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
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