Wonton Soup

Hello!!!!!
If you are wondering about the subject line it is what I just had for lunch. Busog na Busog na ako!!! Masarap talaga. Anyway I love you all and I am happy to be telling you about my week.
So we started the week of course with transfer awareness meeting to find out who would be transfered! It is always so stressful waiting to see if you are going to be staying or going. Some
missionaries are suprised when they see their name up for transfer and some are expecting it. This time I was sort of expecting to see my name on there because I have been here in caba for 3 transfers now but nope! No transfer for me! Me and sister Dacuno will be together for at least one more transfer here in caba. I am happy because I love love love caba! It is where I feel at home. Of course
If I had gotten transfered I would have gone without a complaint because that is the Lords plan for me. With this transfer we got some new missionaries in our zone including Elder Contreras (he was in the MTC with me) and Elder Gemmel (a brand new missionary from new zealand) yay!
So on transfer day (Friday) we found out that Sister Yousuf (Sister Fernandos companion) is comming back from MRC. She will come back later today. This means Sister Fernando will be back in Aringay and we will be back working in Caba full time. It is nice to work with Sister Fernando. She is a great missionary and a great friend but it will be great to get back to normal and focus on our area.

On Saturday we were invited by Sister Monahan to a leadership training in Agoo. We helped her with her training the RS YW and primary presidencies on how they can find and help Less actives return to church and become active again. They also reviewed the area goals and discussed what each presidency can do to save the rising generation and help their young men serve missions.
 
So I am feeling healthy and strong. I am always tired but that is ok.   I am working hard! I have been eating lots and lots of veggies! cabbage, eggplant, beans, peas, carrots, and lots and lots more. Also lots of tilapia! My favorite.

At the Gatchallan's with our BML Bro Jimboy and one of our investigators in Aringay!

Our investigators are still doing great! Sister Len Len is reading and loves to meet with us. She still has not come to church though! We are praying for her and teaching her by the spirit to help her havce the desire to excersize her faith in Jesus Christ.

I have really enjoyed this month and cannot believe it is almost over!! This month the theme for our studies has been Endure to the end! I know enduring to the end is not just getting to the end of our mission or the end of our life. It is serving and staying temple worthy at all times. We need to serve the Lord with all our heart might mind and strength and always try to be like Him in all that we do. We are not perfect but we are striving for perfection. I know if we strive every day we can become like him someday. Like him and our Heavenly father. That is just amazing to me! We can have all that our Father has and live in the celestial kingdom with Him and with our families. Be happy forever if we make all the effort we can today. Something I ask myself everyday is "Did I do my absolute best?" Some days I do well others I could do better but I know where I can improve. Enduring to the end takes daily sometimes hourly self-evaluation. If you want to see how you can improve and become like Christ I suggest studying the Christlike attributes chapter in PMG it is helpful and has a self evaluation survey at the end. Do it!! It helps me a lot.

Anyway I am still having great adventures and love preaching the gospel to the people here. Pray for me that I will continue to have the gift of toungues! It is comming!
I love you all and pray for you every day several times.

I got a letter from grandpa jensen and from you today! and one from cait :)))

Preparing the fish.

 

The threesome!

 

Howdee Do!

Kumusta family that I love so much! Am so happy to hear from you always and hear all your daily activities.

I am doing very well here in the Phils. This week has been interesting! I am in a tri-some again with Sister Fernando and Sister Dacuno. Sister Fernando's companion sister yourself went to Manila to the missionary recovery center to hopefully gain weight. She is a vegetarian and it is really hard to be one here. No one really cooks vegetarian. So she left on Wednesday. We have not heard if she is coming back or going home. So we are working in Caba and Aringay again! We only have one week until transfers.....well less! transfers are on Friday! Ah! anyway....none of us are training so we will just wait until Wednesday to find out if we are being transferred or not. I don't know what is in store for me but I hope I get to stay in Caba. I am happy here. But of course whatever the Lord has planned for me is ok with me! We are also working hard to find an apartment here in Caba that will house more missionaries! It is hard to find one that fits the standards but with the Lord's help we will be able to do it.

I love love love missionary work. I am working hard each day to become more Christlike so that I can testify with power and authority. I feel more power and authority each day as I work to improve my knowledge and my testimony. We are teaching a new family the Torres family. They were referred to us by President Mabalot....one of the district presidency. Sister Lourdes is really interested but has so many questions! I wish we could answer them all at once but of course we have an order to all things we do. I think she is tired of us saying "Sa susunod na lesson, sasagotin namin." of "Next lesson we will answer your question" I hope she remains patient while we teach her line upon line!

