APRIL 25, 2016

More Birthday Celebrations!!

This week has been really good! My birthday was full of surprises from the morning until the night. Later that night a family in the branch surprised my with dinner! it was so much fun! Also throughout the week i had birthday celebrations and a few different members house which was so much fun!

This week i was able to go on exchanges with the other sisters in our zone and was able to go to their area. The way that they travel in their area is by a single motorcycle but there was three of us working and we couldn't all fit on the motorcycle so we had to ride separately and side-saddle on the motorcycle because we were in dresses! That was an adventure!!! And it poured so much rain that day but luckily we were in an appointment when it happened but we had to stop our lesson cause we couldn't hear each other talk it was so loud! 

This week we have really been trying to find part member families in our branch to teach and baptize we are still on the hunt and hope we will find success in this! 

Yesterday all day long was a brown-out (No electricity) as we were getting ready in the morning for church all the power went out and then we went to church and no electricity oh man it was so stinking hot!!! then we came home and ate and laid down on our tile floor to cool off. The power didn't come back on till 6pm. That was probably the hottest day of my life!  

Well Life is good and great! Thanks for all the Birthday Wishes!!! 

Love you all!

Love, Sister Thayn
 

APRIL 18, 2016

Happy Birthday TO ME!!

YAY! its my Birthday Today!!! It is so cool that is can say i had my 20th birthday in the Philippines! So far my birthday has been great! I have the best companion and missionaries that live by us! we have so much fun together and the day is just starting so we will see what else happens this birthday!

This week has been lots of fun! at the beginning of the week i was super sick but luckily only lasted 1 day and then back to work. I found out that is is about 100 degrees everyday while we are out working and walking in the hot sun, and the heat index or what the temperature feel like with humidity is 125 degrees! oh man you could say it is insane heat here!  

This week i was also able to make Banana bread that was so fun and reminded me of home! 

I also cut my companions hair this week and that was the first time i have ever given a haircut! that was an adventure but she looks so cute don't worry! 

Something that i loved that happened this week was we were at a members house that had recently returned back to the church. We were talking about temples and Jesus and the sister said, "I just cannot wait for Jesus to come! I dont know what i am going to do when i see him i think i will just stare at him" Then her little daughter said "Just stare at him mom well i am going to run up to him and embrace him" That was so amazing we all need to be just like the little children and run up and embrace him in all that we do. 

Also this week another eye opening thing happened i had just barely bought cold water from the store on the way to our investigators house and was holding it in my hands and when we got to the house the children were all eyeballing the cold water and the sister was like wow cold water that is so amazing all we drink is hot water cause it is so hot outside and we have no fridge. So i gave them my cold bottled water and it was like Christmas day for them. Something so simple that we all take for granted is cold water and i truly felt so blessed that day of all the things that we have in our lives!

Thank you all for the birthday wishes! 

Love, 

Sister Thayn

APRIL 11, 2016

Half -Way There

Wow I hit quite the milestone of my mission this week! 9 MONTHS DOWN!!! In the past 9 months i have left my family, moved to the other side of the world, stayed in 3 areas, had 7 companions, learning 3 new languages, and much more. It has been quite the amazing 9 months you could say!!!

This week we also watched General conference! It was incredible everything that was said there! I love conference so much and I am so excited to go home and go to the temple that is one thing i miss SOOOO much!!!! 

This week we also found out that our investigator and her marriage is finally getting finalized and we got to tell her that and when we did she was jumping up and down and could stop smiling she was so excited. It was the best feeling ever! WE are so excited for her! 

This week has been so hot!!! the other day we were working in 98 degree weather and it was so humid i thought i was going to die it was so hot!!! It is now so hot that we have to change our study schedule during the day so we dont get heat stroke! oh man quite the life here in the Philippines!!!

Today we also had an activity at the beach and made pork and rice and all ate with our hands on a banana leaf! We have so much fun here in Antique!!!

Sorry this email is kinda lame not too much time to email.

Love, Sister Thayn

 

APRIL 4, 2016

Transfers and a NEW companion

Hello EVERYONE! This has been such a crazy week but so good! Sad to say my companion sister Halatokoua transferred we were only companions for 4 weeks but we had so much fun! I have a new companion who is so amazing too! Her name is Sister Paquidian she is from the Philippines she is so kind and has such an amazing conversion story. She is the only member in her family and she is just so strong and such an amazing example to me!

So Wednesday was transfers and then Thursday and Friday i was in Iloilo for meetings and because my companion isnt an STL she stayed in Antique and my companion was the elders for the time being. It was so fun being in Iloilo I got to sleep over at my old apartment with my old companion sister Manilay which was so fun! Then i came home on Friday evening so tired from the crazy and windy roads in the mountains we ate and just went to bed! Then Saturday we had fun proselyting and working with members! Sunday was not general conference for us we get to watch that next week but we were able to watch the General Womens conference and that was amazing! There was only 13 people in the chapel 4 of them being the sister missionaries but the spirit was so strong and i learned how much we need to serve others especially our own neighbors. 

