#1's Weekly Emails: Week #70

Mu-mus, bitter melon, Toron, mac'n cheese, chicken burgers, and Ilokano

Monday: We had FHE at the R's house. The missionaries in this area sometimes have 2 or 3 FHEs a week. It's super fun. The dinner afterwards was really good too. They had some kind of squid soup as an option... I refused to eat it and so they made me eat steamed bitter melon instead. That is a vegetable that they have here that is NASTY. It's called bitter melon for a reason. Brother R, our BML, made me eat it and I wasn't allowed to show on my face that it was gross. Totally accepted his challenge and succeeded. Boom! Sister D got it on video. That was fun :)

Tuesday: We had a district meeting and that was fun. The STLs did the workshop (I'm glad I don't have to do that anymore). Afterwards, we went all the way to Castellejos and ate at a yummy restaurant. We got back and met up with R, our investigator. We decided that we were all gonna fast together so that he could get Sunday's off. So we opened up our fast and then went out to work. That was a good day for work. We found 4 new investigators and got to adventure a little bit around our area. 

Wednesday: Wednesday morning was a low-bat morning. Because we had been fasting, I had no energy at all. We walked around and talked to everyone we could see. Then we finally went to the market and bought groceries for the week. We went home and told R to drop by the house at 12 so we could close our fast. He never came by. I was stuck cooking lunch while fasting. That is not a fun thing to do. But I made Bicol Express for the first time ever which is my favoritest thing ever in Filipino food. (Yes, family, I will cook it for you when I get home :)) So we broke the fast with just me and Sister M and then proceeded to stuff our faces with spicy goodness. We then went out to work and it was a good day. We taught the F family about the Gospel of Jesus Christ and invited them to be baptized. They accepted. So we'll see what happens with that. 

Thursday: Weekly planning. Sister S and Sister D sat in on it because we were gonna do exchanges. That was interesting. I've never had an STL sit in on our weekly planning before. But afterwards we ate lunch and then went out to work. Sister S was my companion. It was fun except that we were super punted. As in, there were no people in our area. It was super weird. We still got 3 appointments in but it was really sad. 

Friday: Went out in the morning and got 3 appointments. That's more like it. Came home and ate lunch and then went back out. I missed having Sister M as my companion. She's awesome at finding. So yeah. I'm grateful that Sister M is my comp. We had MCM and that was interesting because we just sat there with our BML and he told us all the problems in our branch. And there are tons... He said that no missionary truly experiences missionary work until they're assigned in San Marcelino branch. And yeah, I guess he's right. After that we went and taught the F family about the Word of Wisdom and they weren't very happy to hear about the stuff that they shouldn't put into their bodies. 

Saturday: Went finding in the morning. Found the Y family. They seem nice. And then we went and had an adventure in the market again on market day. That was super fun. We got mu-mus and just got to go exploring. Then we went home and ate lunch and then went back out to work. We visited the D L family who live out in the middle of nowhere and then went to the church for our fireside. It was a good one. We all presented about the Family pamphlet about family history and about the Temple pamphlet. Hopefully the members start getting more involved in things here. 

Sunday: We had 4 investigators come to church :))) And then went out to work. Got 3 new investigators. Had a Rescue Caravan where all the members go on splits with the missionaries and visit the less-active. Sister C F was my companion. She just got back from her mission the week that I got here. She's awesome. And we had a lot of fun. After that, Sister M and I went to visit V, a recent convert and I told him the story of the Nephites and the Lamanites and the Jaredites using pens as the groups of people and then explained a lot of US history. It was a lot of fun.

So that was my week. It was a good one. And a lot of fun. The Church is true. The Gospel is true. Missionary work is the best. I love the Filipino people. The end.

Have a great week!

Mahal ko kayo!

-Sister Hess

#1's Weekly Email: Week #66

Transfers again?! What's gonna happen....? Any guesses? :)

Hello everyone! How are you? How's life? Everything's good over here. Just getting ready for transfers. 

