December 16, 2013

Anyways this week was kind of a hard week. We didn't really have much success because we can't enter into the homes of women without someone working with us. So it is really hard in that sense. Besides that we are just trooping around trying to find things to do. Talking to people and just trying to get the gospel out. We are starting to see some good things happen. Not many things I really have to say... this week haha. Next week hopefully we will see great progress.

December 8, 2013

This area is really kicking my butt! We have had so many things just going crazy and because of how crowded the area is we get lost all the time. We only teach women so we need someone to work with us, but nobody in the ward is really willing to work with us. We were lucky this week because we saw our hard work met with miracles. We had someone work with us everyday this week except one. It was the same person... we basically forced him to work, but he worked and we got our lessons in. This area has been in a drought for investigators but we were able to find 3 new investigators this week. Some which seem to be way willing to listen. This whole week I have wondered how I will ever make it till the next day.Yet as I look back I see the tender mercies of the Lord. This area has been hard, but it is going and I am happy to do the Lord's work. I seems that through life we all have to face trials and adversities before blessings rain upon us. I am beginning to understand Godly Sorrow more and more and I go through my mission. I see many members here whose circumstances and trials have thrown them to rock bottom .. only to be left there because their faith wasn't holding up against the world. These are the people I teach those who have lost their way. I hear their testimonies, no problems with the church, they know it is true. But they just can't go back anymore because of things they've done or problems in their lives. I think about how close they are to exaltation and how close they are to receiving everything if they will only climb back up through that empty hole and partake of life. Life which is, Jesus Christ. I want to just leave my testimony that I know this Church is true. If we will all just accept Christ and his Gospel and follow that we will obtain eternal life! We need to endure and go on. Hardships and trials come, but blessings follow after if we are faithful, if we are worthy. I know God loves us and that Jesus is our savior and I want to leave these things in the name of Jesus Christ amen.

December 2, 2013

This has been a good and crazy week. My companion last week was emergency transferred as well as the companion of my housemate. We have no idea why, but my area has just become twice as big and we have recieved many blessings. But because both our housemates got transferred, We became companions. So last week my companion was Elder Ontoria... now it is Elder Sumagaysay. He is thus far my favorite comp! We have so much fun, but we still are opening one area and trying to work out his area... so yeah we are . have a handful of issues to resolve! Anyways this thanksgiving we had so many changes, that it just turned out that I celebrated by myself. haha I bought half a friend chicken... just to feel a little thanksgiving. My comp bought rice and so philipino thing. Happy thanksgiving! Anyways that is ok. Yep I really have nothing too great to say! That was kind of my week. So many things jumping left and right! Opening half one area and trying to make the other half better wish me luck! Hope everyone had a good Thanksgiving! Can't wait hopefully I make it home next Thanksgiving!

In this season of Thanksgiving,I can't miss an opportunity to bear you my testimony of what I am thankful for. The more and more I served here on my mission I have come to know that Jesus is the Christ. That he did bear the sins of the world that we may, by his grace, return to live with God. I know that He is the Son of God and that he lives even now. I know that God the Father and his Son Jesus Christ appeared to Joseph Smith so that through him, the Church of Jesus Christ could be restored back on this Earth. I know that because of that we now have the Book of Mormon which contains the Fullness of the Everlasting Gospel. At this time of thankfulness, I am thankful for these simple truths, because in them I have found happiness. I know that this message of the Restoration is for everyone and that we should all share these things with the world. I know these things in the name of Jesus Christ Amen.

Dramatic Railroad pic! and also my thanksgiving!

November 27, 2013

I got transferred to Caloocan! It is the city in my mission. It is really dirty, it smells bad and man it is different. My new companion is Elder Ontoria a Filipino.We are also opening this area and we are having a lot of trouble. We have no updated teaching records, we barely have any addresses, and we have no investigators. We are literally starting from scratch! Man we taught nobody. But I am hopeful that things will go good. This area has faced some hard times and I think we are here to fix it. Anyways, the last Elder's didn't leave us much hope with the ward either. We didn't receive the warmest welcome on Sunday. So we have a lot ahead of us. I had an experience though that I would like to share. We have been fairly new to the area and we were pointed out some places of members and stuff. Yesterday as I was walking I had this feeling to go through this alley, I had been to the house once and we just stopped by for 3 seconds. We weren't sure who, but when we got to the house, nobody seemed to be home. We finally tried one last time and some of the youth opened the door to receive us. As we talked a sister showed up and asked us to give her son a blessing. It seemed that we were given this opportunity, not to find a member, but to also answer a members desire to receive a priesthood blessing for her son. I just want to bear my testimony again that our Father in Heaven does hear our prayers and he does answer them. Prayer is powerful and he answered mine, and maybe the member we were able to help. I know these things are true and I leave these things in the name of Jesus Christ Amen.

November 10, 2013

This week has started a winding down for me. I Will first off officially hit my 1 year mark in the mission! Also it is close to transfer and I am so excited to see something new! I really love Mapayapa. I put a good 6 months of work here. But like the apostle Paul, I have fought my fight! and I am looking to help the saints in other places. Though I am starting to feel really sad I am leaving this place, Mapayapa has become a home for me. Anyways this week we had so many things going on that our work was hard. We were failing to get into appointments, and with other meetings and such we had just a rought week getting things done. Our investigators again did not show up to church, which was hard again. It seems even though they are doing so much they fall short. But, on a high note, we had a great week sunday getting Less Actives to continue going to church. This week I have not much to say but I know that this work is true. As I look back on these last 6 months I am happy at the miracles I have seen. It has been a time of reflection as I have seen a year go by in my mission as well as how I am probably transferring. I have learned so much and my testimony is strong. Here in this area is where I learned how to be strong and depend on the Lord. I know this Church is true, and I know that God loves us. I know that Joseph Smith is a true Prophet and he did translate the Book of Mormon! The Book of Mormon is a true book. It is here I really established that for myself in my 1st year of my mission. Now I hope this next year I share it to all and bring the world to the waters of baptism. I leave these things in the name of Jesus Christ Amen.

I am the Trunkiest person ever to be 1 year in the mission! haha This is my 1 year Trunkie picture! ENJOY! HAPPY 1 YEAR BATCH! 1 more!

November 4, 2013

Anyways this week has been a struggle we had our schedule all jumbled up because of our P-day and man things were just not going my way. But we have really been on the rescue this week and trying to make sure our Less Actives who have came to church continue coming to church. Our Less active lessons were going great we were really giving them the push and the tools they needed to really make that step to either come or to continue coming. We had a record of 12 Less Actives come to church with a record high in church attendance also. Man what a great Sunday. It could have been perfect, but sadly none of my investigators decided to come. So that was kind of sucky. Anyways this week we witnessed just how God prepares people in strange and mysterious ways. This week we have been just planning and thinking of ways we could find somebody. We have a member who is always looking to bring people to the gospel. His latest were two kids from his neighborhood ages 9 and 10. His plan is as we teach the kids, the parents will hear the message and their hearts will soften. His plan takes a lot of faith, and I figured why try to hinder a mans good efforts. By the way teaching kids and trying to baptize them is the perfect way to make a Less Active, so I try to avoid it, but I figure why not try it. As we continued asking brother to prepare the kids for us, he brought them to Church on Sunday. We talked to them, told them who we were, and to also tell their parents about us and the church. One of the boys went home to his mother, who was an inactive member who baptized into another church. When we found that out we were kind of skeptical. As I walked into her house, I was prepared that night, and so was she. We shared a message on the Restoration, she said she knew that was true, but she asked us that there is one God anyways so why does it matter? I just felt so sure, we simply shared how Christ established his Gospel and that there is only one, and if Joseph Smith truly is a true prophet than we must yield to that. She could not deny that Joseph Smith was a true Prophet, and something seemed to change in her. We left committing her to come to church, which she did. But Bro. Pono was saying something really interesting to me, he said her countenance has changed, as if she were a child or something. She seems more alive and it seems that Gospel is back in her life. I know that God prepared her for us. I know that we were put into her life so that we could help her. I hope that she will always continue and we will surely keep an eye on her. I know that God lives and Loves us. He is always looking out for us and in his own time we will all receive a chance to accept his Gospel. I know these things are true and I leave these things in the name of Jesus Christ Amen.

