Everything is nindota

okay JOEL GOT BAPTIZED ah such a happy day!!!! He was beaming and as he bore his testimony that it was incredible he was standing in the church building and that he was baptized because he had to overcome so many addictions and drinking to get to this point, and how he was just strengthened to do it all through the gospel!!!

 I don't know if I told you this but Brother Joel went to Bacolod the other week trying to find a job and told us he was going to have to move there because his family has so little and needs him to work to support them but then he came back and told us he knew he needed to stay in Old Escalante to be baptized and to follow Christ and that he was willing to leave it all: OKAY this gospel seriously changes lives and we just felt so happy and promised him the blessings that will come to his family for this choice and for the rest of their lives oh how I learn everyday from the examples of these people who sacrifice everything for their Savior who sacrificed all for them!!! 

Also we had mission tour and President Schmutz (Philippines Area President) came!!! imagine just a fire hydrant of knowledge just to see how much more we could be doing to really study and KNOW the doctrine of Jesus Christ. He shared a story about a man he met on his mission that was baptized and today they both are serving missions in the Philippines and how the blessings of this gospel in this life just continue forever and how these dear people we meet and teach are really our brothers and sisters!!! 

I felt a part of that already when I heard that Tatay Warlito from Balamban SIMBAED (went to church) ON SUNDAY AHHH I testify that miracles have not ceased and I am so blessed to be here in the most beautiful place with the most beautiful people doing the most nindot work ever ah pretty sure I say that every week but SO TRUE!!! I have soo much to learn in the gospel and being a better missionary and just disciple of Jesus Christ but I know through the Atonement of Jesus Christ, improvement and changing and becoming better is sooo possible and I am so grateful LOVE YA ALL

Brother Joel on his Baptism Day

I am so HAPPY for him

Inside the church on this HAPPY day

Our Bishop (who baptized Joel) and his wife

Joel was not the only person baptized on Saturday. The other set of sisters in our ward, who cover another area within our ward also had a baptism.

My ferry mates as we took a ferry from Negors to Cebu Island to hear from President Schmutz

Sister Bingham (ah!) and her companion

I got to see Sister Luque my previous companion who is still serving in Balambam.  She got to fill me in on how all of our friends there are doing.

Inside the ferry

I love serving on the these beautiful islands

The ocean - I love it!

I finally opened my Christmas box and found a box of toasted Oats cereal.  We eat cereal a little different here. MJ - this is for you!

 Friends, the people here are so wonderful and we have friends literally everywhere we walk

Pictures from early June

Home Life - Lots of PICS

This picture of Christ is right when you walk in the main doors of our Church

Outside our Church

My companion has nacolepsy, so she falls asleep at anytime without notice

We love living right by the ocean

They dye their chicks different colors. So cute!

We walk dirt roads all day and in mud when it rains, so our feet as usually dirty

We have a bathroom at our house and at the church, but otherwise we use holes like this 

This Tuko lives inside our house with us

There are sometimes frogs or other animals in our shoes (left shoe)

 This is how many people cook their meals

Homes amde from corrugated tin

Sewing Fishing Nets As We Teach

HI!!!! Wow am I actually on a mission here in the Philippines?? we had no idea where to go one day this week and we prayed and asked for direction and felt like we needed to go to Busay which we had never been too, and right when we got there a nanay started following us and we asked around to find a returning member that lived there and she grabbed the basahon ni mormon out of our hands and started to read and she couldnt really read because of her eyesight but she just held the book and we started sharing about Christ and His restored gospel and people just gathered and sat as they sewed fishing nets and we sat beside their fishing boats and it was so surreal as we invited people to literally come and see just like Christ did 2000 years ago and one woman Luz, asked us with all the churches she could know what is the right one OKAY BEST QUESTION EVER and we are praying that we will be able to continue sharing and teaching her and all of them. Some people and their testimonies are just suchhh a strength to me ah a ward member here Tatay Ricarido Aresgado just had his 4th stroke and lost his ability to speak for a couple of days but he was able to speak again and the first thing he said to us when we visited him was that he was so excited that God still had a purpose for him on earth, and that all he wanted to do was to go to church!!! When we remember that the gospel really is thee most important thing, it will guide what we do and how we act each and every day!!! oh how i have so much to learn from that example and the example of our Savior!!! 

