Peanut Butter and Jelly Biscuits = Life

Sige, this week was... hard to explain. There were ups! There were downs... but at least last night we got hot cakes. Not banana this time, but still good. Nayt and Jaimie I'm almost halfway through the journal you bought me, it is so cute and handy I love it.

Last week after i emailed we went to the wall, it was awesome! Basically next to the river there is this giant cement wall, i think its a dam barrier, it wraps all the way around. To get to it you have to climb up to the overpass and climb over the barrier. We see people out there all the time and we wanted to try it so away we went! It wasn't too exciting, but it was nice up there. Lots of air. At gaisano i found the best stickers, they are glow in the dark cats, and i had to have them, only 15 pesos, totally worth it. They are wearing neckerchiefs.

On thursday we were looking for a referral and we found her neighbor sitting outside so we sat down and taught her and while i was testifying about returning to live with langitnong amahan she just says "dili" it caught me off guard, i didn't know how to continue. Apparently she does not want to go to heaven. Sige... that's fine. I guess.

There was this old homeless tatay walking down the road later that day, by the boardwalk and he was kind of mumbling to himself so we stopped and Sister Conjelado gave him some biscuits and to say thank you he sang us this song in visaya, it was definitely interesting. It was about a couple who took a picture together and then died. Umbot, hard to follow.

Mom, I got to shred fresh coconut this week at a members house and it made me think of that time that you wanted fresh coconut for a recipe so you bought a whole coconut from the store and spent hours trying to get it out of the shell, haha, let me tell you, there is an easier way to do it. you straddle this plank of wood and there is this spike attached to the end of it, and you just place a bowl underneath and scrape a coconut half over the spike. It takes like 10 minutes or less for one coconut. And the fresh coconut tastes SOO GOOD!

There is this really good soup we buy here, we get it all the time cause its only 25 pesos which is like 50 cents, and we take it home and eat it, best eating out investment ever. We had exchanges this week and Sister Lamoglia promised to make me brownies i just had to bring eggs, so i swaddled a bunch of eggs in a plastic bag and was holding them protectively against my body until we got to their apartment. The brownies, also very good. In the morning there were ants crawling all over them, but we just scared them away and ate the brownies anyway. I'm learning to get over things that would have previously bugged me. there are some interesting developments in my life.

It was pouring down rain, and my feet were so muddy, but we just rinsed off, i love rubber shoes best things ever.

When we were walking around a woman spotted us and literally sprinted inside her house to get away from us. We were waiting for a trike on the side of the road, and she came around the corner because she thought we were gone, and when she saw us again she jumped back. But she must have really needed something from that tindahan because she ran past us and kept worriedly looking over her shoulder. I just laughed, some people love us and... some people are terrified.

We went out to the bukid and there was this litter of puppies running around I had to pet them, and then I had to alcohol my hands because they are diseased.

We tried taho this week, its tofu in this sweet juice, very interesting. Its a hot lumpy drink... I have mixed feelings about it.

We had a missionary workshop for the members on Sunday, and church was 5 hours long because of it. I'm amazed all the members stayed. It was a huge missionary member fireside to encourage them to invite their friends to learn about the church. We sang "Where love is" for the members, we had to do it acapella but it went really wall. Such a pretty song.

I tried Halohalo for the first time on Monday, Its like purple ice cream, ube, beans, rice, wafer stick, jellies, and other stuff and you just mix it all together. I didnt think i would like it, but it was weirdly delicious. Look up a picture of it.

Bah I got hit by a trike this week, the motorcycle slammed into my back. The cab hit Sister Conjelado in the shoulder, it was pretty exciting. No battle scars though, haha.

We were walking in upper drilling to teach an investigator and we passed this group of kids and one of the girls called out to me "I want to friend you" everyone here says "Hello my friend" to me, i think its just their limited english, it always makes me smile. Well we got talking to them, and then this other group of kids showed up and the younger kids started teasing one of the boys, saying he was in love with me, it was pretty funny, so i introduced myself to him. He's 12, really shy. I always have weird experiences here.

Oh Kaylyn! There is this less active we are teaching who looks EXACTLY like Zayn from one direction, its the darndest thing!

Yesterday when we were leaving Dumlog I saw this girl sitting on her bike singing breakaway by kelly clarkson and i just thought "I need to talk to this girl" so I tapped her on the shoulder and started talking to her. I told her we were missionaries and a little bit about her message and then she said "Naa'y pangutana sister" so i said "sige," and she told us how she's valedictorian at her school and asked why her friends said she didn't deserve to be valedictorian, why they told her she's just a second choice all the time, she was really upset about it, so we talked with her about Christ and trials. I know God puts these people in our path who need comfort, it was so good. I'm glad I stopped to talk to her. It's always when we are most tired, most upset and humbled, we had so many trials yesterday and that was just such a good moment.

Anyways love you all, watch because he lives on LDS.org, its delightful!



love, sister dunn

"naa ja'y candy sister?"

Hi! This week was interesting, but as I said to my companion, every day in the Philippines is interesting. We like to carry candy in our bags to give to the mga bata and they know it now, and kind of just expect it, it is so funny. So we were saying goodbye to this member family yesterday and the daughter without missing a beat asked "Naa ka'y candy Sister?" which means "Do you have any candy sister?" I laughed so hard, and of course I did so I gave her one. And then last night I offered up a piece of candy to whatever child could tell me which direction was north, and neither of them could so they both got candy, and then I taught them about the big dipper.

