Letter-April 17th, 2016

Maayong aga sa inyo tannan. That just means good morning yall,

But I guess it's night for most of you hahaha. This week was good, as per usual. 

So what happened this week? 

Mon: We went to the light house again with our district for bonding time. It was really fun. Then we just had P-day

Tues: Normal day :) 

Wed: We went on exchanges. I worked with Sister Dayuta. It was a great day but I woke up with a cold. We were still able to work 5 hours. She is such a sweet sister and was patient with my weak body. But its all ok :) We are human. 

Thurs: I woke up still feeling a little sick, but I still got ready to go out and work. And literally right as we were kneeling down to pray one of the sisters called and said she was sick and needed someone to stay with her. It was a tender mercy honestly. It was Heavenly Fathers way of telling me "thanks for being willing to work, but rest up." 

Fri: 100% back to normal :) YAY! We had good day of hard work and we found new investigators :) I am excited to return to them 

Sat: We got to catch up with our recent converts and start teaching him the new member lessons. 

Sun: We got to join a choir that joined a united prayer day event. It was called one Capiz one Prayer. So all the different churches in the area presented their prayer and 3 songs. It was such a  cool experience. We.We got to sing 3 songs. Everyone was wearing this tee-shirt but they wanted us missionaries to be dressed like normal so that the people would recognize us. As if a white girl and other foreigners isn't different enough.  Good times :) 

Something that my mission president shared I really liked it. I would like to share it with you. Do you want to be happy? Forget yourself and get lost in this great cause. Lend your efforts to helping people. . . . Stand higher, lift those with feeble knees, Hold up the arms of those that hang down. Live the gospel of Jesus Christ.”

I know that it's true. As we serve others we end up being blessed in ways that we would never expect. And this doesn't just have to be for missionaries. We as members its also our responsibility to lift those around us,other members, less actives and others. 

I hope you all have a good week. Love you all! 

Sister Miggin 

Ps. I don't know if you have seen this video yet, but we got a good laugh watching it. I am going to share it so those who haven't seen it can get a good laugh too.  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ckLqfX62u_I

Letter-April 10th, 2016

Hello everyone, lots of love heading your way from yours truly!

I finally got to watch general conference! IT WAS AMAZING! The church is true. I just felt so spiritually uplifted. 

Well this week was great :) 

Mon: We went fishing with bamboo poles and we fished off big rocks. It was lots of fun, but we didn't catch anything (I am still trying to learn patience) 

Tues: was full of less actives because our investigators weren't home. But it was still a good day. 

Wed: We had exchanges. I got to work with Sister Hussein in my area. She is my batch mate. We were with each other in the MTC. So it was so fun to catch up and work with each other. It's crazy how we have changes and to see how we can actually speak the language better now. We only had one lesson, but we street contacted like crazy! It was a great exchange. 

Thurs: Normal day, nothing much happened 

Fri:General conference eve hahaha 

Sat & Sun: Finally got to watch General conference. It was amazing I just loved it. I learned so much. I think my favorite was by President Uchdorf and the rescue talk by Elder Arnold. 

Overall for me I could see 3 things that they kept talking about. 

1. Families: I can see that the church is worried about families. They have every right to be. The world we live in is crazy and there is so much evil right at our finger tips. But I loved the counsel from the different general authorities. I know that if we listen to their council those raising families need not worry. I just love being a missionary and having this knowledge. I hope that we can find a family that we can help bring the gospel to them. 

2. Temples: There were quite a few talks about the blessings of the temples and why its necessary for us. The building of temples is really moving forward fast so that members can start going to the temple and then start doing temple work. Also a few talks that talked about how the priesthood is vital to have. Without the restored priesthood authority we would not be blessed with the temple and we could not be with our families forever (I love how it all ties together)

3. I heard lots of the general authorities offering their love and support to us members and to all of Gods children. They are encouraging us to keeping pressing forward and having faith is Jesus Christ. We all know that trials and challenges are part of this life. I feel like they were just helping us know what to do when times get tough. I know that their counsel is true. I know that though Jesus Christ we can overcome all things that come our way. No it's not going to be easy. But if he hold fast to our faith and try our best to follow his commandments. He will always be there for us. I have felt that so many times in my life. 