So this past week was same old same old. Missionary work parin. Masaya parin :)

Monday: went up the mountain and shared with the L kids. 

Tuesday: We went and taught the C family and then went finding. We got to explore some mountains. That was fun. The only problem is that not one person on those mountains is married.... Dangit. That really puts a damper on us wanting you to get baptized. But they were very receptive. We'll see what happens there. 

Wednesday: We got to go teach F who is 23 years old and we thought he was a part member investigator. Um... nope. Turns out he was baptized when he was 8.... We get to help him get his testimony back. Went and visited Nanay A again. She's doing ok. Still has a headache from all the drama that's still happening on the mountain. ey ey ey… 

The rest of the day we just taught people. Fun times. I love the people in my area. They're so nice.

Thursday: Weekly planning. And then work. Found out that J C, the 20 year old little brother of Ju C, went back to Bataan... Darn. But he took his Book of Mormon with him and told his nieces that he was in 2nd Nephi. Cool :) Referred him to the elders in Mariveles. 

Friday: Went out and taught a bunch of lessons. Climbed some mountains. stomped through some puddles. The usual :)

Saturday: We had an awesome fireside with the members, teaching them how to prepare for teaching. I hope they apply the things they've learned. And then we had the baptism right afterwards. S and L were baptized and they were so happy. Right after the baptism, L turned to us and asked, "Am I a member yet?" They're both 9 years old and so awesome. I'm so happy for them :)

Sunday: I got to play piano, like I do every sunday. And S and L got confirmed. Sister Co gave a really great talk about members fellowshipping new members. I hope the members apply that too. Then we went out and visited the people that didn't make it to church. The C family had gotten sick to they couldn't make it but they're doing great besides that. We also went and found C V and her mom who are less actives. C was so happy that we had found them and she told us to come back right away. So we said we would and went on our merry little way. I love when we go to someone's house and they say at the end, we'll be waiting for you to come back. Makes me feel so loved. 

Yup, so that was this week. Life is good. The mission is good. I'm excited to see what happens this week with transfers. I love you all. The church is true. 

Have a great week! Take care!

-Sister Hess

#1's Weekly Email: Week #65

I'm still playing catch up. This was #1's email back on Sept. 14th. As much as possible, I'm trying to get two of her emails posted a day.



"Know who you are and act accordingly"

This week has been really awesome. I've learned so much and realized a lot of things about myself and my role here in the mission and in this life. Hopefully, when you read this email you'll realize somethings too :) So I'm gonna give a short play-by-play of what happened this week and then I'll tell you what I've learned :)

monday: p-day. nothing huge happened. Just hung out at home and got ready for the rest of the week. And then we went out and had an FHE with S and L and M. It was super fun and I taught them the cup game :) 

Tuesday: We got a lot done because the rest of the week was going to be super busy... So in the morning we went out and taught Tatay M and Nanay A. We found out that Nanay A had another faith testing experience. On Monday, when we didn't go up to their house, members from her old church came up the mountain and tried to convince her to come back to their old church. P A was there too but when he saw them coming, he knew what they were going to do and he didn't want to be a part of it so he went down the mountain and didn't come back up until they left (YES! That's my recent convert :)) And then the members of her old church stayed at their house from 10 am until 8 pm. They said they were waiting for us to show up so that they could let us know that Nanay A was not going to be coming back to the "Mormon" church. HA! You guys are funny. They also gave Nanay A a newspaper thingy for us to read to convince us that Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ are one person. Um good luck with that. That idea doesn't even make sense... So it turned out to be a good thing that we didn't go up that mountain on Monday. And Nay told us that she told them straight up that she wasn't going back to their church and that she just wanted them to respect her and to be friends. Apparently they didn't like that. And she told us that when they left she was so tired. Like she'd fought a war all by herself that day. But the good thing was, she was the winner :) She's so awesome.

