April 13th and April 20th

 Maayong Aga family!! What a week! Sister Cruz and I are staying so busy! Like we need another 8 hours in each day to visit all the people we want to visit. It's been challenging to be so pressed for time constantly, but we are able to accomplish so much through good planning. Although sometimes things are out of our hands and like one time this week we actually RAN to our next investigator's house... I'm not sure if that's actually allowed but just to illustrate how "busy" this area is keeping us! I love it :) We had a baptism this week! Brother King :) He is 15 years old and is SO awesome!! We baptized his 2 brothers last week. He is so hard working and drives a sikad for money to feed his family. He's SO kind and I just love their family so so much!! It's so hard when the kids in a family don't have active or member parents because they really have to act for themselves and they don't have that constant guidance. I never really realized how blessed I am (or family is) to be born into this church. We grew up with the blessings of the priesthood in our home. We are raised in the standards of the church that provide as protection to us to continually strive to endure to the end and return back to live with our Father in Heaven as a family. We have been SO blessed because of living the commandments and having a gospel-centered home. Making that transition is not easy for people because it is often so so very different than the way they live their lives now but I am so glad I have this testimony of the way the gospel has and is blessing my family. Don't take it for granted people :) Your knowledge and testimony of this restored gospel is the most important thing in this life and should always be the center of our lives. I love this gospel so much!!
ALSO I am SOOO excited for General Conference!!! We get to watch it this weekend. I AM SO SO SO EXCITED!!!
Miracle of the skirts: So this horrible thing happened and then it turned into the best thing ever!! I paid to have my two favorite skirts hemmed by a lady in Sister Manwaring's ward (old ward) and I got them back and about 4x the amount of fabric was taken off then I had pinned. It was reeeeaaally badly done and now way too short for me to wear as a missionary! I was so upset. I'm embarrassed now how upset I was. But I was humbled as I remembered the people that we teach here that have NO skirts and NO shoes and NO appropriate clothes for church. For example King's mom. She finally opened up this week and told us that she can't come to church because she only has shorts and tank tops. So then Sister Cruz and I remembered these skirts I now have that I are the perfect length for these tiny Filippinas! And guess what... she came to church!! Sister Cruz also gave her a pair of shoes. She is the shiest person ever but is so so sweet and I can't wait to see her progress and hopefully continue to come to church! I planned to email Mom about my skirts and be all complain-y and "wo is me" and well my outlook about those skirts being ruined completely changed!!
So funny moment of the week- my facial expression don't always match the conversations that are going on.... it's really embarrassing afterwards when I figure out what was being talked about. For example we met this guy and he has this speech problem so I can't understand barely anything he says.. thankfully Sister Cruz is killer good at the language. And he was telling us about his wife dying and I has a big smile on my face nodding my head up and down. Like "OOPS! Sorry brother.. I'm just a doofus American that obviously doesn't understand this language.. SORRY". Embarrassing!
Anyways things are really good! I'm turning into a Filippina.. I even ate rice for breakfast yesterday! And I can now do my laundry as fast as Sister Cruz :) BOOYA! And it's not weird anymore when I pass a chicken crossing a bamboo bridge :)
LOVE YOU ALL SOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO MUCH!! So grateful to have the best family ever!!! :))))))
Until next week!!
LOVE, Sister Judd :)

 

Wow! Another week to tell you all about! The beginning of the week was.. eventful. haha It rained NONSTOP from Sunday night to Tuesday night. It flooded out house! We lived in 3 inches of water all week. haha it was so weird. I would just splash my feet in water while we studied and we just didn't really do anything about it.. until yesterday there was barely any left and our floor was way gross so I finally mopped! It's weird to be able to kneel and pray again in our apartment. Also! Because of the rain it's so muddy outside. When we walk on bamboo tay tay (bridge) it's sooo slippery and the kids always laugh at me because the struggle is real. Rubber shoes don't help either. Well yeah, I finally slipped. Finally, meaning I knew that I eventually would some day but was glad that that time had not come yet.. THANKFULLY I did not fall off the bridge and woah that sounds scary to you all.. this bridge was only raised about 4 or 5 feet above the (what I call) muck. Everyone's bathroom, garbage, and nasty. So let's hope that I never fall in the lava! er.. I mean muck! Also about the rain- we were at a new investigator's house and she was sooo embarrassed that her roof was not holding up in the rain. She tried to make me use the umbrella in her home! I refused, and refusing can sometimes offend the people here... but I don't think she was offended she was just really embarrassed. But no way would I teach sitting in her home using my umbrella.. no way. Like the people here are just sooooo sweet and kind!!!

So we have this group of kids that we teach (almost young women age) and they're so sweet. They've started saving their money to buy us pamahaw (snacks- usually crackers and sometimes with orange soda) when we come and teach them! They're so cute. And the other day they wanted to try and talk in English so I was of course all for it and they sat there for a second and were so shy and then just started singing "Do you wanna build a snowmaaaaan" hahahaa I wanted to die it was so cute!!!! With their accents.. ah the cutest.

So ya we have loooots of tanga (cockaroaches). I took a picture yesterday of the amount we woke up to dead after I sprayed bug spray before going to bed. They don't bother sister cruz at all. But If I see one come in the house or crawl up the wall sitting at my desk I cannot continue studying or planning until it's killed! So me- being the bright sister that I am- was spraying a cockaroach with spray on the ceiling directly above me and yup it fell right on my head and crawled down my dress- I FREAKED! Screaming, jumping, dying, crying. Well our neighbors where probably sooo worried because Sister Cruz was so worried that someone would come knocking on our door from my freak out moment. But I killed it and took a quick bucket shower to calm down. Then was really embarrassed because I thought that I was changing into a Filipina! But hopefully if that were to happen in an investigator or members house I'd be able to keep my cool and flick it away like anyone else here would... But these buggers aren't small either!!

MORE IMPORTANT STUFF! Best for last:)

BAPTISM!! Awesome baptism!! Sister Erika! and Brother Square!! Erika is 20 years old- she has a one year old son with a member in the ward. He (Jason) has been less active for a while but his dad just became a bishop (somewhere else) and his older brother is getting married in the temple and he approached us and asked to teach Erika. She is AWESOME!!! They want to get married in the temple SOO bad!! She is so sweet and funny- like has such a funny sense of humor (so of course we clicked.. jokes.) and basically is just a golden investigator. She has been so prepared to accept this gospel!! And Square is best friends with the Leonoras family- the kids we have been teaching and just baptized (greg, diego, richard, king). He is SOO sweet! As in like gets teary-eyed baring his testimony to us about Joseph Smith and the Book of Mormon. Heavenly Father really has a plan for all of these people! It's really hard for these kids to not have their parents follow in accepting the gospel but we're still working to try and teach and help their families- no matter how hard it is. There's only so much we can do but Square is so strong and hopefully the group of recent convert friends can stick together and keep pressing forward :) I LOVE THEM!!!

This work is so so amazing!! I love the Philippines so so much!!! And I miss and love you all SOOOOOO much!!
HAPPY EASTER!!!!

I know this church is true. Christ suffered and died for us all and lives again. I know that my Redeemer lives!


PS- happy early birthday dad!! Talk to you next week (through email) on the night of your birthday!!!

That reminds me.. what time is it when I usually email?

LOVE YOU ALL!

Sister Judd



TANGA! (roach in Ilonggo)
cockaroaches are not my friend