WEEK 78: bittersweet. emphasis on the 'bitter'

"Yea, I know that I am nothing; as to my strength I am weak; therefore I will not boast of myself, but I will boast of my God, for in his strength I can do all things; yea, behold, many mighty miracles we have wrought in this land, for which we will praise his name forever." -- Alma 26:12

I am just feeling so humbled and full of gratitude right now. What a fast journey this has been. 

I am grateful for a loving Heavenly Father who is in the details of our lives. I am grateful for these short 18 months that He's given me to serve Him with all I've got. It's been the most humbling time of my life. I've learned more than I could have ever imagined. I've seen others strengthened and they have been the ones that have strengthened me. 

I know that the gospel is real. I've seen it working in the lives of my brothers and sisters of the Philippines and have grown to love them. This is my second family and it is so incredibly hard to leave. 

I love this gospel with all my heart. I love my Heavenly Father and I love the plan that He has for each one of us. I am grateful that I have gotten to know Him better and better understand who He really is. I love His Son, Jesus Christ and am grateful that He died for us. I am weak but He has strengthened me and made me capable of serving Him. I am just eternally grateful for my mission. It has changed my life and as President Guanzon had us all promise, I will carry it with me for the rest of my life. 

I love you all. See you all so very soon!!!!

Nagmamahal from this girl that is literally out of tears to shed,

Sister Reategui

ps - everyone's invited to our house on friday night. not sure what time but just text my great mother and she'll give you the deets.

KITA KITS!

WEEK 77: Love is [still] in the air.

Well another week down and it's getting awfully close to that time when this whole mission thing is over. YIKES.

Well in other news, MALIGAYANG ARAW NG MGA PUSO!!!! Happy [late] Valentines Day!! I love you all. Heavenly Father loves you all. And Jesus Christ loves you all. Isn't the gospel great?

I LOVED THIS WEEK. I am just overwhelmed with love. AH. Can I just spend this email writing all the things that I love?

>>I love being a missionary. I love this time that the Lord has given me to give my all and serve Him. I have learned more than I ever imagined I could in 18 short months. 

>>I love my Heavenly Father. I love my opportunity that I've had to draw closer to Him than ever before. I am grateful for this unique chance that I've had to learn of Him and learn how to trust in Him in all I do.

>>I love Jesus Christ. I am so grateful to be sharing His peace and His hope to those that desperately need it. 

>>I love the gospel. It's what everyone is looking for but they don't even realize it. But when they do, it is the coolest thing to see. When they really realize that Jesus Christ gave His life for them, something special happens. A mighty change happens in their lives. I am grateful to have been an instrument in accomplishing this.

>>I LOVE THE PHILIPPINES. Oh man have I learned so much from these great, humble people. I love them with everything in me. It makes me cry just thinking that I will have to leave this place soon. I am eternally grateful for everything they have taught me. I know I didn't serve to teach, but I was the one really taught. They have changed me and will always be a part of me.

>>I love this work. Missionary work is the greatest thing I've ever been a part of. 

>>I love my companion. Even though we are super different, we get a long really well. I guess that's what happens when you're together for 3 transfers. Hahaha

>>I love all the missionaries I've met. I've learned so much from them.

>>I LOVE MASBATE. Even though it's been my hardest area, it's been what I've needed.

>>I love the Lord's timing. I am so impatient but He's always looking out for me. And when I look back, His timing really is the best.

>>I love exchanges. 

>>I LOVE SISTER ERICKSON. She's the best ever. I learned so much from her this week on exchanges and we had a great time. [see pics attached]

>>I love being positive. Even when everything isn't going as planned, we can still be happy!

>>I love prayer. I know it's real. We can really talk to our Heavenly Father. He listens and hears our prayers. He answers them, in His own time and in His own way. 

>> I love having District Meeting. We got to teach the workshop this week....about PRAYER! Wahoo!!!

>>Guys. I actually love planning. It relieves my stress!

>>I love when members work with us. Especially recent converts. They bring a special spirit into the teaching that we need. Our recent convert Melfa always works with us and is usually the one to teach like the whole lesson. I love it. It is so cool to see her share the things she's learned and the experiences she's had at church.

>>I LOVE TRACTING. I used to hate it, but recently I've just been praying and praying that I would love it and guess what? I love it now! The Lord really turns our weaknesses into strengths when we do our best to rely fully on Him.

>>I LOVED VALENTINES DAY THIS YEAR. BEST EVER. We totally got to share the love of Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ with everyone. So great. We made Valentines for all of our families that we teach. THE BEST DAY EVA.

