Patuloying lang!

Hello All,

Heavenly Father has taught me so much this week. I pray that I can share a small part of it with you all. 

Sister Marlene is all set for her baptism on Saturday! She passed her baptismal interview (of course) and everything is all set for Saturday! We are so excited to see her make the first step towards entering the celestial kingdom. Look for pictures of her baptism next week :)

I am constantly amazed by the power that the gospel has to changed people's lives and hearts. I read a quote by Elder Ballard this week that talked about how when the Spirit touches people's hearts, hearts are changed. I can testify from my own experiences here in the mission that that is true. My heart has been changed as it has been touched by the Spirit each day and I've seen others' hearts change as well. 

We didn't have any appointments a few weeks ago, so we asked directions to some people on the side of the road. They are related, but I'm not sure how. They all live together in one compound though. We scheduled a return appointment, but they weren't very enthusiastic about us coming back. They were not very interested, but we went back and taught them again. We now have three progressing investigators there at this compound. We have given them a BoM and Brother Samson is reading it. On Saturday I asked him if he had tried praying to know if it is true. He said that he had (every missionary's favorite answer!) and that he was surprised at what had happened. He said he had a wonderful feeling come over him and that he believes the Book of Mormon is true. wow. I think I was more surprised than he was. We never expected them to progress! The Spirit has great power to change hearts!

We had a few experiences this week where investigators who we thought were golden (the De Guzman Family, Liza, and another brother named Darwin) refused to come to church. ouch. It was a little discouraging for me because I love these people and desire their salvation! What I've learned though, is that if I am doing everything I can, I am successful. Even though I was disappointed in my brothers and sisters, I am not disappointed in myself because I am giving my best to Him.

We actually did something exciting with our p-day this week! We went to the Capitol of Pangasinan, which just happens to be here in Lingayen. It's a gorgeous building with a really cool WWII museum and park in the back. See the attached pictures! We were even lucky enough to meet a real live 86-year-old Filipino WWII veteran who was at the museum too.

 That's all for now! Ingat lahat!

Love,

Sister Mckenna Gustafson :)

 

Masaya pa rin (Still Happy)

 This is Katrina our 14 year old investigator with her sister and grandmother.

Hello all!

We had another great week, despite some cockroaches and colonies of ants who decided to invade our apartment this week. Permotox spray sure comes in handy!

Last week, we taught a brother Sebrig as he was sitting on his little bamboo chicken coop outside his house. His pigs and cows and chickens and dogs were in the yard. Sister V was asking him how he feels when he has a problem or a trial in his life and he enthusiastically responded that he has no problems in his life, saying that everything is great and happy all the time. He started talking about how important the gospel is to him and was waving his hands in the air and talking about going to heaven. At the end of the lesson, our member present, Bro Zacharias, said dryly, "You know Brother Sebrig, the next time the missionaries come to teach you, you shouldn't drink so much. It's a much better experience when you're sober." He was DRUNK the whole time! Next time we'll make sure to go back when he's not so "happy" haha...

We've had a lot or opportunities for giving service lately. Last week we helped the Figuracion family from our ward pull nails out of old boards for an extension they're building on their little house. We also helped a lady we didn't even know, Sister Jennifer, with her work- washing bottle caps that she will sell for 20 pesos ($.45) per five hundred caps. We squatted by the big tubs of bleach water and used old toothbrushes and scrubbed all the old catsup and fishsauce off the bottle caps while we talked to Jennifer. I love being a missionary and having the opportunity to serve my brothers and sisters all the time. There is no greater work!! 

This week we were teaching a lesson to Sister Shine, a 21 year old mother of two kids (their names are Prince and Princess btw, not uncommon names here!) After we finished the lesson, Princess sneezed and had stuff all over her face. Since Shine's arms were full with squirmy, fussy little Prince, I offered to wipe her face with some tissues I had in my bag. Her face was all messy from dirt and some sticky candy she had been eating, so I cleaned her up. There was another little boy, probably two or three years old who was just staring at me with his big dark eyes. He wanted his dirty face cleaned too! So I cleaned up his face too. It was so cute. I love these little Filipino babies soo much. I just want to hold them and hug them and tell them that Heavenly Father loves them so much too. I just want them to know that even though they may only have rice and the occasional fish to eat, that they have a Father in Heaven who loves them so much. But alas, I cannot hug all of them and it's against the rules to hold them, so I will just have to be satisfied with wiping their adorable little faces whenever I get a chance.

Sister Marlene is so excited for her baptism on February 22nd and we are too! She is so ready. It's been a really long time in coming- she's been an investigator for about 9 months- but we truly feel like this is her time to be baptized. The light of the gospel just radiates from her face when she talks about the things she's learning from her Book of Mormon reading. We reviewed about tithing this week and when I asked her if she would follow the law of tithing, she emphatically said, "Yes, of course! It's so important!". Even though her husband doesn't have work right now and she has 5 little mouths to feed, she knows that tithing is a commandment and that Heavenly Father will provide for her needs as she is obedient. She has so much faith!

