Monday, January 31, 2011

The WORK GOES ON :)!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!




Mommaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa, Family and Friends,

It's so funny, that breathing technique thing that you did in your RS lesson is one that Sister De Fiesta and I have been trying last week and this week with our investigators. So many times when we go to people's homes, there are buses roaring by outside or noisey children playing next door or five billion roosters crowing outside. So what we've been doing is acknowledging the disturbances around us, then encouraging everyone to take deep breaths in and out and BE HERE NOW. Sister De Fiesta and I laugh about it, sometimes while we're doing it--sometimes its just a way to relieve any tension and have our investigators see that we're normal people with senses of humor. Afterwards of course, we'll sing a hymn to invite the Spirit and we'll begin our teaching. :) It's so funny that we both decided to try this in our teaching. Are we related? We were both definitely inspired!! ;)

Last Monday Nanay Marinduque was in the hospital with high blood. We called the Elders in Ilagan to come and give her a blessing. She was home the next day and we visited her. I love their family so much.

This week we had our Cauayan Zone Conference and our quarterly interviews with president. It was funny, first thing President said to me in my interview was basically, "Are you okay now? Are you adjusted? Are you done freaking out?" He didn't say that exactly, but...basically. I told him yes. And that I am finally getting into the groove here. Then he said, "You're doing absolutely wonderful. If you weren't, I'd have told you already." :) He then talked again about how he prayed so hard about who my companion/trainer would be and that Sister De Fiesta and I have made an excellent team. He joked that he couldn't give me the best companion and the most developed area ever at the same time. It would be unfair. But since it's almost summer here, he's decided to send me to the coolest place in the mission--as far as temperature goes. !!!!! Are you ready?!?? ///??? This is still top secret news, but President told me so I wouldn't be shocked on transfer day. I will be transfered to Solano, by Nueva Viscaya, which is in the same area as the rice terraces!! Cool, huhh?? He said my new companion will be Sister Banks, an American. I have mixed feelings. I know I will miss many of the members here in Naguilian--especially Nanay Lumingggggggggg and the Marinduques--and I will miss being with Sister De Fiesta. But I know and feel that it's time to move on.

Sister De Fiesta and I have been cherishing every last moment together. She's already been getting emotional from time to time. I made her the best BR (Book of Remembrance) page ever with all of our memories on it together.

Thursday was our splits day--Sister Webre was supposed to come to Naguilian and I was supposed to lead the area, but Sister Webre had a bad fever. So I went to Cauayan and stayed with her in their apartment while Sister De Fiesta and Stewart went to train in a different area. And guess what! I got whatever she had. Friday and Saturday I was almost out of commission--I tried not to let it happen entirely. We still got some lessons in despite my aches and cough. Sister Carlos called me and told me to take a two hour nap, and the elders came to give me a blessing. I am feeling much better now. One of the days I felt sick, and an inspired stranger picked me the most beautiful flower I have ever seen in my entire life. There is no exaggeration in that statment. I have never seen this type of flower before, and it literally took my breath away. What a sweet samaratin and a sweet blessing from Heaven.

This week we had planned a mission half-day with the branch on Saturday. Our Zone Leaders came and went on splits with the members who showed up. This was such a blessing to us--Sister De Fiesta and I--because our work was hurting this week (due to sicknesses and such). The elders basically worked in proxy for us in our area.

We are teaching a family called the Sanchez family. I think I wrote about them before. They are all so beautiful. There are 10 children total. Four came to church last week, two came this week. But one of the boys, Eric, has expressed twice his desire to be baptised. We are so excited for this family. They live in a cauayan home with a dirt floor, and the mother just had a baby about a month ago. She says the baby wants to keep nursing nursing, but nothing will come because she hasn't been eating herself. Her cut from her C section still aches, so her children clean and cook. Her husband works long hours every day. But when we talk with them about God, they express such gratitude to Him for all he does for their family--that they are alive, that they have work. I am amazed by their faith and ability to smile, despite their hard circumstances. They have a cute little three year old and every time we go there, I do magic for him. He reminds me of what Nathan looked like when he was a toddler, with a huge smile. Last time I gave him a See's lollipop, and his cheek was so big from holding it. (Sister De Fiesta is eating a See's lollipop in her picture--haha) I left them with some Lipton soup packets, Momma, I hope you dont mind...

I gave a talk yesterday in sacrament on missionary work AND gave the lesson in Sunday School on being born again. Sister De Fiesta taught combined Relief Society and Priesthood. Haha. We were basically church yesterday.