Anyway.....not much more to write this week....working in two areas is tiring but the Lord is helping us have strength and fulfill our duties.
In this internet shop they are playing Jonas Brothers!! Talk about distracting! That is a hard thing about here in the Phils...they play their music so loud! While we are studying in the morning our neighbor plays Blackeyed Peas full blast. I just hum hymns or read out loud quietly to stay focused. Ahhh! I wish I had more to write you but I am running our of time already. I just want to tell you that I love you and I love the temple.
My companion and I were discussing the blessings of the temple the other day and the spirit testified to me that the temple is a holy place. I longed to go there again. I cannot wait till I can go inside again!!!
Anyway I love ya!
Sister Stapp

1. Any letters this week?
I got a Christmas card from Megan and one from grandpa :)

2. Are you being transferred soon?
Transfers are this weekkkk!!1 I will not know if I am being transferred until Wednesday at the transfer awareness meeting.

3. Any new teaching going on?
We are teaching a new family. A referral of one of our district presidency. They are interested and willing to listen and learn. They used to go to Iglesia ni cristo and have lots and lots of questions.

4. Does it continue to cool down?
Yes it is not as hot as it used to be. It is usually cooler in the evenings of course.

5. When does the rainy season begin?I think in June....or July.... not sure everyone says something different.

6.Are you making friends with the kids?
They are always touching my hair and stuff. We were just eating at Jollybee and a little girl told her mom she wanted a pic of me. But her mom wouldn't let her.
They basically love me because they say I look like a barbie. I wish I could talk to the kids more but they mostly only speak Illocano :(

7. What books are you studying?
The BOM! haha! basically and PMG and I have been reading lots of conference talks lately.

Fullmer's News!

Hi Bro. & Sis. Stapp,

Just wanted to tell you that your daughter spoke in sacrament last Sunday and she did so great. She spoke on keeping the sabbath day holy and it was all in Tagalog. I hugged her and told her how proud we were of her and I know her mother would be also. We had brought a 12 yr. girl that lives across the street with us because her mother works. This was her first time and she loved it and came home and told her mother that Sunday was Heavenly Father's day and that no one should work. She really listened. Her mother agreed.

We did apartment checks on Thursday and she had ask me if I could make these brownies for her. I told her I would be delighted to. We are going with them this afternoon to check out a new apartment for the other sisters here in Aringay and so I will bring them to her then. No one would believe that most people here do not have ovens.

My husband and I are trying to make a solar oven from cardboard boxes so we can teach the sisters here if they would like one.

We are sure going to miss her when she is transferred and I'm sure that won't be to long. She has blessed this area and will many others.

Sincerely,

Sister Fullmer

Making Advances

Magandang hapon family and friends! I love you all so so much! I am doing great this week as always and am loving it here in the Phils still. My companion Sis Dacuno and I have had a great week of hard work! We had a total of 29 lessons this week. We are working a lot with Sister Sheila who is one of our best branch missionaries. Sis Sheila just got her mission call to Quezon City North! She reports to the Philippines MTC on March 1st. We are so so so excited for her! Of course I was hoping she would get called to Cali but oh well. She works with us almost everyday. It is good training for her she will be such a great missionary in the field.

Investigator Story: So one of our investigators , Sister _______, She is progressing really well, she reads and prays and loves to learn. She has not been able to come to church yet but we are hoping for this week. We taught her about the fall of Adam and Eve the other day and how we know it was part of God's plan and without it the plan would not be able to be fulfilled. She was amazed and so happy about the way we view the fall. I asked her how she felt and she said she felt happy because she has always blamed Adam and Eve for her problems. But now she knows God's plan is perfect and He has a specific plan for her and her family. She started asking about baptism after that. She really wants to get baptized but she and her husband are not married. It would be nice if they could get married but they both have previous spouses that they are still legally married to. Since there is no such thing as divorce,  just annulment, they cannot get annulment with their previous spouses because it is very very expensive. Anyway maybe a miracle will happen that will help them get baptized. In the meantime we will pray and fast and teach :) We are having FHE at her house tonight.

Another great story is that this week the Relief Society had an activity with the theme "Rescuing the One" They all invited a non-member friend or a less active member that they know. We were able to get a lot of referrals and meet lots of new people. I am so proud of our Relief Society here in Aringay branch. They are working hard to establish the church here in the Phils.

Speaking of establishing the church, we were so privileged to hear our area presidency speak over satellite on Saturday. Elder Teh, Elder Ardern....and the other member of the presidency, introduced the area goals. The goals are to strengthen families, rescue the one, Save the rising generation, establish the church, and daily scripture study. These goals are going to help the branches increase attendance and help families get to the temple to be sealed. They also emphasized the importance of mission prep and temple prep for ysa. I am excited for 2013 it will be a great productive year in the Philippines.

I have not eaten anything unusual lately.......I have been eating a lot of different things though, jackfruit, sinigang, seaweed it is all delicious :) I think I am eating healthy. I have been eating a lot of candy because Grandma sent it haha! I just ran out of Hot Cheetos and Almond Roca :((( haha! I eat pancit canton a lot which is like top ramen but way way better.

So tomorrow is Zone training so I will probably get letters then. None so far this week we will see tomorrow. I am sending a letter to Aunt Cindy and Elder Souza this week.

