10.28.13

My First Baptism!

So this past Friday I had my first baptism of my mission! As well as my life! Like I said last week it was kind of rough when they went for their interview and Elder Solis wasn't there, and unfortunately Elder Solis was transferred this past week so I was nervous as to what would take place at their baptism without him. It's still hard for me to tell when Erica and Angelica are joking because I still don't fully understand everything and it's hard to judge sarcasm in a different language, but when it came time for their baptism they were both super excited! We got to the church however and we had no presiding authority, so that was kind of rough. Then we ran out of texting on our phone too so that was even more exciting! We eventually had someone show up so we could start the baptism! It was so much fun, and I loved seeing the smiles on their faces! I was also able to baptize a girl who is probably about 14 years old named Ruby Anne for the Sisters in Bago. After the service, she came and shook my hand and said "Thank You" in just the softest and sweetest voice ever. It kinda hit me. I didn't teach her, but I was able to baptize her and help her open the door to the Kingdom of God! It was kind of a cool moment.

After the baptism I was going through the pictures on my camera and I was deleting some pictures that the kids had taken and the button skipped and I accidentally pushed delete all pictures on this date. So I lost all the pictures from the baptism :( However the next day the primary had an activity at the church and I had to baptize for some sisters in our District so we just went back to the church and dressed back up and took some more pictures. Talk about a fun adventure for your first baptism. I can't really imagine what Erica and Angelica were thinking!!

I have a new companion this transfer, his name is Elder Cruz. He is from Manila, but was born in Bago City which is what stake we are a part of here. It's really cool because quite a few people remember him. He lived in Bago until was 6 years old. He's been out on his mission for 8 months, but he has only served in Cebuano speaking areas, and he doesn't really remember Ilonggo from his childhood, so our teaching is fun. We have Ilonggo, Cebauno, English, and probably some Tagalog thrown in there as well! I don't really know because I don't really understand much of other languages, and for all I know it could still be Ilonggo and I have just never heard it before lol.

Well, nothing else too crazy happened this week. Well I mean our bishop came back from Manila finally. He left in June for work and just got back on the 24th. However he goes back to Manila on Nov. 2. So it's kinda rough without a Bishop. Hopefully something changes there! Oh and this Saturday Elder Neil L. Andersen of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles is coming to our mission. I'm so excited to listen and learn from him!

Love,
Elder Walters

10.21.13

Excited gid ako!

Malipay gid ako nga nagasulat sa inyo sa sini nga aga!

So this week was pretty great! We had our Mission Tour on Wednesday with Elder Brent H. Nielson of the First Quorum of The Seventy, who is also the Philippines Area President. It was really cool to be able to listen and learn from him! He seemed to know everything, as I imagine every General Authority does.

His wife shared a message with us about her family and all their relationships between one another. She spoke of who of their 6 children and all their spouses that not everyone is the same. Everyone likes different things, and new members of the family aren't the same as the old ones. Her main message was that everyone isn't a Nielson, and not everyone has to be in order to fit in and be loved in her family. She related that message to our missionary companionship. For me, not everyone is a Walters. My companions certainly aren't me, and they aren't my family either. They are my companion and we are on the same team. They may be from Las Vegas, or Mandaluyong, it doesn't matter. I need to get over any differences we may have, and realize that we are both here for the same purpose. To bring others closer to our Heavenly Father. It was really a cool way that she shared this message with us!

Also this week we had the opportunity to have two of our Investigators interviewed for Baptism. I was on a member exchange with Hugo Evangelio when we picked them up and took them to the Church for the interview. They were really excited, but they wondered where Elder Solis was. I told them he was going to meet us at the Church for the interview too when the Zone Leaders came. However when it came time to start, Elder Solis never came back, and Elder Leng was also on a member exchange when he showed up for the interview. Both girls became very nervous and didn't want to go in the room. It was really difficult to get it started, but eventually they went in and they passed! Their baptism is this Friday and all of us are super excited! It will be my first opportunity to baptize someone! I'm really excited! Now let's just hope neither one of us gets transferred on Wednesday!!!