I taught Sister De Fiesta how to play chess, with a random chess set we found in our apartment. It's on our table and we play while we're eating breakfast/lunch/dinner. We're still not finished. I'll let you know who wins. :)

Today we have a CSP in Cabautan. There is so much to doooooooooooo on PDays but never enough time.

Also, Alma 8 = the story of Sister De Fiesta and me in Naguilian. (In our mission BOM reading, we are in Alma 8,9,10 and during comp study this morning Sister DF and I were LOLing about this) Alma 10 is the story of Nanay Luming and Marinduque family. Tonight we are being fed by Nanay Luming and we plan to share scriptures from Alma 10--maraming blessings para sa kanya! :)

I love you sososo much momma. Always remember that :) I love you all, thank you for all that you do for me and your constant support.
Your bebe, Sister, and Friend,
Sister Fort

Monday, January 24, 2011

EmailEmailEmail, I LOVE LOVE LOVE YOU ALL!!!







Hellooo mommaaaaa, Family, and Friends!

Today has been another pagod day. We woke up early early because our district planned an activity together to go to Magat Dam, about an hour away from Cauayan. It rained the whole day. We rode a jeepney there and rented a little covered area to eat the adobo that Elder Cabanacan made, with rice. There were about ten of us elders and sisters. We took so many pictures that I will send if this camera hook up will decide to work within the next forty minutes. If not, I will send them eventually. After lunch, we rode a boat that looked like an oversized canoe--hammock included--to circle around the lake. The man who managed the boat kept bucketing the water out from inside of the boat. Us sisters were a little concerned, but everything turned out okay. No boat tippings. The man let us out at a wall of rocks--still drizzling--and we all climbed up to the dam in our flip flops. All ten of us piled in a tricycle to see a hanging wooden bridge over a beautiful bright green river, and finally left for the day in a jeepney. Lots of bumpy travel today.

I got a really sweet letter in the mail from Mel Cole--remember my friend from RealManage that I made that big painting for? She says she is praying for me all of the time and asked cute questions like "What are you doing?! How is your host family? How is the language barrier? Have you read any good books lately?" Cute.

Nanay Luming is like our mother away from home. She takes such good care of us, momma. If we buy her the ingredients, she makes food for us. I am taking notes also. She made my favorte for me this week--ginataan--and we helped her make something with ube yesterday. I grated the ube--a purple root. Can you send me the gnocci recipe mom?? I wanna make it for people here sometimes--especially Sister DF before we are separated.

I am praying for another transfer with her. It would be so special--I began my mission with her, and she ends her mission with me. She has a tagalog bible from her trainer that she says she will pass down to me when she goes home. She is going home in March.

I see so much in her that I wish to develop here in the mission. She is so selfless and strong. I have moments here where I feel tired or discouraged with my teaching or with my tagalog and--you know me--I want to feel sorry for myself sometimes. I do my best to not let it affect the work, and it usually is just self talk throughout the day. But she reminds me, with her consistent focus on the work, that this is not about me at all. She is so good about bridling her emotions. I want to live like that. I want to be completely selfless. It will be a difficult process, but one that is so worth it. I was reading a talk by Elder Uchtdorf the other day--yes we're allowed to read general conference talks--and he was talking about developing Christlike attributes. He said that it is a difficult and painful process, but He is there to take us by the hand. I know thats true.

I felt it just this week with the lesson I was to prepare for Sunday school. I was worried that there wouldn't be participation, that maybe I wouldn't share the things people needed to hear, that my Tagalog would be incomprehensible. But I got on my knees the night before. I expressed all of my worries and I remembered a part in the Finding Faith in Christ video we watch here sometimes. The man brings his boy to Christ and tells Him to heal him. Christ says He can if the man has faith. The man says, "help thou my unbelief." I said the same in my prayer. I asked Heavenly Father to please make up my lack, to bless me with the Spirit to teach the people in the class, and I prayed for class participation. Sunday morning, in my last preparations, I felt so guided. Ideas flowed, scriptures came to mind, and when the time came for me to teach, there was so much participation from these two visitors that were there.

The work here in Naguilian is hard hard hard. I think most of our time here has been spent planting many seeds and doing our best to help strengthen the members. We found a past record for a family in our past investigators section of our area book--the sanchez family. We've been visiting them for about a month now. This week, four of the nine kids, came to church. Sister May--the woman we met while trying to find Benito--comes to church every Sunday. She really wants to become a member--when we teach her lessons, she is basically bearing her testimony to us--but her date is waiting on her wedding. And her wedding is waiting on her "asawa" or significant other. We are going fishing with her at her pond next Monday.

