3 (this mission is a dream)

Dear family, 

Grow Up

     This is a random way to start off this email, BUT. Last Monday as we were leaving the house, passing by the church (because we live near the church, remember?), we saw that there was a big group of high school students gathered nearby. Turns out...they were watching a "street fight" go down between two students. Oh my goodness. 

     I am rolling my eyes a million times now as I am writing this. And pardon me for my little rant here. But these students need to grow up! I guess it's because I've been on this mission for a year and a half now and that is why I really know what it means to...be an "adult", and...well. Ugh. Those students need to grow up. I remember trying to cross the crowd and I passed by one of the two boys that were in the fight, and his eyes were dead fixed on his "opponent," and just right before I crossed him, he spat on the ground right in front of me. Phew! One more step and he would've spat ON me. I was NOT happy. But thank goodness I am a missionary and have to be polite. Okay. My rant is over. 

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My sister

    So here's another random fact. Did you guys all already know that I have a sister? On this mission? Sister Lockwood's OTHER "anak". Her second "anak," here on the mission. Her second trainee. Yes! So my sister's name is Sister Narag. She is Filipina. This last week I had exchanges with the STLs and ended up having to spend the night in their apartment- coincidentally Sister Narag's apartment, too! So we bonded and chatted and get this: Sister Lockwood, Sister Narag, and I have ALL served in the EXACT same areas. What! Talk about being one big family. Sister Lockwood and I served in Santa Monica C. Sister Narag got sent there too. Sister Narag was "born" in Makati 3/4, with Sister Lockwood. After Sister Lockwood left that area, I replaced her. 

     We're just too tight of a sisterhood! Makes me laugh. But for real, though, getting to chat with Sister Narag and to hear of how the people back in Santa Monica are doing was great. It's good to know that people still remember you from when you served there. You plant, and others harvest! 

     (P.S. Sister Narag is the sister in the picture with whom I am holding ice-cream cones with! She passed her one-year mark the day I was in the apartment so I bought her 12 ice cream cones. And then my STL said, "You're so good at celebrating!" Ha.)

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Easter: it's more fun in the Philippines

This week I saw: 
1. People carrying statues of Christ and walking down the roads in a looooonnnnnng line of procession
2. People re-enact the scene at Jerusalem right before Christ gets crucified, meaning, people were wearing Roman soldier outfits and there were men carrying wooden crosses on their backs and the "Roman soldiers" were whipping them. Ya. They whipped them. Okay. 
3. Statues of Christ.
4. Statues of Christ.
5. Statues of Christ.
6. A lot of statues of Christ where He looks very sad. 
#itsmorefuninthephilippines

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My lot

     As a district in the Makati 1 ward, we have seen a lot of miracles happen over the course of these last three months. The work has definitely picked up in each of our individual areas. The elders are seeing miracles in their areas, as are we. 

     During our weekly coordination meeting with the ward council and ward missionaries, we get to update everyone on individuals that need help in order for them to progress (more quickly). When the zone leaders stood up to give their report last Saturday and they started telling us about how GREAT everything was going and how soon all these people could get baptized...I found myself thinking, "I am so happy for them. They deserve the rewards of their hard work. Sister Kumari and I have definitely seen our area improve from the first time we both came into it, both of us being new at the same time. But how come all these people we have found/are finding/are working with...have so many problems that they need to overcome, before they can get baptized? How come the people the elders are finding are so golden that the way to baptism seems to be easy peasy, lemon squeezy? Why are OUR investigators having it so hard?" 

    I don't think I'll ever be able to fully comprehend why some people suffer more than others. I love these people. How I wish that I could give them the WORLD. How I wish that I could take away all their sadness and fix their broken families and give them TVs and build them nice houses. How I wish that it would just be so easy for them to believe everything that we share with them. How I wish for them to be happy. The real, true kind of happy. 

     I guess it is just me and Sister Kumari's lot to be working with THESE people. There are specific lessons we are learning from THEIR trials. I have no doubt that these investigators and less-actives of mine can do it. I know they can. It'll take time and a lot of hard work, but I know that they can do what it takes to BECOME happy, through the gospel of Jesus Christ. But until then...we'll just keep working hard with them, right? 

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Lopez letter

    Many updates today, huh! This week I received from Sister Narag (who just got off Palawan recently) a letter that was....FROM THE LOPEZ FAMILY! Oh bless their heart. And bless mine for waiting ONE WHOLE YEAR!!!!!!!! To hear back from them!!!!!!!!! I wanted to CRY just seeing the envelope and the words "Sister Teo" on the front. Attached is a picture of their letter. SO much love for them. 

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Goodbye Nicole

     I just told everyone Sister Veras' real name. 

SISTER VERAS GOES HOME ON WEDNESDAY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! 

