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.