October 27, 2013

Hello Family!!!

Wow thank you for all the emails this week! There were so many and I loved hearing from all of you finally! Its about time Kam and Hallie emailed me! Haha just kidding. I understand that you are all super busy so its okay if you miss a week. I had a good week. Me and Sister Nielsen both stayed in our area! Im really happy about that. Most people will get a new companion after one transfer so I was happy I didnt. Sounds like you all had a good week! Wow Mike and Catherine go all out for their parties! How do they have enough money for that? Thats crazy! But sounds like a lot of fun! Im glad you got to go! Guess you have a lot more pomegranates than you thought you would! Some jam would be nice! We eat a lot of jam! We found a few more people this week who are progressing really well! But we wont have a baptism for a while. Our next scheduled baptism is for Nov. 23. And the boy getting baptized, Kynan, is so great! He is already talking about serving a mission! Hes 16 and is awesome! We have a few other people who are progressing really well but I dont have enough time to talk about all of them! But everything is going great! The language is better. Im understanding a lot more. I still struggle talking but at least I can understand most of what is said in the lesson now! Thats crazy that we have so many missionaries in our ward right now! Its so great! I cant believe Taylor Berry couldnt email for a month! Wow that would be hard. Im glad I can talk to you all every week. On Saturday will be the day Neil L. Anderson will be here. Im so excited! Its gonna be great! For all saints day we will be in the graveyard all day because pretty much everyone will be there! Everyone spends the whole day in the graveyard around the graves of the people they know. So we will go and teach everyone there! I dont think there is anything else I need right now. So if I need anything it wont be for a while so just next time you send a package I will tell you. So my first few weeks here I didnt really use the bug spray and I never got bug bites so I was fine. But this last week they told us there have been a lot of dengue cases lately so they gave us all new bug spray and told us to use it everyday. We have to report at night if we wear it. So I started wearing it and I have gotten so many bug bites! I have a ton right now! Clearly Im better off when I dont use the bug spray. And I have about 15 spider bites. No joke. Its crazy. I havent seen any spiders but every morning I wake up with more. Its crazy! But Im good. Still healthy. Havent gotten dengue yet. Other than that we had a great week! I love hearing from you all and sorry this email is short but I want to try and send pictures! So I love you and cant wait to hear from you again next week! Have a great week! I love you and miss you all so much! Also I cant believe I have been gone for three months now! Its gone by so fast! But I love you! Talk to you next week!

Sister Remund

*** Right after the email came in, we hopped on the computer and got to exchange emails in conversation-mode with Sister Remund.  There was a lot of good stuff exchanged, so we wanted to include some of the chat!

Girls-  Hi kenna this is kam and hallie!

     Kenna-  Seestois!!!

Girls-  mom wants to know if you're using your bug spray that you took?

     Kenna-  Yeah I was but then they gave us a new one so Im using it first.

Girls-  well it doesn't sound like its working since you have so many spider bites! haha. mom said she will try to send jam but she isn't sure if she can send liquids yet. if you want to send pictures we don't have to chat, but perfect timing cause mom and hallie just walked in!

     Kenna-  Thats great! Im emailing Ash right now so I will send pictures in a minute.

Girls-  okay! seestoi I love you! -teemer

     Kenna-  I love you too Teemer!  And the computer Im on is dumb and wont let me send pictures. Sorry.

Mom-  this is mom...I just got the package of stuff u sent back from the MTC (like dresses, shampoo, etc) i decided I will wear your CTR ring while you're gone...it reminds me of u:)) Makes me feel close to u:))

     Kenna-  Haha thats funny. now you have my ctr ring and my watch.

Mom-  SERIOUS??!! What in the world???I've been so excited. Dang it. Can u get on another computer??

     Kenna-  Well I can but it takes a long time.

Mom-  YEP...you're watch, ring, and the necklace that I showed u (says McKenna Philippines with a heart on it), and a bracelet I got that has charms on it with all my kids names. Also a charm that has called to serve, sister, philippines on it:) So pretty much I'm all Kenna-up!! 

     Kenna-  Haha thats great! So I guess since I cant send pictures we can just chat!

