…What

Okay.

This is a weird one.

Okay, I'll update everyone on Crisamae.. preeetty sure I've talked about her before? She is our most progressive investigator on the island with special sacrament, we hold the meeting in her house and everything, I think I mentioned how she wants to be baptized so badly and was just waiting for us to give her a date because she saw us do it with other people and was like "Oh okay, you wait you don't ask for one." OKAY SO she needs to get married so she can be baptized, right? Okay, marriage is like the worst and most confusing thing ever here and so no one gets married, but her and her husband Ryan really truly do want to be married, they just lack funds, etc. So the sisters in Cauayan told us that they also had an investigator to marry so they went to their judge to figure it out and he is amazing gali, he asked "Why do they want to be married?", "To be baptized", "Alright then! Here are the papers, have them sign here and here and bring them back to me!" Literally as simple as that. So they go and ask him how we do that here in Sipalay and he just gives them the papers to send to us and he will do the whole thing. SO AWESOME. So there isn't like mail and stuff here because no one really has houses, so the sisters had to send the papers to us on a ceres bus and we had to wait and meet the bus and get the papers. Still pretty simple. So we time when the bus is coming and go to an appointment right by where it will stop. We walk out of the appointment and the bus going driving past. AH. So we go running off after it, skirts flailing, but its already way too far in front of us. Magically a trike pulls up and is like "Mambaroto?" (They always do this because thats where the church is so anytime the trike drivers see us they always come and ask "Mambaroto?" and usually its annoying because obviously I'm walking down this road and not in any indication going to the church right now, but this time it was a huge blessing because Mambaroto is the next bus stop)  "YES" we reply and jump inside, "FOLLOW THAT BUS!" We go flying after the Ceres but it takes a different route than the trike can so we had to detour and lost it. We zoom on gihapon to the next stop but when we get there its too late, its already gone on to the next stop... an hour away. So now I'm thinking, "Okay, I can either call the sisters and ask them to go to the judge...again... and get the papers... again.. and send it on the ceres... again.. OR we can go to the next stop and get those ones." We decided to go to the next stop. 2 hours later we were back in Sipalay, papers successfully received,very windblown but happy.

Now that we have those papers all we have to do is have them signed and its baptism dayon. The plan (as of last friday) was to have the wedding last saturday and the baptism this saturday (for obvious reasons). Crisamae and Ryan are all for it, they just wanted to contact their parents first, shempre, so they can tell them they are getting married gali. Totally reasonable. But their cell phone is dead, they have no electricity in their house, and they have no load to call. So we offer our phone, problem solved right? Oh yeah, did I mention that its a huge storm here that is from the real storm in the place where their parents live? Try calling. No service. SO. We still have... however many days... haha.. tillsaturday, to contact their parents, sign the papers, have the baptism, and live happily ever after.

Even if we can't work everything together by this Satuday, ayos lang gid, totally fine. "I would that it would be in my time... but if not I will still rejoice." Alma 13:25

We also attended seminary this last week because they are going to do a "mini mission" thing and wanted us to come and pretend to be investigators so the students could practice and then we give feedback and suggestions. So we have a few investigators that attend seminary, right? Oh my gosh it was the best thing of my life having my own investigators teach ME the restoration hahaha. Introducing themselves "Hi, I'm Elder Craste", hahaha. What a pleasure.

We were reading this morning in Mosiah 26:2, I don't remember if I've shared this one already, but I love how it shows the difference it makes in our lives when we realize that there IS a life after this one. There IS a "tomorrow". Because no tomorrow means no consequences. Just like groundhog day, right? Doing whatever you want because there is no tomorrow to give you the results of your actions. Or like that movie Max Keebles Big Move, where he thinks he is moving so he does a bunch of tomfoolery things and then turns out they don't move. And now he has to face all the things he has done. If we don't believe, or fully realize, that there is a life after this one, what would be the point of doing good? Of keeping commandments? Of not living only for the moment? Just do whatever makes you feel good because this is all there is- no eternal consequence, right? BUT when you really believe in the after life, everything you do should be with the realization of your choices effect in that life. There is not a single choice that we make here that will not to some extent carry over to the next, for better or for worse. If I've already shared that insight before, patawad lang beh. #Bythemouthoftwowitnesses

My personal study this week has been ridiculous. Its like a mini general conference session every morning. I don't know if its just because the Lord has a lot he wants to teach my right now or if its my attitude towards wanting to learn a lot (probably both) but its been so fun. Its like I've been living in Clearland #Thewindboy

As for... you know... haha its so weird. Mostly actually just my dreams at night are like dug induced or something, I'm am having the strangest dreams. One night I'm dreaming that I'm sitting in cafe rio with everyone and I just have a fit because I keep saying things in Hiligaynon and no one understands, so I go to the bathroom and call Hilary (Sister Roos) and I'm just crying to her, speaking in Hiligaynon, weirding out everyone else in the bathroom.
      But you know, its okay. There is no way to try and describe any of this. I am enjoying (thats not even a close to sufficient adjective) being the Lord's full time missionary more than anything I have experienced in my entire life. This has without any doubt or argument been THE single most important and best choice I have ever made. I could never ever ever ever ever have imagined what these last 18 months have been to me and will continue to be not only until my last mortal day but into the eternities. This mission will effect me every single second of every single day for forever. While my full time service is on its final lap (and you better believe I am SPRINTING to the finish) its only the beginning of my lifetime service. That is one of the things that the Lord has been teaching me more fully detailed these last weeks. The Lord's prophet, Joseph Smith, says some part what I'm feeling pretty well...
  "Brethren, shall we not go on in so great a cause? Go forward and not backward. Courage, brethren; and on, on to thevictory! Let your hearts rejoice, and be exceedingly glad. Let the earth break forth into singing. Let the dead speak forthanthems of eternal praise to the King Immanuel, who hath ordained, before the world was, that which would enable us toredeem them out of their prison; for the prisoners shall go free."

I know that I may still have another email next Monday, but on the off chance that this is it, I just want to leave with anyone who reads this my personal witness and testimony of the living reality of Jesus Christ. I know that He lives. I know that my Heavenly Father sent me, and all of us, here to this temporary earth full of opposites because He loves us more than we comprehend and knows who we are and what we can become. I know there is life after earth. I know that the gospel of Jesus Christ is our key to happiness and peace in this life and exaltation in the next. I know that I will see my Father and my Savior again and I am doing everything within my power to make sure that that reunion will be joyous and eternal. I will be spending the rest of my mortal life ensuring that happy ending, not only for myself but for my family and for all of God's children."Let us glory, yea, we will glory in the Lord; yea, we will rejoice, for our joy is full; yea, wewill praise our God forever. Behold, who can glory too much in the Lord? Yea, who can say too much of his great power,and of his mercy, and of his long-suffering towards the children of men? Behold, I say unto you, I cannot say thesmallest part which I feel." 

"I am a disciple of Jesus Christ, the Son of God. I have been called of him to declare his word among his people, thatthey might have everlasting life." ... and that calling is just beginning.

All my love,

Sister Manwaring

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