I love my dad!

First things first...HAPPY BIRTHDAY DAD!!! Grabe I can't believe you're 39! Hehe yes I said your age, you better enjoy it now because next year is the big 40! ;) Words can't express how much I love and admire you! You are an amazing example to me! I appreciate and admire how diligent you are in your calling and that you always remain worthy of the priesthood! I LOVE YOU! (I remember you asking me in an email, "Where is the 'I love my dad picture?”  Here is is!)
    
This week Sister Talataina and I were able to work 2 days which is a blessing! She is doing SO much better now, and we will be able to work this whole next week. Words cannot begin to express how excited I am!

Thursday we were out working and we were able to share a message with the Sarmiento family, who also gave us a referral! (We will be contacting her tomorrow, so I'll let you know next week how it goes) We then taught the Gabiana family who are doing great :) We did however get punted! Sayang! We didn't know where to go so we decided to stop and say a prayer. We asked for guidance to know where to go. At the end of the prayer we just stood there for a minute and I had the thought to go to our area by the church. We ended up at the house of Merasol’s brother. I have gone by their house and have said hello to them so many times, so I was confused as to why we were going there, but it was as if the spirit was pushing me to their door. We talked to George and he told us that his son Mark isn't baptized, and that he and his wife have not been to church in a long time. He apologized as he said his job is always on Sunday so he cannot attend, but he knows his son needs to be baptized, and that he needs to attend church when he can. He also said that his wife and children need to attend as well. We are now teaching one of their sons Mark who is 9 (the cousin of Fritz! :)) and helping his parents to come back to church! I am so thankful that Sister Talataina and I listened to the promptings of the spirit so we now have the opportunity to help this family come to church, and to help Mark prepare to be baptized :)

On our way home from the hospital on Thursday we ran into a lady. She told us that her daughter just had a baby, and that the baby was very sick. We told her we would be happy to visit in the hospital the next day and she said they would really like that. As we were texting her other daughter (a ward missionary) later that night for the information we had the prompting to ask her if they would like the Elders to come too and give the baby a blessing. She said they would really appreciate that. As we walked into that hospital with the Elders the next morning my heart ached. As we walked through the children’s section of the hospital tears came to my eyes as I saw 4-5 kids in each room laying on a mattress with IVs in their hands, sweat dripping down their faces, and tears in their eyes. Some had nobody by their side. When we found the room the baby was in we went in and greeted them and the other 3 children who were also in the room. When we looked out the window into the hall we realized many adults had followed us, and were now watching to see what would happen next. As I watched the Elders place their hands on the sweet baby’s head, the spirit was powerful. They gave a beautiful blessing. They kept thanking us. It was an amazing spiritual experience, and one of the most humbling. On Sunday we were told that the baby is doing better :)

Sunday was our busy day as we had church and meetings. We then decided to skip lunch and go straight to work. We went to a part of our area where a lot of our investigators live. When we got there the Arpon family and Lily (investigators) were outside fixing the Arpon’s home, because it was affected by the Typhoon and the flooding that happened this week. (Floods are the worst!) We offered to help them and as we started to talk to them all the people in this little village came over and we honestly had 30-40 people (a majority were kids) standing around listening to us. We realized since our investigators were busy we could use this opportunity to share the gospel with all of these people just staring at us in awe! (It's pretty funny) We started to get to know them and then they started to ask us questions, our investigators even started to answer them, and get excited because they knew who we were and the message that we bring. One lady said, "Sisters, you are both so big and tall we were kind of afraid of you, but you are both so nice!" We just laughed and said, "Sister we don't want to look scary! Besides we are Filipinos at heart!" (That got a good laugh) Then another lady said, "How do you know our language?? You're very good!" (Now that made my day right there!) We told her we learn from studying what we know and talking with the people here, and praying for help so that we can speak to you in your native tongue, and share our important message with you." She couldn't believe I wasn't in school for learning waray waray, and that I was teaching my companion their language. Oh, and Sister Talataina is picking up the language pretty good!

Well that's it for now. I hope you all have a great week! I love you all!

Love,
Sister Wilde

The kids here LOVE taking pictures!

Some kids in the area where we talked to everyone! So fun! I love the kids here so much!!

Our "gangster" picture. Haha Sister Talataina loves taking pictures and when she yelled "Gangster!" this is what we got!

I LOVE the Sarmientos!!! They told me last night that they pray for me everyday, and that they pray I will be here in Catarman for 6 months. They also want me to go to the Cebu temple with them when they are sealed. I wish so badly that was possible!

One eventful week!

