Baptisms and a hot shower make for a great 20th birthday week!

Hi!!

This week was such a fantastic week!!

So what was the craziest thing that happened this week? I turned 20!! Why is that so weird you might ask? Well, while I'm out here, it seems like time has stopped... But actually it hasn't. I've been telling people that I'm 19 for the past year that I've been out here in the Philippines, and now I have to remember to tell them that I'm 20... It's a little weird.

The fact that her friends in the Philippines made her a birthday sign is kind of funny because I, her momma, ran around all day Sunday, snapping pictures of various friends, our Bishop, a Stake Presidency member, etc. holding "Happy Birthday Sister Wilwand" signs and emailed them all to her.

What was the best thing that happened this week? WE HAD ANOTHER BAPTISM!!!!!!!!!!!! What??? Crazy right? But it was so awesome!!! We had 5 of our investigators get baptized, and it was the best day of my entire life. No joke. I was thinking about it, and there is no day in my life that gets even close. There is nothing better than seeing people change and come unto Christ. We have seen these people change so much in the past few months, and it's amazing. This is the best part of being a missionary, and this is why I love it =]

That is pretty much the biggest thing that happened in our week this week, but we had some other cool experiences too. For one thing, we went on exchanges with the STLs this week, and it was way fun! I went with Sister Walker, and we went running that morning! It was so fantastic. We were both so sore the next day, but it was so fun!! And while I was with her, I had a cool experience about how Heavenly Father answers prayers through other people. I have been praying to get the feeling that Heavenly Father is proud of what I've been doing so far in my mission. I've been worrying about it for a while, just wondering if I've given my best so far. Well, through Sister Walker, just something she said, I got an overwhelming feeling of love and peace, and that I have been working hard. Of course, I still have lots left to do, but I've done good so far. It was just a cool little experience =]

And yesterday, I had a pretty fun experience. So we got a call from our zone leaders on Friday during weekly planning saying that Sister Clark and I had to do some fingerprinting on Monday morning. So Sunday night, we're supposed to go to the mission home, stay the night, and then go Monday morning to Manila. Let me tell you, we were SO excited to stay at the mission home for a night. It meant good food, real milk, air conditioning, and the best thing ever, HOT SHOWERS!!!!! Oh yes, we were excited. So we woke up really early this morning and all took hot showers. It was the best thing ever. I felt so clean afterwards!! And then we headed over to Manila this morning. And we went to part of the US Embassy over there and did some fingerprinting stuff... It was so weird to see a whole bunch of white people over there... Yikes. And then afterwards, we took a little detour to the beach (it's our P-day). And we took some cool pictures over there. It was way fun!!

Hot showers at the mission home - what a great birthday present!

Visiting Manila Bay

Well, I think that's about it! It was a really good week this week. I love you all! This work is hasten, hasten with it!

Love,

Sister Wilwand

Sister Wilwand and Sister Clark

Sister Clark and Sister Wilwand in the matching jackets they bought (and she says her pants are very comfy!)

Two sets of missionaries and the YSA sisters.

There's a storm coming in!

So yes, there was as storm that came in this week, but don't worry! We're all ok over here. Just loving it =]

Let me tell you a little bit about our week.

First of all, this storm came on Friday. So on Friday, we're supposed to do our weekly planning from 12-3. But, the member that was working with us could only work with us at 1, so we decided that we would go out and work first, and then we would do our weekly planning. So we went out and were waiting for our worker when our Zone Leaders called to tell us a little news, we were supposed to have no work that day. At this point, the storm is a little strong, but not too bad. Well, we were already in our area, with our worker on the way, so our ZL just said to go to our appointments and then go home. So we went to our first appointment and then to our second one. Now, these were very important appointments. We needed to teach two of our investigators because their baptismal interviews were supposed to be the next day. After this second appointment, we just had one more to go to, but then our ZLs called us again and told us that we needed to go home. And when we got outside, we could see why. The wind and the rain were so strong! We got soaked just waiting for a jeepney...  And we had to walk a little ways to get there. Our umbrellas kept on turning inside out and everything, but it was fun! We were just laughing the whole time. And eventually, we got home =] And that was our experience with the storm.

And now, this week we are having 5 baptisms!!! All five of our investigators got interviewed on Saturday and now they're getting baptized on Friday!! We are so super excited. We almost thought that one of them had changed her mind because of family problems, but then everything turned out to be ok! We are super super super excited!!

I think that might have been everything that has been happening this week. It was a little bit crazy, but way good! We're still trying to find new investigators that are ready for the gospel. Sometimes it's hard, but when you can see their progression, it's all worth it! So we're excited to find some new families that are ready to be part of this church.

