Well fam....I've made it half way through my mission!:)

Oct 13 at 10:28 PM

Hi Fam! 

It definitely gave me a good laugh to hear about all the reactions to that spider haha! and thanks for all the info on it Mom, cause I was wondering what it was called and if it was dangerous, so thank you for clearing that up:) The roach problem is much better, I think it was particularly bad that night because we fell asleep with the light on and I think it attracted them and they all came through the window, lesson learned! But we did put up mosquito nets last p-day and I've slept like a baby knowing I'm protected from any bugs that come-a-creepin. 

 Look Mom...I'm a princess. Ha!

Yes mom there was a typhoon and we were warned about it, but surprisingly it wasn't bad at all.  Saturday it rained pretty hard all day and it was so loud as we were watching conference in the stake building, it was kind of funny because the congregational hymn was "Their is sunshine in my soul today" so we were all singing that as it poured outside haha. The last two days have been beautiful though, nice and sunny, with a cool breeze.  Sister Anderson and I even went out jogging this morning for our exercise because it was so nice...that felt good.  Thanks for all the videos and pictures, I can't believe Andelyn had to re-pierce her ears haha thanks for that. I was cringing the whole time I was watching her put the needle in it. 

By the way....Andelyn....CONGRATULATIONS! on finishing your Young Women's Recognitionhood Award, I am so proud of you:) I know you've worked hard on it for years and you'll always look back and be proud of this accomplishment.  All the Filipino's here who get it too have these really pretty gold medallions and they all wear them proudly at church events.  When they see me wearing my medallion they always comment on it too, it makes me feel good:) 

 

Well fam....I've made it half way through my mission!:) I  will hit my half way mark this Wednesday.  I'm boggled that I only have 9 months left...I look back and think about how far I've come and the kind of missionary I've become in this time.  I've learned so much more about the gospel, my conversion has become deeper, and I've had a front row seat in watching how the gospel strengthens and blesses families...it's been amazing and a sacred experience for me.  I'm so excited to see what else I experience, and the people I come into contact with in these next 9 months.  These past few transfers I've learned a lot about my self, I think the lord has helped me recognize my weaknesses and he's provided me with so many learning and growing opportunities so that I can constantly work on being better.  I've especially loved being a trainer for 2 new missionaries.  I LOVE talking about and sharing the experiences I've had with a new Sister who is just starting out.  I just find a lot of joy in sharing with another person all the things I've learned so far.  Especially when they are struggling with the language and the culture, I'm able to pull from my own experiences and offer words of understanding and comfort.  Sister Ika and Sister Anderson are complete polar opposites but I'm so grateful for both of them and all the things I've learned from them in return.

 

This week has been a really busy week for us.  We had a lot of workshops, lessons, meetings this week so we weren't' able to go out and work as much as we usually do.  But...I've gained a lot of revelation and new insights that will help me be a better missionary and I'm excited to really get back to work this week and use the things I've learned.  We did get to watch Conference this past weekend and it was amazing.  There was so many talks that answered questions for me and helped me in knowing how to help some of our investigators and less-actives come closer to Christ.  We had a new investigator actually attend one of the sessions with us so we were excited about that.  I prayed for him during the whole thing that he would feel the spirit and understand the things they were saying and receive answers to his prayers through the talks.  We followed up with him and he said he liked it, and understood most of it, so that's good!  We have one inactive member in our ward, Brother Jerry, he lives up in the mountains and he is a gentle giant.  I  love him haha he's abnormally tall for a filipino he's close to 6 foot.  But we have been visiting him and trying to get him back to church, he's shy and he had stopped coming shortly after his baptism 2 years ago when the missionaries teaching him were transferred : (  He has had a rough life, but he found god through experiences in his life and than the missionaries found him.  We taught about the Sabbath Day and how important it is to our Heavenly Father that we take the time each week to worship him and partake of the Sacrament.  He's so shy though, but I assured him that he would be welcomed and that the Bishop would love to see him.  He started crying...it warmed my heart. It's funny how peoples fears are so strong that it keeps them from keeping the commandments. But hopefully we can help him overcome his fears so that he will come back.  He also told us something interesting that I didn't know about our area in the mountains...supposedly there are tons of pythons up there! More up higher in the woods where we don't usually go but he said they kill them and eat them! He said he would be happy to cook us Python Adobo sometime haha! Won't that be fun to be asked what weird things I ate on my mission and to be able to answer with "yeah actually I ate Python meat" ha! 

 

Well now that I've written a novel, I'll wrap this up:) But before I go I just want to share with you guys a series of videos on lds.org that I love.  They are called "Daily Bread" here's the link:  http://www.mormonchannel.org/video/mormon-messages?v=2649250157001    I love the message from these videos, it is a great reminder from one of the lord's apostles that we need the daily spiritual nourishment that comes from Praying to god everyday and reading his word everyday.  These things are so important, and my testimony of the power of doing these things everyday has grown so much these past 9 months because I've had to rely so heavily upon his guidance and comfort that comes through constant prayer and scripture study while I've been a missionary. Enjoy the videos, their are 3 of them...watch them! and share it with your friends.  

