The Week in which I am now 20 years old

Hellloooo

So my birthday was GREAT! Sister Matulac decorated my bed with ribbon and signs and she got the other sisters to come in and wake me up singing happy birthday (she actually woke me up when she was decorating because the tape was making noises, but don't worry, I pretended to still be asleep... haha bless her heart..) We went about the day as normal, but when we got home for dinner I noticed an extra pair of shoes outside and when we opened the door, there were too mattresses on the ground and a blanket that was a little too familiar... Sister Delgado and Sister Davocol were hiding behind the door. They had to come to Legazpi for a checkup and it was the best birthday surprise ever! We got to teach Fred and Iza with them and Fred freaked out when he saw Sister Delgado and it was so funny. The last picture I sent was unfortunately the last picture my camera took.. Hitomi dropped it and broke it. THIS IS MY 4TH CAMERA ON MY MISSION. ugh. (but it has a warranty and they said it will take one month to fix... ugh) That night we stacked oreos on top of each other with peanut butter and put my candles on it and they sang happy birthday to me. It was a good birthday.

Tuesday I got to go on exchanges with Sister Jimenez! I missed her so much! We went to dinner with Sister Delgado and Sister Davocol to celebrate my birthday and it was so much fun. Sister Jimenez left this morning for Manila and tomorrow she flies to Utah. She's gonna be incredible.

We had Zone Conference this week and it was so great! I got to see Sister Routhier and Sister Hunt (but no pictures because no camera... AGAIN) and a bunch of other missionaries that I love. That night the Mulligan Couple came and worked with us. They're teaching me "proper English" a.k.a, I talk in a British accent with them. They love me. haha.

Our investigator Angel who is 10 years old came to church all by herself. she said she went at 5 am but no one was there... haha she was excited! I love kids. She lives really close to the chapel so she can just walk.

This week was full of miracles and great experiences, especially a really great birthday. I can't believe I'm 20. I'm so old.

I love you all and I hope you have a great week!

Sister Wilkins

Tracting and more tracting

Heyooooo.

It was a GREAT week! Tracting tracting tracting and we eded up picking up 22 new investigators. It was CRAZY. haha but SO much fun! I love my new companion!

One night we went to some recent converts house and we helped their grandma peel Mongo so that was fun and then we got to teach them. Their grandmother doesn't live there but she's been a member since the 1970s and she's adorable. I love old people.

We had a miracle happen. Recall to your memory a story I told about Sister Michelle who we tracted in like November when I first got to Legazpi. I clicked so well with her right of the bat and I never cry in a first lesson. So she texted us two transfers ago and said she was going to Manila and she never answered when we asked when she'd be coming back. So when we changed the areas, I kind of thought her neighborhood was in the AP's area. So on Friday night we were walking home after teaching Fred and I see the sign for her neighborhood and I realized that she was still in our area and practically flew down the road to her house. I just wanted to see if she was there. Sure enough, she comes to the door in the middle of dying her hair and she lets us in and tells us she just got home on Monday and she told us everything that's going on and we were able to set a return appointment. I AM SO HAPPY. I cried tears of joy as we left her house. God is good.

We have a million children that love to come join our lessons in one neighborhood and on Saturday we spent the whole afternoon going to each of their families houses and teaching them. Last week their families weren't too keen on letting them come to church, but since we taught their families, 4 of the kids came to church on Sunday. They are so cute. I love kids. After sacrament meeting they wanted to go home, so they walked by themselves home. I was saying the opening prayer in Gospel Principles class when one of them opened the door and got my attention.. haha they had come back because they were scared of someone outside. So we walked them home and are all hot and sweaty when we get back into gospel principles for the teacher to call us up to teach. then we get out of that class and the kids have come back AGAIN. haha. They wanted to go to primary after all. It ended up being a great experience because we got to attend primary with them. Primary songs make me cry. haha.

Sister Infante's trainee is named Sister Albert and she's from Micronesia and I love her. I love being the only one who can actually speak English with her... hahaha. But I struggle with English now... especially if we're trying to teach in English. yeah, no.

Other than that, same old same old. We're doing a lot of finding and a lot of teaching. Just trying to find the elect.

Have a great week! Me and my companion are both turning 20 this week and we've got lots of great things coming up! I'm excited!

Mahal Kita!

Sister Wilkins

Re: Week 48 Pictures

1. Children we teach

2. Dinner with the Dorosan family

3. Bye-bye Sister Jimenez

4. Hello to my new companion!

Re: Week 48 Pictures

1. With Sis. Routhier again :D

2. I keep getting hurt.. haha

3. Elder Torrano drew me!!

4. I wish I could draw...

Week 48 Pictures

1. cuuutee

2. Philippines colors

3. i love them.

