Week #93

July 25, 2016

Hello!!!!

This week in the Philippines memories are made (like always haha), companions are reunited, and I discover I have a parasite! :)

So yeah this week was CRAZY!! It went by so fast and so many things were going on! We started off on Monday by having a super fun FHE at a members house and we had some of our recent converts attend! For anyone that doesn't know what an FHE is, it's a program of sorts where a family gets together on Monday night and has activities, learns about Christ, and becomes more unified! You should try it! It was super awesome and we had a good time! My companion gave a cool message involving food and 1 Nephi 8:12. Read it and eat something delicious at the same time!!!

So on Wednesday and Thursday I had the opportunity to go on exchanges with Elder Rosit, the new AP. It was a super fun time! As we were out trying to find new investigators we "Maupay"d a house. That's what you do here when you go to someones house. You don't knock on a door or anything. You simply stand outside and yell "maupay" until they come out! Anyways we were essentially yelling at this house and this lady comes and and yells back that she doesn't want to listen to us because they are Christians. We then happily told her that we are Christians also and then she went back inside. Anyways it was a good laugh. But yeah "Mormons" are Christians.

So I was informed that I might have a parasite! For the past 4 or 5 weeks my body has been weird. I can eat very little amounts of food and if I eat to much I throw it all up and get the runs the next day! So I have been getting very skinny. The other day I weighed in at 160 pounds! That's crazy!! Anyways I think I am getting better now and I have been able to eat a little more over the past few day! haha

So yesterday was district conference in Borongan District! We had an area seventy preside and there was also a new district presidency called! We also had 6 investigators at church! It was such an amazing meeting and the spirit was so strong! I would like to add that I sang in the choir and we sounded like the Mormon Tabernacle Choir.

So my companion and I and a branch missionary had a very fun activity this past week while working. It involved putting bottles on our head and then using a home made slingshot to shoot them off! It was quite the trust building activity! I learned that I am not very good at shooting a slingshot but luckily I didn't hit anyone! haha

So this coming Saturday we will be having 2 baptisms! Martin Baguinon and Nikki Rivera are ready and their testimonies are so strong! They are both excited for their baptism as is the entire branch!

Well that's it for this week! Thank you for all your love and support! I love you all!
Elder Child

Pic 1 - Elder Child and Brother Louie
Pic 2 - with Martin and Raffy (a Branch missionary)
Pic 3 - with some Branch missionaries and Martin
Pic 4 - a cool quote
Pic 5 - before I got a haircut.  anyways please read this nanay's shirt.  hahahahahahahaha

 

Week #92

July 18, 2016

Hello!!!

This week in the Philippines devastation occurs, Borongan can't decide on its weather, and I get a new companion. 

So this was a pretty eventful week! On Monday Elder Rosit, my last companion, got a call from President Maurer and was informed that he is the New AP. So that was an exciting time! And then on Tuesday I got a new companion! Elder Tanginoa is his name and he is from Tonga. This is his last cycle in the mission so I will be killing his "mission life" so to speak. He is a very hard working missionary and such a good example of hard work and diligence! We are going hard here in Borongan and both enduring to the end! 

So we have an IBD that's super awesome! Her name is Realyn Olaso. So we have been teaching her for a solid 3 weeks now and we have seen so much progress and change take place in her life! But this past week we saw the biggest change. We went to go teach her yesterday and we taught her the principle of obedience to the commandments. We asked her how her obedience was and she suddenly confessed to us that she has broke the Word of Wisdom 3 times since we taught it to her. She told us that every time she has broken it she has felt worse and worse. Yesterday (Sunday) she said that she realized that the reason she felt bad every time she drank was because she new it couldn't solve her problems or help her in anyway. She told us that while she was sitting in church she felt the spirit testifying to her that she needed to change and that the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints is true. We asked what she needed to do to change and she told us immediately and with such conviction that it surprised me, that she needed to be baptized. The spirit was so strong during the lesson and I could feel it teaching all of us and testifying to us of the truthfulness of the gospel and the cleansing power of the atonement of Jesus Christ.

Also we received some devastating news this past week! Our investigator Martin Baguinon told us that he was moving to Dalores for work! (that's another area in our zone) But then we received an amazing text on Saturday night! He told us that he missed his friends and Borongan and the church here that he was going to move back! So that's pretty awesome!

Well that's pretty much it for this past week! We had lots of fun in the work and so much success! Borongan is amazing and I love the people here so much!!! Thanks for all the love and support!!

Elder Child
No pictures cause this computer just looks like a virus

Week #91

July 11, 2016

Hello!!!

