June 22, 2014

Mayung aga!

This week has felt soo long, but short at the same time. Like when
you mentioned that my year mark was this past week, I was like, that
was this week? That felt forever ago and then I remembered that
our zone conference was just last Monday and that felt like forever ago
too. Time is a strange thing. I don't understand it. But I get six
more months here in the Philippines and I'm going to take advantage
and cherish it the best I can.

We're continuing to teach the L Family and their faith is so
evident. We love teaching and visiting them. The spirit in their home
is always so strong. Two other daughters of V (the grandma that
was baptized last week) came to church this past week! And other good
news, we found out a way for M to get married that won't cost
anything! It includes a lot of paperwork, but we're willing to figure
it out so that they can get married and she can finally get baptized.

Sister Tongson sent you pictures?! She's the sweetest member. She
loves to feed and help the missionaries in any way that she can. She
gives referrals all the time too. She's the one that when she found
out I  was being transferred, invited half the ward over without
us even knowing.

I love that everybody is going on missions! It truly is the most
rewarding experience! I need to learn Taglog so I can talk to Landon
and Colton when we all get back.

I love you! and I love the gospel. It truly is the pathway that leads
to everlasting happiness.

xxx,
Sister Fitz

Sister Fitzgerald with her companion Sister Camino

Celebrating birthdays at Zone Conference

Leading the singing at Zone Conference

Bacolod Zone Picture

June 15, 2014

Maayong Aga kag Happy Father's Day!

This week marks my one year mark in the mission! I still don't exactly comprehend it, nor do I understand how time has gone so quickly, but here I am with less than six months until I'm home! Crazy! This past week it was Sister Canimo's two months left on the mission mark, so I bought her the large halo-halo from Chowking rather than the regular. I don't know if I've mentioned halo-halo before but it's this dessert here that looks and sounds so gross, yet it's so delicious. 

Simply put, our week was great. I don't think I've ever been more tired, but it was good. (I might have fallen asleep for the first time twice this past week during our companionship prayer before we went to bed (that's how tired I was). We've definitely been busy! It's been zone conference this past week so we've driving home missionaries at night time around 9, and then this past weekend there was a companionship in the hospital and since the couples were out of town, we had to bring them food every day. Even today we're busy! We have our own zone conference this afternoon, but before that we get to take the elders home from the hospital, and this morning we stopped by the office to get the travel documents ready for an elder who was heading to Manila for his visa application. But we're finding time to email which is our favorite part of the day! But this week was great mostly because of V and T's baptism! One of the sweetest families I have ever met. V's faith and testimony is so strong and we've seen such a change in T as we've taught them. She carries her Book of Mormon everywhere with her and has the sweetest smile. They shared their testimonies after their baptism and of course I was just teary eyed. I feel so blessed to been able to teach them and help them learn of the gospel. M is V's daughter-in-law who's still waiting to get married before she can get baptized. Her husband hasn't been available at all to even talk to, but yesterday a small miracle happened! We went and visited them and to our surprise, M's husband was there! He actually sat down and listened for a couple minutes before he had to leave for work which he has never done in the past! And afterwards M said that he was thinking about going to church earlier that morning but he had work. M is more ready than all of them for baptism, but I guess Heavenly Father has a time and plan for her to be baptized. So in the meantime we'll do all that we can and have faith that she'll some day be able to follow as well along with her husband.

I love the mission and love knowing that I have six more months to serve! Thank you for your love, support, and prayers both for me and my investigators. I know it's making a difference and that Heavenly Father is watching over all of us.

Nahidlaw ko sa inyo tanan pero makitaay ta dugay dugay :)

xxx,

Sister Fitzgerald

June 8, 2014

Maayong aga!

