Two Weeks Worth

Wednesday, 7/9/14 - Temple Day/PDay

Yea, all's been great! We've had a lot of baptisms fall through, so I'm not sure we'll have anymore before I go home. But we for sure, we'll have a wedding on the 19th which I'm way stoked for. Which means I'll have a wedding, sealing, baptism all on my last transfer. It's a good way to end it. Just havin' a blast these last few weeks before I come home.

I've been so tired lately. This is the third pday in a row that I've gotten up at 3:00 am. Aahhh! I cant wait to come home and sleep! We always talk about that. Why are we also so freaking tired? Oh, duh! 'Cause we've been doing this for 2 years now.

Yup, no more fast Sundays, no more more zone meetings, which means I don't have anymore workshops, no more temple days. I just keep counting the last of everything. I hit my 2 year mark next week. Crazy huh? That's all members and the people we teach ask me, is about going home. We started planning out our final dinners and plans with our favorite people before I leave. We have another wedding on the 19th :) Hopefully this goes better than our last.

We got to meet the new mission president and his wife. They're way dope. I like them a lot, especially Sister Bertin. She's way down to earth. It's so it's nice to have them around.

I'm doing good. There's just a lot going on this transfer, so i'm just always tired. We've had some problems with one of our recent converts, so it's been a bit stressful lately, but we're doing great! I'm just trying to enjoy the last of everything,

Yea, did I not tell you? They pick us up early on the 29th. We have our last supper at the mission home and have our exit interviews with President Bertin. Then we get to go stay at a hotel in Manila for the night. I'm way stoked for that. There are lots of cool kids I get to go home with. There are like 25 of us all going home together. Some of my old comps Elder Jackson and Elder Mariano. Also Elder Johansson and Elder Vea and all of them. I'm not sure if you remember them but my batch is pretty dope. We all split up after we get to the states though, so I'm not sure who you'll get to meet.

Monday, 6/30/14 -- Fingerprinting

I'm doing way good health wise, and everything's great. I'm excited to come home and not be sweating 24/7 Haha! But today's been chill. We had to get up at 3:30 am so we could be at the mission home by 6. Our batch went down to the embassy in Manila to get our fingerprinting done so we can come home. My comp leaves a transfer after me, so he didn't come today.

Yea, the Sperry's are gone now and I gotta meet President Bertin this morning. He seems way chill. It's weird not having the Sperry's here, but it should be fun.

Love ya! See ya in exactly one month.

Changing of the Guard Coming Soon!

We're way excited about the work here. We've been doing tons of visits to new less actives that bishops told us about, and we actually got a few of them going back to church already. We got one, maybe two baptisms on Saturday and then we have a family getting sealed on Wednesday. As for that other wedding, it will either be this week or maybe next week, but probably next week though. Things have been way fun lately. We have just been havin' lots of good dinners with the members, getting referrals, new investies to teach, and some good baptism dates coming up. 

Our new mission president gets here on the 29th, so I'll see them on the 30th when my batch goes in to do our finger printing before we go home in only 37 days! I can't wait to see you all!

Love ya!

Final Transfer - I'm Stayin'!

Dad:

The new temple out here is in the more northern part. I've had like 3 comps that are from up in that area.

I think its funny that you and mom already saw pics of the wedding (on Facebook). Yea, it was way dope. The girl is our investigator and her husbands a less active. They're great though and we're baptizing the girl on the 28th. It's pretty exciting. We have another wedding next week for some less actives, and then a temple sealing for another family. We're pretty excited. I get to stay in this area until I go home. Weddings, sealings, and baptisms. It sounds like a good way to end things here.

Hey, how was Fathers Day? Keep an eye out for my letter. It's not much, but I just wanted to say Happy Father's Day.

The last transfer of the mission sounds good. My comp and I are staying here and we've got some big plans to go hard my last transfer. See ya in 43 days!

Love ya Dad!

Hey Mom,

I had my x-ray taken and I don't have TB! The new mission president will get here on the 29th, so I get to meet them a day after they get here. I get finger printed on the 30th for my visa. I will also get to see President and Sister Sperry one last time before they leave since we will have our Mission Leadership Council that week as well. The Sperry's are dope. I will miss them. I hope I can see them sometime when I get home. I'm stoked to see everyone when we get home and we're not missionaries anymore. It'll be cool to see what everyone's really like.