Funny story this week: So I gave a talk this week in sacrament meeting about keeping the sabbath day holy. It went really well all after giving my talk I gave a little time to say thanks for all the love we get from the branch. After sacrament meeting one of the old men in the ward came up to me. Bro Alfred is always so sweet and kind I shook his hand. He asked me if I was leaving. I said no I will probably still be here for a few months. He then asked if I had a boyfriend . Taken back I said with a smile of course not brother I am a missionary! He said " Ako na lang!" which means--How about me!  I told him that is not allowed and I am too young.  I laughed and ran to catch up with my companion :) hha!!!

Anyway out of time I love you all and hope you are well. I love this gospel so so so so much. I am so grateful for the example of Jesus Christ in my life. Make sure you read PMG and BOM every day!!!!!!!
Sister Stapp

Photos of the Week!

The picture is of me wearing a traditional Pakistani dress.
Sister Yousuf from pakistan let me try it on! fun!

 

Me and my companion!

 

New Years Filipino Fiesta

Happy New Year everyone!

I cannot believe it is already 2013 and I have almost been here for 6 months! They say after 6 months the time flies. It is going by too fast already I cannot imagine how the time could fly any faster. I am so happy to be here and blessed to be called to serve the Lord.

This week has been great! Of course it started our great because I got to talk to you all on the phone!
I loved hearing all your voices. I miss you all so so much.

New Years Eve was an interesting night. Of course we are obedient missionaries so we turned off the lights and went to sleep at 10:30...or at least we tried! the Filipinos love to party! There were fireworks and karaoke and screaming and yelling going on from 9pm to 2:30 am. ha ha! I got about two hours of sleep. But luckily the Lord helped me be awake and ready for the full day of work the next day. We are teaching lots of new investigators and new less active members.

This week we were so lucky to have a zone study with President Monahan! He came to Agoo and taught us about effective studies and also about faith. He taught us that the thing that most investigators and less actives lack is faith. If we teach them about faith and how to nurture their faith, they will be motivated to act and to come to church and to repent. Sister Dacuno and I are giving a workshop tomorrow in district meeting on this topic tomorrow i am excited!

President also told us about all the exciting things happening in the mission. In March there will be two transfers and 65 missnionaries coming in!!! He told us that Caba and Aringay will probably be getting new missionaries! This means there will be 8 sisters in Aringay Branch! This is so exciting I am so grateful for this and I hope it really does happen. Aringay and Caba used to be separate wards. With more missionaries and more member support we can help Caba become a ward again!

We also got a new branch mission leader this week Brother Jaime. Brother Bernie got released because he is the Ward Clerk and the BML so it was a little too much for him to handle. Brother Jaime is preparing to serve a mission so we are excited to start training him :)

Well that is about all I have time for. We are doing great here and love you all!

P.s. Sorry this email took so long for me to send! The power went out for a few hours. but I am sending it now :)

Love love love,
Sister Stapp

pps. The picture is of me wearing a traditional Pakistani dress. Sister Yousuf from Pakistan let me try it on! fun!

 

How is the work going? 

Great! it is hard but good. We are finding new people to teach. Still have no baptismal dates set but we are working towards some. our investigator that we were really hoping to set a date for is no longer taking the lessons because her dad ( a less active member) said she had to stop :( We are facing challenges but not losing hope!!

Will you be in Caba at the next transfer? When do you find out?

I am not sure...I will find out at the end of this transfer. More than likely I will be here still because they are probably going to split my area into two.

Did you get any letters this week?

I got a letter from Grandma and Grandpa Stapp! and one from Jake and a Christmas card from Cindy :)))

Are you feeling strong and healthy?

For the Most part yes!

Has your time in the mission field flown by quickly or do you feel like you have been there forever?

Both!!! When I think about how long I have been here it blows my mind that it has gone by so so fast. Yet it feels like a lifetime since I was in the MTC

Did I tell you that Nicole Hogge is going to the Philippines?

No but Cindy told me! Tell her that she will love it and not to be nervous. Just embrace the culture and love the people.

How are your clothes holding up, do you need to buy more?

I need to buy more. I just ripped my favorite skirt. The pink one with the big pockets. It got caught in the fan. And I just ripped another one while getting into a tryke. I need shirts though my shirts don't hold up very well even the ones I buy here. I will work on that I am surviving though.

Did the shirts I sent the ones you wanted?

Yes! thanks! they are a little tight. i think I told you to sent mediums because I have gained weight but that is ok. they work :) I love you

 

PHOTOS!!!

The Fullmer's are a senior couple and they have updated their blog with some great photos of the Philippines.  They are a wonderful support to the sisters in Caba and Aringay!

(click on photos to enlarge)

 

A uniquie Christmas Tree!

Celebrating with the Fullmers

 

District Meeting in Agoo

 

Shopping in Agoo

 

Yellow Mellon--Very sweet!

 

 

 

Out to lunch after District Meeting

 

 

I LOVE MISSIONARY WORK!