HIII!!!!!!!!!! week two done. almost. and dad yes i am getting everyones dear elders and i LOVE them! but okay im going to sound like the most needy child but i am because i was also wondering if you could send me sheet music for come thou font (freddies version) and for peace i leave with you..? if not its fine! oh and i NEED my osso pictures. just like one of every kid. but make sure i look good in them too...not necessarily similar to the ones you sent of my and my peeps after my wisdom teeth. or after i had been crying. its just not really my best look. ohh and also im sending home my memory card this week so look for that in the mail except so i only brought one so if you could send one or two more back asap that would be great cause the other one is stil full from ecuador pictures that you can just save on the computer along with my new ones and then just delete them off and send it back! ohhhh and mom if you could still forward me missionary letters that would be lovely.

OKAY so i honestly cant remember what happened 20 minutes ago so hopefully i can still think of some good stories to tell.

oh wait i know exactly where to start.

soooo sunday i get home from the most productive sabbath day i had ever had and im just so excited and ready to go to bed. so its like 9:45 and im in the shower when of course i hear a fire alarm. i sat in there for about ehh a good 2-3 minutes contemplating if i should get out or not but i figured they dont do fire drills this late at night (yes 10 oclock seems like the middle of the night here) but then i hear girls yelling saying we need to get out of the building now..well i grab my towel. and then realized my door was locked. some angel sees me and throws me her robe and some other sister throws me some shoes and we run downstairs (4 flights i might add) and outside. so awkward. so funny. so annoying cause i still had conditioner in my hair. some girl was bawling....i actually still dont know why, guess it was pretty traumatizing. anyways find out some girl had burnt her popcorn. anyways about an hour ish later got back in finished my shower and went to bed only then to wake up EXTRA sunshiningly early for our service day the next morning at 5:45 which is actually another funny story. so glad mom made us clean bathrooms because thats all me and sister houser did was scrub down all the bathrooms in this building and mop the floors...and then we come down to see that the elders job in our district was to "shine all the doorknobs". so thats how monday started. hahaha kill me.

but anyways its been practically a blizzard here the past 2 days. its the funniest to see sisters not be careful enough as they walk around a corner and just eat it so hard on the black ice. actually its sad. and im pretty sure i just cursed myself now. and i love gym. i killed all the polys yesterday. so you can say its been a good week.

oh last story..THANKS for the package. me and sister houser actually got the same package on the same day! excitingly funny. but anyways so theres this rule where you cant eat in the classroom..but we wanted to try our chips and queso so we had it on the desk and all the elders were eating it and shooot i dont know how to decribe this kid..but he is the funniest in the whole world. probably a 5 foot 2 little tongan my favorite person by far actually this story isnt even funny typing it but basically he knocked it over and we had queso all in our carpet and now we understand exact obedience and its our number one rule forever and always and that was pointless but anyways thanks for the package!

oh and i love the pioneers. we walked like maybe half a mile to the temple at six thirrty this morning in the middle of a blizzard..sorta but literally i thought my life was over. loooove the pioneers.

ps nick oslon and stevie beus just got here so life is like 5 times more fun. and blakes coming tomorrow. andbryce and jake are here.and someone else.....shoot and trent. and its just been the greatest. and i just need brooke and marissa to get here and then my life will be complete. oh and mac and sam visited which was funnest and weirdest but greatest.

ow my hands hurt.

