Monday, October 27, 2014

Masipag Kami 10/26/2014

Kumusta!
Wow, this week was so fast and so great!
1. Exchanges - so I had exchanges again this week with a new missionary, Sister Faka'osi. She's at the end of her training now and she's from Tonga, she's so nice and we had a fun day in her area. Funny story, we are teaching this investigator with the cutest little baby sitting on her lap. In the Philippines, people don't really put diapers on their babies, not sure why, but it's more weird to see a baby wearing a diaper than without one at this point. So we're teaching her, and the baby just rips one haha, the investigator just laughed it off and picked up the kid, and she had pooped all over her lap! But the lesson was still going great, so we just kept teaching her like nothing happened! Only in the Pines! Then the next day I got to go on exchanges with Sister Sidwell which I was way excited about. This is the longest we have been apart since we got to the field, so it was fun to be her companion for a day. We did a lot of finding in her area, and saw this giant house with a ton of Santa Clause decorations. We decided to just go for it and knock the house, and they were so nice and let us right in! Turns out, the owner is a doctor and so is his wife, they were way loaded and fed us and told us how they respect our sacrifice as missionaries and they would read the pamphlet because they know it's important to us. So golden! But he works for an oil company and left last Saturday, but hopefully they can keep teaching the wife. Funny story there, when they gave us a snack, the brother asked his maid to make us some juice, but she made tea instead. We weren't sure what kind of juice it was, but we didn't say anything until after Sister Sidwell took a tiny sip and then asked what it was. It was iced tea haha so slightly broke the Word of Wisdom, but we repented!
2.Baptism- This past Saturday Sister Alalaine was baptized! It was a kind of crazy day because a lot of things got changed at the last minute and her friend who introduced the gospel to her couldn't baptize her because he wasn't from our ward, but it all worked out and she was baptized and it was a beautiful service. So many people were there, and she bore such a strong testimony afterwards about how she came to know that the church was true, and she knows that this church has the fulness of the gospel and she can't wait to be sealed! Unfortunately, her son Gab was a little scared to be baptized, but after watching his mom and the other primary be baptized, he said next month he would! So, we think he was a little afraid of the unknown, but he is so smart and said that he knows this is the true church too.
3. Work, work work- this week we worked so hard and we were so dead each day! But it really showed in our stats and I'm so happy with how this area is progressing right now. We have some great people that we're teaching and I know that as I continue to work hard and give it everything I have, we will see miracles in our work.
Sorry I'm running out of time, there's so much more I want to say, but just know that I love my area, my companion, and my mission. Things are just going really great right now, and I feel so blessed to be apart of this work and a small part in others path to eternal life.
Oh, and I have done a lot of thinking and praying, and I have talked to my mission President and will be coming home on February 18th now. I feel really good about this decision, and hope that I can satisfy the Lord with my work for the time that I have remaining. This way, I will be able to spend more time with my wonderful family before I leave for college again, and I'll be able to go through a session in the Manila temple before the long flight home. I love my mission so much, and I know that each day I have here is a blessing for me more than those that I teach.
Mahal Ko Kayong Lahat!
Sister Bangerter
A family in Servilla area

Sister Faka'osi

Sister Alalaines baptism

Some members from my branch in Agoo came to Lingsat to visit me!

 My "my 3 words" for this year

Didn't mean to send this haha but I love Sister Rae!

Sunday, October 19, 2014

October 19th, 2014

Kumusta everyone!
Well, this week went by so fast! I feel like every week just gets faster and faster, and it's really making me sad, especially since I think that Sister Rae will be transferred and we just have such a fun companionship, I don't want her to leave!
Anyways, this week was really great, we were even able to reach all of the standards of excellence! We now have five investigators with a baptismal date and our investigators Alalaine and her son Gab will be baptized this weekend now because she wants her family to attend. Can't complain with that! We're hoping that after her baptism, her family will be open to listening to us and they will be baptized too because after all, the gospel is for families. But there was a baptism in Bauang this past week for Brother Joey! He was so prepared, and even though I wasn't able to go, I know that it was a really happy day for him and his family, and he will never fall away from the truth.
Well, to be honest, I can't really think of much at the moment, but we had some great lessons and continue to find great people! Like this week, we started to teach two Nigerians who just moved here for schooling, they were so nice and funny. I'm sure I'll have some great stories from them in the coming weeks. When we taught them for the first time, they invited us in and asked us if we wanted to "do apple". I couldn't really understand the way they pronounced apple, and so me and Sister Rae were thinking that they were about to offer us some sort of drug, but then they pull out an apple and ask if that's not what it's called haha, even in English there's a bit of a language barrier. But on a more spiritual note, we have been really emphasizing the importance of the Book of Mormon in conversion and teaching. We had interviews with President Balledos, and he asked me to think what my life would be like without the Book of Mormon. Honestly, if I didn't have the Book of Mormon in my life, I would be so lost and I wouldn't know the purpose to our lives. But because of the Book of Mormon and the influence it has had on me, I know and understand the Plan of Salvation and the Atonement of Jesus Christ. I know that this is a true book, that Joseph Smith is a prophet, and this is the Lord's church and kingdom on the earth.
Well I love you all, read the Book of Mormon because it's true and will bring you closer to God than any other book!
Shout outs to Sister Alvarez for the letter, and happy birthday Tatie Yva and Stephane!
Mahal Kita,
Sister Bangerter

