Transferred - August 30, 2010

Hello to all!
The transfer! So this transfer was actually really easy! Just so you know I don’t know if I will have a lot of time because the internet here is horrible and we have an appointment. I am here in Barra, Lucena Zone! And it is such a blessing, this is where I wanted to be transferred to and we were talking about it at our zone activity and then at transfers Elder Davis said that he thinks that I am cheating the system because I am in the area I wanted to be in.  There are a lot of reasons I wanted to be here and I love it! First is, I really wanted to be companions with Sister Arrieta! 

She is the batch of Sister Clave.  She was also a companion with Sister Ganaden so that is neat. Then this was also Sister Ganaden's first area and it was Sister Claves first area. The next thing is that I know that Sister Arrieta and I will only be together for one transfer because they go home, she and Sister Clave, in October and that is next transfer and I am sad that it is only one transfer but I might be able to see Sister Clave again and I will be able to see Sister Osborne because I will be at their first transfer day! And because I will be needing a new companion and since there are 6 new sisters coming in I will most likely be training. So I am so grateful that Sister Arrieta is my companion to help me get prepared! I love her so much! She is such a beautiful person inside and out and I know that I have so much that I need to learn from her! Also this area is not in Laguna!!!!! Yeah!!!! I love Laguna but I am excited to see another part of the Philippines. So I went to my area on the first day and we have to ride a boat to my area!!! 

Awesome! The area is only one barangay or city and it is an island. We don’t ride jeepneys unless to district meeting and tricycles only when going to a further part because they just added another city! There is no dirt it is all sand! 

And sometimes we teach right by the waterside!!!!! Ahhh!!!! I love it and the best part is I already feel close to the members! They are so sweet! It is a branch and they only have a meeting house right now there are plans for a building but it hasn’t been started yet and it is so sad because there is such little room for the members but they are all amazing! We have correlation meeting and the ward missionaries worked with us on Sunday and they are so fun!!!! 

In the zone we have three districts and there are 20 in the zone! Crazy! We went to Pagbilao beach and it was so beautiful!!!!!! It is a white sand beach and I am going to try and send pictures but the computer is slow as I said.

So needless to say I love the area and I know that the Lord is blessing me here!!! So I have a funny story so Sister Clave sent a letter to the Barra Branch when we were companions and the picture she sent was of me and her, little did we all know I would be going there too!!! Hehe I love it! Tender mercies! After a trail!
So about the pictures I hope they all send. First a picture of sister with an "I’m ready for love shirt" it is a joke because she is going home soon and so yeah I'm sure you get it haha. 

Then our branch mission president he road the boat with us to the beach and he lost his flip-flop haha. Sad! Hehe. Then Elder De Leon, he got splashed with a lot of water as we road back it was so sad but so funny (by the way he was in my last district and he is also my batch :)) Then when we went to Pagbilao Beach!!!! So pretty! Then we have a jumping picture and us on the floor, we got the perfect cute jumping picture and then fell haha and landed on each other so the falling laughing picture is the aftermath of the cute jumping picture. Plus are many failed attempts. Then fun posses on the beach and in the cave with the zone!!!

 And my companion! Awesome first pday! I also took a cool picture under water with my camera. But we have to go now so I will finish downloading next week and explaining! I love you all!!!!
Love, Sister Andreasen