This week in the Philippines conversion takes place, we have zone training meeting, and I walk inside of a massive unsubmerged coral reef!

So this week was full of adventures and miracles! We had so much fun and we have grown so close as a companionship! The area is really starting to progress and the members are helping us a lot in the work!
So on Tuesday we had ZTM. We gave a training on urgency and also on Preach My Gospel culture! During the meeting the spirit was so fun and we were all inspired to work harder and become the mission that we need to be!

So this week we were teaching the Law of Chastity to one of our investigators. I won't say their name cause yeah. Anyways as we were teaching we paused and asked him if he had any questions for us. He explained to us that as we had been teaching he had felt an immense guilt come upon him and he felt terrible for the things he had done in the past. He broke down crying and asked us "Can I be made clean?". It was an amazing opportunity to testify of the atonement of Jesus Christ and the importance of baptism! The spirit was so strong and he said he was ready to do whatever it took to be baptized. The following day we saw him and he said he was super excited to be baptized and even asked if we can move it to an earlier date! Such a miracle!

So we had an OYM last Sunday. In other words we talked to some random person on the street, introduced him to the Gospel of Jesus Christ, and organized an appointment! They guys name is Ian Gonzales and he is a miracle. Ian comes from a family where everyone has a different religion and he is confused where the truth is. He has attended many churches and is really searching for the truth. We taught him and as we were teaching he told us that he felt that this is the truth that he has been looking for. He told us "This is where I will change. I feel it." The spirit was so strong!

On Friday we got to go to Guiuan! We had some baptismal interviews that we had to do and then we found out that the only ride going back to Borongan was at 5pm. So we visited a massive coral reef the has been unsubmerged for a while now! It was super cool! I'll send picks some other day!

Well that's pretty much it for this week! Thank you for all you do! 
Elder Child

Week #90

July 4, 2016

Hello!

This week in the Philippines we get stuck twice, we travel a lot, and I walk through a rice field...

Well this week was quite an impressive week! We are both so tired of traveling and are looking forward to this week because we will only be traveling for 1 day. It's not fun having to travel to areas when you live in the biggest zone, land wise, in the entire mission. But it's been fun and we have seen a lot.

This past week we had a lot of stuff! We started off on Tuesday with MLC in Tacloban and that went until Wednesday! We talked a lot about how we should have a Preach My Gospel culture in the mission and also how there should be no -ites. For anyone that is not familiar with the Book of Mormon the civilizations are usually separated by a name and they put an -ites at the end of it. For example "Nephites". If you want to know who they are go find the Mormon missionaries. They will tell you. Anyways we layed a great emphasis on how in the Gospel of Jesus Christ there are no -ites. Meaning there is no discrimination or separation. We are one. So we are aiming for that in the mission too!

So yeah and then we were supposed to travel home on Wednesday but it just turns out that the biggest festival in all of region 8 was going on at the same time in downtown Tacloban, the Sangyaw Festival. So the only van company that provides rides to Borongan from Tacloban decided to shut down for the day. So we ended up staying the night in Tacloban again. 

So we had a pretty cool experience this past week! We had to go do some baptismal interviews in Dalores which happens to be Elder Clark's area! So when we got there we expected it to take about an hour and then we would be done! So we thought wrong! We ended up having to walk through like 2 kilometers of muddy rice fields to get to these peoples house because they couldn't make it to the church. So we finished at about 3 in the afternoon and then another curve ball hit us. There are no more rides going to Borongan from Dalores after 3pm. So we stayed there for the night!

Elder Rosit and I are doing great! We are seeing so much progression in Borongan and working our hardest!

We went caving this morning! It was the same cave I didn't make it too a couple weeks ago! Anyways I like the Filipino way of caving way more than the American way. You grab some 16 year old kid to guide you around inside so you don't get lost and then you are free to do what you want! This cave was massive! The biggest room we went into was about the size of an average LDS church in America! If you are not LDS and have never been inside one of the church buildings I encourage you to go! It'll be a great experience!

Well that's it for this week! Thanks for all the love and support!
Elder Child

 A forge in the Philippines:

lunch during MCL:

 MCL at the Mission Home:

 More from MCL:

 MCL break:

 just a funny shirt I saw some nanay wearing:

 old comps reunited (Elder Woolston):

 a triple pineapple:

 sisters taking selfies with my camera:

 my comp and I doing studies in the Mission Home:

 we had to go through this to get to a house of an investigator to interview her for baptism:

we went and explored a cave this morning.  this will be the only pic I send cause there are a million: