It's getting so cold!! ;)

 Here is a picture of another adorable Filipino baby, Bernice. 

Did I mention how much I love the kids here??

Hello All!

It's getting reaaalllly cold here! It was in the 70's the last couple nights and all the Filipinos are pulling out their coats and hats and wrapping up in blankets. I actually put on a cardigan and a pair of socks this week for the first time since I left the states. All the Filipinos are all shivering and complaining about how cold they are. They all have colds and are blaming the extremely cold weather... riiight. I just laugh! It feels perfect to me! It's a nice break from the extreme heat :) 

I have a new companion! Her name is Sister Va'enuku and she's from Tonga. She is literally the happiest, most peaceful person I have ever met! She laughs at everything and loves everyone. On the first day she told me that she never stresses and she's never sad. Oh, and her favorite food is dog. I already love her so much. I have so much to learn from her no-stress, hardworking, happy personality!

 With my new companion, Sister Va'enuku.

We had a great, but stressful day at church yesterday because we had 5 investigators there! That's the best kind of missionary stress- when you have so many investigators, you don't know how to handle them all! Two of the De Guzman kids came, as well as their step-sister and her daughter, the Castillo family. The Castillo family is golden. they were at one of the lessons with the De Guzmans and we happened to give them a BoM, but we hadn't introduced it. When we went back to their house they said the had read it! The whole intro and all of 1 nephi 1! It was a miracle. We feel like they are going to be very progressive, but we'll see! I'll let you know :)

Small miracle of the week: Last night we were teaching a lesson to Brother Jun outside of his house and his dog was tied up nearby. The dog was going NUTS. as in barking nonstop- super super loud. I was thinking, "There is no way we can teach this lesson if the dog won't stop barking. There is no way we can help him feel the Spirit, let alone hear what he's saying! Heavenly Father, please help us." We started with a prayer and during the prayer I got an impression that we needed to give the dog a piece of the bread that a member had just given us. After the prayer I got up and tossed some bread to the dog and he was absolutely silent for the rest of the lesson. It was such a very very simple small thing, but I really feel like Heavenly Father blessed us. Everyday He gives us little things to let us know that He loves us and cares for us. Always look for the small tender mercies of the Lord in your life. He is there for you and loves you!

I love you!

Sister Gustafson :)

 

 Lunch at a member's home. Duck! Yummy!!

We've found Zion!

Hello dearests!

Another little friend at church. We're pretty much Besties!

 

This week we found Zion in the form of a golden family, the De Guzman's and in the form of coconut filled sweet bread.

 

First, the De Guzmans. We found them while we were looking for a referral. We stopped by their house to see if they knew where our referral lived since they were outside. They let us teach them a lesson right there in their yard (not an uncommon occurrence here). When we came back later in the week, the dad was home and we taught him too. Our first real lesson- The Restoration- was on Monday and the Spirit was so strong. The mom, the dad, and their three kids (17, 15, and 9) all gathered for the lesson. They told us that they are searching for the true church and feel the same way as Joseph Smith did. The Spirit testified so strongly as we taught them that the true church has been restored to the earth through a prophet. Goodness this family is golden. Sister DeGuzman told us that after our second visit she told her kids that they should become Mormons. Yes they should!! They have so much love for each other and so much light. Sister Gallego and I came out of our lessons with them this week just beaming, on that missionary high that comes from having a great lesson :) They have a strong fellowshipper, our Ward Mission Leader, Brother William and a strong desire to know the truth and come to church. Pray for them to follow through with their commitments to read and pray about the Book of Mormon so they can!

 

The coconut filled sweet bread. It's a little-known fact that Filipinos really know how to make bread. There are all these little bakeries that sell hot rolls (tinapy) and all sorts of sweet bread- so goood! On Thursday a lot of our appointments had fallen through so we were walking, trying to figure out where to go when we saw a little tiny bakery attached to a house. We (being the always-hungry sister missionaries that we are) stopped and bought some bread. And oh my goodness, I'm quite sure heaven tastes like homemade rolls filled with sweet coconut. It was like the celestial kingdom in my mouth. Amazing!! We will definitely be going back to Joshua's Bakery in Maniboc sometime very soon:) I didn't know you could buy the taste of heaven for only 3 pesos :)

I love you all so much and your Heavenly Father loves you so much. He will never give up on you because you are His child and He created you and loves you with a perfect love that no time, sin, or distance can erase. Always remember that!

