First Zone Conference

Well, another week down!  We had some really good days this week where we taught a lot of people and some days that no one was interested in our message.  Those days are so frustrating, but it is okay.  There is always this week.

So, about dearelder.com letters-- I love them!!!  I received one from Mom, Cooper, and Grandma W. this week.  I like them because I can reread them over and over!  So, if people ask, that is the way to go!

Monday was great!  Hearing that you guys and Melissa are doing good makes my whole week go smoother.  I finally got to work out and take a small nap, then we had family home evening with the Goza family.  Fun stuff!

Tuesday there was a brown out all morning--no electricity or water.  It was rough.  I didn't shower and had to dry shave.  The power came back on right after we left to make contacts.  The work was okay that day.

Wednesday was the hottest day ever.  I was melting, no joke!  We taught nine lessons and that was a ton!  We received three new contacts so that was good.  It was the busiest day ever and I was so tired.

Thursday we had a Zone Conference.  I got to see Elder Doane and that was way nice.  Also, when I am around President and Sister Lopez it feels like a home away from home, so that is good.  I saw my first Americans since I got here too!  That was refreshing.  It lasted from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. and then we taught a few lessons and made a lot of street contracts with return appointments for Friday and Saturday.

Friday was a busy one.  We taught a lot of lessons and got some new investigators, except a lot of the people we had made return appointments with weren't interested.  That was frustrating.

Saturday is the worst day of the week.  I hate Saturday mornings because I know Kody is playing and I want to watch him so bad!  Then all of the people we contacted the first two days were uninterested . . . all 12 of them.  I was discouraged and the language was really bad that day.  Just not a good day. Satan is relentless!!!

Sunday I watched a dog get ran over by a car on my way to church.  Then he got up and kept going like a champ!  It was a proud moment for me.  I also almost got attacked by a monkey in a tree . . .yes, a real monkey.  I will try to send a picture next week.  The monkey didn't like the flash too much!   I am also going to try sending a picture that looks like a random street.  I took it from some dude's motorcycle.  That is how we get around here.  It is a trip!

Well, that was my week.  I will tell you about great lessons or spiritual experiences when they come.  I recommend you guys read, "Our Search for Happiness."  It is a great book and a short one.  I loved it.  Love you all tons!

Photos from the Zone Conference--Cole's mission president posted these on his facebook page.

Cole & Elder Estevez

Chop Suey

Malungay Soup

Bacalod Zone

Afritada

Rambutan and fresh bananas

Photos From the Philippines

                This week was a good week!  I am starting to get better at combating the culture and all that comes with it!  So, I will answer your questions from last week and then tell a little about my week.

                A typical day consists of waking up at 6:30 a.m. to do laundry--by hand!  Be thankful for washing machines!  Then personal study from 8 to 9 and companion study from 9 to 11.  Then we prepare things for the day, buy our sudan (what we are eating with rice), and eat lunch.  At about 1, we visit some homes, teach some lessons, and give a lot of blessings to sick people.  That is my favorite part.  I promise some pretty big things, but I am a representative of Jesus Christ and I know they will come to pass based on their faith.  Anyways, we do that until about 8 and then I have language study.  At 9 we have daily planning and then we eat dinner and go to bed around 10:30.  Then we do it all again the next day!

                As for the humidity--ridiculous!  I sweat all day, every day (even at night).  We have fans in the apartment that make it better, but still!  The rain is not a good thing either.  It rains every day and absolutely pours.  It would be awesome except it gets even hotter after the rain.  But I still love the rain, and usually we are soaked when we return to the house.

                The food is still growing on me.  They all eat fish, and it is disgusting so I don't eat that.  I eat a lot of chicken, pork, chorizo and rice. 

                Elder Esteves is a champ!  He is so excited about the work and has 8 months left, but wants to extend longer.  He is very obedient and a great example to me.  He is good at English too, so that is a plus.  He was a convert when he was 14 and was the only member in his family, but since being on his mission, his mom was baptized.  I love him.  It is fun with him!

                The people are the nicest, most humble people ever!  The women work hard and pretty much support their families.  The men in the church work very hard, but the other men here just sit around and do nothing.  It makes me so mad!  I just want to tell them to go to work and support their 8 kids!  Families are really large here!

                I email from a computer cafe and get an hour.  It is a very stressful time and I am trying to work on the most efficient way to get everything done.  I am running out of time, so I can't tell you about some funny experiences now. 

                My week was good.  We got five new investigators.  I also had my first baptism!  It was a great experience.  Other than that, it was a regular week.  I love you and I am doing great!

People who came to support Regine at her baptism

Elder Esteves, Regine Mae Mani & Cole
Cole's First Baptism

I have no idea the story behind this photo.
Hopefully we will hear about it next week!

I will have to find out what this is a photo of.
It might be his apartment, because he said
they had one of the nicer ones in the mission.

Typical home in the Philippines

Cole &  Nolito Jean

Investigator who reminds Cole of Logan

A Week in the Philippines

Monday:  We had FHE with the Resuma family.  It was pretty fun.  The food was gross, but oh well!  I'm learning to just deal with rice and whatever we are eating with it that day!  It got me really excited for doing family home evenings with my family when I have one!

Tuesday:  We had our first district meeting.  Our entire district lives in our apartment--a whopping four people!  Elder Lozada is the district leader.  His companion is Elder Sobrevega and then Elder Esteves and me.

