SECOND WEEK

this is gonna be a long one so hopefully its not too boring but THERES JUST SO MUCH TO TELL!

first off, i loved all the pictures from the funeral. its so good to see bekah! tell her hi!! 

i wish i could have been at the funeral. it sounds like it was a real bittersweet day. so fun to hear from everyone. i just copy and paste all the letters and print them off and read them over and over all week before i go to bed. so lucky to have such good strong fun letters from everyone. 

i wish so bad i could just tape a video recorder on my forehead and just record one day here so you guys could see this place! it seriously is a different world. i thought living in ecuador would have made the culture shock easy but i kid you not this is somethin else. 

im just so mad cause i had a million funny stories to tell this week and sitting here right now i cant remember any of them. but the most ridiculous things that just make me laugh allllll day long. whether its crazy old ladies always asking me to meet their sons and make them white grandchildren or being surrounded by groups of like 20-30 kids after school all saying  oy sister call me maybe?! or always being in constant danger...walking is a challenge here. 1. you have to look down at the ground to make sure you dont fall in any potholes or random things of cement on the street to trip over. 2. have to look eye level constantly to make sure you can say hi to everyone around you but also that youre not running into people or about to be run over by a tricycle/jeepney/motorcycle/bicyclist. 3. have to look up to make sure malicious dogs on tops of roofs arent about to jump and bite off your head. its so fun. really it is. 

buttttt something cool that happened two nights ago, we were at an investigators house and we always teach her outside in her ally way because she sells these rice cake things. so while we were teaching her..someone "rich" pulled up in a truck and came to buy some. she got up and was preparing his order and he asked her who we were. she told him we were mormon missionaries. we invited him to come over and talk to us. we learned that he is atoy sicat..running for mayor. pretty high up here. he asked us if we could help him understand christianity. we said we could. he asked a few more questions we gave him a pamphlet and book of mormon with our number on it. the next day he told us he had questions and wanted us to come over. so we went to one of his staff's house. we sat in the backyard answering his questions with about 20 men listening in. he had some reallly interesting and different views about things, kinda liked debating. but we were patient and im excited to see what happens with it. could be a bigggg influence here. especially seeing that our mission goal right now is to focus on bringing in the priesthood. (especially wealthy priesthood..because a lot of the problem is that the less actives in our neighborhood cant afford transportation to church. so if they have cars, theyll be able to get there make it strong and then help out others in getting to church)

second cool story, i now know why i got the tall genes and rachel didnt. i was walking through the grocery market last week and some girl started coming up and talking to me...i had no idea so got my companion. turns out she had been investigating the church the past couple months but just moved and wasnt able to find the church or other missionaries but was so happy that she looked up and saw the freaky tall white girl over the shelf and turned out that i was a missionary. she is AWESOME. shes 20 and trying to find a job that wont make her work on sunday. but shes really nervous cause she needs to get a job asap in order to help her little sister move in with her and take care of the baby her sister is about to have. ive never met anyone more ready or anyone who loves the gospel more than her. her favorite part about the church is "enduring to the end"..which is usually everyones least favorite part. but she says that she already understands thats the most important part is keeping our covenants and commandments because she wants to be with her mom who died again someday. she is so focused and totallly has the eternal perspective already. she is so strong and loves learning anything she can about our church. 

other favorite part of the week was our family night! it was SO good. we had new investigators and a less active family over at a members home with some other members in the ward. our lesson was on enduring to the end. and then i was in charge of the games so we played pop pop pop. it was seriously the funniest thing ive ever seen. people here can make anything fun. like we were all just on the floor crying laughing. it was so gooood. and then after i went to go help with the dishes and all the women were so surprised a white girl knew how to wash dishes. its actually quite annoying that they think i cant even do some simple chores..but hopefully i can help them break that stereotype. 

