Family!
Well another week has come and gone! The time is going by so fast I can hardly believe it.
First, before I forget- we can Skype for Christmas!! Either on Christmas Eve or Christmas Day---of course Filipino time....so can y'all figure out when you want me to call? Also if someone can remind me what in the world my skype sign-in thing is? I totally forgot. Haha not good for when I get home. I've forgotten all of my passwords!!
So I arrived here in Negros safe and sound. This is a beautiful place! The missionaries told me that our area would be city- but it's not! It's super quiet and peaceful here. Our area is MASSIVE---not as big as our area in Bohol--- so we walk a lot (which is so great!), the air is so clean (bye bye pimples!!! hallelujah!) and we are right next to the ocean so there is always a breeze (my subject line means: so windy in Negros!), the people are so nice, and my companion IS GREAT! When I got here I just felt so much lighter. Everything: my companion, the area, the branch is so wonderful. No wonder the APs were so excited for my new assignment- like one of them said, I do have a 'package deal'!
My companion is Sister Abundo from Bicol, Philippines- up in the northern part. Her first language is Bicol then Tagalog and now she is fluent in Visaya ;) She is actually an amazing English speaker and my first Filipina companion to not be afraid of speaking English. She is 4'11 and so so so so cute. She is one transfer younger than me in the mission and she is so great!! She is super hard working and it's so nice to have someone as your companion that pushes you to work even harder. She is a great teacher (she was a teacher before her mission) and I know I will learn so much from her!
Our area is so beautiful and clean :) It is so different from Cebu! It's similar to my area in Bohol except there are more people here. The branch seems pretty functional which is great and all of the members are super super nice. We have many investigators and SO SO SO many Less Actives- just like Balamban, my first area.
We got here Friday night (it takes about 7 or so hours to travel to Negros---the drive in southern Cebu is amazing! wow!) and then Saturday morning while we were studying someone knocked on our door. They started to sing Christmas carols---but they had American accents! Haha, turns out President and Sister Schmutz and the APs had just arrived in Dumaguete and had a half hour or so to spare so they wanted to come visit us. My companion was a little bit shocked! It was so fun to see them, even though I just came from the city where I saw them quite a bit. They are so great.
Right now I am feeling great about the area and hoping that I am here for a long time (we'll see what happens....) I really like my companion and it's such a relief to have someone help me in the work so much! This will be a great transfer. I am feeling very positive about everything right now!
Our favorite thing to do is to tell people that I am from Davao- a part of the Philippines. The funny part is that they all believe it! Haha we laugh every time. It's not very often the people come across an American lady who can speak their language. We've had some good laughs.
Well family. I love you all! Thanks to those of you who wrote me!! I am so grateful to be here on my mission and to be learning the things I am. Missions are miracles. I can't believe that my one year mark is so near. Time has gone by so fast and I feel that there is still so much more for me to do here and so much more for me to learn. I am so thankful to have been raised in such a wonderful family and to have parents who taught me the principle of sacrifice. I know that this is the true church of Jesus Christ and that we are led by a true and living prophet, Thomas S. Monson. I know that Jesus Christ died for our sins and no matter what trials we may face here, we can overcome all with the enabling power of the Atonement.
I love you! Email me next week! Thanks!
Sister Trayner
No comments:
Post a Comment