Day 488 Can-Avid, Borongan Zone, Philippines God will provide a way to accomplish his works

Hello dearest family. Maupay nga aga ha iyo nga tanan. :) (Good morning to all of you)

HAPPY LATE BIRTHDAY NANAY!!! I ate cake on your birthday in your honor, haha. I'm glad my card came just in time. :)

This week has been a week of miracles! The members here are on fire with excitement about missionary work. Even though we only have 3 or 4 active Relief Society members and one Melchizedek priesthood holder in this group, they are solid! Two of the sisters work at the local university so they have connections to many professionals. We work almost completely through referrals here. There are so many potential investigators that have been waiting for missionaries to put in the effort to gain the trust of the members. Members really are the key to success in missionary work.

We met with our branch president yesterday to talk about the needs of the branch. They need 20 active Melchizedek priesthood holders in order for the chapel to be built in Dolores, but they only have 15 kind of active priesthood holders. Then, after church we worked with the Relief Society to contact referrals and continue teaching their coworkers so now we have 3 golden potential Melchizedek priesthood holders! Two of them came to church and the other is a new investigator. All three have committed solidly to baptism. It’s amazing how God prepares a way for his church to be established.

One of our golden investigators is Christian Coles. He is 22, a college graduate, and he is the nephew of one of the recent converts here. Have I told you about him already? He sat in one of our lessons with another investigator we were teaching, but we didn’t even know that he was listening. At the end of the lesson, he exclaimed that that this must be the true church because of the authority, the  sacrifices of missionaries, etc and excitedly accepted a copy of the Book of Mormon. A week later, he attended a Family Home Evening at a member’s house. Sister Chu gave an awesome lesson about the Book of Mormon being the iron rod leading towards the tree of life. After the closing remarks, Christian asked if he could say a few words. He then shared how after several encounters with the missionaries (he also met the elders once before) he has a strong desire to read the Book of Mormon. He paused, looked at the Book of Mormon, and then he said, “I will start tonight to really read the Book of Mormon every day and I will read it until I finish it.” And then he came to church the next day! Plus he already has a desire to serve a mission. Hopefully we'll be able to soften the hearts of his family; they are devoted Catholics.

Then we contacted a referral with a relief society sister (just saying, the relief society is going to save the world. . .). She told us of her uncle Aquino Irasga, a former lay-minister for the local Roman Catholic church. He used to be very very active in the ministry, but recently he hasn't attended church in a while. Last week, she visited him and asked why he hasn't been attending anymore. He just
shrugged his shoulders and remarked, "Maybe I"ll just become a Mormon instead." We visited him last night and he speaks pure English! In fact, he doesn't read Tagalog as well as he reads English. So we get to teach in ENGLISH!! :) As we talked with him, he opened up about his concerns. He is an avid reader of the Bible and has noticed some contradictions in the Catholic church. He told us how he is thirsty for more knowledge, but he can't seem to find it with just the Bible because there are so many different interpretations. And then Aquino asked us how he can become a missionary or a leader in our church. He flatly told us that there is nothing hindering him from joining the church except for his vices. That's what he wants out of a religion: the power to get rid of all his sins and bad habits. We promised him that as he starts a prayerful study of the Book of Mormon and continues to keep his commitments, step by step he will become free from his sins. He can be born again even though he is already in his 60's. No matter how old we are or how set in our ways, we can all
change. That is the miracle of the Atonement.

Sister Chu is doing so much better this week. This is really a fabulous area and she is beginning to connect the dots between our obedience and our success in the mission field. She’s much happier and willing to trust my counsel. And she had a happy birthday! We surprised her with a birthday cake that I made in our toaster oven and she was so touched by the love of the members and other missionaries even though she is just new to the mission and area. The people joke that she is turning "twenty-chu" (this is her 22nd birthday). She is an incredible teacher and is not afraid to open her mouth outside or during lessons. I feel like she will be ready to train as soon as she learns the language.

I love training. Sister Chu eats up everything I tell her and writes it all down in her notebook. Like the Best 2 Years.. . . haha.

