Happy New Year!!!

Hello to my wonderful family!!! Im so glad that you all had a great Christmas! It was so great to talk to you and to see all your beautiful faces! I loved it! My Christmas was great! I had such a great day and I loved it! Christmas is my favorite time of year and this year  was just the best! On Christmas morning before we skyped was our Christmas baptism! So even though there isnt snow in the Philippines, I still had a white Christmas! It was so great and the spirit was so strong at Lea Maes baptism. She is just the cutest. I love Lea Mae. She was confirmed yesterday and she is so great. She told us that she was talking to her parents and that she wants to serve a mission. She still has a long time but she wants to serve. Her parents arent members though. So they asked her for a sample and she started teaching her parents! She was so happy when she told us and she will make the best missionary some day. Also, on Tuesday I was able to go on exchanges with Sister Ortiz. She is great. I had such a great day with her! I learned a lot from her and it was such a fun day. In their area, they have some areas that you have to walk without your shoes on because its just mud and you will lose your shoes. It was so much fun! I love walking in the mud so it was a great day. Also, going back to Christmas, it was great because the members here are so nice. We were mostly visiting investigators and recent converts but we visited a few members as well and they gave us a lot of food. It was really nice for everyone to let us into their homes for Christmas. We also saw a lot of miracles this week. We were able to find a lot of new investigators and they were able to come to church as well! So it was really great! They are good and we actually found out that one of our new investigators mother is less active. So it was nice to meet her and we are excited to teach their family. This week is going to be weird though because this coming week is going to be a lot of lasts. But Im so grateful for the things that Ive learned on my mission. I love you all and hope you have a great week and a Happy New Year!!!

Sister Remund

Walking through the rice fields.

Christmas in the park.

White Christmas!!  Us with Lea Mae and Angel Joy. Angel Joy was a child of record.

Maayong Paskwa!!

Hello my wonderful family!!! Can you believe it? Its Christmas this week!!! Merry Christmas to you all!!! I love you all so much and am so grateful for a wonderful family! It sounds like you all had a great week and are looking forward to a great Christmas! Dad, in answer to your question, Im not sure if I will be able to skype. Me and Sister Oquias REALLY want to but the internet shops here arent very good and they dont have many webcams. But we found one that we are going to try and if that doesnt work, President gave us permission to give you our phone number and you call us so that we dont have to pay. But we will find out on Christmas. We are thinking about calling in the morning though. I think the computer shop opens at 9 but we will see. Im not sure what time that is there but probably 9am here so.. yeah. Anyway, enough about that! I had a great week! I love Sister Oquias! She is the best! We have had a great week! There are some great people here! I also got my official welcome to Pulupandan 2 ward.. Sister Oquias played a joke on me with the members. It was not funny. She told me about two investigators we have and they are members of Iglesia ni Cristo. That is a church that is only in Asian countries. I will tell you how it started. A member of the church wanted to be prophet so when he wasnt the prophet, he got mad and started his own church which is practically the same as ours but he was the prophet. It has a lot of the same principles and the members are the hardest to teach because they just like to debate and wont even really listen to us. Well, Sister Oquias told me we have two investigators that are Iglesia ni Cristo. So she was preparing me and making me nervous to teach them. I wasnt really nervous, she was just trying to make me nervous. So we taught them and things were okay, they just asked a ton of questions. But they asked some hard questions that I was supposed to answer the next lesson. Well then, yesterday, we go to church, and these "two investigators" are there. They arent even investigators! They are both return missionaries and one of them is our ward mission leader! He is also a former bishop! Then the whole ward was laughing at me because I really thought they were investigators. So it was great. They whole ward is just laughing at me now. But other than that the week was great! We have some really great people in this area! We also will have a baptism on Christmas! Im really excited! Her name is Leah Mae. She is so great! She is 12 years old and is so smart though! Shes great! Shes really excited to get baptized! We also have some other investigators that came to church yesterday but right now we are still trying to work with their parents. But we have some really great members as well! Overall, this week was great! I learned a lot! Im reading from Isaiah chapters in Book of Mormon right now and its really cool how much Im learning. I really like it! Anyway, I love you all! I will talk to you in a couple days!!! Im so excited!!!! This Christmas will be the best Christmas ever!! Have a great week! I love you!!!

