Happy New Year! (1/5/2014)

Maayong Guntag*! Naimbag na bigat! Magandang Umaga po!
Good morning my lovely Brothers and sisters! How are you all doing? I hope the New Year treated you well! We had a great New Year here in San Felipe, we tried to sleep but that was just a little hard ;)

The Member who owns the house that Sister Hart, I and the two other sisters are staying at requested that we continue their New Year tradition.  Every year on Jan. 1 at midnight they open all the windows and turn on all the lights, so we did that, sat on the porch and listened to the gunshots fireworks at midnight until about 12:30 because we still had to get up at 6:30 :) It was a blast; and then on Wednesday, I got my Christmas package!  A Happy New Year after all! I am so grateful for all the effort that went into that I am excited to celebrate Christmas again! Hey why not? The Filipinos still celebrate Christmas until well, I'm not really sure but they definitely still play Christmas music until now ha I love it!

So this week was kind of a crazy one! On Thursday we went to the Hospital to get surgery on my feet.. I had an ingrown toenail but it's way better now ha too bad I didn't keep it, that would have been gross to send home.  And then on Friday we got to go to the Training meeting and got some really great insights for how we can do our best this year in sharing the gospel and in the most productive way as well so that got me way pumped for the week, it was like a speech before a big meet and now I'm ready to take on the world.. in San Felipe! I am so grateful for the gospel in my life!

Today on the bus, I was talking to a man who lives by himself about 2 hours north on SF and he asked me why I wanted to serve a mission and come to the Philippines.  It really made me think for a second and then I paused and said because I have this great gospel that i feel so blessed that I want to share it with others in the world and that is TRUE! I will tell you that I love my mission, I love the Philippines.  There have definitely been some struggles but when we feel the Saviors' love through his sacrifice for each of us, it gives me strength that I can do anything just like in one of my favorite scriptures that I probably quote all the time Alma 12:24 ('This life.. is a time to prepare to meet God") LOVE IT!

Welp, I hope you all have a fantastic week! Love you

LOVE SISTER ROSSBERG

It's beginning to FEEL a lot like Christmas

With the unprecedented cold front in the West, St George is definitely feeling a lot like Christmas around here.  The town shut down last Saturday due to 8 inches of snow and no snow plows to get it out of town.  The snow is still hanging around, two weeks later; and in a town with normal winter highs around 50 degrees, it's crazy!

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SO what a crazy week this has been! I am sorry this email is so late!! We went to a combined Zone activity up in the North of my mission so we didn't get home until around 5 and we were just able to email now. Christmas is getting closer and closer.  We got to watch the Christmas Devotional last night and it was So good, even though we weren't able to watch the Music.  I loved every talk but I think my favorite was by Elder Nelson! The true meaning of Christmas is a great topic and very important as well! 

I have gotten a lot of questions about what they do here to make it feel like Christmas and so I will tell you. Christmas is not commercialized here in the Philippines, it is celebrated by lights and fireworks in the hot, hot, heat. The Christmas music started in the beginning of September; even in the church and it has gotten that much stronger as we continue into December! So I think I have all the Christmas hymns in the hymn book memorized! :) It's been great, and OF COURSE just like every other holiday, we eat.  And that's what we plan to do; I can't wait to share with people this week the true gospel of Jesus Christ so that they can know what Christ really did for them!  So they can really know "what REALLY happened next" just like the lady that I forgot her name said in the fireside last night! 

So on Saturday, we had a baptism of a 12 yearold girl named Fraulien Petilo. I love her and I love her family.  They are actually waiting for us, were supposed to have an FHE with them in 5 minutes so we might be a little late! BUT she is the first member in her family, and I am so proud of her, she came by herself to church on Sunday and I loved seeing her smile when the rest of her family trickled in just a little bit late because they know it was important to her. I love the Petilo's and they treat me like I am their family here in the Philippines :) I love it here in San Felipe and I am so happy to still be here after 5 months! I love it and the people even more.. 

