Learning to OYM

 February 20, 2013

Hey Mom, 



Thanks for the emails! What did you and dad do for valentines? Did you even have time to do anything? My valentines was pretty sweet and the oreo balls turned out AMAZING! Me and sister jones both stuffed ourselves and Sister Villareal asked for the recipe so after her mission she can start an oreo ball business in the philippines and I told her she should and she will definitely get rich. They have oreos and cream cheese here, it's just way expensive. And I still haven't used all the chocolate chips you sent me! Anyway, valentines day is not a big deal here and like no one actually gets anyone anything, but they all wanted to know if me and sister jones had dates. They're still asking us and that was like a week ago! ay yi yi. we're SINGLE people! We're missionaries! We always have a good laugh about it though.

I just wear whatever is clean and that i don't have to iron these days and i'm a lil worried that my sense of style is gone. ahhh i'm turning into a frump! but don't worry that will all change when i get home and i actually have people to impress. i promise. and actually me and sister jones get cat called at least 10 times a day if not more so that always makes me feel better when i'm drenched in sweat, not wearing makeup, and smell like bugspray.

So the work is still going strong!! We are doing so well with teaching BUT our finding stinks. We are just both not super outgoing people and have a tendency to avoid going up to random people that we don't know. Don't get me wrong, I've done it a million times on my mission but it still really scares me! i don't know why cause once i start talking to them it's fine. i just feel a lot of pressure like I have to bring up the gospel right away and be like, Hey did you know you can be with your family forever? and then they're always a little stand offish.

So our district leader gave a workshop on OYM's (open your mouth) just for me cause i requested it. and we practiced and then me and sister jones made a goal to oym more. but just to prove how awesome she is she had this great idea that we would choose a certain group of people to oym to every day. so the first day it was all the single ladies. and of course they're not the only ones we can oym-but we would be on the lookout for them. and we were going to ask all of them how their v-day was to start the convo. then the second day was all the single guys-which should be easy but i always worry that they'll think we're like hitting on them or something! but sis. jones is so brave and went up to three single guys and oym'd all of them! and then we taught one of them the other day and he was totally sincere and interested. our bet was that we were going to buy mac n' cheese (cause we were both craving it) and whoever oymed more didn't have to cook it or wash the dishes! so sis. jones totally won by two but we got a lot of practice in and we are getting better. 


So how is everything else going with ya'll? I miss you guys so much and wish I was there but I'm loving my mission right now and still loving sis. jones! i'm going to be so sad when we part :(. the AP's asked us to look for a new apartment cause the one we're in right now is really old and breaking apart. me and sis. jones looked everywhere (apt. hunting in the philippines is really interesting and fun actually) but we finally found the perfect one! it's brand new and beautiful! it just stinks that i won't get to enjoy it because i'm 99% sure that i'm transferring this next transfer. and since there are 8 sisters coming in, there is a good chance that I will be training again. oh boy. But anyway, I'm doing great and I hope ya'll are too! 
Keep me updated! I love you!
            Love, Age

Funny Story

In the pictures, Adrienne is with her companion Sister Jones at the baptism of their investigator Ericson.

January 28, 2013

   How are you guys? I miss you tons! i am doing great still and loving every minute of my mission. We got a new sister in the apartment since sister drio left. her name is sister tupa'i. She is straight from the provo mtc and she is Samoan. She is gorgeous and super nice and always singing in her beautiful samoan voice. She was really shy and quiet the first few days and sister villareal was like, "can you please talk to her and help her feel welcome, she just won't open up!" i felt super bad for her because she said sister tupa'i cried a ton the first night because she really missed her mom. It made me really grateful for sister jones. So anyway, we were eating lunch and i asked her if she had a crush in the mtc and she started opening up a ton and by the end we were all laughing super hard. Nothing like talking about guys to help someone open up a lil. haha. So now she is much happier and her and sister villareal are getting along great and sister tupa'i has this great samoan laugh that is so loud and cute. I am excited to live with her this transfer. Me and sister jones are best friends and even made matching shirts with the lyrics to "black and yellow" on them but translated into tagalog so no one knows what they say and if they do they don't get it. Haha! i love it.

