Beverly :)

Last week was the most stressful week probably of my mission. (Just kidding. There's tons of those in all reality.) But really. Beverlyn disappeared from Sunday until FRIDAY! I was freaking out so badly. I am actually about 75% sure that last week gave me an ulcer.. Hahah. But no I really have one of those now. It's good though because I literally have to eat healthy if I have one of those. ANYWAY She had to go home to get her BCR(baptismal form)  from her mom (she works here in Naval) and when she got home she got a fever. After that she ran out of load so she didn't text us back. I figured God was going to test my faith until the last second, and sure enough, about 5 minutes after we asked our branch President if we should cancel her baptism we got the text that she was home. It was crazy. I hyperventilated a little bit not gonna lie (: But at least it was the good hyperventilating that comes when you're relieved. She told us that her family was telling her not to come back cuz she still had a fever and she still did! And also her family tried to put a cross in her room to help her get better and she told them not too! And she just had a ton of crazy things happen that help me see just how prepared and faithful she is.

AND the best part was that her baptism was super worth it. (Obviously haha) She was baptized in the ocean and she came up with the biggest smile on her face. She was really nervous to bear her testimony after, and she kept fidgeting, but she did so good! What do you all think about adopting her? Haha just kidding (kind of).

So fun fact. The kids here try to say my name but they just can't do it. It's something like Sister "Sprax" And one time it was Sister "Craps" Haha cool gihapon!

Also I shaved my legs for the first time in a month haha. Yuck mom I'm so gross!

Oh. Cool story. This investigator, Mindy, asked us this question and I could not for the life of me understand it. So my companion started to answer and I felt like I should answer even though I didn't know what she asked. After the lesson my companion was like " Your answer was so perfect!" Yes for the Holy Ghost! He's the man!! (:

That's all I've got for this week. I love you all so super much!

Well this is embarrassing!

Okay so the Apostle Elder Nelson did not visit our mission. Haha I was just very very confused. President Nelson is the Area President of the Philippines. But our mission conference was still very good. It was SO good to see everyone!! My batch is just as gwaps as ever! Seeing Sister Woodruff was awesome. I was even happier to see her than I thought I would be. She is an STL now.

Beverlyn is as awesome as ever. I have been praying for her really hard! We gave her a birthday present but she was sleeping so we just left it close to her.. And she was SO excited. When came back the next lesson she was so happy and grateful; she actually prayed about it and cried and was grateful that we were here and ready to teach her and it was so cute! But then she did the CROSS after her prayer! Needless to say we were concerned because it wasn't the first time she's done it and we had already explained to her that it was not okay for us.. So we were really concerned and we planned a lesson to tell her again gently. We read the part about it with her in True to the Faith, and we committed her to stop. Then she said something that shocked us both. I'll just write it in English obviously. She said: I know, President explained it to me! I've been trying to stop but sometimes it's a habit. But when I went home for my birthday party I asked my whole family as a birthday request not to do the cross when we prayed for the food. And then I taught my grandma what you taught me about the gospel of Jesus Christ. It feels good to share the gospel! 

Then at church she turned to me while the members were bearing their testimony and she was like, can I do that? I was like uhh YES! She was too shy to do it last week but she said she would do it next month on Fast Sunday! Which is my birthday! (: And after YW class she came out and was really happy and she was like "I bore my testimony to them! " Isn't she amazing?! I love her so much! 

We also taught this former investigator. It was a really cool lesson. It was just God is Our Loving Heavenly Father and The Gospel Blesses families, but her countenance entirely changed during the lesson. When we came she didn't really want us to teach her and by the end she was praying that her husband would be there for the next visit. It was cool what the Holy Ghost can do along with explaining the true purpose of missionary work. 

So this week has been pretty good! To answer your question, Dad, I don't think I've gained 30 lbs (: Actually I think I may be about the same. It's possible like 2 pounds more or less. I can't really tell. Everyone tells me I'm skinny? Haha not sure. And with Mother's Day, I will TRY really hard to make it around the time I normally can chat with you all, but transfers are Friday so I am not really sure how that will go. I'm sorry to tell you that you might just have to stay by the computer.. SORRY! :( 

I have to go but I love you all so much! 

Sister Sprouse

Beverly is Amazing!

