Packages, children and a Christmas admonition

First of all, I GOT A PACKAGE! I GOT A PACKAGE! I GOT A PACKAGE, HEY HEY HEY HEY! (Hopefully you all know the tune...) But yes, I did get a package from my parents, and it was the coolest thing ever!! Along with, of course, the letters that I got =] I think I should be expecting another package? But we'll see when that one comes. Hopefully soon.

 (Their only Christmas decor so far - the little banner I sent in her package)

Mom, I loved that you wrapped everything! I was so sure that you would, so I opened just the outside package. I didn't open anything else though, don't worry. I just put the chocolate in the fridge so it wouldn't melt =]

So let's see, what happened this week. Not much, unfortunately. We had a few really good days, and a few really slow days.

Kabahays (housemates) Sister P, Sister P, Sister Y., Sister C & Sister Wilwand - Sister Y just finished her mission, so they have four in their apartment now.

Wednesday was one of our really good days. We got to teach a whole bunch of families, and we talked to a bunch of random people on the street. It was probably the best day we've had so far work wise. It was awesome. Let me just say, it is really scary to go up and talk to random people on the street. Especially when you don't speak their language. But hey, it's worth it. Most of the time we talk to people who are staring at me. Actually, funny story. We met with our ward mission leader last week, and he gave me some interesting advice. He just kind of looked at me, and said "Don't be offended, but you are an American in the Philippines." And then he went on to say, "Use your color! You're white! Use it!" I just had to laugh at that... But it's so true. People stare or say hi. So I might as well go talk to the friendly ones.

The little kids here are the best. The other day, we were in one of our areas, and there were all of these little kids that were staring at me. So I waved to one of them and said hi. She said hi back, and I went over and shook her hand. As soon as I did that, all of the kids that were there swarmed me to shake their hands. So that day I probably shook about 20 little kid hands. One of the little boys even tried to kiss me! Yikes! Don't worry, he was about six so nothing will happen anytime soon ;) And I told him "Hindi! Bawal!" Which means, no! Not allowed!

So yesterday, we were going to that same area, and I saw these same kids. First, they all came up to me saying things like "Saan ka pupunta? Saan ka galing?" (Where are you going? Where did you come from?) Then, when I was talking to them and shaking their hands, they were hugging my legs and grabbing hold of my hands. Two little girls grabbed hold of my hands and started walking with us, and the rest of the kids were just following us. They were so adorable! Eventually we had to tell them to leave since we were going to an appointment. But they kept asking when we would come back. I love little kids!

We also had follow-up training this week. That was the best! I absolutely loved seeing most of my district there. And of course, I was so excited to see Sister Clark! She's seriously one of the coolest people I've met so far in the Philippines. It was also really fun to see all of the Elders again. Some of the them are in my district/zone, but it was good to see all of them.

Scary guys threatening Sister Wilwand?? Nope - really nice Elders from her Zone who thought it would be funny to take a picture like this :)

As for Christmas, Merry Christmas to everyone next week! Even though I'll get to email on Christmas, I just love saying it =] I am so excited for Christmas! I'm not sure what we're going to do, but I love it anyway! I'm excited to open presents from my family, and I'm excited to skype too. We had our ward Christmas party last week. That was interesting. If you think Mormon standard time is bad, try Filipino Mormon standard time. Our party was supposed to start at 6, but it didn't start until 8. Ah well. It was fun for the little while that we were there.And the food was way good!

And this week we have Christmas Conference! It's with a few other zones in our mission, and it should be super fun. Unfortunately, some of the zones with my MTC district aren't in the same conference as us (there are two days of Christmas conference), but I should still see some of my batch there.

Christmas day here should be fun. We might be going over to a member's house for dinner, but that's not definite yet. If not, we'll have our own little party at our house. We'll make some good food and listen to some hymns or something. (By the way, Christmas is our P-day, so no emails next Monday...) I really miss Christmas music, so I just sing in my head sometimes =] So yeah, eat some Christmas cookies for me, and put up some decorations for me too =]

I guess just one more little thought. I'm sure I've said this before, but seeing as it's almost Christmas, I'll say it again. Remember how blessed we all are. The other day, we taught a lesson to a lady in her house. Her house is about as big as our downstairs bathroom (for those of you who have been in our house in Walla Walla). It might have been a little bit smaller. That was her entire house. They didn't even have electricity or running water. Four of them lived there. That was a definite eye-opener for me. If you have the chance, go out and serve someone this Christmas. After all, isn't that what Christmas is all about? Sure, it's fun to get presents. Everyone loves them. But also do something for the families that might not be getting presents this year. It'll make you Christmas a whole lot better. Christmas has the word Christ in it for a reason. We should always remember Him as this season rolls around. He gave everything for us, and we owe Him everything in return. The least we could do is to serve someone else. Just a little thought.

Anyways, I love you all! Have a good rest of the week!!

Love,

Sister Wilwand

Sister Wilwand has skills! Bowling on P-Day - she said it was super weird to wear pants in public :)

A Whole Fish!

Dear Family and Friends,

First of all, Mom, you might not be getting any pictures today. These computers are super slow.... So sorry.