>>I love people that are grateful. We made some Valentines for a family we teach and they cried when we gave it to them. So presh. I love it.

>>I love meeting people that have a passion for sharing their beliefs with us. We met a lot of religious people this week that wanted to be the ones to share with us...haha. I used to hate that but I started looking at it in a different way and really admire those people. They rock because they aren't afraid to stand up for what they believe in.

>>I love seeing the joy of the gospel being rekindled in others.

>>I love the Book of Mormon. It's just so true and so helpful. I have found so many answers and so much comfort through reading and searching constantly the words. I know that is it is the word of God and can bring us closer to Christ than any other book.

>>I LOVE SERVICE. We got to garden on the top of a mountain on Valentine's Day morning! So great.

>>I LOVE BUKO. AKA coconut. I will really miss it like a lot.

>>I love trials. My mission has been the hardest, but best 18 months of my life. I am so grateful for all the hard things that have happened because I've grown so much.

>>I love nice investigators. One family gave us like 100 pounds of fruit fresh from their farm. The best.

>>On that note, I love bananas. 

>>I love rice. I don't even mind eating it for every meal every day.

>>I love that we have the truth. I love sharing it every day. 

>>I just love love. I love Christ and that His love was perfect.

>>I love being able to testify to people of Christ's unfailing love. He really is perfect.

Well I could go on and on for ever and ever. I have loved this time as a missionary. I could say it over and over again. I would do it all over again if I could. I love my Savior and I love His gospel. I love sharing it and have loved serving the Lord with all I've got. I am sad time has gone so fast, but it does feel good to go home knowing that I gave my all and loved every second of it.

I know that this gospel is true. I know that this is the key to pure and real happiness. Life is just so great.

Well just next week I will be on my way back to see you all. LOVE YOU ALL AND HAVE THE BEST WEEK EVER. KITA KITS!!!

Nagmamahal,

SIster Reategui

pictures:

EXCHANGES WITH THE BEST.

-cool tatay making lumpia wrappers

-put two americans together and what do you get? Alfredo. best ever.

-S/O to the cool Elder Nielsen (aka Tatum) for giving us these cool shirts.

Melfa the great working with us.

I told Melfa "make it artsy" and this is what we got. hahahaha

LOVE THIS FAMILY.

the great sister erickson.

#valentines

GARDENING YO

BUKOOOO

the life

VALENTINES DAYYYY

this little boy whispered to me in the middle of our lesson "do you know who my valentine is? you." he's got game. hahahaha

BOWLINNNNNN

WEEK 76: LOVE IS IN THE AIR.

GUYS. Life is just so good. I LOVE BEING A MISSIONARY. Ah. Time is going so fast.

Love is in the air!!!! Got my first Valentine of the year from one of our recent converts. He made one for me and for Sister Villeza. He's the one that I talked about last week that bore his testimony. S/O to him for keeping Valentines Day alive for us missionaries. Hahaha.

Guys but really I'm so excited for Valentines Day. Who doesn't love spreading love to others?? It will be such a good tactic to use this week while we are tracting. WE ARE LOVED BY JESUS CHRIST AND HEAVENLY FATHER! I KNOW IT'S TRUE!

Whelp another week has passed and I've learned more than I could ever fit in one email to you all...but here it goes! 

YAY 4 LEARNING. [I am so the daughter of a teacher. mom you've rubbed off on me!!!]

MONDAY - The Power of Testimony. Taught a really cool family. They were baptized just a few months ago and they are so strong. So much has happened to them since they were baptized. They've lost their father, and because of that they also lost some of the support coming from that side of the family. But this mother is working so hard to just support her children and to give them a good life. I have learned so much from this family and the way they rely on the Lord with everything they've got. 

TUESDAY - Praying for Pigs. Hahaha. Today we had exchanges! I got to work with the great Sister Sabado. She is just so genuine in everything she does so I learned a lot from her. We had a really funny lesson with one of our recent converts, Tatay Lindo. One of his big pigs that he's raising died. So he asked us to pray for his other pigs that they don't get sick too. [S/O to Sister Knuth totes felt like you out there in Idaho] Well of course we prayed for them. Went back yesterday and the others are still alive. Tatay said to us "Those Sisters have real power! The pigs are still living!" Haha. Guys I know that there is power in prayer.

