Hello Family!
Well, I have been transferred.
Shocked??
I was.
I am now in Hilongos, Maasin zone. It is in Southern Leyte as well and the zone next to my last zone in Sogod. This was the hardest transfer I've had (and my last)...
I wasn't ready to leave. I just went straight to this new area. I didn't get to go to transfer meeting in Tacloban this time b/c I came straight here kay it's close- ish. It was sad to leave Sogod. Sister Schneider and I were a team and we were best friends. We dealt with so much in Sogod. It was the hardest transfer of my mission for sure. I felt like we had to break down the area and now this is the phase to build it back up the way the Lord wants it...and I got transferred out. We both struggled a bit with this decision. We found out wednesday night and then walked up the mountain in the pouring rain to tell Crispin. We had told him not to worry about transfers earlier that day especially b/c i had one transfer left and we definitely didn't think that either of us would be transferred. He started crying and it was awful.
Anyways, my new companion is Sister Ghouri...she is from pakistan. She is the one that President talked to me about back in December. I think he always felt like i should be her companion and after I visited Hilongos I always thought I would come back here...after I got transferred to sogod, i thought I wouldn't anymore, but here i am! Sister Lemmon was assigned here and she loved it.
I've met a lot of great people and the branch is really supportive of missionary work. I know that God sends us where we are supposed to be so I am happy to be here. There is a lot to do and I am starting to see my purpose here in Hilongos. Its going to be a great transfer. We now have 4 sisters in Hilongos and its a lot of fun. We are the international apartment...One FIlipina, One sister from Hong Kong, One from Pakistan, One American. Its a lot of fun.
Well, lots and lots to do! Life is good. Please continue to pray for Crispin Basan. I'm so worried about him.
we have great investigators in Hilongos and their goal date for marriage and baptism is June 25.
We have a youngish member couple here, Nikki and Fanzo Beslig that I love. They remind me a lot of my siblings and I feel like I am hanging out with all of you again. They worked with us all afternoon yesterday with their little boy, Tristan (he's 1.5years old). Fanzo was Sister Lemmons investigator.. She sang at Nikki and Fanzo's wedding. Fanzo reminds me of eric chock actually. . He is tall for a filipino (6 feet) and is a basketball star here. I seriously love them. Its a cool connection b/c Sister lemmon was the missionary that taught him and then they got married and he got baptized... The are so strong and going to the temple this month to get sealed.
Well, life is good! Every day is a new adventure! Hilongos is awesome and so I'm just moving forward with Faith and remembering that God is aware of me and His children here. There's purpose in all things so i'm excited to see how the Lord will use me here.
Love you all!
love, your missionary,
Sister B.
Monday, May 30, 2011
TRANSFERRED!
Monday, May 23, 2011
5.23.11
hello family.
I don't have much time to write b/c i need to write a lot to
president. I love my companion, i love our investigators, i love being
the lords missionary, even when it's hard. :)
madarana og smile.
That's our favorite phrase to say...all the time... with our
investigator Crispin. It means " Bring the Smile.." or "Just smile"
even when everything seems wrong and hard. So thats what we do!
I prayed before last transfers and asked heavenly father to transfer
me. I told him I wanted challenges i've never dealt with and I wanted
to push my self like never before and i wanted to learn and grow and
do everything I can to fulfill my purpose as His missionary. God
answers our prayers.
Please pray for Crispin Basan. For his safety and so he can be
baptized soon. Also, I was hoping that everyone could call his name
into the temples where you all live. Thanks,.
Please pray for the branch that they will be kind and loving and
accepting and humble. Please pray for us to be safe and healthy and be
able to figure out what exactly we must do in our area for these
people we love so much!
We were in tacloban last week and it was wonderful. I love that place
and we loved doing our training about following the Spirit.
Love you family and I am SO grateful for you.
Love, your missionary,
Sister b.
Monday, May 16, 2011
Pictures
*I just want to apologize for the pictures. I tried to go in and edit them, but it didn't work. I'll try again later! You can click on the picture to make it bigger...
5.16.11
Hello Family,
The internet is having some problems, so I couldn't read all you wrote, but life is good! Currently I am in Tacloban. We are having a Leadership Training Meeting tomorrow and we are doing a training along with the other assistants. We are focusing on needing the Spirit in Conversion. Our testimonies have grown so much with this as we have been in Sogod. We know that the Spirit has protected us and guided us and warned us over and over these last 5 weeks.
