Guess what. Yesterday we had stake conference...in Paoay!
So I got to see Brother M! I was so so happy to see him there. I got to
talk to him afterward, and he said he is happy that he is a member now. He is
preparing for a mission now. I'm so happy. :)
Oh, and last Tuesday we visited a less-active who has a
son who is deaf and uses ASL. At first I thought he would be using a different
kind of sign language because it's different between countries, but then he
showed me his ASL book, and it was the same as I learned in my ASL class, so I
got to talk to him and practice my ASL as little bit (which is very rusty
now--I've forgotten a lot). I never ever imagined I'd be using my ASl here on
my mission, but I'm glad I took that class at BYU. I've been teaching sister
Serrano a little bit, like the alphabet, and the numbers. It's fun.
The members in our ward are really supportive in working
with us, especially sister S. She worked with us every day our first week, and
3 days last week. She has a 9-year-old daughter who comes along too sometimes
and is helping me learn Ilocano. Sometimes I practice making sentences in our
apartment--or while we're out walking between appointments. My favorite (and
Sister Serrano's favorite to tell people that I said) is "Awan ti ulom."
That's the thing you say to someone if you want them to be your best friend
forever. Just kidding. It means "you have no head." Hehe.
Sister Serrano calls me a walking hymnbook. I didn't
realize what a great blessing it is that we went through the hymnbook during
family time while I was growing up until I got to my mission, and I realized
that I know almost all the hymns. So thank you, Daddy, for that tradition.
The other day, we found a new investigator. She was
really nice and receptive. It was really funny because she was just tickled to
death to hear me speak Tagalog. She said I look like a doll, and she begged for
me to say both the opening and the closing prayer. It made me smile.
The people here in the Philippines are so nice. I love
that you can just go up to anyone and start up a conversation with them, even
if you don't know them, and they don't think it's weird at all. I think if I
were serving in a country where the people are less friendly, it would be a lot
harder to have the courage to talk to people, and so of course it would be a
lot harder to be a missionary. I think maybe that's why I was sent here.
Well, that's about all. Thank you for everything! Thank you so much for your emails every week.
You don't know how much I look forward to them.
I love you all!
Love, Sister Boekweg
Baguio Time
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