Week 25: Well that was unexpected...

This week has been a good one but there were some unexpected things that happened. 

Monday we were still companions with Sister P because there weren't any transfers yet. We went and taught one of our investigators that is house-sitting for a family that is in California right now. That house is HUGE! The funny thing is that it would be normal sized if I was home right now. Wow, I am not excited for the culture shock when I get home.That was an interesting lesson because Brother C, the investigator that is 60 years old, has a whoooooole bunch of questions that could be easily answered if he would just use his brain. My favorite question that he asked was, "Which is more powerful these days, money or God?" What?! How is that even a question? Whatever. Anyways, his problem is that he's not willing to read the Book of Mormon and pray and search for the answers himself. He'd rather rely on us, the missionaries. So sad. 

After Brother C, we went and taught Brother E who is another old man and investigator but he's a lot more fun to teach. He actually asks questions that proves he's interested and wants to learn. And he always prays and reads his scriptures and is trying to stop his cigarette addiction. His main problem is that he never has time to go to church... But hopefully that will change soon

Tuesday was a good one too. We were still a threesome which I liked a whole lot. It was so fun. Sister J (our recent convert who is so completely golden it's not even funny) is back from the hospital. Her older sister had an accident and J was watching over her for the last little bit. Her older sister is now out of the hospital but she still doesn't know how to speak and she's lost most of her memories too. Please pray for her. 

And then we taught Brother R and that was a good one. Normal-lang. He's still awesome and humble and yup. Nothing new.

We taught some more lessons and they were all good too (sorry, running out of time, gotta focus on the important things). Later that night we finally got the text of what was happening for transfers. We all thought that Sister C was going to be transferred because she's been here for so long. But nope. We're still here and so is Sister P. The change is that Sister Je was coming here. My best friend from Masinloc! I might have started squealing and dancing around our Branch President's house haha

Wedneday was weird because we were the only ones that didn't get to go to Olongapo and pick up the new missionaries coming to our areas. But we went out and worked anyways. Everyone got here safely and then we found out that Sister C and I are the only ones that get to live in our apartment. Sister P is now in a threesome with Sister L and Sister Je which is super funny because the two white girls are fairly tall and Sister P is tiny. And then came the not so fun part. Every night before we go to bed we go over to the other sisters' apartment and we talk and chat and all that good stuff. The problem is that someone always brings up ghosts. What the heck. Don't talk about ghosts right before I'm about to go back to our dark, empty apartment where only two of us live there.... that is not nice at all. And it happens every night! Whatever. 

Thursday was good too. Nothing big happened. Just taught the lovely people over in San Pedro again. 

Friday was good. Sorry. Not many details because not much happened again.

Saturday was interesting though. We went and taught Brother R and he told us that he finally found work. But! It's in Manila and that means that he has to move there. And to top it all off, he might not be here for his baptism on the 25th. Not sure about Sister C but when he told us that, I started praying like no other... There had to be a way for him to be baptized before he left for good. After our lesson for him we all went to the church for the Area Broadcast where the area presidency presented our area goals. It was a good broadcast.

Sunday: Went to church, Brother R got interviewed for the second time and he passed (woohoo!) and then the branch president pulled us all into his office. He had heard that Brother R was leaving and he said that if he wanted to, Brother R could be baptized that very day right after church. And so that's what happened. He was baptized and we were all super happy! And his testimony afterwards was great. He has so much conviction and someday, he's gonna be a great leader in the church. I'm so grateful that I got to be a part of his conversion and I'm a part of this great work.  I know that God knows what needs to happen for all of his children in order for them to receive the gospel in their lives. 

Thank you so much for all your prayers and support. I love you all.

Mahal ko kayo

Until next week,

-Sister Hess

Week 24: Good golly it's cold here.... Oh wait... it's only 70 degrees... SO WHY AM I FREEZING?

