Magandang Hapon! Mahal Kita!

Happy Birthday Jennifer and Jessica!! You're 11! Wow, I can't believe it! I was 11 when you were born! Here in the Philippines, the tradition for birthdays is to have spaghetti, pansit, or some kind of noodle dish. I like to cook spaghetti a lot, and my companion always asks me whose birthday it is. Thanks for the pictures! I hope you have a great birthday! Also, Happy Father's Day on Sunday!!

On Sunday I got to see the Cebu Temple Dedication! It was so wonderful. President Monson, President Eyring, and Elder Oaks were there! On Saturday, we attended a cutural event where there were a lot of native Filipino dances, where they danced in really colorful costumes and used bamboo sticks, coconut halves, balancing pots and candles. It was really neat. Oh how I love the Filipino culture.

I am really happy because we have a lot of progressing investigators right now! 3 of our investigators, Trixie, Erica, and JC Supnet, accepted the invitation to be baptized on July 17th. They were "born again" before, but have received a witness that this church is true. Also sister Erna, another of our new investigators, has received a witness for herself that Joseph Smith is a true prophet. It's amazing to see the way people find out for themselves that all this is really true. We are also preparing Reynante Bucao for baptism - he is 15, but quite mature for his age, breadwinner of his family, and is really searching for the truth. It kind of reminds me of Joseph Smith. I love Caba. At night, we can see lights from Baguio (from all of the houses on the mountains). It's pretty. I love Sister Dolojan. Most nights we spend so much time talking and planning for our investigators that we only have 5 minutes before lights out to eat a quick snack. I admire her dedication and willingness to work hard.

Well, there's a little bit from my week this week. Thank you so much for your support and prayers. I love you very much! Have fun in Texas! Ingat!

Love, your missionary,
Rebecca

P.S. The other night walking home I saw a spider as big as my hand! I almost stepped on it, thinking it was a branch in the dark. --Also, one thing they eat here is baby chicken heads - the whole thing, BBQed on a kabob stick. I haven't tried it yet.
--Also, last night we discovered a big furry friend in our apartment - a rat the size of a rabbit... it was a little hard to sleep after that. But we are going to get some traps and poison today...thank goodness :)
--oh and did you know there is a monkey-eating eagle here in the Philippines?