Batch

No, I'm not talking about cookies. I wish I were. I miss cookies. Foreign concept here, but I digress. I hope that my weekly emails continue to inspire and uplift all those who read them.. JOKE but I hope you get a good laugh! 

Wednesday: I shopped for my new companion, I mean of course because I love her! We had lunch with Sister Hartog and Sister Soleta and it was magical and we were laughing our heads off in McDo's for about 1 1/2 hours. I really love those girls. 

Thursday: Transfer day.. The Zone Leader (the only one remaining because his comp finished his mission this week) came with the other elders who have a comp transferring to pick us up and take us to the Ceres station. Sister Atienza left on a bus with her new companion to Bayawan.. which then started a strange day. My companions the whole day, were 5 elders. They spoiled me rotten. They were a lot of fun. They bought me a peanut butter chocolate belgian waffle and a slurpee, and a fruit cup. It was the first time in my whole mission there wasn't another sister missionary around. It was pretty strange. 

Sister Quinney was stressed from the long bus ride when she finally got to Dumaguete, so I let her unpack for a few minutes before we went out to work.
I slipped in the mud down a hill.. ugh... I got really dirty. The mud here is awful, because it's not like normal mud, it's like clay, so it's impossible to get out of things. 

Friday: We contacted a referral and TRIED to teach her, but she was so talkative we could barely get a word out. Sister Antonetta was home, and she had done her reading, so that was a tiny miracle (but she still isn't coming to church).
We FTE'd this man who was reading the book of mormon but wouldn't let missionaries visit him because he's scared of his wife getting mad. "Joseph smith found the book of Christ in a cave" Well he was pretty close. 

Saturday: Long bad day... It's difficult with two Americans, people compare you to each other. We're just ignoring the bad commentary. And we maglahutay hangtud sa katapusan. We taught these twins for the first time, and they were really talkative too, but really nice. They committed to come to church. 

Sunday: Miracles. We were sitting waiting for sacrament to start and no one was there. I was feeling really discouraged because we had worked really hard. I said a little prayer, just asking for everything to work out okay and I waited a few minutes and then THE TWINS WALKED IN THE DOOR! We only taught them once! The day before! It was magical. They stayed all 3 hours! And one of the Elder's investigators invited them over to his house next week so they could talk about the Restoration. We were in awe.
Our recent converts aren't coming to church, because they are shy, so next week we are picking them all up!

Monday: I got in a minor argument with an Elder about when my birthday was. I was wrong. I kept insisting it was next week, and he said "oh so on zone training meeting." and I said "no the week before that." "so this week." "no the week in between!" "There is no week in between! Your birthday is THIS thursday!" 

Needless to say I'm not adjusting well. I still have 11 hours left where I can officially say I am a teenager. Sister Quinney prayed that I wouldn't be sad about turning 20.
I met one of the new missionaries in the zone. She's from Utah. I played their investigator in practice teaching. It was interesting, it reminded me of my twelve weeks, the way she spoke visaya. It's how I used to speak it too. There's a lot hitting me this week. 

That night we went by the mans house we tried to go to on saturday (because we had set an appointment on saturday at 7 but he punted us) and he was home this time so we ayo'ed his house till he came out. he comes out and says "I waited for you on saturday!" and we said "brother, we came on saturday at 7, you weren't home!"
"I said 5 o clock!" (I promise you that he said 7) "I read your book all day!" then he produced an english book of mormon from like 1975. he had read from 1 nephi to words of mormon in one day... and he could tell us what happened. It was a miracles straight out of a char missionary movie! We wanted to share with him right then but we had no other woman so we couldn't teach. 

OKAY TIME IS UP But I love you and this week was a miracle and I love my companion! I'll let you know how my birthday went next week, I'm making mud cups and I'm going to buy myself something really filipino!
LOVE YOU ALL
-sister katrina dunn

I am Dinosaur

OKAY OKAY I NEED TO TYPE LIKE THE WIND! But seriously I have 12 minutes, why do I do this to myself. Basta, I love you all. 

Tuesday: We had a zone activity at the church, it was roasting hot but I just kicked off my shoes and we played volleyball barefoot. It was a blast. Also sister Hartog loves me and bought me lunch. Sister Conjelado showed up while we were playing, she rode with the Dunne's (note the E) the senior couple from Ireland. They always call me cousin, it's awesome. 

