NEW COMP

December 17, 2018

So on Thursday, I said goodbye to Elder Johnson and I got my new companion Elder Ferrer! He is quite the opposite from Elder Johnson. He's coming in at a whopping 5' 4" weighing 99 lbs. This is his last cycle in the mission, so we will only be companions for 6 weeks. He's a super talented guy! He is insanely gifted when it comes to drawing and cooking. I walked upstairs one day and saw this crazy amazing oil pastel... I asked him how long it took him to make, and he said 30 minutes! CRAZY! Next week I'll have to send a pic of some of his work. He understand English pretty good, but doesn't speak it too well. This has actually been a blessing for me because now I speak Tagalog almost all the time and I can already see my Tagalog improving a lot. Earlier this morning, I took Elder Ferrer to the gym for the first time in his life going, ever... haha. He was scared. But no one was there except for us so that made him a little more comfortable, and I was able to teach him some things. I'm not sure if we'll be going back next week though... haha. 

Christmas is super close! I hope you all have a great Christmas season! Don't forget to read Luke 2! 

Training is almost done?!?!?

December 10, 2018

Crazy this is the last week of my 12 week training! I've learned a lot, but my Tagalog still needs a lot of work. I'm beginning to understand the majority of what the Filipinos say so I'm super happy about that. The first cycle went by kind of slow, but this cycle has flown by! Tomorrow I'll get a call and find out who my new companion is and then transfers are on Thursday! I'm excited but nervous!

On Wednesday, I had exchanges again with my good friend Elder Grant! It also happened to be his birthday so that was really cool! We started out the day with a trail run to this awesome view - unfortunately, I didn't bring my camera! Afterwards, we played some basketball with our companions. We did our studies, and then I led my area and we did some really good work. We taught some good lessons and I was super happy that I was able to understand pretty much everything that day. Elder Grant and I were able to give good lessons. I prayed earlier for the gift of understanding and I could really tell that the Lord helped me out that day, because the next day, my understanding was not nearly as good as it was the previous day with Elder Grant. 

Crazy that it's so close to Christmas. Sometimes I forget the time of year it is when the temperature here is in the 80s! I hope all of you have a great Christmas and make sure you #LIGHTTHEWORLD

Mahal ko po kayo!

4 months whaaaaat!

December 3, 2018

Four months already?!?! That's crazy! 

This week was a pretty good one. Elder Johnson and I are making really good progress in our area. We found this awesome couple that accepted an invitation to be baptized on January 26th and I'm pretty sure they will make that goal! We even accidentally left a whole bag of bananas that a member gave us at their house and when they texted us we told them they could keep them and they were super happy! 

On Friday, there was a brownout in the middle of the night that lasted for 2 hours! A brownout is just what they call a power outage here. Let me tell ya, in the Philippines, you need a fan by your bed at night or it is crazy hot. I know it's snowing and is way cold back in the states, but the Philippines is allergic to the cold so they don't really like it or something. Anyways, I wasn't able to sleep for those 2 hours, :( but when I heard the sound of the fan coming back on, I was on cloud nine. Brownout's are pretty common, but usually will only last for like 20 minutes and don't happen at night that much. I decided to buy this pamaypay (which is a woven fan thing) from this person we were teaching. It's my best friend when there's a brownout and it only cost my 10 pisos. Which would be like 20 cents in USA haha! 

My companionship with Elder Johnson is coming to an end. Transfer day is December 13! Crazy how the time flies!