 |
| May 25, 2012 |
Saturday, June 9, 2012
May 25, 2012 E-mail!
It's time for everyone's favorite time of the week!
It's time to pick-apart my parents salutation of their email to me! haha So this week they put "Our Dearest, Most Wonderful Elder." Now in my so very humble opinion....that's a bit much. And do I detect a hint of sarcasm?? ....I think so! hahaha Okay maybe I should stop dissecting their emails like that and just accept them for who they are....pretty much the most awesome parents ever! (Yes, I did write that, that is not an edit from my parents. I'd initial beside the statement to prove its validity but unfortunately G-Mail hasn't invented that feature. . . . .yet. haha).
So it's been another great week! As Elder Pugmire astutely pointed out earlier today, we haven't really been in the office that much this week..haha So it's been a kinda weird, not terribly busy but kinda busy but awesome week all in all. Let's open the floor for questions, shall we?
Q: Have you been able to extend the invitation to be baptized to Brother Palma?
A: No, =(. He's working more often (good), but because of that we don't really get to visit him too often (bad). We had the best idea to take Ponce with us to visit Palma. Considering Ponce used to be a missionary, needs to get out of the house, needs to re-strengthen his testimony, and has a life story pretty similar to Palma's. So last night we took him with us to visit Palma, but it turns out that he had to work, so we'll probably try to visit him again Sunday or early next week, we'll see.
Q: So did you have the mission conference with Elder Nelson?
A: Sure did! Did you know that guy's eighty-eight! #crazy! But it was awesome! And now I'm sure you're all dyinggg to hear all about it! Good! Cuz I took, four pages of notes on it! (cut me some slack, my notebook is only like a third of a regular notebook) But it was a great conference! Elder and Sister Ardern were there as well and spoke to us to, so it was great! Sister Ardern gave us the suggestion to personalize Moses 1:39 and switch out "men" for our own name, and that really brings more personal meaning to the already awesome verse! #GiveItAShot.
Elder Ardern encouraged us to reflect and ponder often on why we are here. And he even said each night we should evaluate ourselves and ask ourselves, "How have I done today at doing what I've been called to do?" I generally try to do that, and it's always been a great experience to recognize both the successes and shortcomings I experience each and every day. Elder Nelson's part of it was really cool as well. He got up and said (essentially), "Now I've been trying to figure out what I can do to best help you guys. You guys don't need to hear another speech..." So essentially what we did was he had volunteers come up and he'd ask them a question, ask them to do something, or ask them to explain a doctrine or anything like that and he'd evaluate and teach us how he thinks we should teach and address certain situations. It was awesome! Can't get any better than practice teaching with an apostle! haha Overall it was just an awesome conference! On a side note: Both Elder Ardern and Elder Nelson gave us marriage advice...hahaha #EyeSingleToTheGloryOfGod haha
Q: "we were suppose to have this crazy baby a week from today...Saturday night (i.e. tomorrow) we'll go to the Cardinal game (my last in a while!) it is suppose to be 95 degrees, yuck!
A: I love that! I told the Dietrich's and I was like that is SO Gadberry right there...hahahaha =D Gotta get Michael Jr. lovin the Redbirds even while in the womb ready to come out. My bet is he'll get so pumped for the Cardinals that he'll just pop on out cuz he wants to see his first Cardinal game! haha Okay that'd be just kinda a little weird so let's hope that doesn't happen. I also, heard that your baby shower consisted of the vast majority of clothes being baseball oriented and then the majority of those, Cardinals..haha I love it! #GreatToBeAGadberry #CardinalFansForever
So now let's go on and talk about everyone's favorite person....ME! haha Oh no, the fame and fortune that comes from being an American guy that walks around the streets of the Philippines is finally getting to my head! haha Just kidding, I'm not everyone's favorite. You're just reading this 1. Because you're related to me and are thereby forced to love me. 2. Because reading this is just a notch up from slamming your head against a wall repeatedly. 3. You've already slammed your head against the wall repeatedly and now you have absolutely nothing else to do. 4. Some reason completely unbeknownst to me. If you chose 4, I consider you to ponder the question, "Why am I reading this?" and upon pondering that question, I wouldn't blame you if you stopped right now and did something at least half-way productive. Well, if you so choose to continue, consider yourself warned. =D
So Sunday was good and bad. It was kinda sad cuz "no one" came to church.. =( Well of course there were a ton of people there but like Ponce, Palma, the Advincula's, the Locanlale's, and whoever else. But it was still kinda cool. We were sittin in our row when a family walked in and they didn't all fit on the row that they sat in so the kids came and sat with me, and it reminded me of Coron..haha I <3 Coron. But church was all good. We had dinner with the Dietrich's, and that was awesome! They even raved a little bit about The Avenger's which is supposedly "awesome!". haha It was hilarious. They would tell Elder Pugmire and I about it and we would like fill-in the story for them when they paused. We had no idea how it went so we would just say something heavily in favor or Capt. America or Iron Man. My favorite is gotta be Capt. America cuz what's not to like about him?? He's just awesome! And Elder Pugmire loves Iron Man, which is joke...he's not even a super hero! So obviously we don't get along very well...haha It was entertaining. That night we were able to follow up a little bit with Palma.. We weren't able to share with him much cuz he was heading out the door. But he talked to us for a little while, and it seems he's been facing some challenges in life and whatnot. But it'll work out, don't worry. haha
So Monday came around and the week began! Like the first thing I had to do was contact a potential lessor of an apartment.. In case any of you were wondering, I'm still not a big fan of talking on the phone and doing that and all that jazz. But for what it's worth, I've gotten better! I will now more willingly do it if I really haaaaave to. haha The event of the day was our "survival lunch" with President and the Dietrich's and the Assistants and us! We had to pick up President and everyone cuz they're all coding on Mondays. So we were driving to Chili's where we were eating, and President was like "Elder Gadberry, how long have you been in the office?" I was like, "I'm pretty sure this is going to be my fourth transfer." And President was like, "Is that so? I saw that on the transfer board but I thought for sure that that was wrong...This is really your fourth transfer...It's gone so fast! Maybe we should just make Finance a full year kind of a assignment..haha"
Thankfully he was just kidding. . . .I think. haha And then we ate lunch. I still say that eatin lunch in public with President is like the hardest thing ever! haha We get to Chili's and the Playoffs were on! Ah come on! How am I supposed to be #EyeSingleToTheGloryOfGod with the NBA Playoffs on?! hahaha And it was the Pacers! What the heck are the Pacers doing in the Playoffs?! I didn't even know! But after the initial shock of the NBA Playoffs going on right in front of my eyes, I was able to settle it, order my awesome country fried chicken with mashed potatoes AND french fries WITHOUT gravy. And then everything was okay. haha
Tuesday was the day we were all waitin for! Elder Nelson was comin to visit the Manila Mission! So we all got all dressed up. Us and the Assistants even rocked the long-sleeves. Elder Baltazar and Elder Monk both bought ties for the occasion, I rocked my new tie my parents sent me, and Elder Pugmire rocked one of my ties too! I don't know if I ever told ya'll, but I decided to start naming all my ties. It's great! So the one that I held in special reserve for Elder Nelson was entitled "Thanks Be to God" in honor of his last general conference address. The morning was pretty calm before he came. Then we went to lunch and wouldn't you know it. . .I spilt on "Thanks Be to God!" Way to go Elder Gadberry....but luckily it wasn't too bad BUT STILL! haha And then like right before it started (by right before I mean right before we all went in and waited which was actually an hour before) I got like a billion things put on my plate! I was like whatev I'll just do it after the conference. So we went in and had an AWESOME Conference (see notes of my notes above). And then we came out and I got another billion things to do! I was like ughh! haha One downside of being in the office is that right after somethin like that you have to go straight to work and get everything going. You can't just kinda relax and enjoy and linger in the awesome-ness of the conference =(.
Wednesday was like kinda monumental..haha It was exactly one-year to the day of the week that we entered the MTC! On that fourth Wednesday in May, exactly a year ago, we entered the MTC! CRAZY! Wednesday was kinda funny too. We left the office early cuz we had like errands to run. We were able to pay three bills, buy a new cell phone for a companionship in Palawan, ate some dinner via coupons earned in the phone purchase, and then still made it out to the area! Now that's skill..haha Running errands was fun, Elder Pugmire and I learned that here in the Philippines you can make someones day just by being friendly . . . and American. haha
That night we got to meet back up and share with Brother Ponce and it was awesome! We read Ether 12 with him cuz he said he hadn't had the chance to read it yet. We taught and shared insights and what not leading up to Ether 12:27 where we really focused our lesson. I tried to help him apply that verse to himself and also realize that God gives us weaknesses for a reason. He seemed to really get it and understand it by the end, and it was really cool when in the closing prayer he thanked Heavenly Father for the weaknesses he has and also for the help that he gives him. Woo! We also told him about Palma and about how we hope that he'd be able to go with us to teach him on Friday, and he was excited and said he'd be able to! Double woo! That night we went back to the house and had jump rope contests..haha Us four would time each other and see who could go the longest without stopping. It was actually pretty fun/funny..haha And we've enjoyed it so much that we've pretty much done it all week..haha
Thursday wasn't anything too exciting. I didn't have too much noted there. I just had a lotttt to do.. I had to enter in all the receipts that I've used for the month of May, I had a few bills left to pay and the Forinashs (FYI - they're the new couple over apartments) are trying to move into like 6 different houses by June 1st, and that's like a process! And I've got working funds to do. It's just kinda hectic..haha But hey, it's not so bad, at least I got mail that day! Woo! #SilverLining. In our area we weren't able to visit anyone that we usually would, but we stopped by and talked to this family a little bit, and they seemed kinda interested. At least its got some potential, but we're going to go back to them next week and follow up.
Now Friday was cool. Like it was legit. Boom. Well first of all it wasn't good at first cuz Elder Pugmire was havin some stomach issues and wasn't feeling good at all. He took some medicine and we headed out to the office to try and get some work done before the awesomeness started. Oh on a side note, I've been reading Our Search for Happiness, and it's like awesome! You should read it! Well the awesomeness that I referenced earlier was that Elder Pugmire and I got to go to the temple wiht Brother Velasco! I don't know Brother Velasco too much aside from the one time he stopped by the office and I assisted Elder Pugmire in giving him a blessing. But I'm in all the pics like I actually played a major role or actually did anything..haha But it was sooo cool! Really powerful. And their little daughter got sealed to them for time and all eternity...soooo cute! After their sealing there were some other couples doing proxy sealings and they needed us to stay for one of them so they had enough priesthood.
We left the temple finally about 4 and made it back to the office at 5. And I still had a ton of stuff I literally had to get done before today. But hey, wouldn't you know it, I was able to get it done in less than and hour which was good cuz we were supposed to go to Palma with Ponce that night.
So we go out to the area and we go to pick up Ponce. As we were leaving Ponce's this one guy stopped us. He's like I saw you guys walking by and I thought I should talk to you and I wanna learn more about your church. We were like wow! He also told us that he was Catholic and at one point Christian and he feels he's missing something. He also said that his life is kinda a mess right now so he's turning everything over to the Lord. I thought to myself "Well, that's why we're here, this very night, talking to you! The Lord's sent you help and now its just up to us not to blow it and up to him to accept the message of the restored gospel of Christ." He continued and was like is there a time that you guys can come over and we can maybe talk about your church? We were like Yeah! How does Sunday evening sound? He said, "Oh no, no, not on Sunday. . .that's family day." (In my head, "YES! Family oriented! This'll be great!) "Okay we'll come by Monday night." "Yeah, sure that sounds great!" So that was awesome and then we went to Palma's andddd he wasn't there.
And then once we figured out he wasn't there it was too late to bother anyone else unannounced. But it was a successful evening! We found our best potential investigator ever! Oh and guess what! He has a lot of family in the states, and most of them are in Illinois! But its Chicago...but still it's Illinois! And guess what more! He's a baseball fan!! He said he just got a new Mets hat but he's actually a Yankees fan. I, of course, had to tell him where my loyalty lies. He asked me if I thought that the Cardinals would be able to win it again. So I think he's a legit fan. So I'm pumped for him and his family. But it was also really good to have Ponce come and work with us even if we didn't get to teach. Cuz he's just stuck at his home all by himself so its definitely nice to get out and work with missionaries like "the good 'ol days". Oh and on a side note, I HIT MY ONE YEAR ON FRIDAY! CRAZYYYYYY! Holy cow....that's so weird! ONE YEAR! ONLY ONE LEFT?! WEIRDDDD! But its been soooooooo great so far! I love it!
Well, that's my week in an over-sized nutshell in the form of an email. How's everyone else doin?? Hope you all have a great week! Keep up the whole being awesome dealy-o! It's all downhill from here! SO WEIRD! But hey, such is life. =) I'mma keep pumpin along doin my thang here in the Philippines. Ya'll keep Effingham and Provo and where ever else awesome for me for when I get back. Love you all!
Love
Elder Michael Gadberry
Pictures
0029-0032 -- The best-looking office staff eagerly awaiting the arrival of the real life form of picture number 0033
0034 -- Balty even did the jump rope contest naka-proselyting clothes
0035 -- Umm..not too sure.. I left my camera on the table and then later found this on it. But because he took it on my camera, I feel obliged to share with the world the wonderful Elder Baltazar.
0036-0038 -- The Velasco family! After their sealing!
0039 -- The whole group! The Velasco's, their escorts, and me and Elder Pugmire. That's the temple clothing in the Philippines! We don't have to wear ties! It's legit! haha
0040/0041 -- "The guys" Please don't notice my black shoes. It like literally hurt me to walk out there in the all white with black shoes! Elder Pugmire, "I've never heard anyone complain so much about shoes!" hahaha
0042 -- "The girls"
It's time to pick-apart my parents salutation of their email to me! haha So this week they put "Our Dearest, Most Wonderful Elder." Now in my so very humble opinion....that's a bit much. And do I detect a hint of sarcasm?? ....I think so! hahaha Okay maybe I should stop dissecting their emails like that and just accept them for who they are....pretty much the most awesome parents ever! (Yes, I did write that, that is not an edit from my parents. I'd initial beside the statement to prove its validity but unfortunately G-Mail hasn't invented that feature. . . . .yet. haha).
So it's been another great week! As Elder Pugmire astutely pointed out earlier today, we haven't really been in the office that much this week..haha So it's been a kinda weird, not terribly busy but kinda busy but awesome week all in all. Let's open the floor for questions, shall we?
Q: Have you been able to extend the invitation to be baptized to Brother Palma?
A: No, =(. He's working more often (good), but because of that we don't really get to visit him too often (bad). We had the best idea to take Ponce with us to visit Palma. Considering Ponce used to be a missionary, needs to get out of the house, needs to re-strengthen his testimony, and has a life story pretty similar to Palma's. So last night we took him with us to visit Palma, but it turns out that he had to work, so we'll probably try to visit him again Sunday or early next week, we'll see.
Q: So did you have the mission conference with Elder Nelson?
A: Sure did! Did you know that guy's eighty-eight! #crazy! But it was awesome! And now I'm sure you're all dyinggg to hear all about it! Good! Cuz I took, four pages of notes on it! (cut me some slack, my notebook is only like a third of a regular notebook) But it was a great conference! Elder and Sister Ardern were there as well and spoke to us to, so it was great! Sister Ardern gave us the suggestion to personalize Moses 1:39 and switch out "men" for our own name, and that really brings more personal meaning to the already awesome verse! #GiveItAShot.
Elder Ardern encouraged us to reflect and ponder often on why we are here. And he even said each night we should evaluate ourselves and ask ourselves, "How have I done today at doing what I've been called to do?" I generally try to do that, and it's always been a great experience to recognize both the successes and shortcomings I experience each and every day. Elder Nelson's part of it was really cool as well. He got up and said (essentially), "Now I've been trying to figure out what I can do to best help you guys. You guys don't need to hear another speech..." So essentially what we did was he had volunteers come up and he'd ask them a question, ask them to do something, or ask them to explain a doctrine or anything like that and he'd evaluate and teach us how he thinks we should teach and address certain situations. It was awesome! Can't get any better than practice teaching with an apostle! haha Overall it was just an awesome conference! On a side note: Both Elder Ardern and Elder Nelson gave us marriage advice...hahaha #EyeSingleToTheGloryOfGod haha
Q: "we were suppose to have this crazy baby a week from today...Saturday night (i.e. tomorrow) we'll go to the Cardinal game (my last in a while!) it is suppose to be 95 degrees, yuck!
