V-Day! And Answers...

Valentines Day.... I hope you guys had a wondrous day and week. Because I love you all. :) <3 <3 #xoxoxo I, of course, didn't get to go to Tucanos and have a nice meal or anything like that, but we did have District Conference so I guess at least we kind of had a group date with all the other missionaries...But no really, it was good haha. President and Sister Rahlf came and President Rahlf spoke on the 'worth of a soul'. Sister Rahlf talked on courage. Okay Mom, I guess I will try to answer your questions now...

Our week was good. Biggest success? Hmm...finding has still been good. When I first got to this area, we literally only shared messages with members because we had no investigators but now we actually have investigators to teach. So that's nice. And they are actually interested in our message. And some are super progressing! I mentioned Jessica last week...She is super good in the lessons. Picks up way good on everything we teach her. This last week-in just the second lesson we taught her- she was asking us what she needs to do to get baptized. And she came to District Conference yesterday. Talk about golden! We extended a goal date to her for March 7th! Carl Louie also came to church yesterday but we haven't been able to actually teach him yet because he goes to college in Solano and that's where he stays throughout the week. 

As for biggest challenge...Nothing too challenging comes to mind... Jarone hasn't really been progressing lately and this last week he basically told us he wasn't really interested in listening to us anymore. So that kinda stinks when people choose to stop investigating the gospel but I guess it happens. Also having to always push my companion to stay motivated and diligent can be frustrating at times...but at least the work is still going good and I am seeing a lot of progression happening in our area. 

Spiritual prompting? Hmm. Well this was back when I was with Elder Costacio but I haven't shared this experience yet, so now that you've asked, I guess I will...One time we were on our way to a member family's house. Normally we plan what lessons or spiritual thoughts we are going to share with people, but this time we didn't have a plan and said we'd plan something later on if something came to us. Well when we were almost to their house, Ether 12:27 popped into my head but I didn't say anything. Then as we sat down before the opening prayer, Elder Costacio opens his scriptures, starts flipping the pages, then he stops and points at Ether 12:27 and asks me if he thinks that would be a good message to share. It turns out that the family had very recently had an unexpected trial come into their lives and they told us that this was exactly what they needed to hear. I thought it was really cool how the Spirit whispered the exact same thing to both Elder Costacio and I even though we didn't even talk to each other about what we were going to share beforehand.

Hope that answers your questions Madre...After that, I don't think I have anything additional to say. This week we have Zone Conference and we're also gonna go on splits so that should be fun. Oh and I know I'm not the greatest chef, but this is how I cook popcorn. I think it's pretty clever...

Orville Redenbacher is in the building

Cycle 12 - Week 2

Oh sorry I forgot to mention last week but yeah, Elder Baquiran has been out almost a year now. Also of the eight elders here in Solano Zone, I go home before all of them, even though I still have 6 months left. So that is kind of weird to be one of the older guys in the mission. And also sorry that my titles haven't been all that creative lately...

Anyways, it has been a pretty good week for us. We got a few referrals from the Solano sisters and two of them are investigators that have been attending church in Solano the last few weeks but they are actually from Villaverde. Carl Louie (19 years old) and Jessica (21). Carl's girlfriend is a member in Solano. Jessica's husband is a less active in Villaverde) both came to church yesterday and they both seem like they have a lot of potential and have been very prepared to receive the gospel.

So I'd say that we have finally found some success in our finding and we have been able to teach more lessons simply because we have more people to teach. My comp still makes me laugh a lot...funny guy this one. Sometimes it seems like his desire to be more diligent is getting better but other times I feel like I am still having to push him a lot for him to be motivated. But you know, just gotta keep doin' my thang, right? We still get along fine though so everything is chill. We also ate "one day old" which basically describes itself but yeah it is a fried baby chicken that is one day old and it still has the beak and everything haha. It wasn't turrible though...So yeah, have a good week everyone. And Happy Valentines Day to all the lovebirds out there and if you're single, welllll, I guess I'll be back eventually hah. Laterz.

Am I reckless 

Hit me up?

New Comp

So like I said, I got a new companion this week. Elder Baquiran is from Manila and he is 21 years old; Our first week together was pretty good. He is a nice guy and I think he has the right desires to do what he is supposed to but I have to kind of had to push him to actually be a diligent worker. But the good thing is, he has responded pretty well as I have tried to help him and we actually ended up teaching more lessons this week than Elder Costacio and I achieved the past few weeks.

Jarone didn't come to church yesterday. It has been hard to tell how committed he is to being baptized because in the lessons when he teach him, he is fine and says that he will come to church but then when Sunday rolls around, he only comes when he feels like it and so he is not always in the mood...We haven't found many new investigators but lately we've met a few new less active members that we didn't know before so one thing we will continue to try and focus on is our re-activation efforts.

One other thing about my companion is that he is rather entertaining because he always makes me laugh even when he doesn't try to; like for example the other day we were playing checkers but then we decided we were hungry because it was time for dinner so I went into the kitchen and cooked my noodles and by the time they were ready, Elder Baquiran already fell asleep. And he also skipped breakfast that day because he took too long getting ready to go to District Meeting so he only had one meal that day hahaha. And he snores wayyy loud every night-which is something I almost forgot that people did up until this point-so I had to move my mattress into the other room haha. He's a silly one...But anyways, that's about it for this week. Have a good one everyone. I'll let you know if anything funny happens in the next 7 days or if anything chill goes down in our work. Deuces!

