The End of your Comfort Zone

On the beach with Sister Parina

We ate octopus! 

Doing my own laundry

Hello Family!!

They always say that your growth begins at the end of your comfort zone.  This is so true and I am so lucky to be here in the Philippines and be stretched out of my comfort zone again and again!! 

This week, I lost my trainer!! Sister Parina and Sister Lacsamana are currently in the mission home.  Their teeth pains continued, and so President Ostler had them go back to the mainland so they could see a real dentist. (The doctors/dentists here on Palawan are pretty much all really sketchy..)  It turns out their wisdom teeth were what were causing all of the problems! (so Sister Parina didn't even need that tooth pulled, I don't think...). So they got their wisdom teeth pulled and have been recovering at the mission home! Sister Delaitubuna is my temporary companion, and we work with branch missionaries everyday to cover both of our areas. So, I went from having a trainer leading the lessons and the area, to me leading the area and pretty much teaching the entire lesson and just using the branch missionary as someone who shares experiences and testimony. Wow! Transfers are on the 19th, and I don't know if they will come back before then or if we will just work with branch missionaries until then.  But, I have grown and learned SO MUCH. I definitely left my comfort zone, but Heavenly Father has strengthened me more than I can express. My language skills are improving even more quickly as I teach, and I am really connecting with my investigators more than before; specifically Elena, and her friend Rina that we started teaching this week. They are like my new best friends here. I love them SO MUCH. And they are both progressing and have so many questions. Keep them in your prayers!!

This week, we also had zone meeting, and the big focus was OYM, or Opening Your Mouth.  President Ostler wants each of us as individuals to talk to 10 new people every day, have a connection with them, and then invite them to church or to learn more. We had so many miracles just this week that came as a result of our new goal to OYM. Despite the fact that I fell very short of 70, I felt happy at the end of every day as I really tried to open my mouth to everyone. We would try to talk to every trike driver, every person sitting next to us on a Jeepney, and take time between appointments to talk to people on the street. We invited everyone to church on Sunday and gave away many pamphlets. When Sunday came, I wasn't really expecting any of these OYM's to come to church. I wasn't even really thinking about them at all. But after branch council, we came out to find Vicente waiting outside the chapel, holding a pamphlet that we gave him in a trike!! I didn't even recognize him, but as he talked to the elders, he pointed at me and said that I had invited him to church. I felt so excited and happy that 1 of the many people that we talked to throughout the week really did listen and was touched by the spirit to come to church. 

Another really great experience we had with OYMing was after district meeting, Sister Parina and I went to work talking to everyone. We didn't seem to have much success, but at the very end of the day the last family we OYMed told us they were MEMBERS! They had moved into our area and nobody knew it. They are less active, but we now have found a new family that Heavenly Father was ready for us to meet and bring back to church. 

So, I would encourage you to do the same thing!! Dad is already a pro at this, but just be friendly and meet new people everywhere you go.  You don't even have to formally share the gospel, but just by being happy and excited to meet new people you can make a huge difference in someone's day (: I love it when someone is on a Jeepney looking sad, and then just by smiling and saying "hello po! ano pangalan nyo?" their faces light up (: 

Other investigators you can keep in your prayers this week are Mayra, Aiza, Elena and Rina, the Costodio Family, the Lopez family, Ethan, Haydie, Himaya, and the Bascongada Family. Ah- I am so lucky to teach all of these amazing people!! I am really feeling myself getting lost in this work as I am coming to love them all so much. Yesterday after our lessons I didn't want to go home, I just wanted to keep talking and connecting with these people!

I know that Heavenly Father has specific experiences planned for me on the mission that will help me stretch and grow.  Even though losing Sister Parina and working with the members has been a challenge, I am so thankful for a Heavenly Father who trusts me enough to give me this experience.  My language, teaching, listening, and connecting skills are just multiplying from this.  God pushes and pulls us out of our comfort zone because He loves us.  Every experience in this life is given to us because He loves us and wants us to grow. 