A: I love that! I told the Dietrich's and I was like that is SO Gadberry right there...hahahaha =D Gotta get Michael Jr. lovin the Redbirds even while in the womb ready to come out. My bet is he'll get so pumped for the Cardinals that he'll just pop on out cuz he wants to see his first Cardinal game! haha Okay that'd be just kinda a little weird so let's hope that doesn't happen. I also, heard that your baby shower consisted of the vast majority of clothes being baseball oriented and then the majority of those, Cardinals..haha I love it! #GreatToBeAGadberry #CardinalFansForever
So now let's go on and talk about everyone's favorite person....ME! haha Oh no, the fame and fortune that comes from being an American guy that walks around the streets of the Philippines is finally getting to my head! haha Just kidding, I'm not everyone's favorite. You're just reading this 1. Because you're related to me and are thereby forced to love me. 2. Because reading this is just a notch up from slamming your head against a wall repeatedly. 3. You've already slammed your head against the wall repeatedly and now you have absolutely nothing else to do. 4. Some reason completely unbeknownst to me. If you chose 4, I consider you to ponder the question, "Why am I reading this?" and upon pondering that question, I wouldn't blame you if you stopped right now and did something at least half-way productive. Well, if you so choose to continue, consider yourself warned. =D
So Sunday was good and bad. It was kinda sad cuz "no one" came to church.. =( Well of course there were a ton of people there but like Ponce, Palma, the Advincula's, the Locanlale's, and whoever else. But it was still kinda cool. We were sittin in our row when a family walked in and they didn't all fit on the row that they sat in so the kids came and sat with me, and it reminded me of Coron..haha I <3 Coron. But church was all good. We had dinner with the Dietrich's, and that was awesome! They even raved a little bit about The Avenger's which is supposedly "awesome!". haha It was hilarious. They would tell Elder Pugmire and I about it and we would like fill-in the story for them when they paused. We had no idea how it went so we would just say something heavily in favor or Capt. America or Iron Man. My favorite is gotta be Capt. America cuz what's not to like about him?? He's just awesome! And Elder Pugmire loves Iron Man, which is joke...he's not even a super hero! So obviously we don't get along very well...haha It was entertaining. That night we were able to follow up a little bit with Palma.. We weren't able to share with him much cuz he was heading out the door. But he talked to us for a little while, and it seems he's been facing some challenges in life and whatnot. But it'll work out, don't worry. haha
So Monday came around and the week began! Like the first thing I had to do was contact a potential lessor of an apartment.. In case any of you were wondering, I'm still not a big fan of talking on the phone and doing that and all that jazz. But for what it's worth, I've gotten better! I will now more willingly do it if I really haaaaave to. haha The event of the day was our "survival lunch" with President and the Dietrich's and the Assistants and us! We had to pick up President and everyone cuz they're all coding on Mondays. So we were driving to Chili's where we were eating, and President was like "Elder Gadberry, how long have you been in the office?" I was like, "I'm pretty sure this is going to be my fourth transfer." And President was like, "Is that so? I saw that on the transfer board but I thought for sure that that was wrong...This is really your fourth transfer...It's gone so fast! Maybe we should just make Finance a full year kind of a assignment..haha"
Thankfully he was just kidding. . . .I think. haha And then we ate lunch. I still say that eatin lunch in public with President is like the hardest thing ever! haha We get to Chili's and the Playoffs were on! Ah come on! How am I supposed to be #EyeSingleToTheGloryOfGod with the NBA Playoffs on?! hahaha And it was the Pacers! What the heck are the Pacers doing in the Playoffs?! I didn't even know! But after the initial shock of the NBA Playoffs going on right in front of my eyes, I was able to settle it, order my awesome country fried chicken with mashed potatoes AND french fries WITHOUT gravy. And then everything was okay. haha
Tuesday was the day we were all waitin for! Elder Nelson was comin to visit the Manila Mission! So we all got all dressed up. Us and the Assistants even rocked the long-sleeves. Elder Baltazar and Elder Monk both bought ties for the occasion, I rocked my new tie my parents sent me, and Elder Pugmire rocked one of my ties too! I don't know if I ever told ya'll, but I decided to start naming all my ties. It's great! So the one that I held in special reserve for Elder Nelson was entitled "Thanks Be to God" in honor of his last general conference address. The morning was pretty calm before he came. Then we went to lunch and wouldn't you know it. . .I spilt on "Thanks Be to God!" Way to go Elder Gadberry....but luckily it wasn't too bad BUT STILL! haha And then like right before it started (by right before I mean right before we all went in and waited which was actually an hour before) I got like a billion things put on my plate! I was like whatev I'll just do it after the conference. So we went in and had an AWESOME Conference (see notes of my notes above). And then we came out and I got another billion things to do! I was like ughh! haha One downside of being in the office is that right after somethin like that you have to go straight to work and get everything going. You can't just kinda relax and enjoy and linger in the awesome-ness of the conference =(.
Wednesday was like kinda monumental..haha It was exactly one-year to the day of the week that we entered the MTC! On that fourth Wednesday in May, exactly a year ago, we entered the MTC! CRAZY! Wednesday was kinda funny too. We left the office early cuz we had like errands to run. We were able to pay three bills, buy a new cell phone for a companionship in Palawan, ate some dinner via coupons earned in the phone purchase, and then still made it out to the area! Now that's skill..haha Running errands was fun, Elder Pugmire and I learned that here in the Philippines you can make someones day just by being friendly . . . and American. haha
That night we got to meet back up and share with Brother Ponce and it was awesome! We read Ether 12 with him cuz he said he hadn't had the chance to read it yet. We taught and shared insights and what not leading up to Ether 12:27 where we really focused our lesson. I tried to help him apply that verse to himself and also realize that God gives us weaknesses for a reason. He seemed to really get it and understand it by the end, and it was really cool when in the closing prayer he thanked Heavenly Father for the weaknesses he has and also for the help that he gives him. Woo! We also told him about Palma and about how we hope that he'd be able to go with us to teach him on Friday, and he was excited and said he'd be able to! Double woo! That night we went back to the house and had jump rope contests..haha Us four would time each other and see who could go the longest without stopping. It was actually pretty fun/funny..haha And we've enjoyed it so much that we've pretty much done it all week..haha
Thursday wasn't anything too exciting. I didn't have too much noted there. I just had a lotttt to do.. I had to enter in all the receipts that I've used for the month of May, I had a few bills left to pay and the Forinashs (FYI - they're the new couple over apartments) are trying to move into like 6 different houses by June 1st, and that's like a process! And I've got working funds to do. It's just kinda hectic..haha But hey, it's not so bad, at least I got mail that day! Woo! #SilverLining. In our area we weren't able to visit anyone that we usually would, but we stopped by and talked to this family a little bit, and they seemed kinda interested. At least its got some potential, but we're going to go back to them next week and follow up.
Now Friday was cool. Like it was legit. Boom. Well first of all it wasn't good at first cuz Elder Pugmire was havin some stomach issues and wasn't feeling good at all. He took some medicine and we headed out to the office to try and get some work done before the awesomeness started. Oh on a side note, I've been reading Our Search for Happiness, and it's like awesome! You should read it! Well the awesomeness that I referenced earlier was that Elder Pugmire and I got to go to the temple wiht Brother Velasco! I don't know Brother Velasco too much aside from the one time he stopped by the office and I assisted Elder Pugmire in giving him a blessing. But I'm in all the pics like I actually played a major role or actually did anything..haha But it was sooo cool! Really powerful. And their little daughter got sealed to them for time and all eternity...soooo cute! After their sealing there were some other couples doing proxy sealings and they needed us to stay for one of them so they had enough priesthood.
We left the temple finally about 4 and made it back to the office at 5. And I still had a ton of stuff I literally had to get done before today. But hey, wouldn't you know it, I was able to get it done in less than and hour which was good cuz we were supposed to go to Palma with Ponce that night.
So we go out to the area and we go to pick up Ponce. As we were leaving Ponce's this one guy stopped us. He's like I saw you guys walking by and I thought I should talk to you and I wanna learn more about your church. We were like wow! He also told us that he was Catholic and at one point Christian and he feels he's missing something. He also said that his life is kinda a mess right now so he's turning everything over to the Lord. I thought to myself "Well, that's why we're here, this very night, talking to you! The Lord's sent you help and now its just up to us not to blow it and up to him to accept the message of the restored gospel of Christ." He continued and was like is there a time that you guys can come over and we can maybe talk about your church? We were like Yeah! How does Sunday evening sound? He said, "Oh no, no, not on Sunday. . .that's family day." (In my head, "YES! Family oriented! This'll be great!) "Okay we'll come by Monday night." "Yeah, sure that sounds great!" So that was awesome and then we went to Palma's andddd he wasn't there.
And then once we figured out he wasn't there it was too late to bother anyone else unannounced. But it was a successful evening! We found our best potential investigator ever! Oh and guess what! He has a lot of family in the states, and most of them are in Illinois! But its Chicago...but still it's Illinois! And guess what more! He's a baseball fan!! He said he just got a new Mets hat but he's actually a Yankees fan. I, of course, had to tell him where my loyalty lies. He asked me if I thought that the Cardinals would be able to win it again. So I think he's a legit fan. So I'm pumped for him and his family. But it was also really good to have Ponce come and work with us even if we didn't get to teach. Cuz he's just stuck at his home all by himself so its definitely nice to get out and work with missionaries like "the good 'ol days". Oh and on a side note, I HIT MY ONE YEAR ON FRIDAY! CRAZYYYYYY! Holy cow....that's so weird! ONE YEAR! ONLY ONE LEFT?! WEIRDDDD! But its been soooooooo great so far! I love it!
Well, that's my week in an over-sized nutshell in the form of an email. How's everyone else doin?? Hope you all have a great week! Keep up the whole being awesome dealy-o! It's all downhill from here! SO WEIRD! But hey, such is life. =) I'mma keep pumpin along doin my thang here in the Philippines. Ya'll keep Effingham and Provo and where ever else awesome for me for when I get back. Love you all!
Love
Elder Michael Gadberry
Pictures
0029-0032 -- The best-looking office staff eagerly awaiting the arrival of the real life form of picture number 0033
0034 -- Balty even did the jump rope contest naka-proselyting clothes
0035 -- Umm..not too sure.. I left my camera on the table and then later found this on it. But because he took it on my camera, I feel obliged to share with the world the wonderful Elder Baltazar.
0036-0038 -- The Velasco family! After their sealing!
0039 -- The whole group! The Velasco's, their escorts, and me and Elder Pugmire. That's the temple clothing in the Philippines! We don't have to wear ties! It's legit! haha
0040/0041 -- "The guys" Please don't notice my black shoes. It like literally hurt me to walk out there in the all white with black shoes! Elder Pugmire, "I've never heard anyone complain so much about shoes!" hahaha
0042 -- "The girls"
May 19, 2012 E-Mail
Hey guys! How's it goin? Good? Good!
Well....I haven't actually written for two weeks now...sorry! But its been a great two weeks! I'm not too sure what to say. So kinda like the last email I'll just give you like a highlight of the week that I didn't write..haha
Last Sunday was fast Sunday and one of the things I was fasting for was that we might have success in our area or that we might have a baptism because President has expressed on a few occasions that it would be really cool to see the office elders having a baptism. And actually when I opened my fast and prayed that we might have a baptism, I felt really a good about it, but at the same time I had no idea where it would come from. Later that evening as we were going coming again from an appointment that had fallen through we went to our, more or less, last option...haha It was Brother Palma, who we haven't been able to contact since Elder Stirland left. So I actually told Elder Pugmire that, “Okay maybe the Lord is trying to help us out here and telling us not to waste our time there, so if he’s not here again maybe that’s what that means.” Well we made it to his house, and he was there!
I was more than surprised but very excited. As we kind of caught up with him, he mentioned that he wasn’t quite sure why there were so many churches in the world, and that really struck my mind, and so when we went to start the lesson I asked, “Brother Palma, you mentioned earlier that you weren’t too sure why there were so many churches in the world. Would you like to know why that is? We have a message that is exactly about that.” So immediately we caught his attention, and it led to a really great lesson in which we touched on prophets and dispensations, taught the life of Christ, the Apostasy, and the Restoration and throughout we focused on the importance of priesthood authority. The bad thing, though, was that, after talking about it later, Elder Pugmire and I both missed the prompting to extend him a baptismal invitation....haha oops. From that experience I really learned: one, the power of fasting; two, it strengthened my testimony in the Lord hearing and answering our prayers; three, I need to just be more confident in extending those invitations because they are invitations to repent and come unto Christ, and there really should be no reason to be afraid to invite someone to come unto Christ.
I had one more pretty cool experience. We had a guy from San Juan (Elder Pugmire's old area) come into the office cuz he was in the area. He talked with Elder Pugmire for a little bit and ultimately asked for a blessing of comfort because him and his family are recently reactivated and are now trying to prepare to go to the temple and they seem to be facing some tough decisions and challenges. However, at the same time, I needed to get to the bank to pick up some checks and the bank closed in thirty minutes. Admittedly, I was getting pretty anxious while Elder Pugmire was talking to him, and then when Elder Pugmire said that he asked for a blessing, I immediately had this feeling that I can only put into words as, “Patience. These things come first.” So we proceeded to give him a blessing. During the course of the blessing, I had a thought come into my mind, and shortly thereafter, Elder Pugmire said that exact thought and I was deeply touched by the Spirit nearly to the point of tears. Afterwards, we were able to make to the bank and I didn’t have any problems getting the checks. I learned so much from that little experience. Those words, I hope, will always stay with me: “Patience. These things come first.” Especially as life gets busier and busier, I hope to always remember: Patience. The Lord comes first; or patience. Your family comes first; or whatever it is that I need to stop and do at the moment. I also learned that that blessing really was inspired, that the Holy Ghost really does put thoughts into our minds and words into our mouths.
So that was a couple highlights from a couple weeks ago (well probably longer considering the time my parents take to get this out (especially if you're viewing this via blog..)) =). This past week was great as well! It was a little crazy though.. It was transfer week and we had to get what normally takes 4 days and squeeze it into 3 because President had a mission presidents seminar this weekend. But it worked out! So it's all good.
Last Sunday was Mother's Day! Wow....cool... It means we get to call home! I feel like I just called for Christmas like a month ago...but such is life, speeding on and on and on with no stoppin it..haha Church was pretty exciting cuz the whole Advincula family made it! I was so pumped! But on the other hand neither Ponce nor Palma made it...sad =(. It was funny cuz like its Mother's Day so you usually expect talks to be about Mothers or like motherly things, I don't know..haha But our first speaker was a youth speaker and she was assigned to speak on the Law of Chasity..haha And then the next speaker was about the life of Christ, and I forgot what the last speaker was but there wasn't anything about Mothers besides the mere mention of a Happy Mother's Day to all the mothers stated at the beginning of each talk..haha Well the rest of church went really well. Our ward is trying to more or less start their home teaching program..YAY! So hopefully that gets rollin..haha Then we went out to work and that night we had dinner at the Dietrich's and spent Mother's Day with "grandma and grandpa" hahaha. I heart them! haha
So Monday morning is when I was going to call my sweet mother and wish her a happy mother's day...well...that didn't exactly go according to plan. We were heading to the office and the APs called....joy. "Hey we forgot the projector at the Mission Home and we don't wanna go get it, so can you guys get it on your way in?" Ughhh....."Yeah...we'll grab it." So we had to go do that which put us off of schedule, and then when we got there Elder Munk was on the phone with his parents. Dang it. So instead I did what any normal person would do in that situation....I went and bought Krispy Kream =D. hahaha Then I got to call my parents real quickly just to wish them a Happy Mother's Day and tell them that I'd call tomorrow morning and if not then then the next morning and if not then then the next morning and if not then then hopefully the next one...haha Then we went and played Horse with Elder Hernando and Elder Munk and Elder Pugmire in the parking lot right outside our office, and you know me, I won of course..haha And then the rest of the day went about pretty normal and cool and whatever else.
Tuesday was fun......but not so fun. So we were going to bed Monday night and get told at like 11:15 that we're supposed to be going to going-home activities on Tuesday! Which seems okay right? Well that entails waking up at 4 AM.....not so okay anymore, huh? But we made it and so we got to go to the temple so that was really good! And I even saw good'ol Elder Granger at the temple! That was crazy! I miss that guy...he's pretty awesome. After the temple we got Krispy Kream, and then went to the American World War II (I'm pretty sure...oh geez I'm losing school stuff..) Cemetery. After all that we had to get everyone to the airport, and get all the new missionaries from Provo picked up. Well we had just a couple missionaries that we were in charge of taking and we were also supposed to pick-up Elder Swainson (he came over with us but had to go back home and now he's BACK!) because he was flying in at a different terminal (I don't know how it is in the states but here different terminals are like pretty far apart like a 20-30+ minute drive sometimes).
Well we got one missionary off and it was time to pick up Elder Swainson so we go to the airport and the guy there ensures us that his flight is coming into terminal 1 (we're at 2)...we were like uhh...okay, we're just goin hang out here till the guys at Terminal 1 tell us that they have him. So he actually did end up coming into terminal 1, so we didn't get to see him =(. And so then we took the other missionary we had to their terminal to go home. So all in all I went to both terminal 1 and terminal 2 two times each...ugh! We got back to the office and I was exhausted. But we were asked to take Elder Swainson out to work in our area with us for a couple hours. So that was awesome cuz we got to work with one of our good friends and he's back again! And we even found a new inactive member to start visiting. So it worked out but one I'm exhausted at this point and two, we have like a ton left to do. After dropping Swainson back off at the Mission Home we had to run back to the Office because all the missionaries that are transferring to Palawan were coming to the office and we were in charge of getting them their tickets, making sure their luggage was underweight, and then getting them with the missionaries that they were staying with for the night. After they were all finally gone (this is like 9)..haha We had to set-up the church for transfer meeting the next day and get all their supplies (Elder Pugmire's job, I try to help) into class rooms in the church for the zones. That takes a longgg time. And we finallyyyyy got that done and made it to bed!
