Loving life in the Philippines!!!

Sorry, I can only give you some pictures this week!

Sis. Labador's great! She's 23, my first Bisayan companion, and my first/only companion that knows how to cook.... I'm not sure how me & my companions survived the first 17 months of my mission....

I love you! I'm happy! Hope y'all are too (:

<3 Sister Lauck

#13

Yesterday at District Meeting:

Zone Leader: "Well, Sis.Mahinay and Sis.Lauck how are you feeling now that you've arrived at your last....

Me & Sis.Mahinay (in unison): "DON'T SAY IT ELDER!"

What the elder intended to ask was how we feel now that we've arrived at our last.... transfer. Yes, I'm starting my last transfer in my mission. The thought makes me shudder. Haha just kidding... kind of.... But we got transfer calls and I'm staying here in good ol Lacion and my new companion is Sis.Labador. More deets on her next week (:

Sis.Mahinay and I tried to help a less active build a house. We weren't quite the best carpenters, so we were given the assignment to pull out nails from plans of wood. They gave us hammers. That was dangerous.  

Bro.Paul, our faithful/amazing IBD who was supposed to get baptized this month moved to a different city ): But we referred him to the missionaries assigned there (: and he brought his Book of Mormon with him to read, which warmed Sis.Mahinay and I's souls (((:

And when Heavenly Father closes a door, he opens like 5 other ones! Sis.Mahinay and I found Mary Ann & Rey through a less active and they are GOLDENNNN! They asked us in our first visit what they needed to do to become members of our church. They started to pray together as a couple after our first visit and read scriptures together and they've seen firsthand how the Gospel unites families. They said they no longer fight, they have more patience for each other, and they're always smiling and happy in their home. We haven't even taught them about the 10 commandments yet, but they already took out the virigin mary in their home that they used to pray to because, as they said, "it didn't make sense to us to pray to her anymore when we should be praying to our Heavenly Father". . They could baptized tomorrow, they are just that good! But... they're not married, so they are working on saving for their marriage (:

Getting to know people like Mary Ann and Rey is just another testament to me of how this Gospel is a plan of happiness and change and progression. Living the Gospel improves the quality of our lives (: It's as plain and simple as that!

I love everyone so much! I'll catch everyone up more next week!

Love,

Happy Sister Lauck (:

pictures: 

      sis.mahinay and I 

       eating lunch after our service project

       us with mary ann, rey, their son, and mary ann's mom

Another Amazing Week!!!!

Guys, this week was SO GOOD!

It started off with a mission tour with Elder Ardern of the 70. He spoke with all of the missionaries in our mission on Cebu Island and really gave some inspired counsel on how we can improve our work. I love the challenge of improving and Sister Mahinay and I are doing our best to leave it all out on the mission field before we have to head home.

I also went on splits with Sister Conde, who was my replacement in my last area aka I got to go back and visit my old area with my old investigators! It was the best (:

But the cherry on top of my week was getting to go back to Danao where I spent a 1/3 of my mission!!! I got to visit there because my investigator I taught, Sis.Salome, finally got baptized! I say finally because we've been waiting since January for her baptism. She is lights out amazing and the golden investigator every missionary is looking to find! Sister Salima and I started teaching her back in November and she was initially skeptical about Joseph Smith and the Book of Mormon. But then she got diagnosed with  stage 3 breast cancer and started worrying about where she would end up if she passed away. At that point, Sister Clegg and I were companions and started teaching her the Plan of Salvation. When we first taught her about the pre-mortal life she kept saying, "This feels familiar to me, I think I knew this before" and the rest is history. Every Sunday, even though she was  weak because of the chemotherapy, she would hike down the mountain where she lived and head to church because she knew the Lord would give her enough strength to do so. At one point, when her health situation looked bleak! She asked for a priesthood blessing, fully knowing that if she did, she would be healed and survive her cancer. And she did (: Then last month, she finally got the clearance from her doctor that she could be baptized.  The spirit was so strong at her baptism, especially knowing the hardships she overcame to get to that point.She is such a powerful example to me of a woman of faith. I'm so grateful that I got to know her. Heavenly Father has placed in my path here on the mission, and in life in general, so many amazing people! Thanks everyone for the way you strengthen me! 

I love everyone! I know that this Church is true. The spirit confirms it to me each day that I teach. Hope everyone has a great week!

Love,

Sister Lauck

El Nino

heyO!

sorry i've been MIA with the email! I got robbed of my pday last week b/c I had food poisoning. Sadly, I think I got it from my own cooking haha Sis.Mahinay said it's proof that I'm not ready to get married yet haha that's ok with me (:

Sis.Mahinay and I got to go to the temple this week! I loved it as usual. Everytime I walk in the doors, I always feel like I'm home. I guess in a very real way, the temple is a resemblance of our heavenly home where we're all trying to go back. Temples are true blessings for us and I'm so grateful that because of the Gospel of Jesus I know how to get home.

We are working with some superrrrr great investigators right now, mostly youth! It always amazes me that instead of getting on fb or playing basketball with their friends, what our investigators want is to be taught the Gospel of Jesus Christ. They truly are an example to me! One of our great investigators who is getting baptized next month is Paul. He's such a good kid! When we taught him the word of wisdom, he stopped smoking with in a week. He came to General Conference last week, but he kept texting on his phone whenever a new speaker would come on. Eventually I reached over to tell him he'd enjoy conference better if he wasn't texting, but before I did, I looked at his phone. Come to find out that everytime there was a new speaker he would type our their names and takes notes on what they were saying! Those kind of things literally melt your heart as a missionary!!!!!

