Kumusta Po Kayo,
Every week I learn something new. This week my companion
has taught me and amazing lesson of Endurance. Even at
the end of a long hot seemingly worthless day where we
have very little lessons and more than one trial. She
is positive " No effort is wasted" she says. And really
I know it's true. I thought that perhaps somethings
things I did without much success were a waste but Sister
Michelle and her progress are proof that is wrong. She
came to church this week all on her own! I've posted a
picture, you'll notice the skirt she's wearing used to
belong to yours truly but she really could not afford
one and I know she felt uncomfortable without a palda.
Our service project on Thursday for Nanny Querezma was
wonderful. She is a very sweet old nanny , nearly 90
years old siya. She has been taking care for her
Apo (Grand kids) Genelle ( 1 year old) and Mary Ann ( 2)
and I honestly don't know how she's doing it. We came
by to help her out as much we could by doing all the
laundry. Which was no small task. Her water is pump out
of the ground only and everything is washed by hand!
Grabi! I've got a video that I'll try to upload either
this week or next. I really felt like we gave really
service to her and it was great! Then on Saturday we
did a Home and Visting teaching activity with the ward
were we went to visit less active members. We were on
splits and at first I felt totally out of it without my
companion as back up, but one was was able to give a
great message on the spot about faith to the Toranco
Family. Alma 32:28. The experiment of faith does work
try it and use it. Remember how you felt that first time
you prayed to know of the truth! If you hold onto that
god can truly do miracles in your life and impart to
you knew knowledge knowing you are willing to listen.
Mahal Ko Kayo!
Ingat sa Lahat,
Sister Quinn

Kumusta Po Kayo Ang Pamiliya at Kaibigan Ko!
This week I've noticed The whitie is no more. I have the
most hilarious strap tan from my tracting shoes which
I'm certain will be permanate by the time i get home.
Also my hair is mostly blond now at least in the front.
My new secular adventure for the week was learning to
text sa tagalog. Yes we do have a mobile phone! It's
really more of a hindrance most of the times than a
blessing and I have to always remember to turn it off
for lessons! but its nice to be able to text bishop
which is who' I've been texting, we are only allowed
to text our leaders and other missionaries not members
or investigators. It's really cool sa tagalog though
and I've learned some of their short cuts like Ksta
For Kumusta ( which just means hello or how are you).
 Another first this week is we found and started working
with a ward missionary. I didn't know we even had one but
we stumbled across sister daisy and she said oh ya I'm set
apart I'm your ward missionary! even though she is sort
of semi active she worked ALL day with us Saturday and
she is really great! Also I've started to notice that
most of the people we teach are related. Not just by
chance though because i swear everyone here is related
and they all live next door to their relatives. Like
this one family we are teaching after we finished
their lesson we decided to tract 2 or 3 houses down
the road and they turned out to be cousins of the family
we we're teaching but they did not know that their cousins
 lived so close to them. And My big spiritual
realization for the week would have to be my new found
 knowledge that sometimes God uses us to do miracles
even when it is really inconvenient. For example this
week we woke up at the crack of dawn and climbed down
into one of our poorest least safe neighborhoods to pick
 up sister Michelle and help her get to church. I didn't
 want to do it , especially because it meant walking all
the way from her house to the church since she's poor and
 we are not supposed to pay to transport investigators,
but She has been investigating since October and this is
 the first time she's agreed to go to church , so we did
 it and she came and she loved it! I hope next week she
 will be able to return on her own! But until then I'm
holding on to all the little  miracles that happen here
 almost every day!
I love you all, miss you !
Ingat sa lahat,
Sister Quinn

Kumusta Po Kayo Pamiliya at Mga Kaibigan,
This week was a not all that bad but still I am calling
it the poopy week, most literally because I just keep
on stepping in poops. Yesterday it was Caribou which is
a huge one of course ( If you needed to know that) but
mainly i felt most of the week as if the soles of my
shoes had gone to the dogs! eewww I know, I'm over it
now! My new companion Is anything but poopy though!
I love her! She's fantastic. I was so worried I'd get
a hard follow up trainer because my trainer had been
so nice but Sister Panilago is really easy to get
along with. She's also very bold in lessons strait and
to the point which is great because I know it will really
help some of our investigators to progress! I'm really
excited for what she can add to the work and just
generally relieved that she is a totally normal and
nice person! It's a bit harder now in the house because
of the transfer everyone is now Filipino except for me
where as before their had been another white girl, and
they don't actually all speak Tagalog as their native
dialect so sometimes in the house I hear anything
between 1 and 3 different languages some of which is
English or well taglish really but the go so fast!
I don't even catch it. I've really progressed in my own
Tagalog because of this though words cannot say how
much more I know now that I knew just a week ago! I've
been leading the area , the planning, and the teaching
and while it is hard and every day when I lay my head
down on the pillow I collapse strait away its also
rewarding. I know that I'm doing the lords work and
he's pleased! Who could ask for anything more! Just a
little side note here. I'm interested to see who's been
reading this blog? What you're all thinking, please feel
free to post stuff on here and hopefully my lovely
mother can sort out how to pass it along to me!
I love you all and miss you too!
Ingat! Para sa Tunay,
Sister Quinn
remember you can see pictures at photobucket.com signin and password sisterashtonquinn

