Week 40

Holy Cow, I've been out for 40 weeks!  No, it was just yesterday I entered the MTC!! Time flies sooooo fast!  Well, this week has been great!  I have learned a lot!  We had interviews on Thursday, so it was so nice to know what things I can improve on to be better.  I always love interviews! :)

Oh man, so we found a new investigator.  Her name is Juby.  She has a daughter who we always see.  She is 7 years old and every time we pass by her (like everyday!) she always says, "What's your name??" I always say, "Ako si sister Coleman" and then lately, because she's asked me so many times, I say, "Alam mo yung pangalan ko...ano ang pangalan ko?" Now she says, "Sister Coleman."  Anyways, so we saw her the other day, we had the conversation that I just wrote, but this time, her mom was sitting out with her.  I went up and started talking with her mom.  She was so welcoming and receptive and invited us right in.  We got to teach her and her family right then, and we are going back later today! :)  I really hope that she is prepared and that we can continue to help her and her family come unto Christ.

Oh yeah, so I reached my 9 month point last week...on the 9th! Holy cow, I can't believe I have been out that long/short!  It really feels like I just got here!  I love being a missionary!  With all the ups and downs, I love it!  I know that we are all children of our Heavenly father.  He wants us to succeed and become like Him!  The gospel is the only way!  Thank you all for your support and love!  I know that the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day saints is true, and that it really is God's Kingdom here on the earth!  Ah I just love this work!

Happy Birthday Jesslyn, Jessica and Jared!  Happy birthday to me on the 18th! ;)  And Charles, happy Birthday to you on the 23rd!  I'll mention that next week as well! :)  Oh by the way, we baked (in our conventional oven ...who'd of thought you could actually bake in one of those...;) we baked biscuits, and dogs in a blanket.  Ah they were so good, and hey, not to be prideful or anything, I was able to make the dough without a recipe!  Whew! I'm glad Heavenly Father Answers prayers that the food we make without recipes turn out! ;)

We had an in active family come to church, that hasn't come for a loooong time! YAY!  It's a miracle!  I hope they felt the spirit!  I love the gospel, especially seeing people live it!

I love you all!

Love, Sister Coleman

Week 39

Happy 4th of July!

So this week has been really good!  We have been trying to work hard, and we've seen prayers been answered.  I have learned that God loves each of His Children!  He loves the Bond, Free, Male, Female, child, adult, every single person.  He wants all of his children to return to him!  Man, I need to work so hard to let every single soul here, especially in my area, that the gospel is here, and the way to return back to God is here, on the earth!  I love sharing the gospel. How was I ever "Shy" to open my mouth and tell people about the gospel.  I love the gospel, and I am so much happier as I LIVE the gospel, and SHARE it!  You know, we were reading the Missionary Handbook and it said that even if we are not "Full time" missionaries our duty is to find, teach, and...something else.  (Darn it, I can't remember the other thing.) Anyways, I invite all of you to find people and refer them to the missionaries, and then WORK with the missionaries.  You will have great joy as you do missionary work!

Also thank you for your prayers for us!  We were able to see and feel the results of the prayers.  I know prayer is so real!!  Prayer is so powerful, and Heavenly Father wants to listen to each of us, and bless us.  Pray for yourself and for others!  Also, pray for missionary experiences!  

Well, I love you all!  Thank you for everything you have shown to me!  Keep strong and steady in the gospel. Always do the simple things, and SHARE the gospel!  

I am soooooo happy!

Love, Sister Coleman

P.S Happy Birthday Jessica!!  and Jared!  I'll eat a piece of cake for you on your birthdays! Joke lang...:)

Week 38

Hello to all, and to all a happy 4th of July!

