Philippin' Awesome: February 2017

Tuesday, February 28, 2017

GOOD WEEK!

Week 37

Monday, February 27, 2017

Hello friends and family,

What's uppppppppppp?? I had a great week this week and I hope you all did too!

To be honest, I just thought for like five minutes and I can't think of any crazy natabo sa amon, so I guess it was just a mellow week haha., So I'll dive right in:

This week was really good... we were able to teach a lot and we had a lot of fun! Right now, our biggest focus is the "A" family, especially "L". She is so awesome... such a great investigator. She knows that our message is true, but she always has to take care of their rice on Sunday, drying it, etc. It's such a bummer that they haven't come to church yet, we were so excited yesterday because we were positive "L" would come to church...we even had a member stop by to bring her, but again, she wasn't able to come. I think once we move our church to the center of town she will come. One investigator we taught this week is Sister "A". She is really cool and has read almost half of the Book of Mormon. We honestly haven't formally taught her yet because our lessons consist of an hour of her asking us lots of questions. "How neat is that?" Her biggest hangup right now is that she doesn't believe Jehovah and Jesus Christ are the same person. We have been searching to find a scripture to help her understand Jehovah was Jesus' name in the pre-mortal life. She's way cool. I wish more people would ask us questions about the Book of Mormon. The "S" family is good...we didn't have an opportunity to teach them this week because they are busy with funeral preparations for their uncle. We have been finding a lot this week too! We found this one family that is awesome...I really believe they are being prepared for our message... we'll see how that goes.

That's really all I have this week, kind of a dry letter this week haha. But I love this place so much I love the Philippines so much. Have a great week all!

Love,

Elder Andersen

Monday, February 20, 2017

LOVING LIFE!

Week 36
Monday, February 20, 2017

This week was a great week. Elder Merrill and I went on splits Tuesday through Thursday. It was a lot of fun and I learned a lot from him. We actually found a ton of people that I am excited to go back and visit this week. It's amazing what a fresh person can do for an area.

On Saturday, we had "N's" baptism! It was great and a really good service. I love seeing people commit to being baptized, then actually follow through with it. It is the best to see a person grow closer to Christ and feel his presence. I love teaching people about my Savior, he is my literal brother. My testimony of Jesus Christ has grown so much while serving a mission.

Back to the week, So this week we were able to teach the "S" family once. They actually tried to come to church last week...they waited for two hours and weren't able to get a trike. This week their uncle died, so they were in Kalibo. The "A" family is getting really close to baptism. They are trying to keep come to church, but things keep happening that prevent them from coming. "L's" faith is growing so much that she is giving us referrals...way cool!

Now, we are in San Jose because we just had a Zone Activity. It was fun... we played basketball and dodge ball. We will be heading home in a hour or so.

That's really all I have for this week. I love this work so much, I love being a missionary, and most of all I love the people of the Philippines. The Philippines is the best place in the world.

I'm so lucky I can spend 2 years of my life here

Love you all,

Ingat Kayo lahat

Love, Elder Andersen

Soup #5- (If you want to know...look it up!)

The face and body of Jesus that "L" saw

Octopus

When you contact a former investigator and they have their 10 year old son climb up a big coconut tree to get coconuts for us.

The Fish Spa

"N's" baptism

Baptism

Zone Activity

Tuesday, February 14, 2017

THE GHOSTS ARE BACK

Week 35

Monday, February 13, 2017

Hello Friends and Family,

HAPPY VALENTINE'S DAY!!! I hope you all had a great week. Sorry for the late email, the internet here in Antique was down yesterday, so we couldn't email.

This Week's Crazy Story:

The ghosts are back!!! Right now, I am on splits with Elder Merrill. We spent our P-day in his area yesterday because of a cool activity that we did (I'll get to that later). We came home and as we were going to bed, I turned all the lights off. We were laying in bed, talking, when suddenly, the bathroom door opened. I asked my companion..." was that you?" It wasn't him! (We were on HIGH ALERT.) Then, that same door kept opening and shutting. (We were freaking out!) Finally, we got the courage to get up and rig the door so it wouldn't open again. We kept some lights on too. We thought we were okay and started to relax a little, when suddenly...the same thing started to happen with the door to our bedroom. After a lot of prayers, we got the courage to get out of bed and prop that door open too. We finally fell asleep about midnight... I don't like ghosts! We are going to try to move soon. haha!

This week was a awesome week. The best experience of the week was when we taught Sister "LA". We had planned to teach her about the Plan of Salvation. After we started the lesson, I asked her how her reading of the Book of Mormon was going. She said one day she was out on a sea wall looking over the ocean while she was reading. She read the Introduction to the Book of Mormon (one of my favorite parts) and she was pondering what she had read. As she was pondering, she looked up at the sunset and saw Christ's face on the sun. She took that as her answer that this is the true church. We were able to have a very cool lesson with her. We talked about her experience and about the Holy Ghost. She actually took a picture of the sun... it's cool. I am so happy for her! This week, "N" also passed his baptismal interview and he will be baptized on Saturday.

Thursday, we had the opportunity to go to San Jose for a Missionary Conference. It was amazing... I learned lot, and had a lot of questions answered. The General Authorities and Apostles of this church are so inspired and so amazing.

P-DAY:

This P-day was awesome, we went to the Tibiao Fish Spa. While at the spa, we stuck our feet in this pool, and then fish ate the dead skin off our feet. It was soooo cool, and really relaxing. Then, we had a thirty minute foot massage. It was so great ...I loved it! haha

I'm loving this work. Words don't describe how lucky I am to be blessed to serve a mission, especially here in the Iloilo Mission. Have a great week. I love you all!

Love,

Elder Andersen

P.S. New food tried this week... Soup number 5... you all may throw up when you see what's in it. (Look it up!) I also ate octopus... I didn't like it too much, it was super fishy, but not the worst thing I've ever eaten.

Missionary Conference

Tuesday, February 7, 2017

MALUMPATI...THE BLUEST WATER I HAVE EVER SEEN!

Week 34

Monday, February 5, 2017

Hello Friends and Family,

I hope you all ha a great week!

The crazy story this week is was what we did today, our P-Day:

Today we went to a resort called Malumpati. It was one of the dopest places I have ever been to in my life... it was so awesome! This resort is known for having the cleanest water in the Philippines. We literally put our faces in the water and drank!...It was awesome. It was also the bluest water I have ever seen! I wanted to swim so badly, but of course I couldn't. I will for sure go back there after the mission. I have tons of pictures. I can't wait to send them to you!!

This week:

This week was different. On Monday, we went to Iloilo so we didn't have a p-day. We had interviews with President Cruz then we slept at the Assistants' apartment. All day Tuesday we had out Zone Conference. It was amazing and it really got everyone pumped for missionary work. On Tuesday night, we slept in San Jose because we got back way too late to get to our area. We ended up having our p-day day on Wednesday and we spent most of the day traveling. Then, we worked for the rest of the week, and here we are today!

Our Investigators:

Most of our investigators are pretty good. "N" will be baptized on the 18th. I'm way excited for him! We're struggling with the "A" and "S" families coming to church, but we're just trying o build their faith and get them there.

That's about all I have for this week, we are super short on time, sorry it's so short!

Love you all,

Mahal kita pero...

Love Elder Andersen