So leaving off after my last letter... Last wednesday we hiked to the top of this really tall hill that overlooks all of Toledo, and took pictures. I found the skeleton of a dog, it was pretty cool. Sadly though, i think that it had just starved and crawled up there to die.

Later that night we were FTE'ing (finding the elect, which is basically street contacting) and this white man walked past us, stopped, came back, looked at our name tags and kept walking. after we were done talking with the group of men we tried to look for this man but he had disappeared. We had seen him at church on sunday the week before.

This week was kind of punted week, whenever we tried to find people, or tried their houses they were not home. It was especially bad on Thursday, i think almost every house we tried they were either not home or "asleep". It was funny. And frustrating. One of the less actives we teach is less active because she got offended, and she always gets really fired up and takes control of the lessson. She made a good point though "the gospel is perfect, the people aren't" but then all i could think of was, forgiveness! On Thursday night we bought this really yummy soup and i ate a chili from it, (apparently you aren't supposed to do that) it was an accident i didn't see it... and I felt like i was dying it was so hot. It reminded me of the time I ate that really spicy habenero at EFY.
I bought marshmallows this week and I have been roasting them over the stove. So yummy. so worth it.

The ward was doing a runway show for the relief society anniversary, and we went to see it for like 5 minutes on saturdayit turned out soo good. The girls were so cute and did a really good job.
In all the food here they put "magic sarap" which is essentially MSG, so sometimes when they food tastes especially good I ask my companion "what did you put in this?" and she goes "magic..." in this mysterious voice and i just know, that I am eating so much MSG. I'm going to have a heart attack at one point or something.

Saturday was a day of miracles. We climbed up this hillside first thing and found this boy and his two sisters, and they let us teach them, and they are so elect! So prepared, and so we have a return appointment with them. And then we walked to the next set of huts and there was this family outside and we talked about the book of mormon and he said "If you say it is the word of God I will listen" and they let us teach them too! This family, also, soo elect! We gave him the book of mormon and he started reading it. It was a really spiritual lesson, just talking with him I could feel my testimony of the book of mormon growing.

We went to one of our IBD's houses next and they had a bunch of baby chicks running around, they were like the size of golf balls and so cute! It was a bit difficult to concentrate, i really wanted to hold them. And then when we left, there were a ton of baby goats on the hillside. So many cute animals!
We went to go contact an FTE from earlier that week, and when we got there it turns out they had been waiting for us ALL AFTERNOON and were worried we weren't going to come! They are also our new investigators. I'm telling you, DAY OF MIRACLES! When we left their house one of the daughters said "BYE AMERICANA!" Haha it was so cute!

One weird thing here is when people greet me on the street they always say "Hi my friend" it's strange, but nice. Its better than what some people yell.

There was this little Tatay sitting on the cement wall that overlooks the beach/ocean and we went over and talked to him he had this crazy awesome beard and turns out he's been a fisherman for over 50 years. Sister Conjelado just leaned towards him and says "God loves you" it was really powerful, he kept shaking her hand.

We went over to a recent converts and all the children wanted my pringles haha, and kept saying the word "chip!" in the cutest little voices, because they didn't know that word before. And the mom practically force fed us this really good cabbage soup. Its funny how much people want to feed you here.

The chicken problem is coming to drastic proportions. They keep me up all night every night. so the other day i woke up and theres this rubber band gun in our apartment and i went out to the balcony and got down and did like a sniper shot at the ground by the chicken and he got quiet real fast. It was a warning shot. they've been pretty quiet ever since.

On Sunday while we were walking to church this really nice member couple stopped and let us ride in their van to the building, tender mercy for sure because its so hot outside, and their van had aircon.

We went to a funeral this week and on the ride there like 10 of us piled onto a motorcycle with a small cart attached, it was pretty fun. We sang my favorite hymn there, "lead, kindly light" it was beautiful, except there were a bunch of kids being really loud.

On monday one of the elders got a care package with chocolate. I was in heaven. I needed chocolate. I've almost finished my entire jumbo jar of nutella. We are singing "where love is" for the fireside and we had to practice it, and we don't sound very good haha but we're trying and we're getting better. 

We had to let go of an investigator this week who hasnt been progressing, it was really hard. Especially because after we left her little daughter Arlene (who i adore) ran out after us and yelled IN ENGLISH "I love you sister dunn!" my heart broke. But we know this family will eventually join the church. It's in god's hands, in his time.

My guilty pleasure food here is mango ice pops. They are only 1 peso each and they are made from fresh mangoes. They are beautiful creations.

Love you all, have a fantastic week!


-Sister Dunn

Sipon & No Showers

Wow, this week was long and tiring. I'll explain the title of the email. Sipon is the word for cold. Which I have, my nose is so stuffed this week. And the no showers. We have pretty shady water here, and sometimes it just gives up. This week I experienced my first brown out (black out) so no power, and no water. We had to skip our shower one day, we felt so gross. The next morning when we turned on the faucet and there was water I was jumping around I was so excited. I didn't even care that the water was cold, the shower felt so nice. I'm used to the cold showers now, and since it's so hot here it's a blessing.

I had my first big mac ever this week. My first big mac and I had it in the Philippines. I don't know what all the hype is about it's just a burger, and its not even that good. In&Out is so much better. 10,000x. I learned a new word from Sister Beyer this week. Char, it's not Filippino I don't think, just a word. It means like kitschy or over the top. Oh and I got my scriptures fixed this week!! Finally, they were pretty bad.