That night Sister Quinney and her comp stayed at the apartment with us and I talked to her forever and it was fabulous. 

Wednesday: I had to wake up early to shower so that we would all have time. All of my past companions (and future comps ;) I'll get to that in a minute) were at zone conference. It was so nice to see all of them. I adore them. I gave the white handbook moment in opening exercises, my first time to do something in a ZC. For practice teaching I taught Sister Conjelado, it felt like 12 weeks again. It was interesting. There was a super char slideshow from mission tour that I featured in WAY too much. It was ridiculous. Also I met a trike driver who speaks russian, finnish, english, spanish and visaya, and he's learning french right now. his name is Roldan, I took a picture with him.

Thursday: At an investigators house she said we looked like we went to the disco the night before because we had eye bags. It poured down rain. There was a flood, we climbed up a muddy hill to avoid it. all is well. 

Friday: I got asked a stupid question by a man today and I had to hold back the sass when I answered him. There was a family home evening and we played John the baptist, my favorite game. 

Saturday: It was the baptism. We sang "when I am baptized" as a special musical number. It was beautiful, it was small. I loved it. That night while buying bbq we FTE'd this extremely drunk couple in Tagalog, so that was fun. 

Sunday: One of the Sister's in the ward opened her mission call to Philippines Angeles Mission in Sacrament meeting. I almost cried because it's been a YEAR since I opened my call. Where is time. This is crazy. We got a new IBD, for october. I have high hopes for her. 

Monday: Stress. Also we got the zone tshirt, it was fabulous. and there's a bunch of characters on it and the elder who designed it won't say who is who. Well I finally got him to tell me, I am the T-REX. I AM DINOSAUR! That is all. 

Tuesday: I got on a trike and I am so fat it tipped over. I bailed and fast before it could crush me. All of the passengers were in between the ages of 11-14 and were all laughing at me. man oh man.. I was laughing so hard. 

We went to dinner at a investigators house and she cooked adobo. when I was grabbing some she goes "oh, liog na" (neck) and I'm just like "ehh whatever" so I ate chicken neck. not bad. the adobo was fabulous. 

TRANSFER CALLS CAME! I AM THRILLED!! MY NEW COMP IS... drumrolll...... SISTER QUINNEY!! MY BATCH!! I am over the moon, this is the best day. Man I love this, I am going to have so much fun this transfer. 

Okay times up, i'm sorry this was short. I sent a lot of pics!
Love,


-Sister Katrina Dunn

Spoons

Okay I'm writing to the big batch first because I always run out of time and I feel like a guilty goat... Sige, 1.2.3. HIT IT!

Wednesday: We had beach activity with the District. Sister Hartog and I just stood in the water, it was so warm and nice. Their was a storm blowing in so the water looked really cool. The District Leader made us play this 'District Unity' game where we had little lonzones (this tiny fruit) and plastic spoons. We put the spoons in our mouth and had to run around the person in front of us and then pass the fruit from one spoon to the other. Luckily the teams were divided Sisters against Elders. It actually turned out to be pretty fun. We were so exhausted after working that night. We had gone to Meler's house and she kept singing "I'm Sister Dunn and I am tired and I have yellow hair" I was laughing really hard in between bouts of exhaustion. 

Thursday: We had a CSP in the Elder's area in Dumaguete and they dropped us off down the hill from the place we were doing the service project so they could go pick up the other group of missionaries and as soon as they drove away it started to pour down rain. Hmm.. We had to sprint to a roadside calendaria to take cover. When the rain was finally light enough we continued our trek up the hill.
At the actual service project we were moving blocks and there were all sorts of massive spiders and cockroaches crawling all over them. Sister Hartog and I were like "oh no I am not touching that" and then Bishop comes over and says "No spiders here are poisonous" and then starts tapping the spider for it to run away. It was easily the size of a baby orange. It was huge.
At the bottom of the stack of bricks was a rat, when the Elder's chased out and then it ran over a sister's foot, and she screamed, and then another elder kicked it, and it went flying through the air squealing. We were dying of laughter.
We tracted that afternoon and I got so muddy. Man.. 

Friday: I commemorated 9/11 by myself because no one here knows what it is. People still seemed to be in a bad mood regardless because we got punted and rejected like no other. There was one lady we tried to introduce ourselves to and she said "ayaw na lang, I know who you are" in ENGLISH and I was stunned and hurt at the same time. We walked from one end of our area to the other, and I was absolutely exhausted but it was lovely nonetheless. Working hard bitaw. 