Yep, happy 4th of July! I will be celebrating it with red, white and
blue rice; my version of potato salad, hot dogs, and some kind of
dessert.  Oh, I will make us some smores! Yep, thats my 4th of July
meal...hopefully. :)  Well, this week has been a great one!  We
started it out with like all of our appointments falling through, and
with some sadness and challenges,  but oh it's been a great week!  We
were able to find 7 new investigators and sana they will, at least 1
or 2 or hopefully all of them, will be ready and prepared to accept
the gospel of happiness!  If only they knew and understood that real
happiness comes from the gospel-living the gospel.
 Even though there are so many hardships in our lives, we can have
peace, because of the gospel.  I love the gospel of Jesus Christ, and
I do know that the gospel is the way for each of us, to return to
God's presence!  I love my Savior Jesus Christ, and that through Him
we are strengthened to fight off the temptations of satan, and to
Endure Faithfully to the End.  I know that He wants to help and
strengthen us.

Well, I have learned many things from sister Kwong.  She is so humble!
 Like, I feel so bad that she has to deal with me for 6+ weeks.  haha!
 We have fun together!  She's such a hard worker, and so diligent.
When she decides to change and become better, she does.  She's great!

Yesterday, holy cow!  We were walking on this LOoOoong road on our way
to an area, and it started pouring!  Man, my poor umbrella.  So, yeah
my umbrella didn't even do too much to help with the rain yesterday.
Oh man, and we had Gergence and Jessica (Members) working with us.
They didn't have umbrella's so it was Gergence and I under one, and
Sister Kwong and Jessica under hers.  Man, the joys of being on a
mission here in the Philippines in Tag-Ulan (Rainy Season). I love it
though, it was actually  fun to just not even care and get all soaked
with the rain.  It was actually a freezing cold walk back home...in
the Philippines.  Yes you heard me, it was cold, because of our
drenched bodies and the wonderful wind that accompanied us home. :)
haha!

I am sorry I haven't sent pictures!  I know I am a slacker, but I lost
my SD card reader, so I have to buy a new one, and then...yeah I
sometimes forget/procrastinate to do so. :)  I love you all, I am
still alive and eating! (Eating---that for sure, and another reason
why I procrastinate sending pics...;)

Love you all!  Have a great week!

Love, Sister Coleman

Week 37

Hello Everyone!

Kumusta kayo??  I sure hope you are all doing fantastic!  This week has been good.  We've done a lot of tracting and finding.  Oh, I should introduce my new companion..Sister Kwong. (The "w" you double u, is silent, so sister kong) She's great, so diligent, loving and exactly obedient.  I am the loud one in the companionship though.  I feel bad for her, she has to deal with me for 6 weeks! ;) She is from Kiribati, an island in the dagat. (Can you guess what that word means??) She is the only member in her family, and has a beautiful and strong testimony!  I love her!

Well, about tracting.  One day we met a very nice man, from Singapore.  We started talking with him in Tagalog, and then he's like, "English, I don't understand in Tagalog." Oh man, so we were talking with him in English.  He is a Born again pastor person, and is very good.  We had a very good discussion with him, and I was trying so hard to speak/teach/OYM/testify in English, but it was so hard.  Like, Sister Kwong was like whispering these words to me, when she knew I was struggling and couldn't remember.  It was an interesting experience and situation.  Man, I should practice teaching in English. haha!  Well, as we were talking to him, I was trying to think if i had any English materials, pero no, I didn't have any. Then...I remembered a "Mormon.org" card that I had in my wallet from the time of Washington, so a long time ago.  I gave it to Him, and he said he will go to it.  I hope and pray that he does, and that he reads and understands what our beliefs are.  

Well, I do love all the experiences that I have as a missionary!  I love serving the Lord!  I love all the struggles, laughs, spiritual experiences and everything about being a missionary.  Oh, so we taught a lesson to this lady, sister Nelia, and we had sister Merced as the member present.  Well, we left the lesson and sister Merced stayed a while longer after us.  The next time we saw sister Merced, she told us what thy talked about.  She was talking with Nelia and said, "I could hardly understand those sisters because of their accents. Could you understand them?" Sister Nelia said, "I understood them perfectly, their accents weren't too bad."  Can I just say that is a miracle!  I am so grateful that we had the spirit in the lesson so the investigator could understand.  I hope every lesson is like that!  I am glad sister Merced said that.  It really gave me more of a push to do better and always have the spirit with us.  Tender mercy of the Lord talaga!

Well, I hope you are all doing well!  Keep doing the work of the Lord!  I love you all, I love the work, and I am so happy!

