More Pictures from The Philippines

Adrienne sent us a few more pictures from the Philippines. It looks so green there!

 The beautiful Philippines!

Elder Christensen (district leader in the MTC), Elder Corpuz (my friend that is leaving this week!), me, and sister Drio on transfer day. 

Some Pictures from Her Mission

1. Adobo pork-a really popular meal here with rice. pretty tasty!

2. Temple tour with some of the missionaries-including Sister Winger from the MTC

3. A beautiful shot of the lush, green Philippines

4. Some kids at the mall getting ready for a talent show-they were doing a dance. so cool!

3. Temple tour with our investigator Rona (the one with the baby by her feet) and a recently converted family

Learning to Trust in the Lord

For the first time i've felt like that starving missionary living on ramen. cause i really was! one day i had 2 ramen for breakfast and lunch haha. anyway, things are better now. this elder gave me some australian money cause his friend sent it to him and he was like, "it's no use to me here" but i exchanged it at the mall and it was worth 850 pesos! woohoo! i was so happy i bought sister Drio's dinner for her at pizza hut and we were so full! you should totally send me a video! oh my gosh i would love that!!

i have bug spray stuff i just always forget to put it on. the mosquitos really aren't bad but in certain areas they're HORRIBLE! it's like i'll go the whole day without a single bite and then we get to this one member's house and I'm swarmed. I don't know what it is that attracts them to certain places like that. Ya, there is a piano in our branch but we have a player, so I haven't played at all yet. and the girl that i was going to teach piano lessons to, her piano broke so that didn't work out either. oh well, i'm sure i'll get a chance in the future.

Hahaha its funny that you've seen so many snakes and i haven't seen a single one out here! i saw a huge cockroach and a 2 inch in diameter spider in our house! so gross! i just ignore them and then sister Drio eventually kills them haha. she's not afraid of bugs at all.

I saw a poster for Step Up 4 in the mall today! oh man, have you seen any good movies lately? Everything is good here, I'm still healthy and having fun. things with sister Drio are back to normal and we established that every time she's mad at me she'll ignore me for 2 days and then go back to normal and there is nothing i can do to change that. so even though i tried to explain to her that its better to work things out right away and not waste so much time, she wouldn't accept it and I've decided to just be super careful about everything i say and do so i don't offend her. cause 2 days without the spirit is basically a waste of the Lord's time.

One of the hardest things for me here has been having faith instead of fear. too often i let fear and doubt creep into my thoughts and eventually take over and i'm paralyzed. then i wonder why the Lord isn't helping me. But the times I completely put my trust in him after doing all I can do, I feel his presence so strong! It's amazing how much fear can get in the way of the Lord's work.

You told me to tell you when i got the gift of tongues, and i did the other day! i had studied so hard and was praying for the Lord to help me be confident and bless me with the gift of tongues and we went to our first meeting and the words just came out. I wasn't even sure if they were right but I felt like I just needed to say them and not question it. I didn't stumble, or pause or anything and the lady we were teaching understood everything I said! I was so happy and proud of myself and thanked Heavenly Father over and over. then the rest of the day went great because i was so pumped by that experience. Since then I haven't really felt that again, and I was kinda thinking that once you got the gift of tongues you had it the rest of your mission, but i think it comes more slowly and then when you really need it and are worthy of it it comes again. I still stumble a lot but I'm much more comfortable speaking and participating in the lessons without looking at my notes or sounding like I'm reading, ya know?

the work is good, we are focusing on less actives so we only have 2 investigators and don't really knock doors. a lot of people just sit on the side walk and people watch so we talk to them sometimes when we don't have anyone to visit. everyone is really nice but most aren't interested.

i miss the piano like crazy! there is a really good elder here, named Elder Orpiano and he is Amazing at the piano and never looks at the music!! I wish I could play like that. It's funny that his name is Orpiano huh? Anyway, I am totally working on my patience and other christ-like attributes. It's hard, but I'm trying to look at the big picture. That's all for this week, I miss you and still think about calling you and look for my cell phone sometimes. Can you believe that?! haha well, next week our pday is on wedenesday again because its transfer day (i'm not being transferred), so talk to you then. Love, Age

Latest Letter

Hey Everyone! Here is Adrienne's most recent letter. Sorry it's been a few weeks since I posted last. She is getting better at Tagalog and enjoying the rain. :)

Thanks for your emails! Yeah, learning a new language is tough. that's an understatement. I realized though that I've already been blessed with the interpretation of tongues I think because i can understand about 90% of tagalog. it's just speaking it and speaking it correctly that's hard. so i fasted that i would have the courage to speak and know what to say and how to say it when the time comes that i really need to use it, which is every day and every lesson haha. the answer i received was, keep doing your part. keep trying your best. don't forget to work hard. man, not the answer i wanted. but i know its true. that we have to seriously do ALL we can. like every single itty bitty thing and THEN the lord makes up the rest. And maybe I've been hoping for him to pick up a little bit more than his share. so I’m going to work harder than ever this week so that i see SOME kind of improvement. It's frustrating but I'm trying to have faith and be patient that it will come. thank you for all your support and understanding and prayers. Mondays are so rejuvenating when I hear that you are all rooting for me and thinking about me.