(But look! She managed to get ONE sent)

Next, holy moly these weeks are going by way fast!! Can anyone believe that I've been on my mission for almost 2 months already?? Crazy stuff...

Let's see. What happened this week... First of all, I really did eat a whole fish. I mean I didn't eat the bones or anything, but I had to take the meat off of the bones, and I had to take the head off of the body. It was a very weird experience. I had no idea how to eat a fish like that, so Sister Jessa (she's a recent convert who likes to feed us) was helping me. It was fun.

So I've noticed a few things about the Philippines, so I figured I'd just make a list, so you can all get a feel of how things are here.

1. Americans really do stick out here... I think I've even started staring at them when I see them. I've only seen maybe 2, but it is really weird to see them here.

2. People here are so nice! Last week, we were teaching two families (one right after another) and they were both buying us drinks and giving us food. It was great =]

3. There are animals everywhere. Mostly roosters and dogs and cats, but they are EVERYWHERE. It's normal to just be walking down the street and see a random rooster in the middle of the road.

4. People here don't use knives. Weird right? We use spoons instead. So if I come home and don't know how to use a knife, you know why.

5. The kids here are the best. They are so awesome. They will talk to anyone and everyone. Even a weird white girl walking down the street.

6. There is so much food here. You literally can't walk a couple feet down the street without seeing someone selling food. Some of it smells really good, but we're not allowed to eat from street vendors.

7. I think I've only ever seen one speed limit sign. And I doubt anyone was following it. I'm so glad that I don't have to drive here.

8. There really is no toilet paper here. If you ever come to the Philippines, make sure you carry some with you...

9. People here love to have fiestas. I feel like there is always a party going on somewhere.

10. People here also love to sing. If you walk around at night, you can always hear some karaoke going on somewhere. It's so fun to listen to them sing their hearts out.

So yeah. I love the Philippines.

This week was a pretty good week. We still don't really have any progressing investigators, but we think we might have some potentials. A few people seemed pretty solid when we talked to them, so we're crossing our fingers.

My companion is great. She is way better in Tagalog than me, and she truly loves the people here. My mga kabahay (housemates) are also awesome. Usually, you'll find us all laughing when we're home altogether. We have fun.

Tagalog is slowly coming (I think). Luckily, I didn't really come out of the MTC saying this is not the language I learned. Don't get me wrong, my Tagalog stinks, and I can't understand a lot of what people say, but I feel like I get the gist of most things. Especially when people are talking about the gospel. That's when I feel like I can understand the most.

Our ward is pretty great. I love all the people here. It's a pretty small ward, but I don't know that they really have big wards here... I have no idea.

A typical day goes something like this:

6:30: We get up, and I go exercise downstairs. No one else really exercises, and unfortunately, Sister Collins ran with me a couple times and that was it.

7:00: Breakfast/shower. This is hard because we have five girls and one shower, but usually we make it work.

8:00: Personal study for an hour. I love personal study.

9:00: We have companion study for 2 hours since I'm in training still.

11:00: Language study. Pretty much my lifeline for the day. Crucial to being successful in this language.

12:00: Lunch.

1:00: We go out to teach.

Sometimes we have conferences or meetings, but that's a typical day. We usually get home around 7 or 7:30 because it gets dark before then. We come home and do our numbers/area book, cook and study more. At 9:30, we get ready for bed and then sleep at 10:30.

I've actually figured out a few things to cook. I cooked meat and potatoes one night, and I cooked hamburger meat with onions and garlic and put it in with ramen noodles. Just the noodles, not the broth. It was actually pretty good. It's hard to find things to cook, but we're working on it.

I think that's about all this week. Just so you all know, I have such a strong testimony of the Gospel. If I didn't, and if the church weren't true, I would not be out here. I love this church. It is seriously the coolest thing ever. If your testimony is struggling, just go study the gospel a little bit. It's seriously the greatest thing ever. I love you all!!

Love,

Sister Wilwand

Mosquitos are the worst!

Dearest Family and Friends,

First of all, I'm so very sorry that I didn't email you all on Monday. We had Zone Interviews with our mission president, so today is our P-day instead.

President Sperry, Sister Wilwand & Sister Sperry, just after she arrived in her mission.

So. Let's see what happened this week.

First of all, I really don't like mosquitoes. They eat me alive. But for some reason, they only bite me on my legs. Weird right? Ah well. As long as I don't get sick from them, they can bite all they want I guess... And yes Mom, I even put on mosquito repellant. 

This week I finally had some real Filipino food. It was sobrang masarap. (Very delicious.) One of the recent converts that we teach made it for us (our first dinner appointment!!) She made us sweet and sour fish with rice (of course) and lumpias (lumpia?) Anyways, it was very tasty. Good thing I like fish. And the rice wasn't that bad... Once I drenched it in sauce and ate it with the fish. So it was all good. I also had a cake-like thing called bibingka. It was very weird, but surprisingly good too. And then one of the families that we visited gave us a drink called melon. It's a sweet liquid with shaved melon in it. Kind of weird, but it tasted very good. At first, I thought it would be something I might have to choke down, because I thought the melon pieces were noodles... But I was wrong.

