free-going person that just loved to laugh! But now, I see that Heavenly Father has blessed me with the ability to smile and see the positive in every aspect of life and to find true joy in just living. Because life will always come with it's ups and downs but that doesn't mean that we have to go up and down with them. We can stay up! Heavenly Father has just blessed me so that I can do it rather effortlessly. I'm just so grateful for that. Heavenly Father is so good to me.

#hi

#yo

Well, I'm glad that you all had a wonderful Thanksgiving!! It's December now!! So.... MERRY CHRISTMAS!!! I can't wait to see all your beautiful faces in TWENTY FOUR DAYS!!!! {Skype is the best invention ever. I hope that guy who created it got a really big award. If not, he'll get his reward in heaven because he's made a lot of missionaries and their families very very happy!} Hope you all have a great week!! Challenge for the Brothers: For one of your Christmas presents to Christ, I challenge you not to do homework on Sundays for the rest of the school year! I promise you that you'll see blessings both physically and spiritually if you really make an effort to do this. So, like I say to all of my investigators: GAGAWIN PO BA NINYO IYAN?! Miss you all so so much!! Merry Christmas!! LOVE YOUUUUUUUUUU!!!

Love, Sister Andersen