Another Cycle Down

Today we got the T-List and Elder Costacio will be transferring, but that is pretty much what we were expecting since we spent three months together and he has been here longer than I have. We've had a lot of fun in our companionship and I have seen him make a lot of improvements in becoming a better missionary in our time together. Anyways, this last week of ours was fairly busy. We went on splits twice:

On Tuesday after District Meeting, I worked with Elder Navarro in Lamut to help him to become comfortable in leading his area (because his tatay is transferring) and he did a good job of that. We also had a dinner appointment again at the 'American house' and Tatay Balubbal saw my nametag and said that he still remembered Dad so I thought that was pretty cool.

 

On Thursday, we had splits in Bagabag and I was with Elder Volpe again because I had a baptismal interview to do. We also had a combined FHE with the Lamut elders and it was with the Valdez family, which is actually the family of Nanay Esperanza (the 80 year old nanay who I interviewed for her baptism last month) so that was fun too. I kind of miss having four elders in the ward because this is my only area that it has been just two of us haha.

L to R: Elders Volpe, Me, Costacio, Saguire, Larona, Navarro

Saturday the SA had an activity and hiked to the falls so we joined them for that. We also attended the baptism in Solano (I apologize if all these names of places is confusing to keep up with but the baptism was for Jupelin-the one I interviewed-because they don't have a baptismal font in Bagabag.). 

Yesterday I wasn't given much preparation to do either but I talked in sacrament meeting and then I taught Sunday School because the guy who normally teaches wasn't there....And that basically sums up my week. Jarone came to church yesterday for the first time in a while which was good. His brother Khanejie has kind of lost interest in us teaching him but Jarone said he still wants to be baptized so hopefully he'll start coming to church more consistently.

Those falls tho (They looked cooler last time...)

So yeah, time is still flying. I don't feel like I'll be starting college in 7 months but I guess I must be because my parents have already started to e-mail me a lot lately about that kind of stuff hahaha. And President McArthur S/O to you for updating me with all the BYU info, now I just need to figure out what I am actually doing ha but anyways have a good week erryone. Wednesday I get a new companion so that's exciting. Love y'all. Peace out.

Final zone pic

Sup?

Hey guys! Well this week has been kind of up and down for us-We taught more lessons and had more 'finding efforts' than we have had since I have been here in Villaverde. So that is good; The only problem is our investigators still haven't really been progressing and most the other people that we have talked to either say they already have a religion or they don't really seem interested...

But I know we just gotta keep trying and those blessings will come. I am often reminded of Jeffrey R. Holland's seminar to mission presidents (I may have shared this with you guys before but I don't remember) in which he basically said that we can't expect missionary work to be a walk in the park because things were never easy for Jesus Christ. So we must labor diligently with all our might because 'salvation is not a cheap experience.' 

So even though sometimes I feel we aren't having a lot of success, even though there are times that will be hard...I still am so grateful for the opportunity to be a missionary sharing this gospel and there's nothing else I'd rather be doing right now. I love you all. Thank you always for the support and prayers in my behalf. Have a nice week all!

A medium-sized chair 

Nametag pic: We took quite the hike to contact an inactive guy who we've never met BUT he wasn't home. But at least it made for a nice picture. That is our area from a rather long ways away!

Banaue Pics - Again

What's good?? I hope nobody is expecting an extravagant epistle from me for this week, because I can't think of anything to say right now haha. Sorrrryyy...Here is what I wrote in my LTP:

We had still been struggling a little bit in our finding but this week I have especially been trying to push myself to become a better finder. So we did better in that aspect but I think we can still become more effective because I have kind of felt by myself in my efforts to find and that my companion is kind of just watches me sometimes...But aside from that, Elder Costacio and I are doing great in our companionship and still getting along well. We haven't had much success with our investigators lately but our work in re-activating of less actives has been going really good and we had several who came to church yesterday.

We went to the Banaue rice terraces again last Monday except we went with our actual zone this time. So here are some more pics and we'll see if I have more to say next Monday ha. Have a great week!

 Rollin' in hot

We're gonna go hit up those rice terraces at my 11 o'clock

And this is where we ended up

Elder Costacio and Sister Akau

Local kids (Not sure how they survive but they live in huts like actually ON the rice terraces) were playing around in the mud. Pretty funny stuff but don't zoom in! :)

 Tryin' to look like a cool kid

Jeepney ride home. I think they're tired?

Happy New Year!

I spent the whole year of 2014 in the Philippines and now it's over. WHOA! For New Year's Eve we stayed at our Zone Leaders' apartment and our night was spent playing countless games of Uno and we were also given permission to watch "Son of God". It was very...Hollywood, for sure, but I found it rather interesting and we had a lot of junk food so we enjoyed it. As the clock struck twelve we went outside to watch the fireworks and then finished the night with s'mores. New Year's Day was spent the same way as Christmas-Catching up on sleep we missed the previous night and hanging at a member's house.

New Year sup?

Other than that, I feel like I don't have a whole lot to say for the week. We ate the tacos that I got from the Christmas packages and we actually got ground beef this time instead of the tuna flakes that we've normally used the last few times so that was very good. I finished the Book of Mormon in Tagalog in last week so that felt pretty neat and was something that has been a good experience. The work in our area is still going alright but no investigators at church this week and still not a whole ton of success in finding new ones...

Tacos ftw

Anyways, I can't believe it's 2015 already and that I will be coming home this year but like I said last week: Remember Lot's wife! (Luke 17:32). Don't look back and let's make this a year of prosperity and joy. Happy 2015 to all and to all a good night. And year.