 Sister Wilwand's apartment!

Sister Wilwand's kitchen. No stove, no oven. They do have a hot plate & a scary toaster oven.

Our teaching. Well. Seeing as there are over 500,000 less actives in the Philippines (no joke. 500,000/650,000ish are less active), we teach a lot of less-actives. Most of our families that we teach aren't progressing. Sad, but true. We don't have many progressing investigators, so that's what we're focusing on doing this week. We've had a couple referrals, so hopefully those turn out good.

Just a side note. For all those members out there, you probably do not even realize how important you are to missionary work. I didn't until I got out here. Members are absolutely crucial to missionary work. We can't do this without you. For one thing, referrals are the best present you could ever give a missionary. It is so hard to talk to random people on the street and try to find someone who is interested in the gospel. Referrals are golden. Also, if missionaries ask you to go to a lesson with them, go! Missionary work is the best thing in the world. Even if you don't have that much time, and can only go to one lesson, they would love you for it! Seriously. Just do it.

We found this guy named Eduardo yesterday who has the strongest testimony of Jesus Christ ever. He's awesome. We were looking for another lady that we OYMed the other day, but we found him instead. He has some different views, but he did take a pamphlet and a Book of Mormon, and he agreed to talk with us again. I really really hope something happens with him. He's awesome.

Sister C & Sister Wilwand - Sister C is her trainer and she is from Samoa.

What else... So we had Zone Interviews on Monday, and it was awesome! It was kind of like Zone conference, but we also had interviews. The APs, the ZLs and President Sperry and wife all talked to us. Whew. Blew my mind. That was definitely the push I needed to love this work even more. Did I mention that I love the gospel? I have definitely found a new love for it being out here. But the best part of the day was LETTERS!!! Seriously. If you know a missionary, write them a letter. It's the best thing in the world to get four letters in one day. (So yes Mom, I did get the letter you forwarded. Thank you =] ) I love letters. Every time I get one, I do a little dance inside. It's awesome. And I can read them over and over again.

So speaking of letters, Mom, you guys might have to send me some stamps. I think I might have to put American stamps on letters to the states, but I'll check on that for sure.

We got to go to the temple today!!! Woo!!! I LOVE the temple. Seriously. Probably my favorite place to be on this entire earth. It's awesome. If you haven't gone in a while. Go.

Sister C. and Sister Wilwand at the temple in Manila

What else... Just a spiritual little story I think. On Monday, we were doing practice teaching with another set of missionaries. They had a 'concern' about their prayers not being answered, and we were supposed to teach them about it. So we talked to them for a little bit, and we weren't quite getting the answers we expected. So I started thinking about any scriptures I could to help them. D&C 8 popped into my mind. Now for those of you who memorized the scripture masteries, and still have them memorized, of course this is a great scripture right? But me, I had no idea what was in D&C 8. But I thought, hey why not, might as well check what's in there. Lo and behold, verse 2 was exactly the verse we needed to share. Well, time ran out before I could share it, but my testimony was strengthened so much by that little experience. Heavenly Father can do anything, and through His Spirit, we can do anything as well. The Spirit can be with us for as long as we allow it to be. I hope that that will happen to me again in the mission. It was the coolest thing ever.

Sister Wilwand's desk. Love all her post-its! :)

I think that's about it. Not too many stories. I'll make sure I write down some more this week. I love being a missionary. I love the gospel. The church is true. Go share it with someone.

Love,

Sister Wilwand


PS - I forgot to mention in my email, but we went on exchanges last week with the Sister Training Leaders. Let me tell you, that was the scariest thing of my life. I was here for a week and a day, and then I had to lead someone else around part of our area. Yikes.

Part of her area - getting lost would be easy!

 And knowing how easily I get lost, I was praying really hard. Luckily, I did not get lost. We found all of our houses, and I learned so much from Sister M! She is exactly the kind of missionary I want to be, so it was really cool to do some work with her.

A wet Sister Wilwand and Sister M

Yes, half of me is soaking wet. It was raining that day, and I guess I was too busy trying to make sure my bag wasn't wet.

But honestly, who needs a hot shower in the Philippines?

Dear Pamilya and Mga Kaibigan,

Holy moly, I'm in the Philippines!! What??? Crazy stuff. So I left the MTC on Wednesday. We got to the chapel and met our new trainers. My trainer is Sister Collins. Sound familiar? It should if you've been reading my emails ;) She was my kasama when we went proselyting for the first time in the MTC. How awesome is that? She's really great. She's from Samoa, and has been here for 7 months I think. Waaay longer than me at least. Our area is Fairview 2. We split all of Fairview with some other Sisters that we live with. They are Sister Plame, Sister Pristopher (yes, with a P...) and Sister Yagemai. They are from the Philippines, Pakistan and Micronesia.

So I'm the only American in our house. It's kind of weird actually... But it's good!

