8.26.13

Ginatudlo kami sang isa ka deaf nga babeye! (We're teaching a deaf girl!)

So this week was pretty awesome. The work is still slow, our key indicators numbers aren't very high and we don't have many progressing investigators or lessons that we teach throughout the week, but I feel like it's getting a little better! We've committed a girl named Carla( she's about 15 and her little sister is a recent convert) to be baptized on September 28. Pretty good day if you ask me. I think it'd be pretty sweet if the first person I ever baptize is one of my investigators on my birthday, so I hope that works out. She didn't come to church yesterday, which was depressing because we taught her and her sister the night before and her sister came to church, so hopefully that works out still.

We had one of our investigators come to Church yesterday though, and get this..... She's deaf! It's pretty awesome. I love when we get to "talk" with her. She knows sign language, which means she knows english! So usually we have to phones going and we just type messages and pass the phones back and forth, or sometimes we just use pen and paper. She's also taught us some sign language which is pretty awesome. She's a super nice girl and is always got a smile on her face. She seemed to really enjoy church and the young women were super nice and took her to class and everything!

Also this week, Elder Hawk and I had the opportunity to sing at a Mini-Funeral Service. Here in the Philippines funerals are crazy. The actual funeral is at some random church and like the whole town goes. After the funeral service they all walk or ride the tricycles (very slowly) until they get to the cemetery. It causes huge backups on the main highway haha. However our Ward usually does a mini funeral service at the home for the family and the ward. So Elder Hawk and I got there and got volunteered. So we sang 2 verses of "I Need Thee Every Hour" it was actually really cool. Elder Hawk has a good voice and I sing pretty well especially when the person next to me knows what they're doing ;) haha So that was fun!

Well let's see. I again rode on top of a jeepney and on top of a tricycle this week. Always fun, gets a nice breeze in the heat! I don't think anything else too crazy had happened. Just a few more lizard deaths in our home. Apparently they just can't handle us.

So I read in John chapter 10 recently and in that Chapter Christ is speaking to his newly called 12 Apostles. He tells them in verse 14 that if they do all that he asks, and they serve and love one another and keep his commandments that they aren't his servants, but his friends. I believe in that chapter that they use the word disciple rather than apostle, and we know that disciple also means all believers of Christ. So we can relate that scripture to our own lives as well. We are all brothers and sisters of our Savior Jesus Christ, while here on this Earth we have many opportunities to serve him and serve our Heavenly Father, however just like that Chapter says, if we do all that he asks and keep his commandments we aren't Christ's servants, but we are his FRIENDS. I just thought that was an awesome Chapter. Sure Christ was perfect but in all reality we have that same potential. Maybe not in this life, but in the next. We will all be friends and I just think that is awesome! I love all of you guys and all that you do for me! I hope you find as much peace and comfort in this chapter as I do!

-Palangga ko kamo.
-Elder Walters

Front of our Basketball Shirt (We used the USA Bball Logo)

The back of the shirt

The Sleeve (We stole the NBA Logo)

Just riding on top of a Jeepney

Elder Hawk on top of the Jeepney (Better)

Tiki on our Kitchen Table

The Basketball Clinic

On my camera my neck tan was a lot worse! hah

Gwapo Means Handsome - the younger girls had written this on the board and I just had to get a picture of it!

This is Jona - She's deaf! She's super fun and always has a smile on her face!

Jona again!

8.19.13

Dear Family,

So the work has been slow again this week. We had our district meeting on Tuesday and then had to travel to Bago a couple other times throughout the week so that took some time away from us to work. I was able to play basketball last week with the Elders in my Zone on p-day! It was really fun. There were a bunch of Filipino kids at the church when we got there to play, but President Lopez won't let Missionaries play with people other than Missionaries, so we had to tell them they couldn't play which kinda stinks! They ended up just sitting behind the basket and commentating the whole game for us! And cheering us on whenever we made a basket, so that was kinda fun. As if we aren't like heroes to them already, then we're good at basketball and they're even more impressed haha!

