I don’t know why I always put this letter off until the end because then my hands are super duper tired of typing.  But opposition in all things right hah. Goodness so this week was an adventure.  We’re working on getting totally set in our new area.  It’s really not bad.  We know our way around for the most part so we don’t have to look like total tourists with our map.  We have a baptism coming up on Saturday so that means well be busy.  I really like our area but of course I miss my old ward.  It’s just weird because they are so close but yet so far away.  

   This week we taught some of our investigators.  It was a good lesson but then all of a sudden I looked up and saw the biggest spider of my life.  Right above my companions head.  I couldn’t even focus on the lesson because it was just chillin there and I couldn’t do anything about it.  Thank goodness the lesson was basically over and all we had to do was just close.  This is the same house that has the little boy that enjoys throwing little spiders at me.  There is a lot in his house so he goes and grabs them and throws them at me and thinks it’s the funniest thing ever when I freak out.  His mom always gets mad at him but of course he’s just like any other little boy and does it anyway ha. He’s too cute to get too mad at though.

   What else happened this week? I have an ingrown toenail that won’t go away.  I’m sure you all love to hear about that haha.  Maybe I’m paranoid but I’m also noticing rice cheeks start to set it.  It’s ok though because I love rice.  Actually were getting on a spaghetti trend now.  We eat it like every day!  It’s super good because the sauce here is sweet.  Super different and super hard to explain but it’s yummy.  

  So on Sunday we had Stake Conference.  It was interesting because we all heard it started at 9 so we got there at 830.  Turns out it didn’t start till like 10:15!  But at least we were able to help set up chairs and all that. But then we had put our bags on the benches to save us some soft seats.  Then we remember that were not all supposed to sit together in a group but by that time allllll the soft benches were gone. I was super grumpy that I had to sit on a hard chair for the entire conference but it actually wasn’t that bad.  I’ve gotten used to hard chairs because that’s what most people have here.  Couches are only in some houses.  And even our church has hard benches.  Oh the sacrifices we give for the mission hah.  

      Now for the spiritual part of the letter.  I’ve learned this week that it isn’t always easy or fun to get along with people.  It isn’t always easy or fun to go walking all day long or teaching every single day.  And sometimes you straight up don’t want to get out of bed at 6:30. But the thing is it’s a part of life.  There is always going to be things that need to be done that aren’t easy or fun. This week I was taking to my companion and complaining because it is so frustrating for me to have to teach sometimes because I really can’t get my point across and sometimes they just turn to her and say they didn’t understand anything.  But you know what she told me.  She told me that on a mission we just need to forget ourselves and go to work.  I had never thought about it that way.  I always took that phrase as meaning stop being homesick.  I never realized that sometimes we have to be uncomfortable and really really struggle in order to grow.  And as much as we want to grow we really don’t want to be uncomfortable.  But as were having hard times we just need to remember 1 Nephi 3:7.  super cliché and super well known but read it again. It really hits home.  Because I know for a fact that we won’t be given something that we can’t handle.  I’m not really sure all the time why I’m in the Philippines or why I’m with the companion I’m with but I do know that there is a reason and that I will be stronger for making it through.  So if you’re struggling stop and think about it.  Remember that the hard times are where the best stories come from.  And then put a smile on your face and try harder to see how you are supposed to grow.

I love you all so much and I miss you!  Keep on keeping on!

XOXO from the Philippines

SISTER VAN TASSELL 

Well its official.. I’m not in my first area anymore!  It wasn’t a far transfer..  Just from Muntinlupa 1st ward to Muntinlupa 2nd ward hahah.  So I’m staying in the same house but I’m in a shot gun area.  Which means the elders were there before and so we have to start from scratch.  All we have is their area book and a map. It makes for a good time.  This area is a lot of subdivisions instead of squatters areas.  It’s good but different.  And it defiantly tests our direction skills.  My new companion is Sister Seleue.  She is from Samoa and she has been out 7 months.  So I’m the jr.  I hate being junior.  But whatever.  We did a lot of just searching for people and that’s it.  We’ve been lucky and had 3 dinner appointments already.  I love dinner appointment. They are the absolute best.