I am so thankful for a Father in Heaven who loves me enough to push me out of my comfort zone.

I love you all SO MUCH!

It makes me so happy that you are having FHE and doing morning prayers! In conference they really stressed how important those little things are and I know that protection and power comes from those things.

Sister Lacsamana also took a picture of me washing clothes. She and Sister Delaitubuna are my angels. They helped me wash my clothes one night before bed when they should have been eating! it was so cute they kept laughing at me and saying "shes so cute" hahaha.

MAHAL KITA!!
XOXOXO
Sister Lockwood

ps. i learned how to wash my clothes by hand this week because the lady that usually comes and washes them wasn't able to! Its actually not too bad (:

pss. Oh yeah, our zone split this week! So we are now the Santa Monica Zone, and as of right now Sister Delaitubuna and I are the only Sisters in the whole zone. 

psss. If we leave our tennis shoes out at night, when we put them on in the morning we find frogs sleeping in them (: hehehe gross.

He is always near me

Sister Parina, Sister Lockwood, Sister Delaitubuna, and Sister Lacsamana

Dear Family,

Wow! So, this week was totally nuts. I keep thinking that one day I'm gonna email you and say "this week was pretty normal, not much to say." But every week proves to be crazier and crazier!! Hahaha, but I think this week might win the prize. Ready..?

So on Thursday, we were home because Sister Parina's neck was bothering her. (Her tooth is much better, but it kept us from working on Wednesday ): ) I was feeling quite annoyed that we were staying home again because we have been in our apartment so much! Sister Delaitubuna and I even texted the District Leader to ask if we could do exchanges since both of our companions were sick. But, to our surprise the District Leader said no.  We were both pretty confused because he usually says yes. I was kinda mad to be honest.. But, little did I know, it would be a good thing that we were home. Sister Lacsamana and Sister Delaitubuna were also home because Sister Lacsamana had been complaining of chest pains and hadn't been feeling well. President and Sister Hiatt were in Manila, so they said to wait until they could get back and check her out. So I was cleaning my desk in our study room when all of a sudden Sister Delaitubuna yelled "Sister Lockwood! I need your help!" I walked into the kitchen to find Sister Lacsamana laid back in the chair, unresponsive!! Sister Delaitubuna was like "she just collapsed when she tried to stand up!" Of course, the daughter of my mother that I am, I started freaking out. "Is she breathing?! Is her heart beating?!" Earlier that morning Sister Lacsamana had told us about a heart condition that she had and that her dad had had to do CPR on her multiple times. WHATTT?!!! Yeah, luckily she was breathing and her heart was beating, but we couldn't get her to respond to us, and her face went super super pale. I started making phone calls to everyone I knew and nobody was answering!! (turns out it was MLC, the leadership meeting of every leader in the mission..) So I finally got ahold of our district leader.  It was then that Sister Lacsamana began gasping for air like she couldn't breath. It was then that I really started freaking out and was like "I THINK I NEED TO CALL AN AMBULANCE!"  So, calmly, the elder was like "Okay Sister, Dial 117." So, here we go. For the first time in my life I dialed the ambulance!! Of course, it was not like America, and I spent a good 10 minutes screaming where our apartment was and that we were on the island of Palawan.. because they don't have real addresses here. Before the ambulance arrived (or I waved it down rather), Sister Hiatt called and told me that I should go with her in the ambulance. So, I got to ride in the ambulance! By that point, Sister Lacsamana was responding and doing okay, but still complaining of chest pain. Sadly, when we arrived at the "hospital" they did absolutely NOTHING for her! They did some tests and then sent us home. She is getting transferred back to Manila at transfers to be able to go to doctors there. 

So, long story short, I rode in an ambulance this week. 

A few hours later, I was feeling like I made the absolute wrong decision, but Sister Ostler called and said I did the right thing. And guess what? The ambulance only cost the equivalent of 12 dollars! So I don't feel bad at all! 

I really hope you're not freaked out, everyone is fine now and we all went back to work this weekend! Its quite the story...huh? Hahaha, oh my.