Okay so Beverlyn is the most AMAZING investigator ever!! She's so good. I'm gonna ask a favor of you all to pray for her that she keeps making progress. Last week at church she told me that she likes English a lot and only writes in her journal in English so that she can learn it quicker. So last week we taught her before the FHE at president's house and we brought her an English BOM. When she turned around and saw it you might've thought we'd given her a car or something from the look on her face. She was SO so excited. Probably one of my favorite moments in my mission. She also is a genius at references. Like we shared a scripture with her and the next lesson I was like "like it said in that scripture we shared with you last time.." and she's like "Oh yeah! Alma 34:32!" And I felt a little like she's a genius because half the time I can't even remember that reference.. Haha. She told us that her mom said she can join whatever church she wanted as long as she had faith and she was like "promise mom?! promise?!" And it's so cute she even says promise in English. Also she told us that she had a different feeling than she's ever had before when she went to church. And that she knew all the answers in church but she was too shy to say them! She's so incredible. And she said that she's never connected with the bible the way she does with the BOM. She says that she understands how the bible needs the BOM to stand. One reallly cool lesson we had with her, we found her asleep on her bed with the BOM open in Visaya and English and the pamphlets we gave her and also the marker I gave her to mark her scriptures in her hand. She's so adorable. Also, President taught her about the temple and she wants to go really badly. The only bad thing is that she goes home again about a week after her baptism :( So we have to pray that everything works out for her and she'll find at least a meeting house where she's from. So prayers from home will help a lot!! (:

So our water is broken at our house. We don't really know what the deal is with it. But on Friday we cleaned our whole house (they gave us a cleaning day) And we needed water for that. So the sisters prayed (I wasn't with them at the moment) and it immediately turned on even though the pump had been going on for hours with nothing happening. Pretty cool. Then a couple days later it broke again. So I just said a prayer to myself. And.. nothing. The pump still didn't work. But I just thought to myself; if Heavenly Father answered every prayer immediately, we wouldn't build the faith that we need. So I just turned the pump off to let it rest and wen't into the house. About 20 minutes later, the STL's came home and S. Schaap turned the pump on. And it worked! I was really glad that my prayer was answered. Then on Sunday, Beverlyn didn't show up for sacrament. My stomach dropped. But I just prayed really hard that she'd show up. About 5 minutes before it ended, she came!! She couldn't find a ride, but she still came! And the YW said she participated in class and made friends! I've definitely gained a stronger testimony of the power of prayer this week. 

The 26th was National Day of Service! We went to the beach and picked up trash. I gained a pretty impressive sunburn even though I used sunscreen. It was awesome though. Another investigator of ours, Genevieve, came too! It was awesome because she got fellowshipped really well. She also came to church! I just am worried that for her it's more about the friends. We just need to go visit her a little more. 

Also, the shoes that I got in Cebu broke, and I had been wearing S. Schaap's that got rubbed against a tire so there was a hole in them. But S. Lindsey gave me this really nice rubber pair from Crocs. She's so nice! She said she already had a pair. This is someone who lost everything in that house in Yolanda (her and S. Schaap) They're both amazing. 

Okay that's my week! I love you all!!! I will be praying for you!! (:

Sister Sprouse

Good Friday and Easter Sunday

Hello my beloved loved ones! I am happy to write you all and also receive your wonderful responses. I love you all, and I'm sorry for all the English I have already forgotten. Haha.

This week, we got an opportunity to teach the most golden family I have ever met. As in, they were taking notes of what we were teaching them! They are so cute! They are also not ours :( We live with the STL's and they need them to be taught but don't have time to do it themselves with splits, so we got the priveledge of teaching them. The fun thing for me is that they are Tagalog speaking, taga Manila. So I got to take a break from Visaya and teach them in Tagalog! It was awesome! When the STL's went back to them later that week, they came home and said "Sisters, I think they like you more than they like us! Sister Sprouse, they kept talking about how you sat on the floor and it's so cool and how you don't even know Visaya!" It was so funny! I definitely have a testimony about the gift of tongues! 

Also, we have been teaching the house help of our branch president, Beverlin. She is stinking adorable! We watched the Restoration with her and she was so cute afterward. She was like "gitouched ko" or I'm touched haha. We committed her to be baptized May 17! We are really excited! She also went to church this last Sunday and we think she really enjoyed it! She said she made friends so I hope so! It was cool to get to sit by her and kind of explain what we do in our church (she's catholic so it's very different to her) Tonight she will be at our FHE and we're also teaching her too! I hope she will make even more friends. 

