A few of my favorite things

This herd of kids followed us down the road giggling...it was the cutest thing  ever! Every time I said, "Hello!" to them, they would all die laughing!

Sweet Violetta's baptism day. I am so happy for her!

Some ward members 

Assistant Ward Mission Leader - he runs the show!

The night of both of our first baptisms!! So fun!!

I learned how to make comote-Q! It is basically sweet potatoes deep fried in sugar. Oh man. This is trouble. They are SO good!

My lovely companion - I couldn't survive without her! 

Sister Gerhards and I had a wonderful last full week together! I can’t believe transfers are in 3 days! I’m so excited to write about a few of my favorite things from this week.

• I have a new nick name! “Sister” in Tagalog is “ate” (pronounced “at-ay”). Some kids in our area started calling me “Ate Jackie.” Oh my goodness it’s so adorable! I love it!

• In a lesson with the Rempilios kids, Sister Gerhards asked Michael and Jordan, “Who is in heaven?” Michael replied, “Jesus…and Joseph Smith!”

• We met Jun Jun’s mom! Jun Jun is still reading the Book of Mormon! We taught them a beautiful lesson about the Book of Mormon. And, Jun Jun is such a smart kid! He figured out how to read from the hymn book. You know how the lines are kind of confusing? Well most adults can’t figure it out even after we explain how. But he did! And he was helping his mom follow along! We are going to try to pick them up for church next week, so hopefully we can help them progress!

• We are teaching a new family! We met the mom last week when she sat in on a lesson we were teaching at her neighbor’s house. Jen, the mom, has 3 little girls. The youngest 2 are twins. They are probably just under 2 years old. The older one is probably only 4. There were so many distractions: babies crying, babies peeing on the floor, babies escaping out the door multiple times, babies getting into stuff they shouldn’t, babies needing snacks. Oh. My. Goodness. It was so chaotic! But Jen was super focused! When we got to the part in the lesson about Jesus Christ’s earthly ministry I talked about His baptism. Sister Gerhards later told me that she had thought that we should talk about Christ’s baptism too. I asked Jen if she would say the closing prayer and she did! We were able to quiet the babies for the prayer, but then one cried. :) I hope she prays tonight. We are going back Sunday to hopefully meet her asawa din [husband].

• Violetta’s baptism day was BEAUTIUL! We went to Violetta’s house at 5 to pick her up and share a short message. Our message was about the happiness that comes with baptism, the baptismal covenant and enduring to the end. We read the account from the Book of Mormon of the people getting baptized in Mosiah 18 and I basically shared my mom’s insight. Then Sister Gerhards asked her why she was getting baptized. She responded, “To be cleansed from sin and return to God.” Then Sister Gerhards said, “But this is not the end.” And Sister Violetta said, “I will endure to the end of my life.” When she said the closing prayer, I felt the spirit so strong - probably one of the strongest times in my life. I felt the love God has for Sister Violetta and His joy at her decision to be baptized. Words cannot describe my joy and how honored I felt to be an instrument and a witness to one of the most miraculous things on earth. It’s such an honor to be able to help in little ways, but mostly just witness this beautiful change in her through the Lord, and all of the wonderful blessings that will come of it. 

This picture isn't really one of my favorite things... it's supposed to show how beat up my legs are, but the shadow kind of ruined it. I'm covered in mosquito bites, scrapes, bruises... and my knee is giving me trouble.