How is everyone doing? Thank you for the emails and also for all of the prayers. This week was as terrific as could be here in Narvacan! After emailing and getting groceries on Monday, we opened up the Church here to hold a tour of the Church! The Valdez family wanted to tour in order for them all to see each room, the sacrament room, and the baptisml font as well! It was a really fun time, and Brother Rambo, and his wife Sister Jo-Anne came as well! They are about the same age as Brother Mike and Sister Jeralyn and both sisters are from the same part of the Philippines so they met, found out where eachother was from, and then I couldnt understand the rest because they started speaking a different dialouge! It was sweet! Both Brother Ram and Mike, and Sister Jo-an and Jeralyn talked for about 45 minutes to one another and were so excited they knew people their same age here in Narvacan! After the tour, we were able to teach in the Church and talk about the power of God. His authority, the Priesthood. We asked them if they would prepare themselves to be baptized on December 31, New Years Eve..... Brother Mike asked me why it couldnt be earlier! It was so funny and awesome to hear the eagerness in his voice! I will get to them more later in this email as well!
On Tuesday we walked walked walked again, my shoes are strarting to show some signs of weaknesses, which means I must be doing right eh? We were able to visit Jeric and his family, some other members of the Church, and at night we met with the Valdez family, at the Ruiz household for dinner and a discussion! We discussed the Plan of Salvation, and what it truly means, why it is so important, and how we can follow the plan every single day. Brother Valdez told us it was as if he already had known this plan and had forgotten it. The Spirit was so strong listening to them talk, ask questions, and while Brother Ram and Sister Joan taught. They are so nice and smart when it comes to the Gospel. It was such a good lesson and both Jamaica and Kristine are starting to become way more outgoing, which is so much fun!
On Wednesday at our District Meeting, we had Elder Wenceslao give us advice for our missions seeing how he just left a couple hours ago to go to San Fernando in order to go home! Tapos na! He talked about Pride, Humility, and how to erase the first by obtaining the latter. After he talked, Elder Aries gave a workshop on Humilty: A Christlike Attribute. We all set goals to help one another erase the pride that everyone of us has in our lives. I am thankful for the reality check and also for the oppurtunity to be able and repent because of pride, through the Atonement of Jesus Christ. After District Meeting Elder Aries and I went on exchanges, Elder Dela Puerta was with Eldere Scott! Elder Aries is hilarious. Theres no other word to describe him. Every sentence you hear him say, you are waiting with a smile on your face because you know you are going to laugh at his joke! We visited the Valdez Family while on our walking walking walking journey so that Elder Aries could introduce himself. I came to find out the Whitney and Sister Valdez are friends on Facebook now! Hahaha and Kristine was so so hyper! I dont think ive heard more than 7 or 8 words from her in one setting, but that day it was like she was me when I was a kid, always talking! haha it was fun though, shes super cute and funny! After we visited them and walked walked walked we arrived at the Maaghop family, they wanted to set a Family HHome Evening with us ever since some of the members talked about it at Church last sunday! We planned it for Thursday, and after about 20 minutes of talking to Elder Aries, Sister Maaghop invited him and all of the Elders from Santa Maria to eat as well! Hes got a gift, I asked him how he does it and his response was that when there is food on the line, he doesnt even know what happens, his inner stomach starts talking and BAM! Dinner the next day! Being able to work with Elder Aries was really fun and I learned a lot while we taught. I love seeing the ideas and thoughts of others throughout our discussions. Elder Aries truly has a gift of being able to connect with someone no matter what age or who they are. Laughter truly is the medicine for any sickness!
Thursday! Decemeber! Oh Christmas tree oh Christmass tree!!!!
I am so excited for December!!!
This morning to kick of the hottest December of my life, we played basketball in the morning before studies! Brother Valdez and others including Jeric also came to play! Both we super good at basketball as well, it felt like I was back in the gym playing with the old guys in Washington, this time they were just all shorter than me rather than all taller than me! (Besides you Will Wang!! haha) After playing and going to Santa Maria to get our companions back, Elder Scott and I planned for our week next week and then we started to clean! We have a day every month and a half where you deep clean the entire house! Every little spot is cleaned and yes at the beginning it is not fun, but by the end it felt so good to have a super clean house! Once we were finished we went to work! TThe Elders from Santa Maria came to the house, and we all went together to the Maaghops for Family Home Evening! I wasnt sure if they totally understood there were 8 men who were always walking, and always hungry, coming to their house for dinner, but when we got there, boy were they prepared! We had Adobo, Sisig, and Milkfish! Brother Robert and Armon, the fathers, even built a table on their lunch break from work to be able to eat together. They are such a nice family. All 8 of us Elders sang hymns for them and we all read from the Book of Mormon as well. 2 Nephi 32:3.
After the FHE ended, we got back to the house, grabbed all of our clothes, and started on our trip to the Christmas Conference! The District went to Bacnotan, close to San Fernando, and Elder Scott and I went all the way to the office. We got there at about 11:30 - 12 ish, and when we got there Elder Smith and Elder Richardson were still awake planning the conference! Elder Smith and I ended up talking/planning/discussing about life, missionary work, and everything else. Ha gave me some really good insights and thanked me for mine, it was super good to just be able to listen to someone with so much knowledge, and also to be able and pitch ideas! Elder Smith played rugby at BYU before his mission so we also talked about that and one of the guys I knew before the mission that played rugby with Elder Smith! Small world!
