06/01/2014

Well, not a lot has happened since temple p-day on Wednesday so I'm not sure what to say. I'm still alive! These last few days we've just been punted around a lot having very few teaching appointments. 

We DID, however, have our mission-wide conference which was fantastic. I've never seen the whole mission together, it was huge. Elder Christensen and Elder Ardern of the 70 and their wives spoke, as well as President and Sister Sperry as kind of a farewell talk. It was sooo intimidating for my companion and I to do our musical number in front of them. They all had a Q&A for us and it was really cool. Everyone says that President has never cried before, but he definitely cried in his talk. "This swelling in my heart... the love that I feel for all of you... it's unreal." Ghaaaa. I don't want them to leave. The main message I picked up from the general authorities was diligence. Kind of a stab to my conscience, so I know it was what I was meant to hear. If we aren't diligent, we will be held accountable. I've been given 18 months to serve with all my heart, might, mind and strength, and then the rest of my life to think about HOW I served. Time to start working harder! 

Afterward our zone went out to eat and we found... wait for it... CHILI'S! A brand spankin' new Chili's that looked just like America inside. We all spent like 700 pesos on ribs and lemonade and french fries and just went to town and loved every second. They were even playing American TV shows and they made us balloon swords. We were pretty much in heaven. When we walked out we were all hurting from how full we were. But next door, they had a cheesecake restaurant!!! REAL cheesecake and we just couldn't resist! So we all had cheesecake afterward and I felt like throwing up but it was the most glorious delicious cheesecake I've ever had and I regret nothing. 

Well that's pretty much it... Take care. :)

Sister Wilson

05/28/2014

Alright, here's a shout-out to all of you to stay SAFE. I want to see you all again in a year and I hear of a brain surgery, a broken wrist, a case of pneumonia and my sister exploring caves in the night with a group of teenagers?! Not cool. Knock it off! :P My prayers for you can only go so far!

Sorry I'm emailing late, again... We had temple p-day which is always on a Wednesday. Nothing like waking up at 2 AM in missionary life. It was great though! Does anyone know why they changed the temple film again? I thought the new one was only like a little over a year old. I really liked the new one but I wonder what they're trying to emphasize in the new one. Does anyone have any thoughts/input?

It was a good week, as usual. We had zone interviews in which President Sperry gave his final workshop before he goes home. It's the one he saves to give the missionaries leaving, but since he's the one leaving, he decided to give it to us all at once so we'd all get the change to have it. It was about... wait for it... marriage! Everything from why the family fulfills the measure of the earth's creation to how what we are doing here as missionaries will make our future with our spouse and kids that much better later on. We had a pretty trunky zone afterward, especially those leaving in June. At the end, I prepared a song at the request of the STL's to sing for Pres. and Sister Sperry. We sang "We are Sowing" to the tune of Sally DeFord's arrangement of "Come Thou Fount." There wasn't a dry eye in the room after the song. We got our formal goodbye from them at the end and it was hard. Even though I've known them for a short time they feel like my parents away from home. But we couldn't leave because it started to pour rain and storm outside. So we read our mail until it cleared up. The zone leaders and the AP's pulled a prank on our zone... it was a pretty good one, too. They convinced almost all of us that President Sperry was organizing a going away party and that it would be a dance and that we all had to bring dates. So the elders were trying to ask sisters to a made up dance and people actually believed it. They almost had me... but they killed it when they tried to pass it off as President's own idea. He won't even let us listen to EFY music because some of it has romantic overtones and he's gonna throw a dance? Yeah right.