It's been such an amazing, uplifting, spiritual, and blessed week! We've seen so much progress in our area the past couple weeks! Just yesterday we gave part of our area to Elders because we just don't have enough time to follow up and focus on all these investigators! But our week was good mostly because of the L family. Last past couple weeks I think I've mentioned about M, how she's so prepared and ready for baptism, but what's preventing her is that she needs to get married first. Both Sister Canimo and I mentioned about her in our email to President Lopez last week, and then that night at MLC, President mentioned them, asking how they're progressing, etc. He then was saying how we would love to have his wife meet them, so on Wednesday, Sister Lopez came and worked with us! I was a little nervous at first, but it was so fun and such an great experience! She said she only gets to work with missionaries about once every month or two depending on their schedule so I think we were really lucky to experience it. But we shared about tithing and fasting, and it was one of the most spiritual lessons I've ever had. I think all of us we're crying at one point. M's faith and testimony is so strong and it's just heartbreaking because of the whole marriage thing, but we're trying to work with her husband to get it all figure out. The only problem is, is that he's always working so we haven't even met him yet... but we'll make it happen! But their whole family is so receptive to the gospel! M's mother-in-law, the grandma in the pictures, and her youngest daughter will be baptized this Saturday,and then four others in their family came to church with them yesterday for the first time and are now preparing for the 29th, and as soon as M is married, she'll be able to get baptized! We just keep seeing miracle after miracle with their family, and I know more will come to help all of them accept the gospel and be able to be baptized.

We also just started teaching a family who was a referral from one of the members of the ward. The first time we finally found their house, the mom wouldn't even open the gate. But the past two weeks, we'll just stop and talk to her for a couple minutes when we walk by her barbecue stand, and then yesterday, two of her children came to church! We haven't really been able to teach her yet, but we've at least seen a little progress for her to let her children come to church :)

If there's one thing I've been learning on the mission, it's faith- not just faith but faith in Jesus Christ. President shared this quote in our mission business meeting but I thought I would share this little gem with you all too. “There is another kind of faith: more powerful, less known, infrequently observed. This faith in God compounds our ability to accomplish our righteous desires. It is creative, and generative kind of faith. This is the faith save for the exercise of which things would not happen. This is the great causative force in human lives. This is the faith that moves mountains.” (A. Theodore Tuttle) This is the kind of faith I've been trying to develop and grow in myself, in mission work, in basically everything. It's the kind of faith I need to exercise every day to fulfill my purpose as a missionary by helping build Heavenly Father's kingdom here on the earth. It's the kind of faith that will make my goals and dreams come to pass. I've made a lot of progress since last year when I entered the MTC, but I know it can only get stronger. I'm grateful for your examples of faith and of love. I miss you all but I'm excited to think I still have six more months to grow and learn as much as I can.

Palangge ko kamo!
xxx,
Sister Fitzgerald

Teaching with Sister Lopez (mission president wife)

May 25, 2014

Family!

Mom and Dad, I love you beyond words as well! It's been an exhausting week, not necessarily bad, but one of the weeks when you open up your emails from your family, and you can't just help but just feel overwhelming love and just tear up a little bit because of it. We've definitely been kept busy in the office.

This past week, we've been focusing in of our areas that's kind of in the outskirts of our boundaries. It's far away, but there's this one family that is just so ready to receive the gospel, the L family. They consist of a grandma, her three daughters, two of which have their own families already and kids. Yesterday, all of them came to church! Their spirits and countenance are just so sweet. Truly an amazing family. We're helping them prepare for baptism but one of them has to get married first before they will be able to. But, we'll make it happen! On Saturday, we went on member exchanges, so I worked in that area with one of the Relief Society sisters. We went to go teach them and they all gathered together before we started and the first thing they asked when we sat down was "are you coming to pick us up tomorrow for church? what time should we be ready?" I love them already. The spirit is always so strong when we teach them.

I'm already running out of time. we have to head back to the office... :( but thank you so much for your letters this past week. Mom and dad, your testimonies that you wrote were exactly what I needed. I love you and I love the gospel. Thank you for raising me in a home that was centered on it. I feel so lucky to have been born into our family. Send everyone my love!

xoxo,

Sister Fitzgerald