Week 47 OCEAN PARK IS A DREAM COME TRUE!

Week 47

I have been begging Sister Petras for like 3 weeks if we could please go to Ocean Park and SHE FINALLY SAID YES :) So we went for P-day today and it was the best. I saw fish, watched sea lions dance, and touched a sting ray....life is complete. 

Ocean Park--Here I come FINALLY!!

Dear Family and Friends, 

Hello all :) Hope this week treated you well and all your wildest dreams came true. Sister Petras and I are just living on a prayer every single day of our lives in our area haha :) But this week has more or less been a good one...we met some good people and our peeps let us down by not coming to church..but we just keep on a teaching and a teaching away. All of our investigators are really starting to build trust in us so I think we will be getting more peeps coming to church this week.  SANA! (HOPEFULLY!) 

But anyway I just wanted to start out this week by saying...MY NODULE IS GOOOOONE :) A lot of people have been emailing me about my voice and everything...totally love and appreciate all of your thoughts and prayers. So the past month and a half I have been on "voice rest"--basically just being careful and being real REAL quiet because I have grown 2 nodules on my voice box, weirdest thing of my life. But we walked into the doctors office on Wednesday and I was just hoping and praying that I would get a good result from the Doctor. And when they finished the testing (they put like a camera through my nose and down my throat--tis the worst) but he told me that the nodule was completely gone...like I never had even had it. He said that he has never seen that kind of result before. And I literally high fived and shook hands with everyone in the whole office---SO pumped and grateful for all your prayers.  They worked a miracle:) THANK YOU!!

NO MORE NODULES!

On to the work...So Lita Estelita came home this week!!!!!! :) And we were so happy!!!! She is the one with the 11 kids. We didn't get to really teach her this week because she has been helping her brother out who was sick. But when we saw her we gave her a hug...we missed our cute Lita. :) So we are hoping that we can get cracking on her teaching this week. 

This is Lita--the Lita with 11 kids!

I can't remember if I have brought up Lita (we have like 7 Litas in our teaching pool right now) and June Salansan up yet. We have been teaching them for a while but they are always busy or never at their house. But we found them when Lita was washing her clothes and we helped her finish her washing. If anyone needs their clothes washed by hand...I AM YOUR GIRL! ;) But we started to teach them and her husband just smokes and drinks ALL the time. We started to teach them of the importance of family. They were super interested. And we weren't able to come back for a while but we came back this week and we saw June outside and he said that he had stopped drinking and smoking for a WHOLE week after we taught him. So now their family is starting to be really interested in our message--they couldn't come to church last week..So we gave them a baptismal date and I hope we can get them there this week :) 

We have had a lot of awesome little tender mercies this week with some of the investigators of our area. Even though they are just little, I am reminded everyday that we are on God's timeline and not our own.  I think I am just learning over and over the importance of patience, humility, long suffering...all that jazz haha  

But anyway...just wanted to finish up a thought from what we shared with the Panzo family this week. They are an awesome family in the ward--they fed us pizza and lasagna..so of course they are automatically our favorite haha :)  We also shared this with Brother Coliado (a former Stake President in our ward that is suffering from Dementia) We shared with them Moroni 7:45 how "Charity suffereth long..." and something Brother Coliado said to us was that, "whatever we do our love needs to be true." And I loved that thought :) The true love of Christ is the center of the atonement-- and all we believe as members of this church. It helped me to know that when in doubt we need to love one another as Jesus loves all of us :) 

I love all of you and thank you again for all your prayers, have a good week. 

Love, 

Sister Zarbock 

This is Ocean Park!

Bunch of Ocean Park pics!  Loved it!

Sting Ray :)

My District!