Saturday: We taught the grandmother of one of our recent converts, she seems interested in listening to us. She read the pamphlet we gave her last time we talked to her. 

Sunday: I got to go on splits with a wonderful ward member named Sister Dinglasa. She's been a member for almost ten years, and I adore her. She is so amazing, she doesn't know how to read but she doesn't let that stop her. She works with missionaries whenever she has time so she can learn about the gospel that way. She is so fun to work with, and she FTE's which is a miracle with kuyogs because they are usually way too shy. 

We've been teaching this man who is a preacher for another religion and he is actually really progressive. The only problem I have is his visaya is really deep and really fast so I have trouble understanding him. Whenever we teach him we have our kuyogs with us who help translate for me.
Monday: We went to District meeting and then came home immediately afterwards and ate lunch at home because we have no money. Yea! Life! Budgeting! I mentioned something about 

Saturday'sWarrior to Sister Hartog and she was like "YOU'VE SEEN THAT TOO!" which branched into a discussion about Joseph and the Technicolor Dreamcoat. Wow. Char mormon movies. I miss it. BTW I heard they are making a new Saturday's Warrior someone please keep me up to date on the progress of that lol. 

I convinced one of the Elder's in our area to draw me a picture of dinosaurs because he's really good at drawing. I'll get it laminated and bring it home.
AND THAT WAS MY WEEK IN A NUTSHELL! 

Well, I hope that it was both entertaining and instructive, but just to let you know, my weekly emails don't even give a glimpse of what life is like here. It's otherworldly, it's FABULOUS!
A bit of my personal study this week: I've been studying about our purpose in preparation for zone conference this week and I found a quote one of my MTC teachers had given me and I wanted to share it with y'all. 

"I am part of the 'Fellowship of the Unashamed'. The die has been cast. I have stepped over the line. The decision has been made. I am a disciple of Jesus Christ. I won't look back, let up, slow down, back away, or be still. My past is redeemed, my present makes sense, and my future is secure. I am finished and done with low living, sight walking, small planning, smooth knees, colorless dreams, chintzy giving, and dwarfed goals. I no longer need pre-eminence, prosperity, position, promotions, plaudits, or popularity. I now live by presence, lean by faith, love by patience, lift by prayer, and labor by power. My pace is set, my gait is fast, my goal is Heaven, my road is narrow, my way is rough, my companions few, my Guide reliable, my mission clear. I cannot be bought, compromised, deterred, lured away, turned back, diluted, or delayed. I will not flinch in the face of sacrifice, hesitate in the presence of adversity, negotiate at the table of the enemy, ponder at the pool of popularity, or meander in the maze of mediocrity. I am a disciple of Jesus Christ. I must go until Heaven returns, give until I drop, preach until all know, and work until He comes. And when He comes to get His own, He will have no problem recognizing me. My colors will be clear."

I just think it's SO TRUE! AS IN GYUD! Don't be ashamed of the gospel, declare with the voice of a trump bitaw..
I love all of you, go forward in faith!
Love,
Sister Katrina Dunn

4 packages and the Malong

NOTE: IF YOU WANT ME TO RECEIVE YOUR EMAIL NEXT WEEK WRITE ME ON MONDAY BECAUSE MY PDAY IS ON TUESDAY. The time is a ticking, I received many a wonderful emails from many people I love that I wanted to spend a good amount of time replying to, so I apologize in advance if this email isn't what you were expecting. 

Wednesday: I bought a malong. It's fabulous. It's like a human pillowcase and I was the perfect amount of snuggly when I slept in it :D Also for dinner I told my companion I JUST wanted rice, nothing else and she about had a heart attack "Sister Dunn, you can't eat JUST rice!" 

Thursday: ZTM and my packages came! The ZL said "Sister dunn you have enough food to feed the whole zone" hahha i didn't share, just with my comp. Also Debbie sent me a shirt and as soon as I saw it I screamed "WHERES THE SECRET MESSAGE?!" and started tearing it inside out till I found it. My companion probably thought I transformed into a wild animal. Sorry sometimes I just need a little bit of home.. Our IBD told us she started coming to church again because when she wasn't coming her trials were worse, so she recognizes the blessings that come from going to church!

