Life Is Good

We had a cool experience this last week. One cool thing about being in the only international ward in the Philippines is when someone cool comes into town that's a member, they visit our ward. Yesterday, a man walked up to us an introduced himself. He told us he'd be here for the next 5 weeks because a part of the traveling cast for Beauty and the Beast! Can you believe that? It's not a little production either. This show has been advertised for months. There's a huge billboard not far from where we live. This guy's name is Adam. He's also one of the main characters. It's been over a decade since I’ve seen that movie so I don't really have any idea about the story, but he plays Gaston. We're pretty good buddies now. He actually showed up to the Tagalong ward so he just hung around with us the whole time. It was pretty cool. He's also a returned missionary. 

A little bit later, we had another visitor. His name is brother Goodson and he's a legend here in the Philippines. He was one of the first 4 missionaries that came over to the Philippines from Hong Kong. He opened this place up. He was then called back to the Philippines numerous years later as the mission president. Pretty cool. 

Oh, and I haven't mentioned that one of our members is a famous super model here in the Philippines. Hollywood has nothing on Makati 4th ward. 

This week has been pretty crazy. We had mission interviews where President Osler meets with every missionary individually for about 20 minutes or more. We are there at the same time conducting different trainings. This week, we taught about the importance of learning Tagalong (for the foreigners) and English (for the natives and non-English speakers). We taught that class about 3 times a day and also taught a leadership training in addition to the language class. It's amazing, some missionaries here are trying to learn English and Tagalong. It truly is amazing. I could barely handle learning one language, let alone two. We have a couple missionaries from the Middle East who speak very little English and they amaze me every time I see them. They always have the biggest smiles on their faces. 

We had a bowling activity earlier with all the Elders in our district. It was awesome. Bowling is honestly one of my favorite things. I'm starting to rethink the BYU application. I might just be a full time bowler. I'd love your support on this one. I really do love the Elders here though. One of them is actually from Layton Utah! His name is Elder Bell and he went to Northridge. I'd never heard of him until I met him here. We've lived about 5 minutes away from each other our entire lives and don't meet until we're on the other side of the world. Life is so silly sometimes. 

Never Delay A Prompting!

The highlight of the week was on Saturday when Elder Thurber and I went on exchanges. You'll never guess where I worked, yep, Boni 4! It was one of the best days of my life. Honestly, it was such a great experience seeing all the members again. I'm going to give you a breakdown of all the major events that happened so you can fully comprehend how amazing the day was. Upon my arrival at about 8:20 at night, Elder Francisco (the missionary I worked with) took us straight to Jenna ‘s house. When we got there, we saw MJ through the window and her face lit up. She ran further in the house and then a few minutes later she comes running out the door with Jenna. I was so happy to see them. They are honestly the cutest family ever. Unfortunately, Edmar is still abroad so I wasn't able to see him. We only stayed for a couple minutes and chatted for a second. She invited us back the next day for lunch. We started the day off at the bakeshop where Junjun works. I love that kid. He's doing great; workin hard making the best bread in the Philippines. We then met up with Junard (one of my best friends here in the Philippines) and declared repentance to the people of Bonifacio. A while later, we made our way to the house of Jamie and Ciara (do you remember them?) and had a wonderful lesson. They are doing so great. If it had been the first time I met them, I would never have guessed the Ciara has only been a member for a couple months. We talked about the temple and they expressed to us how excited they are to get sealed as a family. We exchanged information so you know we'll be skyping after the mission. After our visit with them, we made our way back to Jenna's for lunch. We met up with Jio (one of my other best friends here) along the way and he's still Jio. A little later we were able to visit Princess with Jenna and Jio and had another great lesson with them. When we walked into their house, all the great memories came flooding back into my head about the good times Elder Diamse and I had sharing the gospel with her and her family. As we were walking back to the apartment at the end of the day, Jenna told me that I need to come back to the Philippines next year when their family gets sealed in the temple. It's little statements like that that make me love missionary work even more. It doesn't get better than this (at this point in my life). As I sat thinking about all the people I’ve taught and grown to love, I was filled with an overwhelming joy. It's going to be very difficult to leave this country and these amazing people. Luckily, that's still far into the future. You build relationships on your mission that are very strong and will be cherished for an eternity. I'm starting to get a glimpse into what was meant by the scripture "how great shall be your joy with [them] in the kingdom of my Father." Thinking about those amazing people that I have been blessed to get to know and share the gospel with brings me great joy. I can only imagine what it we will be like when we meet again in the "Kingdom of [the] father." 

