Sorry, It's Just a Little

Good Morning po sa inyong lahat!

Sorry, this email is not going to be anything exciting!! Didn't have much work this week because of the typhoon that hit and also the fact that I got hit pretty hard with some nasty bacterial infection that left  me on deaths doorstep. I am just so grateful for the power of the Priesthood and the blessing that it can be to each an every one of us. On Saturday night I received a beautiful blessing from the second counselor in our branch, Brother Susa, in which he told me that I would be healed according to my faith. I know that Heavenly Father was speaking directly to me through Brother Susa and my heart just overflowed with gratitude as I felt the reality of the power of the priesthood in my life. How blessed we are to be able to call on the power of God to help us in whatever circumstance we are placed in. 

I know that Heavenly Father is so aware each and every one of us, no matter what stage of life we are placed in. I am grateful for His trust in me as His servant and for the strength that He gives me to press forward.

I love you all and I promise to write a better email next week!! 

Sister Anderson

Letter and Pictures From Sister Faasavalu

September 21, 2014

Hello, I am Sister Faasavalu and I'm from Hawaii. I was with Sister Anderson just for one week because i got ET over and be triosom with them. Sister Anderson is AMAZING. I love her so much. She's just one transfer ahead of me. She is doing AWESOME. I learned so much from you, and It felt like we've been together for so long. She's so sweet, and we enjoyed our week together. We became super closed, and she's my SISTER here in the mission and FOREVER. I cried when she was transferred to Morong, so we're hoping to see each other again SOON. She is a greatest example here in the mission. Just wanted to let you know that she is doing GREAT! She is fluent in tagalog too. I LOVE SISTER ANDERSON so much.

p.s: Here are some pics that she wanted, and we're not allowed to email each other. So she told me to send it to you, and you can send it to her. Thank you:)

Sister Faasavalu

sister fewster performing surgery on me 

 me and sis taufa

                                 we got stuck in the mountains behind a cow

 

 nanay and tatay musende

Caught in the Act

September 14, 2014

Well Hello once again from the beautiful area of Morong!

This week has gone by fast! Guess that's what happens when you're having fun and you have the BEST companion in the whole entire world!! Man, I wish everyone in the world could have a friend like Sister Taufa! This world would be such a better place because she really is just that amazing!

This week we went on exchanges with the STLs on Thursday which was fun! I was pretty proud of myself because even though I;m still fairly new here, I got the two of us around just fine! AND we celebrated Sister Fewster's 20th birthday! We made pancakes and gave her gifts and surprised her with a cake and decorated the apartment! It's hard work to plan a party though and be a missionary!

Speaking of Sister Fewster, she is such a champ! My feet are sooo infected with these nasty bites and so she took it on herself to take care of me. She'd already experienced the bites before, so she knew what to do! She put of some gloves and went to work squeezing out the puss in all of my wounds. Sorry, super gross, I know... BUT my ankle is no longer the size of an elephant and the bites look so much better!

This past week I hit my 6 month mark since I've been here in the Philippines.. What?! That is just insane! I am finally able to see how much progress I've made, especially with the language and I am grateful to say that the language no longer stresses me out. That in itself is a miracle!!

Our investigators are fine, but we need to find more. Joy is doing AMAZING though!! We taught her the Word of Wisdom the other day and she let us know that she drinks a minimum of three cups a day... We committed her to live this commandment though and when we followed up with her on Saturday, she said that she hadn't drank any coffee since our lesson. That is pure faith right there!

Hey, guess what?! I totally performed the best fall thus far since being in the Philippines! Yesterday Sister Taufa and I were walking down the side of a muddy, steep mountain after going to a birthday party for a part member family, and I completely slipped. And I landed in like 2 feet of mud and then I bathed in a puddle to clean myself off. The life of a missionary in the Philippines!!

 
Wellllll... just when I thought my life couldn't get any more exciting, it did!!! Last night at about 2:30am I had to go to the bathroom really bad but I was so lazy and didn't want to get up. It finally got unbearable to I decided to go downstairs and use the restroom. As I got up, I just thought to myself that I would take Sister Taufa's flashlight so I wouldn't turn on any lights in the house, but then for some reason I just decided to turn on the light of the room right next to us so I could make my way downstairs. As i reached the bottom of the stairs, I noticed that our windows were opened and the sudden feeling came over me that someone was trying to break in. At just that moment I heard a group of men outside our house yelling, "May ilaw, may ilaw!!" meaning that they noticed that there was a light inside our house. Thank heavens that I turned on the light and didn't just use the flashlight or else they might have gotten away with their burglary... but instead, I caught them in the act and they ran away!!! Don't worry, Mom.. I am fine! I am used to situations like these and Sister Taufa is super protective of me!!!
 

Well that is about it! Ingpat!! Mahal na mahal ko kayo!!

Love,

Sister Anderson

 

The Joy of Missionary Work

September 7, 2014

 

Good Morning!!

I cannot believe it is time for me to email home once again!!! How the time here flies... Sometimes I just wish the clock would slow down!

 

This week was my first full week here in Morong! Oh how I LOVE it! I would send pictures, but the computer shop here has lots of viruses, so I don't want to corrupt my sim card. I'm going to get all my pics backed up on a USB this week and then I'll try sending pics next week!!

So basically I have the BEST companion in the entire world, which makes the work here a billion times more fun! Sister Taufa is honestly the sweetest person I have ever met and just has a heart of gold! I am soo sad that she is leaving at the end of the transfer because we honestly work so well together and I look up to her sooo much! I'm just trying to be grateful for every second I get with her and really trying to emulate the missionary that she is!

 

Last week we went tracting in an area that neither of us were familiar with and came across a man selling balut who told us that he was a member, but that he and his wife are less active. We asked for his address... not a great question because no one has addresses here, but he told us that he lived up in the "bundok" (mountain). SOO last tuesday we went to find him. We tired for a while to find him, asking people if they knew who he was and where he lived. After searching for a little while and traveling down a wrong path, we were confronted by a group of ladies who asked us if we had found the man we were looking for. One of the ladies informed us that she was his neighbor, and she immediately dropped everything she was doing to take us. We hiked up muddy paths until we came to the top of the mountain, and sure enough it was the house of the man, Tatay Boy Silia, in whom we had met.

Tatay Boy met us with great enthusiasm and his wife, Apalonia, was so excited that we were there. They called all their nieghbors to come and listen to us and we had a great discussion. They even invited us to come over the next day to teach their 15 year old daughter who is not a member. And so we came back and it was the most amazing lesson! The daughter's name is Joy and I have never met a more prepared person in my life. She was so excited and answered all of our questions, said a beautiful prayer, and even accepted a baptismal date. It was a miracle!!! We went back to her again on Saturday and shared with her the message of the Restoration and you could physically see the change in her as she heard the experience of Joseph Smith and that we still have a living prophet. At the close of the lesson she explained to us that she knew that all of this was true. It is amazing how the Lord really is hastening His work and that He has prepared so many people!!

The work here is going great and the language really is coming along, thanks to my wonderful companion! I get asked all the time how long I've been here and people are shocked when I tell them 6 months. A lady even asked me this morning if I was born and raised here.. I know my Tagalog is definitely not that good, but I am so grateful that the language is coming. The gift of tongues is real!!!

Thanks for everything! I love you all and I love the Lord! Keep building your testimonies and remember what our real purpose is!!

Sister Anderson