Season of Change-11/16/2014

Kumusta!
Well we had MLC this week, and there are lots of change here in Baguio mission! First off, we are officially changing our standard of excellence, and I'm really excited about it. It's putting more focus on investigator lessons, especially with members so that they have a fellowshipper, and to get us to reach our goal of 100 baptisms each month. In September, we ad 80, so we're getting closer just 20 more to go! I know that we can do it, and I'm so grateful for the council of President Balledos, he really is an inspired man and I'm so thankful that he is my mission president. We also talked about accountability and if we are willing to raise above the bar and really act upon our goals in order to reach them. I know that the time I have here is so short, and it's going by faster everyday, so I want to be as accountable as I can to the Lord and not waste any time that I have here! So it was a really great MLC and becasue President and Sister Balledos love us so much, they have decided to change our P-day. Now, our P-Day starts at 10 instead of 12 and we have an hour and a half to email, PRAISE! We were all so excited, so family, don't think that I was being pasaway (disobedient) because I was on earlier, it's a new rule!
This week really went by so fast, I can't remember everything that happened, but we are working really hard with our investigators Mary, Gina, and Gab. Please pray for them! For Mary and Gina, their desire is there, they just need to come to church! As a missionary, you get to see just a little bit of how frustrated God must feel sometimes when He knows what is good for us and what will bless us, but we just choose not to do it. Agency, it's a wonderful thing. So we are going to focus really hard with them to choose coming to church over catching that extra washing job because they will be blessed even more by coming to the House of the Lord! As for Gab, he is the smartest 9 year old I've ever met, and he is still deciding if he wants to be baptized. All I can say from this week, is that the actions of others really influence our decisions. Gab is afraid to be baptized becasue he will be the only member at his Catholic school, and we have some other investigators who are friends with less actives who hide from us, so it's hard to commit them when their member friends don't like us. So please everyone, just be good examples and take advantage of the gospel because it's what will help us the most!
I love you all, keep choosing the right and practice what you preach!
Mahal Kita,
Sister Bangerter

Our nice friend Rachel the Nigerian!

Pagbabago!-11/10/2014

Kumusta everyone!
I don't have much time, but this past week was so crazy and I got barely any sleep!
1. The departing missionaries of November left, so I got to say goodbye to my Nanay Sister Lazan, it was sad to see her leave, but I'm glad that she got to stay at my apartment and I could say goodbye to her right before she left the mission.
2. The new missionaries came this week and we got to greet them, and it was really weird to send missionaries home and then see all these greenies haha. But I was most excited to see Sister Tapusoa again! She came back with the new missionaries, and she's in my zone so I get to go on exchanges with her, so I'm really excited for this transfer!
3. So we had transfers again, and sadly, Sister Rea got transferred far far away on Judea's plains to Candon. I miss her, but I'm excited to be with my new companion Sister Lunar! She's my batch mate, Filipina and from Quezon City. She's so sweet, and I know that we are going to have a really great transfer together!
4.We have a few investigators with baptismal dates at the moment that we're working really hard on helping them come to church. That's their only kulang (what's missing) at the moment for them. I was feeling really stressed out about finding new investigators this week because things have been crazy in our area with all the people staying with us, but we were blessed as we went to visit a recent convert, and her neighbor was at her house and she was interested in listening to us. She told us how she was in jail for over 3 years waiting for a hearing, and then a member of the church came to visit and she asked him to pray for her, so he did, and then 3 days later she got her hearing and was released! Since then, she's wanted to come to church, and when she saw the church in Lingsat, she went up to the door but was too afraid to go inside becasue she didn't know anyone, but now she's friends with the recent convert and wants to attend church and accepted a baptismal invitation! I'm excited to see how things progress with her, so please pray for Sister Mary!
That's all I can think of, sorry this is so short, but enjoy all these pictures :) and thanks Sister Behrmann and Grandma for the letters and Mom for the package, love ya'll!!
Mahal Kita,
Sister Bangerter

Sister Lazan before she left

Our LA Sister Rosalina

Our RC Sister Chita (she's blind and the sweetest woman ever, I love her!)

Acting like a new missionary

Sister Adora's family

My last day with Sister Rea

My last day with Sister Rea

Reunited with Sister Tapusoa and Sister Sawada

My new comp Sister Lunar

The best district ever! :)

Araw ng Patay 11/2/2014

Happy Halloween ya'll!
This week was probably my last full week with Sister Rea, so another great companionship is sadly coming to an end. We worked really hard this transfer, and I'm so happy with how things have turned out. This week Sister Rea was sick, so not too much happend. I did go on exchanges again, and when I was in my old area of San Fernando, we taught a less active who had gone apostate. He refused to believe that Joseph Smith was a prophet and that the Book of Mormon was true. The entire lesson was really tense, and he was just yelling at us and trying to argue how the gospel in the Bible is different from the gospel in the Book of Mormon. At the beginning, I was feeling really angry that he could so easily bash all of my beliefs and everything that I know to be true in my life, but then I realized that if I tried to debate with him, neither of us would accomplish anything. So to end the lesson, I just bore my firm testimony that the Book of Mormon is a witness of Jesus Christ, Joseph Smith is the Lord's prophet, and those that earnestly seek for the truth will find it in the Book of Mormon. It has brought nothing but happiness in my life, and even though others may tear it down, I will always defend it because I know that it's true and will bless us eternally. Even though, he still refused to believe anything we said, it just reaffirmed my testimony that this is Christ's church and the Book of Mormon is His witness. So go and read the Book of Mormon if you haven't before, and if you have read it again and again, it will invite the spirit into your life and bring you closer to Chirst!
I still love my area and my mission, it truly is the best decision I've ever made. Shout out to Sydney for turning 20!
Mahal Kita,
Sister Bangerter

The beach in San Fernando

The San Fernando Sisters

My sick tan line #dontjudge

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!

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

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

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 :)