Kumusta!!!!!!!!!

Hello friends and family! How are you?? Mirami mirami pasensiya para sa wala na email last week! I had no time!

Whoo has a lot happened between then and now! First of all I will report on the days activities. My zone (Bulan Zone) won the zone activity!!! We had the most investigators attend sacrament meeting for the month of October! YES. Sobrang astig. It was so awesome! We went to Bulusan lake! Which is literally right next to a volcano! It was SO PRETTY! And you could see all of the steam and smoke coming out of the volcano as we had our devotional and activities. President Guanzon and his wife were there and so were the AP's. It was a really fun morning! Pero it took up most of the time we would usually have to wash our clothes and clean the apartment. So I got up at 4:30AM to get all of my washing done so my companion could clean hers at 6AM so we could be ready and on our way to the activity by 7:30AM lol. I'm not even tired tho so no worries there! I took lots of pictures pero I didn't bring my chord! Pasensiya AGAIN! I will send lots of pictures next week!

This week I also went on exchanges with 2 companionship's in Masbate! It's one of the islands in our mission and an area I hope to serve in one day! Oi it was intense! Lol we took a dingy little boat with NO life jackets (pero we didn't know this until after we paid for our tickets lol) and just like benches and where ever you could find a space to sit-kind of seating lol for 4 glorious hours. When we got there we got straight into planning with the first companionship and we were off. I met a sister there that I knew in Australia! It was awesome. And then the next day (Halloween!!!) I went on exchanges with a sister from California! She's awesome! And so funny! And her Tagalog is magaling! So there is still hope for me yet! It was funny because when we were finished with all of the lessons we had planned, as well as the back ups we went to the super market to go "trick-or-treating." AKA buying lots of chocolate and candy and using Halloween as a convenient excuse. When we were home stuffing our faces with chocolate my companion and her temporary companion returned with ...... drum roll .... BALUT! Lol yes. I had some. And yes I almost threw up. But NO I swallowed everything! And yes I do have pictures. When you see them, you will die. Lol please try not to laugh at me TOO MUCH. It was painful but I did it. And just as a side note, the egg that I chose had feathers, and like half a head. Also since we had elections last Monday whoever won the elections in Masbate was literally throwing like a RAGING party down the street our last night there. It was so funny they were playing EVERYTHING! And even tho we closed the windows and doors it was still as if the party was right outside. I will admit secretly to all of you, that I loved it! Lol they remind me of fob dances! There is no genre or preference if its music, they will play it, whether it be Psy, or Elvis, or Taylor Swift. They love it all here. I realize because of this I was always destined to come here. I am in a country with like minded people! Lol when it comes to music at least.

Okay as if we didn't have enough fun for one week. A less active member that my companion and her temporary comp. taught that day told her to buy her tickets @ the pier before or at 3AM because if we go any later they will be sold out. SO like the obedient and diligent missionaries we are, my companion and 2 other sisters got up @ 2:45AM and went to the pier before 3AM. Well to our apparent dismay NOTHING WAS OPEN. Lol and a 15 year old kid (who was working the grave-yard shift at his aunts shop, because he doesn't have parents ... :( he is a really hard worker and we had a good long chat with him) told us that the ticket booth doesn't actually open until around 4:30-5AM. Lol so we waited. And at 5 still nothing was open lol. So we decided to split up. My companion and I went home to prepare our things to leave and the other two sisters would stay to buy our tickets. They are so kind! And such strong examples to me of what Christ like behavior truly looks like! I love them! They didn't end up coming back until around 6AM and even tho they had been awake since 245 they still made us breakfast and hot chocolate. I literally almost cried I was so touched, and so grateful and so blown away by their generosity. Honestly these exchanges we have every week are such a blessing! I am so grateful!!!!!!!!

