The windows of heaven have been opened

Dear Family,

Kumusta kamo? I am excited to share with you another fantastic week here in San Jose, Antique! The Lord has definitely opened the windows of heaven, and we are just trying to find enough room to receive it all. Our planners are so puno (full), it is testing our scheduling skills. But we are following Him, and going where He needs us most. I am so excited every day. I am so proud of our investigators and their commitment to follow our Savior, even when it requires endurance and repentance.

Elna is still doing great. She was excited to announce in Gospel Principles yesterday that her baptism will be July 26. She is so ready and willing to receive a calling. She was reading about pioneers in the July 2013 Liahona we gave her, and she was so impressed by their sacrifices. She came with us to teach WOW to Robilyn on Saturday night, and she loved that missionary moment. Her Baptismal Interview will be this Saturday. We get to visit her every single day just to finish up the lessons. (The First Presidency has instructed that we now have to teach all 5 lessons before the baptismal interview.) She is so excited about the gospel. She is a changed woman. By the way, it is her birthday tomorrow. :)

On Tuesday, Sister Viliami and I went to the Municipal Hall to inquire about the requirements for marriage, because we really are going to have to take our couples' hands and walk them through the process. I think they all kind of have a fear that it is very costly and very complicated. But in bite-size steps, it is really not so bad. The worst part will probably be waiting for paperwork to process. But we figured out the requirements and have been helping our couples understand it all. And now Hernie, Resfe ann, and Myra all have Baptismal Goal Dates for August 30, and they are working on saving their money for the marriage papers, about 20 pisos a day. Plus President Gindap (Branch Pres.) and President Villavert (District Pres.) are on board and getting to work figuring it all out too. Plus we have visited a few members who have friends and relatives in high places, so we have some connections now for lowering the cost of some of the papers. Woohoo! Miracle!

Once upon a time, this fabulous YSA named Jen gave us a referral. (Yay! a referral!) We have been waiting on her to come contact her friend with us, and we finally got to meet Jay Adrian on Wednesday. He is one of her classmates from high school. And he is so amazing. We just taught him about our Heavenly Father, Jesus Christ, the Holy Ghost, and Prayer. He is kind of shy. He is really good at English. Likes to read. Is a working student. He is 24. He shared with us that he has not prayed in a very long time, and not usually from the heart, but he does want a relationship with God. He asked us when we were coming back, and if he could come to church before we ever mentioned it. At the end of the lesson, we asked him to offer the closing prayer. He said it was the first time he every prayed out loud. It was the most sincere prayer I have heard anyone give. He simply told Heavenly Father that he is sorry that he hasn't talked to him in a long time, he wants to repent, and he wants to become close to Him. It was simple. It was heartfelt. The Spirit was so strong. He felt so happy afterward. Jen was moved to tears. He came to church yesterday and enjoyed it. I am so excited to share with him again today.

Sister Robilyn has been doing great. Since she went to church a week ago, she has seen the windows of heaven open up to her. She does manicure/pedicures for 100 pisos out of her home, and she had way more customers this week than usual. Her mother's one year death anniversary was on Friday, and we were able to teach her about the last part of the Plan of Salvation ("Where do we go after this life?") and about Temples and Family History on Thursday. We taught her about the Spirit world, shared with her about how she will be able to help her mother receive the gospel by doing her temple work. She asked a question about whether her mother's spirit was able to come be with her, because she was pretty sure she felt her nearby sometimes. I told her that honestly, I don't know everything about how the Spirit world works. But I shared with her what Elder Russell M. Nelson told us when he spoke in the MTC--that the ancestors of those we teach are preparing them and leading us to them. The Spirit was so strong. I told her that I am pretty sure her mother has played a role in us finding and teaching her. It definitely wasn't a coincidence. And you know what, I am pretty sure her mother was there listening to the whole lesson. It was amazing. The work really is hastening--on both sides of the veil. Sister Robilyn is so motivated to prepare herself for baptism. She is excited to help her mother receive the gospel as well. When we taught her about the Word of Wisdom on Saturday night, we told her she had options for quitting her coffee drinking (she has about 1 cup a day). She can quit drinking coffee gradually, and move back her baptismal date (it is a requirement that they have abstained for 4 weeks before their baptism). Or she can quit immediately and still get baptized onAugust 9. She chose immediately. Man, she has faith. We explained about priesthood blessings, and said she could receive one to help her as she quits. She didn't drink any yesterday. And then during Sunday School she got a really bad migraine. She had to go throw up in the CR (comfort room aka bathroom). She got a blessing from the Elders, then went home with her kids before Relief Society. We have been praying for her and dropped by yesterday to give her some Milo (chocolate drink) and see how she was, but she was sleeping it off. I hope she is doing okay. She is so strong. I know she'll make it.