I hope you all loved General Conference as much as I did. These are just some of my thoughts. I hope that you all received answers to your prayers though the words of our living prophet and apostles. I know that this Church is true and there is no doubt it my mind. I love being a missionary and sharing this with everyone. 

Have a good week. I love you all. Until next time. 

Sister Miggin

Letter- April 3rd, 2016

Hello everyone. Thanks for sharing what you liked about conference. We don't get to watch it until Saturday. We have it a week late. But I am excited to watch and listen and learn. I loved the General Women's Conference. The theme was for sure service. I just got motivated to serve and love the people here even more. I am really lucky to be here in the Philippines. I can't imagine my mission being anywhere else. I just am falling in love with the people here and just everything.

What happened this week.

Mon: p-day

Tues: Full day of work :) we also got to teach a new less active family that we found

Wed: We found 2 new investigators that have HUGE potential. I am so excited to go back and teach them again. One of them used to work at the house next to our apartment and saw me outside running and wanted to talk to me but was scared because she doesn't know English. Well we were street contacting near her house and she came out and was like I know you come in. I was such a exciting thing.

Thus: We went to Iloilo to go to MLC(missionary leadership council) It was so good., We had a reporting on our zone and then we had a big group discussion.

Fri: We had part 2 of MLC but instead of just the zone leaders and the STL's the district leaders joined so that all the leaders were together to get unified before our mission president leaves in a few months. Then after that we had one crazy car ride and one long bus ride to come back to our area.

Sat: JR GOT BAPTIZED! He was so excited to be baptized. He was just smiling the whole time. After he came out of the water he said " oh thank you, finally!" Then he gave a sweet testimony about how he knows his new church is true and how happy he was to be baptized and be clean. He is 72 years old. It was a privilege to teach him and watch his conversion progress and the start of his testimony. It was just a testimony builder to me age doesn't matter. The Lord has those prepared for us. Also the family that I found back in my old area was also baptized. Anrdo and his daughter Adrianna. I was so lucky to get to see it happen. The Lord's tender mercies.

Sun: Women's conference broadcast :)

I hope you all have a good week. That's all for now! Until next week!

Sister Miggin

Letter-March 27th, 2016

I hope you all had a great Easter week. I learned a lot this week about the culture here and the beliefs of Catholicism. It was quite an eye opening week. Nevertheless I was grateful to celebrate the life and Resurrection of Jesus Christ.

What happened this week:

Mon: We had an awesome activity. We went to a members property up a mountain. We back-trail hiked though a jungle mountain. It was so fun. We were climbing up vines and just doing all this crazy stuff. It was a blast. And the view at the top was nice too. Then we hiked back down. We then had a budol fight. Which is the but banana leafs on a table and then just but the rice down and the food and we just eat it with no plates and with our hands. It was quite the experience. I felt very into the culture that day. 

Tues: We tried to find and mostly got punted but we still worked as hard as we could. Sometimes there are just those days. 

Wed: We were able to teach our investigator JR. We had the bishop and one of his counselors came with us. He is so excited for his baptism. I was super glad that the members were willing to work with us and come help teach JR

Thus: Normal work day :) 

Fri: Ok so this day was kind of crazy. The culture here is they really celebrate Easter week, but not the way you would think. This week was semana santa. Or saints week. SO they had whats called a procession this week. This night was like a ghost town because most of the people here are catholic and so they were at this procession. Even some of our less actives went. We were able to go to the stake presidents house and he drove us home after so we got to see some of their worship take place. It was very interesting to me and very eye opening. 

Sat: JR had his baptismal interview and passed!!! 