Yes, I'm constantly sweating. It's gross but we take a shower (pour water from a bucket over us haha) every night and every morning and the rainy season is starting so I think that will help. it's already been a tiny bit cooler. i actually love when it rains because it pours so hard and then it's cool and a little windy afterward. i am not looking forward to it flooding though! the weather here is totally like Texas weather except there's no ac. I don't miss it too much though because everyone has electric fans, like every family owns at least three haha. so it's not so bad.

I feel like they are telling the missionaries to trust in the spirit and rely on the lord and so missionaries feel like they don't have to prepare. but that's not it! Sister Drio is getting better at helping me prepare and the other day she actually told me she thinks I'll be ready to train in 9 weeks. HA! i don't think i will but it was nice to hear a compliment from her. Mom, I miss your cooking my mouth is watering right now just thinking about it! I've actually lost some weight since I've come here with all the walking we've done and we haven't really eaten any sweets.

Today we went to Eco park-this famous foresty park in La Mesa with our district. The park was gorgeous! there are so many different kinds of cool plants here and everything is so lush and colorful! i love it! maybe next week i'll send some pics!

The work is going good, we had a lot of less actives come to church on Sunday so that was exciting! A ton of the time we go to appointments and people aren't home or they say we can come back and then they text us saying they've changed their minds. That's tough but there is one guy that is really interested and yesterday he asked us if man could see God. I shared the first vision with him and he seemed enthralled. He's 24 and his name is Jerome. his aunt is a less active member. so hopefully something will happen with him. His first language is Ilocano and he is super shy and quiet so i have a hard time understanding him but i always feel the spirit when we teach him.

As far as the food…we only eat with the members once a week on Sunday. but yesterday we had this fish and they didn't take the skin or bones off at all and it still had its mouth and eyes and everything. then for dessert they served chicken head! OH my gosh. The fish was pretty good but I think I was supposed to eat more of it than i did cause the sister was like, are you done already? i was like yeah...(what am i supposed to do? eat the fat and the bones too?) and then she brought out the chicken head and the whole family and missionaries watched me eat it cause they knew it was my first time. The brain tasted sick and grainy and then the eyes were all squishy and cold. ugh. I can't believe i ate that. but i had no choice! as soon as we got home i had a tuna sandwich and ice cream. lol. they said next week they're making me chicken intestines and balut. greeeeaat....i told them i received a revelation i was going to be sick that day. they were like, oh you're a prophet?! haha. Usually we eat on our own and i make a sandwich or spaghetti or pancakes, but sometimes my companion Sister Drio cooks rice and okra or something like that and it's usually pretty good. So yeah, I'm pretty sure I’ll want to eat your home cooked meals when i get home hahaha. i'll be so sick of rice by then!

Well here is my actual address where I will get mail once every 3 weeks : Philippines Quezon City North Mission P.O. Box #1243 Quezon City Central Post Office Nia Road, Diliman 1100 Quezon City, Philippines. So send me pouches! you just send them like a regular letter with one stamp and write pouch on the front and i think it gets sent to me just fine. cause that’s what i do if i want to send a letter home.

Anyway, thanks for the language encouragement. It is slowly getting a tiny bit better each day but still pray for me! I talk to sister Drio in English mostly but i try to speak in tagalog when i know how to say it. the members i don't talk to much, but if i do its in tagalog. all the other missionaries I talk to in English. I love when we get together with our district cause I can talk to the American missionaries without having to think really hard about what I'm going to say and how I'm going to say it. Sometimes Sister Drio's English is really bad and i have a hard time understanding her. like the other day she said, "oh man if he does that i'm gonna piss on him!" i gasped and started laughing and she was like, "what? is that bad?" so i explained to her what it meant and she was like, "oh i was trying to say i'm going to be mad!" haha it was so funny but i think she was really embarrassed. sometimes it makes me feel better though to know that english for her is kinda like tagalog for me. Like the other day i told this guy that joseph smith was a living prophet when i meant to say true prophet. and i say house instead of life all the time. cause house is bahay and life is buhay. so i'll be like, " in the premortal house, blah blah blah" lol. but we had a training meeting the other day and all the trainees were saying they are having trouble with the language so that made me feel a little better.