We stopped by an old IBD's house and he had cigarettes and earrings and Sister Conjelado just holds out her hand and goes "rememberance" and he GAVE US THE EARRINGS?!! LIKE WHAT?! Then she told me to choose one. It's in the pocket of my bag right now. And then she had me throw his cigarettes in a puddle.

We visited a less active this week, and the children had lice we were kind of worried during the lesson, but it was fine and I forgot all about it halfway through. Also this week.... I extended my first baptismal invitation, and she said yes!! YAY!!! She's our investigator too, like we started teaching her, I'm so happy.

One night this week we were on our way back to the apartment and there was this group of Elders just singing on the side of the road. They missed the last boat out of San Carlos and had to stay the night in Toledo, it was funny and random though. They had nice voices.

I ate a vegetable, it was like a cross between a potato and a banana, kind of weird, but good. Oh I also ate kamote and it was sooo goooddd! We had it last night at dinner. We saw sister in the field picking these leaves and she was laughing they were for me at dinner and she said "Goat's like to eat them " (kanding is the word for goat) and they were really good, goats have good taste.
We ate pizza this week at Gaisano, haha its not as good as american pizza, but still very good. And they were setting up for a catholic mass in the middle of a mall? i don't understand.
Wahh no one came to church on Sunday I was so upset, i didn't expect it to affect me so much but i was so not happy haha. Everyone told me to expect that my whole mission. I don't want that to happen!!!

And we had to teach relief society, she came up to us at the end of sacrament meeting and asked us haha, I tried my best, I'm not even a good teacher in english, its a whole other problem in Visaya...
There were two girls this week who asked to take their picture with me, and were so excited when I said yes. I'm still getting used to that.

We ate McDo's again on Monday, can you say McChicken?!? Tender mercy, so lami!
Since I had a cold this week, we had to go to the pharmacy and buy an antitussive, and when I ordered it he was like "huh?" so i had to pronounce it the filippino way and he was like "Oh, okay" pronounced like An-tee-too-siv. haha i laughed so hard. Also there is so much skin whitening stuff here. Also they make kalamanci juice here for colds (kalamanci are basically tiny limes) and it works so well. Effective gyud.

Sister Lamoglia made like gourmet eggs for us on monday night, and when we do exchanges she promised me she'd make me brownies in the rice cooker, and when she finishes her mission (the end of my twelve weeks) she's gonna give me the recipe, boo ya!
I got to talk on the phone with sister mccurdy for a bit yesterday morning which was nice, it was like talking to mom, i really needed it. Tender mercy.

We went by this house where the woman didn't want to see us, but we could totally hear her inside the house and the little girl came up and said "my mom isn't here kono" and Sister Conjelado goes "she says?" and the little girls goes "yes" i died laughing it was so funny. It was like that moment in the RM "SISTER BORIS I CAN SEE YOUR ARM!|
anyways got to go, love you so much!


-Sister Dunn

Toledo - Most beautiful place on Earth

Ayoweh! It's so pretty here. And the people here are the nicest people ever. I'm pretty sure there's no one on Earth that could convince me otherwise. It's so beautiful, I'll just leave my apartment and be walking down the street, the beach not even a half mile down the road, and just smile, no clouds in the sky, sun shining bright. I was meant to be here. Even when things get rough, or I'm sad, or homesick, I always have this feeling of comfort like... this is precisely where I am supposed to be.

We are blessed enough here to have someone to do our laundry, so that frees up time for us on P-Day, to get everything else done. I'm not quite used to the food here yet, or the amount of rice people can consume. It's other worldly. At the market there is just stalls and stalls where all they sell is rice. My favorite part of the market is the fruit stands though!!! Ahh fresh mga saging and mangoes!! They are so delicious!! Oh and some woman was like "beautiful nose, can I touch it?" I rather apprehensively leaned forwards and let this woman grab my nose, it was funny. Then she asked for a pamphlet because she saw our badges.

On Thursday I was feeling really sick, but we went to this one house and we were singing with one of the women there, and her voice was awful, but her singing, I don't know the spirit she brought made me feel so much better. It was my favorite part of the day. That night i gave away all my pins (dinosaurs and jungle animals) to kids in one of my favorite family's. They loved it.

Saturday was the baptism!! They were so cute, Ronnel and Jaylou. They are 9 and 11 and they gave such good testimonies I was so happy for them. One of them was late so we ran down to his house to get him, Mayann went with us, haha we were taking selfies outside of the house, and Kelcey was there, shes 5 i think and I took a picture of her too.

Another lizard moved in this week, although i haven't seen either of them in the past 2 days. I'm worried. By Landon and Dylan's request I am naming the new one Pascal, haha they just hang out.

We had District Meeting on Monday and I learned a lot. It was on the Art of preaching the holy ghost into the hearts of the people. and we discussed how it is an art form, and that true conversion comes through the power of the spirit. Also trying to understand what an investigator must feel.

Yesterday one of our investigators who was going to discontinue teaching told us about how on Monday she was praying really hard for an answer and then she decided to sit down and read her scriptures and while she was reading she looked up and saw the Elder's outside and she said "I knew that it was a sign that God loves me" and I was like "IT IS!! HE LOVES YOU SO MUCH!" It was amazing and spiritual, and she decided she'd try and stay in Toledo if she could find a job, and if she stays in Toledo then we can keep teaching her!! Amazing! We're praying so hard for her. We're praying hard for all of our investigators.