I've decided that whenever we're out riding a bus or walking and somebody just stares at me that I'm going to wave at them. Well mostly the girls, cuz that'd be kind of weird I think If I waved to guys. They really love it here when we smile and wave, especially the kids. I love it. Everyone always yells " 'Der " meaning Elder, but here in the Philippines they shortcut everything, which makes it kinda hard to understand, but hey, I probably won't understand most words if they said the whole thing anyway! :)

So in the few lessons we were able to teach this week, we came away with 2 Baptismal dates, so that's pretty awesome! We aren't too sure who for sure they are, but at least we got them to commit. Here in the Philippines, the investigator has to attend church for 4 weeks in a row before they can be baptized! I believe they can actually miss one week, but once they miss 2 it resets. So we kinda need to get our investigators to church in order for it to have a chance! It's still really hard for me to understand everyone, I definitely understand better than I can speak however!

So I was reading this morning in Alma about the Sons of Mosiah. For those of you who don't know or remember their story, these young men we're once wicked and doing horrible things, but they turned there lives around repented and served missions. They were called to serve amongst the Lamanites. Their enemies, and people who wanted to kill them. However it says in Chapter 17, they "took courage", "trusting in the Lord" and they "prayed and fasted much." I know that for me it would take a lot of courage to be called to serve people who wanted to kill me, so the Sons of Mosiah are a great example to me. My mission should never be as hard as there's because I don't need to fear for my life. I have no reason to complain about the heat or anything else because my problems aren't as bad as theirs. It says in Alma 20:29 "...nevertheless they were patient in all their sufferings." If the Sons of Mosiah could be patient while being thrown into prisons and being bound, then I can get over the little problems of heat and sweat. Just a fun little story and lesson I read and learned from today! :)

So on Saturday night we were doing our personal study because we had to attend a Baptism that morning, and I was reading Alma 5:62 when we received a text message saying "Please kindly inform Elder Walters that he has a talk tomorrow." So that was awesome. My topic was on missionary work and the verse that I was reading tied right in. Crazy how things like that happen! In that verse Alma was talking to the people, and he said "I speak by way of command to you that belong to the church; and unto those who do not belong to the church I speak by way of invitation, saying: Come and be baptized unto repentance, that ye to may be partakers of the fruit of the tree of life." As missionaries our purpose is to "Invite others to come unto Christ." Just like Alma was saying, "I speak by way of invitation." We invite all people. Others doesn't just mean investigators, or nonmembers. We visit members as well. As missionaries we bring ourselves closer to Christ, and we bring our companion closer to Christ every morning! We all need to continue to get closer to Christ. They only way to do that is by going to church and reading our scriptures. In 3 Nephi 27: 21 & 25 Christ says "...for the works which ye have seen me do that shall ye also do; for that which ye have seen me do even that shall ye do." & "...what manner of men ought ye to be? Verily I say unto you, even as I am." How do we learn of Christ in order to become like him and do the things which he has done if we haven't read our scriptures or attended church?...... Exactly, we can't for we haven't learned anything in order to help ourselves on that path. The best way to learn of Christ is by reading of him in the Scriptures. Whether we read from The Bible, The Book of Mormon, or any other of the Standard works, they all refer to Christ. I know that as we do these things with a real intent to learn more of our Savior and a real desire to come closer to him that we can. I've been able to see it as I've studied they scriptures more diligently and more fully over the past 2 months. There's a lot to learn, that's why we continue to read and re-read our scriptures. Because there is no way we can learn everything the first time!

So I encourage all of you to read from them everyday. Even 1 verse, or 1 chapter. Start small, anything is better than nothing! I love all of you guys and all the love and support that you give me! I love seeing the families at church here in Valladolid. It reminds me of the days that I was little and went to church with all of you!

So let's see what crazy things happened this week... Well I ate squid, and calamari, which now that I think about it I'm pretty sure calamari is squid, but whatever! haha I played basketball in the rain, and walked in pouring rain. This morning on my way to email I stood on the back of a jeepney again for like 40 minutes, and for the last half of that I had to Filipino squat while standing on the back so we didn't get in trouble. Which doesn't make sense because there's like no rules here, so I don't know who would enforce anything! But that was fun. Quite the leg workout! I think that's about it --- wait just kidding. We caught a mouse last night in our apartment, and then we had to drown him :/ poor thing. But not really, I'd rather not have him crawl on me in my sleep! We also had a small Tiki (Lizard) die on our kitchen table. Makes sense because it had no tail, and it's front feet were gone, so it couldn't really move. So much death in my apartment in one day. But what can you do! ;)

Palangga ko kamo! Salamat sa inyo para sa tanan nga nagahimo ninyo para sa akon! Palangga ko diri sa Pilipinas!

