What ere thou art, act well thy part.

How's it going everyone?  I'm doing good here in the Pilapinas!  The weeks right now are really flying by.  It's getting really hard to write you about what is going on because I feel like I'm writing you all the time.  This week kind of just feels like last week again except for we were both sick this time.  The work is still going pretty good.  We just had another family come back to church this week after been inactive for a while which is awesome!  I never thought they'd come back because every time they would see us they would runner faster than Olympic athletes and hide, but miracles do exist!

We taught Nora this week again after a while of not being able to.  She's the lady who wanted to be baptized so bad but then right as she got a baptismal date told us she didn't want to anymore.  We taught her about the importance of baptism and she told us that maybe the reason I didn't get transferred was to be there for her baptism.  It felt good to know she said that because it means she hasn't completely thrown it off the table.  We also cleared up some questions she had about why she would need to be baptized again if she has already been baptized and just some other questions.  She told us that she'll pray and think about it and we're going to follow up with her this week.

This week since we've been sick we've been really relying on our landlord sister Matet to cook for us and everything.  All we have to do is buy the ulam and then she'll cook it for us.  They are also getting ready to enter the temple this year so we're helping them prepare.  This last week she promised me that her next kid would be named Tribe if it's a boy and Cameron if it's a girl.  They can't accept the fact that Cameron is a guy name because the only other Cameron they know is Cameron Diaz. 

 

Flor Delisa is still going great!  She hasn't missed a Sunday yet and even goes to RS activities.  She is still on track to get baptized on April 4.  

Well all is good here!  

Love E.Tribe

Kumusta na kayo!

These past couple weeks have been a little frustrating with not being able to work in my area as much as I've wanted to.  My companion has been getting sick a lot recently and I'm not really sure why.  We texted Sister Rahlf his symptoms and so we headed to the dentist because it seems to all be coming from his one wisdom tooth that didn't get pulled out.  We didn't make it in time to the appointment so we had to sleep over in Alicia really close to my first area. 

I got to see some of the members from my first area!  I missed the people there so much it was crazy.  I got to see one of the members, Elder Marvin just finished being set apart as a missionary.  Marvin used to work with us all the time back in the good ol' days and now he's headed on his mission.  It was weird to see how much he'd grown up and it kind of reminded me of what it'll feel like when I get home.  We got up the next morning and the dentist took one look at his tooth and said it doesn't need to be taken out because it isn't coming in at a slant.  That was good news because it'll mean we actually get to work!

We met the new RM Daril Bilog who just got home from his mission.  It's been really good working with him and it made me miss having a Filipino companion.  We had some really good lessons with him and he's introducing us to all his friends who are and aren't members.  He's been helping us out a lot!  

Nothing much has really changed in the area since last week.  We haven't been able to teach very much!  We talked to the Laserna family but didn't get to teach them.  We've returned a lot of less active members to church.  We used to have a list of about 28 now it's down to 14 or around there.  We've been seeing huge success there.

Yan lang.

E.Tribe

This week was a pretty crazy week.  It was really fun this week!

We contacted the Laserna family the one I told you all about last week.  We had a good lesson with them but it was a little hard to concentrate because of their kids screaming and yelling.  He did tell me we could come back and next time his kids will be confined inside the house watching TV.  The members here are also pretty surprised he is letting us teach him.  I guess he has a pretty rough background but he seems really interested and wants to hear more.

We were supposed to have a baptism this week with Sister Flor but due to the Manila trip we had to do we delayed it till April 4 because of all the things happening this month.

So now the good part about this week was Manila!  Lets just say Manila is a different world.  It is nothing like my mission.  We got up Friday morning and went to the mission home where President Rahlf told us that we are all illegal immigrants and so we need to go to Manila to renew or do something with our visa and pass ports so we won't be illegal aliens anymore.  From there we all got into triceys and went to the airport in Cauayan.  When we got to Manila we went to the Bureau of Immigration.  That building is the craziest place I've ever been.  If you think the DMV is bad you have no idea about this place.  It's on another scale! 

Elder Thorpe, Poulter and Me

After a couple hours we headed to the airport and dropped off our bags and then we all split off and went our own ways with our comps.  I was with E.Poulter most of the time.  He was in the MTC with me.  We got a taxi and headed to MOA (Mall of Asia).  That place is amazing!  The first place we ate at was TGI Fridays and then we roamed around looking at all the stores.  It's been rumored daw that you can't walk through all of MOA in 24 hours so we were pretty blown away with everything there.  I felt sick around 30 min after eating and threw up everything I ate.  I don't think my stomach is used to eating burgers anymore.  While there at MOA we ate at Ihop, TGIF, Coldstone, and Cinnabon/Krispy Kreme.  Good trip!