As most of you have also heard, there was an Eathquake here on Tuesday morning. The Epicenter was an Island or two to our East on the Island of Bohol. It registered at 7.2 for them, and also caused some damage in Cebu. Here on our Island it only registered at a 4.5 and didn't really cause any standing damage. All missionaries are safe and accounted for! As soon as something like that happens, a member of the Quorum of the Twelve calls the Area President, who calls the Mission Presidents, who then calls his Zone Leaders and it trickles down to each missionary companionship until all are accounted for. In less than one hour it was determined that all missionaries were safe, I'm very grateful for the organization of our church! It happened at about 8am and I was in the bathroom when all our water buckets started splashing everywhere and the room felt like it was tilting and shaking everywhere! I was really nervous at first as to what was happening. The shaking lasting for probably about 20 seconds or so. I walked out and asked Elder Solis what just happened, and he just nonchalantly replied, "It was an Earthquake." Apparently it's just no big deal to him! It was a cool thing to experience and we are safe so that makes it even better!

I'm still enjoying myself over here! I love and pray for each and every one of you often! Thanks for all of your love and support! :)

Halong Kamo Ahh,

-Elder Walters

10.14.13

General Conference Week

Hello everyone! Glad to be back at this computer sharing my experiences once again! Probably one of the most exciting days of the week. Not that teaching isn't exciting, but that I get to share my life and adventures with those I love! :)

So this week was pretty good just like last week. Our efforts and our numbers here in the Valladolid Ward continue to grow each week. We are so close to have a baptism this month and I am so excited. Last week we walked to church with Erica and Angelica and this week we needed help from members to get them to Bago to watch General Conference. I don't know if they learned anything since it's hard for them to understand English, but they have great faith and desire to go to Church in the first place!

One of my favorite talks from this Conference was Elder Holland's talk. At first it seemed kind of odd to me, but by the time he finished it really hit me. As humans here on Earth we are in a fallen state. We are subject to disease and illness and all other trials and tribulations. What we need to remember is that our pain and suffering is temporary. We will one day return to live with our Heavenly Father in a perfect glorified state! And then end of his talk he started to get a little choked up talking about how we will all receive our glorified bodies in the next life and how glorious a time that will be to be with our loved ones. At that exact time all that came in to mind were my last images of my beloved Grandmothers. I had an overwhelming feeling of peace and comfort knowing that one day I will be able to see the two of them in a perfect glorified and beautiful state with bright smiles on their faces. Both of them had their struggles in life, and we all will at some point. Perfection does not come in this life, but the next. I cannot wait for that wonderful day to see those I love, especially those who struggled in this life, in the next life, like my dear Grandmothers.

I know that the Plan of Salvation is real. Our purpose here in Earth is to learn how to become better and to prepare to return to live with our Heavenly Father again., and even to struggle along the way. Life isn't easy, we have our trials and our challenges. That's all part of the Plan. How are we going to react? As President Uchtdorf said repeatedly in his Priesthood Session talk, "Rise Up." We can always rise up and become better. And one day after we've done all we can we will return to our Heavenly Father and live in perfection with those we love! I love all of you and want to thank you for your love, prayers, and support! You're an amazing family, and amazing friends!

Love,
-Elder Walters

10.7.13

Welcome to October Everyone

Maayong gab-i sa inyo tanan,

Aga di, pero para sa inyo gab-i da! (It's morning here, but for you it's evening there.)

This was a pretty eventful week here. Got to go to Bacolod 3 times this week. First on p-day, then again on Thursday for July Arrivals follow-up training, and then again on Saturday to be fingerprinted in order to receive exit clearance from the Philippines at the end of my mission. Then we had our Zone Training Meeting on Wednesday and President Lopez attended. I also was invited to conduct that meeting. Cool experience!

Just think in about 2 weeks I will no longer be a trainee. Seems like just yesterday I was riding my first bus from the mission office to Valladolid, and soon I will no longer be a newbee, even though there is already another batch here that's newer than me! It it's crazy because I still remember being dropped off at the MTC. Crazy how time flies when you're spreading the good word! :)

So at our Zone Training Meeting like some of you know I had the opportunity to teach in front of the Zone with Elder Solis. We had an actual Less-Active member come and we taught about repentance. We had a few minutes to prepare, but we had no idea that we were going to be doing this. Usually in situations like that my face gets beat red and I'm super nervous, but this time I was totally fine. Didn't turn red, wasn't nervous, spoke Ilonggo, and President was even videotaping us.