 
Friday: BER MONTHS PA! Long nights, short days. I can't believe it's almost halfway through september. Also everyone fails because no one understood my rock hudson reference last week. :P. We had to go to a far part of our area and It was really dark on the way back down so we had to hike the back way and we were just slipping through the mud. We looked like caribao's that had just climbed out of a mudpit by the time we made it back to the highway. I laid out the bubble wrap from my packages and we danced on it. We had a rockin two step going :D
Saturday: meh... 

Sunday: There was a brownout.. on fast sunday.. it was roasting through all 3 hours of church. I went on splits with my girl ann again, we always have a lot of fun. Later that night we were walking past this videokehan and this man was like "hi sis.. this is for you sis..." and then started singing a song on the videoke. It was so funny we all busted up laughing. 

Monday: We're budgeting so we didnt eat out after district meeting but went home and cooked. be proud of me please. Also I am a human that eats things like corned beef, and also I eat rice at every meal and I have no regrets. We contacted a referral who didn't think the elders were serious and was really apprehensive to let us in the house but she did and by the end of our lesson she was completely different and accepted the invitation to be baptized. The spirit was amazing. I LOVE BEING A MISSIONARY! 

Tuesday: I ate kropeck and seaweed. SO GOOD! I shall try to make it when I come home. also a surprise zone conference was announced and I am so excited because that means I get to see my trainer again!!!!!


There was a lot of trials this week, but I am continuing in the work. I love the Philippines, it has become my holy ground. Love all of you.
-Sister Katrina Dunn

Come September.. jokes, go away.

Ugh.... September.... why.... it's too soon..... here in the Philippines they celebrate Christmas throughout all of the -ber months so... Christmas music officially began yesterday.
ALSO I yet again owe two HUGE apology birthday wishes to my MOTHER and Dylan. I am the worst, I'm sorry, I remembered right after internet time ended and I wanted to cry. HAPPY BIRTHDAY FROM THE OTHER SIDE OF THE WORLD TO MY FAVORITE MOTHER and TO DILLY BAR! 

On to other events, this week... i'm really tired. Work continues :)
Wednesday: It was a quiet p-day in the house, we cleaned, did laba, and then headed to Amlan that night for exchanges with the STL's. There are two sets of Sister's in the Amlan apartment so I ended up chatting with Sister Woodmansee (she's from Utah) about all things America. *sigh*

Thursday: I worked with Sister Jucutan. She is so funny. She's Ilocana, and speaks like 4 languages. She's a powerhouse teacher, and informed me that she received revelation for me regarding my mission. I'll take it. 

Friday: we got up and took a jeepney back to Sibulan and had weekly planning. Discovered something called cheese whiz (it tastes like easy cheese), and I convinced my companion that we should walk all the way to Ajong. It reminded me of my days in Bacong. Walking 24/7. 

Saturday: We organized the upstairs cupboard where missionaries had spent the last few years just dumping stuff and forgetting about it. I found more 'gospel of jesus christ' pamphlets than I know what to do with. I'm going on an FTE spree to hand them all out.
There's a recent convert here who was baptized a few months ago and promptly returned to her old way of life sadly... she's telling everyone that we are wasting our time here on our missions and a bunch of other really unsavory things. We're trying to help her..
We bribed a kid with candy in order to teach him because he wouldn't listen to his mother, I was trying not to laugh. We bribe children with gummies here. It's what the sister's are known for in Sibulan, that we always have gummies. It's on my shoulders to continue the tradition. 

Sunday: Our IBD came to church the 3rd sunday in a row!! YIPPEE!! We went on splits and I worked with Sister Ann again, she is so sweet. She was baptized like 2 years ago, and loves to work with the missionaries. I am thankful for her. 

Monday: Last day of August.. rude. Where is my mission? paspas na wala siya... The son of one of our investigators was really sick and got mad whenever we looked at him so we had to pretend we couldn't see him, he's better now, it was pretty funny though.
We had FHE at a members house, there was 3 investigators there. The Elders gave a really good object lesson, i'll share it when I come home. It was really chada. 

Tuesday: NO!! SEPTEMBER! GO AWAY! only one month till I'm 20. I can no longer say that I am a teenager. ugh...... We spent time tracting in a new area, and then we had ACM. the elders were on splits at the time so there was 4 elders at the meeting, and the other companionship was being loud so I pelted them with hard candy. didn't really make a difference. 