But other than that madness, I learned a lot this week! Elder Oaks came here to the Philippines with Elder Robbins and we got to watch them in a broadcast.  We also were invited to Branch Council on Sunday, and between both of those, I realized how much WORK there is to do here! Over 3/4ths of our branch is Less Active, and those numbers are the same across all of the Philippines. There are over 700,000 members here but SO MANY are less active! We as missionaries have so much to do, not only to reactivate people but to make sure that those we baptize are really ready to become strong members. 

My favorite part of the broadcast, though, was Elder Robbins talk. He said that "we see the world from what we carry in our hearts." He gave the example of Laman and Lemuel and their brother Nephi. Despite the fact that they virtually had the same set of circumstances, their attitudes and experiences were completely different because of what they carried in their hearts. He said that "we see things as we are". This was so perfect for me as a missionary to hear! Life in the Philippines can be crazy sometimes, but I will see things as I am, from what I carry inside of my heart. Attitude is everything! There are so many blessings that come to me as I strive to be grateful and always carry in my heart the hope and faith that comes from the gospel. It's not always easy, but I was so thankful for that reminder from Elder Robbins. 

Life is so good! Don't be freaked out about the story of the ambulance, I know that it was definitely a tender mercy that we were all home and ready to take care of her. I'm so thankful our district leader was in tune with the spirit, and that everyone was okay. I KNOW that Heavenly Father is involved in the details of our lives. He really is always near us. And if we listen, he will ALWAYS tell us what we should do to keep us safe. 

I love you SO SO MUCH!!!

xoxoxo

Sister Lockwood

Love!

 Aligator Farm on Pday

That's mud, Mom, not blood!

 Doing laundry

I love Palawan!

Sister Delaitubuna, from Fiji!  I love her!

Hello Family!!

It wouldn't be another week in the Philippines without another load of crazy adventures!!

Let's see.. the madness began last Monday night. There was a brown out ALL NIGHT and so none of us could sleep, so we all went and laid down and tried to sleep on the tile floor in our living room. It really wasn't that big of a deal, but definitely not something I'm used to! It really made me grateful for electric fans. They are a life saver!! THEN on Tuesday morning, there were MAGGOTS in our kitchen!! Apparently we had left food in the trash can too long... I don't know, but I was freakin out, as you might imagine. I just looked at Sister Parina in horror and was like "what are those?!!" Hahaha, its one of those moments of my life that I am gonna wanna rewatch in heaven, lol.  I also saw a live snake this week on the road that we live on... I don't even wanna know how many times there are snakes around me in the grass we walk through.  I just try not to think about it.  And, the last sweet adventure was I bought an octopus! It was only the equivilant of like 2 american dollars and it was actually pretty good! Sister Parina cooked it for me and we took some fun pictures with it (: Its really chewy.. and the tentacles were kinda weird but it was good!

This week, Sister Parina's tooth was really aching again, so we went to ANOTHER dentist. (I'm pretty sure all the dentists here are frauds...) and this dentist told Sister Parina that she either needed a root canal or just to get the tooth pulled. To my horror, Sister Parina told them to pull it!! So I sat in the room while they just ripped her molar right out of her mouth! Ah, I was just in shock. I told Sister Hiatt that if that were me and I pulled my tooth out that my mother would be horrified. It just made me realize how lucky I am to have had good medical care all my life.

That was one thing that really hit me hard this week...Some things like the no air-conditioning, and the poor living conditions, I just get used to after awhile.  But the poor medical care is heart breaking. I can't even tell you some of the things I see everyday that are just completely normal to people here that break my heart. Like most people can't afford diapers, and so their babies just pee right on them or on the floor! And when people get really sick, they just die rather than get the treatment they need because its too expensive. I just can't even comprehend how immensely blessed I am. Why did I get so lucky?? How was I born in the United States with the family I have?? Ah, its overwhelming some days.

BUT...despite all of the craziness that is living in the Philippines, my testimony grows stronger every day.  

