Happy Holidays!

Hello everybody! Mahal ko kayo!

Guess what! Tomorrow I get to go to Dagupan for a 4-day leadership training. I'm excited. Sister Nielsen and Sister Anderson will be companions for 4 days working in both areas. They are both really nervous because they've only been here for 2 weeks and are having a hard time with Tagalog still. But it will be a great experience - they will do great!

Well, as far as our investigators, things are going pretty good. One of our investigators, Nanet, and her daughter, Christina, are getting baptized in January! We are helping them, the Agustin family, and Joanna get over their addictions to coffee. They're doing great.

Sister Jensen (wife of President Jensen) flew out to the U.S. today and won't be back until January (family emergency). It will be different not having her around for the holidays. Speaking of, let me know when you want me to call home - it can be anytime during the holidays.

This morning we went hiking as a zone. It was very hot, and my companion and I got sunburned. I'm enjoying learning lots here in the mission field. There's a lot I've learned about how to be more effective in setting and reaching goals, and I've seen Heavenly Father's hand this week in helping us to reach some of our goals and the standard of excellence. Doing missionary work is hard. But it is very enjoyable, especially when we try to keep an eye single to the work. It requires so much, so it's really hard/nearly impossible to be effective if your whole heart isn't fully into the work. I'm really grateful for this wonderful opportunity to be here. I just can't imagine my life without having served a mission in the Philippines - the culture, the people, the lessons learned, the friendships made, the language, the experiences. It's strange to think I might have never had these priceless experiences had I not decided to go on a mission. Boy am I glad I did! And how the Philippines has almost become a part of who I am now. I just am so grateful and happy that I chose to be here, although I definitely had no idea what I was getting myself into at first. I love the gospel of Jesus Christ! We are so blessed, and Heavenly Father loves us so much. The restored gospel is true, and it will do more to make us happy than anything else in the world.

I love you all! Thank you for the emails!! It's okay for others to email me but I'm not able to reply to them. If you see Alex or Karla, let them know there's a letter that will coming soon :)
Let me know if there's anything I can do for you all! Thanks for everything you are doing for me.

Love,
Rebecca Marie Boekweg