Oh my goodness i'm in love with everything

MANILA. I went to Manila this week!! Oh my gosh, I have been going through like 573489254 different emotions. I am definitely the opposite of Ron Weasly. Okay, lets try some day by day to keep this somewhat understandable. 

Monday: We already knew that we would be going to Bacolod and not be able to work in our area for most of the week so we only did a half pday (all errends no activities) then went out to work. 

Tuesday: We had district meeting and our whole district is training, meaning that we have 2 brand new elders straight from the MTC. Its the best, I love new missionaries. Hahaha I think I"m still a new missionary... how many times a day to I caress my nametag? haha ;) Then work! Awesome awesome work. The couples came with us. So great. 

Wednesday: We left in the morning for Bacolod, planning to for the follow up training thursday and then come back that same day.. then once we're halfway to Bacolod we get a call telling me that I'll be going to MANILA on friday and going home saturday... okay good thing I didn't bring clothes. or garments. or tell our investigators that we'd be standing them up. Haha so we just texted whoever we could to let them know we wouldn't come and I bought a shirt in Bacolod (...and just reused garments). We got to Bacolod and met up with the sisters we would be staying and working with. Guess who? SISTER PEACOCK. MY TRAINEE AND SECOND COMPANION. I DIE. It was the best. We went and worked together ( gani) and Sister Rosario and her companion worked together. Oh it was sooooo funny working together again after a whole year. WE WERE SO BABY when we were companions hahaha we just talked and laughed the whole time. After work we slept at their apartment. 

Thursday: We left in the morning for the Follow Up Training at the mission home. I love the mission home. Its like the next best thing we have here to the celestial room. The training was awesome, one of the other trainers is working in Sum-ag, my first area, and she is awesome and gave me a bunch of updates on my people. I got a letter from one of my recent converts, you probably remember her because I talked about her all the time, Maryglor. AH. It was so great. She is just EATING up the book of mormon, she reads like 30 chapters a week. She also goes early to church every week and sweeps. And her husband doesn't always let her pay tithing so she just takes it from what money he gives them for food, so sometimes she only eats one meal so that she can pay tithing. I'm in love with her. After the training we arranged for me to go with one of my batchmates, Sister Smoot, and went and dropped off Sister Rosario with the sisters she would be working with while I was gone. Me and Sister Smoot had a few hours before we met up with the rest of our batch and nothing to do... so we just rode jeepneys all around the city and talked to people and sent a bunch of referrals into the office haha. There was one man who watched as we talked to a woman next to us, his eyes just kept getting bigger and bigger as we, two americans, spoke Hiligaynon to this woman. When she got off he turned to us and goes in english (people in the city can speak english because of their work) "OH MY GOSH YOU CAN SPEAK HILIGAYNON." And we're like "Yep, we've been here a while" and he is still just in shock and says again "BUT OH MY GOSH YOU CAN SPEAK IT." We kind of laugh and are like, "Yep, its also cause we're missionaries, we have God's help!" and he goes "BUT DANG YOU ARE GOOD." but he didn't say "dang" and I was trying sooo hard to not crack up. Maybe you just had to be there haha. 

     So after our oym-ing joy ride we went and met up with the rest of our batch- Sister Nielsen and Sister Sefeti, and the elders, Elder Marble, Elder Robertson, and Elder Moore. Sister Roos goes the first of September so she wasn't there, I was pretty sad, but it was soooooo great to see the other sisters, I love them soooooooooo much. We went out to work in threesomes with the sisters, me and sister nielsen with sister peacock (again! double tender mercy) and their area is sister nielsens previous area so she was able to show her a bunch of former investigators and stuff. So awesome, its always so fun to see people's reaction when a missionary returns to their former area, its like a resurrection haha. And it was so weird working as 3 americans. It was like we were the three nephites or something haha. And people could barely control their excitement when THREE white girls show up on their doorstep haha. So fun and I learned so much. They are exceptional missionaries. After work we all went back to sleep at their apartment... except my batch didn't sleep haha. We had to leave for the airport at 4AM and we already had been talking until like 2AM when we noticed the time and it would've been way harder to go to sleep for an hour then wake up so we just stayed up. It had a pretty interesting effect on the next day haha. But it was soooooooo fun and sooooooooo great to just talk with them all. It was like some girls camp testimony meeting haha we were sharing stories and problems and experiences and like advising each other using the scriptures. So classic missionaries, we'd be like "Oh my gosh yes, and then when you have faith... just like in preach my gospel page 54.... she just needs to pray!.." Etc etc. hahaha. Love. 