Lyn Harris!-How are you? How is work and Jaclyn!? Thanks for reading my blog, I am so happy to know that I have your support and love. I Miss your beautiful family! :)

Well, keep writing me and encouraging me and telling me everything-the good and the bad! I love you so much and think about ya'll all the time! the fact that you and dad went on a mission is such a comfort to me! I know I can do this with the Lord's help and your prayers! I know the church is true and Dad I'm sending you a fathers day letter but it might get there kinda late! I love you! Have a great week!

Love, Age

She's in the Philippines!

Hey!

So the Philippines is crazy. Man I can't believe I'm actually here. The flight went well, we actually stopped in Guam to refuel, but didn't get off the plane. We talked to a couple people and everyone stared at us haha. I'm guessing I'll get that a lot. I have had everyone staring at me and if I smile at them they just stare longer, so I don't know if I should smile? We got to LAX and took forever to find the international terminal. When we finally found it we had to stand in the longest line to get our boarding pass (like an hour i think) and there were a million filipinos all speaking tagalog and lugging these huge boxes and bags around. It looked like all of them were moving their whole lives. I talked to one lady and she said they were probably all bringing gifts back to their families in the Philippines cause if you don't it's rude. I asked her if the line was always this long and she said, ya I don't know why but everyone wants to go to the Philippines!
haha anyway I slept pretty much the whole flight and Sister Winger kept calling me Maka Mohe. But I still feel tired. We came out of the airport and some random Filipino was waving at us. I was like, that looks sketchy, but Sister winger and Elder Christensen went right up to him and let him take their bags so I just followed. I was like, Um where are you taking us and then he said, don't you wanna go on your mission? We got to this huge van surrounded by a ton of skinny filipino guys all staring at us and looking us up and down. I was pretty nervous but I guess they just hang out there to help with luggage and get paid. So we all got in the van and then finally the driver told us his name. I was like, This guy could seriously be anyone and we'd have no idea! But turns out he was the right one thank goodness and he drove us to President Sperry's house.

We went through a gated community with grass and really nice houses. The mission home is amazing! Everything was like glass and marble and it was so cool. I couldn't believe it was like 90 degrees F at 8 in the morning. haha it's 1:20pm now and it's SO hot! It reminds me of the middle of summer in Texas though so I kinda like it. I just feel super bad for the elders wearing black pants. Poor Elder Christensen was sweating like crazy! Anyway, President Sperry let us shower and change and freshen up which felt super nice. It was just like in the Hunger Games how they go to the really fancy capital and eat a ton right before going into the arena. haha i felt like Katniss a little bit. Then we ate pizza with some of the elders that have been here for about a year and a half. They were really fun and nice and asked us how our tagalog was. Compared to theirs, pretty much nonexistent. They were talking so fast! So we ate pizza and then drove with them to the chapel where some of the sisters were waiting for us.


The way people drive here is so insane! There are no traffic rules and everyone cuts in front of everyone all the time, no right aways, people jay-walking, everything! I just closed my eyes and tried to sleep but sister winger was freaking out and kept gasping and screaming like, we're going to die! Lol. We met up with the sisters and it's their p-day today which is the only reason we get to email you! But they are all Filipino. Me and Sister Winger are the only Americans. So we're in the internet cafe right now and I'm sweating but I'm super happy that I got to email you!

The Philippines is overwhelming and scary and I feel so huge cause everyone is small. But so far everyone has been really nice and I'm excited to get better at Tagalog! The sisters that I'm with said that we'll probably go teach some people tonight and I will need to bear my testimony and help with the teaching a little bit. I'll do my best I guess! haha but that makes me really nervous. All the signs are in english and the elders said that pretty much everyone speaks taglish. 
We had some filipino food on the plane that was really good. there was like this bread thing covered in cheese that almost tasted like a donut so that was good. Then for lunch they gave us a warm roll filled with some kinda pork i think? That was okay...Tonight we're staying at the mission home and tomorrow we find out who our new companion is. I'm really excited! I honestly think I'll feel safer if I get a Filipino sister haha. I've already seen a few scraggly dogs and cats and had a bunch of people ask me if I'm half Filipino because of my last name :).

Mom-I feel like your grandkids are pretty much going to be the luckiest grandkids in the whole world! Your trip to Utah and maybe CA sounds so fun! I keep wanting to say, come see me while you''re at it! haha but i'm across the world now! that's so weird. It's like surreal, like i'm in a movie or something! haha I'm sure i'll get used to it!

