Out in the field: Island of Palawan

Dear everybody!

Guess who is on the island of Palawan? Guess who SWORE that she wasn't going to end up on Palawan but guess who did? Guess who was hoping she would only be on the mainland? Me, me, me. But God knows best. God knows most. And I can't even begin to tell you how many times I have tried to wish for things to go my way, but God has stepped in and showed me a different plan. Why? How? Why me? I don't have all my answers yet. But it is okay. I am here on Palawan, and I probably will be for 6 months. Or 4-ish months. But definitely a minimum of 4. Palawan will be my home for 1/3 of my mission. Can you imagine that?!

     As usual I have so much to say. I am not quite sure if I want to cry or laugh at where I am right now. Perhaps let me first start off by saying that I love the Filipinos. I love my area. I am serving in the Santa Monica area (Nope, not Santa Monica, California), Puerto Princessa Stake. The Church is so young on this island. It has only been around for as long as I have been alive. How fortunate am I to  be part of the pioneer stages? I am the luckiest.

     I live and work among poverty almost all day long. Imagine Grandma and Grandpa's area in Pangasinan, but more remote. That's where I walk around all day. I serve people who live in houses made of bamboo and tin roofs. But I am so happy. I cannot remember the last time I was so happy to walk in dirt and mud and have my white shoes get all dirty. Also, can I just say...props to me for going with no makeup??!?!?!?!?!??!?! Can you believe it? Um- Kimberly Teo?!?! No MAKEUP?!?!?!??!?!?!?!? HAHAHAHAHA. I amuse myself. But yes! No makeup! Because the work is bigger than I am! Because the people are more important than I am! Because I am here for the Lord, and I know with all my heart that if I put Him first and if I put the Filipinos first, He will take care of the rest. Plus everyone here thinks you are beautiful even if you look like death. So....whatever. Being a missionary is the best thing in the world. So if from now on the pictures that I send don't really show my face that clearly, or you can obviously tell that I am a million shades darker than my original skin tone...you'll know that IT IS BECAUSE I AM MAKE-UP FREE and still camera shy because of that, but....ITS ALL GOOD! :)

I don't know where to start with all that I have to say!

     OH YES! MY TRAINER! MY FIRST COMPANION! SISTER LOCKWOOD! SISTER LOCKWOOD!!!!!!!!!!! FROM THE CANNON CENTER! Okay so Sister Lockwood goes to BYU and she was there when I was there! We bumped into each other at the Cannon Center and talked for like, five minutes, but!!!! We ARE COMPANIONS!!!!!!!!!!

     ANOTHER THING- I was the only person out of the 10 new missionaries entering the field to be sent to Palawan. Other missionaries (the older ones who have already been in the mission) were sent here too for transfers, but how amazing and wonderful is it that of EVERYONE who entered the field, I was the only one sent here? When President Ostler told me the news, I burst out into a laugh. Not a rude laugh, but I literally laughed. And then I clasped my mouth with my hand and the laugh started to turn into a sob. And then I started crying. I couldn't believe it. That moment in President Ostler's office will always be a special one to me. The moment President told me where I would be going. I will never forget that moment for as long as I live. And when he told me who my trainer was going to be- Sister Lockwood- I laughed again and some more tears were shed. God was putting me with a FRIEND, basically. How am I so blessed?

     Sister Lockwood and I have been doing really great as a companionship. She is the best trainer that I could have and I learn from her example daily. She ONLY JUST finished HER training, and she was ALREADY called to be a trainer! Can you believe it? Our training lasts for 12 weeks. So if you think about it, SHE just finished HER first 12 weeks, and now she's training ME for the next 12 weeks! We are having a blast. We know when to have fun and when to work hard. Having a friendship in this companionship helps so much. Her Tagalog is AMAZING, too, by the way, and I pray that I will be able to get to her level by the time MY 12 weeks of training is over. It'll happen. Please pray that I will have the gift of tongues? That's my request for the week, and for the next 12 weeks. Please pray that I can specifically have the gift of tongues and the gift of interpretation of tongues. Please and thanks!

     This gospel makes me so happy. I can be teaching in the heat; I can be teaching with a billion mosquitoes biting my legs (don't worry Mom/Dad- no dengue). But it is all worth it. I know that Heavenly Father sent me here to be humble. To learn what it means to BE a missionary. And I am taking it all in! Life is good.

