Santa Cruz!

Dearest Family! I have been transferred to Santa Cruz 1 with Sister Kinikini!! Yay! I have a new comp, and she is so amazing. She loves to laugh and has a deep desire in the work of the lord. I am also house mates with Sister Seastrand and Sister Baguio. It is such a happy apartment. The apartment is new bc they had floods in the last one so that is nice. The ward here is great! I am excited to start working with them! Highlights: SIster Niki is ready for baptism! She was crying as i was bearing my testimony to her for the last time. I am excited for her! I wont be there but its okay, the most important thing is that she makes it there. Lipa Zone Training Meeting. The new mission plan for the month is revelation through sacrament. We will work hand in hand with the members to accomplish this, it is the only way for it to be effective. Goodbye sa Darasa! I got to visit my favorite families right before i left on the way home, awe, i will miss them all! We had FHE at the Ramillo home and i ate Ballot!! Yay! It was interesting....there is a embryo of a chick inside.... We taught a lesson in Darasa to brother Jordan. He is from Africa so we teach ihm in english. It is really hard in English. I explained the restoration to him. Then he said, that is really beautiful. That makes sense. I want to be baptized on April 12th. We are preparing the hearts of the people for the coming of the savior. We received a referral and taught Lanie. She said, i dont like Iglessis, or catholic church. I felt something different at the Mormons. She is interested bc she felt the spirit. She will progress! I am excited for her! Revelation through Church attendant. Santa Cruz ward: They asked SIster Kinikini and I to teach primary at church! THe children are so cute they kept says, " ang ganda ganda mo!" Youare beautiful! Haha they like curly hair and white skin. It was hard to get him focused, but that is alwyas why we keep candy in our bags for object lessons. Right before sacrament, Bishop asked me to speak to the ward! Yay! I got to share my testimony of the Atonement and redeeming power of our Savior. The Valdez family are members, just LA. We created a plan for them to enter the temple in Dec and drew a pic for them. The Father Came up to me at church and said we are grateful for everything you do for our family. We are happy. HE jsut got done with diyalysis and has a crutch and walks all the way to church with his family. That is true faith. Embarrassing moment...Because i am in a new area, i dont know where i am going. I stepped into a drain gutter with everyone around me and you dont wanna know what was in the gutter. I go to the water pump to wash my foot off and bc i am tall here, i got my hair stuck in the roof on a nail. So i couldnt move and everyone was laughing, haha i couldnt help but laugh, gotta love missionary life. I love my new area! There is a river and feilds! I love my new comp, I love being a missionary. I love the life we have been given to live! Nagmamahal, Sister Reed

Kamusta Pamilya! The work of the Lord continues in the Philippines. I know that this is a great and marvelous work. This is a beautiful quote that is the theme of my week. "When in situations of stress, we wonder if there in any more in us to give, we can be comforted to know that God, who knows our capacity perfectly, placed us here to succeed." Elder Neal A Maxwell. I know that in times of trouble, when there seems like no way out, he will always bring us out on top. We are here to succeed through all our trails. This week in Darasa! Sister Nikita will be baptized March 22! It is close now! She loves coming to church and has a strong testimony. She wants to become a pure daughter of her heavenly father. And she has the support of her dear friend. Taught sister Anne the Restoration this week. We also watched the Restoration video. She was in tears as the spirit testified to her of the truth. She knows that this is the true Church on the earth. This is the way. It is the life. I think this is the 7th time she has been to church. The elders we teach her next week. I am excited for her to progress. This week was the Parade of lights! Everyone was outside and it was crazy!! Good advertising for the church though, they love Americans. I ate at McDonald for the first time in 8 months! Wow. One of Less Actives, her husband was in the hospital. We went to the hospital and sang a song for him in tagalog and then the elders gave him a blessing! He is now at home and doing better! We taught a referral earlier today. She was so receptive. She accepted a baptismal date. The reason is because she has received revelation from church attendance. She feels that this church is different. She says she felt something different at our church. The Spirit! I know this church is true. have a wonderful week in sharing the gospel! SIster Reed

