Latests MTC e-mail, June 17, 2011

We received our weekly e-mail from Michael and he is still doing great.  He would love to hear from you!  The easiest way to write to him is through http://www.dearelder.com/.  If you go there to write, you just need to choose (for now) Provo MTC as his mission, then know that his PO Box is 178, his mission code is PHI MAN and that his estimated departure date is 0725.

Here is the latest:

Well hmm...don't really know what to say in this email to not sound too repetitve. So I'll say that this week has been sabrang maganda (idk on the spelling..)  It's been another good week. I got packages from you guys and grandma in consecutive days. Grandma beat you.  So I've got alllll kinds of juink food and sugar chillin on my desk. and I got a letter from Jakey this week!

 

Oh yeah! We got a new district this week! and the oldest district left on Monday. I was sorry to see them go because they were awesome guys but so pumped for a new district! So pumped in fact that me and 3 other guys in our district wanted to welcome them in a unique way.  We came back from dinner and their doors were open so we thought "what a great opportunity to welcome them."  So we proceeded to remove all 8 of their mattresses and place them in a closet we found to be unlocked to our surprise.  It woulda been great but one elder (not of the original people that did this) thought it would be funnier to lock the closet so we couldnt get back in, so he did when none of us were there.  So because of that the harmless prank was now potentially causing them to not have beds to sleep in.  But we found a guy to unlock the closet for us (he thought it was a hilarious idea too and called us "turkeys") and so we drug their beds out like it was Christmas.

 

So I'm lookin back at my jounal and on Monday something truly amazing happened! Well you see it was a regular gym period and I was ballin it up, you know how I do.  And the teams (decided by FTs) happened to end up being essentially bigs vs smalls.  So I am guarding Edler Wilde, I've played with him for a while and he's way cool. But anyways he's like 6'5"-ish idk exactly. and he gets a layup opportunity and from behind him I just jump and get up as high as I can and proceeded to block his shot.  It was awesome. Definitely got really excited and everyone laughed at me, but I was pumped! The end.

 

The language is still coming along really well.  Last night we had our TRC training thingy again and it was way awesome!  You first start with a 15 minute wika (language) task (everytime).  And this time we had to pick up our investigator from their home and take them to the bus stop and ride a bus to church with them and get to know them and follow up on committments and what not.  So Elder Smith and I picked him up and off we went.  Elder Smith is usually way good at Tagalog, but our investigator was talking so fast that he just went blank, but I followed along with the conversation almost flawlessly but obviously with limited vocabulary.  Even times where I would translate for Elder Smith and give him the opportunity to talk he just went blank.  I felt sorry for him but was really shocked at how much Tagalog I actually know and I know that if it wasn't for the spiritual help in learning the language I would be no where near where I am right now.  After the wika task we teach a lesson for 35 minutes and this time it was on the Plan of Salvation and Baptism. And we did way good on that too! Our "investigator" (RM who served in San Pablo, Philippines) was way complimentary of our teaching.  Now we just gotta figure it out in Tagalog.  We teach multiple times a week to a "progressing investigator" role played by our teacher and those lessons are almost solely Tagalog so its way tight and sick and dope dawg...haha. 

 

I don't think there's much else to say this week, kinda boring, sorry but awesome week nonetheless!

 

Mahal kita,

Elder (Michael) Gadberry

Why The Philippines???

Why the Philippines?

As I was putting away some of Michael's things, I came across a story that he ran out of time to share during his talk in church before he left.  When Michael first turned in his papers to go on a mission, a lot of people asked if he got to pick where he would serve, the answer is no (his mother didn't get to pick either, she would have opted for a much closer place). 

The following is an experience told in General Conference that explains how each missionary calling is divinely chosen for every missionary.  I'll try to summarize the experience told by Brother Rasband.  He was invited to join Elder Henry B. Eyring (a member of the Quorum of Twelve Apostles) as he made assignments for missionaries who had been recommended to serve.  Long story short, Elder Eyring would pray to know "perfectly" where each missionary should be called to serve and then went through each missionary, individually.  After studying the screen full of all the missions available throughout the world, he waited for the spirit to prompt him where the Lord wanted the individual to serve.  Several times Elder Eyring asked Brother Rasband where he felt the missionary should serve, after Brother Rasband gave an answer, Elder Eyring looked at him thoughtfully and said, "No, thats not it" and then continued to place the missionary where he felt prompted.  

