Subject: Week 11
" MONDAY: My first Zone Activity!!! It was super awesome. We had permission from our President to start it at 7am...which meant that the sisters and I needed to wake up at 5:30am. We woke up early because our Zone Activity was being held at our Zone Leaders Chapel in La Muan. Well, we get there right at 7am, and no one is there! So we headed over to Jolibee right across the street for some breakfast, and then back to the Chapel to find our Elders there...who had just gotten there as soon as we were done eating. TSK TSK they were all late (: We all had decided to have a Sports Day. Of course, we did not just play..we also had our regular Personal Study all together. Instead of having kasamahan study (companionship), we had Zone Study instead; we shared what we learned from our personal study with another. For sports, we played basketball, volleyball, badminton and soccer.....sometimes, in the rain! I was not worried about getting sick. Afterwards, we took tons of pictures and all headed over to a place called Mang Inasal for our lunch. Sobrang Masarap (super delicious!). And no, we did not wear church clothes during our sport events (: Sis. Soliven, kasama ko (my companion) were unable to work this day because she was not feeling well. It might have been from playing in the rain, but she said this is the first time she has felt really sick...but not the first time she has played in the rain. I really hope she feels better.
TUESDAY:
District Meeting. The second day/time we met with our Zone! Awesome
workshops as always (: After our meeting, Sis. Soliven and I headed back
to the apartment instead of going out to lunch with everyone, because
she was still not feeling very well. She decided to take a long nap
before going out to work. We decided to only go out to one appointment
because of how ill she was. We headed to our appointment, which fell
through..I laughed inside because I then thought to myself, "Heavenly
Father must have done this on purpose so that Sister Soliven could rest"
(: Before going right back home, we headed to PureGold for a few
groceries. For dinner, we went downstairs to Bishop's house. Gosh, it is
always so exciting when we have dinner with them because the food is
always a surprise! This time, she gave us a "thanksgiving" type of
dinner, with hamburger patties, mash potatoes, gravy and vegetables. It
was pretty nice not having to eat rice, just for this time (:
Afterwards, Sis. Soliven headed straight to bed. Oh, I really hope she
gets better!! (: Also, I received an awesome letter from my one of my
former MTC companions, Sister Smith (serving in Manila) and I nearly
cried because I miss her so much. I also told her to be on the look-out
for Elder James Hart, for those of you who know him (:
WEDNESDAY: TODAY IS MY FIRST ZONE CONFERENCE/
"MISSION TOUR"!!!!!!! The sisters and I needed to wake up early again
and travel outside of our area for the conference. Our speakers:
President & Sister Revillo & Sister & Elder Arden of the 70,
from New Zealand. Their accents are so cool! The Mission Tour was
divided into two parts. Our intermission, lunch (:...which means that
Sister Revillo would be taking care of our lunch, which meant that it
would be really delicious filipino food! The Zone Conference all
together was just amazing!!!!! Also at the Zone Conference, we had about
6 zones all together, so tons and tons of missionaries!!!!!! I had the
opportunity of seeing Elder Malmrose (former District mate from the
Provo MTC)!! I love being able to meet up with my former District; I
miss them all so much! After taking a huge picture with all of the zones
at the conference, the sisters and I headed over to a dinner
appointment we had with Sister Gaddi (RM and Member who lived in Sister
Soliven's/ my area in Cupang). We were too full to finish everything
because we were given so much food/dessert at the Zone Conference. Pero,
we were not just at Sister Gaddi's house to eat. We were there to also
celebrate her birthday and share a message with her regarding referrals
(: Because we returned home around 7pm,
Sister Soliven and I were not able to work again this day. I pray for
her all the time and I was getting a little worried about how sick she
had been getting. Pero, everything will be fine because she was able to
make a Doctor's appointment for next week! (: I know that she will get
better throughout this week.
THURSDAY:
Today started very very slow. Sister Soliven is still very sick, but we
still headed out to work around 3:15ish, very slowly but surely (:
Heavenly Father provided a blessing in disguise for us as we rode a
Jeepney to our area. Usually, our jeepney stops at a certain station,
but he wanted to drive me and Sister Soliven all the way into our area!
We were so thankful because walking from our station to our area is
actually..quite a long walk and we had planned to pay for money for a
tricycle for Sister Soliven's sake and for the sake of our appointment,
but the Jeepney driver drove us all the way to our first appointment and
did not charge extra (: THANK YOU THANK YOU! Our first appointment was
with a lady named Tess. I had actually contacted her on splits when I
was with one of the Sister Training Leaders. Tess is such an amazing
woman. She has gone through so much in her life, but she has stayed so
strong. We shared the first two principles of the Restoration with her:
God is our loving Heavenly Father & The Gospel Blesses Families.
