Learning to Be a Better Companion -November 20, 2017

Magandang Araw sa inyong lahat!

This week went by pretty quickly, but it was a great week nonetheless. For the first time in my mission, our Lessons taught with a member present were more numerous than our Other lessons taught, which is a great measurement that we are really starting to work more effectively with the members. Our Recent Convert just received the Aaronic Priesthood and is anxiously waiting to baptize his daughter this Saturday, he's even been practicing the baptismal prayer to make sure he gets it right on the first try. I'm also happy to report that for the second week in a row the chapel was completely full for sacrament meeting, with 130+ attendance. We actually had to take more chairs from the classrooms because there simply weren't enough for everyone to sit on. We also completely finished both the bread and water for sacrament, which has never happened on my misison. It just shows the branch here in Camalaniugan is definitely getting stronger and stronger. We've witnessed great growth here and we are excited to continue seeing such growth.

My companionship with Elder Ronquillo is still strong. We had something happen this week where I was at fault. I kind of made a decision by myself that should have been counseled with him before executing said decision and afterwards he was definitely disappointed with me. However, we talked together and I understood my reasoning and also admitted my fault, where he forgave me. After that experience, I felt our companionship became much more firm than before. I really enjoy working with Elder Ronquillo, and I'm very grateful for his companionship. I will be sad to leave him when the time comes.

I'm still doing great. I'm so very grateful for the opportunity and privilige I have to serve the Lord as one of His missionaries. I'm so thankful for the conversions I'm able to experience and the power the gospel has to change and heal a person's heart. I continue to see my personal growth as a disciple of Christ, and even though I'm not perfect, I thank God that He has given me the ability and the chance to eventually become truly like Him.

That's really all for this week, I'll have pictures next week from the baptism!

Mahal ko kayong lahat!

Until next time!

Speaking Tagalog -November 13, 2017

Naimbag nga bigad kadagiti kabsatko,

This week was pretty good. We were able to have for Angel, the daughter of the Umbreros, interviewed for baptism this week and she passed, meaning we will be having another baptism in the upcoming weeks. Tatay Umbrero also passed his interview to receive the Aaronic priesthood, which he will be receiving next week. We are happy to report that the Umbrero Family are the first members of the church in their barangay and they are doing a great job extending invitations to others to listen to our message, and we were able to gain many new investigators in their area, with quite a few having very high potentials to progress.  The Umbreros are definitely the most converted people I have seen on my mission.  They love this gospel, they pay their tithing weekly, they changed their entire livelihood in order to follow the principles of the gospel.  Even other people have noticed how great of a change the gospel has played in their life. I'm so proud of them :)

Elder Ronquillo and I are doing great. We have made a goal to help Elder Ronquillo learn English, so we only speak in English when we are together. While we are with investigators and such, we speak Tagalog and/or Ilocano but I have already seen a great improvement in his speaking skills. We even pushed this goal to the other Elders in the apartment to help Elder Miñosa learn English as well. It's been pretty fun actually to notice that the two foreigners in the apartment tend to slip into Tagalog more than the two Filipinos do. 

This week was pretty great for me as well. After the successful exchanges I had with Elder Dillabaugh I was reinvigorated with the Spirit and had a lot more drive for the rest of the week. For some reason, I've been feeling pretty sleepy all of the time, even though I have been getting sufficient rest, but other than that I'm feeling great. I love this work and I love helping others come unto Christ.

Well, that's really it for this week.

Sa susunod ulit!

A Short Summary -November 7, 2017

Magandang araw sa inyong lahat!

So, this week wasn't anything too exciting, so I'm just going to give a little summary of what happened.

This week was pretty great. We were able to extend two baptismal dates this week, one of which is 100% sure and the other is very solid as well. We were able to work on building up our relationships with the members in our area. We had a couple of appointments fall through this week because people went out of town for the semester break, but we were also able to finish several lessons with one of our progressing student investigators who lives in our farther area.

Elder Ronquillo and I are doing great as a companionship. We have a great time working together and bouncing ideas off one another in order to overcome our weaknesses and how to better help our area. We don't argue and we enjoy our time together. I feel like we get along well. I don't have any problems with him.

I'm doing great as well. I love this work and I'm so proud of the progress I have seen in this zone. I love waking up each and every day knowing I will be serving the Lord and giving my all. I'm also grateful for all of the enthusiasm that the missionaries in this zone have shown in trying to improve themselves and accomplish the zone goals.

Our zone was the only zone to reach their baptismal goal this month, which was a pretty great accopmlishment!  I'm so proud of the work these missionaries have put in to help overcome the challenges in their areas and unite to accomplish our goal.  It's been great to be here as a zone leader, and I'm dreading the day when I get transferred out of this area.  I've been here for so long it will be hard to leave all of this behind.  However, the Lord has a plan for me and I know whatever will happen will be for my good.  Thankfully, there's still three weeks in the transfer cycle, so I've got a little time left here :)

Have a great week!

Mahal ko kayong lahat!