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| September 16, 2012 |
Sunday, October 7, 2012
September 16, 2012 E-Mail!
Hey hey heyyy!
I know I remind you of this like every transfer, but after this one, only 6 more transfers and then you are heading home. Strange, huh? Do you think any changes are coming with this transfer? It seems like probably not in your companionship, but how about in the district?
Ah geeez guys! I knew I was getting old in the mission but I actually didn't know that it was only 6 transfers!! That's ridiculous! This is going wayyyy too fast! I think its pretty official that Elder Handy and I are staying. The ZLs were saying I might step up to ZL in our zone cuz one of our ZLs is transferring, but I was like nahh I'll just stay in Ternate.. thanks anyways.. haha But we got pretty official word from President that we're staying. The other night he called and said that me and Elder Handy were both ready and going to train but as he continued to pray on it, he felt that we should stay one more... That means we got work to do!
How was church attendance this week? Are you still getting strong numbers?
Umm.. it was decent this week. I don't know the number exactly. But it was raining so people tend to skip out on church when it rains.. dumb. Since Elder Handy and I have been here though in Ternate the average church attendance has gone up by like 15 people since before our time, so its pretty cool.
How is the home teaching going in the branch? Are the home teachers and visiting teachers helping in your re-activation efforts? (Home Teaching/Visiting Teaching is a church program where members visit other members share a message and check to see to how they are doing.)
Well thats the problem over the whole Philippines... there essentially is no home teaching. And thats why we have a ton of less-actives! Woo! haha not. The Relief Society (Women's organization) here is sometimes pretty good..except I think its just the Relief Society President that visits anyone.. haha But President Vicencio (one of Pres. Stucki's counselors) came to our branch on Sunday and organized-ish home/visiting teaching! What we have now is every third Sunday everyone will come to the church and then break up into small groups to go visit some families. #ItsAStart
How was your baptism? Is the one husband who is only home on the weekends still receptive?
It was awesome! Her whole family came and really enjoyed it! It was a really rainy day and we were really worried if we'd be able to have it cuz the font is outside. I prayed the whole time we were sitting in the chapel having the first part that it would stop. I had faith, but as I stood up to announce that we would go outside now to witness the baptism...it started raining harder.. hahaha But no sooner had we actually gone outside did the rain let up to an extent. Let up enough that we could have the baptism. Then right after it was over and we had gone inside....it started pouring again. The father attended and really seemed to enjoy it! I talked to him a little bit before and after and he seemed really sincere and impressed by it.
Well this is a pretty lame email I'm sorry... but the pictures are pretty good! I'm short on time today and need to get goin! Sorry! Hope you guys have a great week!
Love
Elder Michael Gadberry
I know I remind you of this like every transfer, but after this one, only 6 more transfers and then you are heading home. Strange, huh? Do you think any changes are coming with this transfer? It seems like probably not in your companionship, but how about in the district?
Ah geeez guys! I knew I was getting old in the mission but I actually didn't know that it was only 6 transfers!! That's ridiculous! This is going wayyyy too fast! I think its pretty official that Elder Handy and I are staying. The ZLs were saying I might step up to ZL in our zone cuz one of our ZLs is transferring, but I was like nahh I'll just stay in Ternate.. thanks anyways.. haha But we got pretty official word from President that we're staying. The other night he called and said that me and Elder Handy were both ready and going to train but as he continued to pray on it, he felt that we should stay one more... That means we got work to do!
How was church attendance this week? Are you still getting strong numbers?
Umm.. it was decent this week. I don't know the number exactly. But it was raining so people tend to skip out on church when it rains.. dumb. Since Elder Handy and I have been here though in Ternate the average church attendance has gone up by like 15 people since before our time, so its pretty cool.
How is the home teaching going in the branch? Are the home teachers and visiting teachers helping in your re-activation efforts? (Home Teaching/Visiting Teaching is a church program where members visit other members share a message and check to see to how they are doing.)
Well thats the problem over the whole Philippines... there essentially is no home teaching. And thats why we have a ton of less-actives! Woo! haha not. The Relief Society (Women's organization) here is sometimes pretty good..except I think its just the Relief Society President that visits anyone.. haha But President Vicencio (one of Pres. Stucki's counselors) came to our branch on Sunday and organized-ish home/visiting teaching! What we have now is every third Sunday everyone will come to the church and then break up into small groups to go visit some families. #ItsAStart
How was your baptism? Is the one husband who is only home on the weekends still receptive?