Also yesterday we met with Jocelyn who was visited by missionaries a couple of months ago, and she recalled taht they promised her blessings would come into her life, and she told us how she sees those blessings right now because all of her family was healthy and they were able to expand their small house and when we started talking about christ and his example of being baptized, she just asked us when she could be baptized ah I KNOW the Lord is preparing people and I love this work so much ah miss you all love ya! 

also we ate shells and seaweed yesterday so lami

nanay gregornia is sooo hard working we aspire to have her fashion sense and her diligence to sell rice cakes so she can go to church and pay tithing 

so much love

they dye the baby chicks here ah so cute

PIctures.... Finally

HIII!!!! This is such a blessing i can upload photos today so i will send so many but the news is i will still be in old escalante for another transfer with sister leavitt and we are so excited!!! THIS PLACE IS SO WONDERFUL and we see so much potential. yesterday when our appointment with 2 of our pbd's fell through yet again we were a little sad but continued on our way to Sister jozalyn who we met a couple of days ago, and her daughters had come from bacolod to visit and sweet judy ann had read from the book of mormon earlier that day and wanted to learn more and then we ayooed at their door! Such a miracle and i love using the book of mormon to help people see the blessings we as individuals and our families can receive from the gospel. Seriously 2 Nephi 9 I LOVE IT because we should lift up our heads and rejoice because of alllll the wonderful blessings we have and still will receive!!! Also the most surreal moment ever, we had a mission prep class in our ward and Brother Joel just 7 days after receiving the holy ghost came and was practice teaching with us as the interestesd people and he as a missionary and he was GLOWING just sooo happy and testified of how the gospel changed him from his life before to now where he has a real purpose and MY HEART COULD HAVE EXPLODED to see the gospel come full circle and to switch roles and see him as a missionary AHH SO SPECIAL!!! Also we tried helping our dear friends come to church on sunday and we ended up running back and forth just inviting everyone to church and then sprinting to the church through the tubo fields and dripping sweat but ARNIEL CAME!!! He is 18 and was soo happy to receive a date for his baptism and just wants to follow Christ in all things and what a good example that is for me ah so many other things but i have no time but i love you all and keep praying for those all around the world that haven't yet received the gospel because it really is thee best thing ever!!!!!! 

also side note we had 2 conversations with people in english this week and i am so confused because i am so far from fluent in bisaya but it was so awkward and hard to remember words in english? we had a good laugh haha 

brother joel and brother jimmy!!!! (the ones on the end and the 3rd one in)

i saw sister bingham ahhhh

Brother joel also haha he is so good at the thumbs up and read 45 pages of the book of mormon already because he loves to learn from it ah

Brother Joel & Brother Jimmy

Ahhh, my MTC companion Sister Bingham!  I LOVE HER SO MUCH!

Sister Leavitt got a package with Easter candy.  So Fun!!

Mother's Day

HIIIIIIIIIIIIII HAPPY MOTHERS DAYYYY!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I seriously miss you so much but am so so so grateful for your incredible example to me. Who would I be without you?? I don't even want to think because you seriously are incredible and everything you do is to serve and lift and help others. YOu are selfless iln all things and you love the SAvior and you love our family and support us in trying new things and stepping out of our comfort zone and being better than we used to be and sharing and giving.   I love how you are able to overcome all things and how your past and hard things you have gone through don't define you but have allowed you to come closer to Christ and use his atonement! seriously I am so grateful and I had members in the ward tell me to wish you the happiest of mothers day from them and that they are so grateful!!!

