The note a man gave Julie

January 19, 2014

Wow, what a week. Not really, same as the others. Still cold, but only because I've adjusted to the weather now and like low 70's is freezing. haha. But I'm good, I just use my blanket during studies. When we go out and move around I'm fine. I hope Grandma will be okay. I'm glad Dad and Ryan were able to give her a blessing. There's a less active here that reminds me of Ryan. We're trying to help him get to the bishop so he can go back to the temple. But because he reminds me of Ryan, I've been able to teach him a different way than the other missionaries and he actually came to church. Bishop kind of gave up on him but I'm not. He's been less active for five years now and is just so sad. He's so awesome too - return missionary, strong testimony. It's time to get him out of whatever he's in. 

Anyway, story time: So I forgot to tell you this story last week because I think Psychologically my mind didn't want to remember it (Emily, you'll learn about that later). So yeah. Here goes. So once upon a time there was this awesome investigator that came up to us and said "Can you teach me? For my New Year's Resolution I want to become a member of your church. I was taught when I was younger and just know it's true." We were like "awesome, yeah, we'll just prepare you for baptism and you can get baptized at the end of this month." So we teach him all the lessons, he goes to church, we take him family home evening, he's golden. But at the same time a little creepy. He's like in his 40's and has a tattoo on his forehead that I don't know what it means but okay. And his wife left him so he's a little sad over that. And he has a weird belief in angels and keeps calling us missionaries angels, so we're like, that's weird, but whatever, we'll just qualify him for baptism. And then he started asking where we lived, so we just said the city. Then he asked how far away Oregon is from Utah because he has family in Oregon and he found out it was driving distance. After he found that out he told us he just received an answer to one of his prayers. And we're like awesome, what was it? (The Book of Mormon is true? Joseph Smith is a true prophet? etc. what we were thinking) But he's like no, just something I've been praying for for a long time. So the next day we go visit, and he give me this letter. He said they were a list of scriptures he looked up and wants me to find and read, but as soon as I saw that piece of paper I knew that's not what it was and had a bad feeling about it. Yeah. So I made Sister Dequina read it, because I was too scared to. Pretty much, ew, so gross, pretty much I'll just send you an attachment of a picture of the letter. He pretty much confessed his love for me and said that he received an answer from God that he has sent me here to be his wife and I'm not allowed to marry anyone else. So I marched right back up to his house and set it all straight. I had to right then or else I would have to tell President and be transferred. I was pretty dang bold when I said, in English because he speaks English that "I am a representative of Jesus Christ serving a mission here in the Philippines to declare repentance unto these people so they can be baptized and receive eternal life. This is extremely inappropriate and is definitely not from God. We can send the Elders to you to continue to prepare for baptism if you have a testimony that this is the restored gospel of Jesus Christ on the earth." He said no, he doesn't want to see any Mormons anymore and didn't have a testimony. So he was lying the whole time. So I just told him that unless he follows the example of Jesus Christ and gets baptized and endures to the end he cannot enter the kingdom of God. That's why we're here, there's nothing else that's important. So yeah, that was the story. We canceled his baptism and I haven't seen him since because he hides in his house now. Ha what a life here in the Philippines. Already been engaged to. To a gross old man whose kids are older than me. 

Story number two: So last week, on P-Day, because we were going grocery shopping I took my bigger bag that has been sitting in the corner for a couple of weeks. So we're sitting on the jeepney, I'm minding my own business, and I see a little ant on my skirt. It looks like a baby spider but Sister Dequina said it was an ant so it was an ant. And I'm like, gross, and flick it off. Then I see it again. "Wow, that's awkward, I missed it." So I flick it off again. Then I see it again. "Ok that is one fast ant" Then I see another and I'm like "Oh crap, there's never just four ants. There's either one or a million." So I'm like "where are they coming from and why are they by me?" So then I look at my bag and jackpot. There were some wrappers in the pocket that the ants could smell. I'm like "crap, crap, crap, I have to carry this bag with me and there's a million ants in the pocket." The the other Filippinos in the jeepney see what's going on and they just laugh at me. "Don't leave food in your bag" they said. And I didn't, it was just the wrapper. So I put my bag on the floor and tried to shake it so they'd all come out, which worked, but they didn't get off my bag, just came out of the pocket. So finally I just covered my hand with my jacket and spent some time smashing all of them. It was gross. And not my jacket has ant guts all over it. I spent the rest of the day smashing them each time I found a new one. But ants aren't that bad to me anymore. They're everywhere. We just live with them now. Just earlier this week the sugar ants came out of our plug and found our table where there were a few crumbs. Thousands of them set up a line and had a whole line of ants from our table to the plug. We finally threw our table cloth away and killed all the ants. But they keep just showing up. They also found our sugar and made a line to that. One day I'll take a picture of them so you can see. At least they don't bite like the red ones. 