Oh how time is flying by! We had our last zone conference last thursday in Ormoc. I got to see my favorite elders and we also had a special training from Elder and Sister Aguillar-the Philippines Mental Health Doctors. They talked a lot about stress. She had us all take a special stress test and mine, my companions, Elder hawkes, elder cox, elder henry, elder bennet (our little clan of american missionaries at zone conference) all had 22+ on the stress level= high stress! She said that in tacloban the missionaries had moderate stress ranging mostly from 1-10 and that the only person that had 22+ was President Malit! Well, we replied with some comments, "What are they doing up there!? Do they go outside!? " Just kidding. Anyways, zone conference was one of the best.
President Malit's training was remarkable. I just sat there in awe and listened to what the Spirit was trying to teach me. He is such a man of power. When he talks everyone listens and there is this silence that over comes the room. The spirit is so strong andits like revelation is just being poured down upon us. I had a great interview with him and I realized how much the Lord trusts himj. That is why he is able to speak as he does and lead this great mission. He's incredible. I want the Lord to use me as he has used him, to help God's children....I know that there are many ways I can be better to earn His trust.
This week was wonderful. This morning we woke up at 3am and went hiking at 4am. Then we got back and we traveled to Tacloban. I am so Cebuano, its crazy to come back to waraywaray and try to talk to the people...but fun, of course. :)
Crispin is doing well. He will be baptized this Saturday. ! He is amazing. He shares his testimony and is teaching part of the lessons as we teach his family. His mom started crying during the lesson as she told us how much her son has changed. She cme to church on Sunday with Crispins siblings. He also attended the youth/young single adult conference and had a blast. The branch is starting to step up, but we have a long ways to go.
We had a meeting with our branch mission leader to discuss our vision for missionary work and especially for mcm. Our MCM yesterday was awesome! We had 30 people come from all different auxillaries and we trained them on the new trainings. It was really fun and productive and they are excited to work with us this week. FINALLY. :)
The 50 year jubilee celebration was great on Saturday. It was really special to be here for that and realize how the Lord's work has moved forward.
We had a very intense lesson this week with Sister Babin and her husband. We followed the spirit and did what we knew was right, but it did not turn out as well as we hoped. We were blessed to have Crispin there and another fellowshipper, a worthy priesthood holder.
Please pray for Babin to receive an answer from God. And please pray for Brother Catubuoran that he will soften his heart and realize what he did was wrong...and come back to church.
here are some names/things to pray for:
Crispin Basan. (getting baptized this week....a lot of challenges)
Patrick.
Daughter of michelle.
Basan family.
Sogod Branch.
Okay, I love you all. Time is going by way to fast and I am loving every minute. My companion is awesome and the language is fun and we are loving our lives.
Love, your missionary,
Sister Blonquist
ps--happy birthday birthday aaron!
and happy wedding anniversary aaron and kerry yesterday!
The internet is having some problems, so I couldn't read all you wrote, but life is good! Currently I am in Tacloban. We are having a Leadership Training Meeting tomorrow and we are doing a training along with the other assistants. We are focusing on needing the Spirit in Conversion. Our testimonies have grown so much with this as we have been in Sogod. We know that the Spirit has protected us and guided us and warned us over and over these last 5 weeks.
Oh how time is flying by! We had our last zone conference last thursday in Ormoc. I got to see my favorite elders and we also had a special training from Elder and Sister Aguillar-the Philippines Mental Health Doctors. They talked a lot about stress. She had us all take a special stress test and mine, my companions, Elder hawkes, elder cox, elder henry, elder bennet (our little clan of american missionaries at zone conference) all had 22+ on the stress level= high stress! She said that in tacloban the missionaries had moderate stress ranging mostly from 1-10 and that the only person that had 22+ was President Malit! Well, we replied with some comments, "What are they doing up there!? Do they go outside!? " Just kidding. Anyways, zone conference was one of the best.
President Malit's training was remarkable. I just sat there in awe and listened to what the Spirit was trying to teach me. He is such a man of power. When he talks everyone listens and there is this silence that over comes the room. The spirit is so strong andits like revelation is just being poured down upon us. I had a great interview with him and I realized how much the Lord trusts himj. That is why he is able to speak as he does and lead this great mission. He's incredible. I want the Lord to use me as he has used him, to help God's children....I know that there are many ways I can be better to earn His trust.
