One Month In!!

Hello, hello!

Well I have officially been here for a month. I can't really wrap my mind around it. Time is flying! The most frustrating thing is still not being able to speak the language, but it will come. I can only imagine how fast the time will fly when I am really understanding and speaking Tagalog.

It has been raining lots here, of course. So at home when it rains the worms come out right? Well in the Philippines when it rains the FROGS come out EVERYWHERE. Its the craziest thing. When we are walking home in the dark at night the ground will just be hopping. In the morning there will be squished frogs on the road everywhere...super gross but true.

So this is my third time trying to email because the power keeps going out, pretty much just a normal day here. Last night it went out as we were getting ready for bed for the night and we were just hoping it would come back on so we could have a fan to sleep with and not die of heat. Well then the power came back on so we went to bed happy as a clam. As we were going to sleep we heard something in the room. I thought maybe it was a mouse or something. Then Sister Yagemai's fan kept moving (just because its small and kept slidding backwards on the ground because the motor in it vibrates). Well we were joking that something had made the noise and moved the fan because there are stories among the sisters that our house is haunted. Well I fell fast asleep but Sister Yagemai was totally freaked out and woke me up and asked if we could go sleep in the other sisters room. So we dragged our little matresses and fans in there and went to sleep. It was pretty funny but I really think I did a bad job of telling the story haha but just trust it was funny.

The work is going great. We are keeping VERY busy. Our most exciting thing was a less-active sister who we have been working with since week one to attend church and she finally came this week! It was so exciting. She is so tiny and has bad knees so its hard for her to get there but she was all smiles and the members were so kind to her. I hope she keeps it up :)

We just got done with dinner at the Floyds (the senior missionaries in our mission). It was so wonderful and felt like a little bit of home. We had pulled pork sandwiches, baked beans AND POTATO SALAD AND CHIPS!!! It was the best and I felt like I was right at home at either one of my grandma's houses. Of course I had about 5 servings of potato salad :)

I love you all so much!

Love always,

Sister Porter

I look like a beast in these pictures but what's new here haha 

The other sisters bought us pizza one night and the sauce packet I was trying to open exploded ALL over the room

 

  The American Feast!!!

 Dinner with the Floyds

 

Humbled

Hello Family!!

Wow. Such a good week. I've been humbled, learned SO much and seen so many miracles. The Lord's hand really is in this work. Sorry my letter is a few days late. We had Zone Conference this week and so our P-Day got switched. Speaking of Zone Conference, it was amazing. I now understand why every RM is so crazy about their mission president and I'm positive I have the best of them all. I feel so blessed to serve under President Sperry. He really is so inspired and full of so much love for us and the work. He was an institute teacher before and knows the scriptures inside and out. He is teaching be through example and His workshops what true love and appreciation for the scriptures means. Personal study has become one of my very favorite parts of the day. Pouring over the scriptures always gives me the "spiritual energy" I need to make through the day.

The work is going so great! We went from struggling to find any investigators to, through a series of little miracles, having too many to know what to do with. There aren't enough hours in the day! I am really excited about this family, the Dellarosarios, who the Lord completely guided us to. They are so excited about the gospel and we were suprised to find out they were taught in 2006 but then the missionaries never came back! We sat down to teach and they whipped out a Book of Mormon. Talk about a miracle!

For all of you who though I would lose weight in the Philippines, including me, that is definitely not a possibility haha. For as much sweating and good amount of walking we do the members and investigators feed us more rice, pop, treats, pop and more RICE. Its great! This week I discovered all the delicious food the Philippines has to offer that I have been missing out on all this time! SO GOOD! I finally tried the right kind of mangoes. They are truly a slice of heaven on earth! I can't eat enough.

