She's a Philippina!!!

Ano ba iyan? What in the world??

     So this week I officially ended my training! It was a bittersweet goodbye to Sister Tanner. Bitter because she has taught me so much and I truly depended on her for so many things. Pero it's also sweet because I feel confident in the training that I have received and I am excited to see where things go next! Well I know already where some things have gone. Sister Tanner is now in La Trinidad zone in Baguio. It is so cold up there so I am not too jealous haha. She is actually follow up training my batch mate Sister Neely! She wasn't in my district in the MTC pero we came in the same batch and she is really sweet so I think they will do great.

     As for me, I met my new companion! Her name is...(drum roll)...Sister Galera!!! She is from Bulacan Philippines which is part of the Quezon City North mission. She is the tiniest sweetest little thing and the best part is that she is so ready to work! I was expecting to have to take it easy the first couple of days but she is like a little fire ball. Already complaining about how few lessons we teach haha which is a little bit of a dagger to the heart but it is a good sign because that means she is ready to find people to teach! And that's exactly what we need. But as for the people who we are teaching at the moment...

     Kathleen is back! Kathleen is finally back from Manila. She was exhausted and got home late Saturday night yet she still came to church! It was so great to see her there and we are going to meet with her tonight to hear how her vacation was and check up on her word of wisdom. Unfortunately her IBD for January 25 will not be happening but we know her baptism is so close. Just around the river bend!

     Sister Hesa! I sure hope I have shared about Hesa before but in case I haven't, her name is Hesa. She is in her late 20s siguro (maybe) early 30s and she has 2 kids. Rhianna and Raven. Rhianna is a girl and is 4 and Raven is a boy and is 3. Rhianna is a little sassy thing and already has a facebook haha and Raven is the sweetest. Hesa has been taking the lessons for quite a while now. About 5 months I think and she is so golden. She knows the Book of Mormon is true and prays every night with her kids. Her only pagsubok (trial) is her husband. He is a strong catholic and won't join our lessons. She will not get baptized unless her husband will get baptized as well.

     Kind of a depressing thought considering we are no where close to getting Brother Joseph, Hesa's asawa (spouse) to baptism. So we decided to really focus on the sabbath day with Hesa this week. She still has never come to church. She needs to come to church! At church she can learn so much more than just what us missionaries teach. She can meet more members and see how happy they are. And most importantly she can feel what it would feel like to be a member of the church. So we stressed how important going to church is and I even gave her a skirt so that she could have appropriate clothing (she said she didn't feel like any of her clothes were formal enough) And this Sunday, Hesa came to church! She brought Raven with her and she stayed for all three hours! Unfortunately church was actually 3.5 hours this week because sacrament meeting went way long.
But I think she enjoyed it. I hope she did! We will meet with her this week and see how she liked it.

     Lastly, Nardz came to church again! 2 weeks in a row now! He is pretty much a member already. In our gospel principles class he answers all the questions and doesn't even sit with us in sacrament meeting! Rude! Joke. He sits with members who he knows which is so so awesome. We didn't get to teach Nardz this past week though so we will meet with him this week and hopefully he is still moving along on the road to baptism :)

     So that's really all I have to share about the work this week. I am just really excited to see what Sister Galera and I are going to be able to accomplish in San Juan. Already lessons are so much more effective because there is someone there who actually speaks Tagalog! Also she is very bold and blunt and gets the job done haha. As we work together with the help of the Lord, I really think we are going to be able to do some big things. Can't wait to share next week!

     Some side notes: Jac I am so so so so soooo sorry I forgot to wish you happy birthday last week! I hope it was a great time and I hope you and Mikel are healthy and happy!

      Also President Balledos told me that we are getting a mission nurse in April and she is from the Kaneohe Stake! I think he said her last name was Simson...is that Aunty Anne?? I couldn't hear him super clear over the phone but it seemed like that's what he said and if so I am so so excited to see her! Hopefully I will be able to see her...

      Sige! Yon lang. I will send some more pictures now! Yay! Some of them are from a while back. Joke lang. The attachments aren't working :/ So you will just have to imagine me having a ton of fun working with a tiny little philippino girl for now and I will send them when I can. I love you all so so much! Take care and until next week!

Love,

Sister Sawada