Sending stuff to Jennie

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Sister Jennie Adams
Philippines Iloilo Mission
Osmena St.
Arevalo
5000 Iloilo
Philippines

November 2010 - January 2011

Monday, February 28, 2011

Zone Conference

was absolutely amazing.

I took tons of notes and I resolved that I don't have enough time left to do everything that I need to do. Truly a spiritual feast. AND I got to sing. Sister Salway and I sang "Sa Tanan nga Tion" which, literally translated, is "At/in all times" but it's a hymn you all know... haha "I Need Thee Every Hour." We ended up being the only ones who sang... oh well.

The baptism was great! Bijie told us that she wanted to jump, and she had a smile plastered on her face all day. I am so blessed to get to see someone who is so filled with joy about the gospel.We met a guy named Steve. He's 19 years old, and got kicked out of his boarding house (I'm not sure why... doesn't really matter), so he's living with a member who, naturally, introduced him to the church. We taught the first lesson, then the next time, we gave him a Book of Mormon which he said he'd read. Then we went back to follow up, and he had read. Then we watched the Restoration video, and he's just a cool investigator. He didn't come to church though, because right before we showed up on Saturday, he just finished doing laundry... and it was a cold night, so he literally had no clothes to wear. I hope he comes next week though.

Speaking of cold... I'm not joking. I sleep with socks and a blanket and a sheet, and I wake up with a cold nose. Granted, I COULD turn off the fan, but the air is just too thick for it to not be moving... I'm not gonna lie, it's been pretty neat to actually say, "I'm cold," and being 100% honest. Yesterday my feet didn't get warm until I left the apartment and stood with them in the sun for a few minutes. Beautiful, just beautiful.

I think that's all for this week!

Love, Sister Adams

Monday, February 21, 2011

February 21

for lack of a better subject line/ title.

This week was... wait, I swear I already emailed this week... wait... that was last week... oh man...

We have Zone Conference this next week, and I get to sing!

Well, I say I get to sing. There's a group that already has the musical number, and it's only our Zone, but I REALLY want to do a musical number for my last conference so we're just gonna show up and be like, "Hey, we're gonna invite the spirit twice as much! We get two musical numbers!" Yep, Sister Salway and I are gonna try and put something together...

I'm not gonna lie, this week was kind of a blur, and nothing in particular sticks out...

Except that BETH CAME TO CHURCH AGAIN! Thank you everyone that is praying for her success. I am SO happy. I think I might actually get to see her enter into the waters of baptism. :D

Keep praying for the success of the missionary work here, your prayers are heard and answered.

Love Sister Adams

Monday, February 14, 2011

Pagpalangga

Love :D Happy Valentines day!

This week, I have been studying Charity and Love (not at all in correlation with Valentines day...really, this day has very little meaning if you've got a black plastic name plate). I just feel like I need to develop my Christlike attributes, and I got started with charity. We taught a cool lesson yesterday to some members who haven't been to church in a while. My companion started and explained what the blessings of church attendance are, and the whole time I just had this overwhelming feeling like I needed to tell them I love them and that whether or not they come to church, I love them just the same. I know that it helped them, and I think they will even come to church next week. I am so grateful for the pure love of Christ that I have an opportunity to share with people. I get to tell people all day how much God loves them, and then watch them ponder that idea while I explain that I love them too. It's really neat because you can just see it sink in, and then I know I was a tool in Heavenly Father's hand to lift someone higher.

Nothing really new with Bijie, she's still on for the 27th. She's basically the coolest investigator I've had since Brother Gallo back in Silay. She asked me about obtaining a quad. They are so insanely expensive, so I just explained that the triple and bible have the exact same thing in them, and she's cool with that. But she's shy to ask bishop about it, haha, I get to order it for her. And for sure it won't be here for her baptism, but maybe it'll make it before I leave... maybe.

I love being a missionary. It hit me yesterday how much I love it, and how fulfilling it is. And how incredibly difficult it is to explain to another person. So I guess the only solution is to do it yourself, find out how great being a missionary feels! And find out how great being a missionary IS for other people!
Palangga ko kamo tanan!


Love,
Sister Adams

P.S. If you have written me, chances are, I got it, but just haven't gotten around to writing you back. I apologize and promise I am thankful for your support... we'll just talk in a little while, deal?

Annie, nope, I never got your package... :( but the good news, if I send you something on your mission, your chances of getting it are 100%... mail just doesn't get lost in America.

Monday, February 7, 2011

Last Transfer Announcement

and it's not too exciting. And by exciting, it's not too... different. Sister Delcaro is going to "kill" me.. which is what they say about your last companion.

So, cool story about yesterday:

First, Beth came to church! ON TIME!!! AND she closed her store to come to church! (she hasn't been on time in the almost 3 months I've been here). Then, after the lesson in Relief Society, there were some testimonies. Beth stood up, and I was kind of excited for what she would say. Basically, she had some personal problem she was working through that she didn't tell us about, and yesterday morning, she apologized to someone who was part of her problem... probably ALL of her problem. I had this feeling of... relief, or peace, like the puzzle pieces were finally falling into place when she was talking. I feel like I can finally give her a baptismal date, and she'll actually get baptized that day! I've been trying for months to figure out what her concern was, and she finally just resolved it herself (which is REALLY good, because I was nowhere close to figuring it out...) I'm SO excited!