Teaching Margie and Rogie and Andrea the Law of Chastity was fun. I'll have to just share that one with you all in a few months. haha. I love you all. I know that this gospel changes hearts, lives, and our eternity. Keep the commandments. I dare you. The windows of heaven will open! I hope you all have a great week.

Love, Sister Winward

Go about doing Good

Dear Family,

Kumusta kamo? Again, I have so much awesomeness to tell you all this week. I hope I remember everything. :)

On Tuesday, we were trying to find some Less-actives in our area, and we unexpectedly found a nami former investigator. His name is Kester. He is a 21 year old fisherman. He is the older brother of a less-active YM and he basically told us right off the bat that he wants to be baptized. His challenge will be that he is gone out at sea most days of the week.

Resfe ann and Eleazar are doing pretty well. Actually, I'm pretty proud of Eleazar. He is determined to do things the right way, so he is planning on going to visit Resfe ann's father in Bugasong to ask if they can get married. He really wants to make things right with her family. How noble. He really does have godly sorrow. They know they have done wrong, and they are so ready to make it right. We are hoping all will be well, and they can get married in August so Resfe ann will be baptized! Yay!

Elna is still doing so great. Lidemae is struggling with her testimony a little. Which is due to the fact that she hasn't come to church for the last few weeks. But Elna can't even wait to be baptized. July 26th can't come fast enough. We taught them about the baptismal covenant. Elna was totally a show off in church yesterday. Joke lang. She just was so excited to answer questions in class and she got them spot on. Yeah! Handa na siya! (She's ready!) Her husband's older brother, Nelbert, wants to learn the gospel as well. Yay! So hopefully that will lead to Elna's husband to be interested.

On Thursday we found a bunch of new investigators. Margie (37) and her daugher Andrea (12), and Margie's boyfriend Rojie (24). And some other various friends of theirs. We OYM'd Margie, and right away she was like, I need you to teach my daughter. Margie and Rojie work up in Boracay (a white-sand-beaches-crystal-blue-oceans tourist spot up north of Kalibo), and they leave Andrea to fend for herself in a boarding house down near where we live. So they will be leaving this week to go back to Boracay, but Margie really wants us to teach Andrea so she can have a relationship with God. They all 3 came to church yesterday and were well fellowshipped. Margie kind of acts all tough, but she shared something in RS and started to cry. She knows Heavenly Father sent us to help her and her family. Plus, they fed us dinner the other night. Yes! :) And they have really great questions.

On Friday, we taught Josie and Arlyn about the Word of Wisdom. Josie accepted it so humbly. She smokes occasionally, but is addicted to coffee. We committed her to stop both, and she was so excited to report to us on Sunday at church that she had gone one whole day without it. She is doing great. She is reading the BOM every time we walk up to her house, and is now up to Jarom. She amazes me. Arlyn is so funny. She ran and grabbed her mom's sachet of coffee. I asked if we could take it and throw it away so she wouldn't be tempted, and she said yes. My companion is also funny. And crazy. Just like Sister Rappleye has done, Sister Viliami unexpectedly committed to Josie that she would quit ice cream AND chocolate until the baptism if Josie will quit coffee forever. haha. Sister V is doing good so far. She was surprised when those words came out of her mouth. haha.

