11.24.14

Happy Thanksgiving!

Well this last week was a pretty normal week! Nothing too crazy happened. I was able to go on exchanges with Elder Goodmansen in Colonia Divina this last week so that I could interview their 7 candidates for baptism! Elder Goodmansen has been out for about 3 weeks, he's from Rigby, Idaho! We got a little lost up in the mountain on our way to President Mahilum's house since I'd only been there once and Elder Goodmansen is brand new and doesn't quite know his way around yet, but we found our way! So it was all good!

This upcoming weekend we have 4 baptism! Sisters Amy Chen and Mary Grace, and then the younger brother of one of RC', Biernie Alay, and then Sister Lera! It's going to be a white Sunday! :)

We also seem to have a huge trial of our faith every Sunday because it rains EVERY Sunday morning. It's a bit ridiculous. It always causes people not to attend church! But we still had 30 this last week with 10 investigators and 15 recent converts! So it was still a great Sunday! :)

This afternoon we're gonna go play us some ping-pong at the church! I'm super excited! The Filipinos play ping-pong like the Chinese. It's like watching the Olympics haha They stand right at the end of the table and hit the ball right after it bounces, it's kinda hard to pick up on, but i'll get the hang of it! I'm excited to play later!


I read this last week in Doctrine & Covenants 130:18-19. As we continue to build our knowledge throughout our live, especially knowledge pertaining to the Gospel we are not only increasing our advantage in this life, but we're increasing our advantage in the next life as well. It also says in verse 19 that this comes because of obedience and diligence. This means that whatever our Heavenly Father asks of us, we do it. We don't get to pick and choose! He knows what's best for us and as we follow Him we will be blessed beyond capacity! Just my quick thought for all of you! I just invite each of you to continue or to begin a more detailed study of your scriptures so that we all can grow in knowledge and intelligence!

Hope you all have a wonderful week!
I LOVE EACH AND EVERYONE OF YOU! :)

11.12.14

Seventeen!

How's life my friends and family? I hope it is just as great as mine! Although you may have a few more benefits than I do! ;) haha

These last couple weeks have been crazy! Last week I worked in Sagay for two days with Elder Newton and then came back to Sewahon and finished out a great week there. We missed out on two days of work but still had a full week of success! it was all backed by our 2 baptisms and our .............. 17 investigators who attended church! I was so surprised to see so many of them at church. They just kept coming and coming! The work is truly Hastening especially up here in the mountains and in the Philippines Bacolod Mission. I meant to mention this to you last week but when we had our Zone Conference, President Lopez shared a very amazing statistic with us that totally blew my mind. He said that in the month of October the Colonia Divina Branch (which consists of Alimatoc and Sewahon groups, 6 missionaries total) had 20 convert baptisms, which was more than an entire other mission here in the Philippines. He then said the "Colonia Divinia Mission." How crazy is that. I can't even imagine that. More than entire other mission. It's totally "mind bottling" hahah There's my movie quote for ya! ;)


Well we're here in Bacolod right now in preparation for our Mission Tour tomorrow with Elder Ardern! Tonight we are staying in the Silay West elders apartment! If you remember that is my last area! Which means I get to work with Elder Rakuro again and visit people in my last area which I'm kind of excited for! Oh and this morning we woke up to a pleasant rain. Which isn't a big deal when you have a car. However, when your transportation is a motorcycle it becomes kind of an issue. I cut a whole in a big black garbage bag and wore it like a poncho as we rode down the mountain! It was great. It could've been much worse! The rain only lasted maybe 20 minutes and then it stopped!

Well, other than that I don't think I have much else to say other than I LOVE YOU ALL! :) Hope you have a wonderful week!

11.3.14

This week we were blessed with a visit from President and Sister Lopez and the Mower Couple! It was so cool to have them visit and experience Sacrament Meeting here in Sewahon! It was also really cool because it was testimony meeting. I was conducting and was able to share my testimony and then it was funny because we had this drunk that we didn't even know who showed up and while Elder and Sister Mower were sharing their testimonies, in English, the guy was repeatedly making comments about how he couldn't understand, it was kinda funny, but he was in the back and we mostly ignored him! Then President went around inviting members and investigators to share their testimonies some were startled but stil shared their testimonies and others were scared and didn't but it was so cool to hear the testimonies of the members here. I had told one of the Young Women to share her testimony the night before and she came up to me before Sacrament and said "Elder, I can't do it!" So I said that's alright there's always next time. Then after sacrament I asked her what she would've done if President and asked her to share her testimony and she said "I was praying SO hard that he wouldn't call on me!" hahah it was funny! She lucked out!