story number three: (hopefully these don't bore you and are fun to read) So for this month our new zone goal is to find 18 new investigators each week. Yeah right! So pretty much we find people, ask if we can pray for them, try to slip in a short message, and ask if we can pray again before we leave and visit again. That counts as a new investigator. So the other day we were really forcing it. She did not want to talk to us, she said she was really busy, but Sister Dequina kept going. We shared a short message about the gospel of Jesus Christ and the Restoration and asked to pray again. But before we prayed again she just broke out crying. Who knows why. So we just told her how much we love her and she kept crying. Her neighbor says she has no family and no one talks to her, so it probably meant a lot that we stopped to talk to her. It was so crazy because I thought we were pushing it. We were forcing this message. But it totally worked because she wants us to come back. You never know who needs to hear a short message about the Savior. 

So I think that's all the stories. But some other fun and random stuff as always: I had crab last night. It was so good. But they always just laugh at me because I'm more awkward than they are at eating it. I thought I did a pretty good job. I'm just glad I like seafood and have had it before. I feel so bad for all the missionaries who hate the food here.

Sister Grohse (in our apartment) got a new companion and she hates the food here. She was really hard to get used to at first. Very American and loud and mean and annoying. And a CLEAN FREAK. She is obsessed with organization and keeping everything clean. The first thing she did when she got here was ask us how we could live like such pigs. I thought our house was clean. But she can't stand even dust or a hair on the ground. So yeah. But I'm getting used to her now and it's all okay. It was just hard for all of us at first because she just had this attitude that she was going to change this whole area and she was the answer to what they needed to fix it. At least I'm leaning a lot from them so I don't accidentally do the same thing if I get transferred. 

Ok, so last couple of things before I have to leave, what do the garlic pills do? Other than keeping mosquitos away, what is their supplemental purpose. Like is it an immune system thing, a weight gaining thing, it would be good to know. And second, so they only way to keep my acne away is taking Doxycline, which is what I used to take when it got worse in High School. Is there any way to send me more? I haven't run out yet so don't worry if you can't, but if there's no way, then I want to save what I have in case I need it for something else. But every time I get a new zit all the members are like "Sister, are you okay? Are you stressed? Is your immune system okay? What's wrong?" Then they point to where it is and I'm like "no no, weather lang." ahahah because everyone blames everything on the weather right now. Too funny. Anyway, that's all. I hope you all are doing great. The engagement photos are so cute. I wish I could be there! But I'm so excited for the wedding! Anyway, I love you all. I'm going to try to send a picture of that letter and the baptism we had this week (my first one from meeting them all the way through), then I'm going to continue my P-Day while you all sleep! love you!

-Sister Watkins

Their house spider named "Harold". Supposedly harmless

Julie and her companion studying by candle light

January 12, 2014

Hello Everyone!

This week was great. Sister Dequina has been out so long she knows how to organize everything and make sure we get people ready for baptism. Before, Sister Nielson and I were tying to take care of everyone at the same time. And that didn't really work. Now we have a baptism this Saturday! An old lonely man that came up to us a month ago and asked us what we were doing. He looked and acted a little weird, so we didn't know if he was special needs or not (he lives in Home for the Blind, which has a lot of special needs) so we just gave him a word of wisdom pamphlet. The next time we saw him he taught us all about what he learned from the pamphlet and committed to live it, and he has ever since. We walked him to church that Sunday and has attended ever since. There's a recent convert that has fellowshipped him. It's awesome. But I think that recent convert had been praying for a friend because no one fellowshipped him at church he always walks to church by himself and sits by himself. But we now found a friend for him! He's really excited for his baptism. We also have two families that we're teaching that we're really excited about. It's hard to find full families to teach. But they're really receptive and interested.

So this week has been FREEZING!!! What is this? The ice age again? I have to carry my blanket around the apartment because it's so cold. And if it's cold for me, the Filipinos here are just dying. They are all getting sick - they're not used to this weather. They've never experienced weather this cold before. The worst part is the water. Because the nights are so cold now, the water in the morning for showering is FLIPPING FREEZING!!! I try to just put my hair in, but that doesn't work. Oh it's so painful. But I'm too lazy to boil water and put it in a bucket and have a bucket shower. That's what Sister Dequina does every morning though. It has also been raining everyday. So going out to work has been hard because no one wants to hear us "it's raining" they say. Yeah, so what? haha. It's also hard for them to go to church when it's raining. They just use rain as an excuse for everything. But it kind of makes sense. It was a downpour. It's also hard during lessons because it's so loud!

