October 31, 2013

HAPPY HALLOWEEN FAMILY AND FRIENDS! 

I hope this week has been super exciting! It's cool I get to write you on Halloween. I'm glad Halloween is on our p-day so we can be two different things. One, a normal person. WOE, WEIRD, and two a MISSIONARY!! I bet none of you guessed that huh? 

Well a lot has happened this week HOLY COW! We got to hear from a ton of cool speakers and learned so much from them. In Sister Loraine Swenson's talk we all read scriptures together and were able to make comments. Usually in Relief Society here we just get spoken to, but it was kind of nice to have a little bit of a variety. So she is from the Relief Society General Board and my favorite scripture she shared with us was D&C 25:7-16. A lot stood out to me in those scriptures. I learned we are ordained under His hand, we need to expound upon the scriptures. Do not have fear, have courage, ALL things shall be revealed unto them according to their faith. And of course Baylie's favorite kasulatan (scripture) D&C 25:12! My soul delighteth in the song of the heart. Be aware of Pride and in Heaven we will be able to receive a crown of righteousness. I love that part!! We also heard from Rogger Connors who used to be a Branch President here at the MTC. He was a convert and decided to make everything right before baptismal date. It's cool he was so dedicated. His parents said they wouldn't let him in their house if he got baptized, but he still chose to do so because he knew it was true. He told us that the word for fun isn't found in the scriptures because fun only lasts for a short time and then it is over. Joy lasts forever and it is found in the scriptures a ton. He told us we can count on Christ to always be there for us and we should put our trust in Him. His advice was to be converted to him, love the people we teach and be a representative of Jesus Christ. 

Later Sunday night we watched a video of when Elder Jeffrey R. Holland came to the MTC on Thanksgiving day in 2012! He stated that we will never do anything more important than this. We are going to be engaged in saving a human soul-the most important thing in the universe. Wow, I love him so much!!! ;) 

Tuesday we got to sing in the MTC choir again and loved it! We sang "Be Still my Soul" which is such a great song with wonderful harmony. Carlos A Godoy of the 70 spoke to us and WOW, i'll tell you what WOW! He told us his conversion story and it was so powerful. He would get really spiritual and start crying and then be funny and crazy and shake the microphone. He was a wonderful speaker from Brazil. 

Also Sister Rimai had a hard week this week. OH MY GOODNESS. She is such a strong Sister. I can't even imagine. Well here it goes. . . .  both of her parents passed away last Thursday. :( What?! HOLY SMOKES. She didn't even tell us until Friday night. Friday during one of our classes we were talking about the Plan of Salvation and how we don't need to explain every little detail, but just explain the parts that pertain to investigators and that they will learn from. She started crying because she said she felt really close to her parents right then. We hoped she was fine, but didn't really tell us anything else. So we had a great day and then were all getting ready for gym and I came back from the bathroom and a few of the Sisters in my room were just outside the door. One was talking to Sister Rimai I guess and then we found out what had happened. None of us could believe this. How was she able to act so normal and be totally fine. She is my hero. We all talked for a while about things and she seemed to be doing okay, but was crying quite a bit. I mean two parents really? I just didn't want her to think that it was her fault or anything like that. I hope she's okay. So the two sisters in our room that are training leaders went to go tell our Branch President and the Zone leaders and our District leader what had happened. We were going to see if we could get Sister Rimai a blessing tonight. So they ran all over the place while the rest of us were still talking. It was perfect because Sister Tune is really good at English so she was able to translate for us how Sister Rimai really was feeling. Because Sister Rimai doesn't know as much English as Sister Tune. So that night we got to go back to the classroom and watch one of our Zone leaders Elder Reupena give her a blessing. OH MY, THAT WAS SUCH A WONDERFUL EXPERIENCE!!! The Spirit there was sooooooooooooo STRONG. and the power of the priesthood is so real and so incredible. We started out the "meeting" with the song "Families can be together Forever" AHHHH, who choose that song, that is probably one of the worst songs you could possibly sing at a time like this. I mean, it was perfect, because it tied in so well, but really? Everyone was balling, including me. I think I maybe sang the first line, and seriously could not sing anything else. The song kind of worked out, but everyone was sniffling and their eyes were puffy and pouring out tears. If someone were listening in they probably couldn't here even what the song was. MAN! So then he gave Sister Rimai the blessing. It was one of the most powerful blessings I have ever heard. It talked about how she will be able to withstand this storm and that she is so brave and that her Heavenly Father is watching out for her right now. I can't even believe it. I would be so lost right now if I were her. She doesn't even want to go back to the funeral, she wants to stay here, finish strong, and go on a mission. What a trooper. I admire her so much for her positive attitude and her incredibly strong testimony. After the blessing we hugged her and told her how much we loved her. This is a moment hugs were needed. It was so frustrating to not be able to hug our elders after a time like that. We have become so unified, it's amazing. After we the blessing we all caught our breath and cooled down from all the tears, we went to go get ready for additional study tonight. Instead of studying we were going to have FHE as a district. So we all got together and sang "Ako anak sa Dios" ("I am a Child of God") sa Cebuano and then had a little lesson by our district leaders and then pretty much just sang the whole time. I loved it. We sang so many good ones and were able to harmonize and ah, it was so wonderful. People were sharing testimonies and scriptures that had to do with certain songs we sung and the Spirit was just amazing this whole night. After family night we went back to our resident hall and had snacks and wrote in our journals. We just had a girls night. We went to bed around 12:30, because we talked and ate and wrote for a while. I hope Heavenly Father understands tonight and is okay with us not going to bed at our usual time. I just can't believe what has happened and hope that Sister Rimai is okay the next few weeks and even out in the field. 

