Last times and good byes

Hello!! No, You did not miss me today, I missed you. 

Preident and Siter Dahle

Yesterday was my last day working in the field and in my area of Mandama.  and Last night the assistants to the presidents picked me up from the apartment. We had a great day of work Sunday afternoon, The sisters worked with us too and the four of us had an amazing lesson with a part member family right before we went to Hermosa for a combined fireside. I got to see the members again and feel the spirit of Christ too at the wonderful fireside that we coordinated with the Elders assigned in Hermosa Ward. It helped me to strengthen my testimony on the Atonement of Jesus Christ, as that was the topic and the center of the fireside. 

Yesterday as I had a day of goodbyes and last times, everyone kept asking me how i was feeling? What is the feeling that it is your last day in the field as a regular full-time missionary? I just kept telling them that I didn't know, I didn't feel that I was going home, I feel that this is my life now. I feel like I just got the hang of things and that I could actually do the work right and be good at it, but i guess that means that it is time to go home ;) 

Llego Family Goodbyes

Last night I taught my very last lesson of my mission at a family, the Llego's, I probably haven't mentioned them a whole lot lately because we haven't been able to teach them. But we surprised them last night after the fireside and us four (sister Pilks, echon, and Makihele) taught them about family and living the gospel.

I wanted to cry as I said goodbye to this family that I had the privileged to meet and teach the gospel to, even though they have not yet entered into the waters of baptism, I know they will be baptized when their time is right. 

The feeling of leaving the Philippines Olongapo is so bitter sweet! I don't know whether to jump for joy because I get to see you all this coming week, or sit down and cry because I have to leave the people and friends that I have come to know and love so much. The mission has changed my life and I know that it is through Jesus Christ that this change has happened. I now know that I have so much more to learn and grow. The gospel is true. Our Savior lives. I know he loves us. 

wala na ako maisip sa english. But I just love you all, my heart is full this day. I love my Savior and I know he Lives.

Love, 

Sister Rossberg  

So they say, the secret to missionary work is work!

Good morning!!

Another good week in the Philippines Olongapo mission, here in the Mandama ward! We had one investigator at church yesterday and 5 Less-active members, one who had returned yesterday. That is the least amount of investigators I have had in this area, and the most amount of Less-active members… so we were excited … sort of ;) 

As yesterday was for sure my last Fast and testimony meeting in Mandama ward, I took the first opportunity to stand up and bear my testimony to these wonderful saints of the Philippines. I have really grown to love these people as I have worked side by side with them for almost 8 months of being here in Mandama, they have become like family to me and I really am going to miss everyone of the saints here . The rest of sacrament meeting was really good.The rest of sacrament meeting was really good. the ones who got up to bear their testimony did so well and it brought the spirit into the room and filled my heart. I am drawing a blank as I try to think of what happened this week, the days seem to just fly by. 

As the hours sneak past us, they turn into days and the days turn into weeks, here I am with less than a week left in the field as a full-time missionary and it does not feel real. I never thought this moment would come and now its way to close. I know that I have done my best. I have made mistakes and I have had many st backs but I have learned so much from my Savior, he has lead me along this path and especially in this journey in this mission. I have really been pondering this last couple week if what could I do more, with the short time that I have left. 

I was reading the other day in Alma 38 and came across verse 2 that says; “I TRUST that I shall have great joy in you, because of your STEADINESS and your FAITHFULLNESS unto God” It made me reflect on the work here in the field and at home, the reality of God’s trust in each and everyone of us but the thing is, the choice is ours with what we will do with that trust he has so freely given to us. I know that as we endure to the end and do all we can as members of Christ’s true church to share  his great gospel, he will bless us.

I love you and I hope that you all have a great week.

