Week 73 - 6/16/2014 THE END!

Hello! So, this week has been the craziest week of my mission!!!!! And I know what you're thinking... Sister pike, you've had the craziest mission in the history of the world, how on earth could it possibly get more crazy than that? Just wait and see. Brace yourselves. I'm telling you, this is big!!! Here goes nothing... Right now, I'm in Tacloban, bags packed because... I'M COMING HOME!!!! This is not a joke. I'm coming home a transfer early. And guess what? I'm happy! I'm excited! I'm completely and totally at peace. And you're probably like, what!? Sister Pike LOVED her mission. Loves the Philippines and had a hard time wrapping my brain around going home in just 7 weeks and it was changed to just one in a second. But it's true! And that's the miracle. Here's what happened. 

I've been taking the medicine and it wasn't really working so Sister Andaya was just following up and I didn't worry at all because they were coming for Zone Interviews on Wednesday. So they came! It was good! It was there last event that we would see them at so it was kinda sad. I talked to sister Andaya for a good long while. About my diet, about setting my next doctor appointment, she wanted me to finish out my medicine and then go. And then I go in for my last interview with President! (or so I thought). Hello, How's your area sister? We talk... "I'm sick still so we haven't gotten to work too much." And then the bomb hits... "We're really worried about you sister, maybe you should just go home and rest and get all better." my thoughts-nooo!!! I would die! "When do you go home sister?" "Next transfer po. July" "Oh! So you can just go home one transfer early! You can be our batch! Maybe you can just go home and rest and get all better than you can be a missionary there in home without the nametag. You have served a successful mission, sister. You have served with all your heart and strength." And I was speechless. And crying. It felt a little bit as if I had tripped at the finish line. Sooo close! but not quite. And like a very wise mission president, He counseled that I should pray about it and that was that. So I wiped my tears and walked out, met up with Sister Brown, "How was the interview?" "Hard" and I just broke down right there in the hallway and cried while Sister Brown held me. She's so good to me. I was super embarrassed, I hate crying! We still had to finish and I had to act like a normal person like everything was okay. But every time it came up, I couldn't help but cry! It was pretty terrible. After that we went home and just talked. I talked about how I just had this vision of going home. Meeting up with my batch. Excited to come home but now I was so afraid that I wouldn't want to go home! That I would just be miserable! That right when I saw my family I would just cry cause I didn't get to finish my mission and I didn't want to be there. She listened, we talked and then I went to the roof to be alone and just prayed my heart out and cried a lot. And wrote everything down in my journal. I can only think of one other time I have ever cried and prayed so hard in my life and that was in Manila when I thought I was going home 11 months ago. It was like de ja vu. But I knew since the second President talked to me that this was going to be different. But here's the crazy part. When I walked down from the roof top an hour and a half later, I was happy. I was content. I was looking forward to going home. My will was changed. My whole heart and every desire.  That's how you learn just how powerful prayer is. Sometimes the miracle is manifest in healing of sicknesses, or of changing our circumstances and sometimes the huge miracle is the mighty change within ourselves. I received a blessing that night and through the words of Elder Hughes, I felt so much love from my Heavenly Father. 

"Over the next few days, you will know what you need to do and with that knowledge will come peace. And that you know your Heavenly Father loves you is always watching over you and has a plan for you. He will give you the strength to fulfill His plan for you. He will give you the strength to fulfill the mission HE has called you to. Have the faith to see the miracles that are all around you. Through your example, everyone around you will be able to see the care of our loving Heavenly Father."

And that's when I knew that this was his plan all along. He called to me this mission, and he is releasing me from it. He never intended me to serve until July. I was done. And over the next few days, I was still sick but I was able to finish off strong. And I was also able to see the miracles that have been preparing me for this. All the goals I set. All the things I bought. I had left nothing undone. I was ready in just a matter of days. Sunday was like the funniest thing ever. Seriously the most bizarre and enjoyable Sunday ever and basically the Sister Pike show. I was a speaker, taught gospel principles, prayed every other time, bore my testimony in MCM, members fed us, we took pictures and I even taught a lesson! It was literally like the best last day ever. And I didn't even cry! I'm just happy and totally at peace. And excited! I'll be seeing you soon! And I'll be seeing a doctor soon! Which is probably what I'm most excited about haha and I'll be resting and getting better. It's such a blessing. I'm batch with the Andaya's. I'm going home like normal (on the cycle, not just me by myself) and it's ONLY 6 weeks early. That's a HUGE miracle! That's like nothing. I feel so blessed with all of my mission experiences. 

