11.11.13

Maayong Aga halin sa Pilipinas!

Well for anyone who heard the knew that the Philippines was it by a terrible Super Typhoon, that of course is true. Many Islands have experienced quite a bit of damage, many people lost there homes, and many people are probably still without power and communication. You all probably have more access to that information than I do! But as for the missionaries here in the Bacolod Mission, we are all safe and sound! Here in my zone it's as if nothing ever happened, but other areas in my mission we hit pretty badly so please keep them in your prayers, as for the rest of the Philippines as well. These peoples homes are not the American Standard, many of them are made of bamboo and tin, very poorly constructed and many were destroyed. Please pray for the health and safety, these people are amazing!!

As I said it's as if nothing ever happened here in Valladolid. We had strong winds and strong rain for maybe 30 minutes. I was expecting a lot more damage and a lot stronger of a storm to hit us, but our prayers and your prayers were answered. We are all safe and free from damage! Thank so much for your love and prayers, they mean a lot, even when we don't experience such calamities as this!

So this week not a whole go accomplished. We were informed Wednesday of the impending Typhoon and were told to prepare ourselves that night. We needed to make sure we had enough food and water and candles and everything to survive without power. Then all day Thursday and Friday we were cooped up in our apartment. We spent quite a bit of time studying, cleaning, and putting up Christmas Decorations :) ! It was honestly quite boring, but I know that by following the counsel of our Mission President and staying inside that we were blessed and protected from all the Devastation of Typhoon Yolanda. And also know that all of your prayers went a long way as well. The Lord is mindful of all of us!

So Sunday morning as we were getting ready to leave for Church, I had this strange prompting that I should take my Preach My Gospel manual with me to church. Something I haven't done once since I got here. I don't know why, but I decided to listen and to take it with me. Lo and behold when we get to church both Elder Cruz and I are asked to speak in Sacrament meeting because we had no assigned speakers, and then after Sacrament meeting Elder Cruz was asked to teach the Gospel Doctrine class. Good thing I brought my PMG with me otherwise it would've been a little rough. Just one of those moments you're glad for the promptings of the Spirit, and the fact that you heard them and listened!

Once again I'm so thankful for all of your love, support, and prayers it means so much to me to hear that everyone is thinking of us!

I love all of you!
-Elder Walters

11.4.13

All Saints Day

So November 1st here is a holiday called All Saints Day. All the Cemeteries here are very different from back home. Peoples graves are mostly all above ground. So on October 31 people come and clean up the cemetery and paint the vaults where their loved ones are buried. We were able to visit with them and offer a prayer for some families, and to help some members of our ward clean and paint their families vaults. Then on November 1st everyone comes to the cemetery and just hangs out with their family. Everyone lights candles and places them on the graves and just hangs out, it was kinda cool to be there with some members of our ward.

November 1st was also the birthday of Nanay Advincula so we were invited to have lunch with them, and to have dinner with them on November 1st, and they fed us dinner on October 31st, and what do you know they also fed us last night. I just love that family. Nanay's daughter Che lives in Arizona with her Husband and 2 kids but she has been here for the last 7 months so it's been really nice to communicate with her in English. Unfortunately she goes back to Arizona on the 18th so that'll be weird when they leave.

We had an awesome opportunity to have a meeting with Elder Neil L. Andersen, L. Whitney Clayton of the Presidency of the Seventy, Ian S. Ardern and Larry J. Echo Hawk of the Seventy and Philippines Area Presidency this past Saturday in Talisay. Our entire mission was there and there was also a ton of youth and single adults of all of Negros Occidental as well. It was crazy. Elder Andersen talked a lot of the helping efforts of the Church after the Earthquake and how as members we have a responsibility to help our fellow brothers and sisters and all that we do. We should always be ready and willing to give of our time to assist those in need. The Church provides the resources, we just need to give freely of our time to help those in need. And in return those efforts are a perfect way for us to share the gospel and perfect finding opportunities when we are in the service of our fellow man.

Also yesterday for church Elder Echo Hawk came to our Stake. It was probably one of the coolest church meetings I have ever attended. The Spirit that he brought was amazing, and the stories and experiences he shared were awesome. He shared of his conversion story, and his experience working for President Obama before being called to serve as a General Authority for the rest of his life, it was crazy I can't fully explain it. Then at one point he asked the congregation, "Do you know that there are angels among us today?" Then he paused for second and asked it again. Then he asked for all of us full-time missionaries to stand, and he said that we were the angels among them. I felt so inadequate yet so overwhelmed with happiness at the same time it was so weird. Multiple times throughout his message I almost began to cry, the Spirit was just so strong. And I am not one to usually cry in instances like that, I just can't explain to you how amazing that meeting was I just wish all of you could've been there with me!!


Crazy story to end my message today. This morning I was in my first "tricycle accident!" haha I saw it coming though so it didn't really bother me. The tricycle we were on slammed on its brakes behind a bus, and the tricycle behind us reacted too late and slammed on his but slid into the back of ours because the road was damp. I turned around and saw it coming though so I wasn't affected! Just a fun story to tell everyone!

I love all of you! Hope you have an amazing week and always remember to thank the Lord for the wonderful blessings and lives that we have!

Halong Kamo,
-Elder Walters