Sister Rossberg

Endings and new beginnings

It was a rather good week!! Normal day, no crazy blackouts, storms or floods, just the normal rain and hot days. I am glad its back to normal :)  We had some good baptisms last week which means it’s that time again, for finding and we are enthusiastic about it! We have been finding through our own efforts again and trying to find others who will help us and refer those they know that the Lord has prepared. We found a family in a corner of one of our areas called ‘Mambog’ they have many acquaintances that are Mormon but have never met the missionaries, I feel very privileged to teach them and help them come to the knowledge of the truth. For those of you who didn’t know, It was my birthday on Thursday ;)and of course we partied! My beloved companion, sister Pilkington, put together a surprise Thursday night after our last appointment, we headed over to the Nivera’s  house. She was doing “Laundry” when we walked in a lot members and the other sisters were there, they sang happy birthday, we ate cake and fried fish and pancit! Sounds like a party to me!

Saturday, we made sure to get some good appointments in, in the morning so that we could party that night (our schedule was booked from 3-9)! There was a ‘rescue caravan’ or visiting with the ward that we attended and talked and counseled with bishop. The sisters had a baptism that I was so happy to be able to attend and feel the spirit of their new converts! Their testimonies were very sweet and I was touched by each one of them. We had a couple of our investigators attend as well and it helped them to be excited about their baptism in the next coming weeks! Then we partied! They held a Ward Family home evening in the cultural hall, we played games and it was good to help some of the investigators and recent converts get out of their shell and get to know people in the Ward!

Sunday was an exciting day!! We woke up a little early so that we could attend a meeting first thing with the bishop and his counselors. We met and discussed some of the problems in the ward and what we could do to help encourage reverence in all meetings. We are excited, little by little it will improve, it just might take a little patience on our part. Sacrament meeting was SO good! It was packed and we had a ton of investigators come that we did not expect to show up, and all out investigators that we were expecting, never did come. But I will count my many blessings and be grateful that we got Nancy (our recent convert as of last week) and her WHOLE family at church on Sunday… and they stayed all three hours! It is amazing what some good fellow shipping and real friendships at church can do to help people feel welcome!

We left church early to dart over to Dinalupihan real fast to catch sister Dahle and President to talk about some important matters and ended up missing the other classes but the sisters filled us and it sounded like the investigators really enjoyed the classes and I am glad they were able to stay.

This morning, we left the house at 5:30 to make it to Balanga in time to catch a bus to Mt. Sammat (again) with our zone! We had a blast looking at the historical sites again  and enjoying the museum with our zone. It was a blast! Wellp I love you all I hope you have a great week. Loves you!

Sister Rossberg

When the storms that mighty winds come.

This week has been a crazy one!! So I’ll start from the top and hope to fill you in somewhere in the middle!

Manila Temple

So :) Monday was a great day, we went to the market and did all our shopping so we could come back and clean and get ready for the week. We had to be home and ready a little early because the Assistants to the President were coming to pick up my batch and I so we could all go attend the temple together early Tuesday morning!!! So as we waited, it started getting late and Sister Pilkington was getting so bored, we got everything ready and went our just a little early to go teach a new investigator we had found last Saturday afternoon. So we taught her and even got back to the apartment in time to switch companions and get on the road again and head to Subic!

We stayed the night in the mission home and it was so great to see some of the missionaries assigned in Olongapo and especially to see my batch and catch up with how they are all doing! Sister Greene and I stayed up for a little just talking and I was so happy to see how much she has grown, I haven’t seen her in probably like 4 months! (I guess it’s true what they say, time flies when you’re having fun!)

Tuesday morning, I woke up to an alarm at 3:00AM  and got shook off my sleepiness, got dressed and stumbled into the kitchen to eat breakfast before we headed off to Manila. It was a great four drive, we slept most of the way there and also talked to President and Sister Dahle a little bit about their first two weeks as mission President in the Philippines!  We went to Immigration and did finger printing for our visas first thing. And there I saw a couple sisters from my batch in the MTC they were coming from the Angeles mission, and we stopped and talked for a quick minute. By around 10:15, we finally got to the temple and took some pictures before the session was to start. Our whole batch got to attend in one session and it was so great! We took some more pictures outside the temple and then got back in the car to head back to Subic! We arrived at home around 8:00pm and  it is about another 2.5- 3 hour drive back to our area in the south, so we got permission to stay over at the mission home again on Tuesday night. We helped sister Dahle tidy up the house a little bit and then headed off to bed.

