December 4, 2016

Heyyylo:) So yeah I am sorry but I dont know how great this email is gunna be cuz I am kinda rushin. But I love and miss you all!

But do you guys remember Elder Kirifi? We lived in the same house for 5 months then we became companions? Well he is my zone leader now and we went on exchanges the other day and it was just like the good ole days. We had a good day. He is definetly my best friend in the mission. WE had a good day of work and brought back some old comp memories so I have a lot of pics with him in this weeks email. This will probably be more of a picture email rather than a writing one. But the pictures will come in a separate email. 

I will just share a short experience that I had with Elder Kirifi while working. So there is this guy in their area (Eric) that just randomly came to church one day and wanted to learn more about the church. But this guy is, lets just say very "worldly" So I guess the old missionaries kind of got the wrong idea and didint think he was really there to investigate the church, more to investigate the girls haha. But I met the guy and yeah he is pretty worldly but I told the ZLs "Are you guys crazy? THis guy has been to church 3 weeks in a row and you havent taught him! Go teach that guy." So ELder Kirifi being new and not really knowing Eric, I took him to Erics house and we taught him the Restoration. Dang that guy is golden! Yes he has a lot of issues but the lesson was on of the best on my whole mission and the spirit was strong. He was just smiling the whole time and loved it. He had concerns like "I dont really know what my purpose is in life" " I am not afraid to die but I am scared where I will go" He has investigated a lot of churches but none really seemed to do it for him but I think this is his time to convert. It was a great time. I was so happy to teach him. Only if everyone we taught was like that.

But I love you all and hope life is good:)

November 27, 2016

Hey guys howz it goin...

So this week was pretty normal but it was great. We did our studies, worked, taught, found. Full week but pretty normal. We had a baptism which was great. It was a 9 year old girl, she is a part member. Her family are returning less actives and now they are active again so her daughter was baptized. Elder Feloaki was stoked to have his first baptism, he loved it. IT was a great service, lots of members came and after we had an activity at the church. We watched the Restoration movie and we had some investigators there including Christian and his family! Christian is doing really well! 2 weeks with out smoking! He is well on his way! We have a family home evening scheduled there later this evening and we are excited to have their first family home evening with them. I will make sure to take pictures:)  This week we tried really hard to find new investigators but freak its hard haha. Man the filipinos are so nice but some just really do not want to hear anything about this gospel. We found some new investigators but they all have that one reason that will keep them from being baptized but we are not getting discouraged we will keep doing what we can. Our area is like 80% devoted catholic. They are nice but they dont want anything to do with us haha. But we just keep going. i am really enjoying my time with my comp he is a funny guy. He is teaching me some tongan. Ofa ae Otua ia Tautolu :) I have always wanted to learn Tongan and now I can hahaha. But yeah times are good here in the mission. Just tryna get this area going the best we can to help the Lords kingdom. Sorry this letter is really short and lame. But I will get a better one next week! I love you!

November 20, 2016

What is the haps boys and girls?!?! I miss you all!!

Man what a week! It was enjoyable. A lot happened. I got my wish and I am now a proud owner of a "greenie" He is from New Zealand but is 100% Tongan. Get ready for his name... Elder Fe'iloaki. Yes have fun trying to pronounce that. It took me a couple days to be honest, but I got it down. FE-EE-LAW-A-KI. I have always loved the islanders (shhh dont tell anyone but I wanted to serve in Tonga) and I am so happy that I got one as a comp! They are so nice and funny and great people. Especially my comp he is really cool and a super nice guy. He is a big guy so I dont have to worry about getting held up here. He is a rugby player and he got a scholarship to play rugby in Australia but he turned it down so he could serve a mission which is way cool. But the story of how I went to go pick him up was pretty interesting... So last wednesday I met up with another guy in my zone and we planned to go down together to pick up our trainees at the mission office. So the area we were in is about 2 hours away from the office but I knew of a shortcut that could get us there in about an hour. So we took off and headed on the journey of jeepneys to get to the office. So as we headed off on the first jeep we found out about 20 minutes in that the short cut was closed so the jeep driver had to take a big detour to a way I didint know so as he was making the detour I panicked and we jumped off the jeep and ran to go find a taxi to take us straight there because we had no clue where we were, but we were in the middle of no where and the taxis were no where insight. So we put trust in a tricycle driver to take us to a place where we could get a different jeep heading to the office so we did and he took us to a jeep and we were relieved but the problem was we were already 30 minutes late to the meeting... But we sat patiently in the jeep and waited to get there but then we hit heavy traffic then we lost our patience and decided to hop off and run. So there we are at 11:45 am and it is getting hot and we are wearing our missionary clothes. 2 americans just booking it down a road making to the office. Hahah it was quite the experience but we got there even though we were 1 hour late we still made it all good and we got our new companions!