(I love you guys! Thank you for all that you do for me! I love it here in the Philippines!)

-Elder Walters

8.12.13

Simana Duha sa Valladolid


It's been another week, and once again I have no idea where the time goes. We were able to shop last P-Day at Gaisano, which is pretty much just like a U.S. mall so that was nice! We also got to eat at Pizza Hut! I'm able to buy pretty much anything I would want to eat like the US. The living conditions here are terrible, but yet they have all the accommodations you need. People literally have flat screen TV's in their huts in the middle of Rice Fields, I don't even understand how they get electricity out there.

This week we had our Zone Training Meeting, and our Mission President's Training Meeting so we were pretty busy with those. We have to Travel to Bago for most meetings which is about a 20 minute bus ride away. We were pretty busy with all those meetings and had a really slow week, so we didn't get many lessons.

At our Mission President's Training we talked about some pretty sweet stuff. I'm so pumped for these next couple of weeks. In our zone we are going to pilot some of the new proselyting techniques. One group is working with Facebook, another is working on more organized church tours, and guess what my group got?!?!?!?!?!? We got BASKETBALL! Yup, that's right. Filipinos love their basketball. So President Thought it would be great for a couple of White Guys from America to teach the Primary Aged kids from 8-12 how to play basketball while the sister missionaries teach the parents! We will hold a clinic hopefully once a week, and then teach them a quick lesson before we start, and then we'll play some basketball! Gonna be totally awesome! We're even having shirts made for Elder Hawk and Me. They're going to pretty sweet. Going to have the Captain Moroni Statue, but he'll be standing on a basketball instead (totally my idea, thought it was kinda brilliant (;)

Well let's see what other crazy things I've done this week. I didn't really eat anything else crazy. We caught a lizard in our apartment, we almost caught a mouse. I saw a huge rat just outside our backdoor and that kinda grossed me out. Um I rode standing on a 1 ft. platform on the back of a Jeepney (they're like long covered trucks with benches inside them, kind of like mini busses.) I also rode on top of one of those. Totally would be illegal in the US, but here in the Philippines there's literally no rules, kinda crazy. Mother don't worry about me hanging and riding on top of cars. People do it all the time, and I have a good death-hold on everything so I'm all good!

This Sunday was Stake Conference, so that was kind of neat! Still hard to understand everyone, but church is done in mostly English. During the Stake Business, about 10 people literally opposed the Stake Presidency, and that was different. Never actually seen that happen. Apparently they have no legitimate reason, so I don't understand haha. They just kept going, no big deal!

We hoping this next week will be filled with more lessons. Cuz our Key indicators weren't the greatest, but that just means there is more room for improvement! I was able to attend a baptism for another ward, and I just can't wait to have one in ours! Going to be great!

Palangga ko kamo! Maghambal ko sa inyo karon!

-Elder Walters

Chillin in a Rice Field

The Book of Mormon in 3 Languages- Basahon = Cebauno, Aklat = Tagalog, Libro = Hiligaynon

Showering in the Rain

Our Favorite Filipino Restaurant 'Namitz' (namit means deliscious)

Bago Zone (August 2013)

8.5.13

FAMILY!!!!

The Philippines is crazy but I love it! Other than the humidity it is such a cool place. It's definitely a third world country, and one of the couples told us that where we are is the third world of the third world country! But it's totally awesome! People literally live in these little shacks that they build themselves in Barangays which are little villages almost. They just jam pack their homes so close together it's crazy. It's like a giant campout, it really is. Just so you can try and visualize how crazy it is, we went to visit a less-active member at his home. It was literally in the middle of a rice field. So we walked on a piece of dry land that was like 6 inches wide to get there, and then his home was a straight shack made out of like bamboo and leaves and what not and the craziest part is that he had a TV hooked up inside for his 4 little girls. HOW DO THEY GET ELECTRICITY OUT THERE? I'll be honest it baffles me, but it's awesome haha!

