I'm Obsessed!

Kumusta family and friends.

Wow. What a week. Haha.

SO yeah,  now my companion Sister DeHoyos got sick this week. Interesting. Haha. 

But we’re now all healthy and happy and everything is fine. We made our goal to push ourselves again and do better than we did the week before with only four days to work. So yes, with the Lord’s help we managed to teach FIFTY lessons in four days. It felt so amazing to just give everything we had and more. I'm so proud of sister DeHoyos. I know its hard being in a foreign country and having so much expected of her as the Lord’s missionary. But never the less, she has stepped up immensely and is helping our area in Legazpi in a way no one else can. I know the Lord is so proud of her personal growth and so am I.

 

This week was super busy and amazing. I was able to give a workshop in our district meeting about the book of Mormon and it was just so amazing to strengthen my testimony. I was researching a bunch of talks given by the apostles about the divinity of the book of Mormon and of course, no one pierces my soul the way Jeffery R Holland does. For those who have not heard his talk “Safety for the Soul”.. go find it and read it! As I have been researching more about the Book of Mormon, I came across one of my new favorite chapters in the Book of Mormon. 3 Nephi chapter 18. When the savior comes to minister unto the Nephites about the importance of the sacrament. My favorite promise the savior made was in verse 6-8 promising that as we take the sacrament and remember His name, we will always have His spirit to be us. Though it’s a simple promise, the blessing’s worth is beyond measure. And so as Sister DeHoyos and I discussed this promise in our personal study, we thought it would be a good idea to emphasize the importance of the sacrament to our Less actives. And as we share this scripture and saw the light in their eyes while reading the words directly coming from the Savior himself in 3 Nephi Chapter 18, each lesson was very tender. 

It was even more tender when we saw saw almost all of our less actives in our area come to church. It was such a miracle to see so many of them come. My personal testimony of the savior just keeps growing and growing as I study the book of Mormon and share the gospel to others and witness the changes and blessing in their lives. There is nothing more fulfilling, more sweeter, nor rich than immersing yourself in the gospel of Jesus Christ and serving others. For those who may be struggling, I can testify that the promise in Moroni chapter 7 is true. Through Christ, anything is possible.  Sister DeHoyos and I were full of smiles and just love this work so much. Im obsessed. There I said it. Hahaha. I love being a missionary! I love my companion, she teaches me more than she knows.

Have a wonderful week, all! 

Mahal kita,

Sister Delgado

Our favorite kids from Victory Village :)

4 Days in the Hospital :(

Kumusta family and friends!!!

So yeah. Last Monday right after I emailed, I felt super sick and was put into the hospital. I had a super bad stomach ache and threw up a bunch and felt super weak. My poor kasama and I were confined for four days in a hospital. At this point I can at least tell you all about Sister DeHoyos because of our isolation together :D haha.

So we worked from Thursday to Sunday and still managaed 40 lessons and found 31 new investigators. We worked super hard to achieve our goal in using every moment possible to find and teach and share. That’s really all missionary work is about. Finding and teaching. The lord is so merciful in placing me and Sister DeHoyos in such a kind country that welcomes us in their home to share about the gospel of Jesus Christ. They are so especially kind to Americans. They all love Sister DeHoyos and she has such a powerful testimony, that even though its brief in tagalog, its still powerful. 

One of the highlights we had this week was again with Pam. She prefers us to speak English to her haha and shes actually super talented in speaking English too. I felt awkward at first doing it because Im so used to speaking tagalog-especially teaching. But it was still great! Espeically the part when she said that she enjoyed church so much last week. She said she learned a lot. Sister DeHoyos and I explained about the Great Apostasy and how through Joseph Smith, God used Him as His prophet to restore His gospel. We normally don’t teach investigators about the Restoration unless we have a Book of Mormon because after we share about the restoration we invite them to read the Book of Mormon to see if its true and if it is it means Joseph Smith was a true prophet, but we felt extremely impressed to share with her about the restoration anyway. At the end of our discussion Pam was left very intrigued and before we asked her to pray to know if our message is true, she immediately said that she believes it. Sister Dehoyos and I were confused. Hahaha. 