This week was wonderful. This morning we woke up at 3am and went hiking at 4am. Then we got back and we traveled to Tacloban. I am so Cebuano, its crazy to come back to waraywaray and try to talk to the people...but fun, of course. :)
Crispin is doing well. He will be baptized this Saturday. ! He is amazing. He shares his testimony and is teaching part of the lessons as we teach his family. His mom started crying during the lesson as she told us how much her son has changed. She cme to church on Sunday with Crispins siblings. He also attended the youth/young single adult conference and had a blast. The branch is starting to step up, but we have a long ways to go.
We had a meeting with our branch mission leader to discuss our vision for missionary work and especially for mcm. Our MCM yesterday was awesome! We had 30 people come from all different auxillaries and we trained them on the new trainings. It was really fun and productive and they are excited to work with us this week. FINALLY. :)
The 50 year jubilee celebration was great on Saturday. It was really special to be here for that and realize how the Lord's work has moved forward.
We had a very intense lesson this week with Sister Babin and her husband. We followed the spirit and did what we knew was right, but it did not turn out as well as we hoped. We were blessed to have Crispin there and another fellowshipper, a worthy priesthood holder.
Please pray for Babin to receive an answer from God. And please pray for Brother Catubuoran that he will soften his heart and realize what he did was wrong...and come back to church.
here are some names/things to pray for:
Crispin Basan. (getting baptized this week....a lot of challenges)
Patrick.
Daughter of michelle.
Basan family.
Sogod Branch.
Okay, I love you all. Time is going by way to fast and I am loving every minute. My companion is awesome and the language is fun and we are loving our lives.
Love, your missionary,
Sister Blonquist
ps--happy birthday birthday aaron!
and happy wedding anniversary aaron and kerry yesterday!
Monday, May 9, 2011
May 9th
Hello Family!
Happy Mothers Day again!
It was so fun to talk to all of you and to hear all my favorite nieces and nephews! I pray for each and every one of you every single day and want you to know how blessed I feel to be a part of this family. Thank you so much for your love and supporting me in all my decisions and dreams.
I cannot believe how fast this time has flown by! When Spencer told me he was 5 now I realized how much has happened since I have been gone! So much has changed with all my nieces and nephews and a lot has happened to their Aunt Tori, so I am excited for our reunion this summer! It's going to be quite the party! (with a lot of much missed food, and maybe some filipino food gihapon.) :)
This past week has been wonderful but difficult. I am so very grateful for this sacred calling from a very aware and loving Father in Heaven. The tender mercies from Him every day help us so much. I could not do it without them. I know that Sister Schneider and I were sent to Sogod for very very specific reasons and people. God sends his missionaries to save His children--spiritually, mentally, and physically and I felt that a lot this week. We have our own personal trials and struggles, but we must go on, we are these people's only chance. We literally were in the right place and the right time, to save God's precious children. I have so much to do. This week I got a little scared b/c my time is soon ending, but that is gone now. My purpose is clear and my focus is set. Please pray for this area. There are so many crying out for help.
Specifically: The children of the Amparo family.
Patrick Acampado
Babin Catuburan
Crispin Basan
This time the Lord has given me to serve Him had been remarkable. Words can't express it. The mission is a time that you understand the atonement better. You get a glimpse of why our Savior Jesus Christ suffered and endured alll of our pains and weaknesses and trials. Love, charity, the pure love of Christ. We invite others to come unto Christ, to be healed through His love. And when we are rejected, as His missionaries, our Savior is rejected...and we feel a bit of the pain He felt. I have seen the evils in this world as men are tricked by satan and bound by him. But, we must go on in this great cause. God Lives! Jesus is the Christ! We can be healed. All of our losses will be made up, but only through The One that ginubos para sa atoa tanan. . . the one that went below all for all of us.
Only through the atonement can we overcome the natural man-our sins and weaknesses, and we can be totally and completely happy and live with God, with our families, forever. Heaven wouldn't be Heaven without those we love. God's plan is simple and perfect. There is a plan, and all of us accepted His plan in the Pre existence. We all chose Christ before this life. We are all His children. Let us help our brothers and sisters return to God, because our joy won't be complete without them. In Cebuano: Tinabangay Kita. (We all will help eachother.)
I love you all and I am so grateful for eternal families.
Happy Mothers Day.
Love, your missionary,
Sister B.
Happy Mothers Day again!
It was so fun to talk to all of you and to hear all my favorite nieces and nephews! I pray for each and every one of you every single day and want you to know how blessed I feel to be a part of this family. Thank you so much for your love and supporting me in all my decisions and dreams.