The rest of the week was great. The work is progressing at lightning speeds. We met with Wilma, Lynn and Samuel yesterday and it was pretty much the best lesson ever. Yesterday, Samuel told us a really good experience he had last Sunday that tells us how amazing these three members are. Samuel was trying to decide whether he should attend church or not. He only had enough money to make the trip to the chapel. He decided that he would skip out that week and attend the following week. As the morning continued, he felt more and more inclined to go to church. He finally make the choice to get dressed and go to church. He recounted that he though in his mind, "the Lord will provide." Samuel ended up having an amazing experience at church. After church ended, he didn't have a way home. We called him over to join in a lesson with Wilma, Lynn, Elder Thurber and I. Great lesson. Afterwards, Wilma and Lynn came to the rescue and were the answers to Samuel's prayers. Even though it was out of their way, they took Samuel all the way back to his house. Samuel concluded his story by saying, "I should have known better than to think twice about going to church. The Lord always provides." After he said that, I looked over at Wilma who had tears running down her cheeks. She then told us her side of the story. After our lesson, she felt prompted to ask Samuel if he wanted to ride with them. She initially planned on having the taxi take them all to her house and then that would be the end. As they were approaching their destination, Wilma heard a still, small voice whisper in her ear, "take care of Samuel." They arrived at Wilma's house and they started to get out. Then, the voice whispered again, "take care of Samuel." She told Samuel to stay in the taxi and paid the driver to take him the rest of the way to his house without knowing that he didn't have any other means of getting home. The Lord truly does provide. This amazing story reminded me of a statement by President Monson that goes something like this, "there are few things greater than learning that you were the answer to someone's prayer." Whenever I feel prompted to do something, I always remember that statement and think, "Maybe i'm supposed to answer someone’s prayer by doing this act." Never delay a prompting, you might just be an instrument in the Lord's hands in answering a prayer. 

The Lord Truly Answers Prayers

Another week has flown by here in the Philippines. It's amazing how fast weeks go by. We had a crazy week with transfers, new companion, New Years and all that other fun stuff. I have a ton to tell you today.

I got an email from Bishop this week. He informed me that I'll be speaking in sacrament on the 15 of February. That's a wake up call. I'm super stoked for my topic. I'll need to try and put the last 2 years of faith building experiences into a short talk. Wish me luck. 

I'm happy to report that transfer week went great. We sent off an amazing group of missionaries this week to move on with the next parts of their lives. I'm sure going to miss seeing them around. It was especially sad to see Elder Diamse and Elder Hawkins leave. I'm expecting wedding announcements from them in the next couple weeks. They're going to move fast. Hopefully I’ll be able to hook up with them before too long after I get home. Maybe we'll meet at the Y! 

Enough about these past companions. Time to tell you about my new companion. Like I mentioned last week, his name is Elder Thurber and he's pretty much the man. We are just killin it here in Makati. We get along really well. He's from Virginia, but studied at BYU before he came out. He's a little overwhelmed at the moment with all the new responsibilities that have recently fell onto his shoulders but he's a great missionary and will do great. 

Had a couple amazing experiences this week. On new years eve we were call by President Osler to conduct an emergency transfer (when someone is transferred to a new area on a day other than transfer day). We were called to be the Taxi service. The missionary we were transporting lives in my old area, Boni 4. Upon arriving at the apartment we made our way down the hall and stood outside the apartment of the missionaries. All of the sudden a dog runs out of the next door over and skips our way. Right after the dog comes out also comes the owner of the dog. My face lit up when I realized it was Polo, one of my best friends from Boni 4. He recently moved to a new apartment right next to the missionaries. That's not even the best part though. He also lives with Elsi! The women I taught and baptized while assigned in their ward. He invited me inside his house and as I walked in, Elsi came out of the door and upon seeing me let out a squeal of joy and jumped on her tippy toes. She ran over and nearly tackled me. It was one of the most extreme handshakes ever. I was so stinkin happy to see her. She later told me that she had said a prayer earlier that morning and asked to see me that day. It was a humbling experience. The Lord truly answers prayers. 