Sorry we didn't get to talk longer on Mother's day, Mom, but I want you to know that I am so grateful you joined the church and were so brave to go on a mission. You are the person I think of when times get hard because I know that if you could do it, I have a chance of being able to do it too. I love you and I admire everything about you. You're the woman I hope to be someday! Don't ever feel unappreciated cause I'm thinking about you and thanking Heavenly Father for you every day! I love you!!

Love, Age


P.S. we get an hour for email every pday and it's only 10 pesos! (whatever that means)

Fifth Letter from the MTC

Hey everyone! How are ya'll? How's life in Tx? is is blasting hot yet? so i have tons to say today: Last tuesday Elder Russel M. Nelson came! and his new wife of 6 years. he talked about the doctrine of the church and how it's just the doctrine, not doctrines. it brought everything back to the basics, which is exactly what we're teaching, so that was really cool.

I was talking to my teacher about my job in austin and how i get really paranoid in big cities and i don't feel safe. she said that there is something about being on a mission, she never felt unsafe the whole time she was in manila. and she had faith that the lord would protect her. a lot of times she would get the feeling not to go somewhere or to take a different route. it comforted me to know that as long as i'm doing my best, the lord will watch over me. it is going to be weird to go from the safe bubble of the mtc to one companion in a huge foreign city tho.

so our lessons and tagalog are getting better and better! there are ovservation rooms where we can watch someone being taught, like watching someone be interrogated and we can hear and see them but they can't hear or see us. it's really fun but nerveracking if you're the one being observed. so the other day we were observing sis. vaenuku and mgalogo teach their invesitgator, Gigi (our teacher) and gigi told them her baby was sick in tagalog and sis. v said, oh mabuti! (oh good!) haha. and then before they left gigi said will you bless my baby in the closing prayer? and they said, yes but they didn't do it! so gigi said, why didn't you bless my baby? and they didn't understand until the third time so when they ginally got it sis. v goes, next time we will bless her! and gigi said but shes  sick right now. so they were like okay and thy knelt back down to pray and gigi pointed at the spot where her pretend baby was and said don't forget to bless her and sis. m thought she was pointing for her to kneel there so she walks over to where the baby is and kneels right on top of it! gigi looked horrified through the whole prayer. oh man we were laughing so hard in the observation room and going, no! don't do it! it was like watching a movie and you want to help the main character so bad but you can't haha.

Anyway, two days ago at dinner elder callaway asked me if i got punched in the eye. i was super embarrassed cause i knew i had a red mark under my eye but i really thought it was just from being tired and my skin being dry. but i started noticing other pink-eye ish symptons. so i went to the health clinic and yep! my eye was infected. so i got to leave the mtc and get my eye drops at the byu health center but it was only $10. the worst part is i have to wear my glasses for 8 days, and buy all new eye makeup. the doctor said i was lucky i caught it when i did because wearing contacts makes it worse and can burn holes in your retina. he said it could've had a drastic effect on my eyesight too! scary! so then at dinner elder eagan suggested i ask for a blessing, which i hadn't even thought of! i wasn't going to but then i remembered what you said dad about how we need to use the priesthood as much as we can. so i asked my district leader and all five elders in my district stood around me and elder kehler gave me a blessing of health. it was such a peaceful moment and the spirit was so strong. my love for those elders grew so much because they were all so willing and ready to give me a blessing. the respect these elders have for the priesthood is very admirable and i'm so lucky to have had a worthy priesthood holder available to me my whole life. :) i really love my district they are like family. sometimes i can't wait to leave the mtc but other times i wish i could stay forever with the same people.

There is this tongan sister here, sister huni, who loves to take people's towels when they're showing and then laugh when they have to run naked to get it. she is this big tongan sister too and she thinks it's the funnniest thing in the world. i told someone i was scared of her and she found out. so the other night she was like, sis. garcia are you scared of me? and i said, only when i'm in the shower. and she (acting all innocent) was like, why? and i said, cause i don't want you to take my towel! and she said, don't worry. i won't do that to you, but if it happens don't scream. and then she did this evil chuckle and walked away. now i'm more scared than ever! the next morning she asked my companion TWICE if i was in the shower so the next day i showered in a different bathroom. let's just say i'm learning to take fast showers and i might feel safer in the philippines lol!

i learned some tongan words like, shut up, i love you, you're fat, i want to sleep, too much sleep, and i hate you. so all the important ones haha. They say these things to each other constantly. they think it's hilarious when i say something in tongan. i'm just stocking up on vocab so i'll have stuff to say to sister huni when she takes my towel, haha. 

i miss shoppng with you and elena-but i actually got 3 new skirts lately.i bought a purple one for fun from the international sister store and 2 tongan sisters gave me theirs saying, i got so gat it won't git .you wear, it look cute on you." haha i love them. i will probably send a big box of stuff home-is that okay? or did you want me to give it away? Thank you everyone for your letters, I definitely feel all your love and support and i'm praying for you every day! if you are reading this and haven't written me, why not?! i want to hear from ya'll! Love you all! Have a great week!! Love-Age

Adrienne's Fourth Letter

Note from Elena: I am sorry I did not post this letter from Adrienne earlier! She sent this to us on April 24th.

