The Godfather

This week was an okay one, but it was tough to get lessons with our investigators.  Sometimes it feels like after all you can do, sometimes some people still don't understand the importance of our message.  However, we will continue to work and do what we need to do.

We had our one day mission on Saturday with our focus on the Rescue.  It was very successful.  We were able to contact some new less active members and also receive five referrals   I am very excited for this week so we can contact them and hopefully obtain some new investigators!

This week we had our companion exchanges with the Murcia Elders.  I went to Murcia with Elder Perez and Elder Peralta came with Elder Saure in Handumanan.  It was a fun experience.  I had no idea how big their area is. Eighteen barangays is unbelievable.  They also have three mountains to cover. But they are diligent and are working hard.  Elder Perez impressed me a lot with his abilities as a missionary.  It was tough to believe that he is still in his first transfer.

On Tuesday I was made a Godfather!  It's a really big deal here in the Philippines, even for members of the church.  There is a strong Catholic influence here.  The baby's name is Cadee Bell Barillas.  Her mother is only 18 and got pregnant.  she has been disfellowshipped, but is awesome and going through the repentance process.  Even through the pregnancy and everything, she never missed a single Sunday.  It is a testimony to me that even though serious sins are committed, you can still receive forgiveness--even if it isn't easy.  Anyways, I have grown really close to the family and they asked if I would be the Maninoy (Godfather).  I'm not sure if it is really something a missionary is supposed to do, but I now have a Godchild!!!  I have included a picture of her.

I met one of Brandon Irvin's converts.  He is a returned missionary and is now less active.  He became less active about a month after returning from his mission.  He went on his mission and had a girlfriend the whole time.  They wrote his entire mission and when he returned home, he went to see her.  He walked into her house without knocking and sees her holding a baby . . . her baby.  Then his girlfriend's husband walks out and asks what he is doing in his house.  To make a long story short, he actually turned crazy.  The church ended up paying for all his medical expenses and everything so he couldn't sue the church for becoming crazy due to his mission.  He is doing okay now, but hasn't attended church since then.  I didn't know whether to laugh or cry when he was telling me the story.  All I said to him was, "I'm sorry man, that really sucks!"  What do you say to a guy who had that happen to him?  It was unbelievable!!

This morning I was studying in the Pearl of Great Price.  In Moses 3:24 it says that a man should cleave to his wife and no one else."  I then read a quote from President Kimball that said, "this is not a suggestion from our Heavenly Father.  This is a commandment.  When we are married our wife becomes the most important thing in our life.  Nothing/No one else comes before her.  Not even the the mother and father we hold so dear.  Even the children must take their proper, but important place behind the wife."   After reflecting on this, I was so thankful for dad and his example to us.  I am so thankful and grateful that he obeys this commandment to a tee.  I know he would choose mom every time, without hesitation.  Mom would hate that, but I know that the three of us boys feel the same way--very glad that he would choose mom.  That is what God has commanded.  I don't know why that struck me so hard, but it did.  So dad, thank you for your example to us on how to treat women!

Well, that is all I can think of for now.  Thank you all for your prayers and all the support you give me.  I love you all so much and cannot believe that we only have 15 more months!!!  Hopefully it goes fast, 'cause I miss you all!

Cadee Bell Barillas

Zone Conference

Here are some photos from this week's Zone Conference.

Exchanges with the APs

On Wednesday we went on exchanges with the APs.  Elder Galanza came and worked with me in Handumanan and Elder Saure went to their area with Elder Garcia.  Wow!  That was all Elder Saure and I could say after the exchanges.  They are two very sharp elders and now Elder Saure and I always say, "Alright, what would the APs do?"  What absolutely blew my mind about how Elder Galanza taught was that every lesson we taught was on the Book of Mormon.  I loved their training at Zone Leader Conference, but Elder Saure and I were finding it hard to apply in our work.  I'm not sure why, but we just were.  However, after seeing how they apply it and how everything truly does come down to a person's testimony about the Book of Mormon, that is about the only lesson we have taught since then.  I cannot believe I didn't realize it before.  I tell these people every day how important reading the Book of Mormon is, and we need to KNOW that it is true.  If we have that solid testimony, it's not a problem doing anything else the church requires, because it is ALL true!