We have been teaching all of our Less Active families about Antique District's Vision. It is called "Back to the Basics." We are just encouraging everyone to strengthen their own spiritual foundation on Jesus Christ by doing 7 very basic gospel things consistently: 1. Daily Family/Personal Prayers, 2. Daily Family/Personal Scripture Study, 3. Weekly Family Home Evenings, 4. Attend all 3 hours of church, 5. Pay full and honest Tithes, 6. Accept and magnify callings (including home and visiting teaching), and 7. Seminary and Institute. Those are some simple building blocks for a strong testimony. And we are trying to show people how super-easy it can be. It doesn't have to be a big production. Even little efforts make a big difference.

As we have been studying the New Testament, Sister Viliami and I have found that we keep having opportunities to live like the Savior. We have been able to be more bold in our teaching over the last transfer, and this week we have gotten many opportunities to give service. Pres. Harold B. Lee said, "Missionary work is but home teaching to those who are not now members of the Church, and home teaching is nothing more or less than missionary work to Church members." That has been in my mind...I've been asking myself, if our investigators were members, what would a good Visiting Teacher do to take care of them? Hmmm? And as we have taken the opportunities to follow the Spirit and serve, the Lord keeps on giving us more opportunities to do so! Yay! Let me explain what I mean...On Thursday, our investigator Robilyn was not feeling well when we taught her. She had a cold. So then I thought, maybe we should go get her some soup or something. It was not a convenient thing to do. But I remembered this other quote by the wife of Pres. Kimball to: "Never suppress a generous thought." I knew I couldn't ignore it. So we got permission to run to Gaisano real quick and we bought her some soup packets and oranges. We dropped it off real quick and she was thankful. She and her kids came to church! Then on Friday, we went to visit our investigator Myra (it's gonna take a whole other email to explain all about her :) ). Her kid was really sick...throwing up and diarrhea. He couldn't even keep water down. And they are way to poor to take him to the doctor. So we called every Melchizedek Priesthood holder in our phone...no answer. Finally the Elders called back and agreed to come later that night. They were able to administer blessings to the little boy, and 3 other people who needed blessings as well. I am grateful we were able to be a part of that. And that Myra was able to witness the power of the priesthood. Then on Saturday, Myra texted us that she was huya (embarrassed/shy) that she didn't have any church clothes to wear. Well, guess which sister missionaries had a box full of church clothes from a member to give away? Us! So we took her some outfits and a few extra shirts (they seriously have nothing--Their neighborhood is called Purok Pigado for crying out loud...Purok POOR). She and her family came to church! And then on Sunday, just like Christ told the Pharisees and Sadducees in Matthew 13, we got to serve again! Our investigator, Christine was busy cleaning their house. So we started mopping and washing dishes. She was so happy to not be doing it alone.

I don't share any of this as a way to show our "alms before men," but rather as a testimony that when we apply Christ's words and follow the Spirit, we are given even more opportunities to do the same. People will notice. They do notice. And they, too, will want to be like our Savior, Jesus Christ. Go do some good. I am so grateful for my mission and these priceless experiences He is giving me. I love you all and I hope you all have a great week.

Love, Sister Winward

We're on the right track

Dear Family, 

How are you all doing today? I hope Nicki has a very Happy 11th Birthday this week! I have been great. It has been a pretty successful week for Sister Viliami and I. 

We were able to contact some referrals this last week who turned out to be some very prepared people. I am excited about them. Josie is the mother of a girl who the Elders are teaching. Fritzee is going to be baptized in July, and we are planning that her mother will shortly follow, maybe a week or two after. Josie is very kind. She paid for our tricycle fare yesterday on the way home from church. We were very excited that she came. 