On Wednesday, we were supposed to wake up early so we could drive back to our areas and have a zone meeting later that morning in Balanga at 9am with Mission president interviews but there was a signal 2 or 3 storm that was rolling our way. The wind started picking up and the water pump was out in the mission home, so the meeting got cancelled and we got ready for personal study and in the middle of our little devotional with President Dahle, the Power went out. We were stuck in the mission home and if the windows and blinds were closed, you wouldn’t even know there was a storm going on outside! We were so bored and I ended up just reading and helping sister Dahle around the house just a little bit. 

Long but wonderful day! Sister Greene and Sister Dahle

By 4pm the rain and the wind slowed down so we packed up our stuff and headed back to our areas. As we drove through Olongapo there was just debris and rubbish all over the road. Houses and business were destroyed. There were huge trees that had been completely uprooted and people were all over the streets trying to help clean and put their town back together.

I felt so grateful that I was safe inside the mission home while storm “Glenda” was raging! On the other side, sister Pilkington and sister Raynor had a very different experience in Abucay which I’m sure you can read about on her blog:) we drove from 4 until 8:30 and were still not back in my area because of the storm, some roads were blocked off and there was some pretty heavy traffic. As we drove down the dark highway, the power was out and only about every three towns had power. But we picked up sister Piklington and headed back to our area!

strong like a carabou!

We got home late and the power was still out in Mandama, we sat on the floor and shared everyones stories of what happened where they were and what happened during “Glenda”. I was so grateful to be back in Mandama, safe with my companion and ready to go get some work done!! Thusrday was sister Piklington’s big TWO-ONE! We went and stocked up put 72 hour kits and then had a good day of work, trying to make her birthday special, despite the black out, one of the sisters in our house and I talked to our neighbor and set up a surprise for sister Pilkington! We had a cute dinner and ate by candle light at some of the member’s house.

Then the rest of the week just flew by!  

Sister Pilkington's 21st Birthday

Sister Pilkington's 21st Birthday by candle light

 On Saturday morning, we had the chance to help the members clean up the church and make it look real pretty for the baptism that afternoon. Maldwin and Nancy were both baptized, it has been a long journey and working with both of them but I am so proud of where they have come and the steps they have made to be newly baptized members of the church! 

rain or shine, the baptism will go on!

They both have such great courage and are such great examples to me of what it takes to a faithful member of this church. AND last night when we came home, we finally had light!!! I don’t think I have been so happy for something that we take for granted everyday of our lives. 

Service and Clean up

This week has been so adventurous and perfect! I am grateful for the trails and the hardships because they make up stronger, I know if we trust in the Lord, he will give us strength to carry on no matter what we go through! I love this gospel, I love my savior and I would not be any other place with any other people, serving him with all that I have!

I hope you all Have a great week and stay safe!

Love, sister Rossberg

Manila Temple

Manila Temple - Sister Ete and Sister Greene at the temple

The time IS far spent!

Hello family! This week has been full of hard work, muddy shoes and burnt cake!

Hmm where to start? Sister P and I started off with a great Monday and got some good lessons in and it really just set the stage for the rest of the week, with focusing on having the spirit with us, carrying it to every lesson and helping all those we come in contact with to feel that same spirit. We had a great Zone meeting on Tuesday and focused on our goals and what we need to do this month to achieve our goals and baptisms this month of July! After our meeting on Tuesday, we made a ‘4^th of July’ lunch and enjoyed potato salad, and watermelon juice. We just kept yelling, Amerka while we were eating. We also scheduled for two of our investigators to get their baptism interviews done this week for their baptisms next week (Nancy and Maldwin) Its really happening!! All our hard work and finding and work here in Mandama is paying off.