In the afternoon, we climbed the mountain in Matain and shared with the C family. We got to teach J, the 20 year old little brother of J M C. He's awesome. He's so quiet but really smart. And we gave him a Book of Mormon and he said he was going to read it. 

Wednesday: On Wednesday, we went to Liozon for a leadership meeting with Elder Shayne M. Bowen. He's a general authority in case you didn't know and he's awesome. He taught us a lot about being leaders and I learned a lot. And then we all went home. Sister S and Sister D got to sleep over at our house and it was a lot of fun too. That's about all that happened.

Thursday: This was the day where all the cool learning of things happened. We went to Olongapo and got to be there for a zone conference with Elder Bowen again. He and Sister Bowen taught us and it was super inspirational and spiritual. And that is the stuff that I'll tell you once I'm done with all this weekly stuff. After the meeting, we went straight out and worked. We went back to the C family and shared with them about the Plan of Salvation. That was super cool and I realized that that is one of my favorite lessons to teach. Probably because their minds are blown every single time :) And then we went and taught S and L again and the P family.

Friday: We went out finding. We got to explore Matain, purok 5. We had never been down there before and we got to teach 4 new investigators, two families :) After that we went back and taught the C family again. We wanted to teach J but he had left. But they told us that he reads the Book of Mormon every night, even if his cell phone is low battery and he has to read by candlelight. That's what I'm talking about :) 

Saturday: We got to participate in a one day mission with the branch. Me and Sister E split up and had members work with us. I got to realize how much I love having a companion. I had to teach two lessons to less actives all by myself... that wasn't fun. But it was nice to see the members get involved. After that we went to the office and found out that we had packages coming from America! WOOHOO! There was a can of hot cocoa and a package for me full of mac n cheese and red vines :) And then a package for the other sisters that they absolutely loved. Yay for my mom! We then went out to work and got a lot done. Sister Q, a member, worked with us and we got the teach Brother L again. He's awesome and gonna make a great member someday. 

And then we went to a baptism. It was another good one and afterwards went home really quick to eat a box of mac n cheese :) (feeling American again) and went out to the P family. 

Sunday: We had 8, count em, 8 investigators come to church :) The C family invited their whole family on the mountain to go to church and they all came :D Booyah! Recent Converts are the greatest! And then we went out and worked, even though it seemed like a typhoon had come in. It was raining really hard and really really windy. We were soaked in seconds. And we were using umbrellas.... But we climbed the mountain anyways and taught the C family. J now has a baptismal goal date :D We were going to go visit the L's at the top of the mountain but we got the stairs and I all of the sudden felt like we should go home. The wind was super duper strong and so we said a prayer on the stairs that lead to their house and asked if we should climb the mountain or go home. As soon as we said "amen" we felt three gusts of super strong wind, stronger than before, and so we decided that that was the answer and went home. As soon as we got home, we got a text from the zone leaders that there was a typhoon and we were supposed to work near our apartments. Cool :) Heavenly Father protects his missionaries. 

So that was my week. Are you ready for the things that I learned?

So we learned a lot about the priesthood and how it is literally Heavenly Father's power. We are so blessed to have it here and the men that have it NEED to be worthy to use it all the time. 

We also learned about who we are. We are literally children of God. We have a promise given to us by Heavenly Father that if we only obey him then we will be blessed. We are always in His debt but it's ok because he wants to give us everything. He want to bless us. And if we knew who we really are then obedience would not be a problem. Temptations would not be a problem. If we could look beyond the veil and see who we really are then every time satan tried to mess with us we would just say to him, " Um excuse me... Do you know who I am? Do you really think some little thing like that is going to stop me from doing my best to get my blessings?" We would be unstoppable. When we are obedient, exactly obedient, we become powerful. And Heavenly Father smiles down on us and says, "Sure, I'll give you everything you want and need because I love you and you are doing your best to be obedient." I know this is true. We tested it this week and that is why we had  investigators at church and J accepted a baptismal goal date. And that is why I am very very happy today. I love my Heavenly Father and He loves all of us. 