I was a total sister when I heard about my transfer.  I cried so much.  It was kind of ridiculous.  We are such babies.  Transfers are such a pain.  We have to travel by jeepney with all of our luggage.  And we have to take 3 different jeepneys to get from our house to Molino.  The super awesome part was that the office elders took us home.  It is a little weird to be in a car.  The air conditioning is heaven.  We were jamming to EFY music.  The traffic here is crazy.  I would be scared to death to drive.  Thank goodness it’s only the elders that have to drive.  

So OYMing this week has been interesting.  We’ve oymd a baptism lady that tried to convert us and a 7th day Adventist lady that talked to us just to tell us how wrong we were and how we need to know the truth before we go teaching other people.  It’s a good time really.  I do love being told I’m wrong.  I wish sometimes that they’d be willing to have a conversation about it and not just debating.  They just aren’t willing to listen to our side of the story.  Which is sad but there is such a thing as agency....sometimes agency is a little annoying haha.

We had a really good experience this week though.  We found a less active that moved here and really really wants to come back to church.  We were going to go somewhere else but an old lady stopped and talked to us and was saying how we shouldn’t go there at night and we should just go back another day. We eventually decided to just listen to her and so we had nowhere else to go and then I thought of going to that less active sister.  So we went to her house.  She’s super super poor and it’s so sad.  She has four kids and her husband still expects her to pay for half of their food and stuff.  I hate seeing all the poverty here.  But anyway she had an 8 yr. old son that she wants to be baptized.  But we taught her sitting on the floor with just a candle for light and there were cockroachs everywhereeee!  But we taught about how God is with us through all of our trials and she really has faith in God.  And I mean nothing crazy happened but she seemed really happy that we were there.  And she said she knew the rain had stopped because God knew we were coming and so the roof wouldn’t be leaking when we were teaching.  I love experiences like that.  Just teaching people no matter what the circumstances.  I really hope she comes back to church.

Well I’m sorry this one is going to be a short one.  Basically all that happened was drama about transfers.  I love you all so much!  I’ll try and send a longer email next week!  The best part about this new transfer is all the struggles and really trying to push yourself to learn as much as you can.  It’s like sister Lizada always would say..."A mission will push you to your potentials...not to your limits but to your potentials."  It’s not always easy to go out of your comfort zone or be pushed further than you think you can but that’s the only way to grow.  Accept the hard times because they are the times you will look back on and see the most growth.  Keep up the good work back there at home...or more like play because its summer there now haha. 

Love you all!! XOXOXOXOX

Sister Van Tassell  

Happy June everyone!  I hope all of you are enjoying summer!  Sit in the sun and remember me because my summer is already over.  The kids have gone back to school and the rains are about to come down and the floods are about to come up.  And transfers are about to happen.  I’m a little worried.  Not quite ready to grow up and be away from my nanay(mother)!  But it will be ok.  It’s part of the mission experience haha

This week was super super awesome.  We had 10 investigators at church.  Maybe it was because it was Sister Lizada’s last week so God gave us a miracle...but we just sat there watching them come in and smiling bigger and bigger the whole time.  Then of course we were running around like crazy people trying to make sure they all knew where to go and where they were supposed to be.  I wouldn’t have it any other way though hah.  The members have started the last suppers before sister Lizada leaves.  I’ve decided it takes skill to be able to eat two dinners in a row.  Gosh it’s crazy.  And there’s no way to say no.  You just have to smile and do a few jumping jacks so there’s room for more food haha.  It would probably be easier if I didn’t like the food.  But unfortunately I do.  Trials of a sister missionary.  

We also had zone conference this week which was amazing!  It was so fun to get to see everyone and meet more missionaries.  Of course President Tye ended up having to basically herd us all out of there because all we do is just sit and talk forever and just catch up with everyone.  It’s a pretty good time.  It’s crazy because you have good friends in the mission but you only see each other like once a month or longer so you never really get to talk. 

I don’t really have much else that happened this week.  Just work as usual. Another day another dollar.  We had to pay 50 Pesos for a tricycle.  That was ridiculous!  Hah usually its only 8 but this one was "special."  Anyway that’s basically it.  We learned in our mission conference to really strive to recognize the little miracles every day.  So that is my challenge to you.  Strive to see the good in every day and in every person you meet! Next week I’ll write more.  Love you all.  Keep up the good work.  Thanks so much for all the love and the support!  