Sister Jumawid--she's going home next week

Week 46 Maligayang Pasco ng Pagkabuhay! :)

Week 46

Dear Family and Friends,

Hello everyone and happy belated Easter...or pasco ng pagkabuhay....every time I said that this week all of the Filipinos just kinda crack up. Hahaha, I love Filipinos. THEY ARE THE BOMB :) So I am just gonna be on the same boat with Sister Walters and do say that it is napakainit (JUST SO HOT) here in the Philippines at the moment. Like it is the hottest I have ever been in my whole life....every night and day I wake up just drenched in sweat. Sorry for the visual--but it is SO true. And then one day it starts to rain buckets so I totally don't understand. Maybe God answered my prayers??--I am going with that one ;)

So Easter in Mandaluyong is probably the weirdest time ever....everyone goes home to their provinces and there is like NO one here...but its so great because there is no traffic. And Easter is SOOOOO scary especially on Good Friday. So I had heard scary stories from people about easter in the Philippines but I was like, "I will believe it when I see it..." kinda thing...AND ITS ALL TRUE. So they have this thing called the "walk" and its a bunch of people dressed in white head to toe and they just walk and walk and walk up until their church (which is like 6 miles) to show that they have faith in Christ. And there are these huge crosses, people are crucified, people are beaten with chain. ITS SO FREAKY. So I asked Sister Petras if she did that cause she was a Catholic back in the day...and she said yeah we would just walk and walk with all our friends, I asked if she knew why and she said no haha :) So anyway that was my Easter experience, I hope all y'all had an Easter full of fluffly bunnies, chocolates, and easter egg hunts!  ANYWAY...that took up about 3 days out of the week. 

When literally no one is in the city and the streets are usually filled

Rainy Easter Sunday

Easter :)

So I told all y'all last week how PUMPED we were about Lita with her 11 kids. And she decided to crush our souls and go out of town for Spring Break so unfortunately no updates on her for the week.  Shoot some prayers up for her. We have the most fragile investigators of my life. It is sooo funny. Alma and Rona are doing good...we are just inching and inching into their hearts and homes. But we had an awesome tender mercy of teaching a part member family Dad this week...his name is Winifredo. We hope we get to teach him again next week. Not a ton of heavens parting over here with their progression but WE WILL PREVAIL haha :) 

We also had Zone Conference this week and I always love me a good zone conference. It was super special because my Nanay goes home this transfer so this was her last Zone Conference and I got to see my cute Coron family.  And some takeaways this week from our classes was all about how love makes us bold. That if we love people in our areas, in our lives---we are not afraid to invite them or commit them to do something because we want whats best for them.  So I liked that thought this week. 

Zone Conference! My Nanay--Sister Holzworth
who goes home to Australia next transfer

My Coron Family at Zone Coference

Last companion--Sister Gabriel at Zone Conference

The Adduru's from Coron at Zone Conference

Haha I have to share this one because this was the first its ever happened to me. We were teaching this lady named Jospehine and she is just the classic old Lola in the Philippines and for whatever reason we started to sing with her and Sister Petras and I  just busted out laughing...like we could barely get through the song and I could not keep my composure to even say a prayer. So we just barely got out a lesson to her but she started crying and said that she felt the spirit...and we could not keep it together....I know that's a have to be there moment and probably not that funny but JOSEPHINE will forever be in our memory :) 

With Sister Josephine

Well I love you all and I hope this week was a good one, just finish with a quick thought of how grateful I am for the atonement and the knowledge we have that Jesus suffered so we wouldn't have to...because he really does love us :) 

Love, 

Sister Zarbock 

Zone Conference :)

Always the best to see Sister Singer

Sister at Zone Conference

Week 45 Good Times in Mandaluyong

Week 45

Dear Frenz and Fam and Zoe again cause I love ya and saw lots of cute pics of you this week,

Hello everybody, I hope this week was good...I know all y'all watched Conference last week but I am on a SPIRITUAL high because we just barely got to watch it.... I just love the conference weekend soooo much. It really is the best :) Even if its a week late. Gotta throw out that shout out for the temple going to be built in THE GREAT MANILA AREA! I fist pumped myself when I heard that. GOOO Manila.  But seriously this week was another one down for the books so lets get right to it.