Surprise!! P-days got changed to Tuesdays. So expect mail on Tuesdays now. Sorry about that, but let me tell you it was amazing to have a Pday on Friday and then another one on Tuesday! Today has been the most relaxing day ever and I almost remember what it feels like to be completely rested. I am tired all the time-but somehow I still manage to do everything. I think it's cause I have to. But you always get more done when you have to right?

Anyway, on Sunday I was randomly called on to give a talk in Sacrament meeting! It was scary and my heart was pounding. But luckily they said you didn't have to give the whole thing in Tagalog. So I went up there and said, "Mundungus Fletcher Brothers and Sisters!" haha just kidding. I said, " Magandang Hapon po Elders and Sisters" and then I gave the rest of my talk on the Holy Ghost. My voice was shaky but I told about my experience with listening to the Holy Ghost to come on a mission and everyone said I did a really great job afterward, so that was nice!

It was funny because I borrowed a skirt from my roommate, Sister Vaenuku and she said i could keep it. I was like, "Why? It's so cute! you don't want it?" and she was like, "no everyone here has that skirt!" and I was like, "well i'm gonna wear it" so i wore it and as soon as i got to breakfast, 2 other girls in my zone were wearing the same skirt! haha and we didn't even plan it! Everyone was commenting on it and we took some pics so I'll send those to you. But it was kinda fun to match them without even planning it. i guess it is true that everyone has it. Sister Vaenuku thought it was hilarious!

Anyway, one of our districts left yesterday and it was so sad to see them go. It seems like I've known them forever. Elder Saaid from Australia was bawling, he was so sad to go. And we took a bunch of pics with them. The mtc will not be the same without them. But seeing them go was kinda cool too because we all sang "God be with you till we meet again" and then all the New Zealand Elders did the Haka. Best Haka I've ever seen! I mean I was actually a little bit scared of them.

Anyway, Ann M. Dibb, The prophet's daughter came and talked to us in Relief Society! That was  really neat. She told us a lot of stories about her father and I cried a lot. as usual. She said that all he wants to do is be the Lord's servant and that's how we should be too.

So there is this thing here that everyone does where everyone has a journal and we all sign in before we leave. it's kinda like a yearbook signing! I'm super glad because there are a lot of people I would love to keep in touch with that I may never see again, especially the international ones. We're getting 17 new missionaries tomorrow and we heard that most of them are going to Quezon City North! I can't wait to meet all of them! I really feel like we have a family here. All the polynesians call everyone, "my sister" or "my elder" and I love it! It makes you feel so good. So I'm gonna try to be like that. And every time I see Sister Huni from Tonga she yells my name really loud, sometimes from way across the mtc, "SISTER GARCIA!!" and I always yell back, "SISTER HUNI!!!" and we both laugh. It reminds me of yelling, "HEY YOU GUYS!" or "HEY!"across Byu campus to Britt and Jenny. lol so fun! Sometimes I wish I was polynesian, they just have such a loving culture.

Dad-thanks for your awesome emails, they are very inspiring and I love hearing about your life!

Thank you Sister Gallup for your weekly treats and letters! I look forward to them every Wednesday!!

One of the counselors in our bishopric told us a story about a woman that he baptized. She told him that she would slam the door in every single missionary's face, but when she saw him, she let him in. She said that if he had never come, she never would have been baptized. The Lord knew that she needed a certain missionary, and it was him. How cool is that? I know that there is a specific reason that I was called to the Quezon City North mission in the Philippines. If it was just to meet the amazing people I already have then I'm fine with that. But I really feel like there is someone out there waiting for me, and I can't wait to find them!

I really appreciate all the love, support, and prayers from everyone back home! You have no idea how nice it is to hear from ya'll after such a long day. My district is always like, "Good mail day, Sister Garcia?" Because I'm always smiling so big and laughing when I read the mail. It doesn't even have to be anything funny, I just love hearing about your lives and imagining your faces and voices when you're talking. Also send me pictures of yourselves, I can't stalk you on facebook anymore! :) I miss you all so much and Elena, Ben, Nat, Mom, and Jenny there are letters coming your way!

Until next week!

Third Letter from the MTC

*****Here is the third letter we received from Adrienne! Brittany Carrasco, Brittany Lesser and Jenny Dickson, scroll down to the bottom for a special note to you!*****

Hey family!

