Today Was A Great Email Day - January 11, 2010

I love you all!

So first off! I'm so sorry!!!!!!!! HAPPY BIRTHDAY MOM, MICHAEL, AND GRANDMA!

I’m so sorry I didn’t say anything about it last week I think I just got so upset but I did think about you and I wished you Happy Birthday I love you so much and hope all your birthdays were great!

Today was a great email day because I received all your emails and I also got one from grandma and Jolene! I’m so excited she said she is going to read the Book of Mormon! I am really excited for that! I also received grandma’s package I don’t know why it took so long but it did. The treats were great and me and the other missionaries enjoyed/are enjoying them! I will have to send you a picture of Sister Susa I hope next week, she couldn’t come to church this week because she went out of town so I hope this coming week. I miss her we don’t see her as much because she is now in the area of Elder French.

Speaking of Elder French. He is sitting right next to me checking his email and he said that he got an email from his mom titled "Sister Andreasen” We didn’t know what it was about and he tried to open it but the computer was being weird. But then I read the email from you. He is my District Leader and it is just him and his companion and Sister Clave and I in our district. We see each other on Sundays for church, Mondays for pday, Tuesday for district meeting, Saturdays sometimes if we have a baptism. We see them a lot and both him and elder Darang, his companion are great! We are all very close! He is also great to have around because he knows Tagalog! He helps me so much! Sister Clave is great help but not like Elder French because he knows what I’m going through and things that helped him and what we learned in the MTC. It is just nice to have the help. He is funny too so I think the Lord blessed the Peate area and also me because they are both a great blessing to Sister Clave and I! He is the one that really wanted to me to eat the balut so bad.

So the work here is going great we went to the Satosa family and the dad was there! He was "working" so he didn’t come in for the lesson but he was right outside and could hear us. He was using a really loud machine to work and amazingly it became quite for our lesson then he had to come in and do his work. He was making a type of rings. The point is the whole time he was acting like he was working and not listening but he was! Because we left and were walking to our next appointment in the area and he drove by in his tricycle because he had left right after we did. He was there to listen and I think he enjoyed the message. So we have another appointment set to teach him. We were also able to teach Sister Olivia’s husband twice and we found their new house. We hadn’t planed to teach them and we went to one of our appointments. Then we were walking and I looked over and saw some little kids and I love little kids so I smiled and then I realized it was Olivia kids and so we stopped and taught them. The Lord truly did want them to be taught at that moment and I think that the husband knows the message is true. I’m so excited. This week Aerol Rubio the sweet 13 year old boy who help me down the slippery mountain got baptized and Jonabeth the one that was suppose to be baptized these past two weeks. So it was a great week! I love the Jayme family, it is two young women who are ready to be baptized and one wants to go teaching with us, I’m so excited! We are also teaching their aunts aunt she is a little old lady and she has no hair she is so cute and I will take a picture with her next Sunday so I can send it to you. We left her house last Sunday and she said "I love you!" as we left she is so cute!

Sorry this is so short. There will be more next week and pictures too! I love you all!!!!! I pray for you everyday! Tagalog is hard and sometimes I feel that I’m not helping anyone change but then I realize that the only one who can help people, truly help them is the Lord and I know if I have the spirit then it will be in our lessons and it is the real teacher! I know that the Lord is helping me and the people we visit, the Church is true! And I’m grateful for it each and everyday more and more! I love you all!!!!! So so much!!!!!

Love, Sister Andreasen

p.s. Tell Bert congrats and that is crazy!!!!! ahhh! I can’t wait to hear more. If you talk to him ask him if it is the same girl he talked to me about and tell him I want to get an invite even though I won’t be able to go.

Random things I forgot to say… We did have to stay home early on New Years Eve we had a feast I will send pictures. We tried to go to bed on time but couldn’t sleep because of the fireworks, they were so loud! The traditions are just fireworks and Christmas goes till the 9th of Jan. because that is three Kings none of the Filipino missionaries know what Three Kings really means its just a holiday. One tradition is to eat 12 round fruits before the New Year, you also wear polka dots and carry change in your pockets on New Years Eve so that you will have money in the coming year.

Sister Clave said thank you and merry Christmas too she said thank you for the stuff in the packages and she said she is going to write you a letter! Thank you for everything I love you all so much.

Please tell Grandma Beverly I love her so much and thank you for her email. I have to go so I will send her an email next week but I love her very much and I’m grateful for temples too! And her work in them!

I love you all!

Sister Andreasen