SEPTEMBER 27, 2015

Sister Bernadeth and Children

RAIN AND LOUD THUNDER!!

Hello Everyone!

This week has been good! It has been raining a lot this week! The thunder is so loud here is scares me to death! LOL We have had a pretty sucessful week! 

The other day we were walking down the street and said hi to this old man walking and he just kept walking past us. Then my companion leaned over to me and said if he stops then we will go and talk to him and sure enough he stopped right then. So we went up and talked to him and then we came to realize why he just walked past us... he is almost deaf! He just couldn't hear us talking to him! His


Sister Thayn & Edwardo's Grandson

name is Edwardo and he is 75 years old! We were telling him how he is so fit for his age and he said well more like yelled! Although I cant hear my body is still strong and then fell to the ground and started doing push-ups! I almost had a heart attack when he fell I thought he was dying or something but no he was just doing push-ups! LOL! We have started teaching him and he is amazing! He said how he knows that god sent us to him and he says that he believes everything that we are telling him! and he knows that Thomas S. Monson is the true living prophet. He is so fun to teach because we pretty much have to yell in his hear when we talk to him! He is just a funny and such a sweet man! In one of our lessons with him we got there and he said wait one second! He hopped on his bike and drove away and 15 min later came back with a box of pizza and said its 4:00 which is snack time so I had to bring us a snack to eat during our lesson! HAHA he is the best man ever! and he also came to church last   week  which is AMAZING!!!! 



We also found this Less active member and the past two weeks he has been at church! He also bore his testimony in sacrament meeting and his first week back paid his tithing! He is coming back to church and it is so amazing and hopefully is getting a calling soon! 



Chicken head and feet at a
 members BBQ stand

A mission is nothing like I thought it was going to be but it is so incredible. It is so hard but so rewarding at the same time! With all the miracles and blessings that happen all the hard times are just washed away!

This week my testimony has really grown about scripture study. Before my mission I always had a hard time reading and understanding the scriptures but now on my mission I absolutely love my personal study where I get to read the scriptures I look forward to that everyday! 

Well I hope all is well with everyone at home! 

Have a good week!

-Sister Thayn
 

SEPTEMBER 21, 2015

THE FLOOD

Flooding in the streeets

Wow I cant believe another week has just passed! Time goes by so fast! This week was good we found a new investigator named Joselito. He is very interested in the gospel and loves when we visit so I cant wait to see what happens!

We also had our mission tour this week which was amazing. It really motivated us to do our best because this time isnt ours it is the lords and we owe him everything. We learned more about the Abrahamic covenant and the house of Israel. And I swear at every meeting we have as a mission they talk about marriage. And every time I think I JUST GOT ON MY MISSION AND THEY ALREADY WANT ME TO BE THINKING OF MARRIAGE??? I think it is funny but I know that it is only through marriage in the temple that we can receive exaltation! 

Our cute investigators chldren

I still get laughed at when I am talking to people especially children. When we are in lessons the kids will whisper something in my ear and I will just nod and pretend like I understand what they are saying lol! Sometime I wonder what they really are saying. Also the kids love my hair they always ask to touch and braid it! so I have crazy hair sometimes after a lesson. 

This week we also met this very anti Christ man. He was very upset that we were calling him brother and went off about how there is no Christ. All he wanted to do was contend with us so we just smiled and wished him well and left. There is probably something we could have done or said but all he wanted was contention and that is not of Christ so we just left. 

It also rains every day! Which is the best cause it cools things down but this week it rained so much and I witnessed my first flood! It was crazy and what ever you do you dont want to walk in that water.... GROSS! so we were jumping from rock to rock and dry place to dry place so we didnt get wet! We probably looked really funny! 

This week was good but I know next week will be better because every day we all need to do our best and strive to be better! Love you all have a good week!

-Sister Thayn

SEPTEMBER 14, 2015

PORK BLOOD SOUP!!