October 29, 2013

This week has been a a fairly simple week. I have been in this area so long now that things start blending and I forget about what happens. This week though we have been working hard to get people to Church. After last weeks sad turn out I was determined to get people to Church. We spent a big portion of this week stopping by everyone and teaching about why the Sabbath day is important and how we can keep it. I learned a lot by sharing my experiences of when I was not a good keeper of the Sabbath day. I remember before my mission Sunday was just another day. But now I realize that God has given us an expectation, that we give him one day that we can remember his son Jesus Christ and his atonement, and to consecrate the day to him. Sometimes in our everyday lives it is easy to be carried away and forget about the Sabbath day. John Bytheway gave a talk saying that it used to be called the Holy Sabbath, than it turned into just the Sabbath, now it is just Sunday. I think as Latter Day Saints we can all doing something more to remember to keep the Sabbath Day Holy. Something that I taught my investigators was the importance of the Sacrament. As we take the bread and water it is important that we remember the Atonement and also our baptismal covenant. A simple thing that in 10 minutes you receive a renewal of our covenant and a cleansing from the week. How great is that. A cleansing in a sense. Anyways as I shared this message to people my testimony grew so much and I saw it change others. We had great attendance last week and we saw a lot of Less Actives make the change. If we remember why going to Church is important we will see that it become not a chore or a obstacle in our day, but a relief and necessity to our full week. I know that God lives and Jesus is our Savior. I know that This Church is True and I say these things in the name of Jesus Christ Amen.

Anyways this week has been a long week. I started to jog .... haha well almost started jogging regularly... but I rolled my ankle on Monday. But I have lost 50 Pounds ... WHOOO HOOOO! Mission's are the best diets!

Halloween in the PHILIPPINES! AND MY COOL SUNLIGHT PIC!

October 14, 2013

This week was really slow. We had transfers and conference so that took out a big portion of our days. I am still going to be here in Mapayapa for 1 more transfer. YAY.... haha it has been a long time, but I really enjoy the members and the success I have seen. I am praying this transfer goes well. Anyways Conference was amazing as always! We had a lot of inspiring messages especially on missionary work! I think today I just want to leave my testimony that the true force of missionary work is behind the faithful members. I have only seen success in the work when we teach with members helping in all steps of the process. I know that it is true what Thomas S. Monson has said this last conference echoing the call. Every Member a missionary. I invite all others to heed the call and help people come unto his Gospel. I can't wait until the Church is the #1 Church in the world, as the Lord Hastens his work here on this earth. I hope everyone takes this message who reads this into their hearts and refers at least 1 friend to the missionaries. I know this gospel is true, I leave these things in the name of Jesus Christ Amen.

October 21, 2013

This week has been a hard week. We had meetings and other interruptions I feel like my area really suffered. Anyways, this week was kind of a bummer. I really wanted to see some of my investigators get baptized before I leave this area. Yesterday on Sunday I was expecting really good attendance, it was a beautiful day and it just felt like today was gonna be a good day. Sadly, none of my investigators showed up and they all fell from their baptismal dates and the next one they can possibly make is after the transfer. I thought about this for a long while, thinking I was not doing something right or maybe I wasn't being a good missionary. Than I remembered something we learned earlier that week. Attitude is a choice. I decided God wasn't punishing me or saying I was a bad missionary. I think he want's me to work harder and do more than what I am already doing. I realized that because I have been in my area for so long I am starting to slack in my finding efforts, I am not opening my mouth and sharing to as much people as I used to. So I take this is a friendly wake up call to me. I am here to serve the Lord. I can't get comfortable with where I am, I need to do more and say more. "Where much is given, Much is required" Maybe this wasn't a very spiritual week. But I know that this Church is true. We must all take the Gospel to all nations. Right now as we speak the World has never seen such efforts. We have so many missionaries out, so let us all share it. The most precious thing we have which is the Gospel. I know that Christ lives and that God is our Father Heaven. I know that Joseph Smith is a True Prophet of God and the Book of Mormon is the word of God. I know that these things, these simple truths will guide us to the Gospel and to Everlasting life. Which is for everyone. I say these things in the name of Jesus Christ, Amen.

October 7, 2013

We have just finished another transfer. Man time is flying! I feel like yesterday the transfer started. Anyways I still have another transfer in Mapayapa! This will make it my 4th and I will be here for 6 months and hopefully that is it! I love the people here and I am happy and have seen so many miracles. But, man it has been a long struggle especially with my comps. I have felt like it was me against the world here, my comps were either unwilling to help, or my greenie right now who is unable and in a way unwilling to, but I have grown so much and now I just want to leave this area the best I can. So this transfer good things are gonna happen. We have recently enlarged our teaching pool. We have found new investigators and we are seeing progress. I had a interesting experience this week. We have this... some what I would say crazy guy who always is telling us things about how Christ is here on Earth as a Filipino and he can't reveal himself because people would kill him again. At that time he was kind of drunk too I think. Anyways ... I thought he was a joke at first, but as we slowly just greeted him friendly and left him things to read he kept asking for more. We would always leave small portions of truth and things were just going well. One day he asked us for a Book of Mormon and we told him we would bring him one. We came back the next day, and we left him a short message on the Book of Mormon. Than out of nowhere I just felt like I should invite him to Church. So I did and he promised he would come. I thought nothing of it until the next day on Sunday.... HE WAS THERE! I knew as an Elder of God I had judged my brother poorly. But, God prepared him and I hadn't noticed but he came. We hope he will take the lessons and keep coming to Church. I don't know what will come of him, but what I have learned is I can't judge people in the streets. All are welcome to the knowledge of the Gospel and we should all do our part to welcome these people. I did a bad thing and judged the guy who I first called crazy. But I think he will be a fun miracle story for me. I know this gospel is True and I say these things in the name of Jesus Christ Amen.

