Biyahe biyahe

Dear family,

Well this week has been really busy but really good.  We went on splits twice this week (one was a follow up split).  The first one we had to travel all the way to carmen, which is really really far away from us, so to be honest most of the split is spent traveling, but that is the life of STL here, everyone you go on splits with/ the mission office is really far away, so we spend a lot of time travel.  But it was really good, I always learn a lot and it is really fun getting to know the other sisters.  I also got to work is san remegio, which has  super pretty beach, so that was fun.  And I went to yolanda village while I was there (yolanda is the big storm that hit here a yearish ago, i forget what is called is america but its yolanda here.)  Anyways yolanda village was the most impacted place from the storm and there are a lot of houses built here by foreigns for them.  I have cool pictures, hopefully I will be able to send them.

As far as the work, even though we were really busy we got to teach lots of people which was good, and it was funny because this sunday was sister sears last sunday here, so her family and her came up to bogo which was cool to see them, and then as well ALL of our less actives came to church, so the church was super super full, but it was really great to see them all at church.  Which just need things like that every sunday now haha,

Also Marshana came to church again, even though her friend sister ypil couldn't come. She was really shy but ended up making a lot of friends and this week we taught her about word of wisdom and she first said she would finish her on coffee pack and the stop, (because she is really poor and probably couldn't by any other drink, she is a house maid, and is the one who works for her family, so she is really really poor.)  Anyways we told her we would trade her coffee out for energen (which is a different hot drink here), and then we bought her 7 for her one and told her she was already getting promised blessing.  We thought we were being funny haha.  But she is really great, and is really just the sweetest old lady ever!

Anyways that is all my update for you.  I love you all and hope life is going wonderfully for you as well.  Have a great week!

Sister Hancock

P.S  The first picture is me and mina, the second one is yolanda village

Happy Graduation!!!

Dear family,

So today in the philippines everyone is officially graduating.  Crazy right?  Summer just comes by way too fast, I can't even believe it.  And it will be unbelievably long for me this year. 

Well as for updates for me, I guess I can say I am going home soon because this week we started the processes of immigration things to go home.  I had to drive to mandaue (which is awfully far away) to get fingerprinter and get pictures taken.  So that took out a lot of our time to work, but it was good.  While we were there we also got to go to a filippino dentist (not for me, but for someone who went with us) which was creapy and I am really glad I haven't problems with that since I have been here (knock on wood).  Also for your information, I have a HUGE batch to go home with me.  There are 26 missionaries going home with me which is the size of one zone.  It is causing my mission president a lot of stress because he has to close a lot of areas.  It is funny here because we have our filipina batch to go home, filipino batch to go home, and our foreigner elder batch to go home and we all got here in the mission at very different times, but all go home at the same time.  Actually my current companion Sister Holmes will probably go to the same airport that I do to go home at the same time, so you guys will probably get to meet her family while waiting for me.

This week we also did splits.  I went on splits with Sister Niko which was so so fun.  We were in the same zone in consolasion and exercized together most morning and now we have lived in the same house for 3 transfers, so we have become really good friends and it was really fun just working with her.  I don't know if I told you this yet, but we also play basketball and volleyball most mornings here.

As far as the area, Mina is still doing fantastic.  She reads more then I do in the book of mormon and I get to read a hour every day.  She is on fire.  Then we just got a referral for a member in the ward who we have been working with the get her husband active again, anyways the referral and the husband came to church.  The referrals name is marshanan.  She is a really sweet old lady, who is a really good student.  She is amazing!

Anyways that is all my updates.  I hope you are all doing well. and that you remember that I love you soooo much.  Have a great week.  Amping!

Sister Hancock

To my loved ones,

I hope this message finds you in hot spring weather, because everyone knows a hot spring is better then a cold one.  

I have had an excellent week here in bogo.  It has been kind of adventurous haha.  First we went on splits this week, and it was really good to help the sisters.  I went with sister Fernandez which is the anak of sister lange my last companion.  She is a really fun person and we got a long pretty quick which made for a fun day and it was good to help her with a lot of struggles she has been going through.  

We also went on splits with sister tanner haha (the mission presidents wife).  Her and president came down to bogo for our district conference and she had some extra time so we spent time with her which was really fun, and it actually turn out to be her anniversary day which she could spend with president because he was really busy so hopefully she enjoyed it as well.  We have the best mission parent, they are so loving, you can ask any missionary that and they would testify to it.  Some day I will be as christ-like as them.

So anyways they came down and spoke at our conference and I seriously learned so much. Its funny as a missionary how you just love things like conference where people just talk about the gospel, I didn't like it before my mission very much but now its like my favorite thing.  The topic was counsels which is a weird topic, but my mission president did a great job and talked about how god works through counsels to receive revelation and that how prophet receive revelation and thats how we should receive revelation in our home as well. Which means I am currently chastising you all to do family counsel haha, just kidding.