I don't have any really great stories. The work's been tough. But we did get 57 at church on sunday! Yayyy!

President compares the mission to a marathon. I am doing my best to keep the pace...constantly reevaluating myself.

I went on splits again with Sister Webre. It was SO FUN. We visited a big group of recently converted children. I did magic for them all :) Made candies appear for them. They said "ang galing!!!" We reviewed with them the priesthood and the spirit was so strong as these little children described their knowledge of Joseph Smith.

Sister Carlos keeps telling me about her friend that got to meet you. Cool!

Tell grandma that I love love love her and think of her often also.
Tell poppa I love love love him too. I really loved his Christmas letter to me and I hope he knows I love him.

I love YOU so much and I am soosososososo grateful for you in my life. Thank you for your constant care for me. And your encouraging words. And your robert frost poems!

Thanks to all of my wonderful family and friends that think of me, and pray for me and all the other missionaries. We feel your prayers. I love you ALL!!

LOVE
Sister Fort

Monday, January 17, 2011

IT is COooooLD Now!?? WHAT :/








Mommaaaaaaaaaa. Maraming na gusto ko sabihin sa iyo!

Sister De Fiesta opened your Christmas package together and it was such a treat! Every time I'd pull something out of the box (which was half torn) we'd both say a long and drawn out, "wowwwwwwwwwwwwww!!!" Sister De Fiesta was so touched that there were things in there especially for her. Especially the Pistacio nuts. We've also been wearing our socks every night since we've opened the package. They are so waaarrrrm and it is sooo coooollllddd here right now. Weird that the Philippines gets cold. I never would've known. Last night I slept in a shirt and two sweatshirts, two pairs of pants, my Christmas socks, I covered my face with my hoodie, and wrapped myself in three pairs of sheets. The walnuts are a delight. I've missed them so much. AND the chocolates and the apricots and everythingggggggggggggggg. Also, the CD player got to us in one piece. Thank you thank you thank you thank you. We are no longer music deprived. We've been listening to Mormon Tabernacle choir every morning during exercises, when we shower and get ready for the day, and when we are eating any meal.

This week Sister DeFiesta and Sister Stewart, the new sister missionary trainers, went to Alicia to train the sisters there--Sister Brown being one of them. Meanwhile, Sister Webre and I were stationed in Naguilian. Which meant I had to lead the area! Ah! Sister Webre and I planned the night before together, designed our lessons in the morning, prayed about a thousand times, and got to work. Since I am the one familiar with Naguilian, I started all conversations with the investigators (did BRT=build a relationship of trust) and did all the following up on their reading and praying. Sister Webre is fairly new in the mission too, so our Tagalog was basically on the same plane. I was amazed at how capable us two American sisters were. The Lord was truly with us. We taught our first lesson of the day to a woman named Dali. Sister DF and I had taught her once before. The last time Sister De Fiesta and I tried to teach her, we heard her telling her children to tell us she wasn't home. Well, she was outside doing laundry this time. Sister Webre and I offered to help her, but she refused profusely and told us we could share a short message with her. I could tell she really didn't want us there. But the more we taught her about the Book of Mormon and testified to her about its power and the power it could have on her family, her eyes softened. Sister Webre and I , after the lesson, evaluated ourselves and realized that we forgot to give a commitment and schedule a return appointment--doh! During the splits, I was able to see both the things that I can do okay without Sister De Fiesta and also the things that I forget to do or had no idea I needed to improve--like extending commitments and scheduling return appointments. We all met up at the end of the day at the Marinduque residence--Sister Webre and my last appointment, which was SO special. I shared with them how much we love them and how much God loves them. Sister De Fiesta and Stewart brought us corn on the cob from Cauayan. Sister Webre and I joked about "get that corn outta my face!!!" and LOLed about a million times. We ate our corn while we walked the sisters to the bus stop in Naguilian.

