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