We worked hard this week and we are really able to see the fruits of our labors this week! Especially with the 10 investigators that we had at church on Sunday! I know that about half of those will be baptized this month and we will have some too that are scheduled for August! On Thursday, we tried making Banana bread in a fire oven and it cooked REAL fast… and burnt real quick too!

This last week, Brother Llego expressed his concern about not being able to go to church because of his schedule at work so we explored some options and he talked about how he just needs to ask his boss, and he gave him to us this week, as a referral! We scheduled a time last Friday, we had the opportunity to go teach ‘Sir’ and his family. Sir’s name is Brother Romeo Mendova and had 5 kids in college and HS, his wife just passed away this last February. They have a very neat family and I feel so blessed to be able to teach them. They were not able to get work off this week to be able to attend church but I know that this next week, he will be able to come!

I love this work and I am so grateful to have been here long enough to see the fruits of my labors, because I know that doesn’t happen all the time (especially)  on a mission. Both Nancy and Maldwin were investigators that sister Valles and I had found back in February, they struggled, we struggled with them and they will be baptized at the end of next week!  Wellp that is all for now, friends! I love you and I hope you’re having a great week!

Love, Sister Rossberg 

.

I believe in miracles.

Hello and good morning, Family.

It’s another great week in the Philippines and a great day to be a missionary! :) It’s a great week for new starts and Sister Pilkington and I are trying to eat a little healthier so we will have more energy to work and give our best! Oh and working out a little bit in the mornings has helped. We need all the energy we can get if were gunna knock out all of Mandama before August :)

Preach my gospel two by two!

Companions

We had a meeting on Friday at the mission home and we got to meet the new President! ( for those who don’t know, Pres and Sis, Querido went home last Sunday night when the Dahle’s came to take their shoes). It was so great meeting  President and Sister Dahle this last Friday. They are from Lehi, Utah and they love the outdoors.  I love their fresh look and attitude on missionary work, they are so excited to share the great gospel and they are on fire! What I got most out of the meeting was on the law of consecration and the power of the spirit. After the meeting we went to eat PIZZA in the mission home (probably the 2^nd time I have had American-ish pizza on my mission) Needless to say, it was so good! After we ate, I felt real sick and ended up sleeping at upstairs in the mission home for 3 hours, by the time I woke up and was feeling up for an hour drive back to our area, it was late and President and sister Dahle had to take us home. But I really appreciated it and especially enjoyed spending a little extra time getting to know them! They are amazing and I feel very blessed to have two of the most spiritual and inspiring people as my mission president and his wife. As we were driving home, we stopped at a toll booth and as President was paying, the girl in the booth, handed him his receipt and said, “Thank you sir, your receipt ”. And he responds right back and says, “And for you” as he handed her a pass along card and then we drove off down the expressway. In that moment, even though it was such a simple act of handing out a pass along card, it made me realize how simple missionary work can be. You don’t even have to speak the same language to be able to share the gospel. I know that all our leaders are called of God, and man am I grateful for that!

One thing that I learned this week is about the importance of the spirit in our day to day lives and the law of consecration. I have been focusing on these two aspects in our work these last couple days and we have seen big changes in our work and the way sister Pilkington and I go about teaching lessons. I know that the spirit is the most important element in this work and it indeed would be foolish to try and work without it. That is something that I have been focusing on in the last 6 months of my mission. I want to be able master to have and recognize the spirit in everything I do. I know that if we gain this knowledge now and strive to stay worthy of this gift, it will help us heaps in our lives.

Nancy and Joanne at church

Trying to be like Brigham (doggie kisses!)

