Cauayan City

Well, here I am, writing from Cauayan city.
The announcement was made Tuesday morning at our district meeting, I pulled an all-nighter on Wednesday packing my bags, and on thursday morning I left my beloved Rizal. I could never explain my feelings this last week. My heart has never hurt so much. I never expected leaving to be so hard. I am still really hurting, and really missing all those people that I helped and come to love so deeply.

Bishop threw me a farewell party on Wednesday night, and almost all of our recent converts and progressing investigators were there, along with some members. He had us all sit in a big circle and he had each person take a turn to stand and say their goodbye's.
It was really sweet, but kindof torture at the same time. I was just a mess, bawling like a baby the whole time. I saw a lot of my investigator and recent converts cry for the first time, and some of them got so emotional that they were having a hard time speaking. It feels good to know you're that loved, but it was almost too much for my heart to take.
It is just hard knowing I can't be with them anymore and not knowing when I will see them again. If I am not able to come back to the Philippines, I guess it will be a very sweet reunion on the other side.
I feel confident that each person, each family that we baptized and are still preparing for baptism have a solid testimony in the church and in the Savior. I know that even in my absence they will continue to be active and make it to the temple next year!
I FEEL SOOOO BLESSED to have been given a chance to serve in RIZAL. I still marvel how we started almost from no progressing investigators and no baptisms- to hard work and great faith and patience that led to now -- being part of the conversion of SEVERAL families and other individuals. MY JOY IS UNDESCRIBABLE.

So another shocker was when I found out at transfer meeting that I would be going BACK to my OLD area here in Cauayan. Yes, it is the same exact branch/area that I served in earlier this year. My companion is Sister Eveland (American from Washington State) and she is going home in 2 weeks. Yeah, we don't even get a full transfer together...only 2 more weeks.
President told me that when my companion leaves I will be the new "sisters trainer". (It means that I will help train the sisters and i will go on splits with different sisters each week)
There is not a whole lot happening in this area right now, so it looks like I will have my work cut out for me. I get to go back to planting season, but I learned in my last area, that by small and simple means, great things are brought to pass. I'm struggling just a little bit to make the adjustment from transfers, but I know I can do it. The Lord has a better plan! I will do His will! It will be a great chance for me to grow. The Lord is just testing my Faith. Miracles can happen here in Cauayan just like the ones I saw in Rizal! I have a work to do here before I go home, and I will do my very best to fulfill all of my responsibilities well.
I was reading in D&C 98 and 100 this week and it gave me a lot of comfort.
The Lord really does hear our prayers and He answers them in the perfect time and the perfect way. All we have to do is BE PATIENT and TRUST in HIM!

Have a great week. I love you! Don't worry about me, just keep me in your prayers!
It's looking like I might not be able to send pictures so you'll have to wait until next week!
Keep fighting the good fight
sister webre

Bong Bong Baptized

 

So Bong bong was baptized on Saturday and that completes the Cauilan family! I love them so much! I never dreamed I would get to see all of them baptized. It truly is a miracle!!

Marlyn is the other girl that got baptized. She is awesome! 21 years old, works in the rice field and is totally tom-boyish, but now wears a skirt to church every week!

Both Bong Bong and Marlyn want to serve missions, and that just thrills me! Isn't it wonderful?!

I actually don't find out if I will be transferred until tomorrow, but I have a feeling I will be. It will be a sad day.

I have seen so much success and many miracles here in this area, and I love my companion sister Villamor.

 

To answer your questions, yes, I still bathe in rusty water and I wash my clothes by hand! Isn't it great!?

Oh and I got a letter this week that says my departure date is December 15. So there you have it. I'll be home for Christmas.

 

 

I'm so sorry, I don't have time to explain the pictures I sent...

The ones where my companion and I are matching-- we had a member make my dress and her top. Nice, right?

We had a sisters training last week with all the sister missionaries and it was way fun. There is a picture with most of the American sisters in the mission. Fun to get together with all of them!

 

Well, thats all for now!

Love you forever

Sister Webre

 

 

 

Note from Heather

My apologies for slacking on the blog updates the last few weeks! (The last three e-mails are new even though 1 of 3 says it was posted on the 14th) I promise to be a more consistent blogger in the future. Less than 3 MONTHS 'til our Jenny comes home! :)

Halelujah, amen!

Hello,

My Transfers are fast approaching. My feeling is....I'm gonna get transfered. I've been here in this area almost 6 months now and with my same companion for 4. I love my area and my companion. We are having TONS of success here, and it will be super hard to leave. We'll find out next week!

 A few nights ago we were sharing with a member about being thankful and she pointed out how usually our prayers have only about 2 or 3 "I'm grateful for's" and then about 10 or more lines of asking for blessings. Yeah! It's true! And once in awhile I try doing the prayer like Elder Bednar said-- with total thanksgiving and no asking in return. --It's HARD! I always want to ask for stuff.
Anyway, the word is, BE MORE GRATEFUL!

We are teaching an investigator that came from the Born Again religion. She always surprises us with a random "AMEN" or "HALELUJAH!" when she feels the spirit when we are teaching her. I always have to exert super-human powers to hide my smile. But hey, why don't we do that in our church anyway? A few extra amens and halelujahs never hurt anyone! ;) Actually, this investigator now has a baptismal date for next month! She is doing great and she is getting used to how boring it is at church. Ha!

