Christmas is next week!!!!!!!!!!!

Sige po! Isa, MIRAMI MIRAMI PASENSIYA PARA SA WALA NA EMAIL last week ULIT! Pasensiya.

Today has been so busy! Seriously! We have a Christmas conference for our mission on Wed and each zone has to put together a presentation aka a presentation that is well ... more funny than anything else because we only have 2 hrs on P-day to prepare lol. So yes I will update you all on how that went next week. I foreshadow a lot of laughing, AT ME. We have to travel to Sorsogon bukas mga 5PM kase we live 3 1/2 hrs away from Legazpi/the mission home and the conference starts at like 8AM Wed. So I'm happy about that lol I cherish any AND EVERY opportunity we have to travel. Also we had 4 baptisms on Saturday! It was so great. One of our investigators was definitely tried in his faith before the baptism, but because he stayed hopeful, and diligent Heavenly Father blessed him. It was a growing experience for him for sure, and I am so grateful that I was there to witness it. We also got a new investigator this week who asks some seriously DEEP questions lol. I actually love it, its a challenge teaching him and one I happily welcome. We also have another baptism this coming Saturday and on the week after. I also went on splits twice this week! Once with the other sisters in my branch (sister alabanza and sister reategui! I don't remember if I told you but sister reategui and I are in the same area!!! THE SAME BRANCH ALSO! Lol for those of you that don't remember she was my companion in the mtc) and with the sisters sa Matnog. Yung area sa zone natin. Sobrang astig yung mga sisters doon. We invited one of their investigators for baptism and was able to get a referral from a less active member who we committed to work with them later this last week.  Other good news is MY TRAINING IS ALMOST FINISHED!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Next week will be my last week and then DONEZO!!!

I really can't believe it. The time has gone by SO FAST. And looking back on my time with my trainer and just my first 3 months in this country makes me really emotional. I can honestly admit that I have learned and have changed SO much. This change didn't come because one day I woke up and I said I am going to be this, or that. No it happened because I allowed Heavenly Father to change me. I gave up all my imperfections in the knowledge I can't do this work alone and I can't continue to progress and BE HAPPY alone. Relying on my own intelligence and talent just wasn't enough. I needed to DO MORE. Simply He needed me to BE MORE. And in order for me to accomplish that I HAVE to trust Him. And I have to believe at the end of every day that the reason for my trials is to refine me. I know that through this refinement process I can become BETTER. And seriously when you take away all the material possessions, what more could we really want? Coming to the Philippines was definitely a culture shock for me. The people here have so little, yet they stay happy and cheerful. It has really helped me to see how unimportant the material things of this world are, and how unnecessary they are when it comes to attaining TRUE happiness. We teach people in one room huts, with dirt floors, we teach a family that live in one room, we teach family that live in shacks and yet the one thing that I see constantly is that they are HAPPY. They smile and greet us warmly when we walk by, or invite us in happily. They have what every American would class as nothing pero they are HAPPY. Thru all of the trials that I have been through in these last 10 weeks the one thing I can honestly say is that I have learned the importance of trust and I have seen the blessings that come from putting the Lord first. In the Book Of Mormon the stories of the stripling warriors is one of my favorites. The obedience and faith that they put in their mothers words saved their lives and the power of God was manifest unto them. Sa Alma 57:21 "Yea, and they did obey and observe to perform every word of command with exactness; yea and even according to their faith it was done unto them; and I did remember the words which they said unto me that their mothers had taught them" And verses 26 hanggang 27 sinabi ito "And now, their preservation was astonishing to our whole army, yea, that they should be spared while there was a thousand of our brethren who were slain. And we do justly ascribe it to the miraculous power of God, because of thier exceedin faith in that which they had been taught to believe-that there was a just God, and whosoever did not doubt, that they should be preserved by his marvelous power. Now this was the faith of those whom I have spoken; they are young, and their minds are firm, and they do put their trust in God continually." These verses are SO powerful. Kase sobrang tunay siya. And so powerful para sa atin at yung buhay natin. They directly apply to our lives and give us a super maganda halimbawa of how faith and obedience bless our lives.

There is a story that I never forget and that I have had the privelege to share while on my mission and especially these last few weeks. When John and I were little my mom used to ask us the same question EVER MORNING. It was just one question pero she never failed to remember to ask us. When we woke up or after breakfast she would ask my brother and I who we loved most in the world, siempre we replied HER, our dad and then all the family members we could think of and then God. Our answers would vary every day. Some times just her our dad and Heavenly Father. Each morning our answer was the same and each morning her answer to US was the same, and that was that we were wrong. And as a 4-5 year old the concept that I was wrong was difficult to grasp let alone the one person that was in my top 2 people I love the most was even harder to grasp lol. When she corrected us, she would remind us that we should love Heavenly Father FIRST and then HER and whoever else. Now one would think that trying to reiterate a concept that was clearly BEYOND a toddlers understanding would be pointless. We forget however that just because we can't understand certain things now, doesn't mean that we won't understand it in the future. Because my mother was diligent with one simple reminder every morning she has literally changed my life. Because the simple reminder was something that I have used in ever aspect of my life. She didn't know that this would happen, she had hope I am sure but the future wasn't revealed to her in a mysterious crystal ball. She had faith and she continued in that faith even tho she didn't KNOW FOR SURE. We must always remember brothers and sisters that through small and simple things Heavenly Father is able to perform GREAT MIRACLES even if we can't see those miracles RIGHT NOW. The beauty of this Gospel is literally unfolded to me every single day and I am so grateful every single day for the opportunity that I was given to learn these things at this time in my life. I love this Gospel and EVERYTHING it teaches me and I am grateful every single day to be brought to a place where I can receive His wisdom and receive His way.

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

Sorry for the lack of reply on the emails. I have had no time lately pero I love you!!!

Love ALWAYS,

Sister Fonua