WEDNESDAY - The importance of talking with everyone. Today (like every day) we made a goal of talking and inviting 20 other people to learn more about our message. Which was kinda crazy because we also had appointments set for the whole entire day. Well guess what. We were literally given chances to talk to more people and ended up inviting 31!!! other people to let us share with them. REALLY GOOD DAY. You guys don't even understand because our area is super small and we literally have tracted and know everyone there, but the Lord really prepared more people for us to talk with!!!! It was so cool. We were also able to teach lots and feel the Spirit. And that's what counts!

THURSDAY - The power of the Spirit. Guys I could go on and on about this one. But we had a really cool but simple experience this week. We went and taught some less actives in our area. In planning, I felt the prompting to share the verses in 3 Nephi 13:31-34 which says "But seek ye first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things shall be added unto you." So we trusted in the Spirit and just went with it. Simple verse, right? We have all probably heard that one before. But we went to the house and shared the verse. The brother, who hasn't come to church in quite a long time, totally started crying. He just looked up at us and said, "Sisters, it's like this verse went into my body and pierced my heart!" Hahaha. I am grateful to the Spirit because it was totally the key in that lesson to simply remind this brother what's important in life.

FRIDAY - Faith is important. Today I learned how important having faith in Christ is. He is the Light and the Life of the world. We must have faith in Him! In many of our lessons this day we found ourselves testifying of the importance of faith. It is the foundation in everything we do. When we read the scriptures, pray, go to church...all require faith! Even just waking up in the morning and getting out of bed, in a way we are exercising our faith. And if we have our faith centered on Jesus Christ, everything else in our lives will just fall into place. The gospel is true and it is real. Read a good quote this day "With faith in Him, our lives become focused on doing things of eternal value." With our faith in the right place now, we will end up in the place that our loving Father has prepared for us.

SATURDAY - "Sanctify yourselves." Joshua 3:5. Today we had interviews with President Guanzon. That man is really a man of God. You can just feel the love he has for the Savior by just sitting with him for a few minutes. I am grateful for him and the things he shared with me. He really knows just what to say to make you think about your whole mission and everything you've done and accomplished. He helped me see how far I've come and how much I've changed. I am forever grateful for this time I've had to really come closer to the Savior and my Heavenly Father. It's been the best 17 and a half months (soon to be 18) of my life.

SUNDAY - Member missionary work is important. Great day. We went on splits with the members! They are so supportive of missionary work here. We had 4 sisters work with us! It was great. I went with a teacher that gave us over 10 referrals of her friends and family and people that she works with. It was awesome because we got to explore one of our areas that is a little farther away so we don't usually get to work there very often. I saw just how powerful the testimony of members can be in this work. 

Well guys that's a 10 minute summary of our week. I hope you all know that I love this work. I love my Savior and am learning so much every day by serving Him. You should all do the same!!!!

Nagmamahal from this Sister that's [still] soaking up every last second in the sweat,

Sister Reategui

pictures:

slumber party hehehehe JOKE LANG [please notice the baby throwin' up the peace sign. she was totally super sick but still stayed true to her inner filipina.]

totes master at the 'trompo'. these kids taught me. ill be bringing some of those home. hahaha

jeramos family. LOVE THEM.

the elder's awesome investigator. he's blind and totally came to church all on his own this week. no one knows how he made it there. MIRACLE. so cool. we took a picture. he told me i'm filipina. basically best friends.

our awesome investigators that came to church. LOVE THEM.

PDAY BBAL YO

Letter From Mission President

PHILIPPINES LEGAZPI MISSION
LDS Chapel 152 Rizal Street
Poblacion, Daraga
Albay 4501
Philippines

5 February 2015

 Dear Brother and Sister Reategui,

One of our fine missionaries, Sister Alexis Cecilia Reategui will complete her mission on 25 Feb 2015 and will be returning home. Enclosed in this letter is a copy of her final itinerary and you will be informed in the unlikely event of a change in this itinerary.

We are returning to you a young person that has really grown in so many ways on her mission. We will always remember her willingness in serving the Lord with all her heart, might, mind and strength. We just want you to know that she has done a wonderful job.

On behalf of the Philippines Legazpi Mission, please accept our heartfelt appreciation for her service and dedication. She has exemplified humility, diligence and perseverance in her work. We are blessed with the excellent way in which the Lord, her family and members at home have been represented by this faithful servant. We know you will be pleased with what she has become.

We are grateful for the association we have enjoyed with Sister Reategui and are grateful to you for your part in helping to prepare and encourage her to fulfill her mission. We also thank all who assisted in the preparation of this fine missionary. We will miss Sister Reategui.

