Alriiiight! =D
What's up ya'll I'm just kickin it in the most province area of the mission that isn't in Narra or Coron. . .Ternate, Cavite! It's cool! I'm lovin it like hard core! It's been a crazy awesome week! So my parents finallyyy have some questions for me.. haha
So what's the new area like?
So the new area is Ternate, Cavite! It's pretty legit! It's kinda like Effingham . . . except its in the Philippines, it has palm trees instead of regular trees, rice fields instead of corn fields, doesn't have McDonalds, or Wendys, or Arbys, or Steak and Shake, or B-Dubs or . . . okay maybe its kinda a stretch to compare it to Effingham but yeah. . . hahaha
Size?
Huge! It's awesome! Cuz my last area was tiny..haha Yeah..its pretty big. I don't know how big cuz idk the literal size of it or anything but its pretty huge.
Location?
It's the very end of our mission kinda close to the San Pablo mission I'm pretty sure. We're right there on the coast too next to the ocean I think... Basta there's a huge body of water right next to us so I'm thinkin thats the ocean..haha
Members at church?
Yeah. . . about that.. It was kinda like Coron! haha It was pouringgg on Sunday, and its like pulling teeth to try and get people to go to church in the rain.. So yeah my first Sunday here we didn't have very many people there. They said usually in that weather its like 40 people at church but we didn't even have that I dont think. But the Branch seems cool. Its kinda like a bigger Coron cuz its still pretty small and really lacking in priesthood but full of children...haha Well I can't really judge yet but thats what I've been told.
Scenery?
It's super maganda! It's been raining allllllll week but its soooo green and theres lots of mountains around and rice fields and the ocean is pretty close. Check the pics!
New companion?
The new comp is Elder Handy! He's pretty legit. He's 6'7" so yeah. . . he gets a lot of attention in a country where even I'm considered tall...haha He's from SLC, so tell Jackson, oops..Elder Alvey! to hit up his family.. So yeah.. we're rockin it here in Ternate. It's fun!
Investigators?
Investigators are good! Here in Ternate we found out yesterday that we have 440 members on our CMIS.. and um like 40 came to church.. #Problem. So we actually got to sit down with the Branch President and him and one of his counselors went through our entire CMIS and marked those that were Less-Active and those that had moved away. So we found out that theres a bunch that had moved away on the roles and also a fair amount that had died already that were on the roles..haha So this whole week we focused mostly on LAs and managed to teach a ton of Less-Active lessons.
Back to getting stuff late? Did you ever get the envelope with the Conference Ensign?
Yep. =( haha But the Dietrich's went and visited the Paddocks (the Paddocks are the Senior Couple over my zone the Naic Zone) on Saturday and they brought me that package you sent. THANKS! And they also brought us a ton of goodies like DiGorneo Pizzas, Oreas, Chips, soda, candy....yeah. . .they heart me! hahaha oh and yeah I did get that! Thanks for that too!
Dad said Darsh, Dusty, and Nicole are planning on coming by Thurs evening to visit, any messages for them?
Nice! Umm.. I've heard from Dusty every now and then. Darsh I haven't heard from for forever and its been a while too that I've heard from Nicole.. but that could be because I haven't written her back maybe since her last letter..and probably the same thing for Darsh.. #Oops.
How much longer is the rainy season?