Other than the exchanges on Wednesday, I would like to forget this week.  It was a struggle because just as I was feeling like my sickness was gone, it came back with a vengeance   We saw Elder and Sister chin in the office and Sister Chin could tell I was sick.  I guess my face was pretty sunken in and wasn't looking food.  She told me I needed to rest and I told her I couldn't that day because we ad exchanges.  She texted me that night and said I had to rest or I wouldn't get better.  So, Thursday we didn't proslyte at all,  I think I slept for a combined 16 hours that day.  I needed it and after that the sickness slowly went away to the point that I feel like it's gone for good.  The only problem now is that my energy hasn't returned.  Even now, I have almost no drive or desire to do anything but rest.  But this week we will turn things around.  I have a feeling that good things are ahead!

This week we have our Zone Conference where all the zone leaders provide individual training.  I'm excited about it, but the only thing I am worried about is that I have zero experience on the topic.  I have to train on baptismal interviews, but since I skipped being a district leader, I haven't ever interviewed anyone!  I guess we will see how good I am at winging it!

So, I had some pretty cool personal study this morning.  I have been kinda pouty about being sick, and this morning I started reading Alma 7:11-13. Alma explains about the Atonement and the life of Jesus.  Those verses just prove to us how complete the Atonement really is.  I testify to you guys that he does know how we feel.  He knows because He has felt it.  He has suffered it, and He suffered it all so He could know how to help us overcome the trials and pains we feel.

I love you guys!

Happy 8 Months!

Happy 8 months!  Only 16 more to go!  Can you guys believe I have been here that long?  Sometimes time flies and sometimes it stands still.  This transfer is going by a lot faster though!  It's because Elder Saure is a goof and we just laugh and have fun all the time!

Elder Saure and I are having an absolute blast being companions!  He is so funny and so enthusiastic about the work, that it is hard not to have fun while we are working.  This week was kinda tough though.  I was fighting a cold that just wouldn't seem to go away.  Our proslyting hours were a little lower this week because on Friday I needed to sleep.  I felt like I was a zombie going through our weekly planning session and I knew that I would be a little better than a dead body in the room if we would have tried to teach any lessons at that time.  We still got to proslyte for five hours that day and got some good work done.

On Wednesday, we had exchanges with Elder Pulsipher and Elder Castillo.  It was fun to go and work with Elder Pulsipher.  It was the first time my whole mission that I have proslyted with an American.  That was a little different, but fun nevertheless.  We also got a bunch of lessons taught.  We reached my high for lessons taught to investigators with a member present!  I also think I may have learned more from him then he did from me.  During one lesson the spirit was very strong and it shocked me when he bore quick testimony and ended the lesson.  I kindly told him after we left that there was still more we needed to teach.   He then said, "Elder, one thing I have learned is when the spirit is strong, end the lesson and leave.  When we leave, the spirit will leave and when they feel that difference they will know there is something special about us and our message."  I thought, wow, that is so true!  That is something I had never thought about.  I will definitely try to use that in some of our upcoming lessons with investigators and try to see if it really works as well as he says it does!  We will see.  He is a very scripturally (is that a word?) brilliant missionary.  He is someone I would feel comfortable with if we were in a room with a bunch of preachers!

This week we also had the opportunity to baptize a woman.  The best part was that her husband was the one to baptize her!  We returned him to activity and then we were able to baptize his wife.  Now we start to prepare them for the temple.  They are excited and seem willing to do all that is necessary to get there.

I showed a family picture to the young men and young women in our ward and Kody and Logan were huge hits!  I was pretty ticked when one of them said that they were more handsome than me!  If just goes to show that Filipinos are crazy!  Not in this world or the next will they ever be better looking than me!  Haha!

One cool thing I thought of this week is making a mission bucket list!  I will take pictures of me doing each one of these things.  You probably won't see some of them until I get home because I am not sure how legal some of the things I want to do are--but it's going to be a blast!!!!

Love you all!

Who says I can't enjoy some of the funner parts
of missionary work in the Philippines?

I'm holding a baby goat! Of course I'm excited!

Mara Noja's baptism

Working hard and wearing holes in the soles of my shoes!!!

This was on my mission bucket list-- riding on the back of a jeepney!

Yup.. Guapo!!!