Insane right? Well I just wanted to bare my testimony and say  I am so grateful for sa opportunidad pagerbisyo kanimo (the opportuinty to serve thee). Being here has strengthened my testimony so much and I am so grateful for that. I know that Jesus Christ is my Savior and that he really did die for me and every single person here, individually. That is crazy. He sacrificed so much. And same with Joseph Smith. I can't believe all that Joseph Smith had to deal with from friends and everyone else. He always stood for what was right! I am grateful for both of their examples and for this gospel. I am so so so grateful for the knowledge of forever families and can't wait to always have them with us in Heaven. I say these things sa ngalan ni JesuKristo, Amen. 

I love you all so much and hope you have a wonderful week. Thanks for all the support and love I have been getting. It makes me feel so great! 

Love Sister Riggs (Laurel)

Second Email!

October 24, 2013

Komusta ang akong pamilya ug mga amigo!! 

I have loved all the letters I got from each of you so thank you so much! I hope you are all doing well and are having a wonderful time in school at work or whatever you are doing. Sometimes I still feel like I am in school because I am learning a ton and study a lot, but it's more fun that than. And the feeling here is better. 

First of all thank you so much Bradshaw's for that delicious bread. I'm pretty sure it was homemade and man did that make my day. And the honey butter!! Wow, that means so much. And my district loved it. So you all are great ;) Also tell Kayla CONGRATULATIONS for me, that is sooooooooooo exciting. I know she will do incredible and bring so many people to this gospel because of her strong testimony. 

And sorry Grandma and Aunt Rebecca I got your letters, which were so sweet and heartfelt, but I don't have time to write back separately, but they made me feel so loved when I read them so thank you. And Grandma, just ask my family about Dear Elder, you need to make an account, then you are good to go. 

So last week I didn't get to say all I wanted about last week, but I wanted to say that when Dallin H. Oaks spoke I got to be in the MTC choir. HOLY SMOKES!! Most amazing experience ever. We got to sing Praise to the Man and wow, it was so powerful. Our director told us a lot more about Joseph Smith which made the song a lot more meaningful. That night was broad casted to all the MTC's in the world. And apparently the camera showed me and Sister Hamson, a girl in my District 2 times, during the video. It was so hard not to look up to be able to see yourself, but I was able to manage. It was just cool to hear friends come up to me and say they saw me in the choir. I am so doing that again. I love being in that choir. It's wonderful!