Also I translate for the bocks- the senior couple assign here in bogo- during conference, and I am telling it is so hard to translate for bisaya to english because in bisaya word order doesn't matter a ton, so they place things in whatever order the want sometimes. Anyways trying to translate it directly without listening to the whole message is extremely difficult because it just sound like broken english, but hopefully she understood the message anyway.

As far as church reports, it was conference, it was conference and hard to see people, so I don't know.  But I know for sure that mina came to both saturday and sunday session of conference.  She is so awesome, she is making so many changes is her life which is so awesome to see.

Anyways that is all for me, I hope you are all doing well.  I love you all so much

Sister Hancock

P.S.  The two picture are, first my area is in a graveyard, as in people literally live in the grave yard which is sometimes kind of creepy, like for instance this week we found real human bones.  Then the other one is a cake our neighbor gave us for watering their plants, which unfortunately was mocha flavored.  We all were unsure whether it was made with really coffee, so after getting counsel from our leaders, including the APs we decided not to eat it haha.  We were all truely upset haha.

This is a pointless box

Dear family,

How are you.  I heard their was a snow storm in your part of the world.  I am sorry I can't report the same.  However we have had a lot of sun.  Summer is starting to start here.  I am not looking forward to it.  Summer is awful here, its so horribly hot, but I guess I can't be complaining because at least we don't have snow.

So it has been an excellent week.  To start off the week we went to Mission Leader Conference (which is probably my favorite part of being a missionary, its so fun because you get to see all of your mission friends AND THEN I had milk with cereal.  Can you imagine such a beautiful things?  This wasn't the fake milk either, it was real milk.  I was so happy for about 10 minute.  Haha then there was so really good work shop and discussion.  One of the ones we retaught in Zone Training Meeting we about testifying contacts, which is about just talking to random people on the street, which since I have been in the mission we don't really do that.  We knock on houses to get in to teach lesson,because getting in is fairly easy, so that is all we do, literally that is the only aspect of missionary work I know, I have never done any other form of tracting.  Sister Holmes and I have been trying to do that more, and it has been cool.  And when we retaught it the spirit was really strong and it was just good all around.

Then we had a really cool lesson this week. We have this investgator named flor (who honestly is the only internigator I have ever taught, but she has been investigating the church on/off since 1984 or something, back when missionaries were only allowed to teach in english here.)  Anyways she keeps having ibd's going to church, but misses her date, for who knows why.  So we decided to try and bring the senior couple who recently got assigned here to one of our lessons.  Senior couples here don't speak the language, so we translated for them (which was really fun) and they ended up relating to flor a ton, like it was shocking, they were perfect for her.  And the spirit was so strong the whole lesson.  Then this sunday she came to church as well as pretty much all of our less actives which was crazy.  It was a good sunday, and just a good week.

Lets see other then that the sisters in our branch had a baptism that was cool to see.  We had another branch plan meeting and our sacrament attendance has gone up a lot which is great thanks to a lot of less actives coming back to church.  So life is good here.  I hope life is good in you part of the kalibutan.  I love you all so much.  Stay strong to the gospel and keep looking for missionary experiences and remember you are making a difference.  I love you all!

Sister Hancock

I am Sister Hancock and I am a mormon

To my beloved family,

How is it going.  I hope you are all doing amazing.  Life with my new companion is great.  Being companions with you batch is an amazing thing.  It is really fun and we already were friends before we were companions so things have been going great.  It has probably been on of the most smoothest transition into a companion that I have ever had.  But just so you get to know her a little her name is sister Holmes, and her family lives in Cedar hills, utah.  Her major in college is she is the logistic person in stage manage or something like that.  But anyways she got to go to china with BYU for their play so that is cool.

As for other new this week we probably did our most productive CSP ever (generally CSP here invovle a lot of waiting).  I am sending picture from it.  As well we got to see the elders in our ward's baptism.  It was really great AND the decided just before it started to ask us to do a special music number.  But suprisingly even though we didn't practice, and there was no piano or anything like that of any kind, I wasn't nervous.  I have decided that my mission has gotten rid of any people fear that I have ever had.  Because missions put you in so many funny situation, and you deal with the situation in your 2nd language.  It a great thing.  

As well Mina came to church again this week.  It is really really cool to see the gospel touch her life because she is rougher around the edges, but she alway read, and really really wants to learn the gospel.  And she was telling me the other day that no matter who is at the church and what missionaries are assign she is going to keep going to church everyday.  She really wants to change here life.  As well Daphney accepted a IBD for april 4 so we are really praying that she make that date.

Well I think that is all the updates for my corner of life over here in bogo.  I hope that you are all doing well.  I love you all so very much!  Stay strong in the gospel and it will benefit all other aspects of your life.

Love you,

Sister Hancock

P.S.  The first picture is from last week of me eating balut.  The the second picture is a failure of a selfie from the CSP.  The white one it that picture is my companion.  The other one are my house mates