Mountains to climb

Dearest pamilya! Hello po! Wow, this week has been so wonderful and busy! I think missionaries must loose a couple years of their life from their missions! But, it's good because that means that we can see Heavenly Father sooner :). I just got an email from my AP's. So apparently I am going to train this next transfer....AH!! So, it means I could be staying in Los Banos or moving to a different area...I will be so sad if I have to transfer, we have alot of baptisms set up for the next month and a half. Mountains to Climb. I am just finishing up my 12 weeks training and now will repeat it and train a new missionary. I am surprised that I am training bc there are only 3 new sisters coming in next week, my possibility of training was not high. The Lord likes to challenge me I see. Whenever some task looks to hard for me to do, He always helps me to accomplish those things. As I was reading in Moroni 9:25 I fell in love with this scripture. It says that Christ can lift us up. Because of the atonement. He can lift us up in our trails. What would happen to your problems if you spent more time in the presence of God. Being lifted up by HIM. We would be filled with love and confidence. Our fear would dissolve and evaporate. I know as I am lifted up in Christ, my trails don't become challenges but memories of joy. The Lord's Investigators: Brother Pestano, (PM family) is set on his baptism date for Nov 16. He is keeping all his commitments and has come to church every week with his family together. He said, I dont want to wait, handa ako, handa ako. He is ready. His son Brother Trio is right behind him, baptism date set 3 weeks after. Brother Pestano can baptize his son! Then they will become a completed family! I love eternal families! We planned an FHE with their family and the Chua family. Both was their fist time to have a FHE together. They just talked and talked, they will be a great fellowshipper, so help them create friendships. Brother Pestano is not a normal philipino, when he says he does something, he really does! Masaya :) Sister Rosel and Mary Jane, icing, althea, and others came to a baptism with us in Calamba! They got all dressed up in sunday clothes and we all went together, so happy! My district leader Elder Tolentino said that specific blessings comes to those who attend a baptismalservice. I hope they will be blessed spiritually and temporally. I hope they can have enough food so that they can make it to church. A small miracle happened. Bother Ronie coudnt read the BOM bc is glasses were broken. We were almost about to not see him very often and put him on back ups when he said, my mom bought me new glasses! I can read the book now! Money is such a such hindrance or trail of the people here. They have so much faith. You are always in my thoughts and my prayers. Mahal mahal ko Los Banos! Mahal ko lahat mga tao dito. Umlad ko araw araw. Talaga. Ito simbahan ay tototoo. Raramdaman ko espiritu santo malakasan. Alam ko na ito gawa ay pinikamahalaga para sa laugin dito! Climb up that mountain. Never look back. Look at what all lies ahead of you. The Lord always has something great. Mahal kita! Sister Reed