Hey, I gotta get going though. Sorry, no real update again. I told dad a lil'. I'm just never in the mood now since I'll see you guys next month anyways. I already gotta write to pres what we did and write in my journal. Ha! I'll tell you in person soon enough. But love ya mom! Thanks and I'll see ya in 43 days!

Love ya Mom!

Happy missionary companions and friend.

Last Zone Conference with President and Sister Sperry

Temple Day and X-rays Coming Soon!

Yea, Elder (Craig C) Christensen said a lot, but I don't know what you would like for me to share. He did say something that I've been thinking about. As LDS members, "we need to let others see and hear our testimonies". We've been focusing on a positive attitude with our zone, figuring out that same thing. How do we let people see our testimonies in us and see the Gospel of Jesus Christ.

Anyway, it's gettin' in to rainy season. It's been raining like everyday lately, but I just tell people that I go home next month, or I just count by p-days and say, "Only 6 left now!" Sounds good to me! It's crazy that this is the last week of transfers and then I'll start my last. I've been way freaking anxious wondering if i'll get transferred next week. I'll find out on Friday though.

Yea, I wish we could Skype for Father's Day. It's all good though. Yours will be even sicker cause I'll just be coming home instead.

Things are going way good here. We were supposed to have a baptism and wedding this Saturday, but our investigator has been super busy and stressed for this wedding. We haven't been able to teach her so we'll just do the wedding this week and the baptism a different week. I'm way excited for the wedding though. I love those! We have another returning less active getting married, on June 19th. That's a day after transfers, so I might miss it!

I'm way excited to come home, but i'm holding up good and still working and studying hard.

Love ya Mom and Dad!

Last Zone Meeting

(Note from Mom:  emails are getting shorter and shorter as we get closer to Elder Molnar's return.  He seems to still be focused on his mission and loving it.  We honestly have never heard him complain.  He prefers to keep the spiritual experiences close to his heart and promises to share more when he returns stating that it just doesn't feel right sharing stories through email. Mostly, he asks about school, registration and updates around the home. Not much to really share this week)

Hey Mom. Miss you! We had our last Zone Meeting with President and Sister Sperry. They gave us all goodbye hugs. It was a good warm up hug with Sister Sperry, gettin' ready to hug my mommy. Yup! Next month!!!

Dad -- What the heck? I want some gyros! Make sure mom makes me some when I get home as well as a nice Greek salad. Yea, we had our last Zone Interviews. It was crazy saying goodbye to the Sperrys. Hopefully you guys will get to meet them sometime. But yea dad, see ya next month!! Ya stoked? It is going by way fast.

We also had a dope Mission Tour. Elder Christensen from the Seventies came and spoke. Our area is doing great. I'm just getting anxious to see if I'm gonna transfer one last time or end here. Either way, guess it's all good.

Hope you're doing good! Love ya and see you in 56 days!

May 26, 2014

We saw a horse so you know we had a fun week!! We got wrecked by the rain the other day though. We were walking back from a lesson out in the fields and these huge clouds rolled over from the mountain and nailed us. We booked it to our next appointment all pathetic and drenched, but they saved us with some towels. We had a black out, or brown out as they say here, so we had a lil' candlelight lunch. Then it hailed too, like bigger than a quarter size. Ah, if only it were snow....

We had a way dope baptism though on Saturday. We have this family we've been teaching. The mom is inactive as in hasn't been to church in like 25 years and her husbands not a member, just their 13 year old daughter. But we baptized their 17 year old son and they all came. It was great! We've been teaching them every night for the past few weeks, so we've gotten way close with them. He gave a great testimony and broke down a bit. He's got a crazy past for a 17 year old and just talked about how after his girlfriend left him and took their kid from him, he wanted to fix things for his kid. So he started going to church with his sister and me and my last companion started teaching him. He quit smoking and drinking and now reads, prays and goes to church and plans on serving a mission. We fasted with him the other day and then took him out to eat at McDonald's afterwards. I am way stoked for that family.

We're having fun though. We keep having investigators show up that we've been teaching. We had the young man above and now 3 others. All 21 and all have gages and tats, but they all like rap. Two of them are artists so we get along well. Its way fun teaching kids our age, helping them to figure life out other than just being young wild and free.

But that's about our week. Only a few more of these reports left and I'll be home! Got flight plans and all! I'm so stoked. Love you!

Proposed Travel Itinerary for Elder Molnar Has Arrived!!!

May 19, 2014

What up Dad?

