Friday, June 21, 2013

Mission Split

This week we welcomed 27 new missionaries to our mission. The Lord is hastening the work and we are part of an historic mission split. The Lord has blessed us by creating two missions in preparation for His Holy Temple. On July 1st, we welcome President and Sister Balledos from Cebu. These wonderful servants of the Lord will preside over the Baguio Mission. President and Sister Monahan will then preside over the newly-created Urdaneta Mission.

We love each of our missionaries. We pray for their success, diligence and continued discipleship as they draw closer to the Savior every day. The Savior admonished us to be thankful for all things, not just easy things, for "he who receiveth all things with thankfulness shall be made glorious" (D&C 78:18). Our attitude determines our altitude. In sunshine and shadow our character is refined, for "all these things shall give thee experience, and shall be for thy good" (D&C 122:7). At the heart of all we do as missionaries is the Atonement of Jesus Christ. He is our purpose. He expects our very best because He first gave Himself for us.

As we transition to our two missions on July 1st, families will want to make a note of the new addresses for mail and packages. The zones which will be in the Baguio Mission are: Agoo, Baguio, Candon and San Fernando La Union. In the new Urdaneta Mission, the zones are:  Alaminos, Bayambang, Calasiao, Dagupan, Lingayen, Mangaldan, Rosales and Urdaneta.

The new address for Baguio Mission is:
Philippines Baguio Mission
P.O. Box 115
National Highway, Brgy. Lingsat
San Fernando, La Union 2500
Philippines

Our Urdaneta Mission address is:
Philippines Urdaneta Mission
P.O. Box 7
Brgy. San Vicente East
Urdaneta City, Pangasinan 2428
Philippines

God bless all our excellent missionaries and their families as the work rolls forth.
--President and Sister Monahan

We stood next to the Baguio Mission sign for the last time before it was removed to make room
for the new one.  On Transfer Day, the workers came to remove the Baguio Mission sign in order
to install the Urdaneta Mission sign. Before it could even be installed, four of our sister
missionaries wanted to be the first to take a picture with the new sign identifying us as....
Philippines Urdaneta Mission
                                                                                 (L-R) Sister Sumagpao, Sister Gomez,
                                                                                        Sister Killen and Sister Detera     

June 2013 New Missionaries

Baguio Mission's second largest batch of arriving missionaries! 
(L-R) Sisters Neiufi, Killen, Chan, Penjueli, Miller, Va'enuku, Opeda, Morris-Cartagena,
Sites, Tapar, Dela Cruz, Sumpagpao, Tune, Hansen, and Wilson.
Elders Allman, Howell, Gomez, Horsburgh, Mahayahay, Shepherd, Barranta,
Skinner, McDonald, Chan, Baabo, and 'Emelio  

For the first time, sisters outnumber the elders
                                              New Sisters and Elders with the Trainers

             Sister Sites was the first one off the bus, then the fun begins in finding all the luggage

          Sister Engels photographs the missionaries, then we walk over to the church for dinner
                                                            Many tired missionaries
        The next day everyone had a little free time while waiting for their interviews with President
                                   Time to eat again                  The Assistants and office elders helped
                            We gathered at the mission home for an orientation meeting
                                                                                       Sister Miller was our pianist
                           Transfer Day --  The sisters have breakfast in the mission home
          The missionaries gather their luggage and prepare to ride trykes or buses to their areas