Well this week has been interesting. Just a heads up.... If you're assigned to be housemates with a missionary who is going home... You're going to get trunky and homesick. Just so you know. That was my big discovery this week.  So yeah, it was fun at the same time. Sister B is going home on Wednesday and let me tell you, I'm gonna miss her so much. And trunkiness is a very bad thing for a missionary.  So Monday of this week was fun. Normal p-day. Got up, did laundry (the usual way, by hand. I won't need a washing machine when I get home. Just get me two big buckets and a washing board)  ate breakfast, went and emailed everyone (Hi again!), found out that both of my flashdrives have viruses on them (note to the people preparing for a mission: if you take flashdrives make sure they have an anti-virus installed in them) and then went to the grocery store (we now have a legit grocery store here in Lubao that opened about a week or two ago). Nothing super exciting happened. We went and taught Brother R again and then went home and ate dinner. Normal lang. Oh and update on Brother R, he's fine. Still preparing for his baptism on January 25th and still taking the discussions.  Tuesday we had a district meeting and that was fun. Our zone is awesome. All the elders are crazy. Yup, the usual :) After the meeting We had exchanges again. Surprise! So I got to be companions with Sister P :) She's very very quiet but I learned that day that actually she's not. Brother M worked with us (he's 17, turning 18 this month and waiting for his mission call. I keep threatening him that he's gonna be called to America and then he's gonna have to learn to speak English hehe). It was actually a super fun day. We went to their area and got to teach a bunch of lessons. Two of them were to two investigators that were going to be baptized on Saturday (don't worry. it was successful and they were baptized). I seriously love the Filippino people so much. They're so sweet and caring. And it's so easy for me to be myself around them. I'm so grateful that I was called here on my mission. It's the perfect place for me. Anyways, not sure why but I was in a really weird mood and was cracking jokes the whole time. That's probably why it was so fun. Because I was so happy :) It's so true that your attitude can affect the whole day and you get to choose what kind of attitude you want to have. Wednesday was good too. We taught a  lesson to Sister Ba. She's not really interested in the discussions because she's always busy but she's always willing to chat with us and feed us food. She's a preschool teacher but she's 54 years old and she feels like she's too old to be doing her job anymore. Needless to say, she was feeling kind of depressed and so we decided to cheer her up and share a short message with her. She said afterwards that she felt a lot better and she actually started crying a bit. I love being a missionary. We really can help people and change their lives. This was the day that we started our work in San Roque (which is the farthest part of our area) and then walked through Dela Paz and then kept walking until we got to San Pedro Palcarangan. My shoes got a little more worn down.  Thursday, we went and taught the usual loverly people out in San Pedro Palcarangan again. They're all still doing good. We have started teaching the 9 year old cousin of one of our recent converts. It's so fun to teach her because she's smart but at the same time it's so different because we have to dumb down the lessons and be overly enthusiastic all the time. I am usually exhausted after those lessons. Anyways, her name is I and she's very sweet. Her little sister who is 4 or 5 is named D and she's a funny little girl. She's very very talkative and little Filippino kids are the cutest because they say the funniest things. The other day she made Sister C feel her arm muscles and said that she was "Astig" or cool in English because she has muscles. Why does she have muscles? How nice of you to ask. "Because she eats a lot of rice." hahaha trust me, it's funnier in Tagalog and when you understand :)  We also showed the Testaments to Brother R. It was a really good lesson. No matter how cheesy that movie is, I still love watching it because the Spirit is so strong and it always reminds me how much my Heavenly Father loves me and all of us. Also reminded all of us that we need to prepare now because we never know when the second coming of Jesus Christ will be, but trust me, it's coming. Also reminded us that we need to make our faith as strong as it can be. Saturday, we had a baptism. Sister B's last baptism. Sister J and Sister R were baptized and they were so happy. It was a great day. And after that we had Sister B's farewell party. We played a lot of games and had some fun and tried to ignore that fact that she's leaving.  Sunday, church again. We went to church, of course, and then we had a meeting afterwards with Brother L, the branch mission leader. After that we went home and got ready to work. Brother K worked with us and that was fun. We taught Sister I again and Brother R again and then we had to go home because President Q was coming to pick up Sister B. He came and got her and she hugged us all one last time. I'm not gonna lie, I started crying. You know how I used to be so unemotional and hard as a rock? Yeah. that #1 is gone.... I'm a mushy marshmellow now :P But yeah, so she left and then all three of us, me, Sister C, and Sister P went back out to teach one more lesson. We all hopped on Brother K's tricycle and headed back out. I was wearing a sweater because it was so flippin cold. We went and taught the M family who are partially less-active and had a good time to distract us from the fact that Sister B is gone. And then we came back home and planned and ate dinner and then got ready for bed. And that was this week. Hope you enjoy all the details, Mom and the pictures too.  Thank you for all the love and support that you give me.  I love you all. Until next week, -Sister Hess

