One of the most memorable week

It has been so HOT this week, but at least it hasn't been very rainy! :) I think I'm used to the weather though so it doesn't really bother me. I have so many things going on this week! It's insane. 

First of all, this last week was one of my most memorable weeks. There were two bpatism! One was a convert baptism and the other was a grandchild of a Brother in our ward who is 8. We were preparing the 8 year old for his baptism and we asked if he drank coffee and he told us he did, but only because his grandpa does too! Caught!! We just laughed and of course explained it to him. :) 

Speaking of word of wisdom, we have an investigator who is the sister of a recent convert. We were teaching her work of wisdom and we asked her if she would live it and she told us she can't give up coffee because it's her favorite. We really bore our testimonies and let the Spirit take the lead... And she committed to stop drinking coffee! I didn't know if that could happen when we first started teaching her, but we are seeing the changes in her! 

And we have another investigator in the family, it's the mom of the same recent convert. She is so golden! We taught her yesterday and she was talking about how she really wants her kids to grow up in the Church because she sees the good influence it has in their lives. In Tagalog, the Boo of Mormon is really hard to read, and even though most people will read it, they don't understand it. But this Sister said that she reads and really tries to understand and she told us that every thing that happened in the Book of Mormon is related to our lives. She says when she doesn't have anything to do, she reads her daughter's seminary manual of D&C and it is giving her a testimony of Joseph Smith. she is just so prepared. 

We also OYMed this old man with a crazy long beard... hopefully I can get a picture of him, but he looks like a karate master or something. He started talking about our Church and he told us he liked the organizationa dn that he has studied all of our books. He said he was really researching what church is ture... but that was about 5 years ago. He says he's "free" now and doesn't need any religion. I'm not really sure what that means, but hopefully he has potential. He's really a very interesting man. 

I don't have time to tell all the stories I would like! But I'm real excited because on Saturday, my companion and I are going to the temple!! A family from my first area is getting sealed and I am beyond excited! Best ever. I really miss he temple 9 months is too long without it! :) We also have zone conference and exchanges this week so it will be busy, but that's what makes the work happy:) 

I love you all!!! Have a good week! 

Sister Holmes

Are you Tagalog or English?

Yay another fantastic week in the mission! It's been a hard adjustment, but it's good. I really love this area and I'm grateful for the opportunities that Heavenly Father is giving me. 

It's Christmas now in the Philippines... Christmas music, decorations. If the month ends in -ber... they start with Christmas. I don't know how I feel about it. But I mean, it's good I guess. It is making me excited for Christmas, but then i realized it's still really far. The reason I'm excited though is that the food is so good if it's Christmas!  As in. 

Anyway, there was a cute kid this week that comes up to me and was like "Are you tagalog or English?" Then I siad, Of course, I'm English. and she then told me she thought I was from another part in the Philippines. I laughed so hard. I think it was mostly the way she said it, but apparently I can pass as a Filipino? 

Also, it flooded real bad yesterday in our area. Thank goodness it didn't flood in the apartment... but needless to say, the water was half-way on my calf and I don't want to even know what was in that water. Probably the grossest thing I have done on my mission and I had no choice. 

But, in all honestly, despite all the weird experiences, I love the mission. I love this work and I know it is the work of our Heavenly Father. 

Mahal ko kayong lahat!

Sister Holmes

8-24-14 X 2

 Fermented Duck or Chicken egg

 Does she dare?



8-24-14

 Cute New Companion

 Laundry

 Balut!

 Cute Sister Missionaries!

8 Year old baptism

I am qualified to speak Tagalog!

So this area is real good. It's just the right size and I love the members here. We have so many dinner appointments (I promise that's not the only reason I love it here). I promise you I will not be a picky eater when I get home. As in. I eat lots of weird stuff... And this week maybe my companion tried to feed my balut. If you are not familiar with that, it's like I don't really know. Basically it's a chicken egg that's kinda old now and then you eat it. But there is definitely a chick inside. The kind Sister Salde bought has like a soup... I don't know what the word is in English. I couldn't bring myself to eat the chick, but I drank the soup stuff. It basically tastes like chicken noodle soup, but not. Anyway... that happened.

We also had our mission tour this week. The Area President of the Philippines, Elder Ian S. Ardern visited and we had a zone conference. I really enjoyed it and I learned a lot. I want to share one thing I learned with you and that is about scripture study. We need to spend time every day reading the words of our Heavenly Father. It is what we help us and enable us to endure to the end. But President Ardern talked about how we should study the scriptures and I have been trying some new ways to study my scriptures. I have been really stopping and taking time to think about each verse, each verse has a purpose, and after every verse, I try and apply it to myself. I know it sounds so simple and probably I should have done it before, but I am learning so much in a way I never did before. Amazing. 

Also, a little while ago, I took a Tagalog test. As in, they tested me on how well I could speak Tagalog. Maybe I was a little bit scared and they would be like "Sorry, Sister Holmes, you are not qualified in Tagalog. We are going to have to send you home." Of course that did happen and I was actually surprised. It was actually a good experience even though when we were in the internet shop, everybody was just staring at me lik "What is this American doing speaking Tagalog?" Some of the questions were hard, like compare this and tell a story and make them feel like they were there. Stuff like that. It was hard, but it helped me feel more comforatble with my Tagalog. I think if I was still new, I would have cried. Buti na lang. :) 

Anyway. I love you all, I'm grateful I'm here and for those that have helped me get here. 

Love ya'll! Sister Holmes 

 Frog leg anyone?

 Cute Tarlac Girls!

 This Lady had a store in her house

 Cute Missionaries!

 New Apartment in Camiling

 I have seen these faces before! =)

New Branch in Camiling

Spider fights and frogs

 

So, Transfer week again! I am now here in my third area in CAMILING 2nd BRANCH. And my cute new companion is Sister Salde, from Bacolod. Sh'es newish in the mission, she just finished her training, so I'm her second companion. We have a good companionship already because it's just the two of us our apartment! We each have our own CR (Bathroom) so that's real awesome. It's a cute little thing, but it's a bit old and the floor is just cement, but I like it. We have lots of dinner appointments here! I am now a pro at eating with my hands (I always seem to talk about food in my emails... sorry). Speaking of food, guess what I ate this week??? Frog. Yup. I ate frog. And for reals, it just tastes like chicken. 

It's interesting being in a branch instead of a ward though. It's pretty small, and the whole sacramnt meting is Tagalog. In wards, they use a lot of English. Good thing I can understand and it's not my first area anymore. I meanI wouldn't say I'm compltely fluent in Tagalog, as I there are still lots of words I don't know and sometimes I have a hard time explaining myself, but I feel confident in my Tagalog. It amazes me how fast I picked it up. At the time, it felt SO SLOW, but now the time is just flying by and I can't handle it. :) 

Anyway, there this thing here where they do spider fights. As in the make their little pet spiders fight each other and it absolutely terrifies me... and when they found out I was afraid of spiders it made it even worse. So I'll let you know if I'm still alive next week. But as for now, I love you all and I can't wait to tell you more about the new area!!! Mahal ko kayong lahat! 

Sister Holmes!!! xoxoxo