Yesterday we had a brownout all day. They were trying to fix the power lines. So during church we had to turn on the generator. The church building is so advanced here compared to everything else. 

Anyway, what else? Today we're going to the market to buy a lot of fruits and vegetables. Sister Dequina has been giving me new fruits and vegetables to try. It's been fun. I feel a lot healthier now that I'm buying vegetables instead of packaged snacks. That's all for this week. Just missionary work and cold weather and electricity going out. I've realized that I need to work on understanding the language better. I can speak it, but can't understand it. Sister Dequina was getting a little annoyed that I couldn't understand but could speak. I had to explain to her that speaking and hearing use two different parts of the brain and that my speaking part developed faster. After that she doesn't judge me anymore. haha. Anyway, I'm out of time now, sorry I didn't have time to write a letter for Bishop. Is it too late if I do it next week? If anything, tell him that he was amazing with the youth and we all loved him. I love you all!

Love, Julie

"Perty Flwr"

Sugar ants!

Carmen's Baptism

Michael's Baptism

December 29, 2013

Hey, so we had a good week this week. Two of our investigators were baptized on Saturday and confirmed yesterday. It was awesome. It was an awesome baptism too. 15 people from our stake got baptized. There was a lot of white. 

So yesterday, Sister Nielson and I realized that we didn't make all of our goals. So we were going to try to finish all of them yesterday. We planned a busy day to visit a lot of people. But after the first lesson, we realized it really doesn't matter at all. We taught this guy named Julius, and he told us for his New Years goal he wants to get baptized into our church. He was taught when he was little but his family never actually got baptized. This was only our second lesson with him, but we gave him a baptism date already! yay! It was an awesome lesson. We didn't say a thing. He talked the whole time and taught the whole first principle that God is our loving Father in Heaven. haha we don't have to do anything. Just give him pamphlets. 

We then went to visit a sister in the ward who is dying of cancer. I hadn't met her yet, but when I saw her, I knew that she was one that I needed to help and that I could help. She's just skin and bones right now. She's been lying in her bed for a year now, not able to get up. She kept wiping away tears while we were there. I was scared at first to say anything that would make her cry more and just wanted to follow the lead of Sister Nielson, because I really didn't know her. But the spirit prompted me that she is one that I already know how to help. So finally I did what is very natural to me. I knelt down by her and asked her why she was crying. What is weighing her down. Does she have regrets? What does she want to accomplish before she leaves? I then reminded her of why she's here - to gain a body, gain experience, and follow Jesus Christ. And she has done that. It's okay if she leaves this life. I helped her realize that she can still progress everyday. She's lucky because she's so close to the veil. It was a cool experience. I hope that through these visits I can help her prepare to move on. She's so sad because no one is helping her get the money for another surgery. She had one already but they missed a part of the tumor and it grew back. This kind of cancer is curable in America, that's what kills me. It's possible for her to heal. She just doesn't have to means to do it. So I'm just there to comfort her. Sister Nielson was just going to sing a song, share a spiritual thought, and leave. I'm glad I followed the prompting to talk to her about this stuff. I don't know if anyone else does. No one visits her. 

After that lesson we taught a family about the Restoration. They were so receptive. They came up to us last week and asked us if we could teach them. We committed them to baptism in the first lesson. The field is so white here! It's so exciting. I'm so excited for them to receive the blessings of this gospel. The blessings are so obvious here. You can tell who is a member here because of how happy they are. We have a recent convert here who suffered from a stroke. Half of his body is paralyzed. He slowly limps over a mile each week to go to church. I'm sure it takes more than half an hour. He's so strong! And this last week we gave him an assignment to bring our investigator to church with him to fellowship him. So now he's sacrificing coming late to church to he can wake up our investigator and wait while he gets dressed and eats so he can walk him to church. It was a beautiful sight yesterday to see him limping along with our new, little-old-man investigator by him. His son was one that was just baptized on Saturday. When he saw his son in the font he started crying and clasped his hands together in fervent prayer of gratitude to God for helping his son change his life. It's amazing to see the sacrifice here. 