Week 23: Happy New year!

This week has been a lot of fun. Happy 2014 to all of you! Guess what?! I'm coming home this year! :D but in December.... Got a while but I'm sure it'll just fly by. 

This week I've learned a lot as usual and changed a lot too but that's what's supposed to happen on your mission diba? 

On Monday, we had a family home evening. Let's just say that it was super super fun. We gave a lesson on the atonement and then played a whole bunch of games. We played Booga-booga which is a secret game that you have to go through an initiation before you can play. Hess Family, don't worry. Sister Lowe and I have plans to make you all members :) That was super entertaining. 

Tuesday, we had a district meeting and only worked until 6 because we had a curfew. We went to San Pedro Palcarangan and taught Brother R. We taught about becoming truly converted. I shared the verse with him from Alma about faith being like a seed and taking care of it and making it grow. It was a good lesson and we all learned a lot from it. That's my favorite part of teaching. No matter how many times I've taught a lesson before I always come away from it with new knowledge and a stronger testimony about the subject. It's pretty excellent. We also taught Sister J which is always interesting because even though she's a recent convert she's so awesome that it seems like she's been a member for a really really long time. The reteaching is almost pointless for her haha. After those two appointments, it was time to go home. So we hurried home and changed super quick. Then we went over to the other sisters' apartment and started the party. We played a whole bunch of games (including Booga-booga) and painted our faces Polynesian style with lipstick. Pretty awesome. We played a game with flour that eventually turned into a flour war and we were all WHITE. Needless to say, it was a super fun new years eve and a great way to start off 2014. 

On Wednesday, we didn't have any appointments. Everyone was busy. So we went from members house to members house. It was another very good very fun day. Not much to share about Wednesday.

Thursday, we went back to work. We were in San Pedro again. And we got to teach at almost every single appointment that we had planned. That rarely ever happens. We taught Sister J again and Sister C (who is an investigator that doesn't know how to read even though she's in her 30's and has 2 kids, interesting) and Brother R and the M family (less-actives for a really long time) and the Re family too (less-actives as well). Pretty fun :) I love missionary work. 

Fridays are always interesting here in Lubao. We go out and work because we have faith :) And so we went to San Roque first and taught Brother Ro. He told us that he's going to go work in Manila so we won't be able to teach him again for a while. So sad. And then we went from appointment to appointment and no one was home. We went to go teach one less-active and met his son, Ru who is 18 years old and isn't a member yet. The last missionaries actually taught him but he hadn't been taught for a while because he was always busy. So we taught him the first lesson again. He's great and super smart. The only problem is that he never has any time. We'll see what happens with him. 

Saturday was interesting because all of our appointments were either not at home or sick. So we went and taught the less-actives. 

Sunday was great. Because of all of our hard work with the less-actives, we had 13 less-actives come to church. YEEEE!

Week 22: There was a sister missionary who swallowed a frog.... And her name was Sister Hess

The heading of this email is not a joke. I actually ate a frog this week. And surprisingly he wasn't that bad. 

This week has been very interesting and I've had a lot of learning experiences. 