October 2, 2013

We have had a lot of success this week. It seems that every transfer we just fry and grill in the oven of the sun and look for people who might just give us one chance to let us say a word about our message. But, when the sun goes down, that is when we get our real appointments in. We are having a good time teaching our investigators who seem to care! Anyways, as of right now I have just been tired.. more tired than I can ever remember. Really stressed out too, I have big pimples now! haha It is just a lot of pressure on me as a trainer and leading an area. My companion has been really slow at progressing and he would rather sit quietly than give it his all in lessons. It is kind of awkward when I give him a chance to do something and he just... stares at me refusing to do anything. I have really gained a lot of patience this past 6 weeks and I am expecting to gain even more the next 6. Anyways, I learned something about myself and maybe something that can help others. I have really been upset with my companion... we have not been getting along. It finally got to the point where we got into ... a bigger argument. The rest of the day... the spirit was not felt, and I feel like the Lord made sure I did not enter any homes with the attitude we both had. As we walked for a couple hours getting punted from our appointments, the spirit just nagged me. It seemed I didn't want to listen, I knew what he wanted me to do. By the time we got home, I felt miserable, and I knew that I had to humble myself. I built up my courage and me and my comp had a short talk. I started with the most heart felt apology I could muster. It felt like the right thing and I know that is what the spirit was telling me ... I just chose to ignore it. As I apologized, I think his heart was softened too. We had generally gotten along before, but I think both of us had some humbling to do. I see today, many members who have been offended. I clearly saw today the blessing and help of God withdrawn from my work. How can that affect our lives today? We can choose to be offended, but I know that if we just humble ourselves the Lord will provide. I am trying everyday to love my companion, and I see how it can make a big difference in our lives. I invite everyone to be as Christ and let go of hard feelings, forgive others and welcome back blessings that we could really use in our lives. I know that God loves us and he would want us to love each other. I really learned a lot about myself and how to better myself this week in this sense. I say these things in the name of Jesus Christ, Amen.

September 22, 2013

This week has been slow, yet we are seeing good results. The family me and my last companion found has been progressing really well. The 13 year old in their family, who has a brain of a 19 year old and looks like she is 16 got baptized. She was way excited and nervous and all but her baptism went way good! Also the family is almost considered return. I had a special experience with them though. We were talking about how we can continue to stay active and build our faith so that we never fall away. Reading, praying, and going to church. They told me about what had happened to them, that they just forgot the little things until they stopped doing everything. But they were so thankful that we showed up at their door. They were so happy and I felt like we were all prepared to be there at this time. I have notice a lot in my life how I have been prepared by the Lord. Preserved for this work and at times I wonder what the heck I am doing here in the Philippines. Than it is times like this when I see that I have played an important role in the lives of others. I know our Father in Heaven is mindful of all. That those who are lost, he is mindful of them. I hope all those are searching for the truth are looking for the ones God has prepared for them. I hope all those who have the truth are searching for ways to be God's instrument in bringing his sheep back to his fold. It has been a great week, but a lot of work has to be done. We are having our struggles, but through struggles comes great reward. 

September 15, 2013

Being a missionary has its ups and downs. It rained a lot again this week. I hate wet shoes! No matter how waterproof your shoes are... they still get wet somehow! haha but it is fun and not super hot! Also, this week we just couldn't get our lessons in. Everyone we seemed to plan for became very busy! So we did a lot of searching for new people. Well basically it was me carrying out a big Fijian kid because he doesn't know how to say anything or do anything. So it is just a overall me against the world kind of mission now a days. It is all good, the Lord will bless me. Anyways, we have a baptism this Saturday which I am very excited for! The Livelo family we have been working really close with is doing great. They are very active now ... well the girls and after the baptism we will focus on the father, and the other non-members who live with them. Lyka was a classic example of someone that was prepared for us, we just happened to stumble upon Flor who in turn lead us to this awesome family that was ready to return to church. I am seeing a lot of fruits from my labors and I am really happy now a days! I am hoping though I can leave with the area flourishing even more! Anyways there is a lot of stuff to do here and I still have one and a half transfers left to do this stuff! So wish me luck! But, as a missionary I have to say, through all the good and the bad that has happened in the mish I know this church is true. I am learning and learning more and more and coming to know for myself even more that Jesus is the Christ and God is our loving Heavenly Father. Joseph Smith is a true prophet, and the Book of Mormon is True. I want to leave these things in the name of Jesus Christ Amen.

September 2, 2013

Anyways this week was good! I got my new companion and he is a really really really big Fijian. He eats half a loaf of bread each day and ... yeah ... it has been really worrying for me cause I don't want to pay for extra food haha. Anyways He is really nice but he is a brute. He knocks things over ... man yeah he is such an islander! Anyways our area has been ok. We have spent a lot of time this week getting to know the members in our area so that we could start hopefully getting some referrals. Not too much success. But, we got 2 referrals from less actives... so that was good! Less active referrals are always good. Anyways ... yeah getting a those referrals are like a great answer to my prayers we seem to be missing a teaching pool now a days. So hopefully we will work hard and  turn that right around! Besides that we had an incredible Sunday. I had 15 Less Active members show up to church. I was so happy to see them all! It is seriously like .. the best thing when members come to church and especially less actives. When I got to this ward we were only hitting average 80 members, and now we hit 130 last Sunday. So I am pretty stoked I hope things keep going this way. The ward has seemed really excited and so has our Bishopric. So I am expecting good things. Anyways yeah it is stressful training but I like my trainee. He has a way sincere testimony and I love his attitude. He is a testimony to me that missionary work is true. He has only been baptized for about a year, and he is now on a mission. He has tattoos, but they just are small scars from his life before his baptism. I know this work is true. The church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints changes lives for the better.

August 26, 2013

Anyways this week there was this rain storm and for safety the mission president decided to keep all the missionaries locked up in the houses. It was a miserable two weeks of reading and sleeping. Sounds good but nope it is awful!! Anyways it is the last week of the transfers so we have been saying goodbyes and wrapping up lessons. We have done a lot of work with retaining our recent converts! and I am excited to start finding again. I am also stepping up as a trainer and will be a senior this next transfer so that is exciting for me i guess. Anyways nothing much happened though. This Sunday like I said last week was a repeat of last Sunday. I think our Bishopric is really happy with our work, our sacrament attendance used to be 80 people average now it is 120 average so there definitely have been miracles this week. Anyways next week will be way better with new trainee and new ambitions for this area!

August 18, 2013

Anyways this week has been a wet one. So much rain, it makes working hard. We have had a pretty steady week. We are kind of in a steady pace and it is almost the end of the transfer so not much has happened. I have seen a lot of blessings those from my last 2 transfers here in Mapayapa. We have worked really hard and we are seeing the fruits of our labors. The Esuesta family, who I though would never come back came last week to church  I knew there was still more ahead for them. We weren't able to teach him this week, because he was so busy, but we stopped by Saturday  and he said, "Elders, I am busy, but I will see you at church." I wasn't too sure, so I wasn't expecting much. He showed up to church again with his wife. It was a great sight! He seemed so happy to be back at Church. I was way happy for him! I pray he will make a successful return! Anyways also we had a great time teaching our Part member Family, the Livelo's. They have progressed so much! They have come to church 3 times in a row now! Each time they have stayed for another hour. Our investigator at their home, Sister Lyka is making steps towards baptism so we are really excited. The family too is becoming active again so it has been such a blessing to me to see their success. To think just a month ago we found them because a member saw us taking a break to get a drink. Now they are partaking of the blessings the church offers to them. I know the Lord has poured his blessings over this area and to these people. Anyways, I think our ward is noticing new faces and a new spark for missionary work has kind of spurred over people. The bishopric has gotten excited and I am expecting good things in the coming future! I love missionary work and I love this gospel! It is the best! It is true too and it really brings true happiness.

