Sunday, October 23, 2016

Hey everyone!


Ahhh man :) this last week has been such a great week! and i have to add that its such a beautiful day here in the Philippines. i dont know if you all have heard, but we have had 2 typhoons come through in the last couple weeks. neither of them did much damage, it was just suuuper gloomy and rained a ton. id say the past 2 weeks has been nothing, really, but gray, cloudy skies. BUT TODAY! the sky is super blue, the clouds are super fluffy (like in paintings), the sun is shinning and theres a perfect breeze :) such a great way to bring in this upcoming week :)

Okay, so lemme just tell you all about this past Saturday. well, it actually started Tuesday night at the mendoza families house :) so, because the temple has been closed for a little bit, of course, no one has been able to go to the temple. statistics show that recent converts who enter/or go to the temple within 60 days of their baptism are more likely to remain active in the church, in years to come. we have 18 recent converts in our area. recent convert means baptized within the past year. sister collins and i have been focusing super hard on preparing our recent converts for their "temple trip." not only will we tour temple grounds, but a lot of them are of the appropriate age to do baptisms for the dead (12 and older). so we have been helping them with their family history and stuff like that.

Tuesday night, we invited the mendoza family to start their family history "search." we set a date for Saturday morning at the chapel. there are computers, a family history consultant, everything would be provided in order for them to start their family history. so, Saturday we meet them at the chapel and everything went great! They've made profiles on familysearch.org and it was just a super cool experience for them to be able to find their family members :) sister collins and i watched with huge smiles on our faces as they added their family names to their family trees. it was such a cool experience!

After the mendoza family was done with what they could find and do, i wanted to check my own family tree. i logged in, did some research..and BOOM! found family names who haven't had their temple work done for them yet :) 8 names to be exact! yaaaasssss! hahah! i was soooo excited :) not only will we get to take our recent converts to the temple to help them do the temple work for their family, but ill get to help my own family and do names of my own :)

Not only did heavenly father help the mendoza family to find the names of their family members, but he also opened up a way for me to help my own family. its a testimony to me that he hears my prayers about my family. i have to admit, i haven't ever prayed about my family on the other side...but every night i pray that my family (not generalized) will be taken care of and provided for. Saturday morning, he definitely made sure my family on the other side was taken care of and provided for :) i am sooo excited to be able to do their temple work for them :)

I love, love, love missionary work and i loooove family history! :) i know that God and Jesus Christ live. heavenly father knows each one of his children; hear on earth and on the other side of the veil. im sooo excited for the temple to re-open! :) i love you all sooo much and hope and pray you all have an amazing week :)

Sis. Leausa

ps: sorry i have no pics, the computer cant read my memory card :/ next time na lang :)

Sunday, October 9, 2016

Magandang umaga po sa inyong LAHAT!


I LOVE GENERAL CONFERENCE! :) i sure hope you all got to watch it. if not, you missed out BIG TIME! this past general conference was such a wake up call and invitation to the WORLD! an invitation to come unto Christ and learn HIS gospel for yourselves. i really wish all our investigators had come to listen to the missionary discussion be perfectly explained. haha! of course, everything we share and teach, as missionaries, is important, but to me, the most important and "heart-catching" lessons we teach are, "the restoration of the gospel of Jesus Christ," and "the plan of salvation," or the plan of happiness. these lessons were executed PERFECTLY during conference.

One of my favorite talks this last weekend was given by elder craig c. christensen, member or the presidency of the quorum of the 70. towards the end of his talk, he stated and facts and things we enjoy today "because Joseph was a prophet." Joseph smith, the prophet of the restoration, in the spring of 1820 was visited by two heavenly messengers; god the father and Jesus Christ. heavenly father and Jesus Christ used Joseph smith as an instrument to restore the true church of Christ on the earth after its fall and preceding the crucifixion of Christ and death of his 12 apostles. after centuries of being lost, a restoration of the fullness of the gospel was necessary in order for us to, one day, return home to our heavenly father. because of one 14 year old boy's faithful prayer in seeking the truth, the gospel of Jesus Christ, in its fullness, was restored to the earth :)

A lot of times, when we teach about the restoration and Joseph smith for the first time, we get questions like, "si Joseph smith, siya ba yung founder ng simbahan ninyo? siya yung founder ng mormons?" (is Joseph smith the founder of your church?) Joseph smith IS NOT the founder of the church of Jesus Christ of latter-day saints and he is not a god that we worship :) he was simply a prophet, an instrument used in the hands of the lord to restore the fullness of the lords gospel here on the earth :) 

I am so extremely grateful for joseph smith and his faith in Jesus Christ. i am grateful that he heeded the call of god and went through as much as he did so that i could have the knowledge that i do about the restored gosel of Jesus Christ.

"Because Joseph was a prophet" i am able to read from the book of mormon (my favorite book ever!) and deepen and strengthen my testimony every day.

