January 27th - Last night in Silay

And I dont know why but Sister Young wanted us to kneel down for our picture. It was a little weird.

I dont know why Sister De Castro took this picture of me but she really wanted to so I let her.

January 26, 2014 - Attitude

Hello Family!!

Well I had an interesting week. It started horrible. But it ended pretty good. Ill start from the beginning. Monday through Wednesday was the hardest days Ive had in a long time. As in last week but even worse. I had completely lost all desire to do anything. It sounds horrible and Im ashamed to say that but its true. I was just in a terrible mood and I didnt want to change anything. So it was not good. But luckily I have a great sister training leader, Sister Hogge, and she would come out at night and talk to me and help me. So on Thursday morning she talked to me about attitude. She was kind of blunt with me that I didnt have a great attitude. (which thats embarrassing, she could tell that I wasnt doing to great.) She told me that it didnt matter how bad my situation was, I could choose to be happy. So finally something clicked. After talking to her Thursday morning, I decided I wanted to be happy again. And it worked! Literally I had some of the best days. Me and Sister De Castro still didnt get along great, but we were able to bring the spirit in the lessons and we were getting along better than last week. I didnt realized before how much attitude can change things. Just by decided to be happy my week changed dramatically. Me and Sister De Castro are actually doing good now. These past two nights we have been joking around with each other. Communication is still tough because she doesnt understand English very well but its going okay. She is speaking Ilonggo again for the most part. She still speaks a little in Cebuano but mostly its Ilonggo. So thats better. I can usually understand what she says now. So its good. But of course, since everything started going good, something had to change. So last night I was really sad. Well, I tried to stay positive but it was hard. We got a call from the assistants last night. Im getting transferred. I will leave Silay tomorrow morning. I dont know where Im going yet but I wont be in Silay anymore. Also Sister Evans is getting transferred too. She was in Silay West ward. We were in the MTC together. So we are both sad because we both just barely started leading the area and we love it here so much and now we are leaving. But it will be good. Im trying to stay positive. Hopefully my next area will be as good as Silay. But Im sad because a lot of the people who we are teaching are going to get baptized soon and I wont be here. So it will be sad. But its okay. So yeah, that was my week. Also, I forgot, on Saturday Dixon Baquia got baptized! So that was great! But then he didnt show up for church so he hasnt gotten confirmed yet. So that stinks. Also this week I got to cook a pig! Dont worry, I took a picture and will be sending it later. Overall it was a good week. I learned a very valuable lesson that hopefully I dont forget anytime soon. My new goal is to be happy! Even when its hard. So yeah. Anyway, your new car is so nice! It looks like Kellis car. Thats awesome! And it looks like you had a blast in South Carolina! The boys are getting so big! McCoy looks like hes grown a foot since I last saw him! Wow! Its crazy! But it sounds like you all had a great week! I hope you have a great week and next week I will tell you my new area! Also, I knew Sister De Castro likes me now because last night she almost started crying when we found out I was transferring. I think its mostly because she doesnt want to lead the area since shes only been here two weeks but... Ill pretend its because she likes me. So yeah. I love you all! Have a great week!

Sister Remund

Dixons baptism on Saturday!

I know. Im gwapa. Haha just kidding. (gwapa is beautiful.)

Last night when we got the call, me and Sister De Castro realized we didnt have a picture together. So we took one quick.

This is my favorite little girl. Mary Grace. When we go visit them, she does my hair. Not like the other pictures, but she just plays with it. She is the cutest little girl in the world and I will miss her so much.

Us and Nita (the old lady) and Angel. Angel is Abegails sister, the one who got baptized on Dec 6. She is less active. But she will be returned soon. The only reason she was less active was because she was working in Bacolod but now she quit her job. Nita is our stake presidents wifes mom. She took the lessons a long time ago but wouldnt get baptized. We just recently started teaching her again.

Me and the pig! They let me turn the bamboo it was on. It was so cool!

January 19, 2014 - Uhhhhh...

Hello Family!