Also - any ideas for meals? I've basically been eating cereal and crackers this week, and bread too. And rice occasionally when we get fed by members (which is rare). GIVE ME IDEAS!!!!!!!!! Oh but yes! Went grocery shopping today and had to budget so that I wouldn't overspent. ALSO ate at Chowking but tried my best to get something cheap. Mom/Dad, by the end of the mission I promise I will know what money is worth. I will know how to budget. It's hard! It's so hard. We were at the mall for groceries and lunch and I wanted to shop...but! I know, I know. I am a missionary. And I will LEARN to be a missionary and prepare myself to be a good mother and wife. This mission will help me so much. I pray it will.

I LOVE YOU ALL SO MUCH! I will send more pictures :) They will be pictures from the MTC and pictures of Palawan and where we serve and of Sis. Lockwood and I.

TAKE CARE! I PRAY FOR YOU GUYS ALWAYS! I am so happy and I know that you guys are, too. Keep the faith. Stay strong. April 2016!

+ Sister Muller and I at the MTC

+ The road right outside our apartment (with all the trees and forest-looking scenery)

+ The roads we walk to get to our investigators' homes

+ Sister Lockwood and I at the water's edge after our morning run- PALAWAN IS BEAUTIFUL! (Although we don't actually see beaches anywhere where we are at)

+ Me and SIster Lokubalasuriyage who was supposed to be my original companion in the MTC

With love,
Sister Teo

Dear family,

This week has been MARVELOUS. Read my letters and you will know why.

In the meantime, here's an excerpt from my journal that I didn't take a picture of but that I will type out for you guys to read:

     "This Church is true. The gospel is true. The gospel has brought me so many blessings in my life. I am who I am today because of this gospel. The knowledge I have of the Plan of Salvation has given me hope for all the tomorrows to come. And I am so blessed to have gone out proselyting today. My in-field kasama was Sister Garcia, and she is a cool cat. I envied how good she was at Tagalog, pero (but) she has already been out para sa isang taon (for one year). Hopefully I'll reach her level when I get to my 13-month mark! Guess time will tell, because there is exactly one more year to go till I get there! Pero, in all seriousness, today was a good experience. I will admit that I failed miserably at OYM-ing (Open-Your-Mouth) and ITL-ing (Invitation-To-Learn), and even during the lesson we taught all I did was bear my testimony, but I am happy. It was nice to experience what my mission field will be like, and I think that THAT was the greatest thing I got out of all this - to know some of the sisters already serving there and to re-affirm to myself that Manila is where I need to be. When we were driving back to the MTC over the highway, I saw all the tall, metropolitan buildings in the distance and my heart just REJOICED. I thought about how wonderful it was that my parents decided to move our family to Shanghai, because living in China has immensely prepared me for serving a mission here in the Philippines. Everything definitely happens for a reason.

     I found out today that the mission standard of excellence that Pres. Ostler has set is to OYM (talk) to TEN NEW PEOPLE each day. THAT'S ALOT OF PEOPLE!!! But I have made it a goal that when I get out into the field, I will accomplish that goal.

     Also, just earlier we taught Sis. Rina Lopez, a less-active member who is feeling a bit heartbroken at the moment and therefore finding it hard to go to church. This experience with teaching her was definitely another way that God humbled me. After the lesson was over, Sis. Lopez said that she felt like we had come off too strong and that we were chastising her. I'll be honest- I was a little cut by that. I had borne testimony to her that faith without works is dead, that we can all sit around and talk about our pain, but it would do no good to anyone. That really was how I felt!!!!! But I suppose...okay, fine, I'll admit, I guess my words were a little too strong, in some ways. I sat there and heard her feedback and was a little resentful, but then for some reason...I made the connection in my head that this. was. a lesson. to. be. learnt. God is trying to teach me to get rid of my pride and truly love people. Not just new investigators, but even the less-actives. This gospel is one of love. It was a good experience. I've been getting many good epiphanies recently. Cool, cool!!!"

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     I LOVE YOU GUYS! Honestly though, read my letters. Many cool things happened this week (diarrhea, blessings from security guards, leg cramps.....you'll find out).

     TAKE CARE! The next time I email home, I'll be OUT IN THE FIELD!!! I CAN'T WAIT! This is where I'm supposed to be! :)

With love,
Sister Teo

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EVERYONE THAT I LOVE!

