Welcome to Bohol!

Maayong Pasko!

I hope you're all enjoying Christmas Break with your families :)

Bohol is the most beautiful place I've ever seen, it's like a tropical paradise. The typhoon didn't hit Cebu, but there was some scary rain and darkness and no power for a while. We had nightly planning by candlelight haha. I actually slept without an electric fan and the wind from the open window was amazing.

I love teaching these new people. I'm also enjoying being in a trisome. My companions are from Vanuatu and Fiji. They are so much fun. Their first languages are not English and they aren't yet fluent in Bisaya. I usually teach most of the lesson because of the language levels, but I am so amazed at how fast they are learning and how they can learn English and Bisaya at the same time! The gift of tongues is real.

The branch here in Baclayon is small, but the members are active and so welcoming! I'm excited to help them turn the branch into a ward. We are doing 20 TC's everyday and trying to figure out the area because it's really big and there's tons of work to do! :) We want to flood the area with the Book of Mormon!

We have an IBD, Jane, she just started coming to church last month and said she was taught by some elders a year ago and really wants to be baptized this Saturday. We are trying to teach her everyday and review all the lessons so she can prepare to be interviewed and baptized. 

This morning we taught a less-active family and then decided to go find a referral we received on Friday. She was so happy to receive us and set out tons of chairs. Then all the people on the street and outside her tindahan came up and I asked all of them their names and talking to them and soon enough we had 6 new investigators and taught them all an intro to the Lesson 1 and about our purpose as missionaries. One of the men grew up playing basketball with "mormons", he said he always thought they were really fun and has a lot of respect for them. and he really wants to learn about the gospel. Then they said, let's all meet here this time next week! The Spirit was so strong during that lesson. It was a great morning and a great start to the week! Hopefully though we'll be able to teach them more one on one to help them individually progress.

Places we taught lessons this week:

1. under a dense grove of coconut trees on a hill during a spectacular sunset. One of the coconuts fell though, right next to us and it probably would have knocked us out if it had been a foot closer! But the Tatay told me not to worry, he's lived here for 30 years and hasn't ever been hit by a coconut!

2. standing up outside because the house had no chairs, the child was sick inside, and the ground was flooded from the rain.

3. on a nanay's bed because she has a bed-ridden daughter

4. on a dirt path outside a tindahan surrounded by onlookers

I hope you all have a merry christmas :)

-sister bertoldo

Transfer Call!

Sister Dayhop and I had a great last week as companions!

Rhodora finally committed to a baptismal date, and she came to church on Sunday! It was so perfect and the Spirit was so strong because it was the branch's primary program. It's so important to sister Rhodora that her daughter learns about Christ (part of the reason she's taking the lessons is so she can teach her daughter) and so I teared up a lot during church because I felt the Spirit so strongly sitting next to her! The members were so welcoming to her!

We also had a Mission Christmas Party and had a lava-lava exchange!

We also had a Level 1 alert (schools were cancelled) because there is a typhoon headed to Cebu- it's supposed to hit on Friday. There has been heavy rain and some wind, but nothing to worry about, it's only level one. They just take precaution because Northern Cebu is vulnerable to storms.

The big news is: I am transferring! To Bohol, a separate island from Cebu! I'll be serving in Baclayon branch, a very hot, wilderness area right by the ocean. It's also close to a big tourist city, Tagbilaran, so there'll be plenty to do on P-days. The other big news is that I'll be in a trisome now with two Polynesian sisters! I've never been in a trisome before and I'm a little nervous but also excited, it should be an interesting transfer!

It was SO hard to say goodbye to the people I've come to love SO much here in Bogo. There were some tears. And lots of pictures. And I gave away half my closet haha. But I'm happy to say that we will be leaving 3 solid IBD's in our area. I hope I get to hear that they were able to continue to receive the gospel!

I hope you all have a great week! Read Alma 36:3! :) Love you all!

As they say in the Philippines, byers!!

-Sister Bertoldo 

Eventful Week!

It was an eventful week!

1. I bought honey (dugos) from a tigsuroysuroy who came up to our house during our studies. He just looked into our window and said, "M'am, Honeybee m'am!"  We asked him if it was pure honey? And to my surprise he opened up his bucket to unleash LIVE BEES to prove his authenticity haha. So we each filled up an empty water bottle with some honey. My companion verified that it was, in fact, pure natural honey haha. So now we have honey! We also have a small swarm of bees on our porch!

