Trust, pure trust

Dear family, 

SOMEONE IS AWARE

     I just want to put in a quick note about how loving God is. And that he never, NEVER forgets any one of his children. He is aware of them ALL. 

     This last week I went on exchanges with a sister under our stewardship, Sister Toa, and she and I traveled quite some ways in search of an LA (less active) from the 4th ward that I'd never talked to before, although I'd seen her at church once. We weren't sure if we were even going to track her down because I'd never traveled to that area before, and all these houses were huge and gated (it was a pretty affluent neighborhood), and it was just scary trying to combat uncharted ground. We weren't sure if she'd be home, let alone if she'd let us in. But I felt very strongly that day that we should make the effort to head up to see her. A couple of times I thought to myself if it was just me making up the thought in my head or if it was really God telling me to "JUST DO IT!" But I am SO glad that we just DID it. 

     Because we succeeded. 

     And we ended up having a wonderful time getting to know this sister. Turns out that she's just been feeling really, really lonely. She told us how she hates that in an expatriate ward, that people come and people go. I thought it was amazing that she was talking about such a matter because I've (we've) grown up in an expatriate ward my whole life. People have come and people have gone. I felt like I was able to testify to her of God's plans and that I was more able to FEEL with her, BECAUSE I know what it feels like being in such a ward. Isn't it great how God knows ALL his children and he knows who we need to meet and where we need to serve? God is so concise. He's an awesome master planner.

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JOHN 11

     At MLC this past week, President shared with us the story of Christ raising Lazarus from the dead, as found in John 11:  

25 Jesus said unto her, I am the resurrection, and the life: he that believeth in me, though he were dead, yet shall he live...

     No one is ever so spiritually dead that they cannot be brought back to life. No one is SO far away from God, or from Christ, or from the world, or from any of their loved ones, that they cannot be brought back to life. No one is so cut off from life, so far away from others, that they cannot be saved. That they cannot be touched. There is no death that is unconquerable, if we will but let the Atonement help us. I've learnt that lesson SO well over these past three, four years of my life. Just a quick thought that I wanted to share with y'all! So beautiful. 

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WHITE CHRISTMAS, WITH NO SNOW

     President also announced a goal- a vision - that he had prayed about that he wants for our mission. On December 26, 2015, we are goaling, as a mission, to baptize 200 people. That means that each companionship will bring two people to the waters of baptism on that day. And so, yes, there will be no snow. BUT, there will be white. And hopefully it WILL be a white Christmas. This requires SO much faith. I'll be honest- I've been doing deep soul-searching recently to figure out if this can really happen. Our area right now, though having been so blessed over the last couple months, is kind of seeing a slow-down in the work right now. We've helped all our golden investigators get baptized...and now...out teaching pool is really small. And so it takes/will take ALOT of faith on my part and on Sister Esmolo's, to make this work. Faith. Faith, faith, faith. I just talked about Lazarus rising from the dead. If God did that, if Christ did that, surely they will help President Ostler and his missionaries here in the Philippines Manila Mission...right? Have faith. 

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MANILA TRAFFIC

     The traffic is SO bad here that it deserves a paragraph of its own. Manila traffic..............might be the death of me one day. 

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MEMBER MAGIC

     I wish that there were missionaries in China! I wish that Gladys and Krystal could see how wonderful it is to get to work with missionaries. I wish that MOMMY got a chance to work with the missionaries. The work is SO much more successful when members and missionaries work together. Before my mission I just thought that missionary work...was for missionaries. That members' roles were limited. How wrong! It takes more than two missionaries to help move this work forward. I will never go to church the same again in my life! I will always be looking for ways to help the missionaries/the work. 


     I love you all! I am so excited for Christmas to come around because I'll get to call you guys! I've missed you all so much. I remember our Mother's Day call ending and just thinking, "WOW. Seven more months before I get to see my family again." I've come to love you guys so much more. November is going to fly by!!! 


With love,
Sister Teo

No-vem-ber

Dear family, 

NOVEMBER

     Okay. Can I just ask - HOW IS IT NOVEMBER ALREADY?!??!?!?!?!? I can't even think about 2015 ending. I REMEMBER it being the end of 2014 and me being on Palawan and I REMEMBER being a NEW missionary. How am I now an old missionary?! How am I only 22 weeks away from going home? I think it helps that the Philippines is just hot all year round. I don't have changing seasons here and so the days go by faster (good, or bad?) and well. Time is just a weird concept when you live in a country that has the same weather 24/7, all year round.

