8/31/2014

We ate at a pizza and pasta place last Monday, called Greenwich. It was really good. I had lasagna for the first time in almost 1 year.

Some recent converts gave us coconut. It's so delicious!

8/24/2014

Dear Everyone, 

I am doing really well. This week was especially amazing. I think that I have worked harder this week than any other week of my mission. It feels great to be trusted by the Lord and to go out and do His work everyday. 

We saw huge blessings as we were led to people who are ready to receive the Gospel. Yesterday we met a man who was a referral from some members in a near by area, and he has already read The Book of Mormon and knows it's true. We just need to help his faith to come to church instead of working, but that should be easy with the testimony and his eagerness to learn. This area is fruitful and yielding many miracles. 

This week I also felt the power of praying with faith. Instead of always praying for things to end up a certain way, I have felt power as I make promises with Heavenly Father with what I am willing to do, and then asking His help and strength as I do my best. 

I know that we can feel this same power of prayer. I spoke in church yesterday about sacrifice and service. Sacrifice is always giving up something that is important to us, for something better. Anything that we sacrifice in this life in our callings, home and visiting teaching, and being a member of the church will be paid off in the next life. What we gave up will be nothing compared to what we will gain. 

Love you all, 

Sister Santa

8/17/2014

Dear Everyone, 

Thank you again for all of the birthday wishes! I am still receiving mail and post cards. 

Here in Manaoag the Lord's work is doing great. The area is so fruitful and it just seems that it's in a season where we are having lots of baptisms and we are really finding those that want to receive our message. We are so blessed. 

I sent a picture of one complete family that we are teaching. They aren't married yet, so we are working on that, hopefully this week. Send prayers for them! They are facing opposition in the municipal to obtain a certificate of marriage. But they are ready otherwise to be baptized on August 30th. It has been a huge blessing as they have felt the blessings of praying and reading The Book of Mormon daily as a family. They are so converted. 

We are also seeing other blessings as sometimes we don't know what members will work with us, but then Heavenly Father sends members and they offer to drive us to far areas. I know that when we are trying our best and being obedient, Heavenly Father will help us and bless us that we won't let His work fail. 

We are just His instruments. 

I love you all. I hope that I am doing my best. 

Sister Santa

7/6/14

Dear Everyone,
I'm doing great!! I was just transferred to my 3rd area, but I'm still in the same zone. I will be a Mangaldan Missionary (joke). I'm not sure when I will ever leave this zone because I think President is using me to establish the area that I was just transferred to, because we will have new sisters coming into the mission this summer.
My area is Manaoag in the Mangaldan Zone. My whole mission I've spent in this area, just swapping areas and companions. I love it here though, and I don't want to transfer. My companion is Sister Belaro and she's from Quezon City, Manila. She is my 6th companion. For only 9 months in the mission, I have had a new companion every transfer!
This area is huge and gorgeous. I love it here.This town is famous in the whole Philippines because it has one of the largest Catholic Churches. It's huge. From the whole Urdaneta Mission, this is the area that is famous because of this church. It's so big. Search: Lady of Manaoag, Pangasinan, Philippines on the internet. I bet you'll find pictures! So basically this means that Heavenly Father really trusts me. Our entire area is devout catholics. My companion says that most sisters don't want to be assigned here because it's a really hard area, but I like the challenge :)
I would just like to invite all of you to do one thing. I have experienced the power of this one thing many times in my mission, and I know that this email and my whole day will be a success if I can get every family reading this email to do this one thing. I know that Heavenly Father will be very pleased with you.
Members are the best way to find people to teach. I urge each of you to set a time with the missionaries to have dinner and invite another family that are not yet members. A family did this for us on Saturday night and it was amazing. We now have a new family to teach. Will you call and arrange a time with the missionaries this week? Then continue the next week and pray about who Heavenly Father would want you to invite. Pray for the courage to invite them. I know that Heavenly Father will help you. You will be keeping your baptismal covenant.
This is my testimony and my love for you. Thank you!
Sister Santa

6/29/14

After a really long day, a nice man at his store gave us milk because we shared the gospel with him! We stop by about every other day to see how he's reading is going. He reads all of the pamphlets we give him, and even The Book of Mormon. We haven't been able to teach him yet because we lives at the store and his boss doesn't like us.
This is a picture of our zone tshirt!
On Saturday we had a district baptism because in my zone we had 12 baptisms all together, so we made it a big combined baptism. It was so amazing!

