Pasko Na!

Merry Christmas Everyone!!!

     I am feeling just a little nostalgic because I just so happen to be emailing in the same net shop that I was in when I skyped you all last year. It's the first time I have been back here since that day! Haha kind of random and it definitely makes me excited to see you guys again this week! 10 am on the 26 will work just great :) Can't wait!! Our apartment here is officially ready for Christmas. We have an adorable little felt Christmas tree set up on our wall and my new companion, Sister Mortell got an ipod sent to her full of Christmas music on it! INCLUDING a few Amy Grant Christmas songs!! I could barely control my emotions when I heard it for the first time haha.

     Yes, I have a new companion! Her name is Sister Mortell she is from Idaho. I actually mentioned her in my email a couple of weeks ago because we had exchanges together last transfer! Yes, she's the funny one who likes to feel like Indiana Jones on the jeepneys and that's when my dress ripped as we were getting off haha. Never would have guessed she would become my next companion! This is actually her last transfer on her mission! But I really never would guess it by the way that she works. She doesn't seem run down at all! She is really excited to dive right into this new area. She wants to do the most for it that she can before she leaves. Since she will for sure be transferring (aka going home haha) after this transfer, that may also mean that I get to be here in Bauang til the end of my time on the mission. I would really love that. The branch here is so great and the area is a really good challenge for me. There is so much more I want to do here! And Sister Mortell is going to be a great addition to the missionaries here in the branch.

     So this week was quite the week. I can't remember much that happened to be honest. On Tuesday, Sister Aroa transferred to Agoo zone and Sister Mortell arrived here in Bauang. We got to work and Sister Mortell is really doing her best to get to know faces, names, houses, everything because she only has 6 weeks here! It was a real tough week concerning pagtuturo or teaching. The Christmas season is wonderful and there is always a special feeling in the air. But I admit, I may have said "Christmas ruins everything" this week as we walked around frustrated because no one was home! haha I want this to be a great transfer for the area and especially for Sister Mortell's last transfer in the mission, but there are parades, fiestas, carolling and many other celebrations that are making it pretty rough to reach our goals each day. But of course, we try not to make excuses and just keep working hard.

     As for our tinuturuan (people we are teaching) they are still wonderful and I love them just as much as ever! But this week, we weren't able to teach MA or Brother Rolly due to crazy busy Christmas ginagawa (things you do). They are two of the three investigators in this area who have accepted dates to be baptized. And it is a little nerve racking to see that we missed out on a whole week of teaching and checking up on their commitments. But some good news with Colas! He is the other investigator who is set up to be baptized on January 24. He attended the youth Christmas party on Friday night and the branch Christmas party on Saturday! He is making some really great friends and is getting nice and comfortable at the church. Our main concern is really just his focus and understanding on gospel principles. We have decided we will give him a notebook for him and us to take notes/draw pictures in so that he can hopefully begin to have a more full understanding of the things we teach.

      This week we found some great new investigators! On her first day in the area, Sister Mortell and I decided that we wanted to find a family that we could teach and maybe even baptize within this transfer. We have found 2 families so far. We are not sure if they are the ones that we have been praying for, but we sure hope that as we move forward with faith and diligence, we will find the chosen who Heavenly Father is preparing for us. Sorry this week wasn't too exciting. But I hope everyone has an absolutely magical and joyful Christmas! I am so so excited to see you all this week on our google hangout :) Love you all!

- Sister Sawada