Hello Family! - January 18, 2010

So I love getting your email each week and hearing about the family!

So let me just say it has been a great week! Mom I think you are rubbing off on me because so many of the people we are teaching are young women! Haha. So Julie Fe is my favorite investigator! Shhh. She is 14 and supper awesome! She was taught by missionaries before but she never got baptized, we started teaching her and she came to church and she is so active she even sang at a baptism with the youth but when we asked her if she wanted to set a baptismal goal date she would say no. Then one day we were talking to her about it and she said it is because her dad doesn’t want her to be baptized. So we decided to pray and fast for her and she said she would pray too. So a couple weeks went by and then we went to teach her this week and she ran out to us and said Sister! My dad said I can get baptized!!! She was so excited she wanted to be baptized this past Saturday but we told her we had to finish some things first with lessons and everything. So she is getting baptized this Saturday! Yeah!!!! She gave the closing prayer in our lesson that day and thanked Heavenly Father for changing her father’s mind and she started to cry and of course so did I! I love her so much! I'm so excited! We had Luisa's baptism this past Saturday.  She is 12 and we are teaching her and her two sisters. One has a baptismal goal date but is not sure and the other one doesn’t want to set a goal date yet. However they both know it is true especially Lorana. The oldest one, she is 18 and so smart and she knows what we are teaching is true yet she just doesn’t want to change. 

She is hard-core catholic. Which I have a picture of one of the catholic churches here.It is funny because they change the second commandment so that they can have their woodcarvings of Mary and things. It is so sad though because so many just live that way because it is tradition they don’t even know what they believe yet they won’t leave their religion. But I know one day Lorana will be ready. 

I haven’t been able to get a picture with Sister Susa yet soon though. I do have one with Julie Fe and Sister Olivia. I’m wearing purple and so is Julie Fe and there are little kids in the picture and Sister Olivia is pregnant. 

But not anymore! Saturday night she had her baby! Yeah! It is a girl but she doesn’t have a name yet. So she said that she would go to church in two weeks so she can recover. Her husband also wants to go and they would have if she didn’t have the baby. The only problem is they don’t have any money. They didn’t even know how they were going to pay the lady that helped them with the birth. It is so sad and I wish I could do more to help them but I can’t I can only help feed and nourish them spiritually. 

We had the baptism of Aerol and Jonabeth and I will send pictures of that too. One of our families the Satosa family was suppose to come to church but then there dad got called away for work and so they couldn’t come because she is pregnant and he doesn’t want her to go alone with all the kids. She knows it is true and she said she is so happy that she has meet us and she wants all of her girls to be baptized and to be like me! It was so sweet! She said I’m so proud of you! She doesn’t even know me that well. It was so sweet! I just told her that it was the gospel of Jesus Christ and that through it everyone can be happy and find purpose and direction in life! I love the work and I know it is blessing the lives of these people! So we only had two investigators at church on Sunday because it was raining and people don’t want to get sick or their kids to get sick but I know next week will be better!

Our branch president doesn’t have any family here because they moved but he is staying here until he is released I don’t know why. Anywoo, we went over to his house for dinner the other night with the elders and it was so fun! He is a funny guy and he cooked and we cooked and it felt good to get close to our leaders!

So funny story we were walking to an appointment and we walked by a house and a little girl looked at us and she pointed to me and said "mama mama sexy" haha. Everyone uses the word sexy here. I have lost weight from when I first got here and some of the members will say "o, sexy na" which means wow your sexy now. Haha it is weird. It is more like saying oh slimmer now. Haha. They are funny. The little kids are so cute and I have some pictures with them.

We are teaching the Jayme family and Jovelyn went to the baptism of Luisa and she told us that she had a feeling and she thinks it is the answer to her prayers and that she thinks she wants to be baptized. We told her that it was the spirit. Then on Sunday we went to teach her and then she wanted to come with us to our next appointment it was so cute! She is amazing! So one day you will see a picture of her baptism but I might have one of her before that.

Oh funny story so Mary is big here because of the Catholic Church. So before Aerol got baptized we were teaching about the Godhead and we ask him if he knew who they were. He said "Diyos Ama" (Heavenly Father) we were excited then he said "Diyos Anak" (the Son or Jesus Christ) we were thinking yes! He’s got this! Then it came to the third one and you could tell he wasn’t sure but wanted to give us an answer so in a question tone he said "Mama Mary" haha. It was funny. And then we taught him truth about the Godhead and it was great! He works with the elders and wants to go on a mission! The youth here are so strong. Oh I also have a picture of Laiza and Maryann. 

Youth that help us its two of them one is smaller and that is Laiza they should be at the end because were some of the last pictures I got this week. So that is my week so far.

Thank you so much! I love you all!!!! Thank you for the stories about the kids! I still think it is crazy about Bert but that is life :) and I’m excited for him! You should ask him if it is the girl he told me about before I left on my mission. Send my love to everyone tell Paul happy birthday!

The Church is true and it brings the most joy anyone could experience!

