The Meat Loaf Thief

So last week I started to tell a 'mystery story' but today I realized that I never finished it. You were all probably rather confused about why having the kitchen in a separate building is so mysterious haha. But anyways, last Sunday night, we got home from working to find that someone had visited a kitchen. No valuables were taken-just a lot of food. And they were very selective about which food they took. The thief seemed to have a preference to meat loaf, because they stole all of that. It was kind of annoying, but I also found it kind of funny and a nice little story. So that is that.

Today we got the transfer list. I was pretty much fine either way on staying or leaving but anyways, I will be spending a fourth cycle here in Angadanan. We extended a baptismal invitation to Mary Grace this last week and she says she is ready to go. Her and Jazel fellowshipped us in our work yesterday, which I think was good for them in their preparation for baptism, which we actually moved up to this upcoming Saturday the 24th, instead of the 31st. So hopefully everything goes alright with that.

Other news for the week: I went on splits with our DL Elder Young this last week, which went pretty good. (For a picture of us, refer to last week when we are kicking it on a large rock) Also, my MTC teacher Brother Ward was here in the Philippines so he shot me an e-mail and stopped by to visit. How chill is that! 

With Brother Ward

And lastly, yesterday was the baptism of Naneng Valencia. She recently turned eight years old and comes from a family of all members, but I think something is kind of wrong with tatay's hand, so they requested that I be the one to baptize her. Well that's it for now. Hope everyone has a good week!

Pagbibinyag ni Naneng (Baptism)

Last district pic

Aglipay Caves Pics

Happy Mother's Day! I personally am so very grateful for my mother and all she has done for me in my life. I was thankful for the opportunity I had to Skype with my family so like I said last week, I will keep things short.

This last week I finished the New Testament, 'Jesus the Christ', as well as the Book of Mormon for my 3rd time. All these books are so incredible, especially the B.O.M and I encourage anyone who hasn't read it cover to cover, to do so.

Yesterday we had 70 people attend sacrament meeting which is the most in quite some time. Among them were Jazel Paggao and her cousin Mary Grace, marking their 3rd straight week. We actually gave Jazel a baptismal date for May 31 so I'm hoping that goes through. Our transfer day is May 21 and next Monday I find out if I'm transferred or not, and I would say there's about a 50/50 chance.

A nice little mystery story: Our kitchen is in a separate building. Once again, love you all. As promised, here are the pictures from Aglipay Caves last week. Enjoy!

 Some of the bros

We had to crawl through this hole 

Elder Phippen and me

 Elder Young and me

 Emerging from the depths of the cave

Don't Stop Believing

Hello friends. It's been a pretty fun week. Quick investigator update:

Yesterday two of our investigators-Jazel (Paggao) and Mary Grace-attended church for the second consecutive week. The problem for Jazel in the past about coming to church was she didn't want to come alone but we recently started teaching her cousin Mary Grace and they have also both made a lot of progression in the lessons and we are hoping that we are about ready to extend them a baptismal date.

Exciting right! Anyways, this week we also had a service project with our district at Angadanan High School, hauling bricks and pulling weeds together. It is pretty cool that even though we see those from our district once or sometimes a twice a week that we have developed unity with each other; So Wednesday was one of the funnest (and yes I know that 'funnest' is gramatically incorrect...) times that I have ever had pulling weeds haha. 

 District service project

The other Angadanan elders had splits this week so Elder Hall worked in the area of Elder Seiuli and Seiuli came and worked with Elder Pawin. He is from Samoa and he is pretty sweet. I have never met a Polynesian I didn't love. They are so friendly and way chill. And they eat a ton haha. I hope I get a Poly comp sometime in my mission.

Earlier today we had a zone activity and went to the Aglipay Caves. Although they are close to my first area Cabarroguis, I never had the chance to go in my first two cycles this was my first time and they were pretty awesome. I've got some sweet pics but it's getting a little late right now so I think I will just let you guys wait until next week to see our pictures. But I will include a sneak peak-so we rode on top of a jeepney on the way there. The fresh green hip hop shirt made an appearance and with our hair flowing in the wind, singing joyous tunes as we went-from Journey (see also: Title. It's a good motto for us all in life!) all the way down to Soulja Boy-the two hour ride itself was a jolly old time in and of itself.