Hello Family,

Sister Talataina and I have only been companions for a week and SO much has happened! Last Tuesday we went and visited the Gabiana family, and they are doing great! Sister Talataina only knows Cebuano so the people here can understand it somewhat but cannot speak it so they will reply in waray waray then I will tell Sister Talataina what they said in English. It is challenging, but good because I am learning more! One of the boys (Jules) said the closing prayer and he thanked Heavenly Father that we were healthy, and that the Sisters had big healthy bodies. Hahaha. I couldn't help but chuckle a little bit, so did his mom and siblings! I told Sister Talataina what he said when we left and she couldn't help but laugh too. Sister Talataina and I get so many people staring at us because we are two big foreigners. I also get told that I'm even smaller now when I'm next to my companion because Sister Skey was so stinking tiny. It's too funny.

Basta, Wednesday Sister Talataina was sick and so we were not able to go out and work, she was also sick Thursday, and Friday. Sister Talataina ended up cutting her hair and Sister Zaballas’ hair at one point because she was bored. Haha so our room is now called the W.T. salon. So weird. Then Sister Zaballa (My STL and my roomie) said she would go with me tomorrow to work in our area which I was grateful for because it had been a long time since we had worked in our area. So when we got up Saturday morning we got a text from the Zone Leaders saying to stay inside because there was a Typhoon coming. So there went our day of work!

Sister Zaballa and Sister Newton went out and grabbed some food before the storm was going to hit. In the afternoon the storm really was hitting hard and we realized that we had to be the eye of the storm. It was scarier than Typhoon Ruby because we were the center, and we were not in the chapel but at home. We were all in our room (it's the hang out place now I guess) and I walked out to grab something when I felt water...yikes. I then realized our apartment was flooding. We only had towels so we all just kept wiping up the water and ringing the towels out over and over again. It wasn't flooding too bad, but man was it fast. The Zone Leaders told us not to sleep that night, but to stay up and watch the flood. Great. Around 11:00 pm it had died down and was no longer flooding so we decided to get some sleep if the storm was going to pick up again. Around 1am Sister Talataina woke me up and told me that she was having a hard time breathing. (It is also super hot in our apartment because we have no electricity so that doesn't make it easier for her to breathe!) I text Sister Maurer and she told me to stay up and keep an eye on her. (Sister Maurer does all of the medical stuff...she is awesome!) By Sunday morning Sister Talataina wasn't better and I had to take her to the hospital. They did many tests and she was admitted that morning. Our Bishop and 2nd counselor brought us the sacrament later that afternoon which was great, and many members of the ward came and visited us which is always so much fun! She was released on Monday afternoon, and we found out she has bad asthma. No fun! She got an inhaler and is doing much better, but is still getting strength back.

Now during all of this, our apartment is haunted. Yes, I'm not even lying. All of you that know me know that I love scary movies and love being scared. Well I've always thought it was cool that we live next to a cemetery because they are extra creepy here, and I think it's funny that the Sisters get freaked out so easily. Well I'm here to tell you now that I no longer will be watching scary movies when I return nor do I enjoy being scared! The experiences we've had are anything but fun, and so we are going to get our apartment dedicated soon. The Elders came this morning and said a prayer in our apartment, but we will have it dedicated as well.

This week has been the most stressful week of my mission so far, but also very spiritual. Heavenly Father has helped me so much this week. From helping me communicate with the doctors and nurses in the hospital to being safe during the Typhoon, and comforting me when I'm scared. Even though this week was hard, Heavenly Father helped me through it, and I know I wasn't the only one He was helping this week. He is constantly helping those who put their trust in Him and do His will. I love being a missionary, and I love all of you! Have a great week! 

Love,
Sister Wilde

Mom, here is the answer  to your question, “What is the best thing about being a missionary?” The thing I love most about being a missionary? EVERYTHING. I can't pick just one! But of course being able to help people is the best. Seeing them make changes in their lives to be in harmony with the Lords standards is the best feeling ever. You can see a light in their eyes as they keep the commitments we give them and are willing and ready to do anything the Lord wants them to do. I love that feeling :)
 

Being here in the hospital with Sister Talataina! She is crazy! ;)

This is after our special sacrament meeting

This was my bed. Pretty sure I have a bruised tail bone.

Opening packages!! Sister Talataina took a billion pictures, but I am only sending a few

Opening our 12 Days of Christmas!! Sister Talataina really enjoyed the 12 Days of Christmas, like A LOT! We couldn't wait for 12 days, so it was more like 12 Days of Christmas meets 1 Day in January! And the chocolate was AMAZING. I had forgotten what it tasted like.

Celebrating with Sister Zaballa!

Happy 23rd Birthday Sister Zaballa!

Sister Talataina LOVES taking selfies. Too funny. This is our "Say Cheese!" picture

And this is our "Act like we are at a party" picture!

