103 Things/ It's more fun in the Philippines!

 

Hello my beautiful people! I'm coming home. For my last e-mail here's 103 things I learned here in the mission field. There's so much more. I'm so grateful to the saints of Negros and for their example and love to me and for everything Filipino and for my Father in Heaven and the greatest gift I could ever be given. 

Some news too! The Flores family was confirmed this Sunday! It took the whole sacrament meeting! Sister De La Cruz and I were the speakers and we both spoke for just one minute :) 

ALSO! Do you remember when I pumped water for a family in Bacolod and then we taught them and they came to church? Well the ENTIRE Jara family was baptized just this weekend!! Biggest miracles. WATER SAVES SOULS. Also shout out to Sister Adams love that sister. 

1. To speak Hiligaynon

2. To speak the language of the spirit

3. How much Heavenly Father loves His children

4. How to see miracles everyday

5. The importance of obedience

6. That every moment is a teaching moment

7. How to trust in the plan

8. How to be a Pinay

9. How to eat SO MUCH RICE

10. How to be a companion

11. How to recognize the spirit

12. How to stand up for the truth

13. How to teach in the pouring rain

14. How to give your heart to God 

15. The importance of accountability

16. How to really repent

17. How to cook Tinola

18. That God does His own work

19. How to give a talk with less than 5 minutes notice

20. How to study the Gospel

21. How to forget yourself and get lost

22. How to cook adobo

23.What unconditional love feels like

24.The importance of family

25. Which trees have edible fruit

26.How to wash clothes by hand

27.How to receive revelation 

28.How to have eternal friendships

29.How to celebrate Christmas in September

30. How to eat rice with my hands

31. How to share a burden

32. How to become best friends in 5 minutes

33. How to ignore banana spiders

34. How to be patient

35. The power of prayer

36. How to talk to God

37. How to follow the spirit

38. How to teach someone else Hiligaynon

39. Filipino text language

40. What it means to be diligent

41.How to trust and sustain the Lord's servants

42. How to eat ANYTHING

43. How to not get lost in a place you've never been

44. How to Bible bash

45. How NOT to bible bash

46. That you SHOULDN'T Bible bash

47.How to bear pure testimony

48. How to heal

49.How to teach the Gospel of Jesus Christ

50.How to walk with God

51.How to be successful

52.The importance of pronunciation

53. That God can play beautiful music through a broken instrument

54. How to catch rats

55. How to just wing it (by the spirit)

56. How to see others as God sees them

57. How to joke in Ilonggo

58. To invite others to come unto Christ

59.How to weep

60. How it feels to have efficasent oil in your eye

61. Not to pour efficasent oil on your head

62.How to REJOICE

63. How to overcome fear

64.What it really means to have faith 

65. How to almost drown a rat

66. And then cry about it

67. How to eat 3 meals in one night

68. How to clean and gut a fish

69. How to catch baby frogs

70. How to talk to anyone

71. How to cook rice anywhere

72. How to wait

73. How to not be alone for 18 months

74. What it means to be humble

75. How to cook curry

76. How to say Goodbye

77. How to take a bucket shower

78.How to be bold

79. How to be a neat freak

80. How to call others and yourself to repentance

81. The elect can be found everywhere

82. How to rescue, lift, and love

83. That my parents were always right

84. How to eat every meal with a fork and spoon

85. How to have JOY

86. What to do when your companion gets dengue and how to be their nurse 

87. How to train at zone conference

88. How to bring souls to Christ

89. The importance of integrity

90. How to be best friends with all the Tatays

91. How to FEAR NO MAN

92. How to Go in the strength of the Lord

93. How to walk through a typhoon or a flood

94. How to teach anyone anywhere

95. How to submit my will to God's 

96. How to climb a mountain to find His sheep

97.How to be the tallest in a room

98. How to have peace in this life

99. How to have no bad days

100. How to ride sidesaddle on the motorcycle on the tricycle

101. How many people you can fit in a tricycle

102. What it means to be a disciple of Jesus Christ 

103. How to stand as a witness of God at all times in all things and in all places

I love you all so much. See you on Thursday!

Sister Zollinger 

Beautiful in White

 

The Flores Family is baptized!! It was a perfect baptism. When Nanay Eufemia came up out of the water she cried and said "Oh thank you Lord" it filled my heart. Allen cried when

she shared her testimony and she said she knew they had found the right path to get back to the kingdom of God. We had the baptism right after General Conference so a lot of members were able to attend and the spirit was strong. President Sumagpao came too and since La Carlota is a district not a stake he was able to preside which was special to me. 

General Conference was wonderful. I like what Elder Oaks told us to do- Teach Doctrine, Keep the commandments, Love one another, and GO to the Temple! I also loved the focus on having Joy and that we don't need to be perfect we just need to intentionally try really hard! I also cried every time they talked about the youth. I felt so much Heavenly Father's trust in them. When Prophet Nelson was talking I just remembered all the young prophets and how much Heaven trusted in and helped them- Mormon, Samuel, Joseph Smith, etc.. I'm so proud of the youth. I wish I was a better youth but I just hope they know their potential to do good and to build up the kingdom of God. 

Also this week April's son Jhaeden turned one and we had lunch with them and Jhaeden got to eat lots of cake it was a ball. I'll miss them so very much. 

It's my last week here in the mission field. This is still my motto- not just until I take off my tag but until the very very end. “The Standard of Truth has been erected; no unhallowed hand can stop the work from progressing; … the truth of God will go forth boldly, nobly, and independent, till it has penetrated every continent, visited every clime, swept every country, and sounded in every ear, till the purposes of God shall be accomplished, and the Great Jehovah shall say the work is done.”

See you all next week for one last email :D

Love you all

Sister Zollinger

 

It's Milling Season in Sugarcane country

 

BACOLOD PHILIPPINES TEMPLE!!!!!!

This week was a whirlwind. The best whirlwind ever!

Here's some highlights

BACOLOD IS GETTING A TEMPLE! Best and biggest miracle ever! We cried in the pews at church yesterday

The Flores family all passed their baptism interviews and will be baptized this Sunday after conference! They're so excited and we're so excited!

I had my last Zone Conference this Friday and got to give my departure testimony. I cried and felt the spirit. 

This week I had exchanges with Sister Robertson and it was a blast! We saw so many miracles in one day. We showed the Restoration video to one of their people and she plugged it in to the biggest speaker ever and I'm pretty sure their entire neighborhood heard the voice of God the Father. It. Was. Epic. :D 

I had a few days of pretty sad sad depressed moments every time I remembered going home but I got a blessing and I'm better now :) Lot's of mixed emotions but all is well. 

I'm so excited for the future of the Bacolod Philippines Mission. Being a part of the Lord's work in this part of the vineyard is the greatest gift I've ever been given. 

 

Love,

Sister Zollinger

It's a water buffalo!