As usual, I wrote letters to you guys throughout the week and I have uploaded them as pictures along with this email. Dad, very funny - that joke about my handwriting. It's not THAT bad! But guys thank you so much for emailing me. I love you all SO much. ALSO ANNABELLE, I GOT YOUR LETTER THIS WEEK! I think it came later than it should have because it was sent to my field address and not the MTC address, but I GOT IT!!!!!! I am so happy :) I have the best family and friends in the world. Thank you guys. It gives me so much strength to hear from you all every week :)

So before I get started can I just say that I read ALL of you guys' emails. I know that sometimes it's tough to reply to all of what you send to me, but please know that I read everything. So from what I can remember, here's what I have to say:

Mom: Thank you for sending me those emails. Yes, Sister Lousi IS going to Quezon!!!!! I'll let her know. She is one FUN, FUN sister missionary and Auntie Eloy and Mariel and Marianne are IN FOR A SURPRISE! She is the best. I love Sister Lousi. There is another Elder here going there too- Elder Ezekiela. He is also the bomb, like Sister Lousi is. I'll let both of them know. But Mom, thanks for saying all of those encouraging things. Hopefully I WILL be "refined" by the time the mission is over. I will have you know that I hand wash my clothes successfully, even though I'm here at the MTC! I do them in the sink and just hang them up to dry in the room. Not quite sure how CLEAN-clean they are......but.........I do my hand washing! Also I sweep the floor. And pick up hairs on the ground. Ew. I hate picking up hairs. But I do it. Think I'll be a good wife/mom in the future? Hopefully so!!!

Dad: Thanks for letting me know about lao-yi. I'm sorry that she passed away. I hope I'm thinking about the correct one, too...Was it the really old auntie? The one with the thick glasses? She will be missed. I will pray for her and if ever you want to send me her details, I'd love to help her out in the temple. Except...well, we can only do ordinances after a year of their death, yes? So maybe we'll wait till then and then talk about it. But she was a STRONG lady. Her will to survive- POWERFUL. I always think about the stories you tell us of her. Her life was hard. Mine is too, but in a different way, and I shouldn't complain.

To Mom AND Dad: I am so grateful that I was born into the Church. I was just telling a leader you guys' conversion story earlier, and it made me realize how blessed I am to be born into a family that has taught me all the values and beliefs that I hold close to my heart. Thank you for you guys' examples. I know I wasn't the easiest teenager to raise but you two stuck with your jobs and here I am today! Gladys and Krystal are blessed to have you two as their parents.

To everyone: PROSELYTING WAS AMAZING! Yes it was scary to talk to people on the streets, but I did, a few times. I'll do better this next week when we go to MANILA! But DAD- HAHA- yes, you were a great missionary. Like father, like daughter? I will try to be half as good of the missionary you were, or maybe even better. I'll let you know when 18 months is over and done with!

Krystal and Gladys: MISS YOU TWO!!!!! I wrote a bit to you guys in the letters I just uploaded. Read them.

THE MTC IS GREAT!!!!!!! We have 12 more days left here, and then we go out into the field. I feel sad thinking about leaving behind the friends that I have made here, but I know that everything will be well. We are missionaries of the Lord and He will protect us and bless us. I believe that with all my heart.

So I know Taylor Swift's new album is out. It hasn't played anywhere here that we've been................praying that God will send me a tender mercy and I'll hear a song of hers when I'm out and about in Manila.

I LOVE THE PHILIPPINES SO MUCH. I love, love, love it. The Filipinos are the best. Sometimes I wonder what it would've been like if I'd been sent to Taiwan, or...I don't know, somewhere in America but Mandarin-speaking, and then I think...Nah. The Philippines is where I'm meant to be right now. I know that God is a God of plan. Everything happens for a reason. Everything that happens is meant to help us grow. I'm almost a month down! 17 more to go!

I LOVE YOU ALL! I HOPE YOU HAVE A GREAT WEEK!

With love,
Sister Teo

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Dear family, friends, EVERYONE-

This week I tried a different method of writing to you guys. Because I never have enough time to say everything within the 60 minutes that we get to send out emails, I decided to write you LETTERS throughout the week and just take pictures of them (awkward moment if I accidentally upload the letters that are supposed to be for Ether..............)

I LOVE YOU ALL! Pictures will come in a separate email :)

With love,
Sister Teo

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P.S. The food is great, the friends are great, my learning is great, my experience here is great...God blesses me so much. I love you all! I KNOW that He is watching over all of you guys as well! :)

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OH! BY THE WAY! MOM, DAD, I GOT THE CAMERA CORD! THANK YOU SO MUCH! LIFESAVER!!!!!!! (p.s. it wouldn't hurt to get handwritten letters from Gladys/Krystal, thanks, love you, hint hint)