It was way good to see you guys over skype, too. Only 72 days though. I'm way stoked. Actually, things are going well here and the work's starting to pick up a bit. We have a baptism this week too, so we're pretty excited. It's this 17 year old kid, and he's way dope. It's funny because he's changed a lot over the past few weeks since he's been coming to church. He has stopped drinking and smoking, and no more problems with the law of chastity. He already has a kid though, but he and his girlfriend split up a while back. It's always funny. We're just like, how old are you man? You've got the problems of a 40 year old! He is way chill though, and we've been teaching him and his family, every day. His dad's not a member, but they're all way dope and we should be getting them soon, too. 

We also have another kid that we're teaching, who's way chill. He's 21 and it's cool teaching him cause we're the same age and he draws, likes rap, and has a girlfriend and stuff, so we can relate. His dad's the only member in that family and they own a resort. Also, his dad's an actor on TV, but he's way chill and his baptism is planned the end of June. 

We went to a new part in our area and tracted a bit, and met this one lady who's waaaay nice. She had some Mormon friends back in the day, but doesn't really want us to teach her. We talked her in to feeding us lunch though, so we went back and ate there and she went all out! Ahhh! Tons of real homemade lasagna, some pinoy food, egg rolls, and ahh just tons of good food.  

Also, can you share my week with mom this time? Thanks!

Love ya dad! See ya in 72 days!

Mother's Day 2014

Transfers

' Sup Dad?

Everything's going good here.Yea, when you are a District Leader, it's just you, but when you're a Zone Leader its you and your companion. But yea, I'm way bummed we have transfers tomorrow and and my comp is leaving me.

Skype on Saturday for me, Friday night for you. Mom will get an email of my flight plans before I do, so keep an eye out and let me know.

I hope all is going well. I'll keep this short so we still have stuff to talk about over Skype. I can't wait! Ah, I am way stoked.

Love ya Dad!

Mom,

Hey, I will shoot you a quick email tomorrow, with details for Skyping on Friday. I love you! Happy Cinco de Mayo!

April 27, 2014

Mom:

Just a short update for the week since I'm running out of time. We had a great baptism for the week for a sisters. It went really well. She told her conversion story at the baptism of how she and her husband used to fight and drink and smoke, and now how much better life is now that they're following Christ. Pretty cool. We also have another family who should be getting their paper work for their marriage this week, so we just got get brother to quit smoking and we can get them married and baptized.

Also, I heard all my investigators from my last area are getting baptized now too, so that's good to hear.

My birthday was pretty dope. My old ward mission leader from my last area came and worked with us. Then my companion pulled this whole, freak I gotta take go to the bathroom, lets go home real quick before our last appointment.  We got home and the other 4 elders in my zone all surprised me for my birthday. It was way fun. We had cake and played root beer pong with punishments of the bottom of the cups you have to do after you drink. 21st birthday. Check! 

All is going good! I cant wait to see you all soon via Skype! Love ya!

 

Hey Dad:

 

Nah, i havent gotten my flight plans yet but hopefully soon! How was park city? Ah, I miss that place so bad. P-days have been chill. We just went to that one waterfall last week and today we're at SM Mall in Fairview, my old area, where we went bowling as a zone. I'm still trying to find a nice place to Skype.

 

Our baptism went well. The lady we baptized, told her conversion story at her baptism and it was way dope to see her and her husbands change from chain smoking and drinking and always fighting to how much the gospel has blessed them. Love it.

 

Aight, love ya dad! Skype ya soon!

 

April 20, 2014

Only 100 Days!

Mom:

Hey, so just a quick update 'cause you already got a bunch of pics and stuff. We're doing good out here. It's only been a few days since I last wrote. We have a baptism on Saturday! Pretty exciting. We're baptizing the wife of this guy that got baptized last month. Sister was way easy. We've only been teaching her for about a month now, but she saw things with her husband when he was taught by the missionaries, and loves the Word of Wisdom so she was pretty easy to catch. :-)

I'll write more next week. Just enjoy the pics for now!

Love ya!

Dad:

haa nahh, he got sustained in sacrament and then had to go and never actually got ordained. So we're just having the same guy that baptized him, baptize his wife. It's kind of a bummer. but today we went to this waterfall. Way dope, except the water wasn't falling today, but it's still cool. I sent mom some pics. 