We had 2 Investigators at church yesterday. Erica and Angelica. They are sisters and they are 9 and 11 years old. We teach them at the home of a member, and they are always excited when we come over and sad when we leave! So that's a good sign. They have accepted the invitation to be baptized on Octopber 26th and their guardian gave them his permission as well and was super friendly and nice to talk to. Hopefully we can stick to that plan. They didn't have money to get a ride to the Church yesterday, so we told them we'd meet them by their house and walk with them. Took us 30 minutes to walk to the church, and it was really fun. Sometimes you have to do difficult things to do what's right!

I love you all and still can't wait to receive your packages! :) It's like having 2 birthdays! Thanks again! And I get to watch General Conference this weekend so I'm excited for that as well!!!

-Elder Walters

Elder Walters & Elder Solis

Family Week Celebration

Birthday Boys (Hugo)

Birthday Party with the Evangelio Family

After Church

Just lookin' good like always ;)

Look familar?

Elder Perez drew our Zone.

That's Elder Solis and me!

Visiting the Valenzuela Family

Bago District

9.30.13

Birthday Week

Maayong Aga sa Inyo Tanan,


So this was a pretty good week. First off, I have a new companion. Elder Hawk was emergency transferred on Thursday morning. We received the call on Wednesday night at 10:30 short notice, and then the power went out so it was a pretty good night haha. So Wednesday morning we rode up to Bacolod and got me my new companion. His name is Elder Solis (pronounced more like Solace, not Mr.Solis haha) he's from Mandeluyong, close to Manila. It's been great with him hear because I feel like my language will improve much faster with a Filipino rather than an American companion. I can honestly say that in the last few days it has. I've had to lead the area, which means I have to talk, so I've been talking a whole lot more since Elder Hawk left, and it's been pretty awesome! I've kinda reached that point where I feel comfortable trying to talk to people and I'm not really that embarrassed anymore when I don't understand their response. I mean I still don't understand a lot, but I'm doing a lot better! Elder Solis teaches me Ilonggo, and I teach him English, so it's a good companionship! I like it already. He's a great missionary and always has a smile on his face, I love it!

So this week we got 6 new investigators!! They are all kids from the age of 9-12. We've taught them 3 times this week, and they are always excited to see us. 3 of them came to church so that was awesome too! We had a total of 4 investigators at church, the other being Jona (the deaf girl).

On Saturday for my brithday, first we went way out to Jona's house and tried to show her the Restoration video in ASL, but her DVD player didn't work, after that we went to our Stake Center for a family day celebration and then after that we returned home and got some lessons in. Then we were able to go to the Evangelio families home to celebrate my birthday. It was also Dan Hugo's birthday as well on Saturday. He turned 18. It was really cool to be able to share our Birthday. I wish the internet was working so I could show you pictures but it's being really slow.

I'm running out of time, so that's going to have to be my message for the day. I loved hearing from all of you, and I especially want to thank you for the Birthday Wishes. I love you and appreciate all that you do for me!

Love,
-Elder Walters

9.23.13

Maayong gab-i sa inyo tanan,

So this past week was pretty awesome!! We had our Zone Conference up in Bacolod on Wednesday. So Tuesday afternoon we went up to Bacolod and were assigned to stay with missionaries in Bacolod and to work with them for that night so we could be to the Church at 7:30 for breakfast. It was pretty cool to be in the City. Out here in Valladolid it's mostly country. Lot's of rice fields and tubo fields (sugar cane) so walking around in the city and riding a lot of Jeepney's is always fun!

We got to stay with the Office Elders and they were in the Office til about 7. We got to the office at 4 like we were told and then just waited for them, and then they had a Dinner appointment with some members. It's always fun to meet new people in different places! We had Pork Lechon, Chicken Adobo, and Shrimp for dinner. (Shrimp that still have the head on them gross me out.)

