Good-bye MRC...Hello Ormoc!

Hello all! So for those of you who don't already know, I am back in Tacloban! I arrived here Wednesday afternoon and I traveled all by myself! Was I nervous? Yes. Did I survive? Surprisingly yes. Would I want to do it again? No. But it was a great learning experience and I applied Sister K's advice of asking questions and I am sure the people were entertained by my mixed speaking of Waray-Waray, Cebuano, and Tagalog. I ended up just speaking English, but they sure loved that I tried to speak Tagalog. Who knew I would get mixed up in languages when I took sign language in High School. But I sure love the Philippines and their billion different languages.

I had my last physical therapy session on Tuesday and during my sessions I had been sharing the gospel with them as they are such good people who are really interested in knowing the truth. I took 3 Books of Mormon with me and gave them each one and they were so thankful and wanted to take pictures with me and their Books of Mormon. They were sad I was going back to Tacloban but one of them said that  it is cool that I am excited to go back and share the gospel with the people here. They are amazing people and I hope they started reading the Book of Mormon and got in contact with the missionaries there :)

Basta, saying goodbye to my MRC family was sad but it was like another transfer. Sister Garrett sent me off with my new favorite snack, adobo cracker nuts, (she introduced me to them in Manila) and Sister K packed me a little sack of treats which included chocolate covered cinnamon bears from Elder K because he knew I liked them and he just so happened to have some from America :) But I promise I didn't leave Manila with only food, I also left with memories and friendships that I will cherish forever. (And I just want to throw out there that I am so glad that Elder and Sister K live in Salt Lake)

When I got to Tacloban Elder and Sister Anderson picked me up from the airport and I was so happy to see them! We got to the Mission office and they told me to go to the chapel to attend the last 15 minutes of a specialized training meeting. I snuck in the back and Sister Malu just so happened to be sitting there. (This training included 3 different zones) I sat down behind her and when she saw me she hugged me and started crying. I missed my best friend! Her 20th birthday is actually on September 1st :) I was then re-untied with my sweet companion Sister Pangilinan, who I adore! She is in the same batch as Sister Skey (they gonhome this December) and she is from Manila. She has 2 brothers and they are both on missions too :) We were in the same zone when I was being trained in Catarman so we were together during typhoon Ruby and so we love that we are companions and we always talk about the good times in Catarman! :)

So now we are here in Ormoc and it is different! Not only the language but the area! It is HUGE! Grabe oi! It's pretty adventurous as well like going through a rice field maze and over bamboo bridges. Going on a small path that is barely visible, is really walking by faith, as I don't want to be the first one to fall into the rice field. Also going over the bamboo bridges I always have a prayer in my heart because those bridges are made for Filipinos...and I am clearly not the size of a Filipino. But hey, so far so good! Now you are all probably wondering how my Cebuano is coming along. It is surprisingly not bad! I owe a big thank you to Elder Camiling and Elder Bautista who helped me out at the MRC and I am actually remembering some from the MTC which really surprised me! Plus, I have my companion who is always willing to correct me when I say a waray-waray word. Example. Nano in waray means what but in Cebuano it means why. So yeah. But I'm getting better at that one! ;)

Now I don't know the people here too well but there is one family, the Peregrino family who I have really connected with and I just love and adore them. Brother is a less active but he came to church yesterday for the first time in a long time!! Sister Pangilinan was shocked to see him there! Sister told us that I reminded them of a Sister missionary who served here a long time ago who helped their children to be baptized and because of our message we shared the night before, he knew he needed to come to church. She thanked me for being so kind to them and becoming a part of their lives.

I love being a missionary and seeing the changes people make in their lives. Not only those who didn't have the gospel in their lives, but the ones who already do. I love the Peregrino family and I love my life here as a missionary :)

And THANK YOU for all of the Birthday wishes! I can't believe I'll finally be 20 ;) Mom and Dad are getting old! ;) I cried watching the birthday video and also laughed because you all sounded so "good" ;) I missed that!! I am sure that my 2nd birthday in my mission will be just as good as the first one :) But I guess I will miss the BYU creamery ice cream that I ate in the MTC last year on my Birthday. haha. Sister Pangilinan told me she will take me to my favorite restaurant here (Mang Insal) so I am looking forward to that :)
I love you all! Have a great week!!

Love,
Sister Wilde

Thank you to Elder Anderson for taking a picture of our girl when she got back to Tacloban!

I made it to Ormoc!

I LOVE PACKAGES and the messages in or on them :) :)

I made a new friend this week. He liked me!

Our poor attempt at taking a picture in a tricycle!