OYM is my favorite, even since the beginning of my mission. For some reason I'm great one-on-one, but speaking in front of groups still makes me nervous. OYM is especially easy for foreign missionaries because it's really rare to see foreigners here, so the people are curious about who we are and what in the world are we doing in the middle of the jungle?? Plus, they are shocked that we can actually speak their dialect, not just Tagalog. The people here are very friendly and easy to connect with. I just start off asking questions to get them interested (ex: Why are there so many different religions if there is only one God?) And then I give them a pamphlet or a pass-along card---who doesn't like free stuff? :)

This past week we went to Tacloban for a specialized training in the mission home. The topic? Cooking!!! We learned how to make orange chicken, fried rice, and a coconut custard cake. Many of the missionaries here get sick so easily because they don't eat well (or they believe that they are bad missionaries if they take an hour to eat). As a result, many missionaries are in and out of the hospital
and several have had to go home. So Sister Maurer gave a training to teach cooking skills. Yummy! I don't know how to cook anything not Filipino anymore.. . what do we eat in America??

Anyhoo, I hope school and work are going great! LOVE YOU ALL!!!

Love always,
Sister Amanda Smith

Day 481 Can-Avid, Borongan Zone, Philippines

Dearest family,

First of all, way to go Jared! It's awesome that he has continued to stick with soccer after all these years of practice. :)

We’ve had a lot of success this week in our area. We started off on a good note with all the members and showed them that we are hard working so they trust us and give us referrals. Apparently the elders here before were lazy and only taught little children. They didn’t have a lot of success because they worked in the poor areas without members. We see a lot of potential in this area. The leaders are great and organized and willing to help us in any way we ask. Members have worked with us daily to help us find educated adult investigators and their families.

President Maurer is helping the missionaries become more accountable. Every week we report how many OYM (Open Your Mouth), and if we did our studies daily. I like reporting how many OYM i have in a week because it reminds me of how Cebu Mission functioned. While i was reassigned there, we would count our OYMs daily and it really helped to give a daily reminder of how i need to open my mouth to everyone i see. The more I OYM, the more i feel the missionary spirit. I want this to be a habit that i carry throughout the rest of my life.

I love teaching with Sister Chu. We teach equally, but she speaks mostly English with whatever Waray2x words she knows. I’m impressed with how well she knows the doctrine despite only 4 years a member. I can tell she really studies the scriptures and is a deep thinker. The people here absolutely adore her and so do I. I feel like she’s exactly what I need to be more refined and to keep progressing in the mission. I have to be a good example. As a trainer, I feel like all my weaknesses are under the microscope. One mess-up and it’s quickly pointed out.

To answer your questions (bullet points nala):

-Yeah our General Conference is a week later than America. We will travel to the church in Borongan and stay for the weekend.

-Can-Avid group is a part of the Dolores Branch, which is about 15-20 minutes north of our apartment. The branch presidency presides over our church service which is two hours: sacrament then Sunday School. We meet in someone's garage/shed. Once a month we attend with the Branch for testimony meeting.

-Tacloban Mission is a mix of stakes and districts. Sister Robidillo is from Tolosa District, so the mission president is in charge of the districts and does the releasing. Borongan is a district. Carigara, Catarman, Tacloban, and Ormoc are the only stakes.

-I feel like the mission is completely different from how it was before the typhoon. The typhoon wiped out all the disobedience and President Maurer is incredible and has high expectations and knows how to organize and administer. Honestly, after I came back from Cebu it was hard to go back to the laidback feel of this mission, but things have changed leaps and bounds just in the attitude of the missionaries. There is more accountabililty and the rules are rewritten to be more clearly understood. The mission chose a theme: Conversion. President has started a training program for the mission. Each 6 months there is a different subtopic of conversion. Right now it is consecration. Then each month we focus on how to be more consecrated, so this month is Obedience.

-I LOVE THIS AREA! It reminds me a lot of Allen but younger leadership (President is 25) and the people are more open because this area hasn't been exposed much to missionaries. Just this week alone we contacted 21 referrals! And members worked with us every day!