Well.. Thursday was my halfway point in the mission. It's crazy how fast the time went. I guess it helped that a super typhoon ate our mission.. Haha but still it's crazy to me. Usually I feel like I'm still only 2 months old in the mission. I am on the downhill now but I can't think about that because I have too much to do!! (: But for my "birthday" we had french toast and then we went out to eat BBQ for lunch. Then we got to work.

Easter Friday is kind of crazy in the Philippines. They call it good Friday, and they have these festivals where they actually crucify people. It's terrible. And even though it's been made illegal the Catholics still do it, so we missionaries aren't allowed to work. Instead, we went to the meeting house (we don't have a chapel yet in Naval) and watched The Best Two Years and The Other Side of Heaven. It was cool to watch movies about missionaries! You appreciate them much more when you've been a missionary. 

Also on Friday, the STL's surprised us with an Easter Hunt! It was so cute! They made a cute poster for us and hid candy. It was nice; felt like home! (:

Khia's baptism was Friday! It was so cool! We rode on President's truck and we went to Beliran, which is about 45 minutes away. With Khia, she is not a very expressive person at all, but after she was baptised she bore her testimony and it was so good and the spirit was definitely there. Also, she thanked the missionaries and almost cried! It was so cool. I was so so happy for her. 

Okay that's all I've got for this week, but I am just really happy to be here. Missionary work is hard for sure, but I'm definitely not praying for my burdens to be lighter. I am just praying for my back to be stronger to be able to carry them. I have never in my life felt this much importance in trying to become like Jesus. Obviously I'm not there yet, but I am working hard to get there! I LOVE YOU ALL! Have a wonderful week!!! 

Sister Sprouse

Lunch with the Andaya's

This week was good! The problem is I forgot to bring my outline AGAIN! So I will do my best!  Dang it. Sorry. Haha.

Mom, I'm glad you enjoyed the picture of the spider. Haha. The lucky thing about that kind of spider is that even though it's giant, it actually isn't poisonous or harmless. When I saw it I was actually excited because up to that point I hadn't really seen the "giant" spiders everyone talked about.

Hmm. So this week was really good. I finished reading D&C all the way through for the very first time in my life! Sad to say that I hadn't done that till my mission, but I am glad to say I've done it now. It's so amazing and teaches so many vital doctrines of our church. Or I should say it supports tons of vital doctrines that are in the Book of Mormon.

So one interesting thing that happened to us this week is that we destroyed this bunk bed that was infested with termites in our apartment. It was pretty bad. Dust fell on it every day and it was like heavy sawdust. I was sleeping on the top and every time I got on it I felt like Yolanda was back again. Haha. So we (the four of us living in our apartment) took a tiny screwdriver and tried to dismantle it nicely. When that didn't work we just kicked it until it broke. It was remarkably more easy than it should have been to have four Sister Missionaries break it.

We had Zone Conference this week. It was the first zone conference to take place since Yolanda!  President and Sister Andaya will be going home on June 29. They seem not to be excited. It was so cute; Sister Andaya gave us advice for the rest of our lives also because she's "not going to be around" It was a really good, uplifting zone conference. When we drove home I was just kind of reflecting on all the things that I heard, and I was able to feel such peace. It was a bad van drive home because everyone was getting sick (the van drivers are crazy ) but I just felt Heavenly Father's love for me so deeply in that moment. It was an incredible feeling in a really unlikely place.

We got to go to Women's Conference also. It was really cute because Sister Andaya was there with her daughter and her arm around her when it talked about smiling at your mom in gratitude. Mom it made me sad to think about not being there and it definitely made me miss you, but I think that the time we will have to spend away from each other on my mission will make the time we have together when I come home even more worth it.

After the conference, President and Sister Andaya gave us a ride home, which was a relief because it meant the ride would be 20 minutes instead of 45 to an hour in a nice clean car instead of a dirty jeepnee. After that they took us to lunch also! It was really cool just having the two of us out to lunch with them. They are so nice and it was really good getting to know them better. I will miss them when it's time for them to go home. (Which will probably seem really fast since my mission is kind of flying by)

Okay that's all for now. Sorry if I forgot anything!! I love you all so much!

