Philippin' Awesome: GOODBYE PASSI, HELLO KALIBO...and another new language!

Week 78

Monday, December 11, 2017

Wow, what a week! This may be a longer letter than usual. Honestly this last week was one of the best weeks of my life.

So, I'll start from the beginning. Monday and Tuesday were great days with a lot of good work done.

Wednesday we had a great lesson with Sister "B". She told us all about some challenges and struggles and trials she's been going through. This day was super special because it was literally my 6 month mark from going home. Towards the end of the lesson, it came my turn to testify and so I talked about how I had been on my mission for 18 months now... and I go home 6 months from today. When I said this, I got choked up with tears, and I actually realized how much I love my mission, and how honestly I don't want to go home. My testimony ended with how prepared Sister "B" is for this gospel. and how over the past 18 months she is one of the most prepared people I have found. One of her concerns though was her baptism scheduled on the 25th, and she didn't know if she'd be ready. (I'll get back to that though.)

Thursday and Friday, we had a mission-wide Christmas Conference...let's just say that was super lit...as in so dope! Thursday was tight because we did a balloon drop thing where we wrote a message on a #lighttheworld pass along card, and attached it to a balloon.

Friday, the conference consisted of dancing Zone presentations, and a whole bunch of other things. That day was amazing. We had lots of fun, lots of laughs and super spiritual moments that brought almost everyone to tears. It was so great. It really got me in the Christmas spirit!

Saturday, we had another great day where we taught a lot and ended the day with Sister "B" again. The lesson was amazing again. She said she has a conflict with the schedule for her baptism on the 25th of December and asked if she could just be baptized tomorrow, Sunday. Oh, how I wish! She is so great.

Sunday rolled in, and I got call Sunday morning informing me that I would be transferred as a Zone Leader to Kalibo. I am excited for the opportunity to become a zone leader again.So, a little bit about Kalibo...Kalibo is a city in Aklan, it is in the northern part of Panay. The language in the city is mostly Tagalog, so I'm excited to finally learn Tagalog! My companion will be Elder Merrill, the guy with all the tattoos. He is dope and we are already really good friends! Another cool thing that is happening in Kalibo in January is ATI ATIhan. This is one of the biggest festivals in Panay and it's gonna be so sick! I can't wait!

Church was great, we had six investigators. . I was asked to bear my testimony during Sacrament Meeting. Let's just say, it's hard to leave a place you love so much. But that is what a missionary does. One funny thing that happened was I gave Sister "B" all my Mormon Messages, Mormon videos, and "Meet the Mormons" video on Saturday. On Sunday at church she told me that I had made mistake to her, (so weird to say that in English haha.) But I asked her what I had done, she told me she was up until like midnight last night watching "Meet the Mormons." She told me that as she watched the last story "Missionary Mom" and she cried realizing how hard our ,mission must be and she thanked me for finding her.

I'm sad to leave Passi, especially right before all our baptisms happen. but I'm excited for my new area and calling. I love being a missionary, and this last part of my life has been without a doubt, the best part of my life. I'm so thankful for our Savior, Jesus Christ. I know he lives and I'm so thankful we have the opportunity to be celebrating his birth this Christmas season. I love you all, and I hope you all have a great week!

Ingat Kayo

Plangga ta kamo tanan

Elder Andersen