May 2, 2017

Yeah so I dont really know what happened but all of a sudden our area just got super awesome. Well I guess I do know what happened, we worked super hard the past 2 weeks. So this week we worked very hard to help our investigators feel the spirit of the lessons and give them the best chance to be able to choose the right and come to church. Right now we have 21 baptismal dates extended to our investigators with more coming this week. Some of my favorite investigators that we are teaching is the Buenaflor Family, Brother Alfredo (he is the guy with the tattoo and all the cigarette boxes) The Fernin Family. Well honestly I love all of them and we have quite a few so I will just talk about some of them. So Brother Alfredo has to have one of the hardest lives ever. His wife has stage 4 colon cancer, and she is not doing well, and he he is constantly up all night on the computer trying to make money to keep them a float. That doesnt sound that bad when I type it but just seeing him and his family its pretty hard. BUT they are still super happy and it is pretty inspiring. He really wants to be baptized but he has like all of the obstacles in his life right now to keep him from being baptized such as the law of chastity and the word of wisdom.  But this past week we taught him both of those lessons and we made sure we had members present to provide him support. He has been to church 3 times now and he is doing his best. He actually is not married to his "wife" but they have been together for 17 years. So we really want to help them get married so they can have a chance of being sealed but honestly his wife is in very, very bad condition. One night we went over to share and she was just on the couch crying from the pain she was experiencing so we gave her a priesthood blessing. But Alfredo just keeps pushing forward and is doing his best to learn and get rid of his smoking problem. Look at all those cartons that is just from 1 month... so it is a pretty big problem but he is determined to get rid of it.

Elder Slade and I found this family about 2 weeks ago. The Fernin Family. They consist of a mother and a father 2 daughters and one daughter in law. We just walked up to their gate and they let us in to teach so we have been teaching them the past 2 weeks and they have been making some good progress. They are like most normal Filipinos. They are Catholic but dont really read the bible, and go to church sometimes. So they are learning a lot and are starting to kind of realize that maybe their really is a better way that God has prepared for His children, the restored church. We had a pretty intense lesson last saturday night. We had planned to continue our lesson in the Plan of Salvation but upon following up their reading of the Book of Mormon and asking god if it is true we kind of saw that they didint quite understand the whole point of us being there and our church. So we very clearly taught them again about the restoration and focused on the Priesthood. Then finally it hit them on what they really had to do. They had to read the BoM, pray and ask God, then go to church. So we strongly committed them to attend church the next day.

We also have this part member family that we are teaching the Arellano family. They are all members recently baptized in another mission except for the mom. SO we miraculously ran into them a few weeks ago and we had been teaching them and they are awesome but we were sad to hear that they went back to their home town for a few days and they wouldnt be able to come to church here.

We were pretty disappointed about how last week turned out at church so we worked really hard this last week and knelt in prayer as a companionship on Saturday night and prayed that God would help prepare the way and help our investigators make the right choice. Then the next day we just went forward with faith that things would work out. So we got to the meeting house (picture below) at about 8:30 and waited for our investigators. None were there yet so we went around the corner to see if our investigator Elsa was going to come and she said she would run a little late so we went upstairs and we saw that the Buenaflor Family was there (yes!) We were happy, then we were so shocked to look to the left and see the whole Arellano family!!! We were so happy to see them there, they came home early. Then we had another part member come in brother Rey. And then a little late Alfredo came! But the most exciting was when we were about half way through sacrament meeting we got a text from the Fernin family saying that they were coming!!! WOHOO! They texted us saying they were downstairs and we went down there brought them up and they attended gospel essentials class and our combined relief society and EQ. Jack pot. Heavenly father really helped us out. It was so great. We ended up with 11 investigators at church. So God really does care about each and everyone one of his children. He works miracles daily.

More miracles:

Remember the lady we met last week that had the dream of two men visiting her home with a message? Well yeah we have been teaching her Gina and her son Lance. They are so fun to teach. Sister Gina is on chapter 11 now of 1nephi and she is really loving it. We taught them about where we come from last night and we we taught about Adam and Eve they were so surprised about how clear the BoM describes their story. It helped me to remember that we really need the BoM to fully get what God really means about things. I feel blessed.

So last Saturday we had a few hours to find in the heat of the afternoon, we knocked a lot of doors and didint seem to find too much success but we know how it goes so we just kept going. Then I saw this lady come out of her house while Elder Slade and I were talking to this lady and I just waved at her and she waved back. So Elder Slade kept talking to this lady but it wasnt really going anywhere so I walked over to the other lady I saw and we started talking and she is like "Wanna come in?" So Elder Slade went in to teach. Her name was Anna and she mentioned that her mom died last year so we taught about the PoS and it was a great lesson. We actually found out that whe was taught by missionaries two years ago and they had not gone back to her. So we set a return date and we went back yesterday, then her whole family was there! Her, her husband, and her 3 daughters. The husband was so thrilled to see us because he didint know where the other missionaries had gone, but they were soooo dang nice! Anna and her husband have been reading the BoM and they are already on page 160, then they invited us over again on saturday to have have lunch and teach again. They are sooo prepared. The Manalang family.