"Because Joseph was a prophet" i now that some day, my family will be together FOREVER :)

"Because Joseph was a prophet" i am able to share the JOY of the gospel with my brothers and sisters here in the Philippines :) and by now you should all know, nothing makes me happier :)

I am so in love with this gospel. i hope and pray, just as the invitation from our church leaders was given this past weekend, that you come and find our for yourselves just how "delicious" and "desirable" the gospel truly is. there are missionaries all around the world waiting to share the good word of god with you and your family :) and you can expect when i get home, ill be continuing my missionary service by inviting you MYSELF :) haha! so be ready ;)

I love, love, LOVE you all so much and hope you all have an amazing week! :) hugs and kisses from the pines!


Sis. Leausa

Monday, October 3, 2016

Hi everyone :)


Lowkey sadest week of my life, here in the field. thursday afternoon...i got my first of 3 "trunky letters." ahhh maaannn :( i was lowkey depressed the whole day. haha! "trunky letters" are the letters you get close to the time youll be going home. crazy to think about, but ive only got 3 transfers left. after this transfer, ill be starting my LAST 12 weeks..what is this!?

I'm SO not ready to go home. the trunky letter i got on thursday just asked me about how im gonna get home and stuff and who's picking me up..all that boring stuff. so crazy, right? by far the fastest 15 months of my life. what else happened this week? transfer day is tomorrow and neither me or sister collins will be transferring :) whoohoo! 

I continue to be amazed with the Love heavenly father has for the people in our area. there isnt a day that goes by that sister collins and i dont see the hand of the Lord in our work. i can truly testify that heavenly father hears AND answers prayers. in these last 6 weeks, he has heard and answered sooo many of mine. there arent enough words to express how grateful i am to heavenly father for all that he has blessed our area with. ive really come to realize that i am nothing but an instrument in his hands. its beautiful to watch the Lord's work unfold before me. my favorite part is when we, as missionaries, only have to testify to the things our investigators learn and feel from the spirit. i love when the spirit "skips" us and heads straight to our investigators. 

I testify that missionary work is the work of god. he is gathering his children and preparing them for the second coming of the Lord. i testify that the holy ghost is real. he is our friend and comforter. through him, we will know the truth of ALL things. i love this work with everything in me and sometime, wish that i didnt have to go home soon. haha! i love my heavenly father and jesus christ and testify that they live :)

I love you all and i hope you all have an AMAZING week! :) hugs and kisses from the pines!


Sis. Leausa

"Trike pic: told ya miracles are real! haha! i dont know how we made it to the house without popping the tires, but we did :D"

Sunday, September 25, 2016

Mendoza Family

This last week has been a week full of miracles! there is so much i want to say, but its all just racing through my mind..i cant come to one main idea. haha! basta! i am so extremely grateful to be a missionary. especially right now in Antiopolo. this area is amazing and the people are even MORE amazing! there are so many things I've already learned here.

One of my favorite lessons so far has been learning what "LOVE" truly is :) the family in the pic is the MENDOZA family :) i loooove them soooo much and am so grateful to have met them here. they are such a blessing to my life :)

The gospel of Jesus Christ was made for families. because of Jesus Christs atonement, families can be together FOREVER! the Mendoza family isn't quite yet "complete" (all members in the family being baptized) but they are definitely making their way there :) they know and understand that because of the plan of salvation, they, one day, will be an eternal family :)

I hope you all know how special your families are to our heavenly father. his main goal is for us ALL to return to him AS FAMILIES :) im so grateful for my family and the opportunity we have to be ETERNAL :) I'm grateful for my savior and his atoning sacrifice for me and my loved ones.

Spend some extra time with your families this week :)

I love you allll SOOOO much! :) hugs and kisses from the pines!

Sister Leausa

Exchanges with Sisters Balucos and Sister DeLa Cruz

Exchanges with Sisters Balucos and DeLa Cruz

"Bountiful District - I looove these missionaries! One of the vest districts I've been in," 

"One thing I LOVE about Sister Collins is how "samoan" her hair is. hahaha!!"

Wednesday, September 21, 2016

Hey everyone! :)

Best miracle of my whole mission happened this past week! first order of business, i have a new companion :)  SISTER COLLINS! from the beautiful island of...SAMOA! whoowhoo!!! my prayers of having a poly companion have finally been answered. haha!

This last week, our first week together, has been nothing but hard work, tons of laughs, lots of eating, and night time conversations about Samoa. quick side note, last night sister collins said our night time comp prayer in Samoan and i started crying. hahah! im so lame, i know. but it made me miss home sooo much! it made me miss my daddy :) haha! along side tagalog, im sharpening my samoan ;) the gift of tongues is REAL! :)

Okay so back to my miracle for the week. during comp study in the mornings, sister collins and i have been reading from this book called, member missionary work and finding the elect of God. we decided to focus on tracting because we're in need of new investigators. we decided to tract in our neighborhood. we were nervous at first, me especially. walking up to someone on the street and actually knocking on someones door are two totally DIFFERENT things. i was quite hesitant at first. buuut, i eventually got over it :) we tracked about 20 houses...id say about 5 of them slammed their doors, 10 of them said, "we dont have time for your sharing," and the other 5 kindly let us down. haha! might i add, this whole time, collins and i were thinking, we arent getting anywhere with this..no one wants to listen..why are we even doing this..okay, so we were on our way home and we walked passed this house. collins took a second look and walked up to the door. we introduced ourselves aaanndd...SHE LET US IN! like, with no hesitation!

