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| July 8, 2012 |
Sunday, July 15, 2012
July 8, 2012 (Short) E-mail!
Hey everyone!
I know that pictures are like everyone's favorite thing, so I'm sending pics! Long story short, I couldn't email this week. First we got locked in the Dietrich's..haha And then we found out we didnt bring our keys so we couldn't get back into our house to go anywhere... So I just threw this together real quick. Hope you like it! There's descriptions on all the pictures, and you have to look at them in order so that way the week will make sense. Hope you like it! I think its kinda snazzy!
Hope you have another great week! Love you all!
Elder Michael Gadberry
June 22, 2012 E-mail!
Hey everyone!
Well I've had a pretty much awesome day today! It was like not p-day at all but thats okay cuz it was awesome! I'll have to tell you all about it later! k? K! So another week passes by and the mission's going as fast as ever. It's so great though! If you have the opportunity to serve a mission, serve a mission. "Just do it!" =)
So the parents asked, "So any news on your replacement? The next transfer is coming up on 6/27, correct?"
And I answer, "Nope! Haven't really heard anything. Well Elder Munk once walked into the office and was like 'I know who you're replacement is!' 'And I was like really? Who?' And he wouldn't tell me. So then I was like 'so I am getting a replacement though?' And then he's like actually 'I don't know I just wanted to say that.' So yeah, I'm not too sure if there's anything happening or not actually.
The NBA finals are going right now. The Miami Heat and OKC Thunder are tied 1-1. They play again Sunday night in Miami. I'm rooting for OKC. Actually, I'm rooting against LeBron.
Let's pause for a quick sports second! I am enlisting all of you reading this to root for OKC. 1. I despise the Heat, especially LeBron. And you should too! and 2. You gotta love Kevin Durant, Russell Westbrook, Kendrik Perkins, and whoever else it is out there rockin it.
Hey one question. In the office, who is the DL? Is there an office DL or are you part of a district that includes other elders? When I was in the office, the office was a district.
The office is just part of another district. We were in the Mandaluyong District cuz we work in Mandaluyong but then they switched us to the Makati District cuz they meet here at the church where the office is for district meetings. Our district leader is actually Elder Declaro. You probably haven't seen much about him in my emails, but he's way cool. Him and his companion split Manda 2nd with us.
We love you! Sambo loves you too, he just doesn't know it yet.
Oh he loves me and he knows it! And his name is Bunso! #TheKidsNameIsBunso
So let's breakdown the week shall we?
So Sunday...It was okay. It was pretty good. In case you didn't know Pacquiao had a fight on Sunday so with that church attendance is generally expected to drop drastically, but it actually wasn't too noticeable. It was probably cuz we have it in the morning and the fight was being shown in the afternoon..haha It was funny cuz after church there was a guy sittin on the bench outside watching it on his phone, so at least he made it to church! haha There was only a couple people noticeably missing. One of them was the bishop...haha I guess he had to prep for the Pacquiao fight or somethin...hahaha just kidding. He was out of town with his family, but his counselor joked with us at PEC saying that he was going to be gone cuz of the fight and bishop got really worried that we believed him..haha But the other person that wasn't there was Ponce! For like the billionth time! I'mma hurt him! Well of course not but its just frustrating cuz he acts all week like he's going to come but then nothin on Sunday..ugh! But whatev. We'll get him tomorrow. haha
That afternoon we went out and worked in the area. It was a little rough..not a whole lot of people wanted to talk to us, and a lot of people weren't home. Probably cuz of the fight..haha That night though we went and picked up the Dietrich's and the Paddock's from the airport, and took them back home. They talked and talked about their trip to palawan and then fed us to finish off the night so it was a pretty good ending..haha
So now we go to Monday! Just so ya know, Mondays on a mission are a lot better than Mondays in real life..hahaha You actually don't dread them..haha That morning in personal study I was reading in Moroni 8. I really liked what I found in verse 16 and 17. Cuz I want to be more bold in my teaching cuz the Savior himself was actually really bold as well and that's just one of the things I feel I can really improve on. So I've lately been really frustrated with the few Less-Actives we have and how we're not having like any success with them. So I concluded that maybe I need to be more bold. So I was kept thinking up things I could say to them that would cuz them to act. And I had some good ones! haha But then I read verse 16 and 17 (http://www.lds.org/scriptures/bofm/moro/8.16?lang=eng#15) and 17 is really key. I realized that I can be as bold as I want but I can only be like the Savior if I do it being filled with charity. So at that moment I realized I probably wasn't feeling a whole lot of charity for them just frustration...oops =) haha. Cuz I can teach with boldness because I have authority from God as a missionary, but it's the charity that Mormon has that is really driving his teaching and his boldness. And for little Elder Gadberry its more the frustration that was driving mine...haha =)
Throughout the day not a whole lot stood out, but I still was busy all day preparing checks for all the apartments in the mission..sooo fun =) We were supposed to have an awesome night in our area cuz it was all scheduled out good but then our FHE with the Bata family that was supposed to be at 6 got pushed back to 8 and our 8 appointment wasn't able to do it at 6 and 7 fell through due to a death in the family..so yeah. So we had our Ward Roster and we were trying to find people in our area on that and the only thing we found was that there was a few families on the roster that no longer live there. But we also were able to talk to a few people about the church and ask them if it'd be alright that we return. But then we went back to the van before our appointment at 8 cuz I had to get my backpack for an object lesson. Now this thing weighed like a billion pounds..haha Then we had to walk essentially across our area to pick up the other Manda 2nd elders cuz they were invited, too. And then walk all the way back to the Bata family...I was tired and somewhat surprised my bag hadn't broken..haha So our lesson with them, as requested by Sister Bata, was kinda about sharing the load in a family. So what we did was we had her oldest son stand in the middle, and I took out all the stuff in my back pack. Then we started piling stuff that represented things that are going on in their family like a backpack, a Preach My Gospel, a couple barbells, a sack of flour, a cook book, some scriptures, some candy, and I think a few more things that were all in my back pack to begin with. And so that we taught was to represent the load of a family and if he needed help he could ask any of his family to help him. After that, we shared the story about Moses and Aaron and Hur, about how Aaron and Hur had to help Moses keep his arms up to win the war, and we likened to the family. About how everyone in the family needs to help each other, especially kids need to help their parents carry the load. It was actually a pretty good lesson, even if my back hurt for like a day after carrying my bag to and from the lesson..haha
So Tuesday gained a stronger testimony of a couple things...haha 1. I know that God hears our prayers, and not only hears them but answers them as well. 2. I learned of the truth that the Lord is, as Elder Ardern put it, "easy to please, but hard to satisfy." So Monday night in my prayers, I remember asking Heavenly Father to help me to always be humble. Like Elder Bednar taught in his talk I talked about last week, you have to know what to ask for. So apparently I asked for the right thing cuz like first thing Tuesday, President kinda chastised us. He said he was pleased that we're working in our area and trying hard, but he expects more. And I so I really do not like chastisement... haha =) Even in sports, I definitely experienced a lot of chastisement there and I hated it every time..haha But it humbled me. haha so that was good. It was just frustrating cuz we don't have a whole lot of things going in our area, but we're trying, and being pressured to produce more. But of course, I just gotta be humble and 1 Nephi 3:7 it! haha But like President Eyring, I had a sure witness that God loves me and hears and answers my prayers. I'm still, however, working on the accepting chastisement thing though...haha Still not a big fan of it.. =)
That afternoon we went to district meeting, and went to Mang-Inasal again afterwards. And once again we had people to talk to about the church! haha We had a really nice waiter guy that talked with us for a while and then his friend joined and then when we gave them pamphlets another person asked if they could have one..haha So I think we should continuing going there..haha That night I got to meet one of the new investigators Elder Pugmire and Elder Berse found while I was driving to the airport last week. He's pretty cool. Just like 21 and wants to know more about God and Christ and that kind of stuff, so hopefully it goes well. That night we were walking around though and looking for someone to talk to. So we were walking down this street and I see a guy sittin outside his house watching soccer! So I was like okay, we should go talk to him. I'll be able to find common ground with him on soccer and it's just goin work out. So we go over there. It's the Azkals (Philippine National Team) vs. Guam. So we got over there and yeah...I forgot that soccer is a non-stop sport..haha
So we kinda sat there and waited for the break in the action to introduce ourselves, but it never really came..haha. So we kinda sat there for a while and I was like alright we'll just leave a pamphlet with them and come back another time... But then this guy came down from the house and we were able to talk with him and we even got to teach him! So my desire to OYM a guy just because he was watching soccer was actually inspired. haha =) In other news, the Azkals won 3-0. #GoAzkals
Wednesday we had quite the eventful morning. It's like just after 6:30 so I'm like barely awake (imagine that, I don't wake up as a ball of excitement and energy...who woulda thunk..) and I'm sittin on the couch when Elder Pugmire goes into the bathroom. He's in there a little bit and I hear like a pop and then a whooosh sound. And then Elder Pugmire screams. But it was a pretty manly scream so don't be judgin. And then he let out a big sigh of relief "to let me know that he was alive." So what apparently happened, was our geniusly placed electrical socket in the bathroom apparently like popped and then Elder Pugmire said this flame like 3 to 4 feet long shot out right behind him..hahaha It startled him a little. #DontPutSocketsInShowers
My personal study was pretty cool too even though there was no explosions or flamethrower electrical sockets. I was reading in Moroni 10 and I liked verse 28 about the coming forth of the Book of Mormon. I hit the footnote on the word hiss cuz it seemed interesting and jumped to 2 Nephi 29:2, and that talked about the BoM becoming a standard unto the people. So standard is like a flag or something to look to, and so I went to the footnote there and jumped to Psalms 60:4. And in that verse I really liked it because it shows to me why the Book of Mormon has become such a defining symbol of this church. The verse says, "thou hast given a banner to them that fear thee, that it may be displayed because of the truth." That's one of the reasons it is a symbol of the church because its true! No one can say otherwise, especially having read it and prayed about it. People like to speculate and say bad things on it, but anyone that has ever honestly and sincerely read the Book of Mormon cannot help but agree with Elder Holand's great-grandfather, "No wicked man could write such a book as this; and no good man would write it, unless it were true and he were commanded of God to do so." (amazing talk! http://www.lds.org/general-conference/2009/10/safety-for-the-soul?lang=eng).