Thank you for all your prayers and support. Sorry, this email is really long but I hope it helps you :)

Mahal ko kayong lahat. Ingat kayo!

-Sister Hess :))))

#1's Weekly Email: Week #54

Here comes the rain again, falling on my head like a memory....

And this week.... If I could describe my week in one word... that word would be.... insanity! It was soooooooo crazy! So many things happened. 

Monday: P-Day! woohoo! But for some reason I was annoyed for the whole day. just not in a good mood. Until we got to teach two lessons and then headed to the mission home for a FHE with all the missionaries of the August batch that are going home. I love all those guys and they're all going home. It's so sad. I'm gonna miss them. 

Tuesday: We had a district meeting and we were the workshop! (Didn't find that out until that morning...)Our workshop was about finding and it was super fun. But afterwards, Sister E got sick so we ended up staying home. I got time to finish 3rd Nephi and write in my journal and take a nap and clean the house. woohoo!

Wednesday: The typhoon hit. But before it did, me and Sister C ran to the market again (Sister L and Sister E were both not feeling well) and then we got home and the Elders texted and said that we had to stay home until they said we could go out. That was a very eventful day. The wind was soooooooo strong. And so we said a prayer and then Sister C immediately started freaking out. She and Sister L started packing. I sat and watched and laughed at them :) Around 4 pm they texted and said we could go back out and work but Sister E still wasn't feeling well and so we stayed home. 

Thursday: Just a normal day but we heard that there was another typhoon coming so we were very cautious. We went out and worked and saw that everyone was ok in our area. It just rained a whole bunch. Thank goodness for boots and umbrellas :)

Friday: Just another day. There was a bit of drama as we learned that we were going to have to pick up all of the kids that were going to be baptized on Saturday because the family didn't have money to come. But that all worked out too.

Saturday: There was a baptism! P.A., Jer, G, Je, and Ju were all baptized. YAY! It was so happy :) Happiest baptism I've had so far

Sunday: And then they were all confirmed! YAY! And Sunday was an interesting one because we went to teach the kids after church and found out the Nanay A was super sick. She had a really high fever and her stomach hurt and her head hurt so badly that she was hitting it with her fist and she kept trying to cough stuff up but nothing was coming up. It was not good. So we went and bought her medicine and called the elders. The came right away and gave her a Priestood blessing. And immediately, her fever went down and she said that her headache was gone. Thank goodness for the Priesthood and for Elders who are worthy to hold it. Also P.A. was so happy when we taught him yesterday and the 4 kids were too. YAY for the gospel!

So this week... 1-missionaries 0-Satan. Booyah!

This was a very eventful week to say the least. The church is true. God loves all of his children. The Gospel blesses lives and changes people.

I love you all. Take care!

-Sister Hess

#1's Weekly Email: Week #31

Well that was unexpected...