So there you have my week, it was awesome. I am officially in my last transfer of my misison, 6 weeks left. Time to kick it into gear. Love you all:)

April 24, 2017

Yo yo yo yo yo yo yo yo whhhaaattt upppp. Thank you all for your awesome emails, I love them. Especially the pictures they are great. Things are starting to heat up here, literally and in our area. The weather is super hot now. I am pretty used to it by now but still summer is here! We live right next to a swimming pool and Elder Slade and I just walk by that thing in envy on those hot afternoons when we walk out of our apartment haha. 

This week was one of the busiest weeks of my mission it was pretty dang awesome. Last week our zone leaders set up a weekly goal for the whole zone. It was called the Armor of God. This contained a different piece of armor for each day of the week. So the goal was to obtain those different pieces of armor by accomplishing a finding activity each day. For example, get 2 new investigators and give out 3 book of mormons. So each and everyday each companionship had to try and accomplish the different finding activities. I wasnt to gun hoe about it at first because I have seen stuff like this done before but when Elder Slade and I found out that their was a prize to who ever won, we were all over it. (we work pretty hard anyway but a prize sounded pretty cool) So we hit the pavement hard that monday to get things going. Then every other day we accomplished the challenge. So Elder Slade and I beat the whole zone :) (not saying that that is important at all but we won) We ended the week with 21 new investigators and 17 baptismal dates extended. So it was an awesome week. BUT it ended out pretty bad... We didint have anyone at church which totally blew but that is okay. I wasnt too upset because I know that next week will go a lot better. But the week was really fullfilling, we came home at the end of the day with no regrets. 

This one day we had to find 2 investigators and give them baptismal dates but it was getting late and we said to eachother "How are we going to find people to let us in and give them a date at this time?" But we kept going and we turned down this street and it was empty except for this one guy who was hanging up some clothes so we approached and talked to him and we saw that his wife was just inside their front porch washing clothes and they were a little bit more on the Elderly side so we figured it wouldnt really go anywhere but we said "Can we have a short amount of your time to share with you a message about Christs church?" And the lady said yes and STOPPED WASHING HER CLOTHES... You guys dont understand how big a deal that is but when a Filipino is washing their clothes nothing is going to stop them even if their house catches on fire but she stopped and told us to come in so I knew something good was lying ahead of us. Then we sat down and she said "This is so weird because last night I had a dream the 2 men were going to come to visit me to share something" THen I just froze and was like wwwwhhhaaaattttt. Then the pressure hit haha I was nervous because I felt like God completely set up this lesson and I didint want to let him down. So we proceeded and taught them and got a return date and we should be going back this Tuesday.

Elder Slade has a cool saying that his grandpa told him before he left. "There are two kinds of people in this world, the one that drains you and the one that lifts and fills you up" So I was thinking about how true this statement is and I really like it. I want to strive everyday to be the the person that fills and lifts. Even though it is super hard this is exactly what Christ did. He was a lifter and a filler. Anyone that was around him just felt happier and more alive. We should do our best to contemplate our behavior around others. Are we the type that drains or fills? God is the lifter and filler, satan is the drainer. IF we turn to him and do what we need we will be filled and we can help fill others. 

I hope you all have a dope week this week and do some filling/ I love yous :)))))

April 17, 2017

Hello... No body wrote this week so I feel like I might of offended you all...??? Hopefully not hahah. This past week was very very hot. Summer is now here again so I am going through it my second time. Hahah Elder Slade always gets sweat in his eyes and he says it hurts so bad, but I have never had that happen to me in my whole life because I dont really sweat that bad actually. So I guess that is a blessing. This week was also what the Catholic people celebrate "Holy Week" It was suupper busy everywhere this week. There is a main road between our area and the stake center that was closed on Thursday due to the people that literally get nailed to the cross here in remembrance of Jesus I guess. I think it is extremely sacrilegious but I guess its a tradition here so yeah. So we had to take the long way around to get down to the stake center to practice for our Easter Concert that the stake through yesterday. IT was pretty cool. THey had a bunch of people do acts on different days of the week leading up to Jesus death. My zone did a song about Jesus in the Garden of Gethsemane because our day was Thursday. It was a great concert and a ton of people came and the acts were awesome and it was a fun way to celebrate Easter. I found my new favorite hymn, page 112. IT is aweeessome. We have been teaching this part member family here for almost 3 months now. The Buenaflor family. They are really cool and we love teaching them and they are making good progress they have been to church twice now since I have been here. They always always say that they will come to church but something always gets in there way we dont really get it. So they didint come yesterday which was super disappointing. We were hoping to have their Baptism on May 6 but now we will have to move it to May 13. Which is okay because we want them to be ready but we just dont know why its so hard for them to go to church. We just need to keep strengthening their faith. But we had one of our other part member come to church for the first time and we were very happy with that. His name is Nathaniel he is 21 years old. But he has a super hard time listening but we try to make things really simple for him so he can understand it better. The goal this week is to work really hard. I need to get focused and finish up my last 2 months the strongest I have ever worked. Ill let you know how it goes next week:)