This has also been the week of unpleasant creatures in apartment. We now have cockroaches. They're huge and luckily Sister Criste is really good at killing them. I also finally figured out what the tail and little legs I saw fly around the corner I was telling you about on Skype. Its a rat....gross. Kate Magleby if you are reading this you'll appreciate the fact that I'm afraid it will eat my feet at night :) We also have mice, who nibbled on Sister Noriega's Preach My Gospel during the night. So in weekly planning she informed all of us that her goal was to exterminate the rats and mice. Haha I'll let you know how it goes. We're pretty sure he lives in our couch.

I finally had my first mail run (which just means we got to pick up our mail) since coming to the Philippines! Thank you for your letters :) They meant the world to me!! Again, I have the best family and friends in the world. 

I got to go to the temple today. It was amazing! I didn't realize how much I had missed it until we got into our session. It is always so loud and crazy here so it was amazing to just sit in silence and peace. We are SO blessed to have a temple in a neighboring mission and get to go once a transfer. We are only like 15 miles maybe from it but we had to get up at 4:00 am to get there because in traffic it takes us about an hour. It also made me realize again how blessed I am to come from somewhere where I can get to a temple in about 5 minutes. So many members here ask me about Utah and have told me that their dream is to just get there once before they die. We are so blessed and take all that we have at our fingertips there for granted!

This church is so true and I feel so humbled and blessed to be a representative of Jesus Christ sharing the gospel message in the Philippines. We have a loving Heavenly Father who hears and answers all our prayers! We are so blessed.

I love you all SO much! Mahal na mahal po kayo!

Love always,

Sister Porter

 This is our house, Rainbow House, because the neighborhood is called Rainbow. Its awesome. We only live in one half of what you can see and the top set of windows is a different apartment, but the middles set of windows on the left is our bedroom view.

 Pictures after Zone Conference. The only time it isn't too hot to wear that shirt is when we have meeting because it gets so cold in the air conditioned room, which is awesome!

 Just loving it.

  Banana trees outside our apartment

 Temple DAY!!!!!

Manilla Temple :) So beautiful and SO small inside haha

First Week in the Philippines

Kumusta po kayo??

Hello po pamilya ko! Well I've made it a full week and a half in the Philippines and I'm still alive :) I do not even know where to begin. So many things happen EVERYDAY. I am constantly saying to myself, "Oh, I've got to make sure and tell the fam about this!" I wish you all could see and experience this country and work along with me, but this letter will have to do...

Seriously this last week and a half has been a total whirlwind. I go to sleep every night and just think what just happened?? Because we go so many places, teach/meet so many people and experience so many new things and MOST of all I, in all actuality, have no idea what really did happen because it was all in Tagalog hahaha and then I fall straight to sleep because I am beyond EXAUSTED every night and its awesome!

I have NEVER worked so hard in my life! I am still loving the work, the people and my companion, but I'm quickly learning that missionary work is HARD. This work and mostly learning this language is pushing me in ways I have NEVER been pushed before. Everyday I have so many ups and downs, but somehow by the end of each day its an up and I can easily see the Lord's hand in everything that happened. I was really struggling trying so hard to forget myself in the work and become the Lord's missionary, but I realized that the more I got caught up in forgetting myself the more I got stuck on myself. I kind of got a spiritual slap across the face when I was reading some of my notes from a devotional by Elder Bednard. He said, "The character of Christ is a simple thing, He turns out when you and I would turn in...This mission is not about you...Get out of the way and turn to Him. Get over yourself!... Become converted now. But its not about you its to help others do the same. The only way you will find yourself is when you come to Christ, but you won't be looking for it." That coupled with Ether 12:27 was just what I needed. I'm finding a lot of weaknesses and I'm realizing quickly how much I have to learn, but I'm also learning how to rely on my Savior and through Him my weaknesses can become strong. This is all about the beautiful Pilipino people, and I feel so blessed to be here!

