Sunday, September 27, 2015

Hello Family and Friends :)

Oh man this week has been such a good one! Sis. Devi and I have another family that we've been teaching; a dad, Romeo, a mom, Raya, and their 8 year old son JahyR. They were the highlight of my week this week. I was introduced to this family the second day I got here. I fell in love with them instantly. We taught them a lesson on Saturday night and asked Romeo how he was doing with all the commitments that we had placed with him; specifically the Word of Wisdom. He told us that he had relapsed Friday night at a party with some friends. Sis. Devi and I were heartbroken. His original baptism date was 10/10. But because of this little incident we had to re-extend the date to 10/17.

I was inspired at that moment to share with Romeo and his family the story of Alma and King Lamoni. (Alma 22:15-16). The spirit was so strong in the lesson and while we were teaching that story, Romeo and his wife started to cry. When we first teaching Raya, she wasn't really interested. She just wanted to listen. She saw the change in Romeo and JahyR and wanted to know what was going on. So she joined in one day.

The lesson we had Friday night with them ...Raya committed to baptism! She said, "I want to be baptized for my family," in Tagalog of course. haha!  The lesson was so powerful and the spirit was so strong. :) The Ylagan Family baptism is set for October 17. We are hoping and praying that everything goes as planned.

Saturday, we got to attend a stake activity. It was National Family Week" in the PI last week. So our entire stake gathered at the stake center to play games and what not. You guys know how stake activities work.

I want you ALL to read Alma 22 and when you get to versus 15-16, ask yourself, "What am I willing to give up to gain eternal life?" Everyone has something they can improve on. I see the gospel change people's lives EVERY DAY. I see the strength it give to families. I absolutely love being a missionary and I love the miracles I am able to witness because of missionary work.

Mahal na mahal ko kayo lahat!

Sis. Leausa

P.S. Welcome home Sister Shanece Leausa #1!  Job well done, sissy. :)

She  was so happy to run into her very first companion, Sister Swanson, this week at an activity. 

Sunday, September 20, 2015

Hello,

This week has been another great one! We met a family this week who I am absolutely IN LOVE with; a mom, a dad, and their 15 year old daughter, RubyMae. There aren't enough words to describe how much hope I have for this family. They're so incredible! My mama will post my experience with them on the blog. It's too much to type here. Hah! I don't really have much to write this week since I wrote you guys on Wednesday. :)

The work is still so great; hard but great. My body is sore from all the walking but I love it! Oh! About the pic with the laundry. Yeah, I though playing college volleyball was hard? SIIIIIKE! Laundry is NO joke here in the Philippines. Hahaha! It took me a good 2 hours to do my laundry last week. And I get to do it all again, today. Yay! (sarcasm included).

Kay, that is all I've got this week. I hope you guys are well and I love you guys so much! I know the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints is true. I'm so in love with the Book of Mormon. I see it change people's lives every day. If it can change people's live, here in the Philippines, I KNOW it can do the same for you. The only way to know whether it can or not is to read it and pray about it.

I hope you all have a great week.

Sister Leausa

___________________________________

Here is the story Sister Leausa is referring to:

Mom...so the family is a dad, mom, and a 15 year old daughter name RubyMae. I cannot remember the parents names right now but they are adorable. The dad is a construction worker and the mom runs the store they have. The dad at first looked so rough and tough. He was not home the first time we taught RubyMae. He came home the first time right after we finished the lesson. The dad was asking us all these questions and we were kind of scared.

Here in the PI you have to gain the father's trust and respect before anything progresses. We returned last week for a second lesson with RubyMae and she said she wanted us to wait for her dad to get home. He wanted to hear our message! He is looking for the truth! I have goosebumps! Our lesson with them this last week was SO amazing. For some reason I feel like they are my "special' family" that was talked about when I got set apart. I am so excited about this family and really do hope they get baptized some day.

The streets were flooded last night on their way home.

The laundry struggle is real! :)

Her favorite...the children of Quezon City.

Dinner time at the Mission Home

Tuesday, September 15, 2015

Magandang Umaga ang pamilya at mga kaibigan ko!! (Good morning my family and my friends.)

Oh man, my first week in the field has been SO amazing! I have a new companion, Sis. Devi. She's from Nausori, Fiji. She's my nanay (mama); which also means shes my trainer. haha! I love her so much and am so grateful to have her as my companion. We get along so well. She's a convert and has been a member for two years now. :)

So, about my week. My first couple of days I wasn't scared, but I wasn't confident either. I was kind of just in shock, I guess you could say. I was just trying to take in the fact that I live in the Philippines. Our lessons the first couple of days went really well. I was introduced to three investigators who have baptisms scheduled for October 10. Oh man, I am so excited and they are so ready. Its a dad, Romeo, his son Jay-R, and their roommate, Mario.  I am so excited for them.

We have a lot of less active members so our primary focus, other than new investigators is our less active brothers and sisters. WE WALK EVERYWHERE! When I come home and am a size 6, you can thank the Philippines humidity for that. It is so hot! Right now it is rainy season so it rains every single day. And when it rains, it RAINS! Like FLOODS! It is crazy, but I love it.