Sister Remund

Me and Jelay! Shes a member here.

There are some cool Christmas lights and trees here!

Haha STL here is for the lottery but for us its Sister Training Leader! So we took a picture. Its funny!

We have a coconut tree in our backyard so we had a member come climb it for us and get the coconuts for us! Then we made a dessert! It was really yummy!

Me and Sister Oquias!

Me and Sister Oquias first Monday together in the computer shop!

Our chapel!

Area #7, Companion #16

Okay so I dont even know what President Lopez is thinking right now. Me and Sister Rey got pulled out of our area this morning and now Im in my 7th area with my 16 companion. But anyway, my new area is Pulupandan! And my companion is Sister Oquias! Im still in Bacolod though so I dont know what my area is like. Ive heard some interesting things about it though. So it will be interesting. But anyway, I had such a great week! I seriously was so sad that me and Sister Rey got pulled out. San Enrique actually started progressing! And Sister Rey was seriously the best companion ever! Even though we were only together one week, I love her so much! And we had 7 investigators at church yesterday! Seriously, we saw so many miracles in San Enrique this last week. On Thursday, we went to visit a less active family who is really close to returning. They have come to church 3 times now so they are almost returned. They are really great! After we taught them, they told us about their niece who was in the lesson with us. She is 11 years old and her parents had just abandon her so she moved in with this family. She wanted to be taught and she has already come to church twice! Her name is Jonah. She was so sweet though and cute and we were so excited to teach her. We were planning her baptism for Jan 1. We were so excited and I was excited because I assumed it would be my last baptism here. But she is still great and the elders will teach her. Also, we have an investigator that has been taught for a while names Kierwin. He is always super great in the lessons but has never come to church. Well, yesterday, he came to church!! For the first time! And he loved it! He committed to be baptized on Jan 31 and we were also really excited for him. We also had a lot of others who started progressing and a lot of people who started committing to baptismal dates. It was seriously the best week in San Enrique! And Sister Rey just made everything better! I loved working with her. We worked very well together and it was great! Also, I did get my travel plans this week. It made me very sad. Its crazy how soon I am coming home. Also, I found out that Ive traveling alone. I was supposed to travel with Sister Bahm but she is going home 2 days before me so she can talk to the councilor. So I have to travel alone and Im not very excited. But anyway, I had such a great week! And Im excited for my new area! Its crazy how close Christmas is! I will get to talk to you next week! Speaking of which, Sister Oquias just told me that we might not be able to skype because the internet in our area is really bad. But Im not sure yet. We will try but we might just have to call. Anyway, I love you! Have a great week! Ill talk to you soon!!!

Sister Remund

Me and Melody

Me, Sister Rey, and Melody.

Me and Sister Rey

This was Sister Bataleros last district meeting. I will miss her! She was my companion in Cadiz. Remember her? Shes the best.

This was us on Thanksgiving! Me and Sister Yanson and Melody again.

This is Melody and Sister Silvano!

Sister Rey is crazy. She put on my clothes and looked like a guy.

