On Tuesday, it was transfer day! Elder Aries was transferred :/ but Elder Calipes came into the district! He was in a town right next to me when I was in Luna and is such an awesome missionary! Later in the day, we worked with Elder Alvarez in his area. He has yet to get a new companion because he is going to be training a new missionary and will meet him on Friday! (More to come on that) but working with him as 3 instead of 2 was super fun. His area is pretty big as well so it was fun to wear down the soles of our shoes a little bit!
On Wednesday, we went to Candon in the morning for our District Meeting/ Zone Meet up! We met all of the new missionaries in the zone and had our district meeting as well. Every missionary is super nice and outgoing and the workshop in our meeting was about being accountable for what we do! It was really good, we all set goals for ourselves, and then told one another our goals so that we would be accountable for them, and also be able to receive help from one another. After the meeting we went back to Narvacan and started working! We were lucky enough to visit some of the families that we havent seen in a while and some really great members! Then a man who was selling ice cream stopped us to ask us questions about our Church. At first, it was a good conversation and his questions were deep and thought out! He was confused about the Book of Mormon and Joseph Smith, but when we offered him a Book of Mormon, he rejected the offer before he reads parts of the Book online! The only problem is that the online website is not a Church website, but a website that gives false information about the Book of Mormon, and also many other religions. We gave him our Number and hope that he will text or call us when he has time so that we can discuss the reality of the Book of Mormon, and the truth behind it! (His ice cream was also so delicious i might add). Later in the day we met with Mario! That man is a champion! He has skimmed over the entire Book of Mormon in just a month. He read each chapter heading and most of the verses in each Chapter and is now reading it through and through! He is such a great man and is so self reliant!
Thursday, the day of laughs in the face a failure! hahah here is what happened. Elder Scott and I planned to have a street display during the day where we could draw on a chalkboard the Plan of Salvation (LDS.ORG) and hand out pamphlets to anyone walking by! We first wanted to go directly in the middle of the bayan, but right as we got there we were told that the building behind us was a government building and that we should leave. We complied and went a little ways down the road to an open area where people were walking! We were only able to talk to about 4 people before this ambulance decided to park directly in front of us, cutting us off from the rest of the world! Elder Scott and I were both upset but also amused at the parking job of the ambulance in the middle of the street infront of us hahaha. No worries though we will find a new spot next week! Later in the day we met with the Vladez famiily at the church. I am so happy they like meeting at the church to have our discussions because the church is so quiet and spiritual. We talked about the Prophet and the Apostles, who they are, and how they became a leader in the Church. Brother Valdez and Sister Valdez are so attentive and humble. They are such a nice family and their kids are also so fun to be around! I am so thankful that I have met them here and everyone else and cant believe weve been here for 6 weeks now!
Friday was a long day but it was a good day! We started it off with some breakfast at Abra Miki, a delicious restaurant, before I went to San Fernando for a meeting! Elder Scott went with the missionaries in Santa Maria while he waited for Elder Alvarez to return from San Fernando with his new companion! Everyone in the bahay was in San Fernando on Friday except for Elder Scott, but he got the better end of the deal because he was able to teach and work the whole day! It was so fun to see the other missionaries in the Baguio Mission and to learn from our President about what we can do to help everyone else. President Bangal and the Assistants did an amazing job putting the meeting together, and once again, the Thurmans are doing great! I love them and hope for them the best. Thank you to those who sent a letter in the mail! After the meeting, I took the 3 hour trek back to Narvacan and was able to meet Elder Baliwas, the new member of the Narvacan bahay! He is from Laguna Philippines and is a hard working, fresh out of the MTC missionary! I love it! We got to talk for a little bit last night and I know they are going to have a good time with one another in their area.
On Saturday we started with a service project at the church! We cleaned the baptismal font and the Valdez family came as well! It was so cool to see them there and also to see them helping to clean the font. Brother Mike is set on being baptized on Christmas Eve! We are both super excited for him and so is his family who will be following his example in January! I thought the symbolism was really cool seeing Brother Valdez help clean the font. Just like baptism, we have to prepare ourselves-clean ourselves- through repentance. When we have accessed the Atonement of Jesus Christ, we come to know his power and his love that he has for each and every one of us. That is when we are able to take the next step in the Gospel and be baptized by someone who has the authority of God, as did John the Baptist. It really hit me just how important repentance is and how we meed to repent every day, because every day we are not perfect. I loved help clean the church earlier that day and am excited for the next coming weeks with all of the activities at the Church! After we cleaned, we went back to the house and got ready for the day! It was a pretty slow day but we ended up talking to the Fernandez family, members of the Church who live in Salt Lake now! They were in town visiting for the holidays and it was really nice to talk about the States for a little bit! I hope all of you are able to visit Temple Square and see the amazing lights and showings they have going on throughout this season. We also were running late for a discussion at the Valdez house later that night so we decided to take a short cut and run straight through a field! Luckily for us, its not planting season so there was no water in the field, just dried dirt!
Sunday was a great day to be alive! At Church we listened to Elder Baliwas give a testimony about the Church to the congregation. Elder Alvarez, Scott, and Baliwas are all so young in the mission and so am I but it is so fun to have brand new missionaries all in 1 ward! I was asked to give a talk and after Sacrament we had great classes taught by great teachers! After Church there was a parade through Narvacan for the fiesta here, so not one person was home! They were all in the bayan watching the parade hahah. At 5, we took a trip down to Candon to watch the Christmas Devotional Broadcast. If you havent seen it, please watch it! It was so so good, President Eyring of the First Presidency told a story about his family holding an activity each year in honor of the birth of our Savior, Jesus Christ. It struck a cord with me! I remember always holding a nativity scene in the Christmas Season with my family, where people played Joseph and Mary, Wise Men, Shepherds, and other parts just like President Eyrings story. I miss being able to be young and be a wise men in the nativity scene but I know that it is a tradition that I also want to keep with my family when that time comes! The devotional was so good and the Mormon Tabernacle Choir did an amazing job as usual. When we got back we planned for the upcoming week and had big grins on our faces becasue we are now on the countdown for Christmas! 13 days to go, maligayang pasko! Mahal Ko Kayo! Ingat,
Elder Pitt
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