Monday, June 8, 2015
6.1.15
Ang Katapusan
The day has finally arrived. I can't believe it's come and gone so quickly. I remember sitting and talking with Eric about how fast things go by, and then I remember sitting in the MTC thinking to myself, "What did I get myself in to!?" The work of the Lord is the answer. This work is hard, tiring, and stressful, but yet filled with so much joy. I am so thankful for the opportunity I have been given to serve the Lord here in the Philippines Bacolod Mission. I know that this is where I was supposed to be.
I want to thank each and every one of you for your love and your support and for the help you have rendered me throughout my life. Each of you has played a part in making me who I am today, and because of that you have helped in bringing the gospel to the many people I have had the privilege of meeting here in the Philippines. The glory is not mine, and it's yours, but it's the Lord's. Without his help, and without your help none of us would be in this position today.
The past week has been full of happiness, and sadness. The goodbyes were not fun, and the tears shed by others makes it even harder, but I know that I will see them again, whether it be in this life or the next. The gospel make it all possible.
I love each and every one of you and cannot wait to see your faces, hear your voices, and hug you all! See you soon! Halong! Amping! Ingat!
The day has finally arrived. I can't believe it's come and gone so quickly. I remember sitting and talking with Eric about how fast things go by, and then I remember sitting in the MTC thinking to myself, "What did I get myself in to!?" The work of the Lord is the answer. This work is hard, tiring, and stressful, but yet filled with so much joy. I am so thankful for the opportunity I have been given to serve the Lord here in the Philippines Bacolod Mission. I know that this is where I was supposed to be.
I want to thank each and every one of you for your love and your support and for the help you have rendered me throughout my life. Each of you has played a part in making me who I am today, and because of that you have helped in bringing the gospel to the many people I have had the privilege of meeting here in the Philippines. The glory is not mine, and it's yours, but it's the Lord's. Without his help, and without your help none of us would be in this position today.
The past week has been full of happiness, and sadness. The goodbyes were not fun, and the tears shed by others makes it even harder, but I know that I will see them again, whether it be in this life or the next. The gospel make it all possible.
I love each and every one of you and cannot wait to see your faces, hear your voices, and hug you all! See you soon! Halong! Amping! Ingat!
5.18.15
Last Zone Conference
So this past week was my last Zone Conference. It was actually pretty sweet too. I had the privilege of sharing my testimony as one of the departing missionaries along with Elder Pack and unfortunately Elder Brinton. Sad to see that kid go home early (Honorable, Medical Release), but he'll be alright! Glad I'll be able to hangout with him in Provo! This past week was a bit slow but we had some good progression as well! We have our one baptism for May 30th, and then we have 6 more scheduled for the month of June as of right now! So hopefully Elder Chapple can keep those all going! :) The work never stops!
Well, got a few errands to run this week. Time is slowly slipping away. I'm saddened, but of course excited at the same time to see all of you! I'm just glad that we have a baptism my last weekend! It keeps me going! Also the fact that we have other progressing investigators set for June too! Makes me feel like I've accomplished my task!
Well, I don't know what else to say. I'll just tell you all in person in a couple of weeks. It'll be more exciting that way anyway! :) I LOVE YOU ALL! :D
So this past week was my last Zone Conference. It was actually pretty sweet too. I had the privilege of sharing my testimony as one of the departing missionaries along with Elder Pack and unfortunately Elder Brinton. Sad to see that kid go home early (Honorable, Medical Release), but he'll be alright! Glad I'll be able to hangout with him in Provo! This past week was a bit slow but we had some good progression as well! We have our one baptism for May 30th, and then we have 6 more scheduled for the month of June as of right now! So hopefully Elder Chapple can keep those all going! :) The work never stops!
Well, got a few errands to run this week. Time is slowly slipping away. I'm saddened, but of course excited at the same time to see all of you! I'm just glad that we have a baptism my last weekend! It keeps me going! Also the fact that we have other progressing investigators set for June too! Makes me feel like I've accomplished my task!
Well, I don't know what else to say. I'll just tell you all in person in a couple of weeks. It'll be more exciting that way anyway! :) I LOVE YOU ALL! :D
5.11.15
It was so good to see all of your faces! :) That was the best skype call that I think we've had since I've been gone! It was just the perfect ending to a great 2 years! Thanks for all of your love and support! I hope you all had a wonderful mother's day and that you have another wonderful 3 weeks before I come home!
You guys are the best and I can't imagine what my life would be like without you! Thanks for all the things you've taught me, and for the example that each of you has set! I know that the things I've been able to accomplish have all been because of the Lord, and they're his accomplishments not mine, but I know that you have all played a part in it as well! It all stems from Dad's 1 convert! MOM! :) Happy Mother's Day to you! :D
You guys are the best and I can't imagine what my life would be like without you! Thanks for all the things you've taught me, and for the example that each of you has set! I know that the things I've been able to accomplish have all been because of the Lord, and they're his accomplishments not mine, but I know that you have all played a part in it as well! It all stems from Dad's 1 convert! MOM! :) Happy Mother's Day to you! :D
Wednesday, May 6, 2015
5.4.15
Isang buwan na lang!
I can't believe I've reached the last month. Where has the time gone?! The good thing is that I'm companions with Elder Chapple and he is super hard working and still has the super gung-ho attitude still about everything so we work pretty hard! It keeps me going!
This past week our numbers went down a bit, but we managed to set 3 baptismal dates! Even though the work was a bit rough we got 3 baptisms schedule, one for June 28! It's really weird to me to schedule things knowing that I'm not going to be here! Just makes everything seem weird! It's also really weird to see mission events schedule for after that as well!
But one of the baptisms we have schedule is for Joy Sabordo! She is the younger sister of our recent convert Ching-Ching! At first she didn't want to listen to us when I first got here. We'd enter the house to teach Ching-Ching and then she'd walk out the back. I did my best to try and talk to her and invite her but she just wouldn't stay in the house. Then one day we told her to just listen and that we wouldn't ask her questions or have her do anything and from that point on she just progressed! We re-taught Ching-Ching while teaching Joy and she didn't even realize it! She's now been to church like 6 of the last 7 weeks! And she's scheduled to be baptized my last Saturday here! I'm so excited for her and so are her sisters Ching-Ching and Eden!
We also had a baptism yesterday after church for Sister Bambie! She is a close friend of Sister Mary Jane who is the biggest help to our work. So she also goes to Mary Jane's house for us to teach her! So she was baptized yesterday and then Sister Carmelita who was baptized on May 25th was confirmed yesterday!
It rained a bit this past week to so we've had lots of fun walking around in the rain! Elder Chapple just loves the rain, so it's been good! I really love this kid, he keeps me going strong! So glad I've been given the chance to train!
Well, next week is Mother's Day, so Happy Mother's day to all of you mothers who may be reading this! Can't wait to chat with the family next week! :) Love you all!
I can't believe I've reached the last month. Where has the time gone?! The good thing is that I'm companions with Elder Chapple and he is super hard working and still has the super gung-ho attitude still about everything so we work pretty hard! It keeps me going!
This past week our numbers went down a bit, but we managed to set 3 baptismal dates! Even though the work was a bit rough we got 3 baptisms schedule, one for June 28! It's really weird to me to schedule things knowing that I'm not going to be here! Just makes everything seem weird! It's also really weird to see mission events schedule for after that as well!
But one of the baptisms we have schedule is for Joy Sabordo! She is the younger sister of our recent convert Ching-Ching! At first she didn't want to listen to us when I first got here. We'd enter the house to teach Ching-Ching and then she'd walk out the back. I did my best to try and talk to her and invite her but she just wouldn't stay in the house. Then one day we told her to just listen and that we wouldn't ask her questions or have her do anything and from that point on she just progressed! We re-taught Ching-Ching while teaching Joy and she didn't even realize it! She's now been to church like 6 of the last 7 weeks! And she's scheduled to be baptized my last Saturday here! I'm so excited for her and so are her sisters Ching-Ching and Eden!
We also had a baptism yesterday after church for Sister Bambie! She is a close friend of Sister Mary Jane who is the biggest help to our work. So she also goes to Mary Jane's house for us to teach her! So she was baptized yesterday and then Sister Carmelita who was baptized on May 25th was confirmed yesterday!
It rained a bit this past week to so we've had lots of fun walking around in the rain! Elder Chapple just loves the rain, so it's been good! I really love this kid, he keeps me going strong! So glad I've been given the chance to train!
Well, next week is Mother's Day, so Happy Mother's day to all of you mothers who may be reading this! Can't wait to chat with the family next week! :) Love you all!
4.27.15
Training!
Training is way fun but also very challenging! It's definitely making me want to be better than I have been recently! My new companion is Elder Chapple! He's from Idaho! He's my first American companion since my own trainer, Elder Hawk! So it's been a blast these past few days! We started off with a baptism this past Saturday as well! Sister Carmelita Jagdon was baptized! She however showed up like 5 minutes to late yesterday for her confirmation, but it's all good! She'll just be confirmed next week!
We've hit a few road blocks in our work, but that won't keep us from moving forward! We'll continue to pray and do our best to find more investigators and to bring more sheep unto the fold of Christ! Nothing can stop this work, except the people from within! It all starts with our desire to serve! Once we let pride in that's when things start to fall apart! That's one problem we've seen here in our ward, and we're hoping to find ways to fix it! Hopefully we can be the example! :)
I don't have too many other exciting things to share! Elder Chapple and I are going to have a blast these last 5 weeks though! Hope everyone has a wonderful week! Love you all!
Training is way fun but also very challenging! It's definitely making me want to be better than I have been recently! My new companion is Elder Chapple! He's from Idaho! He's my first American companion since my own trainer, Elder Hawk! So it's been a blast these past few days! We started off with a baptism this past Saturday as well! Sister Carmelita Jagdon was baptized! She however showed up like 5 minutes to late yesterday for her confirmation, but it's all good! She'll just be confirmed next week!
We've hit a few road blocks in our work, but that won't keep us from moving forward! We'll continue to pray and do our best to find more investigators and to bring more sheep unto the fold of Christ! Nothing can stop this work, except the people from within! It all starts with our desire to serve! Once we let pride in that's when things start to fall apart! That's one problem we've seen here in our ward, and we're hoping to find ways to fix it! Hopefully we can be the example! :)
I don't have too many other exciting things to share! Elder Chapple and I are going to have a blast these last 5 weeks though! Hope everyone has a wonderful week! Love you all!
4.20.15
Transfer Week
This week was crazy! That's about all there is to say!
Elder Alfeche went home on Saturday, so that left me with no companion for 2 days until transfer day! So I got to work with good ole Elder PACK! I love and miss that kid! We had a blast. We didn't get too much accomplished this week with either Elder Alfeche or with Elder Pack just because things were crazy. Once I was with Elder Pack we worked for a bit in my area then attended their baptism in the 3rd Ward. They had 4 people being baptized and we had the 3 APs and me baptize them! It was pretty awesome to see all of us in white! Then we went back to work in 2nd ward and then had to back to the office to work on transfer stuff. We didn't leave the office until 12am! It was a long night. Then Elder Pack and I were the speakers at 2nd Ward, and everybody loved our talks. They told us they were the most entertaining talks that they had heard in a while! It was way fun! Then we went and did a baptismal interview in Santa Fe, and then we headed back to the office to make transfer calls! Even though I am not an AP they let me make a few calls, it was kinda fun!
I am no longer a District Leader or a Zone Leader, but I will now be a TRAINER! I'm super excited! I don't know who my companion is and I won't find out until Thursday morning when I meet him! I am super pumped though. 6 more weeks to teach this new Elder all I can! I hope I can be a good leader and example and companion for him! It's so hard to believe that I am now in my last transfer. I have 6 weeks left. I can't believe it. I am super excited to get to work though! We still have people to find, people to teach, and people to baptize! :) The work never ends! :)
We had the baptism of Brother Nestor Planilla this past Saturday! He was baptized by his son Raymond! It was super awesome! Then on Sunday he was confirmed along with Jasper and Joshua Gamboa who were baptized the week before! I continue to enjoy each and every minute here in the Philippines Bacolod Mission, and I'm kinda sad to see it getting closer and closer to an end, but that will not keep me from doing the best I can to help the work of the Lord to continue!
I hope you all have a wonderful week! I love you!
This week was crazy! That's about all there is to say!
Elder Alfeche went home on Saturday, so that left me with no companion for 2 days until transfer day! So I got to work with good ole Elder PACK! I love and miss that kid! We had a blast. We didn't get too much accomplished this week with either Elder Alfeche or with Elder Pack just because things were crazy. Once I was with Elder Pack we worked for a bit in my area then attended their baptism in the 3rd Ward. They had 4 people being baptized and we had the 3 APs and me baptize them! It was pretty awesome to see all of us in white! Then we went back to work in 2nd ward and then had to back to the office to work on transfer stuff. We didn't leave the office until 12am! It was a long night. Then Elder Pack and I were the speakers at 2nd Ward, and everybody loved our talks. They told us they were the most entertaining talks that they had heard in a while! It was way fun! Then we went and did a baptismal interview in Santa Fe, and then we headed back to the office to make transfer calls! Even though I am not an AP they let me make a few calls, it was kinda fun!
I am no longer a District Leader or a Zone Leader, but I will now be a TRAINER! I'm super excited! I don't know who my companion is and I won't find out until Thursday morning when I meet him! I am super pumped though. 6 more weeks to teach this new Elder all I can! I hope I can be a good leader and example and companion for him! It's so hard to believe that I am now in my last transfer. I have 6 weeks left. I can't believe it. I am super excited to get to work though! We still have people to find, people to teach, and people to baptize! :) The work never ends! :)
We had the baptism of Brother Nestor Planilla this past Saturday! He was baptized by his son Raymond! It was super awesome! Then on Sunday he was confirmed along with Jasper and Joshua Gamboa who were baptized the week before! I continue to enjoy each and every minute here in the Philippines Bacolod Mission, and I'm kinda sad to see it getting closer and closer to an end, but that will not keep me from doing the best I can to help the work of the Lord to continue!
I hope you all have a wonderful week! I love you!
Thursday, April 16, 2015
4.13.15
Conference Week
This week was a pretty normal week! Nothing too crazy happened other than General Conference. It was awesome! President Ferrin had pizza for all of us missionaries for between sessions! He loves us! It was so good! Also worked great since we didn't bring any food with us!
I really enjoyed this conference! There were lots of great quotes and things talked about! I enjoyed the statement "Just hang in there is not a principle of the gospel!" I loved Elder Hollands talk as well about the arms of our brother who saved us from our certain death! Our life has so much more to it than us just living than dying. Christ is our savior and through is atoning sacrifice we can live beyond the bands of a physical death! We can return to live with our Heavenly Father is we live the gospel! But just like President Uchtdorf said, "we don't buy our salvation with good works." It helps us along the path, but we can't just buy our salvation. The first law of heaven is obedience. We are obedient to the commandments because our Heavenly Father told us we need to be, and by doing so we show our love and faith for all that he hath given is! Conference is so amazing! I find myself losing focus about mid-way through the Sunday afternoon session, but it's all good! There's so much information packed into 10 hours of conference it's amazing! I hope one of these next conferences we have a Filipino speak in their native language! That would make it awesome! haha
Well we have dinner appointments scheduled for every night this week since Elder Alfeche goes home on Saturday, so that's awesome! We also have dinner with President Ferrin on Wednesday! So that's sweet! Elder Pack is going to be my companion for Saturday and Sunday, so that's going to be sweet. For those of you who don't remember, and for those that do, he was my companion in the MTC! Going to be good time!
Love you all have a great week! :)
This week was a pretty normal week! Nothing too crazy happened other than General Conference. It was awesome! President Ferrin had pizza for all of us missionaries for between sessions! He loves us! It was so good! Also worked great since we didn't bring any food with us!