Tuesday was Christmas Eve, and it was super fun. We had to go home at 6 pm and stay home. So we all went over to the other sisters' apartment, which is only two doors down, and we had a sleepover. It was a blast and now we're all so close because of it. It kind of felt like a bunch of normal teenage girls having a sleepover. So you can bet that there were a lot of crazy conversations :)

The next day, we had fun again. Christmas here in the Philippines is a pretty crazy thing. We got permission to cross areas from President Q, and then we basically went from members house to members house eating. We started at 12 and didn't stop until 5 that night. I have NEVER been that full in my life. And a Filippino tradition on Christmas and other big holidays is spaghetti. Filippino spaghetti is not like American spaghetti. I actually like it more. The sauce is sweet because they put sweetened condensed milk in it. It's soooooooooooo yummy. There's usually hot dogs in it too. And now I'm officially sick of it. 

On Thursday, it was so nice to get back to work and actually teach people. We went around San Pedro Palcarangan (one of our areas) teaching, teaching, teaching. I love being a missionary and teaching the people here. I actually missed teaching so much. What's it gonna be like when I get home and don't have anyone to speak to in Tagalog and no one to teach as well. I'll probably just go work with the missionaries for like a month :)

Friday was fun because I got to go on exchanges again. Sister B and I went around and taught our investigators in San Roque and San Pablo. This week we've taught a lot of new investigators that live in different cities and different missions as well--one from Baguio mission, one from Angeles mission and one from Olongapo city. They're all super awesome and so prepared. The exchanges went well I think. My favorite lesson that we taught was to Brother E. He's an investigator who was actually taught by missionaries ages ago. Just so you know how long ago it was, their favorite elder (Elder McDonald) that taught them, is now married and his kids are either in college or married too. So yeah. But he's awesome. He always asks SUPER awesome questions and we get to test our knowledge to see how much we actually know. I love teaching him. We're planning on extending a baptismal date to him sometime soon we we'll let you know how that goes. 

Saturday was possibly the most interesting day I've ever had on my mission. We were supposed to have a baptism but as you've noticed, there's a "supposed to" in that sentence. So here's the story. We all got to the church around 2:30. Brother R (our investigator that should have gotten baptized) was there with his girlfriend, who is a member. They were both super excited for today. Filippinos are always super super late. So we had to wait a long time until everyone got there for it to start. While we were waiting, our ZL's, Elder S and Elder H, showed up because they were supposed to have a meeting. They never received the text though that said that the meeting was canceled. They were a bit upset because it's really expensive to come all the way from their area. They felt like it was a waste. We later found out though that it wasn't a waste at all. When they met Brother R, Elder S was prompted to interview him again. We soon found out that Brother R still has some repenting to do. Let's just say that he can't be baptized for a month and leave it at that. We were all super super upset and he was too and still is. It just strengthened my testimony that Heavenly Father is aware of all of us. He knows just what we need. Brother R has a strong testimony and his conviction is even stronger to be baptized than it was before. It also made us all realize that Satan is very very real. Brother R has the potential to be a great leader and a great missionary too (because he's only 21 and he could still go if he wanted to). Satan is after all of us and he knows just what our weaknesses are. We all need to strive to be strong enough to resist it so we don't have to deal with the nasty consequences that come… 

So yeah. We've taught Brother R two times after Saturday and let him know that we are not here to judge him, only to help him. And we are also his friends. It's pretty amazing the things you experience on missions… 

On Sunday, we had church and that was good. After church we went to teach Brother R (this was the second time) and we basically just had a testimony meeting. He was there and so was his girlfriend and so was Brother K and Brother L (our BML). It was a great thing and the Spirit was so strong. I really hope Brother R can make it through this and get everything figured out. 

So yeah. That was my week. I've had my testimony strengthened so much about the Atonement. I know that it is real and we need to use it every chance that we can. I know that Heavenly Father loves all of us and he weeps when we make the wrong choices but is so happy when we correct them and come back to him.