Yesterday we had interviews with President Ostler, and he just really expressed to me how happy Heavenly Father is with me, and how much I am worth to Him.  I went into the interview expecting to talk about how I need to be more obedient, or more diligent in my studies or with the work, but President Ostler just told me that he is so proud of me and grateful for me. He told me that He felt that God just wanted me to know how much He loves me and how amazing I am in His eyes. At the beginning of my interview I prayed for us and I prayed that he could help me know how to be a better missionary.. then after I was done he said, "I want you to stay JUST the way you are." He said that I could not learn another word of Tagalog the rest of my mission and that I would be a great missionary to him. Really, he is SO kind to me. I left yesterday feeling so great about myself. After the interview, I was really pondering my worth as a daughter of God and what that means. I remembered at a devotional at BYU, Sister Dalton counseled all of us women that we should always remember who we are. She said that the knowledge that we are daughters of God should affect our every thought, belief, and action. I am coming to understand more and more what she meant. I am gaining confidence in myself here on a mission, and am recognizing where that confidence is coming from. Over and over in my studying in the Book of Mormon, it talks about how because they relied on the Lord, then they were made strong. By being humble, and recognizing where my strength comes from as a daughter of God, I am then made strong. As I come to better understand how important I am personally to Heavenly Father, it makes me want to help my investigators feel that confidence in themselves! Because I have been so blessed to know just how much I am worth in the site of God, I can bring that light and knowledge to the rest of His children. The perspective of knowing that I have great divine nature from my Father, brings me so much peace and happiness. I love this gospel SO MUCH!! I really hope that I can help others have that perspective as well.

One lesson that was really memorable this week was with our investigator, Elaina.  She is a new investigator, and when we went to her house she seemed so grumpy. She was kind of rude, and we didn't feel that she wanted us there. Sister Parina said, "Maybe we'll come back another day since you are busy today." But, she insisted we come in.  We started the lesson, both of us a little bit annoyed at her attitude and facial expressions.  But, when we began the lesson and asked if she had any questions about what she read, she just opened up to us and poured out what has been happening in her life.  She caught her husband cheating on her, and her children all live far away from her now.  Instantly, our hearts were changed from ill feelings towards this women, to love.  She asked question after question about the gospel, and we knew that she really was just searching for peace and love from God.  Every person we meet has their own set of problems and trials. It was such a good reminder for me to love people first, and really desire to get to know them and help them before ever giving up on them.

This week, because Sister Parina and Sister Lacsamana have been sick with teeth problems, I got to go on exchanges with Sister Delaitubuna, our other kabahay from Fiji! She is amazing. It was a really neat experience for me, because she instantly connected and really LOVED my investigators and less actives who she had never met before. It was such a good reminder for me to always put love at the center of everything I do. Sometimes I get so nervous about what I am going to say, or try so hard to speak correctly, that I forget to really just love. Even with the investigators who we have been returning back to for weeks and weeks and they still haven't made it to church, I know that they are children of God. They have that same potential I do, and I can help them realize that! Love is the most important part of EVERYTHING in this life! We are here because Heavenly Father loves us and He wants us to love each other.

If there is one thing I really have learned this week, its that love is all that matters. God has put me here to love the people in the Santa Monica Branch, and He's put me with Sister Parina to really love her.

I'm so thankful for this gospel and the perspective that it gives me to know how much I am loved, and how much we ALL are loved.

And, if you want to pray for my investigators, you can pray for Elaina, the Bascongada Family, Ethan, Himaya, Natsuko, and Rose this week.

Sorry, this email was so scattered and all over the place!!

I LOVE YOU!!!

xoxoxo

Sister Lockwood

ps.  Did you already pack up that box you're sending on Wednesday? I told the Hiatt's that I would ask you to send Orajel because all the missionaries here have teeth problems and they said they'd reimburse me. And do you think you could get the ones that come in the q-tip looking things for individual servings kinda?? If you can't find it its no big deal!

Life is so good! I am SO happy and life is GREAT! 

One last thing...I received this email from her last night as well.  So sorry to everyone who has already sent her birthday and Christmas packages!  I will find out what that means for those packages already in route...