Woo! Wednesday! Transfer Day! Woo! Waking up at five! ugh. Well on the bright side, I got my Preach My Gospel back! Now its got a snazzy leather cover and what not, I dig. (check the pics). Only bad thing about this transfer day was it was also the same day that we were supposed to get support. So I had everyoneeee and their dog asking me if we have support...I even got a call from the Senior Couple in Palawan asking about it...I was like UGH! haha It was just kinda annoying....but I still love everyone and everything =). Another good part of transfer day is I got to see Sister Afu! She's been in Palawan for a while and so I haven't seen her forever. She was in my district at the MTC and is like the nicest person I've ever met and from New Zealand and my favorite..haha Gotta be lookin at the positives haha. Right after the transfer meeting we had New Missionary Orientation (usually on Thursday, bumped up to Friday). And that was actually really cool! I enjoyed it. I wasn't a trainer or trainee but I still learned a lot and even pitched in with a couple thoughts (hope that was okay..haha). After the orientation, I had to go with Elder Munk and Elder Baltazar with Elder Pugmire cuz Elder Hernando was leaving the office and training and neither of the APs have driver's licenses now...haha So that was interesting but it worked out. Then we finally got home and I was like completelyyyy exhausted. I was so dead..haha It was great! haha =D
Thursday was kinda ...good? Yeah I guess it was decent. We woke up early AGAIN! But this time I had to be the APs driver and take them to the US Embassy to fix something about Munk's license. So I was like okay that's good I guess, at least I get to go to the embassy, that might be kinda neat, I don't know what an embassy looks like..haha NOPE. They didn't know where parking was so I got to drop them off at the side of the road, drive around for a while to find somewhere to park, and then sit in the car for over two hours while they were inside and my companion was knocked out in the backseat sleeping..haha So I wasn't too happy about that but it was okay I guess cuz the Dietrich's texted me and was like hey! you guys need to get here quick and clean up the office cuz there's a member of the Presiding Bishopric that's coming to see it! So I was like cool! I don't mind sittin in a car doin nothin for 2 hrs if I getta meet a general authority. We get there hurriedly clean everything, and wait. They never showed up! So the APs then needed us to drive them to get the license and so that took forever too...and the whole time I was worried that I was missin the dude! But for the most part it was like nice to be with them but just kinda inconvenient at the same time. At the end of the day I bought a new tie, that was fairly expensive (twenty bucks-ish) but I love it, so it made everything better. hahaha
So remember that Mother's Day call I was supposed to make? Yeah....finally made that on Friday...hahaha =) sorry! But as you can see....I didn't have a whole lot of time to do it other days! Especially when I can only call before 11AM here.. The call home was great! I heard Santabelle barking! I almost cried...haha just kidding but it was awesome. I greeted my dad in Tagalog, he responded in Korean, and said somethin in Tagalog again with his weird Korean language came the response, and then I said somethin in Tagalog and apparently it meant somethin in Korean and he was like wait what?? haha Good times.. My families doin great! I miss them....kinda =). Just kidding their the best family in the world. Best parents. Decent brothers. And a dog that I'm going to bawl if she's not alive when I get home..haha I hope she's sealed to us too =) hahaha. I guess we'll see. For those of you that didn't know, my mom's pregnant and LOVING IT! haha Well I don't know about that...haha But it's exciting huh?? I heard she got a baby shower in which like a good 70% of the outfits were Cardinal themed....life's good as a Gadberry #SoProud =D. Sister Demer's said, "that guy doesn't have a chance to become the next World Chess Master." So yeah, all's good on the home front, I would say. Later that day we met another inactive as I was just going to a place to send money to missionary that didn't get support. We meet so many all the time its really cool! The Lord's really moving His hand over the country and helping bring people back to the fold. #CoolStuff haha
Well that's the email for this time! Kinda crazy, kinda lame, but hey it is what it is. Love it or hate it, but please love me! =D hahaha Hey remember how writing letters was mentioned at least twice in conference?? Yeah...good times...hahaha "We can write of Christ by writing letters to those who are away. Missionaries serving, sons or daughters in the military, and those we love are all blessed by letters we write. Letters from home are not just quick e-mails. Real letters provide something tangible that can be held, thought about, and cherished." Oh oops! How'd that quote get in there and bolded and underlined?? Hmm...that's weird... =D hahaha Just kidding...love you all!
Well I'm out! Love you all!
Elder Michael Gadberry
Pictures
0002 -- E. Hernando catchin some sleep on our floor.
0003-0009 - Fancy dinner for E. Hernando cuz he's leavin
0006 -- Not one of the best things I've ever tasted... The meat is ox tail and the black thing is like spoiled shrimp paste...haha They put it in a peanut butter thingy and its supposed to cancel out the shrimp thingy and yeah...didn't work too well..haha
0009 - This place was snazzy! The dude went around the restaurant singin! He was way good!
0015/0017 - My new PMG!
0018 - I saw my first ever relative of Santabelle in the Philippines! I'm just happy I got a picture of it..haha
0019/0020 -- We found this in our apartment...haha We're thinkin it came in the window..haha Needless to say, we have yet to contact "Ashley" haha Sister Dietrich thinks she's a potential investigator..hahaha
0021 - Map of our mission
0217 - Tall building
0222 - My keyboard..hey look who it is! (Coron is on the other side of the picture frame haha)
0223 - Bye, bye Te'o
0227-0232 - Indian Food night at the Sisters with the Dietrichs!
0235 - Sister Dietrich's glasses are crazier than mine! haha
0236 - Beautiful sewer thingy in front of the church
0240 - Uke time at the Dietrich's, I was playing with the settings on my camera, but this one turned out cool!
Well....I haven't actually written for two weeks now...sorry! But its been a great two weeks! I'm not too sure what to say. So kinda like the last email I'll just give you like a highlight of the week that I didn't write..haha
Last Sunday was fast Sunday and one of the things I was fasting for was that we might have success in our area or that we might have a baptism because President has expressed on a few occasions that it would be really cool to see the office elders having a baptism. And actually when I opened my fast and prayed that we might have a baptism, I felt really a good about it, but at the same time I had no idea where it would come from. Later that evening as we were going coming again from an appointment that had fallen through we went to our, more or less, last option...haha It was Brother Palma, who we haven't been able to contact since Elder Stirland left. So I actually told Elder Pugmire that, “Okay maybe the Lord is trying to help us out here and telling us not to waste our time there, so if he’s not here again maybe that’s what that means.” Well we made it to his house, and he was there!
I was more than surprised but very excited. As we kind of caught up with him, he mentioned that he wasn’t quite sure why there were so many churches in the world, and that really struck my mind, and so when we went to start the lesson I asked, “Brother Palma, you mentioned earlier that you weren’t too sure why there were so many churches in the world. Would you like to know why that is? We have a message that is exactly about that.” So immediately we caught his attention, and it led to a really great lesson in which we touched on prophets and dispensations, taught the life of Christ, the Apostasy, and the Restoration and throughout we focused on the importance of priesthood authority. The bad thing, though, was that, after talking about it later, Elder Pugmire and I both missed the prompting to extend him a baptismal invitation....haha oops. From that experience I really learned: one, the power of fasting; two, it strengthened my testimony in the Lord hearing and answering our prayers; three, I need to just be more confident in extending those invitations because they are invitations to repent and come unto Christ, and there really should be no reason to be afraid to invite someone to come unto Christ.
I had one more pretty cool experience. We had a guy from San Juan (Elder Pugmire's old area) come into the office cuz he was in the area. He talked with Elder Pugmire for a little bit and ultimately asked for a blessing of comfort because him and his family are recently reactivated and are now trying to prepare to go to the temple and they seem to be facing some tough decisions and challenges. However, at the same time, I needed to get to the bank to pick up some checks and the bank closed in thirty minutes. Admittedly, I was getting pretty anxious while Elder Pugmire was talking to him, and then when Elder Pugmire said that he asked for a blessing, I immediately had this feeling that I can only put into words as, “Patience. These things come first.” So we proceeded to give him a blessing. During the course of the blessing, I had a thought come into my mind, and shortly thereafter, Elder Pugmire said that exact thought and I was deeply touched by the Spirit nearly to the point of tears. Afterwards, we were able to make to the bank and I didn’t have any problems getting the checks. I learned so much from that little experience. Those words, I hope, will always stay with me: “Patience. These things come first.” Especially as life gets busier and busier, I hope to always remember: Patience. The Lord comes first; or patience. Your family comes first; or whatever it is that I need to stop and do at the moment. I also learned that that blessing really was inspired, that the Holy Ghost really does put thoughts into our minds and words into our mouths.
So that was a couple highlights from a couple weeks ago (well probably longer considering the time my parents take to get this out (especially if you're viewing this via blog..)) =). This past week was great as well! It was a little crazy though.. It was transfer week and we had to get what normally takes 4 days and squeeze it into 3 because President had a mission presidents seminar this weekend. But it worked out! So it's all good.
Last Sunday was Mother's Day! Wow....cool... It means we get to call home! I feel like I just called for Christmas like a month ago...but such is life, speeding on and on and on with no stoppin it..haha Church was pretty exciting cuz the whole Advincula family made it! I was so pumped! But on the other hand neither Ponce nor Palma made it...sad =(. It was funny cuz like its Mother's Day so you usually expect talks to be about Mothers or like motherly things, I don't know..haha But our first speaker was a youth speaker and she was assigned to speak on the Law of Chasity..haha And then the next speaker was about the life of Christ, and I forgot what the last speaker was but there wasn't anything about Mothers besides the mere mention of a Happy Mother's Day to all the mothers stated at the beginning of each talk..haha Well the rest of church went really well. Our ward is trying to more or less start their home teaching program..YAY! So hopefully that gets rollin..haha Then we went out to work and that night we had dinner at the Dietrich's and spent Mother's Day with "grandma and grandpa" hahaha. I heart them! haha
So Monday morning is when I was going to call my sweet mother and wish her a happy mother's day...well...that didn't exactly go according to plan. We were heading to the office and the APs called....joy. "Hey we forgot the projector at the Mission Home and we don't wanna go get it, so can you guys get it on your way in?" Ughhh....."Yeah...we'll grab it." So we had to go do that which put us off of schedule, and then when we got there Elder Munk was on the phone with his parents. Dang it. So instead I did what any normal person would do in that situation....I went and bought Krispy Kream =D. hahaha Then I got to call my parents real quickly just to wish them a Happy Mother's Day and tell them that I'd call tomorrow morning and if not then then the next morning and if not then then the next morning and if not then then hopefully the next one...haha Then we went and played Horse with Elder Hernando and Elder Munk and Elder Pugmire in the parking lot right outside our office, and you know me, I won of course..haha And then the rest of the day went about pretty normal and cool and whatever else.
Tuesday was fun......but not so fun. So we were going to bed Monday night and get told at like 11:15 that we're supposed to be going to going-home activities on Tuesday! Which seems okay right? Well that entails waking up at 4 AM.....not so okay anymore, huh? But we made it and so we got to go to the temple so that was really good! And I even saw good'ol Elder Granger at the temple! That was crazy! I miss that guy...he's pretty awesome. After the temple we got Krispy Kream, and then went to the American World War II (I'm pretty sure...oh geez I'm losing school stuff..) Cemetery. After all that we had to get everyone to the airport, and get all the new missionaries from Provo picked up. Well we had just a couple missionaries that we were in charge of taking and we were also supposed to pick-up Elder Swainson (he came over with us but had to go back home and now he's BACK!) because he was flying in at a different terminal (I don't know how it is in the states but here different terminals are like pretty far apart like a 20-30+ minute drive sometimes).
Well we got one missionary off and it was time to pick up Elder Swainson so we go to the airport and the guy there ensures us that his flight is coming into terminal 1 (we're at 2)...we were like uhh...okay, we're just goin hang out here till the guys at Terminal 1 tell us that they have him. So he actually did end up coming into terminal 1, so we didn't get to see him =(. And so then we took the other missionary we had to their terminal to go home. So all in all I went to both terminal 1 and terminal 2 two times each...ugh! We got back to the office and I was exhausted. But we were asked to take Elder Swainson out to work in our area with us for a couple hours. So that was awesome cuz we got to work with one of our good friends and he's back again! And we even found a new inactive member to start visiting. So it worked out but one I'm exhausted at this point and two, we have like a ton left to do. After dropping Swainson back off at the Mission Home we had to run back to the Office because all the missionaries that are transferring to Palawan were coming to the office and we were in charge of getting them their tickets, making sure their luggage was underweight, and then getting them with the missionaries that they were staying with for the night. After they were all finally gone (this is like 9)..haha We had to set-up the church for transfer meeting the next day and get all their supplies (Elder Pugmire's job, I try to help) into class rooms in the church for the zones. That takes a longgg time. And we finallyyyyy got that done and made it to bed!
Woo! Wednesday! Transfer Day! Woo! Waking up at five! ugh. Well on the bright side, I got my Preach My Gospel back! Now its got a snazzy leather cover and what not, I dig. (check the pics). Only bad thing about this transfer day was it was also the same day that we were supposed to get support. So I had everyoneeee and their dog asking me if we have support...I even got a call from the Senior Couple in Palawan asking about it...I was like UGH! haha It was just kinda annoying....but I still love everyone and everything =). Another good part of transfer day is I got to see Sister Afu! She's been in Palawan for a while and so I haven't seen her forever. She was in my district at the MTC and is like the nicest person I've ever met and from New Zealand and my favorite..haha Gotta be lookin at the positives haha. Right after the transfer meeting we had New Missionary Orientation (usually on Thursday, bumped up to Friday). And that was actually really cool! I enjoyed it. I wasn't a trainer or trainee but I still learned a lot and even pitched in with a couple thoughts (hope that was okay..haha). After the orientation, I had to go with Elder Munk and Elder Baltazar with Elder Pugmire cuz Elder Hernando was leaving the office and training and neither of the APs have driver's licenses now...haha So that was interesting but it worked out. Then we finally got home and I was like completelyyyy exhausted. I was so dead..haha It was great! haha =D
Thursday was kinda ...good? Yeah I guess it was decent. We woke up early AGAIN! But this time I had to be the APs driver and take them to the US Embassy to fix something about Munk's license. So I was like okay that's good I guess, at least I get to go to the embassy, that might be kinda neat, I don't know what an embassy looks like..haha NOPE. They didn't know where parking was so I got to drop them off at the side of the road, drive around for a while to find somewhere to park, and then sit in the car for over two hours while they were inside and my companion was knocked out in the backseat sleeping..haha So I wasn't too happy about that but it was okay I guess cuz the Dietrich's texted me and was like hey! you guys need to get here quick and clean up the office cuz there's a member of the Presiding Bishopric that's coming to see it! So I was like cool! I don't mind sittin in a car doin nothin for 2 hrs if I getta meet a general authority. We get there hurriedly clean everything, and wait. They never showed up! So the APs then needed us to drive them to get the license and so that took forever too...and the whole time I was worried that I was missin the dude! But for the most part it was like nice to be with them but just kinda inconvenient at the same time. At the end of the day I bought a new tie, that was fairly expensive (twenty bucks-ish) but I love it, so it made everything better. hahaha
So remember that Mother's Day call I was supposed to make? Yeah....finally made that on Friday...hahaha =) sorry! But as you can see....I didn't have a whole lot of time to do it other days! Especially when I can only call before 11AM here.. The call home was great! I heard Santabelle barking! I almost cried...haha just kidding but it was awesome. I greeted my dad in Tagalog, he responded in Korean, and said somethin in Tagalog again with his weird Korean language came the response, and then I said somethin in Tagalog and apparently it meant somethin in Korean and he was like wait what?? haha Good times.. My families doin great! I miss them....kinda =). Just kidding their the best family in the world. Best parents. Decent brothers. And a dog that I'm going to bawl if she's not alive when I get home..haha I hope she's sealed to us too =) hahaha. I guess we'll see. For those of you that didn't know, my mom's pregnant and LOVING IT! haha Well I don't know about that...haha But it's exciting huh?? I heard she got a baby shower in which like a good 70% of the outfits were Cardinal themed....life's good as a Gadberry #SoProud =D. Sister Demer's said, "that guy doesn't have a chance to become the next World Chess Master." So yeah, all's good on the home front, I would say. Later that day we met another inactive as I was just going to a place to send money to missionary that didn't get support. We meet so many all the time its really cool! The Lord's really moving His hand over the country and helping bring people back to the fold. #CoolStuff haha
Well that's the email for this time! Kinda crazy, kinda lame, but hey it is what it is. Love it or hate it, but please love me! =D hahaha Hey remember how writing letters was mentioned at least twice in conference?? Yeah...good times...hahaha "We can write of Christ by writing letters to those who are away. Missionaries serving, sons or daughters in the military, and those we love are all blessed by letters we write. Letters from home are not just quick e-mails. Real letters provide something tangible that can be held, thought about, and cherished." Oh oops! How'd that quote get in there and bolded and underlined?? Hmm...that's weird... =D hahaha Just kidding...love you all!