Sun: we went to church and it was a pretty normal Sunday with only 1 meeting :) 

As I was doing my personal study this week. I was reading about being a true disciple of Christ. I read in the conference liahona "True disciples of Christ are not looking to make excuses for the doctrine when it doesn't fit the world's current concepts.... True disciples represent the Lord when it may not be convenient to do so. True disciples desire to inspire the hearts of men. Elder Gregory Schwitzer." It reminded me that we as members of the Church can never follow the world standards. Because they aren't Gods standards. We need to stand for something better and be strong in our faith. I am loving being a disciple of Jesus Christ. I love being his missionary and teaching his gospel to anyone that will listen to us. I hope to keep working as hard as I can right until the end. I hope you all had a good week. I love you all. Talk to you next week. 

Sister Miggin

Letter-March 20th, 2016

Hello my loved ones. This week went by pretty fast. It was also really good!

So what happened this week:

Mon: We had a Zone activity on the beach. We played lots of fun games and then had lunch at a restaurant right on the beach. It had lots of cool fresh sea food. Actually the area I am in right now is the Seafood capitol of the Philippines. 

Tues: Punted day..... But we did get to teach some less actives in at the end of the day. 

Wed: Exchanges! I worked in my area with Sister Servesa. It was really funny for us because she was my STL when I was new in the mission, and now I will be her last STL because she is close to going home. It was nice to work with her again and catch up.

Thurs: Regular work day, we got to contact some OYM's and then we also found some lost less actives that we didn't even know about. So we are happy we were guided to their house. 

Fri: We went to a stake relief society party to celebrate the 174th birthday of relief society. It was a lot of fun, we were glad we were invited to go. We found a new family. I am really excited. We haven't gotten to go back to them yet, but hopefully tomorrow or Friday again. They seem pretty interested. So I am always hopefully to see what can happen with them. 

Sat: We taught our investigator brother JR that should be getting baptized this April 2. We did a testimony and knowledge check this week with him because his interview is this week. It was really awesome to hear his testimony and even though he is old, he just has an awesome testimony and is so willing to learn more and tries to be so obedient. He even payed his tithing on Sunday. 

Sun: I was a speaker in church. That's always fun. I also was the piano player and accompanied a musical number. We didn't work much because we had lots of meetings. We had meeting with the Stake President, the mission president and the zone leaders. I realized how much work it is to correlate between all the stakes and wards and missionaries to make sure everyone is unified and doing their job. I just learned and observed a lot about how the church works. We have that meeting again next month. Then we had a dinner appointment :) It's always the best way to end the day. 

This week I was proud with the work we put in. Even though we didn't have high high numbers, I felt like we were being guided by the spirit. And that's all I pray for. We talked to a lot of people this week and have some great potential try to go back and teach again. I really am ready for a new week. Hopefully we can find some new families and build up our teaching pool. This week I was reading the past conference talks, because I want to finish before conference. Anyway I really loved President Monsons' talk and how he reminded us all to be examples of the believers and if we do that we will have the light of Christ with us. I was thinking of ways that I can be a better example. I try everyday to find ways to improve as a missionary and as a person. I realized that if I want to be an effective leader for the sisters in my zone. i have to be what I want them to be. I need to be their example in everything. That' s one goal my companion and I set this week. I encourage you all to re-read the conference talks or at least a few before the new one comes. 

I love you all and I hope that you have a great week! 

-Sister Miggin

Letter-March 13th, 2016

Hello everyone :) Things are starting to warm up here in the Philippines! And boy it's getting hot. Even the breeze (if there is one) is hot. I carry a little fan called a pamaypay so I don't melt away.

So what happened this week:

Mon; P-day. We went to a hike to this awesome lighthouse with a AMAZING view. It was so relaxing. Then we had 2 Family home evenings that night. One was a big family of 12 kids who now have their own families. It was like a party FHE. The people LOVE games, so it's never boring. 