Being out in the mission field is so weird! Obviously, it's way different from the MTC. Even though I was in the Manila MTC, I still had a little culture shock when I was going to my area. It is still crazy to me to see kids smoking cigarrettes, and trash all over the streets. The poverty here is insane, but the people here are fantastic. They are all so kind! Although they do tend to stare at me quite a bit. Maybe it's something I'm wearing...? Oh wait. It's because I'm white. I can't even imagine what their faces would look like if I was a red-head or blonde. One little boy even called my hair golden. A couple girls called me beautiful, so that was cute. But some of them aren't so nice. A few teenagers that we were walking by yelled "Foreigner!" when I walked by. But oh well. It's the truth. Some people just wave and ask me where I'm from. Little kids just usually stare. One little boy was full on staring at me. Like open-mouthed, wide-eyed staring. It was hilarious. Even the people at church seemed quite curious that I was American. I can't wait until I speak fluently in Tagalog. Then they'll really stare =]

So a lot has happened this week. I guess I'll start with our house. We have a little house that we share with those other 3 sisters. It's a very old house, but it's functional... For the most part. We don't have hot water, but honestly, who needs a hot shower in the Philippines? The cold showers feel good. Our sink always leaks, but at least we have running water! And I get to wash my clothes in a bucket today! Woo! I'm excited. The first night that I was here, I found gecko in my closet. It was a cute little thing, but we could not figure out how to get it out of the closet. It was way too fast for us. Eventually I think it just climbed into one of the other Sisters' closets. That'll be a nice surprise when she finds it ;)

So that's about our house. The weather. Woo man. It is hot and humid here. Even my books are looking a little damp. We don't have AC in our house, just fans. But it's all good. The fans keep us quite cool, especially at night. I walked in the rain for the first time without my umbrella the other day! It was so nice. It was hot out, but the rain felt so good!!

The food. Well. We have our very first dinner appointment on Tuesday! I don't think the members really feed the missionaries here, so we cook for ourselves a lot. So I'm eating a lot of peanut butter, bread, eggs and cereal. It's a good diet ;) So. If anyone has some simple recipes (preferably without  rice...) that only take a few ingredients, I would love you forever.

We went to church on Sunday, and it was awesome! The chapel has AC, which apparently is a real treat here. We just sat in plastic chairs, which seems to be the norm. I had to bear my testimony after Sister Plame (from the Phillipines), and Sister Yagemai (from Micronesia, but has been here for 18 months, just waiting for her flight to leave). That was a tad embarrassing since I don't speak much Tagalog, but I tried my best.

Our investigators! Well, we really don't have any. The progressing investigators that they had all got baptized last Saturday, so this week we mostly visited less-actives and recent converts. Sister J* and the M* family are the best. They are the ones that just got baptized, and they are awesome!! I'm so lucky that I could see the happiness that the gospel could bring to people's lives. Their testimonies strengthen mine so much every time we got to talk to them.

I think that's about all this week, so let me just say a few more things. Basically, you have no idea how lucky you are. Especially for all the people who live in America. I didn't realize how lucky I was, even just to have a house, before I came out here. There are kids here that beg for money on the streets, there are people who live in huts of dirt and few pieces of wood, there is trash on every street corner. You are so lucky to live in an amazing place like America. At one point this week, we were teaching an investigator who lived in a hut. Literally a hut in the middle of a bunch of other houses just like hers that were nothing and had nothing in them. We were teaching about the first few points of the first discussion. We extended the commitment to be baptized. She accepted. It amazing to me how you can teach the gospel to someone who lives like she does. It is amazing how blessed we are to have to gospel. Don't ever forget that.

Oh! Have a fun Thanksgiving this week!! Eat some turkey, pie, mashed potatoes, rolls and everything else for me! I love you all! Thank you for your prayers and support!

Love,

Sister Wilwand

A light that is endless that can never be darkened

Dear Family and Friends,

This week was absolutely crazy. First of all, the typhoon. All of the missionaries in Tacloban are safe and accounted for. They are all staying here at the MTC until they get reassigned to a new area around here, or until they go home. The first that we heard of the missionaries coming here was just a few days ago. On Tuesday night, we were having a devotional, and our MTC president announced that they would be coming here. He also announced that most, if not all, were coming with just the clothes on their back, and the few belongings that they were able to gather. He asked all of us to gather the clothing and other things that we could do without, and to bring them to the basement to be donated to these missionaries. Of course, my kasama and I went up to our room and got everything that we could do without for the next 18 months. Luckily, I had brought waaay too many clothes. So I gave away 5 skirts and 5 shirts. Don't worry. I still have enough to last =] I'll just have a little bit less variety. But it's all good!! 

(Just found this picture on the Mormon Pinoy Newsgroup facebook site - McKelle is back by the window)

My kasama and I were the first ones down into the basement, and since we were the senior sister training leaders, we stayed to help organize everything. Let me just say, missionaries are amazing. I don't know that there was one missionary here that didn't donate something. Even if all they were bringing was one tie, or one shirt, it helped. There were so many clothes and shoes and other things down there. It was remarkable. We all thought that we had packed just enough for the little while that we'll be out here, but when a disaster strikes, we found that we had more than enough. Sister Clark and I were the main ones down there organizing clothes, so we got to see when the first missionaries started coming in from Tacloban. Wow. That is all I can say. They were the dirtiest, smelliest, yet happiest people ever. They all came in smiling and laughing. Most of them came in with nothing. A few had backpacks of the stuff that they had grabbed, but there were a few people who had brought nothing with them. 