The other referral was Resfe ann, aka Pingping. She has been investigating for a while in Bugasong, a little north where there are some Elders assigned. She and her boyfriend moved here because her family kicked her out. She needs to get married. She is consistently reading in the Book of Mormon and told us all about Nephi chapter 4 yesterday. She has a really good understanding. We helped her to see that her desire to be baptized needs to be because of the gospel of Jesus Christ and not her boyfriend. She understands, and even though it is a hard conversation to have, they are discussing what they need to do to repent, and planning for marriage. Oh man, if it all works out there should be quite a few weddings in July and August. :) 

Elna and Lidemae are doing so great. They didn't make it to sacrament meeting yesterday, but we texted them and told them not to be shy because they were late, but come to classes anyway. So they did. They really learned a lot. In our lesson yesterday, Lidemae shared to us all about Nephi 1 through 7. She and Elna are consistently reading. They also have a great understanding. They are really good at English. Elna is a school teacher at a Montessori school. She has one little girl, a two year old, named Khriztel Marie. Elna told us that first thing every morning, Khriztel asks for her book (the Book of Mormon) and pretends to read, sing, and pray. Just speaking gibberish. And a few times she has even fallen asleep hugging it. Cute! We shared with them about Word of Wisdom yesterday. Their only concern was coffee, and they are not addicted, so that will be fine. 

Our lesson with Elna on Saturday evening was the best moment of Sister Viliami and my week. We planned to share about the last part of Plan of Salvation, "Where do we go after this life?" She has been sharing the gospel with her husband. He has joined lessons before, but lately has been shy or something. Elna says he is scared he'll have to give up drinking and smoking. So, we went to her house and we all decided to wait for him to come home from work before we started the lesson so he could join, too. We waited for a while, but he never showed up. Elna told us after that he saw the house was crowded and just went to wait until we left. He waited for a while for us to leave. We never even saw him. We are praying he will listen. We did share with Elna. She basically taught us about the degrees of glory. She is amazing! Her smile was huge. She really wants her family to be eternal. Before, she was a sign-seeker. She wanted that kind of answer. But she knows she has her answer now, it is the peace that she feels in her heart as she learns and applies the gospel. She gets frustrated at work (her salary is low) and at her husband sometimes, but she told us that whenever frustration comes, she laughs and she prays, just like we told her to. And it works. She has greater peace than she has ever felt before. We are so excited for them. 

Friday was Sister Rappleye's birthday. We figured out how to use our propane oven (ours is the only apt in the mission that has one), and I made some apple crisp...because Sister Rappleye is at it again--doing a chocolate fast to support her investigator in quitting his WoW problems. We always forget and offer her chocolate anyway. Oops! haha

Yesterday, I spoke in church on Gratitude. I started in 1 Nephi 1 today, in addition to the OT reading I am still working through. Man, Nephi is so grateful! 

I learned a little more about how the Spirit works on Saturday (like I do every day...it is an amat-amat lifelong process, I think). My companion had been getting pretty easily frustrated at our investigators and less actives. Not during lessons, but afterward I can tell she is upset at them. You do get pretty tired of hearing excuses as a missionary, believe me. I wanted to advise her to work on her patience, but I didn't think she was in the mood to hear that so I just let it go and prayed for her. In her personal study though, she was led to study patience in PMG. I knew that was something she needed, and I'm glad the spirit helped her out. The Spirit really is the best teacher. I love Sister Viliami so much.  She is great at being bold. We have made our expectations clear to our investigators and that helps them see the path we want them to take....the gospel path. In working with less-actives we don't beat around the bush. Some of them just don't want visits from missionaries anymore. Which is sad. But I do know it is always better for members to care for the sheep in their fold. 

We had another "cottage meeting" at the Session's last night to discuss the progress and needs of the branch. It was successful. The last two weeks have been really progressing. I am excited about the work here. I wasn't really at first when I arrived. I knew it was going to be an interesting and challenging area. But we are really seeing miracles happen. Even though we are splitting our time 50/50 working with Less-actives more, the investigator work that we are doing is yielding some amazing results. I know it is not us. The Lord is guiding our work. It is just a testimony to me that we are on the right track. As we do what He wants for these people and this branch, with faith and patience, miracles are coming. I am so grateful to be part of this marvelous work and a wonder. What a blessing it is to be a missionary in the Philippines Iloilo Mission, serving my Lord and Savior. I wouldn't trade this for the world. 

I love you all, and I hope you all have a beautiful day! 

Love, Sister Winward

Miracles in San Jose!

