BACK TO BAGUIO

February 2, 2015

Yep. Shocking, right? I’m back. I was assigned to Burnham 1^st ward before and now I’m assigned to Burnham 2^nd. Dad, you would love my apartment. I've nicknamed it “the cave.” It’s literally a cave but I can’t call it a man-cave because it’s missing all the essentials like a big screen TV and a Foosball table and whatever else man-caves should have. I've been deep cleaning when I have spare time. You’d be proud mom. My companion gave me a backhanded compliment, “Wow! Sister Jackson you are so diligent. I've never seen Americans clean like that.” Hey, don’t be hating on my people! Ha ha! I know she didn't mean it like that.

Not gonna lie, it’s an adjustment coming back. There are SO many people. And so much stuff. It’s crazy. I can’t even image the culture shock I’ll have when I get back home. I’m FREEZING cold all the time – sweatshirts, pj pants, leggings, hoods, etc. Too bad I gave all my cardigans away when I first got transferred…I was like, “I’m not coming back here!”

I miss Agoo. On the plus side, church is stress free. We don’t have any investigators come… no one to worry about! ;) Even though Agoo had its hard things too, I miss my people. Ordinarios. Fangonilos. I even miss the heat! (I never would have thought that I would feel that way!)

I told Sister Apin, I will go anywhere, but I don’t really want to go back to Baguio and I really don’t want to be a Sister Training Leader. Ha ha. Both happened. For reals. Oh my gosh. I've been singing “I’ll go where you want me to go dear Lord” in my head. All the time. I sort of feel Heavenly Father chuckling at me right now.

I miss Sister Apin. The sad news is that we got pulled out – she got transferred too. Good news is that she is in La Trinadad so I might run into her today in Baguio! But I’m worried for our people. I hope the new missionaries there can keep up with everything we have started. Does that sound prideful?? I don’t mean it to be. We just have a lot of progressing people there – I hope no one falls through the cracks!

I guess the ultimate downer is the Kadatar family wasn't at church on Sunday. They were the one baptism in Burnham 1…I asked the Bishop’s wife…she said she hasn't seen them in a long time. Great. I feel like a failure. Back to those days where only Macdo can make it better.

Here’s to the end of the saddest letter EVER. I’m so sorry. I’ll work on having some fun next week so I can have something happy to write about.

BRIGHT SIDE:

·         I will see Sister Beckham at MLC (Mission Leadership Council) tomorrow

·         There is a Macdo here

·         I’m gonna find, teach, and baptize like there’s no tomorrow

Stay with me. Great things are about to happen! 

Till next week…ingat!

Sister J

SALVATION AND SKIRTS

January 26, 2015

It was a great last week here in Agoo. Yup, I’m transferring. I had mixed emotions – I knew that the transfer was coming and I have had some struggles that I haven’t talked about, so I was sort of ready, but at the same time not quite.

Funny moment – mom, do you remember the object lesson you sent me last year? With the cups and the pictures? Well, it basically explains how Christ established His church, then the apostasy happened then Christ's church was restored. At the bottom of the tower there are cups for Jesus Christ, apostles, prophets, Aaronic and Melchizedek Priesthood – these are the base of the cup pyramid.

Sister Apin and I have perfected this object lesson over the last few weeks: good scriptures and good questions at the right times. After finishing the entire lesson, Sister Apin asked, “So what does the restored church of Jesus Christ have that no one else has?” Annalyn, an investigator we have had for a long time said, “Well you guys all wear skirts. None of the other churches do. We just wear whatever and go.” Ay Nako?! [really?!]

But Christie, our other investigator (WHO COME TO CHURCH WITH HER WHOLE FAMILY!!), said “Salvation. The top cup is members, so if we don’t join with Christ in His church then we can’t expect to receive salvation.” Wow! Holy Cow! Their family is going to be baptized on Feb. 28^th! I’m so excited for them.

SPEAKING OF BAPTISMS! Brother Bong and Sister Fe got baptized. Brother Bong got emotional in his testimony when he said, “First off, I want to thank Sister Apin and Sister Jackson for always coming to our house, no matter how hot the sun was. Whatever happened, they were always there.” He talked about how he knew he made the right choice, how he knew it was the right church and how he was doing it to be an example to his kids and how he hoped his kids and wife would join him. He said he was ready to do everything he needed to do to endure to the end. And very last he thanked Uncle Nards (a member) for being the reason he investigated the church because if he hadn't seen him living the gospel, he never would have been interested.

Sister Fe! Sister Apin and I were actually the first ones who taught her and she remembers! She said, “The first time I saw Sister Jackson I felt so happy inside. Then she invited me to join the lesson at Brother Bong’s house. It was such a different feeling. I just wanted more and more. Then she invited me to church and I haven’t missed a Sunday since (except the one that I was sick).

HUGE PAY-DAY as a missionary. Not just that they said thanks or that they got baptized. But that I get to be a part of someone else’s salvation! I feel so lucky to help others find their Savior. So blessed. I’m so sad to be leaving. Saying goodbye was really hard. We finished the lesson with Tatay Domingo and Nanay Luz. I got a little teary, but just said, “Let’s take a picture really fast.” Tatay started to cry a bit and I started to cry a lot then Nanay Luz (even the stoic, tough as nails Nanay Luz) started to cry. I hugged both Nanay and Tatay and I told Nanay Luz, “Nay, someday I will come back here and when I come back we are all going to church together, k?” She said, “Yes, yes, we will all go to church together.”