Sincerely Yours,

President Jovencio A. Guanzon
Philippine Legazpi Mission

WEEK 75: OVERFLOWING LOVE

HELLO TO ALL! It's been another great week.

FIRST OFF....HOW IS IT FEBRUARY??? YIKES.

Time is going so fast. Is it going fast for you all?? It sure is for me!!!

This week was a tough one. It was probably one of the most challenging weeks of my mission to be honest. But I have learned a lot.

#1 - I learned that the Lord is looking out for each of us. I wish I could explain in detail everything that has happened but I have really seen His hand in this work this week. He is so great to each of us.

#2 - The Lord wants us to be happy. Bad things don't happen because He wants us to be sad and hate our lives. He wants to see how we react, and He rewards us accordingly. We had a lot of things happen this week that could have really disappointed us, but it was so cool to see that as we kept a good attitude, GOOD THINGS STARTED TO HAPPEN! His plan is just so great.

#3 - Positivity affects everything. This week we were coming from an appointment where the father totally just bagged on us and the church and everything he could think of for a good 20 minutes. He is a recent convert we have been working with but he just feels so lost in his life. He had drank a little bit but the things he said were still pretty hurtful. I'm pretty sure my companion was doing all she could to not totally break down in tears. We also had a member working with us, (it was her first time....) and she is just 17 years old. Yeah talk about awkward. We kept trying to stop him, but since he was under the influence it just wasn't working. So we decided to let him just get it all out. He is having a really hard time with everything going on in his life and we just wanted to help him out. He has no work, his wife had been sick for almost a week, and he just went off and took it out on us. I was glad that he didn't take it out on his kids, and that it was us instead. Well long story short, we walked out of that house feeling just so bad. We didn't know how we could help the family and the stuff he said really hurt. So I told my companion, "We have to be positive! ALL IS WELL." Hahaha she just laughed at me. Then we were walking down the street and she was seriously about to cry I think. Haha but I told her "just smile!" Haha so we did. Then this awesome man approached us and out of the blue just said "Wow, it must be such a happy feeling to be a missionary! Look how happy you two are!  Like there are no problems in the world! I want to feel that way too. Can you guys teach me AND MY FAMILY?" YES. YES WE CAN!!!!!! Hahaha it was such a cool experience. Guys, be happy. You never know who's watching!!!!!

#4 - I also learned the power of testifying simply. We really worked a lot on tracting and OYM'ing this week. As a companionship, we had a goal of becoming professional OYM'ers haha so we really talked with everyone we saw no matter where we were. We were able to simply testify to them and it was awesome. We got a return appointment with probably more than half of them!

#5 - I learned the importance of having real desire. We taught this 22 year old lady for the first time this week, and one of the first things she said to us was "I always wondered what it was like to go into your church. When I was in high school (her high school is by the church here) I prayed that I could know what your religion is like. Finally, you guys came to my house and I think that is God telling me now is my time to become part of your church." OKAY. I can't even put into words how awesome that felt to hear from her. Her desire was so real and pure. It was cool because her house is kind of far away and we had to hike a mountain to get there. SO WORTH IT. We have a return appointment with her and her family, and she committed HERSELF to come to church this week! After all that has happened this week, we definitely felt blessed with that experience. I love being a missionary!

#6 - No one's too strong to cry. We are working with a man that was baptized about a year ago. He has been struggling coming to church because he is trying to decide whether or not to go into the army. He has been struggling with a lot of other things. But this week, he surprised us all and came to church AND bore his testimony yesterday. It was so cool. If you all only knew this man, oh my goodness he's come a long way. To see him up there bawl his eyes out because he received an answer that he shouldn't go into the army (although they offered him a really sweet salary for what he would be doing) so that he can be active in the church again. Such a cool experience. And BTW, he totes gave me and Sister Villeza a shout out in his testimony. The Spirit is so cool. We shared with him this week 3rd Nephi 13:31-34 and were unaware of what his situation was. The Spirit definitely helped out with that one. Anyways long story short, the gospel is awesome. It changes lives and makes strong people weep like babies. Good way to spend my last Fast Sunday here in the Pines.

#7 - The importance of loving others and SHOWING IT. I love these great people. I feel blessed to be in a place where the people are easy to love and they love you before they even know you. I have learned so much about sacrifice, dedication, and conversion out here from these great people. This week one of my goals was to tell everyone that we teach that we love them and they are loved by God. It is such a cool feeling to look people in the eyes and just tell them "You and your family are loved by God." It is such a cool feeling to share that special kind of hope. 