Dear Family, 

Kumusta kamo? Thanks for the many emails and for packages. :) I am doing great this week. We started putting our plans into action, and so far so good. The Branch President, President Gindap, and his wife, Sister Cacks, came and worked with us last Monday to visit Wilfredo, the less active that Sister Lyman showed us to. It was great! We had President share a message from the Liahona, and then he and sister told Wilfredo of some job leads, because he is looking for work and very poor right now. On Sunday, we heard that the Elders Quorom President also visited Wilfredo. 

Last Thursday, Sister Sessions came with the four of us to visit the Relief Society President, Sister Henna. The STLs had received a text from her that she was busy or something, but I told them not to reply and we went and visited her anyway. I think it was just what she needed. She opened up to us about some struggles she is going through with her family. We just tried to help her remember that she is not alone, Christ will make her weaknesses into strengths. And she can rely on us too! I know she felt it, because yesterday she was excited to announce our Visiting Teaching day we will have on June 28. We also suggested to have a "good news minute" as part of the RS opening exercises, and I really think it broke the ice for the RS Sisters. It was great. The leaders are already "waking up." Also, she owns a bakery and showed us around after we shared with her last week.

We have really enjoyed having the couple missionaries come along with us this week. Elder and Sister Sessions are the bomb! We had them join us for a few appointments last Tuesday, and what ended up happening is that Elder Sessions was able to administer a few blessings to people who were sick. Sister Sessions joined us a few times this week to visit some RS sisters. Sister Sessions likes to sew, so we took her to visit a less-active sister named Lisa. Lisa is amazing at sewing. She showed us a bunch of gowns for little girls that she has made. They are like princess dresses! So cute and so creative. So Sister Sessions was able to connect with Lisa about that. It was really cool....even though there was a little language barrier, I know Lisa still felt Heavenly Father's love for her as Sister Sessions testified. 

On Wednesday, Sister Dotillos and I went on exchanges in their area...well mostly. The boundaries are kind of weird. So anyway, one of the branch missionaries, Jomar, worked with us and showed us the house of a less-active, which happens to be in our area. Chonna is 22 and has a baby son named...*drumroll please*...Nephi! Her husband is not a member. She was so happy to see us. She told us that she grew up very active up in Bulacan near Manila. She and her husband were being taught by the missionaries last year, but it was difficult because they were living in his sister's house, etc, anyway it didn't work out then. But she told us that she had said a prayer just a few days before that the sisters would find them again. And we did! I like being the answer to people's prayers. Yay!!! Her husband, Hernie, wasn't there on Wednesday, but yesterday, Sister Viliami and I went back and taught him too. We were both floored....he is so prepared! No vices, a solid job with no work on Sundays usually, and he is a family man. A rare find around here. Sister told us how Hernie and Nephi are always the ones to remind her that they need to pray. Wow! We shared about eternal families and discussed what they need to do to get married so Hernie can be baptized and they can work toward the temple. :) I am so excited for them. 

Also while we are on exchanges, Sister Dotillos and I tracted 2 huge houses and made it into both of them! That is rare. Filipinos are really friendly, but if they are rich they act more like Americans usually. 2 for 2. At one of them we taught the two maids, and at the other we taught this sweet old lady named Lorena who remembers the Elders visiting her attorney husband before he passed away. She said she knew we were good, trustworthy people, just from seeing our nametags, so that's why they let us in. :) 

One funny...We took one of our LAs, Rubina, with us for an appointment because we didn't know where the house of the Butt family (LA) was. She's pretty old. and she was sooo funny. She just kept calling the girl we were teaching crazy (she kind of was), taking out and putting in her dentures over and over, and when it started to rain, she was ready to bolt across the muddy rice fields....the only problem was she didn't have an umbrella. So then she was on edge the whole time we were teaching. Sister Viliami was laughing so hard the whole time. Oh man. That was a riot. It's more fun in the Philippines. 