Super Typhoon #2!! Typhoon Ruby/ Companion #15

Hello my wonderful family!! I had a great week! As you can see in the subject line, this week was super typhoon #2! As you heard we were on lockdown starting Friday at 6pm and then all day Saturday. Well let me just tell you this, it was a total waste of time. The typhoon did not hit my area at all! Me and Sister Yanson were sitting inside and were going crazy because it wasnt even raining! So we just had a fun day inside doing nothing because we couldnt go out. Then on Sunday we were allowed to work and guess what? It was raining and windy and cold. We were laughing because the whole lockdown was backwards. We should have been working on Saturday and lockdown on Sunday. But its okay. We were happy we could work again. Also, as you saw in the pictures, this week we had zone training! It was great! I really learned a lot and I loved it! I loved it because our leaders turned it into a Christmas devotional because we wont get one this year. President cancelled it. So it was great and the spirit was so strong! The focus of our training was on the video "He is the Gift" and wow, it was just awesome! I absolutely loved it and learned a ton! It really just focuses on the real reason for Christmas and what the real gift of Christmas is. So it was great and I learned a lot! The spirit was just so strong and let me tell you this, the closer I get to coming home, the more my tear buds start turning on. My whole mission Ive been good and havent even cried (a blessing from the mission I guess) but the closer I get to coming home, the more I start crying. I havent actually cried, but Ive gotten really close. And lets just say the zone training was not easy for me to hold my tears in. I just really loved it and I love Christmas! It really helped me to focus on why Im here and on why we really celebrate Christmas so I loved it! Sister Moser told us a joke, she said "what would Christmas be without Christ? Mas- which is what the Catholic church does every Sunday." Haha we all laughed really hard. It was great. Also, Alex is doing great! He wasnt able to attend church again but he has already progressed so much with his word of wisdom! He cut everything in half which is HUGE! We were so happy and proud of him. He is for sure coming to church this Sunday! Im so excited and happy for him! Hes great. We are still trying hard to find new investigators though because we still dont have many. Also, I forgot, I have a new companion! Her name is Sister Rey! And shes actually a full time missionary!!!! Im so excited! She is batch with Sister Maningas (my companion in 5th ward) and she seems great! I just got her this morning so Im excited to spend more time with her. Also, I was supposed to go to Manila tomorrow but I dont know if Im going? We are supposed to go for fingerprints but the office elders never called me. Everyone else in my batch said we are going though and they already got called so Im wondering if I dont have to go because I went in May? But I think I have to because the office elders told me in September that I would be going in December so Im going to text them later to find out. So I might or might not be going to Manila tomorrow! But anyway, I had a great week! I learned a ton and am really feeling the spirit of Christmas! I love it!! And I love you all! Have a great week!

Sister Remund

Merry Christmas!!

Hello my wonderful family!!! It sounds like you all had such a great week! Thank you so much for all the pictures you sent. I love them! You all look so happy and great. I had a pretty good week. Of course this week was Thanksgiving and I loved it! I am so thankful for my wonderful family! But on Thanksgiving it rained all day so it actually made it feel like it was more like Thanksgiving because it wasnt super hot and it actually was a little chilly. So I loved it! And for Thanksgiving dinner we went over to a members house who served on Temple Square! Her name is Melody. It was the best! Yes mom she did make the potato salad but because of my request, her aunt made mashed potatoes just for me!! It made me so happy and I just loved them and they tasted so great! We also ate chicken. Turkey here is too expensive so we had chicken instead. So it was a great day! Me and Sister Yanson are doing good. We have had a pretty good week. We have struggled finding people to teach though. We are really struggling with progressing investigators right now. We have one investigator though that is going to do great. His name is Alex. He was going to come to church on Sunday but he had work so he couldnt. He is our most progressing investigator right now though. He has word of wisdom problems though so we will be working on that this week. We are also really hoping he will come to church this next Sunday. He is so great though and he has a big desire to know if this is true. Im excited to keep teaching him! We also are teaching this really old lady named Luciana. Did you tell you about her last week? I cant remember. Well, she is 80 years old and is the funniest person ever. Every time we go to visit her, shes not wearing clothes. She just lays in her house without her clothes on. Its actually really funny. But she is just the cutest old lady and is great. She wants to come to church but we have to find someone to go with her because her relatives wont let her come by herself because shes so old. So we will find someone this week to bring her. Shes great though. Other than that we taught a lot of less active members this week. We have a ton of less active members in our area and so we are trying to help them come back. We are really trying to find new investigators though because we really dont have any. But we will work on it. Anyway, I had a great week and I hope you all have a great week! I love you all!!! Keep reading your scriptures!!

