"Isn't the Gospel Just Perfect?"

Well this week has been a fun one!! We've been running around like crazy coordinating zone conferences. We've completed three out of the four. The final zone conference will be held this upcoming Wednesday on Palawan. Yep, I’m heading back again!! It's been really fun participating in the zone conferences though. We're focusing on Becoming Master Teachers. President Ostler asked Elder Limocon and I to lead the whole thing so we had about an hour in each zone conference to teach and lead a practicing demonstration in front of 60 plus missionaries. I sure do love teaching. I've never had the opportunity to teach the same thing three times in a row, but it turned out pretty good. It's amazing how the spirit prompts you to focus on different things on different days. You really have to do everything in your power to prepare, but when the time comes when you actually start teaching, you have to be willing to put your plans aside and follow the spirit and let it direct the lesson. I sure am thankful for the opportunity I have now to learn these principle. They will be principles that I will use for the rest of my life! 

Elder Limocon and I had the great opportunity to go on exchanges this last week with the Elders from Pasay North! That zone is my baby. It was great to walk those same streets and visit the people that I loved so much. I found out while I was there that two more of the investigators that Elder Carlson and I found and began to teach have since been baptized and now are thriving in the church. We even had the opportunity to visit and teach them. Those are the "pay days" that really help you understand the difference your helping others make in their lives. There is no greater calling than this. I was able to visit Hector!! I don't know if you remember him, but he was the less active member that Elder Carlson and I got really close with. He's still going strong, coming to church, and he even gave a talk in sacrament the other week (I hear that his talk was amazing). Unfortunately, the Borejon family has moved away so we weren't able to visit them. It's amazing how much you grow to love the people that you serve as a missionary. 

We had an amazing lesson with Wilma this last week. For her whole life, she's been active in another church and this last week, all the questions and concerns came out. However, the spirit directed us and through the scriptures, we were able to help her overcome all of her concerns and answer all of her questions. By the end of the lesson she was stating, "It all makes sense now. I finally understand it." It was quite amazing. It's so great that in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints we don't have to take someone's word for it. We have the opportunity to find out for ourselves if something is true. That's exactly what we have been focusing on with Wilma and because she has real intent, faith in Jesus Christ and a sincere heart, she's receiving answers. Isn't the gospel just perfect? I just love it. 

Guess what?  Elder Limocon is going home in about a week. I'm so sad. I can't even explain how sad I am. I love that kid so much. We've had such a great time this past transfer. We've worked extremely hard, seen miracles and shared laughs. It'll be hard to say goodbye to him. I wish he could stay for a couple more transfers. He's the type of guy that makes everyone else around him happy. That's a very special gift. On the other hand, we still have a week and we're going to live it up!! 

It's Amazing What the Lord Can Do With Your Life!

Well, to start this letter off, I have some really exciting news. Don't you just love exciting news? The first part is about one of my investigators from my last area, Sister Ciara. I got word that she has passed her baptismal interview and will be baptized this upcoming week!! Yay!! Not only that, but her husband is now active in the church and will hopefully be the one to baptize his wife. Don't you love missionary work? I don't think there's anything better than this work. I feel like I’ve been a full time missionary my entire life and I don't feel like I’m ever going to be released. Enjoy it while it lasts. 

The second part of the great news is just as exciting. This one has a story as well. Earlier today, right after we had let all the missionaries out to eat lunch, we noticed a few girls sitting at the back of the room. One of them was our ward member who is preparing to go on a mission. She told us yesterday that she would be coming so we expected to see her, but we couldn't tell who she was with. As we drew closer, I quickly realized who she was with. She was with Angel!!!! One of the girls that I baptized while serving in Manila 2nd!! It's been about ten months since I saw her.  As I began to talk with her, she gave me even more exciting news!! (don't you just love good news?) She's getting ready to serve a mission!!!! She's getting ready to start her papers in the near future. I was overjoyed. Words honestly can't describe my excitement in that moment. I'm so excited and so thankful that I have had the opportunity to get to know her. Seriously, I’m so happy right now. 