Our kitchen

We have cute puppies that live on our porch! These are a few of them :)

No email this week

It is late Tuesday night, and I'm looking forward to Sunday evening in hopes that we will get to hear from our favorite girl! This isn't the first time we haven't received and email from our missionary, and unfortunately it probably won't be the last. I have been asked by Shawn if I am worried, and honestly I'm not. I know that she is okay, and will email as soon as she is able to email. I really think it has something to do with the weather there in the Philippines, and when conditions are agreeable again we will get our email. In the meantime Sister Maurer, Justine's mission mom (the mission presidents wife) posted something on Facebook along with some pictures that I thought would be nice to add to the blog. It is amazing to love someone you have never met before, I've never met Sister Maurer, but I love her! Not only do I have complete confidence in both her and her sweet husband, but I am continually amazed at how inspired they are when it comes to doing the Lord's work, and watching over His missionaries. I am grateful for the sacrifices they have made to leave their children, and an adorable grandbaby, and live in conditions that I consider to be less than desirable. To serve the Lord and to be part of our daughters growth. Justine has mentioned how much she loves President and Sister Maurer. In fact during her last visit back to Tacloban she emailed me and expressed her feelings of love and admiration for them. She specifically mentioned Sister Maurer, and said how much fun she was!

Like I mentioned before, I believe it is because of the weather that we didn't get our weekly email. I am feeling confident in my assumption considering that the Pope cut his visit to the Philippines short this past week due to the weather conditions, and then after seeing these photos that Sister Maurer took, I think it's safe to blame it on the rain! (If you are now singing and old Milli Vanilli song right now, join in with me because I am too. If you don't get it then you are either too old, or too young ;))

Sister Maurer's post: I haven't shared our most recent experience here in the Philippines. We are now understanding that typhoons and floods (and other disasters like landslides) are just a way of life here. I marvel at the resilience of the people. Not long after Typhoon Ruby we had some of the heaviest rains experienced since we arrived. Much of the surrounding suburbs (barangay's), and other regions, endured serious flooding. President and I spent several days trying to travel to various missionaries and their apartments that were experiencing flooding. Altho' we knew they were safe, we felt the need to ensure their continued safety. It was two days before the roads were clear enough to get to the first area and several days more before we accessed the other areas. Even today, 4 weeks after, there are still bridges out that restrict us from getting round the mission by car without being forced to take longer routes - some that add several hours on to the trip. The bright side is that we are discovering areas of our mission we've never seen before and have enjoyed rainbows that assured us we could do it and sunsets that buoyed us along.

"For the heartbroken, the sad, the down, the depressed...the most beautiful rainbow and sunshine, comes after the worst storm."  -Unknown

Ch-ch-Changes

Well first things first....MEET MY NEW COMPANION!  Say hello to Sister Talataina! She is the best! We became companions yesterday! She is my follow up trainer. In her last area she was speaking Cebuano, so I will be teaching her waray waray, which is a little scary ;) Sister Talataina is really funny, and she is constantly making me laugh! We met when I very first got here in the mission field. We quickly became friends, and she trained my batch. So when we saw each other at the transfer meeting we were so excited, and then we find out that we are going to be companions. Say what?! Sister Maurer told us to behave ourselves, and Sister Talataina replied, “We can’t make any promises!” She did not enjoy the 7 hour van ride home, but she will get used to it since we have to go to Tacloban again in February for a Sisters training meeting.

We hurried and just took a picture in the computer shop because we forgot to take one yesterday! Basta, we had Zone Training meeting on Friday and that went really well. I always love learning from our zone leaders and Sister Training Leaders. The theme was continuous revelation. I have really enjoyed studying this subject, and I realize how important it is to always be worthy of the spirit so that you can receive revelation for yourself to help you in your life. Especially for me as a missionary it is so important to know how I can improve, and how I can help my investigators.

This week I'll be showing Sister Talataina the area, and have her meet some of the members from our ward. I can’t even begin to tell you how happy and excited I am to still be in the Catarman area, and to have Sister Talataina meet the people here! Especially our investigators, whom I dearly love! By the way, Fritz it doing great! He keeps asking me when he can be a missionary like us. It’s adorable. Also the Sarmiento’s home is finished which is good! They worked so hard on it, and it is great!

Sister Skey is now an STL in Maasin, which is a Cebuano speaking area so she is nervous, but I know that she will be great!

I know this is the shortest email, but it has just been crazy traveling to Tacloban and getting Sister Skey ready to leave. I love you all! Have a great week!

Love,
Sister Wilde

Sister Talataina my new companion!

Family picture! Sister Bayadog was Sister Skey's trainer/nanay (mother) which makes her my lola (grandma). Sister Bayadog goes home this week.

Sister Gina (Investigator) and Sister Sarmiento wanted a picture with us before Sister Skey transferred. I love them!

My Batch in my zone! I love them!

These are our "We graduated the 12 weeks training program!!!" faces!

My batch that I got to see at the transfer meeting! Standing next to my MTC companion Sister Harper.