Yea, everyone's going home way soon. For the most part, we keep in touch, especially me, and Spencer, Taylor and Jesse. No worries, we'll make plans so we'll have some family time, friend time, and Brittany time and all that. I'm stoked to catch up with everyone again.

My area is like half city, half fields and stuff, but so hot all the time. Even with fans on us, we still wake up every morning sweaty. But its all good. It makes the cold shower feel better. I also sent mom a few pics of a part of my area. 

Yea, I'm down for a Saturday session of Conference. I've heard city creek has lots of new shops so I'm down. But freak, I miss moms cooking. We tried buying some salmon the other day and it just turned out like burnt french fries.

Pretty soon! Only 100 days!

Love ya dad!

April 16, 2014

Hey Mom!

Things are going good here. The first day I got here, we went to a recent converts house. His wife was talking that maybe she wanted to get baptized too so we've been teaching her and yup, she'll get baptized next week. we're hoping to help brother get the priesthood in time so he can baptize his wife, that'd be soooo dope. 

General Conference was really good. I think one of my favorite talks was President Uchtdorf's about having a good attitude in days of tribulation. Also, I liked the quote from priesthood session, "if you try to chase two rabbits, you won't catch either one." I've been pondering that as I've been thinking and praying about what I want to do for work when I get home.

I can't wait to Skype you on the 11th of May. We'll figure out plans for that soon. We might try to Skype at this one member's house. We finally got to teach him because the dad's the only one who's a member, but he was less active so we're helping him return. They're chill though. Their son's my age and we're trying to become friends with him so we can teach him. I felt like I was back at home when I went up to his room. It is covered with skate stuff and his artwork. He's going to school to study the fine arts and so I'm hoping that he might let us teach him since we've got a lot in common. but The dad that's a member is an "artista" as they call it, a TV star. That's his job and they also own a resort, so it should be a good place to Skype maybe.

Hey Dad,

Ya, I'll leave at the beginning of rainy season, but I should be fine because it doesn't get bad until the end of August. That's when all the big floods always hit.

The work here is okay. It'a a lot slower than my last zone, but things are slowly improving. There are 6 elders and 8 sisters in our zone, Montalban Zone, which also is hopefully my last area. But ya, we just had our temple day earlier today and things are going good. We have a baptism next week. I got my update letter, so once my batch turns those in, we can get our flight plans!

Well, that's it! Love ya! See ya in 105 days!

The Letter

'Sup Mom? I miss you!

It's just been super busy here with meetings, Mission Leadership Meeting, meeting with our Stake High Council, and with our Ward Mission Leader.. ha! We love meetings! But things are going good. We've been spending some time finding and tracting to get some new investigators. That was fun doing it in the bloody heat, but this week we're gonna try some member visits and get some referrals.

We got a new investigator yesterday, and we taught him after church and gave him a baptism date for May. It still blows me away with how interested college age kids are in our message. Back at home, all I ever thought about was music, girls and snowboarding, but he's pretty dope!

We had this family we met when we went over to this recent convert's house, and we ended up teaching them. I guess I missed part of the conversation when I was talking to their kids 'cause we taught the restoration and then I committed them to baptism, all feelin' way stoked! Then my comp started talking about referring them to the missionaries in their area. They don't even live in our mission! Ah, I was so bummed.

We do have one for sure baptism this next next week though. We're still doing way good out here.

But ya, I get my letter tomorrow. Pretty soon flight plans and well... I'll see ya in 114 days!

Love ya!


Hey Dad,

Ya, I'm down to hit up a General Conference session. We've only done one of those before. If we cn, I say we do like a Sunday session. But ya, since we're a day ahead of the states, we watch conference next week. We've been focusing on tracting and getting referrals from members to help get some new investigators going. It's way hot outside, so tracting during the day stinks, and no one wants you knocking on their door at night. But it's all good. We've got a couple new investies and we're hoping and praying for more.


I'll have to send some pics soon so you guys can see what things look like here. It's pretty dope! Lots of green and right by the mountains. I't nothing like the Utah mountains though. These are pretty small. We actually heard of a waterfall we want to go check out. Ha! But no worries. I don't plan on being stupid. I might as well wait 114 days so I can finish the mission.


Love ya Dad! Peace!

March 31, 2014 - Just Passed My 4 Months Left Day

Hey Mom!

So first week here in Montalban has been way chill. It's right at the base of the mountains, so we have some pretty scenery around us. I'll have to take some pics soon. Haha! Ah, I miss Utah mountains though.