TELL YOUR FAMILY AND FRIENDS:  The post office has asked that letters and packages for our mission be addressed as follows:

Philippines Manila Mission

c/o "Missionary name"

PO Box 1997

Makati City

1200 Metro Manila (note the change of zip code)

Philippines

There has been a change in personnel at the post office so it is very important to put the mission name first. Christmas is coming and we expect lots of packages. Hopefully putting the mission name first will help ensure that we actually receive the packages.

Sister Paine

Manila Mission Office

Check back tomorrow!

For all of you faithful followers of Kayla's blog, please check back again tomorrow.  This week her pday (day for emailing and such) was moved to Tuesday.

Learning to Surf!

Hello from Palawan!

Life is still so wonderful here! I am learning and growing SO MUCH and always having a ton of fun.

Of course, it wouldn't be another week here in Santa Monica without new adventures and crazy stories to tell you. Some of this week's were.... I ate squid! Sister Parina made some for me and it's actually super delicious! Weird, I know. Another really hilarious thing that happened.. we were teaching Rose, one of our investigators who is really starting to progress...yay! And she lives in a bamboo house that has 2 levels.. and the bottom is just a dirt floor, and over top is her room. And so we were teaching her on the bottom level, and in the middle of the lesson PEE started FALLING FROM THE CEILING literally RIGHT IN FRONT OF US! Rose's husband had to use the restroom apparently! And the pee landed on Rose's flip flop! Hahahaha... the most hilarious part of it though is that nobody seemed to be phased by it except me. Hahaha...Sister Parina just kept talking about pananampalataya and Rose listened and didn't say anything. lolol,. so great. And the last adventure...I guess you could call it. I got in the shower Saturday night and found a friend.. cockroach. I really have been overcoming my fear of them! But there's something about being in the shower with a cockroach that is just so scary. So naturally I screamed and ran out yelling "Nanayyy!!!" Sister Parina came and helped me kill it (; There are many reasons we wear shower shoes here! Haha.. I love life.

This week, we taught our Japanese investigator Natsuko and the lesson was SO AMAZING. She is my FAVORITE to teach because first I get to teach in English...and second because she has so so many questions. We are helping her come to understand the life of Jesus Christ and His atonement. We pointed her to mormon.org in Japanese and she is so excited to get her questions answers there! (She had ran into some not so reliable online sources..) I felt the spirit so strongly as I bore my testimony to her. I hope and pray that she will really be able to get the answer she needs from Heavenly Father! This week we are going to her house to do service which should be really great. We also happen to have a Sister in our branch who can speak japanese which is such a miracle and tender mercy., so she comes with us to help translate... Tagalog, English, Japanese. Those lessons are really a hoot.

This week I was really focused on diligence and obedience. I tried to really work hard everyday and have faith that Heavenly Father would continue to bless us with people ready to receive the gospel, and also that He would help my investigators come to church. However, on Sunday, nobody came to church! I was so sad and disappointed. I came home from church just feeling defeated and wondering why nobody came even though we taught so many amazing lessons and even though we worked really hard. After lunch, I went and laid down on my bed and just started to cry. I just wanted to take a nap rather than start my studies. Just as I did though, I was reminded of all of the scriptures President Ostler gave to us at zone conference to read when we were feeling ready to give up, and also a note that Mom had given to me to read when I felt discouraged. I pulled myself out of bed and prayed and sat at my desk to study those things. What a blessing! All of the scriptures President Ostler had given in D&C...D&C 58:2-4 101:16 and 123:17 had the same theme- Be still and trust in God. All flesh is in HIS hands. Do all you can, and then don't worry about the rest. I felt such comfort and was reminded that all of my investigators who weren't able to come to church are really in God's hands and I had done all I can. In the note from Mom, it said "She who wins the race is the one who picks herself up one more time than she falls." Just because nobody came to church doesn't mean that I failed! It means that I can just pick myself up and try again for next Sunday.
I also read in Hebrews 6:10-20. Heavenly Father recognizes all of my work and my labor. Blessings will come, but I have to be diligent and patient in waiting for those blessings. Now is the time that I REALLY can show Heavenly Father my faith and hope. Am I going to be discouraged? No, I am going to try harder and have faith in Him! I know that as I do all I can, He will take care of the rest.
Sister Parina told me that this would not be the last Sunday that nobody comes to church, that my whole mission would have days like that one. It is those days that I am reminded how much Heavenly Father is helping me grow. Despite the fact that sometimes those I teach will choose not to let the gospel really change them, this gospel and this mission is really really changing me, and for that I am so thankful.
The cover of the card mom had left for me said "You can't stop the waves, but you can learn how to surf." That's what I'm doing! I can't stop the roaches, the mosquitoes, the heat, or even the investigators who don't keep they're commitments, but I can learn to surf. I am learning SO MUCH. I am so thankful to be here.