So yeah my wallet got stolen. We were on our way to withdraw our support so I brought my card we went to the ATM and I withdrew my 4000 pesos. Then I put 500 in my wallet and the rest in a secret pocket in my bag. Then I put my wallet in my bag and we walked off to 711 to get some change. Then as I was about to buy my drink I reached for my wallet and it was gone...... Along with my support card... So I will have to buy a new one. I am pretty sure this cross dresser stole it.. I was in 711 and she/he was right behind me and she bumped into my bag so I blame it on him/her but whatevs life goes on I guess.

Have a great week everyone! I hope you all enjoyed Easter. Love you all:)

Enjoy the pictures of the creepiest bathroom that we used one night.

April 10, 2017

So this week was pretty sweet, and busy. So yeah we watch conference a week later than you guys, so we just watched it the last couple days and it was great. I had a some great questions and they were answered. Not directly but I have some talks to go back and study that will more expand the answer I am looking for. One talk that stood out to me the most out of all that I absolutely loved was by Russell M. Nelson. It is titled "Drawing the Power of Jesus Christ into Our Lives" I loved it. It was answer to most of my problems as I was listening and searching for my answers to my issues I just thought "Duh, get to know more Jesus more, he is the answer to ALL our problems" So that one really touched me. A lot of others hit me that I liked a lot that I cant wait to study. Of course our Prophets messages were so short but SO powerful. It just showed that all we need to do is just be obedient to those small things and we will be GOOD! Which led to Whitney L Claytons which was all about doing the small things. It is so cool how conference just ties up together soooo well. So inspired. Sunday morning session was just so great, Elder Rasbands talk im sure hit all missionaries around the world to act on that first prompting. So many times I have ignored the first prompting and so many times I have followed it but it is so true what he said about questioning if the prompting is from God, or just our own thoughts, stop rationalizing just do it if it is good! So I am trying to really do that now. Yesterday we came home from conference and started our weekly planning and studies and we were going to be home for the rest of the night. Then as we were planning this name popped into my head and I remembered that we were supposed to go teach them that night at 7, but it was already 6:10 and we were not even sure if they would be there. But I remembered the talk and we just dropped what we did and left to go teach, but I said to God, "You know, I really dont know if this is from you but I am just gunna do it because I feel its right, and if they arent home I wont be upset." Turns out they were not there haha and we didint teach, so I am not sure why I felt like I needed to go but I am sure it was for some reason and I showed my obedience. So who knows, but it was good. We are teaching some pretty sweet investigators right now, especially sister Mayeth and her husband, they are super interested and have lots of questions and went to church the first time we invited them which doesnt happen often at all. It was cool to see these last 2 weeks Elder Slade and I just ended up in the right places a lot. We definitely felt led a lot. One in particular is we were exploring this neighborhood called Pabahay 2000 and in that place they have 7000 houses, which is a TON for how small it is. THere are so many people. So we were walking around trying to find needles in haystacks. Old members that stopped coming to church and in the process we found a house of a member that I had been to once before but had no idea where it was. Then we went and the member was there, Sister Failan, she is really old and sick but she told us that she had been praying for the Elders to show up and spontaneously we did. It felt good to be an answer to another persons prayer. I am really enjoying my time with Elder Slade though. He is a cool guy and we have a lot of fun, we laugh 24/7 and it makes the work way more awesome. I now can solve a rubiks cube in 2 minutes and 12 seconds. So yeah, boom. Anywho I love yous all. I will now write a message in Tagalog.

Dapat magingat ang mga aso pagbalik ko doon sa Amerika. Habang tumatagal ang panahon ko dito, nakapagtanto ako na ayaw na ayaw ko so mga aso... Sobrang pangit sila dito sa Pilipinas. Gusto ko silang patayin dahil ang ingay nila. Gusto namin hanapin ang mga magpapaturo sa amin kaso yung mga aso ay sumisira ang lahat! Susunugin ko lahat ang mga aso!!!!!!! 