We actually have a pretty nice house that we're staying in and at night I go jump rope on our lil' balcony and stare at the mountains. My new comp is way dope. He's from Davao, the southern part of the Philippines. It's just us two in the house, but we're having a blast. You'd be proud too. Our area's pretty small, so we don't spend much money for traveling. We just buy stuff to make real food....chicken and mashed potatoes, taco salad, pastas, etc.

The ward's way dope here too. The work isn't quite progressing as fast as my last area, but that's all good. We're going to look on finding new investigators and giving some bap dates. We'll for sure have at least one this transfer though. There's an older couple, and brother just got baptized last month so sister mentioned the other day that she wants to now, too. So, we're getting her taught and reading, and she's already coming to church. Also, we should have another couple too. We're just waiting on their marriage papers to get back so we can get them married and baptized, after we can help brother quit smoking. 

All is going well. I'm hoping this will be my last area, but I guess we'll see. My zone is a sister fest too, so uh, lucky us :) Ha! Its me and my comp, then our two district leaders, their companions and 8 sisters!

But ya, that's all for now. Love ya!

Sup dad!

I'm loving Montalban so far! It's making me so trunky. Our house is pretty nice. We actually have a shower, just cold water, but it's bloody hot here so that's fine. I go and jump rope on our balcony at night and just stare at the mountains. Ha! I miss Utah. we're not in the mountains at all but literally right at the base of them so that's chill. We also have part of our area in more provincey area, so it's been fun walking on dirt roads with some rice fields, trees and stuff. I'll take lots of pics soon and send them home sometime.

The works OK. It's not as great as my last area, but we'll get things going. We at least have one for sure baptism this transfer.  But yea, just passed my 4 months left day yesterday, so see ya in 3 months! 

Love ya Dad!

I can't wait for October sesh of General Conference! April's the last one in the mish!

March 25th - Transfers & Greek Independence

First off, I'm waaaay freaking jealous that you are going to have gyros for Greek Independence Day. I'm dying for some Greek food. Miss you mommy! They have these things called "shwarmas" here that I get a lot of that are way good, even though they made me sick once. But it's beef in a pita bread with cucumbers and sauce and stuff. Kinda like a gyro. We actually got some at a Persian restaurant the other day.. felt like such a traitor! I still love you Greece!

Today is my last day here in Fairview. I'm actually way bummed to leave here, but I'm going to be out closer to the mountains a bit so that should be fun. My new zone is Montalbon. My new comp is way dope. He used to skate, and growl for his band back in the day, so I hope your stoked to here my pig squeels when I'm singing in the shower back home. I'm going to have him teach me. Ha! Ha!

Yea, I'll miss this area. Our work has been so good lately. One of the families that we found and were teaching, are getting baptized next month. They gave me a book with pics of them and crayon colorings and stuff as my going away present. Ah, I'll miss everyone here. Everyone's doing really well. It's too bad that I'll miss out on the baptisms, but I guess that happens. I'm just glad I got to see them progress. I took pics with some people too. I'll have to send some so you can actually see the peeps we teach.

But yea, I'm doing well. Just enjoying my last 127 days in the mish.

Talk to ya next week. Love ya!

March 17, 2014

A lil update for the week, just a few highlights...

We did exchanges with one of the District Leaders in our zone, so I got to work with Elder Liu for a day. Haha! Just like the good ol' days when we were comps. We've just been going around our zone and going to different elders each day to do studies with them so we can get to know them better and see how they're doing. We've been kinda busy lately, so sadly I haven't been able to work out a whole lot. Ah oh well, I hope you all like fluffy pale missionaries for when I get home!

Our area's doing really well though. We got some good families we're teaching that are getting close to baptism. Hopefully, I'll still be here for it! But we have this one member family, and they referred us to brother's brother's family and we have been teaching them now. They came to church for the first time and should be set for baptism on April 26th. But it's cool cause now the family is all stoked about missionary work and referred another family to us that we've been teaching and now we're going over to teach sister's mom later tonight. The ward's been such a big help lately.