Ingat po kayo palagi!

Sister Sprouse

Leaving Allen (part 2)

Hello! Well, it's been a crazy week! Transfers came around, which none of us were actually expecting because we all just barely got back to Tacloban. Honestly, I thought I'd be staying in Allen for the next couple months. But it didn't work out that way! I'm in Naval, (no it's not pronounced how it's spelled) Beliran. LEAVING ALLEN WAS SO HARD! It was actually harder than it was the first time.

After we got the call, we went around and said goodbye to everyone. It was good but really bad. Haha. Bessie was one of the very first that we went to. She was napping but I would be leaving early the next day so we had her Lola wake her up. She told her I was transferring. Bessie just sat there for a second, and then she just grabbed this teddy bear and buried her face in it. It reminded me of when we first tried to teach her and she was too shy, except this time she was just shy because she was crying. Which made me cry. I am going to miss that little girl so much. I'm really glad that I was able to teach her while I could though. Also, Sister Smith is an amazing missionary so I am glad that I am able to leave her in good hands. We went and said goodbye to Nanay Casanas and I got a video of her so you all can see her once I get home. She's the adorable Lola who I told you about in Manila the first time I got to talk to you all. We went and said goodbye to Maria and Julie Ann too. It's a bummer that I won't be around to see those baptisms, but I feel thankful that I was able to be a part of helping them and teaching them. I am going to miss Allen so much but I am really thankful that I had to opportunity to go back there and serve a second time. It's funny; I'm almost halfway through my mission and I'm just leaving my first area (; Haha. 

Naval is great. It's Cebuano speaking. Which is hard. I keep speaking Tagalog to everyone. Haha. I think I'll get used to it after about a week. It's always a little difficult to switch from one language to the other. I am glad that I speak Tagalog now though. We went to Tacloban City for transfers and I don't know Waray Waray H but I know Tagalog so I was able to talk to the people. 

When we got to Tacloban E. Lowe was there, aka my favorite batch/ best friend from the MTC. He's so awesome! Only 3 brand new elders came to Tacloban mission this batch and he's trainer to one of them! He's nervous because he's only been in Cebuano for 1 transfer now but he's gonna be great. 

Things are okay here in Naval. Sister Adasme is my companion again. The only problem is that she doesn't really know the area because her companion before was super sick so we're basically opening the area. We've been able to do a lot of good finding though. I will let you know more about that next week since I haven't been here too long yet. 

I attached a picture of the spider that was in our house when I got here. He's about as big as my hand. Maybe like an inch smaller. 

Habal habal !

This week has been a good week. Except that I wrote everything down that I could tell you all and then left it at home.. Dang it! It's really cool though mom I have this tiny little calendar book and I write in it every day and every week about cool things that happened so you can look at it all when I get home! At least for this whole year. Then read my journal for the spiritual ones.

OH! This part I definitely need to tell you! My companion and I got charged by a caribou! Thankfully the charge was incomplete. But I didn't know I could run that quickly/awkwardly/in a skirt/ through puddles of mud. It was hilarious! 

So we met this guy yesterday who was like "I think that the people in other churches don't even read the bible for themselves. Then their leaders just use scriptures out of context. And then the bible is kind of not clear anyway." He literally said in his own words that the bible is lacking! And he said that he thinks that we need a different book/guide to clarify the bible. Isn't that insane! We just like sat there shocked for a second. Then we started to teach him. He's a little kapoy to teach because he like questions every single thing, but in like a good way because he has real intent. It's awesome! If he gets converted he's going to be so strong! 

Yesterday it was raining so hard! That's the problem with members here sometimes; they hate rain more than they love coming to church. We had like half attendance yesterday :( But Maria came! Her cute belly was hidden by her cute HUGE almost winter coat! And she was wearing a beanie too! It was so stinking cute! I love her so much. We are doing an FHE at their house tonight to hopefully gain her husbands trust. Pray for her! She wants to be baptised SO BADLY! 

Also, last night, we rode home in the rain on a habal habal which is basically just a motorcyle. I was not even fully seated on it either. Haha it's funny how things that are so bad back home are totally normal in the Philippines. Okay that's all! I LOVE YOU ALL SO MUCH! Have a good week! 

Sister Sprouse