Sister De Fiesta and I taught a woman named Annie this week. It was probably our 3rd or 4th visit. We met her when we gave out wrapped Books of Mormon on Christmas/Christmas Eve. Annie is so warm to us and always listens intently to our lessons. She asks lots of questions. This meeting, when we asked her how her prayer was going, she became so honest with us. She told us that she thought our message was very nice but that she had no intention to switch religions. She said that her whole family is Catholic--she has six boys and a husband in a different country and her whole extended family is very religious. She bore her testimony to us basically about how much she's changed in her religion. She said her heart and mind aren't receiving the things we've been sharing and she feels like this is heavenly father's way of letting her know this religion isn't for her. She told us that we are welcome into her home as friends, but she will not be converted. We sat and listened. She spoke for about 15 minutes. Sister De Fiesta spoke first. She told her that she was grateful to her for her kindness towards us and her honestly. She told her that she knows that all the messages we've shared with her are true and that this is the only way to receive salvation. Sister De Fiesta said that as servants of our savior, we are declaring these things to her so that when we stand before him at the last day to give an accounting, we will not be accountable for her blood. I told her I admired her faith and her goodness and kindness towards us. I told her that there is a time for everything and that maybe this is the wrong time for her. I told her that I also know that our message to her is true and that if she would open her heart and her mind to everything we've shared, she would feel it too. I ended the lesson with a prayer. I prayed that her thoughts would be clear, that her mind would be open, and that she would feel in her heart the truthfulness of these things. In my prayer, I asked if Joseph Smith was a true prophet and paused--in the pause, I felt a confirmation from the Holy Ghost, and I know she felt it too. After the prayer, when she looked up, her eyes looked red and she said, "Ina ko..." with a sigh. Like "Oh gosh." We told her that if ever the missionaries came by again, she should receive them. We planted a seed.

This Sunday I taught Sunday school. I took two days to study for my lesson in my personal study and to prepare. I was so worried and prayed and prayed for the words I needed and to be able to have the spirit in the classroom. The lesson was about the Savior's birth. I brought my Mormon Tabernacle Choir and played "The Lord is my Shepherd." before the class started, to invite the spirit (the transition is usually pretty chaotic). There were maybe about 10 people in the class and two had their scriptures. We read from the New Testament and I asked questions in Tagalog. It felt like every question I asked there was a thirty second pause before anyone would answer--I didn't know if it was because I was asking bad questions, if my Tagalog was bad, or if the people were just shy to answer. The room was so peaceful for the whole 30 minutes. One sister answered most of the questions I asked. At one point, when sharing her love for the Savior, she cried. After the lesson, she came up to me and said, "It's been a long, long time since I've felt the spirit that strong here in our Sunday school." I am so grateful to my Heavenly Father for blessing me with the Spirit. The ultimate teacher. I prayed that dispite of my weaknesses, the Spirit would be able to teach the people something. I know that I did nothing.

We have one investigator with a baptismal date and four came to church on Sunday. Yayyyy!!!

I got a letter from Victoria that was SO HILARIOUS, from the MTC. I read it walking around town in Cauayan, and laughed to myself about a million times. She said that the food there is making her gassy and chubby and that she is having such a hard time with the language. Awwwww. I love her and miss her and know that she will be AMAZINNNGGGG. I've already sent her a letter to Armenia, even though her departure date isn't til Feb 24th.

Mom. I'm going to be 24. 24!!!!!! What!?!?!111/!?!?!?!1?!!?!?!!!!!!!!!!!! And six months out on my mission the 4th of Feb. Crazy.

Also, I am sososososososos proud of grandma for getting her temple recommend updated!!! Tell her she can't go anywhere til I'm married. I need her there. Tell her to tell grandpa to just be patient for a realy long time. :)

I LOVE YOUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUALLLLLLLLL. SOSOSOSOSSO much.
Love,
Your beebeeeee and Sister Fort,

Send me MORE ROBERT FROST! I LOVED the ones you sent. I read them to Sister De Fiesta today after study. :)

Monday, January 10, 2011




Thank you so much for your Robert Frost poems. Mmmmm. I miss literature. It's been nice to read things like Jesus the Christ. The language is so heavy, and it's like reading a challenging novel. My english is going down the drain still though. The other day I wrote a letter and after I reread it I realized I used the incorrect "there" and the incorrect "our." Ahhhhhhh. I hear thats a sign though, that you're getting better at Tagalog. Sanaaaa [crosses fingers]. This morning, Nanay Luming came over and cooked Tilapia in banana leaves on our grill with Sister De Fiesta, and I did the laundry in the back--all by myself! :) Nanay asked me if this was my first area. I told her yes, and she said it's like I've been here longer. Maybe it's because she saw me doing the laundry right for once (I can finally make the squishing sound with my hands now that all of the natives make when they do their laundry.), maybe its because I can actually understand her Tagalog now, or maybe its because my skin is darker now. Who knows? But it gave me some encouragement that I'm making some progression. It's hard to see it in yourself when you're in the middle of it.