 

Love,

Sister Mckenna Gustafson :)

 

 Sisters at the Zone kickball activity.

 

 

 

 

 

Bagong Taon! (The New Year)

Hello All!

I realize I've been slacking in explaining about what's going on with our investigators. So I'm repenting and changing today :)

 

Sister Marlene has come to church the last two weeks! Yes! The only reason she's not baptized is because her kids are constantly sick or she can't find money to pay for a tryke to come to church. That's the problem with Aplaya, one of our areas. It's super far out and there are a lot of struggling people there, so it's really hard for them to come to church sometimes. But Sister Marlene is good. She has a lot of great fellow shippers. Hopefully she will keep coming to church! :) She's the one in the picture on the right, with her husband and one of her daughters. The other lady is Sister Perlita, her neighbor and one of our other investigators.

 

 

Sister Liza. Goodness I loove Sister Liza. She's like a a shiny, sharp razor blade. She is an accounting teacher and so so bright. She knows everything about the Bible and is a very very devoted Catholic. It's so nice because of her strong religious background and solid education, she can actually understand what we teach her. A lot of times our investigators have very little education, so they don't understand what we teach and just nod and say they understand when they actually don't. Liza asks us questions like, "What race is the prophet Mormon?" or "What was going on in the Bible during the time of Alma?" She really reads and understands the Book of Mormon though and has a strong desire to know if it's true! We have a lot of hope for Liza!

In other news:

- I spent all of Thursday night in the bathroom throwing up. Not sure what happened, but it wasn't fun. Next time I'll be more careful about eating so much random food that's given to us!

- We had one of the most spiritual sacrament meetings I've had here on Sunday. So many very powerful testimonies. I have a lot of admiration for the faithful saints here!

- We learned that you shouldn't leave a pot of boiling sugar and water syrup on the stove unattended or it might catch fire...oops

- I taught Gospel Principles again with Sister Fronk!

I want all of you to know that the Atonement is real. Our Savior lives and loves each of us so much. His Atonement is the only way to overcome our weaknesses, trials and imperfections. I am so grateful for Him.

 

I love you all!

Sister Gustafson :)

 

 Because I'm silly :) and because it makes me happy!

(Mom's note: Glad we sent her that purple top for Christmas to complete her rainbow!)

A Filipino Christmas

Hello all!

We had a lovely little Filipino Christmas here! I learned this week that no ward Christmas party should ever be complete without Psi blasting at full volume and a pool-sized bowl of pancit (noodles). It was great. We had early curfew, so us four sisters had dinner and then we moved our mattresses into the main room/kitchen and had a reverent/missionary style "slumber party" with an exact bedtime of 10:30 of course :) We exchanged gifts and Sister Fronk and I discovered we have the exact same taste in stationary-we got each other the EXACT SAME set of stationary haha. Glad to know we have good taste :) The best Christmas present I recieved was the chance to skype my family for a solid hour. It was wonderful. I love them so much!!

 

A little friend at the Ward Christmas Party!

I was inspired by Sister Parker, so I decided to make a Filipino version of "You know you're a missionary when..." :)

You know you're a sister missionary in the Philippines when...

-you live in a house surrounded by a nine foot tall fence topped with barbed wire

-you know the most graceful way to enter and exit a tryke while wearing a skirt

-you've never knocked on a door in your mission, but you've stood outside and called "tao po" a million times

-you have a Mary Jane tan line on the tops of your feet

-finding ants crawling on your arms has long since ceased to bother you

-you keep your oreos and cereal in the "ref" (fridge)

-you get called "ate" (older sister) daily on the streets

-when you pass a house blasting the radio or videoke, you and your 

companion start singing hymns

That's my life!

