Sunday, December 1, 2013

Happy Thanksgiving/December- 12/1/13

Kumusta pamily at kaibigan!
Happy late Thanksgiving and Happy Birthday Babou! I hope that you all had a great week cause I sure did! Thanks so much for the package Mom I got it exactly on Thanksgiving, it was perfect :) I also got letters from Paisley and Grandma, thanks so much I love you both!
Ok so this week was kind of slow actually but fast at the same time. I went on my first exchanges with Sister Hardy in La Trinidad, and wow I love it there so much! Don't get me wrong, Baguio is great, but La Trinidad is just so quant and small and their zone is so fun haha I hope that I get to go there after my 12 weeks training, but we'll see. It was a great day there though and I learned a lot from Sister Hardy. Each day I learn more about the gospel, myself, my companion, and how to teach more effectively. I really understand now why people say that a mission is more for the missionary than the people that they teach. We still have no progressing investigators, but my testimony is strengthened from my trials every day and I love the growth that I can see in myself already. So this week, I really learned how to rely on the spirit and look to the scriptures to gain strength. We had another new missionary training this week, and it was about how to adjust to missionary life. They related the story in Ether chapter 6 when they are facing the challenges of traveling to the promised land in the barges to our lives as missionaries. Trials will come everyday, but we have the tools to overcome them, and at the end the trials that I face will take me to the promised land or to turn me into the person that God knows that I am supposed to be. I love trials becasue they make me stronger and more resillient. I can do all things through Christ, and he has given me the comfort of the holy ghost and the scriptures to turn to when I forget that I don't have to do this on my own.
But even though I'm talking a lot about trials, this week was really great! I feel more and more confident in my teaching and the spirit is there so strongly. Teaching is definitely my favorite part of the day, and there is slowly progression in the ward. We have a returned member family now and they are my saving grace when I feel like I haven't made a difference, I remember the Cortez family and I know that God put me in this area for a reason.
Sorry I don't have much to say this week, it was crazy with exchanges and meetings, but I did get to see Sister Sawada and Sister Tapusoa again so that was way fun! I also had a Thanksgiving feast with my housemates so it wasn't too bad missing my second favorite holiday back home haha and I can tell that Christmas here will be great becasue Philipino's are so festive and there are fireworks every night of december! Not to mention that we're decorating our apartment, so it will feel nice and homey! And today, we just had the best P Day every cause we were combined with La Trinidad zone and we played sports! So it was my first P Day in the field where I got to wear normal clothes and it was the best ever, I even got a shorts tan and I'm a little too excited about it haha. It's sad that I'm in the Philippines but I'm getting more white than when I came here! But ayos lang cause I know that I will  want to be in cool Baguio once I'm assigned to the lowlands haha.
Thank you everyone for sending me letters and emails, I love hearing from you! But the letters that I've gotten have been the wrong address, so my address is:
Sister Stacey Bangerter
Baguio Philippines Mission
PO Box 115
National Highway Brgy. Lingsat,
San Fernando City, La Union
2500 Phlippines
Thanks for your love and prayers and I'm praying for you all too!
Mahal Kita,
Sister Bangerter


No comments:

Post a Comment