That evening we took our directory and went out scavenging the area for any members on our directory that might be in our area. Yeah.. We found out that there's like 3 member families in our area..haha great place to start..haha Not only that but the address system is so messed up here that it's nearly impossible to find people on the directory. So it's been quite the adventure. After our area that evening, our work wasn't done. We then went home and had a gluing party! Elder Pugmire is making a new transfer board for President and he needed it ASAP so we went home glued magnets on the back of transfer board pictures..haha
So on Thursday I shifted the scriptural part of my studies from the Book of Mormon since I just finished it and now I'm focusing more on the Bible. And I decided that I could learn a lot from Peter. He's like legit! He was like one of the most chastised people, but was Christ's chief apostle. In just a matter of a few years Christ was able to take this humble fisherman and shape him into the rock of His church. This is all in my effort to better accept chastisement. So I made the determination to be more submissive and allow Christ to sculpt me into the kind of instrument and servant that he would have me be. Not only that but I can kinda see the mission as being a time where we can walk almost along side of Christ even as Peter did, and learn from Him and His teachings. That in the short space of two years, Christ can take me from the ignorant, care-free 19 year-old to whoever he would have me become. Or as Elder Koelliker said, "Their missionary experience is like a minilife packaged in 18 to 24 months. They arrive as spiritual infants with a serious appetite to learn, and they leave as mature adults, seemingly ready to conquer any and all challenges placed before them."
Yeah, it's seriously like that. haha Most of my day in the office was spent putting together apartment payments. Actually, I spent much of the week doing that..haha That evening we talked to this one guy on the street that kinda just wanted to argue, but then we kinda deterred that and so he just decided he's bash every single religion there is..haha I walked away thinking, "wow, this guy is so prideful that he thinks every single religion in the world is wrong (cuz he said he wont join any church but knows everything about all of them), except for him. He's the only one that knows what's right." Bzz. Wrong. haha After that we had an awesome lesson with the Locanlale family! We taught the Plan of Salvation and we even had cutesy little cut-out things haha. We let them keep them cuz they asked for them. After our work we went back home and the Dietrich's invited us up for chocolate pancakes and ice cream. Talk about cash money! hahaha In other news, Sister Locanlale says that Pacquiao lost because the refs were biased. That Pacquiao even knocked the other guy down a couple times and Pacquiao never got knocked down..haha
Friday was oops you're Elder Gadberry and not David Archuletta day again. haha We were coming from the bank and I was supposed to pick up some checks for apartments and one of the owners was coming in that day to pick it up. So when we got back to the office there was a guy and his wife there waiting for us and so I started to explain to him that I wasn't able to pick up his check cuz the bank didn't have them ready yet and he kinda just nodded his head and went along with it, and then ultimately said, "Yeah, I'm not the guy you're looking for..haha But I was like is this David Archuletta??" haha So that was kinda funny. That evening we visited Ponce and set-up to do service at his warehouse the next morning! #GetPumped Service! And later that evening we had dinner at the stake patriarch's house. His son-in-law was there and he's hilarious. I believe he studied at BYU-Hawaii so he has really good English. He walked into the house and was like "'Sup, Mormons?" And then later he was telling a story about how this lady that he'd recognized at church came up him and was like "Hey our kids go to the same school." He said, in his head he was like "stalker." hahaha But then found out she was an investigator and gave a little politer response. haha I think it was a you had to be there story, but this guy's hilarious.
So Saturday was like legit day! It was supposed to be p-day but we didn't really have much of a p-day..haha That morning we went to Ponce's warehouse and serviced! We moved boxes and lifted stuff and did all the stuff that they do in the warehouse and then cleaned it up some. It was pretty cool! And then we went outside to clean up the outside of the warehouse and all his neighbors and people walkin by were lovin it! They thought it was so cool to see two Americans sweeping the streets..haha His neighbor is Ditz, the guy we've been trying and trying to get an appointment with, and he was outside as we were walking back to our car. He was amazed that we not only teach but serve as well, and we had a nice conversation with him. When we got back to the apartment we went up to the Dietrich's do some of our laundry and cleaned up their house a little cuz we were in the service mood. And then went back down to our house and cleaned it like hardcore. And that took up much of our afternoon.
Then we went to go shopping and we saw this senior missionary walking the other way with a bunch of bags so we stopped to talk to him and asked if we could help him carry his bags. He was very grateful and later called us "a miracle" to his wife. They had just moved in and just gotten to the Philippines two days earlier, and so he had gone to Robinson's to get stuff for the house while his wife slept because she wasn't feeling to good. But they are so nice! And they said they'd cook for us some time! Woo! But we gotta run into them again somehow for that to happen..haha After that we were finally able to go shopping and then we went out and worked in our area. So in our area there's this group of kids that every time they see our car they get super pumped and start chasing us (#dangerous) and then they wait right outside our doors waiting for us to get out yelling "Hi friends! Hi friends!" And so we get out and start walking and they join us for a little while and then eventually we get far enough away that they stop and start yelling "Bye friends! Bye friends!" It's pretty funny, and sometimes a little much but it reminds me a little bit of the kids in Coron, especially the Manggahan kids..haha So that makes it better.
So there was make week in a long email that I hope you enjoy..haha Hope you all are doing well! Now I gotta start on this week's email!
Love
Elder Michael Gadberry
July 2, 2012 E-mail!
Hey everyone!
What else? The NBA Finals are over. The series was done in 5 games. And LeBron has his first championship. Maybe you already knew that.
Boo! I actually heard that earlier today..haha People here are crazy about basketball and someone even said like the Heats coach is like half-Filipino, so basketball news travels pretty quickly around here..haha I remember sometimes being like ugh! I wish I had the mission call Philippines Manila Mission, Basketball playing. How cool would that be?! haha
Joe Balda is getting married this summer.
Woo! That's cool! But tell him I'm sad that he's not waiting for me to get back before he gets married..haha
Joe Balda is getting married this summer.
Woo! That's cool! But tell him I'm sad that he's not waiting for me to get back before he gets married..haha
So let's get straight into this week! It was an awesome one! So I hope I can get it adequately finished today so I don't get behind again...haha But the likelihood is that my parents aren't keeping up with getting these emails out to you guys so you don't really know if I'm behind or not..haha
So last Sunday was our Stake Conference. It was awesome! It was a broadcast and we got to hear from Elder Keith R. Edwards, Sister Dibb, Bishop Gerald Caussee, and Elder L. Tom Perry! I think I loved Elder Edward's talk the best it was awesome! He related to us that the one test that the Nephites could never pass, was the test of prosperity. He encouraged us that even when times are going good to always look to God, be grateful and continue doing the little things that lead us along the straight and narrow. He also reminded us that it's what's in the heart that really matters, that "salvation is not a checklist." And later we got to teach Jaycee again. He seemed really good. He's interested and is trying to do what's right and praying and all that stuff and is feeling good about it. The rest of the day we tried to find some people on our directory that supposedly lived in this one area. We found one, but he wasn't home at the time. And then a couple of the other ones we went to that house and the people there had no idea who the people were that we were looking for... And at the same time it was pouringgg on us. It was pretty frustrating...there are times in our area when I'm like "ugh! We can't even buy a lesson!" But then I'm like "okayyy..stop murmuring.." haha =) But you gotta have the rough times to appreciate the good times right?? haha
Let's see...Monday was kinda interesting/weird. I think I probably mentioned a little while back about how one of our batch had to go home, but has now made it back, well not too long ago he had appendicitis...So he just gets back to the field and gets sick like right away! So Monday we were asked to drive him to the MRC (Missionary Recovery Center). I feel so bad for him.. When we saw him on his first day back and when he worked with us then, he was so pumped and excited but on Monday he was like dead and hating life...haha Cuz he had surgery but is still sick...so we'll see what happens.. That took up a decent chunk of the day which was okay I guess cuz the APs were using my computer again and so I couldnt do much of my work until later that afternoon... But eventually I did get my computer and I got some stuff done and then we went out to the area! We went by and visited the Locanlales and then afterwards we had a dinner appointment at a family I didn't really know in our ward. So after the Locanlale's Elder Pugmire walked clear out to the like farthest point away from us in the other elders' area to meet them cuz they kinda knew where we were going. So then we hop on a jeepney and it takes us to the very esquinita (little tiny alleyway leading to more houses than you woulda guessed) that we just came from visiting the Locanlale's on..haha So we found out there there's at least another member family in our area, so thats awesome! It's a really cool family too! The mother has a ridiculously strong testimony and it was awesome getting to know them a little bit.
Tuesday came time again for another Matrix meeting! Meaning that its gettin close to transfer day again! Time flies sooo fast! It's crazy! So the matrix meeting went pretty well. I don't know, I think I kinda like meetings like that. Like trying to get everything coordinated and like coordinating big events like that. Idk, it's kinda fun! That took up much of the morning and then after that it was time for district meeting which was pretty good too. By the time district meeting and what not gets done its like 3 and once again I get like 2 hours to get any work done that I need to before heading out to the area, but it works out I guess. Tuesday in the area was AMAZING! We finally got to teach Ponce's neighbor, Ditz. And I don't know if I've ever met somebody more needing, longing for, and receptive to the gospel. He essentially told us his life story and we just talked and actually were directed to focus on God and Prayer. It was funny because he was like I'm not saying that I'm just going to convert to you guys just like that. What makes your religion different than any of the others? Elder Pugmire and I thought, "okay. Lesson 1, Restoration." Then he continued and told us he's made some bad mistakes in his life in which he feels terrible and its weighing him down. "Okay," we thought, "Lesson 3, Doctrine of Jesus Christ." Then later in the conversation we find out that he's had a rough time because he's had many relatives pass, some at young ages. So yep, Lesson 2, Plan of Salvation. Check. hahaha It was such a powerful lesson! At one point he was like "I'm tired of worrying about religion. What's special about yours? Is it going to change my life? Am I going to become blessed? What is it?" To which I responded, "Brother Ditz, if you're looking for a religion that will change your life, this is it. If you're looking for a religion that will cause you to quit worrying about whether or not what you believe is true, this is it."