Thank you for all of your prayers and support. I love you all. I know that the gospel blesses lives. I know that Heavenly Father's plan isn't easy, but I know it's 100% worth it. We just need to continue being obedient and clinging to the rod. Don't let anything pull you away or make you do something bad that you know God wouldn't approve of. I'm so grateful for everything I've learned here on my mission and the chance that I had to serve. 

Mahal na mahal ko kayo. Keep working hard and keep smiling. 

-Sister Hess

Week 21: He is the reason for the Season... MALIGAYANG PASKO!!!! :D

Merry Christmas everyone! 

How's it all going? Everything's good over here. Still no snow.... Still feels like summer. But that's ok! :) Because while all the rest of you are pasty white... I'm *sort of* getting tan bahaha 

This past week has been very interesting. We actually didn't work as much as usual. 

Wednesday was our Christmas Party. We were supposed to have it today on the 23rd but because of some drama it turned into an "Emergency Christmas Party" and it happened on Wednesday. IT WAS SO FUN. There were 6 zones of missionaries that gathered together in Olongapo. We had short little zone meetings and then had a little devotional (which was really good too). We heard talks from all three senior couples and then talks from President Q and Sister Q. It was all very Christmas-y. Then we all went to the fast food place of our choice. My zone went to McDonald's. It's been sooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo long since I've had American fast food. I got a Big Mac and man, I almost died and went to heaven. It was like being home. Then we all went to the Oval which is basically a stadium here. It has a track and everything. I stepped out on that track and almost started sprinting right away. I actually missed track. Weird. Weird. Weird. 

We changed into normal clothes (man, that was nice) and then had five minutes to prepare a presentation (Christmas was the theme). Oh and the presentation had to be 5-10 minutes long. 

Our presentation was horrible and funny. I guess you could either call it funnily horrible or horribly funny. Not sure. Anyways, we call sang "Santa Claus is Coming to Town and one of the elders put a backpack under his shirt and walked around like he was Santa. The other elders were riding on the backs of others pretending that they were reindeer. About halfway through the song, the elder pretending to be Santa shouted "STOP" pulled the backpack out from under his shirt and yelled, "That is not what Christmas is about!" So yeah, pretty sure that our presentation was only 3 minutes long but it was pretty funny so that's ok. 

After all the presentations, we got to play for a while. My whole district from the MTC was there (all the sisters at least) and we all got to chat and hang out and it was like old times again. After that, they passed out presents. My mommy loves me sooooooooooo much. 

President Q gave us permission to go to Harbor Point (a big American style mall in Olongapo) and eat dinner. Man, that was weird too. It even smelled like an American mall. We went to Army Navy, which guess what, sells American food. I got a chicken burrito but let me tell you, Chipotle is better…. 

We got on the Victory bus and headed home. By the time we got home it was late and we ended up just staying home. 

The next day we went out and worked but we only got to one teaching appointment before Sister Q called us and said that they were coming to our apartment for our interviews. So we headed back home and got interviewed and it was super fun and super nice. I love my mission president and his wife. They're such sweet people. 

After that we headed back out but we only had time for one more appointment. So we went to President J's house (the branch president here) and taught Brother R again. He told us that he knows that the Book of Mormon is true now. That was my favorite experience that I've had so far on my mission. He know's that it's true! :D YAY! And also, he's getting baptized on Saturday :) Happy happy day.

The next day we went out to work but we only were out until 4:30 because Sister C was sick. She said her body was just really really weak and she couldn't walk anymore. So we went home and stayed home. 

The next morning, she was still recovering so we stayed in in the morning and I got to read a bunch of conference talks while she slept. 

After lunch we went out to work and it was a lot better. We went around and taught a bunch of peoples. The usual. 

Sunday was good too. Sister C and I got called to give talks with five minutes of preparation. Probably the shortest talk I've even given but that was okay because we were running short on time anyways. My topic was Jesus Christ and his life on this earth because that is the real reason for Christmas. Not the presents or the food. But Christ and his sacrifice for us. I'm so grateful for him and everything he's done for all of us. 