   So it was like the third day of being companions with sister jones and we were at an investigator's house and her sister and new born nephew were there. The baby was absolutely adorable like every single other baby here so of course i was like, "AWW! HI baby! ang cute mo!" and telling them how cute he was and making faces, etc. then the sister went into the back room to put him down for a nap. so we taught irene, our investigator and were leaving when her older sister came out and was like, "sister, you can't leave" and i was like, "haha, ok bye!" and she was like, "no seriously. you can't leave because you said hi to my baby and called him cute. he might get sick" and i was like, "huh? he's sick?" and they were like, "no it's a tradition. if you greet a baby that you don't really know then he might get sick and in order to prevent it you have to put your saliva on his stomach". (ya. i'm not kidding. that's exactly what she said). so i was like, "what? are you kidding? like, you guys believe that?" and they were like, "ya! just do it please sister. you can't leave until you do it!" so i looked at sister jones who made a face at me because she had no clue what was going on and then i said, "ok." and the cute little baby was just lying there unsuspecting while i gathered up some saliva and placed it on his stomach. and then they thanked us profusely and let us free. 
crazy story huh? but pretty funny. It's actually really common here. and then the other day i said hi to another baby (without thinking obviously) and the next day the mom was texting me like over and over begging me to come to their house immediately because the baby was crying and it was my fault for saying hi to it the day before. but we couldn't go because we were in a farther area and even if we were right there, that's not why the baby's crying ok people? and then like 30 minutes after her 5 freak-out texts she texted me again and was like, "nevermind. the baby's fine". ya what did you think lady? he was probably just hungry! man. talk about weird traditions.

   Anyway, i hope you liked our pics from last week! We are super excited because we have 5 upcoming baptisms! They are all really ready and excited to be baptized and i love going out and teaching every day. It's definitely raised my expectations for our investigators because I expect all of them to be as ready as the others but I need to work on being patient and understanding that everyone is at a different level. But our one investigator, James, is amazing! He's SO ready and excited to be baptized. He took notes in sunday school and even answered a bunch of the teacher's questions. i was so proud of him. we taught him all of lesson 2 and lesson 3 yesterday. i thought it might be too much but he loved it and understood it and is so ready. he's one of the fastest paced investigators I've ever met because he's just been so prepared and is so completely ready to repent and change. When we were leaving yesterday he was like, all my friends are making fun of me for becoming mormon and listening to ya'll and not drinking anymore with them but i don't care. i just want to do what i need to in order to be worthy before God. I couldn't believe it! his kids and wife are all different religions but he knows without a doubt that this is the true church and is willing to sacrifice everything and be completely alone for it. He's so so ready and i'm so excited for him! he's being baptized on feb 16th.
but before that Malou and Mariz are a mom and a daughter and they are being baptized on Feb. 7th! and they also are always at church and participating in sunday school and reading all their assignments and just progressing so much.

   Missionary work is so exciting when the Lord just places miracle after miracle into your lap and you're not sure why. But I am so happy right now and couldn't ask for a better companion or investigators. I've never felt a greater and more satisfying happiness than I have when I've realized that I've been able to be an instrument in God's hands and he trusts me enough to send me to his children and help them return back to Him. Sounds cheezy, but it's true and I don't know how else to describe it. The philippines might be crazy, but it's crazy awesome! and i'm loving every minute of it! 
so tell me how you guys are doing! i love ya'll have a great week!
Love, Age

Happy New Year!