2. WE HAVE AN IBD! (investigator with a baptismal date) He is only 9 years old, His sister is a less-active member and his parents are Catholic. He is very serious minded and focused for a 9-year-old. He really wants to be baptized and learn the Gospel. He listens and he reads his assignments we give him, and he agreed to be baptized this December! His parents live with a family that are members, so he can come to church with them each week. We are really enjoying teaching him. It strengthens my testimony that the age of 8 and older is the age of accountability, or the age that  people are able to make decisions for themselves and be accountable for those decisions. Even as a 9 year old with a non-member family, he has such a strong intuition and desire to  follow Christ. He asked us if we would help him? And we were like, "Of course that's our job!" :)

3. We had a dinner appointment! These are rare! Usually we are given biscuits and soda, but we had an actual dinner appointment with a member this week. She cooked us spaghetti and homemade tomato sauce with Chinese steam buns and pistachio pudding. We also shared a Mormon message with them and then washed all the dishes. They even had a Christmas tree in their home!

4. We were given fresh guava and tambis by a less-active member that we visit. He has a tree outside his motor repair shop that was laden with fruit, so he harvested a big bag for us! Natural guava is not too sweet, but it's so good with a little vinegar. The tambis is a bright pink and very fibrous fruit, not too sweet but super refreshing! The fruit here in the Philippines is incredible, it just grows everywhere!

5. We saw a scary storm! One minute we're walking along in the heat to a teaching appointment, then the wind picks up, then kalit there is big black clouds on all sides that came out of nowhere, and torrential  rain and lightning with simultaneous earsplitting thunder! It happened so fast! Luckily we ducked into a nearby Panaderia just in time...

6. I had a blister or mosquito bite or something on my ankle that must have gotten infected because I got a fever and swollen lymph nodes and I was so sick all week! Plus the rain, the heat, mud and the work, it was a struggle! But I cleaned the wound with hydrogen peroxide and I'm on an antibiotic now. I also got a priesthood blessing, and I'm so grateful for the priesthood.

One thing I learned this week: God is able to do His own work 

Love you all! Happy Thanksgiving back in America! (watch on lds.org Robert D. Hales's video on Gratitude)

-sister bertoldo

Pagtambayayong

My "ponderize" scripture for the week is Mosiah 4:9:

Believe in God; believe that he is, and that he created all things, both in heaven and in earth; believe that he has all wisdom, and all power, both in heaven and in earth;believe that man doth not comprehend all the things which the Lord can comprehend.

Bisaya word of the week for you: pagtambayayong. It's fun to say and it means....unity or "togetherness".

Our two IBD's both came to church this week! They want to be baptized so much and they wanted to see the baptismal font! They're scheduled for December 26th, so that means that if I transfer next transfer I won't get to see it, but that's okay, as long as they are receiving the Gospel, I'm happy! 

To be honest, we've been having much more success in working with the less-active members in our area. Reactivating members has become the main focus of my time here in Bogo, and we've been having a lot of success. The branch president actually high-fived Sister Dayhop and I yesterday in MCM because apparently some of the members we brought to church, (mostly batanong mga lalaki (teenage boys) haven't been there in YEARS. We're trying to strengthen the priesthood and the youth, especially with the recent realignment that just happened.

I like the word "pagtambayayong" this week because it's true that missionary work is a group effort. Without full-time missionaries, it's difficult for a branch or ward to grow (and therefore the Church). But without the members, local leaders, and kuyogs it's difficult for the full-time missionaries to do their job successfully. Thus, we need to work together!

And of course, we all need our Heavenly Father because this is His work and He knows best how to conduct it! (D&C 101:63-65) 

Yesterday during my personal study hour I studying what it means to keep the Sabbath day holy (balaan sa adlaw sa igpapahulay) from the Bible, Book of Mormon, and recent talks from the apostles. I realized that before my mission, I didn't always fully keep the Sabbath day, not like I do now as a missionary. A "day of rest" doesn't mean you just go to church and then spend the rest of the day sleeping and doing homework, it means setting it aside from the week as a day to worship, study the scriptures, serve others, visit others, spend time with family, or anything else that directs you to the Savior. That describes everyday as a missionary, haha, but I really want to keep the habit of Sabbath day observance after my mission (layo pa). 

Also, I'd like to invite you all the read "Lasting Happiness" by Craig P. Wilson (https://www.lds.org/ensign/2014/04/young-adults/lasting-happiness?lang=eng)

Because of course we all want to be happy, and there is literally a way for us to achieve lasting happiness!

Later today we are doing a district activity for P-Day but our district leader won't tell us what we're doing, he just said to bring 10 pesos and extra clothes because basin mahugawan ta....haha. There will also be balut because the new American elder in our district hasn't eaten it yet. That used to be me haha.

Amping mo!

Sister Bertoldo