First off we had MTC exchanges this week and I love MTC exchanges even when I have absolutely no idea where we are going because I have only been in the area for 3 weeks.  But it is all good because I just love the look on newbie missionary faces when we go out and teach and talk to people..their eyes pop out of their heads and it just reminds me of me back in the good old days haha :) And I had an islander threesome so you can never go wrong and they can sing super well and I LOVE IT.  Goal in my life is to sing like an islander....they just have those dreamy voices that put you to sleep.

MTC Exchanges :)

MTC Exchange with my Islander Threesome!

So a couple of good things came out of this MTC exchange...Number 1 it was my goal not to get lost and I CRUSHED it. Totally didn't get lost.  I didn't find anyone super cool during my exchange but Sister Petras just SLAYED the MTC exhanges. She runs up to me after we said goodbye to all our fun companions for the day and says, "Sister Zarbock, we found a golden family." So I thought...oh okay, I will believe it when I see it...just being that super awesome supportive companion hahaha ;) 

BUT we go back the next day to go visit Sister Lita and her 11 children....yes 11...and they are all over 8. We approach her and EVERYONE I can go home a successful missionary because I found the Filipina Julie Zarbock. OH MY GOODNESS. She started chatting with us and she is PERFECT. Oh my goodness...my jaw just dropped. She read the whole pamphlet and talked about how she wants to go to a church where everyone knows each other and is friends and is like a family. It was an awesome lesson. Like I hugged that lady with everything I had and we have visited them every night since then. If she doesn't get baptized I don't know who will. SO updates on Lita to come :)

So really none of our other investigators are making awesome progress but it doesn't even phase us cause we are gonna pour everything we've got into Lita and her 11 children...BOOOOOOM we are so pumped! 

Other than that, we had a pretty solid week of Conference and Zone Meeting. At Zone Meeting some missionaries bore their testimonies and I LOVE when missionaries bare their testimony...we talked about the power of prayer.  One of my favorite Zone Meetings.

Conference is always fun because I saw all my fun Makati friends and Sister Singer brought some of my old investigators. Its so funny to see the people you never thought would ever come to church come to church.  Great things. And Conference was perfect. 

Conference Weekend!

I LOVE Conference :)

Ran into Elder Bilog (Jack's old Companion) at Conference!

Remember Phoebe and Jason (he's one of my first baptisms)
Also saw them at Conference with her cute baby bump!

I thought I would end with some of my favorite one liners from Conference.

>He wants us to come home

>He gave us our own personal Care Package

>Birth and Death are just milestones

>Judge the Sin not the Sinner 

>Our Shepherd is Unchanging 

>He doesn't want us to be sad 

>Don't let criticism dull your light

>"I am a Different Person."

>When I get tired of walking I can always run

>Be a first responder

>Do the Simple Things

>Teach out of Love and not Fear

>How Does the Holy Ghost help you?

>The Book of Mormon Speaks to us :)

Well everyone I love you all and I hope this week is another good one for you :)

Love, 

Sister Zarbock

Haha--when scriptures are written everywhere :)

Trying squid balls

Squid balls verdict--not half bad actually

Our apartment hallway which looks like a hospital hallway

Jack--this girl knows you :)

We totally made Sister Otuafi braid our hair,
Tongans are the best at braiding

Making cookies at the mission home with Sister Ostler :)

I am a BOMB Baker now--I mean that as a good thing haha
Mom note: Abby needed baking lessons--one time she accidentally
set the timer for 2 hours when she was making cookies. Did not go well.

At the mission home

Week 44 "Dito ako'y may mag-anak...kami'y pagmamahalan..."

Week 44

This song has been stuck in my head ALLL WEEEK :) Haha its the "Families Can Be Together Forever" song is Tagalog...I probably sing it like a MILLION times in one week haha :) Fun. Anyway. 

