Sister Julia Harrison

Kamusta y'all!    This week was kinda crazy, but mostly good. We had splits in Santiago with the sister training leaders and I got to work with Sister Ilanan. It was really fun and I learned a lot from her. The work in Diffun is going pretty well. We have a couple of people we're teaching that are so excited and willing to learn. Most days they contact us to ask when we're going to teach them before we have a chance to contact them!     On Saturday we had a service project in the rice field of one of the members. We had to get up early so it wouldn't be too hot when we were working. We were weeding their field and it was actually really fun. There were also several members and people we're teaching with us, and everything is more fun when you've got fun people with you.    So we've got another typhoon heading our way. Yesterday we were evacuated to Santiago, which is closer to the typhoon, but I guess it's safer so that's where we ...

Kamusta y'all!    This week has been pretty crazy, but I'll just summarize some of the highlights.   One, Saturday was the wedding of one of our investigators, Karen. They were married in the church and afterwards had a reception outside her family's house. The wedding was really cool and Sister Karen is so beautiful. After the wedding we had a couple lessons, and then we were walking to eat at the reception when it started pouring. We ended up waiting for the rain to calm down a bit in a little "waiting shed." (that's literally what they're called, but they're usually for waiting for tricys) But it was super short and we all had to crouch. So that was fun :)   Two, Stake conference on Sunday. Which is all the way in Santiago and we were going to get our investigators to church no matter what. So we loaded up the back of Brother Elmer's truck with chairs from the church. I've provided a picture of the result. Sister Hiatt tol...

Kamusta y'all!    So transfers happened this last Wednesday, but they didn't affect us too much. When missionaries are training they usually stay in the same area and with the same companion. Our zone is splitting into two districts though so that's kinda exciting.    Friday was a crazy day! We had to go to Santiago for interviews with President Hiatt. Then Brother Perlito had his interview for his baptism this coming Saturday. And then we had the baptism of Brother Jerson! Jerson is 10 and his parents are semi-active members. He's super shy but he really tries hard to learn when we're teaching him. While we were preparing for the baptism pretty much everything was falling apart and barely anyone on the program was able to be there. We managed to figure things out, but I was still feeling pretty frazzled. But when the baptismal service I felt such a wonderful sense of peace. I was able to ignore all the details and problems and focus on the spi...

Kamusta y'all!   I only have a few days left, and I'll have finished my first cycle here in the Philippines Cauayan mission. And what an adventure it's been! No two days are ever quite the same. This week we went to Cauayan city for a training for new missionaries and their trainers. It's crazy to think that this week I will no longer be one of the newest missionaries here. We were really fortunate to get a ride to Cauayan city with some members who have a van. It was great because it was faster, more comfortable, and a lot cheaper! Honestly the members in our ward are so generous and willing to help us in any way they can.   Speaking of members, members who help with missionary work are just the best. But not just because they make things easier for us. Sister Tampus and I can walk around talking to people all day -which we do- and we can find people who listen to us, and sometimes they're willing to learn more. But the people who are the most pre...

Kamusta y'all!    I have officially been serving in the Philippines for an entire month. Sometimes it feels like I got here yesterday, and sometimes it feels like I've been here for a lifetime. So because I arrived here on August 30th, the day a started serving here matches up with the date I entered the MTC. So that also means that I have been a missionary for 4 months. Every month has been super different and I haven't really  had the chance to settle anywhere yet. I'm expecting that my next transfer will be slightly different for me because I'll be staying in the same mission... which hasn't happened yet.     We spent a lot of time in Santiago this week which was pretty fun. Saturday was our stake's family week celebration. (family week is a big holiday here) and we got to go to part of the activities with the members, and we had a couple investigators there too. Zone conference was on Wednesday and we all "buried our weapons of rebe...