I really enjoyed this conference! There were lots of great quotes and things talked about! I enjoyed the statement "Just hang in there is not a principle of the gospel!" I loved Elder Hollands talk as well about the arms of our brother who saved us from our certain death! Our life has so much more to it than us just living than dying. Christ is our savior and through is atoning sacrifice we can live beyond the bands of a physical death! We can return to live with our Heavenly Father is we live the gospel! But just like President Uchtdorf said, "we don't buy our salvation with good works." It helps us along the path, but we can't just buy our salvation. The first law of heaven is obedience. We are obedient to the commandments because our Heavenly Father told us we need to be, and by doing so we show our love and faith for all that he hath given is! Conference is so amazing! I find myself losing focus about mid-way through the Sunday afternoon session, but it's all good! There's so much information packed into 10 hours of conference it's amazing! I hope one of these next conferences we have a Filipino speak in their native language! That would make it awesome! haha
Well we have dinner appointments scheduled for every night this week since Elder Alfeche goes home on Saturday, so that's awesome! We also have dinner with President Ferrin on Wednesday! So that's sweet! Elder Pack is going to be my companion for Saturday and Sunday, so that's going to be sweet. For those of you who don't remember, and for those that do, he was my companion in the MTC! Going to be good time!
Love you all have a great week! :)
4.6.15
ASL!
So this week was just another week in the Bacolod 2nd Ward! But it was fun! I went on exchanges with Elder Brinton again, but this time in 2nd Ward! He had an absolute blast when we taught Christine, in sign language! He thought it was awesome! After our exhanges we had dinner with the Petero family, I love them! They fed us because we ran out of support and we had like no food in the house, so that was sweet! haha
We set two more baptismal dates this week! As of now we have 6 people committed to be baptized in the next 4 weeks! I'm super excited. The younger sister of Ching-Ching, our RC, has finally started listening and showing an interest as well! She never would join us last transfer but now she joins us, she'll read if we ask her too, and she's been to church for 3 weeks in a row! The first two we just to witness the confirmation of Ching-Ching and after sacrament she just went home. Then on Friday we had two members work with us and one of them is a 17 year old girl, she bore her testimony and cried, and then Joy went to church again, and she attended all 3 hours of class! It was awesome! She was one that I really wanted to baptize, now we just need to get her a baptismal date! :)
Yesterday at church we had a really awesome experience. It about brought tears to my eyes. We had promised ourselves and the member who joins us to teach Christine that at this Fast & Testimony meeting that we would bear our testimony in Sign Language (hence the ASL title). So that is what we did. I was so nervous, but I knew I needed to do it. So I walked up to the podium, and I pulled out the step to make me taller, which I obviously don't need to do. Then the 1st Counselor asked me "Elder, what are you going to do?" Then the members began to laugh! Then I explained to them in Hiligaynon why I was standing on the latter and how they have a new member in their ward who cannot hear but needs to understand what we're talking about. Then I spoke English as I bore my testimony. THe faces of the members were priceless. They were so amazed and so happy . Christine as well had a giant smile on her face and almost cried, just as I did. It was so awesome. Christine told Mary Jane that she was so happy because it was the first time that she actually understood and enjoyed Sacrament meeting. I encouraged the members to try and learn and communicate with her to help her feel more loved. It was just so awesome. I'm truly going to miss Christine and being able to speak ASL with her! It's so fun!
Well Elder Alfeche goes home on April 18. 4 days early so that means I'll have a new companion for a few days before transfer day on the 20. Should be interesting to see what happens! All is going well! I love you all! Have a great week!
So this week was just another week in the Bacolod 2nd Ward! But it was fun! I went on exchanges with Elder Brinton again, but this time in 2nd Ward! He had an absolute blast when we taught Christine, in sign language! He thought it was awesome! After our exhanges we had dinner with the Petero family, I love them! They fed us because we ran out of support and we had like no food in the house, so that was sweet! haha
We set two more baptismal dates this week! As of now we have 6 people committed to be baptized in the next 4 weeks! I'm super excited. The younger sister of Ching-Ching, our RC, has finally started listening and showing an interest as well! She never would join us last transfer but now she joins us, she'll read if we ask her too, and she's been to church for 3 weeks in a row! The first two we just to witness the confirmation of Ching-Ching and after sacrament she just went home. Then on Friday we had two members work with us and one of them is a 17 year old girl, she bore her testimony and cried, and then Joy went to church again, and she attended all 3 hours of class! It was awesome! She was one that I really wanted to baptize, now we just need to get her a baptismal date! :)
Yesterday at church we had a really awesome experience. It about brought tears to my eyes. We had promised ourselves and the member who joins us to teach Christine that at this Fast & Testimony meeting that we would bear our testimony in Sign Language (hence the ASL title). So that is what we did. I was so nervous, but I knew I needed to do it. So I walked up to the podium, and I pulled out the step to make me taller, which I obviously don't need to do. Then the 1st Counselor asked me "Elder, what are you going to do?" Then the members began to laugh! Then I explained to them in Hiligaynon why I was standing on the latter and how they have a new member in their ward who cannot hear but needs to understand what we're talking about. Then I spoke English as I bore my testimony. THe faces of the members were priceless. They were so amazed and so happy . Christine as well had a giant smile on her face and almost cried, just as I did. It was so awesome. Christine told Mary Jane that she was so happy because it was the first time that she actually understood and enjoyed Sacrament meeting. I encouraged the members to try and learn and communicate with her to help her feel more loved. It was just so awesome. I'm truly going to miss Christine and being able to speak ASL with her! It's so fun!
Well Elder Alfeche goes home on April 18. 4 days early so that means I'll have a new companion for a few days before transfer day on the 20. Should be interesting to see what happens! All is going well! I love you all! Have a great week!
3.30.15
First time in English
This week was just about the same as last week! We had our Special MLC on Wednesday and talked about the reasons why our missions numbers are on a heavy decrease right now and hopefully we can pick them back up in the next few weeks! Our numbers are still very good he continues to remind us, but they have been even better in the past! Our zone training meeting on Friday was a bit interesting. I felt as though we were chastising the missionaries for having low numbers, it was kinda weird, because we don't have super high numbers either!