PS- I played tennis for the first time in over a year this morning, and I still got it :)
This guy fishing on his cool raft boat

Monday, October 13, 2014

I Love General Conference-10/13/2014

Kumusta everyone!
The highlight of this week for me was definitely General Conference! I have been looking forward to this session of conference since the last one in April. Not gonna lie, before my mission, it was a struggle for me to stay awake sometimes during conference, but now I think I get more excited for it than Christmas. We are so lucky and blessed to be able to receive such direct and personal revelation from our beloved Prophet and general authorities of the church. Just as they emphasized in this conference, I truly love and sustain each of the Lord's prophet, seers, and revelators on the earth. I know that they are called of God, and that their messages are true. I went into this session of conference with three specific questions, and they were all answered perfectly. I know that this is Christ's church and that His gospel is true. One of the talks from this conference that I really enjoyed was Elder Bednar's talk. I'm not sure how many people really read my emails anymore haha, but for those of you that do, especially my lovely Texas friends, I want you all to watch or read this talk right now! Here's the link: https://www.lds.org/general-conference/2014/10/come-and-see?lang=eng
This is why I am here on my mission, to share the happiness that I have experienced in my life with others. I love the people of the Philippines, and I love my friends and family back home. I know that this gospel blesses lives, and this is every missionaries invitation, to help others to come unto Christ and receive the blessings of eternal happiness and eternal families. I know that this is Christ's church.
Sorry this email is so short, but I just really wanted to emphasize some of my feelings about conference. But this week:
1.I got my flight questioneere, malapit na!
2. I had my first exchanges with Sister Smith from Bountiful Utah, she lives so close to you Dad!
3. We watched The Best Two Years for our zone activity
4. Me and my comp were running around like maniacs trying to get trykes to take a blind and a deaf lady to conference on Sunday morning, and walked up like superstars as we got them seated with only 1 minute to spare!
5. We are going to have a baptism for Sister Alalaine and her son Gab this coming saturday, and my investigator in Bauang Brother Joey will get baptized this coming week too!
I love you all, keep choosing the right!
Mahal Kita,
Sister Bangerter
Me and Sister Rae at Sunset Bay

Our District lunch

Sister Lou from my old area in San Fernando Ward

Sister Spjut

Monday, October 6, 2014

Ang Bilis ng Panahon! 10/6/2014

Kumusta everyone!
Wow, I cannot believe that it's already October, seriously the months just fly by and it's blowing my mind! Anyways, I feel like so much happened this week, but not really at the same time. Half of the week was spent in meetings, so our area suffered a little bit, but we were still able to meet almost all of our goals and we had one of the best Sundays ever, but I'll get to that in a second.
1.MLC- this week I had my first missionary leadership council which is where all the leaders in the mission meet together and discuss how we can improve as a mission and help to motivate the other missionaries. Normally it's just one day, but since there were a lot of new leaders called, we had it for two days and all the STL's stayed at our apartment. It was great because I got to hang out with two of my favorite past companions Sister Sawada and Sister Aroa who are both STL's now too! But MLC was great, I learned a lot about how to lead through example and we even changed the Standard of Excellence of the mission, so it was really cool to be a part of that change. It's crazy to think that this will my third Standard of Excellence since I've been here, I'm really getting old on the mission now!
So since we had MLC for two days, we didn't have as much time this week to go out and teach in our area which was sad, but the work that we did do was so amazing!
2. Sister Jay- so Sister Jay is a Korean woman who has been an investigator for a while. We started teaching her by reading stories from the Book of Mormon because that's how she understands best. It's really hard to teach someone who doesn't believe in God, but she likes the stories and is starting to see how they can apply to her. This week, we read about the people of Alma in Mosiah and their trials. As we taught, she didn't have that many questions, but just liked how the Lord blessed them in their trials. Throughout the lesson, I just thought to myself that she will never progress unless she feels the spirit and feels that this can apply to her. Then, she said the closing prayer, and it was the most sincere she had ever been, and she said that she hoped that what she read was true. When she closed, she just began to cry. We were silent for a while as we let the spirit sink in, and she told us that she just really hopes that what we are teaching is true. Sister Jay is starting to feel the spirit, and I know that hope is the starting point of faith and belief!
3.Agtos Family- so since we had so little time to work in our area, we were really concerned about how we would meet our goals for finding 5 new investigators in the week. This is the hardest for me to find, especially when so many missionaries have picked over our area. But we stopped at the house of an investigator who we haven't been able to teach in a while, and then left with 6 new investigators from the one family! The one we originally went to teach ( the grandmother) was busy, but we met her son, his nephews, and his kids, and they were all really interested and committed to come to church. Then on Sunday, they actually came to church! Not only that, but brother Mario, the father, brought his other nephews that we hadn't even met yet! So we had 6 investigators at church, mostly from one family too!
So this week was really great, I just love my mission more and more each day, I can't imagine what I would be like if I didn't serve, especially here in the Philippines.
Shout outs to Paisley and Kelsey, hope ya'll had great birthdays! And thanks for the letters Grandma and Sister Behrmann, love ya'll!
Mahal Kita,
Sister Bangerter

PS-I dyed my hair, pics next week :)