Working with Sister Yagemai is wonderful. It gets interesting/hilarious at times because we come from such different cultures and different backgrounds. For example, her and the Pilipino sisters living us say some weird phrases in english that mean something totally different then what they are trying to say so we all get completely confused and frustrated then suddenly burst out laughing because we are all just starring at each other trying so hard to understand. There are so many different languages going on in our house. Sister Noriega grew up speaking Tagalog, Sister Criste was Cebuano, Sister Yagemai was Yapese and me of course English. We are all trying so hard to learn each others languages. Its actually pretty incredible :)

It rained again this week, which is a totally heaven sent because it gives you a minute to escape the heat, but it is the most incredible thing I have ever seen. I can only imagine what the rain will be like when it is actually rainy season. Seriously it feels like the whole ocean is being dumped out of the sky. Sister Yagemai and I were walking through the rain huddled under our umbrellas, pretending they were doing something but really we were totally soaked, when all the sudden there was a big cracking sound and Sister Yagemai smashed into me. We peaked out from our umbrellas and a big banana tree and fallen over and about smashed Sister Yagemai! We were sitting there trying to figure what in the world had just happened when a little blue van pulls over and just sits there. We thought at first they were trying to give us a ride so we kept waving them ahead. Then all the sudden the back door opens and a little Pilipino man jumps out huddled under some cardboard laughs pulls a bundle of bananas off the tree and jumps back in. Sister Yagemai and I just stared at each other, like what just happened? It was pretty funny. 

The other night I had come inside from helping Sister Yagemai hang up her laundry to dry and I walked past Sister Noriega. I would her say "Oh Sister..." and I turned around and she was point at my back coming at me with a hanger...well I went completely crazy! I was picturing all kinds of horrors being on my back. Haha all the sudden a lizard or like geko (I have no idea how to spell that) went flying across the room. Somehow it ended up on my back (I don't like thinking about how) and hitched a ride inside. Haha just another day in the Philippines.

The area we are working in is great! I still struggle to understand a lot with the language but the people are friendly and many are willing to help in the work. One of the sisters we always work with, Sister Vanessa, it turns out was born the same day same year as me! Twins from other sides of the world :) She is so awesome! The Pilipino people are so loving and many are receptive to the gospel but so many then become less-active so we have been focusing, and our whole mission, on reactivation. it has been so awesome visiting and teaching them. We went from having 9 less-active members at church our first Sunday to 23 our second Sunday. Seeing each of those individuals and families walk through the door on Sunday filled me with so much joy and gave me just a glimpse of what the Savoir and our Heavenly Father must feel as His children come back to the fold. This work is incredible. We have been struggling to find new investigators but we were teaching two teenage girls who are investigating and it was one of the most humbling experiences I have ever had. I have never seen such humble living circumstances. WE started out trying to teach in their house but it was literally a shack and there wasn't room for the 4 of us so we went outside. We were right next to the house under some banana trees on some benches which really did look beautiful but then a smell hit us and it was a pen of a bunch of pigs maybe 5 feet from their house. We had gathered quite a group of kids, who were so filthy and had sores all over their feet. The most heartbreaking was the babies, they looked so sick and uncared for. I just wanted to take each and everyone of those kids and run. I wanted to stick them in a big bubble bath, tuck them into a huge comfty bed with crisp white sheets and read them a bedtime story. But as we started the lesson by singing "I Am A Child Of God" I was completely overcome. I was touched by how much God loves ALL His children and that we aren't here as missionaries to solve their worldly needs but to fill their spiritual. We are here to bring them to a loving Heavenly Father and Savior, Jesus Christ. 

I have so many more things I want to tell you but know that I love and miss you all so much and pray for you everyday. Keep your prayers coming. I can use them all!!! Someday I will learn this language, but until then I am learning to be VERY VERY patient :)

As always, MAHAL NA MAHAL KO KAYO!

Love always,

Sister Porter

 Just doing our laundry and loving life in the Philippines :) My back was SO sore the next day and my hands were raw haha it was great.  