     November holds good days up ahead! Sister Esmolo taught a family (a recent-convert family) on Palawan (her last area) and they are actually going to be SEALED as a family at the end of this month! She gets to attend their sealing in the temple, and since I am her companion, I get to go too! It will be my first ever time witnessing a sealing. I can't wait!

     Also, Elder Richard G. Maynes of the Presidency of the Seventy is coming to tour/visit our mission this month! He comes the 17th, if I am not wrong. All the missionaries will be gathered together at the Buendia Chapel to hear him speak. All missionaries on Palawan will be flown off of Palawan, too! Isn't that cool? 

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FIESTA NG MGA PATAY (FIESTA OF THE DEAD)

     Weirdest fiesta I've ever come across in my life! Sorry Mom. I mean, it's kind of like how the Chinese have tomb-sweeping day, but here it's like a party in the cemetery! Our apartment sits on a road where a cemetery lies, and yesterday the entire road was blocked off so that no cars could enter. People had to walk to get from one place to another. Sister Esmolo and I ended up having to walk from our area all the way back home. It was like a carnival just finished or something- the roads were filled with little stands and litter and candles everywhere. Hmmmmm.

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COUNTING MY BLESSINGS

     This past week the thought came to me about how blessed I am to be here in this area. I get to speak ENGLISH and serve the Lord! I cannot TELL you how good it feels to preach the gospel in my own tongue! I love Tagalog and I love teaching in Tagalog, but nothing feels better than bearing my testimony in English. And it is also such a privilege that I get to attend church at the Buendia chapel! The FIRST chapel EVER to be built in Manila! SO special. God is so good to me. I am so thankful. 


     This week has come and gone! This next week will go by even faster too because we have MLC again at President's home on Thursday. I love getting to meet with him.

     Also, shout-out to Sister Pamesa, if she is reading this: I MISS YOU SO MUCH!!!


I love you all! And I miss you all. So much. 


With love,
Sister Teo

P.S. The 3rd ward had a Halloween party this last Saturday. We had our dinner there. Jerry cracks me up in the pictures. Also featured: Caizy (in a mask). 
P.P.S. There's a picture of me and a sister by the big mission sign. That's one of our investigators. Her name is Bebelyn. She is a sweetie. She is 20. She has some ways to go...but she can do it!

Characters Moulded

Dear family, 

Aftershock

     Not sure if you guys heard on the news but metro Manila experienced an earthquake aftershock last Monday, at around 9 p.m. I FREAKED OUT!!!!!! 

     Sister Pamesa and I had finished planning for the night and we were just chilling - I was writing in my journal at my desk and she was sitting across from me - and then all of a sudden she just said, "Earthquake." And I was like, "What?" And then she said again, "Earthquake!" And then I realized that YES, it was an aftershock! My first ever experience in my life! The earth was SHAKING! My chair SHOOK! It was swaying back and forth! My table was too. I was so dizzy afterwards. I can't imagine what a REAL earthquake would be like! Ahh! All these firsts here on the mission! 

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Ugly tears & goodbye

     Saying bye to Sister Pamesa this past week was HARD! It was my first time (since saying bye to Sister Lockwood on Palawan nine months ago) that I cried ugly tears while saying goodbye. Sister Pamesa (she is probably reading this) is my second longest companion since I was in training, which lasted for twelve weeks. All of my other companions I've only been with for six weeks at a time. With Sister Pamesa we had twelve weeks straight. It's not easy saying bye like that. I miss her alot! But she's super cool and has everything planned out and will get married in 2017 (sorry, Sis) so her life will WORK OUT!!!

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Fruition

     Guess what ELSE I figured out this week? Remember the Segovia family from when I was on Palawan? Our less-active family that we reactivated, both Sister Lockwood and I? They will always have a special place in my heart. They are SO, so special. This week I found out that they are attending Temple Preparation classes at church now!!! And that Brother Segovia is all good with his Word of Wisdom problem! And that Sister Segovia is a seminary teacher now! WHAT! 

     Tell them that a year ago and they would've kicked you out of their house in disbelief! What! I can't even believe it myself! Is God THIS merciful? He changed their lives...Sister Lockwood and I tried SO hard and gave SO much love to this family those 12 weeks we were together, and I worked with the Segovias for 6 months....and now 6 months later....the fruits have been borne. I am moved to tears. 

