a) Goodbyes
b) I'm a grandma!!!
c) New Area
-My companion
-The Branch
-The Area
-The house
-The zone
d) Language
e) Birthday
f ) Fun fact
Sige, lets get started.
a) I've been transferred! I'll tell you more about my new area later, but I just want to tell you now how much I've loved serving in Concepcion. I just love it! I had to say goodbyes this week and it was hard. As I've taught and served these people I've really come to love them. It hurt my heart not knowing when or if I will ever see them again. But I will continue to always pray for them.
One of the hardest goodbyes was probably to my companion Sister Ocampo. I really have just really loved these past 12 weeks with her. We worked hard together. We felt comfortable with each other, and were able to just be ourselves. She is a fantastic missionary, which leads to my next point.....
b) I'm a grandma! Sister Ocampo is my "daughter" in the mission, and just like me she is training immediately after being trained herself. Her "daughter" is my "grand daughter." I love it! I have a lot of faith in Sister Ocampo, she is an amazing missionary. She is nervous about it, but I know with the Lord's help they will do miracles.
c) New Area!!!!!! I now am serving in the most amazing area ever: Kalikid.
- My new companion is Sister Sarto. She is 23 years old (I still have yet to have a companion who is younger than me) She is from the Philippines and she is just great! She has been out for 14 months so I am happy that I will be able to learn a lot from her.
-The church is just a branch here, but a strong one. The weekly church attendance average is close to 100. This branch reminds me a lot of my home branch back in Missouri. I already love the members here so much.
-I thought my last area was pretty "bukid", but it is nothing compared to where I live now. We are close to some beautiful mountains. Our area is huge because of all the rice fields and such. We are pretty far from the nearest grocery store. It is actually in a different zone in the mission, and we only have permission to go to it once a month. Yikes. But there are lots of little home based stores all around, so we will be good. I hope :)
-Our house is a small one. It's just me and my companion who live here. I will miss living with other missionaries, but I am excited for. I fill more like a adventurous missionary now. Our toilet's flusher is broke, she we flush by dumping a bucket of water down the toilet. That bucket is filled with water from the faucet that never stops leaking. Our kitchen sink doesn't work, so we have our water filter on the sink outside. That actually makes it easier to cook since our gas stove is also outside. But that also means we have to go outside when we want to brush our teeth. One of the great things about our house though is that we have air conditioning in our bedroom. Yeah!! I actually love our cute little house a lot. I'll try and get pictures for you next time.
-The Zone. I went from being in one of the biggest zones to one of the smallest. In my last zone there were 13 companionships, 6 of which were sisters. I loved being able to be around so many sisters so often. But in my new zone there are only 7 companionships, and me and my companion are the only sisters. But I've always been one to prefer a smaller number of people, so I'm actually quite excited for my new zone.
d) Language. Last week I think I was overacting a little bit when I talking about how my language is coming. Or maybe everyone who read my letter last week felt sorry for me and prayed really hard for me. But here in my new area I am feeling so much more confident with the language. I actually understand closer to 80-90% of what people say, or at least know what they are talking about in general. And with my new companion I try to speak only Tagalog (something I have not really been good at in the past), and I'm surprised at how much I can actually say. It is building my confidence.
e) My birthday is coming up! September 9th. It's time to start thinking about it, because mail takes a while to get to me. This is the only birthday I'll have on my mission, so don't miss this once in a lifetime opportunity to write me.
f) There are 215 missionaries in my mission. 65 of those are sisters.
I love being a missionary. I am filled with excitement and hope for this next transfer. There are great things a head. I know this is the Lord's work, and I know there is a specific reason he has put me here in Kalikid at this time. I am excited to do His work here. Because I love Him.
Mahal ko kayo,
Sister Abish "Kalikid" Curtis
Pictures:
Someone I said goodbye to in Concepcion
My new companion Sister Sarto
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