Well I'm out! Love you all!
Elder Michael Gadberry
Pictures
0002 -- E. Hernando catchin some sleep on our floor.
0003-0009 - Fancy dinner for E. Hernando cuz he's leavin
0006 -- Not one of the best things I've ever tasted... The meat is ox tail and the black thing is like spoiled shrimp paste...haha They put it in a peanut butter thingy and its supposed to cancel out the shrimp thingy and yeah...didn't work too well..haha
0009 - This place was snazzy! The dude went around the restaurant singin! He was way good!
0015/0017 - My new PMG!
0018 - I saw my first ever relative of Santabelle in the Philippines! I'm just happy I got a picture of it..haha
0019/0020 -- We found this in our apartment...haha We're thinkin it came in the window..haha Needless to say, we have yet to contact "Ashley" haha Sister Dietrich thinks she's a potential investigator..hahaha
0021 - Map of our mission
0217 - Tall building
0222 - My keyboard..hey look who it is! (Coron is on the other side of the picture frame haha)
0223 - Bye, bye Te'o
0227-0232 - Indian Food night at the Sisters with the Dietrichs!
0235 - Sister Dietrich's glasses are crazier than mine! haha
0236 - Beautiful sewer thingy in front of the church
0240 - Uke time at the Dietrich's, I was playing with the settings on my camera, but this one turned out cool!
May 11, 2012 E-Mail!
People,
How bland of an opening is that?? haha Once again, I'm making fun of my parents emails to me...haha They opened with "Elder,". Not even Dear Beloved Elder Gadberry or something of the sorts that would, of course, be a fitting way to address one as beloved as I. haha Just kidding. I'll be interested to see the salutation that will be addressed at the top of their next email. haha
So have you been able to go teach the English referral?
Nope! They said that it will probably take awhile before we will get to. When we got it the family was like in Bagio on vacation or visiting family or something of the sorts so we gotta wait till they get back and then whoever it is in the ward that knows them will set up a time and appointment for us to go there.
I really liked the slide show you did for Sister Dietrich. Does it have any relation to the fact that her computer crashed...? How long is the Dietrich's mission? When do they come home? What about the Paddocks?
Nope! Her computer crashed cuz it was really old and had been "repaired" quite a few times now. It would break and then Elder Spencer would try and fix it, and then it would break bigger and Elder Spencer would do his thang and then it would break bigger still and yeah...Until now it broke, it couldn't even boot up anymore. And apparently the last back-up Elder Spencer did on that computer error-ed out and it backed up all the folders on the computer but none of the documents. It was great! haha Well lets see...the Dietrich's got here just last December and they're goin back home in October for 2013. And the Paddocks just barely got here like 2 months ago and go home February 2014.
It sounds like you went a whole week without getting pulled over, is that a record for you? Do you still have all the extra missionaries at your apartment?
No! I don't usually get pulled over! We've made it two Fridays in a row now not getting pulled over on coding...that's definitely a blessing. haha But not anymore! Elder Spencer's gone, and Elder Arquiola left on Tuesday morning and Elder Te'o on Wednesday morning. They're great guys....but 7 is a little much for a 4 person apartment..So it's nice to go back to normal-ish.
So, now the important stuff - What's the plan for you calling on mother's day?
I'm supposed to call for Mother's Day? Ooops! Definitely forgot about that. Too late to get all that figured out now...I guess we'll just have to wait till Christmas..
Well I'm glad my parents asked me some questions this time cuz I don't think I have that much to say in this email. But at the same time I feel that I say that every time and then manage to pump out novels...haha Sorry! That's just how I roll I guess. Oh in case you notice or even care, I kinda lost my planner I think so I don't have any record anymore of what happened last week (Apr 22-28) so that week will just be lost forever to you guys..haha But I've got decent record of this week so lets see what all went down.
EXCEPT, I wanna tell ya'll about April 27th. Long explanation made short, I have record of that day in the form of text..haha. But anyways that was a really cool day! One of those days that was right from the start. Well come to think of it, I'd actually made note that the day was kinda stressful and frustrating but at this point I couldn't tell you at all why. And that's the cool thing about missions and doing good works is that I remember exactly why that day was cool! So on Thursday night, we visited Brother Ponce just to set up an appointment because it was late. He was outside with a couple of his friends who were drinking. He wasn’t drinking, nor did he look terribly engaged in socializing with his friends. So we were able to schedule the appointment, and we talked about it ourselves and we decided that we weren’t going to say anything to Brother Ponce about being with his friends while they were drinking. We were just going to trust him that he wasn’t drinking and be there to help anyway we could. So Friday morning, I open up my Book of Mormon to start studying. I'm in Ether 12! It was perfect! I learned a tonnn from it (like the prophet Ether mentions that a hope that stems from our faith will become an anchor for our souls. So like if we're a boat, the storms and turbulent waters of life, still happen. We still get tossed around, but because of that hope we do not drift into unknown waters, we don't capsize, but instead we endure and stay the course), and in companionship study we talked about it as well and decided that was a good chapter to share with him. So later we taught a lesson about faith, acting on our faith, growing our faith, and how our faith provides an anchor for us in our lives. It was a really great lesson, in which even I learned a lot about faith. At the end of the lesson, we asked him if he had any questions for us, and he thought about it a little bit and posed this question to us. “Elders, how can I entertain my friends, and not risk breaking the Word of Wisdom? Because it’s hard to be here by myself (Due to unfortunate circumstances he was married, it didn’t work out and now he’s living alone, in the warehouse at which he works because he can’t marry again)” It was a really sincere question in which the question being posed was almost “How do I maintain a social life, and continue to live the Gospel of Jesus Christ?”
It was an awesome opportunity for us to testify to him that we knew that there was strength and answers in the Book of Mormon, that Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ are there wanting to help him and are there to stand by him so he’s not alone, and that Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ know that he can make it through. I was able to share my experiences with that, having had very similar experiences happen to me and my friends. From that experience I really learned one, that the Lord has prepared me since my youth to help those around me. And two, the Lord really is in control of the work because he was able to put me here, on the other side of the world, in front of Brother Ponce at this time so that I could share how I overcame the very same issue of having some of my closest friends start drinking and how I was able to stand tall and be an example to my friends. All in all it was really a simple experience. I read some scriptures, my companion and I taught a lesson, and we answered a question. But when you put Christ central to your life, when you due your best to recognize His hand in all things, it becomes more than that. I believe that it was Christ that enlightened my mind to think about Ponce as I studied. I believe it was His Spirit that has made the change in Ponce's life so that he would desire to change. I believe that it was His Spirit that helped Ponce feel comfortable enough to pose that sort of question to us. And I know it was Him that, through living prophets and apostles, called me here to help Brother Ponce, not just here to the Manila Mission but to be specifically assigned to the Manadaluyong 2nd Ward at this time so that I could help Brother Ponce. "Remember, the worth of souls is great in the sight of God." Welp. That was long =).
So moving to last Sunday. It was great! Ponce, of course, being as awesome as he is, made it to church! Woo! But Tatay Advincula didn't =( But it's okay..cuz we still love em. We worked in our area most of the day, and didn't really have a whole lot of success...haha But it was still great! We actually enjoyed it. Well, I started rockin the long-sleeve white shirt every Sunday cuz one, that's what I always wore back home; two, Misa and Belz did it and so Misa first made me consider it; and three, just cuz. But anyways, it's a little hot in the Philippines around this time (especially if you're in long sleeves...but I loved it haha) so Elder Pugmire and I went around proclaiming the heat to everyone..haha Cuz here we hypothesized and found out that it's regular greeting to be passing someone on the streets and just exclaim "It's really hot!" or in Tagalog "Ang init!" So that's what we did, and we got a kick out of it and just talked to lots of people and it was fun. Then that night when we got home and went to bed, the Assistants weren't home yet (sometimes they're late cuz their Call-In-Summary Reports with all the zones sometimes go long) but they have a bad habit of getting home and turning on all the lights and waking us up. So...we took out all the light bulbs. Hid them. And went to sleep. hahaha You gotta do what you gotta do..haha
NEW NEWS
So then Monday (4/30/2012) came around. It wasn't too exciting, well it was almost exciting, but not so much in the end...haha Elder Bagahansol and his companion needed to come to the office to pick up some money from me, so I got to talk to him for a little. I miss that guy. He's awesome! He asked me about my family, and about my mom. His family is still doin good too. It's funny cuz I was companions with him for around 4 or 5 months, and I got to know him really well. And now I'm working really closely with Elder Baltazar, an AP, who is actually from the same branch as Elder Bagahansol and so I've gotten to know Elder Baltazar really well too. Whatever their branch did to prepare these two, they did a great job! haha Later that afternoon, we got to have our quarterly interview with President Stucki! It was awesome! It's always extremely uplifting to get and sit down and talk with President. I don't know if everyone has like ridiculously awesome mission presidents or if its just us, but I hope everyone does cuz it's really an eye opener and a testimony builder. Later also, I decided that like half my parenting skills are going to come from Sister Dietrich..haha She's always talkin about her kids and what they did to them growing up. I love it! But most of its like legit stuff. She should probably write a book. haha The exciting news for the day was that my new JPMC Card for the mission came in! (I had lost one... =/)
So now I can withdraw money again and reimburse people and pay for stuff! Well...I called the place to activate it and....umm...the one I just got in the mail has already been cancelled...great. Due to weird circumstances, I got a replacement for the very card I lost like the next day. So I called to activate it, and they said that the card I was holding in my hand had been reported as lost/stolen. So I was like umm I'm definitely holding this in my hand right now. So they said that there was another one listed on the account that must have been the one that was actually lost. Not knowing at the time that the one she was referencing was actually the real replacement card that was in the mail on its way to me, I was like yeah maybe thats it. So she cancelled that one, and ordered another one..haha So on Monday I found out that the "other card" she was referencing was on its way I just didn't know it. So yeah...after monday I still didn't have any access to money as the Finance Secretary...haha
On Tuesday (5/1/2012) we were a little late leaving the apartment, but then we got on the roads and it was like empty! We were like whaaa? But then we remembered it was Labor Day and so it only took us like 10 minutes to get to the office instead of the usual 45 minutes (not exaggerating. 45 minutes is a good day). (he mentioned that his apartment is only a little over 5K to the office so a 45 min drive to get there is crazy!)So you could imagine the joy I felt being able to actually press the gas pedal instead of just accelerating via letting off the break a little. hahaha I had a really cool personal study about faith, hope, and charity! I primarily focused on charity, and it was way cool. I really liked a couple things mentioned in a talk by Elder Marvin J. Ashton about charity. He said, "“Real charity is not something you give away; it is something that you acquire and make a part of yourself. And when the virtue of charity becomes implanted in your heart, you are never the same again." It's cool cuz I've definitely noticed like the process here serving a mission. There's these changes that come into our lives and eventually into our innermost being, and these changes come as we develop Christ-like attributes and grow closer to Him. And especially with charity, as we acquire charity "you are never the same again." I've noticed that change begin to take place in my life throughout my mission, and I'm striving to continue acquiring more and more charity. I also really liked his simple definition of charity.
After describing some ways that we are charitable such as not judging others, forgiving, giving others the benefit of the doubt, and many other ways, he said quite simply that, "Charity is expecting the best of each other." And I really think that's the pleas from Elder Holland and President Uchtdorf this past conference, that we should do our best to be more charitable to each other. Also, we should love and treat each other as Christ would himself. After studies and getting a little work done in the morning, it was time to run to district meeting. We left the office a little early cuz our ward was having an activity and they told us to at least come and eat for lunch. So of course we were game for that! haha Positive: Brother Ponce was there! And seemed to be enjoying himself! I saw that activity as a wonderful opportunity for him to make friends in the ward so that way he didn't feel so alone in living the gospel. So it was great to see him there. Other: Filipino ward activities are wayyy different than American ones...hahaha They had like video karaoke, kiddie pools, music playing outside, it was like crazy! haha But I kinda hearted it. So with it being the first of May we were supposed to get support again! But I received an email saying we probably wouldn't get it till May 2nd for whatever reason. But to my surprise it showed up, so I told everyone! I got to thinkin about it later and I was like well that's lame. Last cycle, when it was a day late for unknown reasons, I heard from everyone and their dog complaining about why we didn't have support and when we would get it and all that jazz. But this time I didn't even get a thank you, not that its a big deal to me but I realized that thats how it is and thats how I always was/am. If things don't go right or if my parents did something wrong, I was all over them...But they couldn't even buy a think you out of me...hahaha So yeah....sorry. =) Note to ya'll: Don't be like that. =) I'm goin be better at that! I'm going try and do the opposite and not complain and be grateful more, especially for the little things.
Wednesday (5/2/2012) morning had an early start. You know how I like hate mornings? Yeah, Sister Dietrich called me at like 6:45, and requested our help gettin their washing machine in our apartment. So we get up there and start working hard. It took all my effort to keep my eyes opened as we looked at the washing machine and then at the door and then back at the washing machine to try and figure out how we were going to get it through the door back into their back room. Elder Dietrich concluded that we would have to take the door off. So we called maintenance, watched them actually get the machine through the door without removing it, and then the Dietrich's fed us breakfast for our hard work. It was great! Another service project well-done. haha Because of that we kinda were late to the Office Meeting we had that morning with President...oops! Service Project number two came in the form of a begger lady that walked into the office. She was asking us, well mostly Sister Dietrich cuz she sits right there in front, for like food and money for medicines and what not. Sister Dietrich talked to her for a while and suggested that we give her child a blessing, and she readily agreed. When Sister Dietrich mentioned about giving her a blessing I immediately felt the Spirit like punch me in the arm to say, alright you're up! haha It, of course, wasn't exactly like that but that's like the best way I can describe it. As we prepared to give it, I still tried to urge Elder Pugmire to give it cuz idk I'm just shy when it comes to that stuff. But I gave the blessing and by the end of the blessing she was bawling, her whimpering child had settled down, and I knew she had been touched by the Spirit.
Shotly after we sent her on her way with some food and money. And this is what I wrote of what I learned from the experience, "It is unknown as to whether or not the begger lady really needed all the food and medicines and supplies we gave her. It's not my place to judge. However, one thing is certain. She needs the gospel. She needed to feel the Spirit and the love of Heavenly Father for her and her family. And in that, there was success. I know her Spirit was touched, comforted, and healed to some extent through the comfort of the Spirit and the healing words of the gospel of Christ, and she will continue to be strengthened if she continues to accept the gospel as we have invited her to. (see Matt. 6:31-33)" So we got her information, sent her on her way, and gave her info to the missionaries in that area. Service two, check. Service three came in the form of moving a couch out of the mission office and into the back of Elder and Sister Spencer's van. After all that....we could finally start our office work...at like three. hahaha That night though I remembered that I forgot to tell Coron that they had support! And it was perfect cuz it was also Joy Duran's birthday! So I told them they had support and asked them to say hi to the family for me and happy birthday to Joy. And it was funny cuz they were actually eating at the Duran's at the time. Elder Caliao who's just new out there seems to be lovin it! I got a little news about the Duran's he said, "Lagi ka nila kwento sa amin. Pati nga sa cellphone ni bro. Duran. Nilagay mo doon. (gwapo si Gadberry)." Or for you English speakers, "They're always telling us stories about you, and Brother Duran's cell phone still has the banner that you put on there (Gadberry is handsome)." hahaha And then later that night we got to talkin with the Dietrich's as we often do, and Elder Dietrich was tellin me stories of the sea! It was pretty legit cuz he was in the Navy and he's like a super avid fisher, so it was great!
Thursday (5/3/2012) morning, Elder Te'o left, and Elder Arquiola left Wednesday morning. So finally we're back to a normal number in the apartment. It's sad to see them go cuz they're way cool people, but at the same time its nice to not have too many in the apartment...haha I also, noted that not having a card/access to money is really annoying. This whole week I've had to be very creative with getting people the money they need..haha But its been good cuz I've gotten wayyyyyyyyyy behind on the "boring stuff" like filing..haha So not having money has given me a bit of a chance to catch up on that a little. In other news, I feel really weird when Elder Pugmire and I go to Mang-Inasal..haha It's a Filipino fast-foodish restaurant which is famous for having unlimited rice haha So American's here are like all expected to like not really like rice or Filipino food or anything like that. So I always feel really self-conscious going there but it's cheap and its good and you can eat a lot!