There was one Sister that I was helping, and she quietly told me and my kasama that she had absolutely nothing. Everything that she had brought with her on the mission had been destroyed. But, she was almost crying because of the generosity of all the missionaries here. We helped her find some clothes, and she left, grateful beyond belief. How amazing is that? These missionaries were in a disaster that left hundreds, if not thousands of people dead, and here they are, ready to go to work again. One of them had us read Mosiah chapter 16, verse 9. Go read it. It's about the light of the Lord never going out or giving into darkness. 

9 He is the ^alight and the life of the world; yea, a light that is endless, that can never be darkened; yea, and also a life which is endless, that there can be no more death.

These missionaries are amazing. Let me also just say that Heavenly Father protects his children. Out of the (I think) 206 missionaries, not one was lost or even seriously injured. That is amazing to me. And from the stories that we've heard, some of them probably should not be alive right now. I won't go into any details, but things are devastating over in Tacloban. There is nothing left. I mean literally nothing. For everyone who is reading this, please pray your hardest for the people over there. Even if you have never prayed in your life, now would be a good time to start.

Actually, you guys probably know more about what happened in Tacloban than we do. I feel like we're always getting the news way late. On Wednesday morning, we watched a live devotional from Provo, and they were talking about how the missionaries had been flown out of Tacloban by an army guy's cargo plane. He took three trips to get those missionaries all out. The rest were on commercial flights. The first missionaries couldn't get on their flights, even with their tickets, because people were paying to get on the planes. Anyway, there are some crazy stories, but that one was a miracle for sure.

Not much else happend this week that was quite like that experience. We went proselyting again on Wednesday. It was fun again, yet disappointing at the same time. The sisters and two of the elders went to the biggest chapel. It's the biggest in the Philippines, if not in the world. It is at least 3 stories high. I think there might have been 4 or 5 levels. But it was huge. We went over there to meet out new companions, and what we found was incredible. There was relief work going on throughtout the entire chapel. There were thousands and thousands of bags of food, clothing, toilietries. Everything. It was crazy. That just made it so much more real for me. People in Tacloban need our help. 

Anyways, proselyting. I was with a Sister Anderson, and a Sister Tagbucog. They were awesome! One is a native, and the other is still training. We were going to teach two little boys who both have baptismal dates, but that appointment fell through. I was excited to go and teach, because I would have been leading the lesson. But it's ok. All of our other appointments fell through, so we ended up just OYMing. Open Your Mouth. Which basically means that you talk to anybody on the street. They showed me how to do it, and then it was my turn. It was so scary!! I was just trying to talk to random people on the street, in a language that I barely knew. The sister that was still training was a little nervous to do it too. So eventually, I just bucked up and did it. It really wasn't that bad... Until they started to talk back to me. But that was when my companion would come in and take over since she knew the language. So I can say that I did it! Twice! Crazy. It's like I'm a real missionary now.

What else... Oh! Someone (or everyone) please go watch Star Wars. Apparently, the eewoks speak Tagalog. No joke. Our teachers were telling us that it is true. I can't wait to come home and be able to understand that. It'll be the coolest thing ever. So if you ever want to hear what language I'm speaking, just go watch Star Wars =D

I have probably said this before, but my district is the best. This week, we had an amazing prayer circle for the people of Tacloban. We all knelt down and said an individual prayer out loud for them. It was fantastic. I'll be sad to leave them in a few days. Even if we are (most of us) going to the same mission, it'll be weird not seeing them everyday. And since I can't email them or write them letters, I won't get to talk to them for the next 17 months. (Yes, I only have 17months left! I've already been out for more than a month!!) 

Our teachers are way awesome. One of them can draw really well, so he's going to draw everybody in our district, and make us district T-shirts. How sweet is that?? It's pretty awesome.

Seriously, not much else has been going on... I've played more basketball than ever in my entire life. Crazy right? We pretty much play Bump/Lighting/Knockout every single day during gym. I've actually gotten decently good at it. I still usually get out during the first or second round because I can't make a layup to save my life, but every once in a while I get a few 3 pointers and stay in till the final 5 or so. So it's fun over here =]

Mom, you asked about Christmas. I honestly can't think of much that I need. Maybe one of those half ts that we almost got? That might be handy.

Otherwise, I leave out into the field on Wednesday! I actually have met my mission president. He was here setting a missionary apart, and my kasama and I saw him in the lobby. It was sweet! He even knew who we were! But yeah, I'm excited and nervous all at the same time. It'll be great. And my p-days in the field are on Mondays, so I won't email until then next week.

I really can't think of anything else... So I hope everyone is doing well! I love you all! Go read Mosiah 16:9.

Love,

Sister Wilwand

 Sister Wilwand sleeps here :)

Notes in Tagalog 

I'm OK; Pray for Tacloban and other devastated areas.

Hi!

 

We've just been allowed a few minutes to let you guys know that we're ok. The typhoon didn't really hit us, but it has devastated many cities, Tacloban especially. The missionaries there are all ok, but we've heard some horror stories about what's going on there. Please keep them in your prayers!  I know we are. I love you all!