The exciting thing we did was this morning we had a zone activity where we rented a jeepney for the zone and all rode up about 1.5hours into the mountains and hiked. It was so much fun and i got lots of pictures. I rode on the top of the jeepney the whole way it was so fun and free AC. LOL Our zone is the best and we all have so much fun! The Philippines is so beautiful and I love being a missionary here and being able to serve all the people around me! 

Thank you for all the love and prayers I hope all is well at home! 

LOVE,

Sister Thayn


 

MARCH 27, 2016

District Youth Conference and Easter

 I Cannot believe how fast time flies by here!!! It is almost April! This week has been a good one we have taught a lot, laughed a lot, sweated a lot, and walked a lot but never the less it was an amazing week! I found out the other day that this April will hit record high temperatures and i am not sure how i feel about that! SO HOT!!!!

This past week we have been doing our best to help one of our investigators get married so that she can get baptized. Her testimony is so strong and she has such a desire but it is so challenging to get married here in the Philippines so that is our challenge right now... 

Toko in our kitchen

One of the families that we are teaching right now is really progressing! WE are so excited for them. The sad thing is they still haven't come to church but amat amat (step by step) we know they will come! We taught them again yesterday about the Restoration and how we have the true church here on the earth again and most importantly we have the priesthood that is so important for all the ordinances in the church especially baptism. They are truly prepared and a golden family!

On Tuesday it was one of the elders birthday so we had a district party after district meeting and then the branch threw him a surprise bday party and we had lots of fun, food and cake that day! 

Baby chick for Easter

This weekend was Antique district (we are not yet a stake we are a district) youth conference. It was at a really nice resort right by the beach. It was so nice I wanted to do a family reunion there only problem the flights are super expensive. but that would be a wish of a lifetime!!! but we had lot of fun at youth conference we ate a few meals there and then on Friday we received a group of youth that we got to go proselyting with for about a half an hour. We received a lot of referrals and it was so fun and super good for the youth to see how missionary work happens. 

disco dance at Youth conference

Speaking of Easter all this week we taught people about the 2nd coming of Christ and about the judgement day. And something that my dad always taught me is to be prepared. Not just for the 2nd coming but for everything in life! But all of us need to be ready for the second coming all we know is his hand is nigh and he comes quick. What better warning than that! We need to prepare our best and do our best to be ready for when Christ comes. No matter how unpopular or inconvenient it may be preparing yourself and staying close to our heavenly father will save you through any disaster or trial in this life. 

B-Day party with the district

Something funny this week was I was getting my eyebrows threaded last pday and the guy that was doing it was so surprised i could speak the language and then he told me how he was single... on and on and then ended up telling me he would wait for me after my mission and would come to america. HAHA oh man the people we find!! 

Love you all have a good week!!!

-Sister Thayn

 

 

MARCH 20, 2016

Four to a Motorcycle??
 

 

It has been another good week full of Fun, Adventures, and the Spirit!

On Friday we did service at our investigators house sister Sandrea. We did her Laba (Laundry) for her. It ended up in a water fight with me, Sis. Halatokoua, and the kids! We had so much fun and cleaned lots of clothes!!! 

Laba & Water fight!!

Dinner with the Delesantos family!

Another funny story we were in our farthest area one night this week and there were no tricycles for us to ride to get home and we just sat there waiting for one and then our recent convert their parents drove past us on a motorcycle and asked if we wanted a ride! Well of course we did cause we needed to be home and that was all we got. So we fit 4 of us on a single motorcycle! That was quite the adventure! The dad was driving then the mom after him then sister Halatokoua then me! Only about half of my body was completely on the motorcycle and i just hung on for dear life! but we made it safe and sound laughing our guts out all along the way! I bet that was quite the sight for people 2 little Filipino people and 1 Tongan and 1 American all on the back of a motorcycle! 

We have also been teaching this one family there are a lot of them like 20 plus but we are focusing on a few of them and they are really progressing and we are excited for them. We actually found their real house the other day because usually we just teach at the grandparents house but their actual house is out in the middle of nowhere in the rice fields it is so peaceful and quiet i love it so much! 

The other day we were tracting and it was so hot we couldn't stand being in the sun any longer so we found a rope swing with a tire connected to it and swang and rested for a little bit. Then people saw us and came to talk to us and we were able to talk to them about the gospel and give them a book of Mormon and play volleyball with them for a little bit. We have a return appointment with them and we are so excited to teach them.

Lunch with Elders outside our apartment

Yesterday i was able to give a talk in sacrament meeting and it actually went really well. I talked about rescuing people and those who have forgotten about the gospel and have lost their ways helping them come back to the gospel. My favorite scripture that I read was Alma 5:16 about our interview with heavenly father after our lives here on the earth and that is what we want to hear from him our works we did here on the earth were righteous not bad. I know if we work hard and choose the right we will be blessed and not just us but generations and generations after us will be blessed!!! I know our savior lives and loves us and is waiting for us to take his hand! I love you all thanks for all the love and support!

-Sister Thayn