Sister Remund

This is Ford and Faith. It was Fords birthday and they are the cutest little kids ever!

We found a cool dam in our area!

Me, Melody, and Sister Yanson!

Companion #14

Hello my wonderful family!!! I had such a wonderful week with my companion! Her name is Sister Silvano and she is from La Castellana which is part of my zone. She is great! Unfortunately she goes home today so I will be getting a new companion. I dont know who it is yet but she is also a short term missionary. Im not sure how long we will be together, if it will be one week for two, but Im excited! It should be fun! But this past week was great! Sister Silvano is just the nicest person and we had a great time. The work is going pretty good here as well. We are kind of struggling right now to find new investigators and the investigators we have arent really progressing. Im still trying to get to know where everyone is too. I know where all the investigators are but I dont know any of the members in our area so right now Im still trying to get to know them. Its been interesting. Lets just say we spent a lot of time walking this past week trying to find peoples houses. But it was actually really cool this week because I was able to really feel like I was being helped. When I first found out I would get a short term missionary, I was nervous. But then as soon as we were together I didnt even really feel like I was the one working. I dont really know how to describe it but I just felt so much help. It was the coolest thing. The spirit was really with us this week and it made a big difference. It was great! We have a few investigators right now that I really think will do great and progress well. They were supposed to come to church yesterday with our recent convert but none of the recent converts came so the investigator didnt come. We will go visit them tomorrow to see what happened and why they couldnt come. But they will be great. His name is Alex and his son is named Jason. I like them. They are so receptive and are just great. Also, this week we started teaching an old lady named Luciana. Shes really funny. I was telling her the story from the Bible about the 100 sheep and one of them got lost and she said, "maybe he was kidnapped!" And the whole story she was just like "Oh wow!" It was just really funny. But she is so cute and I just love her. We are also teaching a lady named Josetta. Shes good but I think it will be hard. Shes really great though. Shes very active in her church and I think they are the closest religion to us. Literally like everything we talk about is the same. The big difference is the restoration obviously. But shes great and hopefully she will understand the difference. Well, overall it was a great week. I dont have much time today because I have to go to Bacolod to get my new companion. But I love you all! Have a great week!

Sister Remund

My area! Its the beach so we got to watch the sunset on the beach.

Sister Tanes last Sunday.

This was our food every day this last week. All those containers are full of spaghetti.

District meeting. Me and Sister Silvano!

We put up Christmas lights and made them look like a Christmas tree! Our weekly baptism chart was the presents I guess and we hung my stocking too! It was funny though, right after I took the picture, the Christmas lights stopped working. As in they are totally broken now. So we took our tree down. It was sad.

This is our recent converts daughter. Shes so cute!

This is where we get water to wash our clothes. The pump. So anytime I have to wash my clothes I get a good arm workout.

Companion #13

Hello my wonderful family! I had a pretty good week. We were able to work a little more this week but still not as much as I would have liked. Also, as the subject line says, I am now going to receive companion #13. President called last Monday after we emailed and said that Sister Tanes will be going home. She actually ended up going home this morning. She got a medical release. A few years ago she tore her PCL and I guess its been hurting since she got on her mission so President sent her home to recover. So later today I will get my new companion. I dont know who it is yet. But honestly Im a little nervous. I found out that it will be a short term missionary. So shes not really a missionary. And we will only be together for maybe a week. So next week I will receive a new companion again. But it will be fun! Also, guess what the topic was for one of the sacrament talks yesterday? The real meaning of Christmas. How great is that? Also this past week we had mission tour with Elder Ardern! It was the best thing ever! I really learned a lot! One thing I really liked that Sister Ardern said was that we will never find the time to do things, we have to make the time. I just really liked it. She said there is no resting place on the path called faithfulness. She also talked about how us as missionaries need to act the part, look the part, and be the part. But really it related to all members of the church. Does the was we talk or dress draw attention to us or to Jesus Christ? Does the was we talk or dress represent Jesus Christ? She said you never get a second chance to make a good first impression. Unseen eyes are watching us always. Every missionary or member is judged from what others see us do. We need to always act and be representatives of Jesus Christ in everything we do. I really liked it. Also Elder Ardern shared a verse. We read in Moroni 10:32. Elder Ardern talked about how after everything in the Book of Mormon,  the message is to come unto Christ. It doesnt matter how many times we go through the Book of Mormon, but how much of it goes through us. I really liked it. It was a great meeting. I learned a lot more too. Also there is a girl in my branch that was assigned to serve on Temple Square. It was fun talking to her. She also knows Kortnee Lytle! She met her  before she came home! Anyway, I had a good week. I love you all and hope you have a great week!