 

 

Love,

Sister Wilwand

What's your name? What's your name? (And not a single mention of the massive typhoon!)

Dear Family and Friends!!

 

Kamusta po kayo??

 

Alright, I may or may not have time to email each of you separately, so here's one big email to start out with. A lot happened this week.

 

First of all, congratulations Dad!!! I can't believe you're an IronMan! I told all of my district, and they were very surprised that you actually finished, so yeah. You're awesome.

 

Last Sunday was probably the best Sunday I have ever had. It was amazing. It was testimony Sunday, so all of the missionaries that were leaving this week got up and bore their testimonies. They were so awesome! Everyone was trying so hard not to cry. It's amazing some of the testimonies that you hear from some people. They will all be great missionaries. After the testimony meeting, we had Sunday School. My kasama and I taught about the Atonement. Let me just say that there was not one dry eye in our district. My kasama shared a story (the one about footprints in the sand), and I shared a story about Steve, the pushups and the doughnuts. None of you probably know what I'm talking about, but go look it up. It's an amazing story. That was the greatest lesson ever. After the lesson, we had a little bit of time, so one of the Elders in our district shared his testimony about the Atonement. It was so great. So that was Sunday.

 

We've also had a couple of other really cool experiences with our districts. On Tuesday, some of us were just talking about some semi-deep doctrine, like the Second Coming and the three Kingdoms and things like that. It was cool to just sit down and talk about things like that to a bunch of missionaries who all have different insights and thoughts.

 

A funny thing that happened this week. So all of the Filipinos here love the Americans. The Elders especially. So with the last batch of regular training missionaries that just left, there were a bunch of Elders who always said hi to my kasama and I. We always just said hi back and then just kind of laughed about it afterwards. Then one of the Elders asked us for our emails. So we gave them to him. And then, the day before they left, I was talking to one of them, just telling him good luck before he left. The next morning, I found that he had left me a note where all of the letters are. It was super funny. Of course, my whole district made fun of me because it said "See you in 2 years!" But don't worry, misyonero po ako.

 

Sister Wilwand, her kasama and the Filipino Elders

Here's the best thing that happened this week. We went proselyting on Wednesday. At first, I was waaaaay nervous, and a little bit scared to go out. Things are pretty safe here in the MTC, and even in the store that we go to on P-days (although there are policemen with big shotguns outside the store... it's weird). But anyways, going out into the real world sounded quite a bit intimidating, especially since we've only been learning Tagalog for four weeks. Sounds like a lot right? Not. 

Some Tagalog practice

Heading out to proselyte - first time!

We drove over to a chapel where we would be going on exchanges with some other missionaries who have been out in the field for a while. My companion was Sister Collins. She is one of the Samoan sisters. (There are lots of Samoans and Tongans over here...) She was really cool. She's super nice, and very talkative. She's been out for about 5 months now. She's pretty good at Tagalog, but she also speaks quite a bit of Taglish. Luckily, most of the people here speak English, or at least understand it. So I was paired up with her, and the first thing we did was go ride a jeepney to her part of the area. Let me tell you something. Jeepneys are soo soo loud. I don't know how the driver could here anything the people in the back were saying, but he always heard them when they would say stop. It was crazy. And the driving here is like playing chicken. Mom. You would probably die. Or just get really angry at people ;) It's insane. We got to our first area, and the first thing I noticed was the sun. It is hot... Even though it's the cool season here. Apparently your umbrellas are not just for rain... (But I did use mine for rain today! More on that later...) 

The houses are all stone, and there are people and kids and dogs and cats and trash everywhere. It is not uncommon to see a nice car next to a dump, or a nice looking restaurant next to people begging for money. The poverty here is insane, and it is sad. Our area wasn't too bad, but it's definitely a complete turn around from America. The first family we went to go see were less-actives. I guess most of the people we'll be teaching are less-actives. Which is pretty sad. Anyway, the first family wasn't all there, so we just taught one sister. I couldn't really understand what she was saying at all. But I did share a spiritual thought with her, and I could understand what my companion was saying. I also bore my testimony in Tagalog. Very simply, but it was good. Then the next lady that we went to was also a less-active, but she's married to a recent convert. We didn't actually teach him. She was really nice, and I could understand a lot of what she was saying, I just couldn't respond. That seems to be what happens the most. I understand some of what people are saying, if not a lot of what they are saying, but I just can't say anything back to them. Unfortunately, the only people I can understand are the ones talking about the gospel.... But it's ok! I'm not worried yet. We only had a couple hours to teach, so those were the only people that we talked to. When we were going back, we rode another jeepney and then a little tricycle thing. That was a tight fit.

 

A couple of funny things that happened while we were proselyting. One, everyone stared at me. I mean everyone. Especially the jeepney drivers. It was a little creepy, but I suppose I better get used to it. Also, the kids here are so dang cute!! At one point, there were about 6 or 7 of them following my companion and I around. They would try to speak in English to us, and they would just laugh so hard. One kept saying to me "What's your name?? What's your name??". So cute!! But yeah, that was proselyting. I'm excited to go out again next week!!

