1. dinner on Sister Delgado's Birthday
2. My present from the Relief Society... haha
3. Christmas Party at the Mission Home
4. With Pres. and Sis. Guanzon's daughter. She's in the Law of Chastity pamphlet (In Tagalog). We're now famous.
Sunday, December 27, 2015
Isang Bagong Taon
Hello everyone! This was an absolutely amazing week! So many good things happened and it was a great Christmas time!
Tuesday was Sister Delgado's 20th birthday and we were able to celebrate it partially at the Relief Society Christmas party and partially at dinner with the Mulligans, our senior couple. We love those two so much. They've been like my grandparents here on the mission.
On Wednesday we went on our weird exchanges. It ended up being me and Sister Delgado with Sister Jimenez who is a visa waiter going to Salt Lake City East mission. So we were in a trio all day except in the evening when I went on splits with a member. For lunch we went to Iza's house with the Mulligans and it was AMAZING. Iza is a caterer and she lived in Japan for a while, in fact her husband lives there still. She made some killer Shoimai. I think that was the best meal of my whole mission. Then we taught Fred and it was GREAT.
On Christmas Eve we went to a Christmas Party at the mission home which was so fun. Then we went with the Mulligans to bring some food to some elders in the hospital. One of them has Dengue Fever. His companion was in my batch so it was cool to see him. So basically I had a Harry Potter Christmas Eve because I visited a hospital and I was with British people. And we had a feast worthy of Hogwarts itself.
Christmas Day was wonderful. We had another lunch appointment at the Abello family's house. They invited all of the missionaries assigned to our ward (we are 11 total. In one ward. It's crazy.). It was so fun and of course delicious. I'll really miss Filipino food when I leave this place. That evening we had a Zone Christmas Party which was an absolute blast. I love my zone. I got defeated in rock paper scissors though..
Saturday was the best day because I got to Skype my lovely family. It was so great to talk to all of you guys! Tell Jayda and Jenna I missed them and I love them! We then got to attend a baptism for some elders in our ward. We taught Fred with The Mulligans. It was such a great experience. And then they took us out to dinner at this cute place called the Patio. I'm getting pretty good at sounding like a real Brit.
On Sunday Fred had his Baptismal Interview and he's SO ready. He's so excited (and I'm so excited) for Saturday! After church we were able to attend another baptism. It was so spiritual. The investigators were so golden. Legazpi has so much potential. There are so many prepared people. There have been lots of baptisms lately and coming up. It's just such a blessing to be able to see the fruits of your labors. The Lord is really blessing Legazpi Ward! It's close to being split because there are so many people.
Life is good. I'm excited for the upcoming New Year! I've got lots of goals set and lots of plans. It's gonna be a great year! 2015 has been such an amazing year and I've grown so much and learned so much. I've grown a lot closer to the Lord this year and strengthened my faith in Him a lot more. He is good to me. Here's to an even better 2016!
Mahal Kita!
Sister Wilkins
Friday, December 25, 2015
Sunday, December 20, 2015
Week 37 Photos
1. our evacuation in one photo
2. During evacuation with Sister Matthes. I love her.
3. headstands...
Maligayang Pasko!
Maligayang Pasko! Wow! I can't believe Christmas is on Friday! that went by fast. This was a great week! It went by so fast but like it seems so long ago we got evacuated..
Yes, I did in fact survive the Typhoon. We ended up being evacuated to the Daraga Sisters' apartment instead of the chapel (thank goodness, because a million members were at the chapel). We pretty much just hung out in the dark because no electricity or water. It was great! And let's just say Sister Delgado is super fun to be around when she's bored (she's crazy. in a good way.) haha :) We had a headstand competition (I won) and filmed creepy videos of each other that you can all see after the mish. haha... we're insane.
I was able to skype the fam on Tuesday after we didn't die so that was an AMAZING early Christmas present! Two skyping sessions. I loved talking to you guys! After that blessed event, we literally ran to a jeepney and then ran to a tricie to get to the mission home to say goodbye to the departing batch of missionaries and to give them stuff to take home for me.It was great. Then Sister Guanzon let us charge our phone and take a shower in the mission home because no water or power there... haha. But it was the first hot shower I have had on my whole mission and it was glorious. Definitely worthy of being in the weekly email. I will never take it for granted again.
So the Typhoon actually happened right when transfers were supposed to happen so everything has been crazy. On Wednesday all of the new missionaries were coming in so we had to be in a trio in the morning and a different trio in the evening to make sure no one was alone. We got to eat lunch with our senior couple the Mulligans and I absolutely love them. We speak in British accents to them and they love us. Elder Mulligan told me that my British accent is really good. I'd like to thank Jim Dale and J.K. Rowling for that. We didn't have transfer point until Thursday and neither of us are being transferred but we went because we had to take our trio member and also Sister Delgado is the new STL so she had to be trained. This means lots of exchanges with the trainee of the other STL for me! She's a visa waiter going to Salt Lake City East mission so I will teach her English. I'm excited!
On Friday we had our ward Christmas party. I. Love. Legazpi. Ward. There was dancing and games and singing and food. Filipino food is the best, guys. Bicol Express. Mmm. Hopefully I'll be able to cook for y'all when I get home. Saturday we finally got to have a district meeting and also we got to witness a baptism for the other sisters. It was such a spiritual experience. So good.
Sunday was the best. Fred came to church for the third time in a row and he's got just one left before he can be baptized. He showed up wearing pajama bottoms and Sister Delgado and I are just laughing. He's just a sweetheart and he's definitely one of the elect that the Lord has been preparing. That night we had the best lesson in my whole mission. President and Sister Guanzon came with us to Fred's house and his brother and his family were there as well as his sister in law Iza and her son, Ichigo, who has been hiding every time we go there. Basically President bore an absolutely incredible testimony and the Spirit was SO strong. Ichigo was asking questions. Fred's brother's whole family were just staring in awe at president, even the little boys. They said after "we'll be at church on Sunday!" It was amazing. I wish President could come to every lesson. I'm very excited about this new family but they live in another sisters' area in Daraga so we won't be able to be their missionaries but still... It was amazing.
This morning we went to Cagsawa, a ruin by Mount Mayon. It's this catholic church that got ruined in a volcano eruption 200 years ago. It was so beautiful there. We made friends with some French tourists and this random guy took some cool forced perspective pictures for us. Life's good.
I'm so excited for the coming week! We've got lots of stuff happening and it's going to be a very merry Christmas indeed. I love you all and I hope you have a great Christmas! See y'all on Skype!
Love,
Sister Wilkins
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