We met someone on the street the other night who turned out to be a member (inactive) and went to their house to teach them. It was my first time teaching them but I remember Elder Jackson talking about them. We talked to them for a bit. Brother was just bashing on us and the church saying we're just trying to get money and stuff and how he doesn't need to go to church because he can just pray and feel Jesus. So we just taught them the restoration. When we taught about Christ establishing his church on the earth, I remembered a part I like in Ephesians chapter 5 about how Christ loved the church and that he gave his life for it. So, i shared that to brother and then since we builds houses for a living I was like, so imagine you did all the work and spent all this money building a house for your kids, but nah they didn't want to live there even though you did all that just for them, how would you feel? Then brother kinda caught on to what I was saying. Then I asked how he thinks Christ feels when he gave his life so we could have a church here on the earth, but even though it's just down the street, you don't wanna go to it.. eh it went better in the lesson but it got to him. He said he liked what i said and said i was the best missionary that's ever taught him. Heh, guess the guilt trip worked.

That's good for now. I'll email again on Tuesday and let ya know if I'll be transferring on the 26th.

Love ya! See ya in 135 days!

March 10, 2014

Hey Mom:

That's dope the Horne's are getting ready to serve. Pretty soon, you two will be next! 

Ha! How do you know everything that goes on here? 

But ya things are going great here. But sadly looks like I wont be getting anymore baptisms before I leave if I transfer on March 26th, but that's chill. We have a lot of "for sure" one's coming up in April, so it's just nice to see the people I was actually here for, for all the finding and teaching process, get ready to be baptized, even if i'm not here for it. But we have 15 bap dates as of now. How many of those will go through? Ha! I dunno, but we just make sure all our investies have one as soon as possible. 

Umm what else?.. Oh, i'll actually probably just write you a normal letter about this soon, (sorry its been so long since I've written an actual letter), We we got caught up basically doing marriage counseling for this part member family we teach, when we went to teach the other day. We ended up talking with them for 3 hours but me and Elder Jarman make pretty good marriage counselors. Ha! Dr. Phil sta

But ya, we went and hiked river cat mountain again. love it. I'll have to send some more pics soon. 

Love you all!

March 3, 2014

Hey, so a little update about life here. It's only been a few days since I last emailed, but things are actually going pretty good here. We've been super busy with meetings lately as always, but still been able to average like 30 lessons a week and still been able to find lots of new investies. Our High Councilman invited us to come to the Ward Mission Leader Training last night to teach about the new and returning member forms we use to help get members ready for the temple. Our High Councilman is way sick!  I'm glad to have him around. We get to meet with him again this week. 

We saw quite a few miracles at our church attendance yesterday. We had this one investigator we teach, who we neeeeeeeever thought would go to church. You have no idea how long it took us to get her to even pray, and she came to church for the first time yesterday with her husband and daughter who are both members. Also, we had this one lady come who we taught yesterday but her husband is Iglesia Ni Cristo and she always questions Joseph Smith and stuff, even though she's a member. She came to church yesterday for the first time in 15 years. Pretty dope!

Also, I think I mentioned this already, but we have our one homeless investigator we teach, It's kinda fun! He actually is almost done with 2 Nephi now. It still blows my mind that he speaks fluent English. It's fun because we just sit on the side of the highway and teach him. I guess it helps the world to see what we do. We actually gave him a baptism date. We're wondering if we can get him a job at maybe a call center or something since he speaks English and help him get an apartment so he can shower and buy a change of clothes and come to church. I can see it happen. That'd be a dope story!

Ya, we're doing way good. We have like 11 investies with a baptism date and we have one that is still set for March 22, so hopefully that goes through so I can see one more in this area before I probably transfer.

 

It's summer here now and bloody hot everywhere. The only place that has air conditioning is our church and the mall.

 

Aight, well that's all. love you!

 

Hey Mom:

So sorry, I only have a few minutes before I gotta go so I can get lunch and get a facial. Ya! I've gotta start looking good 'cause I only have 5 months left!

But ya, it's been great lately. I'm pretty impressed with how hard we work for a couple of trunky missionaries going home way soon. But we've been teaching tons of lessons and finding tons of new people to teach. Just talking to everyone, especially when we see members talking to friends we don't know. We've just been working hard at getting people to church. We're doing better.  We  have 12 right now with a baptism date and only like 4 actually coming to church. But we should also have a couple weddings coming up soon too, so I hope I'm still here for that. 

I cant think of anything else. We had a dope referral we contacted from this member yesterday. This lady is around 40 and her friend's a member, so we started teaching her. We taught the whole restoration and gave her a baptism date for April 12th. I guess her friend talked to her about temple work because her husband passed away, so she's way stoked for us to keep teaching her and share about The Plan of Salvation. 