Later he was super interested when we talked about prayer, so we focused on that. When we told him that God hears and answers all his prayers. He was super intrigued and was like "Elders I feel different...I'm getting chills." I gladly informed him that that was the Spirit, and we went on the teach him that often times that's the kind of feeling you'll get as answers to prayers. And so we continued to teach him how to pray and about it, and I felt super strongly to commit him to do two things. I said, "Ditz, later this evening, before you go to bed, will you kneel down, and pray to Heavenly Father, and ask him two things; one, Heavenly Father, are you there? And two, do you love me?" He more than gladly excepted that challenge. He was so pumped! I promised him that if he would do that He would feel God's presence and His love for him. And I knew without a doubt that His prayer would be answered because I have also experienced that. And as we read in 1 Nephi 8, the love of God will fill our soul with exceedingly great joy. We came out of that lesson like on cloud 14...hahaha Elder Pugmire was like, "Why can't we just be english speaking??" I agreed..haha but ultimately the thought came to mind, "cuz we have to teach Ditz." After Ditz we rushed over to the Gozon family cuz we were late. It was a pretty aweosme lesson there too! Sister Gozon is so worried about her son that is essentially less-active, but I think is active but just doesn't think it'll be cool to his friends if he gets all "churchy." But he's progressed a lot so far! He started paying tithing without anyone asking him too, and that takes a lot! That evening we committed them to family scripture study and prayer. I asked Shaun, her son, if he had ever read the Book of Mormon from cover-to-cover and he said he hadn't yet. He showed interest or somethin in my little pocket-sized one and so I told him I had a few extras and would get him one so he could start. So I'm pumped for that! He's goin start reading it, and he's goin love it! And then he's goin serve a mission! Boom! haha
So after the awesome Gozon lesson we were still pretty up near cloud 14. Then we went to the Locanlale family! They were unavailable...drop down to cloud 9...haha So we decided to talk to this guy named Ver, we met him like a week ago and we decided to follow him up. Yeah... he has this mindset that everybody is wrong. . .except for him. He sits there and tells us why everybody is wrong, and then says that he has the truth. I'm thinking to myself that this guy needs some serious humbling before he's ever goin listen to us.. But it was really cool in the end to compare the super humble, seeking to learn the truth approach of Brother Ditz compared to the very prideful, contentious Ver. That evening I was thinking about the Holy Ghost, and experiences I've had with the Spirit. It's such a cool thing! It's such a personal experience every time that it almost leads one to think, "am I the only feeling this??" It's super-hard to explain because of how personal it feels. And it's such a cool testimony that our Father in Heaven knows us personally. He rejoices when we rejoice. He's sad when we make wrong decisions. And he wants us to know that He's there, and He cares.
So Wednesday morning, we got to get up and go to the temple! Woo! It was awesome! While I was in the temple I thought a lot about Ditz and I was like when we come out I'm goin have a text from him about praying. And sure enough I check my phone and there it is! He said, "Good morning, after saying the prayer last night you taught me, 2 things happened last night and earlier this morning in which you told me that HE will make HIS presence be felt. I'll tell you about it when you come this thursday. The best of day to the both of you." I was sooo pumped! So then we went back home and we made celebratory stroganoff! haha Okay it wasn't celebratory, but we just felt like making it! It was super good! And I got my package from my parents and got to use my favorite shampoo! I know often times you guys must wonder why my hair looks so good...well this shampoo is the answer! It's where its at! And I heart my parents for sending it to me in their latest package! hahaha But I can't tell you what shampoo that is cuz it's a secret...sorry! Afterwards we had a shorter day at the office cuz of the temple, but I was able to get must of the stuff done I needed to and then we were off to the area! We tried to visit Ponce, but no dice so we were walking down this street with a less-active we haven't been able to visit yet besides meet once on the street. But we always stop by and he's never there! So I was like "I wish we could visit Mark...." Elder Pugmire was like, "wanna try??" "Sure."
So we tried and he was there! Woo! We're like seeing miracles in our area recently! I loveee it! We hadn't really prepared for him to be honest cuz we have had no luck contacting him..haha So we shared a short message and invited him to start reading the Book of Mormon again. It was a super sincere lesson, especially coming from him. It was awesome! As we closed he was like, "you know guys, I'm havin a tough time with the Word of Wisdom." So apparently we were able to touch his heart enough for him to feel comfortable sharing with us his struggles. So he's off to a great start! We'll get him back on the straight and narrow. After that, we hit Sister Lacanlale with the Atonement! It was a really good lesson and I think she got somethin out of it. But at the same time I always feel that about her, but then we see zero results... #frustrating haha After working, the Dietrich's invited us up for jello (#OfficeAddiction) before bed! So we always like to perform for them and do goofy stuff. So we went up there and sang called the jello song that we made up on the way home from our area to the tune of the primary welcome song. It goes, "Jell-o, jell-o. Jell-o, jell-o. We love to eat jello (jello-o). Jell-o, jell-o. Jell-o, jell-o. We've come to eat jell-o. To share with you this wonderful treat. *I've since forgot this one last little line....* Jell-o, jell-ohhh. We all love jell-o!" Pretty good huh? We're good.
So Thursday was pretty great too! They had a training here at Buendia, so that means we have lots of stuff to do! Well of course, the APs leave something at the house....great. I was like you realize this is cutting out 2 hours of our time that we need because we have a ton of stuff to do...and they said it was that important. So we played lifeline and saved them. So then I had to rush to get everything done, but I was able to do it! It was seriously like a blessing from the Lord. Cuz I was thinkin about it and I was like maybe the Lord made the APs forget that to show me that He can help me get everything done that I need to get done. Kinda like Gideon in the Bible where the Lord makes him cut down his army because if he didn't they would think that they were victorious because of their own strength. Likewise, I probably would not have been as grateful to Him for help as I should be if I wouldn't have had to do all that extra stuff. After the events at Buendia we hit the area! It was pretty cool. We were looking for one name on our Ward roster and went to that house.
And so we got there and were like hey can we ask a quick question and before they even answered us they just like ushered us in and told us to sit down and had soda and snacks on the table for us! haha We found out that the person we were looking for didn't live there anymore but her relative that's like 80 lives there..haha And her sister who is 73 was visiting too..haha I felt like I was in a nursing home..haha They were hard of hearing and we weren't really sure what to do, and I didn't really wanna try and yell a spiritual thought to them, so we tried and talked for a little while and then sang a hymn with them and prayed and left. And before we left they were like she's turning 74 tomorrow, you guys should come back! haha So we were like sure! After that we got to visit the Advincula family! Well just Tatay and Sydney but it was awesome! We shared with them President Monson's message "Dare to Stand Alone" (https://www.lds.org/media-library/video/mormon-messages-for-youth?lang=eng#2012-05-005-dare-to-stand-alone) And it was awesome! Tatay learned that Sydney was the only Mormon in her new high school. And I was able to share about my experiences coming from a area with few members of the chuch, and I think it really helped them. It was awesome!
Friday was pretty legit too! So I read this talk by Elder Perry called "Bring Souls Unto Me." (https://www.lds.org/general-conference/2009/04/bring-souls-unto-me?lang=eng&query=%22bring+souls+unto+me%22) Seriously like an AMAZING talk! #ReadIt! Friday of course, I'm sure you're all wondering about our super old lady birthday party! So we got there and staying with the Filipino tradition, these old ladies were singing karaoke! hahaha It was hilarious! These people here karaoke all day every day! Its super weird! So it was pretty hilarious. They wanted us to sing...of course we didn't really want to nor were we too sure if we were supposed to do that...haha So we just ate and ultimately sang another hymn with them cuz we didn't want to steal too much of their fun birthday time..haha Cuz you only turn 74 once! . . . .if you're lucky! hahaha. That was about the biggest news on Friday...but you should read that talk!
Well that was a super long email of that week...haha So I'll let you go now. Thanks for reading! I hope you enjoyed it at least somewhat! I love you! Hope you all have great days, weeks, months, lives! haha =D
Love
Elder Michael Gadberry
June 8, 2012 E-Mail!
Hey everyoneee!
How's it goin? Life goin good? If you answered "good" to one or either of these questions, good! Glad to hear it! Keep enjoying life! I'm right here with ya! If you did not answer good but answered something less than outstanding or even neutral then I invite you to take a look upon your life, identify those things that are holding you back from "living the 'good' life," and think about how can you can fix those things or think about why you are allowing those things to keep you from enjoying life. =D haha Let me tell you! I'm def living the "good" life! There's nothin much better than this. It's so cool! I even got my haircut real short today and I'm still livin the good life! #NowThatsSayinSomethin hahaha =D Here's even a talk from the prophet that illustrates how we can live the "good" life! Check it out! It's not even that long! I'm pretty sure its shorter than this email! haha
So this week was actually pretty great. I really enjoyed it. Last Sunday, it was lookin like we were goin strike out again with people comin to church that we really wanted to come but then the Advincula's hurriedly walked in a little late. I was pumped! It was fast and testimony meeting, and two of them even went up and bore their testimony! It was little, twelve year old (I'm pretty sure), Sydney that got up there. She told her Sister that she really wanted to and so her sister went up there with her and those two concluded the testimony meeting. They were awesome! After, that me and Elder Pugmire taught Gospel Principles. It went pretty good. We've got a couple guys in the class that consistently steal the lesson from the teacher and generally take the lesson so far from the topic you gotta chase it down before it leaves the country. So we didn't have to teach much..haha We went out that afternoon and didn't have a whole lot of dice. Then we had wings at the Dietrich's and that was awesome. And then we went back out and had more success! And it was awesome-er! We got to meet with Palma again, and it was an awesome lesson! We focused on the Book of Mormon and the Spirit just filled the room...er..filled the roof. haha We teach him on his roof overlooking the city. It's pretty legit! But it was an awesome, powerful lesson. He said that when he reads the Book of Mormon he really feels that there's something in it. He said, "Nararamdaman ko talaga na may katotohanan sa loob ng aklat na ito." Or for you English-lovers, He really feels that there's truth in the Book of Mormon. We asked him if he had prayed about it, and he said, "Oo! Kaso, wala pang sagot, eh" Or again in English, Yeah! I just haven't got an answer yet... We testified to him that what he's feeling while he reads is a way that God is answering his prayer, and that that feeling is the Spirit and that thats the feeling he'll feel every time he reads the Book of Mormon. He also told us that for a while he kinda didn't read the Book of Mormon, but he was reading the Bible a lot. He said that he had an issue or somethin come up and he prayed for help and kinda essentially thought or said that if God would help him out he'd start reading the Book of Mormon again.