My new desk :)

Poor lizard. I had to take a picture because it's kinda funny.

Emotional Roller Coaster

Hello all! Well this week has been full of ups and downs! I have been doing physical therapy and it has been painful and great all at once. While having physical therapy done I was able to teach the Restoration! It was the coolest experience! One of my physical therapists, Renzo, asked me what I taught and he kept asking questions so I shared the Restoration and before I knew it there were many people listening! It was the BEST! Even though it is painful it's great because I get to share the gospel :)

On Tuesday night Elder K talked to me before I went to bed and he said there was a chance I could go home because my leg wasn't doing well and it would be better for me to go home and recover then come back when I was all better. I tried really hard not to cry but tears just welled in my eyes. I walked into my room and just started to sob. I don’t think I have ever cried that hard before. I just lost it and couldn't speak. I have a room to myself but Sister Jenkins was going to come over. I just started to pray and I was immediately calmed. Sister Jenkins then came into the room and asked how I was and I felt dumb because she was the one preparing to return home the next morning! I started crying again and she was so great to be there for me and help me feel better about the situation.

I had a similar talk with Sister K the next day before going to physical therapy and cried some more. I also prayed some more and realized crying isn't going to do my any good. I needed to have faith and get working hard to get better!! Sister K also gave me that gentle reminder :) I went to physical therapy and worked hard. Renzo couldn't believe I was doing heavier weights and doing so much. (It was not pain free!) It was then time for me to walk. I got up and had my one crutch and was doing okay then they told me to use no crutches. I put it down and I walked. I did it! I got so happy and excited tears welled in my eyes and they cheered for me! haha it was the best. I have the best physical therapy team ever. I am going again today and Elder and Sister K are really preparing me and getting me to keep working hard on it. Especially Elder K. I love it.

I hope to keep working HARD AND GET BACK TO TACLOBAN. Sending my love!!

Love,
Sister Wilde

The MRC district ;) But right now I am actually the only girl of 7 Elders. It will be me and 9 Elders by the end of the day!

I sure miss Kylee Jenkins!! Love her!

Sister Venzuala returned back to her mission and she left me this :)

Elder K challenged us, and I want to challenge all of you :)

I asked Justine in her email what the highlight of her week was, and this was her response to me, "The best thing was going to a home for children who are having surgeries for clubbed feet or cleft palates. They are the sweetest kids and I love them! I am going again tomorrow!!

Life in the MRC

Hello Family!

This week has been a very different week because I am here at the Missionary Recovery Center in Manila! On Tuesday I had my first appointment along with Elder Camiling. My Doctor is Dr. Coxing (I know that is NOT how you spell it but it is how you say it) and he is so nice! He suggested that I get an MRI to make sure I don't have a torn muscle. We were scheduled to have MRI's on Thursday and Elder K told me 12:00 on Thursday so I am thinking noon but no, midnight. Haha Elder K laughed when I thought it was at noon.  So I had my MRI and I won't go into it but let’s just say I hated it. It is the loudest thing and the music didn't work. Elder K got my results the next day and it was good news as I do not have a torn muscle! I just have really bad deep bruising and bleeding, so I will have to undergo Physical Therapy. The Doctor also recommended I have a splint so not quite a cast to help my muscle. He had to move my foot in the right position to put my splint on and it HURT. But Elder K was there the whole time and he is seriously my Hero. If it wasn't for him, I probably would have struggled at the doctor appointments and more. Elder and Sister K are AMAZING. Elder K reminds me of Dad and Poppy in different ways. And Sister K...the best way to describe her is she’s an angel. I am not even kidding. She is the sweetest person I have ever met in my life. I have been with Elder K more as he is the one that takes us back and forth to the hospital and we just laugh because he is hilarious and he doesn't even try to be. We got home Thursday from our MRI's around 2:30am and that drive home is unforgettable. They have blessed my life SO MUCH since I have been here in the MRC. Now I want to tell you all a little bit about my MRC family :)

You all know about Elder Camiling and Elder and Sister K...

Sister Jenkins- She is from Idaho but is serving in the Urdenetta mission and she is hilarious. We are companions here and we have gotten along great :)

Elder Paraggua- He is serving in the Olongapo mission and it is actually his 2nd time here at the MRC but he has an amazing singing voice and is hilarious also.

Elder Bautista- So this Elder is pretty much one of my heroes as he has a kidney problem and has been here for 2 months. He has a twin brother who is serving in the Philippines also and he will be donating a kidney soon for Elder Bautista :)

Divine- SHE IS THE CUTEST AND BEST COOK OF MY LIFE. She told me she was a little nervous around Jackie at first because of her accent but she sure loves the Hadlock’s and calls me Sister Hadlock sometimes and we always speak in Tagalog, Waray-Waray, Cebuano, and English. Love her!!