I want to leave you guys with a great quote from Pres. Ezra Taft Benson, "When you choose to follow Christ, you choose to be changed." I testify of this principle as I have seen first hand how the Gospel changes my investigators for the better. There is a super old grandpa in our ward, Tatay Sugarol, that walks in the heat, and over hills and sometimes alone each Sunday just so he can come to church. He is a silent example to me of how Christ changes us.

I love you all! Stay cool! Have fun! And find a way this week that you can get to know your Savior better!

lots of love,

sister lauck

p.s. if you guys want to hear some bisayan, see what the city is like here in cebu, and see one of the many super youth that are here, check out this video!

https://www.lds.org/media-library/video/2015-01-003-sharing-your-light?category=youth-media&lang=eng&cid=HP_TU_4-21-2015_dPTH_fMLIB_xLIDyI-2_

pictures: us w/ tatay sugarol!

             us w/ some of our super awesome youth investigators!

              me @ the temple 

Malipayan Kais Tanan

You can say I've been slacking a little on the emails. I'm sorry!!! Life has been busy, but great! I think the secret for why missionaries are so happy is that they are never really thinking of themselves.

In no particular order, here are some things that have been going on in my life:

Another earthquake happened 

I went to the dentist and learned they don't really believe in anesthesia/pain numbing medication (btw, I would not recommend going without either of those two )

Went on splits with Sis.Bolo and got to go back to my old area with my old investigators! It was heaven!

Did cleaning checks for the sisters in our zone

But this was the cherry on top.........

My investigators from my last area got baptized!!!! Juliet & Angel & Mark & Jefferson!!!! Even though I'm no longer assigned to the area, I got to attend because I'm still in the zone. And I even scored and got to give a talk on the Holy Ghost. It literally was the best thing ever. I just sat there during the baptismal service and soaked in the spirit and the joy that comes from watching people you love make a decision to come closer to our Savior. It was pure bliss. You have these feelings as a missionary that really are indescribable. I know this church is Christ's church because when I live the Gospel and its teachings I am so happy. I know it's true because I have watched others being changed by Christ and their commitment to follow Him. I have felt the Spirit testify to my heart that all these things are true. I know that Heavenly Father wants for all of us as His children to feel this happiness, His happiness. I'm so lucky that I get to share what brings me eternal joy with other!

Hope everyone gets to feel a little bit of that eternal joy this week!

love,

Sister Lauck (:

Loving Missionary Life!!!!

Okay sorry, this week is more just like pictures............

I went to my first MLC last week! It stands for Missionary Leadership Council... or something like that haha I LOVED it! The Spirit was so powerful and it was neat to see first hand the love and work that goes into doing this work here in Cebu East. And it was super fun b/c I got to meet up with my batch of missionaries that I came here with over a year ago (pic #1)

we also did some service this week helping some members dig a septic tank. Sis.Bolo got a "stolen shot" of me (pic #2) (:

Sis.Sears, Sis.Mahinay, and I are loving life! We have all been nicknamed by our investigators -

Sis. Sears is PUTI- which means white

Sis. Mahinay is KUSGAN - which means fast/strong; because her last name means slow..... it's funny to the filipinos

And I am MESTIZA - which means mixed blood

so that's that!

And then there's a picture of our area (: it's desert meets mountains meets tropical forest!

I love everyone! I'll send everyone a better email next week!

Sister Lauck (:

Happy March!!! (:

March has come, which means I'm starting my 2nd summer in the Philippines aka THE SWEATFEST!

So last week Sis.Bolo and I were enjoying ourselves in our perfect area with our perfect investigators, happy to start another transfer together and finish up Sis.Bolo's training (:

And then transfers came. And I transferred.......... the next area over hahahaha we were so sad, but totally laughing about it at the same time! 

So now I'm in a three some with Sis.Mahinay & Sis.Sears and we are STL's (Sister Training Leaders). And we had 0 investigators attend church, which was a rude awakening from the 9 investigators Sis.Bolo and I had the week before haha but such is life! But I'm so excited to work with all of the sisters and really just get to learn from them -  I'm already trying to work on making some goody baskets for all of them, so I am definitely in my element (:

The only hard part about leaving my area was saying good bye to my investigators - we all cried every lesson my last day in the area. Even though I only taught them for six weeks, we grew so close to each other and to the Savior. The sweetest blessings of a mission are getting to watch these people you love grow. Sis.Juliet, who didn't really want to be taught when Sis.Bolo and I first met her, is getting baptized next week. Sis. Reah, who hadn't read the Book of Mormon the past year she had been investigating, read through 2nd Nephi in just 2 weeks. It's the greatest feeling in the world (: That's the power of following our Savior. Real change occurs in your life. I have a huge testimony of that as I've watched the same process take place in my own. There's no greater feeling of happiness than knowing you are getting closer and closer to becoming like our Father in Heaven and His Son (:

Needless to say, I am a happy camper!

Love everyone oodles and oodles!

Sister Lauck (:

p.s. for pictures: sis.bolo and I helped an investigator harvest their crops (:

                         we had a sister sleepover complete with junk food for sis.davis's (our house mate) last night in the mission before she went home 

                         sis.angel (our ibd) & me