But that's about it. I'll write to ya next Monday! Love ya!

(these photos were sent last week)

Celebrating Valentine's Day

Stylin' Filippino Style!

Roasting hot dogs by candle light

Playin' with the spiders like the kids do

Check out her pants!

Service Project

February 11, 2014

Aight, so just a lil update before I head off to the SM to go suit shoppin'! I'm pulling out a lil money in a sec so don't be mad. Love you mom. Happy valentines day! Don't worry. You'll love my new suit. I'll look way good. 

This transfer's over so it looks like our bachelor pad is splittin' up. Ah, we've had so much fun, but ya Elder Jackson and Elder Loveland are both getting transferred, and the two missionaries replacing them are both American too. Haha! Our ward jokes that we're racists now. I haven't even been in the same house with a Pinoy for like 6 months now. At least it helps me diet. No rice! I gotta get rid of my love handles before I come home!

All is well.  It's been going good so far. This week was way busy, so we didn't have the best numbers but it was all good. We went to the mission home to get that slip notarized for UVU. We had a meeting with the Stake High Council and had to travel to go give the sisters a blessing 'cause they got sick. Our Stake High Councilman that we work with is way dope. He's doing a Ward Mission Leader Training this Sunday for the stake so that'll be a big help. He's also having us teach them about the new and returning member forms to help get less actives and recent converts ready for the temple.

Hmm what else. We have this waaay dope kid. He's like 23 and just hit his year of being a member, but hasn't been to church for the past 3 or 4 months because he's been busy with school and work.  But we got him back for the past few weeks. He's so sick. We had a way dope conversation with him as we taught deep doctrine of The Plan of Salvation about the three kingdoms. The spirit's always way strong when we teach him. Then he worked with us on Sunday and we had him teach that part of The Plan of Salvation to this couple we're teaching. He's sooo dope. We're gonna try get him on a mission. That's my goal for next transfer. 

But ya, I gotta get going so that's all for now. Write ya next week! Love ya!

 

'Sup dad! Ya dang I'm bummed Elder Jackson's gettin' transferred. Nah, we didn't get many new Zone Leaders this transfer, so my comps been it for a lil' while now. He actually goes home a transfer before me. But ya, I'm staying here in Fairview. So glad. Best zone yet. 

 

That's way good to hear you and mom read your scriptures. Never realized how big of a difference little things like that make till I see the changes in families here when they read them, heck even in our family too. Keep it up. Proud of you guys. Hey, we actually have Ward Conference on Sunday too!

But ya I'm doing great still. Still learning a lot and working hard. No worries. I'm studying Chapter 4 of PMG lately about listening to the spirit, so got that covered. Ha! Love ya dad! See ya in 24 weeks!

Only 5 More Fast Sundays!

Only 5 more Fast Sundays! But ya, we had a good week. We had Missionary Leadership Council (for the Zone Leaders and Sister Training Leaders). That's always good. Our zone is still killin' it lately in teaching lessons and getting people to church. So proud :*) Ahhh, but none of our investies came to church on Sunday. I hate people flakin' on us, but we've had some sick lessons this week and have given a lot more baptism dates lately, so things will change. It happens sometimes. 

I almost got attacked by a zombie! We were riding a jeepney and this guy, all dirty with a blank stare on his face drooling like crazy, started walking towards us with his arms all out, straight up zombie status. hahah we were laughing so hard. Drugs mess you up kids.  Don't do them!

What else?... We've been trompo-ing it up like mad. Gettin way good. It's these little tops these kids play with here. It's way fun. I bought a few for Cyrus and Aria.

We've had some way sick lessons lately. Even getting people to cry and everything. (except for us of course cause we're too manly) Haha!  Ya, feelin' the spirit! But, nah for reals. We actually have a few people we've been teaching in English. It feels more real when you bear testimony in your own language. It'll be cool to actually share the gospel when I get home too.

Haha, Dad there are 3 of us in our house going home the same day. That's ALL we talk about. But no worries. We're still enjoying ourselves out here. Ya, there are a lot of places to bowl here, so we do that a lot. And nah Dad, I've grown up a bit. No worries. I'm not gonna shave on the airplane so that when I walk off that plane, you can see my beard and see the man I've become. Haha! Ya, me and Taylor email every week.

 

Eh but, we gotta go. Bye! Love ya!

 

Approaching 6 Months Countdown Mark

Lil' update for the week!