On the way home on Saturday we flew to the Tuge airport in a propeller plane.  I was sitting by a lady who was coming home from working in Hong Kong for two years.  I kept trying to talk to her the whole ride but she wouldn't wake up.  While the plane was descending she woke up and I talked with her a little bit and invited her to listen to the missionaries where she lived but while talking to her my head, right above my left eye brow shot with pain.  My left eye all of a sudden started spewing out tears and turned bright red.  The lady kind of freaked out a little bit and thought I was going to pass out or something.  She kept asking if I was okay.  I played it cool even though it felt like needles were shooting in my eyebrow.  I finished talking with her about having the missionaries visit her house and then said good bye.  That was the weirdest contact I'd ever had and I bet she thinks Mormons are even weirder now but I guess it's okay.  I always tell myself to help me get out of my comfort zone is that I already look weird enough to them so I don't have to be shy.  

We also went caving today for P-day.  We also just found out about transfers this Wednesday and I'm still here in Mabini.  This is my last 2 cycles which means I only have 3 months left on Wednesday.  Time is flying by!  Gotta make every minute count! Love,

E.Tribe  

Nandito na ang taginit

This was a really good week but it was a little bit disappointing as well.  We started really teaching Sister Crispina, the one lady who attended church last week.  She would have been a golden investigator but she moved back to Manila last week and might not come back.  It was pretty devastating kasi we just extended a baptismal date at the end of March.  She was also telling us that she is excited and wants to be baptized.

It's really starting to get hot here!  Our CR is starting to feel like an oven.  Even though it's hot, the work is still really going good.  We've made a lot a of new contacts this last week and I can't wait to go follow them all up. 

For the past week or so every time we'd walk by this one house there would be a guy sitting out side and he'd always say, "Hello."  I'd walked by a couple times during the week but the other night I couldn't just walk by again.  We walked up and met his family and they seemed really excited to hear what we had to say.  The whole time I was talking to them I could feel something different than all our other contacts.  I can't wait to go visit them again.

With Nora it was a pretty hard week.  After we had set a baptismal date she told us the other day to post pone the baptism because she isn't sure about it yet.  She tells us she wants her husband to come to church with her first.  It's going to be pretty hard considering her husband is never sober but we're not going to give up.  Walang imposible sa Diyos.

Well that's it this week.  I also got a call telling me I'm going to Manila this Friday or Saturday for VISA stuff.  It's going to be amazing!!  I get to eat Wendys and doughnuts and cinnamon rolls!  

I'm out!

E.Tribe

Wow it's hard to hear that Milo past away.  It's probably the worst news I've had my whole mission.  From day one in the MTC I prayed I'd see him again.  Kinda weird to think that I prayed for that because he's just a dog but he's more family though than just a dog. 

This week we really tore it up even though E.Medeiros got sick.  We've been really seeing a lot of blessings coming from being obedient.  This week it started out pretty slow and just the same old same old.  I was kind of discouraged from all the lessons we were getting punted from and how people just seem to not understand that following commitments is important.  

We'd been talking to a lot more people recently but a lot of people will just tell us that they already have a religion or just say ayaw ko po.  On Sunday though was the day it all kind of turned around and we actually saw some fruits from our efforts.  We had some members bring their next door neighbors to church with them and they also told us that their son isn't a member.  We taught them for the first time on Sunday and they were really prepared and ready for our lesson.  We also had a lot of Less actives come to church because we've been focusing on temple sealings and everyone here seems to be really interested.  There has been a recent convert in our area that I haven't taught once because he always just tells us next time na lang but when we mentioned about temple sealing it was like his eyes just lit up and he let us teach. 

 

Last week I also told you about the funeral/patay we went to.  Well this week we went back and contacted them and we have a few new investigators there and one came to church yesterday.  It was pretty sweet also to see the investigators we have that have baptismal dates keeping their commitments and coming to church. 

Nora, the lady I told you about before who can't be baptized because she's not married to the person she's living with,I talked to President Rahlf about her situation and he said that she could be baptized.  We gave her a baptismal date yesterday and she just kept saying "Really? Really really?"  It was good to see how excited she actually was to hear those words she's been waiting so long for.  

We have a new investigator yesterday who told us she was taught by the missionaries before.  I asked her if she knew about the Book of Mormon and she told us she's already read the whole book.  It kind of blew my mind a little but I'm really excited to start teaching her.  She is truly prepared!  

The mission right now is really good.  My comp is awesome.  Area right now is amazing and we are seeing miracles all because we are being obedient.

Right now I'm just trying to finish strong because trunky thoughts are coming more frequently lately. I just gotta endure to the end!

Future Missionaries

I love you guys!

E.Tribe