Alright, so what else happened this week? I've got another amazing story about finding. I actually wasn't there for the initial experience because we were on exchanges, but I’m going to tell you anyway. While I was serving in another zone, Elder Limocon was working in our area with another missionary. They had just finished an appointment on one side of manila and had to make their way to the other side. They didn't have the car because I’m the only one with a license and it was rush hour. The taxis, jeepneys and all other forms of public transportation were loaded with people. So, they decided to walk. Little did they know that it was actually part of a divine plan executed by the Lord. As they walked along the busy cities of Manila, a random car pulls over and a man rolls down the window. He tells Elder Limocon that he's seen missionaries in the past and he wants to be taught. Uuuuhhhh that never happens. They set up an appointment for the next day. Luckily, I was back the next day and was able to take part in one of the greatest lessons ever (He's also fluent in English and even prefers it, so we taught him in English). He began by telling us about his life as a 26 year old man that owns his own car dealership and tells us why he called Elder Limocon over. He expressed that more and more responsibilities are falling on his shoulders and that he wants to put away the old life that he used to live, and start a new life that will help build a strong foundation for the rest of his life, for his future family, and other things. It sufficeth me to say that it was an amazing lesson with an amazing investigator that wants to change. When we are humble and willing to let the Lord change us, amazing things happen, we become new men and new women. He quickly began to show his real intent the next day by coming to church. He loved it. He's best friends with everyone in the ward (it helps when half of the members in our ward are SAs). Not only that, but he just ate up the doctrine. He wanted to know everything. He had so many questions and he was ready to receive the answers. He's going to be baptized. 

We were hit by a pretty epic storm this last week. It rained forever. We had flooding up to our knees outside of our apartment. We were told that we couldn't go out and work. It was a pretty long day spent in the walls of our apartment. We got a lot of washing and cleaning done. That's pretty much the extent of the storm. Nothin too exciting when you're stuck inside. It's funny to see all of the kids run out in the middle of the storms to play in the water. Well it's funny until you realize what they're swimming in. After that, it's not too funny anymore. 

That's pretty much all I got for this week. I just want you all to know that I love my mission. There is nothing I would change about where I am right now. It's really cool to see how the 19 years before my mission were spent preparing me for these two years. Now, these two years are preparing me for the rest of my life. It's amazing what the Lord can do with your life when you give him control. His hands can shape our lives a lot better than we can. We just have to be willing to let Him. 

"Yes, I Eat Shrimp!"

All right. About his week. We had a lot of really cool experiences with some of the members in our ward and some new investigators! I'll start with an amazing experience that we had yesterday! There is this young couple (not yet married) that have been attending our ward for a while (the international ward). The man, Mike, is a member, but his girlfriend, Wilma, is not. They have been coming to church for the past couple months, but because hey live outside of our mission boundaries, the elders here have never taught them. We talked with them last week and finally coordinated where we could meet in order to share with them. Yesterday after church, we were finally able to share with them for the first time. It was one of the most amazing lessons of my life. Wilma has been taking online lessons for quite a while and she's been taught the first three lessons, reads the book of Mormon consistently and has already gained a testimony of it's truthfulness. She told us a story about her experience with the Book of Mormon. She expressed to us that she went weeks without missing a day of reading. She loved it. However, she was afraid to ask if it was true because she felt like if she found out that it was true, she would be abandoning her belief and everything she grew up in. She stopped reading and was filled with guilt. She said a prayer and said, "If the Book of Mormon is true, please take away this guilt. If it's not true, leave the guilt." The next day, she attended church, read the Book of Mormon and the guilt went away. She had her answer that the Book of Mormon was true. That was only the beginning of the testimony that she now has the book of Mormon is true. She's an amazing person and really wants to know the truth. She'll be baptized on October 4th. 