XOXO
SISTER VAN TASSELL

It is already P-day again and I’m really not sure how.  I only have 10 days left of training!  Actually I’m really sad because I absolutely love my trainer.  She is the best and so helpful and so patient.  And in lessons if I don’t know what to do I can just rely on her.  Unfortunately it’s about time to grow up.  :(  I really don’t like transfers.  It’s so stressful.  Lots of chicka chicka going around about who will be sent where and who will be doing what.  Nothing is for sure yet but our area right now is an Elders area so they have been discussing moving us out and putting Elders there.  Ew.  I would hate that. But it’s up to President Tye and we’ll all know soon enough. 

       I ATE BALUT THIS WEEK!  It really wasn’t bad.  Not sure what the big deal was haha.  IT was a little weird and looked gross and you could feel the feathers but not bad hah. 

   Also this Sunday we weren’t going to be able to go home for lunch because we were going to teach Jorge right after church. In the morning we were really wondering how we were going to do it because without food we get super-duper grumpy and plus it was Sunday so we couldn’t just stop and buy a snack.  Anyway we read the verse "think not of what you will eat” and it is so true because sure enough a lunch was provided for us after church!!  I love that verse so much!  Unfortunately though there were no plates or silverware left so they just scooped a bunch of food into a lasagna pan and gave it to us.  So then we each put a plastic bag on our hands and all ate with our hands out of the pan.  Kawawa naman! (pitiful situation)  but it was good cause we were starving! :)

So another drama week with baptisms.  We had four scheduled and actually we planned a stake baptism because there were so many being baptized.  15 from just our zone!  Anyway so it was kind of a big deal and everyone was there and we planned for so long.  And we went to our investigators every night just to prepare them.  Then Saturday we show up to the baptism and the other pair of sister missionaries come out and told us that only two were there.  Turns out the other two had a further concern and just decided to stay home and get baptized another day.  Wow.  I think you can probably guess how happy we were. It was just such a sinking feeling because they were totally ready and they passed the interview no problem.  I think they just got scared or something.  I’m not sure.  But they didn’t even give us any warning.  So there was nothing we could do but continue with the other two.  But those two baptisms were super amazing.  They were so excited to get baptized.  The youngest Ng boy and then a nanay. The young men have been AMAZING at fellowshipping and it has made all the difference.  The youth even came to the baptism and sang a musical number.  I love how supportive they are.  The next day at church Sister Irene.  (the other baptism) told us she wanted to pay tithing and asked us how she could do it!  She is so cute and i just love her.  It was super funny though cause in her testimony after her baptism she said thanks to us but she forgot my name.  So she just said sister Lizada and Sister.....and then continued with her testimony. hahah oh good times.  And my camera battery died too so I didn’t get many pictures before the baptism so I’ll have to try and get them from sister Lizada.

  Also three less actives came to church this last Sunday!! We were so excited we just started crying right when they came in the door.  We’ve been working with them for so long and they finally kept their commitment to come!  It was probably the best feeling ever.  Because when you don’t have investigators or less actives at church it is kind of really a downer.

    We had a heart break this week. Jorge told us he didn’t want to continue the lessons because he has had to postpone his baptism for so long.  He wouldn’t even talk to us hardly and just said he wanted to stop.  We got one more lesson the next day and really prayed and prepared and even woke up early so we could get all of our studies done so we’d have time to go to him.  We went and he was busy so we agreed to come back.  When we did we brought a YSA and one of the young men with us to teach.  He let us in and we had one of the most powerful lessons ever.  You could really feel the spirit so strong.  He actually committed to be baptized on June 21 which is good because yesterday he wouldn’t even talk to us.  It’s just crazy how many trials come when you are striving to choose the right.  I am so thankful that he was able to agree to one more date and i know that if we do the same thing and really strive to put all of our faith in Christ, anything is possible.  I hope you all will remember that.  When you don’t feel like praying or having family scripture study just remember who it is that is making you feel that way.  Remember Christ in your life every day and strive to feel the spirit every day and it will make all the difference.  I love you all so much!  You’re the best! Keep on keepin on!