Wednesday:  We didn't get a lot of work in today.  We left the umbrellas at the apartment because it was sunny, then out of nowhere the biggest rainstorm ever came.  The raindrops were the size of ping pong balls.  That continued the entire day.  We were at a member's hut for about two hours. We are teaching a boy named Nolito Jean right now.  He is so awesome.  He is 11 and reminds me so much of Logan--same smile, same personality, same laugh.  He looks like a Filipino version of Logan! Anyways, I get a little homesick when we visit him, but it's alright.  His baptism is next Saturday.

Thursday:  Today was hotter than Hell!  (Not a swear word--I'm referring to the place!) We taught a lot of less active members.  That seems to be all we do, but it's okay.  We need to bring people back to the gospel as much as we need new members.  I also had coconut milk fresh off the tree!

Friday:  This day was pretty much of the same--visiting less active members and such.

Saturday:  More lessons with less active members.  We only have three investigators right now, so not too many actual lessons.  I thought I was going to come on my mission and baptize tons of people, but I feel like it's going to be a lot more bringing people back to the gospel.  Which is just as good I guess.  Most of the time people don't come to church because they need to work so their families can eat. . . it is so hard to watch!

Sunday:  Filipinos aren't very reverent in church!  I don't understand anything that is said, but I am trying so hopefully soon I will start to get something out of the meetings.  Later, I had an interesting experience.  We visited a family who had been inactive for 10 years.  I got the feeling they were waiting for us. I felt that I needed to tell the God loved them, so I did and they were very happy to hear it!!!!

First Email From the Philippines

We received our first email from the Philippines (not counting the one that told us he arrived safely).  Here is a copy of it:

Oh my goodness. This is pretty crazy. It is like nothing I have ever experienced nor will ever experience again in my life. If you guys could see this place you wouldn't believe it. I have yet to be in a house that is bigger than the piano room.  No joke. Most of them don't even have a floor, just dirt. Some of them are literally made out of bamboo. I will never take things for granted when I get back, that is for sure. Our apartment shocked me when I first got here, and it is one of the nicest ones in the whole mission. I have a shower, but it cuts in and out every couple of minutes and the water is cold. Oh well!! It feels good because it's so hot here!

I have already lost a lot of weight. I can see my abs! I am not eating a ton, because I don't really like rice but I am learning. It is tough to speak the language.  I don't understand anyone! It's okay, I will learn. We are so busy all the time and I am tired all the time. It's hard to wake up in the mornings, but I have to do work if I want to help people and that is the goal.

Everywhere I go I hear, hey joe, or CANO (short for americano) but it is fun. Little kids will always run up to me and compare their skin to mine. It is hard for me because I feel so prideful and selfish all the time. These people are so happy with their lives and everything they have and I complain about the stupidest things. I need to be more grateful and forget about myself.

My companion is awesome. He is very helpful and good at English, so he helps me a lot. He is so humble and loves missionary work, so that is good. I lean on him a lot so I am glad that he is so comfortable with everything!

Now for the best part! I have a baptism on Saturday.  A 14 year old girl named Regine Mae Mani!  I'm new, but she said she "has a good feeling about me" and wants me to do it! It is probably because I'm an American, but oh well!!!!

He Made It

Cole made it to the Philippines!  It was great getting to talk to him on the phone when he was waiting at the airport, but the time went by way too quickly.  His mission president is awesome.  He had Cole email us as soon as he got there so we would know he arrived safely.  He also told him to have us "friend" him on facebook.  When I got onto facebook I was excited to see that he had posted photos of Cole at the airport, at dinner, and even with his new companion. Technology is great!

New missionaries arriving at the Bacalod Airport

Dinner at a local restaurant

Lunch in the Mission Home

 Jollibee's spaghetti, palabok and Champ hamburger 

Cole and his new companion/trainer, Elder Estevez

Cole with President and Sister Lopez

Thinking Like a Missionary

Here is part of Cole's letter this week:

"I am loving being a missionary. It's so great. I miss you guys so much, but I don't know if I would rather be anywhere else. I know a mission is exactly where I am supposed to be and I cannot wait for it to start really counting. The language is coming well.  I feel comfortable teaching lessons in it, but if I am doing anything other than that I am completely lost! I seriously cannot wait to get to the Philippines. I already have my favorite lesson to teach.  It is by far the plan of salvation. I know the investigators I practice on now are fake; but still, it is the coolest thing to feel the spirit when I tell them they can live with their families forever. I can't wait to tell people in the Philippines that very same thing and watch how they react to that knowledge."

A Letter Home

Just thought I'd share part of Cole's letter this week.  It is awesome to see the growth in him.

"We had to lay down the law to some of the districts this week.  I was going in there thinking I would give dad a run for his money on the greatest freakouts ever (Snow Canyon talk).  Elder Doane noticed this and decided we needed to pray before going in there. It was a good idea because I was furious, but after the prayer I was calm and knew what had to be said.  I pulled some scriptures out of nowhere.  Ones that I have only read maybe once or twice and I was quoting them word for word.  It was crazy!  It seriously turned out totally different than I thought it would. It actually ended up being very spiritual and very awesome."

"I got a letter from Coach Hosner this week,  It was really cool.  He gave me a great quote.  One that I have shared a bunch of times already.  He said (and I felt like we were in the locker room before a game), 'Forget about yourself. Forget about everything you are leaving behind and all of the things you THINK you miss.  Forget about all of that, because what you miss you don't even know yet.  The first time you see a grown man cry because he feels the spirit, or when you baptize a man and change the lives of his entire family for eternity, or when you use your priesthood to bless the sick and work miracles. Those are the things you will miss, and you don't even know it yet.'  I'm telling you what . . . I don't know of a lot more things that have gotten me more pumped up to do missionary work.  I love that man to death!"