Fresh

Dear family, 

Happy Belated Father's Day!

     Dad! I totally forgot that yesterday was Mother's day. It was funny because at our Stake/Area broadcast meeting at church yesterday, one of the speakers was saying how Mother's day always seems to be more "special" because missionaries all come home on Mother's day and never on Father's day! But don't worry! You are the world's #1 Dad. You are so amazing. Gladys, Krystal and I were the luckiest daughters in the world to be born to you. (Even though I'm sure you wanted boys.)

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It's All About Families

     I LOVE this area that I am in right now, not just because it is super progressing and the ward is great and Heavenly Father is just really merciful to this area, but also because a lot of our investigators now are FAMILIES! Or, well, husbands and wives, at least. Husbands and wives who aren't YET married and so have to. 

     I have big dreams and hopes for them. It is so wonderful, so lovely and such a privilege to help families become forever. And since being on Santa Monica and now here in Bonifacio, I am calmly accepting the fact that maybe with alot of these families I will only have the opportunity to PLANT what needs to be planted. Other missionaries may end up witnessing their getting married and eventually baptized. But I can feel very strongly that these couples we are working with now...they WANT to be a family. And they WILL! 

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Soundtrack To Every Lesson

     Manila is so interesting. Well, living in a low-middle/middle-class income neighborhood in Manila is so interesting. People blast music so loud for everyone to hear - kind of like public service. Whenever we are in lessons the neighbours are always playing SOME sort of music. So...what's stronger? The Spirit, or some song about "Flashlight"? (I have no idea what this new pop song is except it's been playing ALOT here. "You're my flashlight, flashlight?" What? As a missionary I am realizing how RIDICULOUS some of these songs get!)

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Palm Drive

     Who knew that Manila had it's own little tinge of LA/NY? Sister Barrido and I headed to the mission office on Friday night and the taxi driver TOTALLY took us for a spin (I was so mad because I knew that he was just playing dumb and ripping us off of our money, but, I'm a missionary so...all love) BUT he drove us past PALM DRIVE, and...I died. 

     As I looked out of the window: Hermes. Louis Vuitton. Gucci. Bvlgari. Ralph Lauren. Chanel. Is it taboo for a sister missionary to say those names? FASHION! I miss fashion! "Be in this world but not of this world." Okay. 

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Transfers

1. All three of my roommates are moving out. 
2. There will only be two of us in this big apartment. 
3. Sister Barrido will be training a new missionary AND shot-gunning (white-washing) an area. 
4. My next companion is..........SISTER VERAS! I've met her twice but I've never spoken to her. She is Filipina, BUT she was born in Hawaii and kind of like me, didn't know Tagalog before the mission. YES! A sort-of foreigner companion! 
5. Only problem: What am I going to eat for the next six/twelve weeks? Hopefully she cooks. I haven't cooked since that last transfer I had with Sister Lockwood. All my Filipina roommates have cooked lunch! 

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I have learnt SO much this past transfer. 

I would never trade this first month in Manila for anything.


With love,
Sister Teo

P.S. Dad, at the end of your email to me you included a really long Chinese sentence that my brain could not process because I can only think in English/Tagalog now so..............send it to me again in a year and we can talk about it :)