March 11 -- A Good Week

Hi everyone!

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

March 3 -- New Area and New Companion

Hello family!

 

This has been such a great week! One of the best I've had in my whole mission. I got transferred to San Nicolas last Tuesday, and my new companion is Sister Serrano. I am so grateful to be with her.

 

This is what I wrote to President this week:

"This whole week has been a spiritual highlight for me. I love being with Sister Serrano so much. She is such a good missionary, and I always feel the spirit when we are teaching. Sunday especially was a spiritual highlight because two less actives whom we had visited earlier in the week came to church, and they both bore their testimonies and said how they are so thankful for the spirit they felt when we visited them, and for one of them it was the first time he has been to church in many years."

I love my new area. It is just outside of Laoag, but it's more a lot more rural. Our area is really big, and there are some really pretty places that we go to teach. I'm always tempted to take pictures, but then I remember we are proselyting and I restrain myself. The other day, we had to get to the house of a member, and the only way was to go accross a little bridge that was only wide enough for one foot at a time, and there was a big gap betweent the bridge and the handrail, and it was kind of scary to go accross because Sister Serrano and I are both afraid of heights. It was only about 10 feet above the ground though.

 

Oh, one funny thing that happened: we were teaching an investigator, and a little 2-year-old boy was there, and they were trying to get him to shake our hands, and he was totally fine with Sister Serrano even though she is new to the area too, but when they tried to make him shake my hand, he wouldn't do it, and he started whimpering and said "Ayaw!" which means "I don't want." I think he's gotten over the shock now because he was totally friendly when we went there again.

 

Also, I am trying to learn Ilocano now. I didn't have as much of a desire to learn it before because I felt like Tagalog was enough to worry about. But now my Tagalog is okay, and I am realizing that I need to learn Ilocano because it really is the dominant dialect in the mission. In Laoag most people knew Tagalog, but Sister Serrano said that if I am transferred up north, the people there are very Ilocano, and many of them can't understand Tagalog. Also in San Nicolas the people mostly understand Tagalog, but they speak Ilocano most of the time. I'm really lucky to be with Sister Serrano because she knows Ilocano, so I've been asking her a lot what words mean, and then I write them down on a sticky note in my planner. The members who have worked with us always laugh because they say I'm making a dictionary. The people seem pleased, though, when they find out that I am trying to learn Ilocano.

 

I love the ward here in San Nicolas. The members and leaders are really supportive, and they like to work with us. They seem really excited to have sisters serving in their ward now.

 

Well, I love you all. Thank you so much for your emails and letters and everything. The gospel is true!

 

Love, Sister Boekweg

February 24 – Transfer Week

Hi family!

This has been a pretty good week. I've enjoyed being in a threesome with Sister Cabato and Sister Deyro. Sister Deyro is from Bacolod, but her first language is actually English because that's what her family speaks at home. She's really fun to joke around with. I'll have to say goodbye tomorrow though because I'm being transferred to San Nicholas, which is pretty close to Laoag city still.

This is what I emailed to President this week:

"My spiritual highlight for this week happened on Friday when we were teaching an investigator about keeping the Sabbath day holy. I suddenly felt I should share a story from my dad when he quit a job that required him to work one Sunday each month, and he was blessed to find a better job. It's sometimes hard for me to think of what to say while we are teaching, but I really felt the spirit prompting me that time that I should share that. I am really grateful for the spirit."

Yesterday, when we got to church, the bishop told us sister S wouldn't be coming to church because she injured her eyes at work and needed to rest and to sleep (she lives with the bishop's family because she works for him). So I didn't expect to see her there. But right as Relief Society was starting, she walked in the door. It made me so happy that going to church was so important to her that she would come even though she had a really good reason not to come. I am so happy to have recent converts who are so dedicated to the gospel.

Brother A came to church yesterday for the first time. The Elders quorum president in our ward is YSA and he came with us to teach Brother A last Friday, and also sat with him in church, and I think they are becoming friends. It's such a blessing when members really go out of their way to fellowship the investigators. N.C. didn't come to church because she had a fever. We taught her the other day, and even though she is still praying to know if this is the only true church, she still wants to be baptized, and she also told us that she hasn't been drinking coffee. She drank coffee before we taught her about the word of wisdom, and it took her a while to completely give it up. But she said she doesn't drink it anymore. Even when she was visiting her siblings in Manila, and she didn't feel good, and they told her she should drink coffee to feel better, she said, "No, I'll just drink hot water".

On Friday, Sister Asuro visited Laoag with her parents, and President allowed her to work with us. It was fun because there were 4 generations of missionaries there: Sister Asuro trained me, I trained Sister Cabato, and Sister Cabato is training Sister Deyro. We also figured out that it goes in alphabetical order (Asuro, Boekweg, Cabato, Deyro).

Anyway, my time is a little short today because I'm transferring, so I guess I'll end now.

I love you all! Thank you so much for your emails, and for the birthday package!

Love, Sister Boekweg

February 18 – Zone Activity at the Beach

Hey family!