     All the exclamation points in the world cannot sufficiently describe how I feel about that. #MYfightisnotover

     I love you all so much! I am sorry to hear about what happened to the Coffins. My heart broke hearing the story from Gladys. I wish I could heal broken bones too so that Sister Coffin will be alright. But thank goodness that...we have the Savior. 

    And how much I have come to love, adore, and be grateful for Him. 


With love,
Sister Teo

4

Dear family,

     To tell you the truth as the weeks tick down and zoom by faster and faster...the more I am at a loss for words on what my emails should be about. I feel like I'll see you all so soon that I should just do the storytelling face-to-face...but at the same time I want to keep you all updated on how life in the PHILIPPINES has been doing! 

Science whizzes

     So last P-Day we went to the MUSEUM! Wow. What a breath of fresh air. It was pretty high-tech and had all sorts of cool science artifacts...all of which my mind has long forgotten about (sob sob). Almost all of my pictures in this week's email are from our trip to the museum. Pretty self-explanatory. 

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Saved by the Addurus

     This is a super long story whose many details will not make it onto this week's email (too lazy), but let's just say that I love the Addurus (we all know that) and they basically SAVED me and Sister Kumari's temple tour that we had planned for some people. We had originally invited an investigator to come with us, along with her LA cousin, but then last minute they cancelled on us because they got in an argument, and this was at 6:30 a.m. in the morning as Sister Kumari and I were already getting ready to leave the house...I was so close to tears because with this investigator bailing on us we still had OTHER people we had invited to come along with us, but those people were all male, and without a third female counterpart we wouldn't be able to HAVE a temple tour! For a good hour I was ringing up every sister I knew (bless their hearts) to ask if they could just impromptu come with us all the way to the temple (big request!) Well. God doesn't forsake us. The Addurus changed their entire day's plans to step in and SAVE OUR DAY. So grateful. So we ended up going to the temple with two LA members. Pictures are also included. 

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Diamonds in the rough

     Remember that family I wrote to you guys about last week? The GOLDEN family that Sister Kumari and I found from out of nowhere? THEY ALL CAME TO CHURCH LAST SUNDAY! 

    Well. Here's another hard truth: even families that look happy on the outside...maybe aren't, on the inside. 

     There is a LOT of work that we need to do with this family. Let's just leave it at that. I have contemplated much about them this past week and alot of the feelings, promptings and experiences that I (we) have had with them are very sacred and dear to my heart. But I believe that there is something here. I truly believe that. We will not let them go. 

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Lessons for life

     On that note, let me just say...that I feel like it has only been in these very LAST few weeks of the mission that God has been teaching me a variety of life lessons. Alot of pondering has been done. Alot of self-evaluation has been done. Alof of epiphanies have been received. 

I know that God is shaping me to become who He knows I can become.

And I am so very grateful.


Well! Another week has come and gone. Next week's P-Day will be on Monday. Tomorrow is zone conference day! And then the day after we have exchanges with the STLs. And then it'll be Saturday again, and then Easter Sunday...where I'll be giving a talk in sacrament! And then it'll be Monday again!

Someone tell me where these last 18 months have gone????


I love you all! 


With love,
Sister Teo

Going, going, still going

Dear family,

My friends

     The start of this past week was a little rough. But good thing that personal study time stepped in to save the week! I was reading in the D&C, in section 121, and this isn't an old section to me. I've read this a million times before. But for some reason...I found my answer and my solace in a particular phrase in verse 9. "Thy friends do stand by thee."

     This struck me very personally. "Thy friends do stand by thee and they shall hail thee with warm hearts and friendly hands." 

     This spoke to me in a way that only I will be able to understand. I know that I am not alone. I know that prayers are being offered for me. I know that people are cheering me on. I know that I am NEVER alone. I am thankful for all the many, many good friends that I have that have never left my side, in good times or in bad. Good friends and of course, family, too. I am blessed. This verse provided the much needed comfort that I was seeking for!

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Weak and simple

     Sister Kumari and I are teaching a 79 year old man who is hardcore Catholic. He knows his Bible very, very well. Sister Kumari and I, on the other hand...well. We know stuff. But we don't KNOW know the verses in the Bible like he does. This last week we joined with the Addurus in teaching him about temples and family history work and baptisms for the dead. This was a very new idea to him. Which is strange...but it isn't even a new idea at all, if you read the Bible. Ahem. Okay. 

     Anyways. He was very pleasantly humbled when we pointed out to him all the verses in the Bible (he won't let us teach him from the Book of Mormon; he says that it contradicts the Bible. K.) that talk directly about the spirit world and saving ordinances for the dead etc. And as I sat in that room I thought about how I have never imagined myself teaching someone as old as this Tatay is. And looking back on these past 17 months of experience as a missionary...I understand very well now what it means for the weak and simple to confound the wise men of this world. I've seen the fulfillment of that scripture, alright!

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Umbrella count

     I just need to write a sentence or two about how many umbrellas I've used/had over these last 17 months. The count is at eight or nine. I either keep losing them or they break somehow. But I am confident that my umbrella right now will last me til April 20. 