Happy New Year!!
It was such a blast skyping with you guys and it really made me miss being home. just seeing you guys and the house and especially Cleo! haha jk. but i really do just miss hanging out and talking with everyone and telling stories. It's crazy how far away I really am from you guys distance and time wise, but I am really happy I still have nine months left because I am enjoying my mission SO much! My companion really is awesome and we get along super well. I'm really surprised we never met at byu, because she and i have so much in common. It makes the days go by so fast and so fun because I love talking and working with her. plus she has a great attitude and is really willing to work hard and be obedient. even though her tagalog is still slow and not always correct, she is patient with herself and the investigators are patient with her. if she says something super wrong, I just help her and she always just laughs about it later. 
This week was amazing and we are seeing so many miracles! it's amazing the difference when you and your companion are in sync and totally focused on and excited about the work. I always assumed that as sister missionaries we would focus a lot more on women that the elders couldn't reach. but this last week we pretty much taught all guys. and it was a miracle because they all had their families with them. it's not allowed to teach guys by themselves if you're a sister, so it was perfect and a plus that their families were with them. so here is what happened;
first, we taught Ericson, the most legit and prepared investigator EVER! He's 20 and so excited about the gospel and getting baptized Jan 12. He's not even baptized yet and already wants to serve a mission. He told us the book of mormon is his girlfriend right now. and the other day i left him a pamphlet and he was like, "no assignment in the bom?" all disappointed. so i made one up and gave it to him to read lol. I seriously love teaching him because he is just SO ready! It's seriously a miracle. so anyway, we taught him wow a week ago and he said he had no problems except he drank coffee every morning but before we even asked him to stop he said he would. then he came to church and our ward mission leader sat by him and said he smelled really strong cigarette smoke on ericson's breath. and so i was super bummed but i didn't really believe it because he's been super honest and open with us and if he's willing to give up coffee i don't think he'd smoke and then go to church. so our wml was all dramatic about it and telling the other sisters and saying we would have to move his bap date. and i was like, wait a second. just hold on! we're teaching him tomorrow we'll just ask him then. so we did a super thorough follow up and he said he's never ever tried cigarettes and he's been completely off coffee for the past 4 days and he feels like he's changing. and he loves it! he was just so happy the whole time we were teaching him and i was super proud of him and happy to report back to brother jun jun (the ward mission leader) that he has no problems. 
so then, we taught him law of chastity which i've only taught once, to a girl. so i was really nervous that it would be awkward and when me and sister jones were practicing, she kept cracking up in the middle and saying the most awkward stuff. i was like, if you laugh tomorrow in the lesson i'm seriously gonna kill you. and she's limited on the tagalog, so basically i gave the entire lesson. BUT it went great actually! no one laughed, and it wasn't awkward, and ericson was totally willing to live all the rules, and understood everything. he told us that at his age, there is a ton of pornography and prostitution and swearing, etc, etc, around him all the time, but he knows it's bad and doesn't want any part of it. and it's not a big temptation for him. and he just asked us if it's okay to marry a nonmember and we told him about temple marriage and he's going with us on saturday to the temple tour. I was promising him blessings and was saying how i hope my future husband is keeping the law of chastity and staying worthy so we can be married in the temple, and ericson smiled and was like, "the way you're talking, sister, it's like you have an inspiration!" haha which is what everyone calls their crush here (their inspiration). and then he totally made fun of me for blushing haha. but it was a great lesson and i was proud of myself for being able to explain everything clearly with the spirit and without being awkward. He always tells us that he can't wait to be baptized.and the change in him is crazy, how much more happy he is now. it's amazing to see people truly repent and change. 
So then on new years a ton of people had work off so we tried to go visit them and one is our part member family. the mom has been a member her whole life but her husband never joined and they have 4 adorable kids! so we have been visiting the mom since august but her husband just starting becoming interested recently and said he was willing to listen to us but not sure about baptism. so we taught him the first lesson and it was so great to see their whole family all together and the dad was so focused on us and so excited when he told us about a time that he received an answer to prayer. it's so obvious that he just loves his family so much. and then he told us he has work from 8am to 8pm every day, even sunday! which sucks because our curfew is 7pm and he obviously can't come to church. BUT i'm going to ask president this week if we can get an extension twice a week just for this guy because it really seems promising and he told us that he would walk us home afterwards. his wife was like, "Wow, he's really WILLING sisters if he's willing to walk you home!" haha, but i think it's a great sign that he is really interested in learning more! and i'm super excited about it. the wife really wants them to be sealed in the temple. 
THEN we visited a active family where the dad has been less active forever and not really sure why he joined the church. he has a drinking problem and isn't willing to pay tithing. but when this guy died in our ward he all of a sudden starting coming back to church. the mom said that his drinking has gotten better, but she really wants us to teach him so that he can go through the temple and be there for his daughters wedding which is coming up and they can be sealed some day. before us he has always run away from the missionaries or hid and not wanted anything to do with us. but now he is listening and participating and said he would pray about joseph smith. timing is so important i guess. but man, another miracle!
THEN we were visiting tatay rosete, this 73 year old man who is the only member of his family and just joined a year ago and never misses a sunday even though he lives SUPER far away from the church. so since he's so far i always kinda don't want to visit him because he's so solid and doesn't really need us plus it takes a lot of time to go see him. But he really loves us and is always so happy to see us, we keep going back. so on tuesday we show up (and he is super poor by the way) and he has the table set with rice and grilled chicken and juice bottles and spaghetti all laid out. and he's like, Eat! happy new year! i was like, what the? he's never ever fed us before and he just pulls out this feast! it was so cute and he was so excited! so of course we ate and tatay was loving it and it was really good and sweet of them! 
so then in the middle of our lesson, tatay's son walks in the door and goes, my nephew told me you guys were here. and we were like, ya come in and join us! so he does, and he's like, i just left iglesia ni cristo (the great and abominable church here in the philippines) and i've been to your church once and i just remember it was so beautiful and every one was so nice and i'm catholic now but i want to learn more. so we told him about how families can be together forever after he told us about his fam and he was like, "i just feel so happy and peaceful hearing that, and this sunday i'll come to church with tatay!" i was just blown away. i mean me and sister jones didn't have to do ANYTHING! he just walked in and was like, tell me more. it's true that God will really lead people to you. literally. so then i'm like, can we meet your wife? and he's like, ya sure! so he takes us to his house and we meet his whole family plus his neice and nephew and teach all of them about the gospel and eternal families and they said we could come back and teach on sunday. it was amazing.
i just feel like if you can get the dad in, you can get the whole family. and that's what the church needs more of-worthy priesthood holders. and who would've thought two white foreigner girls could get into the doors of all these great dads and young men? and it's not just cause we're gorgeous, ok? hahaha it really is a miracle and i feel so so so grateful! i wrote in my journal that i just want to stay in this area with this companion forever because i feel like heavenly father is just pouring down the blessings. it's a little scary to think He trusts me so much with all these people but it's also really comforting because i know i can only do this through trusting in Him. 
Anyway, that was my amazing week! i'm super happy that you guys had a great christmas and new years, all your gifts sound amazing and fun! well i love you guys so much and miss you tons! thank you for all your prayers and for updating my blog! the church is true and changes lives! i love it.
love, age

