May 31, 2010

FAMILY!

The work is going good. Im getting better at this whole missionary thing every day i think. Prayers are keeping me going. I think to myself, how lost and hard this world/life would be without prayer! And why dont we pray more!?

We had Zone Conference last Wednesday and have interviews this Friday! I love seeing President Malit and Sister Malit! I learned a lot from Zone Conference and it was great to see my fellow missionary friends. Mom, i told Elder Darrington how you and his brother work together... we think thats pretty cool! E. Darrington truly is one of my favorites!

We are getting some new good investigators... and they are families! It's so hard to tell how they will be but so far they are great and seem interested. The hardest thing, i find, is getting them to church! We try so hard to emaphize the importance but they never come. If anyone has advice on what we could do ill take it!

We do have one AWESOME investigator! He is the only person in his family that isnt a member. The tatay has been a member for awhile but the mother and other kids are recent converts (within the last year i think). Albert will be 18 next week. The second week i was here we tried teaching him and it was an absolute struggle getting him to even come in the house. He wouldnt look at us or give us the time of day. I tried asking him if he knew that he is a child of God and the God loves him... He didnt know and didnt seem to care to know. What i would call stubborn to the max!... Well... two weeks ago he attended the multi youth conference with his siblings and other nonmember friend. Something awesome must have happened at youth conf. He was at church that next sunday and when we went to teach Tatay Fermin he came in and opened a Basahon ni Mormon and read with us. After we turned to him and told him we want to teach him and asked when we could come back... He said "Tomorrow!"... oh, you have no i idea the excitement that started running through S. Taperla and my bones!! So we had a great lesson with him last week and he asked lots of questions... and he was at church again on sunday! And we are teaching him tonight too! I cant even explain the happiness i feel to see this total 180 change in this young man! He is a great example of Ether 12 and God making weak things strong after the trial of our faith. He took action/exercised faith and went to youth conference and now God is strengthening him! We also found out that he was the only one from our branch that bore his testimony at YC! He said that he isnt a member yet but he knows that this church is true... what faith huh! Man, the church IS true!!

We keep trying to teach this catholic 82yr old lady that loves to read. We always saw her outside her house reading so we gave her pamphlets to read. She read them so this week we tried teaching but she kept saying how she hasnt heard about Joseph Smith being a prophet in her books (Duh... cause they are catholic)... She also said that Adam wasnt a prophet, just the first man, which i didnt know that they catholics believed that. She was funny but frustrating at the same time. Its funny how those people that are such good people and seem to have such great faith because of how religious they are, actually dont exercise faith at all cause they are so blinded. If only she really opened up and gave it a chance she would know.

The last thought i have is about family. This sunday the district president talked about families and temple marriage! And then in sunday school we talked about families. "Families are the most important institutions in this church." And then i was reading in the 'Preparing to enter the Temple' book and it says how other things in the church are organized in regular buildings but families, we organize them in the temple because of how important they are. Remember that... Remember to love your family!... Family is where its out. If we arent striving to strengthen our families we have nothing! I love my family so so so much!

Well keep it real! I love you all!

Gugma
Sister Carissa Jones

MAY 24 2010

Pics arent working again... sorry :(

This week was full of ups and downs like always. My language is improving slowly... im determined to not be that missionary that comes home and never learned the language! My companion, S. Taperla, says im getting better so thats good. I really wish i had a language study hour but S. Taperla wants to go out and work at 10 so i just try to cram it in at night or if we come home to take a nap i just study while S. Taperla sleeps.

A few highlights of the week...