Let's All Endure to the End - August 23, 2010

We found out about transfers and I am transferred so I will go to my new area on Friday so next Monday I will let you know where I am and who my new companion is. I have mixed feelings, I am sad to leave this area because I have really come to love the people but I am getting used to changes and I am excited and scared for what is next :) we shall see. I am also excited to go to a new area and not be in Laguna anymore! he he. Not that I don’t love it but I am ready to see other parts of the mission.
We had a good week this week we did go back to see Tatay Mario and we found out his concern. He told us he was a member of this other church and that he had been a member for a while now, but this last visit he told us that he is concerned what people will say if he starts coming to "our" church because he is the vice president in his church.  So we talked to him about faith and fear and if we fear what others say we can’t have faith that the Lord will provide a way and give us the answers that we need.  We were excited to go back and talk to him about his Book of Mormon reading and his prayers but he is really sick and we are worried about him. So we go back this week and we are hoping he is better!
Then we have a new investigator that we met and I am really excited for her to progress, I feel like she really wants to know truth. She said that her husband likes the "Mormons" so we shared a short message before she went to her job and set a time to come back to talk to her and her husband! 
Then we have Nika and she has a lot of questions because she is also being taught by the born again church. So she tells them what we teach her and then she has questions from what they say. She had a question about prophets because of a scripture in the bible that talks about the church and it says first apostles, second prophets so she thinks that apostles are "higher" in authority than prophets. We talked to her about it and we were also planning on showing the restoration movie so we did and there is a line were Joseph says that every church interpreted the Bible so differently that he couldn’t get sure answers and he knew he needed to pray so that is what we told Nika - that we could fill her with information and scriptures and so could the born agains but she would never know the truth unless she prayed, so we are also excited to go back to talk to her about her prayer.
Then we have Gerald who came to church on Sunday! So we were glad about that because we can only teach him on Saturday and Sunday and they weren’t home on Saturday but then he came to church and he also brought a friend :) they were nervous to come in because they were only in t-shirts and his friend was in flip flops but we told them it was okay so they stayed!
We also had our other investigators come to church, Eunice who is 18 and her sister Red who right now is only 7 but loves the gospel! She even brings her Book of Mormon with her to school! They have a lot of questions and are really excited to know the truth even Red who is only 7 has great questions and always knows the answer to are questions because she reads! She is awesome!
Then Rizza was confirmed a member of the church! Yeah!!!!
And Evelyn was baptized!!!! I love her she is so amazing! She said that she felt happier than she ever has after her baptism and she said that she knows that this is the true church and said through her tears I am going to endure to the end!!! 

It was so great and all this work is worth it for that one moment when she bore her testimony! I love her and am excited for her progression in the church! 

So that was pretty much our week. Hard things, good things, crazy things and yet through it all the most important thing is to preach the gospel because this is the true church of Jesus Christ! I am sending pictures, we went to Los Banos for pday and it was way pretty and we took pictures at the falls. 

I took a lot of pictures with my zone before I leave for another zone. 

The Elder with the glasses is Elder Sales and he is batch with Sister Clave when they came into the mission and we will be batch going out of the mission :)

Then the baptism of Sister Evelyn with her daughter Vhean who is so cute! 

The picture of the girl in tan is Eunice with her sister Red in white and red. 

We always tract along the railroad and before there was no worry because there was no train but now there is and we watched it drive past while Elder Tecson interviewed Sister Evelyn and we put pesos on the track so this is what happened. 

Then we had a service this week we chopped down a lot of branches and cut them in to small pieces for firewood. It was actually really fun! 

Then Sister Evelyn and the Arizapa family. Sister Grace Arizapa would always work with us and now she is on her mission. So she asked us to keep going to her house on Tuesday for dinner and also to teach her mom who was less active. So of course we did! :) Because the food is great and we wanted Sister Arizapa to come back to church, then after the first week she gave us a referral Sister Evelyn :) I love them so much!!!!!!!
I liked hearing about the activity. And about the language it just depends on what I am going to say if it is about the gospel it is usually in Tagalog if it is just normal conversation it depends, but expressions and things are mostly in Tagalog :)
Well I don’t have a lot of time because the internet was acting up so I will write next week. Oh plus I will most likely order the Liahona at transfer day :)
I love you all and I know that this is the best work ever!!!! I love the gospel! Lets all do as Evelyn said and endure to the end!!! :)
Love, Sister Andreasen

Kumusta!!!! - August 16, 2010

                                        

This week was a great week! First we had a district activity on pday and we went to this water thing in the Elder's zone. 

                                        

Oh before I forget random note, the girl in the pictures is Janet she is the one who was baptized, and we just found out her family was sealed in the temple too, but when she was young they split up and they stopped going to church so she didn’t really know anything about the Church so we have been teaching her. Then sister Fajella! 
So back to this week haha. We started teaching Nika this week and she is really interested to know more!!! She asks questions, marks scriptures, and is just so excited to learn the truth. She says she has a lot more questions but feels what we are telling her is true and that if (when) she knows that it is true she will be baptized! Manyleen, our investigator who had a change of heart is doing well and we gave her a baptismal goal date and are really excited for her to progress, she just needs to go to church like Tatay Mario! Then we are teaching Gerald and he is awesome he has such a sincere heart. We taught him about the apostasy and told him that after Christ and the apostles died that people changed the covenants and he stopped us and said sisters what is a covenant!!!! I am so glad that we can help people understand that we need to make covenants and what they are and how important they are in our life! I know that it is true that some people are kept from the truth because they know not where to find it and I am so glad that we get to go to them and help them understand and know the truth and come unto Christ! Then we had the baptism of Rizza on Sunday! It was amazing! I am so glad that she is now a member of the church and I know that this will really help her in her life. 