4. The water went out (like it always does), but hey, girls have got to get clean somehow

Transfers

Hiiii. This was literally the craziest week of my entire mission. And probably life.

Monday we had our zone activity and that night we had FHE at Fred and Iza's house. It was the funnest thing of my life. That night, Sister Delgado and Sister Routhier show up at our apartment for MLC the next day and it was SOO good to catch up with them.

Tuesday we got put in a trio with Sister Davocol and it was way fun! We got to get ice cream with Sister Routhier and Sister Araneta and then Sister Routhier and I talked forever that night. It was so good to be able to talk to her again. She said she's having a hard time to her and I just bore my testimony to her about the Savior and we cried together and it was one of the most spiritual experiences of my mission. I love my anak.

Wednesday night I got to work with Sister Routhier in our area. She had to be in Legazpi for some medical checkups. It was so good to see how much she's progressed and how much better she is now. I miss her a lot.

Friday we had Zone Training and I was just kind of pessimistic the whole time because we only focus on numbers but that's gonna change... because President Guanzon called me that night and told me that I'm the new Sister Training Leader in Legazpi. All I have to say is things are going to change. I'm sick of being in a mission that only cares about numbers... things are going to be different here if I have a say in it.. haha.

Saturday night transfer announcement came in. Sister Jimenez is transferred to Guinobatan. It's within our zone, so I get to do exchanges with her! She leaves for Utah on the 22nd.

Sunday we had a really awesome Stake Conference and a bunch of our zone members came up to me individually and told me exactly what I was saying about how we only focus on numbers. They asked me if I could change it. haha. I agree 100% and I'm glad I'm not the only one who noticed!

Monday was Transfer Day (hence why I'm emailing on a Tuesday). My new companion is Sister Matulac and she's from Manila. She's coming from Sorsogon, and she's a brand new STL as well so we're just a little bit stressed... haha. But I absolutely love her already. She's just what I need right now. She's so Christlike and happy all the time! It's gonna be a good transfer! We FINALLY taught the Adana family last night after a few weeks and Sister Catherine got a new job so hopefully she'll be able to attend church and actually be available now. Good things are coming. I can feel it.

Love you all! Have a great week!

Sister Wilkins

Sister Blue

Hello from the other side... uh... I mean Hi. That song keeps playing on the jeeps and it's always in my head.

So this was a crazy week. On Monday one of our investigators texted us and was telling us her daughter was in a lot of pain in her stomach and lots of things. We were texting between them and Sister Guanzon all night,and eventually in the morning they go to the hospital and the girl's got appendicitis. It was scary, but luckily she's all okay now! Thank heavens for missionaries, right?

Early Tuesday morning, Sister Jimenez left me for Manila to have an interview at the US Embassy. I was in a trio all day Tuesday and half of Wednesday with our STLs Sister Infante and Sister Matthes. It was actually really fun but I missed Sister Jimenez and I wasn't even mad when she got back. Rather relieved. We worked in the STL's area and I got to visit some of their recent converts that I LOVE. We also taught this less active lady named Elsa. When we got there, they were trying to get her to guess my name and saying "it's the name of a water bottle brand here" and she kept saying "absolute? Aqua? etc." and finally Sister Infante says "the label is blue" and then we just tell her my name and move on. She prays at the end in English and says "thank you for these missionaries who came to teach me. And their names are Sister Infante, Sister Matthes, and Sister Blue" and continues her prayer while the three of us are cracking up and trying not to let her know we're laughing.

Wednesday morning I went on splits while the STLs were on exchanges until Sister Jimenez got back. She wasn't feeling well, but being the trooper she is, she wanted to go out and work anyway. We taught Sister Ester, the Less active we tracted, and she was TAKING NOTES. God has a plan, guys. I can't believe how much she's progressing and all because we just randomly knocked on her door one night not knowing she was a member already.

A few weeks ago we ran into this guy named Lester at a store and he said he was taught by missionaries about a year ago but they just stopped visiting him. We got his address and turns out he's in our area. We taught him and his family twice this week and turns out he's related to a few of our members and our investigator Emz so there's lots of potential there! I'm excited for that!

On Saturday we had a Ward Family Home Evening at the chapel and it was SOO fun even though very few people showed up because it was also raining buckets. I have some new games to teach y'all.

Basically it was just a really good week and passed by like... something really fast. Sister Jimenez could be leaving me for Utah any day and this is the last week of the transfer. I'm freaked out time is going so fast, but I'm excited for the coming transfer!

Mahal Kita!

Sister Wilkins