On Sunday night we were really tired and we went to our last appointment and we were punted, and we were like well what are we going to do, and there was this group of kids and Sister Conjelado started to talk to them and then she was like "Asa sa inyong balay?" and they were like "Didto" and pointed with there lips (because everyone does that here) and so we followed them back to their house, and now we have a whole entire family to teach! Nanay ug Tatay and kids its awesome! My kauban was so inspired.

Everyday we get around by trike and my favorite place to ride is on the back of the motorcycle its so much fun!! And its a much better form of transportation than anything we have in america. Just pay 8 pesos and you can ride anywhere in the area. So we ride to Dumlog a lot, kay we have a lot of investigators there and at sunset when we ride over the river its gorgeous. The sun just shines on the water, its all pink and there are palm trees everywhere. I love it up in Dumlog its so bukid and so its just jungle and there are cows and goats and rivers, and palm trees and its beautiful!

Anyways, love you all! Keep writing!!



-Sister Dunn

From Provo, to Portland, to Tokyo, to Manila, to Cebu, to Toledo. (jet-lag included)

Wow oh wow, good thing I have my journal with me or else I would not remember everything that happened since I wrote last... Almost 3 weeks ago. They kept having us travel on P-day so we were missing the chance to email. Hmm soo the last day I wrote was.. Friday the 13th, how apt. Haha anyways, I'll start there.

2/14 - Valentines Day, obviously! And So much fun. Thanks Debbie for the valentines, every one in my zone got a pin and they loved them! They wore them for days afterwards! And the branch presidency wife from the Thai zone gave Sister Soleta and I stress ball hearts that say Lock Your Heart on them. GENIUS! So whenever we feel ourselves unlocking our heart, we're supposed to squeeze them. Oh crazy story, I don't remember how it came up, I think we were asking about what Manila was like and Sister Soleta told us a story about how when she was a kid, a group of squatters took her dog and ate it. Insane, common i guess. There was another sister in the MTC who said that happened to her too.

2/15 - Sunday, we sang God Be With You Till We Meet Again in Sacrament meeting and everyone was crying. I have a really emotional zone, it was really tough. In Relief Society we heard a talk by a woman who's daughter has a rare blood clotting disorder and when they were all on family vacation, (her daughter was pregnant at the time) had to be rushed to the hospital, and while they were there they wanted to do random acts of service so they were taking flowers to everyone on the floor, and there was one woman in a dark room by herself, who was also pregnant that they tried to give flowers too and she wouldn't accept them because she didnt have anything to give in return and they just told her, its okay we're doing this because we love you, and so the woman picked up her violin from the corner and played my favorite hymn 'how great thou art' on it, and they showed a video of it, and it was BEAUTIFUL! I was so touched.

2/16 - Someone in the Tagalog branch had a birthday party so there were a ton of balloons. They gave me one and I drew a face on it, and I made the mistake of leaving it in the classroom when I went to the bathroom, and when I came back its balloon corpse was lying dead on the ground outside the classroom. Elder May popped it because he lost at what are the odds. I was so mad, I got another balloon and drew a face on it, and then they spent the rest of the night trying to pop it, but I ended up popping it, so they wouldn't. It was all very dramatic. Sister Allegretti informed me that my spirit animal is a koala bear. I agree. We had a family home evening as a zone, it was awesome, we all bore our testimonies and Elder Dapat was saying compliments to every one and he looked at me and said "Sister Dunn you're my disney princess!" I was so touched, best compliment EVER! They all know i love Disney here.

2/17 - I got the final package from Debbie! It took approximately 1 hour to finish off all the chocolate in the box. We got to sing Consider the Lilies for choir and it sounded gorgeous. I'd never heard that song before, but it is so pretty! We said our goodbyes to the branch presidency, I cried I'll admit it. It was really hard to say goodbye. They were like our MTC mothers.

2/18 - We got the new districts going to Cebu, and there is a Sister from Tahiti with the longest name. I love her, and it took a few minutes but I finally was able to say it. Sister Tatarata-Maheahea! She was sooo sweet and amazing! I had to send more stuff home when I was doing last minute packing. I sacrificed the peanut butter and left it behind, but i refused to sacrifice the nutella (don't worry it's safely in my fridge in the apartment). Last meal, there were mint brownies and milkshakes. Perfect! We said goodbye to our teachers, we love them so much. I cried again. And then following tradition the whole zone gathered in room 219 on the last night and we bore our testimonies, and sang Lay Down My Dear Brother, and God Be With You Till We Meet Again. And literally, everyone was crying. It was so touching, we really were like a family. When I said goodbye to Sister Henshaw it felt like my heart was being ripped from my chest, I love her so much. She was like my sister.

Back at the room we did last minute packing and we discussed candy and notes, I came up with some of the best ones. Fruit roll up - roll up your sleeves and get to work. Good & Plentys: Do good works and plenty of them. Twix- Betwixt with your eye single to the glory of God. I felt like a champ.