Umm...I'm not sure it ever ends.. haha We're in Typhoon Gener now. The storm last night was crazy! Super high winds, lots and lots of rain, no electricity, and it was just a par-tay let me tell you! haha Did you know that in the Philippines, when they name their storms they start with A and then go B, C, D, etc. #FunFact Is that what they do in the states? Last weeks storm (while I was still in Mandaluyong was Fergie...haha)
So yeah... this week was awesome! I got a call from President Stucki last Saturday afternoon and he was like I know its early but do you think that Elder Grob could handle fully taking over the finances even though it was a couple weeks early. Of course, I assured him of the proficiency of my more than capable prodigy known as Elder Grob..haha He thanked me for the info and said he'd call me again later that day. So later, he called and said that he had been praying and pondering and going up and down the mission roster and he feels that I am the one needed to go to Ternate and become companions with Elder Handy. It was a really great conversation, and I was definitely more than a little surprised because I would be leaving on Monday, two days later.. haha So I was pretty pumped but like determined to rock, what seemed to me to be a special assignment coming from the Lord. Elder Grob on the other hand was more than a little stressed... haha
So Monday we got to Ternate and finished up the preparation day and got immediately to work! It's been such an awesome week of work. I've just barely met all these people but I already love them. I'm so pumped to be working here. I've actually heard kinda a lot about the area because Elder Pugmire, Elder Spencer, and Elder Wong were all assigned here and a few other missionaries that I know but haven't mentioned before in my emails.
I'm definitely lovin my district too! haha Elder Osumo is my DL again so I'm more than pumped to get to be with him again. And Sister Afu from the MTC is in my district too!!! Get pumped!
We had one pretty cool experience this week in our companionship. It was like a huge miracle but it was a small miracle nonetheless. We were planning in our companionship for the lessons we were going to teach that day and we couldn't figure out what to teach the Enriquez family. So we stopped and said a prayer. Then Elder Handy suggested a scripture that we could share and finally we had a scripture that just felt right with the lesson we were preparing. So later that evening we arrived at their house. We shared our lesson that we had prepared and when we shared that scripture it really touched their hearts and they really opened up to us and we were able to discuss some things that were really concerned them. And even since then, they've been more open with us and it's all because the Lord blessed us to know what it was that we needed to share at that time to that family. =D
So yeah. I guess thats enough for this week. A lot of info and at least one pretty cool experience! Hope all is still well with you all! Oh yeah! I got a letter too from the YW in our branch! THANKS! I appreciate it! #MailRocks haha Ingat po kayo!
Love
Elder Michael Gadberry
Pictures
My Exodus of the Office
Ternate!
My Super-Tall Weirdy of a Companion..haha jk he's awesome
Saturday, August 11, 2012
July 22, 2012 E-mail!
Michael's latest complete with a line or two from us and a few lines from Darshan and Tyler. Enjoy...
Hey ya'll!
Hey ya'll!
It's been a wonderful week here! I've loved it! I don't think I have too much time so I'll get right to the deets.
It's Friday night and Tyler Semple and Darsh are here meeting your brother and you aren't.
Aw sad... I miss them! Tell them hi for me! That's legit that Darsh brought you clothes for Bunso! #Darsh4President
Are you going to be in for a shock when you get back out into full time missionary work again?
Of course not! It's not terribly hot here right now it just rains and rains and rains and rains and rains and rains and rains! It's so fun! We got like soaked and a half so much this week. It was great!
P.S. Your mother and father were gracious enough to let me (Tyler (S)) and D-Wizziique (Darshan (S)) take over the key board for a few closing notes. We just destroyed your dad and brothers in ping pong, held Sam (D-Wizz got to feed him), and we are now putting him and your parents to bed. So.... we hope things continue to go well over yonder and we anticipate your return! Have fun and get it!!!
Aww thanks guys! hahaha Heart you too! I didn't know Darsh was such a talented guy when it comes to babies... Hear that ladies?? Such a kind, caring, strong, manly man... And he's single! Well I think so.. I'm not too sure..
So this week was pretty awesome! One of the things that I started doing this week thats been really really cool is every evening after we get home and plan and all that jazz, I kinda ponder my day. I review the goods and the bads and the shouldas and the couldas and all that, and then I pick out three events during the day in which I saw the hand of the Lord working in my life. It's really cool! It's really helped me better realize how intertwined the Lord actually is in our lives, not just as missionaries but I would encourage all people to try doing something like this. It's helped me more grateful, more full of faith, and better able to recognize the Lord's hand in my life. Sometimes its real easy and other times its hard, but its a cool thing to try! Give it a shot!