And Bijie is a pretty cool investigator. I don't know if I've told you all about her, but she's pretty much AMAZING! All I gave her for an assignment was to look up scriptures about enduring to the end. And yesterday, when we went to teach her, she had 2 pages of scriptures and descriptions written. Then we asked how her preparation for baptism was going, and she was like, "I'm just a little excited." HAHA, she was almost jumping out of her seat because of how excited she is. "A little" is an understatement. I am also excited for her. :D Yay.

Well, that's all the exciting news from this week... it's been kind of a hard one. Pray for the success of the missionaries in Jaro 2.

Love you all bunches and bunches!

Sister Adams

Monday, January 31, 2011

New Cell Phone

We got a new phone this week... in case you were wondering.

Work was kind of slow this week. BUT

We moved! Our new apartment is bright yellow. I mean BRIGHT yellow. Like they painted it with a highlighter. We've slept on our mattresses on the floor the last 3 nights because our bunk beds had termites and we left them in the old apartment. I think we're getting beds today. It's been an adventure and a half. We kind of feel like squatters because we are living out of our suitcases (the new house doesn't have wardrobes... also something we are getting with new beds...) And our water is really nasty, so we have to buy "mineral water" I'm not sure why it's called that. I think it's just filtered.

We taught Bijie this week. She's so cool. I'm way excited for her baptism. I think she's God's tender mercy to me. :D

I think that's all for this week... sorry so short!

Love, Sister Adams

Monday, January 24, 2011

Cell Phones

and pickpockets.I debated not using that as the subject and just holding you all in suspense, but I can't think of anything better to put in the subject line. (I'm not usually creative...sorry about that)

Anyway, what happened was this: We were riding on a jeepney. These are vehicles that have 2 benches in the back that face each other, and for some reason (probably to earn money...), they pack them as full as possible. As in, there's always people sitting on each other. When Sister Declaro and I got on the jeep, there weren't very many people yet. So we didn't sit unnecessarily close to anyone. But as it filled up, we decided to scoot closer to the back (because that's where the door is, and therefore the best seats... but it also makes it harder for others to get on... but that's just the way it is...). Anyway, there was about a hand space between the large man at the end of the jeep and me when a man got on and decided to sit on me. I was REALLY annoyed, but we moved back the other way. So... eventually, we get to where we need to get off, and we start going on our merry way.

Side story: Our apartment, while pretty hilarious (we live above a tire store), isn't exactly the best place to live... And it's kinda small and only has one bathroom. It's rumored also that there will eventually be 6 sisters living in this apartment, and there is most definitely not room for 6 sisters to live there comfortably. SO we're on the lookout for a new place to stay.

Back to the original story: I saw a sign about 3 minutes after we got off the jeep for a house for rent. There was a phone number, so I thought, "Hey, I'll text them to find out more about the house." And, well, the cell phone was no where to be found in my bag. I had it before I got on the jeep and it found a new owner while we were riding. I'm almost 100% sure the man who so annoyingly sat on me is the same one who pick pocketed me. Life is hard when you are used to having contact with people and suddenly it's cut off.

The mission is going to issue us a new one, so life is ok. Well, it will be. Also, I'm very very thankful that it was the mission-issued-replaceable cell phone, and not my personal-irreplaceable camera.

On the upside, when I talked to the AP about the phone, he said that they found an apartment and are just waiting on President's approval. They'll probably call us this week about when we move. Yay!

Hmm... I just thought of something else I could have subjected this letter... Referral Contacted, at church, with a date, and progressing. We had a referral at church yesterday. She's an investigator that transferred from another area, but she is reading the Book of Mormon, and comes to church. When I asked if she wanted to be baptized, she said yes kind of like "duh" it was really funny. And I was overjoyed! I still am pretty happy actually. So we set appointments and then gave her a date on February 27. WooHoo! God rewards the hard working. I know he does. :D

I think that's all for this week!

Love, Sister Adams

Monday, January 17, 2011

Rain

It has definitely been raining like all week. It makes it really hard to work. I'm just feeling wet all the time...Sad news... Beth didn't come to church... I'm not sure why, we're going tomorrow to find out.BUT Jackie did come to church. And accepted a baptismal date on the 13th of February. YAY! I'm excited for her, I just hope she doesn't spend time with people who don't know what they're talking about. (most of her doubts come from talking to these kinds of people). Please pray for her.

We're running low on investigators. I love teaching this gospel, but it's hard when you don't have anyone to teach it to.

I'm excited for this week because we had a coordination meeting yesterday and we have people scheduled to work almost every day this week. Yay, we get lessons with members... hopefully that helps us get investigators at church.I feel a little like I have run out of things to say...

So, I guess until next time!

Love, Sister Adams