 The banana tree that fell

 We got to go to a big mall called SM for P-day and eat at an all you can eat buffet. It was fabulous!!!

We had crepes and thought of you mom and Saturday mornings at home :)

Conference...a little late, Sorry!

Hello, hello!

 

Kumusta po kayo? I hope you are all doing sobrang mabuti, magaling! As always, I love and miss you all. Thanks for the letters they always keep me smiling. I have the very best friends and family and your support means the world to me. Oh boy, was this a crazy week or what? So many things to tell you about and SO little time.

First of all, CONFERENCE! Was that not amazing? It was really interesting watching it in the MTC because we are constantly having incredible devotionals so it didn't feel real out of the ordinary except we were sitting in the bleachers for hours on end this time, but it was wonderful! (Run-on sentence anyone?) I absolutely loved the focus on Christ, which is always the case but I think I just noticed it more than ever. We were constantly being told to come unto Him. I loved it because that is exactly what our purpose is as missionaries, to "bring others unto Christ". I also love that in order to do that we must constantly be striving to bring ourselves unto Christ. We are told that "if you don't feel it the investigators won't feel it". One of my very favorite words in Tagalog is happy becuase it is "masaya", which is pronounced just like Messiah. Is that not the coolest thing and so true? Coming unto Christ or the Messiah really is the only way to receive true and lasting happiness. I also absolutely loved the story about the BYU student walking across campus early in the morning of an absolutely freezing day and singing "Oh, what a beautiful morning..." Is that not the greatest? First, of all I've totally been him only I wasn't signing I was complaining and wishing I was back in my bed haha. Second, becuase Oklahoma, of course, always makes me think of you fam and watching it over and over again growing up. Third, isn't his attitude awesome! It was raining and getting ready to snow yesterday and we were walking to class complaining and then all the sudden one of us said a few lines from the song. It was pretty funny. But it really is so easy to get discouraged on a mission and just life in general so that picture of positivity is so great to remind me that life really is so good! (Thanks mom for the motto Mom!) Also, bummer you couldn't find me in the Carol Mikita news piece. I saw myself in the choir like 4 times :) I'm next to my polynesian companion who is in a torqoise shirt so she stands out if you watch it again. You can also see me really well during the credits. Wasn't her story awesome! I've seen some of the premissionaries she interviewed here at the MTC now.

I also had such a sweet experience this week with listening to the promptings of the Holy Ghost. It was something that I had been told to do multiple times but had ignored it because it seemed way to random and I was nervous. But I finally acted on it when I received the same prompting AGAIN. Third times the charm I guess. It was so incredible. It still felt so random and I was worried the sister would think I was so weird but I was filled with so much peace and assurance. There is nothing better than that feeling. Well the next day the sister slipped me a note saying thank you and that I had been an answer to her prayers. I was SO grateful that I chose to finally listen to that prompting. I've been working on doing all I can to be an instrument in the Lord's hands and heed the promptings I'm given. We've been told mutliple times here that if its something good don't spend time wondering if you came up with it or if it is the Spirit trying to tell you something, just do it! I love that. But we have also been told that you won't always have that direct guidance and He will just trust you enough to make good decisions and go about doing good on your own. I love that too!!

Early this week an Elder from our Zone had his name called over the loud speaker to go to the front office. He didn't hear it so when our companionship ran into him we told him about it. Later that day we were outside studying and we ran into him. He said thanks for letting him know and then we asked if he had gotten the package, because he had thought it was something from his grandma. He got teary and said it had ended up being about something else. Apparently this has been all over the news, but he said that the doctor who had taken out his wisdom teeth wasn't praticing sanitary medicine and he had just had to be tested for HIV/AIDS. I can't not even imagine going through that. He had to wait TWO days to get the results, which fortunetly were good, he didn't have it! One of the sisters in his district said that after he found out he just said, "I can have a wife and kids now!" He is such a solid missinonary and is going to do incredible things. It definitely gave us all a fresh perspective though.