Loved reading your emails this week. The letters still havent gotten here but Im sure they will get here soon. I did get a letter from the Armours though. A lot of the people at their Christmas party wrote me a letter so they sent them all to me. That was nice to read. So this week was kind of rough though. Sister Nielsen got transferred. We kind of expected it. We had been together for four months. But I was hoping I would transfer because now that she transferred, I have to lead the area. Which is hard. I knew leading the area would be hard and I was prepared for that but what I wasnt prepared for was getting a native companion. My new companion is Sister De Castro. And it is quite the adjustment. She is literally the complete opposite of Sister Nielsen. She doesnt talk to me. She speaks English very well but she doesnt really understand it. And she came from San Carlos which is a Cebuano speaking area so when she got here she only spoke Cebuano. Which I dont understand obviously. It was really hard going from understanding what was going on in lessons to not understanding anything because its a completely different language. And then a lot of the people we visit were sad Sister Nielsen is gone so they would start crying and then I would start crying and then Sister De Castro would start crying so it would just be a big mess. Sister Nielsen never saw me cry except for on Christmas when I said goodbye. I did so good with her. Now everyone has seen me cry. Its terrible. I just cant stop crying. Well, I've done better now but some things will just bring the tears and I cant stop them. I've just been super stressed this week. And because Im stressed I havent had an appetite and then I got sick. Its wonderful. Sister Hogge saw me the first day and could tell I was already super stressed (sister training leader that lives next door) so we did exchanges on Thursday. That was the only good day this week. She just let me talk to her and I told her everything that was going on and she just listened and then gave me advice. It was so great. Sister Hogge came from Tacloban and Im pretty sure the only reason all the missionaries had to leave Tacloban is because Heavenly Father knew that I would need Sister Hogge right now. So this week I am focusing on not stressing out and actually eating and loving my companion. Because its kind of hard right now. But hopefully this week will be better. I just feel like she thinks Im stupid and dont know anything. Like we go in to teach a lesson and she will start and then I am supposed to teach the next principle. So I start talking and I get one sentence in and then she cuts in and teaching the rest of the lesson. One lesson she didnt even let me talk at all. I didnt even get to testify at the end. Ahhhhhhh I just dont know. Its just been a hard week. But thats missionary life. Obviously I knew this would happen eventually but I just thought my companion might actually talk to me and help me. So hopefully this week I will be able to open her up. I never thought that I would be the loud one in a companionship but I guess now I have to be. So this week I am going to try hard to open her up and get to know her better. And I will not compare her to Sister Nielsen. That was one thing Sister Hogge told me to never do. Obviously everyone is different but its hard to not compare the things that me and Sister Nielsen did. So I will work on that this week. Sorry this email to such a bummer. Hopefully next week I will have good news for you. Glad you were able to find a new car! Sounds awesome! You should send me a picture of it! So that I can know what your driving around town! Thats cool that Jensens had a baby. I remember hearing about Dani being pregnant but I forgot. Thats awesome. I love that she called Hallie McKenna. Sounds like Hallie is already better than I was though! Keep up the good work! Have fun driving to South Carolina mom! Also its either us or the other sisters in Silay East that post on facebook. We usually do it a couple times a week. Sad that Ryanne isnt working at the bakery anymore. That will be weird. But she will be a great missionary. Well again, sorry this email was a bummer. Hopefully you all have a great week! I love you!

Sister Remund

Sister Menchie is moving back to Manila. This was the last time I saw her. She wanted to be taller than me so she stood on the light post!

January 12, 2014 - The sun will come out.... tomorrow?

Hello Family!!!