Needless to say, God answered his prayer and he started reading again and is loving it! He's so awesome! But we can only teach him like once a week. Anyways after the lesson he gave us a little snack. #TooNice We had these rolls with jam on them but then we also put hot dogs in the roll! It was kinda weird but tasted decent. That sounds like somethin Caleb and Jacob should try. After that it was time to head back home. On the way home, Elder Pugmire and I figured out why we weren't sent here to speak Tagalog. It's because if we were English speaking then we'd quote conference allll the time in lessons and probably wouldn't be able to do it seriously. haha #ConferenceJunkies
So Monday rolled right on around like it always does generally following Sunday except in rare occasions where you're flying across international date lines and your Monday just gets skipped completely. Well this Monday wasn't one of those Mondays. I haven't actually had any Monday's like that before but hey I bet its happened to someone..somewhere...sometime. Well Monday morning, in my personal study I was reading in Moroni 7. It was really cool cuz just this morning did I finish Moroni 7..haha I've spent all week on it. And I guess a little bit of last week too because it was the word "hope" in Moroni 7:3 that struck my attention sometime last week. It was almost like studying by topic. I've never really done it much, but I think I might start doing it more! I'd start reading and then somethin would stand out to me and I'd start going off on that. On Monday it was the word judge in verse 15. And I was also intrigued by how Mormon said three times that "ye may know with a perfect knowledge (good and evil)." I thought that that was interesting because nowadays it seems pretty hard to know anything with a perfect knowledge, including good and evil so I thought about and studied that for a while as well. After that we tried to take that rental van back cuz they said they would have it done by last Saturday but it wasn't...so we were like okay they better have it on Monday. Welp, no car pa rin. So then we go to the office, and the Assistants have stolen our computers too! So I can't do anything.. =( So I practiced my patience =D Well it probably didn't profit me too much...(see Moroni 7:6-7...oops =) haha) But instead I read from the Liahona. It was an amazing talk by Elder Bednar. He actually gave it at BYU a while back it's called The Atonement and the Journey Through Mortality. It's an awesome talk both Sister Stucki and Elder Dietrich encouraged me to read it, so I did! I just finished it today. #LovedIt! It's focus is on the enabling power of the Atonement often called "grace." He mentions that we all know that the Atonement was payment for our sins, but we rarely realize how encompassing it really is. "The Savior has suffered not just for our iniquities but also for the inequality, the unfairness, the pain, the anguish, and the emotional distresses that so frequently beset us. There is no physical pain, no anguish of soul, no suffering of spirit, no infirmity or weakness that you or I ever experience during our mortal journey that the Savior did not experience first. You and I in a moment of weakness may cry out, “No one understands. No one knows.” No human being, perhaps, knows. But the Son of God perfectly knows and understands, for He felt and bore our burdens before we ever did. And because He paid the ultimate price and bore that burden, He has perfect empathy and can extend to us His arm of mercy in so many phases of our life. He can reach out, touch, succor—literally run to us—and strengthen us to be more than we could ever be and help us to do that which we could never do through relying upon only our own power." He also talked about the journey of mortality. President McKay said that the purpose of the gospel is the make bad men good and good men better. Elder Bednar says, "This phrase describes the continuation and second phase of life’s journey to make “good men better” or, in other words, to become more like a saint. This second part of the journey, this process of going from good to better, is a topic about which we do not study or teach frequently enough nor understand adequately." So all in all it was anamazing talk and I LOVED IT! I spent much of this week reading it as well in personal study. You should read it! (It's in the April Liahona; http://www.lds.org/liahona/2012/04/the-atonement-and-the-journey-of-mortality?lang=eng; or here's the full-text from the devotional at BYU http://speeches.byu.edu/reader/reader.php?id=789&x=43&y=3) After studying for a little while, we bought Krispy Kreams and I was happy. =D hahaha Eventually I got my computer and had to do like a ton of stuff because its gettin time to pay for all the apartments in the mission so there's lotsss that has to be done with that. After our day, we went to go to our area and our car wouldn't start.. =/ ugh. So the Dietrich's jumped us, but so we didn't get stuck in the area with this junky rental car, we just went home and ate. We made tacos! It was like the first time we've cooked in forever cuz we never have time..haha
Tuesday morning we had to jump the car again, so we could get out of the parking garage. #ThankYouDietrichs But we were finally able to get our van back! Woo! But I start the van and there is essentially no gas at all..haha Like its below the "E" line. I was like I know I rocked the green car below the E back in the day but I don't think I trust this thing so much..haha And it was kinda frustrating cuz I had to fill up the rental car, and so I returned a car with good gas in it to get a car with nothing. But whatev I'm just happy to get the reliable, huge van back. Later that afternoon, we had district meeting and it went pretty good. It was a combined zone district meeting. It was a good lesson but I felt like half the zone didn't pay any attention to the ZLs so that was kinda frustrating, but whatev. In district meeting we talked a lot about finding, and so afterwards Elder Pugmire and I had to Mang-Inasal cuz we were starving. We're sittin there eating and this guy comes up to us and said "Do you guys know how to speak Tagalog?" (except he said it in Tagalog..haha) And so we said yeah, and he asked us like who we were and why we're here and what not and so we talked to him for a long time about the church and the Restoration and the Book of Mormon. He was super interested! Too bad he lives in a completely other mission. We gave him a Restoration pamphlet and a Book of Mormon and he gave us his info so we could send missionaries out to him. We figure that if we can start shipping out referrals from the people that we talk to everyday, our area will be blessed as well cuz 99% of the people we talk to each day aren't in our area. That evening wasn't terribly successful in the area though..haha But we were able to share with the Bata family, and schedule to have FHE with them on Monday. So I'm pumped! They're so awesome!
Wednesday was pretty normal. Studied Moroni 7, and the enabling power of the Atonement. Hit the office and prepped for all the rent payments, went to the bank and picked up some checks and what not, and just did the usual stuff...nothing too exciting. That night in the area we ran into Ditz again, which was awesome cuz we haven't been able to seem him again since our last scheduled appointment didn't work out. He was busy that night, but he asked if we'd be able to come on Friday and of course we were like sure! After the area we had to go to the mission home and pick up a couple missionaries. One is switching to a new mission (he's an awesome elder, but the Philippines has been a little rough on him, so he's been re-assigned) and the other is the companion of a missionary that just had surgery and is recovering at the MRC. So we had six elders sleepin at our apartment that night, but it was all good. We just had a super early Thursday morning haha.
So yeah...we had to wake up super early..haha The Senior Couples and President were flying to Palawan for the weekend to chillax (I'm thinkin President probably didn't get to chillax too much even though he deserves to rest a little..haha). But we had to take the Dietrich's and the Paddock's to the airport and they needed to leave the apartment by six. ew. So we took them and then went back to the house to grab the crew. So I had to reward myself for waking up that morning so we went to 7-Eleven and I bought a donut and two little school-style chocolate milk cartoons! It was awesome! But kinda expensive..cuz its milk..haha While we worked in the office Thursday we listened to Richard G. Scott the whole time..haha Elder Pugmire and I love him so we decided we were going to download like all of his talks for the last however long and then put them on a CD..haha #ScottFanatics It rained super hard when we went to lunch and so we got soaked even though we had umbrellas, so we sat in the office damp all day..haha That evening we had to take Elder Tumanuvao to the airport, but we were supposed to work with the ZLs so me and Elder Gagnon went to the airport and Elder Pugmire and Elder Berse worked in the area. Elder Gagnon and I actually made it back to do a little bit of work too, but we could kinda just talk to people because we didn't have too much time and Elder Pugmire and Elder Berse got the appointments for the night, and cuz I didn't have my bag! Have you ever tried being a missionary without a bag? Yeah. It's totes awk. I let Elder Pugmire borrow mine cuz he had accidentally left his at the house and didn't even know. So it was actually like super weird trying to work without a bag..haha Then came time to go home..and I was exhausted! "I was so tired...I was so tired." <-- one of mine and Elder Pugmire's favorite talks to quote. Listen to Adrian Ochoa's talk in Priesthood Session. This part comes right around 8 minutes into it, but the whole talk is actually really good. We just think this part is kinda funny. We're bad...haha =) (http://www.lds.org/general-conference/2012/04/aaronic-priesthood-arise-and-use-the-power-of-god?lang=eng)
So Thursday and Friday we rocked it solo in the office. Actually thats kinda weird. Can two people rock it solo? Cuz it doesn't sound good to rock it duet, but I guess thats what it was...haha But Friday was crazy! I had a tonnn of things to do. This time in Moroni 7, faith caught me attention for a little while and so did administering of angels. But I also thought about the word expedient in verse 33. Dictionary.com (kickin' it new skool) defines it as "fit or suitable for the purpose." And so the word purpose clicked in my mind to go to Moses 1:39. And so that verse kinda came into a new light for me. Through faith we will have power to do whatsoever thing is "fit or suitable for the purpose" of Jesus Christ, whose purpose is "to bring to pass the immortality and eternal life of man." Cool stuff! Well after that, stuff went pretty well! I had a billion checks to pick up and I was able to get them even a little earlier than expected. Then we went to LBC and paid some bills. I then sent rent to a Cavite apartment right away cuz they're trying to settle the deal a new apartment there, and then I spent much of the afternoon prepping those checks to be sent out. I had three apartments that needed their rent like right away cuz they're going to new apartments so they had to come into the office and get those checks. One of them had a little bit of an issue so that caused a bit of a panic attack but it was able to get worked out so no worries.....I hope. haha =) So then we left and headed to teach Ditz! #Finally! Yeah....no dice. I guess he had texted Ponce earlier that day and told him that, in a direct translation, "He had a walk to do with his daughter that just popped up." hahaha That's one of those funny Tagalog-English translations. Essentially he had somethin come up with his daughter so he wasn't going to be home that evening. So we shared a little bit with Ponce about the scriptures, and committed him to finding a new favorite scripture cuz he said that he couldn't think of a favorite anymore.