XOXO from the Philippines

-SISTER VAN TASSELL  

Wow another week has come and gone!  It was long and hard and our numbers were kind of crappy but it’s over and there are a lot of stories to tell!

First off we had a baptism!!! So awesome!  Her name is Loven and she’s the mom of a member.  And let me tell ya.  Anything that could have gone wrong the day of her baptism did.  I’ll start from the beginning.  So the baptism was supposed to start at 5.  So some of the young men got there early to turn on the water.  Something was weird with it and it wasn’t filling up and the water was going SUPER slow!  So by the time it was time to start it was not even close to full so we decided to wait another hour.   Then after we had waited the water turned off.  So we had all waited there for like 2 hours and everyone was super stressed, especially us because we had a lot of investigators there to watch the baptism.  We thought about having some water delivered or just buying the drums of mineral water but that would be crazy expensive. The bishop called San Pedro to see if they had water and they did.  We asked them to turn on the water in the font and wed drive over there. Thankfully they were super helpful and they ran to the church and hurried and cleaned the font and started the water for us.   Our investigator, us, the bishop, the speaker, and the baptizer and a few other people jumped into the van and drove 30 minutes to San Pedro so we could have the baptism that day and we wouldn’t have to extend.  We started the baptism at 7: 30!!, talk about having a lot  of patience!  I was so happy that Loven stayed positive through all of this.  It was such a good baptism and worth every trial we had.  It’s crazy how much opposition there is in this work! Even if it is just the water!  But nothing can stop the work of the Lord! :)  

So also this week we had exchanges!  I stayed in the area and had to lead everything!  All the lessons and traveling and all that. It was very scary but I made it out alive!  We had a service project that morning too.  We dug holes, honestly I’m not really sure why haha.  But at first the lady made the elders dig and she told us it was too hot for us so she had us come inside and cut vegetables for dinner!  But eventually we finished and we were bored so we went out with the elders and started working.  Let me tell ya it felt good!  I miss the good hard physical labor haha.   It was so nice to just get all your stress out!  Plus the lady we did service for fed us an awesome lunch so that always helps!   And I led the lessons with very few problems :)  It’s crazy!  We also did splits on Sunday.  I wasn’t as nervous because I had already led once and it wasn’t as hard the second time.

   After splits we had a Family Home Evening with the YSAs.  It was like the funnest thing ever!  And a much needed break from the stress.   It’s a good opportunity to BRT with them as well. I really love the ward I’m in.  They’re all so nice.  

  Oh and we had interviews with President Tye.  It wasn’t bad at all.  He even gave us candy afterwards so I was ok with it :) 

    So another thing.  There is this little boy here that is always on the street.  Basically the cutest thing I’ve ever seen.  Anyway I gave him a sucker the other day when he was asking us for money.  But ya, so we see him whenever we’re in the area and he remembers us and the other day he waved down a jeepney for us.  And he looked so proud of himself and just like such a little gentleman.  I just about died it was so cute.  

  I hope this is a good enough letter for you this week.  We have zone activity so we don’t have much time to be on! I love you all!  You’re the best :)  Keep on keepin on.  Keep doing hard things because that is when you grow the most! And if its gods work he will help you through!  Mahal Kita!

SISTER VAN TASSELL

Crazy Crazy week this week!  So hot and so much work.  We actually had a brown out the other night right before we were going to go to bed.  So that was no fun.  It was the hottest day and our fans couldn’t work so there was no way we could sleep.  So we just laid there with our hand fans trying to relax.  Thankfully it only lasted like 30 minutes.  It’s killer hot here.  I think it’s just trying to get it all in before rainy season.  My hair is always in a ponytail. One day we went to Las Pinas for a baptism interview for one of our investigators and I decided to straighten my hair to look all fancy and yeah that was awful.  

No worries though.  It will soon be rainy season and we will have to worry about being dry and not being hot. 

We have a baptism scheduled for this week though so that’s super awesome.  And I have exchanges and an interview so I hope I make it through.  I only have 3 more weeks left in training.  I really need to start taking language study seriously so I’m prepared in case I get a non-Pilipino companion!

So super super sorry this is so short.  Next week I’ll write a super duper long one I promise!  Just ask mom and dad about what I talked to them about haha.  Love you lots!