Oh, my first area is Quezon City South. Let's see, so Monday, Sis Devi and i had such a hard day. It was pouring outside and all of our appointments fell through and when we tried to talk to people, no one wanted to listen. We didn't know what to do and we definitely didn't know where to go after being "blunted" (rejected) for the millionth time. We decided to stop and say a little prayer.

We asked Heavenly Father to show us where to go. We waited for a couple of minutes and then continued walking....about 5 minutes into walking we found a family and had such a beautiful lesson with them. Sweet little tender mercies from the Lord.

Yesterday night, Tuesday, we had a dinner appointment with the Gonzales family (members). It was SOOOO good!  We had Sinigang. I don't know how to explain it but its like stew with pork and green in it and of course you eat rice. You eat everything here with rice!  Breakfast, lunch and dinner. My first real Filipino dish :) sobrang masarap!

This work is by far the hardest thing I've ever done in my life, but I absolutely love it. There aren't words to describe how close I feel to my savior. I am so extremely grateful for this opportunity to be a missionary.

I love you all so much and hope you are all reading the BOM and praying everyday. I can promise you that so many blessings come from keeping the commandments of our Heavenly Father. Mahal na mahal ko kayo!!

Sister Leausa

Of course my favorite part about being a missionary is the kids!

Sister Leausa's mailing address

Sister Kathleen Naisina Leausa
Philippines Quezon City Mission
Aurora Blvd. cor. JP Rizal St
Project 4, Cubao
Quezon City 1109, Metro Manila, Philippines

Letter from President Carlos G. Revillo, Jr.

Thursday, 10 September 2015


Dear Brother Leausa and Sister Solari,

Sister Revillo and I are pleased to have your daughter, Sister Kathleen Leausa, with us in the Philippines Quezon City Mission. After the training at the MTC, she is now working in the mission field. We had the opportunity to meet with her and get acquainted. We were impressed with her testimony about serving the Lord through her mission.

We strongly feel that Sister Leausa is prepared to serve the people here in the Philippines. She will have the privilege of changing the lives of many people as she teaches and takes them into the waters of baptism. Her life, in turn, will also be changes forever through her experiences here. The success of her mission can only be determined by how well she has learned to love and serve the people.

We have enclosed a picture taken upon Sister Leausa's arrival.  Please make an extra special effort to keep in contact with her through letters of encouragement and support. When missionaries receive letters in the mission field, it is the highlight of their week.

For your information, Sister Leausa's release date has been set for 25 Jan 2017, to coincide with the mission's transfer day schedule. Please be assured that we will do our very best to make this a wonderful and fulfilling experience for her.  Thank you for your support.

Sincerely,

President Carlos G. Revillo, Jr.
Philippines Quezon City Mission

They made it!

On our flight to China. The sign that we are all doing is a thing in the Philippines that means "gwapo" which means "good looking."

"Such a small temple, but oh so beautiful!"

We made it!

Friday, September 4, 2015

Mother!!!

We get to email today to tell our families that we made it here safely. The Philippines is absolutely beautiful. It looks just like Samoa! We had rice, hot dogs, and fried eggs for breakfast. I loved it so much and the people here are all so friendly. Just like Samoa. I love it, I love it, I LOVE IT.

I have no clue what time it is at home but it is 11:00am here on Saturday. I think our p-day here is Tuesday, just while we are in the MTC. We leave here on Wednesday morning to our assigned missions so I guess I will email you on Tuesday.

Please let everyone know that I love them and the work begins , for real - for real, NOW!!

Mahal Kita

We talked on the phone this morning!

Sister Leausa was able to call home this morning while at the Salt Lake City airport. It was so awesome to hear her voice and to confirm that she is happy, healthy, excited, and so ready for the people in Quezon City.  They have a long day ahead of them as they will be traveling for about 23 hours today to make it to their final destination in Manila.

Sister Leausa bore her testimony to us over the phone this morning in Tagalog. Unbelievable to me that she can do that already. Simply amazing how she was blessed with the gift of tongues as she was set apart as a missionary the night before she left for the MTC.

As mentioned in a earlier post, they will spend their first five days in the MTC in Manila and then will travel to Quezon City.

Check it out:

https://www.lds.org/locations/missionary-training-centers/philippines/photo-gallery?lang=eng#philippines-mtc-residence-2

Missionary Training Center in Manila

Sister Leausa and Sister Schwartz

These two sister missionaries have first cousins in common.
Ben, Hannah, William, Cole and Jack Solari are Sister Schwartz's cousins too.
Such a small world.
Sister Schwartz is on her way to Ukraine.

Less than 24 hours to go.....Ahhh!

I can't believe that six weeks in the MTC have passed by already. Sister Leausa is on her way to Quezon City in the morning. I am so excited for her.

Sister Leausa and her companion will spend their first five days in the MTC in Quezon City.

Sister Leausa will be able to call us from the Salt Lake City airport tomorrow morning prior to her departure. I am so anxious to hear her voice, to wish her well, and to remind her how proud I am of her.

Stay tuned.....

Quezon City