We had PEC that evening, so we went to that cuz bishop likes us there. This is the first one we've been able to make in a longgg time. We were a little late getting there so we hesitantly cracked the door open, and there's only two people in there! Bishop and one of his counselors..haha "Umm..Bishop? Do we still have PEC?" "Oh yes, elders! Thanks for coming! Come in, come in." So we waited for a little while longer and no one else shows up...haha So we start with just us four..haha It was kinda nice cuz we were able to get the very valuable attention of our very busy, hardworking bishop. My companion even got an invitation to speak in sacrament meeting out of it..hahaha Well later, the other elders showed up and we discussed more stuff. Like when is father's day actually? None of us knew..haha Just kidding it was actually a productive PEC in spite of the poor attendance. haha =D
So that was kinda my week! Sorry I write really long! haha But I hope you enjoy it! I'm lovin it here! Definitely "living the good life" as you should definitely be able to tell if you read this..haha Thanks for letting me steal your time a little bit! Hope you have an awesome week! Love you all! =D <3
Elder Michael Gadberry
June 1, 2012 E-Mail
Well even though I didn't get an email this week I'll still email you guys just in case anyone cares about whats going on with this unloved Gadberry across the world in the Philippines. I mean its not like my parents are doing anything thing over there, or like my mom gave birth or anything crazy like that. So I can't imagine what would cause them to not email me. . . whatever their excuse is...it better be good! (ha,ha!)
Well I don't have any questions to answer, and I can't think of anything creative to do. So I guess you guys just getta here about my week! Woo! This week was a good one, but I'm like exhausted. . .We had zone conferences all week...and so it was pretty crazy with that, then I had like a ton of other stuff goin down and now I'm just tired. haha But it was greatt! I loved it! haha =)
So lookin back at the week, I guess that's when the exhaustion started..haha Well first we had church and it wasn't so good cuz no one made it again! But again, sacrament meeting was great, the sunday school was good, and Priesthood was awesome as well. After we got done with church and had lunch, we went out to work! Our ward is trying to start up home teaching (male members in the church unit are assigned families to visit and teach once a month) cuz its nonexistent right now..haha But its awesome cuz they really seem serious about it and most of them are pretty excited to do it! The only thing is. . .our records for our ward haven't been updated for at least 9 months now.... Yeah. #Problem So, they're working on that, and Brother Matt (our Elder's Quorum President ) said that we (meaning the whole elders quorum) need to do our best at identifying those that need to be added and taken away from the records so they can update quickly once they get internet to the building. So Elder Pugmire and I, with that in mind, went out to work! We had a list that we were told were less-actives, and we went off to find them all! Let me tell you, that's quite the task on a hot, quiet, did I mention hot?, sunny afternoon in the Philippines. But hey, we're tough, we got this. haha So we went off and we walked allllll up and down our area like we hit every street in our area at least twice and many of them much more than that. And guess how many of those people on the list we found! . . . . . . . NONE! haha =D It was good though, we found a lot of potential investigators while we were doing that.
But we found out that people didn't live at most of the houses that they were supposed to be at, so I guess thats a plus....it'll at least help our ward records..haha Finally, when we were completely exhausted we went and visted Ponce. I loveee visiting with him and sharing with him. It's awesome. We had planned to share with him Moses 1:39, to help him realize how important he is to Heavenly Father. I started off by asking him three questions. One, "Brother Ponce, in your opinion, why are we here on Earth?" He answered and I asked, "What are just a few things that make you happy? They can be anything." He gave us a few things, and I asked the last question, "Brother Ponce, what is it again you do? What's your job?" He answered again (he's in charge of the inventory at the warehouse in case any of you guys were wondering). And then we started by sharing Moses 1:39 and explaining to him, why we're here; what makes God happy; and what God's work is. We read it twice, once regularly and then the second time with Brother Ponce's name replaced for Man. And we also explained a little bit about how we can liken the scriptures to ourselves that way. It was an awesome lesson, and he really got it! We came out of that lesson and I felt like re-energized and pumped. Then we drove home, and collapsed on the couch like right away..haha Tired day number one.
Monday wasn't so tiring, but it was kinda frustrating. I think I use frustrating to say that it was a little stressful, but I say frustrating cuz "I don't feel stress" =) Still standing by that statement. It was just frustrating. It was potentially stressful cuz I went into Monday with like a billionnnn things I needed to get done like on Monday to make the rest of the week go as its supposed to. Well, of course, somethin weird happens anddd we dont have internet. Like all day. Okayyyy . . . I kinda need internet to do everything that I needed to get done that day! So that was potentially stressful cuz I had to leave the office having accomplished none of the things that I needed to get done, so I'm like worrying about how the rest of the week was goin go down especially without me being able to get like anything done come Wednesday cuz Wednesday was our day for Zone Conference and that took up pretty much all day. But anyways, I finally got my spiritual experience done. President Stucki asked all the missionaries to submit a short spiritual experience so that they could assemble them and make like a little book thingy out of it to give to all of us. I'd pushed it off foreverrr and decided I should finish it because Sister Dietrich was making the books..haha #StillProcrastinating On the bright side, Sister Dietrich said she was proud of my grammer(but maybe not his spelling...)! She was like whoa! You even used semi-colons correctly. . .I was like "Yeah...that's what Word told me to do..." hahaha But she said the rest of it was still impressive. I'm just trying to make Grandma G. proud. haha And since I had no internet, it kinda forced me to spend much of the day filing! Ew. Filing for me is like one of those things that is the last resort..haha Like I took out the trash for everyone in the office before I started filing...haha That's saying somethin right..haha
Well we left the office and went to visit the potentially awesome potential investigator we talked to, the baseball fan! Yup..no dice. He wasn't home. =( So we were thirsty and remembered a really nice nanay that runs a tindahan, that we considered a potential investigator (side note: don't know if I ever explained "tindahan"s to you all, so just like google it or search it on wikipedia or somethin). So we were like lets go over there and talk to her some more and get somethin to drink. So we went there and got our drinks and just started talking to nanay's friend. She called us "artista"s and complimented me that I knew how to use "po" and asked a few questions about the church. We talked to nanay and her friend for a while and they told us to come back and hang out with them again. So it was a pretty successful trip for somethin to drink. We then went back to talk with Ponce to see if he knew where Dittz was, but still no dice. So by then we had to get going soon anyways cuz we were asked to give Elder Dietrich a blessing, so we just went over and talked with their househelp and re-scheduled. We then gave Elder Dietrich a blessing cuz he was going into the doctor the next day to get his head looked at and possibly get some cancer cells dug out. (dug out? ew. haha) After that, we essentially has scripture study with the Dietrich's and it was cool!
Now Tuesday was like the best day of my life. Like not even kidding. =D Well actually come to think of it this whole week was pretty good. So Tuesday we get to the office aaand. . .we still don't have internet. Be tee dubs, they said the internet would only be gone for forty minutes on Monday morning....Well let's not get to pushin 40 hours..haha So without internet we decided to take our van up to the area office to get it fixed up, and since the area office is at the temple and the temple has this place with legit Filipino food, we decided to have lunch there too. It's not like legit Filipino food that you would find at a restaurant. it's like the kinda stuff you would have for dinner at a members house. Me and Elder Pugmire love it, (surprised??) but if you were like a foreigner just visiting, I would probably encourage you to avoid it. Well we were eating there and I turn around and through the fence I see Josh... I was like nahh..little Josh Nepomuceno is in Coron...I look at him a little more and I was like THATS HIM! (of course I didn't shout it, I'm a very mild mannered kinda guy..haha but I sure shouted in my head) So I just like leave my food and go over to the fence to the Patron house. I was like "Hey Josh!" and I motioned him to come over. He kinda glanced at me, did a double take, gave me a weird-ish look and ran inside... I was like "Butt. The kid doesn't remember me, and I scared him" haha. Well he comes back out the door with like half the branch behind him!!!!! WHAT?! So they're on like onside of the fence and I'm on the other, and there's no doors here in this part of the fence..haha So I'm like trying to shake their hands and talk with them like through the fence. They're all like "It's like you're in prison. How long have you been in prison?" haha IT WAS SO AWESOME TO SEE THEM!
Apparently they're here on a youth temple trip, and then they have youth conference later this week. Oh it was so nice to talk to them for a while! I was just like beaming, I didn't know what to say..haha They told me two things, more than once, it seemed to be the kind of theme..haha One, "Elder, you got fatter.." hahaha (For the record, I've only gained 7 lbs in the office, and thats not bad for eating out like alllll the time..haha And for the record as well, its in the process of coming off..haha) (But I told them I was getting skinnier and they told me not to..haha I think its a weird Filipino thing with how getting fatter isn't like a bad thing, it just how it is) And two, "Wowww! You're really good at Tagalog now!" I talked to President Nepomuceno and little bit and he said things are going pretty well, the missionary work is kinda down out there, and he still doesn't have counselors. He told me to come back or send him some hard working missionaries haha. Ivy and Joy said that their parents were still doing good. The Talons are still out there, Brother Talon had to stay home with their kids. The Sister Encena was reported as doing well by her children. Christian was there which was awesome because when I left we were really worried about his family. Brother Jubilado was there and seemed to be doin great. And Sister Janice was there, and just got her endowments! It was awesome to here from them.