Friday was our Christmas Conference and it was amazing. I cant explain how fun, inspiring, and close everyone came to one another, but I will try my best to type down everything that happened! From whatever time missionaries arrived, until 8:45 am we had free time to talk to one another, take pictures, and catch up with old companions and others! Everyone was there so so early in order to see one another! I saw Elder Mereki! Elder Waite, Sister Brown, Sister Ribwaii! And others from my batch! Man I missed them all! They are all so good at Tagalog as well! I dont think any of us ever thought we'd be able to talk to one another in Tagalog back when we were in the MTC hahah! After, we had a devotional given by Elder Boone,a senior missionary from Arizona. He knows so much about fmaily history, and history of the Church. He is so intelligent. He talked to us about Christ, and what it means to have his name next to our name on our missionary nametag. It was a beautiful devotional and helped everyone really understand the purpose of this work. To help others come closer to their Savior. Once we ended the devotional, we went to the gym area to watch all of the different Zone Presentations! Each zone had created a presentation for the Mission. They were all so great! I loved the presentations and was asked to be the MC so you already know I had hundreds of dad jokes ready to go! I think my favorite, and the crowds least favorite was "Where do LDS cows go to college?.... BYMOO!" Man I still got it! Hahah All of the Zones had awesome presentations! I wish I was able to send long videos because they were great! For our zones presentation, we had a little man skit, where two of the elders used the little man blanket all about missionary work! Others had "12 days of Baguio Mission" and tons of different presentations! The Kiribati Elders and Sisters performed a cultural dance and song! Elder Mereki killed it and it made me miss all of their songs and dances in the MTC! After they were done, all of the Poly Elders, with the help of the Baguio Zone performed the Haka. It was really cool to see the reactions of the missionaries who never knew what a haka was before and to experience the power that the Elders created with their emotion. After we presented, we ate! We had so much food! The diet starts tomorrow right?? haha lechon baboy, rice rice rice, gulay, and much more! While we ate we watched a video that missionaries had put together and then we were blessed to watch a movie! President decided to choose the Pursuit of Happyness. I was so so happy he chose that movie. Will Smith, An underdog story, and inspirational quotes.. What could be better!? There were also a bunch of things I learned while watching the movie as well that I had never noticed before!
Once we finished the movie, all of the Missionaries that are finishing their mission this week shared with us their testimonies before they left. I loved being able to hear about the experiences of those who are already done with their mission and I couldnt help but think that I dont want that day to come! The mission is the best thing someone can do and it creates a new person when you allow it. I am so thankful I will be able to celebrate Christmas and all of 2017 here in the Philippines. After the missionaries gave their testimony, we heard from President Bnagal about this season of giving and then we got back on the road to get to our area! We arrived around 11 and went straight to bed haha.
Saturday was back on the grind and it was so good to be able and work outside again walking walking walking!Before we started our time outside, we celebrated Elder Alvarez's Birthday! Elder Wenceslao wont be here for his birthday which means we just had to celebrate it with cake and ice cream before he left.. And we will have to celebrate it again on his actual birthday Dec.8! He was super excited and really happy. I loved the look on his face when he saw the baloons and candles! During our day on Saturday we met with some members of the ward that we hadnt seen in a while and also others that we have been having discussions with! At night, the Lardizabal family invited us over for dinner! They were baptized last December and are planning to be married in the temple this summer! I am so happy for them!
Then came Sunday, And every other day compared to it lost because Sunday is the best day of the week. We were blessed on this Sabbath Day. We have been praying really hard for our investigators to come to church and be able to worship and give thanks to our Heavenly Father with us. The Maaghops, Valdez's and Alafriz's all came. Almost every single family was there. And there were so many people who were there as well to welcome them in. All of the kids have a blast in Sunday School which makes me miss Sunday School with Kelsey and Emily even more back when I was a kid! Church was so good as well. The testimonies shared, and classes were very strong in Spirit and everyone seemed to be having a good time. Even Brother Mario came, his foot is almost completely healed and he will be skipping and jumping around in no time! After church, we studied and I was able to read about the Sons of Mosiah, in the Book of Mormon. (Alma Chapter 17-27) They were all missionaries, and not just for 2 years... but for 14 years! Think about that, bye bye golden years am I right? haha that is insane! I have so much respect for the Sons of Mosiah, who, if you read those chapters, you will find that their missions were not easy ones. But some of the hardest. The faith they had is amazing and astonishing. I wish I was able to serve a 14 year mission! After we studied we went out to work, we ended up going back to the Church to teach the Valdez family! The Church is the best place to be and it also has A/C so Elder Scott loves it there! They are such an amazing family and are so nice. Their joy they bring with them everywhere is so cool to see. And their kids are the best! Prince, their son, loves playing the piano even at his young age he knows how to play the second hymn in the LDS hymnbook, the Spirit of God! (with my help or Elder Alvarez!) Once we were done with the discussion we all went to the David family household for a dinner in honor of Elder Wenceslao! A lot of members were there and had so many good words for Elder Wenceslao, which he deserves. He is so humble and caring. Not to mention patient and loving. I am going to miss him so much! When we got back to the house he had some presents from Santa Clause waiting for him! He wasnt going to be here for Christmas so Santa took a 30 minutes lunch break and stopped by earlier for him! Thanks Santa!
This week was one of my favorites. We learned so much from our investigators, members, fellow missionaries, and mission leaders. I am so grateful for this opportunity that I have to be a missionary here and to meet such amazing people. I hope you all have a great start to December and Christmas! I love you all and am so happy that you endure these long emails! Have a great week!
-- Elder Wen!
The Valdez Family!
Elder Mereki at the Christmas Conference!
Happy Birthday Elder Alvarez!
Elder Pitt
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