So, the best news of all for the week is about Alna and Lady May. Last Sunday, Alna told Sister Viliami and Sister Rappleye that her husband wouldn't let her be baptized or go to church. So we were really bummed about that. We decided to just keep working with her and hope her husband's heart would soften. We went back on Friday and taught about "Where did we come from?" in the Plan of Salvation. We explained to them about the veil of forgetfulness and how really we are just reminding them of things they already knew before they came to earth. When we taught them about how Satan does everything to keep us from following Heavenly Father's plan, Alna kind of had an epiphany. She shared that last Sunday they gave into temptation to make an excuse and not come to church. She made the connection that they followed what Satan wanted. They came to church yesterday and really enjoyed it, other than being hungry. haha. I'll bring snacks next week. The best pa gid was after church we taught them again and recommitted them to baptism. Alna said Yes. As in definitely. Lady May said she will still decide. Sister Viliami explained that part of the baptism covenant is to keep the commandments, which includes weekly church attendance. Alna said, "That is not hard." Yes! Her husband doesn't want her to switch religions, but Alna said she knows she needs baptism as part of her salvation. She knows he'll come around eventually. I am sooooooo excited about Alna and Lady May. 

We also taught this other amazing investigator named Lovely May. She is 18. She totally felt the Spirit. She told us she feels different when we are sharing with her than any other church she has been to. She wants to be baptized. The only thing is....she moved to Manila today. She'll be there until December. So...we are going to keep in touch with her and get her referred to the missionaries up there. 

I am so grateful to be part of this "marvelous work and a wonder." I know we are following the Lord's will here. I am amazed at the miracles I have seen happen this week. I know it is not because of us, but because of the Spirit and the truth of the message we share. I hope you all have a great week. I love you all! Halong! 

Love, Sister Winward

Waking Up

Dear Family, 

Kumusta kamo? I am doing great! I hope you all had a good week. It was fun to hear about all of your birthday and graduation adventures! I have a lot to share with you all this week. :) 

Last Tuesday, I started off the day by teaching District Meeting. Ahhhh. I was more nervous doing that than I ever was giving a Zone Training. haha. Probably because our DL asked me at 8:15pm the night before. It went okay. And on Tuesday, there was an RM sister in town. Her name is Sara Lyman and she served her back in 2011. She said she wanted to wait until all the missionaries she knew had gone home already before she came back. She asked if she could come and work with us for a bit to check up on some Less-Actives she used to visit. Sister Viliami and I both don't know the area super well, so it was great to have her show us some more people we didn't know about. We met Wilfredo, he is a very nice older Less-Active whose wife left him a while back. He was so down, but hearing the gospel again gave him hope. He came to church on Sunday. He seemed very happy to be there. It was fun to work with Sister Lyman--and cool to see that she still has the language down. I don't ever want to lose Hiligaynon. haha. 

On Wednesday, we taught a lesson that didn't go so great to some hard-hearted people, but then we went with this little half-Belgian girl to her home. We met her father, Jean, and got to know him a little bit. He was very friendly and had a heavy French accent. He works all over the world doing dredging (whatever that is) most of the time. We got to share to him for about 10 minutes and he was very receptive, although he is a devout Roman Catholic. We dropped off a Book of Mormon and some pamphlets for him to read while he is out on the sea. That was fun...it's not every day we get to teach a foreigner. 

We taught our investigator, Jergie, on Thursday. In a previous lesson we challenged her to be baptized, but the next lesson she said she and her husband decided no, and she definitely wasn't too keen on attending church. But then we were able to teach her all about Christ's church and how it was restored. I know she felt the Spirit. Nicki, one of the YSA members, worked with us and bore a strong testimony that touched Jergie's heart. When we invited her to attend church she just said, "Yes, I will, Sisters." I know she felt that she needed to....But then we went to pick her up on Sunday morning, and Jean had given her a ton of ironing to do (Jergie's really poor, so she does whatever she can to bring in money). "Unexpected work," she said, and didn't come with us. It made me really sad.

