The wise shall shine

Hello :)

This has to be quick. The atm machine in Bagabag isn't working and I have the equivalent of $1.75 to email with and get me to Solano tomorrow.

First off, as April is coming to a close and can't remember and am slightly worried that I probably forgot.... Mom, I hope you had a great birthday. :* sa bagay, I still have a birthday/valentines card and letter for you and dad that I still haven't sent... that was much longer ago. hehe. I love you mom, and I thank you for all you have done to keep me going straight.

Mother’s day- whatever you need to skype is usually fine with my companions. I asked president and he already told me that I will be transferred to a new area on May 8 (transfer day).

Thought for the week was hilarious! :) hehehe

(Here’s the thought for the week I sent to him. “It’s so simple to be wise. Just think of something stupid to say and then don’t say it.  - Sam Levenson”)

L---, M------, and S------ are doing really well. Every time we teach them the Spirit is really strong. I see gears turning in M------'s head and happiness and goodness in his countenance. I love it. :)

You nailed the A--- family on the head. That’s who they are. That is why we are not rushing the baptism. We already know we are going to move it back. The initial excitement has already worn off for tatay A---.

There are many sweet children in this branch. Jhandi (3 years old) is my favorite. She is my "girlfriend" and all the YSA's joke with her saying that they want to be my girlfriend too, then Jhandi usually beats them. :) hahaha. Elder Legarde and I actually just got pulled into primary to teach sharing time this week.

It was fun. J

I love you! :* Have a great week!

TAGUMPAY (Success)!

I had a great week.

 

I can sum it up in one word... TAGUMPAY (Success)!

 

Here is my journal entry yesterday:

After church we started running from appointment to appointment trying to teach people and meet our goals. We got punted from 5 straight lessons. It was terrible. At that point I wasn't certain that we would meet our goal for the day. This caused us to stop and think of where we were and who we should go to next. Our first thought was to go to a member and ask for a referral. Elder Legarde immediately thought of the D--- family, so we went there. It turns out that Brother D--- had just gotten home from working in the rice fields. I saw him though so he came and shook our hands. With a little bit of nagging and prompting from his children he finally let us in the house. The D--- family is a mix of active members, less active members, inactive members and nonmembers. They cover everything on the spectrum. Him just shaking our hands and letting us in the house was a huge miracle (#1). For the past 7 months if we came to the house he just hid from us. Not only did he let us in, he also let us share a message with him and his son. That's miracle #2.

After the D--- family, we walked to our next appointment, Sister L---. L--- is a referral from family members in the next branch over. We have taught her several times now, but when we got to the house this time she wasn't there. We texted her to find out where she was and if we were going to be able to teach her. While we waited for the reply we talked to her family. I felt that I should concentrate on talking to them, especially to L---'s older brother, M-----. We got along well. M----- is 21 and we have some of the same interests. After a couple of minutes, we got a text from L--- that said she was working overtime and wouldn't be able to make it to the lesson. We told her family her reply and asked if we could share a quick message with them instead since we were already at the house. Nanay agreed. M------ had gotten up a minute earlier and had a cigarette in his mouth that he was trying to lite. Before he could get it lit, I called him over and asked if he would like to sit in while we share the message. He hesitated a little but then agreed. As we were teaching I could see that he was really thinking about what we were saying. I started to ask them some questions about what we had shared with them and this brought out some of their questions. The Spirit was really strong in the lesson. At the end of the lesson we told them that we couldn't answer all of their questions at once, neither could we teach them or they learn this lesson in a single sitting, so we began to ask if we could come back and share more and M------ just blurted out, "Can you come back? Is that ok with you? When can you come back? Can you come back tomorrow?" We were able to set a return appointment with him. It was a great lesson. Miracle #3.

Lastly, we had previously felt a prompting to go to the A--- family as our last appointment for the night. They are a less active family that I have taught for the past 6 or so months with little to no progress. This time we went they were all at home. I knew that their son E----- had turned 9 this past February and had not yet been baptized so I decided to use that to be able to teach the family. We started teaching E----- the beginning of The Restoration of the Gospel of Jesus Christ and challenged him to be baptized. He said yes. Then I saw something I had never seen before with the A--- Family. They all got a little giddy that E----- was going to be baptized. They kept saying it over and over. We then challenged the family to help E----- get ready for baptism. Miracle #4.

Earlier that day I brought the A--- family up to the Branch Mission Leader as the LA Family we want to focus on and got a good response from him. They have a family member in nearly every group at church.... Primary, YM, elder’s quorum, relief society...