 

 

I love you all so much, and have a great week:) 

 

 

 

Another Sister Missionary sent me this picture of Ammah teaching at a Temple Tour a few weeks ago. I love that Ammah didn't even know the picture was being taken. ;)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Below - Some of Ammah's handy work. She has become quite the hair braider for other Sisters in the field.

We've had some fun adventures this past week....in regards to bugs...haha.

Kamusta po ang aking pamilya at mga kaibigan ko:)

I hope you guys had a great week and enjoyed General Conference this weekend.  Sadly I still have to wait till next week to see/hear it...me and Sister Andersen have been talking about it ever since she got here and how we are so excited to hear all the talks.  General Conference here in the mission is like Christmas! haha We were able to attend the Relief society Broadcast yesterday though, and we had Jenie with us and her cousin Brenda.  Jenie loved it! she was so excited to hear the Prophet speak for the first time.  She turned to me after and told me how her blood came alive when he walked up to the pulpit haha and she's excited to hear more from him next week.  I love watching investigators grow in the gospel, they have the best testimonies and It's a blessing for me to watch someone experience new things like this.  Jenie is doing great though and we are working on getting her a temple recommend so that she can start doing baptisms for the dead.  Her father passed away just over a year ago, she was so close to him and she has a great desire to take his name to the temple and have him be baptized.  

 

Sister Andersen is adjusting well to being here in the Philippines.  She's still homesick but that's normal.  We get along great and we've been working hard.  We actually found a new neighborhood to go tracking and finding in,  it actually used to be part of the other sisters area but it's a little farther than where they usually track, and President asked me to re-do the boundaries so that we have more middle/upper class in our area, so we kind of took that area and made it part of ours.  It's a great area, I don't know why missionaries never knew about it before, Me and Sister Andersen just went scouting one day cause we really need new investigators and it's definitely a blessing that we found it.  All the houses are huge and it's classified as upper class.  We actually taught a lesson on a couch!...yes a couch haha it felt so good.  It's so silly but...you take things for granted when you don't have them for so long.  We've been going door to door and talking to people in the streets, just the fun missionary stuff ya know:) I love talking and meeting new people, It's so fun! We've been praying really hard to find new people in this area though, I know the Lord will bless us and help us find the people prepared to accept the gospel here if we continue to be hardworking and trust in the lord.  

 

We've had some fun adventures this past week....in regards to bugs...haha. My whole mission I've been blessed to be put in houses that don't have too many bug problems but...I don't know what happened maybe the change in weather and what not but Saturday night I was sleeping and I woke up for some reason and just barely opened my eyes and I saw a black thing moving across my arm just in front of my face...it was a cockroach!!! So I screamed, jumped up turned the lights on.  Sister Andersen woke up and started screamin too and pointing on the floor (she's on the top bunk) their was 4 cockroaches crawling all over the floor so I grab my flip-flop and start whacking away.  I kid you not...I smacked each of those things at least 20 times until they finally died.  They are crazy you start chasing after them and they are just fearless and they just run right towards you and they are quick little buggers.  So Basically ever since than I've had a hard time sleeping cause every time I feel a tickle anywhere while I'm sleeping I wake up and start looking around my covers making sure their are no cockroaches haha.  After emailing we are going to buy mosquito nets and put them up 1. for the roaches 2. because S. Andersen is getting feasted upon by mosquitoes (they like fresh-meat).  

 

The picture below is of this  HUGE spider that we found inside our apartment on our door last night...it made Sister Strebel cry haha! Our neighbor comes by because we were screaming and says "oh it's just a normal house spider" and than smashes it with a broom! 

(what Ammah didn't know is that it's called a Philippines Huntsman Spider...it is not venomous but can bite and lives on cockroaches and mosquitoes. To bad they killed it.) haha. They range in size of 4-8 inches...this one looks to be about 6 to 7 inches.

I am so excited for General Conference this weekend and getting to hear all the messages from the Prophet, the apostles and all the leaders of our church.  It's such a blessing for us to get to hear from them and learn the things that Heavenly Father wants us to know and do.  We've been busy visiting less-actives and inviting them and preparing them to be able to make it to a few sessions.  We've been sharing a lot about Prophets with them in order to increase their desire to come.  It's so far for them, but it's oh so worth it! Yesterday during the RS broadcast the Prophet walked up to the pulpit and he hadn't even started speaking yet and my eyes were brimmed with tears. We spend all day everyday testifying of the Savior, the Restoration of the Gospel and how God loves us so much that he gives us Prophets to lead and guide us here on earth. My testimony about Prophets has been strengthened because of it. We are so so blessed and loved....  

Well family I'm glad to hear that you guys are keeping safe and enjoying your school activities:) Mahal ko Kayo lahat! 

Love, Sister Ammah Jones

11 weeks till Christmas:)