Our area here in Mandama is still doing well, we have 5 possible baptisms this month and sister Pilkington and I are doing everything in our power to help those 5 souls to receive the gospel in their lives. I love the people here in my area and, I love Sister Pilkington. I have no doubt that she was meant to be my companion for the last 12 weeks of my mission. She has helped me through so much and I have learned heaps from her! We love you, have a great week.

Our Llego’s are still going strong. They had us over to eat last night and watch the Restoration. Our ‘ulam’ was “stuffed bangus” and rice of course! Let’s just say, Brother Fritz Llego sure knows how to fry up some good fish! 

Dinner at the Llegos!

just our stinkin cute Llegos!!

Sister Nancy Sanchez is more dedicated than ever to live this gospel and was able to attend church yesterday.We have seen miracles happen here in the small area of Mandama. I feel so blessed to be apart of the work here in the Lord's vineyard here in the Philippines. And we will continue to do our best to bless the lives of the wonderful people here!

You are all amazing, I love you and hope you  have a great week!

Love, Sister Rossberg

it's rainy (or flood) season

The best is yet to Come!

 Hello Family! How are you? It’s been a crazy good week! I am not sure where to start so I will start with this morning, sister Pilkington and I woke up at around 5 so we would have time to clean the house, wash our fans and screens, and do our laundry all before 7am. MISSION ACCOMPLISHED. And I even got to take a shower and be ready by 8am.

Yesterday was Sunday, Church was the best! The Dabuet Family was able to attend and we had some other investigators there too! Sister Pilkington gave a great talk on being truly converted and shared some great experiences and she did a great job. I am so proud to call her my companion! The Llego's were not able to come but we did go visit them and we were very glad to help them solve some problems and concerns. Then after church yesterday, the Members were very concerned because, we were running a little low on support money this week, they offered to give us a ride back home from church and to have us over for lunch. I am so grateful for their willingness and kindness to serve us. The members here are very great and I am happy to ask their help in teaching and serving our investigators.

Dabuet Sisters

Then we went out to work and our second appointment was at the Dabuet’s family, they opened up to us and shared some challenges they have seen in their lives and they even noticed the hand of the Lord in their lives and the way He has lead them to investigate and take part of this beautiful gospel! The spirit was so strong as they shared experiences that have had and how the Lord has helped them through trials in their lives. I felt so privileged to be able to bear my testimony of the truthfulness of the gospel and the reality of the Atonement. And that I know the things they have experienced are true and that as they continue in their path to learn more about the gospel, they will be even more blessed, more than you or I can describe!

Last Saturday, we had FHE as a Mandama Ward and it was THE best!! We had fun playing games and enjoying with the kids, our families felt the love from the Ward and were able to make new friends! We had a blast and it helped the whole ward to be closer to each other and to work together to pull off a great event, that was just our goal to help the ward have a little bit more unity and Love.

This last Thursday we had exchanges with the sisters in our apartment, I had the opportunity to go to the other sister’s area and to meet their investigators and help them find and teach! It rained like crazy and I just happened to leave my umbrella at an investigators house the night before, so I borrowed a broken one from a member ha! I only got a little soaked;) but It was a blast and then after exchanges, we had lunch at a member’s house, in the other sisters area who hasn’t been to church in about 4 months. She was so welcoming and happy to have us over for lunch. We were even more grateful for her kindness and concern for us! (And I was even more grateful and happy when I saw her walk into church on Sunday, with her husband and daughter!) So that was a great way to end exchanges!

Forgot the Umbrella

We had district meeting on Tuesday and we were blessed to have the White couple join with us and they shared a great spiritual instruction.

Well, that’s my week in a nutshell it was full of hard work and I learned a lot. Especially from Sister Pilkington! A little update on the ward is that it’s pulling together again and we can see the unity coming back that was lost for a little while. They are more willing to help and be more involved since I have been here. We pray that it will continue so that the work of the Lord here in Mandama can keep moving forward as well! Thank you for your prayers this week.

I love you all, have a fantastic week!

Love sister Rossberg

were on the in:)