Friday: Thursday and friday just kind of go together with the whole all nighter thing haha but at 4AM the elders came and got us and we went to the airport to fly out to Manila. Oh my gosh, it was THE WEIRDEST thing ever to be in an airplane going up and away from Bacolod. I had a panic attack while I watched the island fade away as the plane gained altitude. Its so cruel that they give us a little taste of what it will be like... for real.. in a month. I just pushed it out of my mind and tried to remember what little Tagalog I know haha. That was realllllly weird. After spending 17 months speaking one language 24/7 and being able to understand everyone and have them understand you it was wayyy weird to be thrust into Tagalog haha which is just similar enough to be annoying when you don't understand each other haha. And the dialects are kind of looked down on in Manila, almost like someone with a really hick southern accent or something, so people just gave us this little pity laugh when we would speak Hiligaynon to them. But its been great being with sister rosario because I understood the gist of what everyone was saying to us and was able to speak basically, enough for conversation and oyming haha. 

     Once our plane landed we met our driver who was going to take us to the fingerprinting place. As we were walking about of the airport we saw our MTC batchmates who went to iloilo!! Sister Yang and Sister Merchant!!! It was sooooooooo fun they have been doing soooooo good! Then we all headed off in our separate vans for the fingerprinting place. Once that was done, they usually would take us to the temple. but its closed. *Big tears rolling down my face* so instead our driver was like "Hey! I'll just take you to subway!" and none of us have had a sandwhich in forever so we were down. He drove us way far only to find out that the subway had been replaced by a jolibee. Then he didn't have time to take us anywhere else so he just drove us back to the airport. We still had 5 hours until our flight left and were dying staving so we got permission to take a taxi and go eat. Someone from our mission had let his parents know that we would be coming so they showed up at the airport with 4 dozen krispy kreme donuts to send back with us and then were like "hey! We'll just take you out to eat!" So we went with them and they treated us to THE BEST chinese food ever, then took us back to the airport. As we landed back in Bacolod I just felt a huge relief at being "home", among my people and my language. Good old Hiligaynon! I love it. The elders dropped us all off in our respective areas or bus terminals and I got to spend one last night at sister peacocks apartment. 

     

   Saturday: We woke up early again ( don't ask me how on earth I functioned this week on so little sleep haha) and took a ceres bus back to our area. Once we got there we went right to weekly planning ( which we hadn't been able to do the day before, gani ) had a little personal study, then headed to the church for our BAPTISM. Our investigator FINALLY got married on wednesday so his baptism went through! He is part member, he wife and her family are all members, just because of their not being married he hasn't been baptized yet, but they finally just pulled it together and got married so his baptism was on saturday. It went smoothly considering that we had about 15 minutes to prepare speakers and the program and everything haha. The branch was great and had a good show. I will send the pictures in a second. After the baptism we were able to have a member split so we could get our to our whole are before church the next day. We worked like 3 days in our area this week. Afterwards we went home, planned, wrote in our journals, and CRASHED. 