Friday (5/4/2012) it was ZLC again! It's so weird...this was like my 4th ZLC. And it always feels like it just happened the other week. But here it came and went again. I kinda look forward to it cuz I getta see Elder Stirland and Elder Labinpuno and Elder Bagahansol there. Not for too long but a little bit, so it's cool! Cuz right after its over we gotta run the Zone Leaders that are in Narra and Puerto to the airport cuz ZLC ends at 2 and their flight's at like 4 so that's always a little pressed for time. Well this time, they for whatever reason were flying out of another terminal that was kinda far from the terminal they usually fly out of, and because they've always been flying out of terminal 2 for who knows how long, no one thought to look at the ticket and check it. So we dropped them off at terminal two and started to go home. Shortly later we got a call from them saying that they were at the wrong terminal, and then the phone call dropped. haha Great. I guess there's like no reception there for whatever reason... So we can't contact them so we just flip around and try and go pick them as fast as we can. We got there to find out that they had left already and were in a taxi heading to the right terminal..haha So after all that we finally made it back to the mission home, and President greeted and was like, "Well Brethren, did we learn a lesson today?" President really doesn't like it when mistakes like that happen, sooo...I was a little embarrassed but at least it worked out! Also, not having a card it annoying.
Well that was kinda my week! It was pretty cool if I might say so myself. I enjoyed it. I'm just out here hangin out in the Philippines...send me a letter or somethin! hahaha
Love
Elder Michael Gadberry
How bland of an opening is that?? haha Once again, I'm making fun of my parents emails to me...haha They opened with "Elder,". Not even Dear Beloved Elder Gadberry or something of the sorts that would, of course, be a fitting way to address one as beloved as I. haha Just kidding. I'll be interested to see the salutation that will be addressed at the top of their next email. haha
So have you been able to go teach the English referral?
Nope! They said that it will probably take awhile before we will get to. When we got it the family was like in Bagio on vacation or visiting family or something of the sorts so we gotta wait till they get back and then whoever it is in the ward that knows them will set up a time and appointment for us to go there.
I really liked the slide show you did for Sister Dietrich. Does it have any relation to the fact that her computer crashed...? How long is the Dietrich's mission? When do they come home? What about the Paddocks?
Nope! Her computer crashed cuz it was really old and had been "repaired" quite a few times now. It would break and then Elder Spencer would try and fix it, and then it would break bigger and Elder Spencer would do his thang and then it would break bigger still and yeah...Until now it broke, it couldn't even boot up anymore. And apparently the last back-up Elder Spencer did on that computer error-ed out and it backed up all the folders on the computer but none of the documents. It was great! haha Well lets see...the Dietrich's got here just last December and they're goin back home in October for 2013. And the Paddocks just barely got here like 2 months ago and go home February 2014.
It sounds like you went a whole week without getting pulled over, is that a record for you? Do you still have all the extra missionaries at your apartment?
No! I don't usually get pulled over! We've made it two Fridays in a row now not getting pulled over on coding...that's definitely a blessing. haha But not anymore! Elder Spencer's gone, and Elder Arquiola left on Tuesday morning and Elder Te'o on Wednesday morning. They're great guys....but 7 is a little much for a 4 person apartment..So it's nice to go back to normal-ish.
So, now the important stuff - What's the plan for you calling on mother's day?
I'm supposed to call for Mother's Day? Ooops! Definitely forgot about that. Too late to get all that figured out now...I guess we'll just have to wait till Christmas..
Well I'm glad my parents asked me some questions this time cuz I don't think I have that much to say in this email. But at the same time I feel that I say that every time and then manage to pump out novels...haha Sorry! That's just how I roll I guess. Oh in case you notice or even care, I kinda lost my planner I think so I don't have any record anymore of what happened last week (Apr 22-28) so that week will just be lost forever to you guys..haha But I've got decent record of this week so lets see what all went down.
EXCEPT, I wanna tell ya'll about April 27th. Long explanation made short, I have record of that day in the form of text..haha. But anyways that was a really cool day! One of those days that was right from the start. Well come to think of it, I'd actually made note that the day was kinda stressful and frustrating but at this point I couldn't tell you at all why. And that's the cool thing about missions and doing good works is that I remember exactly why that day was cool! So on Thursday night, we visited Brother Ponce just to set up an appointment because it was late. He was outside with a couple of his friends who were drinking. He wasn’t drinking, nor did he look terribly engaged in socializing with his friends. So we were able to schedule the appointment, and we talked about it ourselves and we decided that we weren’t going to say anything to Brother Ponce about being with his friends while they were drinking. We were just going to trust him that he wasn’t drinking and be there to help anyway we could. So Friday morning, I open up my Book of Mormon to start studying. I'm in Ether 12! It was perfect! I learned a tonnn from it (like the prophet Ether mentions that a hope that stems from our faith will become an anchor for our souls. So like if we're a boat, the storms and turbulent waters of life, still happen. We still get tossed around, but because of that hope we do not drift into unknown waters, we don't capsize, but instead we endure and stay the course), and in companionship study we talked about it as well and decided that was a good chapter to share with him. So later we taught a lesson about faith, acting on our faith, growing our faith, and how our faith provides an anchor for us in our lives. It was a really great lesson, in which even I learned a lot about faith. At the end of the lesson, we asked him if he had any questions for us, and he thought about it a little bit and posed this question to us. “Elders, how can I entertain my friends, and not risk breaking the Word of Wisdom? Because it’s hard to be here by myself (Due to unfortunate circumstances he was married, it didn’t work out and now he’s living alone, in the warehouse at which he works because he can’t marry again)” It was a really sincere question in which the question being posed was almost “How do I maintain a social life, and continue to live the Gospel of Jesus Christ?”
It was an awesome opportunity for us to testify to him that we knew that there was strength and answers in the Book of Mormon, that Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ are there wanting to help him and are there to stand by him so he’s not alone, and that Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ know that he can make it through. I was able to share my experiences with that, having had very similar experiences happen to me and my friends. From that experience I really learned one, that the Lord has prepared me since my youth to help those around me. And two, the Lord really is in control of the work because he was able to put me here, on the other side of the world, in front of Brother Ponce at this time so that I could share how I overcame the very same issue of having some of my closest friends start drinking and how I was able to stand tall and be an example to my friends. All in all it was really a simple experience. I read some scriptures, my companion and I taught a lesson, and we answered a question. But when you put Christ central to your life, when you due your best to recognize His hand in all things, it becomes more than that. I believe that it was Christ that enlightened my mind to think about Ponce as I studied. I believe it was His Spirit that has made the change in Ponce's life so that he would desire to change. I believe that it was His Spirit that helped Ponce feel comfortable enough to pose that sort of question to us. And I know it was Him that, through living prophets and apostles, called me here to help Brother Ponce, not just here to the Manila Mission but to be specifically assigned to the Manadaluyong 2nd Ward at this time so that I could help Brother Ponce. "Remember, the worth of souls is great in the sight of God." Welp. That was long =).
So moving to last Sunday. It was great! Ponce, of course, being as awesome as he is, made it to church! Woo! But Tatay Advincula didn't =( But it's okay..cuz we still love em. We worked in our area most of the day, and didn't really have a whole lot of success...haha But it was still great! We actually enjoyed it. Well, I started rockin the long-sleeve white shirt every Sunday cuz one, that's what I always wore back home; two, Misa and Belz did it and so Misa first made me consider it; and three, just cuz. But anyways, it's a little hot in the Philippines around this time (especially if you're in long sleeves...but I loved it haha) so Elder Pugmire and I went around proclaiming the heat to everyone..haha Cuz here we hypothesized and found out that it's regular greeting to be passing someone on the streets and just exclaim "It's really hot!" or in Tagalog "Ang init!" So that's what we did, and we got a kick out of it and just talked to lots of people and it was fun. Then that night when we got home and went to bed, the Assistants weren't home yet (sometimes they're late cuz their Call-In-Summary Reports with all the zones sometimes go long) but they have a bad habit of getting home and turning on all the lights and waking us up. So...we took out all the light bulbs. Hid them. And went to sleep. hahaha You gotta do what you gotta do..haha
NEW NEWS
So then Monday (4/30/2012) came around. It wasn't too exciting, well it was almost exciting, but not so much in the end...haha Elder Bagahansol and his companion needed to come to the office to pick up some money from me, so I got to talk to him for a little. I miss that guy. He's awesome! He asked me about my family, and about my mom. His family is still doin good too. It's funny cuz I was companions with him for around 4 or 5 months, and I got to know him really well. And now I'm working really closely with Elder Baltazar, an AP, who is actually from the same branch as Elder Bagahansol and so I've gotten to know Elder Baltazar really well too. Whatever their branch did to prepare these two, they did a great job! haha Later that afternoon, we got to have our quarterly interview with President Stucki! It was awesome! It's always extremely uplifting to get and sit down and talk with President. I don't know if everyone has like ridiculously awesome mission presidents or if its just us, but I hope everyone does cuz it's really an eye opener and a testimony builder. Later also, I decided that like half my parenting skills are going to come from Sister Dietrich..haha She's always talkin about her kids and what they did to them growing up. I love it! But most of its like legit stuff. She should probably write a book. haha The exciting news for the day was that my new JPMC Card for the mission came in! (I had lost one... =/)
So now I can withdraw money again and reimburse people and pay for stuff! Well...I called the place to activate it and....umm...the one I just got in the mail has already been cancelled...great. Due to weird circumstances, I got a replacement for the very card I lost like the next day. So I called to activate it, and they said that the card I was holding in my hand had been reported as lost/stolen. So I was like umm I'm definitely holding this in my hand right now. So they said that there was another one listed on the account that must have been the one that was actually lost. Not knowing at the time that the one she was referencing was actually the real replacement card that was in the mail on its way to me, I was like yeah maybe thats it. So she cancelled that one, and ordered another one..haha So on Monday I found out that the "other card" she was referencing was on its way I just didn't know it. So yeah...after monday I still didn't have any access to money as the Finance Secretary...haha
On Tuesday (5/1/2012) we were a little late leaving the apartment, but then we got on the roads and it was like empty! We were like whaaa? But then we remembered it was Labor Day and so it only took us like 10 minutes to get to the office instead of the usual 45 minutes (not exaggerating. 45 minutes is a good day). (he mentioned that his apartment is only a little over 5K to the office so a 45 min drive to get there is crazy!)So you could imagine the joy I felt being able to actually press the gas pedal instead of just accelerating via letting off the break a little. hahaha I had a really cool personal study about faith, hope, and charity! I primarily focused on charity, and it was way cool. I really liked a couple things mentioned in a talk by Elder Marvin J. Ashton about charity. He said, "“Real charity is not something you give away; it is something that you acquire and make a part of yourself. And when the virtue of charity becomes implanted in your heart, you are never the same again." It's cool cuz I've definitely noticed like the process here serving a mission. There's these changes that come into our lives and eventually into our innermost being, and these changes come as we develop Christ-like attributes and grow closer to Him. And especially with charity, as we acquire charity "you are never the same again." I've noticed that change begin to take place in my life throughout my mission, and I'm striving to continue acquiring more and more charity. I also really liked his simple definition of charity.
After describing some ways that we are charitable such as not judging others, forgiving, giving others the benefit of the doubt, and many other ways, he said quite simply that, "Charity is expecting the best of each other." And I really think that's the pleas from Elder Holland and President Uchtdorf this past conference, that we should do our best to be more charitable to each other. Also, we should love and treat each other as Christ would himself. After studies and getting a little work done in the morning, it was time to run to district meeting. We left the office a little early cuz our ward was having an activity and they told us to at least come and eat for lunch. So of course we were game for that! haha Positive: Brother Ponce was there! And seemed to be enjoying himself! I saw that activity as a wonderful opportunity for him to make friends in the ward so that way he didn't feel so alone in living the gospel. So it was great to see him there. Other: Filipino ward activities are wayyy different than American ones...hahaha They had like video karaoke, kiddie pools, music playing outside, it was like crazy! haha But I kinda hearted it. So with it being the first of May we were supposed to get support again! But I received an email saying we probably wouldn't get it till May 2nd for whatever reason. But to my surprise it showed up, so I told everyone! I got to thinkin about it later and I was like well that's lame. Last cycle, when it was a day late for unknown reasons, I heard from everyone and their dog complaining about why we didn't have support and when we would get it and all that jazz. But this time I didn't even get a thank you, not that its a big deal to me but I realized that thats how it is and thats how I always was/am. If things don't go right or if my parents did something wrong, I was all over them...But they couldn't even buy a think you out of me...hahaha So yeah....sorry. =) Note to ya'll: Don't be like that. =) I'm goin be better at that! I'm going try and do the opposite and not complain and be grateful more, especially for the little things.
Wednesday (5/2/2012) morning had an early start. You know how I like hate mornings? Yeah, Sister Dietrich called me at like 6:45, and requested our help gettin their washing machine in our apartment. So we get up there and start working hard. It took all my effort to keep my eyes opened as we looked at the washing machine and then at the door and then back at the washing machine to try and figure out how we were going to get it through the door back into their back room. Elder Dietrich concluded that we would have to take the door off. So we called maintenance, watched them actually get the machine through the door without removing it, and then the Dietrich's fed us breakfast for our hard work. It was great! Another service project well-done. haha Because of that we kinda were late to the Office Meeting we had that morning with President...oops! Service Project number two came in the form of a begger lady that walked into the office. She was asking us, well mostly Sister Dietrich cuz she sits right there in front, for like food and money for medicines and what not. Sister Dietrich talked to her for a while and suggested that we give her child a blessing, and she readily agreed. When Sister Dietrich mentioned about giving her a blessing I immediately felt the Spirit like punch me in the arm to say, alright you're up! haha It, of course, wasn't exactly like that but that's like the best way I can describe it. As we prepared to give it, I still tried to urge Elder Pugmire to give it cuz idk I'm just shy when it comes to that stuff. But I gave the blessing and by the end of the blessing she was bawling, her whimpering child had settled down, and I knew she had been touched by the Spirit.
Shotly after we sent her on her way with some food and money. And this is what I wrote of what I learned from the experience, "It is unknown as to whether or not the begger lady really needed all the food and medicines and supplies we gave her. It's not my place to judge. However, one thing is certain. She needs the gospel. She needed to feel the Spirit and the love of Heavenly Father for her and her family. And in that, there was success. I know her Spirit was touched, comforted, and healed to some extent through the comfort of the Spirit and the healing words of the gospel of Christ, and she will continue to be strengthened if she continues to accept the gospel as we have invited her to. (see Matt. 6:31-33)" So we got her information, sent her on her way, and gave her info to the missionaries in that area. Service two, check. Service three came in the form of moving a couch out of the mission office and into the back of Elder and Sister Spencer's van. After all that....we could finally start our office work...at like three. hahaha That night though I remembered that I forgot to tell Coron that they had support! And it was perfect cuz it was also Joy Duran's birthday! So I told them they had support and asked them to say hi to the family for me and happy birthday to Joy. And it was funny cuz they were actually eating at the Duran's at the time. Elder Caliao who's just new out there seems to be lovin it! I got a little news about the Duran's he said, "Lagi ka nila kwento sa amin. Pati nga sa cellphone ni bro. Duran. Nilagay mo doon. (gwapo si Gadberry)." Or for you English speakers, "They're always telling us stories about you, and Brother Duran's cell phone still has the banner that you put on there (Gadberry is handsome)." hahaha And then later that night we got to talkin with the Dietrich's as we often do, and Elder Dietrich was tellin me stories of the sea! It was pretty legit cuz he was in the Navy and he's like a super avid fisher, so it was great!
Thursday (5/3/2012) morning, Elder Te'o left, and Elder Arquiola left Wednesday morning. So finally we're back to a normal number in the apartment. It's sad to see them go cuz they're way cool people, but at the same time its nice to not have too many in the apartment...haha I also, noted that not having a card/access to money is really annoying. This whole week I've had to be very creative with getting people the money they need..haha But its been good cuz I've gotten wayyyyyyyyyy behind on the "boring stuff" like filing..haha So not having money has given me a bit of a chance to catch up on that a little. In other news, I feel really weird when Elder Pugmire and I go to Mang-Inasal..haha It's a Filipino fast-foodish restaurant which is famous for having unlimited rice haha So American's here are like all expected to like not really like rice or Filipino food or anything like that. So I always feel really self-conscious going there but it's cheap and its good and you can eat a lot!
Friday (5/4/2012) it was ZLC again! It's so weird...this was like my 4th ZLC. And it always feels like it just happened the other week. But here it came and went again. I kinda look forward to it cuz I getta see Elder Stirland and Elder Labinpuno and Elder Bagahansol there. Not for too long but a little bit, so it's cool! Cuz right after its over we gotta run the Zone Leaders that are in Narra and Puerto to the airport cuz ZLC ends at 2 and their flight's at like 4 so that's always a little pressed for time. Well this time, they for whatever reason were flying out of another terminal that was kinda far from the terminal they usually fly out of, and because they've always been flying out of terminal 2 for who knows how long, no one thought to look at the ticket and check it. So we dropped them off at terminal two and started to go home. Shortly later we got a call from them saying that they were at the wrong terminal, and then the phone call dropped. haha Great. I guess there's like no reception there for whatever reason... So we can't contact them so we just flip around and try and go pick them as fast as we can. We got there to find out that they had left already and were in a taxi heading to the right terminal..haha So after all that we finally made it back to the mission home, and President greeted and was like, "Well Brethren, did we learn a lesson today?" President really doesn't like it when mistakes like that happen, sooo...I was a little embarrassed but at least it worked out! Also, not having a card it annoying.