okay and the most PINAKApart of the week. this is actually really special and sweet experience to me, so i hope i can explain it the best that i can. on friday we were planning to go to one of our investigators family. the mom is a die hard catholic and believes in the whole traditions of her parents and youre born catholic and you die catholic kind of thing. her and her husband have 5 girls..4-17 years old. they all want to come to church but she wont let them. the husband is interested but doesnt really speak up over his wife. anyways weve been having good lessons with them but they just dont progress or anything because the mom wont let them. but i looove this family. and wanted to finally get somewhere with them. in our companion study that morning me and my companion read the conference talk from pres monson about seeing people as they can become. said a missionary once described his experiences when he would go teach people that he would picture them all as a family in white and said picturing them that way helped him focus and bear his testimony the way they needed to hear. we decided to make that our goal. we then spent the next hour and a half going over every lesson trying to think of any topic that we felt we should teach them tonight. we could not decide on anything, so after a prayer we finally just felt like just go and see what happens. we sat in their home and just started following up asking how their reading and praying was going. the one daughter christine who never ever talks said well i prayed to know if your church is true and i felt like light and happy and i know its true. the mom and some sisters kinda snapped at her trying to figure out what what are you talking about and she just said like basda i just felt something okay. and then we just kinda let them take the lesson and somehow we ended up on the topic of baptism. and then thats kinda when i looked around the room and just pictured each of them at the church in their white baptismal clothes. my heart started pounding deeper than it ever has and i just was shaking from head to toe. my companion looked at me and i opened my mouth and bore the most powerful testimony ive ever said in my whole life. i never have said anything in my life with such assurity and such conviction. i have never felt the spirit so strong in my whole life. and i have never known or said anything that powerfully before. i told them that i was sorry i didnt speak tagalog  but that i knew that this church was true. and that i wouldnt be there in there family room that day if it wasnt true. i just wouldnt. and that there was nothing in this world that would bless them and make them happier as a family. and that someday we were going to see God again. and how it is so important that we get ready for that. and that he loves us so much and he has not left us alone..hes given us the gospel and it can make us so happy. those werent the exact words but the jjist of what i said. i looked at my companion and knew she felt the same thing i did, she was shaking and then as we sat there for a moment she finally asked this family to be baptized. and then they said no. people have told us no before and we just kinda move on from there but this night was different and i think i had a mosiah 28:3 moment. i was devastated. and i started crying. i could not stand the thought that they had just rejected the one thing that would help them the most in their lives because their hearts we so hard. we got a little bold with them saying that the reason we were so sad is that shes defending a church she knows nothing about and wont even pray to ask god if its true. she wont even ask god. so we got down and prayed and she asked. we sat in quiet for a while and then she said they were going to talk as a family about if they thought they needed a change in their family. but that change was really hard. 

it didnt end how we wanted to...but we felt good about it afterwards. so were really excited to see what happens this week. 

anyways i think those are our main stories this week. i love being a missionary. i love the philippines. the work is frustrating but its just because satan is so real. but something else real that is going to happen is the second coming. we will someday be in front of God. and he will read from our book of life. and that is something ive learned is a REAL real event that is going to happen someday. and THIS LIFE is the only opportunity we have to prepare for that day. the only way that we can is by keeping his all commandment and covenants all the time. not just when its convenient for us or when its not too hard. and i just wish more people knew it here because it would fix every single one of their problems. WE ARE SO BLESSED ITS UNREAL. dont forget that. the gospel is applicable for everyone. 

i miss you all and hope everything is good at home! 

sorry this letter is boring..ill try and remember my good stories for next week! 

slash ill write more of you back next week!!!! we ran outta time...but thats another story.

i love you!

xoxo sister tingey

this is kind of a hard/difficult letter to write for a lot of reasons. 

i knew after i hung up from talking to papa in the airport that he wouldnt have that much longer after. but it still was soon. so that was a hard phone call, along with the one from my president. pero i instantly felt the prayers of the family and am blessed to have such a realistic understanding of the plan of salvation. we will all see him soon and im happy that he'll be able to be a part of my mission with me. we have prayers coming from the philippines to our family, especially for mama and the aunts and uncles. its going to be a difficult adjustment with him gone, but we know hes not far away and that we will see him soon. ask anyone who knew him and he was one of the greatest men alive and im influenced by his example daily..especially being out here. hope everyone is doing well.

