Preparing for the Baptism

Another solid week for us here in Roxas and things are still looking good for the baptisms this upcoming Saturday for Joan and Kathlyn. I have enjoyed watching the progression of these two over the past several weeks--Like I said last week, Joan is only fifteen but she has picked up so well on everything we have taught her and she has been super easy to teach just because she's such a well-behaved and nice girl! 

And as for Kathlyn, when we first started teaching her she would sometimes have a hard time understanding or forget some of the things we taught, but lately she's been doing way good and I think it's because she's really gained a testimony and a desire to be baptized. This last week we reviewed all of the things that we have taught her in preparation for her baptism and she is ready to go!

Aside from that, everything else is same old same old. Not much else to report on but things are still going well. This is the last week of the cycle so we're just gonna go hard and make the most of it and then-if all goes according to plan-cap things off with a baptism. Hope you all have a nice week!

Pic of the Week: Random selfie in the bukid

More Splittin' & Chill Vibes

Hey fam! It was nice talking to y'all last Monday. Crazy to think that the next time that I will be seeing you guys will be in person! But anyways, this has been another really good week for us! We taught about thirty total lessons this week, which I have only accomplished a few times throughout my whole mission so that was good! 

Along with Kathlyn, we have another investigator who has been progressing really well lately; Her name is Joanne. She lives with her grandparents who used to be kind of less active but they have recently started to come to church again consistently. Joanne is only fifteen years old but it's amazing how well and how fast she is able to pick up on everything we teach her! Our goal is for her and Kathlyn to be baptized on the same day (May 30) but right now we are just trying to finish up all the lessons.

We went on splits twice this last week and I had the opportunity to work with both of the (American) District Leaders--Elder Brandon is from Spanish Fork and graduated the same year I did. He is a few cycles behind me but has actually been a DL for quite a while. And then this is the second time that I have split with Elder Haacke; He's from Idaho and a year younger than I am in school. Both of the splits were really good! 

Some other news for the week is that I talked in church yesterday--Sometimes speakers will not show up and then we are asked to be the replacements like right before sacrament starts. This time it was supposed to be the Relief Society's week but nobody was even assigned to be speaker so it ended up just being me, the branch president, and one of his counselors...We also had quarterly interviews with President and Sister Rahlf so nice to see them as always. And it was also zone meeting on Tuesday so that was solid... We are in Santiago again right now for our P Day so earlier we played some basketball and then came to Robinsons to see everyone. But that about sums it up for the week so have a good one everyone!

Big pizza for some big guys

Happy Mothers Day!

We've had a pretty busy week but I'll just keep things short since I'm going to be calling you tomorrow (Elder Lavelua is Skyping his family now so that's why I'm online): Anyways, we had MLC this last week and it was way good and enjoyable again. The more I interact with President and Sister Rahlf, the more I truly love and appreciate them.

 

Something funny that happened is once our meeting has finished, President takes each companionship into his office and just talks to them for a few minutes on how the zone is doing and then we are supposed to go home after that. Well Sister Rahlf was taking some pictures of everyone so when President Rahlf came outside he was way confused on what we were all doing there but it was just like when a little kid is about to get in trouble but it's one of those situations where we were all sitting there like "but Mom said it was ok..." and then President joined us for a final picture before we all departed hahaha.

Our mother here in the mission - Sister Rahlf

Elders of Israel

Trying to be Poly

We also went on splits with the APs and I worked with Elder Espino again. We got to use their truck to travel from appointment to appointment so that was pretty nice. Made me pretty excited to be able to drive again! And lastly, we also had District Conference this weekend so that was solid. Anyways, so thankful for all the other mothers who have been influential in my life, especially my own, and hope you all had a nice day. Love you Mom! Lots of extra pics just for you! 

Work is better when you're using a car

At MLC with Sis. Akau - one of the chillest sister there is! (This is her last cycle)

Choir practice for District Conference (I'm a soprano btw): w/Sisters Baldomaro, Nonu, & Esguerra

An OITP Story

So our branch is leaving later today for a temple trip (By the way, the Manila temple is like 8 hours away so this is kind of a big deal that happens like once a year). Just last Sunday the members told us that we need to go and teach this 9-year-old so that he could hopefully be baptized on Saturday in order to be sealed to his family (His sister and nanay are members). But we had never even met the kid so little bit of notice would've been kind of nice, right haha?

Anyways, on Tuesday we go to his house with no idea how we are going to handle the situation but then nanay tells us that the kid is actually 8 years old. Sigh of relief because that means he is still a child of record and the ward is responsible. Thank goodness! Well it's not until Saturday morning rolls around that nanay calls and realizes that her kid is 9 years old after all so the baptism is cancelled....Like my title from a weeks ago, all those things that happened is just one of those situations that is only in the Philippines...But on the bright side, our recent convert Carmen will be going to the temple and she has some family names to do baptisms for the dead so I am happy because I know that will be a great experience for her!

This week I went on splits with Elder Pawin who was one of my former housemates back in Angadanan so that was fun. Yesterday we also had the opportunity to do the special sacrament and deliver it to the sick people who weren't able to go to the church. That is the first time I've ever done that so it was pretty cool.

 

One tatay who we gave it to has had sickness for a while and he has like no energy all the time so he hasn't been able to come to church for a few weeks but him and his wife have never been to the temple before. Because of Tatay's condition, this couple wasn't sure if they'd be able to join for the temple trip, but Tatay has faith that God will give him strength so that he and his wife can be sealed, so that was pretty awesome. 

But anyways, all is still well here in Roxas. Not trunky or anything but just as an update, I'm down to like 100 days left so I can hardly believe that! Gotta make every minute count as the final stretch is coming up! MLC is this week so that's always something to look forward to. But yup, have a good week everyone!

Jollibee for days