Wk 44- First week without Training!! :) haha

Area: Bata
Companion: Sister Oquias

We got a little treat last week for Talia and Mom's birthday :)

A Star Apple!

When you squeeze it to open it, milk like juice comes out.
It's very good but makes your hands and fingers sticky :)

This week has been really good :) It's a little different, yes without the training, but i'm getting use to it :) I've been doing the training schedule for so long!! Then only thing that really changes is we have 1 hour of companion study instead of two. We are still working on finishing her training though because she didn't do much with her previous companion, but so happy she is here with me! :) We are just trying to get use to knowing if we eat lunch at 11 or go out and come back to eat lunch. This week we've been eating at 11 haha kind of early but ok lang! it's working :)

Sometimes people will say me and Sister Oquias have the same tsurya. or we look a like which is kind of funny because i'm American and She's Filipina but she is beautiful so i just take it as a compliment. :) I did look at some pictures though and she kind of looks like Diane. It scared me a little because it's only in a few but it is kind of funny.

Anyways being here in Bata still is wonderful. :) We had two baptisms on saturday, brother John Carlo and Sister Doloras were our two baptisms. I'm working on sending pictures :) But It was wonderful! We did the baptisms with the elders in the morning. The little girl they baptized is i think the first one in her family. Her parents attended and she bore her testimony and said i hope my family gets baptized too because it's a good feeling. It was amazing!! Sister Doloras was like an hour late but we started and then she showed up got her dressed and took a picture before she went and sat in. We almost did two programs but it worked out :) Then Sunday sister Doloras was sick so she didn't come to church to get confirmed, but hopefully she comes next week, we will probably go out to visit her next week.

me and my companion and our baptism on saturday :) the little girl is from the elders and the little boy is from our area. His name is john carlo :) 'he lives with his grandma and his grandma was a less active! Sister Neis taught them while she was here and how we got to know him was one day like a month later, they showed up at church! said he wanted to be baptized. After sister neis left, we went there a few times but they were never there, it's kind of a further area. but it was a cool little sweet miracle :)

it was so cool :) and then john carlo got up bore his testimony and said it also that he wants his family to be baptized haha it was cute :) his grandma is the only other member

The baptism :) John Carlo and his grandma nenita and deloras and sister erma :) 

But we found out yesterday she is in a different ward. Not just different ward but that country homes is in a different stake... oops! but there are people there coming to church in bata, so I don't know, i guess we will figure it out tomorrow at district meeting, but it's been a fun little hastle. Everyone is confused on boundires here. There is also a dangerous place in our area that we have gone to in the day only, because it's dangerous at night, but it's very long it's Abkasa, but we are working on switching our area around so the elders can have it. It's just not very many houses and pitch black at night. I've only heard of things happening there, but don't worry, we are getting it changed around :) I've been trying for a while now, but it's finally working with these elders, they are helping me and my companion :) But maybe it's why I needed to stay here. I'm just happy I'm getting a handle a little on things and maybe kind of figuring out how to be a missionary haha :) But whatever we do, wherever we go, it's the lord's plan.

This week... sorry i keep forgetting my journal but i did write :) i'm doing better! I just want to say we are working on finding more people because most of the people that were progressing are now recent converts so we have to find more people :) So that's our goal this next week!! It's been an amazing experience! :) We have found some people that have been taught by missionaries before or that want their kids to grow up in the church. They were suppose to come to church yesterday, but we are working on them, we just started teaching them. But we also found out we had a less actives kids that aren't baptized yet at church yesterday after they had left, so we went and visited them and now she is going to be baptized on the 22 of February. :) I'm so excited and love finding new people!! You always find new places even being in the area for a while!! :) I love it!! :)

Brother Wycoco also brought us food while we were at the baptism! Very good pasta :)

Well I love you family!! SO CRAZY TAN'S ENGAGED!! Tell them congratulations and that was very cleaver what they did :) I LOVE IT!!! :) haha thank you!! I want to see more pictures if possible :) I love you so much!! Thank you for everything you have done for me :) For your prayers and your support. And don't worry mom, as a missionary we are suppose to leave home behind, something I did but not very well. Things like weddings and having babies help me want to forget more about home and go to work more, which i promise is a good thing as a missionary. Them getting married while I am gone is a blessing in disguise for me. And It's a blessing that we are doing what we are suppose to be doing!! So happy also for Tayton that he got his eagle and for Jade that he is SO CLOSE to turning in his papers!!! AHH!!! Our family is amazing!! Thank you for everything!! I will do the best I can to be a better missionary for you!! :) Thank you!! :)

