I love you!

Sister Princess, my temporary companion from Palawan 

20 candles in 1 piece of cake! 

My "Anak," Sister Teo 

Nanay Montila on her "motor" that she rides everywhere 

Sister Teo, my greenie, from Singapore

Dear Family,

HELLO! So GUESS WHAT! I turned 20 this week and had a baby! She is from Singapore! Her name is Sister Teo (funny huh). Nope, she does not speak Tagalog either so life is a pretty big adventure right now! She actually went to BYU last year and we met in the Cannon Center!! (Perks of being the cashier.) (That also happened in the MTC too...Some Elder from across the gym yelled "Hey! You worked at the Cannon Center!" hahahaha) But how fun/cool is that?! Such a small world. She is so cute and kind and we are already really great friends. She's really hard working and enthusiastic too which is making my life as a trainer so easy. Life is awesome!!  On funny thing- now I am the one protecting Sister Teo against the dogs! Haha, I am so thankful for Sister Parina who taught me how to be a Filipina! You can look her up on Facebook Kimberly Teo... we're friends actually! She read my blog before she came out. How crazy is that?! She has a blog sisterkimberlyteo.blogspot.com is her blog! Now you'll have 2 to read!!

Guess what! I DID get the birthday box!! My anak brought it with her!!! How awesome is that?! So you had no reason to be sad!! YOU ARE THE BEST! THANK YOU SOOOO MUCH FOR THE SCRIPTURES!!! They weigh so much less and it is the best. Also the wrapping and everything was the cutest and the chocolate was exactly what I needed. It was such a great day! I woke up and there was a sign in the kitchen for me from Sister Delaitubuna, and then that day Nanay Montilla and Jennic both gave me cards and a little gift which was SO sweet. Princess also left me a card taped to the top of the bunk bed when I went to bed. And my anak bought me a piece of cake and so we celebrated! I blew out 20 candles, and she blew out 1 for surviving her first day in the field (: And we also made pancakes for breakfast and then ate macoroni and cheese for dinner. And I had also saved the DP for my birthday from your last package, so it was a really really great birthday!!! It was probably one of the best birthdays because I wasn't expecting anything and I wasn't thinking about myself at all. Most birthdays I like kind of expect to celebrate and expect to have gifts and things so this day was so extra special because every act of kindness and gift meant SO much.

This week we had some really great lessons, as always. Nobody came to church ): So on Sunday I was feeling down and discouraged again. Its like all week all of these people tell me they're gonna come to church and I always believe them! I get so excited and I just pour my whole heart into them and pray for them and then when Sunday comes, I sit in the chapel and wait and wait, and every time the door opens I get excited...then wala. Its hard! But-the great thing is is that the work never stops! So as soon as I go out and work Sunday afternoon, and another person tells me they'll go to church next Sunday, I forget all about the past Sunday and get excited for the next (: 

We are really really focusing on less active members. We have so many and our branch is really working together to bring these people back. You can pray for Nancy, Sister Chua, the Costodio Family and OE and IO too.  They are the less actives we're really focusing on.

We also found a GOLDEN investigator this week! We extended a baptismal date, and she's SO ready. She's been to church twice, everything is perfect. But then, there's a rule here that if you're below 18 you have to go to church for 6 months before you can get baptized. So, in 6 months she will be somebody else's golden investigator that get to baptize her (; lolol, its okay though! Her name is Jing Jing and I love her (: 

Yeah so that's life right now!! I love it! My favorite scripture this week is Ether 12:27 (in the Book of Mormon). Some days this week I felt really inadequate. I just finished my training, sometimes I still can't understand people, or say what I want to say, and now I'm training someone who is still learning to say really simple things. It can be hard! I think Satan knows that I am nervous sometimes so he can get to me in that way. BUT I KNOW that Heavenly Father knows I can do this! He knows me and He called me to train! He believes in me and He trusts me! He knows I can do this and that is all I need to know. He gave me the weaknesses I have so that I will be humble and rely on Him. But with Him, I really can do anything that He needs me to do.

I LOVE YOU SO MUCH!! THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR MAKING MY BIRTHDAY THE BEST FROM ALL THE WAY ACROSS THE WORLD!!! I cried at 9 AM my time when i knew you were singing to me....

Pray for Sister Teo and have a happy Thanksgiving!! Don't worry, its still August in my brain so I am not even sad that I am not with everyone!! 

xoxoxoxo have a great week!!!

Sister Lockwood