August 12, 2013

It rains everyday here ... I am always wet... from rain, from sweat, from foreign drippings in weird places! Anyways We had a great week! I was able to baptize my investigator!! Her name is Analyn Sacoco and we worked with them for so long trying to get them married so they could get baptized. Than after that we had to teach her the doctrine really slowly because it was hard for her to remember and understand. She was a trooper though and she reads the Book of Mormon everyday! Anyways it was awesome! We Baptized her and her cousin on August 10. It was a very nice baptism and the spirit was felt! Anyways after that, Sunday. We had an awesome Sunday. They thankfully showed up to church on time and received the Holy Ghost! Now it is onward to temple prep and sealing! I am so excited for them. Also we had so many good fortunes! We had our other 2 progressing investigators show up. Sister Amee showed up with all her kids, she is an awesome investigator. She moved in with one of our families and one day we just showed up and said, "Can we teach?" and she just sat down and listened. She believes everything we have taught her too. Her husband works abroad and she doesn't want to get baptized without his permission. So ... that will be an interesting challenge depending on what kind of person her husband is. So I am praying for miracles there. Also we had our part member family, the Livelo's, show up again. I was nervous they were not going to come again, because it took us 3 weeks to get them to come once. But they showed up and even attended classes afterwards! So we were way excited when they showed up! Sister Lyka has a baptismal date for Sep. 21 so hopefully they continue in this. Last, I consider this one of the greatest blessings of my mission, was the Esuesta family. We have gone so many times to his house and taught him about building our testimony and than overcoming our obstacles to come to church. He has been telling us over and over that he really wants to return, but things keep holding him back. We went once to his house this week and just shared a simple message about renewing our covenants and how important covenants are. I have no idea what changed him, and his wife especially, but they all showed up an hour early to Church!! When I saw them... my mouth dropped! They said, "Look who surprised the Elders today!" I was so happy! It has just been an awesome week. Miracles have happened in these past 10 weeks in Mapayapa. I have suffered many trials here, but now I don't regret any of them. I have seen so many miracles and so many blessings. I am glad I am part of this work! I know that God lives and Jesus is the Christ. I hope for one day that all will receive his Gospel and return to live with our Heavenly Father and his son Jesus Christ. I say these things in the name of Jesus Christ Amen.

Anyways fun story, our zone participated in a training activity with the MTC here. We took around new guys who didn't speak Tagalog... yeah ... they were so bad! It made me feel like the smartest kid ever! haha I am way better than the new guys at TAGALOG! YEAH!! haha That is about it...

August 5, 2013

Anyways this week has been good. We have been teaching a lot of people and really working to get our investigators and our Less Actives progressing. So far we have had a great week. One of our investigators, The Sacoco's, who we thought moved away was actually just on vacation, so we have been working really hard with her for the last like month. She is way ... slow... haha Sister Ann doesn't really remember stuff and listen well. So we really had to work with her really slowly but she finally started getting it! So we got her interviewed this week and next week on August 10 I will be baptizing her and a 8 year old in the family named Carlos! So I am really excited. I am not sure how we were able to pull this baptism of but I am really excited! Anyways, we also have a part member family, The Livelo family, who we have been going for about 3 weeks. They promised us every time that they would go to church. They finally showed up! We were really excited! They came and one of them even bore her testimony! So I am really happy for them. This week was one of those weeks where I saw a lot of reward from my labors. All that walking was worth it! Anyways, I know that this Church is True. I have seen it change peoples lives. I have seen people who were just living together, get married so they can come to the waters of baptism and progress towards becoming an eternal family. I know that this Church is true in the name of Jesus Christ. Amen

Anyways, I don't really have a funny story... I have one kind of sad one I guess. It is kind of funny but had some bad results. We showed up to the Livelo family and I always love starting out joking and laughing. Our investigator, Sister Likha, had a baptism over her forehead and like practically over her eyes. I asked her why she was wearing that, and I asked are you a gangster? Haha than I started teasing her saying she had a big pimple she was hiding! I kept teasing her... yeah she did not like it and the lesson was awkward, she was really quiet and seemed upset... yeah but it was funny at the time, her family was all laughing! I guess I should watch what I say. Also one more story, I was teaching at a families house, the Balasbas family, and I was sitting on the floor. The mom and her baby were next to me and she was on a chair. In the middle of while I was speaking, the baby who is right next to my FACE!! took a poop in its diaper! I ... didn't like that too much... and I started laughing. Spirit ... GONE! Haha Anyways that's it!

July 31, 2013

Anyways This week was really slow! We are in a steady pace now and getting kind of comfortable. We are really focusing on some new people we found. We have 2 new less active families that we found last transfer. One is the Livelo family and the other is the Balasbas. They have both shown willingness to come to church and we have seen some of them come. So it is good, but we are trying to help them understand coming to church is not a sometimes kind of thing. We need to go all the time. It is what the Lord has commanded us to do and it is how we become sanctified through the sacrament. So I am still confused on how to do that, we are building a foundation on doctrine first right now, making sure they understand that. We have another Less Active Brother, who ... I really want to see return. Every time we go over to him he has a grieved soul and we can tell he isn't happy the way he chose to pursue his life. He always told himself he would come back, but now his family has all fallen away and he blames himself. I can almost see his spirit yearning for the atonement and spiritual nourishment. He says he wants to, but every time he gets to Sunday he becomes ashamed to return or he doesn't feel ready. We shared the restoration with him this last week. It was funny how it was just a simple lesson, but I asked him if he knew it was true, he bore testimony, that he knows it is true. I second his witness and I felt power in the room. It is funny how when one bears testimony to himself... he receives a witness for himself if these things are true. I encourage everyone to find a conviction in the restoration of the Church of Jesus Christ, The Prophet Joseph Smith, The Book of Mormon, and Jesus Christ and HIs Atonement.I don't know if this moment alone will help this man overcome his obstacles, but it sure gave him some inspiration. A burden was lifted from him for just a couple of minutes maybe, but it was visible to me. I know these things are true and I leave them in the name of Jesus Christ Amen.

Well here is also a funny story!I was walking one day and this old lady looked like she was asking my comp for something... knowing him he just blew her off. So i stopped and talked to her and she just asked if we were Mormons  I sad yeah and than i offered her help carrying her bags! Haha she had a lot. So i grabbed some and we started walking... like 10 seconds later she latches onto my arm and I escorted an old lady like a boy scout all the way to her street. I didn't get to teach her or anything nor will i ever get to ... cause she wouldn't let me go any further cause she thought I was going the other way. Yeah haha... awkward! Anyways it was funny cause she was super teeny and I was this giant and I was just helping down the street.

July 21, 2013

Well this week was just the most steady week ever. We taught half the days and tracted the other half. I am getting pretty good at walking for hours! Anyways I had a interesting revelation this week. I always wondered how can we hold 8 year olds accountable. They still seem really young and they are missing some knowledge that I feel like you need. One of our recent converts family had an 8 year old get baptized. I asked him many questions if he knew what was right and what was wrong. He knew what was right and what was wrong in a very simple way. Also after his baptism, he bore a great simple testimony! That was awesome. Anyways we are seeing some progress in this area. Our progressing investigator who moved out, actually didn't move out. They just went on vacation... their Grandma lied to us! Anyways she is going to be approximately baptized August 10. When I arrived in this area they got married 2 weeks after. It was awesome I really was excited. We are making sure she really knows the doctrine... she is really shy and kind of slow. We treat her like she is 5 haha. But it is going great! She is doing great! And I am way excited! She is Pregnant too!! haha Awesome! I am excited for this transfer! It should go very smoothly and we are expecting a lot of Less Active rescue and we have some really good situations for progressing investigators! Besides that nothing exciting happened!

