TRANSFER (Week 43, San Jose del Monte, Bulacan, Elder Arandia)

TEN MONTHS IN THE PHILIPPINES! wow! crazy how time flies when you are loving the work and just having so much fun helping others. So this is a pretty crazy week! i found out that i am getting transferred to a new area!

That's good news and bad news because the change is always fun and i found out that i will get a new companion Elder Bromley who is one of my good friends when i first came here! he has no smell or taste! crazy! but we are going to have so much fun! when we see each other again it will be awesome and some crazy american fun in the philippines haha.

Sad news is that our investigators Jyyy, JyyyR and Kyyyy are getting baptized this Saturday and we are gonna miss their baptisms but it is okay because i am so grateful for the opportunity that i had to teach them and help them come unto Christ.

This week i have felt the love of Christ so much. Yesterday we created this workshop to present in the ward to have the members give referrals or names of their firends to be taught and we talked about the Atonement and after watched the Because of Him video and i felt Spirit so strong.

I had other experiences as we were teaching the Plan of Salvation to Jyyyya and we noticed that she was getting sleepy in the lesson and kind of stopped paying attention and when i noticed that it I don't know something came into me and i just started testifying and asking her questions and relating the plan to her life and as i was doing this i just felt the Spirit so strong!

Honestly i just love this work and i love being able to testify and show people the way to follow Christ. I love my Savior so much and the work is the best. So many times i think how i just never want to stop being a missionary! so many are in need of coming to know the Savior! I will try to get more details in next week for all of you about my new area! bye love you all!

Elder Wright

Untitled (Week 42, San Juan del Monte, Bulacan, Elder Arandia)

So this week was a busy but a different busy, that is for sure! We got two elders transferred that we share an area with and they are Elder Connell and Elder Ho. One is from Australia and the other is from Hong Kong []. I had to learn that!

I took some time to help out Elder Connell learn the area and showed him to some recent converts and members in his area

Before they came with the other Elders there were no strict boundaries so we had some investigators in there area and they happened to be the ones who are getting baptized and i thought that we were going to lose them because the new elders wanted to create strict boundaries. let me tell you that had me sad to possibly lose them but thankfully we made the boundaries so we could still keep the areas we had been working in and everything worked out great which had me happy because i have love my investigators and was afraid to lose them. 

Not much happened this week because we were kept pretty busy but the other day we had got rained on pretty hard which was crazy! even if you have umbrellas it doesnt keep you completely dry. my legs got pretty wet and i had wet socks for the rest of my day which is always fun! but actually its always the best feeling to take of soaked socks hahaha i dont know why i wrote that but it's just the truth and hey you gotta see the good even in the ugly. like the joy in taking off soaked socks.

I am so excited for one investigator especiallly, JxxRxxx he has become more and more active and has desires to serve a mission! i love it and they are reading the Book of Mormon and it truly is amazing see them come unto Christ!

I am so happy here! i love this work and i love my Savior and i love you all!

Training is Done! (Week 41, San Jose del Monte, Bulucan, Elder Arandia)

My son's training is done! but hes still with me for a few weeks before he goes to the missionary training center for the first time! crazy hahaha he's already been in the field and then will go there and come back! but that means i will get a new companion in a bit. but in the mean time, Elder Arandia is just doing great. i have even seen changes in him. His desires to do the right and to be obedient are growing more and more and as a teacher, he is becoming more firm in knowing the doctrine and with how to teach. He is doing great! The other day he told me that he was grateful to have me as a companion because one thing he really learned was the importance of being obedient. it is just so fun being a trainer and I just love my companion, he is a great missionary and has great potential. His love for the people has grown a lot more. He has learned more about having a true love for those we teach and i am proud of him and for his hard work. I cant wait to keep helping and teaching him and working with him, even with the little time we have left.

but anyway random thought! Bugs are just everywhere here. this apartment or house is good but still there seems to always be bugs. we almost always have a long trail of ants which im not the most fond of and after it rains i seem to almost always find big black slugs somehow creep into our house which means i have to grab them and throw them outside which makes the guard dogs we have bark and flip out because they think i am gonna give them food.

also i hope you all take a look at those cave photos! we had a fun time earlier and i loved seeing a monkey in the wild for the first time!