Anyway, it's exciting. We have a lot of potential baptisms coming up. But it's still hard work. Salvation was never meant to be easy. We told President that our goal for January baptisms is four. Which is pushing it, because we don't have a single person qualified yet, so this week is going to be busy as we try to get people to go to church. We might have to drag them there. haha. 

Oh, so random that I forgot to mention in like all my letters, no one can pronounce my name here. They say Sister Watskin. They can't put the t and k next to each other. It's so funny. Everyone calls me that now; I even introduce myself as Sister Watskin. haha It's great. I love them. It's great here. I love you all!!! Have a happy new year!

Love, Sister Watskin!

December 22, 2013

So while I'm waiting for skype to load I'll just email you now! So nothing too new this week. I finally recognize everything and know where everyone lives. Last night I ate fish at a member's house and it was so good! It the kind where they cook the whole fish and you have to get the meat out. Let's be real, that's how they cook everything: whole shrimp, whole fish, whole chicken, etc. And most of the homes don't have a stove so they all cook over the fire. It's so cool. It's like the pioneers. 

So yesterday we had a hilarious lesson. The day after I arrived here, so like three weeks ago, this guy stopped us and said, "I'm catholic, and you are mormons, so what do you believe that is different than what I believe?" So we set up an appointment to come back and teach him. It took a couple weeks for him to finally let us back into his house, but yesterday he finally did. And he is hilarious. He loves loves loves to talk. And it's all in English so I understand it all. He thinks that we're discussing and arguing about religion. So pretty much we started the Restoration and through his many many questions, gave an overview of EVERYTHING we teach. So finally he's like, "Sisters, there's a lot to discuss, I think you should continue to come back and teach me. And I want one of those Book of Mormons so I can read it to be better prepared for these lessons. It's not fair that you're teaching me what I haven't read." So funny, we don't have to do anything. Then the best part. We were telling him our purpose, "faith, repentance, baptism" He stopped us at baptism and said that that's something he wouldn't like to talk about because he's already baptized and will never ever be baptized into our church. He doesn't believe in the need to be baptized more than once so he doesn't ever want to talk about it, because we would just argue. I prayed in my head "please help him to soften and open his mind and heart to this." Then he said, "actually sisters, this voice just told me that I need to open and soften my mind and heart to this and not just close it off and maybe i should get baptized. So if I do get baptized into your church, what would happen to my life?" I about cried right then and there. Of course he kept talking and didn't even let us answer the question. haha so pretty much our plan is to give him a Book of Mormon and let him teach himself. It was the best lesson ever. We didn't do a thing!

Sister Nielson and I are continuously becoming better teachers. We keep trying to progress every day. She said that none of her other companions tried to do that. But that's pretty much my motto here. Be better than the day before. 

We are meeting a lot of people now that are just ready to receive the gospel and it's just so exciting. The hardest part though is getting them to go to church. They just don't understand the importance of going to church. They all say they have work, which they do, but they can change it because it's like home/family-runned. So hard. So sister Nielson and I are trying to find a better way to teach and promise the blessings of church attendance. 

So remember in my setting apart blessing that I would learn things about the doctrine and the scriptures that I've never seen before? It's so true. I'm re-reading the book of Mormon and it takes me 15 minutes to finish just one page. There is so much in there, it's amazing! Who knew there was so much in the Book of Mormon. I can liken every verse to my life and the lives of the investigators. It's just so exciting. Sister Nielson and I also have a lot of fun during companion study just talking about the doctrines and things that we've never learned before. She says she loves listening to me because I say things we've both never thought of before. I like receive revelation as I talk. This is the coolest calling the the whole world. I've never learned more about the gospel. 

And speaking of talking and revelation, I gave a talk in church yesterday. Bishop texted us saturday night and said I was a speaker for tomorrow speaking on tithing. I'm like, great, that gives me time to prepare. So I wrote down a couple notes and spoke for the full 15 minutes. Totally had so much help from the Holy Ghost. I spoke Ilonggish. (Ilonggo/English) And I had stuff to say. It was so cool. I did everything I could to prepare in the time I had, but the Holy Ghost helped me so much. Even Elder Van (one of the Elders in our ward) said he took down some notes and wants to use them in his lessons. And then the person after me was President Deyro. He's the president of the Seminary here. Their family has us over for dinner a lot and one of the times I told him I was in the Bible Videos. So he told the whole ward that I was an actress and famous. The Bishop thought he was just making stuff up so when I told him I really was in it he felt pretty embarrassed. 

Anyway, that's all for today. I can tell you some more fun stuff on Christmas/Chrismas Eve! I love you all!!

-Sister Watkins