My First American Companion

Hey! Sounds like you all already know by now, but I have my first American companion, Sister Nielsen, from Oregon! It's great! We found out on Wednesday that Sister Almaquer was being transferred and that I and sister Young would both be training. Sister Young's trainee is the MTC companion of Sister Nielsen! It is really interesting having an American companion - I'm going to have to get used to it! It's funny because it made me realize how far I've come in one year, and how much I've learned. I'm so used to speaking in Tagalog that it's like second nature now, and I need to pause sometimes to remind myself to speak slower, or explain things in English. (but actually there are some things in Tagalog that don't really have a direct translation in English, so it's kinda weird! I've been in the Tagalog mindset for quite a while!) But I'm so excited for her! She's going to be rambling off in Tagalog in no time! It's been fun to see her reaction to new things and the culture, etc. I was starting to wonder if I'd ever be put with an American my whole mission. This is going to be fun. One funny thing is that here, they often say "o-o" (yes) with their mouth closed, and Sister Nielsen always says "uh-uh" for "no", and so it's a little confusing for both of us sometimes, whether we're saying yes or no! Ha, i love it.

Yay! Yesterday I was so delighted because the Agustin family came to church! Finally! I love them so much! I'm so excited that Alex got to stay the weekend over there! That's so happy! I hope you all give him a great big hug from me! :)

On Monday, Sister Young and I made Thanksgiving dinner with Sister Almaquer and Sister Garma, before Sister Garma went home on Tuesday. It was great! We taught them how to cut out hand prints to make a turkey and write everything we're thankful for. They enjoyed it. Sister Young stayed over with us until Friday - it was fun to be able to work with her again.


I love missionary work. We are so blessed. The gospel of Jesus Christ is the only way to find lasting happiness and peace. We can look anywhere we want, but unless we latch onto Heavenly Father's plan, whatever route we end up following isn't going to produce true happiness. It's like we're branches, and we've been broken off from the tree, and our temporary happiness is unavoidably going to eventually shrivel up and wither away unless we are grafted in again the the mother tree, or reconciled to Heavenly Father through the Atonement.

Love you lots! Stay happy!
Love, Rebecca

P.S. So, I've heard some rumors that the email rule might be changing, and we may only be allowed to email immediate family again. Anyways, I'll find out for sure tomorrow at zone conference.