 Anyways we ended up taking a different route home. We took a fast track boat, that had air conditioning and they were playing movies ..... ;) lol but that took us from Masbate to Pillar. We then took a Jeepny (which are like jeep-buses? They all look like they came out of the Philippines version of West Coast Customs with a philippines version of that rapper that hosts the show. Lol they crack me up so much!) from Pillar to a province near Sorsagon where we then took a bus from that province back to Bulan. The whole trip was about 6 hours lol and it left me feeling very grateful for many things. One of them being seat belts. Because so far in the Philippines I have not used a seat belt, but when we are in the buses or jeepny's sliding here and there lol I look back on all the days I chose not to wear a seat belt because I thought it was inconvenient and now in a country where they would be perfect ... there are none. Lol the driving here is straight crazy! If there is a space, and you an fit thru you better believe that someone will try it. Lol also they just pile people on here. Whether its a jeepny or tricycle! There is no capacity limit. There is no such thing as no room, simply because here people MAKE ROOM lol whether you're sitting on someones lap or you are sitting on top of the vehicle, there is ALWAYS room. LOL! AHHH so funny I laugh to myself every time!

Every day here gets better and better! And every time I choose to humble myself, literally Heavenly Father blesses me! I've only been here 5 weeks but this mission is really changing me! I can see it and I can feel it! In my heart! Words cannot even describe the happiness that I feel in my heart! And it is all because of service! Its like that scripture in D&C "when ye are in the service of your fellow man, ye are ONLY in the service of your God." Never before in my life have I seen the truthfulness of these words. And never before in my life have I really felt the weight and clarity of these words. It is so true! When you serve others you are serving God! It doesn't matter in what capacity! As long as your heart and your mind are single to Him, He will pour his blessings out upon you. And that is not something that I can deny! IN D&C 58:27 its says "Verily I say, men should be anxiously engaged in a good cause, and do many things of THEIR OWN free will, and bring to pass much righteousness;" This has really been written on my heart this week. I have been so unsure of myself here. For lots of reasons. I don't understand the language, I can hardly speak the language! Lol I am still integrating myself into the culture. I can't teach as effectively because of the language barrier. Lots of reasons but I really decided this week that none of the matter. All of those things, are negative and therefore do not belong with God. YES, I don't know as much as I want. And YES I can't speak the language! And YES I feel scared and helpless when we teach because I don't feel like the missionary I should be. But none of that matters! I CAN do this. I can DO anything, all I need is trust in God. Thru him I can do anything. And through the trails I have been through lately I really truly have begun to learn HOW to trust in Him. And I have also learned how sweet the blessings are when I actually do. Brothers and sisters I love this Gospel SO MUCH! And my gratitude that I am here, and that I also have the privilege to SERVE a mission is an emotion that I can't describe. Its many many things! But it starts first with love, and gratitude. This opportunity and privilege I have been given to serve is unlike anything I would have ever imagined it to be! And it is beyond anything I can describe! One thing I KNOW, missions are not meant to be easy! But neither is life! We don't do it for the glory, the compliments or the recognition. No. We only do it because our service ANYWHERE in the world as a missionary, is an outward and physical expression of our love for Heavenly Father. And a clear way to show Him that we love Him and that we are willing to DO or BE anything that He requires us to be. Missionary work is something we are all capable of and something we are all called to do! Members of this church have the light of Christ but they also have the Gift of the Holy Ghost! We have talents and intelligence! We weren't given these things to receive recognition or fame from others! We were given these traits and talents to serve and enrich the lives of others! I bear testimony of this simple truth. And I also bear testimony of the power and authority that each of us has, as members and disciples of Christ we have a responsibility to serve and help others. It doesn't matter who you are, or how you do it, Heavenly Father is calling his children to work and all those who have a DESIRE. This Gospel is amazing! And it truly does change lives! In 3 Nephi 13:21-22 it says "For where your treasures is, there will your heart be also. The light of the body is the eye if, therefore, thine eye be single, thy whole body shall be full of light." You are a shining example of truth and light and happiness! When you obey the commandments and follow HIS word. I testify of this with all of my heart! We each have something special inside of us! And that something special is truly evident when we share it with others!

I love you all!!!!!!!! And I miss you all so much!!!!!!!!! But I am so happy here I forget some times lol I hope you are all doing well! Please forgive me for not responding to your emails! I haven't had much time lately but I will try to be better!

I love you!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Love ALWAYS!

Sister Fonua :))