In one our wards we have a part member family that is extremely wealthy. This last week they invited us out to dinner. Holy crap, it was one of the best dinners I have ever had. They took us to this Italian restaurant that was really nice. This member was a regular at this restaurant so we were taken very good care of. Before we knew it, we were getting served all different types of food. We ate shrimp (yes, I eat shrimp. It was the size of my fist and it was amazing), buttered corn, chicken wings, and other things. They were only the appetizers. Then came the pizza. It was baked in a brick oven and was just amazing. One of the best pizzas I’ve ever had. We ended the night with some amazing ice cream. It's was a great night. That's one of the really good things about the wards I’m serving in right now, they love feeding the missionaries. I sure love these wards. 

We had MLC this past week. It was great, like always. We spent 2-3 days prior to the meeting to prepare everything. We had to prepare slideshows, handouts, agendas, transportation, everything. It was epic. It turned out really good though. President and Sister Ostler have a love for music so we spent some time doing "music appreciation." They are allowing us to listen to a wider variety of music now, which is great. It's amazing the effect that music can have on us. President Ostler said, "Music is so powerful because it communicates directly to our emotions." That is so true. Music is a very powerful tool that can be utilized by the Lord, or a weapon wielded by the devil. The music we listen to can affect us in ways that we don't even realize. Hopefully, the music we listen too builds us up and doesn't break us down. “Mo Tab or die.”

Eternal Memories

So this week was the mission tour. I spent the last week with a general authority and it was pretty much amazing. I don't even know where to start right now. I'll just give you some of the highlights. It all started on Tuesday with a mini MLC. Elder and Sister Ardern addressed all the zone leaders and sister training leaders. He taught us some very valuable skills about leadership and how we can reach our potential as missionaries. The truly amazing part started after the meeting was over when President Ostler invited Elder Limocon and I to have lunch with them and the Arderns. Holy crap. That was quite the experience. Having lunch with a member of the quorum of the seventy, a mission president and their wives. I kinda felt out of place. It was a great, awkward experience. Then, Elder Ardern grabbed President Ostler and us, took us to the other room and began to give us instruction on how to fulfill our calling. We received 30 minutes of direct instruction from a general authority in person about how to magnify your calling. Wow!!

The next few days were spent addressing three large groups of missionaries. One conference per day. We were able to attend each one. The first stop: Palawan. Man, it was great to be back in the Celestial kingdom again. Unfortunately, the only sights we were able to see were the airport, the zone leader's apartment, and the chapel. However, just being in Palawan was amazing (we'll be heading back in less than a month for another conference. I'm stoked). 

The teaching that we received was quite inspiring. I attended three conferences and each one was different. Elder Ardern commented to us that he "teaches people, not lessons." The way in which he was able to teach was quite impressive. These are not short conferences either. He taught for about three hours in each conference and it was based 100% on the spirit. A few of the secrets to being a master teacher are to ponder continually the words of life, to prepare every needful things, and then be willing to let it go and follow the spirit when prompted. There was not a moment when Elder Ardern was not teaching. When we were eating, flying, driving, he was always teaching. What was truly inspiring was he didn't only teach through his words, he taught by example. Whenever he taught us something, he would demonstrate it. 

As you can see, my thoughts are kind of all over the place. There are so many things going through my mind and it's difficult to organize them. Here's a couple more random events that occured:

I drove a general authority through the city of Manila. I had two emotions and thoughts going through my head. 1st: This is terrifying, there's a general authority sitting in my van as we speak and I need to get him from point A to point B safely and I’ve only been driving in this city for a week. 2nd: I have nothing to worry about. The lord will never let anything bad happen to the car that his general authority is driving in. I'm happy to report that we made it safely. 

A recurring theme in the conference was finding a spouse. More specifically, what to look for in a spouse. hmmmm

I've never been so sleep deprived in my life. We woke up at 4:30 am  three times last week. The other days we were out of bed by six . Didn't go to sleep till 10:30. Exhausting. 

Well that about sums up mission tour. I wish you guys could just have been here to experience it with me. It was such a blessing witness the things I witnessed and learn the things I learned. I learned a lot of life lessons that will never be forgotten. 