but im just gonna have to make this one short. im happy and healthy and alive. the philippines are great and i love everyone im around. my companion is the best and im learning a lot from her. this is a whole different world but hopefully ill be able to have better stories next week. 

i love you and know the church is true

sister tingey

soooo its been a long weekend. we havent gotten mail since like thursday because of weirdness and whatever holiday was on monday and havent gotten it yet today so ill just write back letters after i find my dl today.

but okay everybody big news. i only have seven more days in the mtc.

like what? where did time go? you could say im freaking out a little. like leaving to my new home in 160 hours. (hopefully that math is right or thats embarrassing)

anyways umm mom did my memory card make it?! i didnt know you had to get a certain kind of envelope for them so...hopefully it didnt get lost. and thank you MIKEY AND JORDAN FOR THE CAFE RIO and other little treats in there. how nice and so thoughtful and perfect way to end valentines day. and thank you aubree/corbin for the litle valentines package with pictures. i love pictures. and rachel and annie for the sandwich/cookies/note! it was perfect cause i didnt eat dinner that night. so cute and so good.  hope everyone had a great week with valentines and dads bday and whatever else! thanks for the lips mom...haha i'll get you those pictures soon. but yeah it was a great valentines day. me and my roommates searched through all the free bin boxes and put together little valentine packages for the elders in our district. and decorated with the things marne sent me. and something else funny happened but i cant remember now but you can just laugh and pretend like you know what happened.

but anyways ummm mom this is important so listen up...actually you might be a litle upset because i dont know details but next week we leave the mtc at 8. and so ill probably be in the airport 930ish? and then my flight to seattle is at 11. so i'll be calling between 930 and 11. hopefully! itll jus have to be short. but IM SO EXCITED TO CALL! i would call in seattle but we have seriously like a 15 minute lay over before i fly to tokyo. so if not maybe theyll let us call in the philis but i highly doubt it. but yeah after a fun 21 hour flight i get to the philippines on the 28th at like 11 at night. so thatll be interesting. us 4 sisters standing on the letter m in the middle of the night waiting for someone to pick us up. hahah

oh mom just a warning, the other side of my mouth is being weird so expect a call probably on thursday. im fine just something a little freaky that theyll explain and hopefully fix in time. so fun i love the dentist.

im actually really sad to leave the mtc. i dont know why i love it so much. its gonna be a bittersweet change.  but im exited to get out and get some real work done...even though the next couple weeks will probably be just me sitting and smiling and nodding and praying and asking kids if they want candy. thats about all i know how to do in tagalog.

OHHHHkay coolest thing before i forget. last week i said i promised id stop telling my ecuador stories esp in my letters cause im not in ecuador anymore..but then ahh yesterday it was the coolest thing. i was reading in john chapter 14. verse 18 and 27 (my all time favorite scriptures) but in verse 18 is says, i will not leave you comfortless, i will come to you. but then if you look down in the foot note of that...comfortless was a greek word translation that also means orphan. so then its jesus talking saying "i will not leave you orphans, i will come to you". mostly just made my whole day and life. tender mercy.

2nd coolest thing of the week was on saturday night. i dont know why i have so many off days/moments. ive never been so bipolar or had to many emotions in my life but saturday night was hard. bro moffit was teaching and i was just not wanting to do anything and just really not wanting to be there. couldnt get my kids out of my mind and few other things were bothering me. our whole fundamentals lesson that night was about listening and teaching by the spirit..something we learn basically everyday. but he stopped and had us do an activity for the last hour of it. we got a partner and one was the missionary and the other just themselves. not an investigator role play this time but just ourselves. so me and elder merril were partners. and right from the beginning he decided to be the missionary and started pulling these questions out of nowhere that really were getting personal. they were simple questions but were just hitting me really hard. we then went back and forth just questions and answers all through the spirit edifying each other, pulling out scriptures and thoughts and things that were exactly was i needed to hear. and im really punctual about remembering when class is over so i can go home and go to bed but we had to stop cause we had gone 15 minutes over. and it was the coolest thing. and i cannot wait until i am comfortable enough with the language so i can have lessons with the spirit that strong there so i can have those kind of experiences.

