Sister Brown in the Philippines: The Life of Being a Nanay‏

My anak, Sister Valdez

Ano ang buhay? That is the question I am asking myself this week. And only Amanda and Avery will properly appreciate it. But first things first, HAPPY BIRTHDAY BAILEY JO, YOU ARE MY FAVORITE! And thank you to the Quintana family, the Brown family ulit, Hermana Veater, and the Bezzant family for your letters. Loved them!

So this week I became a true Filipina. I ate a baby duck embryo, AKA balut. Guess what, it wasn't that bad! I would totally eat it again. Besides becoming a Filipina, I also became a Nanay. Sister Banzali is now in the lovely island of Marinduque and I miss her like crazy! But my new companion is Sister Valdez. Filipina po siya at 20 years old siya. Let me just tell you, I'm pretty sure being a trainer is exactly like having an actual baby. You bring it home and then you're like "Now what?" And you just have to fake it til ya make it but sometimes you both stay up crying at night because you have no idea what you're doing and you're just exhausted ALL the time. Luckily, she came pre-trained and she already speaks Tagalog. Seriously. She is so magaling. The stressful part is the part where we don't have any investigators to visit. But we're working on that. We have a lot of very interested referrals and I can't wait to start teaching them this week!

The only problem with me and Sister Valdez is although she speaks English very well, she doesn't really understand it very well. Plus I have to lead the lessons and call all of the members that work with us so my head is exploding with Tagalog. At night I have a hard time speaking English. My Tagalog will definitely be improving over the next 3 months.

Finally, I just love these people! And it's kind of stressing me out. Michael and Virgie, our recent converts, are so, so important to me and I don't think they understand that. Preach My Gospel says "Each and every convert is a great responsibility." Kasi, when they are baptized, they commit to live the gospel for the rest of their lives. This is their salvation. It's a big deal. And I'm really worried because Sister Banzali and Sister Sita are the ones that taught and baptized them. I met them the week of their baptism and although I love them so much, the bond with the missionaries that really help you change your life is just different than with any other missionaries. And now that Sister Banzali is gone, I just want to help them and answer their questions and tell them how important they are to the church and to me and to Heavenly Father but I don't speak the language. I still don't know everything about their conversion. And Sister Valdez has even less of that bond with them than I do. AHHHHH! I know that they are in God's hands, not just mine. I know that He will take care of them. But if you all want to pray for them to, that wouldn't hurt. :)

Love you all so, so much! You are seriously the best! Keep on sharing your light with everyone around you. Remember who you are and what you stand for. Mahal na mahal kita!

XOXO, Sister Brown