So since i've been here i've heard more and more stories about the Philippines. my teacher had a cockroach bite her EYE while she was sleeping and it was swollen shut for 2 weeks! A cockroach!! Her husband got dangai fever and was in the hospital for 2 months! This other teacher got really sick and transferred to CA for the rest of his mission. i'm really scared that any number of things are going to happen to me while i'm over there but i really hope i don't get sent to the states halfway through. Well saturday night, and monday night i didn't get any mail and i was super bummed. I guess the dearelder was down for a while, but it was good, cause when i did get mail i appreciated it a ton more! I learned some new Mormon acronyms: BRT-build a relationship of trust, OYM-open your mouth. and SYL-speak your language. They have p90x in the gym and i did the core one for about 10 minutes the other day and i'm still sore! Anyway we are learning how to conjugate verbs-yay! now we can actually start making our own sentences that actually make sense. We had a competition on remembering the word markers ang, ng, and sa and I beat everyone in the class except the teacher!

I'm making more friends, but really struggling to include my companion. She's so fun and talkative with me and SO quiet to people in a big group. I'm working on including her more and helping her be herself. I saw Stephanie Hall in the cafeteria yesterday! She's going to California Spanish speaking. I gave her a big hug and we talked for a while. It's funny because i feel like i'm doing the best at everything than i've ever done before (not procrastinating, writing in my journal, exercising, etc. etc. ) but my many weaknesses are suddenly so apparent all the time! It's like when you start eating right and you notice how fat you've gotten! Haha. It's inspiring, humbling, and discouraging all at the same time.

Sunday was AWESOME! We had a great sacrament meeting- I didn't get called on to talk but Elder Aldred from my district did. He's this funny, sarcastic-loves to make fun of everything kind of guy that complains a lot about doing the work and learning the language. And then all of a sudden he gets up there and gives the most amazing, heartfelt testimony about his experience with faith. He started crying and the spirit was so strong-I cried too! i just wanted to run up and give him a big hug but all i could do was shake his hand. Then we went on the Sunday walk to the temple which was so much fun. For the Sunday fireside-M. RUSSELL BALLARD came! wow! it was amazing to hear him speak so close up. he said "We’re a bunch of old men but we're pretty cool" about the 12 apostles-haha! and he talked about always staying worthy of the spirit and my
favorite-"burdens will be lifted and lightened because of your love and affection for  the Lord Jesus Christ". AND David Archuleta sang " The Spirit of God" so beautifully! He is so talented. He left this week for his mission to Chile! Then we watched "the testaments" if you haven't seen
it-you have to! Man what a spiritually fulfilling day. I am loving life and this gospel and am beyond grateful for Christ's atoning sacrifice.

The books we got were a preach my gospel, a bunch of pamphlets all in both English and tagalong, a tagalog-english dictionary, tagalog triple, and 3 conversational tagalog textbooks. I felt like 'Arry Potter on his first trip to Diagon Alley! Mom. THANK YOU THANK YOU for the amazing candy package! it made my whole day especially after not getting mail for 3 days. I miss talking to you all the time too! i find myself looking for my phone a lot- I really miss just talking and laughing with ya'll all the time. Dad- that's so cool how involved you are with the missionaries and investigators. Our devotional on Tuesday was actually about how we need to focus on the members more and getting them more involved increases investigators. The weather IS perfect here! I only wish we were able to go outside and enjoy it more.

Workouts are going good. It was funny cause the other day i was on the stationary bike and reading "our search for happiness" by M. Russell Ballard and these elders beside me were like, " Sister, how do you read and workout at the same time? and why? after studying all day?" and i was like, " well I just get bored if i don't have anything in front of my while i work out. plus this book is really good!" so then the next day we went to the same place to workout and there are the same 4 elders, all on the stationary bike, ALL reading "our search for happiness"! hahaha!
Sundays are really busy for us but now i look forward to them because it means Sunday walks to the temple which means freedom! For a whole hour outside the MTC gates! Jokelang in tagalog means just kidding! haha.

Elena-
Thanks for taking care of all my fb/blog business! you're the best! wow the deals you're getting! i'm so impressed with your garage saleing buys. :) so did you decide on a final color scheme for the room? and is Jamie the official name for her? i've always wanted Sadie for my first daughter (don't steal it!) so if I have a girl first, we'll have Maddie, Jamie, and Sadie. so cute! now it has to be jamie. haha j/k. Last night we did TRC for the first time-yikes! it was scarier than teaching the teacher, but we were teaching people that were members and they just acted like themselves. that put a new spin on it cause we've only ever taught investigators before. that's so great about Ben's job opportunity! Ya'll are SO blessed! I will definitely pray for him to get it. What a cool
story about the car manual and the brake you are so gospel-minded and have so much faith. it is amazing that Heavenly Father really does care about the tiny things going our lives. Even when so much is going on all over the world.