So yeah now I have my new comp Elder Feiloaki. But it is harder than I thought to train a non filipino missionary haha. He cant speak the language at all but he is trying hard so that is good. But I am left to do most of all the talking and teaching but that will get better over time as we practice. We have been doing a lot of practice teaching and I have enjoyed doing that it has been fun. Last night we did practice teaching of introducing the Book of Mormon my comp was struggling a bit to explain it but we were able to work through and teach him how to present it. Then I said "Okay lets do it one last time, go out with a bang!" So we did a role play and he explained the book of mormon to me and I was just a guy on the street. So he did it and it was pretty good and I could tell that he liked it as well. Then I hardened my head a little as the investigator and I showed the scripture in Revelation 22:18-19 and told him to explain to me how the Book of Mormon is not an addition. Hahaha it was funny, ya just had to be there. But yeah I am doing my best to help him learn and participate the most he can and he will learn a lot.

So yesterday our investigator Brother Christian came to church again and stayed all 3 hours with his family. And....... He hasnt smoked in a week! Yeeeeeee we are so excited for him! He is making great progress. He is really doing his best to get rid of smoking problems and he is doing a great job of it. He is reading more, participating in church, and keeping commitments. I am very excited for him to continue and get ready for his baptism on December 17! We also are teaching another family right now. The Manuel family. They havent come to church yet but they are committed to be baptized next month. They know the message is true and are keeping all of their commitments and making great progress, now we just need to help them and pray for them to attend church this week.

During work this week I found a lot of success by using "inspired questions" in my tracting and street contacting approaches. We have a little list of inspired questions that the mission has and as I was finding new people I would use some of these questions like "if you knew there was another volume of scripture that was written by prophets that testified of Christ, would you read it?" This is a great segway to introduce the Book of Mormon and so far we have found 7 new investigators these past couple days using inspired questions and teaching the Restoration and we extend baptismal invitations on the first visit, so it has been cool and my comp and I have been really enjoying it.

So these next 3 months I will be in the same area with my trainee right now so my goal is just to really lose myself in the work and do all I can to help Elder Feiloaki. Then after that 3 months I will most likely be transferred to my LAST AREA. Crazy... Time is going by too fast!

I love you all and thank you so much for all your support!

November 14, 2016

Mom, dad, brother, sister, uncle, aunt, grandma, grandpa, stepmom, stepdad, friends, close friend;)

Hey how goes it. 

First up I wanna apologize for my emails if they seem all about me. I know that sometimes I get carried away talking about myself. I will try to make them seem less mckinley mckinley and more on others. Try I said.

So my dreams came true last friday! I will be training a new missionary:))) I cant wait. This is my second time training I trained last year at this same time as well so its kinda cool that I will be training again but I have a year more experience so it will for sure be a different experience. Last time I trained a Filipino and I loved it but I would like to experience training a foreign missionary so I can introduce him to the amazing world of the Philippines and the Tagalog language which I have put so much effort into learning. So we will see but of course I will be happy no matter what.

JB and Christian came to church!! I was so excited. So Christian I think I have referenced him in my past emails but he is our progressing investigator who has the problem with the word of wisdom. But we gave him a plan that he would slowly decrease his smoking over two weeks, and he did:) Last sunday was his last day to smoke and when we visted him after church we asked him "Brother! naka ilan ka na? and he said "Wala na Elder" We were so excited that he stopped! Now we just continue our prayers that he will continue to resist his temptation to smoke. I have already seen a big change since I met him about 3 weeks ago. He seems so much happier and he listens more in church. I think it is his time:) And his friend JB is way awesome. He really wants to be baptized too. They really enjoyed the lesson we taught them about the plan of salvation and the things we have to do in order to obtain celestial glory. That is one of my favorite things to teach too. We have to live the gospel, so simple but so many things with in it. faith, repentance, baptism, receive the gift of the holy ghost, and endure to the end. If we do all of it, hey were good. Easier said then done, no? 

But yeah the mission is really awesome and it is just so amazing to see peoples change here and to see how much the gospel blesses their lives. Just the other day I ran into a member from my first area and I was able to talk to him about those that I baptized in my first area and I was so happy to hear how active they were! Even one is getting ready to serve a mission! So awesome. So many blessings. I am so blessed honestly to have met certain people here and I dont think there will be any other better feeling than going to heaven and seeing those that I baptized. What a happy reunion. Gods plan is really so amazing. 

Yesterday I watched the 2011 version of "The Restoration" movie. I really love that movie and I love the story of Joseph Smith. So amazing. I realized in that movie the confusion and all the unanswered questions people had. They lived in darkness. But little by little Joseph Smith was given amazing revelation on what Gods plan really is and I am just very grateful for it.

I am excited for this next transfer coming up. I will be going down to the mission office to pick up my trainee tomorrow and I am stoked for that. So I will email you all next week! I love you all! Thanks for being there for me always! 