Cool story: So we were teaching a member's father for the first time about the first lesson (Restoration). He was pretty receptive and had good questions so we were focused on the father and didn't notice much else going around us. We were teaching outside in the front yard. Towards the end of the lesson, we asked if he had any more questions. Then we noticed a 22-year old student stand up from where he had been sitting just around the corner and he came to sit next to the father directly infront of us. Apparently, he had been listening the whole time! He put his hands on the table and then spoke (in fluent English!!! I was so shocked). He basically said, "So let me get this straight. . . " He then related what we told him about the Restoration and then exclaimed that this Church has to be true, especially since we actually invite people to study and pray. He told us of his search for the true church; he has tried church after church with little result. Then in this first lesson with us, he really felt the Spirit and can't wait to read the Book of Mormon! And he has a relative who is a member! The whole time he spoke, it helped me renew my own testimony about how true this church is and why I decided to go on a mission. I swear, missions are more for missionaries than for anyone else. Missions aren't about us, but in the end, it all comes back to us too.

Random: WE HAVE A MICROWAVE!!! (I've only seen a microwave in the mission home.) Yes the supplies came this week. ;)


Love always,
Sister Amanda Smith

Day 474 Can-Avid, Borongan Zone, Philippines Dumplings anyone?

Dearest Family,

What a crazy long week. First off, I got to go with the departing missionaries to the airport to drop them off and then wait for the new missionaries. While we were waiting outside, we saw one sister missionary by herself. Then President remarked, "That looks like an RM. . ." And sure enough, it was Sister Robidillo!!!! (one of my Cebu companions from Tolosa Zone). I met her sister and saw her after she was released by President Maurer. She brought me a cute elephant carving covered in shells from Cebu. :)

Sister Robinson and I were in charge of all the new sister missionaries' studies and we also got to go on splits with them. I went with Sister Chu (Taiwanese) and Sister Abitria (Filipina). They are incredible and bring a lot of fresh ideas and energy to the mission. All the trainers and trainees attended a testimony meeting where all the new missionaries bore their testimonies. Sister Chu's was the funniest. The whole mission has heard that there is a Taiwanese sister coming, but doesn't speak English. When she started her testimony, she started speaking Mandarin Chinese and then said, "Don't worry, I speak English." We all died laughing as she continued speaking fluent English. Apparently, she lived in Australia and also Manila for a few years.

Friday morning we received our transfer assignments:

My companion is Sister Chu and we are assigned to a group in Can-Avid, Borongan Zone!!!!

Travel to Borongan is 4 hours from Tacloban by van on the bumpiest road around the coast of Samar island. We stayed the night in the sisters apartment there and then traveled another 2 hours to Can-Avid the next day after a typhoon passed. Every P-day we travel back to Borongan to email and then have district meeting the next day. And elders are back in Guiuan now.

We are speaking a different form of Waray2x. they say it is pure waray2x Just a few new words and shortcuts. Slightly different accent. We are in the middle of nowhere! hahaha but I love being back in the green bukid. I miss the green. I didn't realize how sad Tacloban looks. Our house is sweet! This is probably the nicest place i've stayed in Tacloban mission. We have an actual house that we share with another companionship of trainer/trainee (Sister Sprouse and her Filipina anak). It's huge and spacious but. . .  there's nothing inside. There are two mattresses on the floor. No bowls, desks, shower buckets, etc. The shipment was supposed to arrive last week, but it was delayed. Plus the elders that lived here before just got by with hardly anything. (Don't worry we got things figured out and we will be living rather creatively for the next week until our supplies arrive.) We are whitewashing and splitting an elders' area. (Meaning, there were elders here before, but now we are figuring out the area by ourselves and there is an extra companionship working here too.)

I was so surprised to find out that Sister Chu is my new companion! And this is the first time I’ll be assigned in a group. I love changes and new things this is an adventure for me. I’ve never trained before so this will be fun and challenging. I feel like I’m just as busy as when I was an STL, but I’m doing different things. So I’m definitely being stretched to reach different capacities. I love the 12 weeks program so it helps Sister Chu be excited about 4 hour studies.

Sister Chu is adorable. I love her so much already! She is a recent convert of 4 years and has been living on her own since her parents died of some sickness 3 years ago. She is very clean, poised, and refined so the Philippines is a bit of an adjustment for her, especially with handwashing clothes, different food, not as many comforts, etc. (She wants to buy her own washing machine and an American mop haha. . .) But that’s to be expected. I love how hard working she is and she knows how to study effectively. And she’s a great cook! She has already offered to teach the branch how to cook dumplings (from scratch!!!)for an activity to invite their friends to. She’s very healthy so that’ll help me stay healthy and active. I love how many new ideas she brings to the mission so I feel like she’s a breath of fresh air—exactly what both I and the area needs right now. I feel like she has a lot to offer and there is a lot of potential in her.