We're having our IBD do our laundry so that she has money to get to church :D We hike up a mountain to get to her, but she is worth it!
We just worked hard that night, there was a lot of lightning. We were trying to contact a referral and I felt to talk to this woman selling barbecue meat and I asked her if she knew who we were looking for and she was just like "That's me!" she was the first person I asked, miracles do happen. We set up an appointment for next week. 

This morning I studied in Alma 29, and if you haven't read it you should. It's basically Alma's passionate speech about how he loves being a missionary. I feel it. I love verse 9: "I know that which the Lord hath commanded me, and I glory in it. I do not glory of myself, but I glory in that which the Lord hath commanded me; yea, and this is my glory, that perhaps I may be an instrument in the hands of God to bring some soul to repentance; and this is my joy."
And we go out together. Me, my companion, and the Lord. To find those waiting to be found.
Love you all, make good choices!!

-Sister Dunn

Cebu Mission Tour

Wow. That was a lot of wonderful emails I just feasted on. Whenever there is a shake up in the p-day schedule I always get the best emails the following week! Okay, let's try to figure this out. Long long, busy week. I'm sorry, it will be two weeks with no pictures. Last week I forgot my camera and this week the internethan is looking pretty shady. I don't want to lose any photos. I did manage to glean one photo of my batch reunited again. We started together, we'll end it together. 

Tuesday: We shopped at SUPER LEE PLAZA! It's a giant shopping center that has everything a little american in the Philippines could want. Oh wait.. I'm not considered little here. Although being fat is admired here. Love it! 

I saw my last companion Sister K at McDo's with her anak (she's training right now). She's seems really happy. She caught me up with what had been happening in Bacong the week I'd been gone. A lot has happened apparently. 

That evening we bought pizza from a German man, it was delicious. We got it because Sister Soleta (MY MTC COMP) and her comp Sister Primero (SISTER ATIENZA's TRAINER) stayed the night with us, it was fabulous. Sister Soleta and I just chica'ed and laughed about the MTC. I love catching up with that girl. 

Wednesday: We got up early and caught a jeepney to Dumaguete! The ceres bus we took was basically entirely missionaries so it felt like a missionary bus haha, it was a lot of fun. I sat next to Sister Soleta so that Sister Atienza could sit with Sister Primero in the row in front of us. We tried to sleep most of the ride, we both got car sick. 

I ran around temple grounds all afternoon looking for Sister Conjelado. I knew she was there. I quickly found every other companionship but hers! Finally when I was in distribution I looked out the door and I saw her and I sprinted out of the building and she saw me and pointed at me smiling. I was crying before I even reached her and I just tackled her in a hug. It's the first time I'd seen her since training. She asked me "why are you crying?" and I just pathetically answered "I miss you!" I caught up with her for a minute, it was really nice. 

We did a temple session that night and it was so nice. I sat in the celestial room with my mtc companion and we just held each other's hands and prayed. It was so beautiful. I love the temple.
Sister Conjelado showed us the way to the apartment we were staying at because she's staying there too. It was amazing, walking down the busy streets of cebu city at 9 o clock at night with my trainer. She was just giving me advice. I'll always remember it. 

Sister K was staying at the apartment too. I felt like i was getting ready for bed with all of my comps. It was interesting. 

Thursday: Elder Haynie spoke to us. It was great. We were allowed to ask him questions so I took the opportunity to ask one. Hearing from General Authorities is such a wonderful chance!
I caught up with Sister Quinney too, another person I love. And Sister Abenoja came out of a bathroom stall when I walked in and we just screamed and hugged each other when we saw each other. 

There was a mission wide picture. I saw my whole batch. All 8 of us together again. When everyone was catching up with each other I just stood with Sister Conjelado and tried not to cry because we both knew it was the last time we would see each other. 

The zone leaders gave 10 of us sister's a ride home, back to Dumaguete that night and we just laughed and played car games and told funny mission stories because we can't listen to music. It was a great experience gihapon. 

Friday: I was absolutely exhausted. I started a new journal. My 4th journal of the mission. Look out world. 

Saturday: Still tired. I made a list of english/visaya translations for a investigator who wants to learn english. 

Sunday: Primary program in Sacrament. It was beautiful. All of the kids sang beautifully, no one was distracting to the audience. It was perfect. There was an illongo woman in gospel principles class so they taught in tagalog. I felt like a new missionary again. 

