MABUHAY!!

Kumusta po kayo!!!

Okay first of all, just to inform you mom there is a red timer up in the right hand corner of my computer that counts down my 30 min....hence why i do not have time to cap my i's :)  and most likely why no one else does either ha!  At 5 min it starts blinking...it makes everyone nervous lol.  When i get out  to the field i will have an hour.  Binabae sounds like this.... been-ah-bah-a.  Tagalog is quite easy to sound out once you know what each sound the vowels make because you pronounce every letter which makes sight reading easy.  Grandma in Tagalog is Lola....I like it, you should use it! hehe.  So how was working in the temple?!  That is so exciting, I really want to work in the Baptistry!!  Did you survive waking up so early?!  Next monday we get to clean the temple, im pretty excited for that!  The pics i wanted were of the puppy, alec's booboo, kiki's ring, possibly mexico, and one of me looking like edna mode...one of the sisters wants to see me!  lol.  Well, anything else new at home?  thanks for writing me weekly mom, have you been marking my calendar thingy?! 

Some other things i want from home are some headbands (skinny ones), good smelling body spray, and you know what, they went and changed the dress standards for sisters...we can now wear brighter, more colorful clothes, no knee highs (which i've grown quite attatched to) and skirts that go to the knee, weird.  but i realized that i don't have very many shirts, especially cute ones....if you and my sisters wouldn't mind finding me some shirts that are cute and sending them to me that would be much appreciated :)

Well, 3 more weeks of this place...is time going by fast for you too?!  I cannot believe that ive been here for 6 weeks....ah!!!!

Well, we taught our lesson in Tag last thurs and it actually went quite well!  It was the first time we felt like we taught to the needs of the investigator rather than tried spitting out information.  The spirit was there and it was done in tag!!  So cool!  We commited him to be baptized haha!  So the other day I had an interview with one of my teachers...who is super intense and the best speaker of tagalog anyone has ever met-he's filipino.  He was really high expectations for us and pushes us like crazy...its awesome and nerve-racking at the same time.  He said he's only met one other person who spoke faster than he does.  Anyway, he asked me what my percentage of speaking tagalog was that day and i said probably 35% and guess what he told me....that he was disappointed.  Awesome, i disappointed my teacher.  he said with as much as i know and how well i can form sentences i should be speaking it A LOT more.  So, the rest of that day i did a lot better.  These past couple days though haven't been as good.  its so hard when everyone else around you is speaking english and you just want to say something quickly and be done with it.  i hope my trainer in the philippines is a native and doesn't speak any english--then i will be forced!

We practiced teaching each other the other night as if the other person didn't know about God...2 of my favorite elders taught us and as they were teaching (in tag) i was filled with the spirit and was just in awe by these 19 yr old boys who are struggling through a lesson but are able to get their point across and bring the spirit!!  It's amazing what the Lord can do, there is no doubt that this is His work, because we definitely couldn't do this on our own!  He is always with us.  I don't know why I get so suprised by what He can do and   I am strengthened in my testimony constantly, every day, of this great work of God.  He loves every single one of His children and wants them all to return to Him.  Prophets of old have seen these last days and His work going forth boldly.  I am apart of this work, this is not for me, this is not my time--I am only an instrument in His hands.   I feel so blessed to be doing this.  Thank you so so much for all of your love and support in allowing me to be out here serving God in this great capacity.  I would not trade it for the world.  I know with all my heart that Jesus Christ is the Savior and Redeemer of the world, I know that only through Him can we receive true joy and happiness and only through Him can our sins and stains be washed away. He did this for us because He loves us each individually.  The book of mormon is living proof that His true gospel has been restored to this earth today, we can read it and know for ourselves.  We don't have to rely on the words of others, God hears and answers our sincere prayers and will tell us all things that we want to know. 

Mahal Ko Kayo!!!!!

Sis. Carroll!