Sister Remund

Merry Christmas to ME!!!

Haha Merry Christmas to me because I did get my package!!! How did you know? I just got it Saturday. It was actually very nice because the couples drove down to my area just so they could give it to me! I was very happy! Holy cow its probably the biggest package Ive ever seen in my life. I cant believe it. How in the world can I eat that much food before I come home? Haha just kidding. I actually already ate a lot of it. But anyway, enough about that. I had a pretty good week. This area is probably my prettiest area. It seriously is so cool! There are rice fields, sugar cane fields, and the ocean! Its perfect! Unfortunately thats about all I can tell you about it though because I havent actually spent a lot of time in my area yet. We worked on Tuesday and I met a lot of people and it was a great day. But then on Wednesday, Sister Tanes got sick and we couldnt work. Then on Thursday we still couldnt work. Then on Friday we had zone training and after that I went on splits for a couple hours with a ward member because Sister Tanes still couldnt work. Then on Saturday we worked and thats when I saw our really pretty areas but we still only worked a few hours. Then on Sunday Sister Tanes really wasnt feeling well so we couldnt work because we didnt have enough sisters to do splits again. So I spent a lot of time inside this week. This morning we went to the doctor though and they said she just has a fever so its nothing serious. We should be able to work again this week. But I was really happy to be able to leave the house. Anyway, so I cant really tell you about our investigators because I guess we dont have that many. Sister Tanes said we dont have many investigators right now and they arent really progressing so we will work on that. But it was a good week though because I just got to study! I was able to learn a lot this week so it was good. A lot of the things I read this week just talked about how we need to make our will the same as the Fathers will for us. It was really cool. I read this thing about 4 missionaries. Have you read it? Ive heard a lot about it but this was the first time Ive been able to read it. It talks about 4 different types of missionaries. The first 2 are just disobedient. The 3 missionary is obedient and has great success on their mission but they dont like being obedient. They are obedient, but they have other things they would rather be doing. The 4 missionary is the obedient missionary and wants to do what the Father would have them do. They are the only ones who experience real happiness and are completely changed from their mission. It goes into a lot more depth than that but I think you might have read it so I wont talk about it more. I was just really thinking about that this week and how I can become more of the 4 missionary. It was just really good. Then at zone training, they talked about Jesus Christ is the center to everything we do(of course). But I really liked what they said. They read the scripture "let your light so shine before men..." and talked about how Jesus Christ is the light that we hold up. They then related it to being outside at night, if there are a lot of lights on, you cant really see the stars. But if you turn the lights from your house off, you can see the stars. Its like us, if we turn our worldly light off, you can clearly see the light from Jesus Christ which is like looking up at the stars. As we are set up on the hill and turn our worldly light off, you can clearly see the light that comes from Jesus Christ, and that is our light. That is the light that we hold up. Everything we do should be centered on Jesus Christ. Turn your worldly light off and focus on Him. I really liked it. Anyway, I had a great week. I hope you all had a great week! I love you all! Keep reading the scriptures!

Sister Remund

San Enrique bathroom...... My toilet and my shower.

San Enrique!!!

My area is on the beach! Literally, we walk on the beach to get to our investigators house.

Welcome to Narnia! Thats what Sister Tanes calls this bridge.