This has been a good but crazy week! We had a big zone training this week which was good and gave us all more motivation to do our best! We also have been visiting one of our investigator and her family every day and teaching them everyday! They aren't really progressing which is so sad because I know how much this will bless their lives!

Me in front of Rice fields

The other day when we were teaching them after the lesson I decided to help them learn a little English so I taught them the song head shoulders knees and toes and they had so much fun and were laughing then they sang me a song and then decided to help me with my language so we sat there and I would point at things and they would tell me how to say it and when I would say it they would just laugh and laugh at me cause I would pronounce it weird! HAHA we all had a good laugh!

ME with Cute children

On Friday we did exchanges with the Sister Training Leaders so I was in a different area and..... I got fed some interesting food!!!! I got fed Dinuguan, which is..... Pork Blood Soup! It actually wasn't terrible but luckily I had coke to wash everything I ate down LOL! But as the day went on I realized what I ate and I just grossed myself out but luckily it never made me sick! 

Pork blood soup

On Sunday we went to go pick up our investigator for church but she said she couldn't go so she sent her children age 9, 8, and 6 with us. It was stake conference so I just hope they weren't bored out of their minds cause we just sat for 2 hours but I hope and pray next week their mother will come! 

My kitchen

Life is good here in the Philippines! Still hot as ever and raining every day but So amazing and so good! Thanks for all the emails and prayers! 

Have a good week! 

-Sister Thayn

 

SEPTEMBER 6, 2015

HOT! HOT! HOT!

 

Coke in a bag?!

 

 

Time is just flying by here in the Philippines! Tomorrow I will have been out for 2 months! I am still just trying to adjust to everything but things are getting better and I am getting more comfortable. Well except for the heat.... it is so stinkin hot here I can't even explain it! 

Yesterday during sacrament meeting was my first experience with a brownout.... A brown out is what the Philippines call it when the power goes out. The power went out for like 15 minutes which means no fans or air conditioning which means SOOOOO HOT! we were all sweating like crazy! Then luckily the power came back on but later on that night there was a Brownout again and we were in a less active members house and then we decided to go home cause the power wasn't going to come back on and it was super dark outside. So we walked home in the dark with a tiny flashlight and we were home early because of the Brownout so we decided to make Pasta! We had candles lit all around the house and a few flashlights on, but it gets so dark here at like 6pm. But luckily right before we were going to bed the power came back on!!! I was so grateful for that because I wasn't excited to sleep without a fan on me! Fans are like your best friends here in the Philippines! 



FHE with the  Equilla Family

This week we were doing our best to try and find people to teach! And we were just walking around tracting and my companion says I like to tract to every house and get rejected until I can recognize the spirit tell me where to go! and we were about to stop but then she said lets go down this last street and so we did and at the very last house down the street it is this tiny hut in the corner and we knocked and.... THEY LET US IN! They are now our new investigators! If we wouldn't have followed that prompting to go down that last street we would have never found them! Their names are Sister Bernedeth, Brother Joseph and Brother Edeltes. Joseph and Edeltes are Bernedeth's brothers. Bernedeth has 5 little children! They are all so cute! They are very interested which is so exciting! They are reading the book of mormon and they say how much they like it! They also keep telling us how they want to go to church so hopefully they will come this next week!

Well all is well here in the Philippines! I still get stared at all the time walking down the street and people always want to talk to me and smile at me so that always makes me happy! I tried some new crazy fruits this week that were really yummy! I hope all is well with everyone! Thanks for all the emails! Love you all have a good week! 





Rice cooked in coconut milk and brown sugar wrapped in Banana leafs! (we bought it from this lady walking around with a basket on her head selling things!) So yummy!

banana trees

-Sister Thayn





 

 

AUGUST 31, 2015

 

I MADE IT!!!