I cannot believe how fast this time has flown by! When Spencer told me he was 5 now I realized how much has happened since I have been gone! So much has changed with all my nieces and nephews and a lot has happened to their Aunt Tori, so I am excited for our reunion this summer! It's going to be quite the party! (with a lot of much missed food, and maybe some filipino food gihapon.) :)
This past week has been wonderful but difficult. I am so very grateful for this sacred calling from a very aware and loving Father in Heaven. The tender mercies from Him every day help us so much. I could not do it without them. I know that Sister Schneider and I were sent to Sogod for very very specific reasons and people. God sends his missionaries to save His children--spiritually, mentally, and physically and I felt that a lot this week. We have our own personal trials and struggles, but we must go on, we are these people's only chance. We literally were in the right place and the right time, to save God's precious children. I have so much to do. This week I got a little scared b/c my time is soon ending, but that is gone now. My purpose is clear and my focus is set. Please pray for this area. There are so many crying out for help.
Specifically: The children of the Amparo family.
Patrick Acampado
Babin Catuburan
Crispin Basan
This time the Lord has given me to serve Him had been remarkable. Words can't express it. The mission is a time that you understand the atonement better. You get a glimpse of why our Savior Jesus Christ suffered and endured alll of our pains and weaknesses and trials. Love, charity, the pure love of Christ. We invite others to come unto Christ, to be healed through His love. And when we are rejected, as His missionaries, our Savior is rejected...and we feel a bit of the pain He felt. I have seen the evils in this world as men are tricked by satan and bound by him. But, we must go on in this great cause. God Lives! Jesus is the Christ! We can be healed. All of our losses will be made up, but only through The One that ginubos para sa atoa tanan. . . the one that went below all for all of us.
Only through the atonement can we overcome the natural man-our sins and weaknesses, and we can be totally and completely happy and live with God, with our families, forever. Heaven wouldn't be Heaven without those we love. God's plan is simple and perfect. There is a plan, and all of us accepted His plan in the Pre existence. We all chose Christ before this life. We are all His children. Let us help our brothers and sisters return to God, because our joy won't be complete without them. In Cebuano: Tinabangay Kita. (We all will help eachother.)
I love you all and I am so grateful for eternal families.
Happy Mothers Day.
Love, your missionary,
Sister B.
Monday, May 2, 2011
May 2, 2011
Hello Family!
Happy May!
Sorry to Katie and Kerry--I definitely remembered your bdays on the 28, 21st , but forgot to mention it on the big email. But I thought of both of you all day! And Happy Birthday to Spencer! Love you all.
This past week was great. We had two baptisms this week, Shania and Jasmine. They are really smart girls and I love them so much. They are really fun to teach. Cebuano J is usually pretty fun to speak and Sister Schneider are amazed at our ability to communicate, anything, ever. I have a feeling i'll really miss these languages. I've definitely seen the gift of tongues lately and I am so grateful.
We don't have a branch president which has been a little tricky and not good b/c we have been anxious to get things going with this branch, but hopefully we will have one by next sunday. Yesterday we had the District Conference via Satellite. It was really cool and I liked it a lot. We had some technical difficulties trying to get the cebuano translation, so it only worked for one talk, but it was good. We got to watch some concert of Music and the Spoken word and it was gorgeous. Our investigator, Crispin was amazed by the Mormon Tablenacle Choir as was I. We were both just entranced by it. I was leaning forward in my seat and the spirit was so strong. Then I look over and our investigator is doing the exact same thing. He is 23 year old , and his member friend made fun of him for it, but he couldn't stop being in amazement. Me either. The Spirit was so strong.
Then the program started and Elder Teh, the area president talked...love that man! And then the choir sang and I saw Sister Jones (the person that ran the Missionary REcovery Center with her husband up in manila) singing in the choir so that was fun. Then Sister Beck, Elder Cook, and President Packer spoke via satellite. IT was really good! They really spoke to the needs of the people here and I appreciated their remarks so much. President Packer shared a special experience he had in TACLOBAN :) after the war ended. He found one other member of the church when was docked in TAcloban and they had a special sacrament in the middle of all the blasted palm trees. It was a really cool story about my Tacloban.
The Philippines is celebrating its 50th anniversary of missionary work here in the Philippines! ITs called the Jubilee Celebration so they talked a lot about that. In 50 years there is 600,000 members in the Philippines, and 2 temples and 1 more being built.