A little background on the picture: We have seen this pedicab (bike with a sidecar) a million times. Every time we see it, it's either dark or rainy or I don't have my camera. But on Christmas eve there was a miracle! It was sunny and I had my camera and so I got a picture!! We're not sure who it belongs to, but we don't think they know what it means. It doesn't belong to a member. Someday we will find the owner and tell them what the saying on their pedicab means and they will join the church :) we just need to find them first!

I love you all so much! Keep your covenants. Go to church. Love others. Live the Gospel. The Way to be truly happy is there for us, all we need to do is live it!

Love,

Sister Gustafson

PS-we have a really cool investigator who's blind! Danilo is 28 and a part member family so there's a lot of hope for him to progress :)It's a little tricky to teach him, but he has a strong desire to learn! I'll let you know how it goes!

Mom's Note

The Urdaneta Mission blog contains pictures of Sister Gustafson at their Lingayen Zone Christmas Party. There is also a video called "My Three Words" featuring all of the missionaries. It is quite long, but you can see Sister Gustafson at 17:00.

urdanetanet.blogspot.com

Maligayang Pasko! (Merry Christmas!)

Hello All!

Goodness- what a week. I was stretched and pushed this week to do things that I did not know I could do. It was definitely a week of learning and growth. Here's how it happened:

On Wednesday at our Christmas Conference in Dagupan, the sister training leaders casually mentioned that we would be having exchanges on Thursday and that I (!!) would be leading the area. Leading the area means leading all teaching appointments, finding activities, coordinating everything, everything for 24 hours. Whew. So that was super stressful, but I made it through. Sister Alvaro (STL) was incredible. I hope that someday I can be like her. Everything she says during lessons just flows with the Spirit and she is so inspired! Even though she didn't know our investigators, the questions she asked and the things she said were just what they needed!

Exchanges with the Sister Trainer Leaders. They're the best!

On Friday I woke up with a fever of 101 and a super sore throat, but I sucked it up and went out to work with a bottle of ibuprofen in my bag :)

On Saturday I woke up with a fever of 103.8, so I spent the morning in bed feeling pretty awful. After lunch, the zone leaders came over and gave me a priesthood blessing. I felt well enough (and took enough ibuprofen) to go out and work the full 8 hours later. There is power in priesthood blessings! By the time we got home though, I was feeling pretty awful again and ended up going to sleep early. Sunday- I felt a lot better which was good because sister Fronk and I had to teach Gospel principles again. in Tagalog. To a room full of investigators and less-actives. can you say stressful?? But once I again, we made it through. Then at church we were informed by Bishop that we needed to speak at the funeral of a member that night. So last night I spoke at a funeral. In Tagalog. to a room (or more like a yard) full of members and non-members. All of a sudden, with about 10 minutes to prepare. 

All I can say is that I have grown and been pushed to do things I didn't think I could do this week. I have grown and come to realize that when Heavenly Father asks us to do things, there is a reason for it and like President Monson says, "He will shape the back to bear the burden placed upon it." I am grateful to my Father in Heaven for giving me strength beyond my own this week to accomplish all that He has asked me to do.

Despite the stress, there were some moments of overwhelming happiness this week. :) On Tuesday we were out in the middle of nowhere trying to contact a referral. It was POURING. We had our umbrellas, but they were literally not doing a thing to keep us dry. We were in the middle of nowhere and getting soaked. There was nothing we could do but keep walking. It was one of those moments when it hit me. again. I am ACTUALLY a missionary in the Philippines and I am so happy and this is amazing. All I could do was laugh. I laughed and laughed and I couldn't stop, just ask my companion :) It was just one of those  wonderful moments!

On Friday we found a whole new middle class family who is very interested in hearing the gospel. We taught them a great lesson, got a return appointment and a referral from them. As we were leaving their house and walking down the road, the overwhelming high that comes from finding new people to teach hit me all at once and I was so happy, I literally jumped in the air and said, "I LOVE missionary work!!" So, in short, even though some weeks are hard, there are moments of overwhelming joy that are given to us by Heavenly Father because He loves us. 