I went on split with two ward missionaries. One of them is preparing for a mission. I asked her at the end how she felt about missionary work and she said she was nervous, i told her "I won't lie to you, it's not easy. But it's worth it." 

Monday: we had a CSP in dumaguete. I talked with Sister Hartog the whole time. She is so funny. 

Tuesday: we just worked hard. We went to a member's house for dinner, they bought chooks to go, it was amazing. 

Well I'm out of time, I love you all! Make good choices, and I'll try to have more time next week :D
-Sister Katrina Dunn

The Sibulan Shakedown

Well I have a beautiful, long amount of time to write to you all!! Mission tour is this week so they moved our P-day to Tuesday because we are all riding up to Cebu tomorrow. There's One Direction playing in this internethan, I'm wearing my back up outfit, let's do this! 

Wednesday: Sister Curameng and I forego'ed the shopping because I needed to pack and she has a tiny store in Siaton called 'Migs' that she can go to with her new companion on Thursday. I couldn't do laba because it didn't have time to dry, so I had to take like a weeks worth of dirty laundry to my new area. I got smart with packing, I moved my luggage downstairs before beginning the packing experience because I knew there was absolutely no way I was going to get that full suitcase down the stairs if it was full. I would perish. That night when we went out to work I didn't tell anyone I was transferring. I know, I'm rude. More like a 'SURPRISE! SHE'S GONE!' for my companion. That night when we got home we just talked it out, our fears and expectations for the upcoming transfer. 

Thursday: I got up at the crack of dawn, packed up my last minute things, and we got my luggage down to the chungie and onto a jeepney. It decided at that exact moment when we left the apartment that it was going to pour down rain. LYFE. Shortest transfer of my life. We got to the Ceres station, I waited there for my new companion to arrive, I loved her as soon as I saw her. 

SISTER ATIENZA! She's 4'7", weighs like 5 pounds, has long black hair. She's adorable, and so sweet. We speak in Visaya, so that I can improve. She's teaching me a little bit of Tagalog too, so I can become doubly bistak, but just a few words. I'm focusing on Visaya jud. She's from Batangas which is pure Tagalog, but one night when we were FTE'ing we encountered a group of men who speak Tagalog and she discovered that after 3 months of Visaya she can't speak Tagalog anymore. It was pretty funny. I admire her for enduring the FTE. 

The Zone Leaders drove us to the apartment, I love it, it's small, I have my own bathroom with a flushing toilet and everything! My first flushing toilet since I got here. We jumped into studies because it was still early, and during lunch she asked me "Are we going out at noon?" and I just looked at her confused and was like "yes..." it wasn't until later that day that I realized, it was her first day out of training which means that she leaves at noon now. During training you leave the house at 1:00, for extra training stuff, but now noon. I felt bad, I didn't even realize. I was ready to just get to work, but she killed it nonetheless, she is a powerhouse teacher and FTE'er. She was trained well.
Sibulan is a beautiful area! We tracted on the beach my first few nights. As in, wonderful view of Cebu island! It's so fun. There was a giant group of people trying to get a boat into the water by rolling it down the beach on bamboo logs, there were children knee deep in the water looking for salowocki (sea urchin) for dinner. It was just picturesque. 

Our last appointment of the night was these three girls named Miller, Trixie, and Carla. During the lesson i killed a mosquito that was sucking on my leg and Miller says "thou shalt not kill" I was stunned beyond all belief. Then she, and I kid you not, grabbed a fan and said "So you don't kill anymore mosquitoes". She's so funny, she likes to give me a hard time. I sang "where love is" from the children's song book because they like my American slang (accent) when singing. 

Friday: the senior couple worked with us for the last time before they go back home to Oregon. It was my first time translating a lesson. I was translating for them everything my companion and the investigator were saying into English, and then had to turn around and translate everything they said from English to Visaya. I think I'm a seasoned missionary now. It is not an easy task, but it was a lot of fun.
Miller informed me I have bad Visaya. I'm telling you, she makes fun of me. I just laughed it off though, I love her. 

Saturday: Vanessa (the investigator I translated for) has a son, his nickname is Dodong. He usually is terrified of white people. In two days flat he has become my best friend. We play hide and seek, we're tight. 