It was awesome! Her whole family came and really enjoyed it! It was a really rainy day and we were really worried if we'd be able to have it cuz the font is outside. I prayed the whole time we were sitting in the chapel having the first part that it would stop. I had faith, but as I stood up to announce that we would go outside now to witness the baptism...it started raining harder.. hahaha But no sooner had we actually gone outside did the rain let up to an extent. Let up enough that we could have the baptism. Then right after it was over and we had gone inside....it started pouring again. The father attended and really seemed to enjoy it! I talked to him a little bit before and after and he seemed really sincere and impressed by it.
Well this is a pretty lame email I'm sorry... but the pictures are pretty good! I'm short on time today and need to get goin! Sorry! Hope you guys have a great week!
Love
Elder Michael Gadberry
September 9, 2012 E-Mail!
Top of the morning to Ya'll! haha
While I was in Japan (kirk) I managed to send a 9 lb. package to you. That doesn't sound like much, but it is. Normally our packages are about 4 pounds.
Now that's why I have the best parents in the world! haha
How do you avoid getting peed on? (his last email mentioned his current companion, and several others, had...well, let's just say, "accidents happen")
Well its easy. You just have to be weary of the little children, especially the ones not wearing any pants. Which you might actually come across more frequently than the little children that do wear pants.. haha I think Elder Handy was teaching and wasn't paying attention.. haha I chalk it up to what Sister Dietrich described as my ability to know whats going on all around me all the time even when I'm busy doing something myself. Yay for sports! haha
Were you nervous going across that bridge? (It's in a picture he attached)
Nope! I was pretty pumped! They were telling me about their area a while back and I was like when we go on exchanges there you are taking me on that bridge! haha Its pretty sketch if theres lots of people on it but the times we crossed it there usually wasn't too many people.
So is the rainy season over?
Hmm... I don't know. It still rains multiple times a week but its not like nonstop rain for like weeks straight like it was for a while.. The ground still doesnt ever get dry so my pants still get muddy all the time.. haha
Grandma now!
The cows, oxen (?) are interesting too. Especially when you are sitting on one. What exactly are they?
They're called Carabao. They're essentially a cow/oxen mix I guess cuz like the one we were on was a female but she was huge! And had huge horns! So yeah... I don't know. Just google it or somethin.
btw, what is a bakla? Is he like the apartment manager? (From last week's "locked out of the apartment" story)
Umm.. I wondered if someone would ask that.. He's not exactly the apartment manager.. I'd tell you to google that too but I would actually discourage that.. Baklas are the third gender in the Philippines.. They are boys that decided they're gay but went even further and dress, act, and talk like women. And its terrible cuz they usually wear like super tight/short stuff and they're always very flamboyant about trying to get your attention... Yeah.. probably not one of the things I'll miss about the Philippines. haha
Speaking of food, you said you really like the food there. What exactly are you eating?
Umm.. yeah. Rice! If its me and Elder Handy we usually just make simple stuff like chicken and potatoes and rice and whatever else. But like the other stuff has lots stuff in it. I don't know exactly whats in this stuff, so I can't make it but its good! Some of my favorites are Tinolang Manok, Chicken Adobo, Menudo, Caldera, and they're gulay (vegatable) ulams are usually pretty good too! Oh speaking of food and why Filipinos are awesome.. So you may have noticed my pictures this email with a green thingy. Thats a papaya in case you didn't know. Well we taught this family a couple weeks ago and over the course of just talking to them I told that that my favorite ulam was Tinola. One of the main parts of that is papaya. So this week we went back to that family and after our lesson. The mom was like we've got papayas growing over there, take one! So I did. So yeah.. now I have that papaya and to be honest I have no idea what I'm going to do with it but it struck me as to how kind and friendly and giving the people are here! She remembered from like a couple weeks ago that tinola was my favorite so she gave me one of their papayas! #PhilippinesRocks
And since they live so near water, must eat a lot of fish? What else? Favorite Filipino dessert? Every culture has a favorite dessert.
Yeah they eat a lot of fish here too. But we don't get fed terribly often here so I don't have to eat it that often.. haha Desert..? Hmm.. Here they eat fruits a lot as deserts and its good! They also sometimes have like sticky rice and like other stuff that for me is a little more sketch. Well, thats weird. For a guy that loves junk food more than anything (I had cookies for breakfast this morning.. =D ) (wish I were surprised), I actually like their main dishes and fruits a lot better than their deserts.
So this week has been another awesome one! We're going to have another baptism this coming Saturday so we're pumped! This lady is more than ready! And her family is coming around, too. Its the one that we saw a big change in her husband over the course of last week. But her husband is only home once a week so we're going to go ahead and baptize her and keep working on her husband cuz he'll probably be a while. But the missionary that interviewed her said that he's never interviewed anyone that has understood repentance better or that was more penitent, so that was like awesome and a half to hear. We're so pumped for her!