Apparently, Brother Jucaban has finally been baptized! He has the Aaronic Priesthood and is acting as the young men's President. I'm not too sure if there's any young men yet though..haha There's some that are close though. I was so pumped to hear about him! Well as with all happen chance meetings, it had to come to an end. So we left =( We went back to the office and we had internet! Woo! But I didn't have a whole lot of time to get too much done. Cuz we had to deal with Zone Conference peeps needing our help, and then the Coron elders were coming to the office for Zone Conference the next day. And Elder Partridge (he was in my district at the MTC), was at the office cuz he's going to Coron. (I guess there's an issue in that companionship or somethin so we've emergency transferring one of the elders out and putting Partridge in). So then Elder Anderson and Elder Caliao finally got here from Coron. Elder Caliao and Elder Partridge's companion, went back to their area, but Elder Anderson and Elder Partridge hadn't eaten yet so we went to eat with them. Meanwhile, I was gettin lots of Coron news from Anderson, it was awesome! Apparently, Sister Aurora's husband has a baptismal date. They're having issues with Sister Edna's husband. No real progress with Dante. Tatay Espayos is in like Cebu or somethin. The Durans are doing great and Brother Duran is full of stories about me..haha Brother Jucaban is baptized and administering the sacrament every Sunday. Sister Lagrosa is doing great and has read the whole Book of Mormon. Elder Anderson said that there's a few families as well that they're teaching and excited for.
Now you take how great Tuesday was, and like Wednesday was probably pretty equal in greatness. haha It was our Zone Conference! It was like an awesome, super-uplifting experience! Towards the beginning, our zone was to sing a special musical number, I Stand All Amazed. No one had told me! I think it was cuz we missed district meeting on Tuesday cuz we didn't know we had it...haha But there's like 12 of us in our zone and so we sang it and it went awesome! Everyone said it was really good. The song just ushered the Spirit into the meeting and helped prepare for an awesome Zone Conference. At times during the Conference we were split into groups of 4 and I was in a group with Elder Bagahansol. It was awesome cuz we were doing like practice teaching and stuff and Bags and I got to be companions again. #KickinItOldSkool It kinda felt like back in Coron, and it was nice to work with him again even thought it was like true work work but being around him is always a great, uplifting experience. I can't really go into detail about Zone Conference other than say that it was awesome! We talked a lot about faith, and also about how the Lord takes the ordinary to accomplish the impossible, and also a lot about finding and how to find as we search for less-actives (i.e. teaching along the way - D&C 52:9-10). So check this out, its pretty legit.
President Stucki pointed it out. So ya'll know the story of Gideon right? You know, in the Old Testament...ah come on, don't tell me you haven't been keeping up on your Old Testament reading..haha Okay maybe at least you've had Brother Jones as a Sunday School teacher and that's the only reason you know the story cuz that just might be the case with me..haha Well anyways, Gideon's got this army and they're going to fight the Midianites. The Lord tells him his army's too big, they need to have less people or they'll think that it was by their own strength that they will win. So Gideon says okay, and tells anyone thats scared or fearful to leave. So of course, some leave, and Gideon's like alright let's go. The Lord comes back to him and says you've still got too many do this. So Gideon does that and his army is reduced to 300. That three hundered, no they're not the three hundred from the movie, but that three hundred is set up to fight 150,000 Midionites. That's 1 soldier of Gideon for every 500 enemy...some good odds huh?
So now lets jump a few thousand years forward to the year 2012. There's a roughly 14 million members of the Church and an estimated 7 billion people in the world. Pause. Do the math. Pretty cool huh? I think he actually said Elder Nelson pointed it out to them in their Mission President's Seminar but I'm not too sure. But anyways, after Zone Conference, I had a tonnn of stuff to do. I had to finalize support for all the missionaries, I had to get working funds processed so they could get money on Friday, and we had like 6 apartments that were moving on Friday that had to have checks by then so they had to be processed by Wednesday at the latest. And that's why I needed internet on Monday..haha But I guess it worked out for the most part. Things were pushin it a little but it worked out all in all just got a little crazy.
The awesomenss continues through Thursday! It started with a sweet Personal Study! I was reading in Moroni 7 and the word hope in verse three caught me attention. I hit the footnotes and remembered that Ether 12:4 says, "Wherefore, whoso believeth in God might with surety hope for a better world, yea, even a place at the right hand of God, which hope cometh of faith, maketh an anchor to the souls of men, which would make them sure and steadfast, always abounding in good works, being led to glorify God." So I was like okay, if hope cometh of faith. How do we build our faith to perfect our hope? I was then able to make a scripture chain that started with the very basic definition of faith which then went step by step until we read what will happen to those in the end who have achieved this hope. I was pretty pumped cuz its like jumpin from the Book of Mormon to the Bible and back and then we hit some D&C. It was just really cool, and I was super appreciative of the Spirit there to help me remember some of these verses so I could include them in my chain (I'll include the chain at the bottom of the email in case you guys wanna look them up or whatever cuz I know I like hearing what cool stuff other people find in the scriptures and what not). I also, thought of President Eyring’s talk this past conference. He said that personal integrity is our foundation of faith that “our choosing the right consistently will provide for us that sure foundation of faith from which we can build.” Later that day I got to talk more Coron, and it was AWESOME!
We were taking the Coron elders back to the airport and so I got to hear more stuff from Elder Anderson and it was awesome! #I<3Coron. After we got back from the airport, Thursday's Zone Conference had just ended and my amount of things to do went crazy! haha I got lots of people from ZC wanting reimbursements, I had people texting and calling me with issues withdrawing their support, and I had the Forinash's trying to call me to solve apartment issues. It was just a little crazy..haha And then with ZLC the next day, there was still plentyyyy of work to do. So us and the APs ordered four pizzas (four pizzas for four elders, sounds about right, right?) and got down to business. I didn't have a whole lot to do that was like super immediate, so I rocked the finance secretary and prepared all the supply orders. Fun stuff..haha And then the APs wanted to make these bookmarks to give to all the ZLs, so I got to make those too! Woo! haha In other news, my mom probably had Bunso sometime between Thursday night and Friday morning here. #CRAZY
So yeah, my mom had another little Gadberry. That's so crazy! But I'm kinda pumped. At least I'll be gone for his first year cuz they're a lot cooler once they can actually do stuff..haha But it's another boy cuz that's just how us Gadberry's roll I guess. His name is Samuel, but you should join me in calling him Bunso. It's Tagalog for youngest, and I figure if I start calling him that at an early enough age it'll stick. #TheKidsNameIsBunso. Your support and efforts are greatly appreciated..haha Well Friday morning was....I'll just say weird. One, we had to get up early. ew. haha But it was sad cuz I had to take my companion from the MTC to the airport to go home. I’m actually grateful for the opportunity I had to help him get to the airport. It was a really weird experience because this was an elder who I looked up to and felt really close to since our companionship in the MTC. I felt so bad for him, my good friend, not being able to complete a mission, but at the same time I realized that that feeling multiplied by the infinite love of Christ and Heavenly Father is what they feel every time their children, myself included, make decisions that lead them away from them and the path back to them.
That experience, as short or small as it was, actually gave me a firmer desire to do good continually and to help others make it back to Heavenly Father, so that when the time comes, they may enter his presence and not be turned away. We had to kinda rush that cuz we needed to get back to the office cuz I had like a billion things that had to get done on Friday in an order on a schedule without much room for error. The morning part of it worked out. It was a little crazy but I got everything I needed. Then we made it to ZLC, to do everything there. After ZLC, we're in charge of taking the ZLs from Palawan to the airport. Well we pile in the car, and this car that the Area Office gave us won't start! I was like what??? This isn't good..haha So we switched with the APs and managed to still get them there on time. But we still have a car that doesn't start at the mission home! Luckily President was able to jump it and its worked ever since.. We just wanna get that car back to the area office before we get stranded somewhere..haha So after all that we made it back to the office to prep for more stuff that was going to happen on Saturday. I was sooo tired! I like couldn't even celebrate the birth of Bunso..haha Cuz of terrible traffic around the airport going to and fro we were in traffic for like 6+ hours on Friday...and yes, I still prefer to drive everywhere haha One, because I like driving even when it's frustrating and two, because Elder Pugmire doesn't like driving. haha
So yeah, that was my week! It was crazy! I guess that email might be long enough to catch your attention..haha Well hope you all have an awesome week! When ever you feel that your life is bad, just remember that there is an Elder Gadberry halfway around the world that hasn't eaten a Chips-Ahoy cookie or drank real chocolate milk in like 10 months...haha Now that's what you call a sad life...haha just kidding I love it here! Just missing my good'ol American snacks sometimes...haha =D
Love you all!
Elder Michael Gadberry
My Faith - Hope Scripture Chain
Alma 32:21 - Faith is not to have a perfect knowledge
Alma 32:27 - Faith begins with a particle, even a desire to believe
James 1:5-6; 2:17-18,22 - How we can strengthen our faith
Alma 32:41 -- How to strength faith
Ether 12:4 - That faith bringth hope
2 Nephi 31:20 - How we should endure/perfect the hope and faith
Alma 7:16 - Whosoever doeth this shall have eternal life
D&C 138:14-15 - The state of those who have passed with this "firm hope"
D&C 14:7 - This firm hope and enduring well to the end well obtain "the greatest of all the gifts of God," eternal life
Pictures
0057-0056 -- Balty got a little worn out
0055 -- Little baby Bunso. Sister Dietrich made them for me, I think she's more excited than I am..haha
0054-0052 -- ZLC Prep
0051-0049 -- Elder Pugmire got a tie from someone he was just a little excited about it and put it on the day he got it in the mail..haha
0048/0047 -- CORON! Not everyone that was there was in the picture but this was the majority I guess (keep in made it was a youth temple trip and a youth conference, that's why its a bunch of youth..haha)
0046 -- Crazy burger place scattered around the Philippines or at least this area that Elder Pugmire actually enjoys..haha #ItsSketch
0043 -- It was raining like superrr hard. You can't really tell though. Rainy season here we come!