BYe:)

April 2, 2017

March 26, 2017

Well this week was great. Loved it. Love you. We had a lot of fun being in a trio with Elder Miranda and Elder Slade. But now my beloved companion Elder Miranda headed out today to go to his real mission in the Gilbert, Arizona mission. He will be missed. I learned a lot from him and had an awesome time with him. This last sunday was the coolest day in my mission. We woke up and just had a good sabbath morning, had some church music playing, we took our time getting ready and we headed out the door at 8am to pick up our investigator Brother Alfredo. So we took a tricycle down to his house and picked him up. Then we got a text from our other investigator to go pick them up so good thing they are neighbors with Brother Alfredo so we just stopped by there and got them. This is where the interesting part comes in. There was us 3 Elders, 4 investigators, and the trike driver. Now a trike should really only take 6 people including the driver but there was 8 of us hahaha. So we put all of us on the trike like a puzzle and Elder Miranda and I hung on the back of the trike as we drove to church haha it was pretty awesome. That is what one of those pictures I sent. Then we arrived to the meeting house and we were all so happy because we had 3 investigators at church which is pretty low but good for this area. Then I was a part member family that we teach popped into my head that lives right next to the church, so us 3 walked down to her house to remind her about church and she was out planting something and she looked at us and said "Oh dang it I forgot! Then she ran into her house to get ready but she ended coming with her investigator daughter. Then 2 members brought their friends so there was 6, what a blessing. Then as we were sitting in sacrament meeting we got a text from this young mother we found tracting yesterday, she said she was on her way with her kids! We were shocked haha so she came a lil late but still made it! So we ended up with 8 investigators at church:) It was so awesome I was so happy. The only thing that upset me was that there are always a lot of members that come in late and sit in the back and are SO loud and we like cant even hear the speakers, so I was just praying that our investigators would at least feel something, I was pretty upset. But we made up for it in our Gospel Principles class. I taught the lesson. It was about Faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. Chapter 18. It was okay I thought considering I had no preparation. I enjoy teaching. I hope I can do some teaching in church when I get back, that is something I really love to do. Faith is the principle of action and power. Everything we do has to do with faith. Would we turn on the computer if we didint believe it would turn on and work? Would I type these keys if I didint believe that they would make letters appear on the screen? But church was good, very rewarding. Goodness gracious time is coming to an end. I gotta make the best of it. I seriously love the people here haha they are so awesome. I might cry my eyes out when I leave. I seriously have made the bestest friends here and I wont forget them, even though I might forget their names because I have learned I absolutely suck with names but life goes on. Hopefully Elder Slade and I can do somethin with this area and leave it awesome before I head out. Anyways love yous have a great week:)

March 20, 2017

Today has been a full day so far it has been a lot of fun. We woke up at 6 and went to a members house to play volley ball and they fed us breakfast, it was delicious. Then we headed straight to the church to play basketball. Since having a basketball court right outside our house we play basketball a lot and I am starting to really like it haha, I kind of wished I played in highschool then I would actually be good right now. But the members here in the Philippines love basketball and so does the whole Philippines. Its like their favorite. But a lot of them dont have running or basketball shoes so you will see very very often people playing in flip flops or just bare feet, I have tried it and its hard haha but the people here are dang good even with flip flops.

So transfers are tomorrow. I will not be leaving this area I will be staying. My companion got his visa so he will be heading to Arizona at any given moment. So tomorrow we will gain one more companion and we will become a 3 sum as they call it here. His name is Elder Slade, he is from St George Utah. He is pretty new as well. He is batch mates with Elder Feiloaki. He will most likely be my last companion. So it will be fun and we will do some good work.

Since I only have 12 weeks does anyone have any ideas on some things I can do to work on to accomplish, like something different I could do everyweek, goal type of things. I have a few things in mind but let me know if you got anything.

Oh yeah I turn 20 tomorrow which is the weirdest thing in the world to me. I always thought growing up when I was 10 14 17 I always thought, "I wonder what kind of person I will be and how different I will be when I am 20?" It seemed so weird and far away but now its here... Weird. My next birthday will be in the states.

This last week I had a realization. I noticed that we have been teaching lesson 1 pretty poorly and not the way it should be. I fell into what preach my gospel says, "a rote presentation" Almost like me and Elder Miranda were actors memorizing lines. Obviously we didint memorize what to say but it felt the same always. So I really took a good study in chapter 10 of PMG and my eyes were opened. I found out ways on how a first visit should be, and how we can capture the attention. After that study our lesson ones are totally different now and so much better.

It is really cool now to see the difference and how receptive the people are, I hope to really help people come along this week and do some good.

We have an investigator, we knocked on his door last week. His name is Alfredo, he is awesome. He has been Catholic, Muslim, and Born Again. But he is very receptive and he is loving our lessons. His wife has cancer and is kind of on the edge so he is really enjoying the truth with him. 

I love you all! Have a good week:)