Off to Winter Wonderland!

Nah. Not the one in London.

Dear Family and Friends,

How was your Christmas? WAS IT FUN WITHOUT MEEEEEE? :p

My first and only Christmas in the mission field was really fabulous! We visited a lot of people, members (recent converts and less-actives) and few of our investigators (as most of them are not around due to holidays season).

I definitely won't forget this Christmas as I focused more on the spirit of our Saviour and giving my time and energy for the sake of other people. I love it so much!

Well,as you've read in my subject line today, yes, I am moving tomorrow to one of the coldest area (or perhaps the coldest one) in this mission. I'm going up north! Exile mode. lol

I will be in Kings Lynn with Sister Ishizawa. She is from Japan! (I think I sent some photo of me and her before with Sister Som who's from Cambodia). I am so excited to be there with her. I bet we'll have a lot of fun and success! :)

We've had a little bit of snow here this week. Well... Me and Sister Quinn died. What do you expect from a Filipino and Arizonian in this British weather? :D

I am so sad to leave St. Albans. This is one of the best areas that I've ever been! The ward is so great and people are warm and friendly. Oh well! Heavenly Father has a plan for me there in Kings Lynn.

Have a very prosperous and wonderful 2015!

Love,

Sister Ordanza

Duncan, our Scottish friend.

He promised that he'll wear his kilt to church. Look, he did!! :D

Our district watching Frozen

with some of the YSA's at the senior couple's flat. :)

The Gilbank's and the Zahra's!
We've had a traditional British Christmas dinner and
after that we've had tons of Filipino food! LAMONites. :D

Quick Email

Dear Family and Friends,

Today's not a Preparation Day but we are allowed to take a time to email our friends and families.

I sent bunch of emails to all of you today. ;) Kaya naubos ang oras ko. Charr. Biro lang.

Our week has been a miraculous one! Wow. I don't know where to start!

K fine. I'll be quick. I have six minutes left to tell all these stories.

So, we are teaching a Sri-Lankan family! They are amazing and they accepted to be baptised on January! Woohoo. The head of the family, reminds me of my father, and the family itself. They are all amazing! When we extended the baptismal invitation, the daughter offered the closing prayer, and she said the most amazing prayer ever. In her own words, "Thank you Heavenly Father for making our dream come true to be baptised in your church on January 4th." ISN'T IT AMAZING?!!!!!!!!!! Ahhhhh. They are having us on Christmas as well.

I really enjoyed our Christmas zone conference. I wanna tell a lot of stories, funny and miraculous,  but I don't have time. We have a teaching appointment in few minutes. So yeah.

More photos next week. I promise.

Love,

Sister Ordanza

My daughters, Sister Quinn and Sister Grant! ♥

Vivian's baptism

CHRISTMAS IS IN THE AIRRRRRRRRRRRR!

Dear Family and Friends,

I am so glad to hear that you are all safe, especially you, Sister Maico! ♥

A lot of exciting things happened this week. I'll send baptism photos next week though! I forgot to bring the right memory card. Fail. XD

We've had exchanges with our STL's. I love exchanges with our Sister Training Leaders so much. I learned a lot from them. I went to Watford with Sister Wang Foo and Sister Quinn stayed here in St Albans with Sister Maurer!

Our landlord finally decided to get our heater fixed! Wohoooo! The mission office decided that we need to stay with the Stevenage sisters' flat because we won't have water and electricity for a day. On our way there, man, me and Sister Quinn got a ticket! Our zone leaders teased us that we should be sent home now because we broke the law of the land. IGNORANCE OF THE LAW EXCUSES NO ONE. Why did I ever forget my Law 101? lol Anyways, it was crazy. haha

But of course, we talked to the guy who gave us the ticket and we've had a really good gospel conversation with him. We shared the He is the Gift pass-along card and we got a return appointment! Too bad he wasn't in our area though, so the Stevenage sisters got a really good referral from us. ;)

We'll have our Christmas zone conference this Thursday in London! Wohoo!

I am so excited for it! And we will have the ward's Christmas party this Saturday and the theme for food will be International Food Night. And yes, the Filipino families here, the Gilbank's and the Zahra's will represent the Philippines, not me. :P

We watched the First Presidency Christmas Devotional yesterday and it was amazing! I felt the spirit of Christmas, the Spirit of Christ!

I love this gospel and this work so much.

Can't wait for Christmas to Skype my family! Wohooo!

More photos next week! I promise! :D

Love,

Sister Ordanza

Platform 9 3/4. Yeah, yung sa Harry Potter. Charr.

Sorry sa kwalidad ng larawan, a bit blurry. :D

Hope Y'all Are Safe!

Dear Family and Friends,

I obtained permission yesterday to check my email because everyone at church asked me about if my family are okay back home. I didn't even know that there's a typhoon right now.

I am praying for you guys, the ward and our mission!

Anyways, we've had an amazing Sisters' Conference in London the other day! It was fabulous! We all loved it. I saw my favourite people there! Which was a plus. hehe

It's getting cold in here. -2 degree Celsius most of the time. I die everyday. Seriously! haha

Guess I just have to deal with it. Well...

