Be grateful in your trails

Pamilya at mga Kaibigan!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Conference was wonderful this week! We had some of our investigators attend! Yay! My favorite was the Sat. morning session about standing for truth. It reminds me of situations in high school and even now on my mission. As people reject us and ridicule us, we still stand as a witness of our Savior, Jesus Christ. I forgot my notes but I loved the talk on being grateful in our trails. No matter what we are going through in our lives, if we turn our thoughts to Christ, we will always be happy. We just got back frm Zone pday. We hiked Majayjay. There were huge falls! I also forgot my flash drive so i will send pics next time. It was beautiful, we were hiking in the jungle! I really feel so connected to this area that i am at now. When i first saw one of my inves. i thought she looked so familiar to me. Like her face and everything. The feeling was like i know her. Even though i have never seen her before in this earthly experience. I feel as if i knew her before. before this life ever even started. I have fit for exactly what she needs. on the edge of leaving the church and lessons, we have helped her to gain a testimony of the fullness of the gospel. We had a powerful lesson with her. We talked about the light of Christ. We watched the patterns of light by Bernard on the computer. Then i gave her a list of different ways the spirit works in our lives. i was thinking she would just check one of two. but she checked ALL of them but one or two! Before she said she had no testimony. After follow up questions i asked her what this means that she has felt the light of Christ, that she had felt truth. She said, sa aking! Its in me! She said she has a testimony and knows its true. Wow, the spirit was so strong. She understands. Miracles happen. She will not be lost. But she wants to be baptised in May! I know this work is true. I know this is the kingdom of God upon the earth today. I love my Savior. I know He lives. Love, Sister Reed

What would a disciple do?

Kamusta sa inyong lahat! The work is going well! This Saturday I got to listen to the General W omens conference! It was so beautiful. When they had the different countries sing I am a child of God, Tagalog came on twice! Ako ay anak ng Diyos is my favorite song to sing with the philipinos, i got so excited! My favorite take home message was, " What would a disciple do?.....LOVE BETTER :). I loved how it talked about how we are covenant keepers. Women of the covenant. We walk the path of light back to our Heavenly Father. By keeping covenants. It reminded me of this scripture 1 Nephi 15:16. It is the most important things here on earth, our covenant with our Savior. And our family. I cant wait to go to the temple after my mission! So preach my Gospel says, :"look for unplanned acts of service" for finding activities. Well...my comp and I had a great service opportunity this week! We saw 2 young little girls with large bundles of sticks in their arms used for cooking. When i saw then I was immediately pulled to them. I asked them where they were going and if i could carry them. They were really shy so I took it from them and carried it for about a 20 min walk. Man, it was so hot, We are sweating so bad! P.s. it is sumer na dito. So it means we sweat ALL the time! We wake up with sweat on our necks, I love the warmth. Its like a giant hug from Heavenly Father! They were worried bc they didnt want us to get dirty. I am not going to lie, they were really heavy, im not sure how we carried them all that way without Heavenly Fathers help. All the people on the side of the street just stared at us, they said to me, "ate (sister), what are you cooking?" We softened some hearts to the missionaries that day. We are preparing Marc(RC) to receive the priesthood on Saturday! He is so excited! He will be the first priesthood holder in his family! His mothers eyes light up as we talk about it! My favorite investigator is Sister Samantha. She is 10. We just found out that when she was a baby her mom left her on her grandmothers door during a flood. She was just outside her house. Her mother abandoned her and her father died. It is so sad. We are helping her be happy. We are helping her feel the love of her heavenly Father. She is smiling more now. We were teaching one night abuot the nature of God. I pointed to the moon and said, look sister samantha! The moon is smiling at you! HF is also smiling at you! He loves you! She put a huge smile on her face. It was priceless. She has recieved a witness that the BOM is true. She feels happy when she reads it. We have reactived the Callio family! They are so kind. We are helping them to enter into the temple. We are teaching Danica. She is 14, no mother or father figure around. It means she cant be baptized until her sister does. Her sister needs a wedding and a desire. She said that the BOM is tinapay ng buhay, the bread of life. She loves it. And she always comes to church. She already feels the blessings of this church. I was told by a member that i look like brittney spears and my comp looks like mariah cairy...Haha, we could help but laugh, they are so funny. I killed a huge cock-crotch in our house today. Points for sister Reed! Every day we pass the way in skinnita, a small path way were everyone takes a bath, it always catches me off guard when i see them bathing, i feel so bad for the way they live their life. We are so truly blessed. Heavenly Father Loves All of Us! We all have different blessings. Our progressing investiator sister Myala is ready for baptism, and has come to church, we just found out the bad news she is moving to a different province for 2 months!! NOOOO!! I was so sad. But i know in her time, she will be baptised. Also another progressing investigator has been so ano..diffidult? We solved all her concerns and now she doesnt want to be baptized??? It breaks my heart. SHe is so precious. I love this quote: It fits with exactally how i feel about how important our hands are. “As we extend our hands and hearts toward others in Christlike love, something wonderful happens to us. Our own spirits become healed, more refined, and stronger. We become happier, more peaceful, and more receptive to the whisperings of the Holy Spirit.” -President Uchtdorf, You Are My Hands LOve you! MUAH! MAHAL KITA! I AM SO EXCITED FOR CONFERENCE THIS WEEK! :))) Sister Reed

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