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FRESH START

     With Sister Pamesa's batch left about 28 missionaries. 28 missionaries went home this week. BUT...the new incoming batch gave us 34/35/36 new missionaries! That's a LOT of new missionaries! President was telling us that this marks a fresh start for the mission. That this is time for all of us older missionaries to lead by example. But these new missionaries aren't the only ones that are NEW right now. With all of the old missionary leaders that went home, President called NEW missionary leaders to replace them! (There is a lot of NEW happening right now here in the mission.) Sister Esmolo is one of them; she's a new STL. New, new, new. Sometimes "cleansing" of this sort is good! 

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To teach

     And so on that note of Sister Esmolo being new...she just flew off of Palawan and landed in Manila on Wednesday. She's had to adjust (again) to the business of Manila and how people walk super fast (guilty as charged!) and how there are a billion cars and people all around her. It's a bit disorienting to come off of a peaceful island to this city. Seeing here and helping her reminds me of when I got off of Palawan in May...Can you believe that it has been half a year? It's been six months! And with her being a new STL I have to basically "train" her like how Sister Pamesa "trained" me. Getting her familiarized with all that us STLs do has been a treat! Teachers learn the most when they teach. 

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To be taught

     I don't think I can stress enough how MUCH I love that when you have a responsibility in the mission, you get to meet with President TWICE as much when you attend different meetings with him! I love learning from President Ostler. He is so wise. So, so wise. I love President so much. 

     Anyways- President also recently decided that STLs will sit in on Stake Coordination meetings from now on. It used to be only the Zone Leaders (elders) that went to these things but now President wants the sisters to be involved in these types of councils too. And so last night Sister Esmolo and I attended stake coordination for the first time. WOW. So much stuff goes on. It blows my mind that a 20-year-old girl can sit beside a stake president and just...talk about missionary work. That a 20-year-old girl and a 21-year-old-girl and these other young elders...can have such an impact in these types of meetings. Leaders listen to us! And they teach us. Humility, as I have learnt, is so important in these things. To be humble and to accept counsel (and even correction) from leaders. It'll be quite an experience for me these next couple of months when we attend stake coordination again!



     That was my week in a nutshell! Too much happens here on the mission; there's never enough time to tell all my stories. BUT I will say this: this week someone guessed, ON THE FIRST TRY, that I am SINGAPOREAN! AND NOT KOREAN! Drives me crazy. Oh man. 


I love this work.


With love,
Sister Teo

All These Steps Forward

Dear family, 

Never forsaken

     This last Saturday, on the 17th of October, Caroline Grace Lumapas got baptized, And the unfolding of the events of her baptism were miracle-filled. Up to the very minute that she stepped into the waters of baptism, Sister Pamesa and I were, for sure, saying prayers in our hearts. Because about twenty minutes before she got baptized, she was in tears. Because about five minutes before that, she got word that some people (that she loved) that she was expecting to come...were not going to make it anymore. And to be honest I was so disappointed. I remember turning around in my chair, seeing her face in her hands, and being so disappointed. I remember saying in my head, "I thought we had fasted and prayed for a miracle, Heavenly Father. Why is this happening?" I was in tears all throughout. But I still kept praying. I kept the faith. And literally ten minutes before she would step into the water...I looked out the window. Saw a car pull in. Saw Carol's member boyfriend, Josh, step out of the church to the parking lot. Saw a man walk in with him. It was Carol's brother. The only member of her family to make it.

     He made it, and he saw Carol get baptized. Carol did it. She took courage, despite persecution, despite doubt, despite rejection. She did it. And she was a hero that day. (PLUS she made her OWN rockin' program! What! I've NEVER seen a baptismal program SO pretty!) 

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From dark to light

     Later that same afternoon, Ronel was baptized as well. Ronel is the first investigator that I've had where we found, taught, and baptized, all from start to end. We met him towards the end of July and I cannot tell you the amazing change that we have seen in him. The first time we met him he looked so weighed down. It wasn't that his life was problematic. It was just that...there was this heaviness about him. And this Saturday, after stepping out of the font, and especially on Sunday, after being confirmed...the light about him. He shone. He literally shone. His face, his countenance, was literally LIGHT. This gospel does something to people. And it's a real thing, a real change. I have high hopes for Ronel. Hopes that the gospel will do for him what a high-paying job or the luxuries of this world will ever do for him. He is happy. And he will continue to be happy. 

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Baptism - by Zonrox and Baygon

     Zonrox = bleach. Baygon = cockroach-killer spray. 