    Sunday: Heavenly Father really helped us out, even though we couldn't visit anyone the whole week we still had a bunch of investigators at church!! My favorite though was sister violetta. This is a complete credit to my companion. I have been visiting violetta and her husband since I got here back in April and have seen no progression. When Sister Rosario got here I was all for putting them in "time out" and letting the missionaries go back after a few months, but sister rosario wanted to give them another chance, so we kept going. On the split saturday night sister rosario went to them and arranged for us to go by in the morning and accompany them to church. I wasn't really expecting them to come because a lot of times we go by and people are still sleeping, or suddenly sick, etc. But we go by, and I'm all doubtful, mostly just doing it for sis. rosario, and there they are, sister violetta and her son and niece and nephew, all in their best clothes ready to go. I was so shocked and it was so great to be sitting next to her in all the church meetings. I testify that you DO NOT always know what is best, this is why we have companions, alllllllways be humble. Special sacrament went well also, its my favorite ever. The work was great as always, I LOVE these people. I wish I could write about each of them!!! 

Man, its just been a really full and really good week. But i'm so glad to be back in the area back to work!!! One of my favorite things from personal study this morning was a quote I had written in my scriptures a while back that I re-read in studies, "The Lord is more concerned with what a man is than what he was, and with where he is than where he was." Every day we get to upgrade ourselves, become a better version. Also known as repentance. How awesome is it that we can become anyone that we want to be? And that whoever we were before and whatever we did can just be totally left in the past. That is one of my favorite things to share with people, that we can actually let go of our past, even our past selves! Through Jesus Christ we can look back one day to see that we are not who we were before. Repentance makes bad men good, good men better, and better men saints. I love love love repenting. I love my relationship with Heavenly Father and my Savior. I love my mission. I am so happy to be a member of this church, the church of the living Christ. I LOVE ALL THE THINGS AND I LOVE BEING A MISSIONARY. 

LOVE (gani) Sister Manwaring 

Monsters, baptisms, and baptist missionaries

Hello!!!! Another week!!

So i'll quickly answer moms questions so that I don't write the rest
and then forget before I send this one off


I fly to manila either this week or next... they for some reason think
its great to keep it a secret haha and they'll just call and tell me
to get to bacolod and bring extra clothes and won't say why but like
you know its for Manila haha. But yeah, no call yet. I do go to
Bacolod this week though for sister rosario's follow up training! But
when I go to Manila it will be with the sisters in my batch and the
elders who are timed to go home with us (who are obviously not the
ones I was in the MTC with) so I'm WAY stoked to see them and spend
the day with them!!! Yeah, I'll be going to the temple when I head out
next month, sooooo super excited. My mission sisters are doing great
as far as I know, because as a mission rule we don't write or email
other missionaries in our mission. But I've seen them around at
transfers and conferences and things. Heavenly Father has been
especially great at letting me see Sister Judd. I saw her just last
time I was in Bacolod, she isn't assigned in the city anymore and I
won't be her companion while I'm here, but its okay, I know that is
what is best for us! And I'm exited too to be able to email and
actually know whats going on with her every week once I'm home. Sister
Becerra is an STL right now and doing awesome according the the other
STLs that saw her at their meeting. Sister Roos is acutally going home
sooner than the rest of our batch because she will be going to school
this fall. She leaves at the first of sept so she also won't come with
us to Manila or fly home with us :( Its wayyyy too bad because we were
MTC companions and came her together and everything. BUT at least
she'll be waiting for me when I get home haha ;) I haven't heard from
Sister Neilson in a long time but I'll see her soon when we go to
Manila!! Sister Knopf is also doing awesome, I get her emails every
week and forward her mine, I LOVE our BYU music fest connection has
lasted this long and that Heavenly Father has kept us in each others
life!! Shout out to my sistah in texas!! LOVE YOU #Lifelongfriends. I
also send me emails every week to Sister Rich, LOVE YOU TOOO
Yeah, I can't believe how many amazing friends I've made as result of
being a missionary. What a super huge blessing.