So Monday was pretty awesome! I hearted it! That guy that came into the office last week that couldnt talk or hear, he came back on Monday and Elder Baltazar and I got to help him out! It was awesome! That guy's way good and super nice. I hope he's able to continue gettin along. Monday night's work in the area really strengthened my testimony of planning and goal setting. Last week, we set the goal to find at least one new investigator every day. To be a new investigator it has to be someone that we taught a lesson and they have agreed to a return appointment. And we wanted like legit new investigators not just whoever. So we hit the area that night with a couple appointments and that in mind. We didn't really know where to start looking or talking to people so we went down this little road and just stopped cuz they were shooting a TV Show called "Batang Ama" at the end of the street. Some people there just started talking to us like saying hey they're shooting down there you can't go through. So we just stopped and started talking to them. And from that we found two new investigators! And the star of the show, JM DeGuzman , even walked by and shook my hand..hahaha So we were more than pumped after that, so we continued. And we had planned to just stop by Mark, one of our LAs. And it was perfect! It was the one day of the week where his wife was there so we got to teach those two together and we got another new investigator! Mark was more than pumped that we were able to share with his wife. He said if his wife got baptized that would be like the greatest thing for him. And then we went home and partied. haha just kidding but it was an incredible night!
Tuesday we had a pretty awesome experience too! We got to teach one of our investigators, Jaycee! We taught him about the priesthood, and the restoration. Then we gave him a baptismal date! He asked us great questions I remember, like how do you know if someone actually has the priesthood? And why's important to have it? So we're pumped for him. He accepted the invitation on the grounds that when he prays he feels that what we're teaching him is true.
Wednesday was pretty interesting and legit too! In our area that night we only had a couple of appointments. The first one was at the Gozon's and we were able to share a good message with them. We were hoping to get to visit with Brother Gozon, too, but he was busy and not in a very good mood..haha But it was okay cuz we were able to do what we needed to do. Cuz at the end of the lesson we asked Sister if there was anything that we could do to help her and she asked if we could give her a blessing and we of course obliged. It was a cool lesson cuz it was one of those lessons that when we first got there she was kinda quiet and visibly weighed down, but by the time we left she was happy and joking and her mood completely changed. I love those lessons! Isn't the gospel and the Spirit great?? Later that evening we visited our old ladies and it was great! Except the one we were hoping to be there wasn't there! She had gone to bed already.. =( But the cool thing was, when we were kinda getting ready to wrap up. She came down the stairs! She was like, "Alam nyo? Bumaba lang ako kasi gusto ko ng blessing." or in english...She came down cuz she heard us and wanted a blessing. So blessing round two! Pretty cool! And then we headed home!
Thursday was rain day round one! We didn't have any umbrellas. So what did I do? I found the biggest leaf I could and covered my head with it! THE WORK MUST GO ON! hahaha We were getting soakeddd. One time Elder Pugmire was like, watch this. Then he went and called this little kid over and shared his umbrella with him. It was pretty hilarious.. haha But that doesn't even compare to Friday
Friday, was interesting at first cuz we were going to wake up early but I didn't hear my alarm go off. But luckily my phone rang right at 6:31am so that acted as the alarm..haha The Lord's helpin me out! I woke up and woke up the other two and gave the phone to Elder Grob cuz I didn't wanna deal with problems at 6:30 in the morning..haha The day went pretty good and the night in the area was FUN! We were working and happened to stop by Burger Machine to talk to Ronald. And then it started POURRRRRRRINGGGGGGGGGGG like seriously, pouring talaga. We took cover there and watched the roads turn into rivers, like seriously, a river. hahaha Like seriously. Eventually we were like welp..we gotta go I guess.. So our buddy Ronald offered us trash bags! Cuz again....we didn't have umbrellas..haha So we got prepped. Took off our socks, rolled up our pants, cut head holes in our trash bags and went trompin down the knee high, super nasty water, in the streets of Mandaluyong.. It was probably one of the funnest things ever! People always looked at us and I was givin out shouts of joy and just lovin it!