okay just real quick one lesson ive learned this week was when i was reading in preach my gospel in chapter 6 where it talks about christlike attributes (my favorite chapter) and the one attribute i think ive had to learn the most about this week was about HUMILITY. the language has been really frustrating. its been hard accepting that i really am speaking tagalog and that theyre not gonna call me out of class one day and say that ive been called spanish speaking actually. especially cause  i know the Lord knows how long and well i can study for (which isnt long or well) so its been rough. but its helped me learn a lot about myself in just one week. how sometimes in life when things are hard or frustrating for me, i tend to shut it out. which accidently leads to me shutting people out as well. and i cant tell its been hard for my companion or roommates when i do that. but my favorite line that ive been having to refer to is that" humility is not a sign of weakness, it is a sign of spiritual strength...humility will help you as you strive to be obedient, to work hgard and serve selflessly..." it goes on a little more talking about how sometimes we trust ourselves more than god or his servants (pride) which described me a little too well. i just like doing things myself and hate asking for help but obviously that has to change asap or the next 18 months slash rest of my life is going to be a struggle. life isnt easy, sometimes it is but for the most part there are little things we deal with daily. its OKAY to turn to the Lord and let him refine you. he's not too busy and its never a hassle for him. so thats my attribute im praying for this week which will take a lot of pananampalataya from me. but yeah its a really cool chapter to look over 9-20 times a day. hopefully i can be blessed with a few more of these attributes as well before im out of here in a month, since i have this badge on..which means i am literally being a representative of christ and with EVERYTHING i do/say/etc people are going to be connecting the dots. its intimidating but thats what we're striving for is the whole WWJD

anyways my 30 minutes is longgg gone hah but I LOVE YOU ALL and all the fun letters from this week.

the church is true

xoxo

sister tingey

i forgot one thing. I LOVE MY COMPANION. 

First week of MTC

HIII!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! so i dont really remmeber moms email but i'll just send you this one for everyone!

but first things first...just so i can get on and tell you stuff i need a few more things.

mom i miss my black sweats more than i thought i would, could you send me those? and my boots in the back of my car my feet are about to fall off. and my grey hoodie! anddd some ecuador pictures. and haha well so some of the polynesian elders stole some of the family pictures you sent me...well just the sister ones so if you could send those too that would be GREAT! oh and if you can find my farewell talk on my laptop and send that to me..or i think i left in it cocos room if you can find it in there maybe? OH and last thing can you send me the list of orphnages in the philippines that is on my notes in my laptop! SORRY i just am thinking of all these things. and also i am really really sorry i didnt clean my room. or coco's room. i'll clean the whole house twice when i get home. OH ahh sorry and can you send me that talk from elder holland again i think mom? cause one of the poly elders was dying to read it too cause he doesnt get things like that but i told him you wouldnt mind sending me another one...so i hope you dont mind haha. THANK YOU I LOVE YOU

  and then say THANK YOU to the gurrs and giegles. im pretty sure i read through those farewell notes they gave me everday. and also tell tess thank youu for the good advice and tagalog book! it will be used A LOT! and thank you to sister traasdahl for her letter, i needed it!

okay ahhh this 30 minute time thing stresses me out so hopefully i can tell you as much as possible before i have to go get my laundry! umm where to start?! oh first, can you tell people that when they pray for the missionaries to also pray for the missionaries in the mtc trying to stay awake during class. im the first one in bed and the last one to wake up (still obeying) and some classes are just hard to be alive in so prayers for that would be helpful!

    anyways, i guess ill start with companions! I LOVE MY COMPANION. her name is sister houser. she's fun. and has the greatest facial expressions. only weird thing is that she eats her cereal without milk cause she hates when it gets soggy. still trying to get used to that. ps i eat cereal and popsicles for every meal. i love the mtc. but then along with me and sister houser, our roommates who we're with all the time are sister ika and sister nipaluala, both tongans..one actually from tongan. they couldnt have picked a better rooming than this. me and sister nipaluala laugh ALL DAY LONG. she is sooo great. and sister ika is just a genius and the nicest person ive met in my whole life. and all four of us are in district 16 probably the greatest district ever made. we have every single kind of personality in there but we all get along so good.  after the third day we all decided we need to study in seperate rooms cause we get way too distracted. AND so funny, there is a kid in my district who is exactly nate tingeys twin. does every single thing the exact same its freaky. but anyways besides all the fun, they all teach me so much. i was so intimidated my first couple days just because of how great everyone is.  actuallly i still am. but im doing better.