Update on Jessica Gregas because I've talked about her quite a bit I
think in my emails. A sad update :( So she really hasn't been
progressing these last weeks because she reminded her husband about
her baptism and he was like "what, no, you aren't getting baptized."
So we've been trying to work on that and this last time we had a
really bold discussion about the need for correct baptism to get back
to Heavenly Father. She herself explained all she understood about the
correct age for baptism, priesthood, the way, etc. She totally gets
it! Then we invited her again to be baptized and she said the same
thing, her husband. I still felt like something was off or missing so
I asked if it was just her husband believing that or her too (because
her husbands argument is that she was baptized already in catholic and
baptism is sacred and should only be once) and she goes "no, im with
my husband, its mine too." RIGHT after she herself testified of how
babies have no sin, priesthood authority restored to the earth, etc. I
had been praying gid the whole lesson to know what to say or do or ask
and I just kept getting the thought that she needed a break. For us to
not visit for a week or two. Even though its hard to "let her go" for
now, I know that whatever is making her not act upon what she is
saying will be worked out. It may not be in my time here, but whenever
it is I will still rejoice!

I think I've already mentioned before how the people here believe in
monsters, right? Okay so they do. Like for reals. Its.... hahahah.
Anyways, we visited one of our progressing investigators on the island
and followed up on her prayer and she goes "Yeah, I totally know that
God exists, I had a powerful experience with prayer!" So okay I'm
excited right and she goes on to share that the previous night her
baby started crying (gani, babies cry) and she was like "Oh no, its a
monster!!" Because they have this belief that there are monsters and
during the day they are in human form then at night they change into
animals and things and come and steal babies and eat them. I'm not
joking, its 2014 and they believe this. Okay, so she is freaking out
because she is sure that the monster has come to snatch her baby and
she is nervous to yell out for help and scare the baby and make it cry
more so she prays that God will send her someone to help her, a few
minutes later her neighbor comes to see whats wrong and they both
waited up until the baby stopped crying and went to bed and the
monster left, I think she said the neighbor did some spell or
something to make it leave, i don't know haha. And she goes "So after
that I really felt that God was listening to my prayers and knows me."
Hahaha I didn't know how to respond, like, its good that she prayed
when she needed help and that God did send her neighbor.. I just
didn't know how to address the whole monster thing. So I just let it
go haha. I love these people.


This last saturday and sunday was the baptism and confirmation of
Bavelyn's siblings, Kevin John  and Marialyn. It was the best!!! The
baptism went smoothly, the kids bore the cutest testimonies, and as we
were packing up things to leave Bavelyn said with a smile "Three now",
referring to the members in her family. We are working gid to get the
rest of that family into the gospel so they can get to the temple and
live happily ever after :) I love that family so much! Such a tender
mercy that Heavenly Father led us to them.

On Sunday I taught relief society, spoke in sacrament meeting, gave
the talk again in special sacrament, and taught the special sacrament
primary class. I love being in a branch haha.

On Saturday after the baptism we did a split, I went with an RM who
was visiting from one of the other branches, she is awesome and it was
a way fun split. We hadn't been planning to split so we only made one
plan so I just sent Sister Rosario to do our plans and I just
improvised. The people we went to we normally went to on other days so
they weren't expecting us, especially one family haha. We show up and
call out "Tag balay" and they open the door and are like "oh! come in!
come in!" We go in and there in the house are these baptist couple
missionaries with their bible out obviously in the middle of bible
studies. OOPS. And that darn investigator family, haha, so they are
like "come sit down! join us! We are doing bible studies" and the
baptists are getting all set to debate and the investigators are
wanting a show down and I neverrrrrrr debate. It never brings any
good, the spirit isn't there, and no one ever wins. Thank goodness my
split partner felt the same way, so we just politely excused ourselves
and left haha. I've gotten caught in some places where people want to
bible bash, its just dumb, those people are not ever looking for
answers or really want to hear what we have to say. Sure, we can read
bible verses and book of mormon verses, but like I said no one "wins".
I just leave sincere testimony and go haha :)


5 weeks.