2/19 - We got up at 2 in the morning. We showered and lugged our suitcases to the travel office. We picked up our tickets and then got on a bus that drove us to the train station (Kaylyn we drove by your favorite temple - provo city center- it was gorgeous). There we caught a train that took us to Salt Lake, where we then took Trax to the airport. So It's not even 6 in the morning and we've already ridden a bus, and two trains. Kill me. My bags luckily weighed 49 and 50 pounds respectively. I rock. We discovered we had a layover in Portland, which was good. We needed the break. When we were going through security all the Elders had to get their hands checked for bomb residue, but none of the Sister's did and I said it was because sister's are more trustable and Elder Mapel just looked at me and said "You're wearing a pink owl pin on your shirt how dangerous can you be?" He had a point.

This is the point where I called you mom and tried not to cry. I'm sad I didn't get to talk to you longer. On the plane I was stuck between Elder Beretara and Elder Frost and they both slept and I was squooshed. And all the elders sleep with their mouths open it's hilarious. There was this adorable baby behind us named Ames, His mom let me take pictures of him. He was perfect and so adorable.

In Portland we ate at Burgerville (so good, first non MTC food and it was perfect). Then I tried to call Dad, but the calling card stopped working and I basically broke down almost in the middle of the airport. I managed somehow to hold it together. The Portland airport is so empty and sad, it reminded me of the Everett Mall.

On the flight to Japan Elder Beretara was so excited because they feed us on the flight. We were all kind of sitting near eachother except Elder Jennings, we couldn't figure out where he was. It was really slow the first half of the flight, but eventually everyone wanted my seat because I had a great view of the ocean, so they kicked me out of my spot and I moved to sit by Elder Jennings, we eventually found him. He had his own row and plenty of leg room so of course I moved up there. Oh and a flight attendant spilled red wine all over me, so i had to soak it in club soda and get to the Manila MTC smelling boozy. Luckily the stain came out.

2/20 - I'll start a new day because of times zones. When we touched down in Narita we were so excited! It was Sister Snyder's first time on a plane for these flights so she wasn't doing so hot. We had to re go through security in Japan, (which i didn't realize how necessary this was until I saw how lax the security was in Manila on the way to Cebu). We all bought Ramen, and laughed at the toilets there because some of them were in the floor. Just small box like things in the floor.

We explored the whole airport (and almost missed our flight because of it), and I bought two nindot kaayo keychains, so that I would have a japanese souveinier. I don't know how to spell that. They have the funniest ads there. And we went into this origami shop with the CRAZIEST ORIGAMI! They had dinosaurs and forests, and even the entire Cinderella scene. ballroom and all. There was this one store we went into where there was a giant samurai hanging from the ceiling, it was hilarious. I slept on the flight from japan to manila, but it was awful because the guy in the seat in front of me had his seat reclined the whole time and kept squirming around. they had carts for the luggage in Manila which helped a ton! We met a church representative who took our passports (we wont be seeing them till our missions are over) and then we exchanged our money and got into vans. This is where I experienced the craziest car ride of my life. There really aren't lanes... or traffic laws... or police officers (no seriously I've been in Cebu for a week now and I haven't seen a single police officer). It was so funn though. We drove close enough to other cars that I was able to fist bumb elder Grey out the car window. We got the Manila MTC and had a quick orientation where they informed us that we were allowed to sleep in a whole extra hour the next day. (i'm still exhausted and recovering) one hour is not enough. but its something. I'm grateful.

2/21 - Manila is gorgeous! Poverty stricken, but beautiful and warm. The MTC campus is so pretty. Palms, and huge flowers and vines. I cant describe it. It's like Eden. And we get to have class outside all the time! I quickly discovered that the rice at every meal is not a joke. We had rice for breakfast. Interesting to say the least. I felt nauseous the first few days i was there though. I'm still adjusting to the food.

An elder told me I looked like tinker bell, haha, i guess maybe. He was like "You look like that fairytale, the show my sister always watches, the fairy, tinkerbell".

We got to go proselyting in Manila (Quezon City technically) and people stared at me SO MUCH! They weren't even being discreet about it, just openly pointing at me. We got to ride 2 jeepneys, they were so much fun. And we visited the poorest house i have ever been in. I can't describe it. But they are so happy here. Everyone is so happy.

We saw a group of Bayut's playing volleyball in the street, it was funny. They are the nicest people.

When we were talking about proselyting later in the classroom, Elder Beretara was telling his experience. All the kids were pointing at him while he was walking about and yelling "MATABA!" which is Tagalog for fat, and while he was telling us about this his chair broke, we all died laughing it was so funny! The teacher says "The chair testifies!" Fat in Visayan is Tambok.

2/22 - We discovered there is a large number of people from Australia at this MTC with beautiful accents. :) We had an orientation about the Philippines and there was a sign from MCDonalds in the presentation that said "Number 1 in the world except for the Philippines where we can't beat that stupid fat happy bee" they were talking about Jollibee, which is the philippines major fast food place. They are EVERYWHERE!

We were allowed to do planning outside in the garden, and it was great until the mosquitoes came out. We ran inside but some of the Elders stayed and came in later talking about how toads showed up, so we ran back outside and there were tons of huge toads hopping around, Elder Mapel picked one up and started taking pictures with it. Also the bumble bees here are HUGE! They remind me of tracker jackers from hunger games, no lie they are the size of hamsters.