We had a zone activity this morning, which is why I am emailing late today. We went to the beach and cleaned up some garbage, and then we played ultimate frisbee, and then I helped some elders dig a mote around the salt lake temple they were building in the sand to protect it from the waves. It was really fun. I got quite sunburned. I also found a hermit crab while we were cleaning up garbage, and some of the elders wanted to name it "Shiz", you know, like from the book of Ether. Anyway, It was fun to go to the beach.

This is what I wrote to President Barrientos today:

"My spiritual highlight for this week happened on Sunday evening. We were teaching an investigator about faith, and she was telling us about how she didn't come to church because she has so many things she is doing, and Sunday is her only day off. I suddenly felt I should tell her about the prophet Elijah and the widow, whom he asked for food, but she only had enough to make one meal for her and her son and then they would die, but Elijah promised that if she would give him food, she would not run out, and she trusted him, and she didn't run out of food. I related that to giving our time to God first, and he will make it so we don't run out of time to do everything we need to. Sometimes I have things come to my mind that I should say, but that time, the prompting was really strong, like the feeling when I am sitting in testimony meeting and I feel prompted that I need to bear my testimony. I also noticed that when I am following the spirit, the gift of tongues is a lot more powerful--both in helping me to be able to put my thoughts into words clearly, and to be able to speak Tagalog."

This has been a pretty busy week. We moved to our new apartment on Tuesday. It's a lot nicer than our old one. It was pretty dirty when we moved in, so President let us take most of the day on Wednesday to clean. Now it looks pretty, and there are no more cobwebs in the CR (comfort room or bathroom). We have a shower, but it is really weak, and I still prefer to use the bucket anyway.

Also, Sister Cabato is training a new sister, Sister Deyro. She came early (transfers aren't until February 26, but she came last Thursday), and so we will be a threesome until transfer day. She is really nice. It's fun to be three in the apartment, instead of just two.

Oh, wanna hear something funny about Tatay A? Well, he's 68 years old, and he's still single, and this last week we needed to teach him about eternal marriage. We weren't exactly sure how to do that, but we decided to emphasize that eternal marriage is required for exaltation, but if we don't have the opportunity in this life, we will have it in the next life as long as we do everything we can and are faithful. After we taught that, Tatay told us he is determined to find a wife. He says he will go to Cagayan (another province in the mission) in May to look for one, and if she isn't a member, he'll have her be baptised first. He's so funny. Everything we tell him, he takes to heart.

Oh, did I tell you about Sister P? She is one of our new investigators. We have taught her 3 times, and I am so impressed with her. We gave her the restoration pamphlet to read after our second visit, and when we came back, she had not only read it, she had looked up the scriptures in the back and answered the questions that went with them. She is the only investigator I have ever had who has done that. And when we invited her to be baptized, she accepted right away. I am so pleased about her.

Oh, and we gave Sister M's daughter an illustrated Book of Mormon stories book for her birthday, and M said her dad has been reading it. It makes me smile. Maybe we will be able to teach him too.

Well, that's about all. Thank you so much for your emails every week. I look forward to them every Monday, and they brighten my day so much. I love you all. I'm so thankful for the gospel. I know with all my heart that it is true. there is nothing in this world that is more important. Poeple need to realize that so much. I am thankful to be here in the Philippines sharing the gospel.

Love, Sister Boekweg

February 10 -- Changes

Hi family.

I'm so happy about Tatay A. He is such a happy, jolly person that it is pretty much impossible to be around him for a few minutes and not be happy too. The other day we went to teach him, and I hadn't been feeling all that great that day, but when we left that lesson, I was smiling and I felt happy. He always does whatever we tell him to do; and he tells us that whatever we tell him to do, he'll do.

We had a zone training meeting last Thursday, and we found out some changes that are happening in our mission. First of all, the schedule is now different. Companionship study and language study are combined, and now we go out at 1pm and come home at 8pm. President wants to give us more time to prepare for teaching. Also, hugs are now bawal (forbidden), even between companions. Also, President wants us to look more professional, so backpacks are no longer allowed, just shoulder bags. There's a lot of stuff that is now against the rules, but I felt the spirit as the zone leaders were talking about it, so I know it is from God, so it's exciting.

Oh, and we're moving to a different apartment on Wednesday. It's kind of funny because every area I've been in so far (which is just 2, but still...) we've changed apartments. That's why I'm emailing later than normal today, because I was packing earlier today before we went out.

Well, that's about all.

Thank you so much for your emails. I love you a lot!

Love, Sister Boekweg

A Few Pictures

 Halo Halo Dessert

 

 

February 4 -- A Pretty Good Week

Hi there.

So last week was pretty good. Tatay A was baptized on Tuesday. He was so excited. It was cute. He was at the church an hour early. It was also his birthday, so Sister Cabato and I bought him a couple brownies and some of those birthday candles shaped like numbers, and we made him a card, and we gave it to him before his baptism started. The only problem is that I spelled his name wrong on the card. I wrote a "z" instead of and "s". Oops. Oh well, he was forgiving about that, and it's now hanging up on his wall. It was a really nice baptism. I'll try to maybe send a picture next week.

Well, I guess that's all. I'm grateful to be a missionary. I know the gospel is true. I know there is power in reading the Book of Mormon. Do it! Everyday!

I love you all! Thanks so much for your emails and everything!

Love, Sister Boekweg