WHAT a week

WHAT a week.

I never know how to format my emails, my brain is always so rumble
tumble sitting down to write it out! Do I go day by day? Experiences?
haha it always ends up a jumble anyways so, as always, bear with me as
I dump the contents of this week into the computer.

Last Monday: The COOLEST experience while grocery shopping (when I say
grocery shopping, I mean 3 isles of canned corn beef and cup of
noodles). Sipalay was PACKED with people. There was a government
handout thing going on so everyone from the mountain areas was there
to collect then shop. While in the small "grocery store", elbow to
elbow with my fellow shoppers, sweating bullets and trying to locate
my UFC banana catsup, I spotted a mother. She had one child by the
hand, another strapped to her chest in the process of breast feeding,
and she was using her free hand to grab groceries from among the
throng. As I continued to watch her, I noticed she kept picking things
then returning them. She would check the price, a nervous twitch
pulling her eyebrows together in a tick, then return the item,
muttering under her breath. Thats when the Spirit spoke to me; it said
"Buy her groceries". I had some left over budget from last week and
could easily spare some for her, but I began to question- what would I
say? Do I just hand her some money? is this even allowed? What is she
leaves before I can do anything? The prompting kept getting stronger
and stronger until next thing I knew I had fished 500P out of my
wallet and was whispering to the cashier the plan to pay for the
woman, last second adding that she not say who the money was from. At
that point Sis. Cinco had finished so we fathered out things and left.
Aw we walked home I felt the sweet rush that comes from following a
prompting from the Spirit. Its so the best ever when Heavenly Father
includes me in His little tender mercies for others.

Bavelyn's baptism was AWESOME GID. I snuck a teachings of the
prophets: Joseph Fielding Smith manual from the church last sunday and
have been reading it all week, just that morning I had been reading
what he taught of Baptism and Confirmation, Priesthood, all that great
stuff. I am addicted to baptisms. I want to attend baptisms for the
rest of my life- I'll just be known as the "baptism lady" and I'll
show up at random chapels for random baptisms and I'll bring cool
gifts and play a special musical number. It will be bomb. But as for
Bavelyn's super huge blessing. She is the only one so far from her
family to be baptized, her parents are super supportive but don't want
us to focus on them, just the kids. Super common here. We're working
on them and her siblings. The Young Womens organization here is the
strongest unit haha and so she has been super fellowshipped and is
attending seminary and doing aweeeeesome.

For the rest of our work.... hahaha lets see. We had one investigator
hide from us then finally face us and return his book of mormon... a
new record was set for NO ONE being home, like more than every other
appointment every day this week... its been RAINING. like RAINING.
Like you can't comprehend the amount of water pouring from the sky..
and our umbrellas both broke yesterday and we went out and just got
TOTALLY soaked before even the first appointment haha. I LOVE
everyone's reactions here to rain, they see us walking and you would
think we were walking through a mine field, "ITS RAINING. WHAT ARE YOU
TWO DOING. GET INSIDE. GO HOME AND GET INSIDE IT IS RAINING."
Literally, everyone hahaha. A TON of our investigators randomly
dropped us- that doesn't happen here. Everyone left for the bukid
(mountains). Or was sick. Or busy. And usually we can talk to people
on the street, offer to sing or pray for them, and get new
investigators, but with the rain noooo onneeee was outside. Ghost
town. Wet ghost town. And the topping on the sundae, our most
progressing investigator and most potential baptism... was possessed.
POSSESSED. Okay, not really, but thats what they think. Also they
think it was US that possessed her. We go back to visit her and she
isn't home, her neighbors were acting all scared of us and finally
told us that she was at her parents house. We go there and her parents
invite us in and go "Yeah, Jane is was possessed by an evil spirit
after you taught her last time." UM. Liwat beh? Then Jane comes out
and they're like "she doesn't recognize people right now", we wave and
are like "Hi jane" she just stares at us. UM. So we obviously don't
want her family to think that WE POSSESSED HER so we talk with them
and explain who we are and what we do and sing them a hymn, they
weren't mad or anything, acting like it was kind of a normal thing for
someone to be possessed, they said they were going to a witch doctor
the next day in the bukid to get her back to normal. Because we're in
the 16th century here you know. We went back the next day when her
parents weren't there and found out from her little sister that she
had fought with her boyfriend but her parents don't like the boyfriend
so she blamed it on us.... thanks jane.

So yes, WHAT a week. Its like our investigators don't get that the
work is hastening or something ;) But its a whole new week and me and
Sister Cinco are excited to go at it again!