Tuesday we went to a members house around lunch time and there were tons of fiestas going on. After teaching we went with them to one of the fiestas for lunch. It was super yummy and they feed you so much food at fiestas. The fiestas are to celebrate saints... so its a catholic thing. And we love people of all religions and respect them... especially when food is involved :) On our way back to the members house some of their neighbors insisted that we join... pretty sure it was because there was an american... me. We all laughed and decided to eat again! We were so stuffed by the end and couldnt believe we just attended two fiestas back to back... WOW!
That night i taught a cool lesson from Mormon 9:31 to an awesome girl in our ward! We were just talking with her about trials and such and this scripture popped into my head so i turned our casual talking into a lesson... it was neat and I really felt the Spirit.
Thursday was a very very long day but awesome! We did so much teaching and i was able to push through and teach effectively. We walked SO much that day! From 4 to 9 we were constantly on the move. We taught lots of families and met some great less active families that we hadnt met yet. We hiked out to the bukid to visit this lady we met the other week and she ended up not being home so we were super tired when we arrived home. We walked most of the way home barefoot because it just felt nice. It was at least a 3-4 mile walk! The next day we found out that two girls later that night had been killed in the exact area we were walking through (but later in the evening, past our curfew when we are already in our house). We felt blessed and we always feel protected. This is the work of God... and as we are obedient and diligent we missionaries are protected!
Friday was a difficult day... most of our appointments fell through but we never stopped going! We walked a ton that day just from house to house of people we knew trying to find people to teach. The night ending with a nice dinner at Pres. Ang's house and hey, at least we got lots of exercise in!
I dont know if ive mentioned it yet but there is a guy in the branch that is 45 and has crushes on all the americana missionaries. So, thats me now. Its awkward at times and S. Taperla is starting to notice how he will always move from where he is and sit by me. It isnt to a point where he is crossing a line so im ok for now. I just hope he keeps his distance so i wont have to be transferred from this area soon. He is a good member and really helps with the missionary efforts and everyone knows that he is like that with the americanas so im safe. S. Taperla and i get a good laugh about it sometimes and other times i just want to punch him... haha.
Yesterday, Sunday was good. Sacrament meeting attendance went up to 48 and we made lots of visits. A few families we were really expecting to be there werent there so that was sad but we have appts to visit them all this week so we will try again!
Im excited for this week... number one: to work and teach and become a better missionary... and two: we have zone conference on wednesday! I love seeing and hearing what President Malit has to say to us. He is the best ever!

I love you all and you are always in my prayers!! Remember to learn all you can!... Scripture of the week... 3 Nephi 27:26.

Gugma
Sister Carissa Jones

P.S. Tell Kristin if she hasnt written me yet im going to have to beat her!!... and that goes for Kyle as well!!!!

May 17 2010... to all

This week was actually pretty dang slow! We got punted tons but our main saying is "No effort is wasted!"... Sister Taperla and I had to say it a lot to each other.. hehe...

As you can see i didnt get transferred... we are still in Naval, which i was super happy about. Im not ready to leave this place!

We did have a giant service project on saturday. It was national service day for the church so all over the Philippines we were walking around wearing cute, bright yellow vests cleaning. We took down all the political posters and such since election is over. The way they campaign is much different... no yards equals no yard signs (hehe)... so there are papers and banners stuck to all the walls all over the streets. We had a good time as a branch and had a yummy lunch!!

Im getting better at teaching and just spitting things out in cebuano. There are times where i truly feel the Spirit take over and help me speak with ease and without question. The words just roll from my mouth. Its true... the words and things you study will come to you at the exact time you need them through the Holy Ghost! Its awesome!

Every third sunday the missionaries in this branch talk so... we got talk! YAY! I talk on service and fulfilling our callings. As we serve one another we are greatly blessed! Make sure you are doing your calling to God's expectations. Also, please do visiting teaching and home teaching... that is one thing we are really trying to get the members to do and really struggling with. It is so important and you will be so much improvement in the ward if everyone works together and does their visits!

I lied last week... it gets up to like 115 at least during the day. I took my temp thing out with us one day... RIDICULOUS! All the sweating is really helping my lose weight. I put on my jeans to do service on sat and they wont even stay up! I didnt realize i had lost that many inches in my waist! SAWEET!... no worries... im not like deathly skinny by any means!

I really dont have much at all to say and my pics arent loading on this comp so sorry... they will have to wait till next week.

But the scripture of the week is Moroni 9:25-26... Keep your chin up!

Gugma
Sister Jones

May 10, 2010 After the Mother's Day Phone Call

I love you all SO MUCH! It was great to talk with you! You lifted my spirits and give me strength to tough it out and keep going... thank you! Tell grandma and grandpa thank you so much. It was so great to hear their voices! I wasnt able to get out my thanks cause i was crying but thank you for your love and support. I feel it pick me up when im having a bad day... Know that you are always in my prayers and i couldnt do this without you. You are the most important people in my life and i love you more than you know!

Scripture of the week... Joshua 1:9

Gugma
Sister Jones

PS to answer the question about the temp... it gets up to 105 maybe during the day and 80 at night... thats my guess

CJ's Email May 3rd, 2010

Ok so i just wrote an email with pics and it got lost... i dont know what happened... So this version will be short... sorry!

We had interviews with President Malit, which were amazing. I love Pres. Malit!! He got me really pumped for the work and reminded me that i have been called to do this work! He is the best and really loves us! I also got weighed by Sister Malit. I weigh 109.5 so ive lost 5 lbs. and my blood pressure was low but im still alive so its all good!

Zone reactivation in Caibiran was good but the ride was long and on the back of a motorbike so my hip flexors got their workout for the year. And the bar that you put your feet on vibrates... not a good massage vibrate... so my feet were irritated and throbbing by the time we got back!