We did really well this week. We were kind of busy with meetings and stuff, but were still were able to find some new people to teach and get a lot of lessons in. Our zone killed it this week in lessons. Lessons to investigators with a member present and lessons to recent converts and less actives, both those categories, went up by like 30 or 40. Elder Jackson and I also had a meeting with the Stake Presidency and High Council yesterday. We were able to talk about stuff and hopefully get the work progressing even better in these wards. President Sperry and his AP's also got to come too, so that was nice to be able to make plans and get help for the missionaries in this zone/stake. 

Also, we did exchanges with the AP's this week. I felt like I was in America for a bit, using a car. We even taught a lesson to this guy in English.One of the members referred us to his friend, and we had a really good lesson with him. He mentioned about when his wife was dying.  He prayed constantly, but God wasn't listening to his prayers. So we got to talk about how sometimes God has other plans for us, but that through his son, Jesus Christ and his atonement, he would be able to see and live with his wife again. It teared him up a bit, and the spirit was really strong. Love it!

I'm just trying not to get trunky. There are now 18 elders going home with my batch because Elder Jackson's batch is going home early for school. So now there are 3 of us in our house who go home on July 30th. I feel bad for Elder Loveland, the other elder in our house, who's only been out 3 months. 

But yup. I wrote down yesterday in my trunky journal hour by hour what will go down the day I get home! Ha, so excited. I still love it here, so don't worry, but missionaries who lie and say they never wanna come home are full of it. Haha! But ya for reals, the people are great here. Even the poor people that live in squaters, try to feed you when you come over even though they have no money. They're always willing to help us "joes" find where we're going.

Ha, but ya Dad, I love fly fishing so I'm down!

Aight, but love ya! 

 

 

18 Month Mark!

January 20, 2014

Happy only 190 days left! 

 

It's been such a trunky fest out here. Right now I'm sitting in SJDM, the second area I was assigned to. We got permission to come out and buy souvenirs for everyone before we come home. It's been way fun and I dropped like 2000 pesos just barely. Hope you all like your gifts!

 

Things have been good. I'm not sure what happened, but we got punted like crazy this week, but the lessons we did get in were good. We had probably my favorite Family Home Evening that I've had yet yesterday.  I  swear, I fell into a Narnia hole and landed back in America for a bit. They all speak English over there and they're way dope, and rich so their house looks like an American one. It was way fun!  We had pasta, FHE, games and the mom had a whole lesson prepared for her kids. Usually we have to do everything at FHE's.  We're trying to get on their good side because the dad isn't a member and we want to teach him. He seems way chill, but just very shy.

 

We had zone conference this past Wednesday and it was good. Elder Jackson and I gave a workshop on "Listening with Spiritual Ears".  President Sperry gave a way good workshop about the Godhead and everything. It was soooooo good. Love that man!

 

Also, our ward did a little "Mini MTC", so that was fun. Too bad only 3 people showed up, but it was fun. We just taught a lesson and then they all came out and worked with us for a bit. Then later that night, we had our Area Broadcast for the Philippines to review our success from last year and set goals for 2014.

 

All's been going great, still. See ya soon! 

 

Love ya!

January 13, 2014

What up? Just a short email this week... ha well I guess they're always pretty short. I gotta hit you with some pictures from the last few weeks: New Year's pics and from last pday when we went to the only beach in our mission, Novotas Beach. Ah, so beautiful, haha! I'll send pics.

This week has been good. Zone Leader life is pretty chill. We had what we call Missionary Leader Training, which we do every month, so that's always fun -- gettin' to see everyone. Elder Jackson and I started going to different missionaries houses to do studies in the morning, just to get to know everyone better and help them out. It's been fun. 

The work is goin' good too. Pretty much everyone we teach is a part member family. But noooooooooo, ah so bummed. We have this dope little fam we're teaching and they just had their first kid, so they just moved. We we're supposed to baptize the guy next week. Ahh, he was way dope too. Oh well, they said they're gonna continue the lessons in their new ward, but aw... bummer. But we should have a few more baptism dates soon. 

I'm just doing my best to stay focused. I got my trunky journal going with all my plans for post mish, movies to see, things to do. I'm way excited, but I'm still loving it out here, so don't worry. It goes by way too fast, so I'm just enjoying it while I can. That's all for now, 'cause I have to send the pix.

Love ya!

Novotas Beach -- It's NOT Huntington (as in Huntington Beach, CA)