Be Clean.

Helllllll o,

I apologize for a shorter email this week. Transfer day was last week,
but there was no transfer in our companionship:) I am very happy about
this and really love working with Sister Ticzon. I am now in my last
transfer, which is actually 9 weeks instead of 6. They are changing
the transfer schedule because of the huge number of incoming
missionaries, so we have an extra long transfer now.

I got a stye in my eye last week and have a really nice looking new
boil on the underside of my right arm. I'm happy that the stye finally
found it's way out of my upper left eyelid. The boil is just gorgeous
though. (I could attempt to explain to you all how dirty it is here in
GuaGua, but maybe I'll try next time. People throw their trash
anywhere and everywhere, so it's really really unsanitary in some
areas. GuaGua has a huge problem with flooding during the rainy
seasons that is directly related to the rivers being blocked up with
garbage. And despite the ridiculous flooding, people are still not
doing anything different about their garbage. People are suffering
simply because of a lack of discipline in regards to where they decide
to place their garbage. That's life, I think. Sister Ticzon is also
having problems as well with her allergies because of the dust and
dirt here. )

This past week was incredible. We have many new investigators as well
as one new family that we're now teaching- the Bayang family. They
were a referral from a member here in GuaGua and have already come to
church which is exciting. We have a few investigators with a baptismal
date in February, so we are helping them prepare for that commitment.
:)

Sorry this is super short. Hopefully next week, I can send a more
'meaty' letter. You know what I mean.

Thank you all for your support and love.

-Sister Vickers

Oh to Grace.

Helllllloooooo,

My mission is really never boring. It seems like there's never a
shortage of interesting experiences. Last Monday we had a creepy man
following us at the market. We walked into a store to avoid him but he
quickly followed us into the store, even though I was hiding behind
some merchandise. We ran out of the store and after we noticed he was
still following us, we ran into the thrift store next door. We ran all
the way to the back of the store and was startled to see an old man
sleeping on the floor, as well as a dog with a striped t-shirt. We had
to muffle our surprise/laughter so that he wouldn't wake up. We were
running from an intruding man, but we ended being the intruders on
someone else... haha.

Things just get better and better with our interesting investigator,
Alberto. Last week, he gave me an envelope after we had visited him,
and once we were far away from his house, we ripped open the envelope
and immediately starting reading his letter to me. In this letter, he
told me that he was in love and expressed various other sentiments. I
was really just shocked and weirded out a bit. I had no other reaction
except to laugh, which we did for a while. :)

Sister Ticzon taught me how to extract coconut milk from an actual
coconut. We made curry and it was yummyyum. If you want to learn too,
I'll teach you:)

We had a companionship exchange and for a day I went to Lubao, my
first area:) It was such a rewarding experience to see the progress in
the area. I was overwhelmed to see the changes and the improvements in
the area. YES.

I was mistaken in believing that I could only be so tired. It's a kind
of tiredness that I feel in my eyes and my bones. I'm not complaining,
but amazed that God has given me the opportunity to experience this,
combined with the sweet joy that I feel as I work, and as I see
miracles happening.

We were able to experience such an intimate lesson with Brother Garcia
(I mentioned him last week), last Saturday night. It was the first
time that I actually saw him cry. He expressed guilt for some things
that have happened, as well as his fears. He expressed his
estrangement with God as well as his desire to change, to repent and
to come closer to God. It was such a choice experience, and those
kinds of experiences are the reason why I can say truthfully that
despite being absurdly tired, I love love this work. At different
times during the lesson, all three of us cried, and it was a beautiful
moment of realization for Brother Garcia, as well as for me. It was a
perfect example of being unified as a companionship as well as having
the lesson moved and progressed by a divine source. That is real.
Alma 5:45-46

byebye. until next week,

Sister Vickers

Termite luv:)

Pictures: 'Daing' on a clothesline- dried fish. I was trying to figure
out what they were drying and realized that it was only fish. NBD.

Who is God?

We had such a fantastic week. We have several new investigators, and I
am really excited about the potential here in GuaGua. I keep thinking
to myself that my mission feels like a very long dream. Time is so so
indescribable on the mission. Days feel like hours and weeks feel like
days. I am having an interesting time trying to process how little
time I have left. I almost can't believe it.

Our investigator, Alberto has just the most interesting stories. He's
the one I mentioned last week about Heavenly Father's spirit entering
his stomach. This week, he told that while he was drinking (alcohol,
actually. it's a bizarre coincidence that it was actually alcohol
while this happened.....) that Mary (Jesus' mother) went into his
stomach. He also mentioned that while he was playing basketball one
day, he became Michael Jordon. ? While he was resting on top of a
basketball afterwards, God's spirit then entered into his body. I
honestly believe that the gospel of Jesus Christ is for everyone. I
hope that he will be able to grasp some of the things we'll be
teaching him. During church yesterday, he leaned over and told me
that I looked like Mama Mary. I told him that she's more beautiful
than I am. haha. :)

Last Monday, the members here in GuaGua were so sweet and gave us some
cooked 'tatad.' I casually mentioned that I'm on the lookout for
strange/bizarre foods, and they gloriously provided some fried wood
termites for us. I was overwhelmed with gratitude for their kindness
on our behalf. Sister Ticzon may or may have not screamed. She never
ate them, but I did. It tasted like fried tilapia. Other people
described the taste as being similar to pork rinds, or even the inside
as milk-y tasting. To me, it mostly just tasted like fried tilapia.
The internet shop we're currently at, is not liking my camera right
now, so I am unable to show photos of this. Maybe next week. :)

