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| That's Hazel, Danico, and the little girl is Sarah. She is by far my favorite little girl. So cute. |
I
know that last week my letter was lame but I ran out of time! It is so
hard to e-mail individual letters back AND write a good family letter. So
this time I will write the family letter first and try and type like
lightening. I also made a list of things that I wanted to tell you so
that hopefully it would be a little more quick.
So
a few funny things that have happened to me here in the beautiful yet crazy
country of the Philippines:
Last
week, the other sisters got home before us. When we came home they had
left the front door open (which isn't a big deal, we usually leave it open
while we are home to let the wind in. Plus we have a big giant gate
around our apartment that we keep locked so it is safe). We have to be
home by 8:30 pm. Anyway, Sister Hingano and me walked up to the apartment
and started unlocking the gate and a cat casually just walked out of
apartment. nonchalant. Haha soooo funny. It scared us way bad
and then we laughed about it.
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| Sister Hingano, Sister Ott & Me in front of our house |
While
running with Sister Ott in the morning, it was the first time that I have had
to dodge a ginormous dead rat just chilling the road. When we got back,
our 11 year old neighbor was driving him and his family out of our
subdivision. Naturally.
Last
week, there was a huge birthday celebration at Nanay Corachea's and I
unknowingly ate goat. I didn't know but it tasted good haha. I
forgot to mention that last month I ate liver.. MOST DISGUSTING THING
EVER. I will never eat that again.
On
Wednesday, we went to teach an investigator and she insisted that we eat.
The rice looked a little sketchy but I didn't want to be rude. I felt
something sobrang hard in my mouth. I pulled it out. A rock.
hahaha. I just laughed.
Also,
have I mentioned that I have seen more public breast-feeding than I ever dreamt
I would see in my life? Haha it is such a casual thing here. On the
street, in sacrament meeting, in our small, intimate, close quartered
lessons. Haha and the other night..... ohhhh my gooodnesss.... hahahaha
Nanay Mercey (You call older people by Nanay and Tatay which means mom and
dad). Anyway, Nanay Mercey agreed to work with us with a few of our
investigators and she was getting ready. I turn around and she says,
"Wait na lang sister!" and then.... she straight up flashed me!!!!
haha I think she was trying to tell me that she didn't have a bras or
something? But she straight up flashed me. I was SHOCKED. And
keep in mind this is a Nanay.... ibig sabihin older woman. Hahahah it was
so funny though. It was just so outrageous I couldn't help but laugh.
My
worst fear now, is officially hungry pigs. Right next to the house of
Jason and Marylin is a giant pig coop, cage, stye, area (haha I don't know the
name. That's how unfamiliar I am with farms). Anyway, if they are
hungry, it is the scariest sight you have ever seen. They are soooooo
loud and jumping and climbing all over each other, slobber everywhere.
They will hoist themselves up so their feet are hanging over their cage.
I can't be near them when they are hungry like that. NAKAKAKILABOT!!!
I'm
not afraid to kill the biggest spiders anymore, and I have seen more than a few
cockroaches that are bigger than my thumb.
Haha
but despite the scary and ridiculous sights here, there is a lot of
beauty. We get to walk through rice fields to a lot of our investigators
and it is breathtaking. These huge bright green fields and they smell so
fresh. Whenever we trek to the Cantos family, it is evening and there was
a tree filled with fireflies (My first time ever seeing fireflies).
Because there aren't many lights, the stars are many and bright.
Two
mornings ago we were exercising and this little boy, 8 years old, came up to
us. His name is Aaron. We were jump roping and we invited him to
join. Magaling siya!!! Then we raced him up and down the
street. So fun. His voice is so cute and I love the way the little
kids speak Tagalog. And their sentences are full of 'po's so that they
are respectful to those older than them. So cute.
Yesterday,
Sister Ott & Sister Dicen made him get in the the tricycle with them on the
way to church. He watched me as I played piano. We're hoping that
we can teach his parents. I have said it before, but seriously the people
here are so beautiful, funny, hospitable, kind, selfless. I love
them. I love the people here in Rosario and the members of the
ward. I will be very sad to leave this area. We will probably get a
hint of what will happen at the next transfer on Friday, because we have
our first zone interviews. The President will interview all of us
individually.
But
the pinaka-mabuting aspect of being a missionary is teaching. Seeing your
investigators progress, feel the spirit, and change. Sister Hingano and
me are so excited about our investigators right now. So I think I hinted
at it last week, but last week we tracted this woman named Vanji. She was
walking to the store and we started talking to her. I figured that she
had stuff to do but I asked her if we could just come and teach her right
then. She agreed excitedly and her husband was home. They have both
been through multiple religions and are really searching for the truth (which
is bihira, or rare here because everyone is catholic). Anyway, the spirit
was strong as we taught them and as the wife was reading how to pray, just
READING how to pray she started crying. Neither of them would pray, so as
I was praying she started crying and crying. I know she felt the
spirit. We went back to teach them this week, and unfortunately the
husband wasn't home. But it went really well with the wife, and after
scriptures and some convincing she agreed to pray, and again, tears were
streaming down her face. We picked her up for church yesterday, and she
had a really good experience. It was a great testimony meeting and I
think that she could feel the strength from the member's testimonies. Her
husbands name is Ramos, and we're meeting with both of them this week. He
is convinced that God and Jesus Christ are the same person so we are going to
have to work with him a little bit but they are super potential. We have
faith.
Also,
Marylin will be getting baptized at the end of the month. She is ready
and Jason will be able to baptize her. Jason was baptized on
Saturday, and we 4 all sang my new favorite hymn "Brightly Beams our
Father's Mercy." Last night we taught Marylin and he told her that
when she is baptized she will know this is the true church. He said that
he didn't feel anything different at the actual baptism. But he said that
when he was confirmed in sacrament meeting, he felt something really
different. He said that he felt a burning feeling and he didn't know how
to describe it. Siyempre the Holy Ghost:) Then he said that when he
sat down he just kept having this prompting to bear his testimony and he tried
to ignore it because he was shy daw but he finally got up and it was such a
simple sincere testimony. He is very excited for his wife and family.
Yesterday
Tatay Ronnie came to church, another man that we tracted into. We have
taught his family a couple times and they didn't seem very interested at first
but now they are finally seeing the difference of our message. Ronnie was
really excited at church and had lots of questions
during Sunday school. We are going back to teach his family
tonight and we will show the restoration video. It is weird because as we
went back in our area book, we saw that one of the Elders taught them before
but only once and never even followed up with them. I guess it is just
about timing, but we are really excited about them.
We
have a few other investigators that we have faith in. It is so fulfilling
to share the gospel. I have never been happier as a missionary. I
am so grateful for this time. I love Sister Hingano and my
housemates. My President is strict but absolutely incredible. I
will be sad when he leaves in June, but I am sure the new one will be just as
great.
I
love all of you so much, and I just want you to know that I know with all of my
being that this is the true gospel on earth today. By the power of the
Holy Ghost, I know that the Book of Mormon is true, Joseph Smith is a true
prophet, the gospel of Jesus Christ is restored on earth again. We are so
lucky to have this truth and I encourage all of you to share as much as you
can. Be an example for those who don't have the truth.
I
love all of you. You're in my prayers.
Love,
Sister
Rasmussen
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