Well guys I could go on and on but my time is short. I love being a missionary. Time is going fast and it's crazy.

I love you all!! Let's be overflowing with love for others always!!!

Nagmamahal from this Sister who's gonna soak up every last second here in the Philippines,

Sister Reategui

picturezz:

fingerprinting!

ZONE TRAINING WHAT WHAT

S/O to the Elders. We were first to our meeting. We saw the members gardening. Of course we join them. Elders get there late and before helping...make fun of us and take pictures. HAHAHA #emergencyservice

birthday of sister villeza!

we are sistas. we stand togetha

WEEK 74: [[still]] HAPPY ARE WE!

WE ARE ALL ENLISTED TIL THE CONFLICT IS O'ER. HAPPY ARE WE!!!! HAPPY ARE WE!

Ah. I just love missionary work.

This week we went to Legazpi for Missionary Leadership Counsel. The opening hymn was "We are All Enlisted." You can't not be happy and sing that song. Love it.

[[S/O to the chorister @ MLC who was my awesome trainee Sister Leonardo. Obviously she inherited my calling because I'm always chorister at MLC haha. It was a bittersweet day to see her and know that I probably wouldn't see her again before I go home. She was just called as a Sister Training Leader as well so at least we got to spend one MLC together. Love you Sister Leonardo!]]

This week was a little hectic because of the traveling since we are way out here on the island. And for the record, we go back to Legazpi tomorrow morning for fingerprinting. So that's the life of an islander. It's usually a 6 or 7 hour trip one way. YAY.

So the work continues to go. I am continually learning A LOT. 

Things that I learned this week:

>>The importance of member missionary work!!! This is something we have been struggling with. But this week, we had an awesome member work with us. We got to visit lots of the less actives in our area and she was so good at fellowshipping -- oh man. One of the families wasn't there, so she totally went back [on her own] the next day and visited them!!!! This family hasn't come to church in forevs and guess what??? THEY TOTALLY CAME TO CHURCH ON SUNDAY. MIRACLE??? That is the power of member visits. So guys, fellowship! It brings miracles in the lives of others.
Read a really cool scripture this morning in my personal study. Helaman 6:3: "Nevertheless, the people of the church did have great joy because of the conversion of the Lamanites, yea, because of the church of God, which had been established among them. And they did fellowship one with another, and did rejoice one with another,and did have great joy."

When the Lamanites were converted, which was a miracle in itself, what did they do?? THEY FELLOWSHIPPED AND REJOICED WITH EACH OTHER!!! And it brought them joy! I know it will bring us joy as members of the church if we fellowship those that are in need of a little extra love. Who doesn't want a little extra love??

>>Being grateful makes a difference. We have this awesome family we are working with. They have been really struggling these past few months. We have watched as both the mom and dad have worked crazy hours just to put some rice on their table for their kids that night. They had no power and no lights in their house because they simply could not afford it anymore. They were about to be kicked out of their home and forced to live on the streets. Well this week, the father was offered a job..to renovate a little house for a family that is moving in close to theirs. You would have thought it was Christmas in their house! We went there. They were so happy. They were like different people! They bought some noodles and made us food to say thank you for the prayers that we have offered for them and for never giving up on them. Ah. Words cannot explain how cool it was too see them just so grateful for him getting a little job like that. The next day we went there to help them renovate the house. OKAY they were so grateful. We painted and painted and painted. SO FUN. We then were able to share with them the next day and gave them a picture of Christ to display in their house. [[S/O to my mom for the awesome pictures she sent me. they are a hit over here!!!! #igotitfrommymomma]] OKAY. The mom cried and cried when she opened it up. She was so grateful for the simple picture. She said "He will always be a part of our family because of what you Sisters have taught us." AH. It was such a good moment. She then insisted on offering a prayer to thank us. She was just so full of gratitude. It was a good reminder to me to ALWAYS BE GRATEFUL!

>>Talking with everyone. We had an awesome MLC about how to become professional at finding new investigators. It's easy: open your mouth and it will be filled! We have seen countless miracles because of this in the work this week!

>>Following up. One of the most important parts of missionary work! This week we had a cool experience. We started the lesson and followed up right away and found out that our investigator had totes read ALL of first Nephi!!! Like the whole book in just a few days. Can you say progressing???