President & Sister Anderson at Rizza's Baptism

Group Picture At Rizza's Baptism

When President came to interview me he asked about Rizza and offered to interview her. So we asked Rizza what she wanted to do and she said she wanted president to interview her. So he came to interview her and because he is an older American she was so nervous and scared! She started crying but then she finally went to the interview and it went really well and then he gave us all doughnuts haha. 

I’m so grateful for president he really cares about all his missionaries and each one of their/our investigators! He brought us Krispy Kreams and said we have to take a picture with the silly hats.

Rizza was so happy after the interview! I think it was partly relief for being done with the interview and she knew that now it was just the easy part. Then president came to her baptism it all went really well and I know that she will learn so much more with the Holy Ghost in her life and she will progress in young women and really come to understand her divine nature and individual worth! I’m so grateful for the church.  We are all children of a Heavenly Father! He loves us and we have been bought with a price and that is the life of our Savior! If we understand His Atonement we will come to understand more fully our own worth! Because we know how much He loves us! I am so grateful to share this message with people especially with those who don’t fully understand like Rizza! So we were hoping we would have more investigators at church because we have been inviting and inviting stressing the importance! Nika text her cousin to tell us that she couldn’t make it and we still aren’t sure why but we hope there is a good reason; it is a good sign that she texted :) then of course Rizza and Evelyn! Who will be baptized next week! Then to our shock as we were sitting taking the sacrament in walks Tatay Mario!!!!!!!!!!!!!! We were so excited!!!! He is so awesome. He was late, obviously it was during the sacrament but he didn’t know it was the sacrament and so he just started talking to us asking us questions and telling us about his coming to church. He is so cute! I will send a picture with him next week! He is awesome! So it was a great day on Sunday and a great week. Plus zone conference.  So we had zone conference and there is new curriculum for missionaries coming from the First Presidency and so we are excited and there are a lot of changes coming. We will have fewer zone conferences and interviews so that is the down side but I know that it is for the good of the work. It will take full effect in June when the new president comes in. Right now we are focusing on helping people feel and understand the spirit more and inviting them to be baptized sooner in our teaching! So I think it will be really great! Then the night before we went to sleep over closer to San Pablo. And Sister Clave was also there! So we got to see each other again before she goes home next transfer! I am so grateful for her and I know that the Lord really knows what we need to be the best missionaries we can be. Companions, areas! Everything!  

We are so blessed to have the gospel in are lives and know the truth. I am so glad that I get to share it with these wonderful people. I am sad that I will probably be leaving this area soon but the work will just keep moving forward. Usually we don’t stay longer than two transfers with a companion and I am next to go. So we will see I will let you know next week! I love you all!!!  I love you all so much! I love this work! I know our Father in Heaven has a plan for us and all His children! I am so happy to be able to share it! Until next week! I love you all! 

Love, Sister Andreasen  

Pictures for this Week...

We went up to the college and there is a statue of oblation and it is a famous thing in the Philippines.

At the Botanical Gardens

Me and Sister Clave

                                      

Then the jeepney we would always use to go to and from Pakil :)
I forgot to take a picture of it when I was there so here it is now. 

Hello Again - August 9, 2010

President Anderson, Sister Ganaden, 

Sister Andreasen, Sister Anderson

The "Famous Banana Cue"

I was so excited to get the pictures of the family. Why are there never any pictures of Michael and Kori? Sad. And I haven’t gotten to see a picture of Pepper. That’s the dogs name right? But anywoo, the pictures were great!!!! It made me miss you all. I couldn’t believe when I saw the pictures of Savannah! With short hair! She does look way cute though, she is right. Then what happened to Wyatt? I can’t believe Savannah is already in school. Wyatt must miss her like crazy.
So my talk went well. I was really nervous because I felt like it was something that this ward needed! And then I wanted to make sure my Tagalog was right. Sister Ganaden said I did a great job and a lot of the members said that it was really good and said they were impressed with my Tagalog so that made me feel much better! It was funny though because after my talk two things happened we had people talk to us about referrals! Awesome! I am so excited we actually had one family bring a referral to church. She was in our gospel principles class and she had so many questions her name is Nika and I just know that she is going to be a member one day!!!! She wants to know the truth and with her desire and her humble heart she will be able to feel the spirit! We set up an appointment and I can’t wait to go see her! So I am excited, I hope the ward will continue to give referrals! Then the next thing that happened was everyone asked if I was being transferred. Then they said that they would call president and tell him to keep me here in this area. Haha. I was a little surprised because I didn’t know I was that well liked among the members. But I love them and I it made me think about when I first transferred. I was so sad and it was so different, I missed Pakil and I wanted to go back. But after being here, I love it here too. You make every new area your home and just love the people and each area is amazing!!!! I love it here. And I am pretty sure I will be transferred this upcoming transfer and I am sad but I have also experienced the change so I am just working hard and loving the area and the people. Almost everyday we find new people to teach which is good because almost every day we get rejected too. So this week was hard yet good too!
Tatay Mario is doing great we taught about the word of wisdom and he doesn’t have any problems! I love him! The only problem is he has bad knees so he doesn’t really go anywhere so it is hard for him to go to church! We were scared when we went to him last week and he said that members from his old church came by he had some questions but we were able to help him understand. He says he hasn’t gotten an answer yet about Joseph Smith and the Book of Mormon but I think it is because he already knows that it is true and just doesn’t realize that he is feeling the spirit in his life.  So we are working on helping him understand the feelings of the spirit. Then we have an investigator, Sister Bing. She was the investigator of Sister Clayton and her first companion. So she has been an investigator for a while! But we started to re-teach the lessons and really gain a great relationship with her and I think that she was starting to understand but being pregnant and with one small baby it was hard for her to walk the long way to church. So she never came. But she committed to come to church this Sunday and she was so excited when we gave her a baptismal goal date. However, we went to her house on Saturday to teach her and got the news from her neighbor that she had her baby 2 months premature and that the baby past away the day before! We were heart broken she is so sweet and I know that this is going to be hard on her. But I think once she is well enough for us to visit her again she will be more interested about the plan of salvation and be able to progress more. I am so thankful for the church and to know that little babies are saved if the die! I know that it is hard but I know the Lord has a plan for Sister Bing and this might just help her to truly understand the importance of our message. Then Evelyn and Rizza both came to church and are still progressing really well! We went to go teach one investigator Manilyn and she wasn’t home so went to a house just a little ways away so that we could teach some other investigators and they weren’t there so we started talking to this lady that didn’t want to listen or talk to us at all but we still gave her a pamphlet and as we were walking a way Sister Manilyn comes walking towards us holding her Book of Mormon ready from us to teach her! She seemed to have changed over night she was really excited about our lesson and to learn more! So we are grateful for her progress and hope that she continues to gain a testimony! We have a new investigator that I told you about Sister Kathy! Amazing. She really understand our lessons and is really anxious to learn, she hasn’t been to church yet but this is only her third lesson so we are hoping she comes next week :) we meet two new investigators this week and were excited to go back and teach them but one wasn’t there just a bunch of guys and they were going to start drinking. Then we were really excited for the next lesson because this sister had so many questions about the Kingdom of God and how to be a family forever! So we excitedly went back and found a bunch of guys again, all drinking. We were so sad but we hope to go back this week and find no drinking men and be able to teach these sisters about the gospel!
I love this work I love the area and I am so grateful for my calling as a missionary. I love you and I am so grateful for your testimony building letters. I know what you mean about being grateful for the priesthood. I am so grateful for it as companion after companion doesn’t have a father who holds the priesthood or can’t at this time give blessings. So I am grateful for dad his good example and always being worthy of the priesthood he holds! I am so excited to have that in my own home some day! We also read our missionary handbook each time we have companionship study and we are also reading the back about all the priesthood ordinances and blessings and it is so amazing to know that we have this great power on the earth today! I love the church and I know it is true!
We have zone conference this week and it is the last one until December so we are excited for it! Plus I will get to see Sister Clave again before she leaves :( :) sad face because she is leaving and a smile because I get to see her again. So that is pretty much all that is going on in mission life right now :) so I will write next week.
I am so grateful for your love and to have the true church in my life and share it with others right now :)
I love you all
Love, Sister Andreasen

Answers To Questions - August 5, 2010

My ward is having a Relief Society missionary night and they have asked all the missionaries serving from our ward to answer three questions that their mothers can share with the other sisters in the ward. Here are Bethany's answers to the three questions, I enjoyed them and hope you do too.