I have one more experience that I would like to share with you today. I occurred yesterday as we taught the family I told you a couple weeks ago that randomly showed up to church. We finally had the opportunity to teach them for the first time yesterday and it was one of the most amazing lessons ever. Emma, the wife, is Chinese. She grew up in China and has no Christian background whatsoever. This is the very first time of my entire mission that I’ve taught an investigator without a belief in the God that we believe. Her family was Buddhist, but she's been looking for something else, something else that would be better for her own family (don't you love it when people are looking for that?). Well we spent the first lesson talking about God and his role in our life. We explained how we are all children of our Heavenly Father and that he loves us. She wasn't really buying it. She was completely open to our message, but years and years of Buddhism had taught her differently. She truly wanted to believe, she just couldn't. We then focused in on how we can ask our Heavenly Father directly if He's there and if we are his children. We taught her how to pray and asked her to offer a prayer. She agreed and we all knelt in humble prayer. The words that came out of her mouth amazed me. It sounded like she had been praying for years. Half way through the prayer she began to cry. The spirit filled the room and we were surrounded by the love of our Heavenly Father. As she closed her prayer, we all looked up with huge smiles on our faces. He husband (whose been a member for 2 months) exclaimed, "She's been touched by the spirit." We were all touched by the spirit in that moment. No one could deny the things that we felt. 

Sister Ostler invited them yesterday at church to come to a family home evening at the mission home. No one could have a family home evening with the Ostlers and not want to get baptized immediately. It's over. 

Bigger and Better Things

All right, well this week has been another crazy week. I don't even know where to start. I guess I’ll start with last Tuesday. Last Tuesday was going home activities. The day before the departing missionaries end their mission, they spend the day with the Ostlers and cruise around the city and do some fun stuff. Because I am one of the only missionaries in the mission that has a license, I was the one cruising them around (Did I mention that I drive a 12 passenger van? Yeah, no one messes with me on the manila roads).  We went to the temple, the American war cemetery, then to the mission home for some food and words of wisdom from President Ostler and his wife. Fortunately, we don't have to be at the portion when President counsels the missionaries, because all they talk about is getting married and starting a family. That's the fastest way to make a missionary trunky. During that time, we were taking luggage to hotels and getting all the other things ready. It was a good experience though.  A lot of the missionaries were some of my good friends. Sister Grant, the sister in my district at the MTC, was also in attendance. You know you're old in the mission when the sisters you came into the field go home. That's crazy. It's amazing to see how much we grow over years. They had an amazing testimony meeting and the spirit was very strong. The lives of those missionaries has been forever changed. President made a very profound statement that I would like to share. It's quite applicable to everything going back at home. He shared with the missionaries,"Your missions are the greatest things you have done thus far in your life. However, it's not the greatest thing that you will ever do. There are bigger and better things in the future." Missions are the greatest foundations for those "bigger and better" things. It is a stepping stone that takes us farther in life then we could ever have gone without it. What will be happening this Friday is one of those "bigger and better" things. 

The next day was transfer day, the craziest day ever. We welcomed 28 new missionaries into the mission. Elder Limocon and I awoke at 4:45 am to get everything ready and were running till 10:30 pm. It was quite the day. It was great to experience that day with all of the new missionaries. It reminded of me when I was in that situation. That sure was a long time ago. The first real day of the best 2 years. I loved seeing the excitement and joy on their faces. They have no clue what they've got themselves into. They will experience the most difficult, rewarding, joy filled years of their entire lives, years that they wouldn't trade for anything. 

The rest of the week has been great. We had a baptism this week!! We began to teach a kid right when I got into the area and he was baptized last Saturday. His parents are members, but had been less active for quite some time (sound familiar #lessactivepartmemberfamilies); they had a "come to Jesus" moment and decided that they wanted to return to church. We were right there to help them do it? They are now active in the church and their son, Daejiro, is now a member of the church. It was great. I sure love missions. Nothing better than witnessing a family take major steps to being sealed in the temple. Actually, there is one thing better than witnessing a family take those steps. Being a part of that process is a lot better then just witnessing it.