and last thing was our devotionals this week. pinaka mabuti. i love them. they are the best part of the week and get me SO pumped.

and the personal study this week was so good. ive been thinking a lot about what kind of changes i would make in my life if i had the opportunity to meet my future celestial exalted self, like have a lunch date or something? what would that conversation be like? i think its really sad for me to, with my earthly brain, already realize how far below my potential ive been living. and then how sad it must be for Heavenly Father to see us live like that. and then how sad im going to be for my investigators to see them not even realize their potential. and even more just how embarrasing it is how many weaknesses i have. but seriously thank you to the grace and love of God because He is our Father. Hes not some principal waiting to catch us and give us detention. Hes our Father and He WANTS to bless you. and then ha im just so sorry to my parents, all the things im learning right now are things theyve been trying to teach me my whole life. so im sorry i was a punk. but all the weekly family nights make sense now.

anyways i think thats all for this week. well theres more but my hands cant do the whole 30 minute time thing. but I LOVE YOU ALL and the church is true. mahal tayo ng diyos. put off the natural man and remember who you are. cant wait to call on tuesday!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

xoxo

sister tingey

ONLY ONE MORE PDAY IN THE MTC!

okay so this may be a long email so just bear with me.

dad the freckle went away so im okay.

that was hard hearing papas news. ill be sending a letter for him today.

mom im eating better foods...sometimes

first, THANK YOU sister traasdahl and cami for my valentine packages! SO NICE & cute!

and thank you rachel for the best cupcakes ive ever eaten in my whole life! and im sorry i missed my food on monday. it will NEVER happen again. ahhh.

and um please find a way to get megan frosts family emails. im pretty sure i read her letter 23986 times! best letter EVER. see if you can send me those every week! and coco, im sending you a letter with my facebook passwords and stuff and things i wanted you to do on them but could you also email cami ahlstrom and see if she got my email back? and then tessa could you send one to elder vea! he's in my district so his mailbox should be #152! and then mom can you send one to sister niupalau, hers is #152 as well! if it can be anonymous that would be great but if not thats fine too! thank you so much for doing that! even just one of those little dear elder packages..cookies or whatever for valentines! i didnt even know it was so soon! see if you can get any pictures from ecuador of their valentines day please!!!!!! and dad i dont think i got the other picture book yet..(if you sent another) but i did just get a slip to go get a package in the mailroom so that might be it! and THANK YOU everyone for the fun letters this week!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! i promise im responding to them all today. so should be there on friday....actually i have no idea how the mailing system works. but i love everyones letters.

OKAY so parents, here's why the MTC called you on friday. so i had this weird puffy gum where my wisdom tooth was taken out. and it was just annoying. so went to go get it checked..but they sent us to this place where i had the most tramautizing dentist experience of my life. so we get dropped off and find the building. walk into this place that just looks/smells like a rest home in the 1970s. that already made me nervous. just with all the carpet floors, dim lights, freaky smells, efy music and FISH DECORATIONS everywhere. this sweet olddddd lady takes me back into the back  where her even older husband (seriously probably 95 year old man) is waiting for me. takes a look in my mouth, forgetting that mouths are kind of sensitive and to be gentle with his tools. after a while he says "hmm thats weird. ive never seen anything like this before. but i mean we could just cut it off and hope that it heals okay. let me take a xray and just make sure theres not any bone fragments in it before i cut it off." so he gets out the first xray ever invented, takes a picture and decides theres not any bone fragments in it and so goes and gets ready to start this procedure. i am just freaking out a little. praying with all my heart and just SO nervous. come back in and gives me a couple numbing shots and then LITERALLY 30 seconds after he shoots the numbing thing he starts going in to start cutting. but hi ive been in dr jones office many a time to know that after you give the numbing shot...you wait a good five or ten minutes for it to actually make affect. i tried explaing that to him but he said it would be fine. so he starts. and im crying...and telling him hi um actually i can feel that. so he puts a couple more shots in and i say a couple trillion more prayers and he goes in (still no gently) and starts cutting away. gets whatever that thing was out of my mouth and says "hmm thats weird...there was bone fragments in there...here feel!" a little dizzy and shaken i feel the cool bone fragents and try and act excited with him for my new bone fragments. anyways he finishes STILL NOT GENTLY cleaning out my mouth. and then lets me spit out a couple cups full of blood. mostly hes just really lucky that 1) im a representative of jesus christ 2) that he was so old and so cute and 3) that the holy ghost was holding down my hand from ripping out some of his bone fragments because never in my life have i been so grateful for dr jones and that he always gave me the pig nose. luckily, after a dramatic morning..im a alive and my mouths fine! hahaha but good night. but a plus side was we got to take a little field trip out of the MTC. drove right by mikey and rachels house. so that was weird.