>>Simpleness of the gospel. We have been challenged in our mission while we are OYM'ing or contacting, to start right away testifying of the restoration in the first 2 minutes. SO COOL. It invites the Spirit right away!!!!

>>"Nothing happens in missionary work until we find people to teach." Like the truest thing evsss.

>>THE IMPORTANCE OF LOVE IN THIS GREAT WORK. Something that President Guanzon said that I loved was "have overflowing love." It's simple. Love and show it!
D&C 12:8 -- "And no one can assist in this work except he shall be humble and FULL OF LOVE, having faith, hope, and charity, being temperate in all things, whatsoever shall be entrusted to his care."

HAVE OVERFLOWING LOVE! For everything and everyone. Life is happier that way!

>>"The Lord allows His work to happen as we let Him use us as His servants." - President Guanzon. Trust in Him. Let Him mold YOU.

>>Power of reading the scriptures. We had a family home evening. We planned a lesson on repentance. We followed up with the mom of the family about her reading. She shared what she read and it was a better fitting scripture than we picked about....REPENTANCE. So cool. Her husband has become less active because of some weaknesses he's working on over coming.....so it was so perfect. She cried as she testified how great the church is (they were just baptized a few months ago) and how much the gospel has helped her overcome her weaknesses and come closer to Christ. SUCH A TENDER EXPERIENCE. There is power in the scriptures! The Spirit was so strong in that room. Oh man.

>> Finding joy in the Journey. A talk by President Monson. Read it. It's life changing. "Never let a problem to be solved become more important than a person to be loved."

>>I am learning more and more about what's really important, and what brings TRUE everlasting happiness. 

Life is good. I am as happy as ever. Learning more than ever. I love being a missionary. Time is going fast but I will make this the best last month ever!

Love you all. I am so so grateful to you all and your support and prayers. I really do feel it all the way out here!

Nagmamahal,

Sister Reategui

pictures:

sErViCe

all the leaders of the mission going home this transfer!!! so many!!!!!

WEEK 73:DIVA POSITIVA!

WARNING: THIS EMAIL WILL BE ALL OVER THE PLACE.

Survived bagyo #4 and a bad case of the Measles this week. What did you guys do??
"...Let us cheerfully do all things that lie in our power; and then may we stand still..." 

- D&C 123:17

[[PS shout out to my dad. He's my inspiration for the email heading.]]

Well this week was quite a unique one. It seems like the theme of the week was for sure POSITIVITY. Even if everything's not going the way it's planned. So since it's my last transfer, I decided to start writing down every day one important thing I learned. So we will go from there....

[[PSS S/O to the great Sister Gracie Platt for this awesome idea. She inspired me with her cool email of a list of things she's learned. That's soon to come. KEEP SERVING YOUR HEART OUT OVER THERE IN BAMA SISTER PLATT!!!!!]]

MONDAY: Went to the doctor. They took my blood and then said that measles wouldn't even show up in the blood test anyways. #COOL. Good thing I got to exercise my patience right off the bat. So with measles, it's super contagious so we were stuck in for the rest of the day. I learned: PATIENCE.

TUESDAY: So we weren't able to leave the house for. the. whole. day. Yeah thank you measles! But I got some good reading in. The Book of Mormon is just so powerful. I am grateful for my mission because I have really learned the power in the scriptures. The Book of Mormon has a special power inside. We can find answers to our questions of the soul in this book!!! So I read this day in Alma. Chapters 40-42 really stood out to me. The Plan of Salvation is just so amazing. I am so grateful to a Heavenly Father who is all knowing. He really knows everything! Today I learned the importance of the Great Plan that Heavenly Father has for us. If you are unfamiliar with His plan, read the Book of Mormon!!! It will answer all of your questions you didn't even know you had.

Wednesday: The measles are gone! Today we worked and worked like crazy...but everyone was gone or busy. But that's okay. We went to every house we could think of, we tracted and tracted and OYM'd, and we were able to teach a few people. We ended up teaching a less active in our area. For a while she hasn't come to church, and we weren't able to get down to her real concern. Well today, we were able to share with her the verse in Ether 12:27 which aka is one of my favorite verses EVER, it says: "And if men come unto me I will show unto them their weakness. I give unto men weakness that they may be humble; and my grace is sufficient for all men that humble themselves before me; for if they humble themselves before me, and have faith in me, then will I make weak things become strong unto them." OKAY. The Spirit was SO STRONG. She just broke down and told us her concern. I was so grateful to the Spirit, for us knowing what we needed to share with her in a time she needed it most. We were able to powerfully bear testimony of the Atonement and that He can heal us. I walked away from that lesson, grateful for the knowledge of my loving Savoir, and grateful for the chance I had to share that with someone that needed it SO badly. The Savior can really heal us. Do we realize that? He has felt what we have felt. He is there every step of the way! Today I learned that the Atonement is for everyone, and He is the ultimate Healer.