Well that was kinda my week! It was pretty cool if I might say so myself. I enjoyed it. I'm just out here hangin out in the Philippines...send me a letter or somethin! hahaha
Love
Elder Michael Gadberry
April 28, 2012 E-mail!
Guess what I just ate.
Yep. I figured you guys wouldn't guess. I just finished a Frosty. But it wasn't just any Frosty...I used my creative genius and made it even better. What were my additions you ask? Well here I'll tell you. They were Reese's and Oreos! Legit? I think so! I recommend you try it.
Welp. I got an email from my parents (YAY!) but they didn't have any questions for me to answer. Sorry! So lets get on to my week I guess. It was great! Yeah! It's always great right? This week's flown by super fast but just trying to think back I can't remember anything that happened..haha Okay is this just me or is this everyone? But I swear when I was like 10 days were sooo long! Like even a half an hour was a long time! But then Junior High came about it was pretty long too. High school sometimes felt long but at the same time just flew by. And then with college and mission it's completely changed to like weeks are like days and days are like hours..haha It's soooo fast! It's freakin me out! haha
Well it happened on a bright beautiful morning in Mandaluyong City. It was a Sunday. It was a great Sunday! For the past month we've had two elders living with us because they got their missions extended a month so they're our "Special Assignment" elders in which they go around the mission and work with companionships and kinda evaluate them and report back to President. So all their junk is thrown in our apartment and they're their only once and awhile. But on Sunday they were there, and they even went to our ward cuz they were working with elders that go to church there too. So in our ward on Sunday we had 7 missionaries...haha That's a bit of an over-load..haha Then we came home that night and we added one more elder to us because his companion got really sick and was at the mission home or MRC or somethin. But anyways we had 8 missionaries there that night. We have 4 beds, 1 Filipino mattress that is used to sleep on the floor, one decently sized couch, one love seat, and one air mattress....perfect, no?? haha
Anyways, at church we got an English referral! Apparently there's an less-active lady in our ward whose husband is not a member and a daughter that she wants to get baptized. So they asked for the missionaries, but the thing is, I guess they said/the ward said that they understand English better than Tagalog..haha So who better to send than the two American guys in the area? haha So that'll be way interesting but I'm pumped! Cuz like forever I was dying cuz I felt so hand-cuffed and worthless cuz of the language so I was like I WANT ENGLISH! I CAN HELP PEOPLE! I'M NOT AS WORTHLESS AS I SOUND! haha So now I might get a chance to give English a shot..haha That afternoon we taught a pretty great lesson with the Gozon family. I like them! Then we went and had dinner at the Dietrich's! After dinner, I sat there and listened to a few of Elder Dietrich's blonde jokes...and added a couple of mine own in. #BroTalk. hahaha classic.
Then Monday rolled around. And it was great! First things first, my good'ol pal Elder Groesbeck apparently has the area with the best shoes in the mission. So he got me a pair of fake D-Rose's that cost a 120 bucks in the states for 20 bucks..haha It's my Christmas gift to myself..haha But after that me and my computer wizzs of companions prepped a little present for Sister Dietrich. So what happened was I created a slideshow (it's attached) and planted it on Sister Dietrich's desktop. And then my computer geniuses knew how they could log in to her computer from our own computer so we did that. Elder Spencer distracted her while Elder Pugmire logged in and opened the slideshow and then when Sister Dietrich logged back in, she could just see the slideshow! It was great! She loved it! She loves us! haha I also got news that just his year 11,000 members have returned to activation here in the Philippines! And 800 of them are from our mission. Which is above average cuz if you do the math (I'm a numbers guy) and you've got 11,000 returned within 17 missions so you should have 650 returned per mission and we've got 800, so yeah, we're that good. haha
Monday was also, slightly a crisis. We were supposed to have support that day, but for whatever reason it didn't come. So I've got everyone and their dog in the mission asking me where it is and I've got nothin to tell them cuz I don't have anything to do about it. So that was fun tell everyone ALL day that 1. We didn't have support. 2. I don't know why. and 3. No, I don't know when it will come. So that was the problem of the day so when we waited all day and there was no support I emailed the peeps in SLC to see what was up. On the bright side, it was Elder Pugmire's birthday on Monday! Woo! That means that almost everyone of my 5 comps (except for Hopkins and Elder Stirland) I was comps with them for their birthday...that's kinda cool right?? So the Dietrich's made Elder Pugmire his favorite for dinner...hot dogs! haha It was great!
So Tuesday, we opened the morning with a couple crazy beggers wandering into the office. One was this crazy lady that came in and said all the guys dressed in white are trying to kill her. They're carrying around guns and they turn into spears. And then Elder Hernando walked in and she accused him of being one of them...haha And then we also had this one guy named Jordan who was rough looking but spoke nearly perfect english.
On the bright side, support finally came in! I was pumped! And everyone was happy, so that was very helpful. Positive number two, I got a package from my parents! Negative number one, it was Elder Spencer's last night here in the office...so it was his last night to work in our area, so of course we had to hit up the Advincula's! Positive number three, they were there! Positive number four, Arianne likes Rocket to the Moon! I was like whaaa?? They actually listen to that here! Crazy! Super positive number five, they're doing their family scripture study and prayer every night! And Tatay is like leading it. He's always like re-capping what they had read the night before and like summarizing the story and what not. He's so great!! Positive number six, we had another great lesson there! Teaching the gospel is fun =).
Now Wednesday was pretty great! We got to go to the temple for the first time in like forever cuz they had like at least 2 months of renovation done to it. So we were tried to go to the 6am session. So we got there at like 5:40. We talk to some missionaries outside (cuz we have temple days by zone, so there were three zones from Manila Mission going). And they said that the 6oclock session was full! We were like what??? And then a couple more walked out and they told us the 7 session was full too! So we hurried up and got in there and got reservations for the 8 oclock session before that even got full. So what had happened is there was a bunch of people there already, but then on top of that 3 missions sent missionaries! Us, Quezon City, and Quezon City North. It was crazy. So that was not good, but I saw a tonnnn of people I knew in those missions! I LOVED IT!
I saw Elder Somner first, then Sister Roper, then Elder Stoddard and Elder Peterson all before we had our session. I was sooo pumped! Then we had our session and it was amazing! The temple is so cool! Afterwards, I walk outside and I hear a New Zealanders voice behind me, that I recognized but hadn't heard forever, he was like "Gadbury! (That's how it's pronounced to him) What the heck are you doing in the Philippines?!" I turned around and was PUMPED to see Elder CHADDERTON! I was like "I'm serving a mission! What are you doin here?!" haha Elder Chadderton was my monster of a ZL at the MTC. So we got to talk for a while and it was awesome. I thought I wasn't goin see him forever haha. And then I even saw Sister Weller and Elder Lynn after that! It was CRAZY! After all that....we said goodbye to Elder Spencer...sad. Oh yeah! When I walked out of the temple I looked at my phone and I had 2 missed calls and 7 messages! It was ridiculous! I was like come on! seriously?? haha
I had a really cool learning experience at the temple this time. For the most part, when I had gone to the temple I never felt like super different or like super powerful, but I realized that that's okay because that's not how the Spirit usually works. The Spirit is soft, quiet, and natural and not usually overly powerful or over-bearing. And I realized that that's exactly what I feel at the temple. At the temple, everything feels natural. I feel at home. I feel quiet, happy, and peaceful. I'm so grateful for that truth that the Spirit has taught me because to be honest I always kind of concerned that maybe I'm doing something wrong or whatever else because at the temple everything generally felt very natural/at home for me, like it didn't feel common or ordinary, it felt sacred but very natural and now I realize that that is the presence of the Spirit. I learned that the Spirit doesn't work in loud, powerful ways, the Spirit works quietly and naturally because that's what it is. It's natural communication. After the whirlwind of an adventure at the temple we ran out to get Elder Pugmire's license to drive and then we actually ate Subway! It was awesome! But oh geez...when I got home I was sooo tired! haha It was a very busy day. But I LOVED it!
Thursday morning, I started the day off great with an awesome study in Ether 7. I actually learned a lot about prophets. The Religion 121 Book of Mormon Student Guide talked a little about prophets and why they often get rejected, and that sparked my mind and made something click. I like teaching and using comparisons and stories to learn so I think that the Spirit helped teach me through a story/situation that I was able to think up (I'll post it at the end if anyone is interested. It helped me learn, so maybe it'll help you). And ultimately I feel like the conclusion was that piercing question of "why do I do what I do, when I know what I know?" The prophets, both now and of olden days, have laid it all our in front of us. Now it's our time to choose. If we believe in the prophets and trust in their counsel, we will never be lead astray. We have the two doors revealed to us. "We are free to choose liberty and eternal life. . .or to choose captivity and death." On a similar note....okay well maybe not so similar...but Elder Pugmire and I heard Footloose when we were in 7-Eleven and it reminded me of Stake Dances and it was really hard for us not to dance....like really hard..haha. After Footloose, they played 50 Cent and it was weird. I was like okay, you don't do that....
On the Finance side of things, I had to do my monthly Variance Report on Thursday (Report in which I tell the area office why we're over budget in this area and why we're so far under budget in other areas). But having done that and seeing, what I think, to be many errors in the budget request makes me wanna be here kinda till like July whenever they submit the next request for 2013 so that way we can get the right amount of money in each area. On Thursday, Elder Pugmire and I burned the last General Conference onto a CD and now we're listening to it every where we go! Especially when we're going to the Area cuz listening to Conference just makes you wanna share the gospel with everyone! It's like this is sooo good! Just listen to us! We've got a message that will change your lives and bless your lives forever! We're pumped cuz we're goin get Conference like memorized! haha
Friday, I was gettin calls about problems before 8am! I was like okay....It should be illegal to call me with problems before like...1pm..haha On Friday I finally got I think all the payment stuff figured out for President's house help to the various stuff like Social Security, PhilHealth, and other stuff. I decided it wasn't terribly hard but it's still pretty confusing. We'll see what they tell me when I go in there and try to actually pay and turn in all the forms I tried to fill out. That night we had a great lesson with Ponce! We talked about the gospel of Christ and how it blesses our lives and how it's an essential part of our life here. While Elder Pugmire was saying the opening prayer I had like a flashback in my mind. I pictured us 8 months ago, sittin on a couch in the TRC at the MTC..haha I was like whoa! Me and Elder Pugmire were there together doing that practicing teaching stuff there and just hoping that we can teach in half-way understandable Tagalog, and now we're here! Teaching in full Tagalog! In real life! In the Philippines! Whoa! #CRAZY #MissionsAreFast. haha After we got home that night, Elder Pugmire and I talked baseball for a while it was weird! I haven't talked ball with anyone since Elder Farnesworth at the MTC..haha
Now Saturday was pretty much craziness too! (Most of the reason why this email is a week late (but most of you don't know that because I'm sure my parents are behind on gettin this out to my beloved, lovely, awesome, everything-else-good, kind, and faithful readers...LOVE YOU!). So we had to go to the temple tour (Temple Tour is when missionaries bring investigators to the temple and they go around the outside from station to station being taught by other missionaries all about the temple and all that jazz...it's reallyyy good for investigators, less actives, everyone!) that morning because it was the Province's Temple Tour and we don't see them very often cuz they're out in the provinces, so we need to cover their supplies and financial needs as often as we can see them. So we spent all morning running around from group to group doing that jazz. And then one time we were going to switch out a cell phone and the sisters that were running the station (it was like the introductory station with like a song and prayer and basic intro and what not) saw us coming and were like "Hey look! Here comes Elder Gadberry and Elder Pugmire! They're going to come sing for us!" Ah geez....seriously?! I don't sing well, and I especially don't sing in front of people...
But you can't really say no cuz they kept calling on us to go up there so Elder Pugmire and I went up there and sang Joseph Smith's First Prayer (love that song actually) and it was napaka-embarrassing! haha. I did have the opportunity to count my blessings though because it was SUPER hot! And this whole month pretty much has been super hot and it's just awesome that I get to be in the office in AC for most of the heat of the day..haha But on the bright side, I got a little sunburnt! Yay for tanning! haha Because it was our Preparation Day we went and bought groceries and guess what I got! I got Ray Bans color number 2! haha I got white this time, they're snazzy! The ate (Tagalog for older sister) there remembered me (cuz you don't have a lot of white people that can speak Tagalog buying stuff from you) and I told her that I was trying to get a bunch of colors and she was like oh yeah? What are you short? I'll order those. Then I told her that I only had those two that I bought from her..haha So she said she'd order a bunch more colors for me so I'm pumped! #GottaStayFly. haha In other news, Elder Pugmire drove for the first time on Saturday and it was great! I think I'm so used to driving all the time that it makes me nervous a little bit when someone else drives..haha But don't tell him that!
Well that was pretty much my week! It was great! I loved it! Hope you too had a great week! Let me know if you all have any questions about the Philippines or life as a missionary or anything like that, I'll be happy to answer them! Cuz a lot of times I don't know what to talk about so I just ramble on about my life, and I'm sure that's not terribly entertaining...haha "Basta, mahal ko kayo! Namimiss ko kayo! At patuloy lang kayong ipamuhay ang ebanghelyo ni JesuCristo. Mas lalong...patuloy lang sa pagbabasa ng mga emails ko..hahaha"
LUV
Elder Michael Gadberry
Pictures
0171-0179 -- Elder Pugmire's Birthday! haha
0180 -- Jakey apparently decided that here in the Philippines it would be more appropriate to have an Easter Fish instead of an Easter Bunny...haha "Basta, chocolate siya, kaya masaya ako." haha
0181 - Arianne and Tatay!
0182/0183 -- Early morning for the temple
0186 -- maganda talaga ang templo di ba??
0187 -- Elder Chadderton and Sister Roper!
0188 -- Me and Elder Peterson!
0189 -- Busy road + boredom + Elder Pugmire taking forever to do his urine sample = this picture
0190 -- He's so happy!
0191 -- Oh geez... (If anyone knows Elder Pugmire's parents, please let them know that he is driving because I think he refuses to tell them..haha)
0193-0207 -- Temple Tour pics! (The APs borrowed my camera for pictures because they didn't bring one and we needed pics for the mission)
0209 -- I found Elder Pugmire and I in this pic! Isn't it pretty epic?
0211 -- Bus full of people for Temple Tour!
2013/2014 -- My new Adidas kicks that came in an Air Jordan box. Pretty cool huh? haha
0215 -- Check the shades..
P..........24 -- Some of our batch that was at the temple! Heart them!
SAM 0970 -- Temple tour pic with me in it!
1862-1871 -- Picture time at the Advincula's!
-----1870 -- We're all looking at the Book of Mormon but you can't see it...
-----1871 -- I got Elder Pugmire to rock the open mouth smile with me! =D
Hope you're happy! You got a really long email and lots of pictures! haha
My story thing about prophets, us, and free agency
We're still free to choose but we must accept the consequences of those choices. The prophets are just there to warn us of those consequences, to give us "sneak peak" so that way we don't have to suffer consequences that could have been avoided.
It's like a game show in which the contestant must choose between two doors. The show host in his kindness gives our contestant a hint. He advises him not to choose door number one. After some thought, the contestant still can't make up his mind. The host, sensing the uncertainty of our friend, again offers his insight and almost pleads with our contestant to avoid door number one or he's going to walk out with nothing. This really throws off our contestant. Is he really telling me how to win? But of course, you can't always trust the host, so he continues to ponder, hoping that somehow the answer will just come to him. Finally, in a last hope to persuade our friend, the host informs him that the vacation, car, experience or whatever else of his dreams is waiting behind door number two. There it all is laid out in front of our contestant. Is agency robbed? No. Ultimately, it's his choice. Is the host lying to him? Should he go with what he might feel to be his own insights and wisdom and choose door number one? Or should he trust the host and choose door two? Ultimately it's up to me and to us to decide if our prophets are truly "who they claim to be" as prophets and servants of God. They've laid it all our in front of us. Now it's our time to choose. If we believe in the prophets and trust in their counsel, we will never be lead astray. We have the two doors revealed to us. "We are free to choose liberty and eternal life. . .or to choose captivity and death. (2 Nephi 2:27)" If we say that we believe in the apostles and prophets, then why do we continuously deviate from the path so clearly lit before us? Why do we pridefully walk alone amidst the pleadings of the prophets, our loved ones, and even our Savior, Jesus Christ, to join with them, hold fast, and press onward?
April 14, 2012 E-Mail
Hey guess what guys!
My parents emailed me telling me that they weren't going to email me..so yeah I don't think I'm goin reward them for their bad behavior through emailing them...
So this is the end. Goodbye!
Love you!
Elder Michael Gadberry
Okay.....you got me. You know that I'm having such an awesome time out here that I just have to tell you all all about it! Actually I feel like this past week was kinda bland but I guess thats what happens when you have awesome week after awesome week after awesome week after awesome week after awesome week after...okay I think you got what I mean..haha But this week was GREAT! like every other week. But I was really bad at keep track of everything happening so I feel like this may end up being one of my lamer emails...sorry po!