So yeah, I think that's everything. We'll see what happens this week. I'm so excited. MERRY CHRISTMAS EVERYONE! I love you all. Have a great week. Talk to you next week

-Sister Hess

Week 20: I'm dreaming of a white christmas.... *Not gonna happen over here*

Hello family and friends! Merry Christmas! Technically I could have been saying that since September... But oh well :)

How are you all? 

Everything's good over here in Lubao. We've been working hard and sharing the gospel every day just like we're supposed to :)

This week we've spent most of our time at the B. family house. They are new investigators and they're a family. Sister E.B. is 54 years old and her husband R.B. is 57. They're so sweet. They've been married for about 30 years and they're just such a cute little couple. They have 3 daughters. Their two oldest are married and each have a kid. Their youngest daughter, C.B., is 19 years old and lives at home with them. We've taught Brother R.B. 4 times this last week and Sister E.B. too. Sister C.B. we've taught twice and one time we taught Sister B, the second oldest. They are such a great family and they are so willing to receive the gospel into their lives. And they always feed us snacks haha

We've also taught Brother R this week too. It's so fun to teach him because he's so smart and always asks questions. He also always comes to church (probably helps that his girlfriend's a member haha)

This Saturday we had the branch Christmas party. That was super fun. We played "A trip to Jerusalem" which is musical chairs in English. And I won! Guess what my prize was.... Whitening lotion! bahahaha like I really need that :) Super funny. 

Yesterday we had church, of course, and that was good. We had gobs of less actives come to church and it was fun to see them again in church, wearing church clothes. 

Also, yesterday night, we got to watch the Christmas Devotional. It was so good and of course, it made me miss Christmas at home so much. There was snow! Man, weirdly enough, I miss being cold. 

The member that has worked with us the most this past week has been Brother K. He's a recent convert and he's super funny. He looks like Bruno Mars... No joke. So I call him Brother Bruno now and he went out and tried to find the celebrity that I look like and he decided on Kirsten Dunst. So he calls me Sister Dunst every once in a while now hahaha Man we all have such good times. I love missionary work. 

So yup. This week has been really good and successful. We're still working hard and trying our best to be obedient. I love this Gospel. I know that it saves souls and I'm so grateful for the chance to serve the people here. 

Thank you for all your prayers and thoughts in my behalf. I love you all!

Mahal ko kayo

Until next week

-Sister Hess

Week 19: I'm gonna pick up the pieces and build Lego house

WOOP WOOP! Good morning everyone! How are you all? Everything's good over here in the Philippines. 

In case you haven't heard from my loverly mother, I was transferred this week. I am now assigned in Lubao (Lew-bow) which is super far south. After being assigned in Masinloc for 5 months, it's a pretty big change but I like it a lot here. 

My new companion is Sister C and she's pretty awesome. We've only been companions for 5 days but we're already best friends and we're always joking and laughing and teasing each other. It's so fun. Another cool thing is that we only talk to each other in Tagalog. You might say I'm fluent now... But I don't know. I still teach imaginary investigators in my sleep in Tagalog hahaha Last night I taught the Book of Mormon intro, complete with follow-up questions haha

The people here in Lubao are very rich and also very smart. But they're also very very humble. It's pretty amazing. Not sure how that works but it does here. I love them so much. Our investigators are awesome. They are so excited every lesson to learn new things. My favorite investigator here is Brother R. He's 21 and recently graduated as an engineer. He's so stinking smart. We taught him lesson 2 the other day and he was so excited to find out that there wasn't just a Heaven and Hell. And at the end of the lesson, he told me "Oh, there's so much to learn!" He's so excited. It makes us excited to teach him. This really is a gospel of good news and it really does change lives. 

Thank you for all the love and prayers. I love you all so much.

Mahal na mahal ko kayo

until next week!

-Sister Hess