We had a super productive week this week as well! We had 10 investigators at church and we reached another high for me with 46 lessons taught with a member present in one week! We had 12 in one day! It was nuts! I also was able to go on exchanges again with Elder Cicon for interviews after our Zone Conference so that was fun. Although Elder Cicon got sick in the truck on the way up and puked. But it was all good! haha


Our Zone Conference was also pretty great. I unfortunately had no voice. I was asked to give a special musical number with Elder Butler and Elder Cruz but I couldn't sing. I always look forward to mission conferences because I get to sing bass when we sing but I had no voice so that really stunk. And then we sang a Christmas Carol for you guys and practiced parts and everything and I couldn't sing it was no fun, but it was still fun at the same time! haha I hope you all enjoyed it! I couldn't sing much but I nailed the last note that was super low ;) haha

Well I start off working Monday and Tuesday this week in Sagay while Elder Derecho works in Lopez Jaena. Then on Wednesday we will join back up and head back to Sewahon! It's kinda weird, but it is what it is! Missionary Work gihapon! ;)

I love you all and hope you have a wonderful week! :)

10.27.14

First Baptism in Sewahon!

We had our first baptism in Sewahon just yesterday! We baptized in the river which was pretty sweet. It was just kinda hard to find a good place to stand because there were a lot of big rocks in the water, not a very flat surface! But it was way sweet and went really well. Like I said last week, I presided at our sacrament meeting this past week and also at the baptism. It's so weird. It sounded so weird to hear "Presiding at this meeting is Elder Walters." Just doesn't seem quite right still, but it is!

We had a pretty successful week again this week! I reached my personal mission high with 39 new investigators in one week. It was pretty crazy! We made it out to two new locations within our area and met quite a bit of people. A lot of them seemed like they have potential and interest in our message! Should be exciting to get back to them again this next week!

I'm also excited because w have Zone Conference tomorrow here in Sagay! Which means good food and lots of things to learn and a time to visit with President and Sister Lopez! It's so nice to see them. We will also be blessed to see them again on Sunday, Nov. 2 in Sewahon. They will be attending our Sacrament and interviewing our candidates for baptism! So exciting!

Other than that, I don't have much news. I will be going on exchanges again this week with Elder Cicon in Alimatoc so that I can interview their baptismal candidates as well. Next next week is transfer day so there will be quite a few changes in our district since Elder Butler and Elder Sablan are both going home. So we will see some changes up in the mountain! haha

Hope all is well back in the States! Love you all!

10.20.14

Who will Preside?

This past week was pretty stinking crazy if you ask me. I mentioned how I experience things last week for the first time in my mission but this week I experienced even more. First off on Thursday we tried to go down the mountain to Sagay to get our support, but we couldn't because all the rivers flooded and the bridges were overflowed! So we had started our ride down but then had to return back home. Then that very day we went and visited a new area in Sewahon II. The rode going up to Sewahon II from Sewahon I was like a river itself. We just took of a shoes and rolled up our pant legs and walked up the 'river'm it was crazy! We did however reach a high for my mission with 33 Lesson to taught to Investigators with a member present, and 14 other lessons taught! We were very busy! However our investigator sacrament attendance was only 6, but that will continue to improve. We have a baptism this Sunday so I'm excited for that!

So the answer to "Who will Preside?" is written at the top of the message. Starting next week we're switching our Sacrament Meeting to the morning which means that our Branch President and members from Colonia won't be able to attend, which leaves Elder Walters to Preside at Church! How crazy is that? There's a first for everything!

Today we're having our p-day in Sagay and then tomorrow I will head up to Alimatoc again with Elder Cicon this time. Elder Sablan will interview our baptismal candidate and I will interview their's up in Alimatoc. Elder Cicon is only in his 2nd transfer so this will be fun! :)

Other than that I don't have anything else to say! Not sure when I will be on next week, but I will continue to have somebody email you so that you know when I will be on!

Love you guys, have a great week! :)

10.13.14

Happy Birthday Mom!:)

So this was another good week here in Sewahon! Our new apartment is soooooo much nicer than the last! We did have a couple fights with Tokos but those shouldn't happen anymore because they should have no more way of getting in the house! We sealed off all the entrances haha

We had a pretty crazy week with coming down the mountain 3 times! Once for pday, another for Zone Training Meeting, and then another on Saturday for General Conference. It was fun!