Normally people don’t believe in what happened to Joseph Smith right away. 

She said that she just feels this peaceful feeling inside of her that says that what we’ve said is true. Sister DeHoyos and I were just full of smiles. We were so touched with how receptive she to the holy Ghost as it testified to her the truthfulness of what we were saying . We explained to her that what she was feeling was the Holy Ghost testifying to her of truth and if she would pray to God to know again, He would answer her prayers and strengthen what she felt to be true. We told her we'd give her a book of mormon next visit and she was excited.

I love this gospel and seeing the changes it makes in people's lives. Even the little things.The simple things make the biggest difference.

I love my mission and the Philippines!  Have a wonderful week all!

Mahal kita,

Sister Delgado

me last week for four days....

Little Jenny Guanzon at her birthday last week. :) 

I now have my Sixth companion

Dear family and friends,

Wow!!!

I"m so excited my brother Vj and cousin Kiyan are starting middle school at Altla Loma Middle! Make ate proud boys! and even more wow, Papa Minson can wake surf with no hands. So happy for you all! :)

This week has been awesome. I'm training Sister DeHoyos and she's such a blessing to Legazpi. Sister DeHoyos and I are having a blast and are growing each day. Usually we have about 7 days to reach our standard of excellence which is 35 lessons per week but we achieved it 4 days. That's how blessed we are to have the Lord's constant help to share the gospel at every opportunity.

One of our new investigators sister Pam, whom is a single mom and wasn't sure about the gospel let us finally teach her again with Sister DeHoyos and she loved her. We invited her to pray for Thomas S Monson and she did both! She even stayed for all three meetings.

And of course the Gonzales family never ceases to amaze me. They showed up to church early so that they could make sure that they could come to sacrament on time. We were so impressed and proud of them.

I love missionary work so much the church is true! More stories to come!

Mahal kita

Sister DELGADO! 

  The four foreigner amigos. haha

Sister Wilkins is training, 

Sister Routhier and I'm training Sister Dohoys.

Watch out Philippines; us foreigners are coming for you!!

Absolutely adore these sisters/

"Sister Delgado meet your new companion:
Sister MORGAN DEHOYOS!!"
aka your sister from another mister.
Sister DeHoyos and I are serving in Legazpi and are having a blast!
She's from Pleasant Grove, Utah and was studying at Dixie.
We have too much fun together. 

New Kabahays and new stls! 

Me, Sister Ginigaling, Sister DeHoyos, and Sister Tarantan. So fun!

Faith and Beautiful Views‏

Hello family and friends!

Well, the past 8 weeks with Sister Ramada have been the best, but she is leaving her short term mission and I will be receiving a new companion fresh from the MTC. So yeah, I'm staying in Legazpi and training again! J I'm so excited for the new adventures to embark upon this transfer. Sister Dizon and Jemino are also transferred so they will be leaving me L but it's all good because change can be fun. Me and my next companion will be inheriting some of their old investigators and recent converts and less actives so more people to teach and more life changing experiences ahead!

SO of course, the Gonsales family as always is the highlight of my week. They are seriously progressing so much with their church attendance and the members of the Legazpi ward becoming so involved in fellowshipping them. I have no doubt that they will be baptized. No doubt. Hahahah they keep telling me that when I come they want to see my wedding in the Temple because we always teach about the temple and the importance of families being sealed forever. It makes me laugh because I have no idea why they are so certain its going to happen so soon. Haha. But the highlight of the progression of the Gonzales family was when Oddette said that she wants to be baptized. For weeks she has been saying that the only reason that she has been going to church and attending our discussions is for her children. But just last night she told us that she wants her whole family to be baptized because she knows this gospel will bless her family. She even said that despite her fear of leaving the comfort zone of being a Catholic and the changes that will be made in her life, she cannot deny the peace she feels when coming to church and during our lessons when we read scriptures and pray. Her testimony especially grows when she hears the powerful testimonies of the members. Bishop Francisco and his wife accompanied us during of our lessons about the faith in Christ and how Faith in Christ is the leading motivator as to why we make changes in our lives that help us grow closer to Christ. I'm so grateful for the resources that are here in Legazpi to make missionary work possible.