Saturday was probably the highlight of our week. We have this investigator that we deemed clinically crazy. But last Sunday, he came to church! And after that, he got a job! He accredited that to his going to church so he read the pamphlet we gave him and asked to be baptized. I thought he had a mental disorder but we came back to give him another chance and he showed that he can control himself and he listened to the whole lesson. The next Sunday he shows up in a white shirt and slacks, brought his BoM, took the sacrament and paid attention. His countenance completely changed. When we met him, he wouldn't even wear a shirt at all. He smoked, made fun of us, couldn't control his comments. I'm amazed. The Lord prompted us to give him one last try and a miracle happened. Sunday was also a great day as far as less actives go. We saw 4 LAs we've been trying to get to church since my first day here. When they walked in, I was so happy - I feel like it was a small glimpse of the love Heavenly Father feels for all of us, especially when we follow him.

Anyway, I'm really trying to be more culturally inclined so I've eaten some scary things lately... pink shrimp paste in my rice, coagulated blood, liver in my pancit, I even had my first burol fight which is where they put palm leaves down to cover the table, pour the rice out onto it and you put your ulam (whatever you eat your rice with) on the side and use your hands. It was really fun! I don't like de-boning my fish but it was fun getting messy. I also bought a daster to sleep in - the old lady dresses all the nanay's wear and it's pretty liberating. Sister Surio and I joke about opening a daster store in Utah and calling it either "The Modest Nanay" or "Modaster." Heheh...

Last night we had the greatest lesson! We're teaching a family who isn't quite ready to receive the gospel but their cousins are. The youngest girl in that family has had one or two previous lessons with us and we took her to church on Sunday; she was instantly fellow shipped by the young women. We watched the restoration video with the whole family and the whole time I prayed really hard that they would feel the spirit and know it was true. As soon as it ended, she said, "I believe it all," and all 3 sisters accepted a baptismal date. I love this work! 

Thanks for the postcards so far! I got one from Sister Brown in New Mexico and one from Taylor in Vancouver, Canada. Keep sending them! :) I love you all!

Love,

Sister Wilson

P.S. What do you get when you cross 3 Americans and a bench?

.....  a broken bench. 

05/18/2014 Maraming mga damdamin...

What more can I say than I've already said? It's been yet another wonderful week. We found out this week that last month was the highest baptizing month in the history of QCN Mission. President Sperry gets to go out with a bang! I'm so glad that he gets to leave the mission in such a good condition. He more than deserves it. SJDM zone is on fire right now. We've really been pushing the member oriented proselyting program and it really really works! 

We had my last followup training this week and it was wonderful, as usual. Sister Sperry talked about how opportunities for growth almost always come in the form of challenges but that because we are on the Lord's errand, we are entitled to the Lord's help. The zone leaders talked about attitude... it miiight have been a poke in the conscience to everyone. They approached the topic with the question, "What problems are you facing right now that couldn't be helped by adjusting your attitude?" It's so true. Attitude is everything! My batch is pretty quiet so I was answering most of the questions. I'm glad though because now President will remember me. ;) One of the senior couples brought up the idea to him of having Sister Surio and I travel around the zones teaching music in different wards and he's gonna think on it. We finished the meeting with yummy AMERICAN pizza. Wahoo! 

For our service this week, we built a house! Yep. It was the hardest work I've ever done. They took us to a cliff and told us to start digging a trench 4-5 feet deep in the noon-day sun. It was hard to find a place to stand with it being so close to the edge and the ground disappearing around us. It was the 6 of us sisters who got to work first. I was sweating so hard that my shirt was completely soaked through and sweat was dripping off my head into my eyes. The ground wasn't very forgiving. Then we had to move cinderblocks. Lots and lots and LOTS of cinderblocks. In addition to that we had to shovel cement mix and carry it in buckets to the location that they needed to mix it in. THEN they had us move a mountain of rocks. It took us 4 hours. It was beautiful though, the house is overlooking a big rice field. When we went out to eat afterward, we all smelled so bad that the waiters put scented candles on our tables. Haha, embarrassing...