 

Today was P-day! P-days are fun. We helped to welcome the new missionaries, and then we went to the temple!!! I LOVE the temple. It's amazing the spirit that you can feel in there. Also, I met my mission president, President Sperry today! He was here setting a missionary apart, and we got to meet him! He knew me and my companion as soon as we saw him. It was awesome! And we also met the 2 APs. One is going home before we even get out into the field, but the other is staying. So that was cool. Oh, and we finally went out into the rain for the first time today when we went to the store. (Mom, I used my card, and it worked, so hopefully it keeps working.) My crocs work! And I was way excited to get to use my umbrella!

 

Just one last thing to share. This is for everyone, whether you believe in the gospel or not. My kasama, some elders from our district and I were talking about this the other day. How cool is it to believe in the gospel? (Or how cool would it be...?) We get to believe that our Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ appeared to a 14 year old boy over 200 years ago. We get to believe that he saw an the Angel Moroni who then gave him actual gold plates to be translated in a book that we have today. Which book has been translated into hundreds of other languages. We get to believe that there were nations on this earth that only we have record of. Especially ones who saw Jesus Christ after he was resurrected. We get to believe that our Heavenly Father still loves us because he has called prophets today who speak to Him for us. We get to believe that they direct us with guidance directly from our Heavenly Father. We get to believe that Jesus Christ, our brother, has given us the chance to be saved, and to return to our Heavenly Father's presence again. Tell me, how cool is that? I have never thought about the gospel like that, but seriously. How cool is that??? We get to believe in all of those things!! It's awesome. I love this gospel, and I love being a missionary!! And I love you all!!

 

 

Mahal kita,

Sister Wilwand

 With Elder Westover (McKelle's Grandpa's former Bishop's son - got that?)

 With good friends

Sister Training Leaders

Happy Halloween, Apostle handshake and heavenly mangoes!

Dear Family and Friends,

How crazy!! This Halloween is the very first holiday that I will be missing! So I hope you all had a very fun Halloween. My kasama and I dressed up in Halloween colors (sort of). I'll attach some pictures.

First of all, to Dad, good luck on your Ironman this weekend!! I've been thinking about you a lot! I know you'll do great. I wish I was there to cheer you on, but I'll cheer you on from here. I also wish I could do all the fun things you're doing in Florida, but I think missionary work is just a little bit more important for me at the moment ;) Mom, I'm glad your surgery went well! Hopefully the other one will go well too if you have to get it. I've been thinking about you too, and praying for you!

So the biggest thing that happened this week was probably the fact that one of the Twelve Apostles, NEIL L. ANDERSEN, came to visit us here in this little old MTC in the Philippines. Want to know the best part? We got to shake his hand. Oh yes, we did. It was awesome!!! Seriously best part of my week, probably even my whole stay so far.

If anyone still talks to Aaron Gogl, tell him that I've found his twin. Not in looks, because that's still Vector from Despicable Me, but in personality. It's freaky. They are so much alike, it's weird.

The weeks are going by much faster now. It seems like I just emailed you all a day or two ago. It's crazy. Tagalog is going fairly well. However, it is so very complicated sometimes. Holy moly. And it's very hard to sing in. I was the chorister for the devotional on Sunday night, and I hade to conduct the Tagalog songs. Let me tell you, it is not easy to conduct when you don't even know what you're saying. But I don't think I made too huge of a fool out of myself, so we're all good! Speaking of music, that is one of the things I really miss. Luckily, I've decided that I don't really care who hears my voice anymore, so my kasama and I sing all the time. Now Sister Clark is a good singer. I just kind of blend in underneath her voice. But it's great. The Elders in our district will join in sometimes too. We have very musically talented group here. We try to sing whenever we can find a spare minute, which is not very often, but it's still awesome. Try singing Joseph Smith's First Prayer to the tune of Come Thou Fount. It's awesome.

What else... We've had lots of sick girl this week, which is never good. Since my kasama and I are Sister Training Leaders, often time the girls will call us to see what they should do about it. One day, we sat with a girl for about an hour or so while her companion ate with the nurse, and while the nurse was checking on her. I'm really hoping that I don't get sick.

So next week should be super fun. First of all,we are going to be the senior batch here at the MTC. Crazy right? Second, it'll be our first week proselyting. That is going to be insane! I feel like I don't know enough to go out and try to teach actual people in a completely different language. Maybe it'll motivate me to study more. We'll see. I've heard that your companion that you do exchanges with lets you lead the lessons... I'm not sure how I'm supposed to do that when I can't talk to the people, but I'm sure the Spirit will help me know what to say.

We're had some great success this week with our 'investigators'. It's been kind of crazy, seeing as we have an extra investigator, but Anna and Roy (our teachers) have been doing great. Roy is excited for the baptismal date that we've set for him, and Anna is progressing towards hers. We love teaching, and we're always excited to go in and teach. It's awesome!

What else... I love the Book of Mormon!! This week, a group of us were reading the BoM, and we finished our chapter early. So we decided to share our favorite scriptures. That was an amazing experience. It's always cool to hear other peoples' testimonies. I've also developed a new love for the Book of Mormon. We hardly get any time to read for ourselves here. We're always either studying for our investigators, or reading with a group, or there's not enough time with everything else we have to do. So the few minutes that I get to read a chapter or two for myself are great. I also got a Tagalog BoM, and it is fun to read it side by side with the English one. It may take waaaay longer to do my reading that way, but it makes me feel a little bit better to see how much I have learned so far.