Mom-  Well, maybe try to just send at least one or two? I thought u could send, but it takes a long time? do u not have time?

     Kenna-  I have like ten minutes but the computer wont recognize it when I plug in. Thats why I cant send them.

Mom-  sad. do u know how other people send them? i mean, is there another way? has your mission pres told u that u can't listen to christmas music? do u guys listen to hymns?  do u guys walk most everywhere?

     Kenna-  The other computers work its just mine that doesnt. But we can only listen to hymns so we can listen to christmas hymns! We walk a lot but not as much as others. One of the pictures I will send probably next week will be of some shoes I bought here. Its really funny. They have big holes on the bottom. But I got some new ones now so Im good. I dont need shoes in my package. I know that what you were thinking. And also I have a picture of one of my bakery shirts. My blue one. Its now white and blue. The lady that does our laundry got bleach all over it. She didnt even tell me! I pulled it out and was like, what the heck? But we dont go to her anymore because a ward member that lives next to her was mad we gave her our laundry and not her. So we dont give it to either of them anymore. I still dont know what we are going to do with it yet. But yeah, its great.

Mom-  oh my...thats crazy!! So u dont have anyone to do your laundry yet? WOW! you crack me up about telling me you dont need shoes...haha. You know me well! I wasn't sure on music, because President Lopez told us parents in a message that we couldn't send music. Also, no presents for the kids there. Good on walking some at least...since u said u eat all the time. haha!! Have u felt out of shape? Sounds like a fun day at the graveyard:)))

     Kenna-  yeah. But its okay. We hear a lot of music while we are walking around!  I dont get tired walking around but I think Im getting fat. Haha just kidding not really. But maybe my face a little bit.

Mom-  You're so cute and positive...that's my MuTenna!!

     Kenna-  Haha. But I havent been eating as much lately so yeah. Im getting sick of eating pb&j and eggs and hotdogs. I want real food!

Mom-  You better not be coming home fat girfriend!! Maybe you'll get tired of all the snacking soon:) Do some push ups and sit ups:) I BET!!! I'll make all your favorites in 15 months:)) DO u want any recipes so u can cook??

     Kenna-  We dont have time to cook. We usually dont even eat dinner. Just a snack. Because we stay out until 8 because president wants us home by 8 or 8:30 so depending on the day we stay out until then. Sometime though we stay out until 9 or 9:30. Then we come home and plan and then get ready for bed. Somehow we always run out of time.

Mom-  Wow...hard workers:) Ok, well I guess I wont send any recipes then. I'm surprised that u never really eat with members. Maybe they worry about your health, so they dont want u to? Is your hair color changing more? 

     Kenna-  We just dont really have any members in our area. We eat once a week with the Bactongs and Mojicos but they are in the other sisters area. We have like two active families in my area. And my hair is changing! Its grown out a lot. The top is red and the bottom is dark. Its funny. But you cant really tell unless you look closely.

Mom-  I love it! Have u ever tried to straighten it there?  maybe try to put the bug stuff on before u go to bed, and see if that helps:) Freaky

     Kenna-  No. Im scared to use my straightener because my converter says not to use straighteners on it. So I dont want to break it.

Mom-  oh that's weird. what all do u use the converter for?

     Kenna-  So funny story though. Tell Kam. Last night we were teaching a lesson to like 10 kids and after we were done they were like, we want to sing! So we asked what song. They were like "do you know just give me a reason?" Because its really popular here. But I was just like Yeah!!! So we sang the whole song! And they didnt remember all the words but I still remembered all of them! Which is weird because I dont remember the words to any song anymore because I obviously dont listen to them but I remembered all the words and led a little jam session with all the little kids! It was so great!  I dont really use the converter because I dont have anything really to plug in.  What time is it there right now?

Mom-  what about a blow dryer? If u don't use it for stuff, u might as well try to use it with straightner...just turn heat down some. it is about 9;45 pm.  I'm laughing because I dont even know that song. Oh...Kam said I do know it..oh ya, she is singing it:)) How funny!!! I bet the kids loved it:)))

     Kenna-  I dont use my blow dryer. I just scrunch it and let it dry on its own. I was wondering because Ryanne said she was getting on at like 10:20 so I felt bad because I figured it was about that time.  It was so great! It was the funniest thing ever! 