We taught a new investigator yesterday named Eric. Eric arrived at the
church around 1 pm, thinking that he was going to attend the church
services. We were so surprised to see him at the church, and even
though he missed church, we taught him in one of the classrooms. I
don't know how to describe the vibe that I got from him and I don't
like to just assign abstract feelings to someone, but I felt like he
was incredible weighed down with many things from his past. I saw
'guilt' in his face and in his words. It was an experience to see the
effect of certain things that he had done in his life. Through his
actions, he effected not only himself, but his family as well. He
looked visibly burdened down. We explained that the process of
becoming free from certain things that he's done, is not an
instantaneous process, but that there is a very real hope-a hope that
is literally 'freeing.' This hope can lead us to become free us from
bondage, from sin, from guilt, from our own weaknesses. We talked very
simply about the atonement of Jesus Christ as well as who 'God' is. He
told us that he wants to know who God really is. I love that the
nature of God is the first principle of the first lesson that we teach
to investigators as missionaries. Without understanding the nature of
God, I think most ideas or principles in the gospel would not follow,
or would not be clear.

I want to briefly mention Brother Garcia, who is a long time member in
GuaGua. He has been less active for the past few years. He's gone
through some incredibly painful experiences in his life. He used to
work in Benghazi, Libya. He mentioned that the government is
incredibly strict on foreigners when they enter the country.
Christianity is basically outlawed and bibles are confiscated if
people ever try to bring them inside the country. Brother Garcia
explained that in an effort to be able to read the scriptures (more
specifically, the Book of Mormon) without getting caught, that he cut
out 1 page of the English Book of Mormon, folded it 8 times and hid it
inside his wallet. He was never caught for that.

We asked him which exact page it was that he brought with him, and he
said that he forgot what page number it was. But he quoted a part of
one verse that was on that page. From there, Sister Ticzon and I
searched our Books of Mormon, asking him, "Is this it? Is that one
it?" until we finally found the verse in Ether 12:4, which is found on
page 509 of the English Book of Mormon. Page 509-510 was the page that
he had read during his time in Libya, and I don't think I'll ever
forget that. Those passages in the book of Ether became especially
meaningful to me, as these were the verses he read over and over and
over again when he witnessed hell-ish happenings during his time
there.

Brother Garcia was also in Libya when some sort of attack broke out in
the country a few years ago. Many filipino workers were unable to
leave the country at that time due to complications with their
passports. He briefly described some of the things that he saw. Tears
came to my eyes as he described the inhumanity that he saw at that
time. He saw limbs and heads being severed and people killed in front
of him. He said that he witnessed the day that "God is not here.''
There was a specific time in which he realized that he would be
killed. Him and several other Filipinos were captured and he had
basically accepted that fact that his life would be shortly ending. He
told God that he's accepted the fact that he will die, but that if
there was something left for him to do in this life, to provide a way
or an escape for him. Shortly after, some sort of miracle happened in
which they found their passports and found some way to escape. (I
thought that it was interesting that in those moments of despair or of
desperation it's natural for us to call on our Creator, to call on
God. Why is it that in difficult times we become acquainted with him,
more than in times of peace or during prayer of a casual sort? )

We quietly listened to him and my mind was racing trying to process
the things that he was describing. I'm not sure why exactly I included
this specific experience in my weekly email to you all, but I felt
like I needed to include it and so I did. I believe in God and know
that God lives. We worship a living God- a loving God.

8, (forever yours)

Sister DV

"Hey Jude!"

This is a shorter email. My thoughts feel a bit jumbled right now:)

I'm starting the see the importance of continually being focused on my
mission here. I don't want to live another stage of my life, if I
haven't completely closed the one I'm currently in. (I'm starting to
have dreams about when I get back home. I don't know if they have any
sort of validity, but it's been a little weird for me. I had a dream
that I was in an Icelandic class at BYU and I still remember vaguely
what the professors looked liked in my dream. I'm realizing that I
have to be vigilant to keep my focus on this work.)

The importance of love and forgiveness have cycled back into my
thoughts. We had an interesting lesson last week with the Bacarro
family. They are less active in the church, and we watched a video on
lds.org about forgiveness. I was the only one who cried and even
thought I was embarrassed, I testified about the reality of
forgiveness. It's in many ways beyond ourselves. I have learned that
it is a spiritual gift of sorts. Sister Ticzon asked me afterwards why
I cried and my answer was a little mixed. I shared some experiences
from my childhood and some difficult things I experienced on my
mission. She told me that the lesson probably was meant more for me
than for the people we were teaching. I think she was probably right.
I love that. It seems like so often the 'teacher' learns more than the
'learner.' I am still learning and have much more to learn.

Ether 12:27

Kellie's Baptism. Our branch president didn't want to get in the
picture, so they took a candid shot. He's in the white shirt. :)













Jacquilyn and Richard at their wedding :) They were baptized after
their wedding.

















I almost forgot: I'm getting released as a missionary on March 26.
Also, my mother and I will be traveling a bit around the
Philippines/Hong Kong for about 10 days, so I'll be getting back
around April 5. This feels so weird to me, and bizarrely fast. I
mostly have mixed feelings about my mission ending. yikes.

I also forgot to mention one of our investigators who had some drug
addictions in the past. He told us that Heavenly Father's spirit went
to his stomach and lives there. This was an interesting conversation.

i love you. every one of you.