HELLO FROM THE PHILIPPINES

Well hello hello! It's official.. the plane has landed and I am IN the mission field! What?!?! Insane, I know.. I still can't believe it myself!

We arrived in the Philippines late Tuesday night and got to stay in a hotel for the night- AWESOME! It felt like we were on vacation, however, that feeling did not last long as I have been put to work!

On Wednesday morning, all of us new missionaries from both the Provo and Manila MTCs met at the mission home, along with our trainers. We met the mission president and wife and had some training. President and Sister Revillo are AMAZING! They are so strong and they truly care for everyone and everything. I am amazed at the sacrifices they make each and everyday for the Quezon City Mission and the missionaries.

We got to go the WW2 memorial sight in Quezon! Dad, you would have loved it- totally reminds me of all of our family trips to different historical sights we have visited. It was way fun! Sister Oyler and I got to ride with Pres Revillo to the sight, and on the way there we stopped to pick his 7 year old son up from school. It was fun to have a little tour of the area.

My comp/trainer/nanay is Sister Judd from Syracuse, Utah. She is awesome! She is so patient with me and is always keeping an out for me! She has been such a support, especially when it comes to the language. She knows exactly what I'm feeling and is able to give me great insights. She gives me hope that one day I will be able to communicate with the people! The language is great, hard, frustrating, beautiful, confusing, and just about everything else you can imagine. I know the gift of tongues is real though and I have already received miracles. Just being able to understand a word here and there is great! I would like to know what people are saying fully though!

So my area is Cogeo, which is in the mountains! YAY! I am so happy to be out of the city. Just because I am in the mountains. Do not let this fool you- there are still people EVERYWHERE! I love it though! I know that Heavenly Father placed me here for a reason. It is kind of hard to understand my full potential when I don't feel like I can really communicate, but I know that with patience and diligence, it will all work out. Being here reminds me so much of India! Sometimes I forget that I am in the Philippines and think I am in India. The people are amazing and have already stolen my heart- especially the children!

MOM: PLEASE DO NOT READ:

Soooo.. On Thursday night, someone broke into our apartment while we were sleeping.. YUP! Cool, huh? All they stole was our DVD player, however, they had broken into our house the night before I got here too and stole all of Sister Judd's money. DON"T FEAR though, because I feel really safe here! It is a bit eerie to think that someone is rummaging through our house while we are asleep, but it's all good! Just part of the adventure, right? Pres Revillo is really worried about us though and said we need to get bars on the windows because that is how they are getting in. Until the bars are in place, we have had to drive up to Santisidro to another Sisters' apartment to spend the night. I've been sleeping on their couch, which is like 3 feet too small, but it's all good- at least we are safe! Hopefully the bars are up really soon!

So because the robbers stole all of Sister Judd's money and I haven't been able to convert mine yet, we have had to live off of the food we have... There's not much to eat, so we have been getting really creative! Everything tastes better in the Philippines though! Yesterday we were scrounging for stuff for lunch and ended up not even eating dinner- I wasn't hungry though, so that's good! We just got our money today though, so we will stock up on groceries! Haha it's been awesome! I love these kinds of adventures!

The people here are amazing! We've already done quite a bit of teaching, well Sister Judd has:) It's kind of hard for me to pipe in, especially when I don't know a whole lot, but my goal is to just start opening my mouth! If I don't, the language will never come! One of the people we have been visiting is Sister Agcamaran who is a less active. She has cervical cancer and it has gotten really bad. The other day while we were talking to her, she fell to her knees in excruciating pain. Her young daughter just sat by her in tears. I couldn't help but cry as well. It broke my heart to see her like this and know that because she doesn't have the money to get help, she could lose her life at a very young age. Her faith is so strong though. She is one of the sweetest people I have met so far- she even told me that I am part of her family.

One of our other investigators, Judy Ann, is 17 and has 2 children. She lives in a little 4x10 house. She really is progressing well, and we are trying to set up a way that she can get married because she turns 18 next month. Then after that, she can be baptized!! We are also teaching the Honrijas family. The mom, Victoria, has already accepted a baptismal date, however, her husband is a little harder to work with. They have 6 kids and I really hope that we can help them come unto Christ because I know the gospel will bless their family in SO many ways.

 

NAKAKATAWA

So we went to a baptism for some of the Elders on Saturday (It had to be postponed because no one in the bishopric was there), and as we were leaving, I totally fell down the stairs that lead to the street.. YUP! It was awesome! Those stairs are not made for American Sized feet- the steps are only like 6 inches wide!
Also, the other day when I went to put on my shoes, there were probably 300 ants just crawling in them! Cool, huh? Better than 400 ants! This has happened twice know.. I just hope that they continue to be ants in my shoes and not cockroaches!

We had stake conference on Saturday and Sunday. We took a tricycle up to Antipolo for the Saturday session and it was great! At the end of the conference, Pres Revillo had all of us missionaries in the stake (30 of us) come to the pulpit and sing "Called to Serve". The first verse was fine because it was in English, but little did I know that we were singing the second in Tagalog... Ya I had NO IDEA what I was singing! And I was in the middle too so I am sure everyone could see! Actually, one of the members came up to me afterwards and mentioned how I didn't know the song... Hahaha I probably looked so awkward!

For the Sunday session, we went to our ward house here in Cogeo, and watched it via satellite. The connection was awful though and no one could understand and thing. For 2 hours we all sat there confused.. And I kept dozing! I'm still trying to get adjusted to the time here!

Well the Philippines is awesome! I love it so much and I know I was sent here for a reason. Of course I have my ups and downs, but it is so comforting to know that the Lord never leaves His missionaries alone. Thank you for all of you love and support. I really can feel your prayers. There is power in this work and I am so happy to be a part of Helaman's army to help hasten the work. I love you all! Can't wait to hear from you soon!

Mahal kita!

Sister Anderson