So with my parents not emailing me, I've got no questions to respond to...aww..ACTUALLY! I remember that I have the letters I got from some of the youth in my home branch! And they asked me questions and since I really stink I writing letters back...I'll answer those questions now! YES! PUMPED! Okay just a sec gotta grab them real quick. I carry around a lot of letters with me in my binder pretending to myself that I'll actually have time and remember to respond (he really does have good intentions to write individual letters).....buuuut yeah...ask Sister Demers about gettin letters back from me....I think she probably has the worst ratio of letters sent to letters received....SORRY!
Well my youngest brother, Jacob, didn't ask me a whole lot. But he did, by the way, draw me a hang man game. Now how in the world he expects me to actually play that game without having someone with the answer so I can actually guess and figure it out....I'm not too sure, but hey it's the thought that counts right..? right.....
Collin first asked if it snowed in the Philippines? Well...no. haha I think I heard rumor that like maybe somewhere up north they sometimes get snow on the very peaks of their mountains but I don't even know if that's true..haha
He then asked, "what's up?" And there's not a whole lot up, just been going about doing the regular preparation day stuff. Just woke up at 4:30, took the senior couples to the airport, and went back to bed..haha And then did some laundry, went shopping with the Assistants and then ate Mang-Inasal and now I'm here! It's been great! What's up there??
Jordan was curious about the weather. Well right now it's like super hot outside. March and April, I'm pretty sure, are the "summer" months here where it doesn't really rain and it just gets really hot haha And then come May it starts raining a lot until "fall." So yeah, this isn't exactly a bad time to be spending most of your day times in an Air Conditioned office...haha Cuz there's no AC anywhere else..haha
Next question from him, "Do I like using my machete?" I can't really lie....you feel pretty legit swingin a machete and choppin at stuff. It's like now this is the Philippines! haha But I haven't gotten to play with one forev! Sad...
And no, Jordan, it does not snow in the Philippines..haha
Claire was concerned about her spelling in her letter to me, but Claire, I'm pretty sure you spelled it all right! haha Yay! And Effingham isn't that bad Claire...it's great! Having been away from Effingham for a like a couple years now, I miss it. It's an awesome place! I told Sister Dietrich that if I don't end up needing to work near a big city for business reasons, then I think a small-ish Midwestern town is where I'd totes choose! I loved it there! She agreed cuz she was born and raised in a small town in Indiana. But idk at the same time I think pretty much everywhere is great! Most of the time life is what you want and what you make it to be. So enjoy Effingham! Surround yourself with great friends (I don't know if you can top my friends but you can try! haha) and you'll love it!
Caleb, Caleb, Caleb....you better have bought that Christmas present for me that you promised in this letter! What is it by the way? I'm glad to see you're holding up the Gadberry tradition of tardiness at seminary...just kidding!! You should do better =). Just cuz you wear my clothes allllllllll the time doesn't mean you can act like me too! haha But hey at least you still go, it'll seriously benefit you in the future! Make sure you learn from seminary and not just attend as spectator. You also were sure to note that he's not embarrassed and I'm sure I can change that quite simply I'm sure....
Tara, I've been just awesome! How have you been?? My schedule is very changing because I'm in the office and we have stuff pop up alllll the time but for the most part it goes like this. 6:30am - wake up, exercise and get ready for the day. 8:00 - begin Personal Study. 9:00 - begin Companionship study. 10:00 - leave the apartment and head to the office. For the rest of the day we'll work at the office and also run from place to place doing whatever we need to get done and then around 5/6 we'll eat dinner/go out to work in our area and do the regular, awesome missionary work! And then we'll get home around 9, do our planning for the next day, and then asleep by 10:30. So yeah, that's my schedule, it's great! It was definitely kinda hard to get used to at first but has been good ever since. I've gotten really good now at waking up and getting out of bed right at 6:30 and now the next step is actually doing legit exercises...haha One time, I woke up and walked into the kitchen and started walking in circles around the island and my companions were like...umm Elder Gadberry what are you doing?? I was like "*insert morning/half-awake grumble* I'm exercising! I'm walking laps around the kitchen!" haha It was great! My companions informed me that that didn't count as exercising and I was saddened. "What rea some of your favorite experiences?" Oh geeeezz....there's like a billion! It's so hard to choose! I definitely would say having the opportunity to open Coron for missionary work and then every day that followed in Coron..haha And then also the awesome experience with the little girl that couldn't talk and now she can!
Oh geez...lagot ka na, Caleb! (don't try to Google that one, it's not what it says...That means more or less like now you're caught! or Gotcha now!) Amanda says you're a crazy driver! I'd believe it! I was pretty much terrified when I was in the car with him driving...by now I figured he would have learned how to drive but apparently not...haha I guess he's just preparing himself to serve a mission here in Manila, be assigned in the office, and then experience driving here...haha Thanks for the little update on the branch! I was somewhat aware that we've got a new Branch President so that's pretty exciting! And apparently Sister Somodi also has "the most adorable baby ever named Miles." So that's pretty exciting too!
Thanks Olivia! I now know that the paper you wrote on is blue...haha I'm glad you're enjoying the pictures I'm taking! I'm taking them just for you so you better keep liking them! Just let me know if they get lame and I'll try to do better! haha
Miss Kennedy Ray.....I do miss keeping track of all your "likes" on Facebook! But I'm glad that you gave me an update on that! How's my month been? It's been great! I've really enjoyed it! Especially back in December when you wrote your letter cuz I was still back in Coron where it's awesome! Well the office is awesome too but I don't know if it gets too much better than being on a remote island doing missionary work...haha I'm sorry to here that your month's been "LONG!" haha But I remember like back in high school months seemed to be so long and then like with each year time seemed to be getting faster and faster and now it's like at light speed! haha And so due to the fact that I doubt that our time is actually changing....I would say enjoy your "long" months, they're good for you! haha =) Enjoy life, find the little things that make each day brighter, and thank the Lord for them cuz then you'll find more and more each day, and then, I guarantee you, you'll have less and less "LONG!" months..haha
Oh geez...that was kinda long but hey! there they are!
So that up there talked a little about my week but not too much so "let's get down to business.....to defeat!....the Hun!" Or just let's get down to business so I can ramble to you all about how awesome life is as a missionary and about how awesome the Philippines is and about how you all should be jealous of me! haha
So I won't go into loads and loads of detail about Sunday's sessions of conference but it sufficeth me to say, "It was AWESOME!" I loveddd it! Also, Tatay Advincula was there with his daughter! (The rest of the family got to go home to their province for "summer vacation" but Tatay had to stay cuz of work and Arianne had to stay cuz of college; so that's actually good cuz I'd be super sad if they all left..haha) But like seriously after conference ended I kinda just sat there, I didn't wanna leave. It was almost like being at the temple where its so calm and peaceful and awesome that you just wanna stay forever. Well after our spiritual feast, we were pretty hungry. So we decided to go back home and have a literal feast haha. (see pictures) We pretty much just made anything and everything we had at the house and put it on the table and ate like maybe half of it...haha And a lot of the stuff was pretty creative seeing as we weren't prepared to make a feast and we only had odds and ends at the house, but it was pretty awesome
So movin on down to Monday. We had like a kinda-preparation day cuz of general conference last Saturday where we didn't really have a whole preparation day. So Elder Hernando and I got up early and went and played basketball with the majority of Manila Zone. It was pretty awesome! Don't worry Dusty, I still got my game so you better keep workin on yours...haha So that was awesome to get out there and play again. I miss sports like super bad...Well only sometimes actually. I really only miss soccer the most. I need sports to stay in shape cuz I'm really bad at eating healthy, I just eat whatever. So far I haven't really gained weight or lost weight but I've just lost any in-shape-ness that I had before my mission...haha So I'll have to work on that..and that's why I need sports! Well after that we got ready for the day and what not and we had our "survival lunch" with President at Chili's! It was good!
And guess what....I even ate my chicken fried steak and mashed potatoes with gravy! Well mostly only cuz I forgot to tell them I didn't want it....but still! And I survived! haha But President Stucki is like ridiculous and paid for us this time in celebration of Easter. He's like the nicest, most caring person ever and it's not just cuz he bought us Chili's but he seriously is. The sad news for the day was that I think for the first time since Elder Stirland left I did some filing away of documents that have been building up for over a transfer...hahaha I got a fair amount done but there's still like a ton left....oops! I'm just not a big fan of filing and there's really even less motivation to do it once you get behind on it..haha Then the random news of the day is that Elder Pugmire and I have taken a liking to Take it Home by Jenn Blosil on the EFY 2011 CD. It's great! I think she's got a pretty cool, unique, good voice! And it's a great song! But anyways we choreographed a dance and waited for the APs to get home and then sang and danced that song to them as they walked in the door....yeah, Elder Pugmire is going to be great in the office...hahaha And then more random news! I texted President Nepomuceno the other day cuz we sent some DVDs to Coron and then like 2 days later he texted me back "ang galing mo na magtagalog!" Which means "You're really good at speaking Tagalog!" haha And so I was like that was random but at the same time super grateful for the random compliment.
Tuesday was pretty plain. I was talkin to Elder Kunzler and he was out in Narra with Elder Smith for a while and he was like yeah man, "Elder Smith talked about you a lot! He was always like you could put Elder Gadberry and I together for our whole missions and it would be awesome and we would just do awesome!'" I was like whoa! But seriously, I take that like as a huge compliment! Aren't people so nice?? I love people =). But I guess even the Area Office was closed for "Holy Week" (kinda weird I thought..haha But hey if the rest of the Philippines is closed you're not goin get a whole lot done being open..) so they started back up on Tuesday and I opened up the mission email upon arriving at the office and there was like 7 new messages and like 6 of them were for me...haha I was like ah geez..here we go! haha So for most of the day I just did kinda that. And then that evening I actually went with the Assistants to teach a lesson to one of their investigators so that was pretty cool and went really well. Then that night I was talkin to Elder Pugmire a little bit and somehow we found out that theres a pretty good chance that one of the wards my friend is assigned to is Elder Pugmires homeward! Maybe dad might remember a Joey Tirado-Grundvig from the Robinson troop at scout camp way back when but he's serving in the Ogden Mission and is doing super well out there (I've been able to follow him a little bit from emails his mom forwards out to everyone like my mom does) but he's out in Hyrum, UT last I heard and I guess those missionaries there are the same ones assigned to Elder Pugmire's ward. So I was like that's pretty legit!
So Wednesday was pretty snazzy. haha For one, I woke up and already had three texts and we even had to get up at like 6....I was like wooo! Time to get started! haha Yeah, I wish I had that attitude....haha So we ended having to first drive to the mission office get some stuff to take to the missionaries at the temple and then go back to the office, but hey I don't mind driving at all so it's all good! But the sad news was that I found out that Brother Jucaban and Tatay Espayos haven't actually been baptized! =( So apparently I misunderstood Kuya Wilson's wife when she told me or she thought that they had just got baptized or maybe it was just that they were almost getting baptized idk...But he's still doing good! The APs talked to the elders out there and he's still doin good and will probably get baptized here shortly but the elders out there pushed it back a little bit because they said he wasn't able to make General Conference. Oh well, it'll come! haha
I really loved Thursday, too. I started with a pretty great personal study in Ether! Most of you guys know the story. It's the part where the Lord lights the stones for the Brother of Jared so that way they can travel across the sea in light and not stuck sittin in the dark. Check this verse it's pretty legit. Ether 6:3 says, “And thus the Lord caused stones to shine in darkness, to give light unto men, women, and children, that they might not cross the great waters in darkness.” And immediately I thought about the “stones” that the Lord has given me to shine and direct me in my life, and also about how I can be or become a “stone” for others as they cross the great waters of mortality. There I realized again just how blessed I am, and how much the Lord cares for me and for everyone. Looking back at my life, I feel I can say that I was raised carefully and with a watchful eye both by parents and by the Lord. I think back to all my teachers in the church, my friends in school, my awesome family, the experiences I’ve had, and I know that the Lord has carefully prepared me to be a “stone” for others, to shine forth amongst the dark seas of life and to help others along their way, and I’m just happy I’ve been able to do that and I am able to continue being that example through missionary work. So think about your "stones" in your life and be grateful for them and in turn, work on polishing yourself so that way the Lord may use you to shine forth in the darkness. Speaking of my awesome family, a lot of the senior couples came into the office on Thursday and gave me stuff to do!
But while they were giving me stuff to do they would generally stop and look at the picture of my family on my desk (I've got three pictures on my desk. My family outside the St. Louis Temple with Grandma G, the Coron Branch the day we got made a branch, and a picture Nicole sent me of Semple, Me, Marc, her, Jackson, and Yocum up at Rock Canyon last spring). But the comments that came from the pictures of my family are as follows. Elder Paddock, "I like your dad's smile! He's got a good smile. He really looks like he's alive. He's alive right?" haha Sister Paddock "That's your mom? She's really pretty and looks really young." Sister Dietrich, "When I first saw that I though she (pointing at Grandma) was your mom and this one (pointing at Mom) was your sister...haha She's really pretty!" All those are kinda estimates cuz I can't remember exactly what they said but it was pretty close to those. Remember way back when, when I jumped through hoops to get the Forinash's money to furnish their hosue? Yeah....on Thursday I got alllllll those receipts...and now I get to review them...NOT looking forward to that...haha But it's whatev. It's kinda like that other stuff and being a detective and finding stuff and referencing other pages and yeah....I'm trying to make it somewhat entertaining! haha
Friday was snazzy as well. We got a text in the morning saying that the Dietrich's made french toast and to go on up. So that was a nice little blessing right off the bat! haha The Dietrich's are like the ultimate blessing to working in the office! haha. We all were talking with Sister Dietrich for a little while that day at the office and she's convinced that I should be a lawyer...Like I swear the lawyers are the bad people in the Book of Mormon...haha just kidding. But she says I have the right personality for it...haha idk I guess we'll see. But at the same time she would know cuz she's worked in law offices for half her life and in the juvenile delinquent system for the other half..haha We had another ZLC (Zone Leader Conference) that we got to supply with supplies, mail, reimbursements, working funds, and rides to the airport..haha It went great!
I got to talk to Elder Stirland a little bit and Elder Labinpuno and got lunch, so it doesn't get any better than that. Well Friday of course....we're coding. So we're driving, well I'm driving back to the office and we get pulled over! Wooo! So you know me...I do my thang I get out of it no problem the guy was actually pretty nice about it...haha We had the two special assignments in the car with us and that was the first time we've been pulled over with Elder Pugmire. So they were all lovin it, the whole gettin pulled over talking to him for a little bit and then getting out of it. Well while they're still talkin about that...another guy waves us over! So we go over there and I'm like "we just came from your friend down the road..haha" and he's like oh really? And the Elder Te'o from the backseat yells up "Yeah, we just talked to your friend back there." And then he was like okay go ahead..haha But then we finally made it to the office but it was funny. So now I'm 6 for 6...haha Random news of the day: Sometimes when I'm laying down at night I hear airplanes flying over outside and I'm like I totes remember hearing those in St. Louis every time we were at grandma's. Shout out to Grandma G! Miss you! Also! I got another letter from Grandma C! Thanks sooo much! I really appreciate it! Love you all!
Well that was about my week....maybe next time I'll actually get an email from my parents....I hope you all have an awesome week! I really appreciate all the support from you all and everything that you guys have done and continue to do! Thanks so much! Love you all!
Love
Elder Michael Gadberry
Pictures
0141-0150 -- Are literal feast after our spiritual feast
0151 -- When we balled in Manila it was right next to FEU which is one of the big schools here. Actually right there where we balled is right in the middle of a bunch of really big universities like FEU, UP, Ateneo, UST, and probably a bunch more colleges.
152/153 - Snazzy new picture set-up we got in the office
154 - Elder Pugmire sittin on steps. Oh yeah, that's the temple back there
155 -- I'm goin be honest...'di ko na-gets...haha
156 -- But that's pretty snazzy right?
162/164 -- Chillin a little bit waitin for ZLC to finish up
165 -- Another sweet view from the Dietrichs!
169 -- We were going to take pictures in front of that but the lighting was bad and it was really hot. But hey look at me! Even on my mission I'm texting! haha My phone is like always gettin somethin...haha
04/07/12 E-mail
Hey guys....
I just got done watching six hours of general conference.....LOVED IT! =D I've only watched Saturday though, so don't spoil Sunday for me! And if anyone missed Saturday, you definitely missed out. Just think how lucky we are live in a time where we literally have prophets and apostles on the earth. I have no doubt in my mind that President Monson is the true and living prophet on the earth right now, and his counselors and the quorum of the twelve apostles have also been called of Christ to serve in their respective callings and to stand as special witnesses of Christ to the world. I love them! And it's such a blessing to have their guidance. I thought about how hard it would be if I just had like the Bible or just the scriptures to base my life on and my decisions. I guess it could be done, but I definitely appreciate having the prophet and apostles and their direction. So word from the wise (can I say that? Am I wise? haha), listen to them. Thanks! =).
So what's kickin ya'll? You know me, still doing my thang here in the office. This week was transfer week, so it was crayyyy-zeeee. And like seriously. This transfer week was crazy. Just wait!