Happy Birthday Edward! July 15, 2013

Anyways, this week was really exciting! I have been praying really hard for some people to be prepared for us. That we would be able to find them. We have been searching a lot this past transfer for more people who are ready to progress. Through our efforts, we found 2 families who showed a lot of interest in coming back to Church. One is the Livelo family! They collect Junk and sell it to the recycling companies! haha Yeah we teach at a Junk Shop!! CRAZY! It is dirty in their, but the spirit resides within our small circle when we teach! They have a daughter who is not baptized yet so we are hoping their daughter find starts progressing. She is 13 and doesn't really listen well haha. Anyways the other family is called the Balasbas family! They really love the Church. They stopped coming because the Church is really far from them and they were financially struggling. Also the father in the family started drinking again. So we are working hard with them, but the youth and the mother are doing willing and ready to come back! Than a Less Active texted us saying she wanted us to come teach her. We came and she was ready. Her testimony was so strong already, and she showed up the church that Sunday when we invited her. Also we have found a old couple who are very interested in learning about our Church. Manuel and his wife... haha They are so awesome! They ask great questions and keep all their commitments! It has just been a great week. This last transfer has been really hard. We walked a ton and I prayed very hard at nights that we would be guided. A lot of the people that we found above were all lead to us. The Livelo family, one of the daughters saw us and told us that she was a member.We were just sitting down from a long walk to get a drink. When we told her we would stop by, she said it would be OK, we were a little reluctant thinking she probably doesn't care and when we showed up they were ready! Sis. Genalyn lived in an address that was impossible to find. Elder Chapman my companion was way confused and he was about to give up. We circled around the area and I remember looking into a small alley and thinking, "go there" My comp kept insisting we keep circling around another way. Finally after a frustrating walk around the whole area I swear! haha he gave up. So I finally rounded back to the first place I was asked to go and asked a Nanay where the address was. She said... it is right here! The person you are looking for is my Granddaughter. The Lord has tried us and chastened me and my companion this transfer. We ... basically walked for 5 weeks. This 6th week though I saw the miracles and the guidance from him. The lord has prepared us all in different ways, and he guides us when the time is right and when he feels we are ready. I believe in a God of Miracles and all these people we found ... It cannot be from mere coincidence. I know this Church is true and this last transfer has been a growing experience. I lost some weight too from walking!! haha! Blessings!! Love them!

P.S. I had a great birthday! haha Here is a sample of what I got .. these pictures are from a different birthday but we had the same food this day and than Me and A Member, Bro Pono, had the same birthday so we celebrated together haha!

July 9, 2013

Well this week was a lot like the other weeks in Mapayapa. Man we walked a lot. We talked to a lot of people. We got a lot of come back again, or come back next time. So you know progress right? haha. Anyways the work in Mapayapa is a hard one. we are trying to tract down new less actives who might progress and return to church but they have all seem to move away or died. We found this one house with the address painted on perfectly in front the one we were looking for. Haha we knocked and the lady inside told us that the lady we were looking for lives on the other alley. When we asked they said she wasn't there. She lives in the alley we were just at. We went back and she told us, "she probably doesn't want to be taught." I am pretty sure that old lady was the one we were looking for but really didn't want us to talk to her. Man .. I just wanted to call her out! haha Oh well. I have been praying hard for some miracles, I have been thinking a lot about that. God has not ceased to do miracles and I believe it. We found a family though this week, where the Mom has researched just about every Church and says they are all wrong except the LDS faith. We are hoping they will find for themselves that this Church is the one and only true church on this Earth. We only taught them once, but they are SO nice and way receptive.They also keep COMMITMENTS!! that is a Miracle in itself! Anyways also we had a day this week where it seemed like we just "ran" into people. Some guy just walked up asked us, "Is your Church the one with the Golden Tablets?" We said "if you mean the golden plates than yes!" He was way excited and basically told us the story of Joseph Smith than we offered to come back to his house and he said OK! That was fun, we haven't taught him yet so hopefully we see some real progress there! Also as we sat down for a drink the other day, a girl approached us and said, "Hi Elders!" I had no idea who she was but my comp addressed here like he had known her for a long time! Finally I asked her who she was and she said I am inactive, so we asked if we could stop by! She said of course!! So hopefully they have been prepared for us! I don't know if all these moments will be a miracle. But I do believe God is mindful of us. He is watching over us and has prepared us in ways where maybe we don't experience a miraculous healing, or a out of this world experience. We don't see oceans being split open in half, and we don't see stone walls tumble down without reason. I do know this though, God has not yet ceased to be a God of Miracles. Everyday we might not see how small and simple things could end up being one of the greatest miracles of our lives. How small is it that someone came up to us and asked one question, yet if they chose to accept our message, they will be blessed with Eternal Life. I know how important the message I bear is. I know how it can change lives! I walk miles everyday for that one who might be another testimony to mine that miracles do happen. I leave these things in the name of Jesus Christ Amen.

June 30, 2013

Well the work here in Mapayapa is really tough. We got a lot of just challenges. First off the Ward only has a little bit of active members. We have just no focus on missionary work from the ward. So it is just the missionaries against the world. Anyways we have decided to take a focus on trying to bring back some inactive members back into the fold. In the worldwide broadcast, they put a emphasis on that. "How can the Lord trust us with new investigators and baptisms, if we can't help the ones that we already have!" So i feel pretty good about this focus right now it is tough though. A lot of people in this ward have passed away or moved away without the Bishop or anyone knowing. So we have a lot of work to do. We are just basically trying to find out where the members of this ward live! There is a ton of list of names here but none of them come! So we walk and we ask people where this address is. There is no real addresses here in the Philippines so we talk to a lot of people and try to share the gospel. It has been very time consuming and tiring, but I am expecting great rewards. We had a guy answer a door of an old members home. He was almost amazed when he saw us and he welcomed us in. We were wondering, why he was so dazed. We asked him if these certain people still lived here he told us, "no, I don't think so."  We asked him if we could come in and share a message. So he said "yes" haha after we shared a quick message, he asked us questions. He had heard of the missionaries from his Mom, and asked if we do this with no pay. We told him "yeah." He said, "my mom told me you guys were servants of the lord and that there should be more people like you." I have no idea why he said that, but he had a lot of respect for us. He was really busy though so it was sad we don't know when we could go back. But he is a really great guy, really Catholic, but it was nice to find someone who could be interested just by us and our willingness to work hard. Anyways I complain a lot about the work. It is hard, but really it is just my way of being happy. I feel the rewards from hard work and I am way excited to see miracles. This Church is True and because it is I know I can't fail as long as I am on the Lord's Errand. Wish me luck!! haha

June 23, 2013

This week has been a hard one. We walked around forever this week. It has been raining like crazy. Everyday at 2 it starts raining all day. So it is not that hot, but you get really sweaty. Anyways this week like I said was really hard. We have nowhere to go and we had no success trying to find new people to teach. Anyways ... I really have nothing to say about the missionary work. Well anyways .. we walked and walked and walked and walked and walked and walked. I believe that the Lord was chastening just like he chastened the Israelites. I wish we had a Moses to follow, maybe he could find people. I might just be the Israelite. Anyways I am not going to let this week get me down. Things are going to get better! Get ready for a great week next week.

Ted Mosby!!