Speaking of miracles. we have a baptism this Saturday!!! Her name is Sheila. She is 14 years old and is so awesome. She's extremely smart and is always happy. She's one of those people you just love to be around. She'll make a wonderful member of the church. Sheila lives right next to one of the strong members of our ward who has helped her out a ton. They are always willing to bring her to church and other activities. We are currently teaching Sheila’s mom and hope she will find the desire to baptize soon as well. It'll definitely happen with time!

.......and a Happy New Year!

Elder Avila is transferring! He has two transfers left and the Lord is going to have him train for those last two. Crazy. That means I’ll be staying here for the rest of my mission and will be getting my final companion. My new companion will be Elder Thurber. I'm super stoked to be companions with him. We were both in Bonifacio at the same time and he lived the floor above me so I know him pretty well. He'll be a great companion. I sure am gonna miss Elder Avila though. He's a great missionary and is fun to be around.

So you mentioned getting an x-ray in your email. Lindsay was exactly right. All the going home missionaries are required to get a chest x-ray before they head home to check for TB. It's actually quite funny that you mention that because I will actually be getting mine later today. Cross your fingers it'll come out clean. Just playin, I’ve never heard of a missionary actually getting TB so I think I’ll be ok. Another thing we'll be doing in the next couple weeks is fingerprinting. The word on the street is that you sometimes see missionaries from other missions so there's a chance I’ll be able to hook up with Elder Hale while I’m there. 

I had a great experience at church yesterday. In the international ward, Bishop Hill asked me to offer the closing prayer during sacrament. It was the first time in my life to give a prayer in Sacrament meeting. Wow. You bet that went into my journal. About an hour later, 5 minutes before the Makati 3rd sacrament started, Bishop Espi came up to me and asked me to speak about missionary work. I was happy to. I've spoken more in this area than I have in any other. I sure do love these wards though. It is a pleasure to be a part of this work and work with these wonderful members. 

This week's a pretty crazy one. In about 30 minutes we will be participating in going home activities with all of the missionaries that head home tomorrow. It's a sad day because all of my best buds head home. Elder Hawkins and Elder Diamse are included in those going home. It's going to be very sad when they head out. I'm spent a lot of time with those two and we have become great friends. They're both planning on going to BYU though so I’m sure I’ll see them again in no time. 

Well that's about all I’ve got time for today! We're just about to head out. Have a wonderful New Years! We'll be dodging all the drunken people and firecrackers! I sure love ya!

God is Mindful of Every People

What a wonderful week. Isn't the Christmas season the greatest time of the year? I just love Christmas so much. It's an amazing time to be a missionary because you can share the wonderful story of Christ's birth with every living creature you see. It truly doesn't get much better than that. Well I have so much to tell you today so I’m gonna dive right into this email. 

First things first. Christmas came early for me this year. I received the most joyous news that I have ever received this last week. In church yesterday I received a text from the zone leaders in Pasay north. They informed me that the Caras family will be sealed in the temple on January 9th at 7 am. Just writing that brings tears to my eyes. This is truly what it's all about. I have been looking forward to this day for the past year and it's finally happening. I could not be more happy for that wonderful family. Families truly are eternal. 

I learned a valuable lesson this week. That lesson was that you don't really know how important something is until you no longer have it. Unfortunately, I had to learn it the hard way when someone stole both of the side mirrors off our car in the middle of the night. Yep, some random person stole the side mirrors off our van. Isn't that so sad? I don't understand some people. I was thus forced to drive around the streets of Manila without side mirrors. That was quite the experience. A very scary experience. Luckily as a missionary you always have a companion. He was therefore my side mirrors while driving. Unified in all things. 