Another highlight was the Manga family. After sharing with them about the restored gospel of Jesus Christ and giving them a Book of Mormon, they came to church! I was so surprised actually. It was a complete blessing to see them enjoy sacrament meeting and take a huge leap of faith. Brother Manga usually comes home from work around 1 am on Saturday nights so we for sure didn’t have much expectations. But through prayer and trying our hardest, the Lord makes miracles. 

This whole transfer so many investigators of ours have been coming to church and I'm just in shock every week with the progression our investigators gain by excercising faith. Seeing the slow but sure progression of their faith increases mine. 

I want to speak a little about faith. As reading about it in the book of Alma, I can never get enough when studying about faith. Faith is more than just doing things because you know you’ll get a certain result because of it. I've realized that faith is also changing your entire thinking about a certain situation that may bother you because you trust that God has a plan. Even for me as a missionary, yeah. There are times I feel so sad for investigators who don’t keep their commitments or become baptized in the time frame Sister Ramada and I plan for. But when things don’t go according to plan, one thing living in the Philippines has taught me is that everything has its own time due. As missionaries, we just need to be prepared for that proper time the Lord has set for his children to enter the waters of baptism and become members of the church. My seven months on my mission thus far has taught me how to have complete faith and trust in God because I know He will never forget or leave his children. I have seen and felt so many miracles in my mission and my life to ever deny that. Even if the wait for that silver lining feels like its never going to be met, we just need to be patient. The Lord’s plan will always prevail and we need to be happy, patient, persistent, and have full trust and faith that things will work out. My life isn’t perfect, and the people of the Philippines’ lives are so hard. But no matter how hard and poverty stricken they are, no matter how scared they are for their children’s next meal, no matter how small/ dirty their little bamboo homes are, no matter how much they try and try and feel like they just don’t succeed, one thing is for sure: their faith in God. Even though life is hard sometimes, it could always be worse, right? Even if life seems umbarable, Christ is always there. We just need to do our part and seek Him. God has a plan for all His children. In fact, that plan is perfect. So fear not during times of dismay. Just follow Christ and He will lead you towards His plan of everlasting happiness. Less than 100 years of life is nothing compared to the eternal life we are promised. 18 months is nothing compared to the sufferings Christ went through for me and for you. Over 30 years of life given by Christ was for us, and thus His whole existence. the next 11 months of my life is the least I could give for Him that has given me all.

Have a splendid week full of faith and grattitude :)

mahal kita!

Sister Delgado 

Linton Hill's view reminds me of twin peaks in SF
especially when its foggy.
#missingmycity

Note: The Philippines does crazy things to my hair.l

Still got my photographer skills eh?
Just adoring Sister Ramada's natural beauty.:)

My first anak sa mission.
Soul sisters for sure.

Our last adventure before Sister Rams leaves :/...

Legazpi Ward coordination meeting.
Sure love these members!

Celebrating Sister Jemino's 25th birthday
at the Orientals?  hahahaha.....

The view from one of our proselyting areas.

Chelsea, Denise, and Miley.
The most precious investigators we have.

I've never been so soaked in my life!!
haha but it was sure fun proselyting it the rain.

Before: "waiting for the transfer announcement"

After: "Sister Delgado, you are training again"...oh boy. haha

Zone Activity Pictures

Zone Activity! Bowling!

Legazpi District! :)

Bodo fight! yes
 We cut some leaves off a tree an ate filipino food on it with our hands.
Best experience ever.  Best adobo ever.

Celebrating Brother Addy's (President Guazon's brother) 
birthday at the mission home!  Such a sweet brother!

Stopping to smell the flowers. haha jk.
we're literally always matching!

happy are we, happy are we :)

Caught one of our investigators falling asleep
after reading the Book of Mormon we gave her!
hahaha so precious

This represents the water I use to shower outside the house
because there isn't any water inside....
hahaha it's more fun in the Philippines!!!

I have the sweetest, most humble companion.
I never want her to leave me!
This next transfer is going to be so different without her....