Sister Mckenna Gustafson in the Philippines: Hello!

It's your favorite Filipina missionary again! We had a great and super productive week! We taught about 30 lessons even though we had partial days on Wednesday and Thursday because of a special sisters training meeting and apartment cleaning checks. We have 9 new investigators as well. We met so many cool people this week :) One of my favorite things we do is called Preaching By the Way. It's one of the key indicators president added for our mission. We talk to people along the way to appointments or just different people we meet and invite them to do something like come to church or read a pamphlet and bear testimony of a restored truth. It's so fun to meet and talk to so many different kinds of people.

So many crazy things happen here. it seems like every day Sister Gallego and I get laughing so hard because of something so crazy that happened that day. This past week we went to a former investigator's house. We asked how his Book of Mormon reading was and he said that it was really good and that he had been reading about the Word of Wisdom. That was my first clue that something was off because obviously the Word of Wisdom is not in the Book of Mormon haha. He kept talking about the importance of the Word of Wisdom, but his words were slurring and he couldn't really understand or think straight. He was DRUNK! It was soo ironic. hahaha Sister G and I got a good laugh out of that one. Whether it's a crazy bus covered in red and yellow sunflowers that blasts rap music or people on the streets calling us Elders, there's always something to laugh about at the end of the day :)

First Jeepney ride with Sister Gallego

Speaking of walking down the street, I'm getting used to being whistled at everywhere we go. Everyone wants to say hi to us and honks at us all the time. I've never been this popular in my life haha. We were running at the Pangasinan State U track on Saturday and some ladies stopped me and wanted a picture with me. I was all sweaty and out of breath but I took the picture with them. It's so funny how fascinated the little kids are with my white skin too. They have never seen a real live breathing American before so they always scream "Amerikana Amerikana!" when I walk by. I love watching the look on their faces when I tell them that I'm actually a Filipina. They get so confused. haha

Tomorrow I'm going to Binmaley, which is about 20 minutes away, for an exchange with Sister Galos. I'm excited to see a different area and get some training from a new sister! I just want to say that I love Sister Gallego so much. She is so wonderful. I love her sense of humor, her diligence, and how patient she is with me. I am so grateful to have her as a companion!!

We got a new elder in our zone from the Tacloban mission! We are probably going to get some more missionaries and if we get sisters the ZLs said they would be coming to live at our house! We are continuing to pray for them. They've been through such a rough time- so many of their members and investigators are just gone. Dead. Please keep praying for the Tacloban area.

We had a tender experience this week with a man we were preaching by the way to. We said hi and asked how he was doing and he immediately showed us is knuckles that were all bloody with the skin peeling. He works as a pedicab driver, so all day long and into the night he peddles his bike and takes people where they want to go. He has 6 kids and he told us he drinks to drive away the pain of his difficult life. I had some bandaids in my bag, so I gave them to him along with a plan of salvation pamphlet. I told him that it was a bandaid for the soul to go along with the bandaids for his fingers. He was fumbling with the bandaids and didn't know how to use them, so I opened them and carefully put them on his bleeding fingers for him. I was overwhelmed with love for this man that I had just met. His life is so different and so much more difficult than the one I am so privileged to live. It is so comforting to me to know that because of the Atonement of Jesus Christ all that is unfair about this life will be made right in the next life. I love this gospel! I love this work and I love being a missionary in the Philippines! I am so blessed!

I love you all and have a great week!

Sister Gus :)