This week has been a good one but there were some unexpected things that happened.  Monday we were still companions with Sister P because there weren't any transfers yet. We went and taught one of our investigators that is house-sitting for a family that is in California right now. That house is HUGE! The funny thing is that it would be normal sized if I was home right now. Wow, I am not excited for the culture shock when I get home.That was an interesting lesson because Brother C, the investigator that is 60 years old, has a whoooooole bunch of questions that could be easily answered if he would just use his brain. My favorite question that he asked was, "Which is more powerful these days, money or God?" What?! How is that even a question? Whatever. Anyways, his problem is that he's not willing to read the Book of Mormon and pray and search for the answers himself. He'd rather rely on us, the missionaries. So sad.  After Brother C, we went and taught Brother E who is another old man and investigator but he's a lot more fun to teach. He actually asks questions that proves he's interested and wants to learn. And he always prays and reads his scriptures and is trying to stop his cigarette addiction. His main problem is that he never has time to go to church... But hopefully that will change soon Tuesday was a good one too. We were still a threesome which I liked a whole lot. It was so fun. Sister J (our recent convert who is so completely golden it's not even funny) is back from the hospital. Her older sister had an accident and J was watching over her for the last little bit. Her older sister is now out of the hospital but she still doesn't know how to speak and she's lost most of her memories too. Please pray for her.  And then we taught Brother R and that was a good one. Normal-lang. He's still awesome and humble and yup. Nothing new. We taught some more lessons and they were all good too (sorry, running out of time, gotta focus on the important things). Later that night we finally got the text of what was happening for transfers. We all thought that Sister C was going to be transferred because she's been here for so long. But nope. We're still here and so is Sister P. The change is that Sister Je was coming here. My best friend from Masinloc! I might have started squealing and dancing around our Branch President's house haha Wedneday was weird because we were the only ones that didn't get to go to Olongapo and pick up the new missionaries coming to our areas. But we went out and worked anyways. Everyone got here safely and then we found out that Sister C and I are the only ones that get to live in our apartment. Sister P is now in a threesome with Sister L and Sister Je which is super funny because the two white girls are fairly tall and Sister P is tiny. And then came the not so fun part. Every night before we go to bed we go over to the other sisters' apartment and we talk and chat and all that good stuff. The problem is that someone always brings up ghosts. What the heck. Don't talk about ghosts right before I'm about to go back to our dark, empty apartment where only two of us live there.... that is not nice at all. And it happens every night! Whatever.  Thursday was good too. Nothing big happened. Just taught the lovely people over in San Pedro again.  Friday was good. Sorry. Not many details because not much happened again.   Saturday was interesting though. We went and taught Brother R and he told us that he finally found work. But! It's in Manila and that means that he has to move there. And to top it all off, he might not be here for his baptism on the 25th. Not sure about Sister C but when he told us that, I started praying like no other... There had to be a way for him to be baptized before he left for good. After our lesson for him we all went to the church for the Area Broadcast where the area presidency presented our area goals. It was a good broadcast. Sunday: Went to church, Brother R got interviewed for the second time and he passed (woohoo!) and then the branch president pulled us all into his office. He had heard that Brother R was leaving and he said that if he wanted to, Brother R could be baptized that very day right after church. And so that's what happened. He was baptized and we were all super happy! And his testimony afterwards was great. He has so much conviction and someday, he's gonna be a great leader in the church. I'm so grateful that I got to be a part of his conversion and I'm a part of this great work.  I know that God knows what needs to happen for all of his children in order for them to receive the gospel in their lives.  Thank you so much for all your prayers and support. I love you all. Mahal ko kayo Until next week, -Sister Hess

#1's Weekly Email: Week #29

This week has been a lot of fun. Happy 2014 to all of you! Guess what?! I'm coming home this year! :D but in December.... Got a while but I'm sure it'll just fly by. 

This week I've learned a lot as usual and changed a lot too but that's what's supposed to happen on your mission diba? 

On Monday, we had a family home evening. Let's just say that it was super super fun. We gave a lesson on the atonement and then played a whole bunch of games. We played Booga-booga which is a secret game that you have to go through an initiation before you can play. Hess Family, don't worry. Sister Lowe and I have plans to make you all members :) That was super entertaining. 