After we had gotten back to the apartment a member texted us and asked for the A---'s phone number. It looks like the Branch is going to jump in and help! :) (Miracle #5! hehehe)

I'm just super excited about missionary work in this area. I love this branch. No matter where I go, I will leave a part of my heart here in Bagabag. I won't ever fully leave.

I learned an important lesson from this day. You must be ready to step off your planned schedule. Only when you stop and ask Heavenly Father in honest and pure prayer will you find those that He has prepared for you. Only then will you be a help in building His kingdom on earth. Miracles happen. I just experienced 5 rights in a row. You must be obedient to mission rules and beg Heavenly Father in humble fervent prayer with real desire, asking for the things you really need. You must be specific. Above all, you must ask that you will be guided to know His will and how to accomplish it. After all, His will, His work and glory is to bring to pass the immortality and eternal life of man. If you are humble enough to follow Him, you will be a successful missionary for you have been an instrument in His hands for the salvation of your brothers and sisters. Yesterday was a great day.

Question and Answer:

1. Please tell me how you are doing.

- I am doing ok. Overall I am much better. My shoulder is healing very slowly as long as I continue to exercise it.

2. Have you had any spiritual moments this week?

- See letter

3. I didn’t realize that you were going to the rice terraces last week too. Do you always have to go when your zone goes? Are you kinda like a chaperone as the zone leader?

- Rice terraces- I just go to be a chaperon and tour guide. Tour guides cost a ton and I know the place like the back of my hand.

4. How hot is it there right now?

- It’s super-hot. As in I sweat no matter what I’m doing or where I am.

5. Are you getting trunky? IF so place one hand firmly on your back pat it and say after me “I am not done with my work yet. Get over it and get back to work. My Mom Loves me and understands, but wants me to endure faithfully to the end.”

- Not anymore. I am doing the work and loving it.

I love you guys a ton. Keep it up. Oh, and I have decided that we need to do a Mexican night when I get home. I miss that a ton. I haven't written president yet though. I gotta write him. I was just excited to share my journal entry with you. J

Love you! :*

 

 

 

The World is amazing and so are You!

My week has been pretty good.

Here is an excerpt from my letter to President Carlos...

Hey President! Just saying, after 5 times, I’m tired of going to Banaue. It’s not cool anymore. I just like the souvenir shops...

So, work this week is starting to pick up a bit. We do not get to choose the people who we serve. We serve everyone and anyone without bias. That’s one of the messages I picked up this past General Conference. The other thing I really caught hold of is my need to give the rest of my life in missionary service to the Lord and service in the church. That is going to determine where I go in this life. That is the life blood of this church as well. Sometimes it’s hard not to think I only have 2 more cycles left in the mission. I get to wondering what I am going to do afterwards, then I almost always start thinking about the ways I will do missionary work and how I will be able to continue serving. It’s kinda fun. My mission is only 2 more cycles, but my service will extend much, much farther than that. I’m excited what the near future hold for me and I’m trying to continue to give my best for my Filipino family here in Bagabag. I love the people here, more so than I have loved anyone since I arrived here in the Philippines. I don't want to leave them, but I know the Lord knows best where I am needed and where I need to be. I trust Him. I love Him. I will follow Him in whatever way He asks of me.

Most of what I heard out of every talk this past general conference was about missionary work and service and the need for me to continue to do this my whole life. It was very clear. I also received many promptings of things that I need to look for in a spouse. It was good. I don't have my journal, but I received many good insights. One especially long one. It was cool. :)

(We told Elder Lundy that this past Sunday Our Home ward received a new Bishopric) Well, a new bishopric is weird... but cool. Sounds like a good combination of people. Dad was right when he said one way or other I’m meeting new leaders when I get home. Ha-ha.

My motherly bear of a mother, I am doing ok. I got sunburned earlier though at Banaue. I used up all the money that dad sent me on food. My shoulder still hurts like crap. I have a feeling its gunna be like that till I get home or longer. I’m doing strengthening exercises to try and help it out. It will get better eventually. If not in this life, than the next.

YES, I got the protein package. :) thank you. :)

Blog, keep it up. We talked to an Israeli we met at Banaue for like an hour and a half this afternoon. He is a bit of a world traveler. I didn't ask him about if he looked at blogs or anything, but he very well could have been one of the people that looked at it in preparation to come, and I got to talk to him and we shared the gospel with him. :) It’s a cool thought.

I gotta go. We are late now. :*

 

Love you!