So Tuesday I had to teach district meeting. Something I still feel inadequate to do.. haha But this time it went really well. One of the things I did was that I assigned everyone in my district a missionary from the Book of Mormon. They were to study that missionary and find at least one way we can apply what they did into our work. I was looking over stuff I could do for district meeting and just that activity popped into my mind cuz its a little bit of an adaption to one of the suggestions we had. I swear it was the Spirit that gave me that idea cuz it went really good! The BoM missionary, that I pretty much just randomly assigned each missionary, had seemed to even be given to each missionary for a reason. Almost every missionary started their 3-5 minute presentation with "Well obviously So-and-So is the best missionary in the Book of Mormon and this is why. . ." It was pretty funny but afterwards, Sister Paddock came up to me and said, "That was awesome. Home Run." So I'm grateful for the help of the Lord with that!
Also May, the lady getting baptized this Saturday, has really started to learn how to study the gospel! We gave her last General Conference's Liahona and she read it and loved it! She even took notes on it, like thats that came to her, so we had the great opportunity to explain to her that she was learning by the Spirit and she didnt even know it! Woo! That was the same day though that we had to get up at 2:30 AM to get to the temple cuz we're supposed to attend the 6am session... #Sacrifices haha But it was good though! Just more than just a little bit exhausting.
We had lots of new investigators and less-actives just kinda come out of the wood work and thats really exciting to see! I even had a few experiences this week where I felt that I was following spiritual promptings from the Spirit and it was cool! Thats definitely one of the hardest but most exciting things for me.
We had an awesome lesson with the family that gave me the papaya. We taught the Restoration and after we taught it we asked them what they thought/what they were feeling. And the mom was like, "I felt it is true. It was like I was there and I saw what Joseph Smith saw." Let me tell you, I don't know if there's a sound sweeter than that. Like I think I told you guys last week. When you have someone you're teaching say that what you're teaching is true that they've been touched by the Spirit. Its such an incredible feeling! Its so awesome!
In other news, if you notice the beautiful sunset pictures we took. Yeah.. we saw the awesome sunset so we just started heading towards the water. Apparently we wandered onto some private property cuz a guard there, shortly after we had taken the pictures, came up to us and told us we weren't supposed to be there! Oops! haha But I talked to him and apologized.. haha As we were walking away Elder Handy was like "well Elder what's that make you 9 for 9?" Referencing my track record in the office.. haha
In sad news, Elder Osumo has less days left than I have months! Aw.. =( Hence the slightly awkward picture we took.. haha
Oh and for all you guys going a little too fast please see picture 610, follow its counsel, and slow down. I'm just looking out for your safety. haha Well I'm out!
Cya! Love ya!
Elder Michael Gadberry
While I was in Japan (kirk) I managed to send a 9 lb. package to you. That doesn't sound like much, but it is. Normally our packages are about 4 pounds.
Now that's why I have the best parents in the world! haha
How do you avoid getting peed on? (his last email mentioned his current companion, and several others, had...well, let's just say, "accidents happen")
Well its easy. You just have to be weary of the little children, especially the ones not wearing any pants. Which you might actually come across more frequently than the little children that do wear pants.. haha I think Elder Handy was teaching and wasn't paying attention.. haha I chalk it up to what Sister Dietrich described as my ability to know whats going on all around me all the time even when I'm busy doing something myself. Yay for sports! haha
Were you nervous going across that bridge? (It's in a picture he attached)
Nope! I was pretty pumped! They were telling me about their area a while back and I was like when we go on exchanges there you are taking me on that bridge! haha Its pretty sketch if theres lots of people on it but the times we crossed it there usually wasn't too many people.
So is the rainy season over?
Hmm... I don't know. It still rains multiple times a week but its not like nonstop rain for like weeks straight like it was for a while.. The ground still doesnt ever get dry so my pants still get muddy all the time.. haha
Grandma now!
The cows, oxen (?) are interesting too. Especially when you are sitting on one. What exactly are they?
They're called Carabao. They're essentially a cow/oxen mix I guess cuz like the one we were on was a female but she was huge! And had huge horns! So yeah... I don't know. Just google it or somethin.
btw, what is a bakla? Is he like the apartment manager? (From last week's "locked out of the apartment" story)
Umm.. I wondered if someone would ask that.. He's not exactly the apartment manager.. I'd tell you to google that too but I would actually discourage that.. Baklas are the third gender in the Philippines.. They are boys that decided they're gay but went even further and dress, act, and talk like women. And its terrible cuz they usually wear like super tight/short stuff and they're always very flamboyant about trying to get your attention... Yeah.. probably not one of the things I'll miss about the Philippines. haha
Speaking of food, you said you really like the food there. What exactly are you eating?