This week was great. We have a little investigator/ part member family that we are concerned about. He is 9 years old and his name is patrick. He is really really really malnourished and their family is devastatingly poor. Please keep him in your prayers.
We had another really intense lesson with Sister Babin. When we talk and she listens, the Spirit is so strong and she knows it. When she prayers, its sincere and awesome and the Spirit is very strong. But when she talks about what ever else she has heard from her friends, etc the Spirit leaves. Its such a drastic difference and she keeps saying she can't feel it, but that cannot be true.
We have sisters coming to work with us this week (tomorrow), and then interviews with President. Next week more sisters will travel here and then we have zone conference and more sisters working with us. The next week more sisters, and then Leadership training conference and then the transfer is over. Time is going by way to fast and we have so much work to do!!
I focused my studies lately on figuring out our potential as God's children. Alma 18:34-35 was awesome. I related it to Luke 17 as well and being a profitable servant.
When we remember who we are, we realize what we can become.
God's attributes are a part of all of us because we are His children. The natural man sometimes makes those strengths/attributes dormant, but its time to Remember who we are and what our potential is.
The gospel is true. Life is good! I love my comp and I love this area. Thanks for all your prayers and support.
Love, your missionary,
Sister B.
Happy May!
Sorry to Katie and Kerry--I definitely remembered your bdays on the 28, 21st , but forgot to mention it on the big email. But I thought of both of you all day! And Happy Birthday to Spencer! Love you all.
This past week was great. We had two baptisms this week, Shania and Jasmine. They are really smart girls and I love them so much. They are really fun to teach. Cebuano J is usually pretty fun to speak and Sister Schneider are amazed at our ability to communicate, anything, ever. I have a feeling i'll really miss these languages. I've definitely seen the gift of tongues lately and I am so grateful.
We don't have a branch president which has been a little tricky and not good b/c we have been anxious to get things going with this branch, but hopefully we will have one by next sunday. Yesterday we had the District Conference via Satellite. It was really cool and I liked it a lot. We had some technical difficulties trying to get the cebuano translation, so it only worked for one talk, but it was good. We got to watch some concert of Music and the Spoken word and it was gorgeous. Our investigator, Crispin was amazed by the Mormon Tablenacle Choir as was I. We were both just entranced by it. I was leaning forward in my seat and the spirit was so strong. Then I look over and our investigator is doing the exact same thing. He is 23 year old , and his member friend made fun of him for it, but he couldn't stop being in amazement. Me either. The Spirit was so strong.
Then the program started and Elder Teh, the area president talked...love that man! And then the choir sang and I saw Sister Jones (the person that ran the Missionary REcovery Center with her husband up in manila) singing in the choir so that was fun. Then Sister Beck, Elder Cook, and President Packer spoke via satellite. IT was really good! They really spoke to the needs of the people here and I appreciated their remarks so much. President Packer shared a special experience he had in TACLOBAN :) after the war ended. He found one other member of the church when was docked in TAcloban and they had a special sacrament in the middle of all the blasted palm trees. It was a really cool story about my Tacloban.
The Philippines is celebrating its 50th anniversary of missionary work here in the Philippines! ITs called the Jubilee Celebration so they talked a lot about that. In 50 years there is 600,000 members in the Philippines, and 2 temples and 1 more being built.
This week was great. We have a little investigator/ part member family that we are concerned about. He is 9 years old and his name is patrick. He is really really really malnourished and their family is devastatingly poor. Please keep him in your prayers.
We had another really intense lesson with Sister Babin. When we talk and she listens, the Spirit is so strong and she knows it. When she prayers, its sincere and awesome and the Spirit is very strong. But when she talks about what ever else she has heard from her friends, etc the Spirit leaves. Its such a drastic difference and she keeps saying she can't feel it, but that cannot be true.
We have sisters coming to work with us this week (tomorrow), and then interviews with President. Next week more sisters will travel here and then we have zone conference and more sisters working with us. The next week more sisters, and then Leadership training conference and then the transfer is over. Time is going by way to fast and we have so much work to do!!
I focused my studies lately on figuring out our potential as God's children. Alma 18:34-35 was awesome. I related it to Luke 17 as well and being a profitable servant.
When we remember who we are, we realize what we can become.
God's attributes are a part of all of us because we are His children. The natural man sometimes makes those strengths/attributes dormant, but its time to Remember who we are and what our potential is.
The gospel is true. Life is good! I love my comp and I love this area. Thanks for all your prayers and support.
Love, your missionary,
Sister B.