We had a good week here. Except for the fact that the sun is hiding from us. Literally. We didnt see the sun all week. We heard from a few people that its another typhoon and it will end on the 16 or 17. So well see. Also, I was really cold this week. Which I didnt expect in the Philippines. In St. George it would be great weather but here its freezing. It was just windy and raining all week. I actually slept in my sweatshirt and with my blanket. I still had the fan on me though.... But during studies I always have my blanket wrapped around me. Its so cold! Im going to die when I get home. But its great! We had a good week though. We still dont know about transfers. We were hoping they would make the calls last night but they didnt. So we will find out tonight if we are going to transfer or not. So well see. We had zone training this week. It was really good! They taught us a new way to teach the lessons. Its so good! Quick question: what mission in California was Jami in? Was is Arcadia? I know someone in that mission I just cant remember who it is. But Sister Becerras dad is the mission president in Arcadia and he had a few things happen so he contacted mission headquarters asking how his missionaries can better teach so they gave him some training and then he taught Sister Becerra and then we all got taught. Its so cool! Just doing it this week it has already helped so much! I love it! It makes it so much easier for the people to understand and it also makes it easier to teach. Its great! I love it! I can tell you about it when I get home because its just really hard to explain over email and it would take a lot of time. But other than that we had a pretty normal week. Glad you heard about the car! And that you can take your time to find a good car and just drive my car around. Glad I could help! Sounds like you had a fun week with family and in Vegas. Kam thats so cool that your team did so good! I told Sister Nielsen and she is super jealous that you are doing that. She misses cheer. I love the challenge word you gave Ryanne! Seriously I want a copy of her talk so I can know how she tied that in. I have no idea how I would do that! What was her talk on? Im sure she did great! Sad I missed it. But Ill be there when she gets home! So thats good. Teemer you better not be kissing any boys. And stop stressing mom out! You silly goose. Im excited to get your letters! Hopefully I get them this week or maybe next week. Also did you send the package yet? I want to know when you send it so I can know about when it will get here. So let me know. Sorry this email isnt very good. Nothing big really happened this week besides the weather. But I love you all! Have a great week!

Sister Remund 

Angel and Dexter.

They were doing our hair.

Don't I look so cute?

We love the hair styles they gave us!

Kynan!

The Morales new house! Their house was destroyed in Yolanda.

January 5, 2014 - HAPPY NEW YEAR!!

Hello Family!!!

Well I ended the year so great! On the 31, I spent the whole day in bed! Haha. So  maybe it wasnt that great. But yeah, I finally got sick. It wasnt too bad though. I just felt like I was going to throw up and I had a little headache and no energy. I almost threw up a few times but nothing ever came out so it was okay. And Sister Solomone was also sick so Sister Nielsen and Sister Delos Santos went out together while me and Sister Solomone slept. So it was okay. But I feel great now. My stomach has still been hurting a little through out the week but nothing I cant handle. And luckily I was feeling better on the 1st because it was Michael and Rheamaes baptism!! It was so great! They are the cutest and I just loved it. Also speaking of sickness though, what happened to Chelsea Green? Did she end up having to come home or did she get better? But anyway, we had a good week! The Baquias are doing good. Also, I realized this week that I wasnt exactly supposed to tell you about that. So hopefully you havent told anyone. And make sure you dont tell anyone. But they are doing good. Brother Baquia still is drinking but he asked us to help him. So we started going back multiple times every day to remind him not to drink. Nothing really has happened yet but hopefully soon he will be able to stop drinking. These past few days, pretty much every lesson has been the restoration. We have been bringing the short version around with us because its in Tagalog so if they have a dvd player we watch it. Its been great! Not everyone has a dvd player but the people that do have really loved it! Its so much better watching it then having us explain it. So many miracles came from it this week. One lady, whos daughter is married to our stake president, isnt a member. She took the lessons a long time ago but never got baptized. We have gone there a few times but she would never let us share. This time, we got to share and we watched the restoration. At the end, she was bawling. She thanked us so many times and said we can come back and start teaching her! It was so great! But other than that it was a pretty normal week. Thats crazy that they found the van! And that is was in St. George the whole time! Wow I cant believe it! So do you think insurance will give you a little more money now? Or just the same amount as before? Thats pretty cool though! Thats so funny how they caught him! Speaking of cars, Kam said she can drive my car by herself?!?!?!?! WHAT?!?!?!?! NOOOOOO!!!!!!! Shes only 15! Thats major breaking the law! (the law of the land and the law of my car) You never let me drive by myself before I was 16. Unfair. Hahaha. Also Ryanne told me that Jami came home. Thats weird. Dad did you hire her again? Hallie- wow basketball star! 10 points? Thats awesome!!! Youre so great! And its about time that you all wrote me a letter! Speaking of letters, I got a card from Judy Jensen this week! That was nice. Still waiting for all of yours. And speaking of cards, did you have a Christmas card this year? And do you still have one? Christiansens sent me theirs and Sister Nielsen got a couple and I just thought it would be cool if you could send me one. But if not its okay. But anyway, thats everything I have to say. Everything is great here! And I love you! Have a great week!

Sister Remund

Serious I'm a giant here. I barely fit in the tricycle.

When we scared the STLs.

Our Christmas pillowcases!

We went and played games with them while their moms did our laundry.