how many Americans does it take to fill a font?

March 25, 2019

The answer is two. But we were struggling...

Just waiting to ride a trike.

So the story is that on Saturday we had a baptism scheduled for 3pm. We also had interviews with our mission president at 9am that morning, which was about an hour away. Elder Richeson said it takes like three hours to fill up a font so we managed to be at the church by noon to start the process. The faucet to fill the font doesn't work so we had to fill it up using a hose through the window...This was one weak hose. After about an hour and a half of this hose doing a not so great job at contributing to the upcoming sacred ordinance, reality sets in that the font is only a foot deep. At this point, my comp and I panic and start filling up buckets and pouring them by hand into the font. After about 45 minutes of this we realize that we are still lacking and far from having enough water in the font. At this point, we had the idea to take a huge trashcan, remove the trashbag, clean it out, and then fill it up with water at a far away water source outside. After it was filled, our process was to carry this huge heavy can of water to the font, dump, and then repeat! We did this repeatedly for an hour or so, until people started showing up, and wow my back and arms were hurting!

The font was still low, but the branch president said that it should be good enough. The font was also pretty dirty looking because that's just how the unfiltered water is here... Elder Richeson did the baptizing. The first baptism, in the shallow water, for Jasmine went really well, but her older brother, Joshua is actually, way tall for a Filipino so it wasn't as smooth. He didn't quite go under completely, the first time, and had to redo it. The second time was good, but in making sure he was submerged, Joshua hit his head on the floor... Besides that it went well! At the end of the service we were so tired and hot (no Air Con, count your many blessings, for those in the States), I told Elder Richeson that I wish there were drinking fountains here. Then it kinda clicked for both of us that we haven't seen ANY drinking fountains in the Philippines. So now we talk about how much we love drinking fountains and they've surprisingly been a hot topic in our conversations, over the past couple days. 

On Wednesday we had zone conference, but it was called mission tour because Elder Wakolo of the area seventy came and spoke to us and gave us a couple workshops. He is originally from Fiji and his scripture knowledge is absolutely insane. He listed off every chapter in the Book of Mormon that has to do with the Atonement of Jesus Christ, in order. Then when people would make comments, in reply, he would always say a memorized scripture that their comment had reminded him of. He probably spit out 100 scriptures and I'm sure he knows so much more. His spirit is so incredible! He talked a lot about "live, learn and love repentance" and that this is something that everyone needs to use more in their lives. There is always something you need to repent for at night, even if it isn't super severe. He also shared his conversion story and how it took 24 missionaries to convert him. He shared with us that he still repents every day for his old ways. He carries a Book of Mormon in his hand, everywhere he goes. He is such an inspiring servant of God! 

Saw all my favorite tall people at zone con! From left to right it's Elder Petty (in my batch) Elder Linton (my mtc companion) Me (not tall) Elder Checketts (my district leader)
Elder Richeson (my current companion)

Miss and love you all! 

BIG PLAYS NO DELAYS

March 18, 2019

One day, for some reason, I said "big plays no delays", and now I can't stop saying it haha! So this has kind of become Elder Richeson's and my motto. Whenever one of us or both of us is feeling lazy; or we just got rejected; or we're tired... we just say to each other, "big plays no delays" and we dive into the greatest work on Earth #missionarywork! 

I have been loving the work here in Baco and Elder Richeson and I couldn't be getting along any better! We work super hard and have a lot of fun doing it! I was a little worried at first, knowing that I would be senior companion to another American, realizing that we would probably struggle a lot with communicating with the people, but honestly, we have been doing really well! Of course there are still words we hear that we don't know, but we are doing really well at communicating with the people and explaining the gospel to them. Elder Richeson is super funny and we have a whole lot in common. It feels like I'm talking to one of my best friends. I miss rooming with Elder Grant, but it hasn't been too much of a change with Elder Richeson. 