ano pa...

hahahaha and mom i knew hell wasnt a bad word because sister niupulau (from tonga) says it all the time. ahh hell no! what the hell is he saying?

she is so funny. she laughs like a hyena and has the greatest tongan slang. ill start recording everything she says because i cry laughing everyday.

oh HIGHLIGHT of the week. me and sister houser were starving one night so we went downstairs to get a hotpocket out of the vending machine. mine almost got stuck on the little wire thing. we were so nervous. so we hit the machine and then got 2! so then we celebrated and yeah thats about it. mostly it was just a great moment.

i was in the bathroom this morning..and a girl walked in a we were just talking and she asked where i was going and i told her philis and she freaked saying no way i grew up there and so she was all kumusta? so i answered mabuti! then so clearly and simply she asked ano ang pangalin ninyo? and i just stood there like...um what? pakiulit?! she said i just aked whats your name..ive been here 4 weeks and im pretty sure thats the only phrase i use all day. kill me.

another language problem was we had to do this translating activity outside where we just went around to random missionaries. so sister houser had to ask them/ talk to the people in tagalog and then i was supposed to pretend like i was the translator and tell them what she was saying and then tell her what they were saying. so we ran into these elders and ask where theyre from. they looked kinda lost and say lo siento soy de mexico. so i said perfect. and had to translate from tagalog to spanish and spanish to tagalog instead of tagalog to english.  except then i realized i stopped understanding what sister houser was saying and just ended up talking to the elders. i was super super frustrated after. we went back in the classroo to study and i just was mad. so i got out my journal and started writing everything that was bugging me. and as i wrote i realized why ive been give this call. this call was actually an answer to my prayers. before i sent my papers i prayed so hard that i could become closer to Christ. i feel like ive talked a lot about how its been hard for me to learn how to rely on Him but with this language..thats all im going to be doing everyday. and not just with the language, but also i need to learn how to love more of God's children. i cant just love mesa and ecuador people. i need to learn to love all kinds of people and cultures. and the thing that gets me through most of it is how i felt during my setting apart when president ostler told me that there is someone there that im teaching who will be very familiar to me..and thats because we were really good friends in the premortal life. i learned that my heart is going to learn how to stretch so make room for the philippine people and that they wont be taking the place of my ecuador people. and that i need to be practicing what im preaching. all day long im learning how to teach people about how the atonement will help refine and make them the people that God wants them to be and that Hes never too busy to help you with your frustrations...so thats what ive learned to do this week. that this is hard because im not here to do this my way but im here to do this His way through the gifts He has given me. and through the gifts He will give me if i work and ask for them.

so that was a nice little journal time.