Letter!!!

     So our pday got changed to Monday last minute and it will be on Wednesday NEXT week. Because that’s our temple day. Anyway, I haven’t got the package yet L! But I’m thinking about it everyday and I think there is a good chance I will get it tomorrow because we have zone conference and we will be getting mail! Yahoo! I am so excited. Also I get to see Sister Nobleza again! I really miss her, we had so much fun the last two transfers. This transfer with Sister Saleem is going okay. If I thought Filipinos were different and didn’t understand me sometimes, it’s even more with a Pakistani. BUT I’m trying not to think about our million differences but just focus on what we have in common. She is really sweet and loves to talk so good thing I don’t mind listening. I totally feel like I am the senior in the companionship because I always have to help her focus on the work and I’m leading the area. But I am learning a lot from her. Even though her mission has been really hard, she’s stuck with it to the end and she’s completely fearless. Even though she is wrong a lot when she speaks tagalog, she never gets discouraged or lets it hold her back. She just goes, whatever, that’s how I say it or that’s my style! Haha, I’m like okay…I can’t argue with that. Lol.

But yesterday she said, “Oh Sister Garcia, I will never ever forget you” and I said, “huh? Why?” and she said, “because you are my only companion that I have no problems with!” hahaha. So I’m glad that hopefully her last transfer will be a good experience and she won’t think of her WHOLE mission as horrible and hard.

    Aw, it’s time to decorate for Christmas already!!! There are a few decorations here and the mall is decked out, but it just doesn’t feel like winter because it’s still like 100 degrees outside every day! It’s killing me, but I’m still way excited for Christmas. Sister Drio wanted me to buy all the thanksgiving stuff for thanksgiving, like ham and mashed potatoes and pie. I told her no way, I don’t have enough money and they don’t even know what thanksgiving is but I decided to splurge a little and make some chocolate pudding this Thursday-you know the Jell-o brand? It’s SO cheap in Americabut here it was 80 pesos! Oh my goodness I was shocked. Oh well, I deserve it. J

    Are you working with the missionaries any chance you get? I don’t know if they struggle as much as we do to find people to work with but it is always nice to have a member present in the discussions and it’s way good practice. Yesterday we had an SA work with us-18 years old, named Rejoice. She is so sweet and really wants to go on a mission after she finishes college. It was great because she befriended our investigators, learned a little about missionary work, we got a little break from sharing, and if I didn’t know a tagalog word, she did! Haha, I wish we could have that every day.