Sera!! Youare18whattheheckthisisn'trealstopitrightnow.

I LOVE hearing from everyone. Your emails are the bessstttttttt.

So cool that everyone is leaving on missions and getting calls!!! And
quincy is home!! WEIRD.

I love you all sooooooooo so so so very much!!!!!!!!

Sister Manwaring

hellooo :)

What a fantastic week! I love soooooo much hearing from you all!!! It is such a treat every Monday!! Thanks for being so pisan gid!! You're all the best!

Sergio was baptized last week, right? Okay he is doing SO awesome. I don't remember if I ever told his full conversion story? Since last week when he was getting confirmed he thought it was testimony time haha (refer to last week's email) the leaders let him redeem himself and give testimony yesterday in sacrament meeting. This is what he shared: So when he was little the elders were visiting and teaching his family, right? He was like 6 so he doesn't really remember at all. His mom from them got a book of mormon and at the time didn't recognize it as anything more than the word of God. When Sergio hit his teenage years he got into a bad group of friends and starting drinking and smoking and the like, bad enough that his parents sent him to the bukid (mountain area) to straighten him out and also sent with him their book of mormon. While there Sergio read the book of mormon and shared that from his reading he learned that the things he was doing was wrong and that he needed to change, he quit all of his vices, moved back home, found a job and has been helping to support his family ever since. A while back he approached our branch president and asked how he could become "mormons" ... and you all know the rest. It was sooooooooo the best to hear him testify of his conversion through the book of mormon to the whole congregation!! Sooo proud of him. Later when we went to teach him he said that when he took the sacrament he felt like a huge light filled his heart. We are working right now with him to get the rest of his family, mom dad and siblings. 

Some funny things- we were teaching a new investigator and at the end asked her to offer the prayer. She agrees so we all close our eyes... and its just silence. I peek and see that she is just silently mouthing words to her own personal prayer. Sometimes people do this and then will vocalize an "amen" at the end to signal the close,( they are so shy of everything, even to pray for others to hear) so I closed my eyes again and waited. and waited. and waited. finally I peeked again and she's just looking around the room, obviously done with her little prayer. I don't know what to do cause she didn't "amen" and we're both just still sitting there with our eyes closed. Finally i just said "amen" hahaha. She would've just let us sit there for forever hahahaha. 

One of the less actives who is returning to church as a teenage daughter with a mental disability who loooooooves us. She sits next to me every sacrament meeting. So yesterday shes sitting next to me and she is picking her nose (and she is reallllly handsy, playing in my hair, touching my face, etc) so i'm kind of dying so I get out my hand santizer and make her let me spray her hands. Dugay dugay, ay, after a bit she starts picking again. so i spray again. pick, spray, pick, spray. I just about used all of my sanitizer haha. 

Mom, remember those fancy hand towlettes you sent me at christmas? So they were put to great use yesterday. We were visiting with one of our recent converts (she is going through SUCH a hard time, literally her whole family has fallen apart and she is in the worst abusive situation right now,, and theres just nothing we can do. I can't even think about it) She's a 9 year old girl. Anyways, we were teaching her and a bunch of her friends and there was a chicken in the tree above us and it pooped on sister cinco while we're teaching so i grab one of the towlettes for her to clean herself off, and they have peppermint oil so they smell way good and all the kids smelled it and wanted one. So after the lesson I went down the line and cleaned all of their hands with the towlette, they were in heaven haha. I love them sooooo much and I just can't think about their situations. Honestly, you just can't imagine. I can't even describe it. Ah. 

Dad! Don't think that I forgot!! HAPPY FATHERS DAY!!!! :D I re-read my letter from last week and realized that i never officially said it. YOU ARE THE BEST AND I LOVE YOU SO MUCH AND AHHHHHHHHH I LOVE YOU. 

Mom! Sorry that i haven't answered your questions haha.. #avoiding ;) I have two transfers after this transfer ends, and this one ends first week of July. You can never guess with president lopez, but what would make the most sense it that sister cinco will transfer in july, I will get a new STL companion, I will stay another transfer in this area, then will transfer to another area for my last transfer. (i think i just said transfer like 124 times haha) but like i said you seriously cannot guess. When packages and letters come I either pick them up when I have a meeting in Bacolod or the couples bring them to us on one of their trips out here- whichever comes first. 

Jayce! Whilst I have only met you over skype, thanks for always helping my family. They are all much happier (and our yard is so much cleaner) because of you. * Curtsy* thank you :) 

I love you all sooooooooo so so so much. As in gid. 

Sister Manwaring :)