and then AH i love devotionals. i absolutely looooove devotionals. they are the best parts of the week. and everytime they give them it seems to be exactly what i need each week. well sunday morning they gave this whole talk about making sure to include the children in the lessons. gave a lot of good advice and remembering that god touches the hearts of children too. i still remember the first time i felt the spirit, the night i was probably 7 or 8 and was driving home with mark shill from the cabin and we were listening to that cd of all the cousins songs. and that is still one of the strongest feelings i can remember. so its important to let children feel that and teach them as well. and then that night was the best one...just about mosiah 28:3 it talks about if we love our investigators enough that even the thought of them not accepting the gospel would cause our souls to tremble and shake. and that we dont always know whats going on with our investigator..but the spirit does. and that God cant guide your steps until you take a step.

and then they talked a lot about the natural man! oh my gosh it was the coolest thing. had the coolest stories. talked about how we need to stop turning in when things get hard but to turn outward like Christ did. that you need to not just learn about Christ but to learn OF Him! and only through the CHARACTER of Christ is the atonement made possible. and that missionaries need to remember this mission is NOT about them. so who cares about what you want. this is the time to not once think about yourself all day everyday. and (sorry just a little collection of my notes) but seriously i was just wanting to jump up and punch the air through the whole thing. i just got SO PUMPED to be here. and to be a missionary. and got the feeling i had the day i decided to go on a mission. its the different effect of the spirit that ive been experiencing lately...where its not the one that touches you so deeply and makes you teary but the one that just makes your heart so light (?) and happy that you literally can barely sit in your chair..you do this little bouncing thing and cant even hold still because you are so happy and so excited about this gospel. and then to top it off the guy giving the devo had flown out some of his investigators from argentina from 40 so years ago and they talked to us and taught us of the ripple affect it has had in their life. and seriously it was the greatest night..one of those HOORAH FOR ISRAEL type of things.

anyways so i love everything. life is good. ive realized ive been trying to question this church for too long which is the dumbest thing. im going to go prove it right. theres no way thats its not true. if you dont believe me...then test it out for yourself and see if God wont bless you. alam ko po na sa pamamagitan ang pananampalataya ni jesucristo at pagbabayad-sala, magiging po tayo sa langit. mahal tayo ng diyos!

mahal po kayo!!!!!!!!!!!

kita kits

xoxo sister tingey

ps CANT WAIT TO CALL YOU IN THE AIRPORT IN TWO WEEKS!!!

pss sorry again that this is so long. but lots happened. good week. miss you!!!

2 more pdays

HIII!!! kumusta po kayo?? how in the heck is it already pday? uhh and ps i only have 2 more pdays left till im outta this place. its going to be so fun to be able to see the sky again. and like people. and life. but first of all good luck reading this letter. its going to be a little rough and probably not make sense because we accidently took a 4 hour nap today (the most sleep i think ive gotten here so far) and everythings a little fuzzy. also think me and my kasama are getting a little sick so hopefully that passes.

THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOUmom and shills and mcdaniels for the packages!!!!!!!!! so fun. and thanks for the fun letters i got this week!! letters are better than meals. not kidding. and almost as fun as the new bunk beds we got in our rooms this morning. they are running out of places to put people like the 1500 new missionaries coming this week so they just decided to stick another bed in our room. i didnt even know that was possible but i guess with the lord all things are possible. so yay for new roommates.

and sorry about the memory card, i meant to send it but then i didnt. haha so look for those this week i promise.

ummm ano pa....oh! THANK YOU to whoever prayed for me to be able to make it through fast sunday because i know there was a real prayer for that this week. cant remember the last time i made it to 6...but it was the easiest and most productive fast sunday ive had in my whole life.

and thanks mom for the cool story about the mom of 6 kids. LOVED it.

best story of the week was after dinner the other night me and my kasama were got popsicles. hers got stuck to her tongue. like i never even knew that was a real thing. but literally the popsicle would not come off her tongue. and so we stuck her head in the drinking fountain and tried to get it off that way but it didnt. i dont even know how we did it but like 5 minutes later we finally ripped it off. i dont think ive laughed so  hard in my whole life. and then after that we got in trouble for eating in the hall. somehow we manage to get in trouble for something every day. waa. but we try our best.

other best thing weve discovered this week is how much cool stuff people leave in the free bins on all the floors. weve gotten so much sweet stuff its like christmas every monday night when the old people leave. so thats exciting.

