Life in the Manilla MTC

Sister Wheat in front of the Manila MTC

Sister Wheat has now been in the Manila, Philippines MTC for over 2 weeks already!  She loves her companion, Sister Wilson from New Zealand.  Since Abbi is quick to pick up on someone's accent,  I'm sure she will soon be speaking Tagalog with an English (non-American) Accent!

Sister Missionaries

Sister Wheat and Sister Wilson

She arrived to the MTC safely and is adjusting to the hot muggy climate and the "very strange" food.    She has made a lot of friends as the MTC keeps receiving many more missionaries every week.

Missionary Friends

More missionary friends

She has a very positive attitude about being a missionary and is excited in learning the Tagalog [tǝ'-gậ-log] language.  Here is an excerpt from one of her letters... "Today, I went to the temple and tried to talk to as many Filipinos as possible and now I can pray in Tagalog without using any notes!"

Manila Temple

Here is another comment from her in a recent letter..."It is so funny because the Samoan missionaries that I spend a lot of time with always tell me that they think of me as brown like them because apparently, I don't act white."  We are not quite sure what that means but she is having a great experience and adapting to many cultures!

Sister Wheat in class

Sister Wheat with Samoan Missionaries

Off to the Philippines on May 8, 2013!



Sister Abigail Wheat



Abbi was anxiously awaiting to finally travel to the Philippines on May 8, 2013.  However, when it came time to leave her family and friends, it was very emotional for everyone. As she was on her own, she was very courageous as she left everyone at the security gate of the Salt Lake International Airport. 

Brittany, Lucy, Grandma Ruggles, Maddy & Grandma Wheat

Abbi hugging 15-month-old neice Chloe

Upon leaving the airport, I receive a message and photo from another missionary parent that got a special clearance to go to the boarding gate. She said Abbi was doing fine and there were 8 missionaries traveling together and her son, Elder Wadkins, was one of them. I was also sent this photo of her at the gate...added bonus!


Sister Wheat and Elder Wadkins

After a few hours, we received a phone call from from her as she arrived in Seattle, Washington and then from Tokyo, Japan later on in her journey (3:00 a.m.our time!).  When she reached the Manilla MTC early Friday morning, she emailed us and let us know everything was fine.