I also went on exchanges with Elder Sablan in Alimatoc on Wednesday before our Zone Training Meeting. Elder Sablan is our District Leader but is also a former Assistant. Kids good. haha We had a crazy day. We walked 30 minutes up the mountain to meet Elder Sablan and Elder Cicon for our exchanges and then Elder Sablan and I walked another 30 minutes or so up the mountain farther to get to Alimatoc. The whole time we were carrying boxes filled with Books of Mormons and other things. They had to have been like at least 30 pounds. THen to top it all off it started raining on us! It was great! haha The many wonderful experiences of Missionary Work!

Then on our exchanges while walking up a hill of clay I slipped which resulted in my left food going shin deep into the small creek nearby. Then We walked out into the middle of nowhere in the pouring rain in water trenched pathways resulting in water entering both of my shoes. Then we were hiking our way back up out of the middle of nowhere and had to cross flood water almost knee deep. It was one CRAZY day of missionary work let me tell you! I also was able to do 2 Baptismal Interviews for them! Always fun to help people prepare for baptism!

This week we only watched the Saturday Session of General Conference here in Sagay. Then on Sunday we just held our normal Sacrament in Sewahon. We started having a Sunday School based on the Gospel Principles to help build the faith of our Investigators and Recent Converts! It went really well! We reached 40 this week in attendance! As for General Conference, still waiting to watch the Sunday Sessions, but I really enjoyed those on Saturday! I really enjoyed Elder Christofferson's talk. I've taken a liking to him since he visited our Stake the day I was set apart! haha I loved how he mentioned that we don't get to be the ones who decide what is right and what is wrong. It's already been decided. We will always have to face the reality of what's right and what's wrong whether we like it or not. I loved his little analogy of how we'll still fall off a cliff if we jump whether we agree with the Law of Gravity or not. One day we will stand in front of Christ and have to live with the consequences of what we've done, whether we agree or not. We have to do what He says, not what we want. Faith and Religion doesn't depend on us, it depends on Him and what He has said is right. We must spend our time trying to figure that out, searching for his ONE true church. Not just what we think is right, or where we feel comfortable. What we are truly searching for is Eternal Happiness, not just happiness in this life. How sad will it be if we chose happiness in this life but that it doesn't result in eternal happiness in the life to come. That is what I learned from Elder Christofferson! Hopefully I get to listen to the Sunday Sessions soon!

Hope you all have a great week! Next week I should be on on Monday, but probably at a later time! Love you all! :)

10.6.14

Week 1 in Sewahon

This week has been GREAT! Other than the super long and tiring walks it has been fun. We had a pretty successful week. The people here in Sewahon are just great. The members that are here just love us and are such a great help to us in finding people to teach, it's pretty amazing to see how converted they are already! We also were able to see President and Sister Lopez this past Sunday! They made a trip up to Colonia Divina and Alimatoc. They were supposed to visit us as well in Sewahon but President Lopez wasn't feeling very well. But it was nice to be able to run into them in Colonia Divina.

This week was very tiring actually but it was so great. Even though our apartment was kinda scketchy it was also super nice because it was cold enough at night that we didn't need an electric fan! I would usually wake up in the morning being really cold. Even at night we would come home after our hour long walk pretty hot and tired and we'd turn on the fan while we planned and by the time we were done we were freezing cold. Then you through on a cold bucket shower after that and it's pretty dang chilly! haha But it was great.

I'm glad to say that our adventure to Colonia are now over. We just moved into our new apartment this morning! And it is WAY better than the one in Colonia! I'm super excited to stay there. Although tonight we will be staying in Sagay because it'll be too late to climb back up the mountain by the time we finish here and then tomorrow we will have exchanges in Alimatoc so I won't even be the first to sleep in the new apartment! Kinda crazy, but it's all good! Life goes on!

I apologize that I was not able to email you all yesterday, but I am still alive don't you worry! I'm not really sure what time or day I will be emailing. Our schedule is pretty crazy up in the mountains because of travel circumstances. So usually we will probably end up emailing later in the evening on Monday and staying in Sagay and then just having District Meeting here in Sagay to save ourselves Money. So I can't really promise what day or time I will be online! Next week we have Zone Conference on the 16th here in Sagay. So we might end up having our Pday on Wednesday. I apologize, but that's life in the mountains! ;)

I love you all and hope you have a wonderful week! Just know that I am enjoying every minute of my experience here in the Mission Field! Don't you ever worry about me!