The big breakthrough for the week didn't come from working with investigators at all though...San Jose is kind of weak right now and the District has a ways to go before it will become a stake, so last night (after a delicious American dinner of Tacos and Lemon bars) all of us San Jose missionaries met up to discuss and plan over what we will do to strengthen the church here in Antique. President told me it is kind of like a sleeping giant. In Alma 5:7 it says, "Behold, he changed their hearts; yea, he awakened them out of a deep sleep, and they awoke unto God." Elder and Sister Sessions (the super nice couple missionaries here), Sister Rappleye and Sister Dotillos (STLs), Elder Shaffer and Elder Ortiz (ZLs), and Sister Viliami and I all came up with a vision and a plan. Our vision is to strengthen the leadership of San Jose by experiences that will help them to magnify their callings. We hope that in turn, they will be better able to serve like Christ, reaching out to others. We also hope that as we try this out in San Jose, the other missionaries and units here in Antique will "Catch the Wave" as well. We are going back to the basics. We want to ensure that the branch and auxiliary presidencies themselves are living the simplest gospel principles such as scripture study and FHE and Home/Visiting teaching and attending all Sunday meetings by teaching them, and by inviting them to come along and serve and reactivate. We want them to walk the talk, and we are going to show them how. Because telling someone something puts it in their brain, but taking them by the hand and showing them puts it into their heart. I am so excited to be assigned here now. There is a bright future ahead. We will strengthen and clean the inner vessel, then Reactivation and Conversion and Retention will come. Yay! We met with the RS Presidency already and planned to hold Visiting Teaching days every 2nd and 4th Saturday, where all the Sisters will go on splits with companionships of Visiting Teachers. We are on the right path. Woohoo. 

How are all of your basics? Build your life on the Rock of our Redeemer  every day through earnest prayer and diligent and deep scripture study. Make family your priority. Reach out to others--visit them and share the Savior's love. Rely on the eternal wisdom of our Heavenly Father. I know this is His true church. I know His Spirit abides with us as we do His work. I know He lives. I know that San Jose will be made strong as we get lost in all the work to do here. I am so excited! I love you all.

Love, Sister Winward

P.S. Just one funny....in our house we feel like we are on display at the zoo because we keep the door open usually (for the heat), and the little school kids like to stop on their way home during lunch break and stare through the fence when they see Sister Rappleye or I. haha. 

The "Challenge"

Dear Family, 

Mayad na aga! How are all of you doing this fine day? This has been the longest week ever it seems, but it went by in the blink of an eye. We had a zone conference last Wednesday in Arevalo. One of the highlights was that one of the APs challenged us to challenge at least one person to baptism every day. Sister Viliami and I have been trying to do that. It really helps to see who is ready and willing to change. One accepted. Her name is Alna. She is way nami and she has good questions and is very accepting and willing to change. She said she will come to church next week and bring her sister. The other highlight of zone conference was that President taught us about the Doctrine of the Family. The Area Presidency instructed all the Mission Presidents to teach about it to the missionaries. Because what is the next important thing to do after serving a mission? Get married. Gani. So that was fun, slightly awkward, mostly good...President showed his and Sister Aquino's wedding pictures and shared mostly from the Family Proclamation. He shared his formula for happiness, which I really loved, I hope you guys like it to0....

Six steps for a happy life: 

1. Faith

2. Obedience

3. Service

4. Serve a Mission

5. Education

6. Temple Marriage

Taadaaa! 

Let's see, what else happened? Sorry. I had a fever yesterday and had to stay home :( Sister Rappleye is a good nurse. :) But now I have to jog my memory. lol. Oh yeah! We started teaching these little girls, Riza, Crystal, and Rona Jane. And they all came to church. And they want to come again next week. Yay! One of our HUGE focuses here is reactivating less-active Melchizedek Priesthood holders. We work 50/50. Half investigator/half less-active. Sister Viliami and I don't know the area super well, so we really want to seek out the part-member families and learn where more of the members live so we can get teach people close to them. :) Lots of plans. I am so grateful for the greatest plan of all...Heavenly Father's plan. Being out this long in the mission, I can see more clearly that He truly has a plan for every person, every missionary, every area. He knows how to teach us the things we need to learn. And He does it all because He loves us so much! 