I'm not sure what else happened this week. Mostly we've just been focused on finding and helping our progressing investigators. But things are going good!

I'll just share some thought about what I've been studying in my personal study lately. I've been reading about the missionaries in the Alma chapters. I've been reading about Alma and Amulek and the sons of Mosiah. Just go read those chapters in there, and there is no way that you can say that this is not the Lord's work. Even way back then, they had missionaries who were teaching people. And these people were some of the worst. But they still had success. And so can we. All we have to do is trust in the Lord and follow the Spirit. If we do the Lord's will, we will always be successful. He's promised us that much.

I love you all!! I hope you are all safe and sound =D

Love,

Sister Wilwand

Sister Wilwand's hammock - wonder if it is cooler to sleep there...

Some Filipino money

Looks like a bagyo (again!)

Hi!!! Hope you are all doing well over there on the other side of the world!

This week has been good!! We've definitely seen some miracles going on in this ward and in this area.

So first of all, we're having another baptism!!! It's going to be on the 26th, next Friday. And it'll e a perfect birthday present! We are so so so excited for the people getting baptized this next week. They are amazing, and we love them so much!! We have 5 people that are getting baptized. A mom, and 3 of her daughters, and then a cousin/niece of some of our members. It is going to be fantastic!!

We've also had some good progress with a couple of our other investigators. We have two other girls who are hopefully going to get baptized on the 11th. That is going to be a hectic day! That's the day that they broadcast general conference over here, so we're hoping that everything will work out for that baptism.

Yesterday was a really good day!! We had the chance to see one of our recent converts pass the sacrament, and it was so cool! He's a 12 year-old boy who just barely got baptized, and he was a little nervous, but he did well, and it was cool to see him using the priesthood that he has been given!! I also found out about an hour before sacrament meeting that I was giving a talk, so that was a little scary, but it was all good. I guess it's true about missionaries always being prepared. My talk was about missionary work, so it was pretty easy =]

Yesterday was also kind of crazy. We went home after church to eat, and then went to one of our appointments with our investigators. Right when we were in the lesson, it started pouring rain and the wind was blowing so hard. So when went out after the lesson and on our way home, we got soaked!! At one point, there was a truck that came roaring by and completely soaked us. We were already wet, but it was a fun experience ;) Luckily, at this point, we were already on our way home... Yikes! And even this morning, it was still pretty windy and raining pretty hard. I guess that's why it's more fun in the Philippines =D

A very drenched Sister Wilwand!

I think that's about it that happened this week. Oh, I did meet someone from Canada the other day. He's actually from B.C. It was very weird talking to him in the middle of the street. All of the people here were staring, but it's all good! It was cool to talk to someone in english for a change.

Ok, that's about it. We're just trying to prepare for all of the people we have getting baptized soon. I love you all!! This work is true!

Love,

Sister Wilwand

I LOVE being a Missionary!

Hi!!

Well, this has been another great week in the mission field!! I am still loving this area, and the people that we are teaching.

This week, we had some miracles happen! For one thing, we have another baptism coming up on the 26th of September!! The baptism was supposed to be later, but we're going to move it as early as we can because they are prepared, and so we can focus on some other investigators. But this family is the best!! They've come to church every single week since we've taught them, and they love it. They have such amazing testimonies, and we are so excited for them to become members of this church!

On Sunday, we also had three of our other investigators come to church. They are fairly recent, but it was awesome to see them there! They stayed for all three hours, and we're really hoping that they enjoyed it. They are so interested in the gospel, and always have so many questions, so we're excited to keep teaching them.

Another one of our investigators is also getting baptized soon!! Her mom agreed to let her get baptized, and she is so excited. Her baptism might not be until October, but it'll be soon =]

We also have transfer day tomorrow! But no one in our district is transferring since we are all training. So the only people that transferred were in our zone. I'm excited to stay here for another transfer, especially with Sister Bugtong. We've seen so much progress so far, and we're so excited for everything that is going to happen in this area. It is really the best, and I couldn't have been more blessed to have been assigned here. I love it! 

We also had a ward Family Home Evening this past weekend, and it was so much fun!! We had so many investigators and other people who showed up, and it was such a blast. The missionaries were all in charge of the games, and then we watched the Restoration video and then we had dinner. It was super fun!

Ward FHE

Looks like musical chairs, perhaps?

Anyways, miracles are happening all over the world! I hear about missionary stories all the time, and you can really see this work hastening. I hope we can all say that we are doing our part! In Moroni 7:33 Jesus Christ tells us something. He says "If ye will have faith in me ye shall have power to do whatsoever thing is expedient in me." A short and yet powerful scripture. If we have faith in him, we can do anything, including converting the world. So let us go and do the Lord's work!!

I love you all!

Love,

Sister Wilwand