Ben-i saw the french toast sticks! finally! they serve them on tues. I am definitely trying them next week. haha you're stories are so funny-keep em coming! My comp would KILL me if i poured cold water on her while she was showering haha. Do you remember teaching in the TRC? did you like it?

Brittany Carrasco- how did your dinner-pary-thingy go? i sent you 2 letters to your home address, so hopefully you'll get them soon!

Jenny and Britt-thanks so much for writing me! i screamed when i got your letters! there is mail coming your way soon!

Well I love you all so much! Thank you for your prayers, letters and love!! kita kitz! -Adrienne

Adrienne's Second Letter

For those of you who want to write Adrienne, she appreciates letters from DearElder.com. She gets them the same day that you write them! Her MTC box number is 251, and her departure date is 05 13. She sends her love to all of you. Sister Osorio, there's a special note for you at the bottom of the letter!

Hey family!

WOW $3000?!!! I can't believe the garage sale was so successful! That is astig! awesome! Yes, my testimony that young men need missions has definitely been strengthened this past week. My coworker Brittney from the Provo bakery sent me the package and sister gallup gave me some delicious candy and an inspiring letter with quotes and scriptures. i got the most letters and dearelders than anyone else in my district this past week-it made me feel very loved! they always joke when it's mail time," oh let's see and 500 letters for sister garcia!" hahaha.

Boyd K. Packer CAME! and his son! President Packer talked about faith verses fear, we had a fast and testimony meeting and an ice cream sundae bar-that was awesome. I AM tired of being "on" all the time, but i've gotten more relaxed now that I'm more used to everything here. I know, I miss my cooking too haha. I just miss homemade stuff really. Pday is on fridays and that’s the only time i get 30 mins for mail-the whole week! So we found out yesterday that our investigator "julito" is actually our TEACHER! we were so shocked. We had taught him about 4 times and were working on preparing a lesson for him on repentance when he walked into the room dressed in a suit and with a teacher badge on. I

was like "Julito?! you're a teacher!?" and then i saw his wedding ring and i was like "and you're married?!?" he laughed and was like "yes, yes, yes." and I said, " you lied to us?!" and he was like, "i'm so sorry! pasensya! the prophet made me do it!" so turns out he is only half filipino, he was born and raised in utah, he has been married for 9 months, and he is going to byu and working at the MTC! But then he was like, "ya i didn't know any tagalog until my mission to manila." we were all shocked. i mostly felt really dumb for all the effort we put into our lessons and our tagalog probably sounded so bad, and all the times we spoke english thinking he couldn't understand haha. AND we bought him a book of mormon and challenged him to read it. He gave it back to us and said, "i really appreciate this, but please give it to someone on your flight to the philippines." haha my comp and I were talking though and it really is good how the program makes you think he's real, because it really does make you put your whole heart into this

guy and his situation and it makes you want to be the best teacher you can be and try to hard to get all the words and phrases right in tagalog. And it's so rewarding when he says, "i prayed about the restoration and i believe in joseph smith" but it was also the best learning experience. if we had known he was our teacher we wouldn't have done the same amount of work.

So he taught us all in english last night and it was great, he said he loved us already because of being taught by us. So now Brother Lacanienta (that's julito) and sister winegar are going to be our new investigators and just act like they're real, which is cool. The more I learn about the language and the gospel and the Filipino people, the more and more excited i am about going out there are teaching.

I miss a lot of things about being home, but i'm getting more and more used to this place and making more friends. pretty soon i'm sure this place will be like home for me. Poor Ben having to study all the time! He's such a hard worker! and I’m glad he's still finding time to write me!

Sister Osorio, thank you so much for your dearelder! It's so great to hear from people I look forward to mail time everyday! I'm so super happy for Elise-she's so perfect for temple square because of her beautiful smile and personality. It is so comforting to hear that the Filipino people are so warm and loving. tagalog is actually a fun language to learn-i'm catching on pretty quick and the little i know of Spanish has helped a lot. Patience- i think that's the theme of the MTC. I'm working on it every day! thanks so much for your wonderful advice and update. Good luck with your upcoming wedding!

Well keep the dearelders coming, i love hearing from ya'll! Everyone thank you so much for your letters! They are always the highlight of my day! I miss all of you and love you so much! I pray that you'll be kept safe and happy every day! I love you! Till next week!

-Adrienne

Adrienne's First Letter!