Love, Sister Smoot

Wk 43- ARI KO DIRI SA BATA GIHAPON!! :) (i'm still here in bata)

Our district before Sister Fotofili got transferred 

This week!! last monday was the day they call for transfers. Everyone thought i would transfer... i didn't know what to expect. I had a little feeling i would stay but I'd been here for so long! but it was right!! I'm still here :) nobody called us! But it's been good :) We have had some fun times!

We went to a few different baptisms and i didn't bring my camera with me (sorry). But it was the Elders Baptism and a couple child of record baptisms. They were incredible!! The one on wednesday reminded me a lot of my own baptism when i was eight :) it was incredible!! :)

But some of the pictures my companion will send is when we went in the back of pinetree and got so muddy because of all the rain! it's really bad in there.

and also wednesday we got some balloons for elder ferrer because it was his birthday and he asked for a gift so we picked some flowers and put peddles in one and i had some star bursts from a package i put in another and the other one we wrote little notes on from the members and stuck papers in it. His favorite color is purple that's why they are purple hahaha and we had an orange long one with the pink one but it popped when we tried to write on it. But anyways that was our fast gift for him it was the biggest rush haha

 but i loved it and that mud... we went clear to the back through all the mud and our investigator wasn't even there haha. it was pretty great :) so we took a picture and left oops!! But it was pretty funny and that's when our recent convert, Princess wanted to come with us sa salud or just inside of pinetree. I don't know how to explain it but she lives closer to the highway so she came with us to their house because we had a member with us. anyways ,it was fun :)

I feel like this week more random moments happened then teaching moments. But on sunday we also had a nurse moment haha my companion really wanted to help and she was like 'i feel like a nurse!' we came down our little mountain and started walking through tunay and here comes little Rico crying and blood from his head and in his neck. We went and got my peroxide from the house and went and helped them clean up and get it bandaged. It was a lot smaller then i thought, but it was a different experience that happened.

I am sorry i forgot my journal, but i did write in it other than last night. But i'll try to remember next week :) I love you all!!

AND!!! HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO YOU! HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO YOU!! HAPPY BIRTHDAY HAPPY BIRTHDAY HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO YOU!!!! :) That's how they sing happy birthday here not the name but it's in english :) haha and they clap too!! Malipayon nga adlaw Mom and Talia!! That's what they said it is in ilonggo but they don't usually use it it just means happy day. But know i love you both and am so grateful for you both!! I did send you both a letter just two envelopes taped together. I didn't know tal's address!! But i love you :) Have a wonderful day on your birthday!! :)

Love, Sister Smoot

Wk 42- Princess and Ernesto got baptized!!! :)

Area: Bata

Companion: Sister Oquias

My favorite Family EVER! :)

This week has been wonderful, on saturday we had a baptism of Princess and Ernesto and it was amazing! They were super nervous, but did just fine. Then Sunday we came to church and the second hour they still weren't there so me and sister Oquias went and got them and Ernesto had worked that morning because he didn't have any money, but he was planning on coming but if we didn't show they would have been really late for sacrament meeting and not been confirmed, but we got them there and it made me a little sad because we taught him sabbath day a million times at the beginning and he has been following it until yesterday anyways, guess we'll teach it again, but at least they were baptized and confirmed :) They are incredible and I love them so much! It is sad how much satan can get at people that's why it's so important to continue/endure to the end!!! :)

Then yesterday we went on splits and i was teaching an investigator we hadn't focused on a ton and but they are pretty catholic and i taught about faith and being cleansed through sin and had a feeling to extend a baptismal invitation and date and so i did and they accepted if they come to know that its true! it was amazing!! I can't believe it!!