Our streak of weekly baptisms came to end this weekend :/, but we confirmed 2 yesterday! We will pick back up with weekly baptisms on April 11! Yesterday I confirmed Christine. She is our deaf investigator. So just picture how that would go in your mind for a second. She can't hear, yet you're giving her a blessing. So what we did was rather than take forever and try to have Sister Mary Jane sign what I was saying, we got President Ferrin's permission to record the blessing and tomorrow i will type it up and give it to her so that she can read it and understand what was said! I also gave the entire blessing in English. Which was the first time that I've ever confirmed someone in English. You would think that that would make it easier, but it almost didn't. It just felt weird! It was pretty awesome though!
Our work is progressing here in the Bacolod 2nd Ward, and I love it! It is all because of members. Most of our progressing investigators are referrals or are from part member families so they already have an instant support system. That is the "better way" of missionary work that President Hinckley talks about in Preach my Gospel. Missionary work is not very successful when we're knocking on doors, members are the true key to success! They find, we teach! * Finding + Teaching = Baptism! * That's how it gets done!
Nothing else too exiting going on here! Hope you all have a great week! I love you all and can't wait to see you beautiful faces in a couple months! :)
This week was just about the same as last week! We had our Special MLC on Wednesday and talked about the reasons why our missions numbers are on a heavy decrease right now and hopefully we can pick them back up in the next few weeks! Our numbers are still very good he continues to remind us, but they have been even better in the past! Our zone training meeting on Friday was a bit interesting. I felt as though we were chastising the missionaries for having low numbers, it was kinda weird, because we don't have super high numbers either!
Our streak of weekly baptisms came to end this weekend :/, but we confirmed 2 yesterday! We will pick back up with weekly baptisms on April 11! Yesterday I confirmed Christine. She is our deaf investigator. So just picture how that would go in your mind for a second. She can't hear, yet you're giving her a blessing. So what we did was rather than take forever and try to have Sister Mary Jane sign what I was saying, we got President Ferrin's permission to record the blessing and tomorrow i will type it up and give it to her so that she can read it and understand what was said! I also gave the entire blessing in English. Which was the first time that I've ever confirmed someone in English. You would think that that would make it easier, but it almost didn't. It just felt weird! It was pretty awesome though!
Our work is progressing here in the Bacolod 2nd Ward, and I love it! It is all because of members. Most of our progressing investigators are referrals or are from part member families so they already have an instant support system. That is the "better way" of missionary work that President Hinckley talks about in Preach my Gospel. Missionary work is not very successful when we're knocking on doors, members are the true key to success! They find, we teach! * Finding + Teaching = Baptism! * That's how it gets done!
Nothing else too exiting going on here! Hope you all have a great week! I love you all and can't wait to see you beautiful faces in a couple months! :)
3.23.15
Tapos na naman ang Simana!
This week was a very interesting week. I started off going on exchanges with Elder Brinton again! While on the exchange Elder Brinton enlightened me on some of the things his companion had been doing that he shouldn't be. I also became aware of communication he had with other missionaries in the mission that are outside our zone and tried to fix that myself, but one of the missionaries I corrected did not take it very well and made some pretty rude comments in return. So I scheduled an appointment with President Ferrin before we switched back to our normal companions, and we talked it all out. In result of my conversation with President, he has called an emergency/special MLC this next week to discuss rules and other problems that have been happening within the mission. President also asked me if we should take that missionaries phone. The decision was all up to me. I decided to give him another chance! But we'll see what happens in the upcoming weeks.
Other than that crazy incident, nothing too much happened this week. Our numbers went down a bit, but we still had a baptism and still have more scheduled! The members here in the Bacolod 2nd Ward are such a great help to the success of missionary work, I love them! We would not have much success at all if it wasn't for all their help! This week was the Baptism of Charlie Lantape. We've now baptized the father, mother, and 1 of the 2 kids in that family. Their daughter, Cherry Pie, is 21 years old and wants to be baptized, but she works everyday which doesn't allow her to attend church. She told me after the baptism of her brother that she wants me to baptize her before I go home. So that doesn't give her too much time to find a new job! I hope she can pull through because I would really love to be able to be here and be the one to baptize her as well!
I love you all and hope that you continue with your Book of Mormon reading! I am now in Alma 34! I only need to read 3.3 pages a day to finish on time! I hope you all can finish too!
This week was a very interesting week. I started off going on exchanges with Elder Brinton again! While on the exchange Elder Brinton enlightened me on some of the things his companion had been doing that he shouldn't be. I also became aware of communication he had with other missionaries in the mission that are outside our zone and tried to fix that myself, but one of the missionaries I corrected did not take it very well and made some pretty rude comments in return. So I scheduled an appointment with President Ferrin before we switched back to our normal companions, and we talked it all out. In result of my conversation with President, he has called an emergency/special MLC this next week to discuss rules and other problems that have been happening within the mission. President also asked me if we should take that missionaries phone. The decision was all up to me. I decided to give him another chance! But we'll see what happens in the upcoming weeks.
Other than that crazy incident, nothing too much happened this week. Our numbers went down a bit, but we still had a baptism and still have more scheduled! The members here in the Bacolod 2nd Ward are such a great help to the success of missionary work, I love them! We would not have much success at all if it wasn't for all their help! This week was the Baptism of Charlie Lantape. We've now baptized the father, mother, and 1 of the 2 kids in that family. Their daughter, Cherry Pie, is 21 years old and wants to be baptized, but she works everyday which doesn't allow her to attend church. She told me after the baptism of her brother that she wants me to baptize her before I go home. So that doesn't give her too much time to find a new job! I hope she can pull through because I would really love to be able to be here and be the one to baptize her as well!