Our area is doing great and we are seeing more success than we did in the past and we have been blessed by the Lord for our efforts. The other day we had a powerful plan of salvation lesson to our investigators Nyyy, Jxxxand Jyyyyy who are cousins/siblings of our investigators who are getting baptized (jyyyy, jxxr and kyy) and it was powerful because of the spirit prompting me to share a parable of the ten virgins to those we were teaching and it seemed to pierce into them as i tied it to preparing to meet God by accepting the Gospel so at the last day we can gladly say we know Him and followed Him. Our duty is to help others come unto this knowledge and i am grateful for the opportunity everyday to help others come to truly know Christ and how to follow him. i love this work and i love you all. i hope you are well and working to come unto christ and help others come unto him. if you do that you will be blessed and i say these things in the name of jesus christ amen.

IT HAS BEEN SO HOT! (Week 40, San Jose del Monte, Bulucan, Elder Arandia)

I dont know how to start this email but all i can say is i had a good week! I am so happy and doing good! i think we will just dive right in with the week of Elder Wright! WOW IT JUST STARTED RAINING! YES IT HAS BEEN SO HOT! i have been sweating like a saddled up horse everyday! wow there is now lightning and thunder...sweet! so that pretty much just made my day even better...sorry now we will talk about my week.

We had a family home evening at a members house and played games where everytime we lost we got covered in lipstick! crazy but that is just the way the cookie crumbles here. just laughing at each other

I dont know if you guys remember our investigator who was muslim and then we taught him and then hes not really muslim anymore and his family are members. we visited him and he is still pretty scared to progress or make any next steps but we are planning on getting him to read the Book of Mormon. he actually enjoys us coming over and asked where we were last week so thats a good sign! We taught Jyyyyyy agian and had taught about faith and repentance again and we had a good lesson. the problem is, is that she is not following our invitations so she is not making much progress, it is sad because she keeps getting her baptismal date delayed and she is going to be serving abroad. 

We are trying to get more member referrals so we talked with Sister Byyyoliche, she is a recent return back from being less active and has a strong testimony so we challenged her to do missionary work and with her neighbors we talked to and we actually had a good family home evening with them! They are bxxxxxenito and Ryyyyyosa myyyyae. bxxxxenito is shy but Ryyyyosa mae was very open about how she has tried so many religions and felt they were lacking something but still hasnt tried our church. We shared an object lesson about the atonement and invited to church and they came! Elder arandia and i were so happy! We also met this one lady Dyyyyel who is iglesia ni cristo. we really tried to gain her trust and we ended up giving her a book of mormon and things to read in there about Christ! we visited them yesterday and her husband was there and was at first almost hesitant or not too interested but then invited us over as i didnt try to share everything with him but listened to him and was guiding to know how to help him by the Spirit. Her husband's name is Exxxxxfrin and is catholic but doesnt go to church.

We had a zone conference this week that talked a lot about the Spirit and recognizing and following the Spirit! it definitely inspired me to do everything i can to better follow the Spirit and listen to the voice of the Lord speak to me. especially as i notice that i continually need his love and guidance in my life.

Our investigators Jyyyyyana, Jxxxxxr and Kyyyyyyim who have baptismal dates are getting closer and closer to coming unto Christ. Last sunday they came to church for the first time dressed up and they also came with two other members of their family who have great potential also to be baptized. They are Nyyyyica and Jxxxxxeff, according to Sister Dyyye Lyyyyyeon (their member friend) they have not been drinking since they met us and it is so wonderful to see the changes they are all making. Jyyyyana Jxxxxr and Kyyyyim have been reading the Book of Mormon and seem to enjoy more reading from it. JxxxxR has also been talking about how he wants to serve a mission and just thinking about it fills me with so much happiness knowing what great things are in store for them. The Lord really does have his hand in this work and i know that if you all as members support and reach out to your friends and share them the Gospel that there will be more converting and coming unto Christ and you will be blessed because of your efforts to serve the Lord. 

i love you all and say these things in the name of Jesus Christ, amen.

zone conference with the batch mates elders lowery, lougee and brown

investigators cyyyylarish and kyyyyyim and then member Ryyyyein

Family home evening games get crazy

i made the best chicken curry...no there are no artificial flavors i am that good