Ok I've got to hurry I'm almost out of time. So We did get to go to the Manila temple it was gorgeous, it felt like a house, the ceilings were low and it just had a nice family feeling to it (BTW I HAVE NOW BEEN TO BOTH TEMPLES IN THIS COUNTRY) awesome. We had to go to immigration and we sat there for 3 hours, no fun but we did get to go to the 7/11 and the have kinder eggs! I was so excited i bought one. On the drive through the city the elders had a competition on who could pass out the most pass along cards out the bus window. They passed out a lot.

The night before we left all the elders from Samoa and Tonga did the Haka and it was INSANE! IT WAS SO COOL! Very loud.

We had to get up early for our flight again, 3 am. The flight to Cebu was only an hour. and the security at the airport was a joke. not kidding, a joke. in Cebu we split up from the Cebu east people, it was sad because we love them so much. I didn't want to say goodbye to sister Mumu.

President McCurdy is the coolest. he has such a great sense of humor. We spent the day at the mission home and got to go to the cebu temple, prettiest temples ive ever been in. no lie. it was like beauty and the beasts castle, when it was pretty. not the scary one. We stayed in a hotel that night and met our trainers the next morning. Sister Conjelado, who is amazing is my trainer. We took a bus to Toledo, 2 hours by bus. These two people kept asking if i was married, and other weird questions. In toledo we ate at MAng inasal, delicious. and then we visited a lot of families. I love the Catubays, they are the cutest kids. I love them with my whole heart. We've seen them every day since I've been here. They cooked dinner for us last night. Ok I'm officially out of time. I'll give the rest of the details about Toldeo next week, oh and there is a lizard that lives in our apartment. I've named him Bong (legitimate name here) pronounced boe-ng and he hides behind the fridge/ and the dish cupboard. Last night though i came home and he was chilling in the bathroom. Also ive been eaten a live by mosq. I'm probably going to get Dengue. Anyways, love you all!

MTC: Last week (eek!) O.o

Next time y'all hear from my I will be in another country. How weird is that? But I'm ready to be there. I don't know how people are in the MTC for 9 or 12 weeks... It sounds absolutely terrible. And I don't have the ability to do something like that. I was called to Cebu for a reason. Although I don't know the reason yet, we'll see.

So I guess I will start with what happened last week right after I wrote. I swear the coolest most exciting stuff happens Friday night right after P-Day, no fair is all I can say. I had to wait a whole week to tell everyone this. So I got my travel information last Friday night, and it is not ideal. There is no coastal layover like I was hoping (I don't get to see Seattle again D:). It is a straight 14 hour flight from Salt Lake City to Tokyo, and then a 4 hour flight from Tokyo to Manila. We leave on the morning of the 19th, and get to the Manila MTC around 11:00 PM on the 20th. Shoot me. Silly time differences, jet lag is going to be terrible.

On Saturday we helped Sister Williams and Sister Landvatter pack, because they left on Monday :( but I'll get to that in a second. Our room looked like a hurricane ripped through it. It was so bad.

Sunday was really bad, one of the Sisters in the zone woke up in extreme pain and had to go the hospital because she had a kidney stone... ouch. It was a very stressful morning. I curled Sister Ferguson's and Sister William's hair for them and they looked super fab. I also got a terrible nose bleed on Sunday, which has never happened to me before, it was awful. I am so mad, the air here is awful. It is ruining my skin, and my hair, and my face. My hair feels like straw now...

I heard some good quotes on Sunday though, I'll just share a few of them with you. "One only progresses as fast as he gains knowledge," and then something more inspirational "Do not hide your light, be a candle on a candlestick, astonish the world!" and a funny one "Satan steals, Jesus heals"

We watched the Joseph Smith Restoration movie, and it was really good. Basically every movie I have watched here is really good! So watch all of them. But the spirit was so strong in the room by the end of it I was just like "AHH THE CHURCH IS TRUE!" it's intense.

On Monday the Danes left and it was a day of mourning. We still miss them so much. I cried, because we got so close with them. One of the teachers showed us pictures of her mission and it got us even more excited to get out to the field.

Oh and I got three packages on Monday I was so thankful!! Jaimie sent me homemade cookies that all the girls in my hallway love! And Sawyer colored me a picture, and the Roger's sent me a really awesome card, I loved it! Oh and Debbie sent me tuna, which was awesome. So I smuggled bread out of the cafeteria and then on the second can of tuna the can opener broke and I was so sad. And everyone sent me Kit Kats although I think they were for Sister Soleta so I gave them to her. She loves them. All of it was a wonderful cornucopia and I am so grateful.

And Felicia sent me a really nice card with pictures of Taylor in it, I put them in my journal so I can always see her face.

Mom I loved your quote "It's good to know Sarah Harding is off the island and serving a mission." I laughed soooo hard when I read that! Word smith you are.

We totally ended up cleaning the room though, because it was just the two of us in there. And I took Sister Ferguson's bed because it is the best in the room.

One of the Elders sat on smeared chocolate this week and it looked like he pooped his pants, we were laughing soo hard! And then the next morning his tie dipped in the melted chocolate chip he had put in his oatmeal. He just couldn't catch a break.

Oh I found a Sister during service on Tuesday with the same last name as me! Although she's going to Albania so she is Motra Dunn, and she is FROM SEATTLE!!! How crazy is that? Her first name is Russian like mine too, it was crazy.

Great moment on Tuesday, Vono walked into our room and says "Come home with honor, not bana." and we all died laughing because bana means husband, it was just a beautiful quote that I will hold dear.