 on sunday morning it was really bad though. i remember i just wrote in my journal all morning during study just pages full of me being really frustrated with everything. just didnt feel good enough and just other things that made it really hard to be there. but then we went to relief society and had a really cool experience. since the general primary president was there to talk to us, we sang "if the savior stood beside me" and it was exactly what i needed. and then the whole rest of the talk after that was PERFECT. it's like someone had read my journal and answered all my doubts and questions and frustrations and just let me know it was okay to feel like that. AND THEN on top of that, they turned on a video about christ when he came to the americas. there werent any words,  just some music and showed christ going around one by one..healing and teaching. and of course i lost it. they of couse werent my real kids, but  i saw christ hugging marcelo and holding dani. i saw Him healing martins hands and legs. i saw marybell and karla walking with him. i saw orvi and maria jose get their eyesight back. i saw leidys mom just give her burdens over to him. i saw him and laurita laughing. and my poor companion had no idea what to do with me cause i was a mess. needless to say, i remember why i came out here and even though the MTC is hard, im going through all this for the people im about to love. its hard just because  i dont know how much i love them yet but ive been promised that i know them and that i do just as much as my osso kids.

   but weve been having missionary lessons with brother rommel (a guy who comes in pretending he's an investigator) but all of our lessons are in tagalog. and its crazy how the spirit works. on our first lesson me and my companion had this whole entire lesson writtten out and it totally went the other direction haha and we just had to go with it but it ended up really good and bearing my testimony at the end was the best part. but anyways my times up but please tell people they cant email me till im out in the philippines but dear elder or my address and i love mail more than anything now.

alam po ko na totoo po ang simbahan ni jesucristo ng mga banal sa mga huling araw. mapagmahal po ang iyos ating ama sa langit. buhay tagapagligtas si jesucristo. mahal po tayo ng diyos. nagbayad-sala po si jesu cristo para sa mga kasalanan natin. tinutulungan po ng diyos ang kanyan mga anak dito sa mundo. sa pangalan ni jesu cristo amen.

LOVE YOU MISS YOU ALL

sister tingey

ahh not enough time but ill write you another one soon.

thanks for the letter dad

see you soon...ish haha bye!

JUST TWO MORE DAYS

3 more sleeps and then i will be in the Provo MTC starting my mission. Never could I have ever even imagined this would be happening to me right about now but there's nothing in the world I would rather be doing.

A mission has always been in the back back far corner of my mind. I know during many different times in my life (a lot of them happening while i was in the easter pageant) where I pictured myself as a missionary. It was always an option but nothing I thought too much about since it seemed like such a far away decision.

I graduated from Mountain View High School in May 2012. But before I graduated, I tried making a lot of college plans with my friends and tried working things out but nothing was. I was planning to go to Ecuador the summer following my first year of college but for some reason I couldn't get it off my mind. Suddenly I just felt like I needed to spend my first semester down in Ecuador. And once I decided I started preparing. I have never really been a proactive kind of person before but i was getting all the stuff done that was required. i was saving money, setting up doctor/shot appointments, doing interviews, taking quizzes and all sorts of things to get me down for this semester.
i left to ecuador september  6th, 2012 and absolutely fell in love.
we were working from sun up to sun down helping be any kind of loving and supporting figure we could be in these kid's lives. it was hard. but it was amazing. worth every penny and had an experience i wouldn't change for anything.

in october, me and my friends had come in from town that morning to come back to watch general conference on someones computer. as i was putting my stuff away upstairs, one of my roommates ran up to tell me "PAIGE GUESS WHAT THEY CHANGED THE AGE REQUIREMENTS FOR SISTER MISSIONARIES. NOW THEY CAN GO AT 19!"
i didn't think too much about it until i had made it downstairs to watch with everyone else. as i sat and watched that morning session, everything for me started clicking as i had little conversations with myself in my head.
"paige..you're birthday is next week.."
"i could leave on my mission?"
"well i was trying to make all my school/work/fiji/europe plans work over the next couple years.."
"yeah those were kinda going no where"
"i love serving and i love the gospel and i love people. isn't that mostly all you need?"
"can i really do it?"
"how can i not do it"
and as these conversations were playing in my head..all the sudden they just stopped. and i felt at peace. and in that moment i had never felt happier in my life. and i knew i needed to serve a mission. the next things i thought were paige, don't say anything for a while. just give it a couple weeks/months and just pray about it. so that was my plan up until the next talk in conference when the only line i heard be said was, once you receive a prompting...act on it. well i could hardly wait for that conference to be over because once it was, i went straight on my laptop and emailed my bishop. walked into the kitchen where 3 other girls who had had the same promptings as me and we laughed and danced and screamed and cried all so excited about this announcement.
called my parents. cried.
called my bishop cried.
called a few other close friends/family members. cried.
it was THE BEST day.