The food this week have been fairly normal. We eat lots of fish, and still lots of rice. My portions of rice have slowly been getting smaller and smaller. I'm thinking they'll end up being nonexistent at some point... We had mangoes for the first time today, and I almost died. They were that good. We've also had apple pears (Mom, that's for you), and of course I love those!!

Well, this email is probably long enough, and at the moment, I can't think of anything else that I did this week. For anyone who has time, go read Alma chapter 32 in the Book of Mormon. It's all about faith, and it is a fantastic chapter. I love it. I love all of you! Thank you all for the emails and thoughts and prayers! Have a fantastic week!!

Love,

Sister Wilwand

Hamburgers, chocolate cake & pizza...and oh yes, she's a STL!

Dear Family and Friends,

I am so sorry if I don't email you all individually!! But seeing as I got 17 emails this week, I don't have tons and tons of time to write.

So let me start out by saying that I love the MTC!! And I love being a missionary. I have had some amazing experiences here. One of which, as you can see by the title, was getting to eat a hamburger, chocolate cake, and some pizza. Let's just say it was one of our better meals. But really though, we've had some super spiritual experiences here.

(No rice!!)

Let's see, a couple of things I forgot to mention last email. I watched General Conference all over again last week. It was good, but it was interesting to see it all again, but the missionaries here hadn't seen it yet. I was also called with my kasama (companion) to be a Sister Training Leader. We go to leadership meetings and things like that, but we're really only in charge of 2 other girls. They are ones that came in at the same time as we did. The other Sister Training Leaders are over lots more girls. But it's fun. We get to go around and talk to all of the new missionaries that came in today (!!!). We'll just see how they're doing, and see if they need  anything. It was really fun today to see all the new missionaries come in. Most of them looked totally lost. It's hilarious. It's also fun to talk to all of the American's in the little Tagalog that we know. They can't understand a word. (A note for Grandpa... I met Elder Westover today! He's really cool. I also have an Elder Elms who is in my district. He lived in Tri-Cities for a while, but I'm not sure if Grandpa knew him or his dad? His dad was a seminary teacher). So anyways, it's really fun to have the new missionaries here, but I'm sure that the hallways are going to be really loud soon.

Last Friday was P-day, and was today. We get to go to the temple every Friday, and it's awesome!! 

We also get to go to the store that's just down the street, so that's always fun too. We met a lady yesterday who customized rings. She has ones with CTR on them, and your mission on them. So I got one that say Philippines Quezon City North on it. It's sweet!! P-day is a lot of fun. We kind of just do what we want, but we also have some things that are scheduled. So tonight, we're teaching our investigator Ana.

This week we got 3 new investigators; 2 are investigators, and 1 is a less-active. The investigators are named Roy and Ana. My kasama and I have had some really amazing experiences with each of them. It was a little hard to get to know them at first, but after a while, it's not too bad. We thought that Roy would be hard to teach since he didn't really believe that God loved him, but we're doing better with him than with Ana. We also taught a less-active this week, but that was a strange lesson. 2 girls that are going to Filipino missions have been with other Pakistani missionaries for the past two weeks. So they haven't been learning Tagalog. Since those other 2 missionaries left with the older batch on Wednesday, these 2 Sister joined out district for a couple days. When we were teaching the less-actives, my kasama and I did a companion exchange with these two sisters. They're both great, but it was hard because my kasama and I had to teach our lessons in Tagalog, basically by ourselves. That was a challenge. But we think they went ok. But back to Roy, his lessons are amazing. Like my kasama and I have cried more than once during the lessons that we've had with him because they have been so dang spiritual. And I think we might have gotten our teacher to cry too. (Our teachers are the ones that role play our investigators...)

What else... Gym is fun. My kasama and I will run around for a while, and then play basketball or badminton or ping-pong. We usually play ping-pong with some of the elders, so that's always really fun. I really love my district. I love that we can be joking around and teasing each other in one class, and then turn around and be totally spiritual in the next lesson. It's great. They make life at the MTC really easy to enjoy.

 And of course, my kasama is amazing. She had the best testimony of anyone I've ever met, and I feel like we make a really great team. I will truly miss her when I get out in the field.

I love you all!! And I miss you all a lot. Just a quick spiritual thought today. 2 Nephi 1:15. It is a fantastic scripture. It talks about how the Lord will redeem our souls from hell, and encircle us eternally in his arms of love. How great is that?? Hell doesn't necessarily mean hell here. It could mean absolutely anything that you are struggling. Heavenly Father knows each one of us individually, and he knows what we are struggling with. The Atonement is real. So real. It does not only cleanse you from your sins, but it can help with sorrow and trials and despair, and anything else. The Atonement is individualized. It is for each and everyone of us. Take advantage of it.

Paalam!

Sister Wilwand

The other sister missionaries are from Pakistan!

Sister Wilwand and her roommates