I love you all and hope that you continue with your Book of Mormon reading! I am now in Alma 34! I only need to read 3.3 pages a day to finish on time! I hope you all can finish too!
3.16.15
Vacation?
So this week was crazy! Elder Alfeche goes home this next transfer but he's awesome! He wants to work and told me to help stay focused so I'm super pumped about that! Our work this last week was pretty good! We also had 2 baptisms yesterday! One was for Christine, our deaf investigator! We also learned a ton of sign language this week so teaching her was much easier. We're going to suggest to bishop that we have a sign language class at church on Saturday's so that members can learn so that they can interact with Christine as well! The baptism was so awesome!
Saturday though however was our vacation! We got to go to..... Manila! It was sweet! We need to get fingerprinted before we can leave the country so they took 21 of us foreigners up to the Area Office in Manila. We left Bacolod on an 830am flight and got to Manila around 930 and then our flight back to Bacolod from Manila left at around 530pm. Manila is so much more civilized than Bacolod! haha The temple was unfortunately closed for cleaning, but we got to see it across the street and take pictures! It was also really cool to see missionaries that we were in the MTC with who are serving in other missions while we were at the Area Office! After fingerprinting we went to a US War Memorial in Manila. It was really cool and peaceful. It was were President Hinckley dedicated the Philippines for the preaching of the gospel. It was super awesome! I also got to hang out with Elder Pack, Carver, and Minson for the last time. We'll never all be in one place again while serving our mission! Kinda weird to think about!
The work goes forward. I love you all! Have a wonderful week! :)
So this week was crazy! Elder Alfeche goes home this next transfer but he's awesome! He wants to work and told me to help stay focused so I'm super pumped about that! Our work this last week was pretty good! We also had 2 baptisms yesterday! One was for Christine, our deaf investigator! We also learned a ton of sign language this week so teaching her was much easier. We're going to suggest to bishop that we have a sign language class at church on Saturday's so that members can learn so that they can interact with Christine as well! The baptism was so awesome!
Saturday though however was our vacation! We got to go to..... Manila! It was sweet! We need to get fingerprinted before we can leave the country so they took 21 of us foreigners up to the Area Office in Manila. We left Bacolod on an 830am flight and got to Manila around 930 and then our flight back to Bacolod from Manila left at around 530pm. Manila is so much more civilized than Bacolod! haha The temple was unfortunately closed for cleaning, but we got to see it across the street and take pictures! It was also really cool to see missionaries that we were in the MTC with who are serving in other missions while we were at the Area Office! After fingerprinting we went to a US War Memorial in Manila. It was really cool and peaceful. It was were President Hinckley dedicated the Philippines for the preaching of the gospel. It was super awesome! I also got to hang out with Elder Pack, Carver, and Minson for the last time. We'll never all be in one place again while serving our mission! Kinda weird to think about!
The work goes forward. I love you all! Have a wonderful week! :)
3.9.15
Week 4!
The streak of weekly baptism continues! We should be able to get to week 6 the way it's looking. Not sure if we have one for week 7! It's just so amazing to see the work of the Lord going forward in such haste!
Elder Babida transferred this morning. I was hoping that would help me to get a new companion with a greater desire to work. But that isn't what I got. I got a companion who goes home in 6 weeks. So hopefully this works out! I'm the senior in the area so he has to follow my lead! haha It should be alright though! The work never gets easier. Up until the day you leave missionary work is still hard!
We had an unfortunate loss this past week. On Monday our recent convert Tatay Rolando suffered a stroke which ended up taking his life just yesterday morning. We were able to visit him at the hospital on Friday, but it was as if he was not conscious. We knew he didn't have long. It is a tremendous blessing that he was able to join himself with the church and be baptized just this last January. Elder Lopez and I were the ones who interviewed him when I was still assigned in 1st Ward. He was an awesome old man. He always made us laugh. Now he's doing the same in the next life I'm sure! He will be missed.
Some may look at it as though "Look, he was baptized and then he died." But the true fact is that the Lord new his time was coming to an end. So he put the gospel into his life before he was taken. The Lord knows what we need it and when we need it. He goes before us, behind us, and beside us. He is our strength and our salvation!
I hope you all have a wonderful week! Say your prayers and read your scriptures. As we keep the commandments, we prosper. It says so 34 times in the Book of Mormon. Put it to the test! ;) LOVE YOU PO! ;)
The streak of weekly baptism continues! We should be able to get to week 6 the way it's looking. Not sure if we have one for week 7! It's just so amazing to see the work of the Lord going forward in such haste!
Elder Babida transferred this morning. I was hoping that would help me to get a new companion with a greater desire to work. But that isn't what I got. I got a companion who goes home in 6 weeks. So hopefully this works out! I'm the senior in the area so he has to follow my lead! haha It should be alright though! The work never gets easier. Up until the day you leave missionary work is still hard!
We had an unfortunate loss this past week. On Monday our recent convert Tatay Rolando suffered a stroke which ended up taking his life just yesterday morning. We were able to visit him at the hospital on Friday, but it was as if he was not conscious. We knew he didn't have long. It is a tremendous blessing that he was able to join himself with the church and be baptized just this last January. Elder Lopez and I were the ones who interviewed him when I was still assigned in 1st Ward. He was an awesome old man. He always made us laugh. Now he's doing the same in the next life I'm sure! He will be missed.