luckily before going to ecuador i had gotten all my medical and dental things done. i had a passport. all i needed to do was a few skype interviews along with a few other challenges my bishop had given me.
on december 7th my mom emailed me saying it was FINALLY here! getting over a few minor technical difficulties, i was able to figure out a way to video call my family so they could hold up my call on the screen for me to read.
PHILIPPINES QUEZON CITY MISSION. TAGALOG LANGUAGE. REPORT JANUARY 16TH!

what.

that meant i only had 5 weeks. and 3 of the weeks i was still signed up to be in ecuador for christmas with my family coming down! but i was overwhelmed and beyond excited. the most perfect mission call i could of ever imagined.
after a lot of online shopping and more preparing and a crazy perfect christmas with my ninos, friends and family.. i made it home just in time for my temple interviews. went through the temple the next day sat 29. gave my farewell the 30th. new years. then got my wisdom teeth out (worst decision). more shopping. quick and happy visits for hellos and goodbyes. and somehow it is sunday january 13th and i am almost gone again.

in the 5 minutes i have had to catch my breath while being home...this is what i've been thinking about.

i have been blessed with the most INCREDIBLE people in my life.
-my family. including parents, siblings, cousins, aunts, uncles, gpas and gmas. THE MOST AMAZING PEOPLE
-my close friends. or anyone i call my friend. meaning my best friends. my close friends. my good friends. my friends parents. my old friends. my new friends. etc...no matter the age. i could not have a better support system. they would do anything for me and vice versa. i'm just so impressed with everything they've taught me growing up. i didn't ever realize how HUGE an impact friends can make. and i'm lucky i've been blessed with the coolest in the world.
-my church acquaintances..meaning ward family, bishop, stake president. best examples.
-my OSSO (ecuador) people. meaning anyone i have met in the past 4 months who have absolutely been the hugest impact on my life who i can't ever thank enough. kids volunteers workers the same.. i miss them, pray for and think of them daily!

i have also realized how many overall blessings just aside from great people i have received throughout my whole life. all my basic necessities and most of any wants i could dream up have been covered. and i know where much is given, much is required.
so i have a long and exciting life of service ahead of me in order to pay back for all my gifts and blessings.

i realized how perfect my call was for me, a real answer to my prayers. i was really nervous about coming home and getting used to normal life after ecuador, maybe losing some motivation to get out there. so i was so happy i have been able to get home and get out fast and just keep going and going. i also knew that i had a strong testimony of Christ and of my heavenly father and of the holy ghost. but over the years it has seemed to be fading away and weakening. how lucky am i to be going to a place where i will be humbled and stretched and need full trust and help from the Lord. i cannot wait to strengthen those relationships and get my sensitivity to the Spirit back into my life.

God will never lie to us. life is simple. keep the commandments and love others and we can all be HAPPY.


its hard for me to understand how i am ever going to be able to love people more than i love my Mesa and Ecuador people...but i know i have people waiting for me to come love them in the Philippines. i'm excited to see how far my heart really can stretch. challenge accepted. these people are going to be loved more than any group of people has ever been loved before.


i love this gospel. i am a child of god. the atonement is REAL. i cannot wait to see what the Lord has in store for all these new missionaries. we are as the army of Helaman.

it'll be the fastest 1.5 years
but God be with you till we meet again!

-sister tingey
ps sorry this was so long.