TWO districts from our Zone left to the Philippines yesterday, which is so exciting but also sad for us. However, we are getting TWO new districts tomorrow. Here is the crazy thing though... one had 7 sisters and the other 6. That means our district will going from the large majority being elders to the the sisters over doubling the elders. Isn't that the craziest!! This work is on fire and it is so fun and inspiring to be a part of it. Although I am happy I won't be in the MTC when it starts to get crazy busy. The lunchroom is already total caos.

Yesterday the president of the Philippines and newly called area 70 came to observe our language class. It was such a great experience. He was the nicest, tiniest man. He came to observe because the Philippines MTC will now have to teach Tagalog, because all missionaries serving in the Quezon City, Quezon City North, San Paublo and Manilla missions will now go straight there. That means they will get to learn the language from native speakers and their branch presidencies will only speak Tagalog. It is going to be amazing!! 2 months later and that would have been me, but I love the Prove MTC so I'm okay with it :)

On a completely other note...vacuums have a death wish for me. Monday morning we wake up early for service which is cleaning one of the buildings here. Well we were assigned to vacuuming. I was just working hard when my vacuum started sputtering and then turned off all together. I went to unplug it and try and different one, but when I tried to pull it out sparks shot EVERYWHERE and I swear there were little flames and a popping noise. It was terrifying! Haha my hand had black burn marks all over but don't worry it washed right off. Well I finally pulled the demon thing out of the wall and all was well. Then that night we had to clean our room so I of course of vacuuming against my better judgement. All of the sudden I'm getting like pulled into the vaccuum. I look down and my skirt is getting sucked into the vacuum through a crack in the back of it!! WHAT IN THE WORLD! I got it out but it ripped a little hole. The little bugger still had a piece of my skirt inside it. And that is why I will never vacuum again. [Also, I have no idea how to spell vacuum and neither does my companions so sorry if that is wrong.]

During some study time I was reading Alma 17:2-3 and it made me think of you sibs, and everyone else. I have just always loved the sons of Mosiah and Alma. They are all so devoted to the gospel and each other. I loved that they had been seperated but rejoiced seeing each other agian and finding that they had all remained faithful and solid in the gospel. Thanks for your incredible examples. You inspire me everyday!! MAHAL PO KAYO!! Alam ko po na totoo ang Simbahan ni Jesuscristo. I am so grateful for it!! Keep the pananampalataya!

Love always,

Sister Brooke Porter

P.S. My pictures wouldn't load. I'll try again but the one I did get is us with the Philippines MTC President :)

 

Hello Po From the Philippines!!!

Hello po pamilya ko!!

I don't even know where to start! Nothing I say will do justice to everything, but I guess I'll start at the beginning I guess...

So, I made it safely to the Philippines after planes, trains and automobiles and guess what? It's HOT!!!!! That was definitely the first thing I noticed when I got off the plane. The next was that it is so beautiful here-- the people, the language and the country. And third, I'm pretty sure I'm the only white person left in the world! But that's okay because it just makes people want to listen to us. I am constantly stared at and everyone comments. I waved at a little boy who was staring and it totally freaked him out haha and he ran back to his mom. People always say, "Hello Mom." as I pass or at least that's what I thought they were saying. But then my companion informed me that they are actually trying to say, "Hello Ma'am." Yesterday two younger boys ran up to us and just grabbed onto my arm and started walking with us. They kept poking my arm and were fascinated that it would turn white, then pink and go back to it's normal color. It was pretty funny. I just embrace the fact that I'll be a white giant for the next 18 months. I pretty much look hideous everyday because it is so hot but the people are constantly telling me I'm so beautiful because I'm white and tall. It's awesome, maybe I'll just stay here forever haha.