Tuesday, we had a district meeting and only worked until 6 because we had a curfew. We went to San Pedro Palcarangan and taught Brother R. We taught about becoming truly converted. I shared the verse with him from Alma about faith being like a seed and taking care of it and making it grow. It was a good lesson and we all learned a lot from it. That's my favorite part of teaching. No matter how many times I've taught a lesson before I always come away from it with new knowledge and a stronger testimony about the subject. It's pretty excellent. We also taught Sister J which is always interesting because even though she's a recent convert she's so awesome that it seems like she's been a member for a really really long time. The reteaching is almost pointless for her haha. After those two appointments, it was time to go home. So we hurried home and changed super quick. Then we went over to the other sisters' apartment and started the party. We played a whole bunch of games (including Booga-booga) and painted our faces Polynesian style with lipstick. Pretty awesome. We played a game with flour that eventually turned into a flour war and we were all WHITE. Needless to say, it was a super fun new years eve and a great way to start off 2014. 

On Wednesday, we didn't have any appointments. Everyone was busy. So we went from members house to members house. It was another very good very fun day. Not much to share about Wednesday.

Thursday, we went back to work. We were in San Pedro again. And we got to teach at almost every single appointment that we had planned. That rarely ever happens. We taught Sister J again and Sister C (who is an investigator that doesn't know how to read even though she's in her 30's and has 2 kids, interesting) and Brother R and the M family (less-actives for a really long time) and the Re family too (less-actives as well). Pretty fun :) I love missionary work. 

Fridays are always interesting here in Lubao. We go out and work because we have faith :) And so we went to San Roque first and taught Brother Ro. He told us that he's going to go work in Manila so we won't be able to teach him again for a while. So sad. And then we went from appointment to appointment and no one was home. We went to go teach one less-active and met his son, Ru who is 18 years old and isn't a member yet. The last missionaries actually taught him but he hadn't been taught for a while because he was always busy. So we taught him the first lesson again. He's great and super smart. The only problem is that he never has any time. We'll see what happens with him. 

Saturday was interesting because all of our appointments were either not at home or sick. So we went and taught the less-actives. 

Sunday was great. Because of all of our hard work with the less-actives, we had 13 less-actives come to church. YEEEE!

Overcome and Become

Notes taken from the talk "Clean Hands and a Pure Heart"

by David A. Bednar of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles 

The gospel of Jesus Christ allows us to:

• avoid
• overcome
• be cleansed from sin and bad influences
• do good
• be good
• become better

This is done through:

• repentance of our sins 
• seeking forgiveness 

Necessary for our spiritual advancement, remission of sin is vital enough to make a daily priority.

The ultimate purpose of the gospel:

To have our hearts changed by the Holy Spirit to the point that "we have no more disposition to do evil, but to do good continually" (Mosiah 5:2).

This is what we covenant to do. It's not that the covenant (and thus commitment) is made, and voila! I'm perfect. It's merely a commitment by normal, everyday people to try harder everyday and seeking the help of deity in doing so.

Mighty change:

Not brought about through an individual's hard work and/or personal discipline. 

Results from fundamental changes in:

• desires
• motives
• nature 

Only brought about through the Atonement of Christ. 

This is the UPWARD spiral!

The battle of this earth life:

  to overcome sin AND the desire to sin.

To rise above. To upward spiral. To reverse gravity in our spirits. To fly. To soar.

There are two requirements:

(1) avoid and overcome bad 

(2) do good and become better 

"Who shall ascend into the hill of the Lord? or who shall stand in his holy place?

"He that hath clean hands, and a pure heart; who hath not lifted up his soul unto vanity, nor sworn deceitfully" (Psalm 24:3-4).

Interesting that here, the words "ascend" and "lifted up" are used. 

How does one do this? Here are some of the keys:

• Have clean hands.

   Do good. Seek to bless the lives of others.

• Have a pure heart.

   Pure motives. 

Is it possible to have clean hands but not have a pure heart?

Yes. 

How are hands made clean? 

• By seeking to be unselfish and generous toward others.
• By overcoming sin and evil influences through the Atonement. 

How are hearts purified?

• By receiving Christ's strengthening power to do good.
• By seeking to become better

No matter what we think or feel in our hearts; no matter what our motives are. No matter how good our works are, they can NEVER alone give us the clean hands and pure heart needed to upward spiral.