On top of the jeepney

Well Mother's Day is next week so I am looking forward to Skyping home! It seems like I was just barely Skyping for Christmas, so time is really flying by! So I am looking forward to that but until that time, have a good week everyone!

P.S: Happy Birthday this last week to two of my main men, Jeffrey Leon Hurst and Dirty Bouls Couls Rich. Love you guys!

Another Week of Swag

Another week gone by: I think I will clip part of my LTP again to let y'all know how the work is going here...

Nothing too crazy happened this week but I feel like it went by really fast and things are still going well out here in Angadanan. A bright point is that we had 6 investigators come to church yesterday-for 4 of them it was their first time-which is more than we have been used to usually, in fact I think we haven't had any for the last few weeks. But I think that they had a good experience. We still don't have any investigators with a baptismal date, but there are a few who are showing some potential for the future.

Our church attendance has been ranging from only about 50-60 members each week so that is also something that we have been trying to work on. We are trying to get the branch more involved in home and visiting teaching and it's been a little difficult, but President Palay visited last week and talked to us so hopefully that will help us improve. We need to help rescue those who have gone less active because I'd say it is just important to bring someone back to the gospel as it is for them to accept it for the first time and be baptized. It is also crucial for the new members to have an ongoing conversion and to continue to be strengthened in the gospel instead of just being baptized and then falling away. 

Yeah that's about it. Same old, same old I guess. Saturday we had a big rain and wind storm but besides that, it has been freakishly hot lately. So my mugshot is my nice summer attire that I purchased recently. We also had FHE at Bro. and Sis. Pasion's house this last week and I gave the lesson and shared from 3 Nephi 12:14-16. They are an active couple but I stressed the importance of member missionary work. As members of the church, each one of us has the light that the verses refer to. We need to let that shine and be an example to others.

Stayin' fresh

Anyways, it's really crazy how fast time is going by. The school year is almost over for my friends back in the Grove. Which means prom should be coming up right, so if you haven't asked someone yet, get on that homeboys! As always, I send my love from here in the Philippines. Hope everyone's next 7 days go absolutely fantastic. May swag be ever present in the lives of each of you. Keep it chill.

Happy Easter!

Hey everyone, hope you all had a great Easter Sunday! It was another good week out here for us. Wednesday, we had zone conference, and we focused on two things: We talked about our Book of Mormon Power Read and also 'Easter Week'-the final week of our Jesus Christ's life. I have thought I had a pretty good testimony of the B.O.M, but on Wednesday I got an overwhelming confirmation of its truthfulness. There is simply no way that this book can be false and if you have that knowledge, everything else-from Joseph Smith, to the gospel, and our church-just adds up. The same thing happened with the latter topic. As we discussed Easter Week, I felt so strongly the love that our Savior has for each and every one of us. Safe to say, it was a pretty incredible and spiritual day!

Yesterday, we had a funeral service for a 21 year old less active man in our branch. I'm not sure exactly the cause of the death but I think it had to do with a hangover or something..It was a little sad and crazy simply because of how young he was, but that is another thing about Jesus Christ's atonement and this gospel. Since we have the knowledge that we can live together forever with our families even after this life, we know that death is not the end of everything, but just a temporal phase. We don't have all the answers, but we know God has a plan for each and every one of us.

Dad, you asked about our investigators. We have a lot so it's kind of hard to talk about each one specifically, but the work is still going good. We had a lot of good lessons this week but unfortunately, none of our investigators were at church yesterday. I guess I can give a shoutout to Tatay Guillermo though-this dude is 75 years old but such a homie. One of the funniest guys around.  He is always telling me of all the Filipino 'chicks' that I should hook up with, but I have to explain that I can't because I am a missionary...It's hard for him and his wife to come to church because they're so old and their bodies are kind of weak, but our lessons with them have gone good and they actually did say that they hoped to attend some time.