So we went to the mission home first and met President and Sister Sperry. They are amazing! I am so excited to serve under them. We had our first delicious meal in the Philippines, with rice of course! (EVERY meal includes rice) Then we met our companions and headed to our areas. It was so weird/hard saying goodbye to our little trio from the MTC, they will be fabulous missionaries. My trainer is Sister Yagemia. SHE IS INCREDIBLE! I feel SO SO blessed. She has been on the mission for 8 months and is from Micronesia (not sure if that's how you spell it) on the little island of Yap, so she speaks Yapese and luckily pretty good English too :) She is honestly the most self-less person I have ever met. She is constantly serving others and putting their needs before her own. She is the most humble and hardworking missionary. She is such a blessing. We get to share the apartment with Sister Noriega who is training Sister Criste. They are both from the Philippines and so awesome! Seriously I am so blessed. We are already all the best of friends and they are so easy to love. Our apartment is apparently pretty coveted between the sisters. It is called the Rainbow House. I love it! We have a HUGE window in our room and I get a beautiful view to wake up to every morning. 

We are serving in the Deparo area, which used to be one area but they have now split it between our two companionships, so I guess we are sort of opening the area? On our first day we just walked the area with Bishop Ojega and now we have been going out with members to get to know the area and the less-active members. All of the less-active individuals Sister Yagemai had been working with are in the other Sister's area now so we are starting from scratch which is hard but it is awesome getting to know the people and I know we will have people to teach fast. Last night we went to meet less-actives with a member who has been working with the missionaries since the 80's, Sister Fe. She is so awesome! I can't believe some of the homes we teach in. It absolutely amazes me how humble their living conditions are but how happy they are! It is unreal. We were teaching one less-active family in a small one-room house with almost no posessions. They just had a mat rolled up in the corner that they unroll to sleep on at night. We had the lesson just sitting on the dirty floor of their home but it was so incredible. I understood very little of what was said but the spirit of that home and those people was easy to understand. I had a hard time not crying when we opened our lesson by singing "Count Your Many Blessings". We then shared a spiritual message and some scriptures on blessings from the Lord. The mother we were teaching is an elderly woman and she just amazed me. She kept testifying that she knew this is true and that the Lord has and will bless them. It was definitely a special experience. Then later that night we taught another woman and her 2 daughters and she just kept telling us she was so blessed because the missionaries had visited her that night and she knew that our message was true. That was so touching for me because I had gotten pretty discouraged during the day, and even though I couldn't really speak her language I had the opportunity to bless her through the Spirit. I had shared Moroni 7:33 with her Mom :) that has become my motto here. This is by far the hardest thing I have ever done in my life. I have never been so humbled but that verse keeps me going! This work really is amazing and I'm so lucky to be a part of it.

I really can't speak Tagalog haha I am constantly just smiling and nodding without any idea of what is going on but its great. It is easy to get discouraged but I just keep telling myself to be patient. It will come! It helps to see other Americans speaking it fluently :) They have this joke here that if they speak in English they will get nosebleeds because the language is difficult for them to speak. Well during our first meeting with Bishop he was talking to me and all the sudden he just yelled out, "Ah your nose, its bleeding". Everyone just went into panic mode giving me tissues and hankies. It was pretty funny. Well he will not let it go now haha everytime he introduces me to a member he tells them that my nosebleeds because Tagalog is difficult for me. He also tells them that my name is Sister Porter and I look so tired because I've been transPORTing everywhere haha the Filipinos have a very funny and simple sense of humor, its great! So when I spoke to the ward on Sunday I told them they would have to help me learn Tagalog so that I can stop getting nosebleeds and looked right at Bishop, they thought that was pretty funny.