We haven’t had much chance to work in our area yet because we didn’t arrive in our apartment until Saturday afternoon! Supplies are still coming for the apartment so we should be getting everything we need soon. For church we attended both the branch in DapDap (Dolores) and then the special sacrament for the group in Can-Avid. The leaders are very active and helpful. The moment we arrived there have been members helping us. One of the recent converts waited near our apartment for nearly 3 hours because she heard we were on our way.

Dad, your pictures look AWESOME!! *slightly jealous but not really because i'm in the Philippines* I love the sunrise and lizard and sand and star pictures. Southern utah is such a different landscape. . .

Anyhoo, I hope you all stop getting sick so often, haha. Keep up the good missionary work! And way to go Ashley for her talk in stake conference. 'Atta Boy, Luther! Nice haircut Alex. Keep it short. :) And I love Moo. How's Jared? Thanks for the insights! Sorry i don't have much time to respond back to the letters you send, but know that i read and cherish them! (usually i print them off when i have more time to read what you say).

Love always,
Sister Amanda Smith

With my new comp Sister Chu! from TAIWAN!!! The first ever in the Philippiness haha
This is right after we went to McArthur Park to be matched up with our new companions.
Also, i don't know if i'll be able to send you pictures for the rest of  my mission. . . just by snail mail because the internet is sooooo slow here! I'm in Borongan right now (2 hours south) and even here the internet is awful.

Day 467 Tacloban, Philippines I'm going to be a mama! It's a girl! (aka: I'm training)

GUESS WHAT I AM TRAINING FOR MY LAST 12 WEEKS!!!!

I am so excited to be training! Honestly, my whole mission I have wanted to train. Until this transfer. I think I have been enjoying my calling as an STL so much that I would've been fine dying as an STL. So I was really surprised when I found out I will be training. But as soon as President Maurer told me that I will be training it felt completely right and this is what I need to become more refined for my last 2 transfers here. I'm excited to meet my new companion and I want to be the best companion I've ever been.

The Christmas songs have begun. . . We have entered the -ber months. . .

We've been teaching a new family of investigators---(have I told you about the Necario family yet?) they are actually former investigators from about 3 years ago who are now fully ready to commit to the gospel path. Their hearts are open so it doesn't matter so much what we say during the lessons, but rather what we help them feel and then do. They are proactive and accountable for what they need to do to be baptized. They truly have a desire to do what is right and they set aside time in their schedules for God. They don't have to be reminded or compelled to do what is right.

Funny story: So there is a professional member in our ward who gave us a referral for his brother who lives in a professional neighborhood. We finally found their house and were surprised to see that they were not professional too. We walked into their dirt-floor home and met the wife first who coaxed her husband out of the room. He stepped out to meet us. . . and we were shocked to realize that we recognized him! He was a pedicab driver who had talked with us a few days before. He had dark brown skin, long hair, and no teeth, whereas his member brother was white, cleanly trimmed and spoke English. After we left the house, the member's wife remarked "His brother was lazy in school." The member is a civil engineer and a police chief, whereas the brother is a pedicab driver. I was amazed at the difference in their appearance and lifestyle just based on their education!!! So don't be lazy in school! ;)

I've been studying about truth lately. There is only one truth. It does not depend on what we believe is right for us and our lifestyle. There is no choosing our own path. God is perfect and has all truth. He would not tell different people different ways to come to Him. Once we realize that God is the same yesterday, today and forever it naturally follows that there is only one law, one lifestyle, and one truth for all mankind. Religion depends on God, not on what we want or on what is popular or convenient.

All in all, I'm excited and ready for whatever is in store. I'm grateful for this new opportunity to grow and to pass on my skills to my new companion. I get to train my replacement. :)

Love always,

Sister Smith

Reunion with previous companions: Sister Mier and Sister Sprouse at the Trainers' Meeting