A member brought us "palitaw" while we were studying one morning. They are so nice! It's because they know it's my favorite. It's sticky rice with coconut and sesame seeds.
These members always work with us. They are so nice! We experienced miracles with them last week because they sacrificed their time and took us down the street and introduced us to all of their friends. That is the best way to find new investigators. Every time.

8/10/2014

Dear Everyone, 

I had a great birthday! The members made it so much fun for me. Thursday was so crazy and it was such an adventure. I learned how to get coconuts from the tree in our backyard!

Even if I can't say very much on email for everything that we did, at least I have pictures to prove it all! After all, a pictures is worth a thousand words. 

Our investigators are doing well. We are trying to put a wedding together this week so that a family can be baptized by August 30th. It's a lot of work and I don't even know where to start to help them. Digna and Joseph have been coming to church for weeks and they have really strong testimonies. I am excited for them to be sealed in the temple next year! They are a golden family. 

In other news, Manaoag had 2 baptisms on Saturday. The two brethren are definitely the elect of God. We are teaching so many lessons and people that we don't have time for everything. This area is growing. This week we also have transfers, so again I will find out whether I am staying or going. I have a feeling I'll be staying. 

On Saturday, my Mangaldan Zone had a musical fireside, "We Believe in Christ". I was assigned as one of 3 soloists a few weeks ago but I kept forgetting to mention it. I have a recording of my singing on my camera but I can't send it until after the mission. I have been practicing for weeks and this really pushed me out of my comfort zone because it's the first time that I have ever been a soloist. I had to learn it myself on the piano, and so I discovered that I actually have skills reading music and singing. Wow. What a great blessing to discover hidden talents. As I was singing on Saturday I was really nervous, but I literally felt angels at my side helping me turn the pages of the music and direct my eyes so that I wouldn't get lost. Heavenly Father really takes care of us and answers prayers. I sang "Mary did you know?" Everyone said it was beautiful and I did a great job. :)

I love you all, 

Sister Santa

6/22/14

I love studying Tagalog. I almost love studying Tagalog as much as I love personal study. Here is another picture in the city when we were on exchanges. It's rainy season now, so it rains everyday. Crossing the street in Dagupan was like crossing a little river. The water was up to our shins!

This was my companion last Friday. Her name is Sister Kinikini and she's from Tonga. This is also a better view of the city and the river in the street. 

8/3/2014

Dear Everyone, 

It's been a good week. Yesterday was really hard. We were walking in an area to go to a members house and my companion thought that we could take a short cut. We walked to the field where they had walked before with her previous companion, only to find that it had been planted with rice. It was really muddy and the only way was by a thin strip of dirt, grass and mud between the rows of rice. We started forward but we stepped on an ant hill. The little red ants quickly ran up our legs and we ran back to the road. The ants bite so hard and it stung and was really itchy. Then we decided we would have to take the long way, which was unexpected. It was a long detour to go around the field. We had to walk through mud, and cow stool as well. Our feet were wet, muddy, and smelly. We stopped every few minutes to itch our legs from the ant bites. Our bags were heavy and the detour took 30 mins to walk. I thought that I had a lot of reasons to complain. I realized that we are given trials to test our patience and our faithfulness to Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ. I said a silent prayer, tied my hair up, and walked faster. That's what our Heavenly Father wants us to do. 

Needless to say, I have faced a lot of things on my mission that aren't very comfortable. But Jesus Christ wasn't very comfortable in His last few days either. I know that we have the Atonement as a free gift to help us. I know we can use it for anything that we think we can't do ourselves. 

I know that Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ love us so much. Yesterday turned out to be a great day, full of tender mercies. 

I love you all, 

Sister Santa