Saturday was amazing. It was the baptisms of Samuel, Wilma and Lynn. Unfortunately, Noah wasn't baptized this last week, but he will definitely be getting baptized in the next couple months. It was such a great day. Out of all the baptismal services I have attended, this was one of the best. It was the very first baptismal service I’ve attended on my mission where everything was in English! It was kinda trippin me out. Lynn requested that I be the one to baptize her and I was more than happy to oblige. What was truly amazing though was Mike was able to baptize Wilma. They have the best story ever. It's quite amazing how far they have come and the steps they are making. Wilma informed me this last week that she and Mike will probably getting married (civilly) in June of 2015...in UTAH!! I LIVE IN UTAH. You bet I’ll be there. She told me that I better be there because she won't know anyone else. Wouldn't miss that for the world. Anyway, the baptismal service was so spiritual. The entire ward came to support Samuel, Wilma and Lynn. It was a cool sight. One of my favorite lines of the day was stated by Samuel. Right after he was baptized he told me, "Man, I didn't want to come out of the water! It just felt so good!" Samuel, Wilma and Lynn all had the opportunity to bear their testimonies after and if I hadn't seen the baptismal service, I would have thought they'd been members for years. I was quite impressed. One of the statements I love hearing the most is, "I've read the book of Mormon and I know that it is true." There are few things that compare to that. 

So I’m going to go off on a little tangent here about Wilma. Wilma grew up in a very religious household. Here entire family was very dedicated to their religious beliefs. She explained in her testimony that she reached a point in her life where she realized that something was missing. She searched a lot looking for the church. One day she came across LDS.org and felt something different. She began to research more and was struck by the story of Joseph Smith. She recalled that she felt exactly what Joseph Smith felt; confusion. Therefore, she did exactly what Joseph Smith did; she prayed. We all know what happens when true seekers of truth humble themselves before God and seek divine guidance through prayer. The rest is history. Now she's a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. 

Now for Samuel. He told us about an experience he had while still living in Ghana where he met an American missionary of another faith. He volunteered to translate for this missionary while he was serving in their country. He spent a lot of time with him and got to know him very well. One day, this missionary told Samuel, "One day you are going to join the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints." That statement made an impression on him considering it came from a missionary from another faith. He didn't think much about it though until he was walking the streets of Singapore and he saw two sister missionaries with nametags walking near a train station. He approached them, stuck out his hand and asked, "Hi, how can I be saved." The sisters calmly replied with a smile, "That's a great question. Why don't you come to our church on Sunday and we'll tell you." That Sunday, he did exactly that. Looking back now he stated, "I've never felt more welcome in my entire life. I knew then that I wanted to be a member of the church." That week he made his way to the Philippines, sought out the church and that's when we found him. He commented, "I now know that God has a plan for all of us and will help all of us return to him." 

Finally, Lynn. Lynn has gone through some very tough experiences in her lives. There were numerous occasions where she felt lost and unsure of the path that she should take in her life. She told us about one particular experience where these thoughts were the most intense with the stresses of finding a job on top of that. She fell down on her knees one day and asked the Lord to help her find out what she was supposed to do. A few days later, she found her answer. Those answers are named Mike and Wilma (yep, the same Mike and Wilma). She was hired by Wilma to help her around the house at the same time Wilma was starting to investigate the church. One day as Lynn was cleaning the house she spotted a book sitting on the table. She took a second and began to examine the book. She opened to the first few pages and began to look at the pages on the front. As she did so, an indescribable feeling embraced her. One thing led to the next and before we knew it, Elder Limocon and I were teaching her about the Restoration. Lynn made big steps very quickly. She was willing to do anything. "Now my brethren, we see that God is mindful of every people, whatsoever land they may be in; yea, he numbereth his people, and his bowels of mercy are over all the earth." 