 

Sister Thayn, Sister Hein & Sister Briggs

Wow it has been forever since I was able to email but I am now officially in the Philippines! The flight here was so long and it took over 24 hours to get here! We then got picked up by the Manila MTC president so was so kind! We stayed at the Manila MTC for 5 days! The time adjustment was quite hard but the president was so nice and would tell us to go to bed whenever he thought we looked tired and I was so grateful for that because I was able to adjust to the time faster! Then on Wednesday morning at 5:00 am we went to the airport to fly to Iloilo.

Sister Thayn & Sister Fantone

We stayed at one of the sisters apartments near the mission home the first night! Me and my two companions shared 2 mats and 1 fan and that was our bed for the night! I had no idea how hot it was going to be here! You always have to sleep with a fan or else you serious will die it is so hot! and to keep the bugs off of you! Then the next day I found out who my trainer is! Her name is Sister Fantone, she is from the Philippines and she is so sweet! And she speaks English very good so that was a relief! Actually lots of people here speak or understand English pretty well! The language is pretty hard and i am just trying to do my best to understand and I have a really hard time speaking but eventually I will! I just pray every day for the gift of tongues and interpretation of tongues. 

 

The Philippines is so different! First of all the driving here is INSANE! my first time in a car I literally thought I was going to die! Our driver said there is one rule in the Philippines with driving and that is FILL IN THE BLANKS! and that is literally what they do! It is insane but it seems to work for them cause I haven't seen an accident yet! I have only eaten a few things but all were yummy! I tried a coconut they cut it open with a huge knife thing and gave me a straw to drink out of! I at this meat off a skewer I actually don't know what it was but it was good! Maybe it is good that I don't know what it is! I ate this sardines mixture thing. Also funny thing was the first meal in the Philippines was breakfast and we had rice and this meat stew stuff. So different than breakfast at home! and then my second breakfast was rice and hotdogs! But the hot dogs were like giant Vienna sausages in a can so they were kind of gross! They eat so much rice here!!!! 

My first area is in the city! I am in the Jaro 2nd ward! The people here are so nice and welcoming! We live in a 2 story apartment with two other sisters so there are four of us in the apartment! It is so fun! Sometimes during the day we do not have water but we always have extra buckets full of water just in case that happens! And bucket showers aren't as bad as I thought they were going to be! The few short days I have been here i have truly come to realize how blessed we all are with what we have. Here in the Philippines people have a tiny room with a few mats maybe and possibility a bathroom. They are the most humble people though! They are so kind! 

Sister Thayn  in front of first apartment

It is so funny walking down the road because I get honked at all the time and waved at! I get called beautiful all the time and people always want to talk to me. One time I was walking down the street and my companion was in front of me and said hi to this little girl and then I walked past and the little girls jaw dropped and she said WOWWWW! HAHA it was so funny! We went up to her and talked to here and my companion said she was speechless! She says people look at us American's like celebrities! She said we are going to use that a benefit for tracting! I think everyone needs to come to the Philippines for a self esteem booster! I don't think I have ever been called beautiful so many times in my life! And I have crazy hair and no makeup on! So life is GREAT! LOL 

I am still trying to adjust to everything but I have truly loved my morning studies and have had my testimony grow so much! Although people may be different we are all children of god and all are important and god loves us all! Yesterday we were able to give away 5 Book of Mormons and talk to so many people! We were carrying around an English Book of Mormon to give away and I was really confused why but god sure had a plan for us because he found the most perfect person to give it to! We found this lady walking her dog down this street she is 89 years old and she lived in Hawaii for 60 years as a teacher and she spoke English! We told her who we are and our purpose and she said she is a Baptist and she loves god! And long story short we asked her if she would like a Book of Mormon and she accepted and said she only reads in English so it was perfect and we were able to give away that Book of Mormon! 

I hope all is well with everyone! I love receiving your emails! Thank you for all your prayers! Good luck with everyone who is going back to school and hope you have a good week! Love you all!

-Sister Thayn

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AUGUST 27, 2015

 

Safe Arrival of Sister Kiera Thayn in

Iloilo, Philippines

 

Sister Thayn with President and Sister AQUINO

Iloilo Mission President