:)

I love being a missionary and I love you all!!!!!!

Sister Manwaring

 Another baptism :)

 Our P-day activity!

picture post!

restitution ;)

Okay, don't worry, I've been fully repenting for my uber short letter last week, I literally walked out of the computer shop after my time was up and was like *gasp* "Oh crap that letter was really short. What possessed me???" So please accept my very sincere apology and lets get talking about this last week :)

So first off, I am loving all this "from the life and times of Sera Manwaring" I get every week. Really though. Hahaha and last week I tried to tell Sister Rosario about it and she just replies "Oh, maybe she is prettier than you!" ummm.... hahaha

We went to teach one of our investigators who is a teacher in a catholic school here and its frustrating because he is reallllllly a good investigator but literally at the school they sign a contract that by working there they will be roman catholic and nothing else. Anyways, we go by to teach him and he lives in this little room probably the size of mom and dads closet and its a tin roof and it starts RAINING SO HARD. and when that happens with the tin roofs good luck hearing anything. So i'm obviously used to this and I just start shouting the lesson over the rain and he holds up two hands in traffic stopping motion (he is also quite a bit feminine) and pulls out this box from under his bed and gets out literally two headsets. I'm talking backstreet boys, hannah montana, hilary duff this is what dreams are made of, headsets. And motions for us to wear them. So we put them on and continue teaching, our voices somewhat more audible through the microphones. I wanted to DIE laughing. I was literally a pop star. We went to him again yesterday and taught plan of salvation. Being a teacher he is more educated than our other investigators which makes teaching more interesting, but because of his job thats more important to him right now. We're trying to help him see how whats the point of having a good job if its going to keep him out of God's kingdom. Because really, if it was me I would DIE to get to the next life and realize that I chose WORK over SALVATION and EXALTATION. #Priorities 

Another really crazy teaching experience- so we went to go teach Jessica (who got all confused this week talking to her husband about baptism and he suddenly changed his mind again and said no so we are still working that out with her, she WILL be baptized) and while we're teaching jessica we hear weird noises from the house next door and she just starts crying and then explains that her neighbor is extremely on his death bed. He is a seaman and for the past 2 months has been home because his body is just shutting down (like 12 year old cam in the springs in zion but for reals). She said that his body has just caved in on itself, his skin has gone transparrant, he can't eat or drink without throwing up his insides and blood or speak without doing the same. She says all of this then Sister Rosario goes "Can you introduce us to him?" and I just had to get up and follow them because there was no way for me to say to her "No sister I am going to scream if I see him" so we just go and there he is, its so true, its like a somewhat living skeleton. His blood isn't even red anymore, its just purple. He has a couple nurses that try to do something but I have no idea what they can actually do for him. Jessica starts bawling and asking him if he recognizes her and I'm thinking "He definitely is dead, he does not recognize you, gani" but she is bawling and sister rosario starts bawling and I'm just really proud that I'm not screaming. We finally sing "I am a child of God" and pray for him. I don't know that he took any of it in. It was like visiting the old folks home with grandpa jenkins times 200 in scaryness. We shared with Jessica a review of what happens after this life, the resurrection, and about the atonement making fair whatever we are called to suffer through in this life. 

In our zone meeting one of the missionaries was telling about how their mom was in a session with all the new actors from the temple movie and I was laughing to myself because that would be so weird, like, 'Satan!! What, why are you in the temple??" haha. But man I am SO excited to finally be able to go to the temple again!!!! SO excited. 

While we were riding in a tricycad to an appointment this crazy woman wanders out into the crowded street and just takes off her dress. Just pulls it off over her head. She is a real crazy person, like bald patches of hair missing from her head, no teeth, etc, but yeah she just strips it off and is standing there totally naked in the middle of the road, inspecting something on the inside of her dress. You know, just the normal day for a missionary in the bacolod philippines mission ;) 

We had our special sacrament again and it was even more of a success this time. Haha the branch misunderstood and thought it was just a one time thing, oops, so we explained clearer and now we have a schedule for the priesthood to do the ordinance every week. We'll have our first baptism from the islandSeptember 6th, so excited!!! 