Adrienne wrote us from the MTC! Here is her first letter:

Hello po!

Kumusta po kayo? I can't believe it was only 3 days ago that I was with ya'll. It feels seriously like its been 3 weeks. Mom- I MISS YOUR FOOD! The MTC food is okay-but I eat a salad or wrap every day for lunch and dinner because I don't like the other options. They sound good but it looks nasty and I haven't tried it-but probably tastes gross too. For breakfast I usually have cereal or a bagel and fruit. I'm never that hungry though because I'm not moving around much. Yesterday we were stuck in our classroom for TEN HOURS! It was tough.

I love my companion, Sister Winger from Utah. She is very sweet and laid back and has wanted to serve a mission her whole life. We have a ton in common and work really well together. We have four international sisters for roommates that are all very sweet and have beautiful loooong black hair and beautiful accents. Sister Seu is from New Zealand and she is always making fun of the American accent. She said ‘watermelon’ and ‘ice cream’ in an American accent and it sounded so funny. My district has 5 elders and 4 sisters in it. All of the elders are really fun and nice. Elder Christensen is our district leader, he's very loud and excited and enthusiastic about the gospel. He will randomly shout, "I'm so pumped! I wish we had 5 investigators!" or "Man we have the coolest sisters!" haha he's crazy but it helps the rest of us get excited. The other elders seem very young! Sometimes I feel like I'm hanging out with Grant and his friends!

Anyway, all the missionaries in my district are going to the Philippines-just different areas. Only 2 elders are going to Quezon city north with me and my comp. The language is so fun to learn! knowing some Spanish has helped me a ton! and my teacher is very patient and nice. She teaches by repeating words over and over and over and we repeat her every time. She has a tv screen with words on it and she writes on the chalkboard-that way we get visual, audio, and muscular (as we take notes) learning. plus there are oly 9 of us so we get a lot of special attention and help and can ask questions whenever we want. We also have very helpful workbooks and even a Tagalog preach my gospel. I can't believe how much we've already learned!

Yesterday we taught Julito in tagalog. He is from the Philippines, trying to get into BYU. His uncle is Mormon and told him to meet with us to know why his life is so blessed. He knows very little english and we know very little tagalog so he volunteered to meet with us. He is a very happy and humble guy. We taught him that keeping god's commandments will make you happy. I felt inspired to share Mosiah 2:41 (Mom-Your favorite!) with him when we were preparing. Most of the time we were looking at our notes, and sometimes he didn't get what we were saying, but we prayed with him and I sorta understood what he told us about his uncle. He read mosiah 2:41 in Ang Aklat ni Mormon and the spirit was definitely there. He seemed to get it and then I bore my testimony and Sister Winger bore hers. It was hard because he couldn't really ask us a question because we wouldn't understand but I think he got what we were trying to say. We are teaching him again today about the plan of salvation. We have to bear our testimonies to 10 people in tagalog and we all have to prepare a talk in tagalog each week. They the bishop randomly chooses 3 people to give talks after the sacrament is passed. AH! But it only has to be 5 minutes.

I saw Sister Kelly Rogers, she leaves next week for NY. I saw Elder David Archuleta in the cafeteria, but I didn't go up to him. He looked very determined not to make eye contact with anyone so I didn't want to bother him. He is very short and petite-much smaller than you would think! He doesn't really look like he does in magazine or even at Stadium of Fire. A lot of people are getting the flu so they told us not to shake hands or touch anyone.

I love gym time! It's an hour every day and the gym is really nice. It's full of all the equipment you need, they play church movies and there's a P90X area. Also every morning at 6 am they have classes just for the sisters. My comp and I are going and we've done yoga and kickboxing so far-so fun! It snowed really hard yesterday and I didn't have a coat! I am really glad I brought boots and some sweater-y tops. So far, surprisingly, it looks like i didn't forget anything at home! We are so busy from the second we wake up to the second we go to sleep. My eyes are red and have circles under them but when I'm going throughout my day I don't feel that tired. It hits me at about 8:30 every night. I'm so grateful for the clear confirmation I received that this is where i should be at this time. I'm grateful that I have that every day. it gives me strength and energy to try harder and be better.

I am SO happy i got the comp that i did. She is very obedient and works very hard. She always encourages me to work harder and stay focused. She is good by leading by example.

Well tell me more about everything! I love DearElder! Please everyone write me on Dearelder.com! I get the letter the day you send it and it means I can respond faster! Well, times up. but I love you and I miss all of you so much. I love the MTC and that we can pray and receive answers. KITA KITZ= (see ya!) -Sister Garcia

P.S.- if stuff is misspelled everywhere-sorry! i only have 30 minutes and i'm typing at lightning speed!