Hello po! Masaya po ko to inform you that I am safe and all is well in Los Banos! The work will always continue to go forth. I am learning how to cook philapina food! I make abodo for the sisters in our apartment. One of my favorite deserts here is halo halo, it like a mix mix and has all kinds of good stuff in it! This morning Sister Kerr and I ran up the Bundok! We ran 4 miles up a steep mountain! I love it. This week has been great. The sister training leaders came to work with us, so I learned so much from them. We taught maraming lessons ito linggo. We shared the Plan of Salvation with Sister Lesly. She has a childhood friend that comes to all our lessons to help us support her friend and with Tagalog. (I am not fluent yet :)) We has so many questions and it keeping commitments! YEA! She told us that her mother died a year ago. That last week she had a dream. In the dream her mother was talking to her and told her she was okay. It was so beautiful because I told her that her mother was receiving the same lessons she was with us in the Spirit World! She was okay bc she is accepting the message. The spirit was beautiful in that lesson. We taught Sister Lorna again this week. She is catholical, pero she is still searching. She said that she prayed to God and said if we came back, she would listen to us. She is looking for a feeling to tell her what is right. She said that she cannot understand us all the time, but she feels different with us. She feel so good inside. She feels the spirit. She cannot read or write, which will make reading the Book of Mormon difficult. Pero, she does have family that can read to her. Last night we taught Sister Von. She husband is less active and they have a son. Before she regretted our baptismal date. This time we focused on walang hangang mga pamilya. Forever Familes. She husband really wants it and she does too. We taught from 1 nephi 8 dahil, she didnt read and we connected the good fruit to the gospel which leads to having an eternal family. She committed to read the book of Mormon and pray again. Then, I asked her to be baptized. She paused for a really long time and started to cry. It is really hard for her to change from the religion she grew up, but she felt the spirit so strong. I am so excited for their family to be together forever. We are also working on completing another family. The Pestano's. The father came to church even when his wife was sick! He has a desire to do whats right for his family. We are planning an Fhe with their family and recently completed family converts. This area has a problem with retention of a lot of members. They have about 700 here in Los Banos, pero only about 100 come to church. We run into less actives all the time. We want to unite the ward and the people here. I love the members. They come and work with us and help us find places. There isnt really address and we go down the craziest pathways and alleys. We also teach people along the riles. The rail way without a train. They are very poor on the riles. On of our less actives Esperanza lives there. She just lost her job and they live in a cement box. I wish I could help them more, all i know is that I can help heal them spiritually. Once they begin becoming healed and turn to Christ, he will take care of them and help with their temporal needs. Always put Christ first and everything else in our life will fall in place. Once I was tracking in Bambang and we had a little extra time in between appointments. We were going for a while and I saw this lady washing clothes close to her house. I all of a sudden had this desire to go and talk with her. Come to find out that her sisters name was written in my planner. A less active member that I wanted to find this day. I love the espiritu santo. When I receive thoughts in my mind that are good and for others, i know it is inspiration from God. Alam ko na ito ebanghelyo na ulit ibalik sa mundo. Alam ko na Jesucristo plagi dito kasama ating. Maroon tayo mapagmahal mula sa Diyos at dahil mamahal, umulad ko araw araw. This mission has been one of the greatest experiences in my life! Mahal po kayo! Sister Reed

There's a snake in my boot!