Tues: We worked today but got punted most the day, so the only lessons we had were less actives. But its was still a good day. We got to meet new people so that was good.

Wed: We went on exchanges. I worked with Sister Paguigan. We worked in her area. We had a great day.We were able to do a little bit of everything. Teaching, finding, less actives. It was a great exchange. 

Thurs: Today we worked in our area by the beach and found a new family that has potential. We have only taught them once so far, but we are really excited to go back and teach them this week. 

Fri: We did a lot of street contacting this day. All I remember is just coming home and sleeping haha. Oh and we deep cleaned our room because I kept getting ridiculous amounts of bits on me. So we got permission to by a new mattress! First time in my mission I have a new mattress. It's just a new foam pad, but its clean :) 

Sat: We taught our investigator JR. He is this really cute old man that lives out in a rice field. He is super prepared for the gospel though.We gave him a date and he accepted! He is so excited to be baptized. He said even though he is this age he has never wants to be baptized until we came and taught him. He comes to church every week. I am really excited to keep watching his testimony grow. 

Sun: Church with no extra meetings :) 

*Funny Story*

So one morning we woke up and my companion was like "sister miggin you were talking in your sleep last night, do you want to know what you said." My first thought was oh no, what! She just started laughing and then told me what happened. She woke up around 1 am and heard me talking and wasn't sure if it was morning or if I was asleep. She realized it was the middle of the night. So she started listening to me. I was teaching a lesson in my sleep! I was committing someone to read the Book of Mormon and pray and testifying to them that it was true. All in Hiligaynon. She said she jumped up to get a camera but by the time she did I had stopped! She was like " it was you were really in a lesson, like your words weren't even slurred like your asleep." I couldn't believe it. No wonder I sometimes wake up tired. I'm working in my sleep :) :) 

Well that's all for this week Palangga ko kamo! 

Sister Miggin

Letter-March 6th, 2016

Well it's crazy that we are in march now!

So what happened this week?

Mon: p-day 

Tues: We had zone training. It went pretty good I hope. It's weird to be one of the leaders in the zone.Usually we are supposed to give training's, but we ended up having like a big zone testimony meeting. It was awesome. 

Wed: I went on exchanges with Sister Cabasal. She is a sweet new missionary. We had fun finding and had some great experiences. She is a pretty shy sister, but I said ok today your the leader and she did awesome. She wasn't shy at all. I was so proud of her. She also doesn't speak English very well but she is getting better at Hiligaynon. She uses a lot of Tagalog, but I am starting to learn that as well. So it was a day full of language. 

Thurs: We worked in a area with a awesome view and a great beach. It's our farthest area though. Like it is a 15-20 drive out there. But the people were really nice. We mainly teach less active members because there are lots in that area. It's far away from the church. 

Fri: Work work work 

Sat: We had a stake Correlation meeting and President and Sister Aquino attended. So they took us out to lunch after at a really fancy restaurant. It was super nice of them. I can't believe they almost done with their mission. We will be getting a new mission president this summer, just a heads up. 

Sun: It was a pretty normal Sunday. We had a lot of meetings and I was able to introduce myself and share my testimony to the ward. It was a great day. 

This week I think the highlight for me was going on exchanges. We found this investigator that was just outside her house and she let us in. We found out she is only home for these 2 weeks until December. Her husband has passed away and she has a little 3 year old daughter. She works out of the country as a maid. She was able to get time off to come visit her kid. She shared with us about how her baby didn't even recognize her and how hard it sometimes is for her to work outside the country. Well we started the lesson and after the prayer I felt promoted to just bear my testimony on the Savior and his atonement. It really brought the spirit and helped her be spiritually in tune with the lesson. We decided that even though she is not going to be a longtime investigator, probably we will never see her again, because she is going back to her work. We knew we were in the right place at the right time and that she needed our message. Anyway it was a really cool learning experience for both of us on the importance of following the spirit and testifying of Jesus Christ. 

I hope you all have a good week! Until next time 

Sister Miggin