OH and remember how last week my arms were sore from washing all my clothes... yeah... that night i couldnt sleep cause they were throbbing so bad! Im gonna come back with the strongest forearms ever!! whoot whoot

Rosalina will be baptized on May 8th... we are super excited! She is great. She was late for church, so i was worried we were going to have to postpone but then she showed like she always does. LOVE HER!

Had a small earthquake on saturday. I was in the bathroom and was like no way... i must be imagaining it... then a member told us that we had had one and it was the same time i thought i had felt it... CRAZY!

We got punted a lot this week so we didnt think we would meet our goal of 20 lessons to less actives/recent converts/members but we worked hard and long the last three days and accomplished our goal! Last night (sunday) we were exhausted becasue of our constant go go go! We went to a members house... thinking it was a dinner appt cause they always feed us when we go over at that time. We sat and sat and had even gone and gotten a recent convert that is new to the area to get to know some people in the branch... Well no food so at 9 we headed home. We walked... which we didnt think was possible cause our legs were seriously dead. I felt like i couldnt pick my legs up... We just kept saying press forward! Finally a motor came once we got to our street so we road the short distance to our balay. The shower and bed was very very nice! So this inspires the scripture for the week... Alma 8:19-20... Please offer to feed the missionaries when you see them!... Love you all!

Carissa's Email 4/25/2010

Mom,

I sure do miss you too! When we talk it will be monday here for me yes. Im not sure how it works or when it will be with the time difference. It will have to be in the morning i would think cause that is sunday night for you. I have interviews with president tomorrow so i will ask him and let you know next monday. I will ask about the skype thing as well! That would be cool!

Yeah that wiping thing... its definitely hard to wrap your head around! But honestly when you are here and you know everyone else does it, it makes it easier, haha. And of course you can put that on my blog! Let the world know, haha. Anything i say other than the really personal things are ok to put on the blog. Does dad hate me? Im sure he is just busy but i havent heard from him these last two weeks. Let him know that i love him! Give him a big hug for me!

Glad you are still watching prison break... its something like the OC that you can watch over and over! Im still hoping that they bring it back on air!!! Its possible!

Yay for workout! I got to go running today! I havent ran in a month so it was scary... like i said... you will for sure be in better shape than me when i get home!

I cant believe you just got that letter! Maybe they sent them out later than expected. I sent a letter last tuesday (the 19th) so we will see how long it takes.

Oh how i miss grandma! a lot!! Ill have to come back and beat her at rummi! hehe... Glad you were able to spend time with her! That would be cool if they were there on mothers day!

Man it just sounds like you are staying super busy! THe EQ party sounded fun!! and im glad dad will be home more soon!! I think that will help with things with Garrett too. Primary sounds like fun... haha. Just love the kids and help them to have fun and feel love. That will keep them wanting to come back to church and establish a good habit. It reminds me of a talk given in the sat morning session this last conference. It was about getting the kids to stand strong and be on the right path before the advasary is able to come and tempt them.

About things i need or want... nothing as of now and i dont want you to have to send me much cause its so expensive. The only things i can think of for the future would be isagenix shake and more of those journals. If you cant find the exact same ones ill just buy some here but if i had all the same ones that would be cool. So only if you find the exact same ones you bought before! I just finished one of them... yeah, i write a lot i guess.

I do love the food. I eat prob the same as i would there. I am careful when we are eating at poorer peoples houses but usually when we are invited for a meal they are wealthier members. I snack on a lot of little things... Sister Malit will weigh us during interviews tomorrow so we will see if ive lost or gained...

Well im trying to think of the new adventures this week... hmm...

-We are finding some investigators and Sister Taperla taught me how to get referrals! She is awesome! We got a few referrals from members so contacted them and while contacting them we asked for referrals and then would go contact them and get referrals... Sister Taperla didnt take no for an answer. She just kept asking, who is your classmate? who does your husband work with? etc etc... We found a really cool investigator during this process. His name is Wilson Alejandre. He is half white... his father got his mother pregnant while being over here for military stuff. His mother worked at a bar so yeah... he was adopted by the owner of the bar but then died so now Wilson lives on his own. He is the 'bad boy' type but man is he prepared. He asked tons of questions about repentance during our first discussion. He is excited for us to come back and he says he will have more questions. We are really hoping things go good with Wilson!!

-We will most likely have our first baptism this coming saturday. Her name is Rosalina. She is unable to walk but she faithfully rides to church every sunday! She loves church and really desires to always follow the Savior. It's hard for me to understand her cause of her handicap and my handicap in the language but she loves shaking and holding my hand... she is adorable.

-I walked like a billion kilometers this week... we decided we need to manage our pasahey money better so we are walking lots! I like it tho!