something sad though is that all the snow has melted so our snowball fights feel like rock fights instead so pray for snow.

well mostly i cant even think of anything else that happened this week. everything is fun and good. my brain is fried and somehow i still dont feel like ive learned any tagalog buttttttttt its fine.

anyways yesterday had a really cool lesson. this guy came in to talk to us and was going to go over this whole planning thing but just stopped and took his lesson totally other way. he told us about one of his previous investigators from the philippines and we had this huge long discussion about it. anyways main point about it was that he LOVED this investigator and worked and worked and would do anything for him in order to help him. right when they were getting somewhere he was transferred. he said that it was the hardest thing about his mission was just trusting that the next missionary coming in who would be teaching him would love Jeffrey as much as he did and would work as hard and put in the same amount of effort he did for this man. it just made me think about the week i was leaving ecuador and how that was the hardest part was trusting that whoever came next would be able to love those babes and much as me and my group of girls did. it sounds weird but i really was so scared to leave. but i was so happy for that lesson because its been hard having motivation to study for people who i dont even know. but just as much as i wanted new girls to come in and be good to my kids i know that i need to be studying and getting ready to go in and love these investigators for these other missionaries and more importantly for god.  i know i wrote dad this week explaining how hard it is to be in a classroom all day when i look at my watch and add two hours and realize its bath time and that selia needs help getting jorge in the bath. or that christian and manuel need to be taken on a walk because they’re having a tantrum with their autism frustrations.  or that i can see laurita and martin trying to tell the new volunteers something but they can’t understand the grunts. or that the new girls are not wanting to play with edu cause he hits and pulls hair and has a bigger head than them and the volunteers not knowing that if you give him an orange and just wrestle him back he will hug and kiss and laugh with you for the rest of the day. or that laurita needs me braiding her hair. or that edu hasnt eaten in like 30 minutes and is going to need a game and an orange. or that aniye just fell off the slide again and i just want justin to pinch my ankles and leidy to yell BEJ from upstairs. and thats the hardest part about being here is how bad i want to be back there. so that’s been hard dealing with during class.  the spanish is frustrating too.  the other night there was a new elder here who came from mexico and only spoke Spanish so we talked for like 20 minutes and then someone in my district came up to me and asked me a question in tagalog and I had no idea what they said to me. if i didnt have that one day where i knew with all my heart i needed to be here, i would be in ecuador right now. and last night was the hardest night ive had here. i was talking to elder robison about how excited i was to get out of the mtc so i could just see one kid or hold one baby. and then him and another elder told me too bad cause we cant even hold the babies there. and i had read that somewhere but i didnt really pay attention to it but then one of the elders got out the stupid (just kidding its not stupid) little white missionary handbook that explains all the rules about not being able to do with kids and embarassingly i just sat down and cried. and i dont think it was just cause of the rule but i just think i missed my osso kids so bad and it finally hit me how much i did. that whole quote about i knew that someday thinking back on my tears would bring me to laughter but i never thought thinking back on laughter could bring me to tears. basically its so true. and my poor district had no idea what to do with me. those are my favorite kids in the whole world. i have been thinking about those babes and how much i would give to make a quick 3 week stop on the way to the phillipines to go say hi. so the only 2 things that remind me why i’m here is because of the night i had with dani when i realized if this family had the gospel that the mom he was crying for could be the one rocking him to sleep instead of me.  and second that in my setting apart it promised that i have close friends from another life who need me.  so if they need me i will come. but that’s probably the hardest part is just that i don’t know them yet.  but sorry other than that i really do love the mtc.  i’ll probably feel more useful soon. 

so yeah little dramatic last night. but everythings good now. love my comp. love my district. love the mtc. love the church. love my family/friends. learning to love tagalog. excited to love the philipinos. still tired. starting to make the weird missionary jokes (embarrassed). miss everyone and hope everything is good!! and my time is way past! LOVE YOU BYE!!!

xoxo

sister tingey

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!