A little insert from our Skype conversation with her last night.  Due to her time on Skype, she was limited with the amount of time she had to write her email.

As you can see Taylar is doing AWESOME.  We had a chance to visit with her on Sunday night for a little while and really enjoyed every minute we had with her.  She said she has like 15 families that she is working with and has a baptism lined up every Saturday for the next 3 weeks.  She has really started to love her mission and enjoys working with the Philippine people.  She did say that she apologizes for not writing, but she has been very busy, but she says, PLEASE keep writing to her.  She loves it whenever she gets a letter from the US.  We love to get her letters but she has been so busy that we don’t get very many either.  It is awesome that she is being such an obedient Missionary and keeping so busy.  From our conversation with her last night I think if they are not teaching, they are tracking so she has almost zero free time.  This helps the time fly by for her.

Please keep up the letters and emails to her, she loves and appreciates every single one of them!!

Hello everyone!  Its p-day again!  It’s like a breath of fresh air...for like 5 seconds until you realize all the stuff you have to do.  Like clean the house :( hopefully I still can sneak a nap in sometime.

So actually not much has happened this week.  I’m getting more and more adjusted every week and so it is getting better and better.  But now the stress is coming more from investigators not being prepared for baptism or not progressing and not from how long I have left.  We have 19 investigators with baptism dates.  Yay!  But not all of them are progressing and coming to church.

This week has just been a lot of walking.  IT IS SOOOO HOT HERE.  I have started carrying a huge bottle of water everywhere because otherwise ill melt and it’s too expensive to buy water all the time.  I also bought handkerchiefs for sweat rags.  Gross but they are so nice because you sweat a lot here.  But raining season is approaching.  I’m not sure whether to say yay or not.  Sister Lizada says it sucks worse getting pounded when it’s raining and flooding.  I guess I can see where she is coming from haha, but it’s got to be better than walking in this heat.  You can see everyone here preparing for rainy season.  Little footbridges are getting built...and by footbridges I mean two pieces of wood or bamboo stringing along making a path.  I’m just glad I don’t weigh more than I do hah.  I would hate to fall through.  

  This week we were at the end of our support and you could totally tell.  We were seriously broke and it was ridiculous. But we made it through!!! yay!  It’s so funny because we are always saying how we have such a mahirap buhay (hard life).  But I’ve never thought that corned beef could taste so good.  I do miss having dinner cooked for me when I come home though.  I guess I’d better get used to it!  Love you mom!! hah

 So now about the work. This week we were teaching a boy.  Both his parents are less active but members and he isn’t baptized yet.  Anyway we haven’t been able to set a baptism date because they were going on vacation but now they just got back so when we went to visit them again we were able to set a date.  And the awesome thing was that the dad was there at the house (he’s a less active as well).  Anyway he joined the lesson for the first time!  And after we extended the baptism date we asked him if he would prepare to baptize his son.  He accepted!  And he told us how much he really wanted us to teach his older son as well and complete their family.  We agreed but it’s going to be a whole new challenge to get him to join lessons.  But still.  It is a new family to work on completing.  You could just feel the spirit so strong and when we left we were so excited.  That feeling was amazing and is why I’m out here. I really want to help people complete their families and have the happiness that we have in knowing we can be with our families forever.  That is why we love the Ng family so much.  It is because we can see the strength in their family and we want them to be able to have that and have it forever.  I will put in all my effort to complete their family and hopefully see them go through the temple someday. That would honestly be worth everything.  Every trial that could possibly come is ok as long as we can help people come to Christ.  Sometimes it gets really hard.  When you feel like you can’t communicate and you’re living on tuna from a can and rice, and you walk from appointment to appointment and no one is there and then you go to that one family and you teach them and feel the spirit and your whole day can just be turned around. I love that feeling.

  One thing Sister Lizada told me that really hit home was that everything is a choice.  It is so true.  You can choose to be happy or you can choose to be mad.  You can see everything as a chance to grow or you can whine and complain.  There’s an EFY song that says it’s a beautiful day even though it’s dark out there.  Even though it’s a little cheesy it’s true.  Make every day beautiful!  MAKE IT COUNT!  Love you all :)   SISTER VAN TASSELL