Sister Soliven had me explain the second principle. I felt impressed to
ask her certain questions while explaining the principle to her; the
Spirit was so strong between us that we both cried. I commended her for
her faith and strength as a mother and Sister Soliven and I knew how
happy Heavenly is for her. Her strength reminded me of my own mother's
strength and I am so thankful for everything my mother has done for me
(small shout-out haha). Afterwards, we were finally able to meet Brother
Lirrios (member, but his job alternates with Sundays). Brother Lirrios
is super awesome. He is a policeman and when he is not doing anything at
work, he reads the Book of Momon. HOW AWESOME IS THAT!?!?!?!!? We
shared a message with him and his family about the Temples and Families.
We headed back home a little early so that Sister Soliven could get
some sleep and relax. SHE WILL GET BETTER! (:
FRIDAY:
Instead of having Weekly Planning, we decided to move that to tomorrow
so that we could work more this day. For work, we headed out to see
Brother Andy Mariano, then Jane Vera and then the Obena Family. We had a
very great work-day! Great lessons, great feed-back and the strength of
the Spirit! I led all of the lessons today and gave all of the
commitments. It was pretty scary doing that my first couple of weeks,
but practice really does make perfect (: For dinner, Sister Soliven and I
headed to Greenwhich Pizza, which is joined with a Jolibee. Greenwhich
has BOBA!!! So...I sorta had some (:
SATURDAY:
Today we had our Weekly Planning, which went extremely well and we
attended an INTERFAITH Event, which was held in one of LDS Chapels. Our
Event would contain Marikina Missionaries and Sumulong
Missionaries...which meant that I would be seeing Elder Smith (District
Mate from Provo MTC)!!! The topic at the InterFaith Event was
"Families"; we were privileged to be joined by/hear from a Catholic
pastor and a Methodist pastor, as well as our Stake President. Many
people attended and it was very very successful. Also, I saw Elder
Smith!! We talked for a quite a long time. I am so glad he is doing so
well on his mission. He is turning into an Area-Book-Missionary. HOW
COOL IS THAT!? After the event, pictures, Sister Sliven and I were
craving some seriously delicious food...so we took a Jeepney to
Chowking. I think Chowking may be my favorite Fast Food place to eat at.
I feel like I am at home eating my filipino grandma's home cooked food.
It is pretty great. Because of Weekly Planning and the Event hours,
Sister Soliven and I were not able to work today. It is a good thing we
switched weekly planing from yesterday to today..so that we could work
more yesterday (:
SUNDAY:
Today I gave a talk in my ward about Selfless Service, in which I was
joined by Sister racaza, one of my kabahay sisters (one of the other
three sisters who lives in my apartment). Apparently, everyone really
liked our talks. I did my best to throw in as much Taglish as I could
haha. I just really love Sundays, because I consider it my
"Breather-Day" (: After church, we all ate at the Micairin's House, as
we do every Sunday
(: and then headed off to work. Brother Adolf (Ward Mission Leader of
our Ward) worked with us this day. We were able to visit the Lirrios
Family, Sister Macariola and Benjie Barlan. With Benjie we introduced
him to the Book of Mormon and came well prepared to answer all of his
questions. We invited him to read and pray to know about the
truthfulness of the Book of Mormon. We know that he will receive his
answer as he has a true desire to know (: In the evening, we received a
call from our APs to know who would be training this next transfer:
Sister Racaza and Sister Tibungcog!! Which means that either one of them
or both of them will be transferred!!! HOLY MOLY!!
MONDAY: Today we had our District meeting instead of on Tuesday
for this week, because tomorrow we would find out who is being
transferred. Also, tomorrow would be no work/studies. All the time would
be dedicated to cleaning our apartment and helping whoever is being
transferred to do what they need to do. After District Meeting, we all
took tons of pictures, because it would be the last time we see each
other, possibly. For District Lunch we headed to....CHOWKING haha! OH my
goodness. I am not gaining weight..I am actually losing weight haha!
After Lunch, Sister Soliven and I headed over to the MRC (Missionary
Recovery Center) for her check-up. The MRC is actually across from the
Manila Temple and it is inside the Manila MTC. I got to see the front
office and a few classrooms as well as the cafeteria. Afterwards, due to
time, we went home, were unable to work and had a kabahay dinner of all
our leftover food with the other sisters. WONDERING WHO WILL BE
TRANSFERRED!
Today: This morning we were called by our Zone
Leaders to know that Sister Racaza would be transferred! Which means
that Sister Tibungcog will be bringing her new companion to our house
tomorrow around 1:30ish!! HOW EXCITING!!!! So far, we have cleaned our
house and had breakfast...that is it..not lunch yet. Also, we found out
that our fridge & toaster are not working...GREAT haha, we will be
getting that fixed soon! Well for the rest of the day, after emails, we
will all be doing stuff, I am not really quite sure what exactly we are
doing because we gave all of our time to Sister racaza since today is
her last day with us (:
So a new goal that we heard from our President is that missionaries
who finish the 12 weeks program will be training on their very next
transfer! Which means, I may be training Nov. 6, 2013. HOW EXCITING!!!!!!!!
Well, the rain has been pretty hard here and there
have been quite a number of floods, but all is well (: Thank you
everyone for your awesome emails/letters/words of wisdom. (:
I miss you all. I love missionary work. I love the Philippines.
Until next time!
Sister Escobar "
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