.: 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 :)