Dearest pamilya, Typhoon season is here! Rain, rain, and more rain. And when it rains that means the cow frogs come out. They are so loud!! One morning I got up to go running with my kasama. I was putting on my running shoes and I tired to put my foot in one, something was in the way. So i look in and see a HUGE frog in my shoe!! NASTY! It was brown and slimy and bigger than a tennis ball! I screamed and threw my shoe outside! Hence, "there is a snake in my boot" Or there is a frog in my shoe! :) Our AP's sent out a typhoon warning to all of us missionaries to have our 72 hour kits prepared. I know its so important to be prepared! Always, in case anything happens. Bc when we are prepared, we shall not fear. But, my area is fine, just lots of rain, and its hot today! I loved conference this week! The Saturday sessions were all about member missionary work! Loved it! I love talks on missionary work, because I am a missionary! My favorite statement from conference: The spirit of the Lord will tell you what He wants you to do with with your life. Never look back, look at what you still need to do! You become personally sanctified when you pay your tithing. Doubt your doubts before you doubt your faith. We are all Hippocrates bc none of us live the commandments as perfectly as we know to do. The scriptures hold the key to protection If you have enough faith, you can be made whole. Our ultimate priority and expectation from God is to keep His commandments and love Him. You must become the ROCK the RIVER cannot wash away! Repentance is a hope filled past with a glorious future. The more the STORM, the more the STRENGTH. The gospel is the penetrating light that shine through the clouds of our dark lives. Satan is good at replacing good activities from the BEST activities. Is the Father the focus point of everything that I do? Investigators namin: Pestano pamilya- The first thing He said when we sat down was, I did the reading! Haha, he read my mind! I asked him if he received an answer yet. First he said no. Then I asked him when he feels the love of God in his life. Then I asked him if he felt this while he was reading. He said yes. We read over moronis promise and Galations 5 about the spirit. We helped him to recognize his answer about the truth and he was happy to know that he already received and answer. He thought he would see a vision, little did he know that it was the love of God that would be his answer. He said he beilves its true as we asked him if the Church, Bom, and Joseph Smith is ture. He said, "Naniniwala ko po, naniniwala ko po, naniniwala ko po"! The spirit fill the room. I love teaching there family. Teaching the whole family together, the spirit is so strong. Sister Yshery: 9 years old and keeping all her commitments! Teaching children the gospel is my favorite! We asked her to be baptized and when she said yes, she had a huge smile on her face! She is so excited! Sister Rosel is so sweet. I love her! She has a testimony and wants to follow the Savior perfectly. They are so poor they dont have enough money for food or for fair. I am not sure how thwy will get to church, its too far to walk with a baby. They will need a miracle. It is hard for me that poverty holds them back from receiving blessing of the sacrament. Brother Jerome- We had a break through! He has a very hard life and word of wisdom problems. He told me that ever since sister Marino and I started teaching him, he began to stop. WOw, we didnt even teach him the word of wisdom till now. He said that he was listening to other religions and feels the spirit with us. He prayed to see who he should listen to. He felt the best about listening to us. He wants to change and has a deep desire to change. His tears testify is outward conversion to the gospel of Jesus Christ. Sister Agdon- we are almost done teaching all the lessons to her! Yay, except she has only been to church once. I hope she keeps coming bc she is almost there!!! We were tracking in Rhoda subdivision and the first house we knocked on she let us in to teach her. She said, I normally dont let any missionaries in. From any church. I am not sure why I let you missionaries in. I wanted to tell her, I know! Because its true! I am excited to go back and teach her a full lesson. Mormon 5:11 When we repent we are clasped into the arms of Jesus. In Tagalog the deep word for arm means forepower. So we are incricled about by the power of Christ when we repent. Beautiful. Mahal mahal po kayo! Ingat! Sister Reed :)

Mahal ko Mangos.

PAMILYA!!!! Kamusta! Magandang hapon po! Hindi ulan ngyaon! Pagpapala mula sa Diyos :) This has been a wonderful week of learning and growing. I feel myself becoming better everyday. I love feeling oh so close to the Savior. So this week we were able to go to General Relief Society Conference! What a blessing! In the Philippines, the broadcast comes a week later, I think due to the difference in time. I loved how it was all about making covenants! Being on a mission I feel as if I understand my covenants with God so much more than ever before. I understand and feel clarity in the truths taught because when I teach, we have to have this same clarity for our investigators to understand. We get to watch general conference next week! YEA! We wont be able to work on saturday or sunday because of the travel and study time. I will feel so lazy. But so grateful to be uplifted. So much good happened this week in our teaching. We are teaching the Pestano family. They are part member and Sister Marino and I committed the father and the son to be baptized 2 weeks ago. Recently Sister Kerr and i finally had the opportunity to teach the whole family together! They are a potential completed family! YAH! And it gets better, their whole family came to church this week! WOW! Masaya po ko!!! This is the first time. I want them to become a selestiyal pamilya!! I was teaching about the gospel of Jesus Christ and we got to baptism. I pointed to a picture of Jesucristo being baptized and said, "sino po ito?" Who is this? It was quiet for a while and then the first one to answer was their one year old son say, Jesus! Little children are really so close to the veil. We are teaching Sister Rosel. She is so sweet. I love her. She has received a witness that the Book of Mormon is true. She said that she feels like Jesucristo is right beside her when she is reading the Aklat ni Mormon. What a wonderful reminder that our Savior is always close to us when we keep His commandments. She loves reading this Book. She says that she wants to be like Nephi! She has such masigla (enthusiasm) for reading it and said, "I think this book will help my family." She was going to come to church, except they have no money. They are very poor and have a mud floor with a bed. It is so sad, church is too far away for her to walk with her baby. This will be a huge faith strengthener for her. Miracles need to happen. We also were teach Sister Adie. She is about 45 and own a tindihan on the side of the rode. We teach her on the side of the highway. We were teaching the Panunumbalik ni Jesucristo and she was so open and had a soft heart. Pero, when I started teaching about Joseph Smith and the Book of Mormon...so many distractions happened. Jeepneys were stopping and wanted cremos, so many distractions that she had to leave a couple of time. I feel as if Satan was trying to do all in his power so that she could not hear the message we had for her. meany face. She was hugging the book of mormon and was so happy to read it! Also we are teaching the less active Sister Roming. She said she couldn't go to church without a falda. So i bought her a skirt so she can come to church! Her face lit up and she is making plans to talk with her husband \who banded her from going to church. We recently found out that her husband is deaf and cant hear very well. He is hard to the missionaries because he is embarrassed that he cant understand them. This is were dance comes in... :) i am hoping to act out the lessons for him. Like a movie maybe and whip out some sign language...haha we will see if it happens, but I am excited to help them! We also has quite the adventure in our apartment! Our fridge broke so almost all the food went bad, the office elders saved us and brought us a new one after 5 days! Pero, it was starting to smell bad. Also, we left our garbage outside and were moving them out, and there were maggets all over! Nasty! It looks like moving rice...I might not be able to eat rice for a day haha. DanC 76:60 We are celestial people. We are on the path to becoming more pure like our father. It says in this verse, that "they shall overcome all things" when talking about the celestial people. I know that I can overcome all things because that is my potential to become celestial. The hardships we bear will only be but a small moment. Bring it on! p.s. I found a huge bahay during tracking! Check it! Mahal ko po kayo!! Salamat para sa lahat pananalangin! Ingat po! Sister Reed