Masaya na masaya ako na nan dito sa mundo si little Brynlee!!!!! Tell Nathan and Lindsay congratulations for me!! Also, I almost started bawling in this little computer shop because of what happened to that poor lady and family in the room next to you. I cannot imagine the horror that that family must've felt. (My first impression was: I need to teach them the plan of salvation).

Some mornings I wake up and think, "Oh yeah, I'm still in the Philippines." Its funny how its still surreal to me at times. Where is home?? I have many moments where I see the beautiful landscape or when we get out of a good, good lesson, and I take a deep breath and think, "I am loving this so much."

Your package is here. It's at the mission home right now and we are going to get it after we email. All of the Christmas packages have been taking a while--especially the bigger ones--because the post office has been partying for the past few weeks. The postal system is funny that way. There's a lady who works in the post office in Naguilian who is supposed to be there from 9-4 every week day. But she's not. When Sister De Fiesta and I see her walking around the neighborhood--when we catch her somewhere--we give her our mail and payment right then and there. Sometimes we just push our mail under her door with a few pesos and cross our fingers that they'll get to where we want them to go. Mail that comes to the mission office though is pretty well taken care of. Sister Breese works hard to get us our mail. So don't worry about sending packages.

Sister De Fiesta says things like "shucks" and "yucks." I'm picking it up.

So, these past few weeks we've been struggling getting our investigators to come to church and we've had no baptismal dates. Sister De Fiesta and I have been evaluating ourselves like crazy. We keep asking: what are we doing wrong? But we've come to the conclusion that Heavenly Father is just saying, "Daughters, it's not enough this time. Do a little bit more." So, we've made a goal to have six baptismal dates by the end of this cycle. In Alma 17:3, because of much fasting and much prayer, the Sons of Mosiah taugh with power and authority from God and had much success. We've made a plan to fast every sunday for them, and to make more detailed lesson plans--with scriptures and questions. [Also when we teach, we've been switching off more and more.] Yesterday, before church, at 7am, we went to go pick up five of our investigators. None of them wantedto/could come, except for one. Also, last night, while we were still fasting, we extended an early baptismal date to a woman in our first lesson with her, and she accepted. I know that it is because of our extended efforts that we have attained these two precious numbers--one at church, and one with date. As we counted our KI's for the week, we remembered the scripture that talks about how one soul is great in the sight of God. Sister De Fiesta and I joked that we should fast every day, and by the end of the cycle our rib cages will show and we'll have larger cheekbones, but lots of investigators with dates to be baptized.

My favorite food here that I hope I can learn to make some day: ginataan. OMG.

Oh yeah, and I went on splits with Sister Webre this week. We got three OYM's and a lesson in the three hours we had to work together during Sister De Fiesta's training. Yayyy. It was really fun.

My time is up. Ang pagmamahal ay puwedeng ibigay! Sorry, I can’t write too much this time.
I love you all very much!
Sister Fort
PS: Picture: Landscape, Cleaning Time, The big stuffed animal I'm hugging is a gift to Sister de Fiesta from a guy she doesn't like. IT's comfy, so i sleep with it.

Monday, January 3, 2011

HAPPY NEW YEAR Agaaaaaain!!!




HELLO Momma & Pop, Family and Friends!!!

So transfers were this week and guess what...I get to be with Sister De Fiesta for another cycle! I could hardly believe it when I found out. I was absolutely sure that I would be getting a new companion and I prayed and prayed for strength for whatever was to come. But people weren't lying when they said there was no transfer for us. I am so grateful. Sister De Fiesta has been given a special assignment by President this transfer though. She is acting as an AP for the sisters in the mission. She will be training other sisters with a Sister Stewart in our Cauayan Zone. (Thats how amazing my trainer is! :) )This means I will help her prepare for her presentations and things in our companionship study, and while she trains with Sister Stewart, I will be paired to work with her companion, Sister Webre--the sister whom I sang with in our Christmas devotionals and who was my coordinating sister in the MTC. She has only been out one cycle longer than I have, so it will be interesting to see how my Tagalog and teaching skills improve this cycle. There will be no depending on a Filipino companion to help me say things I mean to say in lessons and OYMs.