We taught the Castillo family how to hold family prayer this week. Sister Castillo leaves in a few weeks to go to Malaysia for the next two years to work as house help. She is leaving her three young kids and her husband and everything she knows in order to provide money for her family. It breaks my heart to see this happy, loving family separated, but they are so grateful for the opportunity. The Spirit filled their tiny home and my heart as I testified about the blessings of comfort, closeness, and peace that have come to my family because of our daily family prayers. We knelt down on their concrete floor and Brother Castillo offered their first family prayer. Even though they will be separated by many miles in a few short weeks, I know their family will be blessed and strengthened through the miles because I know my family feels the same way right now. I am so grateful for righteous parents who have always led our family in prayer and scripture study. I love my family so much!!

That's all for this week!

Love,

Sister Mckenna Gustafson 

 This is the market in our area. I love how colorful it is!

  This is how four sisters from three different countries relieve stress on a Sunday night after a long week of work - self timer pictures! Like my pants? You can't say no to crazy pants for 85 pesos! ($1.89)

 I got a Valentine package!

Filled with his love

My beautiful area by the sea!

Hello!

We had a very busy and full week. We were so blessed to find 16 new investigators and teach almost 40 lessons. It's easy to find people to teach here. It's hard to find the elected souls that will be baptized and remain active.

 

This week we had some interesting encounters with missionaries of other faiths (There are a TON of them here!). We met a man from the Iglesia ni Cristo who gave us a not so brief history of the INC in the Philippines and refused to take our pamphlet we offered him. We also met a lady who is a missionary for the Born Agains and gave us another not so brief spiel. The Filipinos sure keep things interesting!

This week I was amazed at how much love I feel for the people here. Over and over again when we were teaching this week, I was surprised by the overwhelming love I felt for these people On Wednesday we were trying to contact a referral at Aplaya. We were at the referral's house talking to her sister in law, Jobelle and trying to figure out where the referral is living. Jobelle asked us why we wanted her sister in law. When we told her that we were missionaries and wanted to share a message with her about Jesus Christ, she asked if she could listen instead. (um, yes!!). We taught Jobelle and came to find out that she was a former investigator from the elders before our area was whitewashed (the sisters got put in) more than six months ago! When she was telling us that, I remembered that only her last name is in the area book and we hadn't been able to find her. I was filled with love for this 21-year old sister with the most adorable little one year old girl. As we sat on wooden benches outside her bamboo house on stilts, I also was filled with the realization that the Shepherd will not let any of His precious lambs get lost, even if the previous elders were not the best area book updaters. So we found one of His lost lambs, Jobelle, because He has a plan for each one of His precious children.

  Yesterday we had one of the most spiritual sacrament meetings I've ever been to. Testimony after testimony filled the room with the Spirit. I felt like I was being compelled by the love that was about to burst inside me. I had to get up and tell them how much I admire their sacrifices as the faithful saints of the Lingayen 2nd ward. There are many many wives whose husbands are inactive or not members who faithfully bring their kids to church all by themselves. There are youth who wake up at 4:00 or earlier in order to cook their rice and then bike, walk, or tryke to the church for 6:00am seminary. There are youth who are preparing to serve missions who are working whatever jobs they can find and are saving every peso they earn in order to serve. I love the Lingayen 2nd ward so much and I truly feel like they are becoming my family here :)

 

I have an I <3 SG keychain on my bag that a member gave us from their trip to Singapore! It reminds me that I love my mom, brother, the Super Gustafson family and my trainer, 

Sister G :) and this is my planner cover that I made!

Quote of the week: Sister Va'enuku, while praying over our lunch: "Please bless this food to strengthen our testimonies..." That was not our most reverent prayer after that slipped out! Heavenly Father understands, though, right?

I love you all so much! Enjoy your cold weather- it's way hot here!

 

Love,

Sister Mckenna Gustafson

with Sister Fronk

Our District

 

 

 

The work rolls on...

Hello all,

Another week has come and gone in a flash. It's definitely been a bit of an adjustment getting used to a new companion, but the work moves on! I love Sister Va'enuku and her caring and happy ways!

Our investigators are doing great! We have so much potential with Danilo (the blind man), the Castillo and De Guzman families. Danilo came to church, which was a huuuge step for him, because of course it's really hard for him because he's blind. But we think he had a good experience!

We had a great weekend with the Lingayen Stake conference on Friday and Saturday. A member of the area presidency, Elder Echo Hawk and his wife were here. We had a very spiritual meeting all about missionary work on Saturday. I only wish all our church meetings here could be that spiritual and reverent. Elder Echo Hawk said that during last October's conference, President Monson called all the area authorities from all over the world to come to SLC for a special meeting. At the meeting he informed them that in every stake in the world, the Saturday session of stake conference would focus on missionary work. The Lord is truly hastening His work and I left the meeting grateful to be a small part of that work! I'm coming to realize too that He doesn't expect me to be perfect. He doesn't need a perfect missionary here in the Lingayen 2nd Ward. He needs me. Despite all my imperfections and struggles, He wants me here! 

I love you all so much and I'm so grateful to be here. I thank Heavenly Father every day for the chance to serve Him here.

Love,

Sister Gustafson :)

  An 8-year old baptism from the ward this week!

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!)