Abbey in the Philippines: Sister Abbey Hafen // Week Forty-Three // "You'll Never Guess"

you will NEVER guess who my companion is!

.... SISTER SUAYBAGIUO. Yes. My housemate in Alicia for 3 months :) I honestly thought it was a joke when the zone leaders texted us the list of our comps. Haha.

She got sick her 2nd day here, so we didn't leave the house friday, and saturday during conference we had to leave early. then saturday night she couldn't leave the C.R (bathroom) so we stayed home after conference. Its been crappy not being able to work, because our first day of work together was AWESOME. As in, so easy to teach together, so fun, and the spirit was so strong. Sister Suaybagiuo is so awesome, and goes home July 2nd. So next cycle is her last cycle! She loves to work hard, so we are just going to have the best cycle. And we haven't had to "get to know eachother" because we already know each other! its sooo good, i am loving this companionship already.One of my absolute favorite things about the mission is COMPANIONS. I love studying with them, talking with them, learning the gospel with them, teaching the gospel with them, laughing with them, crying with them, telling them everything, loving them, getting notes from them, and just being WITH them. I am hoping heaven is a little like that :)

The work is good, we are finding new investigators and trying new ways to help our investigators really progress. Sister Suay is so experienced and is soo good with helping people on their conversion process, so i am soo excited to get working this week. But first we have zone conference tomorrow :) And I get to see my nanay (trainer), anak (the sister i trained), my best friend (sister meinzer) and many more tomorrow. I am dang excited!

General Conference was absolutely amazing. I seriously enjoy it more and more every time. I honestly received soo much revelation and really prepared for this conference- more than any other time before. I prayerfully prepared questions and wrote them down in my notebook. I set a goal to really just write down the feelings that came into my mind prompted by the things the speakers said, instead of writing down only what they actually were saying. I realized (again) that when I just shut up, or when I just turn off my loud brain, the spirit actually talks to me. (haha how many times have i had that realization on the mission? soo many haha,) Conference was one of the most revelatory experiences so far on my mission.

I love being a missionary, and I love the spirit I feel. I honestly have made so many promises to my Father in Heaven about things that I promise I will continue to do even when I am not a missionary; this feeling of the spirit is just too good to give up after I'm released as a full-time missionary. I remember elder neilson (the general authority that visited our Zone Conference last november) saying something like that its so important that we as young kids, learn to understand the spirit here on the mission, because after our missions, we’ve got much bigger decisions to make, that hold MUCH more weight than the decisions we are making here on the mission. I have never forgotten that. And for the first time in my life, I feel like I'm starting to get the tools to face the "real life" when it comes after my mission. To face it with the right tools and the right outlook.

I love everything. Thank you for just being supportive of me. I am amazed at all the missionaries that don't have support, who's familes aren't active, who aren't members, who have loved ones die on the mission, but yet are still strong. I am among the few (as in seriously, the very very few) who have a "completed family" (sealed) and have siblings who have served missions as well.

I love each of you, the Savior, this gospel, my companion, mission president, area, country, and everything, more than an email can really express.

-Sister Hafen