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
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