Then today..we were asked to go give the sisters in our district a blessing cuz she was pretty sick. And guess what! All their roads were flooded too! Gotta love floods! I think the water is like super nasty but its fun.. =D
Well I'mma get rollin! I'll talk to you all later! Have an awesome week!
Love
Elder Michael Gadberry
July 15, 2012 E-mail
Family, Friends, and esteemed guests of honor,
How goes it? Good! =D
So, what's the deal with your new companion/replacement? How's it going?
It's goin good! His name's Elder Grob from Winona, Kansas. Ever heard of it? Yeah me neither..haha It's a town even smaller than Effingham! Or like even Stew-Stras for that matter! They've got a population "daw" of 250. Pretty crazy. But he's great! We get along way well. Reppin the Em-Dub! Points to those who can decipher Em-Dub. We spent like our entire first couple weeks talkin baseball and basketball. Just to let you know Huey, you're not the only Royals fan on the face of the earth...haha But yeah he had to get surgery done on his knee cuz it was causing him a bunch of problems (hence the pics last week). But now he's doin good. He's pickin up finances way fast and our area's pickin up too! Just doin our thang out here in the Philippines.
Has the other member family that you found come to church?
I'm not too sure which one you're referencing, but I think you might be talking about the Domingo family that we just recently found out that they are in our area. But yeah, they go to church I'm pretty sure every week cuz I remember seeing them there we just didn't know that they were in our area. That family is way cool! I can't remember if I told you about them the other time or not, but they're so strong and have awesome testimonies. The mother of the family has parents that are super against her being a member of the church, so they are like telling all her kids this anti-mormon garbage and it's really hurting her and working in one case that has her heart broken.. But at one point her father "daw" held up a knife to her and was like you're quitting that church now or else. She said that she had her mind made up, she could die right then but at least she's dying for what's right. #PrettyCrazy
How are things going with Ditz? The experiences with the first lesson and with praying sounded super cool! You never told us what he told you about praying when you went on Thurs. (a couple of weeks ago). urgh! #lefthangingsucks (look I'm #hashtag cool like you!)
Yes, mom. You're way cool. #MyMomIsCool. haha I know I never told! There hasn't been a second visit yet! UGHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH! Like seriously. ugh. He still has been in contact with us fairly frequently but that's usually to say "Elders! Can you come over tomorrow around six?? I'm excited to learn more!" and then tomorrow comes and he texts again, "I'm super sorry elders! This and this came up and we're going to have to reset our appointment." UGHHHHHH! So yeah... #Frustration. But he's still awesome! And I'm pumped to go back . . . sometime. haha =D
Any guesses as to where you will be going when you transfer out of the office???
Coron. =D hahaha Nah, I haven't heard anything. I don't really care. If I could pick I'd def pick Coron, but I'll go where ever. I'm kinda nervous about going back to the field cuz it's like I'm a regular missionary again and I don't know how well I'll do.. Cuz our area in the office has struggled.. It's super tough. So I'm like uhh..what happens with this happens again in my next area? But I've definitely learned to appreciate success more cuz some of the frustrating days here. And frustrating days still aren't even that bad...just not that great. =)
Remember when you were brand new in the position and had no idea how you were going to get all of this stuff figured out?
Oh yeah I do! That seems super not long ago.. But at the same time I've been here for over 7 months now! Crazy! In some ways I'm ready to turn the reigns over to someone else...haha Elder Grob is like yeah...I'm going to be calling you everyday once you leave to figure out how I'm But all the people in our area...I'm def goin miss them! But I've still got like 3 weeks left! So I'm pumped for those three weeks. #FinishStrong.
Well I'm sorry....I don't have too much time this week! Hope you guys have a great week! I'll put some pics on here though for you.
Love you!
Elder Michael Gadberry
Pictures
Pugmire rockin the seat from the van..haha
Pretty legit jeepney in our area
Cool Mango jam jar!
Long story - We have companionship socks...haha And we like green jello in green shirts. That's how we roll.