I love you all so much! Have a great week!

xoxoxo

Sister Lockwood

ps. This week I used my debit card to buy pizza! This week you'll have to look

and tell me how much it really charged! I wanted to practice before my
birthday (;
Also, for the Christmas if you could include hydrocortizone anti itch
cream... J had put some in my first aid kit and I use it a lot.  I have 59 mosquito bites just on my legs.  I'm learning to practice self mastery and not scratch them.

boo, my pictures won't upload!  The computers here are so sketch.  Lame!! I will hopefully be able to send pictures next week.

Today, all the internet turned off for 10 minutes in this internet shop and we had to move computers. 

I have taken the liberty of including some photos off of the mission  blog.  They don't include Kayla but give you a glimpse of the culture...

Baliw Talaga

Service project with Sister Garcia

Drinking fresh coconut 

study room in the apartment 

 Living room 

kitchen 

My favorite drink!  Unavailable in the Philippines.  Received via packages from Marmee and Mom! 

Palawan Island

Hello family!!

It was another great week in Santa Monica! It was funny...before we came to the internet shop I was thinking that it was just a normal week and I didn't really know what to email about, but then I read in my journal and remembered lots of totally abnormal things happened! Its funny how I just get used to how crazy life is here. Hahaha, some of the awesome adventures this week were... I got to hold a baby alligator! Last pday we went to Bakers Hill and they had one there for us to hold, hehe (: Also, one morning this week I was exercising in our study room and I heard this cat super loud. I looked out the window (which is open and has no screen...yeah not good) and couldn't see anything. Then when I was standing up at the window I heard it from INSIDE our room! I looked and couldn't find it, until it meowed again and I found it INSIDE my carry on bag!! It had probably slept there the whole night... Don't worry, Sister Parina got it out and we shut the window. Hahaha, oh my. Another crazy part of this week was the rain! It rained SO MUCH. On Thursday when we went out to work, it was raining so hard my umbrella didn't do anything, and my dress was entirely soaked before we even got to our first appointment. Its okay, though, I'm still new and so I still just laugh and laugh and it doesn't really bother me. What was a little yucky though was our bathrooms flooded. All the gunk from the drains came up and it was pretty gross. It smelled really nasty, but luckily it was gone the next morning and we cleaned it all up. Life is crazy!!

As far as our lessons go this week..This week was a little slower as Sister Parina has experienced some health aches and pains, but I still feel that I am growing and learning so much. One thing that we as a zone and as a companionship have been working on is finding new investigators. So this week, I was really trying to do my very best to talk to EVERYONE and pray that we could find people who were prepared for us. All week, though, it seemed like nobody wanted to listen! One day we had set apart 2 hours just for finding, and it POURED during those 2 hours and we weren't able to find anyone. It was then proving to be more difficult to find new investigators as we could not work all of our hours each day because of Sister Parina's aches and pains. Yesteryday, after conference we only had a few hours to work. I wanted so badly for us to reach our goal to find new investigators this week but it did not look like it was going to happen. Then, however, a miracle happened!! Heavenly Father provided 5 women who were SO ready to let us in and hear the gospel. One group even stopped us and invited us in! It truly was such a blessing. I know that Heavenly Father knew the desires of our hearts to find new investigators. Even when I thought it would be impossible to reach our goal, He provided a way. I am so thankful for goals and for learning lessons on the blessings of faith, hard work, and diligence. We also had some great lessons with our recent converts and also with Sister Rose, our newest progressing investigator! She even invited us to stay one day for her son's 1st birthday party which was interesting and lots of fun.