My birthday was PERFECT!!! I woke up to the sisters singing happy birthday to me with candles stuck in a little twinkie-like thing. Then Sister Yagemai gave me a present that she had sneakily bought. It was the cutest jelly shoes (now we have matching ones) and perfume and a note. Seriously I was so humbled and touched. They were all so sweet. Then when we went downstairs they had  a big sign on the wall and even more candles and cake treats and they jumped out singing again. These sisters are SO wonderful. Then we got to go on temple tours, which just means we get to take investigators and less-actives to the temple to talk about what we do there and just to see it and take pictures. I got to see Sister Loo!!! It was such a boost. I missed her so much and we just spoke in English with each other as fast as we could. It was so nice haha. So a bunch of us missionaries and those we were taking with us to the temple crammmed into a jeepney. There was 25 of us! It was awesome. We brought the tiniest little 81-year-old sister named Jazmin. She is amazing and so sweet. She wants to learn English and I want to learn Tagalog so we were helping each other. She was laughing pretty hard at the way I pronounced some words, in fact the whole jeepney full of Filipinos were laughing at me haha. Then that night Sister Noriega made me Spagetti, which is so delicious here. It's super sweet and sobrang masarap (very delicous). It was such a wonderful day. I felt so blessed. I also opened  the presents you sent before I left the MTC. Thank you SO SO MUCH!!! I loved it, especially the card. You are the best and I feel so lucky to have all your support. The sisters in my apartment have loved eating the candy and oreos you sent too :)

There is SO SO SO much more I want to tell you but I am out of time. I am alive and well and loving it. Keep sending prayers my way :) I can use them all. This work is so hard, so humbling and so worth it. I feel so lucky to be serving the Lord in this beautiful country. I miss you all more than ever. You are always in my prayers.

Love always,

Sister Porter

P.S. They said to tell you that EVERYTHING (letters and packages) that you send should be sent to this address: 

Quezon City North Mission

P.O. Box 1243 

Quezon City Central Post Office

Nia Road, Diliman

1100 Quezon City

Philippines

P.P.S. If you are reading this Alexis Bird, everyone says hello :) They all love you so much here. I gave President an extra handshake and Sister Sperry an extra hug. I also gave Sister Walker a big hug for you at temple tours. Thanks you for all you have done for me. Thank you for the last letter with advice and encouragement. It was exactly what I needed :) You are awesome!

MTC Map

On the way!

My first rain in the Philippines! It is unreal. These are the sisters with a member ahead of us. My umbrella was flipping all over the place. I ended up using it more to just keep my bag dry. I use my umbrella everyday though to keep the sun off.

My birthday sign :)

The gift from |Sister Yagemai.

Crammed in the Jeepney on the way to temple tours.

Elders in the back.

Sister Jazmin and I :)

Love and miss Sister Loo so much!

THANK YOU SO MUCH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Birthday Dinner :)

Sister Yagemai and I on my first Sunday.

 The bishop's son, JM

The church. There is a big, nice basketball court at all of them. I always think of you Cardon and Dad. They all love and play basketball everywhere here.

Sister Fe and Sister Yagemai

Our room

The view out my window every morning :) how lucky am I ??

 All us Sisters! Sister Noriega, Me, Sister Criste (she is in my batch) and Sister Yagemai.

Most of my zone playing Filipino games this morning for P-day

Last Shout Out From the MTC!!

Kumusta pamilya ko!!

Marami salamat ko po kayo para sa sulat! (Thanks so much for the letters!) Mahal ko ang lahat! (I love you all!) So this is it... I'M HEADED TO THE PHILIPPINES!!!!!!!! Is this real life?

This letter is going to be a little short and sweet...

I don't have a whole lot to say about this week as it was week 5 of the exact same schedule, but the difference was we are doing everything for the last time. Still so wierd. But my whole district is feeling pretty ready to get to work in the Philippines. It will be so wierd going from seeing/being with them almost 24/7 to not seeing them until we are home. My companions and I are the only ones not going to Naga this week out of 26 missionaries headed to the Philippines. That means it is just the 3 of us sisters headed to Hong Kong and then to Manilla. It is going to be an adventure for sure!