We had a special training last week and we found out about the changes they have made in the missionary curriculum. They have changed what they do at the MTC and specifically for new missionary training in the field. Extra study time and they get a portable DVD player to watch the Preach My Gospel DVD's. Doesn't that just rock?! I think it's stinkin' cool. Too bad my mission is almost over. I could have been a good missionary with this new training system. ;)

I got TONS of mail on thursday. It was the most I have gotten at one time in a LONG time. Thanks to Brent, Remington, Grandma, McKell, Heather, Mark Ensign, a member from my first area-- JR, and my Trainer-- Sister Valdoz. I'll try to write each of you soon! And thanks also to my family, who email me faithfully each week.
Love you all SOOO much.
Have a FAVULOUS week!
We have every reason to smile, every minute of every day because WE HAVE THE TRUTH!
sister webre

I don't have any new pictures, so I sent this old one. Does it look familiar? This is me and Esperanza cauilan and their cutest baby- Riza.

Disaster Baptism

I finally went to the doctor (which I put off doing but finally consented when after two weeks of suffering, it still wasn't going away) and got an antibiotic. That was on saturday, and I think its starting to work! Cross our fingers!

So our baptism this week was almost a complete disaster. It was the baptism of Elizabeth Cauilan and her dad was able to baptize her! Now we just have Bong on the 3rd of September and they will be complete!! Happiest day of my life!

So back to the disaster baptism. The person in charge of the program printed the wrong name on ALL the programs. He put "Marybeth" instead of "Elizabeth" so we had to re-do all that when we got there 30 minutes before the service.
The second thing was that while I was playing the opening hymn, one of the keys broke and fell completely off the piano. As in-- loudly dropped to the ground. (Its a dinky electric piano) And it was an Imortant key!!
The third problem was that the baptizer memorized the wrong thing (supposedly) for the baptismal prayer. So, while they were both standing in the water-- bishop was searching for the prayer (tagalog) in the D&C. All the long-time members of the church here just use the english, but the baptizer wasn't comfortable with english.
The fourth problem was that the water in the font was super shallow. We're not sure if slowly drained because the seal wasn't tight, or what, but this was the most stressful part of the whole baptism. Rolan had to dunk Elizabeth three times to get a complete immersion because her knees kept coming up. And she had to go down almost like a straight board. STRESSFUL!!!
We were supposed to watch a video while waiting for Elizabeth to change, but I couldn't fast forward to the right part, or get the subtitles on, because the remote for the DVD was lost.
Anyway, I guess the important thing is that she received the ordinance of baptism and we can forget about all the rest.

Sister Villamor and I have been brainstorming ways to help our recent convert families to have family home evening and pray together, etc.
I remembered our family home evening chart and so we decided to make charts for them. I'll send a picture of the first one we made. It's SOO stinking CUTE!!

Well I guess that's all for this week, or at least all you get to hear about! Wish I could say it all!
Take care this week!
Loving you always,
Sister Webre

The Fun Never Ends!

Hello.

I never really know what to say in these e-mails because there is always too much to say.

We are looking for a new apartment because we can't take the rusty water anymore. Actually, I've had a UTI for about 10 days now, but it hasn't gotten too terribly bad-- just doesn't want to go away. And I suspect that it came from bathing in the rusty water for too long. yuck.

Anyway, on to brighter things... we had 15 investigators at church yesterday. My beloved Cauilan family is just thriving in the church. The mom and dad always come and work with us and it just makes my heart swell to hear their testimonies and the stories about their conversion and how the gospel changed their lives and brought so much happiness. And often their testimonies are more powerful and can touch the investigators more than anything sister Villamor and I can teach or say.

Esperanza (Mom Cauilan) told me that Bong (their oldest son that used to hide from us, but is now begging us to teach him more about the gospel) used to turn on the TV when he got home from work, and he would stay up late just texting on his cell phone. BUT NOW... when he gets home every night, he goes straight to his book of mormon and reads, sometimes late into the night. He has been begging us for a bible, and is now regularly attending Institute classes. HA, he's not even a member yet! He has this little notebook he bought and he uses it when he studies. He brought it to church yesterday and he was writing down scriptures that were used in sacrament meeting and Sunday school.

Oh, my heart is just so full. I still don't dare believe its really true, it truly is such a miracle. I love being able to see investigators who really are so hungry for the gospel. It is such a privilege to teach them and be a part of their conversion.
Wouldn't it be great if we, as long time members in the church, were still just as hungry for a deeper gospel knowledge and conversion?

One of our recent converts Mario Villaluz (68) just never ceases to amaze me. He is kind of like Bong. He really STUDIES the scriptures. We left him some verses to read in ALMA 13 about the priesthood and he ended up reading the whole chapter. I'm guessing he read it several times, because he was able to tell us the whole story about Melchizedek and why the higher priesthood is named after him. I was just shaking my head in disbelief with this big old grin on my face. I don't think I could even tell you the story of Melchizedek, but he has it memorized. So cool.

Well, story time is over.
I'm still happy
still healthy (mostly)
and still your very own Sister Webre

Rediscover a hunger for the scriptures and a deeper conversion this week!!

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Thanks :)