Tatay Guillermo

Saturday night, Elder Hall and I colored easter eggs (thanks mom and dad for the package by the way). The two of us had a pretty good time but I guess it's not exactly a tradition here in the Philippines because Elder Pawin and Elder Mabini just wanted to go to sleep haha. But anyways, things are still going great here. That's about all I have to say, so have a good week everyone!

I liked the white one the best

#LDSconf

Holy cow. I love Conference. When I was younger, it was kind of just another old weekend but now, I can honestly say it is like my two favorite weekends of the year. After all, just think about it. We have a true, living prophet Thomas S. Monson who leads our Church today and during Conference, he-as well as many others who have also been called of God-give us inspired revelation and guidance in order to help us to become better in our lives. Listening to all the messages while being out here in the mission field, it truly is amazing.

One theme that kind of jumped out to me was courage and standing up for what you believe in. We live in a world that is falling away from the truth but as members of the Church, we have to be the ones setting the example for others because we know what is right, even though sometimes doing what is right is not what is popular. The other thing that really stuck with me this weekend-how many of the speakers bore powerful testimonies of Jesus Christ and the love he and our Heavenly Father have for each and every one of us. With Easter coming up, it is a great time to remember that love, and also the life, sacrifice, and resurrection of our Savior.

I could go on and on, but I'll leave it at that for now as far as the messages. But I do have a nice little side story about Conference. So we all watched the re-broadcast at the Alicia chapel. Which means that is where everyone in our whole stake attended. Anyways, we arrive at the church Sunday morning, and it is then I realize that I FORGOT my nametag. Typical huh? Luckily an elder in my district had an extra one handy, so it was kind of walking around as Elder Seuilli for the day. Which reminds me...since Elder De Guzman and Elder Loto'Aniu spent Tuesday packing up for transfers and attending to other final duties for their last day in Angadanan, I watched The RM (which I highly recommend by the way). It made me ponder of what I'll be like once I'm back home and not wearing my 'Elder' identity. Hopefully I'm not a complete weirdo haha. But I have plenty of time before I have to worry about all that...

Lastly, amidst all of this General Conference talk, there is another big thing that happened this week. I have a new companion! Elder Mabini is from Batangas (that's probably not how it is spelled) under the San Pablo mission. He is 19 (all of my other comps have been 22 years old so that's something different haha) and has been out here once cycle longer than me. Ironically enough, he was just barely companions with my tatay Elder Merza. And the two of them have the same trainer. So in mission terms, that makes him my uncle and we all have a nice little family tree going on here. He's a little bit quiet, but he's really nice and pretty chill so we have gotten off to a good start and I am excited for these next 6 weeks. 

I loved the quote that President Monson shared so I will leave you with this: "Perhaps we may forget tomorrow the kind words we say today, but the recipient may cherish them for a lifetime." Simply by showing our love to everyone through simple acts of kindness, it can make a huge difference. Love you all!

Pics Galore

We received the transfer list earlier today and this Wednesday, I will have a new companion here in Angadanan. The last six weeks has felt like being on a reality TV show so to keep things simple and nice as possible, I was very pleased to hear the news and I am excited to receive my new comp....I don't have a ton more to say, because I have a lot of pictures to share and those are worth a thousand words right? Umm the baptisms on Saturday for Flory Mae (21) and Mary Joyce (13) were successful. I am happy for the decisions they made and am excited for them to continue to grow in the gospel.

 Baptism of Flory Mae

Baptism of Mary Joyce

Earlier today, we had a zone activity at the chapel. We played Scum, basketball, announced the transfer list, and had a water fight. It was kind of nice to just relax and have some fun with all the missionaries. 

Zone pic

Action shot

Since the Philippines is like 14 hours ahead of Utah, we don't get to watch the rebroadcast of General Conference until this upcoming Saturday and Sunday. But I am so pumped to hear the words of our beloved prophet Thomas S. Monson and his apostles, for they are truly called of God! The last time I watched it, I was in the MTC and it was an incredible experience. Hopefully being able watch it here in the mission field (and in English, thank goodness) will be just as good! This time next week I will have a new companion and be on a spiritual high from the inspired messages from conference so I'm sorry but this is all I've got for now. So enjoy the pictures!

A couple of ducks chillin'

Mama's been asking a laundry pic for days