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