Kind of a rough week as far as the work goes. We got punted from almost every appointment this week so we decided to contact referrals. That didn't work either. We were so tired and discouraged one day that we were going to head home when this nanay comes up behind us and asks us if we wanted some of the fruit off her tree. We asked her her name and naturally, it was the referral that we were looking for. She is a brain tumor survivor and has a huge crater in her forehead to show for it. She had a 2% chance of surviving, and she did. I know that she was spared for a reason, and I believe that it was to receive the gospel. Her testimony in Christ is incredibly strong and we were so excited to teach her, only to find out that she's leaving to live in London for 6 months. *Facepalm.* On the bright side, Jessie finally got confirmed in church on Sunday. He's our recently baptized member. His blessing was really cool; he has TB and gets really sick but he was blessed with good health to hold high callings in the church. He's so strong. I can't wait to see what he will do to build the kingdom. Also, one of the people we taught in our music class came to church AND brought his family. Yay! In terms of people, we had some investigators we thought were progressing, but they were actually being motivated by their crushes on the elders. (We had an FHE previously and brought the elders with us.) Bummer. 

When we were visiting a member a few days ago she asked us if we were getting fed by the members. We said yes, from time to time. So in her talk in church on Sunday about missionary work, she gets up and said, "Don't be afraid to share the gospel, O.Y.M. (open your mouth). But just as importantly, O.Y.H. (open your house!) and let the missionaries teach there! Work with them! Feed them dinner! They're doing the Lord's work and they need energy!" Haha it was so funny because she looked back and the elders were sleeping. Subsequently, we had 3 dinner appointments in a row that night. 

It's happening... I'm starting to need rice to complete my meals. I swore it wouldn't happen to me but it is. Oh well. :) That's all I have to say. Much love sa inyong lahat!

Sister Wilson

Mother's Day Mail Pictures!

Pineapple!

First Filipino apartment (on the far left) in a very nice area!  Elder's apartment second to the right.

First companion, Sister Surio, outside first apartment.  Whatta beauty!

Kenna has issued a challenge to anyone who would like to accept it.  Figure out what these sticky bugs are?  Google bugs...?  Leave comments so we can figure this out for her -- thanks!  :D

Happy Mother's Day!

I hope all the wonderful mothers I know had a great day full of food, flowers and primary kids serenading them! I love you all. I was so excited to be able to skype with my family today! It was the highlight of the 3 months I've had so far! As far as my week, it was pretty average. We're having a hard time getting people to keep their commitments so we have very few people actually progressing. It's impossible for them to gain testimonies without acting on the commitments we extend. We've been a little bit frustrated but discouragement is the opposite of hope and faith. 

I had to speak in church yesterday. It was pretty scary. It felt like a really irrelevant subject (missionary work) to speak on on Mother's Day... slightly awkward but that's what the bishop asked for. Then right before the meeting he wanted me to change my subject. It was a day full of highs and lows. The brother that we baptized on Saturday didn't come to churchSunday to be confirmed because he got the flu. However, we had another investigator come to church. Then she got in trouble with her boss for leaving the house because she's a nanny. (The boss is a less active member.) So she asked us to drop her. It was so sad because she's so prepared. Then we got excited all over again because a person we contacted on the street came to church. And then... he got offended faster than I've ever seen. He said it was because a girl he sees every day never talks to him on the street and then suddenly she talked to him at church and "she's not a good example." Talk about an emotional roller coaster. The people we taught voice lessons to attended church as well and stayed for all 3 hours! They really enjoyed church and the performance was beautiful. We sent them home with BoMs. After we sent them home, a less active invited all the missionaries over for an FHE, (high) and then we had to cancel and give impropmtu talks at a funeral for someone none of us knew (low). Crazy day. By the way, don't try making brownies in a rice cooker. Sounds good in theory but it's a bad idea. 

Sister Surio and I were asked to perform a song for a mission wide conference by President Sperry. I'm so excited! We've become the well-known dynamic duo! A member of the 70 will be there and it will be the last gathering with President Sperry as our mission president. He will be released in June. :( At least he gets to see all of his missionaries together one more time right before he goes, and the mission is once again thriving and very obedient. He did an amazing job of turning it around and making a bad situation good. He finally trusts all of us again after the bad batch. 