We will have baptisms this Sunday! Wohoooo! I'll send pictures on my next email.

No time for stories this time. Sorry!

Love,

Sister Ordanza

Sisters' Conference! I'm next to President Jordan. #ShortPeopleProbs

MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!!!!! :D

#ShareTheGift

MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!!!!!!!!!!!♥♥♥♥

Dear Family and Friends,

December 1st, Christmas na! Wohooo! I'm so excited for this Christmas! ( Aside from the fact that I can Skype my family. haha)

For you, what is the essence of Christmas? Nowadays, the real meaning of Christmas has been lost due to commercialisation. Yes, it truly is the time to reflect our hearts and thoughts to the Saviour (just like what we do everyday).

Before you continue reading my weekly letter, I wanna share a video that the church launched for this season. As you watch the video, think of ways that you can do to discover, embrace and share the gift this Christmas. :)

He is The Gift

Hope you enjoyed that short video! I testify that Christ lives and that He loves each one of us. He truly is THE GIFT!♥

(Side note, the lady who performed as Mary in the video is a member of Hyde Park Ward in London and she is a star of the musical, Wicked.)

Our week has been fantastic! We've had a really spiritual and uplifting experience with Elder Cook. Man, he loves the Philippines so much. :)

I also saw my MTC companion, Sister Schmidt and the other Filipina missionary in London South Mission, Sister Polidario who's from Manila Mission as well. :)

We celebrated Thanksgiving at the Bishop's house together with our Relief Society sisters. It was a real Thanksgiving with a turkey because it happened in an American home. ;) We also had our stake conference which was really fabulous. And I met a lady from Luton ward who served in the Philippines, particularly in Luzon area donkey years ago. Yayyyyy!

St. Albans ward is the best! I love our ward mission leader, the bishop and all the members. I can't explain how much I appreciate them but they are helping us to hasten the Lord's work in this area.

Even though it's cold, (not as cold as there in Canada though), we love being out everyday. I don't have much time to write today but I will send some cool stories next week.

Love,

Sister Ordanza

P.S 

More pics next week! Sorry! Time's running so fast! :D

The whole England London Mission missionaries outside the Royal Albert Hall

Oh Hi, Wow. :D

Dear Family and Friends,

Yo! Another awesome week has gone by! I have my new daughter now, Sister Quinn from 'Murica! Wohooo! :D

She's so cute, like a Barbie and a Pinterest sistah mish. For reals! :)

MEG, THIS IS SO CRAZY BUT GUESS WHERE SHE'S FROM?!!! PHOENIX, ARIZONA! AHHHHHHHH. K. Calm down na. haha

Hope you got my "Welcome to the MTC" card. haha

Joy, I got your letter na! Yeheyyyyyyyyyyyyy! Have you received mine? I sent another one today. Wohooo! so excited to exchange letters with ya bez! :)

The Filipino Elder didn't come this transfer, maybe his visa got delayed so I don't have the "something" you gave to him for me. hehe Our next transfer will be on December 30th!

Oh btw, there's a new Elder from Hong Kong and he's a part Filipino part Chinese that came with Sister Quinn. His Mum's from Ilocos Norte. :)

I am so excited for our mission conference with the London South Mission tomorrow! Elder Quentin L. Cook from the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles will address us! He served in this mission and he had the chance to be companions with Elder Holland! He also presided over the Philippines Area Presidency before President Edwards and Elder Teh! So yeah, I am so excited!!!!!!

I am talking on the phone while we were on the bus the other day. When I finished the conversation with one of our investigators, I said "Love you!". After that, the couple who sat behind us said that I am so sweet. That led to a gospel conversation. They are atheist but they invited us over to their home to learn more about our message. Wohooo! And they gave us some unripe bananas. I promise you, we live in the city! haha

But it's still part of the British culture to have a market day here with fresh fruits and veggies. (Pretty sure those bananas were imported.) ;)

Also, the ward is so amazed with their full-time missionaries (ahem, that's us) because on December 13th, we have a looooooooot of baptisms. Ahhh! Can't wait for our (including the Elders' ) investigators to get baptised!

Kerstin attended church yesterday and she loved it! :)

We've had the opportunity to teach one of our investigators yesterday. We taught her the Restoration with a baptismal date in our minds. But this case was different, it doesn't happen normally because me and Sister Quinn both felt prompted that this investigator needed to choose for herself her baptismal date. Right there with us, we invited her to choose and date and ask Heavenly Father if that is the right date for her to be baptised. After her prayer, me and Sister Quinn were both teary eyed because the date she picked was exactly the date we planned for her! Isn't it amazing how the Spirit works between the full-time missionaries and the investigators?!

This is why I am so excited to work everyday! I am so excited to witness miracles everyday.

I hope you didn't get bored with my novela today. haha

I love you all and advance Happy Thanksgiving to my 'Merican friends! :)

♥,

Sister Ordanza

Sister Quinn and I! Wohoooo!

Sister Quinn and I! Wohoooo!

See how pretty Sister Quinn is? :) ♥

The Gilbank's! She is from Misamis Occidental.

She cooks really good adobo! Nom nom nom. :)