Well great things are going on in Sipalay. I love every single day. Chatting this week with you guys has been the best too, oh my gosh how is it possible that I love you and miss you EVEN MORE now than I ever have??? I get it Heavenly Father, my family is the best in the entire world, but can you let me feel like once I'm on my way home? ;) Have a fantastic week, I hope that this email plus chatting makes up for my sad excuse of an email last time ;) LOVE YOU ALLLLLLLLLLLLLLL

Sister Manwaring 

Typhoons are awesome for missionary work;)

I love President Lopez. Also sometimes he is terrible, like when we go
to a training and he interviews us then tells us that he is going to
have us OYM him. And he is going to film it. And then put it on
facebook for the world to see. THANKS. haha but it was aight (im still
gangster).

I got my package at the training!!!! WHY IS MY FAMILY THE BEST. So I
almost didn't open it until I got back home to Sipalay and then on the
bus sister Foote conviced me to open it, thank goodness I did or else
I would've gone the whole 6 hour ride back to Sipalay not knowing that
I was holding a travel neck pillow on my lap. Okay and that willow
tree prayer girl MADE MY LIFE. Literally, it was an answer to my
prayers haha. It is one of my favorite possesions I have ever
received. I've been handing out the stickers like crazy, when kids are
being loud and not letting their parents learn how to receive
salvation I call them over and put the sticker on their chest and tell
them if they are wearing the sticker it makes them be quiet, then they
are magically quiet. Genius.

Me and Sister Rosario were inspired from our MPT and have been working
things out this week to start a special sacrament group out on the
island, Nauhang, because our recent converts there are finding it
basically impossible to come to church with all the typhoons. Its not
the best thing to cross the ocean in a row boat with 3 little kids in
a storm. Plus, we have a bunch of investigators there who are
interested but just can't get to the church. So the plan is that
starting August we will be doing a special sacrament meeting there in
the house of our recent convert, it will count the same as any church
attendance so our investigators can qualify for baptism and it will
make it so a ton can be baptized and hopefully we can get a group
started out there. Great stuff!!! I am a serving in the coolest time
of the history of the world ever.

Our investigator Ayleen. So we met her months ago, referral from the
spirit, let me give an update. Before she met us she was planning to
work out a way to leave her husband because he was taking away all of
her freedom, especially religiously, thats when she met us. We've been
teaching her since then and she LOVES what we teach, she LOVES the
book of mormon and wants to go to church and be baptized soooooooo
bad. She even asked for another copy of the book of mormon to take to
her family in the mountains because she wants them all to be baptized.
Her husband will get sooo mad at her every time she reads the BOM and
tells her to give it back to us but she just reads anyways. She has
asked him to take her to church every sunday for months and it always
causes a fight but she asks anyways. Its also been hard because we
aren't really supposed to teach where we cause dischord but she wants
us soooooo badly to teach her that we go back still. Last time we
taught law of chastity because they aren't married and even though she
has been "living in sin" her reaction was "Thats so cool! I love that!
This is the best commandment, that is so true, I want to live this
commandment!!" But her husband won't marry her. Once she found out
that she couldn't be baptized without getting married she goes "Okay!
Thats it! I'm going to leave my husband, I'll have him sign off on his
kids, we're going to my parents, and I'm going to be baptized! Just
give me some time to get my affairs together!" We were so shocked!
First we were like "sister no, the gospel isn't supposed to break up
families!" but she just shared her testimony and how it was already
her decision before she even met us and now it just gives her more
reason to do it. We cannot tell our investigators one way or another
what to do, we can just teach them the commandments and let them
choose, but oh my gosh if everything goes through and she really is
baptized, she is going to be one of the strongest converts ever!! I
know she'll be baptized at some point. "Oh that it would be in my
day!"