Dear Fam and Frenz and Baby Zoe Zarbock, 

This song is SO perfect to open up this weeks letter because.....Ladies and Gentlemen I am now SO proud to be an AUNT!!!  I just wanted to wish my brother Sam and his beautiful wife Haley a big congratulations on their first baby. Words can't even describe thoughts and feelings right now, but yes I did tell everyone in this computer shop that my brother and his wife had a baby and showed them all pictures of my cute niece Zoe Zarbock :) SO sad to miss your birth young one but you better believe the AUNT AND NIECE dates are all too real when I get back!  So fun, feeling extra blessed to have such a beautiful, growing family. Love you Sam and Haley :) :) 

Ok...so this pic is from me not Abby.  What can I say?
I'm a new grandma--I couldn't resist slipping it in!

Meet Zoe Michelle Zarbock

Well this week was an extra special one...I feel like all weeks are extra special on the mission but this one was just a happy one.  It first started out with interviews on Tuesday. And I always love my interviews with President Ostler, they are so awesome. I learn so much in our short time together my goodness. Something that I liked that President Ostler said to me was that the "Atonement is like an onion." Haha kinda funny comparison...but we talked more and he told me that the older he gets and the more he experiences how REAL the Atonement gets for him.  And I can really testify of that. That the Atonement of Jesus Christ is something that continues to sink deeper and deeper into my thoughts and actions since becoming a missionary. I really have seen the cleansing power of the Atonement in my life as well as others. Super cool thought from President Ostler this week :) 

As far as the work in Mandaluyong. Well all I can say is I am back in the city.  Its hot, the days are long, people sometimes have hard hearts but you know...It makes those moments where you really find someone OH so sweet. And the term "Tender Mercy" takes on a TOTALLY different meaning. It is your walk and talk to look for those tender mercies from Heavenly Father :) But we had a few really awesome moments this week, can't wait to tell you about it. 

First off we had a way fun night with all of our Ward Missionaries. They are all single and like 20 years old...its just SO fun.  One is a return missionary and we just have lots of laughs and our missionary coordination is THE best.  We had some awesome lessons with them on Wednesday. One with a Sister Rona....she's still new, so we will see about her. But we had MEMBER power with her haha. Like 5 of us in her tiny little house. We shared with her about who we are and she talked about how she felt SO good when we came to her house.  Great moment with Sister Rona. 

Next was with Sister Alma. We had just gotten SO punted by all of our investigators haha :(  It was finding time. And we knocked on Sister Alma's door and started chatting with her and had a little Family Home Evening.  We shared a little message and played some fun games with her 3 kids.  It was just a cool moment where Heavenly Father knows who you need to see and where ya need to go.  Everyone pray Sister Alma will let us come back! 

With the Ward Missionaries

The work is so happy when you have a happy companion...I love Sister Petras. She is really the cutest. We had a temple day today. And this was only her SECOND time ever going to a temple. The first was her endowment. So that was an awesome moment with her today.  We just laugh and laugh at all the crazy people we meet in a day. We are making a lot of fun friends here. 

With Sister Petras at the temple

We had a lot of awesome lessons with members this week....we're still just trying to get familiar with our area and the people here. Missions are literally the best...not a whole lot of names to report on who we are teaching but I am excited for a lot of our follow up appointments this week :) 

To end on a spiritual note....going back to the Atonement. Elder Bednar gives a way awesome talk called, "Converted Unto the Lord" (yes I am still on the Bednar bandwagon haha) and he shares from Mark 9:24...about how a certain man asks Christ to "Help Thou my unbelief..." when he asks Christ to heal his son... and Elder Bednar goes onto say that the man probably had no doubt that Christ could help his son but he didn't know that his help could be SO individual to him. And I do testify that His love is SO individual to each of us. He cares and he knows us. 

Have a great week...especially you Zoe!  

Love, 

Bagong Tita na Si Abby :) 

Mhoira---recent convert 

More Sisters at the Temple :)

U.S. Sisters!!!