 There is a missing ingredient: The cleansing and redeeming power  of the Atonement of Jesus Christ! 

This is the ONLY way to overcome sin. 

The Atonement has a sanctifying and strengthening power.

This power helps us become better than we ever could by relying only upon our own strength. 

No one should overlook this power. 

"The infinite Atonement is for both the sinner and for the saint in each of us:"

For the sinner: repentance; cleansing.

For the saint: improvement

How exactly does one do these things? I want a step-by-step, nitty gritty plan for this. I want to know what exactly to teach my children. This is ultimately important. 

Here is the simple answer: 

From the Book of Mormon. King Benjamin taught about the mission of Jesus Christ--His Atonement. What he taught caused the hearers to fall to the earth because "...they had viewed themselves in their own carnal state, even less than the dust of the earth. And they all cried aloud with one voice, saying: O have mercy, and apply the atoning blood of Christ that we may receive forgiveness of our sins, and our hearts may be purified; for we believe in Jesus Christ, the Son of God, who created heaven and earth, and all things; who shall come down among the children of men" (Mosiah 4:2; emphasis added).

image: lds.org

Is it really that easy? As easy as looking at a brass serpent on a pole? As simple as asking for it? Like asking your mom for a cookie?

Let's look at that again…

"...O have mercy, and apply the atoning blood of Christ that we may receive forgiveness of our sins, and our hearts may be purified…."

Is it really that easy? Easy? Yes, but as simple as asking for a cookie? Probably not. Desire and belief must be part of the equation--desire to have sins removed; to be clean and belief in the Savior Jesus Christ and his ability to forgive and cleanse through His Atonement.

Christ's Atonement offers us a twofold blessing:

•  forgiveness of sin = clean hands
•  transformation of our nature = pure hearts


Whenever human nature is mentioned, it takes my mind to Mosiah 3:19 -


"For the natural man is an enemy to God, and has been from the fall of Adam, and will be, forever and ever, unless he yields to the enticings of the Holy Spirit, and putteth off the natural man and becometh a saint through the atonement of Christ the Lord, and becometh as a child, submissive, meek, humble, patient, full of love, willing to submit to all things which the Lord seeth fit to inflict upon him, even as a child doth submit to his father."

Here is my commitment with the covenant I've made:

• "Yield to the enticings of the Holy Spirit"
• Put off the "natural man."


Without the power of Christ's Atonement, I remain an "enemy to God," and I have no hope of fulfilling my part of the covenant. 


King Benjamin, in the Book of Mormon, reiterated the importance of these two basic aspects of spiritual development:

"And now, for the sake of these things which I have spoken unto you-that is, for the sake of retaining a remission of your sins from day to day, that ye may walk guiltless before God - I would that ye should impart of your substance to the poor" (Mosiah 4:26).

What specifically should we seek?

• remission of sins from day to day
• to walk guiltless before God


When I go to be judged of Jesus Christ, I must have more than just clean hands. He is as "a lamb without blemish and without spot" (1 Peter 1:19). He freely spilled His blood for me, but it was wasted if I don't use it by desiring, believing, and asking for the power of this sacrifice to be applied to me.




Is this really attainable in my life? 

No one will be perfect in this life.

How to strive for perfection in this life:

• press forward with faith in Christ 
• find and follow the strait and narrow path 
• make steady progress toward our eternal destiny


How is it done?

•  "line upon line, precept upon precept, here a little and there a little" (2 Nephi 28:30).
• Small, steady, incremental spiritual improvements.
• Prepare to walk guiltless before God 


Not from sporadic spurts of intense spiritual activity—consistent behaviors.

This is what's so hard for me. Being consistent in anything is difficult. Fits and spurts are much more my style, but maybe the Atonement can help me with this too--self-control, persistence, consistency of behavior.

The only way to upward spiral.

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#1's Weekly Email: Week #27

We got to talk to our missionary tonight. It was wonderful! She's SO VERY happy. Life is good.