June 16, 2013

So anyways this week was good. We spent a lot of time trying to improve this area. We set out looking for new investigators and we found some. We also finally got to talk with the bishop and he seems excited to help us with the work. We saw a miracle in this ward yesterday. My first Sunday not even half of the sacrament hall was filled. Than yesterday the whole thing was packed. I wondered what it could be, and I remembered that last week they had a home teaching caravan and everyone did there home teaching. I have a new found testimony about Home Teaching. It is obvious to me that the work for member retention is not for the missionaries. We simply do not have the time to do that. If Home Teaching is done, we can clearly see that people will feel that love and charity. How amazing is that! Anyways there is a lot of good things coming for us this week. But this week, we had some really good news. We have an investigator who is living with a member. Getting married in the Philippines is not really something people like to do because it is illegal to get divorced and so yeah ... it is like a "trap" to some. She has been taking the lessons and she wants to be baptized. Well to be baptized they have to get married, and so yesterday! Yeah they got married!!! It is awesome!! I would send more pictures,but the computer is slow! We are so excited for them, they can now be baptized in the coming weeks! So I am excited for that! Also we are out finding a ton of new people haha. Funny story for the week.So I street contacted this guy and we gave him some pamphlets and stuff earlier this week. We asked if we could go back and they said it was OK. So we went back to teach yesterday and when we got there, only a 15 year old we talked to was there. He set up some chairs than some lady who was like way excited and said, "YEAH Mormons right? I've listened to the missionaries before. They things you teach are great everyone come sit and listen." Haha Than we had like 9 people just gathered around us as we taught... there were little children sitting and listening to us and the some guys and girls in the back standing and listening... felt like Jesus for a second not gonna lie. Than when we finished we found out one of the guys we taught who standing in the back was a inactive member. We were wondering why? He spoke of the church so kindly but ... than his gay partner came out to say hi to us... awkward! Than the lady asked us if we had girlfriends and we told her yeah we do cause it is safer that way for us so people don't ask us to marry them and take them home to America. The lady was way like, "Dangit I don't want to listen to you anymore you guys have girlfriends!!" haha way funny! We might go back, we might not, we will see! Anyways great week and lots of good stuff ahead for us!

June 9, 2013

I have finally made it to my new area. It is called MAPAYAPA ... yeah it is way hard to say even for me. It means peace! or something like that! Anyways it is far from peaceful. I live in the most expensive house in the Mission home so that part is nice. The area around our house if full of KOREANS! Yeah I thought there was nothing Korean here, actually there is a lot of Korean stuff right here! Restaurants, markets, other weird Korean schools and Churches! So that is really exciting! I got to eat Kimchi for the first time in 6 months!! It was like a little piece of home!! Anyways I am excited to eat all the food here! Anyways though, my area is on the other side like it seems fenced off to me. Yeah my area is super poor full of squatters. Peoples houses are like ... yeah it is hard to explain! we travel through all these places called escanitas. Which are these really narrow passages and it is like a maze in my area! So crazy! Anyways we teach a lot of Less Actives here. Anyways... the area is really dead, not much help from the ward, and my companion has been here for 6 weeks and he still doesn't know the whole area or even everyone we teach. It is way confusing! Anyways the work is dead too. Basically are goal here now is to revive it! Which takes a lot of hard work and very stressful days of just walking around and trying things. So ... I will probably be complaining a lot soon haha. Anyways, my new companion is Elder Chapman. He is a half Philipino half american. He is way cool though. We get along just fine! Anyways cool stuff this week. The one really cool guy in our ward... because our ward refuses to help us, he is a recent convert! He has a kind of cool story. He found the church because he really likes David Archuleta and through him, and the hymns he sings, he decided to visit our church. Turns out he took the missionary lessons and it clicked in him that this Church is true. So crazy story man! (Mom you should tell David's Grandma about that one!) He is way rich too so he drives us around when he works with us! He also feeds us a ton! So he is a cool guy! Other than that... yeah not much to say. We teach a lot of people with no hope.. and they aren't progressing. So yep! That is my week and my new area! Well I know this Church is True and that is why I still am here sharing the precious gift to others.

June 4, 2013

This week has been super rainy! It is close to Rainy season and I might be facing some floods!! oh well!! Life of a Philippines Missionary I guess. Anyways This is my last week in my area. I have officially received my transfer announcements and am heading off to my new area tomorrow. I am really excited. I am going to Mapayapa or something like that. So that will be sweet. New area and new companion I am freaking excited! Anyways we taught a lot of people this last week. Probably more than I have ever taught in my whole mission ever. I am glad I am leaving my first area with a good week. Anyways I have told so many stories in this area I just don't really know what to say anymore. It is kind of getting hard to have a good experience to share. I have just become kind of numb to them here I guess. I am really hopeful though in this area. My person I OYM is making good progress and is probably going to be baptized. I am so happy! I can't wait to see a picture! I actually had a cool opportunity to teach a Muslim guy. He is like the coolest guy I have ever taught, #1 he spoke English so I was like.. YEAH!! that is easy! haha #2 he is so open minded I could speak way freely. Anyways cool things that happened as I taught him the first lesson. When I told him about living prophets he had the best reaction ever. He was stunned and said, "Are you serious? I got to look this guy up! I wonder what this guy has to say? How can I like look him up or something?" I was stunned... usually most people tell us... oh that's cool i guess. We should all be amazed that we have a living prophet on this Earth. Than because he is a Muslim he asked us about Christ and why he is important. My companion and I bore our testimony of why Christ and his life was important to us and how it effects us all. It was a spiritual moment in the lesson. It is weird to me that he doesn't understand Christ, but I was happy to tell him why it should matter. Than after we told him about the Book of Mormon and reading and praying, he was completely with us. He said, I think people follow blindly, when they should be asking and finding out for themselves. He left us with a question and told us not to answer. He said, he thinks it is great we feel so strongly in what we do and he can see our faith and how awesome we think this is. He asked us, "Why do I feel exactly the same about my book my beliefs, almost exactly the way it seems you do?" This question was hard for me. I thought about it a long time. This is what I can say though. I believe all religions or beliefs all have a part of an eternal truth. We can always feel really good about those simple truths that lead us to greater understanding. During the Great Apostacy, we lost the fullness for a while, thus leading to so many religions. The way I see it is that he is happy with the few simple truths he already knows. I also know though that those few will not lead him to Eternal Happiness. I am have been here proclaiming the not just a Gospel, but the Full Restored Gospel that Jesus Christ taught. We can be happy with simple truths here and there, but I know that to receive Eternal Happiness we must have the whole thing. I know that this Church is true, and I wish, Allen, this guy I taught who was really open to hear will one day find out for himself that this is true. He is flying back to Holland for vacation for 3 months so I will probably never see him. But I was glad to have that opportunity, he told me discussing our beliefs openly like this is like Therapy. It really was like Therapy and it was a great experience.

Anyways besides that, funny story, We teach this new investigator who is a born again Christian. Haha it was way funny we showed up to her house while she was gambling, right when she saw us, she threw her hands up and yelled at her gambling buddies, SHAME ON YOU FOR TEMPTING ME!! She looked at us with these guilty eyes!! We told her we would come back so we went taught some other people and came back. She was STILL GAMBLING! haha she felt sooo guilty for some reason, which I don't know why. But when we got back she just yelled at her friends again, I TOLD YOU NOT NOT TO TEMPT ME! OK EVERYONE LEAVE!! haha ... it was a bad lesson after she was so unfocused and in the middle kept apoligizing for her sins and stuff... but it gave me a good laugh! She ended up coming To church this Sunday which was awesome!