Love,

Sister Winward

"Mapauli gid ako sa Antique!"

Dear Family, 

Big happenings this week. I can't even wait to tell you all about it! On Wednesday night, we received a transfer text from the Zone Leader, Elder Asi, but it was a joke because he just listed everyone in the district. Real funny. So then Sister Aurelio and I called him to check who was REALLY going to be transferred, and he said I was. He is such a joker, I almost couldn't believe him. But it was the truth. Awwww maaaannnnn! Just when things were on fire in Leganes! Six of our investigators are set to be baptized in June. I kind of felt like a kid eating a delicious piece of chocolate cake, only to have it taken away after the first few bites. But it is okay, because I know Heavenly Father needs me here in SAN JOSE!

At least I had one night's warning though (unlike Sister Marchant, haha), so I packed up and Sister Aurelio and I took a taxi to Arevalo. I was transferred to San Jose area A, in the beautiful province of Antique! (ant-EE-kay) Yes! I'm out of the city and into the bukid! Going from Iloilo to San Jose kind of feels like going from Salt Lake to Logan. San Jose is still urban, but it has great beaches (our whole area is basically on the beach) and is closer to the mountains. It is a lot more green than the city. And the air is clean, right off the ocean! There aren't jeepneys, unless you need to travel a long distance. We get around on big white tricycles. Elder Ortiz, the new Zone Leader, and I had to take a 2 hour, twisting and turning bus ride through the mountains to arrive here from Arevalo.

My companion is Sister Viliami. She is a Tongan sister from Hamilton, New Zealand. I am so excited to work with her. She has great insights and she is ready to work hard. I know I will learn a lot from her.  She is very different than my last two companions. She told me that I am an answer to her prayers. She knows the Lord sent me here to push and stretch her. She is a great missionary. She really cares. And she has amazing potential. We will be very good for each other, I can already tell. 

San Jose is a branch (in a District, not a Stake), there are 8 missionaries assigned here--the ZLs, the STLs, us, and a set of couple missionaries, Elder and Sister Sessions. (I haven't met them yet because they travel all around Antique to help.) Oh yeah, and I am released as an STL. Hallelujah. :) I am so grateful for all I learned about leadership, and I know it is now time for other sisters to learn those lessons too. And what do we do when we learn something? APPLY IT. 

I know Heavenly Father needs me here...in this area, in this branch, in this zone. The first night I arrived, the sisters all opened up to me that there have been big problems with disobedience in the zone for the last few transfers.  As an apartment, we are all committed to obedience. Heavenly Father sent me here for a reason. He needs me to be an instrument of change. Which I know is going to push me a lot. Excellent obedience will lead to the miracles this branch and zone need to see. When He calls, I am ready. Challenge accepted! 

Friday and Saturday we got to do some awesome CSPs. We helped build a path in a rice field on Friday, then on Saturday we cleaned up rubbish on the beach with the barangay (neighboorhood) council. On Saturday, Sister Viliami and I read chapter 7 of PMG, about learning the mission language. The language is really a challenge for her. Antique has its own dialect--Kiray-a. It is basically the same as Hiligaynon, just a little different accent, some different words and prounouns, and sometimes the "L" is replaced with an "R." I'm doing fine with it so far, just need to get in the habit of replacing a few words. I had Sister Viliami make a goal to learn 40 new words in the next two weeks. Only 3 a day. She is doing great so far. And I am learning better how to fit teaching to meet the needs of the individual. 

Christine is our investigator with a baptismal goal date for the end of June. She came to church for the first time yesterday. She is 17. Her family are all "Bible Believers" which is just a kind of baptist. She is the youngest of 13 siblings. I am excited about her. I am also excited about the Branch Missionaries here. They are very involved in the work as well. I miss Leganes Ward, but San Jose Branch will be great as well. 

I love you all so much. I read a great chapter about the Atonement this morning, Isaiah 53. Give it a read this week. :) Thank you for your love and prayers. Always trust in the Lord and His plan for you. Andam pirmi! 

Love, Sister Winward

Sister Cassie Winward