The Calm Before the Storm

We are currently sitting in a computer shop during "The Calm Before the Storm." Typhoon Ruby (the Filipino name for the storm) has slowed down a bit and won't be arriving here until a little bit later this afternoon. Unfortunately, when storms slow down, it's not a good thing. It allows for a lot more rainfall and thus, a lot more flooding! Our area flooded pretty bad the last time a typhoon hit so we're expecting to be stuck in our apartment for quite a while. Don't worry, I’ll take pictures and send them to you next week. I'm glad to hear that everything is going well at home! I'm so glad to hear the Christmas season is finally upon you over there on the other side of the world. Christmas hit the Philippines about 3 months ago, but has drastically increased over the past couple weeks. I can't explain just how much I love the Christmas season. Hearing Christmas music, seeing Christmas lights and trees and, most of all, teaching about the birth of our savior are a few of my favorite things. Not gonna lie though, it doesn't really feel like Christmas without snow. 

Well this week has been very busy and very epic. We have been running around mad trying to get everything ready for this typhoon to hit. Not only that, but we also had MLC this last Thursday. MLC is always a big project. I'm letting Elder Avila take charge in most aspects of the work so he can get used to leading the area and getting all the fun office work done.  He hasn't really spent a lot of time with computers so it's been quite exciting teaching him how to use word, excel, powerpoint and also, how to type. Elder Avila and I had the great opportunity to teach again in MLC this past week. We had about 60 minutes to talk about Talking With Everyone. I sure do enjoy teaching. 

I have to tell you about the greatest experience ever that happened this week. It all started on Saturday afternoon when we visited Samuel. He expressed to us that he found a job!! After weeks of searching and hardship, he's found a job! I was so excited for him! He definitely deserves it. He's so humble and willing to do the will of the Lord. However, finding a job was only half the battle. He know has to somehow find a way to get a workers visa which is not cheap. Then, on Saturday night we received a text from our bishop in the morning that stated the following, "We just received a text from Noah's explaining that his mom has cleared him to be baptized on the 13th!" Gotta love those kinds of texts. Like I mentioned last week, his mom has been insisting that he wait for a while. This is evidence that prayer and fasting can truly soften hearts. Wait though, it gets better. The following day (Sunday) after church Wilma came up to us and said, "Elders, I’m going to get baptized this Saturday (Dec 13th)!" She then expressed that her boyfriend has been working with the bishop and is going to be the one to baptize her. That nearly brought tears to my eyes. It was a very special moment. That is one of the experience I’ll look back on in the future and my heart will just melt when I do. Right after that, Samuel ran up to us and excitedly exclaimed, "ELDERS! One of the members has agreed to sponsor me and help me buy the licenses I need in order to work! I'm going to be able to get the job!!" By this point, I was so happy and excited and everything. But wait, there's more. Our bishop then pulled Wilma, Lynx (Wilma’s friend we've also been teaching), Samuel and us into his office. He then gave each of them an opportunity to share their testimonies and how they were feeling. It was one of the most spiritual experiences ever. After that, through tears of joy, Lyn and Samuel both agreed to be baptized this Saturday. Words can't describe the feelings I had nor the feelings I have now. I love this work so much. Luckily, it was stake conference that day so all the missionaries were at the church including the one that would be conducting the interviews for these amazing people. We pulled him aside, explained the situation and before we knew it, Wilma, Lyn and Samuel passed their interviews. My mind captured the picture-like moment as those three future members walked down the hall with their white baptismal clothing in hand, smiling from ear to ear, a moment that I will never forget. This next week will be a fun one. We have a lot to prepare and a lot left to teach! Noah's interview will be here in one of the upcoming days. The church is so true. 

The Lord is truly blessing me. These past few months have been a few of the most difficult and rewarding times of my entire life. I am so happy to be serving in this wonderful country. I'm so grateful for the people I’ve met. Some people look at a 2-year mission as a sacrifice, but the Lord blesses us far more than we sacrifice. I would never say that I have sacrificed these two years. I have gained more out of this time than I have at any other time of my life. A member of our area presidency stated, "there is no such thing as sacrifice in the gospel sense. The Lord blesses us so richly." It's true. 

A Feast Without Rice!