     For real. This last Wednesday all four of us in the apartment cleaned out the ENTIRE apartment. Our apartment is TINY. Way tiny. I don't think I've ever lived in such a small space. (But it's actually possible!) Anyways...everyone knows me, right? Do I like insects? Roaches? NO. No, no, no. And I think we killed about 50 huge ones that day. Oh my goodness. So gross. And so as a disclaimer...yes, there will be pictures. Of those cockroaches. So disgusting. Ew. Can't get over it. The night before that I had even DREAMT about cockroaches...................I can't believe how many cockroaches were in the apartment. Okay. I'm done. 

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Jerry

     I think we had with Jerry what I would consider a pretty powerful lesson this last Monday. We brought a rope with us (from our 72 hour kit!) and at the start of the lesson we tied his hands together. Pretty tight. And we told him that this is basically the state that he is in now. His addiction- it is a bondage. We hoped it was powerful for him, because it sure was powerful for us. That is what addictions do to people. They tie them down. I will never forget that lesson. 

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Changing weather

     So I know that a storm is passing through the area, although the actual typhoon is up north. The winds are cold (SO GOOD!)...but so is the water. If someone told me a year ago that I'd shower in such cold water, I'm not quite sure I would have left on my mission. Actually, if anyone even told me HALF the things that would happen to me on the mission, I'm not sure I would have left! This mission cracks me up!!!! 

    And last night I woke up with a nose that wouldn't stop running, a throat that was BURNING, and body chills. It was so unexpected. Earlier that day at church I had been feeling a little off, but I didn't think too much of it. Well, something definitely went down in my body last night because I could NOT stop sneezing! And then I had this weird cough that made it hard for me to breathe and I thought I was going to die in my bed. Good thing I'm still alive typing this. Yes!

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On the streets

     I also just have to put it out there that last night...as Sister Pamesa and I were going through the ward list to try and find all the less-actives roaming this area (you will NOT believe how many less-actives there are in this country! All around the world!), we talked to a woman sitting by a corner and tried to ask her for help. She was smoking a cigarette, dressed in a hoodie, no big deal. And then all of a sudden, while we were just casually speaking with her, a man rides by on his scooter, stops by, this woman pulls out for her bag a PLASTIC bag, and the man hands her something, and then rides off. All within ten seconds. Um. Yes. We saw drugs dealt in front of us. 

     Sister Pamesa and I tried to think of something else it could have been, but we KNOW that based on where we were and our surroundings and their behavior, that woman dealt drugs. That was a FIRST!!! I can now say that I've seen drug exchanges go down! 

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Sister-training-leaders...plural!

     Guess what! Our roommates are being called as NEW STLs! And so with Sister Pamesa leaving, I'll be the oldest STL in the apartment! Weird! My new companion will be Sister Esmolo, whom I have never met but whom I know is going home in April with me!!! She's currently on Palawan right now (in the Puerto Princessa branch) and will land on the mainland this Wednesday. Let's see how this goes! 

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     I love this mission. Earlier on as we were riding to the mall, it was raining and I was on the back of the motorcycle (of the tricycle) and the rain was hitting me and I was thinking, "I'm going to get more sick!" and I was seeing the people all around me and the stray dogs and was breathing in the kind-of-smelly air...and I thought, "This will never happen to me again. I will never again experience this." 

     I'm seeing, day by day, why God sent me here to the Philippines. These revelations come, little by little, in increments. But they come. It has been an adventure. A once-in-a-lifetime adventure. And I am happy that I came. 


With love,
Sister Teo

The Home Run

Dear family, 

Far-reaching

     I remember, before the mission, looking up different mission blogs and missionaries to see how they were doing on their missions. I always looked up to them for all that they were doing and seeing them serve made me excited to go out and serve. This past week at interviews, a couple of missionaries from the Pasay zone (we are in the Makati zone) had their interviews, too, with President, and there I met an Elder Dustin. 

     He's relatively new (still in training) and the first thing he said when I asked how he was, was: "You were companions with Sister Lockwood, right?" I was like, "Yes! How'd you know?" And then the revelation: "My mom found you and Sister Lockwood's blog while we were preparing to send me off on a mission." AWKWAAARDDD! I remember being in Elder Dustin's shoes a year ago when we FIRST went on MTC exchanges and I met a couple of the missionaries here on the field that I had blog-stalked during MY preparation too! AWKWAAARD. Super awkward. That was the only thing I kept saying over and over to this elder. AWKWARD. It is SO awkward knowing that people have known/actually read what I go through every week...............................................I can't wait to tell Sister Lockwood that she also gained herself another reader!

