Monday, November 30, 2009

I Love You!

Hey!!! Happy December! (amost!) I love you!
How was Thanksgiving?! Thanks so much for the yummy pumpkin-chip cookies! We gobbled them right down :) Are Jennifer and Jessica done performing in the play? Oh, about the address - I think both are correct. One is just smaller than the other, but I'm pretty sure you can use either. Wow, what a week! Guess what! Elder Holland and his wife came to speak to us on Thanksgiving morning! It was cool because he answered some questions (which we all submitted beforehand) about sealings, investigators' questions, and other concerns. He shared a poem about following promptings and accepting callings, even when it takes us out of our comfort zone.

Here it is:
"Come to the edge," He said.
"No, I'll fall."
"Come to the edge."
"No I'll fall."
Come to the edge."
"No I'll fall."
So I came to the edge. He pushed me, and I flew!

I love it because it reminds me that when we hand our life over to Heavenly Father, he makes more out of it than we can alone.
Elder Oaks and his wife also came to speak (on Tuesday)! It was a privilege. He talked a lot about the mantle and responsibility we have as missionaries and about the sacred nature of missionary work. It was really inspiring, and made me want to always conduct myself in a way to give reverence to this call of representing the Savior. Sister Oaks said, "Missions aren't stepping stones to greater things, they're cornerstones for our lives." I thought that was neat.

Guess what! I got called to give my talk on obedience (in Tagalog) yesterday at church! It was fun. I like our branch. There are 3 districts. Yesterday I accompanied two elder in my district on the piano while they sang a musical number. I love playing piano for sacrament meeting. It's kinda funny because we sing the hymns in Tagalog, but I use the English hymnbook to play, and so sometimes I lose track of where they are singing and I have to quickly translate what I'm hearing in my head. Hehe. I love Sister Parks and Sister Young so much. I'm so glad that they both have strong desires to be exactly obedient! We really have had such a good time together and had a lot of fun this week. We learned how to sing "Do as I'm doing" in Tagalog, and also this other song to the tune of "Do your ears hang low" to help us remember directions in Tagalog. I wish I had access to a Tagalog Primary Songbook, but they don't sell them at the MTC bookstore. I really want to learn "I am a child of God" so I can teach it to the children in the Philippines. Tagalog is lots of fun. I learned that it's basically a mix of Tongan and Mandarin Chinese crushed together over thousands of years, with some Spanish influence splashed in. Sometimes I feel like I'm a little kid when I try to speak it because of some of the sounds :)

Mahal Kita! I love you so much!
Love, Rebecca

P.S. This morning I recieved a happy Christmas stocking stuffed with goodies from Alex's parents--oh jolly!! (if you are reading this, thank you so much! )

P.S.2 Thanks for sending on the encouragement from the Tuminez's :) They're so nice!

P.S.again. Doctrine and Covenants 128:23 and 2 Nephi 2:24 are amazing! Also, have you ever heard the song, "My kindness shall not depart from thee" ? Someone sang it here at a devotional, and I think it's become one of my favorite songs! It's based on D&C 121:33 :)

One more P.S.! Guess what! We're going to get our flight plans on Thursday! I'm so excited! I can't believe that we're already that close to leaving!

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