Totoo, talaga

Dear pinikamagandang tao, Wow! What a week! I had some exciting adventures this week! My companion and I helped with a service project this Tuesday! I made cement! I think that i will be able to build my own house now when i come home :). I also broke ground with a huge metal rod. And to top it all off I learned to make Sopas and Adobo! Yay! I will be a philipina chef. I attended my first funeral in the Philippines! They usually walk down the street with the casket and play music and then the whole family walks behind like a parade. But we had a Darasa ward funeral. We sang and had speakers talk about the plan of salvation. It almost felt like a bonfire bc we were outside in the jungle with the smell of campfire. One of our Referrals sister Cleofae had an interesting experience. We taught the full restoration. She is searching for the truth. Currently she is couples for Christ. She read the BOM and then asked God if it was true. Then She said she received a sign. The head of her church soon came to her door talking about their commitment to their church. She took that as her sign and said she doesn't need us to come back. We talked about how Satan likes to deceive the people so they don't receive the fullness of the gospel. We told her the story in the BOM about Korihor and how he tried to deceive the righteous. Then we talked about what her so called sign should be. Feelings, Impressions, and thoughts coming from God himself, not some other person. Only God can give her an answer. Directly from him, that he will fill her heart with peace and joy if the gospel is true. Sali...Another progressing investigator. She was hinding from us. We "tao po"ed the house. THe son comes out and says Natatago siya! (She is hiding) Then he points to where she is in the house. He goes back in and then out again and says"wala mama daw." It means in english, She said that she is not there. Haha. She was Hinding!! So sad. The philipinos are shy and will hid from you rather than tell you they don't want you to come back. Pero, masaya balita na. Good news now is that Nikita is still coming to church! She loves the young women and the culture of the true church. She is converted to the truth and has her own testimony! She has received a witness for herself through the spirit that it is true. Yay! Alam ko po na gawaing mga misyonero ay pinkikamahalaga gawain dito sa mundo. Alam ko po ito sa lahat sa puso ko! Nagmamahal kita lagi! Nanalanging ko po para sa inyo twing gabi. Mahal Kita! Sister Reed

Mahal ko ng Dyios.

Kamuta ka na?! Sana lahat ay mabuti sa buhay ninyo! Para sa aking, mahal ko ng Dyios. Alam ko po na ito ang gawain ng Dyios. Highlights of this week! We just had a fireside in Darasa Ward! It was about fellow shipping! It was really effective for them to learn how to fellow ship in the ward to LA, investigators and even members. We related it to fishing, we are fishers of men, to follow the example of JC by fellopwshipping our brothers. Fellow shipping means friendship. I taught the doctrine of fellowshipping and gave them a promised blessing. We had an activity with different stations. While this activity was happening we had a few members mopping, sweeping, walking around by themselves. They were acting as investigators so we wanted to see if the ward members would invite them to come join and be a part of it. Everyone ignored them. We related it to church. Yep, lesson learned. They all said that they were busy. I hope that we are not too busy to notice those around us who need a friend. Our investigator that is progressing is Sister Nikita! She is 16 part member. Was a devoted Catholic, until now! She loves coming to church and knows the members. Last night we asked her to share her testimony of Joseph Smith. The spirit was so strong. Her countenance has changed and she is full of light! She so happy to see us and they will teach me how to make Adobo! We also found Sister Anne! She has attended chuch 4 times na! Pero, she is from Tanauan, so we cant continue to teach her. We will this week, but then hand her off to the elders. She knows this is the true church and is chosen of God to come to the restored gospel. There are few chosen. P.s. we now have district jerseys. Yep our district is the best. I think 2/3rds of the batisms from our mission came from our district! Pic is SIster O and I on exchanges. Pic. I am blowing into the fire like a real philapino Mahal ko kayo! Sister Reed