   We got 2 new investigators this week to teach and I feel more comfortable with Cebuano. I can at least make simple sentences in my head without reading from the books, but sentences for lessons are so obscure and don't sound anything like the normal words so they are a little more difficult. My companion and I are trying not to use our notes as much, but it is tricky. It's just easier to connect with the investigator that way. Then they trust you more. Oh and the investigator I told you about last week that we taught, um. . . . yeah,  he's our teacher. WHAT?! that was so weird when we found that out. So both our "investigators" are our teachers. Which makes it kind of hard to stay in character, but they are both super nice, which makes it easier. We were told to think of the investigator as a friend you have always wanted to share the gospel with and pretend like you are teaching to them. 

     It is weird sometimes to know what to do with my kaupon (companion) She is so sweet and I do love her so much, but when I try to talk with her and she isn't saying a lot back to me, it is so hard. I don't know if she just isn't in the mood to talk or is having a bad day. I think it might just be because she misses her family, i'm just not exactly sure. And there are other days she just loves to talk and tells me all about home and other things. And then on the way to dinner or something she'll see some of her friends and just start talking in Kiribas to them and I have know idea what they are saying. So she talks to them a ton with a lot of energy and just seems sad with me. I don't know, but hopefully I can figure her out. Also she likes to take her time doing things. We are late to pretty much everything, so I am definitely learning a lot of patience. I don't know if I should encourage her in a kind way to try to get ready faster or something, but I'm just not sure. I don't want to be to pushy, but feel like I do need to tell her something. I feel like in their country things are a lot more laid back and they don't have to tight of schedules, I just don't know. So maybe i'll just talk to her about it and that would be better than just waiting. Cuz sometimes I can just be waiting for 5-10 minutes, which really isn't that long, but I don't really like being late. plus we have been told, we are on the Lord's time and if we are a 15 minutes late everyday, that means we just wasted 2 weeks of our mission. UGH, WHAT?! I don't want to do that, so I need to do something about it. I do think she's awesome and love her personality. She is starting to come out of her shell little by little, I am just being taught a lot from her. And she doesn't make decisions. Um. . . sound like someone you know?. . . MMMEEEE. oops, guilty. I know how all of you feel now, it's kind of frustrating to always be the one making decisions. That's funny, i understand now. So sorry. but she is great and we have some great times together laughing, taking pictures, and teaching together. I feel like we are becoming more unified as time goes on, it's great!!! 

         The teachers here have taught us so much. There are so many different styles in their teaching and they really all are so helpful. I have learned so much more about teaching with the Spirit and listening to the investigators so you know what their needs are so you can help them in all the ways that you can. 

              Oh my gosh the temple is so neat I love having it so close! We get to walk there every Sunday after Sacrament meeting and every P-Day to actually do work at the temple. It is the best thing ever. We just did family names today, one of the sisters in our District had her mom send her some and it was really incredible. While I was doing one name during initiators, the Sister helping me started crying. She told me, wow, she must have been waiting. AHHH, that was so cool so hear her say she knows this lady has been waiting to get her work done and have me be the one helping her. 

        This week has been pretty cool, we do the same thing over and over which kind of gets old. We have so much class time, but it has been refreshing to hear new speakers and teach new people and be taught from different people. This week we got to hear from Sister Elizabeth Rose a member of the General Board who talked to us about her mission in Japan and how we need to bring "souls unto Him". I love that. Also from Stephen B. Allen, managing director in the missionary department. And Lynn G Robbins, of the 70 and his wife, Jan Robbins. Does Grandpa know him? All that they have said has really given me inspiration. I don't have time to say it all, but I did write it down and will read it throughout my mission and be able to share so much more of it when I get home. The parts that stood out to me in their talks were if we are diligent and obedient we can be GOLDEN missionaries. I love the way Jan Robbins put that. We were told again and again by Lynn G. Robbins to open our mouths, how can Heavenly Father put people in our paths if we don't open our mouths? He related that to the chances of hitting a ball in baseball without swinging. um. .  . it doesn't happen. I thought that was a perfect example. We also need to open our eyes before our mouths and make sure that we teach people not lessons. We can't just go up to some one and start reciting what we have memorized from a lesson, we have to ask them questions about themselves and get to know them before we know what they need to be taught or what they already know. It is so much better to connect with people than contact them. I think that is so sweet and so true. I have learned so much from being here, and I have probably heard these things a thousand times, but it all seems to relate to missionary work. Even scriptures I read, I can apply it to my life right now. It's weird. I never thought about certain scriptures that way before, it's neat. 

