Las Pinas- week 6... preparation day is today- hehe oops :)

Kumusta!

Today was transfer announcements and I'm staying in Las Pinas with the same companion. That's nice.... I don't have to pack up any luggage :).   My zone isn't really changing much this coming transfer so we were told our preparation day is today instead of Wednesday. But for Wednesday's transfer meeting, all missionaries are being told that they need to attend... apparently some big changes are happening. Pretty interesting...  Thanks for the emails... despite the day change :). I appreciate them!  It's amazing that in each transfer, I've learned so much and I'm still continuing to learn a lot. I appreciate the lessons I'm learning and in realizing more of my weaknesses more and more. God is so very merciful to me. Sorry this is short but I decided I would write all that have written me emails... but next week will be a longer email! 

Mahal ko Kayo!
Sister Mohrman

Las Pinas- week 5...... temple week!

Kumusta!

Thanks for the emails! I was a bit surprised with all the email and I really appreciate it! :) Today was temple day for me (hence why there was no email on Monday). And it was really great. Going to the temple really helped me out a lot and it's such a beautiful place!  Time has flown by and I can't believe that next week is transfers again! I'm not sure what is going to happen but it will be God's will and I'm excited. Next week my email will be on Wednesday again because of transfer week, by the way. This Saturday is temple tour for the city! Which means that the sisters who are in the province areas will come to the temple and teach our (all the city zones) investigators and recent converts who haven't gone to the temple. So that's pretty exciting. God is helping me out so much over here. We had a baptism this past Saturday and it went really well. Reultio (the one baptized) is 19 years old and will be going on a mission a year from now. I'm excited for him. I don't know.... baptisms over here vary, depending on the ward and ward mission leader. Our ward mission leader (and his family) are great. He just barely returned home from a mission in July and is pretty close to getting engaged.  Since just about every email every week asks me this... my Tagalog will eventually come. I'm learning this language in a variety of ways and I guess considering my major... it's helping me for the future. So yeah... but no worries. I can feel God helping me and that's what is really important. I love the lessons I'm learning every day and sorry this is short!

Mahal ko Kayo!
Sister Mohrman

Las Pinas- week 4 (I think)................milk or juice?

Kumusta!

So it's been an interesting past week. As usual, I've learned a lot of lessons that I'm so grateful for. We found a lot of investigators and my companion and I are working even harder this week to help them become progressing investigators. Oh yeah, about a week and a half ago was the mission tour. Elder Ardern and his wife came to our mission to speak with us. It was incredible! They're from New Zealand and I learned a lot from them. They spoke about retention and other things. They said that the Manila Mission was doing well but he was speaking as the Philippines as a whole. The statistics were staggering. for example; around 15,000 people (give or take a few thousands) were baptized into the church in 2005, but of those 15,000, only 3,000 are active in the church. So he went through all of the years and the stats were staggering. Over 75,000 (more than this actually) converts from 2005 to this past years are lost, they're inactive.... that was surprising news for the missionaries who have come in within the past 6 months. There's lots of work to be done. Sorry this is short but I don't have much time. Before I forget, I bought my first milk this past week and it was terrible. It wasn't the worst but I would never buy it again. I was going to attach photos but I don't have enough time... sorry :) A lot of their milk, they keep on a regular store shelf. It's liquid but the shelf life expires within 4-5 months...you just need to put it into the fridge when you buy it... and it wasn't the best drink I've tried so I'm sticking with water and juice. Although, maybe if I tried a different kind that was already cold, but I don't know. I've really come to love drinking water and juice. There's this orange-mango juice that is delicious!  Also, Coconut juice/milk. That is very delicious! Thanks for all the emails! Sorry I don't have much time to respond to everyone!

Mahal ko Kayo!
Sister Mohrman

Las Pinas- week 4......answers I suppose :D

Kumusta!

Since I've gotten emails complaining that I don't really answer many of the questions, I figured that I would answer them here. I don't know the most interesting food I've eaten recently... it's pretty normal for over here. I've eaten a crab that was the size of my hand, with the eyeballs, legs, etc... all still attached to it. Is that what you're looking for? It was pretty difficult eating it because the one that I had before was a tiny one and you could just suck out the stuff you eat. This one I had to figure out out to open the shell and what to eat inside. Then I was told I needed to snap open the claws and legs too and eat what was there. It was a pretty new experience for me, and the Bishop, his wife and my companion got a big kick at me trying to figure out how to eat it. It was pretty funny. I'm actually the average size (bordering on tall, but still average) for a Filipina. You just saw pictures of really short Filipinos and I get the opportunity to be their companions. It's pretty funny. The Philippines is rather large in land and with a lot of people. The map just makes it look small. Sure, it's small if you compare it with other countries but when you're there it's actually pretty big and crowded. I guess I'm spoiled this transfer. I have a shower in the nice apartment. No bucket showers, that's pretty nice but it was nice the other way too. I like what I'm learning and I'm learning a lot.
Sure, many people do speak English, I just happen to get the opportunity of meeting people who don't speak or understand English very well..:D I love the growth that I'm experiencing, I'm learning a lot and I'm so appreciative of these lessons.
I love it over here. I'm learning a lot about this culture and about other cultures too. I've learned about Samoan culture (not American Samoa), Indian culture, Pakistani culture, and of course... Filipino culture, not to mention about their different languages too. It's all pretty exciting. I've still got a very long ways to go, but I'm enjoying the journey as usual. I like my study hours, it's helping me a lot and our companionship. Our companionship is becoming stronger each day and we're learning a lot from each other. Our apartment is rather nice. Food is great. The work is moving forward and I'm striving to be better and working even harder. I'm pretty excited for this coming week. Sister Rodalia (the one I met in San Pedro.. that story I told you about) wasn't able to meet with us at all this past week so this week, we're going back there to teach her and it's the Plan of Salvation. That's coincidentally what I'm supposed to be studying this week... it's fate.  There are so many problems over here and it's exciting to bring the gospel to the people in creative ways and seeing their lives get blessed. I don't really remember what other questions you all had so sorry if I haven't answered them.

Mahal ko Kayo!
Sister Mohrman