 

May 26, 2013

This week has been pretty good I guess. We have had a slow week because we had Temple P-Day and than we had Zone conference as well. Anyways this week though, we had some hard news. First off, one of our less actives, who we worked really hard for 3 transfers now to reactivate, passed away. It was something it was a bitter sweet moment I guess. She could barely walk, but she was able to. So we kept encouraging her to go to church. The ward didn't take our pleas of help for her very seriously because they had seen her walk places I guess. Anyways, in the end I decided it is better this way. I am sure she will make it to the Celestial Kingdom as long she keeps progressing towards it in the spirit world. Other than that, one of our new investigators that I was excited to teach moved away. His work accused him of stealing, and so he just quit his job and he left to go study abroad for 3 years. Man we got to teach him one last lesson though and it was the Restoration of the Gospel and I think it opened up a light in him. So hopefully he continues, but man it just means I have one less place to go. Oh well, I just have to keep moving on and working I guess. Anyways, the work here is slow, but progressing too. I had an experience yesterday though, teaching a part member family. The Seria family. The Dad was baptized but not confirmed, so he is not a member. The rest of the family has ... some issues, but also some really strong members too. Anyways, we taught them a lesson on baptism yesterday and how we need to remember that we need to be baptized, and stay active and partake of the sacrament. At the end I looked at all them and I felt overwhelmed with sadness for them. I told them, we need to be baptized. It is how we enter into a covenant with God, it is the gates to Eternal Life. I also told them that, your family can become an Eternal one, but we have to keep those covenants and obey the commandments. In the end I told them, I am so happy my family is sealed, and that we have the opportunity to become an Eternal family. I felt the spirit testify to me during that lesson that what I said was true. I know that God loves us, and he has given us such a wonderful blessing of Eternal Life with our families. I love that blessing. There is nothing more important than family, but we must all do our part. I know this Church is True. No other Church has the priesthood authority to bind and seal us on Earth. I leave these things in the name of Jesus Christ Amen.

Well anyways fun stuff of the week... well kind of fun to think about, but not at the time. We helped like re-build/extend some guys house. It was tree house work if anything. But anyways we had the pleasure of hauling ... a lot of dirt from the nearby river to his house to mix in with the cement. Yeah it totally sucked, I feel like I am in some sort of 3rd world country humanitarian work. Well it pretty much is! haha Anyways that was fun, we didn't get to finish the house, but we did all the heavy lifting. Also one of the members went on a road trip and bought us all these sweet souvenirs! I got a native bag! It looks pretty sweet!! Also she got us like 20 key chains! haha Got to love the members! 

Some of the moments of our service and also our third world country baby who needs help infomercial video haha!

May 22, 2013

So this last two weeks has been pretty good and not so good. I have been in this area for 3 transfers and it is hard for me to find real joy in teaching people I have been teaching for a while and there has been no progression. So that has been a struggle! But last week and this week has been sweet. I OYM'd a guy, or I talked to him on the street and he didn't seem interested. We have taught him 3 lessons and man was I wrong. His Uncle was a patriarch/pioneer member in the Philippines! He used to hear his Uncle share the Gospel a lot! After we taught him a couple of times, he is really interested and has been saying he wants to get baptized. So yesterday we invited him to get baptized. He said yes! I believe Joseph Smith is a true prophet and I want to be baptized! Man .... I feel so blessed I was able to be at the right place and the right time and just ask him to hear us out once! Anyways I probably won't get to see his baptism, but oh well I will see him in the Celestial Kingdom I bet! Anyways besides that, some sad news. One of my Less Actives I teach and have talked about a lot passed away yesterday. It was sad, because I was hoping to reactivate her before she passed on. But it didn't happen. I pray she will find a better life in the next, not burdened by her old age! Anyways this week has been a long and hard one. We have been working hard, but this area has been hard. We just can't seem to find anyone! So I am still praying and still working hard to find more people to teach. I just am not satisfied. Anyways I know this Gospel is true. I have had such a sweet experience just having the chance to recognize Heavenly Father's guidance in my life. Until next time!! 

May 5, 2013

Anyways this week has been a long one. My new companion and I have been doing good. He is really quiet, but he is all about doing the work. It is really quiet though haha. Anyways this week we have had some struggles. We are looking for new people to teach, especially new investigators and Less Actives. The problem is we can't get a ward directory or something like that and we have no referrals and no leads. So we took our efforts to the streets! Man for like 3 days we have been walking around talking to everyone! Nobody really wants to listen to us! Every night I have come home soaked with sweat and I am way tired from talking and walking. But we have had little successes. One day a girl called out to us, said she wanted to meet with us. So we have plans to go talk to here. Also one of our new Less Actives we found is having us teach her friend too! So  it hasn't been a total failure. But a lot of our investigators stopped listening to us! So I am pretty sad a lot of them are Part Member families and we are just trying to complete them! Anyways yeah so that has been our week! We are walking talking and sweating. We haven't gotten very many lessons this week so hopefully this week is going to change it. I don't have much to say for this week haha. Anyways crazy thing I saw this week. So there is this law here in the Philippines called coding. There are specific days where a car is not allowed to drive to help traffic and pollution. Anyways some taxi driver got caught, but he tried to run away. The Police here will stand in front of the car and let them run over them and try to not let them get away. Anyways this Taxi driver wasn't ready to kill, but he wanted to run. So he like pushed the police that was in front until the police moved to the side. Than the police guy ran to open his door, but he had them locked. So than he tried to break off the side mirror to stop the guy. Than his other police buddies ran over and they started breaking the windows with rocks! ... the taxi driver stopped and now he has way more to pay for than just a ticket! way crazy! Anyways also we had this Less active ... she is like 70 and she is big!! she can walk, but it is hard. Anyways, we were going to visit her and when we walked into her little cement hut, whoah I though she was naked!! I turned back, but the ward mission leader was there so he went in. Turns out she just was really hot so she took off her shirt, but she still had her skirt hiked up to cover the rest of her body... it was kind of gross haha. But it was kind of funny their conversation. The ward mission leader ask her, "What are you doing! Where is your shirt?" she responded, "What are you going to rape me? you can't rape me!" haha... it was funny me and my new companion Elder Juario laughed our heads off. Anyways I am learning a ton from my new comp by the way! He is way good at English and Tagalog... he is fluent though in his dialect over in Mendano so he is way skillful! haha Anyways It has been fun hope for better days in the work though!

April 28, 2013

This week has been good! We really haven't done anything new. Just teaching the same people and looking for new ones. A lot of our investigators have stopped progressing and it is kind of frustrating. We really don't have very many people to teach. So it's ok though because my new companion just came to sent by God! His name is Elder Juario! He is a way cool guy! Actually it was funny because we went to transfer meetings and when I first met him, he told me he was mad haha. He thought I didn't know any Tagalog and he would have a hard transfer haah! So he didn't really talk to me at first. He told me though he was happy because I am actually OK at Tagalog which made me happy! So yeah he didn't talk to me at first, but now he does! So I am way happy! He is way cool! He is a Philippino! He is like the same personality of my trainer, he likes to piano, singing, and anime. But, it is all cool because he takes me seriously and depends on me and I depend on him. He doesn't try this solo act! Anyways I am happy too because he is way good at English. So he can teach me Tagalog really well! I really needed him this transfer, and I am blessed to have him! Anyways though besides that he is also really excited to look for new people. Something this area needed, because we really have such a small pool of investigators! It is way frustrating! But, we are kind of transitioning now the work is slower. Anyways though I am working hard and doing work. I know that this Work is true, and every time I share the gospel it confirms my feelings that this is the true church. I want everyone to be a part of it! I feel so lucky to be part of this work. No matter how hard it is, no matter how tired I get. Everyday someone is waiting for me and I need to be there. I read a scripture... I think it is Mosiah 28:2-3 it talks about the sons of Mosiah and how they remember the feeling of eternal damnation. They wished that no man would ever have to endure that even the Lamanites. So they decided to go on missions to teach them. I feel the same way now. I don't know where I could ever be in this world without the savior and his atonement. I know that he lives and I want everyone to not eternally suffer. I am sad all the time because of people, especially my Inactive members I teach who once knew the gospel and forgot. I pray for them everyday and I hope we all are for them to come to know the truth, so they don't have suffer eternally. I know that we can be clean and all those feelings of guilt and shame can be gone. Our savior took those upon him and now we can be happy. How great the Atonement is and How great is our Savior. I leave my witness in the name of Jesus Christ Amen. Anyways I am way excited for next week. This area is about to sky rocket! I am excited!

