February 3, 2019 Santa Fe

MAAYONG AGA SA INYO TANANNN!!

wow what a week!! they just keep getting faster i swear hahhah. but this was a good one!! 

the highlights- 

-on wednesday we had mission wide deep cleaning day!!! so the entire day all the missionaries in bacolod just deep cleaned our houses. lemme tell ya. we found a secret little door under the stairs when we moved sister schenk's bed, and that thing had not been opened in YEARS. ive never been so disgusted. we found so many boxes of junk that we spent forever sorting through ahahah lets just say if anybody knows an elder slader that served here in 2013, we have his photo album. :)

-last monday we went to SM which is the huge mall in Bacolod. it feels like you are walking back into america its INSANE. but we got krispy kreme donuts!! and we all shed some tears. but sis schenk had seen someone make donut grilled cheese once on buzz feed and we decided to try it!! 6/10 reccommend.  hit us up for any of your chef needs. 

-somehow got the assistants to the president to bring us macdonalds the other night. 10/10 recommend getting bit by a cockroach on your face cause everyone feels bad for you :) works wonders. 

-In order to get home every night we have to take a tricycle to our subdivision, but friday night the entire road was completely blocked off. so we went and asked someone what was going on, and they said that it was a chinese new year party at the bacolod city government center which is down the street from our subdivision. and im talking like times square in nyc amount of people. So basically we end up sprinting through the middle of the party at 9:15 at night. didn't help that we were so close to the fireworks that everytime they went off we'd scream hahaha. but its okay the rest of the missionaries only got to see the fireworks from their houses. we got a front row view AND made it home at 9:29 :) 

so ya know. good times over here. i dont know what i thought missions were before i served one, but i would never have guessed it'd be so fun. i feel like all we do is laugh all day hahah i love it. being a missionary is the best ever!! 

one day this week we were at the Escoba family's house (who are SO awesome.) we've been teaching them for almost 2 months now and they'll be baptized this week! but we were able to have a really really awesome talk about the Atonement of Jesus Christ. She mentioned some concerns about how she can't be perfect in this life no matter how hard she tries. She said she always just ends up falling short. But thats the whole point of Christ's sacrifice for each of us! He can walk with us the whole way and complete our shortcomings. Ive learned that lesson especially being a missionary. cause here i am living in a new country with a new culture speaking a language i didn't even know existed a year ago! i have felt so inadequate at times and haven't known what to do all the time. but i have learned to rely on Christ! No weakness of ours is too large for us to overcome if we are relying on Christ who has already felt each of our weaknesses and knows how to mold them into our strengths!! And i totally believe He is just molding us into who He wants for us to be. 

I love serving a mission and it definitely was the best choice ever to go. and who knows how i got so lucky to serve in the philippines. this place really is the best ever. 

i miss you and love you all!!!

Sister Johnson

part of Caitlin's email tonight I thought I'd pass on to you :"You talk to Sister Johnson's mom right? I just want you to know that Sister Johnson is one of the best people I've met on my mission. She's just amazing person and missionary. I'm so blessed to have met her and that we are living in the same house for 3 transfers now and hopefully one more. "