General Conference was so awesome! Seriously for missionaries Conference is like Christmas. I learned so much and was so reenergized to keep working hard and working to be better! My favorite talks were Elder Holland, of course, Elder Christofferson, and Elder Bednar! I actually would love it if you could attach Elder Bednar's talk to my blog. I really am here in the Philippines to share the happiness that the gospel has brought to my life! (https://www.lds.org/general-conference/2014/10/come-and-see?lang=eng)

Sister Garcia got transferred out this week and we got a new kabahay! Her name is sister Delaitabuna from Fiji and I LOVE HER! Oh man, she is the sweetest and we have so much fun. I'm definitely so thankful that Heavenly Father sent me her as a friend here (: Also, Sister Garcia left me some of her clothes.  Score!

I've included the pictures of the apartment you requested! This is our study room, our kitchen and our living area...our room is big and has bunk beds..not really much to see there. All 4 of us girls sleep in one room together.  We have 2 bathrooms but only 1 has a water heater so we all shower there.

I love you so much! I'm going to try to attach pictures, so say a prayer they don't get erased! ALSO I almost forgot.. another MIRACLE.. last week after I left email all my pictures were erased off of my camera. But I was patient and tried really hard to not make my companion feel bad, and guess what?! Later that day I looked at my camera again and all of the pictures were BACK! Seriously, I don't know how it happened. But maybe Heavenly Father wanted to test me and see how I would treat my companion for being the one who lost my pictures. Apparently I did okay because he gave them all back! 

xoxoxo 

Sister Lockwood

ps. baliw talaga means really crazy

Happy Happy Happy!

Hello Family!

First of all, let me tell you how thankful I am for you! It means so much that every Monday I know that I'm going to have emails from you and that you still care about me and think about me so much. This week was AWESOME. We had Zone Conference this week, and we have some really amazing new investigators! At zone conference I got your package and Marmee's package! THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU! Seriously, it made me so happy! The Dove chocolate is much appreciated by me and the entire apartment (; I already drank one dr.pepper, and I'm saving the other for a rainy day...hehe, good thing everyday is a rainy day (; But they didn't explode! Holla! The socks are perfect and so is everything else you sent! You are the GREATEST! I also got 2 letters from you, (one of which is for my bday) and 4 letters from Grandpa! So so sweet (:

At Zone Conference, I had an interview with President Ostler! It went super well. I love him so much. He was so kind and encouraging to me. He expressed how good he feels about me as a missionary, and he said that even though I may not always feel like it, I am doing exceptionally well. After the conference, Sister Ostler also thanked me for my great attitude. It was really nice to get some positive feedback from them (: 

At Zone Conference I learned so much, but a couple things really stick out. One is the importance of Family History work! President talked about how often we separate missionary work and temple work, but we are all a part of one great work. There is a big push to help get our recent converts to the temple, and to help them start doing their own family history work. He said that as we bring our investigators to the church and then to the temple, we are able to help thousands of their ancestors. Our work really is so amazing! He shared an experience he had at the temple, and said that he can feel the ancestors of the people we are teaching helping move the work here in the Philippines so that they can receive saving ordinances as well. This is the work of exaltation, not just salvation! He also encouraged us to get our pedigree chart...which I did not bring with me... So I don't know how difficult it would be for you to try and get that for me. We also got these books that we fill out with information about our parents and grandparents to help us really catch the spirit of Elijah! He defined the spirit of Elijah as the manifestation of the Holy Ghost of the divine nature of the family. I love my family so much, and we need the rest of our family sealed in with us! Even those we don't know. 