    Anyway, we have about 13 progressing investigators right now and we found 3 new less actives. The work is going really strong, but feels unbalanced. My struggle right now is finding balance in everything and knowing who to prioritize first. If only we had enough time to visit everyone! And visit them twice a week. But it’s impossible of course. It’s just so hard to choose people to cross off our list because I really want to visit all of them and sometimes whether we visit them or not is the deciding factor in if they come to church or not! Anyway, I am totally stressed. Sometimes I think I am so laid back, but then other days I realize I’m such a control freak. But at least all I have to worry about is this work and nothing else. I finally feel like I am in this 100% and even on pday i wish we could be working instead of buying groceries. Unfortunately we have to eat…lol. But like all missionaries say, I’ve really grown to love these people and this gospel, and especially realize the love that Heavenly Father has for them. No matter what happens in life, the church is still true.

I love you guys so much!

Love, Age.

Letter from Adrienne

How are you guys?! I heard the news about conference and the age change! That’s so crazy. I feel like the second coming is really close if they are trying to up the amount of missionaries! Exciting! I heard that it’s not really like a “you have to go when you’re 18” for boys, it’s just some boys are ready then, so now they can go if they want to. Is that true?

Thank you so much for sending the package! I can’t believe it’s all for me and I’m so excited to open it! I think that’s awesome that ya’ll are sending stuff for the kids. It is BADLY needed. I’m always a little depressed when I see the kids running around looking for trash to play with. I’m not even kidding. We were teaching this family and their kid was crying and the mom gave her a ripped piece of cardboard to play with. She has no toys but she also doesn’t know any different so she was perfectly content with the cardboard. It just makes you realize how even the really poor people in america have it really good.

So I’m doing pretty good.  Transfer day is not until November 1st but it feels close. I’m not ready for me and sister nobleza to split up yet! Especially cause who knows what my next companion will be like?! I have a feeling whoever she is it might be a challenge, just cause these last two transfers have been so nice. I had a funny dream the other night that I was in a lesson teaching this guy and my companion was an American with big 80’s hair. As we were teaching (in tagalog btw!) I was asking the guy about the priesthood and what he felt it meant. And before he could answer my companion starting laughing! Like super hard. I looked at her really shocked and embarrassed but the investigator acted like he didn’t hear and answered the question really seriously and it was a really good answer. And then my companion starting cracking up again. It was such a weird dream haha. But I think it might be a sign that my next companion is an American!

I had a cool experience yesterday! So it was fast Sunday for us and I fasted for a ton of things, but mostly that the Lord would help me have more faith. So we went to church and a TON of people came surprisingly. We had 16 less actives show up and 5 investigators! It was amazing. And one of the investigators we had only taught 3 times and she brought her neighbor who we had never taught. Haha I couldn’t believe it. So that was really exciting. And then every Sunday we go on splits with two of the members of our ward-they are single girls-32 and 30. They are super nice and always
willing to work with us. So  Ann, the 32 year old, RM, went with me and Ynna went with Sister Nobleza and we split up so we could cover more of our area than we usually could just us two.

So first, me and Ana went to Darrelyn, our for sure investigator who is 16 and super excited for her baptism on oct 20th. Which I am super excited for too! And then we tried to visit this lady that we taught just once before and we knocked on her door and said “tao po!” like a
million times (cause that’s what you say when you knock. It’s literally means “people!” haha. And nothing. So we thought maybe they were sleeping or no one was home. Then all of the sudden she turns the corner and comes running toward us, “here! I’m here!” hahaha. She goes, “ I had a feeling that you might be here so I thought I would come check”. It turns out that the place we had first met her was her sister in law’s home and where she worked. But her actual home was a couple of blocks away. So she led us to her actual house where all 4 of her kids were home. So me and ana met all of them-ages 16, 14, 12, and 7 and introduced ourselves and we all sat in a circle in their living room. The mom-her name is Malou-she said her husband is working abroad and they’re not sure when he’ll be able to come back but they are mostly really happy, she just wishes her kids had God in their
lives and helped out more around the house. But we asked her if she had any questions for us and she said that she wanted to know how mormonism started. I was like perfect! Segway into lesson 1.