Kumusta Po Kayo Pamiliya at Kaibigan Ko?!
First news I'm loosing my Nannay! ( mother). This is what
 we call our trainers. Sister TABALANG! I will really
 miss here. I think I am ready though, Sana My Tita
( Auntie) is ready for me! We call our follow up trainers
 auntie. I get mine on Thursday and I can't wait. Mean's
 I get a trip into Angeles and maybe to see some of the
 MTC batch.
this week we had 2 Baptisms. Our lovely, sweet, and only
 a little bit senile Brother Perez and Tatay ( Tatay means
 like grandad) Romeo. Now we did I promise you teach them
 about testimony. The night before their baptisms even we
 when over very clearly exactly what a testimony was and
was NOT!Sadly it seems they forgot. Brother Perez read
 strait from the program and acknowledged everyone bless
 his heart, but recovered enough to say he knew Joseph Smith
 was a prophet " God has told me this and I accept his
 answer!" I love that sweet Old man. Their should be
pictures of the baptism posted in my photobucket.
Still getting a hand on the ups and downs of daily
 missionary work. 2 or 3 days this week we were totally
 punted , as in no one their for any of our appointments.
 Tarlac City had a Fiesta this week at was massive and
 I'm relatively sure every single person in the area was
their on Wednesday, Pero, I've learned a valuable lesson
 Saturday Morning as we we're yet again punted from an
 appointment where I was supposed to place my first Book
 of Mormon! Devastated I walked away thinking what a waste
 my bag was super heavy carrying around the extra book and
 I was hot! Still something in the back of my head told me
 I'd have a use for that book before we went home. SO as
 we continued , we happened across a woman who we eventually
 found out is a member although very inactive. As we sat
in our house she began to tell me how she missed reading
the scriptures as it turns out she'd misplaced her copy
of the book of Mormon. I smiled wide as could be thought
 Now here is and Ensign moment! and pulled out the book
happy to give it to her. Kaya Alam ko na ( I know)
Ng Diyos ( God) provides a way for us to accomplish his
 work, even if it is not always in the way we initially
 expect!
Mahal Na Mahal Ako Po Kayo!
Sister Quinn

Kumusta po kayo! Maraming Greetings to Lahat!
This week I have noticed that my progress in Tagolog has
 gone like this ( Ganito) The First Sunday I bored my
testimony in church basically then I was like the 5 year
old that gets up with mom who has to whisper everything
 in my ear and pretty much all I can say without thinking
 about it is i know that the church is true. However
Saturday night around 9 pm my Kasama casually mentioned
that Oh by the way we are the only speakers tomorrow in
 church. So we'll talk about Missionary work. We'll first
 of little warning for whats sure to be more than a
 5 minuet talk and second of Talk about missionary work.
 I don't know a single tagalog word for that. I don't know
 how to talk about missionary work I just do it! Any ways
 as it turns out I was able to think of a few things and I
used a pretty long pretty amazing quote from Brigham Young
 and so My progression has brought me to the point that I
 am now a bit like the youth speaker who has to read most
 of the talk from notes but gets through it okay and bears
 a really good testimony from the heart. Sanna Magging
katulad ni Tunay na Tunay Missionary soon! ( hopefully I'll
 sound like a real philippino missionary soon!) I got loads
 of compliments though because after all I'm still a newbie
 only a month old, but it doesn't take a month for an amazing
 experience to happen those come along really every day.
One lesson in particular sticks out we were teaching a
sister who's son is an RM but the only member of the
 family and he lives far away so she already knew much
 about our church though and the message of the restored
gospel. We started out asking her if she had any questions
 about the church and as if out of a text book she asked
 me . Well how do I know if these things that you are
 teaching are true. I took her to Alma 32 12 and started
 with the need for faith and what that meant and then
used my secret weapon of an object lesson. As she read
 the scriptures I bent down and grabbed a small stone
 without her noticing. I then asked her to close her
eyes and feel inside my hand. Asked her what was in it.
 A stone she said and when given permission opened her
 eyes to find she was right of course. Then I said to
 her sister how did you know that I had a stone. You did
 not see it before now you did not open your eyes did you?
 No. she said I knew it because I could feel it! She got
 this strait away, and I said to her you see now don't
you sister. We know things our true we know they are
from God because of how we feel. When we receive truth
 from God we feel good. I testified to her that I knew
 God has given us all the capacity to know for ourselves
 good from evil. We then reviewed the message of the
 Restoration and committed her to pray about Joseph
 Smith. I have high hopes for her, high hopes for all
 who are willing to receive us and feel in their hearts
 the spirit of god changing their lives!
Mahal na Mahal Ko Kayo,
Ingat sa Lahat!
Sister Quinn