Umm.. yeah. Rice! If its me and Elder Handy we usually just make simple stuff like chicken and potatoes and rice and whatever else. But like the other stuff has lots stuff in it. I don't know exactly whats in this stuff, so I can't make it but its good! Some of my favorites are Tinolang Manok, Chicken Adobo, Menudo, Caldera, and they're gulay (vegatable) ulams are usually pretty good too! Oh speaking of food and why Filipinos are awesome.. So you may have noticed my pictures this email with a green thingy. Thats a papaya in case you didn't know. Well we taught this family a couple weeks ago and over the course of just talking to them I told that that my favorite ulam was Tinola. One of the main parts of that is papaya. So this week we went back to that family and after our lesson. The mom was like we've got papayas growing over there, take one! So I did. So yeah.. now I have that papaya and to be honest I have no idea what I'm going to do with it but it struck me as to how kind and friendly and giving the people are here! She remembered from like a couple weeks ago that tinola was my favorite so she gave me one of their papayas! #PhilippinesRocks
And since they live so near water, must eat a lot of fish? What else? Favorite Filipino dessert? Every culture has a favorite dessert.
Yeah they eat a lot of fish here too. But we don't get fed terribly often here so I don't have to eat it that often.. haha Desert..? Hmm.. Here they eat fruits a lot as deserts and its good! They also sometimes have like sticky rice and like other stuff that for me is a little more sketch. Well, thats weird. For a guy that loves junk food more than anything (I had cookies for breakfast this morning.. =D ) (wish I were surprised), I actually like their main dishes and fruits a lot better than their deserts.
So this week has been another awesome one! We're going to have another baptism this coming Saturday so we're pumped! This lady is more than ready! And her family is coming around, too. Its the one that we saw a big change in her husband over the course of last week. But her husband is only home once a week so we're going to go ahead and baptize her and keep working on her husband cuz he'll probably be a while. But the missionary that interviewed her said that he's never interviewed anyone that has understood repentance better or that was more penitent, so that was like awesome and a half to hear. We're so pumped for her!
So Tuesday I had to teach district meeting. Something I still feel inadequate to do.. haha But this time it went really well. One of the things I did was that I assigned everyone in my district a missionary from the Book of Mormon. They were to study that missionary and find at least one way we can apply what they did into our work. I was looking over stuff I could do for district meeting and just that activity popped into my mind cuz its a little bit of an adaption to one of the suggestions we had. I swear it was the Spirit that gave me that idea cuz it went really good! The BoM missionary, that I pretty much just randomly assigned each missionary, had seemed to even be given to each missionary for a reason. Almost every missionary started their 3-5 minute presentation with "Well obviously So-and-So is the best missionary in the Book of Mormon and this is why. . ." It was pretty funny but afterwards, Sister Paddock came up to me and said, "That was awesome. Home Run." So I'm grateful for the help of the Lord with that!
Also May, the lady getting baptized this Saturday, has really started to learn how to study the gospel! We gave her last General Conference's Liahona and she read it and loved it! She even took notes on it, like thats that came to her, so we had the great opportunity to explain to her that she was learning by the Spirit and she didnt even know it! Woo! That was the same day though that we had to get up at 2:30 AM to get to the temple cuz we're supposed to attend the 6am session... #Sacrifices haha But it was good though! Just more than just a little bit exhausting.
We had lots of new investigators and less-actives just kinda come out of the wood work and thats really exciting to see! I even had a few experiences this week where I felt that I was following spiritual promptings from the Spirit and it was cool! Thats definitely one of the hardest but most exciting things for me.
We had an awesome lesson with the family that gave me the papaya. We taught the Restoration and after we taught it we asked them what they thought/what they were feeling. And the mom was like, "I felt it is true. It was like I was there and I saw what Joseph Smith saw." Let me tell you, I don't know if there's a sound sweeter than that. Like I think I told you guys last week. When you have someone you're teaching say that what you're teaching is true that they've been touched by the Spirit. Its such an incredible feeling! Its so awesome!
In other news, if you notice the beautiful sunset pictures we took. Yeah.. we saw the awesome sunset so we just started heading towards the water. Apparently we wandered onto some private property cuz a guard there, shortly after we had taken the pictures, came up to us and told us we weren't supposed to be there! Oops! haha But I talked to him and apologized.. haha As we were walking away Elder Handy was like "well Elder what's that make you 9 for 9?" Referencing my track record in the office.. haha
In sad news, Elder Osumo has less days left than I have months! Aw.. =( Hence the slightly awkward picture we took.. haha
Oh and for all you guys going a little too fast please see picture 610, follow its counsel, and slow down. I'm just looking out for your safety. haha Well I'm out!
Cya! Love ya!
Elder Michael Gadberry
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