Melvin- He is the janitor here and is from Tacloban. I actually met him when I was here a year ago for 5 days and he loves that I can sit and speak Waray Waray with him. He always keeps us laughing and we always tell him to try out for the voice because he rocks at singing.

Sister Dahildahil and Sister Venzuela- They have thyroid cancer and just had radiation done so they have to be in their room for one week but we have been able to talk to them a few times as long as we are more than 3 feet away and they are so strong and the cutest girls.

And that is my MRC family! I am so happy and blessed that I don't have a torn muscle and that I will be able to get back to Tacloban soon. I am so thankful for the people that I have met here and I will forever cherish the friendships I have made here.

I can't wait to get to work in Tacloban and speak Cebuano!! Elder Bautista has been helping me as I've been teaching him waray waray. It really is a different language and not many people know it. At the doctors they were all speaking Tagalog to me and I can understand, just not all of it and I was praying to be able to communicate well with them when one nurse asked me where I am serving and I said Tacloban and she said, "Well I am from Catarman" and we just started to speak waray waray and the other nurses really had no idea what we were talking about. It was a blessing for sure! And another tender mercy was yesterday at church I was sitting in gospel principles when someone outside the door was waving at me and I recognized him but thought I was just jinxing myself since he looked like the 1st counselor in the bishopric in Catarman where I served but it really was him and it was so good to talk to him as he was visiting family in Manila and he laughed as I was speaking waray waray-H and he was speaking waray waray-S but when I realized I changed to the S and it started to come back to me a little bit but he said Catarman missed me and that he will send them my love. What a blessing! I may or may not have cried a little bit.

I love you all and the next time I email I will be in Tacloban :) Thank you for all of the prayers on my behalf! I can really feel it.

Love,
Sister Wilde

My cute companion here at the MRC and one of my new life long friends Sister Jenkins!! :) She is serving in the Urdenetta mission!

My life right now. I am only in a wheelchair when we go to the hospital so I am really good at crutches. (That doesn't mean I like it.)

Welcome to the MRC

I am having culture shock here in Manila but LOVING it ;)

The first counselor in my bishopric in Catarman! Brother Magalang!

Reading my letter from Sister Malu and the awesome B.R. page my anak made me! I miss them!

I made it!

Hello Mom and Dad!

I made it to Manila! Elder Camiling and I made it safely and I would have died without him. Haha, especially with my luggage! The plane ride was SO fast!! An hour and a half na la. I also have been transferred to Ormoc which is not too far from Carigara and I will be living with my STL's that I had in Carigara. Small world. My new companion is Sister Pangilinan and we were in the same zone in Catarman for 3 months so we have become friends in this mission and now we are companions :) Oh, and my new area is CEBUANO. I knew it! I am looking forward to the challenge :)

Tomorrow morning I will go into the doctors and we will see what happens from there. For right now I am in the great care of Elder and Sister K. They are so sweet and they send their love to Jerry and Jackie :) They love them and so I just want to say thank you for giving me some brownie points ;)

A quick experience I want to share with you...on the plane ride here I started to talk to the lady next to me and it turns out she is from Ormoc!! The area that I am going to be assigned to when I return back! I took the opportunity to get her information in case she lives in my area because she is happy to meet with missionaries but if she doesn't live in my area, I have a referral for the other missionaries so hopefully some missionaries will be able to visit her :)

I love you both so much. We ate dinner tonight with a bunch of old people and it was weird and we are still hungry because we have no rice.  Also, I experienced culture shock today in Manila so yeah that’s weird. I think I will be way shocked when I come home next year!

Love you both!! :)
Sister Wilde

So long Cariagara, you will be missed!

After 4 cycles, 6 months, 5 zone leaders, 3 companions, 2 district leaders, 2 apartments, and 8 baptisms I am transferring from Carigara! I can't believe I am actually transferring. Yesterday was an emotional day full of goodbyes! I shared my testimony saying goodbye to my ward and I was doing so good at not crying but when I said I was leaving and saw the look on their faces and some with tears in their eyes, I cried! How could I not?? The people of Carigara 2nd ward will always have a special place in my heart. I will be forever grateful for the opportunity that I had to serve them. 