Love, Sister Coleman

Week 36

Aloha!!

Wow, did that scare or surprise you??  Sige, well this week has been really good.  I've had a lot of fun and good experiences.  I love missionary work so much!!  I can't help it!  So, this week we were able to have a branch FHE.  It was a great turnout.  A lot of our less actives came, and we had some of our investigators come. :D  Oh it was a lot of fun!  We had games, dinner, and presentations and stuff. The Sisters did a hula dance...yes I did a hula dance.  Grabi, hindi ako marunong mag-hula! (Man, I don't know how to do do hula...) It was fun though. :) I hope that it really helped the people who came feel more welcome in the church, and have the desire to come back.  When the members are involved in the Lord's work, it moves forward!  Help with the work of the LORD!

Okay, so guess what??  It's transfers tomorrow, yeah I know, we just had transfers. So anyways, I am getting transferred...into a different area in my district.  I am kind of opening an area, because sister Alabanza is transferring, so I am filing i her place.  Well, I only know her area a little, and so I am nervous.  I know though, that God will help me and my bagong kasama na malalaman kung paano po kami na magprprogress ng area namin. (new companion know how to help our area progress.) We'll see who my new kasama is bukas!  I am excited, but nervous.  So sister Mataele is staying in our area, and so w might be in the same house or i might move to another apartment.  I don't know, because the A.P's haven't let us know yet. It's pretty great!  ;) 

Well, our investigators and Recent Converts/Less actives are doing pretty well.  I will miss them all, well, visiting them in their homes.  Good thing, I will hopefully see them at church. Well, I better go now!  I love this gospel, and I love this work!  I know that whatever challenges and trials there are in our lives, we can really overcome them through, and because of our loving Savior, Jesus Christ.  The gospel really is the way!!  I love this way!

Well, I hope you all have a great day!

Love, Sister Coleman

Week 35

Hello Po sa inyong lahat!

This week has been great!  It's been full of different companions, area's, and wonderful things learned.  So with the three of us being companions, we have two areas to cover.  So, we switch off, so it's not 1 missionary and a member everyday in an area, but so it's a little bit of both.  I have worked withe branch missionaries, and they are so astig, especially sister Gergence.  Ah I love that girl, she is so strong in the gospel.  Her whole family is inactive, but she continues to be so active, and she strives to prepare for her mission.  She is a beautiful example to me.

So we have been teaching Margie Buenavente's daughter, Shaira.  She is 11, and so gorgeous.  She always comes to church, and is very involved in the programs.  She has a baptism date for July12.  She is so excited about the gospel, and she loves living it.  She is a wonderful little girl.  I love teaching her!

So on Wednesday, we were in one of our area's and an investigator of ours was "Busy" and so we couldn't teach her.  We were close to the house of one of our formers, and so I was like, lets just go down here and tract.  So we started walking down the road to her area, and then we saw her husband riding his bike.  I couldn't stop myself...or it just slipped out of my mouth, but I was like "Is Grace at your house?" (OR in Tagalog, Nandoon pon si Grace sa bahay ninyo?)  He said she was.  Sister Mataele was like, "Maybe thats a sign we need to go to her."  I definitely agreed.  So we went to Grace, and she let us in.  We were asking how she was doing, and then she just started crying.  She has been going through so many trials.  They have no money, and her child has a really high fever, and they can't buy medicine.  Well, we shared with her 3 Nephi 13:31-33.  We promised her that if she would have faith in God, and trust that if she put Him first in her life, He would provide and bless her.  We invited her to read the Book of Mormon, continue to pray, and Come to church.  She said she probably wasn't going to be able to come to church, because they had something important right during that time.  She said she would try and come.

Well, Sunday came and I was on the stand because I was playing the piano.  Anyways, I looked down, and there she was!!  Grace came to church!  What a blessing and true act of faith.  We had a lesson with her later, and she was sooooo happy!  Like, I have never seen her so happy before.  She had a wonderful time at church, and said she learned so much in the classes.  She loved it, and she said she will continue to come. :)  She also  has been reading her BOM every day! Holy cow, thats amazing!  She really has shown her faith.  She has felt and seen the blessings in her life, because she has put God first.  I was teaching, and I felt I should extend a baptism date.  She has a baptism date for July 12 too.  I hope and pray that she will continue to progress and continue to put God first.  I think her husband's heart is softening too.  Pray for this family, the Buenavente family. (It's a different family than Margie's.)