Pictures from the Dietrich's
P*Stuff*71/70 -- The office staff lookin good
P*Kwan*69 -- The Beloved Dietrichs
Pictures From the Dietrich's that I Played With Featuring the Toys I Told You All Me and Elder Pugmire Got With the Hotdogs We Bought
Capt America - P*Kwan*66 -- See description above
From Dietrich's
P*Kwan*53 -- Filipinos!
P*Kwan*91/90 -- Couple nice shots Sister Dietrich snagged
The rest of the P*Kwan*'s
Playing With Pictures While I Don't Have Internet
0186 - View a little ways from the temple
0165 -- View from Dietrich's Apartment
dljfaseofjaslefjiealskjefaeofeamnfoea -- The one of me and my flower
Yeah the rest of them
Well I don't have any questions to answer, and I can't think of anything creative to do. So I guess you guys just getta here about my week! Woo! This week was a good one, but I'm like exhausted. . .We had zone conferences all week...and so it was pretty crazy with that, then I had like a ton of other stuff goin down and now I'm just tired. haha But it was greatt! I loved it! haha =)
So lookin back at the week, I guess that's when the exhaustion started..haha Well first we had church and it wasn't so good cuz no one made it again! But again, sacrament meeting was great, the sunday school was good, and Priesthood was awesome as well. After we got done with church and had lunch, we went out to work! Our ward is trying to start up home teaching (male members in the church unit are assigned families to visit and teach once a month) cuz its nonexistent right now..haha But its awesome cuz they really seem serious about it and most of them are pretty excited to do it! The only thing is. . .our records for our ward haven't been updated for at least 9 months now.... Yeah. #Problem So, they're working on that, and Brother Matt (our Elder's Quorum President ) said that we (meaning the whole elders quorum) need to do our best at identifying those that need to be added and taken away from the records so they can update quickly once they get internet to the building. So Elder Pugmire and I, with that in mind, went out to work! We had a list that we were told were less-actives, and we went off to find them all! Let me tell you, that's quite the task on a hot, quiet, did I mention hot?, sunny afternoon in the Philippines. But hey, we're tough, we got this. haha So we went off and we walked allllll up and down our area like we hit every street in our area at least twice and many of them much more than that. And guess how many of those people on the list we found! . . . . . . . NONE! haha =D It was good though, we found a lot of potential investigators while we were doing that.
But we found out that people didn't live at most of the houses that they were supposed to be at, so I guess thats a plus....it'll at least help our ward records..haha Finally, when we were completely exhausted we went and visted Ponce. I loveee visiting with him and sharing with him. It's awesome. We had planned to share with him Moses 1:39, to help him realize how important he is to Heavenly Father. I started off by asking him three questions. One, "Brother Ponce, in your opinion, why are we here on Earth?" He answered and I asked, "What are just a few things that make you happy? They can be anything." He gave us a few things, and I asked the last question, "Brother Ponce, what is it again you do? What's your job?" He answered again (he's in charge of the inventory at the warehouse in case any of you guys were wondering). And then we started by sharing Moses 1:39 and explaining to him, why we're here; what makes God happy; and what God's work is. We read it twice, once regularly and then the second time with Brother Ponce's name replaced for Man. And we also explained a little bit about how we can liken the scriptures to ourselves that way. It was an awesome lesson, and he really got it! We came out of that lesson and I felt like re-energized and pumped. Then we drove home, and collapsed on the couch like right away..haha Tired day number one.
Monday wasn't so tiring, but it was kinda frustrating. I think I use frustrating to say that it was a little stressful, but I say frustrating cuz "I don't feel stress" =) Still standing by that statement. It was just frustrating. It was potentially stressful cuz I went into Monday with like a billionnnn things I needed to get done like on Monday to make the rest of the week go as its supposed to. Well, of course, somethin weird happens anddd we dont have internet. Like all day. Okayyyy . . . I kinda need internet to do everything that I needed to get done that day! So that was potentially stressful cuz I had to leave the office having accomplished none of the things that I needed to get done, so I'm like worrying about how the rest of the week was goin go down especially without me being able to get like anything done come Wednesday cuz Wednesday was our day for Zone Conference and that took up pretty much all day. But anyways, I finally got my spiritual experience done. President Stucki asked all the missionaries to submit a short spiritual experience so that they could assemble them and make like a little book thingy out of it to give to all of us. I'd pushed it off foreverrr and decided I should finish it because Sister Dietrich was making the books..haha #StillProcrastinating On the bright side, Sister Dietrich said she was proud of my grammer(but maybe not his spelling...)! She was like whoa! You even used semi-colons correctly. . .I was like "Yeah...that's what Word told me to do..." hahaha But she said the rest of it was still impressive. I'm just trying to make Grandma G. proud. haha And since I had no internet, it kinda forced me to spend much of the day filing! Ew. Filing for me is like one of those things that is the last resort..haha Like I took out the trash for everyone in the office before I started filing...haha That's saying somethin right..haha
Well we left the office and went to visit the potentially awesome potential investigator we talked to, the baseball fan! Yup..no dice. He wasn't home. =( So we were thirsty and remembered a really nice nanay that runs a tindahan, that we considered a potential investigator (side note: don't know if I ever explained "tindahan"s to you all, so just like google it or search it on wikipedia or somethin). So we were like lets go over there and talk to her some more and get somethin to drink. So we went there and got our drinks and just started talking to nanay's friend. She called us "artista"s and complimented me that I knew how to use "po" and asked a few questions about the church. We talked to nanay and her friend for a while and they told us to come back and hang out with them again. So it was a pretty successful trip for somethin to drink. We then went back to talk with Ponce to see if he knew where Dittz was, but still no dice. So by then we had to get going soon anyways cuz we were asked to give Elder Dietrich a blessing, so we just went over and talked with their househelp and re-scheduled. We then gave Elder Dietrich a blessing cuz he was going into the doctor the next day to get his head looked at and possibly get some cancer cells dug out. (dug out? ew. haha) After that, we essentially has scripture study with the Dietrich's and it was cool!
Now Tuesday was like the best day of my life. Like not even kidding. =D Well actually come to think of it this whole week was pretty good. So Tuesday we get to the office aaand. . .we still don't have internet. Be tee dubs, they said the internet would only be gone for forty minutes on Monday morning....Well let's not get to pushin 40 hours..haha So without internet we decided to take our van up to the area office to get it fixed up, and since the area office is at the temple and the temple has this place with legit Filipino food, we decided to have lunch there too. It's not like legit Filipino food that you would find at a restaurant. it's like the kinda stuff you would have for dinner at a members house. Me and Elder Pugmire love it, (surprised??) but if you were like a foreigner just visiting, I would probably encourage you to avoid it. Well we were eating there and I turn around and through the fence I see Josh... I was like nahh..little Josh Nepomuceno is in Coron...I look at him a little more and I was like THATS HIM! (of course I didn't shout it, I'm a very mild mannered kinda guy..haha but I sure shouted in my head) So I just like leave my food and go over to the fence to the Patron house. I was like "Hey Josh!" and I motioned him to come over. He kinda glanced at me, did a double take, gave me a weird-ish look and ran inside... I was like "Butt. The kid doesn't remember me, and I scared him" haha. Well he comes back out the door with like half the branch behind him!!!!! WHAT?! So they're on like onside of the fence and I'm on the other, and there's no doors here in this part of the fence..haha So I'm like trying to shake their hands and talk with them like through the fence. They're all like "It's like you're in prison. How long have you been in prison?" haha IT WAS SO AWESOME TO SEE THEM!
Apparently they're here on a youth temple trip, and then they have youth conference later this week. Oh it was so nice to talk to them for a while! I was just like beaming, I didn't know what to say..haha They told me two things, more than once, it seemed to be the kind of theme..haha One, "Elder, you got fatter.." hahaha (For the record, I've only gained 7 lbs in the office, and thats not bad for eating out like alllll the time..haha And for the record as well, its in the process of coming off..haha) (But I told them I was getting skinnier and they told me not to..haha I think its a weird Filipino thing with how getting fatter isn't like a bad thing, it just how it is) And two, "Wowww! You're really good at Tagalog now!" I talked to President Nepomuceno and little bit and he said things are going pretty well, the missionary work is kinda down out there, and he still doesn't have counselors. He told me to come back or send him some hard working missionaries haha. Ivy and Joy said that their parents were still doing good. The Talons are still out there, Brother Talon had to stay home with their kids. The Sister Encena was reported as doing well by her children. Christian was there which was awesome because when I left we were really worried about his family. Brother Jubilado was there and seemed to be doin great. And Sister Janice was there, and just got her endowments! It was awesome to here from them.
Apparently, Brother Jucaban has finally been baptized! He has the Aaronic Priesthood and is acting as the young men's President. I'm not too sure if there's any young men yet though..haha There's some that are close though. I was so pumped to hear about him! Well as with all happen chance meetings, it had to come to an end. So we left =( We went back to the office and we had internet! Woo! But I didn't have a whole lot of time to get too much done. Cuz we had to deal with Zone Conference peeps needing our help, and then the Coron elders were coming to the office for Zone Conference the next day. And Elder Partridge (he was in my district at the MTC), was at the office cuz he's going to Coron. (I guess there's an issue in that companionship or somethin so we've emergency transferring one of the elders out and putting Partridge in). So then Elder Anderson and Elder Caliao finally got here from Coron. Elder Caliao and Elder Partridge's companion, went back to their area, but Elder Anderson and Elder Partridge hadn't eaten yet so we went to eat with them. Meanwhile, I was gettin lots of Coron news from Anderson, it was awesome! Apparently, Sister Aurora's husband has a baptismal date. They're having issues with Sister Edna's husband. No real progress with Dante. Tatay Espayos is in like Cebu or somethin. The Durans are doing great and Brother Duran is full of stories about me..haha Brother Jucaban is baptized and administering the sacrament every Sunday. Sister Lagrosa is doing great and has read the whole Book of Mormon. Elder Anderson said that there's a few families as well that they're teaching and excited for.