Now where will I be going? I am still not so sure! Transfer meeting is going to take place later this morning and I needed to email before since I will be going to Manila this afternoon. Words cannot begin to express the feelings I had when Sister Maurer told me I needed to go. Elder Means and Elder Esikia gave me a blessing when I found out and through their blessing and many prayers and fasting, I know everything is going to be okay. I will be in Manila for about a week and when I come back I will go to my new area with my new companion!

I think my next area is going to be Cebuano and so I am kinda nervous, okay I am really nervous but hey, I have been speaking waray waray for almost a year and Cebuano is what is on my mission call so I might as well give it a shot ;) I understand it great just speaking it fully is going to be the challenge ;)
Sister Dumale, my sweet anak and companion is officially done training! I am so proud of her! :) She is one incredible missionary and I know she will take perfect care of Carigara :)

I wasn't able to work at all this week so I am sorry this email is so little. I am so grateful for all of the prayers on my behalf. I can feel them here and I could not be more grateful! I love you all!

Love,
Sister Wilde
 

My last zone in Carigara

I love these women!!

Saying goodbye to Jemily (my most recent convert) and Dyna (ward member)

Sorry the picture is kind of blurry but Jemily handed me these two candies as she walked away with tears in her eyes! She is so sweet!

Saying goodbye to Sister Sheryll!!

Here is the card I made for the Ragsag family.

Saying goodbye to the Ragsag family! (My Bishop!) He wasn't home at the time but man I sure love them! They put the card I made them on their mirror. Haha they love the American flag! Also, their son got his mission call to New Zealand yesterday and I am so excited for him!!! He was working with the Elders so he also wasn't home.

We made the popcorn Granny send last night and it was yummy!! :)

Nanay Adolfa cried so much yesterday with me leaving and she gave me my favorite, fudge bars, as a goodbye gift. She is so cute!

Just call me klutzy!

Hello Family,

Before I start into this week, let me just tell you all that I look so weird laughing my head off in tears watching the videos of my family in those giant sports balls. Literally hilarious. I need to try those when I get home! Keep being awesome family :)

I have learned many things here on my mission and I know I still have so much to learn. One thing I learned right from the beginning of my mission is that Heavenly Father knows what is best for us and He has a perfect plan for each and every one of us. He also gives us trials that He knows we can handle and that will make us better people. He also works in mysterious ways to help comfort and bless us.

This week on Thursday I finished my personal study and knelt to pray. As I finished my prayer I stood up and my leg hit under our closet door really hard. I like to say I saved a crying child in the middle of the street from getting hit by a petty cab but no, just a classic Sister Wilde move right there. I didn't think much of it until once the feeling in my leg came back, it hurt really bad. I just limped through the house then when we were going to go to our appointment we realized my shoe did not fit me. My foot was huge! We went to the hospital and the doctor was well...interesting so we had to wait to travel to Tacloban on Friday. The doctor in Tacloban told me that I have a muscle contusion and that I will be down for 3 weeks. I think I scared him when my natural response was "What?!" but Sister Dumale reassured him that she would make me rest and help me get better.

While sitting on the bus ride home, holding my crutch, feeling discouraged and frustrated the lady next to me offered me some peanuts. I said, "Oh okay lang sister. Dire ako gutom. Pero salamat!" (It's okay sister, I'm not hungry, but thank you!) And she said, "well geez don't be shy!" (No need to translate because she said it in perfect English!) As our conversation carried on I found out she was a retired nurse from Connecticut but is now back in the Philippines with her family as her husband who was an American Marine died this last January. We talked about religion and family and the differences from here and in America. She was the sweetest person and just made me laugh! (a lot! she is a hoot!) As she got off the bus and we drove away tears came to my eyes as I then knew who she reminded me of, Julie Kruitmoes. Heavenly Father really is aware of every single one of us and works in mysterious ways to help and uplift us.

We then had the baptism of Jemily Fami on Saturday and she looked beautiful! After she was baptized and she changed back into her clothes, she looked at me and back at herself in the mirror and tears then swelled in her eyes and she just hugged me. She then bore powerful testimony of the Restoration of the Gospel and I couldn't hold back the tears. She is truly an amazing girl and will bless so many lives when she serves as a full time missionary.

This week will be my last week here in Carigara as I have been here for 6 months! I love the people here and love that they have put up with me for so long! They are the sweetest people on earth. I love you all and hope you have a great week! Don't forget to look for the good in everything :)

Love,
Sister Wilde

Jemily's Baptism!! :)

I love Nanay Adolfa and Nanay Au!

Tatay Orsal reading his Book of Mormon. I had to sneak a picture!

Our Law of Chastity lesson in Gospel Principles was good. The Elders love the chalkboard.

And we have a schedule who will "babysit" me and who will work with Sister Dumale!