So my companion's name is Elder Hawk. He's from Las Vegas and he's been out for like 4 transfers. I'm his first trainee so we're learning together! He's a super awesome kid and I love him already! We get along great and I'm so thankful that he usually knows what people are saying cuz I understand like a fifth of what's said at best haha. But a lot of people know English so if I look confused after they say something they usually will speak English to me! I love it!

Our first couple of days here were spent like home sleeping in nice hotels with AC and nice meals and riding around in normal cars and stuff but so far in like 4 days in my area (Valladolid, Vall-y-o-doe-lid) I've eaten duck, and hung halfway out of a bus going like 60 down the street (that was awesome, don't worry it's totally normal and I had quite the death grip on the handle ;). Most of the time we ride what's called a tricycle. A tricycle is a motorcycle with a sidecar attached to it. It costs us like at most 20 pesos for both of us to ride which is like 50 cents hah. The cost of living is so crazy here everything seems super cheap! And Dad, Elder Hawk and I actually bought a tub of Cookies & Cream ice cream, so we still get ice-cream don't worry! ;)

I've had the chance to teach a few lessons already with Elder Hawk. He mostly does all the teaching since I can't quite speak the language yet. For the most part I just bear testimony at the end based on what I could understand, but its totally awesome! During one of our lessons we had to Filipino squat (you pretty much just keep your feet flat on the ground and you just sit down. So you're squatting with your butt like 5 inches from the ground and your feet are flat and straight forward. Give it a try, it's insane) When I try to practice doing that I can't but yet somehow during the lesson I did it just fine for like 7 minutes. I literally about fell over when I stood back up afterwards tho haha!

So the inactive brother (Brother Bersillones) who lived out in the rice field is a Return Missionary. We went out on Saturday afternoon as a part of a ward home teaching rescue activity, and we gave him and his family a quick spiritual thought and gave him a little sheet of paper inviting him to church yesterday and he seemed super excited about it, and sure enough he and his whole family came to church, and he even bore his testimony during testimony meeting. It was such an awesome experience. He talked of our visit and the scripture that we shared with him and how he knows the church is true and that we need to Seek First the Kingdom of God and it was just awesome! I can see the importance of this work already!

So as for our Ward, the Valladolid Ward has an attendance rate of about 70-80 so it's bigger than our Branch! And the ward boundary is definitely smaller than our Branch Boundary. Church is like half English, half Illongo it's pretty crazy. All the songs are in English. They welcome people in English, a lot of people will literally speak Illongo and then just switch to English and then back and forth haha so that usually helps me out, even though its hard to tell because of their accent and what not!

So like I said in my last email the traffic is crazy! There are literally no rules on the road, there's no traffic police. If there's a traffic light it's advisory only. People just drive however fast they want wherever they want, pedestrians don't have the right of way. But I honestly think they're better drivers than the US because nobody gets mad when someone pulls out in front of them. They fully expect people to so it's just whatever! We ride tricycles and busses and that's pretty much it, it's pretty sweet!

I love all you guys! I love and miss you!

-Elder Walters

These first pictures are of Home Sweet Home in Tabao, which is a Baranggay of Valladolid.

Study Room

The good ole toilet that doesn't flush and that bucket next to it is the shower! ;)

Me just chilling in the rain. Happens a lot actually. It's kind of nice sometimes cuz it cools it down a bit!

My shoes after 3 days! I'm getting some rubber ones one of these next days! They get pretty jacked from walking around in the mud! But what can you do!

Last one just doing a little laundry. Having a blast! haha

7.30.13

Dear Family,

I'm here at the Mission Home just about to have lunch, we arrived in Manila last night and then were shuttled to a Hotel for the night. Dad you would love it here as Driver's Training Instructor, there are literally no rules on the streets its insane. If you're aggressive you'll be alright, but it's so cool! We're just about to eat and we've been given 2 minutes to write so I should probably get going!

I'm here I'm loving it, President Lopez seems super awesome! Can't wait to get to work tomorrow! Also there should be a Sister adding Mom on facebook, and also add Marlo O. Lopez on facebook. That's my Mission President and he posts pictures all the time, so if you do that today you should see pictures of us arriving and us at the mission home!

Palangga ko kamo!

-Elder Walters