I'm glad to report that Thanksgiving was great on this end. The Keys invited us over for a traditional Thanksgiving dinner and it was amazing! It's been far too long since I’ve had thanksgiving. I've only missed it once, but once is far too many. They had numerous families from the ward over as well. It was a fun time. It was Elder Avila's first thanksgiving ever. He finally knows what it's like for all the Americans because the only language spoken was English and it was a houseful of Americans. I felt right at home. It was also amazing to have a feast that didn't include rice. My stomach was actually full, not just bloated. It was an amazing day. I sure love the Keys family as well. They are a great family. 

I'll take some time here to give you a quick update on some of the great people we are teaching that I’ve told you about over the past little while. 

Noah is the man. He texted me this last week just to tell me how excited he is for his baptisms. Every time I see him at church he lights up. He loves the gospel so much. I'm super excited for him. 

My boy Samuel is doing pretty well. He's going through a pretty hard time right now looking for work. He was hoping to pick up a job pretty quickly right when he got here, but unfortunately, it didn't quite work out like that. He's pushin along though. One thing I love about him though is he always puts church first. He lives a good hour away from the chapel, but he always makes sure that he has enough money and time to be there on time. I know the lord will bless him because of his efforts. We're hoping he can be baptized on the 13th. 

Wilma is doing great.  She has made some huge steps this last week.  Her baptism is also set for the 13th of December.  

Sheila is an investigator I haven't talked too much about. She's a 13-year-old girl that lives next to a member family. One day, this member family brought her to church, she loved it and now wants to be baptized. We've been teaching her for the past few weeks and she's just amazing. She's extremely smart. Our focus right now is teaching her mom and brothers. We finally taught them for the first time this last week and it was great. It was a quick lesson, but the spirit was definitely testifying to everyone there. There's no way its presence could not be felt. She'll be baptized on the 13th as well. 

Genesis is another one our great investigators. Her mom is a recent convert that was baptized in another ward, but when moved here, fell less active. We luckily found her, and brought her and her 2 daughters back to church. One of those daughters is already a member, but the other is not. Don't you just love completing families?

Patrick is still doing great. He's pretty much my best friend. He's so ready for baptism, but is just struggling with some family situations right now. His mom (who is so against the church) will be coming into town this month so he's going to use that opportunity to invite her to church and I have no doubt that everything will work out. It's funny because he always mentions how excited he is to get married in the temple. His girlfriend is a member and it makes me chuckle how excited he is. He's got his priorities in the right place. 

Those are our focuses right now. I sure am blessed to be serving in the ward that I am right now. I would love to finish my mission here. Who knows what will happen. I'm definitely going to enjoy it while I’m here though. I'm really grown to love the members and all of the people here. Life is good. 

One last story. Yesterday morning we received a text from our bishop. It said, "Hey Elders, can you both speak in sacrament later today?" So yep, we spoke during sacrament yesterday and it went quite well. Our topic was service and how to serve. I focused on the verse D&C 4:2 specifically the part that states "serve him with all your heart, might, mind and strength." It was interesting because I had a simple plan before sacrament started, but as I sat on the stand pondering, I was prompted to take a different course with it. I spent the next 5 minutes reconfiguring my talk, then I gave it. I shared about different experiences in my life that have taught me how to serve with those 4 qualities. One of the experiences I shared about was being the home teacher of Sister Call. I shared about the change we saw in her as the years went by, a perfect example of what happens through dedicated service. We might not always see the impact we'll have or the importance of a particular act of service from the beginning. We sometimes don't realize the impact we had after the service is over. However, the impact is real. That act of service may be cherished by the receiver over a lifetime. Numerous members came up to me after and paid me some very nice compliments that really meant a lot to me. It was a great experience. Keep on serving. It may change someone’s life. 

Well that's about it for today. I sure do love you all. I remember at the beginning of my mission, mom mentioned that I would only be gone for 23 more fast Sundays. Our ward had fast Sunday this last week due to conference next week so that leaves 2 fast Sundays left. Where has the time gone? Luckily, there is plenty of work to be done, numerous lives to be saved and a whole lot of difference that needs to be made in that time.