Mom I have found the stain remover gold. Sister Williams gave me a fells knaptha bar and it is the best thing in the world. I suggest you buy some and use them for stains. they come right out.

It also rained really hard on Tuesday, I was in love. I just watched it out the window and felt sad and a little bit homesick, but that's just cause it is SOOO DRY HERE! I can't survive any longer. I don't know how all these Mormon's do it.

Oh and I saw an Elder I met at EFY like 5 years ago here at the MTC, it was awkward, because i don't think he remembered who I was.. whoops...

During Tuesday night devotional review Brother Metcalfe said something that really hit me hard "The adversary is having a hey day with you. You are on the brink of helping so many people and receiving so many blessings. Satan knows you are weak and is exploiting it." Thought it was awesome, and so I wrote it down in my journal so I would remember that I am stronger than Satan. I'm not and never will be smarter than God, but I am stronger than Satan.

We have a stupid 15 pound weight limit for our carry on bags, and I hate it so much. Because my carry on was 30 pounds on my way to the MTC.... i don't think I can manage it.

On Wednesday I found out some crazy stuff! So I was on FamilySearch going through family history and OH MY GOODNESS!!! I could trace our family line back to 5 BC on Dad's side of the family and we are related to a long line of kings from Finland, Norway, Denmark, etc... and I don't think y'all know this family, but we are related to Constantine the Great and Marcus Aurelius. Yea! Get excited about Genealogy. I have developed such a strong testimony of it this week, it is so important. It is soo coool!!!!!

We got 3 new roommates on Wednesday too. They are going to Thailand sooo Thai roommates! They seem pretty cool, and I made Sister Magbanua a tuna fish sandwich and after lights out we are all laying there trying to fall asleep and i just see her sitting up in bed so i asked her if she was okay and she was just like "yea, just eating my sandwich." I was laughing so hard, it was amazing. Tuna addict over here! Apparently in the night I sleep yelled, two of the new sisters heard me. I said "AMEN!" really loudly, i'm not sure what i was dreaming about. She said I sounded like a baptist preacher. when i apologized i said "sorry about that, i don't even know what i was dreaming about." and Sister Hayes just said "At least it was a righteous dream".

Yesterday was In-Field Orientation. Not as bad as everyone makes it out to be, but still not great. One of the elders from the show the District was our instructor in one of the segments, a bunch of the missionaries were weirdly star struck, and asked really stupid questions. At one point they used my companionship in a demonstration where I died of Ebola and went straight to the celestial kingdom. sweet right? That's the goal.

Sister Schultz's mom sent her a box of chocolate frogs for Valentines day and they were so good! She attached the quote "someday you'll find your prince charming." we died of the cute. She says she gets them every year. all the cuter. I wore my Ron Weasley sweatshirt while I ate them. I felt magnificent. Especially because I'm about to go on an excellent adventure, although I'm not going to Hogwarts.

This morning we did Sealings at the temple, which were soo cool, We did it as a district. UNITY! It was nice to be there together. I've started my packing today, I've discovered I do not have a talent for it.

When I was reading in Alma 48 this week I found something really interesting. in verse 23 it talks about "...they were sorry to be the means of sending so many of their brethren out of this world into an eternal world, unprepared to meet their God" and I was just thinking as I read that, they didn't want to go to war because they wanted a chance to teach them/ prepare them to meet God, but they couldn't let their families be killed.

I just thought it was cool, that even though they were being attacked by these people, they still felt sorrowful for them, and loved them, and wanted to help them come unto Christ by teaching them. And that's our job as members of the church. Remember that.

And remember the Lord's work will ALWAYS come through.

Love you guys, miss you all, let me know if anything earth shattering happens!

Lots of love,



Sister Dunn

MTC: 1 month down, 13 days to go

Kamusta! How is everyone doing? I hope good, because this week was one of the best so far. Pero, I am glad that i am getting out of here soon. It's surreal though, because i feel like i'm just going to be going home and not to another country.

So hmm, since my last letter what's been going on... Oh Friday night, we discovered that Jesus wants me for a sunbeam in danish is Et Solskinbarn which directly translates into Sunshine child which is absolutely adorable, so now every time i talk to someone who just brightens up my day i call them solskinbarn! Oh and I've discovered that my teacher Sister Henshaw and me are basically twins. Both blonde, 5'3", green eyes, serving/served in the Philippines. Although she is way nicer than me. She's the coolest ever. We got a new roommate this week because her comp was reassigned to Florida and she's going to Denmark like the rest of our roommates. We love her, it's Sister Williams, she is basically our mother. oh wait i can't remember if she moved in this week or last week, oh well. She told us that if you are a missionary in Italy you are basically set because the Mafia protects you, and then she told us this really crazy story from her dad's mission (because he served in Italy).

Sister Soleta is still addicted to Hot Cheetos but we're working on it. I keep playing volleyball with the Polynesians and it is SO MUCH FUN! Although they get really into it, and it's kind of every man for himself, and there are no rules. But i believe you haven't really played volleyball until you've played with the poly's. I'm still working on memorizing the first vision in Cebuano, but it's really difficult. Something that i have discovered though is that it's about 10 times easier to memorize something in English once you are learning a new language. It took me about 2 minutes to memorize the first vision in English.