-This week i had my most favorite meal yet! And apparently its a meal that really poor people eat because its so cheap... GO POOR PEOPLE! Its squash and these leaves (not sure what kind) cooked in coconut milk! Oh SO YUMMY! Its served over rice... of course, duh! We bought stuff so we can make it at our home! YAY!

-We ate at our branch presidents house this week (Pres. Sacedor) and i really liked what they fed us. It was really simple... fish, chicken and eggs all cooked together... served over rice! The presidents family is really great! They are so kind and patient with me and my language. Their daughter Mariel Jaika is the cutest girl ive seen! She is 14 i think... she always smiles so big at me and helps me with the language.

-Last night we ate at Albert Ang's house. Him and his 12-14 yr old son are members. They have one of the nicer houses in Naval. They alwasy feed us lots of yummy food! We eat there once a week usually. Last night we played some fun games and sand hymns which was really fun. And i taught a short lesson on a spur of the moment scripture. The Spirit really guided me and helped me with my language. I was extremely happy! Most members dont specifically have us over for dinner. Only with about 3 different families will they invite us to eat if we are there during lunch or dinner hours. We usually go home for lunch and just eat something for dinner when we get home at night. We take snacks or by things at tindahans on the street if we get hungry between lunch and going home at night.

-It gets light very early! I wake up without fail at 5-5:30 every day cause its already light. I definitely go back to sleep for that last hour tho. Becasue it gets light early it get dark early so our day ends at 8 usually. People are going to bed close after 8 so thats why we wait to eat dinner then usually.

-The weird thing that i ate this week was a fish head... yep... thats right... a fish head! Eyeballs and everything. Elder Matheney and Sister Lemmon told me to just imagine its a potato chip. That helped, it tasted like a fish flavored potato chip.

-Washed my clothes all by myself for the first time today. Sister Taperal usually does my clothes and i just wash my garments but S. Taperal was too tired today. It took me a legit 3 and a half hours to wash 7 sets of garments, 3 skirts, 3 shorts, and 10 shirts... My arms are very sore right now and i cant even imagine how they will feel tomorrow!!

-The mosquitos just cant get enought of me... My legs are super ugly right now...

-The language is coming along. Some days are good and some are rough! As i trust in the Lord and just try, He helps me say what i need to say. It's such a comfort and is what keeps me going. I wish i could just remember everything and was catching on quicker but i think because im having to put so much effort and time into this language it will mean so much more and stick better in the long run! I continue in hope and faith and i hope you all do too!

-Scripture of the week... 2 Nephi 28:30

Sorry my camera thing isnt working today for some reason so i cant send pics but i will try again next week!

I love you soooo much mom! Keep being the best mom ever!

Gugma

Your Daughter

Carissa's Email 4/18/2010

Hi mom... glad you got you email in before i left... i was just finishing andrews email and you sent yours! I love you SO MUCH! I hope you know that that will never change!

So im writing you a handwritten letter so i will have to save a few things so i have something to hand write... sorry that this wont be as good as the other weeks.

Here are some monumental events of the week..

1. Got a flat tire coming back from zone conference with the assistants (E.Manarang and E.Cruz) and of course it was pouring rain!

2. Got stuck out in the bukid at a members house without a ride... and it took 1 hour to get a motorcycle to drive by and pick us up... We just looked like little hitch-hikers out there on the side of the road

3. I killed a cockroach... actually im getting quite good at it! hehe

4. For the first time since ive been out here, i was mocked. A man came to a door where we were teaching cause he heard there was an Americana (it gets out fast with all the little kids around). I tried telling him what i was doing there... teaching about Christ... he just laughed and kept saying things in cebuano cause he knew i didnt understand. He said the word "uyab" which i know... its girlfriend or boyfriend. He was telling me that he wanted me to be his girlfriend. Sister Taperla stepped in and told him to stop mocking me and said i was a representative of Christ and he was being very disrespectful. She was so mad... im glad i have a companion that looks out and cares for me. The man continued to say things and just laugh at me... It was humiliating but im ok now!

5. And most of all... i embraced the culture... i was out about and had to go to the bathroom... i forgot my toilet paper... i said well, guess its better now than ever... i let go of my cares... i wiped with my hand... and most importantly with the correct hand! The left! I think i could officially call myself a Filipina now!!

Zone conference was absolutely amazing but i will hand write the things i learned there. I was figuring it out and if we were to write letters back and forth and you only write every time you get a letter you would only write 12-14 letters. Cause it would only be once a month or so... I hope im making sense... like i write, you get it 2 weeks later and write and i get it 2 weeks later so that is a month from when i wrote the first one... yeah? thats not bad... that makes the time seem so short!!

Well you are always in my prayers... and do you know how much i love you mom? Its beyond measure!

Gugma Gyud

Your very sweaty daughter!