Grob chillin
Elder Pugmire takin notes from somethin or other.
The temple!
That's probably the shortest I've ever had my hair... I don't know how I feel about it yet but I wanted to give it a shot.. We'll see!
How goes it? Good! =D
So, what's the deal with your new companion/replacement? How's it going?
It's goin good! His name's Elder Grob from Winona, Kansas. Ever heard of it? Yeah me neither..haha It's a town even smaller than Effingham! Or like even Stew-Stras for that matter! They've got a population "daw" of 250. Pretty crazy. But he's great! We get along way well. Reppin the Em-Dub! Points to those who can decipher Em-Dub. We spent like our entire first couple weeks talkin baseball and basketball. Just to let you know Huey, you're not the only Royals fan on the face of the earth...haha But yeah he had to get surgery done on his knee cuz it was causing him a bunch of problems (hence the pics last week). But now he's doin good. He's pickin up finances way fast and our area's pickin up too! Just doin our thang out here in the Philippines.
Has the other member family that you found come to church?
I'm not too sure which one you're referencing, but I think you might be talking about the Domingo family that we just recently found out that they are in our area. But yeah, they go to church I'm pretty sure every week cuz I remember seeing them there we just didn't know that they were in our area. That family is way cool! I can't remember if I told you about them the other time or not, but they're so strong and have awesome testimonies. The mother of the family has parents that are super against her being a member of the church, so they are like telling all her kids this anti-mormon garbage and it's really hurting her and working in one case that has her heart broken.. But at one point her father "daw" held up a knife to her and was like you're quitting that church now or else. She said that she had her mind made up, she could die right then but at least she's dying for what's right. #PrettyCrazy
How are things going with Ditz? The experiences with the first lesson and with praying sounded super cool! You never told us what he told you about praying when you went on Thurs. (a couple of weeks ago). urgh! #lefthangingsucks (look I'm #hashtag cool like you!)
Yes, mom. You're way cool. #MyMomIsCool. haha I know I never told! There hasn't been a second visit yet! UGHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH! Like seriously. ugh. He still has been in contact with us fairly frequently but that's usually to say "Elders! Can you come over tomorrow around six?? I'm excited to learn more!" and then tomorrow comes and he texts again, "I'm super sorry elders! This and this came up and we're going to have to reset our appointment." UGHHHHHH! So yeah... #Frustration. But he's still awesome! And I'm pumped to go back . . . sometime. haha =D
Any guesses as to where you will be going when you transfer out of the office???
Coron. =D hahaha Nah, I haven't heard anything. I don't really care. If I could pick I'd def pick Coron, but I'll go where ever. I'm kinda nervous about going back to the field cuz it's like I'm a regular missionary again and I don't know how well I'll do.. Cuz our area in the office has struggled.. It's super tough. So I'm like uhh..what happens with this happens again in my next area? But I've definitely learned to appreciate success more cuz some of the frustrating days here. And frustrating days still aren't even that bad...just not that great. =)
Remember when you were brand new in the position and had no idea how you were going to get all of this stuff figured out?
Oh yeah I do! That seems super not long ago.. But at the same time I've been here for over 7 months now! Crazy! In some ways I'm ready to turn the reigns over to someone else...haha Elder Grob is like yeah...I'm going to be calling you everyday once you leave to figure out how I'm But all the people in our area...I'm def goin miss them! But I've still got like 3 weeks left! So I'm pumped for those three weeks. #FinishStrong.
Well I'm sorry....I don't have too much time this week! Hope you guys have a great week! I'll put some pics on here though for you.
Love you!
Elder Michael Gadberry
Pictures
Pugmire rockin the seat from the van..haha
Pretty legit jeepney in our area
Cool Mango jam jar!
Long story - We have companionship socks...haha And we like green jello in green shirts. That's how we roll.
Grob chillin
Elder Pugmire takin notes from somethin or other.
The temple!
That's probably the shortest I've ever had my hair... I don't know how I feel about it yet but I wanted to give it a shot.. We'll see!
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
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