Some may look at it as though "Look, he was baptized and then he died." But the true fact is that the Lord new his time was coming to an end. So he put the gospel into his life before he was taken. The Lord knows what we need it and when we need it. He goes before us, behind us, and beside us. He is our strength and our salvation!
I hope you all have a wonderful week! Say your prayers and read your scriptures. As we keep the commandments, we prosper. It says so 34 times in the Book of Mormon. Put it to the test! ;) LOVE YOU PO! ;)
Monday, March 2, 2015
3.2.15
Second Time Around
It's been an interesting week. We had stake conference and zone conference this week and exchanges and it's just been crazy. Our training that we gave during Zone Conference was great. If only my companion actually applied to his life and his mission. Our numbers were flat our awful this week. Some of that is accredited to the fact that we had so many meetings and then a baptism on Friday so our time was a bit limited. I'm just enduring until transfer day and then hopefully my problem just gets transferred. hahah
Our Stake Conference was pretty awesome though. It was the second time that I've attended Stake Conference now we're Elder Larry J. Echo Hawk has presided, hence the title of my email! :) Last time it was one of the most spiritual meetings I had ever attended. This time was just the same. He made the comment during the Saturday Adult Session that, "The Philippines Bacolod Mission has been described as the strongest mission in the world." Then at the Sunday General Session he said, "This mission has been described as the best mission in the Church." I don't say these things to brag about our mission, but it truly amazes me that of all the members, and all the missionaries in the world, I was chosen to serve here. I am far from perfect. I am far from the "strongest in the world" or the "best in the church." But it just goes to show that anybody can make a difference. The Lord chooses the weak things of the world to confound the wise and the strong! That's me. I have contributed but a small amount to the great success of the Bacolod Mission, but I am so grateful for the opportunity that I have been given to serve here. I wouldn't trade it for the world!
I just hope that as I get closer and closer to the end that I get more and more focused. The thing I learned from President Lopez is to never give up and to work til the end. Even the day before he left. He acted and talked as if he would still be here the next day. Hopefully I can do the same! It'll be difficult but that's what I have challenged myself with! Hope I can stand up to it!
I love you all! :) Have a great week!
It's been an interesting week. We had stake conference and zone conference this week and exchanges and it's just been crazy. Our training that we gave during Zone Conference was great. If only my companion actually applied to his life and his mission. Our numbers were flat our awful this week. Some of that is accredited to the fact that we had so many meetings and then a baptism on Friday so our time was a bit limited. I'm just enduring until transfer day and then hopefully my problem just gets transferred. hahah
Our Stake Conference was pretty awesome though. It was the second time that I've attended Stake Conference now we're Elder Larry J. Echo Hawk has presided, hence the title of my email! :) Last time it was one of the most spiritual meetings I had ever attended. This time was just the same. He made the comment during the Saturday Adult Session that, "The Philippines Bacolod Mission has been described as the strongest mission in the world." Then at the Sunday General Session he said, "This mission has been described as the best mission in the Church." I don't say these things to brag about our mission, but it truly amazes me that of all the members, and all the missionaries in the world, I was chosen to serve here. I am far from perfect. I am far from the "strongest in the world" or the "best in the church." But it just goes to show that anybody can make a difference. The Lord chooses the weak things of the world to confound the wise and the strong! That's me. I have contributed but a small amount to the great success of the Bacolod Mission, but I am so grateful for the opportunity that I have been given to serve here. I wouldn't trade it for the world!
I just hope that as I get closer and closer to the end that I get more and more focused. The thing I learned from President Lopez is to never give up and to work til the end. Even the day before he left. He acted and talked as if he would still be here the next day. Hopefully I can do the same! It'll be difficult but that's what I have challenged myself with! Hope I can stand up to it!
I love you all! :) Have a great week!
2.23.15
Weekly Baptism! :)
Well like I said I've finally been able to live the vision of weekly baptism! We baptized Sister Marciana Villarosa this past Saturday! She's 69 years old! She was so excited for her baptism that she showed up like an hour early to the church! That doesn't happen here because people are always late! Then she also had a bit of a fever and because everything imaginable went wrong to make the baptism start late it didn't start until like 6:30 so it was a bit cold and she already felt cold because she was sick. So when she got into the water she was shaking really bad! At first she wouldn't let go of the bar on the edge until I grabbed her hand and put it on my arm! It was crazy! Then I baptized the sisters candidate, Brother Ashley. First time I've baptized somebody taller than me! It was pretty crazy! I was the most wet I've ever been after a baptism! But it was a good Saturday!
We also have another baptism set for this Friday! That'll make 3 weeks in a row! The work is going really well in the Bacolod 2nd Ward. We may also have a baptism every week of March! I'm so excited! I love the 2nd Ward. We got fed like champs this past week as well. That's another reason I love this ward. Because they love us! haha
We have a Zone Conference this week, there will be 2 Zones. We have to give a 20 minute training. Our training is on Scripture Study and Virtue. We're going to tie in Ephesians 6:11-17 and the story of Thor. It's gonna be great. I'm actually kinda excited. I always get nervous training other missionaries though, as if I'm better than them. (I'M NOT!) haha But it should be a good day, and then there's free lunch, so that's always great!
Well, In terms of my study this week I just read today in D&C 101:36
"Wherefore, fear not even unto death; for in this world your joy
is not full, but in me your joy is full."
