Manila Ice

For all who have not yet heard, Sister Danielle has been reassigned to the Manila Philippines Mission. There was a chance of being reassigned to California or Alaska Tagalog speaking, but luckily she still gets to go foreign and have all the cultural experiences and sicknesses that come with such an adventure! Although disappointed about not being able to go to Baguio as initially called, her spirits are high and she is happy to still be going to the Philippines. Below are some excerpts from her most recent email. Enjoy :)

Ice, Ice Baby... She's going to Manila...

"Manila ice, ice baby! Don don don da da don don. Bam bam. Ok is it wicked that that song has been stuck in my head all week? No... Anyways, it's a know fact that I am now going to Manila. I still haven't been offically informed that but I knew I was medically cleared for it. The doctor actually thought is was foolish they were so worried about my asthma. When the last time you had a major asthma attack? 10 years ago. Were you ever hospitalized? No. Will you breath into this tube. Yes, but I have a cold, just so you know. Ok. Wow that's pretty good for having a cold! That's right! Anyways that's kinda how my appointment went."

"So the night i found out I wasn't going to Baguio, i of course bawled all day and night, but that night I was lying in bed, still crying, when i started to pray. When i finished my prayer, i realized i had stopped crying like half way through. This intense peace and calm came over me. It defiantly did not come from within me, because i was still having why thoughts and worries and complaints coming to my head, but i just kept feeling it would be okay. The next morning i read a the talk by Elder Hales from last general conference. (I would suggest you all read it and study the scriptures at the end) anyways, I prayed again and told God that I would go anywhere and I would serve with all my heart, but that He should know that a tiny part of my heart would always stay in Baguio. And then the thought came... I have NO CLOTHES FOR ALASKA! Gahhhhh! But God once again told me that it would all be ok. And it was. Cause I am going to Manila!"

Nineteen year old boys are special... 

"Elder Amataga makes thank-yous out of his left over food. He usually makes faces and then writes, thank you or salamat, or GET ME OUT OF HERE in ketchup or fries"

"Elder Bird and I had a half hour conversation about his love for Dinosaurs. In a package he got this dinosaur that's skin comes off and then it's just a skeleton. So cool. And the first day he got it he never stopped holding it. We decided he could use it in a lesson about resurrection."

The pressure of having a time limit when one is so full of things to discuss...

"Oh, there are so many more funny and great stories that I wish I could tell you all but, I only have 2 minutes left and when the time turns red, my brain stops working and then I just mumble on and on about the time turning red......" 

And because of that... that's just what she did :) More to come...