Thursday: So we walk and walk and walk and no one is available! But it's okay because....DIVA POSITIVA! We just stay positive no matter what and it makes the work fun even though it's a bit challenging at times. We have really tracted every house in our area...but are still somehow finding ways to meet more people. We are blessed to say the least! Today we taught a few lessons and felt the need to teach about the Holy Ghost. I am so grateful for the Holy Ghost! It is so powerful and it is the way to know all truth. We taught one of our most progressing investigator families, we tracted them a few weeks ago. Well last time we taught them the Book of Mormon. This week we followed up and found out that the father is reading the Book of Mormon to his whole family every night!!!!! TALK ABOUT GOLDEN. We totes didn't even commit them to read it as a family and bam he's totally doing it. He said, "I just feel that it's true when I read it." I learned today that the Holy Ghost is real!!!! SO REAL.

Friday: Missionary sisters sing as they walk and walk and walk,....and walk! Name that song. Hahaha thats us! But we tracted up a mountain, and found a really receptive family!!! The sister prayed right away. It was awesome and she said the coolest prayer. She said "Heavenly Father, thank you for sending your servants here to our house. We liked their message and hope they come back tomorrow." Hahahahaha awesome. Today I learned even more the importance of positivity. And smiling no matter what!

Saturday: Another typhoon came and went. We are #SURVIVORS. Haha it wasn't even bad here, just strong winds and RAIN like crazy. But all is good in the hood of Masbate. We worked the whole day and just laughed as we tracted and as everyone was laughing at us for coming to their house in the middle of the typhoon. We were able to teach lots of lessons though because everyone was at home since the storm was crazy! We had a curfew and came home early. I learned how studly the Strippling Warriors were and how important EXACT OBEDIENCE is. (Alma 57:21. read it.)

Sunday: We went to church. There weren't many people because of the storm still going on. We had a family home evening with some of our recent converts which was really awesome. One of the families has become a little less active because the father always has work. But he gave the closing prayer and totes made me cry. He is usually too shy to pray because of some weaknesses he is trying to overcome, but he prayed. And in his prayer he cried and he thanked Heavenly Father for sending us sisters to his house and for us never giving up on their family. Then, he went on for a few solid minutes praying for us and how grateful he was for the gospel in his life. he even mentioned that he was grateful for us (like for the third time) for coming to his house even though there was a bad storm. It was such a tender moment. Today I learned in a special way just how sacred and special my time is as a missionary. I love it.

Well everyone, I have SO much more I want to share with you all but no worries, I'LL SEE YOU ALL NEXT MONTH! 

Just know I love you all and you are always in my prayers.

Nagmamahal,

Sister Reategui

WEEK 72: LAST TRANSFER!

6 weeks to go and I've got measles! WAHOO.

Well this week a lady told me "You remind me of Santa because you have a sweet face." So it's been a super great week to say the least.

This week I've learned this...

"Faith is things which are hoped for and not seen; wherefore, dispute not because ye see not, for ye receive no witness until after the trial of your faith." - Ether 12:6

I am grateful that things haven't come very easily in my mission. I am grateful for the Lord teaching me how to rely on Him. I am grateful for Him teaching me just how badly I must trust in Him and His plan for me.

We've been blessed to see the area progress this week. Not even in any big huge way, but in little ways that really add up and become the great things. The work is working. It's not easy, but it's SO WORTH IT.

This week we were able to set a baptismal goal date with one of our golden families that were becoming "eternal investigators." They've been taught for almost a year now, but haven't accepted a baptismal goal date until now. We have been focusing on this family, and have seen their progression as they've really committed to give up all their vices and to simply trust in the Lord. This is a family that is struggling to provide food for their family every day and have struggled to really trust in the Lord because of their situation. But it just finally clicked for them. And oh, how happy of a moment it was! They are scheduled to be baptized on Feb 14th, Valentines Day!

This week we were also able to go on exchanges again. My companion was Sister Felipe who is a short term missionary here in Masbate. She is pretty shy, so I let her lead the area and wanted to show her that she could actually do it. She was so nervous but guess what? She totally could! She did such a great job and actually cried in our evaluation because she finally saw her progression as a missionary. It was such a happy moment and I was grateful to be able to work with her.