November 14, 2016

 

PHILIPPINES QUEZON CITY NORTH MISSION
Zabarte Rd. cor. Ilang-Ilang St., Almar Subdivision
Camarin, Caloocan City

14 November 2016

Mr Bradley Fredrick Webb

11620 Wagon Wheel Curve

Woodbury, MN 55219

United States

Dear Brother Webb:

I am pleased to inform you that your son, Elder McKinley Fredrick Webb, has been called to serve as a District Leader in the Philippines Quezon City North Mission.  We greatly appreciate his efforts in this mission.  His responsible efforts will be of great worth in setting goals, planning, and accounting for the Lord’s work.

We are grateful for Elder Webb’s dedicated performance, his strong testimony, and his willingness to work hard to bring about success.  He is becoming a Preach My Gospel missionary and laying a firm foundation for the rest of his life.

Sister Bertin and I are blessed to have the opportunity to work with him in this great work.  Thank you for sending us such a wonderful young man.  We appreciate the love and encouragement you give him.

Sincerely yours,

Kim C. Bertin

Mission President

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November 11, 2016

 

PHILIPPINES QUEZON CITY NORTH MISSION
Zabarte Rd. cor. Ilang-Ilang St., Almar Subdivision
Camarin, Caloocan City

11 November 2016

Brother Bradley Fredrick Webb

11620 Wagon Wheel Curve

Woodbury, MN 55129

United States

Dear Brother Webb:

I am pleased to inform you that your son, Elder McKinley Fredrick Webb, has been called to serve as a new Missionary Trainer.   This is one of the most important callings in the mission.  New missionaries will always remember their trainer and the example he sets for them to follow.

I am confident that Elder Webb’s knowledge, obedience, and enthusiasm for the work of the Lord will be a blessing to his trainee as he helps him begin the path to becoming a Preach My Gospel missionary.

Sister Bertin and I are grateful for your son’s dedicated performance, his strong testimony, and his willingness to work hard to bring about success.  We also appreciate the love and encouragement you give him.  Thank you for sending such a dedicated missionary to serve with us in the Philippines Quezon City North Mission.

Sincerely yours,

Kim C. Bertin

Mission President

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November 4, 2016

Hi:)

Hope everyone is getting ready to have TRUMP!!!!!!!!!!!! I am actually curious who you will vote for so let me know if you feel okay with that. So yeah this week was pretty good. Down below you will see some pictures of of course a sunset and then a picture of a poster that we made for our investigator who has a smoking problem and there is a pic with me and my comp with him. Then the other one is of me in a sketchy alley way and the last is our zone activity we had earlier which was way fun:) 

So this last week we experienced the "last door" that every missionary talks about. So we planned to go visit a less active but she wasnt there so no surprise and this time it was about 8pm. Now if you are familiar with the missionary white handbook you would know that it says that "you should spend as much time proselyting on weekends and holidays to get into the homes of families" So here in the Philippines that does not apply (in my opinion) When it is the weekend here people are all outside singing karyoke and getting drunk. Especially on holidays. Also you would think that around 7 or 8 pm would be a good time to catch a family all together at the home but when we go tracting at that time no one wants to listen to us because its "late" 7pm late? Really? Okay... But yeah I am not complaining that is just kinda what I have experienced in my 1 year and 4 months. So anyways we got "punted" from our less active so we decided to go tracting at 8pm. yayyy (usually we would have an appointment set up at that time but this time we didint) So we went to a few houses knocking and talking to the few people on the street and they didint want it so we kinda just walked not really expecting anything but then I walked past this house and saw a family doing homework together... Whhhhaaatt???? I have never seen that happen here. So we quickly knocked on the door and they came to the door and we shared to their whole family so that was a really cool experience. I have never really taught a legit family together my whole mission. That was the first time. Most of the men are at work the whole day and the kids at school. They live a hard life here but they are so happy. They have really figured out how to "Find Joy in the Journey" and they know how to care for others. I really need to learn that as well. I am really trying to learn how to fully forget myself but it is hard haha. I listened to a talk by President Monson. What an amazing talk. I forgot what it was called but his main theme was finding joy in the journey. One thing he mentioned is that if we "pile up a lot of tommorows, we fill find a lot of empty yesterdays" SO I am going to try to do something everyday on my mission that I can remember forever. There was a scripture that I liked about gratitude DC 88  33 For what doth it profit a man if a gift is bestowed upon him, and he receive not the gift? Behold, he rejoices not in that which is given unto him, neither rejoices in him who is the giver of the gift.

I like this because it really talks about our life. It is a gift and we have to really rejoice in our life. I know I am not the best at doing this but hey knowing it is the first step right? Now I just have to work on really doing it:) Heavenly Father really loves. He wants us to be happy. We just have to do what we can and we will see all the amazing things that our Father has done, is doing and will do for us. I love this church I know it is true. Thanks for your love. I love all of you:)

Find the joy