Now you take how great Tuesday was, and like Wednesday was probably pretty equal in greatness. haha It was our Zone Conference! It was like an awesome, super-uplifting experience! Towards the beginning, our zone was to sing a special musical number, I Stand All Amazed. No one had told me! I think it was cuz we missed district meeting on Tuesday cuz we didn't know we had it...haha But there's like 12 of us in our zone and so we sang it and it went awesome! Everyone said it was really good. The song just ushered the Spirit into the meeting and helped prepare for an awesome Zone Conference. At times during the Conference we were split into groups of 4 and I was in a group with Elder Bagahansol. It was awesome cuz we were doing like practice teaching and stuff and Bags and I got to be companions again. #KickinItOldSkool It kinda felt like back in Coron, and it was nice to work with him again even thought it was like true work work but being around him is always a great, uplifting experience. I can't really go into detail about Zone Conference other than say that it was awesome! We talked a lot about faith, and also about how the Lord takes the ordinary to accomplish the impossible, and also a lot about finding and how to find as we search for less-actives (i.e. teaching along the way - D&C 52:9-10). So check this out, its pretty legit.
President Stucki pointed it out. So ya'll know the story of Gideon right? You know, in the Old Testament...ah come on, don't tell me you haven't been keeping up on your Old Testament reading..haha Okay maybe at least you've had Brother Jones as a Sunday School teacher and that's the only reason you know the story cuz that just might be the case with me..haha Well anyways, Gideon's got this army and they're going to fight the Midianites. The Lord tells him his army's too big, they need to have less people or they'll think that it was by their own strength that they will win. So Gideon says okay, and tells anyone thats scared or fearful to leave. So of course, some leave, and Gideon's like alright let's go. The Lord comes back to him and says you've still got too many do this. So Gideon does that and his army is reduced to 300. That three hundered, no they're not the three hundred from the movie, but that three hundred is set up to fight 150,000 Midionites. That's 1 soldier of Gideon for every 500 enemy...some good odds huh?
So now lets jump a few thousand years forward to the year 2012. There's a roughly 14 million members of the Church and an estimated 7 billion people in the world. Pause. Do the math. Pretty cool huh? I think he actually said Elder Nelson pointed it out to them in their Mission President's Seminar but I'm not too sure. But anyways, after Zone Conference, I had a tonnn of stuff to do. I had to finalize support for all the missionaries, I had to get working funds processed so they could get money on Friday, and we had like 6 apartments that were moving on Friday that had to have checks by then so they had to be processed by Wednesday at the latest. And that's why I needed internet on Monday..haha But I guess it worked out for the most part. Things were pushin it a little but it worked out all in all just got a little crazy.
The awesomenss continues through Thursday! It started with a sweet Personal Study! I was reading in Moroni 7 and the word hope in verse three caught me attention. I hit the footnotes and remembered that Ether 12:4 says, "Wherefore, whoso believeth in God might with surety hope for a better world, yea, even a place at the right hand of God, which hope cometh of faith, maketh an anchor to the souls of men, which would make them sure and steadfast, always abounding in good works, being led to glorify God." So I was like okay, if hope cometh of faith. How do we build our faith to perfect our hope? I was then able to make a scripture chain that started with the very basic definition of faith which then went step by step until we read what will happen to those in the end who have achieved this hope. I was pretty pumped cuz its like jumpin from the Book of Mormon to the Bible and back and then we hit some D&C. It was just really cool, and I was super appreciative of the Spirit there to help me remember some of these verses so I could include them in my chain (I'll include the chain at the bottom of the email in case you guys wanna look them up or whatever cuz I know I like hearing what cool stuff other people find in the scriptures and what not). I also, thought of President Eyring’s talk this past conference. He said that personal integrity is our foundation of faith that “our choosing the right consistently will provide for us that sure foundation of faith from which we can build.” Later that day I got to talk more Coron, and it was AWESOME!
We were taking the Coron elders back to the airport and so I got to hear more stuff from Elder Anderson and it was awesome! #I<3Coron. After we got back from the airport, Thursday's Zone Conference had just ended and my amount of things to do went crazy! haha I got lots of people from ZC wanting reimbursements, I had people texting and calling me with issues withdrawing their support, and I had the Forinash's trying to call me to solve apartment issues. It was just a little crazy..haha And then with ZLC the next day, there was still plentyyyy of work to do. So us and the APs ordered four pizzas (four pizzas for four elders, sounds about right, right?) and got down to business. I didn't have a whole lot to do that was like super immediate, so I rocked the finance secretary and prepared all the supply orders. Fun stuff..haha And then the APs wanted to make these bookmarks to give to all the ZLs, so I got to make those too! Woo! haha In other news, my mom probably had Bunso sometime between Thursday night and Friday morning here. #CRAZY
So yeah, my mom had another little Gadberry. That's so crazy! But I'm kinda pumped. At least I'll be gone for his first year cuz they're a lot cooler once they can actually do stuff..haha But it's another boy cuz that's just how us Gadberry's roll I guess. His name is Samuel, but you should join me in calling him Bunso. It's Tagalog for youngest, and I figure if I start calling him that at an early enough age it'll stick. #TheKidsNameIsBunso. Your support and efforts are greatly appreciated..haha Well Friday morning was....I'll just say weird. One, we had to get up early. ew. haha But it was sad cuz I had to take my companion from the MTC to the airport to go home. I’m actually grateful for the opportunity I had to help him get to the airport. It was a really weird experience because this was an elder who I looked up to and felt really close to since our companionship in the MTC. I felt so bad for him, my good friend, not being able to complete a mission, but at the same time I realized that that feeling multiplied by the infinite love of Christ and Heavenly Father is what they feel every time their children, myself included, make decisions that lead them away from them and the path back to them.
That experience, as short or small as it was, actually gave me a firmer desire to do good continually and to help others make it back to Heavenly Father, so that when the time comes, they may enter his presence and not be turned away. We had to kinda rush that cuz we needed to get back to the office cuz I had like a billion things that had to get done on Friday in an order on a schedule without much room for error. The morning part of it worked out. It was a little crazy but I got everything I needed. Then we made it to ZLC, to do everything there. After ZLC, we're in charge of taking the ZLs from Palawan to the airport. Well we pile in the car, and this car that the Area Office gave us won't start! I was like what??? This isn't good..haha So we switched with the APs and managed to still get them there on time. But we still have a car that doesn't start at the mission home! Luckily President was able to jump it and its worked ever since.. We just wanna get that car back to the area office before we get stranded somewhere..haha So after all that we made it back to the office to prep for more stuff that was going to happen on Saturday. I was sooo tired! I like couldn't even celebrate the birth of Bunso..haha Cuz of terrible traffic around the airport going to and fro we were in traffic for like 6+ hours on Friday...and yes, I still prefer to drive everywhere haha One, because I like driving even when it's frustrating and two, because Elder Pugmire doesn't like driving. haha
So yeah, that was my week! It was crazy! I guess that email might be long enough to catch your attention..haha Well hope you all have an awesome week! When ever you feel that your life is bad, just remember that there is an Elder Gadberry halfway around the world that hasn't eaten a Chips-Ahoy cookie or drank real chocolate milk in like 10 months...haha Now that's what you call a sad life...haha just kidding I love it here! Just missing my good'ol American snacks sometimes...haha =D
Love you all!
Elder Michael Gadberry
My Faith - Hope Scripture Chain
Alma 32:21 - Faith is not to have a perfect knowledge
Alma 32:27 - Faith begins with a particle, even a desire to believe
James 1:5-6; 2:17-18,22 - How we can strengthen our faith
Alma 32:41 -- How to strength faith
Ether 12:4 - That faith bringth hope
2 Nephi 31:20 - How we should endure/perfect the hope and faith
Alma 7:16 - Whosoever doeth this shall have eternal life
D&C 138:14-15 - The state of those who have passed with this "firm hope"
D&C 14:7 - This firm hope and enduring well to the end well obtain "the greatest of all the gifts of God," eternal life
Pictures
0057-0056 -- Balty got a little worn out
0055 -- Little baby Bunso. Sister Dietrich made them for me, I think she's more excited than I am..haha
0054-0052 -- ZLC Prep
0051-0049 -- Elder Pugmire got a tie from someone he was just a little excited about it and put it on the day he got it in the mail..haha
0048/0047 -- CORON! Not everyone that was there was in the picture but this was the majority I guess (keep in made it was a youth temple trip and a youth conference, that's why its a bunch of youth..haha)
0046 -- Crazy burger place scattered around the Philippines or at least this area that Elder Pugmire actually enjoys..haha #ItsSketch
0043 -- It was raining like superrr hard. You can't really tell though. Rainy season here we come!
Pictures from the Dietrich's
P*Stuff*71/70 -- The office staff lookin good
P*Kwan*69 -- The Beloved Dietrichs
Pictures From the Dietrich's that I Played With Featuring the Toys I Told You All Me and Elder Pugmire Got With the Hotdogs We Bought
Capt America - P*Kwan*66 -- See description above
From Dietrich's
P*Kwan*53 -- Filipinos!
P*Kwan*91/90 -- Couple nice shots Sister Dietrich snagged
The rest of the P*Kwan*'s
Playing With Pictures While I Don't Have Internet
0186 - View a little ways from the temple
0165 -- View from Dietrich's Apartment
dljfaseofjaslefjiealskjefaeofeamnfoea -- The one of me and my flower
Yeah the rest of them
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