Mom-  Hahahahah...what in the world is on your head?? I love it!!! 

     Kenna-  My great harvest shirt that started blue but now has a big white spot in the middle.  I had a little bit of a headache so I was holding that on my head to help. And it did so I dont even care that I looked weird.  But I have to go. I love you! Thanks for talking to me for so long! I love it! 

Mom-  that's awesome!! Whatever it takes:) So funny. Thats my girl!!!!  Me tooo!!!!! LOVE YOU!!! Have a great week!!

END

Sunday, October 20, 2013

Hello Family!!!

Birthdays are a really big deal in the Philippines!

Wow I had a crazy week!! It was great! Yes I did feel the earthquake and I will talk about that more in a bit. To start the week, we did exchanges! It was great! Our sister training leaders live right next door to us so it was really easy. On Monday night at the end of the day we just walked over and switched. I stayed in our area with Sister Maloata. It was weird. I had to lead the area and plan for who all we could visit. But luckily everything went great. We met with almost everyone we needed to (we ran out of time because we had to come in early for the zone conference on Wednesday). But Tuesday morning while we were having personal study is when the earthquake was. When Im studying, I always bounce my leg. So we were sitting there and I was bouncing my leg when I started feeling the table shake. I thought it was from my leg and I was just like "wow Im bouncing my leg really hard." Then Sister Maloata was like, "Do you feel that?" So I stopped bouncing my leg and we realized it was an earthquake! It lasted for a while and started getting worse so the other sisters ran outside. They called in to us and were like "Sisters come outside! Its an earthquake!" Then we went outside and it lasted a little longer but then it stopped. It was actually a lot of fun! It felt like being on a boat. One of the members of our ward told us it was a 3.0 where we are. It was so cool! And then later during the day when we were in the members home we felt the after quake. It was a lot of fun! No damage anywhere here though. I felt like I was back on the cruise on the night it was really stormy, except a little more shakey. Obviously. It was a lot of fun though! Anyway, then that night we changed back and so Im back with Sister Nielsen, for now. Exchanges are this week so we will find out either today or tomorrow if one of us is getting transferred. So next week I might be in a new area with a new companion or same area different companion or everything could be the same! We shall see. But then on Wednesdaywas the Mission Tour with Elder and Sister Nielson. It was great! They are so great and I learned a ton! Did you see the pictures on Facebook? President Lopez said he would post them all on there. So check them out! It was a great experience and now I cant wait for November 2 for Neil L. Anderson! Its gonna be great! After Wednesday it was a pretty normal week but still great! We went over to Bishops house last night as kind of a going away party for Sister Molina. She goes hometomorrow. It was a lot of fun though! We have a new investigator named Kynan. We started teaching him on Tuesday and he is so great! We taught him the restoration on Tuesday and since he lives far out we werent able to visit him until Saturday but when we went out there, he had started reading the Book of Mormon and read the pamphlet and everything. He was already really interested before we started teaching him because his friend is a member and he is doing great! He even talked about serving a mission! Hes 16 right now so he still has a few years. Hes great! He came to church yesterday and participated in the lessons! Its great! But pretty much all our other investigators didnt come to church so we have to reschedule all of their baptisms... That stinks. But its okay. Thats what happens. So we will keep working with them! Sounds like you had fun in California! Thats funny that the ward you went to was all Spanish! Thats awesome! So you probably felt like I do here. Didnt really understand anything that was going on... Just kidding Im starting to understand! I actually understood most of what was talked about this Sunday! It was great! But other than that I had a pretty normal week. Um... I think you should put some oreos in my package though... Me and Sister Nielsen eat a lot of oreos. And maybe goldfish. Sister Nielsen ate all the goldfish I brought with me and now I really want goldfish. Other than that anything you want to send me I would be great with! Pretty much I love food so I would be great with some snacks. And dont forget the pictures! And I cant think of anything else right now so if I need anything else I will tell you next week to send in my Christmas package! Actually can you send me some bobby pins? I havent seen any here so maybe send a couple of those. I dont really ever use them but I think I will need some. But anyway I love you and miss you and cant wait to hear from you again!