 I LOVE YOU and also sorry this is so late but just a little update my head has been hurting really bad and I thought it was from the concussion or something but last night I had like a 104 degree fever and we have been resting all day and feel sooo tired and weak but sister pajaro has been helping and said if its not better by tomorrow we will check if it is dengue but DONT WORRY I AM OKAY AND SISTER LEAVITT IS SO SELFLESS AND HAS bEEN SERVING AND ITS OKAY!!!! I LOVE YOU AND SORRY THIS IS SO SHORT BUT DONT WORRY!!!! LOVE YOU

Note from Mom about this week:  After hearing Kayla was sick our family started praying and fasting for her. The next day, after receiving a specific prompting,  I decided to email the mission presidents wife to see if we could get an update on her health.  She replied that a senior missionary couple had been moved to the Negro's island to oversee Sister Miller's care and that she was being hospitalized for dengue. Short and sweet.  I replied with appreciation for the information and requested any further updates as they became available.  

We knew getting dengue was a very real possibility for Kay, but it still caught us off guard and knowing she was sick was hard.  But, as with so many trials in life, we felt peace through the Holy Ghost and we immediately began to recognize tender mercies from the Lord.

We knew that Kay's mission no longer had a Nurse and that there were no senior missionary couples near her, but that there were Elder's nearby that could give her a Priesthood Blessing and then to know that a senior couple had been moved to Negros to care for her was a great comfort. 

The next tender mercy came through a friend of my sister.  Ally had sick kids at her house and I told her about Kay being sick in the Philippines and how the nurse in her mission recently completed her service and returned home to South Jordan where she had previously resided.  Ally remembered that one of her friend's Mom's had been a Mission Nurse in the Philippines and quickly called her to get contact information for her mom.  Oh my, was a pleasure for me to be able to connect with Sister Davis.  She is an angel and was so happy to share some of her knowledge and experiences from the mission.  After looking at a map, she realized she lived about 10 miles from where Kayla is currently living in Old Escalante - with both of them living right on the edge of their mission's borders on the island of Negro's. 

She taught me all about dengue, treatment options, questions to ask, and also more about the living conditions and the day to day tasks of missionaries in this area.    But we spent most of our time talking about the wonderful people there, the growth of the gospel of Jesus Christ on these beautiful islands, and the blessings of missionary work on families.  I was so touched and so grateful to connect with Sister Davis. I testify that being able to talk with her was a tender mercy from the Lord.

We later received word from the Mission President's wife that Kayla's test had come back negative for dengue and positive for a UTI, which can  be treated with antibiotics.  There are keeping her in San Carlos for a few days for observation, but then she will be able to return back to Escalante.  We are grateful for the prayers offered on her behalf, and for the tender mercies that she has experienced in Negros and that we have experienced back at home.  God lives, he is mindful of and loves all of His children, and it is often through others that he blesses and strengthens us.

Spagetti

HI such a good week!!! Sorry I have 4 minutes but 5 PEOPLE CAME TO CHURCH AHHHHH AND BROTHER JOEL IT WAS HIS FIRST TIME and he admitted he was kind of confused but just smiled so big the whole time and was sooo happy to feel the spirit and take the sacrament!!! we extended a pbd and he just talked about how different his life is now that he knows he has a loving Heavenly Father and the true gospel like he even brushed his hair and got all ready for our lesson because he is just already changing through the gospel!!! 

Also we get fed so much because the people here are sooo selfless and Sister Leavitt was feeling sick on monday so I just took one for the team and ate so much spaghetti for the 2 of us haha and I am still trying to be more in tune with the spirit and learn bisaya and illango so I can understand my brothers and sisters here in Escalante but just want to testify of a verse we shared a lot this week in 3 nephi 13 that we really do not even need to worry about where our next food will come from or what we will drink (thats a big one for me because man I love water) or what we should wear because our Father in Heaven KNOWS and He is soooo ready to help all of His precious children (like even the dog that was starving on the road and got to eat Sister Leavitt's spaghetti) I know He knows you all individually and loves you sooo much and am soo thankful for this knowledge okay have the best week bye!!!!