Well that about wraps it up for this week. We have an awesome week coming up. Elder Ardern, the area president, will be visiting the mission this week and I’ll be spending quite a bit of time with him. I'm stoked. I just hope I don't make a fool of myself. This week also includes a trip out to Palawan! I'm headed back to the Celestial kingdom. Unfortunately, I won't be visiting my previous area, but it'll be great to be on Palawan soil

Expect Miracles

Well, I have so much to tell you this week. Missionary life has changed very drastically in the past week and I hope I’ll be able to write an email that can do this week justice. But before that, I need to tell you the story of Jamie and Shala. So here it goes. 

Elder Diamse, some ward missionaries and I were looking far and wide for a man we had met a few days earlier on the side of the road. We were not having any luck. We checked numerous houses and asked countless people. As we were checking a house, Jio (the ward missionary) decided to ask a man that was about to get on his motorcycle if he knew the man we were looking for. This was his response to Jio: "Are you a Mormon?" Jio responded, "yes". The man then replied, "me too, I have someone that I want you guys to teach." That was the first time we saw Jamie. He then took us down a little alley way and brought us into his house where he explained that he's been inactive for a couple years, but finally wants to come back. He then introduced us to his wife, who is not a member, and told us that he wants us to teach her. She then exclaimed that she really wanted to learn more about her husband’s belief and why he was so set on returning to his church that he had mentioned numerous times to her. The rest is history. They're going to be baptized. No doubt. 

I am officially a licensed driver in the Philippines! Holy crap, some of the scariest moments of my life have occurred in the past couple days driving on Manila roads. However, I’m finally getting used to it and getting comfortable with the whole "there's no traffic laws" thing. Just a glimpse into what it's like to drive in the Philippines: there are no stop signs or yield signs. The one that is bigger has the right-of-way. People don't really pay attention to the street lines. It's not uncommon to see five lines of cars on a three lane road.  It's also not uncommon to see people perform left turns or u-turns from the far right line (crossing three lanes of traffic). There are no cops on the road so everyone can do pretty much whatever they want. I believe that most people participate in the game "Who can cut more people off today?" The drivers don't really anticipate turns that they will be making down the road. When they find themselves in the wrong lane a couple yards from their desired destination, they are not afraid to make everyone wait as they maneuver their car perpendicular to oncoming traffic to make the turn. So pretty much, every time you get in a car, you're in for an adventure. Welcome to the Philippines.

So this upcoming week is transfer week so we have been crazy busy trying to get everything ready for all the changes that will be happening this Wednesday. We have one of the biggest batches of new missionaries we have ever had coming in this week (28 new missionaries). It's been crazy. There's been a few times where President Ostler has called us up and stated, "I need your assistance. Come to the mission home." So that's what we did. We don't have a lot of time to work in our area, but I sure have seen the miracles that the Lord provides if you work hard. I'll talk more about those miracles later. 

We have spent the last week in a threesome. I've been with Elder Stephens (he's going home tomorrow) and Elder Limocon (my new companion) and we have had a great time. We've been working hard and laughing hard. You have to enjoy the journey. A wise general authority once said, "If you're missing the joy, you're missing it all." That's the way to do missionary work. You work as hard as you possibly can and have a good time doing it. 

So here's some of those miracles I mentioned earlier. In this area we are over two wards. One of the wards is Makati 3rd, the most organized ward I have ever seen here. The other is the international ward. Yep, all of the services are in English and half of the people are American. It's pretty amazing. I feel like I’m back in the states. We attend 5 hours of church every week. It's great. A little more background before I mention the miracles. When I was talking with President Ostler, he told me to expect miracles and miracle baptisms. We don't have a ton of time to proselyte in our area, but somehow the work still moves forward. This last week, that phrase came to life. We entered the chapel to find a new family.  As we talked with this family we learned that the father was baptized 2 months ago in New York while visiting his brother. Now that they are back in the Philippines he wants his wife and 2 kids to be taught and baptized. So he brought the whole family to church. It was amazing. Everything is just falling in to place right now. These wards are just amazing. Everyone is so kind and they just love the missionaries. I'm so excited to work in these wards for the next couple months. 