I'm sorry if this doesn't make sense, my thoughts are probably scattered everywhere and I really don't like how we don't have much time to write to everyone. It's annoying. Please bare with me. And forgive me for again not having tons to say, but life here is great and it feels more like home with people here from school. I love it!!!

Thanks for all you're great examples and for all I have been sent, I love getting mail and having so much support, it's WONDERFUL!!! It feels like Christmas, just like when new people come into the MTC, i feel so cool since I've been here for 2 weeks now. I feel like I know where things are and kind of what I am doing, it's great!

i'll try to send more pictures/info next time, but this is what I had time for 

I LOVE YOU ALL TONS AND HOPE ALL IS GOING WELL!!!! 

             SINCERELY SISTER RIGGS (LAUREL)

Laurel's First Email!

October 17, 2013

Dear Pamilya!!!!! Komusta Ka? 

     MAN, I LOVE ALL THE PEOPLE HERE :) and YES, we have heard talks from so many great people! We heard from Sister Bonnie Oscarson, the General Young Women's President, in Relief Society on Sunday. Wow, that was so neat to have her come and speak to us. Also we heard from Brother Heaton, the administrator of the MTC or something cool like that, and man, he was an excellent speaker. I learned a ton from him about the Spirit and always needing it when you teach as missionaries. And Tuesday night was the devotional where usually a general authority comes in to speak to us, insane right? I feel so lucky to be able to hear people while I'm here. That is why it's nice to be here 6 weeks because then I'll get to hear from wonderful speakers. But yeah, anyway we heard from Dallin H. Oaks!!!!!!!!!! What?! ISN'T THAT SOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO SWEET! Him and his wife spoke and man I learned a ton. I took so many notes on all the speakers, but his talk I took the most notes on. I couldn't believe the spirit he brought, few, that was an experience I won't forget. 

             The food is great! We haven't had to eat anything weird yet. I would like them to have some beagle or something here from the Philippines to have us start getting used to it, but they just have normal american food. They feed us too much though. I need to be careful. Plus they always have desert, I am limiting myself, so I don't have something too sweet for all 3 meals in the day. And yeah, I am recovering great!! I can chew with my back teeth and my teeth are feeling fine, so thanks for the blessing dad. I really think it helped, when you said that I would heal faster than most people since I would be entering the MTC only a week after getting them out. But yeah i'm feeling great! My companion is so great! Her name is Sister Tune from Kiribati (Kiribas) and she is the sweetest. I love her dearly. She is fun to be with and laughs a ton. She always has a smile on her face and is super cute! Oh and I'm taller that her!!! YES, That makes one person in this universe. hehehehe, just kidding. She is kind of quiet and shy, and sometimes I feel a little awkward in silence, but I think she is fine not having to talk all the time. I just hope I don't get annoying to her since I might talk to much. We get along well and I'm getting to know more about her culture. I know 3 words in Kiribas now, soon i'll be fluent in English, Cebuano, and Kiribas! hahaha. There are 10 people in my district, and HOLY SMOKES, I love all of them. 4 of the sisters are from Utah-me, Sister Grigg, way close to Riggs right? kinda confusing, Sister Warner, and Sister Hamson. 2 from Kiribas-Sister Tune, my companion and Sister Ramai, an Elder from California named Elder Jacobs, Elder Archibald from Canada, but he doesn't know french, he isn't from Montreal, but that would have been cool. Elder Ellis from New Zealand, sweet huh? and Elder Lasalosi from Austraila :) Everyone in our district has such a strong testimony and has so many comments that really are inspired. and they all sing. oh man, what a tender mercy. Elder Lasalosi was Seaweed Hairspray, cool right? AH, i can't wait to send pictures, but I don't have time to attach any today I'm sorry. 