This sister is a mother of SIX and she and her husband are happily married :) which means we scored with a family of 8! ahhhh!!! it was so great! before we met sister, like, my first couple of houses, i kept saying to myself, "i dont like tracting, but i love my heavenly father." i kept repeating that to myself. meeting and sharing the gospel with sister bernardo (thats the sisters name) Friday night was heavenly fathers way of saying, "i love you too, kathleen." :)

God lives! and he loves us all soooo much! here on my mission, ive come to realize just how much my heavenly father loves me, as an individual. my relationship with him is something ive come to treasure sooo much and its a relationship i plan to continue to strengthen and build. when we truly understand how important we are to him, and understand that he has a perfect plan for each one of our lives, life in full, becomes so much more beautiful and meaningful :)

I hope and pray that this week, you all come to know of how much you truly are loved and just how special you are to our heavenly father :) i love and miss you all!


Sister Leausa

Sunday, September 11, 2016

I have a story for you all :)

Once upon a time there was a little boy. each day, this little boy traveled to the beach to "save the starfish" who had washed up on shore. one day, one by one, the little boy picked up a starfish and threw it back in the ocean. He knew that if the starfish stayed on the shore, they would dry up and die. one day while "saving the starfish," an old lady walked by and asked, "little boy, what are you doing?" the little boy replied, I am saving the starfish. The lady then responded, "there are so many! you'll never be able to save all of them; what difference does it make?" the little boy leaned down to pick up another starfish, threw it in the sea, turned back to the woman and said, "it made a difference to that one."

There's so many things i could say about this story..but I'm just gonna let the spirit talk to you :) just remember..you never know the impact/affect you have/can have on someone's life. go out and "save the starfish!"

I love and miss you all soooo much! :)

Sis. Leausa

Pics: exchanges this week :) sisters balladares and vaitaki! sooo much fun working with these sisters. especially sister vaitaki!

Sunday, September 4, 2016

MEEERRRYYY CHRISTMAS!! :)


We have officially started celebrating the Christmas season here in the pines and i looove it! :) people and all the stores have started selling Christmas stuff, people have Christmas lights hanging everywhere...i havent heard any Christmas music yet, but im sure its not too far behind :) 

This past week was a lot of fun. i had my first two exchanges :) as STL we have "routes," which is just the companionship of sisters that were assigned to do exchanges with for the transfer. well, the marikina 1B sisters just so happen to consist of SISTER SWANSON :) whoohoo! it was sooo good getting to see her! i didn't get to work with her, but thats okay! just being with/around her made me happy :) i like exchanges, they're fun! i learn SO much from the sisters and i love it! Wednesday, i got to work with sister toromon, my apo (grandchild, sister mendez anak [trainee]. i felt sooo old in the mision! haha!) shes from kitibus! (cool right?!) she helped me understand what it means to have a "pure testimony." while being here on her mission, she isn't only learning tagalog, but english as well. (i cant even begin to imagine that battle.) on Thursday, i worked with sister romrell; sister swansons current companion. cute girl! shes from good ol' idaho :) she helped me understand how important that i "finish strong." 

During personal study this week, i was reading a talk from one of the liahona magazines and there was a reference to a scripture found in 1 Peter 2:9. the scripture talks about out generation being a "chosen generation," a "peculiar people." Former president of the church, president hinckley always referred to our generation as " a royal generation." growing up, throughout my youth days, i guess i never really understood what all that meant. i think i just thought it was cool to say that i was "royal." hahah! (as if.) but now, i think i might just get it! have you ever wondered why you were born when you were? why you were saved for the "last days.." sister revillo, our former mission presidents wife always used to ask us, missionaries, those questions.

 Here is what i think :) we were some of heavenly fathers most valiant spirits in the pre-mortal life. we had "pure testimonies" of our heavenly fathers perfect plan for all of us. we were maybe some of the first to promise him that we would come to earth and "finish strong." i think heavenly father saved us for this generation because this is when he knew his vineyard would produce the most fruit; the harvest would be the most bountiful :) i don't know, just some thoughts :) its cool to me to think heavenly father saved me and you for a time like this. not everyone will be able to say they have been able to witness the gathering of Israel at full speed :) 

Ah. I'm just so grateful to be a missionary and even tho sometimes its hard, i LOVE absolutely every minute of it! nothing in the world brings me more joy than sharing his good word :) each and every day we get closer and closer to the second coming of the lord and i CANNOT wait! i testify that god the father and Jesus Christ LIVE! i witness their hands in our work each and every day :) i love this gospel sooo sooo much and am so grateful the lord allows me to be an instrument in his great work.

I will leave you this week with two quotes i fell in love with this week :) i love you all so soooo much and cant thank you, all, enough for all your love and support!

"No one cares how much you know until they know how much you care."

"The greatest decision i ever made was to give up something i dearly loved to the God i loved even more."

I hope you all have an amazing week! hugs and kisses from the pines :)

Sister Leausa