Enjoy, and Merry Christmas!

He is the reason for the Season... MALIGAYANG PASKO!!!! :D

Merry Christmas everyone! 

How's it all going? Everything's good over here. Still no snow.... Still feels like summer. But that's ok! :) Because while all the rest of you are pasty white... I'm *sort of* getting tan bahaha 

This past week has been very interesting. We actually didn't work as much as usual. 

Wednesday was our Christmas Party. We were supposed to have it today on the 23rd but because of some drama it turned into an "Emergency Christmas Party" and it happened on Wednesday. IT WAS SO FUN. There were 6 zones of missionaries that gathered together in Olongapo. We had short little zone meetings and then had a little devotional (which was really good too). We heard talks from all three senior couples and then talks from President Q and Sister Q. It was all very Christmas-y. Then we all went to the fast food place of our choice. My zone went to McDonald's. It's been sooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo long since I've had American fast food. I got a Big Mac and man, I almost died and went to heaven. It was like being home. Then we all went to the Oval which is basically a stadium here. It has a track and everything. I stepped out on that track and almost started sprinting right away. I actually missed track. Weird. Weird. Weird. 

We changed into normal clothes (man, that was nice) and then had five minutes to prepare a presentation (Christmas was the theme). Oh and the presentation had to be 5-10 minutes long. 

Our presentation was horrible and funny. I guess you could either call it funnily horrible or horribly funny. Not sure. Anyways, we call sang "Santa Claus is Coming to Town and one of the elders put a backpack under his shirt and walked around like he was Santa. The other elders were riding on the backs of others pretending that they were reindeer. About halfway through the song, the elder pretending to be Santa shouted "STOP" pulled the backpack out from under his shirt and yelled, "That is not what Christmas is about!" So yeah, pretty sure that our presentation was only 3 minutes long but it was pretty funny so that's ok. 

After all the presentations, we got to play for a while. My whole district from the MTC was there (all the sisters at least) and we all got to chat and hang out and it was like old times again. After that, they passed out presents. My mommy loves me sooooooooooo much. 

President Q gave us permission to go to Harbor Point (a big American style mall in Olongapo) and eat dinner. Man, that was weird too. It even smelled like an American mall. We went to Army Navy, which guess what, sells American food. I got a chicken burrito but let me tell you, Chipotle is better…. 

We got on the Victory bus and headed home. By the time we got home it was late and we ended up just staying home. 

The next day we went out and worked but we only got to one teaching appointment before Sister Q called us and said that they were coming to our apartment for our interviews. So we headed back home and got interviewed and it was super fun and super nice. I love my mission president and his wife. They're such sweet people. 

After that we headed back out but we only had time for one more appointment. So we went to President J's house (the branch president here) and taught Brother R again. He told us that he knows that the Book of Mormon is true now. That was my favorite experience that I've had so far on my mission. He know's that it's true! :D YAY! And also, he's getting baptized on Saturday :) Happy happy day.

The next day we went out to work but we only were out until 4:30 because Sister C was sick. She said her body was just really really weak and she couldn't walk anymore. So we went home and stayed home. 

The next morning, she was still recovering so we stayed in in the morning and I got to read a bunch of conference talks while she slept. 

After lunch we went out to work and it was a lot better. We went around and taught a bunch of peoples. The usual. 

Sunday was good too. Sister C and I got called to give talks with five minutes of preparation. Probably the shortest talk I've even given but that was okay because we were running short on time anyways. My topic was Jesus Christ and his life on this earth because that is the real reason for Christmas. Not the presents or the food. But Christ and his sacrifice for us. I'm so grateful for him and everything he's done for all of us. 

So yeah, I think that's everything. We'll see what happens this week. I'm so excited. MERRY CHRISTMAS EVERYONE! I love you all. Have a great week. Talk to you next week

-Sister Hess