A window to his love.

I want to be a window to His love. So those that look at me will see the Saviors light. I want to stand so tall that they wont see me at all, that they will see the Saviors love. I want to be a window to the light of His love. To give hope, to give peace. To give His love. I truly do love these people. I am so blessed to be here. Exciting news for the week! I am still in my area! Los Banos! And I have a new kasama! Sister Kerr! Two white Americans both in the middle of our 6 week training. This has never been done before in the history of our mission. President calls us, "The Dream Team". Haha. We will be training each other. Also, I was so nervous about the language. We both are not yet fluent in the language. But, I have seen miracles. The Lord always gives us what we need. I am able to lead the lessons and speak all Tag in our lessons. I trust Him. At first I was really scared for what was coming. Then, I did the only thing I could do. I applied the atoning blood of Jescristo in my life and asked for help. I feel like my life is similar to Mosiah 4:2-3. With my kasama, I feel peace, I feel happy.I am no longer scared. I have grown so much. I am grateful that our president trust me to lead the area here and accomplish this work. My kasama and I have have been really successful together. Relying fully on Jesucristo, we rely on each other with full confidence. I am not as scared to talk to people! Also, we are so exhausted every night. At night, I fall asleep at the side of my bed after I pray, haha almost to tired to get it! We teach a lot of lessons 22 a week. We watched the Restoration video with Sister Agdon. It was beautiful. She knows its all true! I am so happy for her! We have been working so hard to help her progress! I am trying hard to ephasize the importance of the Book of Mormon. It all comes from there. Lahat. Everything starts with the Book of Mormon. Alam ko po na, ito ebanghelyo ay totoo. Ito ebanghelyo ang tama daan upang ihahanda ng bumalik Ama sa Langit. Joseph ay totoong propeta at maroon kapanyarihan mula sa Diyos. Aklat ni Mormon ang susi upang maalaman ng katotohanon. Alma ko na tayo maroon mapagmahal Ama sa Langit. Siya palagi alaala namin. Nagpapasalamat ko para sa lahat pagpapala mula sa Diyos. Nagpapasalamat ko para sa ito tinatawag ang mag misyionero! Mahal Kita! Sister Reed po :)