Tagalog is coming SLOWLY, but its coming. I really feel so blessed to be learning this language. It is so beautiful and the people who speak it seem all the more beautiful. I CAN'T wait to serve them. I already told you this Mom and Dad, but it definitely is easy to get discouraged learning this language. In our Relief Society devotional on Sunday, Sister Mary Edmunds spoke. She is AMAZING, unmarried and has served 4 missions. She was one of the very first sisters to serve in the Philippines which made it all the more meaningful. When she was serving in the Philippines her mission home was all the way in Hong Kong!!  Anyways, she said the following, "This is worth EVERY sacrifice you have made and every one you will make. Give yourself to the Lord. All you can do is the BEST you can do!" She then quoted Elder Maxwell who said, "God, who knows our capacity perfectly, sent us here to SUCCEED!" I just keep reminding and rereminding and rerereminding myself of that everyday! Seriously, sometimes I just sit there at look at the missionaries in my district and my companions and think wow they are missionaries! And then I look down at my nametag and remember so am I!! How lucky are we!? I am dreading the day I have to take that nametag off, but try not to think about it too much seeing as I haven't even left the MTC yet :)

Every week we are supposed to prepare a talk for Sacrament Meeting and then President will answer who is speaking after the opeing song/prayer. Well this week I got called up! AHHHHH. I was so scared. I love speaking but sa Tagalog is a totally different story. It ended up going well though. I was surprised how much I could say. It was my first time testifying about what I know to be true in church, in the language I'm going to be speaking for the next 18 months, which was super special (and the week before I got to pray sa Tagalog for the first time in Sacrament meeting too). I was lucky too because the topic was learning to recognize the Spirit. I already whet over that in my email last week, but the MTC is probably the greatest place to learn how you do just that.

Well I'm basically just going to overload you with pictures and call it good :)

I just want to leave you with my testimony the best I know how sa Tagalog...

Alam ko po na totoo Ang Simbahan ni Jesus ng mga Banal sa mga Huling Araw. Nagpapasalamat po ako para sa ito. Nagpapasalamat po ako para sa pagkakataon nagiging misynero na magbabahagi po ako ng ebanhelyo sa mga tao sa Philippines!  Alam ko po na nagbubuhay si Jesuscristo at mahal niya tayo. Nagpapasalamat po ako niya at mahal ko siya! Alam ko po na mahal ng Diyos tayo at ng plano ang Diyos para sa akin.

Translation: I know the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is true. I am so grateful for it. I am grateful for the opportunity to be a missionary and share the gospel with the people in the Philippines! I know Christ lives and loves us. I am so grateful for Him and love Hime! I know God loves us and has a plan for us!

MAHAL KO KAYO!!!!!!! So long from the U.S. Next week you will hear from me from the Philippines!!!!

Love always,

Sister Porter

P.S. The last day I can get mail is this Saturday morning and then I head across the world Monday afternoon!

 Elder Lapana ALWAYS waunders off so we made him sign a contract to stay with us for our last Sunday Temple walk.

 MY DISTRICT!!!! Love them all!!!

My mga kasama. They refuse to be normal!

We have a LOT of fun! I am so lucky all 3 of us are going to the same mission, so we don't have to say goodbye for the next 18 months. LOVE THEM!

Me with my brown people. That is the face Elder Lapana makes EVERYTIME I talk to him. He pretends he can't understand me but we ALL know he speaks excellent English.

This is Elder Stepherson. He is from Boise! We tried to channel our inner hicks. Wasn't too hard to find :)

All of us sisters share a room. They are all the very greatest!

Jared and Janeses- This is an elder in our district and our Zone Leader. He reminds me SOOOOOO much of Big D. It is crazy. They look quite a bit alike and act so much alike. It is the greatest. He is an awesome elder. He is only 18 and sent in his papers right after the announcement.

And this is Elder Stepherson during additional study time. Haha he is also 18 and struggling with the early mornings, but he works so hard and is currently our district leader.

  Travel Plans!!!