Well I hope you all have an amazing week out of school this week right? And I hope you have an even more amazing Christmas! Merry Christmas to all of you, don't let us forget the true meaning of Christmas what Christ did for YOU and what he did for everyone, whether they know it or not. That is our job as members who DO know what he did for us, to share that knowledge and peace with them! I love that and I am so grateful for Him. I love this gospel! I love my family. I love the Philippines and I love Christmas! I love being a missionary more than anything else. I am done saying what I love But have a great Christmas!! Enjoy the snow and the cold for me would ya? ;) Thank you:)

Love SIster Rossberg

Restoration and the happiest little girl

Can you believe that it's December 2nd already?  I hope your Thanksgiving was as fantastic, full of turkey (with cranberry relish) and family time as ours was.  

Abbi was working away as always, this week she and the 3 companionships serving in their branch held a Missionary Fireside about the Restoration of the Gospel.  

Our prophets and apostles have devoted their lives to sharing the gospel and declaring the word of the Lord.  Take 2 minutes out of your life to just watch this video.  No distractions, no reading Facebook with it in the background.  Just you and Elder L. Tom Perry, a messenger of the Lord.  

Mormon Messages: The Message of the Restoration

Ps: I love reading in Abbi's letter, "[Joseph Smith] was a true prophet of God who was sent here to help each one of us to gain the gospel in our lives" for two reasons:  

1.  'gain the gospel' sounds like a translation from another language to English which means that our little Sister missionary is doing awesome with her Tagalog. 

2. Seriously, read that again - what a great testimony!

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December already! where does time go? This week was so great! WE had our first baptism this transfer on Saturday. Her name is Bragie (Br-ah-gee) and I love her to death. We tried to make her baptism really special and she was like the happiest girl on earth on saturday, she borrowed Sister Harts' white dress to be baptized in and she looked just like a princess! She could not stop smiling, and as soon as she came out of the water, she had a HUGE smile on her face, I have never seen someone so full of joy. It was like she had no cares in the world. This is was baptism does for us, it helps see a little bit of heaven and what it will be like.. now our job is to not forget that and never forget the promises we made with our heavenly father.  I am so excited for Bragie to help her become strong in the church and be a great blessing to her family.

And yesterday at sacrament, she was confirmed a brand new member of the church! Yesterday I saw FAMILIES at church and I really felt the Spirit in our fast and testimony Sacrament meeting. The gospel changes lives when we live it's principles and I am so glad that I have the blessings of the FULL gospel in my life, I would literally be lost with out it. 

This week we have been preparing for this Branch Missionary Fireside that we were able to have yesterday after church. Yesterday we put on a fireside about The Restoration of the gospel and the why's, hows and blessings that we can gain that can only come from the Restoration, and the fact that we have the Priesthood back on the earth which means we have a living prophet, and the ability to be sealed here on this earth and to we can also be sealed in heaven (Helaman 10:7).  I really felt the spirit there as we sectioned off the blessings and each of the three companionships took a principle and shared the blessings from that.  And we sang, a lot ha, i wish you all could have been there it was pretty great :)

I am so grateful for the gospel and the opportunity to be able to meet our brothers and sisters here in the Philippines, they are some of the sweetest, and most kind people I have ever met, I love them so much I am so grateful for the opportunity to help them to learn the gospel so that they too can gain eternal life with their families! I don't know if you have ever missed your family ;) but I sure miss my family right now but I know that it's a small sacrifice to pay so that others here in the Philippines can be with their families forever and not miss their families for the rest of eternity.  

I am grateful for the gospel and more than that, I have a testimony of Joseph Smith, that he was a true prophet of God who was sent here to help each one of us to gain the gospel in our lives. 

I love you all.  Happy advanced Christmas! It's CHristmas already! I hope you have a great week! For those of you in school, hold in there until the break!! you can do it :) 

Love, Sister Rossberg