I forgot how many funny things happen with a native companion that are
so funny but only funny to me. Like when we're teaching a less active
and she is complaining that her sister is "the devil" and sister
Rosario tries to joke and says "Yeah devil, go to the hell!" and I was
the only one laughing for that reason but it was really so funny.

Do you remember Derek and Terisita Clement? Derek is the brittish
recent convert I worked with in 6th ward, terisita is his wife, they
are two of my favorite people I have met in my whole mission. So last
week Derek hit his one year mark and they were sealed in the Cebu
Temple. Yesterday Terisita passed away. One of the members in Sipalay
has a friend in 6th ward who texted her and she told me at church. I
was so shocked and so sad, I love them so much and I got so close to
them in 6th ward. Its so weird but it was also just so beautiful. I
can't describe it? Like I know that Derek is devastated, they are SO
in love and the cutest couple. But just that they were sealed in the
temple just a week before her passing, nothing could be a clearer
witness of God's hand in our lives and His plan for us all. It is such
a testimony that this life is not all there is and we do not and will
not exist in this world only. Keep Derek and his family in your
prayers and thank our Heavenly Father for His incredible plan for our
families.

I love you all sooooooooooooo much. Typhoons are the best. I love
these people. I love wearing my name tag. I love your letters and I
hope you have the best week of all the weeks.

LOVE Sister Manwaring

I love you all!

i'm writing this from bacolod, we have our mission presidents training tomorrow so we came down last night. this computer place has a really telestial keyboard and it randomly decides to not type certain letters, so bear with me if there are istakes

have a mentioned how much i love you all? 

I LOVE my companion. i am learning so much tagalog haha you know how i tend to copy things? like the way people talk, etc. so instead of her learning hiligaynon i am just learning tagalog hahaha because she teaches in taglish (tagalog english) so I end up using tagalog when i teach haha. we also now have a senior couple assigned in sipalay, the neffs, elder neff looks just like the old man from the pixar short who plays chess with himself. so adorable. they come teach with us for one or two appointments a day, its the best. but our poor investigators, they have sister rosario speaing tagalog, me in hiligaynon, them in english, and the investigator just tries to reply in this mixture of all three haha. like "YES. BELIEVE I NGA TUOD ANG CHURCH TALAGA" hahaha so great. and i thought it was bad little ol white me walking around, we can barely move when the neffs aree with us because we are just surrounded. and they don't understand what the kids say, but i do, so  i end up doing a lot of chastising... those darn youths. bastos ba. 

but really me and sister rosario are doing great. i thin i mentioned last time that she is super prepared when it comes to teaching, its so nice to not have to regress in that sense. and she WORKS i love it. she knows why she is here. the funniest things happen to us but only i thin they are funny. lie when we pray at night and she prays in good but not perfect english and says "please watch us as we sleep" hahahaha #edwardcullen 

we are dealing with a lot of reluctant spouses. our investigators are ready and willing to be baptized and then behind them is a spouse saying no. i could neverrrrrrrrr have a relationship that was so unequal. one of our investigators is getting tired of it, she complained to us last time about how her husband will just always go drink with his friends after work and comes home drunk, she aasked a little accusingly "what would you do if you were me?" i answered "I would apply the gospel!" honestly, what we are teaching this people IS the answer and the only way. How can you ever have a successful relationship without repentance, forgiveness, faith, patience, understanding, charity, etc. The gospel is not meant to sit inside a bible and gather dust, it truly is the answer if we will only apply it. People are always looing for another way, like being skinny for instance, they would rather do all these crazy diets that they read in a magazine and take pills and starve themselves rather than just eat healthy and exercise. The scriptures have examples too, remember the man who wanted to be healed from his skin disease and was told to wash in a dirty river but didn't want to because it was so simple and he didn't understand why? or the people of moses who refused to just look at the serpent and be healed? or laman and lemuel who just wanted to complain and not study it out for themselves and ask god? Humans. hahahhaa. I love the gospel. 