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The first and great commandment

     The longer that I am here the more I see how hard it is for some people to put their whole trust in God when it means that they'd have to sacrifice being mocked/ridiculed/misunderstood by their family. It is a hard decision to make, to love God with ALL your heart, even when this means loving Him more than our earthly parents. But as I've thought about this alot recently, Daddy, your conversion story just keeps coming back to my mind. 

     Thank you for having loved the Lord enough to put everything at risk, to have walked away from your full-time job and your young siblings and your aging parents...to serve the Lord. And to even have joined the Church. Thank you for trusting God enough to have taken that big step of baptism. I have NO idea where I would be now if you hadn't made that decision those almost-three decades ago. I am so, so grateful. It is with this gratitude that I keep encouraging my investigators to move forward with faith. They WILL bless the generations that come after them. 

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Double trouble

     Just kidding! More like double HAPPINESS! Carol and Ronel are both getting baptized this Saturday, on October 17. Carol's baptism (in the 4th ward) will be at 12 noon, and Ronel's baptism (in the 3rd ward) will be at 3 pm. Both passed their baptismal interviews with flying colors and I know, I know with all my heart, that they are ready for this next big step. I love Carol so much. So, so much. She is so courageous and I KNOW that she will bless her family. As with Ronel. He has the potential to become a great teacher in the church. I am glad that both the wards in which they are in have stepped in to love them and befriend them. I pray with all my heart that they will keep running towards the waters, towards the 17th. 

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Shoe snatcher

     This last week after we taught Caizy at a member's house, all three of us- me, Caizy, and the member, whose name is Sister Rose- realized that each of us had a shoe missing. Creepy? Yes. Our shoes were right outside by Rose's door, yet by the end of our lesson we walked out and realized that our shoes were missing, each of us coincidentally missing a pair. The next day the shoes returned, but Rose's neighbor said that "the dog" had taken it. UMMMMM. No. Dogs do not coincidentally take one of each pair of three women's shoes. It was a human. There is a shoe snatcher somewhere. CREEPY. 

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Wanderers

     I will never get used to number of homeless people I see in this area. So many people sleeping on cardboards, under highways, by abandoned shops, under trees, by the train tracks...I didn't know that so many people could be so displaced and homeless. Homelessness is a phenomenon that will always intrigue me. To live without a home...I could never imagine not being able to return to a shelter of warmth and love and protection...

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We all want to be free

     Jerry confessed to us yesterday that he hasn't actually been able to give up smoking. It broke our hearts. Addiction is real. He won't be baptized on the 17th of this month and we do not yet know when his next baptismal goal date will be, but Sister Pamesa and I feel it best that we just work with him on FIRST overcoming the addiction. Because it is REAL. And it is hard. Jerry started when he was 13 or 14, and now he is 27. That's more than a decade of being tied to something. And he can't walk away easily, neither will Satan let him. And so that's our next big step for him. To help him break free. Because we CAN. We CAN change. But he's got to want it bad enough. There's a lot to work on here. 

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The last stretch

     And here's what this whole week as boiled down to: that October 10 has officially come and gone and that I celebrated with donuts and 12 candles to represent 12 months. It was General Conference on the 10th and 11th and Sister Poutua and Elder Clark (from my MTC district!) were both at the same chapel as I was to watch the rebroadcast, and so it was a MERRY reunion as we talked about and screamed about and rejoiced over this one year's journey! One year! One year. That's 365 days. I don't think that I have ever been SO out of my comfort zone. But I would never trade this one year for anything else in the world. It has been so hard, but so happy. The mission is an irony, but a good one. The mission has been a refiner's fire. So hard. But so good. And so here's the last stretch. This is the home run. These are the last four transfers. And my goodness, I cannot believe it. 


I love you all SO much. And guess what? 10 more weeks until Christmas call!


With love,
Sister Teo 

P.S. The last picture is with Sister Tiana from the SHANGHAI BRANCH! She came over to Manila for her endowment last Monday and she is already on her way back to Shanghai. BUT! She's in the SHANGHAI BRANCH! And she remembers you, Dad! I asked her if she knew all the people in the District Presidency and she could only name President Dyer and President Lindsay BUT then I showed her a picture of you and she laughed and said, "YES! I know him! He gave a talk at our YSA Convention and he was SO funny!" Well. Guess you left an impression Dad! But go talk to her! She is AWESOME! Sister Tiana.