Christina followed us out down the street. She said, “I just wanted you to know that you were an answer to my prayers, I was praying to be able to find a true church so that I could help my family. I was praying to know how to help my kids. Then both of you came. I will never forget you. Sister Jackson, it wasn't an accident that we met you. We will never forget you.”

There are so many others that I love here. I could go on for days. People here are too kind. Later tonight we are going to Errol and Mamerto and Nanay Antonia. That’s going to be rough. I feel so loved though. The EFY song “That’s What I’m Taking with Me” has been stuck in my head all day. I will never forget these Agoo days. The best days of my mission.

OK! It’s getting way too heavy! Sometimes I forget to share my crazy life because I think I’m used to it. So…

MOMENTS WHEN I REMEMBER I’M THE PHILIPPINES!

·         When riding in a car is more exciting than standing on the back of the trike.

·         When a member tells us that for their Biology 101 class they found a stray cat, killed it, cut it open and took the voice box to school.  

·         When I accompany the branch in Sacrament Meeting. Yup, mom and Grandma Jackson – you told me the day would come that I would regret quitting piano and wish that I trusted you and stuck with it. That day happened yesterday when someone asked me to play 1 minute before church started. He had heard me the day before plunking out the tune “I feel my Savior’s Love” for the baptism and assumed I knew how to play. My dad taught me not to say no when people ask for help…I plunked out the right hand for all 4 hymns yesterday. Worst accompanist ever. We should have just sung Acapella.

DWORCZYKS! I was so stoked to get your package from Saudi Arabia!!! On my gosh! My companion and I LOVED the Canadian candies and I can’t wait to try the other stuff in my new area. You guys are the best. <3

Well! Stay tuned! More adventures to come next week. I've filled up a whole memory card with pictures. Hopefully I will fill up another one before the mission end.

Mahal Kita,

Sister J.  

THE MAKE-IT-OR-BREAK-IT WEEK

January 19, 2015

RAQUEL – we sat down and started helping her with her laundry before teaching and she said, “Guys, the kids are too crazy (her grandkids that she takes care of everyday). I think I’ll wait to go to church for a couple of years. Maybe 2 years from now I’ll try again.”Whaa?? Sister Apin did such a good job handling the situation. She just asked a bunch of questions. Why are they so crazy at church? What can we do to help them calm down? What do they like to do? etc. And she listened really well until she found the real reason. The kids always cry and throw fits because they want to go to sari sari stores and buy snacks during church. But Raquel has no job and no money – she takes care of the grandkids all day while the parents are at work. So, Sister Apin helped Raquel come up with a solution to her own problem. Save the extra change from the kids' lunch money each day and use that to buy snacks! Raquel thought that was a great idea. The only problem is she was going to buy the snacks on Sunday. We went back on Saturday afternoon and explained the Sabbath day. She bought the snacks Saturday afternoon and made it to church yesterday. #makeit

ELMA – was progressing so much. Last week she started praying to see if she should get baptized. She told us that the answer she received was that she needs to get her life together first, then she will go for it (this was last Friday). Then she didn’t come to church. Later she told us that she had decided to not come to our church, ever. She told us she is thankful for us because she has learned a lot and will continue to do everything we taught her, but she isn’t going to join the church. We tried everything; you name it, we tried it. Nothing worked. She said we could come teach her, but she wouldn’t come to church or get baptized. She got a little teary when we said goodbye. We told her to text us if she changed her mind and that we still loved her. #breakit

LUCBEN – last Saturday night I had a mighty prayer. I had read about when we can and can’t ask for signs in personal study that morning, so that night I basically said, “Heavenly Father, we have done the best we can with this family, but now we want to drop them because they haven’t come to church in a month and we haven’t been able to teach them for almost 3 weeks now. So, if they come to church tomorrow, we will keep teaching them. If not, we will drop them so that they can realize what they are missing and hopefully give the gospel a chance.” My companion and I were sitting up front at church last Sunday. We both were turned around, watching the people coming in. Sister Apin gasped. She said, “oh my gosh. Look!” guess who came? Lucbens. #makeit

BONG FANGONILO – after attending Errol’s baptism and hearing about one of his relatives preparing for baptism, he asked us on Wednesday if he could possible get baptized on the 24^th of this month. We said yes! He said he wants to get baptized to be the example and guide for his children. #makeit

I ran out of time to tell you about another great investigator. I’ll tell you more next week.

I just want to end with a quick shout out to Grandma and Grandpa Anderson, the Parker family and the Brown family. Thank you so much for the packages. Grandma and Grandpa, I am still thinking about who to give the Books of Mormon to. Your Tagalog was great, by the way! Parkers, I decided to throw my “trunky diet” out the window. Why would I care about being skinny when I get home when I can eat cheesecake, fudge and cookies in the Philippines?! I haven’t showed my housemates the Bingo game yet. I’m waiting until this afternoon. I’m super excited to surprise them. Browns – thanks so much for sending the pictures and stories and mints! It was fun to see what you have been up to for the past year. YOU VISITED HIGHCLERE CASTLE WHERE DOWNTON ABBEY IS FILMED!? Oh my gosh!

Anyway, I love you all. Hope everyone has a fantastic week. I can’t wait to tell you about Bro. Bong’s baptism. 

Sister Fe Castillo and her grandson - I'll tell you more about them next week