That Changed Fast!!

Well... this week has been a crazy one. I have so much to tell you and so little time to do it in, so prepare yourselves. Probably been one of the craziest weeks of my whole life. I received the package! It was such a great surprise to see it here. I'm stoked to throw out the yellow shirts I’ve been wearing for the past little while. When I noticed the Reeses pieces... I almost started to weep. I miss those so much.

Elder Diamse and I had the most amazing lesson this past week with Jamie and Shala (a less active part member family).  I can't remember if I told you how we found them or not. Great story. If I haven't, let me know and I’ll tell you next week. Anyway, at the conclusion of our lesson, Sister Shala said one of the most amazing things ever.  She was telling us about her experience with the Book of Mormon. She explained that since she has started meeting with us and reading the Book of Mormon she has felt an increase of peace in her house and in her relationship with her husband. She then made the connection that such a blessing can only come from the Lord testifying to her of truth. It was such a special experience. 

My boy Elias.  He is the investigator I told you about last week that we found through the great example of our member. This past week we have shared with him a couple times and it turns out that he is prepared by the Lord. He is very familiar with the Bible. That knowledge sometimes makes it hard for him to accept anything else as scripture, but he's coming along. He is truly searching for the truth. He often tells Jio that he's so excited for our next lessons because we can answer all of his questions. Elias is such a fun guy to teach because he really makes me think. He asks questions that other investigators don't ask. He's the type of person that will lead the church when he's baptized. 

All right. Now for the crazy stuff. 

I received a text from President Ostler on Saturday night requesting an interview the following day. During the interview, he extended a new assignment to me. He then informed me that I would be starting the next day (Monday). What the. My mind was blown. I would have to leave my beloved ward and some of my great friends. The rest of the day was full of amazing experiences with some really great people. I made the announcement at the close of our coordination meeting and it was bitter sweet. In the meeting, Junjun (our recent convert) began to cry and it was quite emotional. 

We then began to go about our day and go to our set appointments. One of those was with Edmar and Jenna. I cannot tell you how much I love that family. I will miss them so much. I was expecting to have a couple more weeks with them before I would have to leave. However, the Lord has different plans. It was hard to say goodbye. 

Later that night, we gathered at a family home evening at the house of a member. It was super sweet. At the close of the family home evening, those in attendance took turns saying a couple words of thanks. It was super embarrassing, but super nice of them. We then had a wonderful meal. They bought a cake and had a message written on the top of the cake dedicated to my service in the ward. I truly was blessed to serve in one of the best wards ever with some of the best members ever. I will never forget them. I sure do love 'em. 

At the end of the night, I made a call to sister Pia to inform her that I was transferring. After I made the announcement, she began to cry. It was so sad. She stated through tears, "You can't transfer. You promised that you would be the one to baptize my family." It was one of the most heart wrenching conversations of my entire mission. We stopped by her house earlier today and the tears began to flow again. It was a tough goodbye. I know that family will be united through gospel ordinances before too long. I will really miss them. 

That takes us into today. There are so many more things I wish I could tell you about yesterday, but that will have to due for now. All I can say is that I love that ward and I always will. I'll never forget them. 

Not quite sure exactly everything that I’ll be doing in this calling but hears a glimpse into some of the things that will be happening in the upcoming weeks. 

Getting my Philippines drivers license and begin driving on Manila roads (probably the craziest roads in the world. Look 'em up).

Coordinating transfer days and other special conferences. 

Working close with Elder Ardern of the area presidency in the upcoming mission tour. 

Monitoring the work of the mission and working a lot with President Ostler (one of the most amazing guys I have ever met (besides my dad)).

It's going to be a crazy couple transfers. I'll let you know more about it next week when I actually have my head on straight.