Still working hard

Hello,

So, the work is going rather well. We taught a few investigators and a ton of recent convert lessons this week. We finally start teaching a referral this week. She is rather cool. Her name is L--- and has a ton of relatives that are members. She actually asked to have the missionaries sent to her. Before we even got to start teaching her (for lack of Melchizedek priesthood fellowshipping) she had read the restoration pamphlet, plan of salvation pamphlet and started on the book of Mormon... :) I hate teaching single girls my age, but when they actually have a real desire like L---, I’ll put that dislike aside. Tonight we are going to help one of our recent convert tatay's learn how to preside/conduct FHE. As for our RC's, they are all running into problems and are having trouble coming to church. I’m kinda focusing on them right now. "It’s useless doing missionary work unless you hold on to the fruits of your efforts" - President Hinckley's quote summed up in my words. Besides that, I love them. I love them with my whole heart. I can't stand to see them fall way.

For general conference I will be in Solano again... for the third time on my mission yata... :) I doubt we are going to have any families at conference, only individuals.

My overall health is getting better. I made a HUGE mistake though on transfer day. My missionaries were super slow and weren't helping get the luggage into the vans so we could go, so me and our 2 drivers did it all. With how much muscle I have lost, my shoulder was affected. This is the first time on my mission that my shoulder has hurt. I lost just enough muscle and worked it just hard enough that my shoulder problem from before the mission came back. My right shoulder has been throbbing with pain all week long. The pain has extended into my bicep, and keeps shooting down into my hand. I was debating if I should tell you this or not because you guys are all going crazy about my health, so please don't blow up at me or I’ll be very likely never to say anything again.
I haven't gotten the box with protein powder yet. I should soon. You’re right. If you send me any more packages, I’m probably gunna say you guys have lovingly gone crazy. :) hehe I appreciate the packages and all, but that costs a ton! I see how much it costs you... if you absolutely need to though, Oreos are awesome. Liquid nacho cheese is great too. Sour gummies are great too. Bacon, protein bars, cliff bars, chocolate and vanilla frosting... you know. The normal stuff. ;)

Thanks for the information about Nana, Grandma, and Max.

I gotta get going. I have an early appointment today.

Love you all!!! :*

Hello! :)

Elder Lundy and his Family tree.
The person on the right trained the person to their left.
Elder Lundy is a Great Great Grandfather.

Thank you for not chastising me about my health. I know you guys care about me and I’m making huge steps to change and get healthy and fat again. I gave dad the update there. ;)

(I asked Elder Lundy questions) Now on to His response –

about your questions.....

1.        Did you get the box in time to give Elder Valdez his book?

Yes! I did get the box in time to give elder Valdez his book. :) He was super excited. He was so excited in fact that sumigaw siya dahil sa kaligayahan niya. hehe we'll see if translator can get that right... :) he says thank you very very much. Just a little side note, Elder Valdez now has his interview scheduled to get a certificate that says "I'm fluent in English with an emphasis on business" he is part of the first group of elders in the mission to do it. :)

2.       Where is Elder Valdez serving now until he goes home in 6 weeks?

... He was transferred to Solana, Tuguegarao. He opened the area meaning he and his companion are both new to the area and don't have a previous knowledge about the area. His companion is brand new from the MTC and is American pa…

3.       Who is your new Companion?  

Elder Lagarde and Elder Lundy

Elder Legarde is my new companion. He is one cycle behind me. He goes home in September. I met him back in Alicia. His last area is in Dupax Del Norte in Bambang zone.... the closest zone to us. He has 8 siblings. His entire family are members. He is the first to serve a mission though. :) Great missionary. He is from Oriental Mindoro.

4.       Who are you teaching now and are they progressing well?

Right now we aren't teaching many people, our work these past couple weeks has taken a slump as well. Everyone just finished school and now they are all busy with summer vacation activities. This week, because its transfer week, we took a hit too. We only got to teach 6 lessons this week. :\ And now we have to go back to Cauayan on Wednesday for training again.  One of our focuses though is V------. He is a tatay and business owner. He is super nice and spiritual. He is progressing really well. He was just out of town for a week because he went with his daughter to a chess tournament. She is a chess champion for the whole Philippines in her age group. She’s really good.

5.       Did you have Easter Dinner with members?

Easter? This past Sunday was Easter? Really? haha I only knew it because the catholic church was all super busy and because I looked at the calendar that you made me along with my recipe book... there were no special talks about Easter at church. Nothing special happened. I didn't hear the word Easter once. No special dinner at member’s house. Elder Legarde and I each ate a whole pack of bacon though for our dinner. :)

You guys made some awesome Easter eggs! I liked the ones you made mom. I don't even have to ask which. They scream your artistic ability. :)

Well, I love you! I gotta go now. :*