That day we were able to share again to Nanay Reynita, the one I told you all about on our last exchanges in their area. The lady that asked me about how to repent. Well we taught her, and she had totally given up all her vices and her desire to come back to church is so strong. It was such a happy moment to really see her progress. So like Alma says, "I do not joy in my own success alone, but my joy is more full because of the success of my brethren."

Guys. I love missionary work. This week I was reading in Alma 24-30 and Alma is totally a stud. So is Ammon. I just love reading how much they joy in the Lord's work because that's totally how I feel all the time.

"I know that which the Lord hath commanded me, and I glory in it. I do not glory of myself, but I glory in that which the Lord hath commanded me; yea, and this is my glory, that perhaps I may be an instrument in the hands of God to bring some soul to repentance; and this is my joy." Alma 29:9

I love this work. I love these great people. I am so grateful for this short time that has been given me to give my all to this work. Life is good.

Nagmamahal,

Sister Reategui

pictures:

exchanges!

one of my favorite nanay's ever, nanay reynita

baptism!

#thedistrict

FHE!

WEEK 71: "BAGONG TAON, BAGONG BUHAY, BAGONG ASAWA!"

HELLO!!! I HAVEN'T EMAILED YOU ALL SINCE LAST YEAR!!! IT'S BEEN SO LONG!!! HAHAHAHAHAHA

I love New Year because I love all the jokes that you can make. I've been saying all these New Year's jokes to the Filipinos and they just laugh and laugh because people don't joke like that over here. Hahaha love it.

"NEW YEAR. NEW LIFE. NEW WIFE." - Said by our Recent Convert that is like 60 years old and on his 3rd wife. His name is Lindo. This is the man that had the sore knee last week that I was talking about. Hahahahaha yeah we laughed SO HARD. Then he told me since I'm going home soon, 2015 will be my year to get married. Hahaha oh man. Good times. 

Well this week was good as always. Full of lots of food, exchanges, some family history, lots of jumping pictures, and sharing the Good Word of course. I just love my life. 

On New Year's, we had a breakfast appointment, two lunch appointments, and two dinner appointments. Filipino's are extremely hospitable and really love feeding people. Works out great because I love eating the awesome food they prepare so basically its a match made in heaven.

This week we also had the opportunity to attend a really cool family home evening with a really awesome and strong family in the branch that I admire so much. They are all members, and their father is still pretty young, but his body is suddenly getting really really weak and he was really close to losing his life this week. Well, one of his requests was to have a family home evening with all the missionaries in the branch. So we got permission from our Mission President, and were able to all attend. The Spirit was so strong in there. They are a type of family that just by being around them, you are just strengthened. They bore strong testimony of the Plan of Salvation, about the great plan that Heavenly Father has for each and every one of us. That there is hope for eternal life. As I listened to then, I tried to put myself in their shoes and I honestly really felt like I couldn't do it. See someone that I loved so much go through so much pain and getting closer and closer to passing away, and through this families tears, they all bore such powerful testimony of the gospel. I am grateful to them for giving me a "big picture" perspective and helping me see how much we can really trust in the plan of our loving Heavenly Father.

#NEWYEAR
"Old things are done away, and all things have become new. Therefore I would that ye should be perfect  even as I, or your Father who is in heaven is perfect." 3 Nephi 12:47-48

Christ is perfect. Our Heavenly Father is perfect. The gospel is perfect.  Every day is a New Year if we are living the gospel. "True doctrine, understood, changes attitudes and behaviors." Let the gospel change us! 

This week we had a really cool experience with our investigators. We taught them about the Restoration and asked them at the end to pray about it to know. She said yes, then she said, in the sweetest voice, "Sister, I know it's true. I just feel it. It's true. All you are saying is true." 

Everyone, life is so good. The gospel is what we all need, whether we realize it or not. Let us apply it every day of our lives!

I love you all. I love this work. Let us make 2015 the best year yet!!!

Nagmamahal,

Sister Ray-ah-two-gee

(they just really can't say my last name here hahahaha)

pictures:

Tatay Lindo.

#exchanges. LOVE SISTER ERICKSON.

also love this family. The Jeramos family!

#jumpshot

#familyhistorynight with Melfa!

the awesome youth and single adults of Masbate!

my #twin

the members are AWESOME here and always work with us.

tracting in the jungle. normal day in the PINES.

district activity at the prettiest beach evaaaa