Our joy will never be full in this life. No matter what we do. True joy only comes in the next life. It is proceeded by a life of following the commandments and doing all that our Heavenly Father asks of us. We cannot reach our full potential in the next life if we don't do all that he asks. Salvation is free, but it's not at the same time. No money can buy it, but we pay for it through our righteous thoughts and actions that stem from our faith in Him. It isn't just given to us because we say we have faith in Him, or because He's a gracious Father. It comes through the atonement of Jesus Christ. It comes through obedience. That's the only way to become full of joy. In a life of devoted discipleship! I hope we all can receive this fullness of joy in the end as we do all that the Lord asks of us!
I love you all and hope you have a wonderful week! :)
Well like I said I've finally been able to live the vision of weekly baptism! We baptized Sister Marciana Villarosa this past Saturday! She's 69 years old! She was so excited for her baptism that she showed up like an hour early to the church! That doesn't happen here because people are always late! Then she also had a bit of a fever and because everything imaginable went wrong to make the baptism start late it didn't start until like 6:30 so it was a bit cold and she already felt cold because she was sick. So when she got into the water she was shaking really bad! At first she wouldn't let go of the bar on the edge until I grabbed her hand and put it on my arm! It was crazy! Then I baptized the sisters candidate, Brother Ashley. First time I've baptized somebody taller than me! It was pretty crazy! I was the most wet I've ever been after a baptism! But it was a good Saturday!
We also have another baptism set for this Friday! That'll make 3 weeks in a row! The work is going really well in the Bacolod 2nd Ward. We may also have a baptism every week of March! I'm so excited! I love the 2nd Ward. We got fed like champs this past week as well. That's another reason I love this ward. Because they love us! haha
We have a Zone Conference this week, there will be 2 Zones. We have to give a 20 minute training. Our training is on Scripture Study and Virtue. We're going to tie in Ephesians 6:11-17 and the story of Thor. It's gonna be great. I'm actually kinda excited. I always get nervous training other missionaries though, as if I'm better than them. (I'M NOT!) haha But it should be a good day, and then there's free lunch, so that's always great!
Well, In terms of my study this week I just read today in D&C 101:36
"Wherefore, fear not even unto death; for in this world your joy
is not full, but in me your joy is full."
Our joy will never be full in this life. No matter what we do. True joy only comes in the next life. It is proceeded by a life of following the commandments and doing all that our Heavenly Father asks of us. We cannot reach our full potential in the next life if we don't do all that he asks. Salvation is free, but it's not at the same time. No money can buy it, but we pay for it through our righteous thoughts and actions that stem from our faith in Him. It isn't just given to us because we say we have faith in Him, or because He's a gracious Father. It comes through the atonement of Jesus Christ. It comes through obedience. That's the only way to become full of joy. In a life of devoted discipleship! I hope we all can receive this fullness of joy in the end as we do all that the Lord asks of us!
I love you all and hope you have a wonderful week! :)
2.16.15
Hello all! Hope you all had a wonderful weekend, and a wonderful Valentine's day! We celebrated our Valentine's day with the Baptism of Lorie Jean Belarmino (Insay) and Lorenzo Belarmino Jr. (Jay R)! It was great! It was a night baptism! The baptismal font here in the 2nd Ward is outdoor with a roof over it! So it's kinda cool. The Bacolod 2nd Ward was the first church built here on the island of Negros and it's style was never re-used. So it's a one-of-a-kind church!
This week our housemates got pulled out of there area so it's just Elder Babida and me in our big house now. We had missionaries sleep at our house 3 nights last week though as the foreign missionaries going home next month went to Manila for fingerprinting, so our house is always a party. The other day I went on exchanges with Elder Nery and did baptismal interviews in Santa Fe. President Ferrin had been there for one because the sister had apparently killed someone before but they didn't know all the details. She never showed up for the interview however so President told me to just interview her and find out the details for him and then let him know what's true. It was a bit interesting because I could tell that Sister had something she wanted to say to me the whole time but she just didn't. It was super weird. She he just kept avoiding the question and beating around the bush with her answer. So we went to the office and told President what happened and then he talked with her and she was baptized! So it's all good!
We have another baptism scheduled for this Saturday for sister Marciana! She's old and forgetful but she wants to be baptized and she lives right next door to the church and comes to church every week.We'll see how an interview goes for her. We also have another baptism for Tatay Tino and Nanay Rose on the 28th! I'm super excited, the work is going well and it keeps me going! Hopefully this keeps up for the next couple months!
I hope everyone had a wonderful week! I love and miss you all! :)
This week our housemates got pulled out of there area so it's just Elder Babida and me in our big house now. We had missionaries sleep at our house 3 nights last week though as the foreign missionaries going home next month went to Manila for fingerprinting, so our house is always a party. The other day I went on exchanges with Elder Nery and did baptismal interviews in Santa Fe. President Ferrin had been there for one because the sister had apparently killed someone before but they didn't know all the details. She never showed up for the interview however so President told me to just interview her and find out the details for him and then let him know what's true. It was a bit interesting because I could tell that Sister had something she wanted to say to me the whole time but she just didn't. It was super weird. She he just kept avoiding the question and beating around the bush with her answer. So we went to the office and told President what happened and then he talked with her and she was baptized! So it's all good!
We have another baptism scheduled for this Saturday for sister Marciana! She's old and forgetful but she wants to be baptized and she lives right next door to the church and comes to church every week.We'll see how an interview goes for her. We also have another baptism for Tatay Tino and Nanay Rose on the 28th! I'm super excited, the work is going well and it keeps me going! Hopefully this keeps up for the next couple months!
I hope everyone had a wonderful week! I love and miss you all! :)
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