WOW!!!!!!! I have a surprise for you!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I AM GETTING TRANSFERRED! :( We got the transfer announcement this past Saturday ... Honestly I am sad to leave this area but I now everything will be okay! The love that I have developed for all the people that I have been blessed to serve is so priceless and so incredibly rewarding! I can't even begin to describe to you the impression that my branch has made on my heart and my life. Especially our investigators!!!!! Ahhh every single person that I have had the sacred know here has helped me to become a better person and an even better missionary! Leaving this area kind of feels like I'm leaving home again! I love the members here! And I love all of our investigators! At the same time tho I feel so much peace in my heart I am just really grateful that I was put in this specific area at the time that I was, and that I was blessed with the opportunity to be a small part of these wonderful peoples lives .... honestly the joy that I feel is beyond any worldly explanation and it truly is something I feel to the very core of my being. I am so grateful for the experiences and trials that I have been given here! Honestly! They have made me better than I was before and because of this I can only look to the future with joy and hope because I KNOW that whatever the Lord has in store for me is to simply help me become more like Him. 

In addition to this my joy was added to after we added up our weekly actual last night. We had the highest amount of investigators and new and returning members attend sacrament meeting this week! 34 all together! 27 new and returning members! And 7 investigators! And we almost hit the standard of excellence for all of the key indicators! It was seriously SUCH a blessing and it felt SO GOOD! SERIOUSLY! I remember when I first started training my companion told me that for her entire mission she had always hoped to find and teach at least one family ... and now that I am being transferred there are about 3-4 families of investigators that we teach regularly and they ALL have set baptismal dates, and they are all progressing! Honestly I finally understand what every return missionary has said when they say that the numbers really DON'T matter. Because they don't. We have high numbers and we have real progress within our branch and especially with the people we teach but it isn't because my companion wanted to have high statistics or wanted to be recognized for working hard or whatever. When I started in this area we had a really small teaching pool of investigators a scary amount of less active members pero ngayon as I am leaving this area I have been able to see less active members reactivated and I have been able to see the light of Christ in their eyes become brighter and brighter. If I was given nothing else but this I would have been happy. I am sorry if I sound repetitive when I write these emails but seriously! SERIOUSLY! I am so grateful! I am also sorry about the tiny bit of information that I share with you every week. I usually forget most of the time to share a lot of the success that we have in our area but it is really only because I recognize that none of it has anything to do with me. It's all the Lord and the only reason that I have been able to see any of it is because I can acknowledge that this really is HIS work and it honestly just doesn't feel right to say it most of the time because I don't want to sound like I'm bragging.

Oh yeah that reminds me we had 3 baptisms this past Saturday! They were all from part member families, lol 3 boys 9, 9, 11 :))  It was SUCH a good baptism! We were combined with Sister Reategui and her comp (we are n the same branch so our area for that branch is split) and Bulan branch! All in all from both branches we had 8 baptisms! It as so awesome to see! The number of people that showed their support for those 8 souls was amazing! We also had 1 day missions in our branch on Saturday morning with the young men! I was kind of scared at first because we went on splits and my companion was a member of the relief society, and because I knew I had to be an example to the Young Men that were assigned to work with me ..... I am still pretty weak in the language and I was feeling insecure about my ability to lead my little group. To my surprise it went WAY better than I thought! I made the young men lead every lesson hahahaha! And they were seriously so good! Dalin and Mark-Ross (the two young men I worked with) were so confident and strong when they were teaching. And through obedience to the Spirit they knew exactly what every single person needed I was so amazed! Since the teaching wasn't a problem for them for the last hour of our time together I took them tracting! Lol oh gosh it was SO HOT! Sweat was just DRIPPING down my face hahaha it was straight NASTY! BUT I kept a big smile on my face and encourage the two young men that I was working with that they could give the 2 pamphlets I had given them each. Lol Dalin was almost in tears when he gave his only pamphlet out but it was good! It challeged them and gave them a real taste of what missionary work is really like. They were so grateful for it after and even tho it was difficult for them it just strengthened their desire to serve that much more!!!!! They will be great missionaries when they serve and I am grateful I was able to learn from them!

Before I go I just want to share a scripture, sa Helaman 5:30 sabi dito "And it came to pass hen they heard this voice, and beheld that it was not a voice of thunder, neither was it a voice of a great tumultuous noise, but behold it was a still voice of perfect mildness, as if it had been a whisper and it did pierce even to the very soul" This scripture perfectly describes inside how I feel about this work. I just want to take the time to bear my testimony on how powerful it is when the members work with the missionaries! We really push and pray every week to have a member present at every appointment we have with investigators not because we want to meet our goals for the week but because it literally is the grain of sand that tips the scale for investigators! We have 60+ yr old lola's working with us happily and willingly! Also nanay Corres any chance she gets come and works with us because she love missionary work! She told us that it is her dream to do what we do and she is so willing to give her time to help us help others. 

I love this work!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! And I LOVE my mission!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I wouldn't trade these experiences and this time in my life for anything but the Lord. And a greater and more in depth understand of His love and His grace. Like I said before I will NEVER deny the truth that has so miraculously changed my life and NEVER again for the rest of my life will I be ashamed to share WHAT I KNOW TO BE TRUE. We really are in a "tabernacle of clay" and every day we are being refined to become better and better and to become MORE happy in this life and the next. My testimony is FIRM in the things that I know to be true and I cannot and will not deny my God. 

Sorry this email is so short! We are in a hurry this evening! We have a branch FHE for the missionaries leaving and I have to finish packing -_- ayaw ko iyan! TALAGA! Sobrang annoying! Pero iyos lang iyan! Mahal na mahal ko kayo! Sa inyong lahat! Kung palagi ka sa puso ko! Ingat pag-may time hah! Hahahaha at pakiremember kung palagi mo sa mga dasal ko! 

I love you my family and friends!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

OH ALSO! THANK YOU Seli Taufua and the Faith in God kids!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Your package and cards and testimonies made me cry!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I LOVED IT! Also thank you to my home ward in Sunnyvale! I finally got all the cards! IT made me feel like I was at home!!!!!!!!!!!!! THANK YOU!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I love you!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Don't forget that you can receive blessing when you pray.