As they were almost finished a certain missionary appeared on the screen, Brother Rasband had the strongest prompting that the missionary was to be assigned to Japan.  Elder Eyring again asked Brother Rasband where he felt this missionary should serve.  Tentatively and humbly he said, "Japan?"  Elder Eyring responded immediately, "Yes, let's go there."  This experience showed him (and us) that the Lord cares about each of the missionaries and knows them.  He "perfectly" knows where they need to go to serve the Lord. 

The entire talk can be found at :LDS.org - Ensign Article - The Divine Call of a Missionary Link: http://classic.lds.org/ldsorg/v/index.jsp?deNav=1&locale=0&sourceId=5de6b73f64838210VgnVCM100000176f620a____&vgnextoid=2354fccf2b7db010VgnVCM1000004d82620aRCRD

1st E-mail

Kumosta po kayo?! So far the MTC has been great I love it here so far.  Which I don't know may be kinda weird cuz a few of the missionaries are having more of a tough time adjusting to the new routine. The day I got here as soon as we got here we were immediately immersed in Tagalog.  We were taken to a room to watch orientation videos on computers and the teacher helping us only told us what to do in Tagalog so that was interesting.  And when our teachers teach us pretty much anything its only in Tagalog. So its a little overwhelming, but you know me, I'm like its whatever with everything so I'm not really stressing. The language is definitely interesting, I enjoy learning it but its not easy.  There are a few words in Tagalog that come from Spanish so I love when we come across words like that. Like my greeting is pronounced pretty much the same as Como esta? But its spelled that way and means the same thing.  

We've already learned a lot of the language. We're praying in Tagalog in class starting today for here on out which is crazy! My companion is Elder (Josh) Smith.  Our personalities are pretty different.  Like he's more of the quiet guy that likes to do things on his own/doesn't mind being alone, and I'm the athlete that likes to talk to everyone and be doing stuff a lot.  But he's awesome. We get along really well, and he is great at putting words to what you're trying to explain.  The other guys in our district are great too.  We have a lot of fun together especially learning Tagalog.  There's no one in our district that like I would not want to be companions with, they're all way cool.  One of them's from North Pole, Alaska...legit! Oh and one of the sisters in our district is from Aukland, New Zealand.  She's pretty quiet but seems pretty cool too.  

Two days ago we were learning like the most basic sentence structure and learning our testimonies.  Like what were saying was the most basic of things but when I said it I could still feel the Spirit testify to me of its truth and I thought that that was so cool! To know what I'm saying is true in another language that I don't know hardly at all, is way cool! 

I got a package from Sister Demers' mom the other day that was quite surprising but the goodies inside tasted good so I'm happy and so are some of the other guys in the district...haha. Well I guess I'll wrap this up.  I feel like its really long.  Kudos to Wesley Turner for being the first one to write me in the MTC, he's awesome.

Love,

Elder Gadberry

 

Alum ko na magpamahal po si Jesu Kristo et alum ko na totoo po ang Simbahan ni Jesu Kristo.

Saying good bye curbside at the MTC.

May 2011

Michael went into the Missionary Training Center (MTC) in Provo, Utah last week to begin his two years of missionary service.  He will train there until the end of July. When he will then move to somewhere in or near Manilla.  In order to keep everyone as up to date, as quickly as possible, we will try to update this blog often so you know what is happening as quickly as we do.  So far, we have received a couple of e-mails and a a letter.  Excerpts follow.  If you would like to write to him while he is in Provo, he would love to hear from you (And this means you!!), he says letters make a missionary's day. You can reach him until July 25th at:              ** Notice the slight change in the address **

Elder Michael Gadberry
MTC Mailbox #178
PHI-MAN 0725
2005 N. 900 E.
Provo, UT 84604-1793

We will publish pictures as we get them. Journey with us now as we embark on "Elder Michael Gadberry takes on Manilla"