Love,

Sister Andreasen

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

Worst P-Day Ever!! January 4, 2010

So last pday I didn’t have an email from you because we had just talked and now I don’t have an email again! I am pretty sure it is because my mailbox is "full" the thing is I delete all my emails so I don’t know what happened! So now it is just depressing I was so excited to get my email from you and now I cant! :( Well I love you all and maybe you can send two emails next week :) the one meant for this day and the one for next week. Well the work is still going great! Ahhh I'm still so frustrated! I just realized that the phone that I was talking to you on stopped working too! So now two things have stopped communication! Ahhh!

Okay I’m over it now haha. Just had to get upset for a second. So lets talk about the work because it is amazing! We have some great investigators! First I will talk about the ones in the school for the evacuees. Two families, the Suares and the Olila. Sister Suarez wants to be baptized but we haven’t taught her all the lessons and she isn’t going to church because she is pregnant and past due and doesn’t want to have the baby in the church so I hope the baby comes soon. We were just able to teach her husband which is really exciting because we have never taught him! The Olila family is the same way we have never met the father the mom says she wants the whole family to be baptized but they can’t be a whole family without the dad so we are trying to find a time to teach him. But Sister Olila has a daughter Julie she is my favorite! She is so strong she goes to church and activities and she reads the Book of Mormon! She is great but she doesn’t want to get baptized because she is worried about what her dad would say. But just the other night Sister Clave didn’t feel good and so we were debating going out again or just stay in because she was sick. So we said a prayer and then decided to go see the families at the school! It was one of the best lessons ever! I know we were suppose to go there and that is when they all said they wanted to be baptized. Sister Suares wanted to be baptized this Saturday because she wanted to do it before the baby. She is excited! Then Sister Olila said the thing about her whole family being baptized and so we are now focusing on the husbands.

That is the same for the Satosa family. We went to their house and taught about the restoration and the spirit was really strong we teach the mom and her kids but the dad is always working. So we talked about Sister Satosa's feelings and she says she knows are message is true and wants her husband to listen and she wants to go to church but she has a hard time because she has many kids and she is also pregnant. Her youngest daughter Jenn who is 7 always tells her dad what we taught and then her mom will correct her or add to what she says. I think he will listen! So we left their house wishing we could have met the dad but excited for our next appointment because she said he would be there. Then we got on a tricycle to go to a baptism at the church. We were talking to the tricycle driver and introduced ourselves and were inviting him to church while we were doing this we found out that it was the Satosa father!!!! Haha! The Lord is truly in this work! I love it! We also have two youth that I think will be setting a baptismal goal date soon!

Then we are teaching the Rodriguez family! They are amazing! They are all so nice but it first started out that we were teaching the 12-year-old girl there and now we are teach her two older sisters too. The oldest one is 17 and she would listen every now and then but one lesson she started to ask questions and now she listens to every lesson! She is very smart and ready to hear the gospel. However she is a devoted catholic and her church is the same time as ours so she hasn’t come. But last night we were sharing about obedience and prayer and the spirit was so strong! Then we talked about the holy ghost and how we can know the truth and I know she felt the Holy Ghost and that she felt it is true she was excited to pray about it and fell the spirit so I hope she will continue to progress and have enough courage and faith to go to church! The gospel is amazing! Our district is great! We had a baptism of the Elders this Saturday but it was one of the girls that Sister Clave and I had been teaching so it was exciting for us! The work is wonderful!

Seeing the split of my area makes me realize that I won’t be here forever, which is sad because I love it but it also makes me see that the Lord’s work will go on! It will be sad to leave Pakil but I hope that that won’t happen for a while! Because it truly is such an amazing area! Everyone says it not just me, because it is my first area but from what I hear it is one of the best! And I won’t argue at all!

I know the Lord loves his children I see it everyday here and I am thankful for his hand and loving help! I am learning so much from everyone I meet! The lord always strengthens and blesses me. I just have to have the faith to know that he can do all things and I can do all things through his power! Even speak in Tagalog!

Well I love you all I know I will be so excited for next week and for your letter!

I hope all is well. I haven’t received grandmas package yet I'm hoping sometime this week I will let you know as soon as I do. Thank you for everything!

If you can in your next package please send pictures of baby Tyler! I'm excited to see him!

I love you all! So very much!

Love sister Andreasen

Another Phone Call - December 26, 2009

During our Christmas phone call with Bethany she told us that her apartment owner gave a Christmas party for all the tenants and that she and her companion attended.  While at the party she met the owner's brother who was visiting from the states for a wedding.  They got to talking and small world - it turns out that he lived in Victorville a few years back and his two kids graduated from Victor Valley High School.  The same high school that Bethany attended for two years.  How crazy is that?
When he got back to the states he called to tell us how much he had enjoyed meeting Bethany and that he had pictures of her and would send them when he could.  We received the pictures last Saturday.  He said he also had a DVD of her and Sister Clave singing and would send that when he could.  We were so excited to hear from him and thought it was so nice of him to take the time to call and send the pictures.