So as I start teaching, this lady knocks on the door and she’s a friend of Malou-named Milet. So she comes in and we continue teaching. We ended up teaching the entire lesson one and I taught all of it
except for the apostasy part-which Ann taught and then I taught them how to pray and invited them to ask God if our message was true. Malou was teary eyed and said she felt so enlightened and we had answered a question that she’d had for a really long time-why there are so many
churches and different beliefs. And then when I asked her to give the closing prayer she starting crying so much she couldn’t speak. So I gave the closing prayer and then they said they will try to come to general conference. And Sister Milet told us that when she came over
she didn’t have a reason, she just felt like she should walk to Malou’s house. The spirit was so strong and I felt so grateful that I wasn’t nervous at all, I remembered everything and I said everything right in tagalog!! 

I know that the Lord was helping me and he led Malou and Milet to us through the promptings of the Holy Ghost. Talk about answer to my fast. My faith was increased so much and I knew without a doubt that it wasn’t a coincidence. I’ve prayed how many times to be an instrument in the Lord’s hands and for the first time yesterday I felt like I really was. It’s the best feeling to know that somehow I am helping the Lord in his work and helping his children. I was so happy that for the first time on my mission I didn’t want to go to bed because I didn’t think I could go to sleep. And maybe the Lord is putting His trust in me that I can really do this!! Anyways, it was a cool experience and it made me realize that Heavenly Father really does answer all of our prayers. Sometimes we ask for
stuff and we just don’t open our eyes to see the answer. Why not get excited about the little miracles everyday? Missionary work-sharing the gospel should be the most exciting thing ever!- telling people the God still speaks to us and loves us and leads us through personal revelation and
a living prophet and has provided a way for us to return to him. It’s amazing and I feel totally humbled and honored to be a part of it. And somehow the Lord has qualified me for the work. It’s true what people say that missions are really hard and there are a ton of bad days. But it’s the good days, like yesterday, that make it all worth it.

So that’s my experience for the week. I hope you all are doing good and thank you for your emails and packages and prayers and love! I love you all so much!!!

Love, Age

Update!

This week has gone by super fast for me! Sundays are not a rest day haha. they are the busiest day for us! good thing pday is the next day. 
I am doing good, still healthy and happy and the work is going good! We had a temple tour last Saturday and I had to introduce the restoration movie and then share my testimony to all the visitors and investigators. I was nervous but a lot of missionaries came up to me afterwards and were like, wow! your tagalog was perfect! You are doing so good! That made me feel really good. i wish i wasn't such a perfectionist. i think that learning a language teaches you a lot of patience and the ability to just accept your best, because as soon as i get discouraged, everything else is affected, including my language. It's hard to be corrected constantly and this guy the other day interrupted me in the middle of my testimony and told sister nobleza to speak because i was obviously having a hard time. i almost cried because i knew everything i said was right but it was the way i was speaking that he didn't want to listen. Sometimes it feels hopeless like i'll never learn this language or people will never focus on the message because they're so busy listening to how i speak. but i know i can't think like that. i need to just be patient and keep doing my best.

Well this week was pretty much same ol same ol. we taught jerrill with her husband ponce for the first time both of them together. we showed them the together forever movie and they loved it. they are an awesome couple with two little girls. the dad is 62 and the mom is 28 so there is a huge age gap but he's super sweet to her. he's always doing the laundry, cooking, and taking care of the kids. he told us that he loves his wife so much and whatever she believes, he will believe also. she is super receptive and i love teaching them. we also taught christian again about getting answer to prayer and he totally understood. he is super talented in drawing but he doesn't have money for supplies so he just uses pen and he doesn't have money for school so he just looks up different techniques on a computer in a computer shop and tries to learn that. he really wants to work for dc comics or something or any comic place really but he has no money for school and he's having to look for a job to help support his mom and dad. he has a lot of faith though and you can tell he is really digesting everything we tell him. we also taught tatay billy and found out that his wife left him when he got a stroke and he never sees his kids. he lives alone in a tiny shack so that he can rent out his home and that's how he gets money. He is SUCH a sweet guy, and always so nice to us. i can't believe some people's situations here! It makes me wonder why i ever felt sorry for myself or like I NEEDED an Ipod or whatever else, while these people are just trying to survive day by day and are still so happy and offering us time to teach them. 
Anyway, I love it here and it's starting to feel more and more like home. The happier I get and the harder i work, the more I feel like satan is working on me and trying me and discouraging me. It is a constant battle! But I am learning so much and getting spiritually stronger. Well, I love you and miss you tons! 


Love, Age