Our zone has started a "Biggest Loser" contest for this transfer because we're sick of being fat, haha. Seriously though, eating rice and carbohydrates on carbohydrates takes a toll on your stomach and on your health. We're gonna change our lives! It's gonna be great. Now to figure out what we're going to eat instead... 

I can't believe I've been out for 3 months now. I hope to continue hearing from people! I miss everyone like crazy. Can someone tell me what we eat in America on a daily basis? Because I really don't remember anymore. I love you! 

Sister Wilson

ETA: From a later email same evening:

AHH! Something I forgot to tell you. The missionaries in the Philippines are known as "Joes." I don't know why. But they always say "Hey Joe! Wazzup! Where ya goin! Whatcha name!" when they see American missionaries. And then again with the "You guys eat a lot of bread right?" Haha! Fun fact.

Pictures!

"Katniss, there is no District 12." LIES! I found it. ;)

After playing in the rain.

First Transfer

Well, I'm half way through my training! Crazy how time flies. I'm almost a real missionary, haha! This week has been interesting... Last P-day we found out that our neighboring house has like 3 white people living there so we're really excited to talk to them. The neighborhood we live in has a lot of English speakers and we have appointments to go and teach them soon - hallelujah! I'm so excited. 

Last week we taught Dianne, one of our investigators with a b-date and she's so excited about the gospel that she brought over MORE family members so we taught the first lesson for the 3rd time, and they also accepted a b-date. When we left their house, it started raining really really hard and we got stranded under a fishball tent. We waited for 20 minutes for the rain to stop but it didn't so we ran to a member's house. Then all the frogs came out... which was super hilarious because Sister Surio is terrified of frogs. She was squealing the whole way there. Good times. :) When we got to the member's house she insisted on feeding us dinner. Her little girl is on a "diet" so she hands her a plate of food and says, "Here, this is all you get because you are fat." On the plate it was cheese bread, noodles, rice, etc. And she kept adding to the plate and saying, "Ok, now that's all you get." It cracked us up. 

Wednesday was wonderful because we ran into the bishop and he started talking to this family. He had the elders with him and since it's not their area they couldn't go in and teach them. Once we got there, we were all invited in to share. It was an incredible lesson! The dad said he was pure (another world religion) and not looking to change. Then his countenance changed. He said when we all bore our testimonies he got goosebumps. When we handed his wife the Book of Mormon, she held it like it was gold in her hands. The next day we found out that the family was a referral from bishop's wife but he didn't even know, he just felt like we should talk to them. Amazing! Bishop's wife says she's been reading and the father has been talking about changing religions. 

It was a sad week for families. One of our less active families has split up. The mom and dad were never actually married, as is common in the Philippines, so it's easier for them to just pack up and go. We were also teaching a 16 and 11 year old who were brothers. The older one moved to Cebu and the younger one moved to Cavite. They have different dads so they had to separate. They never made it to baptism. They were progressing hugely for a while but then it died. We were pretty heartbroken. 

So Sister Surio and I had a lice scare this week. Haha! She has a lice come and she thought she had lice eggs in her hair. We bought lice shampoo really dang fast and got rid of it... not sure if she actually had lice but with all the kids we see every day it's totally possible. The same day we had another service project, street sweeping (which is desperately needed) and then we had to run home to change for a wedding for our ward member. After that we had to run to our chapel to teach our music class. They're gonna be singing in sacrament this weekend, the same meeting I have to speak in (yikes!!). After the class, Sister Surio and I lingered for a few minutes to talk to a ward member who is a surgeon. He talked about his life as a doctor because she and I are both studying the body in school. It was amazing. We learned so much. Then we had an FHE in the elder's area with a less active. It was a crazy day. 

Kind of a random week but I'm learning a ton and growing every day. I'm so sad to see my friends go with this transfer. I don't like transfers... two of our sisters were pulled out. I guess that's all this time. I love you! Yes, you! ;)

Love,

Sister Wilson