So how kicks it everyone??
I figured I'd subject this letter based on a rather hilarious OYM we had the other day. It's actually fairly common but this time we gave that response. Kasi what happens is people see and when we talk to them they're obviously asking what religion we are and so then they look at our nametags and see the name of the church but Jesus Christ is in bigger letters of course so sometimes thats all they catch.. haha But the lady we were talking to laughed and we were able to share with her and her cousin a little bit...
So this past week was wonderful! It was a lot of fun and pretty exciting. It ended in the news that Elder Tenny and I will be separating.. unfortunately.. But its okay I guess. I'mma stay here and get a new companion, a new Zone Leader named Elder Orth from Canada so I'm pretty excited. So lets review what my parents said shall we?
So did someone in your new area find out that it was your birthday?
Nah.. I kept it pretty quiet.. Not too many people found out besides a few of the branch missionaries. But we still kinda celebrated it. Biñan B had a baptism and so after the baptism and our other work for the day we went out to eat and also bought a cake... and ate it. hahaha Quite the celebration! haha But my birthday was really good. We had a really good day of work that day and Binan B's investigator that has been an investigator for over a year now, finally got baptized! So that was really exciting!
So are both you and your companion staying there for a bit? Will you be able to see the baptisms?
Well as stated above, Elder Tenny is goin be transferring... It's sad.. Especially cuz he's going to Makati. He's had a incredibly city mission experience so far.. haha So we decided that if he wasn't transferring to Palawan then he should just stay here.. but nope he's goin be going. But we're projecting at least two baptisms in December and then at least one in January.. so its pretty exciting. We're going to really try to focus on LA Melch Priesthood though cuz we're super close to becoming a stake.
I know I remind you of this every transfer, but you only have four transfers left. Weird huh?
Jerk. hahaha
So this week was great.. I decided that I really wanna learn to play the piano! haha So I decided to start teaching myself before district meeting on Tuesday.. haha Of course based off the wonderful example of my dad, I start with Sweet Hour of Prayer! haha I almost got it down too! I can play both the right hand and the left hand but I can't play right and left hand together... haha So I wish I had listened to my mom when she tried to teach me.. haha But I can't go back so I'll keep trying to learn on my own in my free time! haha
I'd like to take this time now too share an absolutely hilarious story. I literally started crying because I was laughing so hard.. So to paint the picture we have a dinner appointment with our ex-branch president, newly appointed district president (i.e. stake president). So their oldest is about a 6 yr old girl that only speaks english and her english is as if she were on tv, its like a very child-like but formal english. It's just a very funny kind of english and she's very animated when she talks to you. So we get to the appointment and they're still finishing up preparing the food so we sit down and their daughter proceeds to show off her toys to us as children normally do. At some point she grabbed Elder Tenny's nose, a normal Philippine child thing. Elder Tenny goes, "I think Elder Gadberry wants you to grab his nose now." "No don't grab my nose. My nose hurts." Girl - "Elder Gadberry, why does your nose hurt?" "Cuz Elder Tenny hit me." Elder Tenny - "No. Don't listen to him. He's not telling the truth." Girl - "Elder Gadberry! Why are you not telling the truth? Heavenly Father will kill you!" hahahaha Probably the funniest thing ever.. haha We later related the story to her father who jokingly informed us that they're teaching the Mosaic Law to her. haha
So onto cooler things! So like Wednesday for whatever reason was kinda rough.. It was one of those days where you just kinda feel off and you don't know why.. but for how off Wednesday was Thursday was so awesome! Filled with spiritual experiences. And its funny how when you have a powerful spiritual experience you just automatically start noticing the hand of the Lord in your life in lots of other places. And its not cuz the Lord's hand wasn't in your life before, but you just didn't notice it or recognize it. So it started out cool because we're teaching the wife of a less-active member and the wife is doing super good but the brother is struggling, but recently he's slowly but surely been hanging out more around us and talking to us. So the Lord's definitely softening his heart and it rocks! The next lesson was incredible! We had to fix a problem between an RC and a investigator of ours.. so we went to RC to share with them. They were noticeably stressed when we got there, but it was amazing to see how quickly, in this case, the gospel can change the lives of people because by the time that we left we all had a very calm and reflective attitude. It was amazing because as we talked things out. One of the sisters shared with us some concerns she had kept within herself because she didn't want to alarm her sister. She was just concerned about if she was doing things right and if Heavenly Father approved of what she was doing and she was more than anything concerned for her family. It was such a wonderful opportunity to share with them and to testify powerfully of the love of Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ. I absolutely love testifying of their love! I know that they love each and every single one of us more than I know the truthfulness of anything else! Later that evening this lady stopped us as we were walking and asked us what time church was because she's not from here and was wondering. So of course we told her and went on our way. But as we were walking away I was like wait! We were probably just the answer to her prayer or at least a concern of hers. Heavenly Father knows us! He knew that he had a daughter that was in an unfamiliar area and wanted to go to church. So what does He do? He places her right in the path of two missionaries, whom she knows she can ask to know what time church is. #Incredible Also, earlier in that day we ran into Brother Marvin and found out that he had finished the Book of Mormon. For more on Brother Marvin, keep reading.
So about four weeks ago, I was on an exchange with Elder Quintana. We stopped at a tindahan to get some drinks. After drinking we decided to talk to this guy standing text to the tindahan. He didn't seem too interested but we left him a Restoration pamphlet and tried to set a return appointment. He said that he didn't live in the neighborhood and would probably be moving, so he didn't wanna commit to a return appointment. Oh good, right?? So a few days later in the week, we received what we called the text message from heaven. It was a guy named Marvin that had gotten our number and wanted a Book of Mormon. So of course we jumped on that and was at his house in less than an hour. He was surprised at our swiftness. haha So we shared a powerful, but basic message about the gospel and about the Book of Mormon. We then tried to set a return appointment. He declined saying that the people he lived with wouldn't be happy if other missionaries kept coming to his house. However, he assured us that he would read the BoM and he even said he'd go to church. The first week passed and he didn't go to church. The next Sunday we texted him again and invited him to church. This week he actually came! We were so surprised! And that's when the nickname "Mystery Marvin" came because he again refused a return appointment but assured us that he would keep reading the Book of Mormon and would go to church again. The next week came and he wasn't at church. So then on Thursday we ran into him like I said above and he informed us that he had finished the Book of Mormon but he had somewhere to go so we'd just see him on Sunday. So Sunday came and he came to church! And we were able to teach him at the church after church! WOO! This guy is incredible! He's read the whole Book of Mormon already AND understood it! He mentioned to us about Lehi, Nephi, Mosiah, Alma, Samuel, Christ's visit to America and even about the three Nephites! He was like so after Christ was resurrected, apparently he went to America! Which makes sense cuz of John 10:16 about the lost sheep. He even was like there was a prophecy in the Bible about another book that would be like the Bible, I think its in Isaiah... So we're super excited for him. It's pretty crazy.
So yeah this week was super great! And getting sung to is probably one of the most awkward things... It's right up there next to being in an elevator with strangers.. haha But I hope you all have a great week!
Love you!
Elder Michael Gadberry
Pictures
I have a ton of pics this time and I just want to comment on one. I would like to inform the "hungry" children in America to not worry a 3rd world country known as the Philippines will help you. Isn't hunger a normal part of life?? haha
No comments:
Post a Comment