We had a baptism! A really sweet couple, it was really nice. It was Sister Atienza's first baptism she was so excited! While we were there a boy from Germany shows up (he's on vacation here with his family) he was with two girls that live by the house he's staying at. I quickly discovered that all the German I learned in high school has been replaced by Visaya and I know zero German. I was talking in Visaya to the girls he was with and one of them turns to him and says "You should be like her, she speaks our language." I felt bad, because he's only here for a few weeks, and I've been here for 6 months. Anyways, he was really nice.
I found a really delicious halohalo place on the beach that uses all fresh fruit. We're going there again today, it is fabulous. 

Sunday: We are officially out of food. and out of rice. We have reached crisis mode. We were supposed to shop of transfer day but we didn't have money. We are currently surviving off of biscuits. New missionaries bear their testimony in sacrament meeting on their first sunday in an area, that should be tradition in America too I think. It's a lot of fun. I just stared at my comp to get through it, my visaya was okay though. I had no idea what I was going to bear it on, and then I got up there and just started talking about the family. Umbot. 

After church we went to Dumaguete because Sister Atienza was getting her patriarchal blessing! While I was waiting outside Sister Hartog showed up (WE'RE CO ZONE AGAIN) and I just ran at her saying "SAY IT AIN'T SO!" and we tackled each other in a hug. I missed her dearly. We're staying in the same apartment in Cebu so it's going to be a blast. 

Then a family of people I ADORE from Bacong showed up! I didn't have a chance to say goodbye to them, so that was a real tender mercy.
We went to a bukid part of our area that afternoon. My comp said we would be hiking, I was like "haha yea whatever, i hike all the time. my whole mission has been bukid". No. I was not prepared for what she meant. It was like legit hiking up a mountain, grabbing on to rocks, and everything IN A SKIRT! It wasn't bukid. It was super bukid!

We extended a baptismal date for the people who live up there so we have two new IBD's! On the way back down the dangerous mountain side, Sister Atienza slipped and fell and now has a massive bruise on her leg. poor thing. 

Monday: Right when we woke up there was a brown out. Curses! Luckily I had water in my bucket so I was able to shower. Then right before studies the water came on again. tsk tsk tsk. Life is never dull. We went to Dumaguete again for District meeting, lingaw kaayo. Sister Hartog was there. We were able to be companions for practice teaching, that was a lot of fun. We had KFC for lunch, I ate something called a zinger, I think everyone should try it. 

One of our investigators that night requested a priesthood blessing because they had fevers and so we called the Elders, they didn't have oil with them, so they borrowed it from a member. The bottle was from 1988. As in, the bottle of oil is older than I am. It was really interesting.
Wednesday: We're back again. Well the personal study I want to share with you is two weeks in the making. 

It's the story from the New Testament after the Resurrection of Jesus Christ where he meets his disciples on the shore and they rejoice together. And then Jesus asks Peter three times "Do you love me?" I was studying Jeffrey R Holland's talk from October 2012, it's a beautiful talk. His reply that he creates for the Savior is absolutely heart wrenching, and has really put my mission in a new perspective. He said: "Then Peter, why are you here? Why are we back on this same shore, by these same nets, having this same conversation? Wasn’t it obvious then and isn’t it obvious now that if I want fish, I can get fish? What I need, Peter, are disciples—and I need them forever. I need someone to feed my sheep and save my lambs. I need someone to preach my gospel and defend my faith. I need someone who loves me, truly, truly loves me, and loves what our Father in Heaven has commissioned me to do. Ours is not a feeble message. It is not a fleeting task. It is not hapless; it is not hopeless; it is not to be consigned to the ash heap of history. It is the work of Almighty God, and it is to change the world. So, Peter, for the second and presumably the last time, I am asking you to leave all this and to go teach and testify, labor and serve loyally until the day in which they will do to you exactly what they did to me."

I've been trying the past two weeks to, every time that I get tired, or even a little bit lazy, remember the words here. Sister Curameng said it best in zone training meeting "It isn't supposed to be easy. We are supposed to work hard." I wish I had my journal with me, I have her exact quote there.
The point is though, that we need to remember our job here. Exactly the reason we are here. I reread my call this morning, it talked about how we are expected the live the highest standards of conduct that are expected of a servant of the Lord, and if we do, then we will be endowed with power. Alma and Amulek were given power of the Lord, and only then were they able to work the miracles.


I love Sibulan. I love being a missionary.