time goes by fast in the Philippines! changing locations, and transfers.

I love you I love you I love you!!! I can't say it enough!!!! 

Okay, here's my week!!

This week almost went by fast!!! I know. Impossible, right? Every day seems like a million years but I feel like I just emailed home. And we have 10 days left in my first transfer!! Whaaaattt?? So yes. Very glad that time is starting to become somewhat normal! 

So funniest thing ever, when I saw sister nielson last week she told me how she got an email from one of her missionary friends asking if she had met his friend, Sister Manwaring yet.... um yeah she knows Dakota Atwood!! And before I left for the MTC he totally told me about her and how she was coming to my mission and I totally forgot about it and he told her the same thing and she forgot too! But we were just destined to be friends anyways haha! So crazy, I totally remember talking about her with him, and I had no idea it was her! 

I went on a rice fast this week because we literally eat it every single meal and I'm selfish and prideful and do not want to get fat. Please send me some pinterest workouts!!! I'm tired of just doing pushups and situps haha. Just send me a few like 15 minute work outs, thank you thank you thank you thank you! :)

We have this new investigator and she is AWESOME. She is basically already a member, she consistently comes to church and has lots of friends in Young Womens and our teaching visits are basically just reviews because she learns and researches on her own inbetween visits, she's basically memorized mormon.org by now hahaha, she's so so great! She'll be an awesome addition to the church!! So blessed to have the opportunity to teach her. 

Okay so as far as language goes, every day is an improvement for sure, in both speaking and understanding, but sometimes I feel like Beethoven when he goes deaf and still writes that symphony and when they perform it he doesn't know if anyone likes it because he can't hear the applause, because when I teach and share I sometimes don't understand what they say so I have no idea if it's helping them and I don't know what their experiences have been and all the things that you want to know about them I don't cause I don't understand everything yet. But the spirit helps me and my understanding grows every day! I'll get there! Hopefully sooner than later :)

We had companion exchanges this week! Ahh! Sister Bendoy went with the sister training leader to her area and her companion came with me to ours and I had to lead the area!! So I was with Sister Ulusasa, from samoa, from wednesday afternoon to thursday afternoon and I had to take us to all our appointments and make us meals and get us on all the right jeepneys and everything! But I've been trying really hard to get to know the area so I didn't get us lost once!! yayayay! and  I cooked like, good, real meals, not just pb and J hahaha so yay also. Sister Ulusasa is way nice and it was cool to see things from a different missionaries perspective! Sometimes I forget that I'll eventually have to move areas and switch companions, and even though it's great here it'll be cool to experience other perspectives and people and everything! But I really do love it here in Sum-ag, the area is great and the members always find time to come teach with us and I have lots of friends in the ward and I know the people we teach and so I'll be sad when it's time to leave, but Heavenly Father will always put me right where he needs me and right who he needs me to be with!!

We're moving apartments at the end of this transfer!! I don't know where yet, here in Sum-ag of course, and another thing I learned from the exchange is that it is not common to have a non-flushing toilet and bucket shower for sisters here! Sister Ulusasa has been to 7 other areas since her comp is the sister training leader and she said ours is the first she's been to with that! And the couple missionaries that will be helping us move seemed to think that our next place will have a shower and flushing toilet!!! Even though I've gotten totally used to that just being the way it is, it's nice to think it might not always be like that!

Funny moment of the week: While we were teaching a lesson, our investigators neighbors were watching A Walk To Remember and it was at the part where she's singing "Only Hope" and it was sooooo distracting hahaha because all I could think of was the time that Katie and I made up a dance to that song when we were like 10 and another time when I was like 12 and I watched that movie alone in our basement one night and totally sobbed my eyes out hahahah and all this while trying to focus on the lesson. One of the things here is that houses aren't private from sound, so you can hear what everyone around you is doing at any given moment, so sometimes it's hard in lessons but you just learn to tune it out! 

We got the Liahona this week!!!! and the conference talks!!! yayayayayayayay!!!!! I've been reading them like their the final Harry Potter book hahaha, every spare second I have!! Why didn't I take advantage of them before?? I seriously am in love with them. They handed them out at our zone training meeting and they went faster than crack in a brothel hahahahaha. (Sorry, not a missionary appropriate analagy probably haha). If you haven't read them yet, GO READ THEM. So awesome. We are so lucky to have such amazing and inspired and loving men leading our church!!! 

We had a baptism on Saturday! Maricel, she's the sweetest girl ever. I don't count her as mine since I got here halfway through her lessons but it was so great!! 

Mom dad and cam!! write me your mission stories please!!! I always think about you all and how things might've been for you and what experiences you had that would be similar to what I'm doing and I want to know them so bad!! Please go look back on your journals or something and send me just an entry every week or something!! I'll totally treasure it!! and it doesn't have to be one from your mission, it could be even like grandpa jenkins or a friend or anything! I just crave to hear about other mission experiences :) so please and thank you, that would be amazzzing!!

You are all doing so so so awesome!!!!  SERA. HOLY CONGRATS!!!!!!! And mom, I'm so excited for you to do the colorado race, you're gonna kill it!!!!! I miss running with you SO MUCH. LIKE SO SO SO MUCH. Let's do a million ultras together when I get home. And boys, I'm so glad you're having such a fun summer!! Hannah, you're probs so totes busy with all your boyfriends cause you're such a babe and they can't resist you!!! Like literally I'm not kidding, Sera and I have talked and agreed that you are the prettiest sister. No joke. (Sera, yur stel mai luv, ey luv yew jest haow yew awr, ugli en everyfing ;D ) And DAD. OH MY GOSH. How on earth did I get so lucky to get such an amazing dad and best friend????? I miss you SO MUCH. I miss working with you and going to cafe rio everymonday and sneaking away from work to see movies and you're always SO CARING and SO GENEROUS. You always put yourself first and are the most selfless person, along with mom, that I've ever known. I love you both more than I can ever express. And cam and alyne!!!!!! HOLY COW YOU ARE SO SUCCESSFUL AND AWESOME. It's cause I'm just such an awesome missionary, rightttttt??? ;D hahaha but really, you're awesome, keep being the most awesome couple ever!!!!! 

I love you allllllll soooooooo muchhhhhh!!!!!!!!! Have an amazing week!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! BIG HUGS AND KISSES!!!!!!!!!!!!

-Sister Manwaring :) :) :)