We had zone training on Friday.  It was really good, and I learned a lot.  We have new standards of Excellence.  I like what they have said, that focusing on the Standards of Excellence will help you fulfill your purpose.  Yes, don't only focus on numbers, and teach PEOPLE, not LESSONS of numbers, but set goals, and strive to reach the Standard so that you can fulfill your purpose more.  Don't think that I only focus on numbers, noooo!  But, I strive to reach them, so I can better fulfill my purpose as a missionary. :)

Happy Fathers day!!!  Dad, you are such a wonderful, Christlike and loving man!  Thank you for being so righteous, and raising me and all of your other children in a Christ Centered home.  Dad, thank you for fulfilling your duties as a Father, as stated in "The Family: A Proclamation to the World."  You are a such an important example and person in my life.  I love you and miss you dad! (and everyone else..)  Happy Father's day to my Grandpa too, and all of my Brother's in law.  You are all great Fathers.  Keep doing what you are doing!  

Well, I have had a wonderful week!  I have learned many things!  Grabi!! :)  I know that the gospel is the plan of God, for all of us, His children.  I know that in order for us to have true happiness and peace, kailangan po natin na sundin yung plano na ito!  Sobra nagpapasalamat ako na miyembro and missionary ako ng Ang simbahan ni Jesu Christo!  I know that the gospel is happiness and is really the way!  I love you all!  Keep reading, praying, and going to church!

Love, Sister Coleman

Week 34

Hello Po,

Sige, so this week has been pretty good. We had a great FHE with the Federico family. We played this game, and whoever lost, got charcoal rubbed on their face.  OKay, so by the end of the game, guess who had the most charcoal on their face?  Yep,you guess right, Sister Coleman. Haha! When we were walking home these drunk guys were like, "Sisters,you have ash on your face..." and then people would ask what happened to us. It was really funny!  It was so funny to see the reactions of the people we walked past.  Oh I just love those moments!!!

On Tuesday, we had our zone conference. It was great, and I learned a lot!  A successful companionship starts in companionship study.  So, in order for me and my companions to have better companionship unity, we need to not only have study, but effective study.  I was really grateful for the things I learned. :) Also, we were practice teaching to the senior Elder, Elder Wilcox.  We had planned to teach to our 11 year old investigator the Plan of Salvation with cutouts.  Okay, so we ended up teaching someone who doesn't speak Tagalog...and who's way older than our investigator. It was so hard to teach in English!  Ah man, so half way through the lesson he's like, "You sisters can teach in Tagalog, I can tell you're struggling in English." haha, it was a lot better though, when we taught in Tagalog. Well, the conference was great!

Wow, we got a new addition to our companionship this past Thursday.  Yet again, Sister Alabanza is our companion again.  Her companion, Sister Pangilinan had a medical release so she had to go home. It was so sad!  But, we get Sister Alabanza again,  she's such a great missionary!  I've learned a lot form her.  Also, we had exchanges this week.  I was with Sister Simonson, who used to be in my district in Tabaco.  She is a wonderful missionary and is so awesome.  She has applied the things we learned from Elder Arden's mission conference.  I need to be better at applying the things I learn from all the meetings I attend.

So last night, a member and I were waiting for sister Mataele and Sister Alabanza to come, well this little girl and her mother were just looking at us, and then I smiled.  Well, they walked over to us, and her mom was like, "My daughter though you were a statue."  hahaha!!  It was so funny and totally made my day!  Okay, so I should move around more when we are waiting for people..or else people will think I am a statue or something.

Well, I love this work that I have been called of God to do.  I love serving God, and I strive to do it with all of my heart, might, mind and strength.  I love the gospel, and I do know that it is true, with all of my heart! I love teaching it, it really brings so much happiness into my life! I encourage you all to help the work progress!

Love, Sister Coleman