Don't have a panic attack about when because we have no idea yet... I'm going to Manila for a while because they haven't processed any of my travel plans so it might be another week or so... but I get to go back to my favorite place, the MRC! And also, I figured, my mission has always been crazy and unpredictable so why should I expect the way it ended to be any different. haha And lot's more crazy experiences happened which I'm excited to tell you in person! That's crazy. Happy Father's Day Dad! And Sister Brown said, the more I think of if, the more your mom is just going to die of happiness. She gets what she always wanted. I love you all! Thanks for the support and the love, you have helped me so much. Next time I email, I will have left the Philippines Tacloban Mission forever. Whoa.  

Love,

Sister Pike

Week 10 - 4/8/2013

AHHHH!! Chicago??? (Our brother Mark got his mission call to Chicago - Julie) That is SO exciting! And insane. Like mother like daughter, like father like son, that never happens! Different languages and areas too, but crazy nonetheless! Markie! I am super excited for you! This week has been pretty excellent though I don't really know why. I've been trying to pay attention to all the little details that you might enjoy. Funniest thing ever, we were riding by on a pedicab and this little girl and boy (12 ish maybe) saw me as we were passing and she said, "Ah, mahusay!" (beautiful) so she asked my name, but we were riding by so I didn't really have time to respond so I just didn't say anything, but then I hear running behind me and a turn and they are chasing us down, literally!! When they caught up to us and were running next to us, they asked again and when I told them and they confirmed it, they stopped running and she screamed "AH!" As in "I'm so excited!" It was hilarious!!! And every time we pass they yell my name with excitement and chase us down and shake my hand through the opening while we are still riding! hahaha I have a legit fan club! And I took some pictures with random girls yesterday. And every time I speak Waray-waray, people are just astounded. It's basically the best. And when members find out this is only my first area, they are really impressed. Then I asked my companion and she said when she left her first area, the members rated her a 1 and she rated me an 8... after 3 weeks. Crazy! I love it though. I'm feeling so much more confident in my speaking skills and teaching skills, the other day I taught like half the lesson! I felt so great! Sundays after church are probably the worst because you realize that almost none of the investigators or people you have been working with showed up to church and you realize that you have a LOT of work to do. But that lasted for like a second and I just felt grateful to be teaching so many investigators! We have like 10? and many inactive that we visit on a regular basis. We teach 12 full lessons in a really bad week haha We really are blessed. I told my companion that Dad only taught 2 lessons his entire mission and zero baptisms and she was just shocked. She didn't believe me! haha I really feel grateful that I even have 11 people people to disappoint me for not coming to church haha. Perspective. On Friday, we had Zone interviews so we had training with President Andaya and we got snickers!! Which is basically the highlight, Sister Somera has literally been talking about it for weeks. We didn't get to watch general Conference this weekend, but we will next weekend. But I don't think we get to watch the Saturday sessions but I'm so excited! General Conference has always been my favorite. Today, we had a zone activity of Basketball, volleyball and frisbee and it was so fun! Every chapel I've seen is super nice, gated, bars on the windows, all tile floor inside with full court basketball where the parking lot should be. But there are no parking lots! Most people have motorcycles, get rides (sakay) or walk. Since is was all outside, I got sunburned so bad! But I was in heaven. I love sports!! 

Some cultural things I noticed, when you don't hear what someone says and you want them to repeat it, you open your mouth really wide. This was confusing to me at first because it makes it look like what you said was really shocking haha but I'm so good at it now. Ano pa... Tons of little kids are always playing in the streets and one game that I see most often is they put their flip flops in the middle and through other flip flops at them trying to hit it. I'm not really sure... We always take our shoes off when we enter a house and we sit on the floor about 25% of the time. When we meet someone really old, we touch their hand to our head to show respect and we always call them Nanay or Tatay. That's been hard to get used to. This past week we went to a restraunt that had American food and I ordered waffles. They gave me a fork and a knife and literally didn't know what to do with myself... haha seriously! They always use a spoon in the right hand and a fork in the left and you only used the fork to shovel the food onto the spoon then you use the spoon also as a knife. It is SO much more efficient. If I was that clueless after only 3 weeks, just imagine after 16 more months... haha it's going to be hilarious. I really hated trying to eat with a fork and knife. Without it realizing it, I tried to pile the food on my knife to eat it...didn't work out so well. Filipinos are super blunt. They don't ever call me big or anything, but another member did tell another Sister she was fat... haha At first when people would compliment me about being really beautiful or really smart for picking up the language so fast, I just thought oh they're being nice. But this week I learned that they are so honest and only say what they really mean. Something else cultural I've noticed that they are really committed in relationships. Even though marriage is not super common, when they live together or she gets pregnant, they are family and it means the same thing. In fact, they call them the same thing as husband or wife and it makes it way easier for those we are teaching because they basically are married and just as committed, they just need the legal document. And so far I haven't heard of any divorces.   