Zone Conference was pretty sweet. Even though when it was my turn to give an answer I totally blew it and answered some totally other question, it's all good tho only half the mission heard me screw up, it's no big deal. Haha Zone Conference was pretty sweet tho. My favorite part was the very end. President Lopez showed us a video with commentary from President Eyring and Elder Holland. I believe the commentary was taken from the New Mission President's Seminar from sometime. But Elder Holland was talking about how a mission isn't easy. Things aren't going to always go according to plan, we will get rejected, and we will have down times. But what he said after that was amazing. He said "Salvation never was, and never will be easy." He also said to the Mission President's that when times get hard for your missionaries, remind them of this, and remind them that when times get hard and when they are rejected, that they are standing shoulder to shoulder with the only Perfect Missionary to walk this Earth. That quote right there just hit me. We are standing shoulder to shoulder with Christ. We will never be perfect like him, but we just may endure some hard times just like him. Not quite as extreme, but just remember that he went through the same things, on a far greater scale!

So this week's work was pretty slow with being in Bacolod for like 2 whole days, but Zone Conference was pretty awesome and made me want to be even better. I've implemented some of the Study ideas that the AP's shared with us about Personal and Language study and I can see the impact already! We also received 2 more potential investigators last night, so that was pretty awesome too!

I love all of you guys! I hope that life is just as great back in the USA as I remember! :)

-Elder Walters

Just doing a lil Online Proselyting in the Bishop's Office.

Scripture Box Liwat

It was raining pretty good at the Stake Center. Lost Power a couple times!

9.16.13

Dapat kita magpangamuyo para sa kusog, agud malumpwason sang aton mga pagtilaw

So this week was much better than last week. Still no progressing investigators or investigators at church but I feel as though our effort towards our purpose was much better so there's no complaints here! As long as we're trying, right?

It obviously would be nice to have some progression here in Valladolid, but all is done in the Lord's time. We have investigators who love to listen to us, so as long as we keep giving them the chance to feel of the Spirit and come close to their Heavenly Father it will all be worked out at some point.

So this week we were given a talk by Elder Bednar to read before our upcoming Zone Conference this week. It's entitled "In the Strength of the Lord." He gave this talk at a BYU Devotional in 2000. My favorite quote from the talk is this:

"As you and I come to understand and employ the enabling power of the Atonement in our personal lives, we will pray and seek for strength to change our circumstances rather than praying for our circumstances to be changed."

In the scriptures there are many instances where people prayed for strength rather than to have their burden just lifted from their lives. Take Nephi for example when his brothers bound him. What did he pray for? In 1 Ne. 7:17 it says "...O Lord, according to my faith which is in thee, wilt thou deliver me from the hands of my bethren; yea, even give me STRENGTH that I may burst these bands with which I am bound."

He didn't ask to just have the bands loosed, he asked for the strength to do it himself. Just think, how much more willing be our Heavenly Father to help us if we ask for the strength to get through things ourselves rather than just asking him to change them. I was talking with Elder Hawk and I said it like this. Let's say you've been asked to rake the yard. You want some help to be able to get through that task. So you go to your Dad. Would you just say to Dad do you want to rake the yard for me? Obviously he would laugh and say no. But if you asked him, Hey Dad will you help rake the yard? In that circumstance you are asking for your father to give you added strength to get through the task, and he would be much more willing to offer his help rather than do all the work for you. So let us always remember to pray for the strength both mentally and physically to get through our trials, for our Heavenly Father is more willing to help us through them, rather than to just take care of them himself. Through our weaknesses we may become strong. Always remember that! :)

I just love reading from the Liahona and the words of the Prophets and Apostles. There is just so much to learn from them! Except when your copy is in Tagalog, then not so much, haha!

The title of today's email says: "We should pray for strength, in order to overcome our trials."

Palangga ko kamo tanan! Salamat sa inyo para sa tanan nga nagahimo n'yo para sa akon.!

-Elder Walters

Smallest Tiki I've seen yet!

Valladolid Elders, with the Sisters of Bago 1 & 2

Rice field with the Bukid (mountain) off in the distance!

Ang alagyan sa kamingawan. (The way to the wilderness.)

We almost got attacked by this "herd?" of swans haha!

The Great Waters to the West.

I could be a pro photographer with this Picture! :)

Nice pile of trash that sits in the ocean pretty much, it's got a wall keeping from going all the way out!