Conference Week

"The living prophet is more important to us than a dead prophet... God's revelation to Adam did not instruct Noah to build the Ark. Noah needed his own revelation. Therefore the most important prophet, so far as you and I are concerned, is the one living in our day and age to whom the Lord is currently revealing his will for us." -Erza Taft Benson  Conference this last week was really good!  I think the Saturday sessions were better than the Sunday sessions.

We had only two investigators make it to conference this week which is not bad considering we had to watch it in a different barangay.  Sister Flordelisa this week is still doing great and passed her baptismal interview.  She will be baptized this Saturday!

This week other than conference was kind of boring.  Nothing much happened.  We've still just been trying to find new people but I think this area is the most I've ever been denied or ran from.

A little while ago I forgot to tell you that we ate dog.  I didn't know it was dog at first because they told me it was something else.  I ate a whole lot of it and then my body started to feel a little warmer than usual.  That's when I realized I probably ate dog because everyone here says when you eat dog your body kind of heats up a little bit.  They then told me it was dog.  They made sure it was a clean dog so I didn't get any worms from it.

 Well that's really it this week.  Love you guys!

E.Tribe

Holy Week

Nothing too crazy happened this week.  Just doing the same old same old.  We did have something pretty crazy happen to us the other night.  We just finished eating dinner at Nay Olga's house when it was about to hit curfew, so we took off and headed for home.  While walking I hear a gun go off and then all of a sudden I hear a bullet whiz right by our heads.  I kinda ducked and then freaked out at my companion for not doing anything.  He then told me he just thought someone was lighting off fireworks because he's never heard a gun go off before.  I then told him quickly what it was and we walked home really fast after that.  I don't think anyone was aiming to hit us.  They were probably just drunk and wanted to test out their new guns or something.  Either way we got home pretty fast that night.

The bagyo came this week but by the time it hit us we only really got rainstorms that weren't too bad.  It was good to actually get some rain this week to clean everything off because it's been stinking here pretty bad lately.

This week of course here in the Philippines is holy week.  This week, for the Catholics, is the week they remember Christ by taking days off where they can't cook or do anything really.  That made the work really good for us because everyone was home because basically the whole country is closed down.  We focused a lot of our teaching about prophets and about Christ's resurrection.  We made some new contacts this week but they all seem to be really busy.  We did meet this one new lady who seemed really interested.

This week's a good week to be a missionary.  To remember Christ a little more and learn about the resurrection and how many blessings have come into my life because of the atonement and resurrection of Jesus Christ.

Well nothing really else to write about.  Don't worry about me here I am doing fine. 

E.Tribe 

District conference and fasting week

Super busy week this week with everything we had to do.

On Tuesday we taught Nora about fasting for the first time and then asked her if she wanted to start a fast on Saturday night for her to know if the church is true.  She said she would do it and we also invited her to district conference on Sunday.  She went to District conference with us and we talked to her after.  She hasn't received a sure answer yet but she knows it might now come immediately but she's willing to wait.

I also went on splits this week with Elder Johnstun from Texas.  We worked in his area and had a really good time.  He's still pretty new in the area so we kept getting lost which kind of made it fun.  We ended up walking out in the bukid and contacting a part member family which was really awesome.

I had a leadership meeting at the mission home with all the other district leaders and Zone leaders.  It was a really good meeting and I think it'll help me for the future also.  I learned a lot about how God will sustain our righteous actions.  If we don't receive an answer from him immediately then walk by faith and not by sight.

Flor Delisa this week had her baptismal interview.  She came out of the interview pretty disappointed and told me that she wont be getting baptized on the 4th of April because of her coffee problem.  We made sure to go teach her that day so she would realize that to be baptized you have to be completely ready and even though she didn't pass she will still be baptized on the 18th of April if she can avoid coffee.

This was a good week and I'm going to send all the pictures right now hopefully that I wasn't able to send the last couple weeks.

Love you guys!

Elder Tribe  

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