1. What is the best food you have eaten on your mission?
I love sinigang!!!!!!! It is an ulam (which is anything that you eat along with your rice) it has a broth and usually pork or chicken and a lot of veggies! It is so good they cook it with a pepper is it is a little spicy and just delicious! Then the famous banana cue. It is made from a type of banana here called Saba and is my favorite, I don’t think we have this type of banana in America but we should. It is probably not healthy at all but they cover it in brown sugar and then fry it. I have a picture. They usually come with two or three on a stick. I also like a type of bread they have here called pandasal. It is small and only one peso and it is warm when you buy it and just yummy. Gulaman is the drink that I sent a picture of and that is a delicious too! I could go on and on they have good food here and we always get fed :)

2. What is the worst food you have eaten on your mission?
The worst food I have eaten is dinuguan. It is also an ulam and it is so gross!!!!! I can’t handle it. It is made partially from blood. And it is not against church standards we asked the mission president, but it should be because it is gross!!!!!! I had to force it down. Luckily for me they always have rice so I just got a little ulam and a lot of rice so that I didn’t really taste it but I had to eat it because it was an investigator who was feeding us! Then a lot of time they have liver in things and I just don’t like the texture. And then balot. It isn’t bad I have eaten it before but the second time I couldn’t handle it and you will understand why in the pictures! Yeah I didn’t eat it! So sad! It was really a baby duck!

3. What is one message you would like to share with the Relief Society Sisters of our Ward?
The message I have for the Relief Society is I love you! We are all daughters of God, He wants us to be happy and I know he has a plan for each one of us. I know that we get busy with life work, school, family, friends, and church. Sometimes it is hard to balance but I know that as we do the simple everyday things that we should we will find more time and a greater desire to serve the Lord and put more important things first, going to church, pray (as individuals and as a family), scripture study, family home evening! They are important. As I read my scriptures I think that the Lord is preparing me each day for the rest of my life for my future family. Right now I don’t have to deal with other things. It is the work 24/7 so it is easy for me to say these things but I do know that we need to be ready. The Lord has prepared us to come to earth at this time and I know if we endure joyfully to the end through the simple things he will bless are lives! Enjoy the gospel! Enjoy the love of our Savior he will be able to support you through all your trials! And he is there to share with you in your joys. He wants you to feel of his love and when you do you can’t help but expressing it by sharing it!
Work with the missionaries. I am in a mission where people are just nice and willing to listen but I am in an area where people are too busy and I imagine that it is somewhat like this at home, people are just to busy. Talk to your friends about the truth, love them enough to have the courage to share your testimony and give a referral to the missionaries. They will be so grateful for you and you will feel the joy and blessings that missionary work brings into our lives!
I love you sisters! I know that we can gain strength from one another; we are truly sisters, daughters of a Heavenly King! I love him and I know he loves us! This church is true and we have the fullness let us always take advantage of it and live the gospel to its fullness. I know as we do we will receive eternal blessings! I love you all so much! I love my Father in Heaven and my Savior Jesus Christ. I know that missionary work is so important and blesses those who serve ten fold! This is the work of God! The church is true! In the name of Jesus Christ, Amen.

Hello From The Philippines - August 2, 2010

I love it here. I still remember when I was first transferred here to Calamba and the change was so hard and so was the work. Well it hasn’t stopped being hard but I know that the Lord has given me strength as I have strived to be better and he has stretched me. Our ward is Calamba 1st Ward in the Cabuyao Stake. We are working on making the ward stronger and hope to do that as we bring the message to new people everyday.