Kumusta Po Kayo Pamiliya at Kaibigan!,
And a Maraming Congratulations to my Kuya si Tommy and
 his new Asawa Si Rebecca Mahal Ko Kayo ( love you both!)
This week I survived my first small bout with and illness.
 I had a common cold but boy does something like that
 really interfer with work! I hate feeling bad its such
 a nuisance. Much better now so no worries don't send the
 troops after me please! I haven't missed any of my work
 either I'm proud to say I went out and proselyted in spite
 of my psakit ( this is the word for any pain sickness or
illness here) so I am Walang Pskait na! ios Lang! Even
feeling well though being a missionary here in the
Philippines Grabi! Cannot say that enough Grabi means like
 intense or crazy by the way. Saturday I literally walked
 through fire to get to a teaching appointment. What we
 wouldn't do for our investigators I do not know. I was
 seriously scared because it was a malaking ng fire and
 really close to us as in malapit na malapit na! and
spreading fast with big bursts of wind pushing it forward.
 But Sister Tablang was like oh its fine Sister Quinn that's
 nothing. Turns out it was and intentional fire, don't know
 why they stated it but any ways we got through all save
 and taught a wonderful Plan of Salvation Lesson to
 Sister Anna Lee. Oh and I riped my skirt on her barbed
 wire fence and was able to sew it up all by my self! I
upload pictures just for you Mom. I knew you'd be proud!
 On Friday Sister Christy was Baptized! It was Maganda
( beautiful) . She has such a sweet testimony and will
make a wonderful addition to the ward with her two sweet
 kids (R.C. 8 years, and Carla just 1 this week!) I am
 still not entirely used to the attention that I get
for my whiteness. Yesterday I had a drive by as in
 litteraly a person in a moving car pointed right at me
 with a wide open mouth and I know why, because
YES I AM WHITE! I feel like i should really get a t shirt
 that says that, but some times its nice. I feel a bit
like a movie star literally and all the girls come up to
 me and tell me how beautiful I am. I"ve gotta stop
listening to them or it'll go to my head. OH and look at
 the pictures on my photo bucket you will notice that yes
 they have whitening lotion her as in the opposite of the
 tanning stuff we use. It cracks me up and so proves that
 you just want what you don't have! Filipino's also love
 the bridge on my noes because most of them have Asian noses
 with no bridges and very little much in the way of an
eyelid either. Filipinos are kind of like dark Chinese
people. I love them to death though. Sweetest Nation on
 earth! Sobrung Totoo (SO TRUE).
Mahal Na Mahal Ko Kayo!
Ingat to all!
Sister Quinn

Kumusta Ang Pamiliya Po at Kaibigan din,
at a Maligiyan Paskol na ( happy belated Christmas)
at a Maligiyan Bago Taon ( Happy New year too!)
Wow Christmas in the Philippines what can I say it
was Grabi! ( intense) Lots of fireworks but not half
 as many as I'm told will come to us this Thursday for
 new years eve. We we're fed well for Christmas and my
 first meals out side of the bahay ( house/apartment)
 were actually verry good. I had spaghetti first at the
 house of sister Espinosia  she is not a member but her
brother is a member of our bishopric and her two teenage
 sons were just baptised last week. They are a lovely
family and she made this amazing desert which was like a
 mango flavoured graham cracker cake thing. Then we went
down to the bad part of block 7 Were not allowed their
 past 5pm apparently but I don't see why not it looks pretty
 much the same as anywhere else to me. I guess I do get
a few more cat calls there than most. Any ways their we
 saw sister Michelle. She gave us a native desert called
 Ube . Its supposed to be a fruit and it is purple but
 it tastes more like sour cheese than anything else so
 not a favourite but I love the Casva ( banana) cake here!
 Masawrap( delicious)! Ay ways I love sister Michelle to
 death she's 26 and has the most beautiful baby girl
 Lorenza. Here life is really rough she's not accepted
by her mother in law and when we came to visit a relative
 of her's was apparently sick so we. We taught the
 plan of salvation to her and during the lesson their
 was a black out which apparently happens often here.
The lesson was great though because it was one of the
 first lessons were I really felt I was able to say what
 I wanted to say when I wanted to say it and come up
 with things on the spot. I'm starting to be able to
 translate the things that I feel inspired to say to
 people which is great! Okay My two funny things for
the week are first I have decided that here in the
 Philippines the Dogs are like rats and the rats are
 like dogs! Their are so many dogs here honestly in
some areas they are like and infestation of rats and
 then the other day while teaching a lesson in a very
 poor house a rat just unannounced dropped into my lap
 which normally would have made me scream but I did not
think at first that it was a rat . I thought it was a
 cat or a dog really it was that big! I'll have to get
 a picture later for my bragging rights, but here they
 are not a big deal the little 3 year old boy in the
family we were teaching just grabbed the rat and dumped
 him out of the door.Then the hilarious lost in
 translation moment this week with my companion. She
 asked me, "Sister Quinn May Correction to it
 po ba kayo?" So in English she said do you have a
"Correction to it"? Which I found out later meant she
 wanted an Eraser! I died laughing about that one for
at least an hour! All for this week, more to come!
 Can't wait for New Years!
Mahal Na Mahal Ko Kayo