The other day, we visited a house that was crazy to get to! I really want to take a picture when we go back! He was our pedicab driver and we talked to him and he was interested in learning more. He told us the general area where he lived and we asked around and usually that's pretty typical except no one knew who he was! Finally like the 10th person knew (that's another thing is they are SUPER nice about giving directions and they will go out of their way to help you) so we followed her. We weaved between houses (huts really) in the mud, then we walked along these planks over mud and sewage, then we walked along like a 2 in. wide concrete wall and on one side was swamp and the other, a foot of sewage, for a while and then through mud and then we had to jump over two stream things, it was a pretty hard jump. I loved it, Sister Somera barely made it haha it was crazy! No wonder no one knew him! I was just laughing the whole time thinking, I can't wait till the others hear about this! It was great. And then he was busy so we had to go all the way back but it was a pretty legit little adventure.

Oh and Sister Somera's Birthday was on Saturday so we celebrated! The other sisters got a barbie cake for her but it was SUPER dense and so moist, it was crazy! It literally looked like it was just slabs of chocolate but still marasa (delicious) nonetheless. I feel like my emails are so random! haha One all the gospel, the next culture, you never know what you are going to get! I love it here. I hope you all can enjoy my adventures too! It has been pretty darn hot lately. Always humid but I never realize how humid it is until we meet in the bishop's office on Sunday which is aircon then walk out and the humidity hits you like a brick wall. Oh and I tell people I'm pretty used to the hot and humid because I'm from Texas and they are just shocked. "I thought it was only cold in America!" haha, that's funny. Until next week! 

Gugma,

Sister Pike

Called to Serve

On November 14, 2012, all of my wildest dreams came true. I opened my letter from the First Presidency of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints and was called to serve in the Philippines Tacloban Mission! I was ecstatic. Everyone's favorite question to ask me when they knew my mission papers were in was, "Where would you want to go?" and I always thought that was kinda silly because I can't control where I'm going to serve, so why dwell on it? I accepted a very long time ago that I will go where the Lord wants me to go because he knows way more about my life and my future than I do and I knew that every single person thinks their mission was "the best mission on earth" so I knew I would absolutely love wherever I went. Plus I think I'm a very flexible person who loves adventure and trying new things so the sky was the limit. When I was in my Stake President's interview, he asked me the same thing and I said, 

"I will literally go anywhere." 

"Even to a remote 3rd world country where you are the only white person who speaks English?" 

"Honestly, I would think that was the greatest thing ever." 

and looking back, it's awesome to see that I really did get "the greatest thing ever."

For some strange reason, when I got my envelope, I was convinced it was stateside! Up until the moment I read the Philippines, I was absolutely positive I was going to somewhere along the lines of Boise, ID and I could not be more happy to have been wrong. I tried to read it line by line, but as soon as I looked at the paper, the first thing I saw was the Philippines and my jaw dropped! That was the last place I expected! Especially since my mom and 3 of my cousins on the same side of the family served there, all in different missions of course, and the likelihood of that happening was astronomical! Even though it was the last place on earth I expected, I knew the second I read it that it was absolutely perfect for me and it really was inspired by God. 

Even though I didn't voice any of these opinions, I learned that I secretly really did want to go to a 3rd world country, learn a new language and not be somewhere cold. Although I like the cold most of the time, I dislike dressing warm in church clothes which would be my entire mission. I'm not much of a tights or scarf person. I have spent every Christmas Break in Utah since I was 8, this is my 3rd winter at BYU and I still have yet to buy boots. The second everyone familiar with the Philippines heard where I was going, they said get ready to learn 3 new languages! So not only did I get my, "learn a new language" wish, but I got three:) Not to mention I had never even heard of Cebuano and Waray-waray before. It will be a challenge and a very humbling experience, but I am so excited. As for the 3rd world country, I thought if anyone can handle a 3rd world country, it's me. I will eat literally anything. I am not afraid of bugs.  I love a challenge and an adventure. The more I learn about it, the more I am convinced that it is absolutely PERFECT for me. I'm really excited to have ice cold bucket showers and the prospect of washing my clothes by hand (even though I'm sure I will get sick of it fast enough). Apparently they LOVE basketball and loves anyone who loves basketball. Rice and meat is a major part of their diet and every single day I eat rice, which is basically everyday, my roommates say I am so glad you are going to Asia. I'm so glad too:)

The countdown is on, only 55 days left! I just hope I'm ready to work hard, learn a ton and have the most amazing, adventurous experience of my life. When I'm gone, I'll have one of my sisters post my weekly letters home so you can keep up:) Thank you to all those that have been such amazing examples and supports as went through the process of making this major life decision. I know I would not be the person I am if I didn't have amazing people teach me how to be a better person and a better missionary. I am so excited to share my knowledge of the restored gospel of Jesus Christ because I know it brings true happiness. I get to spend 18 months changing people's lives and bringing them the greatest message ever? Sounds like the best 18 months to me.

The envelope!

These crazy kids got to witness the whole thing.

Google Plus hangout with the whole family:)

The countdown! Greatest thing ever.