We also had a really good zone training last week!! We learned about how to teach a really short lesson using the pamphlets and how to use the tools we have because they really are inspired. People here are also very visual and the pictures help so much!!! i felt the spirit so strong and i love it!! :)

I love you family!! We also have 2 baptisms for Jan 25 here and Feb 1 and Feb 15  set up for now, but just continue, pray and have faith to be able to help these people here progress :) I love them!! And yes transfers are this week, i have no idea what will happen but we will probably find out tonight if something does happen. I love you all!! :)

Love, Sister Smoot

ps i did send pictures but i hope you get them i'm on a different computer and it is being weird, let me know what you get and what you don't so i can try again next week so i can figure it out :) love you!

wK 41- Family!! :)

new years breakfast :) from brother wycoco! 

(every missionary wants him in their ward) haha 

                           what i got from tammy :)

 i loved all the presents from christmas! thank you!!

 i haven't finished taking pictures but i took a few :)

camilla homes the complex where we live :) 

camilla and sunset still :)

camilla still :) and one of the random dogs we have walking around :) 

packages :) from matthew 

from mom and lana with letters!! from jones, spinders, and kaylee :) 

                                             thank you!!

This week has been pretty good!! :) Yes i did write in my journal this week and i'll see if i can remember big things that happened, because i don't have a ton of time, sorry this always happens. 

So on New years eve and new years day we had to be in by 5 o'clock and study so we were safe, so we went out early in the morning. On new years morning, i don't think i had ever been so full! almost every appointment we went to feed us food. it was all pretty good, but we went home for lunch just to update and get away from the food. It was crazy. We even stopped a less active before we went home for lunch from getting us food, we just told her that we were really full and they just laughed and laughed at us because we were like ah! we are so full! it was funny :) and on Christmas eve, oh boy, it was hard to sleep. They had fireworks and bombs that just went off all night, i finally fell asleep a little before midnight because i was so tired and slept through the biggest part haha but my companion slept and woke up at the biggest part. The fireworks that night started at about 9 and slower just got to be more and more and i think i just got numb and fell asleep but my companion said huge bombs went off. she called it the "goodbye philippines." Oh, i almost forgot, not only fireworks, but almost every house had music blasting in their little house. Different music everywhere, lucky where we live, the complex doesn't have too many people living in the houses next to us we just had fireworks down the street, but from all the brgy's, it was loud haha. And new years day that evening i didn't feel so good and felt a little weird, just because i had eaten so much. I took some pepto that night and the next morning [and had dirahea] but after i tried to sleep and what not i felt better :) haha.

Also, we had one of our Recent converts stop coming to church and we couldn't find her at her house, we found her on new years eve and found out she got a job. I had never been so blunt to anybody about the sabbath day. I made her cry and she new it was wrong. She said she would try to do better, and I felt good after, so i think it was okay. and my companion said it was good. but that was an experience i'd never had before, but my testimony has grown so strong about tithing and the sabbath and how it truly does bless our lives if we follow these commandments.

As we were preparing Ernesto and Princess for their interview, they got so nervous!! I don't know why i have had so nervous people lately, but they were so cute :) I love them so much!! 

(Do you live in the city or country?)

more in the city our far away areas we have to ride to are more country ish area

(What are the Philippine people like?)

they are the best people you ever met! they are super nice and friendly... i will probably think american's are rude when i come home... but yes they do they look at you like you're famous and some kids will try to touch you like are you real because we are white (i don't feel like i'm getting tan but i have a tan line) and yeah they yell "cana, cana" like Americana every time they see a white person (sister neis hated it because she's canadian not american). but they love and admire white people and yell "guapa" all the time when you walk by. and get shocked when you speak hilligaynon

Anyways i don't have much time left, i am so sorry! but i did write details in my journal, i have like 4 elders that we found out are coming home at the same time as me, such a small world, so weird!! but oh!! mom you wanted something funny. The other day we are sitting teaching Benji and the group (by the way we finally got benji and one of that big group to come to church!!) the rest said they would come next week :) haha awesome!! but Lesty, another sister is sitting there we just prayed and she was telling us about what she just read in her scriptures and they told her she had a mosquito on her and she kind of wiped her face and neck and keeps talking to us and then benji just smacks her in the head like "duh" hahaha but got the mosquito off her forehead, it was pretty funny :) I love the philippinos and how much they care for each other :) They are awesome! and Benji loved church too!! :) 

I love you family!! have a wonderful week and don't worry, I love it here, i love life and i love you family!! :)

love, sister smoot