He also gave a really great talk on communication, that you would have loved Mom. It was such an answer to prayer because I have been praying and praying to know how to better communicate with Sister Parina. He first talked about the importance of listening and understanding. He encouraged us to use phrases like "Help me understand" and "So if I am understanding you correctly". He asked us to really try to understand how our companion feels first before we speak. He said that we have 2 ears and 1 mouth for a reason! Listen twice as much as your speak. I also loved that he said that its so important to share your feelings, too! We need to tell our companions how we feel, and how their actions make us feel. For me, this was so good because sometimes I tend to zone out and shut down when I receive correction, but I really need to be humble and listen.  But I also need to communicate my feelings! Sometimes I just let things go when I really should talk about them. So good for me to hear.

One last quote I loved was "Adversity is mandatory. Misery is optional."

Okay,now about our AWESOME NEW INVESTIGATORS! There are so many amazing people we work with, I never get to tell you about them all. But Benjie, is a recent convert who was baptized before I got here. He lives in a compound with a strong member family and also some other investigators of ours like Phillip.  Anyways, Benjie has a friend who he brought to church last Sunday who we were able to teach who was SO prepared for us! His name is Rafael Ethan, and he became friends with Benjie because they play basketball together and he noticed that unlike all the other players, Benjie never swore. So we taught him this week and he is so receptive! He is really smart and really good at English, too. But don't worry I still try to only speak Tagalog. He came to church again on Sunday!! I am so so thankful that Heavenly Father is trusting me with his children who are really prepared.

Also relating to Benjie, we go to his home to eat a lot. He lives on a farm with the Magvanua family (people here live together even when they aren't related...it gets really confusing because like 5 different families all live on this farm in just a couple houses) and they always feed us really yummy fish (: We actually just taught a family home evening at their home last night! There were like 30 people there, and it was such a blast. Philippinos are the greatest people and so so much fun to be around. 

Another new investigator we have is Himaya! Her mom is a baptist preacher but she had lots of questions and is also so prepared! Like Ethan, she is the friend of a member in our branch. I'll keep you updated on her!

AND this week we were able to do something really amazing for the Bascongada Family! Their daughter Yen Yen has CP really bad, and so Elvie Bascongada (nanay) has to carry her around everywhere. She is almost 3 years old, and is getting just too big. So, with the help of the Hiatt's, we were able to team up with a non profit organization and get her fitted for a wheel chair and help train Nanay of how to calm Yen Yen's muscles down. We are going with her again this week to the wheel chair place just down the street from us. What a miracle and blessing for their family! I am hoping that it will soften the dad's heart, Angelito Bascongada, who is not yet a member. Other people you can keep in your prayers are Cherry and Leo! (: 

The last really awesome part of this week was the Community Service project we did! It was at a fish farm and was SO BEAUTIFUL! It was like an hour away from Santa Monica, and we worked to weed all around this house seriously smack in the middle of the jungle. We saw crazy huge spiders and ate coconuts straight off the tree.  It was a blast and we were also really able to help this family who drive an hour to church and back each week. The faith of the members here is amazing.

Well I love you so much! I am so happy here!! I hope you all are happy, too!
xoxo

Sister Lockwood

i just let my companion use my camera and her computer had a virus and it deleted all my pictures. Luckily, last week I had put all the ones onto a flash drive.. definitely a tender mercy. But I lost all the pictures that I took this week at the CSP ): Sad day. I'm learning patience. I had so many I wanted to send too! ); Lame. I don't know what I'm gonna do when it comes to future pictures. We aren't really seeing Julieta anymore... she keeps telling us that she has to work even though we come back and she's still there. (people here never just say I'm not interested... they just come up with lies or say I'm busy) We are still seeing Myra though!! I LOVE HER!! I gave her my blue necklace and she was soooo happy.

Mom, sometimes I think about you serving in Paraguay! Like how you said the people didn't have doors so you wouldn't knock, but clap. Here we say "Tao po" Until they come outside, hahaha... it translates to "people."