Sister Remund

Taking part in a family home evening in the Silay East Ward

Family!!!

Wow I had a great week! Well, most of the time. Obviously there are hard times but for the most part it was great! I loved general conference! It was so great! Ashley- I hope you got the same thing that I got out of Elder Oaks talk... its time for you to have a baby. Haha just kidding. I think it was Elder Oaks talk... I dont remember. But anyway, I loved everything and learned a ton! It was weird watching it at the church and not at home. I missed being able to stay in my pajamas but it also made me pay so much more attention. It was great. We had to go to Talisay to watch it because thats where our stake center is so we had to leave like an hour before it started so that we would for sure get there on time because we are never sure if we will be able to get a ride or not. But we got there on time and it was great. On Thursday, we did a service project which was pulling weeds. Its was great. I love pulling weeds (yes, sarcasm) Haha just kidding it was great. The best was when we were done, the sister whos house we were at gave us coconuts! I got to drink right from the coconut and even cut it open myself! It was great! And it tasted pretty good too! Thats cool that you went to the cabin this week. Im jealous! It looks and sounds like a ton of fun! And Kiel would fit right in here if he is already playing Christmas music. Wow Kiel you are just like my mom! Haha thats awesome. But wow it seems like you are doing all the fun things without me! Dont have too much fun while I am gone! Just kidding. We will do all the fun things when I get home. Last Monday we went to out stake presidents house for FHE and it was so much fun! We played a really fun game and pretty much everyone was laughing at me because we had to talk in Ilonggo and I would always forget what to say and how to say it. They thought its was funny. And after the game they fed us dinner. We had sushi! It was so good! Remember when I didnt like sushi? Yeah thats changed now! They had a lot of other stuff too that was really good! I love food! And then on Tuesday we went to a members home because it was her sons first birthday. Birthdays are a big deal here. They go all out. Like a big banner and a ton of balloons and food and he was only turning one! But it was so much fun and I got to try a lot more food and it was all really good! I love it all! There is another family that we have been going to a lot because they are less active and the kids havent been baptized. They are probably my favorite family here. They are really shy but they have started opening up around us. We taught them how to play duck duck goose and they loved it! One of the little boys, Dexter, is my best friend. He is 5? I think? I dont know. But we have become best friends and he always sits by me. He is the funniest little boy. He reminds me of Cru because he has so much energy! All the time! Its great. Dad you didnt tell me about grandmas throat? What happened? But when they do come to St. George, Im fine with them driving my car. I dont care. As long as I have something to drive when I get home! And yes I want a photo album! I only have like two pictures of the family and I want more! The pictures on email are great but I want some printed out so I can have them through out the week! Cyril is doing great! She came to conference this weekend! We will be visiting her again on Tuesday. Its hard visiting her because she is in school a lot but we are finding time and shes doing great! Right now her date is set for Nov. 9. I have seen one big spider since getting here but Sister Nielsen told me it wasnt even big. So... Im not very excited to see more. But pretty much there are cockroaches everywhere. We dont have one shoe for killing them but Sister Nielsen wont kill them! She makes me kill them all. Good thing Im not scared of them! And its a good thing grandma isnt coming here. The rats are so big! Its crazy! But anyway, I love you all and miss you so much! I cant wait to hear from you again! Have tons of fun (without me...sad) and keep doing great things! I love you!

Sister Remund

Pictures from the Silay East Ward Facebook Page

Baptism!

Bacolod Family Day Activity...helped kids make family trees

Played fun unity games with kids

The PEDICAB

Had Family Home Evening with this family (this was their house)

City of Bacolod "Celebrate the Family Day". The full-time missionaries were invited to sing Love at Home in Hilygaynon. It rained outside, so celebration got moved inside. Notice how crowded ALL the people! HOT! McKenna is the tall red-head center right:) Kinda loud and unclear, but cool anyways:))