do you know how cool is it that im in the scriptures? actually we all are!! I can't read jacob 5 or anything about gathering and last days without feeling sooooooo awesome. I literally go out every day and gather the righteous from the wicked in preparation for the second coing of the savior jesus christ. what??? i am the most blessed person ever. i still get butterflies touching my nametag!! and i have dreams that i still wear it at home... at night... so that no one can see me. I literally don't thin i could sleep without it on. 

NATEY YOU HAVE THE PRIESTHOOD OH MY GOSH. happy happy happy birthday too!!!!!! LOVEYOUSOMUCHYOUARESOAWESOME

I hope you all have a fantastic week!! I will keep track better of things that happen so i have more to tell next time. 

LOVE YOU ALL SOOOOOOOOOOOOOO MUCH. 

Sister Manwaring 

hello again :)

Hey everyone! 

So as you have seen from President's facebook, I have a new companion! Her name is Sister Rosario, she is from Pangasinan, and she is my trainee! This is her very first week in the mission field, so exciting! It is bringing back soooooo many funny memories from my first weeks... laying awake at 5 in the morning my mind tormenting me with thoughts of home... crying in every single companionship study for no apparent reason... feeling like a deaf and mute person because no one could understand me and I couldn't understand them... you know, the fun stuff ;) She speaks Tagalog and English and will shortly be speaking Hiligaynon as well. Its really difficult for her in teaching because the people understand Tagalog and don't understand English but she isn't supposed to speak Tagalog... of course its a big temptation to just speak Tagalog but she is doing awesome and plucking it out with English. I am also learning much Tagalog now ;) Her entire family was baptized when she was 13 so she is a somewhat recent convert to the church, they have a big up on the "from birth" members because they know how the gospel is taught to investigators. I had never even seen a pamphlet before my mission. She is super prepared when it comes to teaching and I'm super grateful because it makes it much easier to share an even load in teaching. Its definitely much different training a local but I love training and I love Sister Rosario :) She is such a trooper too, its very different for her that I can speak the language and she can't, she says she feels that I am the pinay and she is the foreigner haha, welcome to my last 15 months ;) To answer your question, if I finish out her training then she will be my last companion and this will be my last area. I would be just happy with that because it will give me a chance to reallllllly build up Sipalay. Just like dad in our hotel rooms (even with maid service) its instilled in me to leave an area better than I found it ;) 

The biggest highlight of this week was when I went to Bacolod for transfers. They called us on monday night and said that Sister Cinco was transferring and to be in Bacolod the next morning, nothing else. So she packed all her things and went. Once we got to Bacolod she left with her new companion and I was informed that I had an interview with President, wherein I found out I would be training. We would pick up our trainees on thursday so I would be working in Bacolod until then. Awesome, but the AP's said nothing so I brought notttttthing haha. Not even extra garments. BUT then they said where I would be working..... drumroll.... SUM-AG. My first area!!!!! I DIED. I would get to work in Sum-ag again for two days!!! It was a double blessing because my temporary companion, Sister Neilsen, was white washing and training too had no clue even where the apartment was, so I got to also show her around everywhere so she was somewhat prepared when she picked up her trainee. It was the coolest experience to see everyone again, especially their reactions in seeing me! It was like I had been resurrected haha ;) Since I had brought nothing I wore some clothes that the previous sisters had left behind, washed everything I wore to Bacolod, and borrowed everything else from Sister Neilsen. Thursday we got our trainees, took the 7 hour bus ride back to Sipalay, and now here we are :) 

Its great to hear about everyone from your emails!! Im glad that you are doing good. I am, as always, loving every single second. Can I just be a missionary forever please? Have a fantastic week :) 

Love always, Sister Manwaring