I got in trouble on Sunday because I've been using Google+ to send photos to you guys, but apparently we can't use photo sharing sites till we are in the field, so I probably won't send any more pictures till I am in the Philippines. Sorry:/ We had our first fast sunday here too, and it wasn't as bad as i imagined. Every other day here when i dont get fed, or like i get to a meal late i'm always starving, but i was fine all day fasting. Tender mercies i'm telling you. When we did the temple walk there was a malamute puppy named Sarabi, CUTEST LITTLE THING! and i got to pet her and she was teething and super adorable and I JUST MISS ANIMALS!

This week personal scripture study was awesome. I made it halfway through Alma this week alone and I've decided that I agree with Sister Landvatter, I am thankful for the Anti-Nephi-Lehies! They were so righteous and set a killer example for everybody.

I don't remember if I've said this already so I'll say it again, the book of mormon in Danish is called Mormon's Bog (pronounced Boe) but whenever I see it I just imagine like a marshy swamp monster/prophet rising out of the fog and mud and preaching the good word. I find it funnier than i should.

On Sunday night we watched Legacy and it was amazing! Everyone was cat calling every time there was a kiss though (hahaha) but i suggest everyone watch it, it was soo good! Oh and the testaments (mom & dad you were asking) is a movie that was made like 10 years ago about the lamanites right before the coming of Christ, if you can, watch it because it is real good.

Oh and all day Sunday all the talks were about marriage, it was really weird we were all just like "We just got to the MTC! We're not supposed to be thinking about marriage!" It was pretty entertaining though.

On Monday Elder May accidentally called a Sister from Bulgaria a chick and to cover it up he said the funniest thing "Bulgarian chicks man, they say duck not cluck what's with that? It's like a whole other bird! Poultry lore, it's strange, you don't want to get into that." My whole class is pretty much hilarious all the time.

This week Sister Williams regaled her worst date stories to us, and they take the cake. Although to spare her any additional humiliation (and because I don't have a lot of time) i won't say them. but I will tell you, that I have never heard of a worse date. Oh and Sister Ferguson wrote my name in Cyrillic for me!

Oh also I think I should let everyone know.... THERE WERE MINT BROWNIES AT DINNER ON TUESDAY NIGHT! It was incredible. Debbie has been asking about them since I came to the MTC. For Tuesday night devotional I sang in the Choir again and we sang 'Sweet hour of prayer' and it was magnificent. I just got chills so strongly, i could feel like a host of angels in the room. There was a violinist accompanying and it was beautifullllll...

All this week I've heard the reoccurring theme that everyone should work on prayers, we even taught a lesson about it, and really consider that you're speaking with God, so to work on praying more sincerely, at night I go into a utility closet on our floor where It's quiet and no one else is around and I speak out loud, and my prayers are so much more powerful, so I encourage everyone to try it at least once a day, praying out loud.

The Danes are packing up this week because they leave for the field on monday :( but our room is a mess, it looks like a hurricane went through there. We can't even walk without stepping on something. :/ I just keep telling myself "It's only for a few more days.." other than that I'm really sad that they're leaving because I love them.

We hosted again on Wednesday, and I hosted 3 sisters. One going to North Carolina, one going to Panama, and one going to Twin Falls, Idaho. They were all really nice, although i had to lug a 50 pound piece of luggage up 4 flights of stairs :/

OH MUM I HAVE THE FUNNIEST THING TO TELL YOU! Last night I forgot my journal in the classroom and so I took Sister Quinney back to the classroom so I could grab it and while we were there the carpet cleaning people were there and one of the girls she asked if we knew a Sister Harding speaking Tagalog and we told her no, but if we saw her we'd say hi for her. As a joke though i said "Is her first name Sarah?" and the girl looks at me weird and says "yes, how do you know her?" I WAS BLOWN AWAY! I WAS JUST TRYING TO BE FUNNY! Then I quoted Jurassic Park 2 "Sarah! Sarah Harding! How many Sarah's do you think are on this island?" So Mum!, there is a girl across the hall from me, named Sarah Harding. It was amazing. And i never would have known this if i hadn't forgot my journal.

We TRC'ed last night although this time it was a skype call and it was soo cool! She's in the Philippines right now and her name is Kirstie, she was so nice! We taught her a lesson about scripture study, and it was cool because it looked so sunny and beautiful there because it was 10:30 in the morning their time. She was so sweet! a solskinbarn! Also it's amazing how much English Filippinos actually use. Not a lot, but still some. I understand pretty much every thing she was saying! I am so blessed here!

This morning at the temple we did initiatory's and it was so amazing, the spirit was incredibly strong and i was so physically exhausted by the end of it. It was incredible. Nindot siya!
Well, this week during Personal study I read a lot in Alma, and there was a particular theme that i kept seeing and it was joy. Joy in Cebuano is amazing, it's hingpit kalipay which directly translates into perfect happiness so "Adam fell that men might be, and men are that they might have perfect happiness" how magical does that sound?

there was one story that stood out to me though, in Alma 27. It's when Ammon is reunited with Alma, Aaron, Omner, and Himni and it talks in verse 17 about how Ammon is so happy to see his Brethren that he falls to the Earth! Isn't that amazing? He was so happy and completely swallowed up in joy that he literally fell to the Earth. It's my goal now, to work and strive for a happiness that complete. Also in Alma 28:8 the whole verse literally talks about what life is like, and how even with all the sufferings and sorrows and afflictions... we can have incomprehensible joy.

Anyways, I think that is pretty darn amazing. Hope everyone is having wonderful weeks!
Love, Sister Dunn