New Years Eve the entire mission was on lockdown from 6pm to New Years Day. Because we're close to the mission home, President and Sister Carlos invited us to the mission home to spend the night and celebrate the New Year (Picture of us celebrating). We are so spoiled :) There were probably a total of 18 or so missionaries. We played ping pong, basketball, nerf ball, and Mexican train (Dominos). President made chili for us, and he shared his Brie cheese and crackers with me. We had caramel turtle ice cream for dessert and cake that Sister Breese made, and we all watched The Ultimate Gift. Remember that movie, Mom? Remember how I thought it was super cheesy? Well, being a missionary makes you appreciate little things like cheesy movies. I was hooked the entire movie. We all stayed up til twelve and watched the neighbors across the street blow their front yard up. We watched fireworks, and since we weren't able to handle any as missionaries, one of the elders bought a confetti popper. We had about three different countdowns, cause everyones watches were off, and Elder Mulliner popped the confetti popper. It was underwhelming. The sisters stayed up about 10 minutes after 12 before we all decided to retire. President and Sister Carlos let us sleep in the loft above the mission office. It was like a five star--white tile, air con, and running water. They sent us back to our areas in the morning with stomachs full of pancakes, bacon, eggs, and fruit. It was a lovely New Year.

New Years day, everywhere we went, we were fed. The Marinduque family fed us Palabok and fruit salad (almost like the marshmellow salad we make, but with pasta, and different fruits like hearts of palm and papaya), Sister Aida (In Picture) fed us bibingka and baboy, Nanay Luming fed us fried fish and adobo, the Danao family fed us fruit salad, and at our last appointment with an investigator we were fed fruit salad again. I was full to my throat. But its funny. In our comp prayer that morning, I prayed that Heavenly Father would bless all of those who would serve us missionaries that day. Apparently lots of people needed blessings. :)

I have made lots of goals for the new year. Here is a preview:
Give away at least one Book of Mormon per week
Read the Book of Mormon 4 times in the year (following a 90 day schedule president gave us at Christmas)
Read Jesus the Christ, Our Search for Happiness, and True to the Faith
Learn 3 new words per day/use them/account to the Lord

We have been showing the DVD Finding Faith in Christ to our investigators (we have the DVD at home, Momma. Watch it!). It is such a beautiful DVD and depiction of the miracles of Christ. I recommend it to everyone! Watching it has really given me a better perpective and understanding of the love that Christ has for us all. I am in tears by the end of every viewing of it. I bore my testimony of the Savior in our first sacrament meeting of the year, and felt so overcome by His love as I spoke. The words flowed for me. I remember my patriarchal blessing: "You will embark upon missionary service with great zeal as you share your love for the Savior and as you enrich the lives of those whom you will meet and nurture while in the Lord's service." I know that the closer I come to my Savior in this service, the greater my love for the people I serve, and the greater my zeal for this work. I pray daily for this blessing to come. I never realized how missionary focused my patriarchal blessing was until now--there is so much in there about missionary work. How did I never know before that i was supposed to do this?

I love these quotes i found this week: "We become what we want to be by consistently being what we want to become." - Richard G Scott
"Strong moral character results from consistently correct choices in the trials and testing of life. Such choices are made with trust in things that are believe and when acted upon are confirmed." - Richard G Scott

Sister Sheela also bore her testimony on Sunday about the truthfulness of the gospel and the blessings she's received in her life since she's become a member. I was so touched by her testimony and am so grateful to have been a witness of her transformation and growth in the gospel. What an adorable family she has.

Some of our baptismal dates have been dropped and our numbers at church have been decreasing lately with the holidays. Sister De Fiesta and I fasted this week to be able to find more investigators. As we were planning this week, Sister DF and I were a little down, seeing the 0's in our baptismal dates and progressing investigators. At the end of our four hour planning session, I looked at our plan, and there were so many people on our schedule. None of which are scheduled for baptism, none of which are progressing investigators, but they are basically all new. As i looked at the names, i realized that this was an answer to our fast. It's almost like we've started over in our area, but I know that every one of those names is supposed to be there, and Sister De Fiesta and I are doing our best. Whatever comes of them is what is to come of them.

I hope this New Year finds you well. Alam ko na nan diyen si Jesucristo para tumulong sa atin sa mg goals natin sa bagong taon na ito. If we need strength to meet our goals, he is there to help. He worked miracles when he walked the earth, and he continues to work miracles in our lives every day.

I love you love you love you!!!! Love you ALL!!!! Family and Friends :)
Your sister mish,
Sister Fort