April 22, 2013

Alright this week was really sweet!! We finally got the Loyola's and Bro. Balosa baptized! Their baptisms were way awesome! Bro Balosa got baptized first and he is so old! I guess he didn't close his nose or mouth when he went down, he just covered his face, he came up coughing and stuff it was kind of sad. haha but than my Trainer, Elder Hibbert messed up and didn't dunk him all the way so he had to do that twice! Also than he Baptized Bro. Loyola and than I baptized Sister. Loyola. I was way nervous, but when I started the prayer I just felt calm and happy. I dunked her way deep so I wouldn't mess up haha and they were so happy when they were done! It was great! After they bore their testimonies. Bro. Rodolfo went first. Haha way powerful strong testimony. Sister on the other hand just talked about the missionaries ahah she was also way excited to talk on the mike. She was like screeching and yelling and the speakers were going to explode I swear haha! Man than Bro. Balosa didn't get to bear his testimony because the stake president forgot about him! But it was a great baptism and I was really happy that day! The next day on Sunday only Daniel Balosa showed up at first... We were way sad, but that Sister Loyola showed up way late, saying they couldn't find a babysitter so Bro. Loyola had to stay home. So understandable 2/3 confirmed! Funny story about the baby. He is a miracle baby! He was born the morning of their baptism, by the way it is the Loyola's daughters baby. She had her that morning at like 1and we went at like 9 in the morning to check up on them. They were way tired and told us about the baby. Well first off they live on a farm and don't sleep in their house just out on dirt. So she had the baby on the dirt... really suddenly.  Secondly it was coming out backwards so it should have probably died, but they said her daughter pushed it out way fast and it lived! ... Dirt and backwards... not ideal for a baby! But it is healthy boy! and they Named it after my trainer Elder Hibbert. haha new baby Hibbert! So weird. Anyways That was a great day, we had some weird experiences too that just shows me that God really is guiding people to us. First one was it was a really hot hard day. We had been punted from like 8 appointments straight and were aimlessly looking for people to teach or somewhere to go! It was hot and we finally decided to go get something to drink. Right next to the shop where we bought drinks some Less Active member came out and said Are you Missionaries? We said yeah , do you know us? She was a member before, got into some trouble, and now wants to comeback! We said, OF COURSE!! So we went and taught her and she was really awesome. She wants to find God again and her faith so we are helping her with that. Too bad she didn't come to Church though... Anyways another cool experience was that Elder Hibbert and I were way HOT!! we wanted ICE CREAM! So we went to the store to buy Ice Cream. After looking around for a while, we decided we wanted Doughnuts instead! haha So we walked over to the Doughnut store and the cashier lady was like, "What church are you?" We obviously told her all about it and gave her a Book of Mormon and a Pamphlet! It was awesome! We got her information and she said I would love to meet and learn more! Too bad she is not in our mission but, we got her information and now her hands are in the fate of someone else, but God lead us to her! It all was about changing our appetites. Haha Awesome week really! I know this Church is true and God is looking out for us! He has guided me and I saw it so clearly this week! Anyways man so many things so little time! Anyways The work is true and I can't wait for my fun times. This is the last day of this transfer and I finally am done TRAINING!! My trainer was great... Can't wait until tommorow when I meet my new one! Yeah life is good! haha 

April 14, 2013

Anyways this week has been a long one. I am just exhausted from this heat and from lack of sleep. Man I feel so weak sauce but it is starting to pile up on me! The work has been hard this week. Everything went like usual but, a lot of our appointments just fell through and so we had a really hard time when we try and make last second plans. Also we need a male over the age of 18 to enter into the house of women so it is hard when we don't have someone working with us that day when we really need them to enter their homes. So anyways we did what we always do we teach, if we don't have a lesson, we go and invite people on the streets. Well the highlight of this whole week though was general conference. After a long week, we had what I like to call MISSIONARY VACATION!! Man what a blessing it is to hear a prophets voice! Haha it was also weird to see people I recognized in the YSA choir and the Mormon Tabernacle! TRUNKIE!! haha Just kidding but man what a great message they shared. Priesthood especially was good. I especially liked the effort that has been set forth to get the youth involved in this great work. Seriously a something I wish everyone in this church would take seriously is this effort to rescue the one. Here in the Philippines that is a big effort and we have seen success, but not in the missionaries teaching, but in the members. We as missionaries have been given a responsibility to help those who are fallen away here, but seriously the most effect I have seen here in the Philippines is when their friend in the ward reached out and invited them back. I echo what President Monson has been saying for much of his years as a prophet of the lord. Jesus left the 99 to rescue the one. I also strongly believe it is our duties as members to mourn with those that mourn and comfort those who need to be comforted. To reach out our hands and just invite someone back or in other cases make sure everyone feels welcome and accepted at Church. It is important we not only spread the gospel, but retain those who have found the way. Anyways it was a very spiritual day to hear the prophets voice. Than on Sunday that was a great day. Day 2 of conference and also another spiritual vacation!!! Man air con and prophets and apostles. What more do you need huh? Anyways our 3 candidates passed for baptism so this April 20th the heavens will rain down doves upon our investigators! haha We were way excited about that. Also I really enjoyed Elder Holland and President Monsons talk that day. President Monson has always brought it down to earth for us to all to relate. Seriously how simple is this, if we do as God commands, we will have safety and peace here on this Earth. I we don't we have no promise. Yet we all struggle to do the simple things to keep ourselves in tip top spiritual shape. Also Elder Holland is one of my favorite speakers for the reason which he showed us in this conference. His talk on faith and doubts was great. I too had a question like that in my heart while in the MTC about how much faith do I really have? Would I be able to walk across the plains if the Lord commanded me to? Man to this day I want to say yes but when the time comes I guess that is going to be a trial of my faith. But I loved what he said when he said, "Do not give up the ground you have won."Everyday I am growing and my faith and my belief in this Gospel grows everyday. I will never go back to where I was 5 months ago before I got here and I am not going to give up that ground I have won. My very favorite part of it all, is the part where he bore his testimony. The scriptures say that the role of the apostles and Prophets is to help us believe in Christ. Elder Holland invited those who might not have the advantage of age and time as he has to gain his divine witness to lean on him. I believe what Elder Holland said and I echo his testimony. I know God is our loving Heavenly Father. Jesus is son and our savior who gave his life so that we may become as them, perfect. They both love us more than we can comprehend. I know that Joseph Smith was a prophet called of God. Through the power of God and Jesus Christ, and the help of angels, Joseph Smith restored the one and only True Church here on this Earth. He also through the priesthood restored a record that contains the fullness of the Gospel, The Book of Mormon. I invite everyone else to believe these things and to search to find if these things are true. I look forward to the day, that I might receive a knowledge like the Prophets and Apostles. I lean on his testimony as I continue to further grow mine. I don't have a perfect knowledge in these things, but that is OK I have faith in them because I know where happiness lies. This life is for us to walk in faith and I will continue to do so as I have put my Trust in God. I cannot deny these things. I say these things in the name of Jesus Christ. Amen