                  The language is coming okay, the first day I thought oh yeah, I totally got this, because it has a lot of Spanish words, but now, it's getting harder. I wish we could have just started from the very beginning and learned vocab and then started putting words together to make sentences, but our teacher, Brother McBride just kind of throws sentences at us, which makes it a little bit confusing. We did go over sentence structure and that really helped, but it's going to be a little bit of a challenge. Oh and the 2nd day we had to teach our first investigator. AHHHHH! How are we supposed to teach someone in Cebuano, when we've only learned a little bit. SPIRIT! The first day we taught went okay. We said a lot in English because we didn't know how to translate anything. He just kept looking at us funny because he "didn't understand" even though he is a return missionary from CEBU. The 2nd time was so much better, we had our sentences all in Cebuano and even though we mostly read everything, we could feel the Spirit in there. And wow, he is willing to do everything we say. It's great, not all investigators will be like that though. This is probably just "level 1" or something. But I do know how to say a prayer in Cebuano now without looking at notes and bear my testimony. Sweet right?! Thank goodness we haven't had to just speak Cebuano in one day, that would be insane. We probably will later on. 

This week has just been amazing! I can't believe how many people are here from all around the world. 601 people came to the MTC the same day I did, crazy right? And it feels so cool to know that all these people here have been through the temple and have such strong testimonies. I love it. We have been doing the same thing over and over, which can get tiring, but it's good. I just get restless. I feel like we just study and sit and eat. My favorite part about the day is gym time. I've been able to play basketball, volleyball, 4 square, run, and do AB workouts, it's great! And I don't think I've ever been so excited to do laundry. P-Days are so nice! I really do love personal study too though. I've been able to catch up in my journal and really study the scriptures. It's been great! 

           I wish I had more time, but I only got about 40 minutes to write because we are headed to the temple soon. Next time I'm going to write earlier in the day so I get my whole hour. There is so much more I want to say, sorry. I love you guys tons and hope all is doing well. I have seen so many people I know here too, it's weird. There are tons from AF and some from SUU and also from Chick-Fil-A. Who would have thought huh? It makes it feel more like home. It's nice. Little things remind me of you guys, like at dinner there was frog eye salad and people bring up something that reminds me of you, but I'm good. Ayaw Kabalaka! (Don't worry) 

          Here's my testimony in Cebuano:

          Nasayud ko nga tunod ang simbahan. Sa napanalangin ko kinabuhi. Nasayud ko nga nagantus si JesuKristo, ko Manluluwas, para kanato. Si Tomas S Monson mao ang buhi nga propeta. Magtudlo siya gika Dios. Sa ngalan ni JesuKristo, Amen. (I know the church is true. It has blessed my life. I know that Christ, my Redemer atoned for my sins. And that Thomas S. Monson is the true and living prophet. he speaks from God. In the name of Jesus Christ Amen)

          Love you all tons and will write more next week, sorry for not explaning a ton. I want to tell you so much more, but know I am in good hands and that I really am loving it here. People have told me that I am really adjusting well, that makes me feel sooooooooo good. It's great! You guys are great and really have made such an impact on me. I don't think I could be here without you, so thanks!! 

I miss you like the dog misses his cherry :) hehehe 

LOVE YA TONS!!!! Laurel (Sister Riggs) 

Oh and i'll send pictures next week. I have been taking quite a few, better than I usually do, so that's great! XOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXO

The AMAZING Laurel Riggs

Hi Everyone!

My name is LIA, and I will be running Laurel's blog while she serves a mission for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

In the PHILIPPINES. Wow. 

I miss her already. For the short time of a year that we've been friends, she has shaped and changed my life in more ways than she knows. She has a beautiful, bright spirit and a joyous attitude, no matter what. She's the kind of person that talks to anyone and EVERYONE with so much life and charm that no one could doubt her sincerity. Everyone knows Laurel Riggs. Everyone loves Laurel Riggs. 

Together, Laurel and I have had MANY late nights and long laughs and crazy adventures! We practically spent every waking moment together at college, and continued our close friendship in the summer. I was able to watch the process as she decided to go on a mission, got her call, and entered the Missionary Training Center. No one could be more confident in her abilities or more proud of her than I am. 

I will miss every adventure: Pickleball, Ballroom Company, Lake Powell, the Quartet, Disneyland, Salt Lake, and countless others. But eighteen months got nothing on our friendship! Can't wait to read her stories and share them with you. . . and we'll see her when she comes home! 

That's all from me! 

Love, Lia