My Christmas message for all of you this year is that He lives. Remember that Christmas is not about packages, snow, lights, trees, or gifts. It's about our Savior and His perfect life and sacrifice for us. Because of a tiny baby that was born in Bethlehem more than 2,000 years ago, we can live with our Father in Heaven again some day. His life neither began in Bethlehem nor ended on Calvary. For that I am so grateful this Christmas season. Even though there are no trees or snow or Christmas lights on our house, I feel the Christmas Spirit, the Spirit of Christ, so strongly this year, because I know more strongly than I ever have before that HE LIVES.

I love you all! Have a great Christmas :)

-Sister Mckenna Gustafson 

Lingayen 2nd Ward Relief Society

(No information with this photo. It appears to be a pig's head with an apple in it's mouth.)

We rescued two baby goats from a slimy ditch the other day. They were so cute!!! Just tiny little babies bleating and bleating for their mama, who was frantically pacing back and forth along the side of the ditch. We put a branch in and used it to pull the goats to safety.

Happy Week!

Me and Sunshine, a ward member who is preparing to serve a mission. She's so sweet!

Hello All!

We were so blessed to be able to watch the Christmas devotional last night. It was beautiful. I think my eyes were dry for maybe five minutes. I was overwhelmed by a Spirit of peace and gratitude for my Savior and for His life, example and ministry. If you didn't get a chance to watch it- watch at least Elder Nielson's talk. It was so beautiful.

We had a good week! We got a TON of referrals this week and spent a lot of time dodging dogs and trying to find where they live. The problem is not that there are no house numbers- there are. The problem is that they are not IN ORDER. They go from 308 and then next door is 330 and then next door is 423. haha... so it's always and adventure trying to find exactly where people live! The Filipinos love to refer their friends to us! It's so great, but it can get confusing sometimes when you have 11 referrals. I'm learning how to use my planner effectively talaga!

On Saturday we went to visit a LA family that lives on the beach!! So we got to walk along the beach! It was so beautiful! The gorgeous blue sky and water and sand was just perfect! We stayed far away from the water and kept our shoes on, of course, but I picked up a few beautiful seashells! The point of this story though, is that we met a WHITE(!) person! She was walking along the beach too and we started talking in ENGLISH. turns out she's from Ireland and her husband is Filipino, so they're living here for 6 months out of the year. She was super willing to take the pamphlets we gave her. It was so weird doing missionary work in English! I kept wanting to speak Tagalog haha. Not sure if anything will happen from it, but it was cool meeting another foreigner :)

 This is a picture of the sunset the other night, for all you who are freezing

 in the snow right now ;)

We also had a strange experience this week contacting a referral from some super wealthy members. We went to their house (more like mansion, by Philippines standards) and they drove us in their CAR to their referral's house. It was sooo weird riding in an air-conditioned car! And what's really weird is that it WAS weird. 3 months ago, riding in a car was something I did every day, but now it's weird. It's like a whole new world here.

We had a lesson with a girl we met along the side of the road this week. At the end of the lesson she said, "I know everything you have taught me is true!". Goodness! That was a first for us! Too bad she's only 17... we can't have anyone baptized who's under 20 and doesn't have a parent or guardian who's a member. We actually have a few golden investigators who are under 20, but can't progress without their parents becoming members as well. And their parents want nothing to do with us. It's so sad!

Sister Marlene is good! We have 3 investigators progressing towards baptism: Marlene, Alex, and Perlita. They're all parents and have a strong desire to be baptized. We are continuing to help them come to come to church! It's a huge commitment, but we have a lot of support from the ward to help them!

The primary program was yesterday at church! It was so cute! I love these gorgeous little Filipino kids! 

That's all for now!
Have a great day :)

Love,
Sister Mckenna Gustafson

 

 A sheep and a lamb walking along the road, typical here!