So dad and Caleb made it to J-Dizzle's. I have no doubt that they loved it! haha And Caleb even spotted the famed ducks that wander the campus at Provo, so I was glad to hear that they're still there quackin and undoubtedly waking people up in the morning...haha
My mom said, "I imagine you are listening/watching conference now. Elder Holland (Sat. afternoon session) had an awesome talk! Also, I really liked Elder Hallstrom's talk (Sat. morning). Pres. Uchdorf had a great talk with his two word sermon, "stop it". I'm sure you'll really enjoy all of the talks!" So let's talk about the two that I've seen, the one by Elder Holland and Elder Hallstrom! I loved those two! Each one of those I have a full page of notes just for that talk...haha Also in each one, I made goals to make myself better..yay! =D So Elder Holland's was like amazing! I feel like it was kinda short, but like jam-packed with awesome-ness! It's soooo true what he talked about though! Maybe it's just me, but it's way too easy to become jealous when someone else has good fortune fall upon them or whenever someone else is recognized for something and you're not... So one of the goals I made was to "not be discouraged whenever someone else receives any good fortune, and be happy for those who are recognized for their good works." I feel like generally I do pretty good, at least outwardly. But I definitely know there have been times when I've at least murmured or complained in my head...so yeah goin stop that.
I loved the kinda metaphor he made about racing. He said somethin like "we're not in a race against each other. We're in a race together, against sin." So why complain when someone is triumphant in any aspect of that race? Later I think he followed it up with something along the lines of, "There is no prize for "first" place. God has promised to give everything he has to everyone that stands with Him at the last day." So true, too true! It's not a competition! Ugh...Why am I so competitive? haha I'm goin get better at stopping the envying. Like Elder Holland said about how even if it doesn't start with me, it can (and should) end with me. I also think that he made quick mention that God loves the thrill of being merciful and I was like, you know what? That's true! So I made another goal to be more merciful and understanding if anyone is to wrong me or anything like that, and then to find that joy that God has in being merciful. And then he ends it so perfectly. Essentially stating, "Brethren, step up. ...Don't delay. It's getting late." Such an awesomeeee talk! =D
Now Elder Hallstrom on the other hand was awesome! It's so true that "it is possible to be active in the church, but less-active in the gospel." I fear that my activity in the gospel was probably coulda been less-active for most of my teenage life but out here I've definitely learned so much about the gospel and not just about the church, and especially here in the Philippines we have such an issue with activity and often it's because the people are converted to the church and not so much to the gospel, but it's okay! That's why I'm here! =D haha I really like how he praised the church for all of it's good doings and it's really true that there is nothing like this church in the whole world. But at the same time "there is something more." There is a reason the church does things the way they do, and it's because of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. He talked a little bit about the sacrament too. And here on my mission, I've also begun to realize just how important the sacrament, and it's completely changed my church attendance. Which admittedly was pretty half-hearted during my teenage years in spite of the awesome teachers I had, the wonderful examples around me, my seemingly perfect parents, and everything else....I kinda missed the whole reason for going to church.....Yeah sorry about that. haha But I've gotten a lot better! And from that talk I made the goal like President I-forgot-his-name ( =/ ) "to never attend a boring sacrament meeting." By that I mean to always come away from sacrament meeting uplifted. And I've got an experience that shows I've gotten a good start! Just wait!
Now for sports news, the Cards started the season in Florida playing the Miami Marlins, beat them in their brand new stadium 5-0. Today they played the Brewers, beat them 11-5. They are looking pretty good, so far.
The Miami Marlins?? Whaa??? haha Maybe I'm just old skool but Florida Marlins is a lot better sounding than Miami..
So does Elder Spencer know where he'll be transferred to? Do you have his replacement in the office now?
Yep! Elder Spencer will be heading off to Pasay Zone in Manila 2nd here in a couple weeks. His replacement is none other than, Elder Pugmire! My batch! So it's definitely been fun and will be awesome! I'm excited. Definitely sad to see Elder Spencer go... He's told me that I've actually become one of his best friends in the mission which is huge coming from him cuz he's pretty choosy about who he opens up to and what not. "Basta" it's a big deal to be called one of his friends.
That's great about Brother Ponce. So is he a member who has made bad choices and you're working with?
So brother Ponce was a inactive member that Elder Stirland and Elder Spencer ran into. They started teaching him as part of the "rescue mission" here in the Philippines and he's come back to the church! So he's active now but part of the rescue mission is the re-teach all the lessons to inactive members so we're still working on that part with him and visiting often to help strengthen him. He's the RM that served in Cebu in like the late 80s I think. He's had a lot of unfortunate things happen to him but he's been doing great now!
So let's get into the week now that I've already typed...1275 words...haha
So last Sunday was good, but weird, but mostly just awesome! haha Actually it was bad..... April Fools! haha =D It was April Fools Day "kasi"..haha We had fast and testimony meeting and it was AWESOME! The Spirit was so strong there and I don't know I just loved everything that was being said. It was also funny cuz there was no pianist....haha So we sang a Capella. One of the young women would get up and sing the first line and then say "ready sing" and then we'd all sing. That young woman had courage! haha Well after sacrament meeting we had an interesting Sunday School lesson in which we got fairly off topic with people kinda trying to guess at deep doctrine and that kinda stuff. Afterwords, Elder Spencer was talking about how it was killing him to sit there and listen to it and what not. But I still walked away feeling uplifted and edified from the sacrament and sacrament meeting. Not saying that Elder Spencer had the wrong attitude or that he wasn't uplifted by sacrament meeting but even then I kinda made a commitment to myself to only focus on the good that comes from meetings like that and now to never have a boring sacrament meeting. After church we unfortunately had to take a missionary that was going home a little early to the airport..but that actually went well too! We actually had a really nice discussion in the car and I learned a lot from him and his attitude and I would say that he's gone home and is off to a good start. Then after all that....we had dinner and easter egg dying at the Dietrichs! It was AWESOME! I was the only one there that had ever dyed an egg before...and I thought that that was really sad and have committed to keep the Gadberry tradition alive in my future family! Long live easter egg dying! haha
So goin on down to Monday, the start of transfer week! And I tend to know that the transfer day is gettin close by how many people start asking me where they're going or what's happening to them on transfer day and what not. So yeah, I tend to get real popular around that time. But in spite of being in the office, we actually don't know much about what's happening on transfer day until transfer day, but all the missionaries don't believe that..haha So my "lolo" in finance is headin home now....But while he was in the office on Monday I asked him a few questions about stuff I needed to do..haha Thus proving that once you leave the office...you don't actually completely leave...haha I probably still call Elder Stirland like a few times a week. It's great! haha Also on Monday, Elder Spencer got sick...He didn't feel good at all. So the good that came from that is that the Dietrich's made us dinner! haha But the bad was that earlier the Assistants traded us cars cuz they needed more space, but failed to leave with us the keys to our apartment...So luckily the Dietrich's were feeding us but we couldn't go back home until the Assistants finally made it home, so it was kinda funny.
On Tuesday, we came into the office to some sad news =(. So there's this super nice, twenty-something year old guy that the church employees to clean the office named John. Well he told us Tuesday morning that he wasn't able to come in on Monday because the government had demolished his home...So he had been living in "squatters" which technically is illegal cuz it's not technically your land and generally you dont pay for it either but most people that live there, live there because they can't afford housing. So now John is living on a basketball court with his family and a bunch of others that got kicked out of their houses...it's sad. I can't imagine coming to work and then returning and not having a home...Or imagine leaving a home for work not knowing whether or not you will still have a place to live when you try to go back home..it's rough.
Later for district meeting Elder Koochin had us fill out a paper in which we wrote one thing we liked about each person in the district. I wasn't sure whether to write it in English or Tagalog so I asked Elder Spencer and he's like "Japanese!" So from that I decided to use google and fill it out using 8 different languages for 8 different people...it was great! And then in like 5 of the 8 things about me....my eyelashes were mentioned....ugh! Mostly I'm pretty sure cuz they know that I hate whenever they point it out, so it was kinda funny. We found out that from our district Elder Koochin and Sister Terano are leaving... =( That's sad to see them go...I like them! haha Later that night, we had to weigh luggages for the lucky missionaries that are transferring to Palawan. I got to talk to Sister Stromberg for a little bit and she's from the Logan area and said that "Mike Christensen" kinda sounded familiar...so Uncle Mike if you know a Sister Stromberg she's here in Manila and that's pretty legit if you know her..haha
Okay Wednesday was transfer day and it was ridiculous. At 5:30am the Area Office was supposed to pick-up the Palawan bound missionaries....yeah didn't happen. So they had to take taxi's to the airport. I got to sleep in a little, and not wake up until 6am. After that we came to Buendia Chapel and prepped for transfer day. I got to see a lot of people and talk to them for a little while and it was really nice. And then the issues started. The Area Office was supposed to have another guy come and pick-up missionaries to take them to the airport at 9....once again, no one showed up. Then we find out that Elder Eñeja, who is supposed to be going home, is stuck at the bus station because all the buses are packed because it's Holy Week starting on Thursday and the Philippines goes crazy during Holy Week...haha
So somehow they managed to set him up a ride in President Stucki's second counselor's delivery truck that was supposed to be going towards Elder Eñeja's home. So Elder Spencer and I were asked to take Elder Eñeja to that truck ASAP. Well that worked out pretty well, but while we were taking him. Transfer meeting had ended so that means everyone is looking for us. So people are kinda freaking out cuz we're not there yet, but then we finally get there and get mobbed. Well in the course of doing what reimbursements I needed to do, I ran out of money...haha So that was kinda embarrassing but it's whatev I just went and withdrew more...haha. Finally the rush ended and it slowed down.
Probably one of my favorite parts of the day was gettin to see Elder Labinpuno..haha It was funny I hugged him everytime I saw him that day and it was just funny. We were in the same ward for a semester at BYU and didn't really know each other much at all but now we're totes BFFs here..haha (He actually didn't like me at first at BYU cuz I guess one time at the Student Health Clinic, he saw me and said we made eye contact and he went to wave and say hi but I looked away right at that moment, so essentially he was like geez..that kids a tool..haha But I don't remember that happening like at all! But it's all good cuz we're BFFs now, but I thought that was funny). After everything quieted down a little...
We get news that the missionaries coming in from Palawan have been delayed. Their flight was supposed to leave at 10 I think and it didn't end up leaving until 6:30...So that caused problems! Then we got to email 30 DVDs of General Conferences to 30 different branches within the mission at LBC. That was like super duper hassling...haha Cuz we had to fill out 30 different address...haha After that, we got to go pick-up those Palawan missionaries from the airport and take them back to the mission office to get with their companions. And then cuz it was late a few of the province companionships were just going to have to stay at the mission home, so we took them there and then FINALLY! Got to go home...I think we finally got to sleep at like 11. It was like the fullest, craziest day ever. But I kinda loved it..haha
Oh yeah on Wednesday, we officially picked up Elder Pugmire. And I'm definitely lovin it with him. It's a lot of fun and we're just goin rock it. Thursday, officially started Holy Week, and I loveddd it! Cuz there was literally no traffic! Like even to this point today, this city of millions and millions and millions of people has seemingly been reduced to a small town in which everything is closed. It's pretty ridiculous. But I'm lovin it for driving! haha Elder Pugmire and I were headin to the mission home and got a call from the Assistants saying that we needed to buy potatoes for the lunch at the mission home later, so we were like sure we'll try to find some. So we go to like this huge mall cuz it was right there close and everythinggg is closed! We couldn't even buy potatoes cuz it was Holy Week! haha Thursday I knocked out my third round of New Missionary Orientation and still goin strong. A couple more of my batch is training and my batch is still rockin it! Still just lovin life.
Then yesterday was grand! It started with an awesome Personal Group Study. Well it was personal study and then Elder Hernando, Pugmire and I just started talking about stuff and essentially just began a group study. That's probably somewhat frowned upon but it was my best study of the week and I was definitely uplifted by it so it was great! I loved it. The work at the office wasn't anything too exciting, I don't think. Except for Elder Pugmire randomly got pretty sick and we ended up giving him a blessing. And he actually felt a lot better a little bit later and we were able to go out and work in our area for the night! We had two awesome lessons! One to our favorite, Advincula family, about family scripture study, and then another to the awesome Locanlale family! The Locanlale lesson was way awesome cuz for the first time we happened to be there at a time when Tatay could stay and be with us for the lesson. We shared about Christ and his sacrifice and atonement and his love and it was AWESOME! I bore testimony that Christ loves each of them completely and individually and knows them very personally and knows exactly what they're going through and is ever so willing to help them through anything. And it was just an awesome lesson and Tatay was even there! So I'm thinkin it's an awesome first step for him cuz Nanay is already doin pretty good and working her way back to church. Tatay is going to take a while I think but it's a start! Then that night......Sister Dietrich was rockin her awesome self and got us Easter Baskets! And candy! So it was pretty amazing...'nuff said. And I was pretty giddy about it being General Conference the next day...haha
Today was General Conference! And like I said, if you didn't see the Saturday sessions or Priesthood session....you're missing out...big time. It was sooo awesome! I got myself a solid 14 pages of notes... =) I still lovin seeing the huge difference in my love for conference now and back in seminary days...haha Hopefully that's not the only thing that's changed with me. Hopefully I'll be a better person all around. =D I loved conference! Here's just some stuff that I liked. Saturday Morning. President Packer - "Embodied in the child was hope." How he was talking about children it made me think of Mosiah 3:19 and how we should become like a child and like President Packer said we should be an embodiment of hope. I also liked how he said "I hope to one day be judged as good a man as my father." And I'd just like to echo that and thank my father for EVERYTHING! Like seriously, he's been the best father in the world for me, and I have no idea how I'll be able to be half the man and father that he is. And then let's not forget my mom! Who's been just as good and even more patient and understanding than like anyone I know! As if raising three boys would never test your patience...
Also I loved the quick mention from Elder Koelliker that a mission is like a mini-life packed into 24 months. So true! haha It's crazy! I also really liked what he said like "It is when we yield to His will and His pattern, that the Spirit will be heard." That's an awesome reminder! I also loved Dallin H Oaks reminder about sacrifices. I really have tried my best to view sacrifices as more of an opportunity to serve and to show my love rather than like some big great sacrifice that I am forced to make. I also loved what Elder Eyring said about challenges. He said somethin along the lines of or kinda like "In their perfect love for us, Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ, see it fit to try us to help us be fit and polished to live with them in eternal families for time and all eternity." Isn't that awesome?? Isn't that an awesome way to look at things?! So let's try it out! =D Saturday Afternoon.
I enjoyed what Elder Baxter mentioned that we should let the love of Christ brighten our lives now. Like seriously, most of the time we just have to desire it, and allow His to work, it's easy! Just ask for it! And then another part I really liked was the ending talk by Richard G. Scott. He's awesome! One of my favorite quotes of conference was probably his when he said, "Our Heavenly Father did not put us on Earth to fail. But to succeed gloriously." It's kinda obvious, but an awesome reminder! No matter hard life gets...just 1 Nephi 3:7 it! haha =D I also liked the reassurance that God always answers our prayers. Like the Lord's counsel to Oliver Cowdrey, if we feel that the Lord has not answered our prayers we should ponder our life and look for evidences that shows that he has because he always does and always will if we listen, are receptive, and are patient. And then at the end of that session I saw Elder Archuleta....yep. He still doesn't look like me even when he's now Elder Archuleta..haha. And then Priesthood Session was awesome as well! But I'll just share a couple quotes that I liked cuz this letter is HUGE! Elder Edgely reminded us like Elder Scott did Saturday Afternoon that "we are called to succeed." No matter what, in someway we can succeed. 1 Nephi 3:7. =D.
And then President Uchtdorf had an awesome quote. He said, "There are times when we have to step into the darkness in faith, confident that God will place solid ground beneath our feet once we do." And then he goes on to counsel that God will direct us in each segment of our lives if we are clean and see not our glory, but His. And then President Monson had another great one saying, "When faith replaces doubt, when selfless service eliminates selfish striving, the power of God brings to pass His purposes." And that's again so true and I see it every day here doing missionary work! Alright now that I've bored you all with my conference rambling that probably doesn't mean a whole lot to most of you, I'll call it a day. Sorry but conference was just AWESOME!
This week as awesome! And crazy! And I'm lovin it! I miss you all and love you all! Stay awesome! haha
Love
Elder Michael Gadberry
PS - Elder Baltazar is hugging me right now. It's great.....not. Actually, he's great, and hilarious. Him and Elder Bagahansol are actually from the same branch down in Negros so that's pretty legit that I've gotten to know them both really well.
Pictures
0090 -- Hernando doesn't even stop working for food.
0091 -- Kinda cool picture diba?
0092-0118 -- Dying easter eggs at the Dietrich's
0119 -- Batch! Elder Partridge and Elder Labinpuno
0123-0125 -- New Missionary Orientation
0127 -- Elder Baltazar "cleaned" the apartment. Meaning he just threw all that junk on my bed...haha So I turned around and put all the suitcases on his..haha
0128-0133 -- Our easter baskets!
0134-0137 -- Me havin fun while Elder Pugmire napped
0138/0139 -- Pretty much the coolest little car that came in my easter basket haha
Subscribe to:
Comments (Atom)