Week 32: Merry Christmas! 119 Cockroaches

Dear family and friends, 
Malipayon nga paskua! Merry Christmas! 

This week was amazing. My trainee arrived! She is from Isabella and so she is an Ilokana, She usually speaks Ilokano but like all other Filipinos here she speaks Tagalog fluently and so thats what she usually speaks to me and I am now learning Tagalog! She and I laugh because an American is teaching her Hiligaynon and people get so surprised. Even thought the language is a bit of a barrier (We use Tagalog, English and Hiligaynon), she and I are already very good friends. I love her so much and she is constantly telling people how much she is learning from me, but I can tell you I am learning even more from her. She is so hard working and truly loves this work. 

Probably one of my favorite things this week was walking home from Church and saying Merry Christmas to everyone I saw and seeing them go from a scowl to a smile and responding back :) 
What is so amazing about Christmas is that all people can feel the love of Christ at this time. This being the first Christmas away from home I am grateful to experience the love from the church members here in the Philippines and to be able to help the Lord in His work to give the most precious gift of all to people: the Restored Gospel of Jesus Christ. 
This past couple months me and my companions have been saving candy and food and different things we've received to give to a particular family and to see them rejoice over a bag of bug-as (uncooked rice) from the ward has been the most humbling thing. 
This week we have been finding new investigators and miracles have been happening. We have extended 2 baptismal invitations and one man, Brother Rex, will hopefully be baptized January 27. Most people here will say yes to having us visit them and they are all so kind. But I have noticed that the true conversion truly comes on their part. I can teach people all about the restored gospel, but true understanding and conversion to the Lord and His gospel are through readin, pondering and praying about His words which are in the Book of Mormon :) 
Anyways, I love you all so much. I hope you all have a Merry Christmas and a happy New year!
Sister Masters 
P.S. we are at 119 cockroaches dead :) 

hese are some pictures of a member and our investigator singing and a cute little girl that always runs up and says hi. 








I also made turon​​​​




hey pump water out of these and it is so fun. Also they made trees out of various plastics and I ate Batchoy the other day and turon (banana and sugar and a lumpia wrapper and fried: healthy haha)



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