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Record number

     Another sentence about numbers. Last week President sent all of us a text congratulating us for having achieved the highest number of OYMs in a week! 14,471. In a week, all of us talked to a total of 14, 471 people. That's a record number for this MISSION. Ever. It's not a super high number and we know that there is much more to improve on...but how uplifting it is to know that there is progression. And that Sister Kumari and I contributed to that number! 

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When your walls come down

     And now here is a note about how the people that seem the strongest on the outside, really aren't, on the inside. This last week Sister Kumari and I found and taught one new less-active and one investigator. On the note of the investigator-his name is Rogelio and he is 19. The first time you see him you would probably think that he's "got it all." He's well-built for a 19 year old, he's got the looks, he's smart and a very well-mannered kid. On Sunday, as he sat down with us and we got to know him a little bit more (we taught him at church! He came to church for the first time!), this boy broke down like a baby. I remember looking at him and thinking, "Wow." Just wow. I never knew that behind that strong front he has were all these problems and sadness and a LONGING for something more. And then a similar thing happened with our less-active sister, too. In our lesson with her (also on Sunday), she too broke down and cried. And shared with us what all her worries were. Her fears. The loneliness she feels. 

     Coming away from those two experiences I couldn't help but realize that there IS sadness in this world. That's just the way that this world was made. Sadness has to be in this world...in order for people to know happiness. I also know that our trials and our sadness bring us closer to God. And that was what we testified to those two individuals. That through their hard times they would find God, and that they would find what they are looking for. So maybe...maybe it isn't a bad thing afterall, to have some hard times in life. 

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This could go somewhere

     Another update on our proselyting efforts: we found a NEW family that we really believe has GREAT potential to embrace the gospel! They are the MARAVILLAs. They are so great. So loving. So easy to connect with. They live in SUCH humble circumstances and yet they still love each other and are close to each other and are so willing to welcome two foreigner strangers into their home. I think that there's something here with this family. We haven't taught them yet but we will, this Thursday night at 7 pm. This could go somewhere. God blesses families. There's something here for this family. 

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Miscellaneous

 The count is down to 5. 
We didn't email yesterday because we go to the museum today as a district! And museums don't open on Mondays. So our P-day got switched to today!
Next week we email on Tuesday again because that is our temple day. 
This week is going to go by SO. FAST.
Oh. Marco and Carol came to our church...AGAIN! All the way from their house! Can I just say...I LOVE these two so much?


     Don't worry, amigos. I'll make sure to be 100% Sister Teo up till April 19. And then I'll see Mommy and Daddy and then cry a flood of tears and then, okay, I'll be Kim.


With love,
Sister Teo

Sporadic

Dear family, 

Some things that ran through my head this week

1."Pray. Pray really hard. Pray to love these people. It worked at the start of your mission; it will work now."
2."Yes! It's working! I've been focused on the work this week. I've given it my best. I am so tired, though. I just want to sleep..........and take a long nap........Hmm. Maybe after the mission."
3."It is getting SO hot here! Thank goodness I am no longer on Palawan! It was BURNING up there!"
4."I am so thankful that they don't have brown-outs (blackouts) here on the mainland."
5."I've come SO far. From those first few, humble months on Palawan... What a journey."
6."The Spirit of Elijah is real. We are finding and teaching a good number of new, part-member individuals and families. This can't be a coincidence."
7."I just wish that everyone would stop judging us and just listen to what we have to say for five minutes. And then afterwards, ACT on what we've told them."
8."How come people don't believe that this is true? Why is it so hard for them to believe?"
9."Well...I'm glad that I believe. I'm so glad that I believe."
10."Sister Kumari is getting better and better at Tagalog. It is a miracle to watch a child grow, little by little, but surely."
11."I remember having so much respect for Sister Lockwood as my trainer. I hope that I am doing my best for Sister Kumari so that she learns what she needs to learn. I hope I'm loving her enough."
12."Wow! Talk about being a 'mother.' You are so painfully made aware of all your weaknesses and what you need to improve on. I'm glad that I get this opportunity to train. I'm glad that God is helping me become a better, more refined person in this process. I'm glad that Sister Kumari is my last companion."
13."I just want to eat Halo-Halo all day, every day..."
14."I think I'll miss having all these tropical fruits when I'm back in Utah."
15."I am tired but it's the good kind of tired. It's the I-am-content-with-how-hard-I-worked-today tired."
16."Yes! We talked to 190 people this week! We hit the mission standard of excellence!"
17."I remember President promising us at our Finish Strong meeting that if we give ALL that we have these last couple of weeks, that someone that we talk to within these last couple of weeks WILL end up getting baptized somewhere down the road, and that person WILL get to go through the temple. Have I already found that person? Where is this person?"
18."I know I can, I know I can, I know I can."

Six.


With love,
Sister Teo