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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