So the Velasquez family didn’t go to church, which was really sad, and we haven’t been back yet to find out why. But last week we were just talking with Brother Rolando and then we brought up smoking because he is a smoker and he said that he wants to stop and knows that he can do it with are help! I have so much hope for their family. Then Evelyn came to church again and I was so happy! Her dad said that he doesn’t have a problem with her being baptized that she can make her own choices and he even asked questions so we are going to hopefully start teaching him soon. He said he isn’t ready right now but does want to learn more. And Sister Evelyn is such a good example she said that almost every night she is so tired but wants to read the Book of Mormon and usually falls asleep holding the book. She is great. And I think that this will be really good for her daughter too. Then we have Rizza and we were able to talk to president and he was really concerned for her and he is actually going to be the one to interview her. Her baptism will be on the 15! I'm so excited! Then Tatay Mario, he didn’t come to church either but he had something that happened with someone from his police batch and went to go help him. So hopefully next Sunday. I will hopefully be taking more pictures with investigators so that I can show you the people we are teaching I love them all so much!

So we met a new family, well first we met José. He yelled to us while we were walking and said, "I've been to Salt Lake" so then we started to talk to him. We went to visit him and his family and he actually always leaves but his "wife" and his cousin listen and I think that they will progress. They are excited about the message and love it every time we come over. So I am excited. It is just going to be hard with Sister Rhoda because she and José aren’t married and José has another wife in America so I’m not really sure how that will work. But it is crazy because he is 55 and she is 25! Wow that is a huge gap. So we will just have to work on it. 

Then we went to another appointment and the husband and his friends were all drinking. So the kids told us to go to another house. We weren’t sure about it but we followed them. Their mom wasn’t there but another girl was her name is Kathy she is 19 and awesome. We started to teach her and she really liked the lesson and wants us to come back. She told us that other religions have come by and that she always sends them away but she "felt something different" with us! Sometimes in this area I wonder if I have the spirit with me because we are always rejected! What she said confirmed and added to my testimony of what President Anderson said to us. We had zone interviews and he shared a scripture in 2 Nephi 33:1 he said we carry the message and the spirit unto the hearts of people, they are the ones who choose to accept it or not. Kathy built my testimony and gave me assurance that the spirit is with us and that those who are open to it will be open to us as well. I am so thankful that our companionship is three not two! Me, Sister Ganaden, and the spirit! I love it.

We still struggle with the area but we stay positive and rejoice in the good times that we have and the spirit that we are able to share with those who have an open heart. 

I know that changes are coming to our mission and I don’t know about all of them yet but I will fill you in when I do know. I know that zone conference is not going to be every transfer it is now only going to be every quarter. So after this zone conference I have only two :( it is sad but I know it is a change for the better. 

I know that this work is the greatest work on earth how blessed we are to have the truth and to be here on the earth in these latter-days. Your right mom we do have a great responsibility because of all the blessings that we have! 

I am grateful to be a part of this great work and know that one day even those who don’t want to listen to us will hear the gospel. I always think that we cannot be saved in ignorance and so we need to know as much as we can about this gospel the more we know the better! And that is why I am so sad when others choose not to listen, it will be so much easier now then after this life! I am so grateful for our investigators and those who seek for the truth! They are the elect they are the ones we are searching for and it is exciting when we find them!!!! 

I am sorry my last letter was speedy we were late because we had a district pday. We are a lot closer to our district now and they are a great help to us! Our district leader is Elder Tecson. He was in my last zone so that is cool and my zone leader Elder Banawan who was my last zone leader in Pakil. Haha. I am pretty sure that next transfer I will be transferred so I am trying to work extra hard hoping that the next missionary will have lots of investigators that are progressing :)

To answer your questions there are only two sets of missionaries in Calamba, Calamba First Ward, us and Calamba Second Branch Elders Tecson and De Leon. 

I am excited to see the pictures I cant believe Lizzy is so big!!! Tell her to stop growing! Haha I love those kids I cant believe they are back in school

Well I love you all very much!!!!! I love hearing from you and knowing what is going on in your lives!!!!! 

I am doing wonderful as always. Some days are better than others but they are all great when you start and end with a prayer! I know that the Lord is watching over us and that he loves his missionaries.

I think at zone conference or at transfer day all the sets of sisters will be getting cell phones so that they can contact the district leaders, zone leaders, or president so that he know we are always safe. So don’t worry :) but they do have your email :) 

I love you all!!!!!

Love, Sister Andreasen