Here on the island of Mindoro, the sun likes to keep it HOT!! Back on Lopez, I never got sunburned. I was always super confused about this. I talked to some elders that had been out for awhile who they said they had never gotten sunburned during their whole mission, and they didn't wear sun screen either. As I was packing my stuff to be transferred, I realized that thanks to my super kind and thoughtful mom, I had everything I would need for the mission, and much, much, MUCH more. Seeing that I had pretty much the farthest transfer of anyone in the whole mission, and there would be a lot of walking with my heavy bags, I made the executive decision to be super nice to the two Filipinos I lived with back in my last area. I gave them a lot of stuff, including a huge bottle of sunscreen that I had not yet used. Needless to say, it's hot here and the sun is very intense. Earlier today (the reason I wasn't able to talk to any of you today), we did service for the branch president and painted gates for 4 hours! We worked a lot longer than we expected, but he made us lunch so that was good. Elder Richeson and I both came back with some seriously burned necks! I am now regretting my decision to transfer sans sunscreen...

Funny/super sad story that happened: Wednesday, after district council, I had permission to by a webcam so I could call home and actually have it be a good quality conversation. I bought this pretty nice web cam. Afterward, we had some McDonald's, which is a rare occasion for us. We were laughing and having a great day, when the unfortunate happened. We took a trike from McD to the jeepney terminal, because our area is like 45 minutes away from where we meet for district council, and I sat on the side of the trike, while Elder Richeson was inside. But, I decided to set the bag INSIDE by Elder Richeson, to make sure it wouldn't fall out of my hands. When we got out, Elder Richeson started talking to me and for a moment we were engrossed in conversation, when I suddenly cut him off and said, "Do you have the webcam?" His face dropped, he stopped, looked at me and started running back in the direction the trike took off, but it was too late... We only saw the back of the trike for a split second before it turned and drove into the city, mixing into the busy streets with thousands of other trikes, it's only passenger, a 1150 peso webcam... Which really isn't that expensive when you convert it into USD, but it was still super sad in the moment. Elder Richeson felt bad, but as I thought more about it, I really wasn't that sad. I'll just get another one next week. 

Alsoooo on Wednesday, we have something called Mission Tour, which is really zone conference. But this zone conference is a little more special because one of the members of the area presidency here in the Philippines, Elder Wakolo, will be there! I'm super excited! In preparation, he gave us A LOT of assignments. We were assigned to: 

1. Study 2 talks 
2. Study the scriptures, 2 Nephi 31:3, Nephi 11, and 3 Nephi 27 about the doctrine of Christ. 
3. Memorize our favorite scripture about the Atonement of Jesus Christ in the Book of Mormon. 
4. Get a list of 5 partial member families, and the names of all those in the family that aren't members, and make a plan for how we will incorporate these individuals in our teaching, 
5. And finally, bring a list of all unordained male, recent converts, in the last 24 months, that are eligible to hold the priesthood. 

It has been a lot, but I am so thankful for these assignments from a man that is called of God. I have felt the Spirit as Elder Richeson and I have taken his assignments seriously. I know that this is really going to bless our mission. I'm excited for Wednesday! 

Love and miss you all!

-Elder Wolferts

big plays no delays

Goodbye Elder Grant!

March 11, 2019

So I guess I am not able to live with Elder Grant my whole mission or something, so we got split up! Elder Grant actually stayed in his first area and I am the one that left him behind. I got transferred to the place that I wanted to go the most... Mindoro! This is probably the most sought after zone, so I was super excited. We have two islands in our mission; the first is Marinduque and the second is Mindoro. The last 4 people that got transferred from my old area went to Marinduque, so everyone was telling me that was where I would probably end up. I didn't want to go there because it is very rural - most of the apartments don't have running water and there are no stores anywhere to buy good food. So when the assistant to the president called me and told me I would be going to an island, I was certain he meant Marinduque, but then he said "I'm super jealous, you're going to Mindoro!"

I was super excited to hear the news! The area I am serving in is Baco, and my new comp is Elder Richeson. He is so awesome! I've been out 6 weeks more than he has, so I was a little nervous about us being two inexperienced Americans, but it's gone super well. The first night Elder Richeson and I were talking, he told me I looked so familiar to him, but we couldn't figure out any connection. Then like 30 minutes later I saw this picture of him and his friends on his bed, and I realized that his best friend went on a church history tour with me a couple years ago! His friend and I had talked a bunch, while we did the church history tour together, and he was way awesome! So, Elder Richeson and I were freaking out when we both knew this guy. Elder Richeson also knows a lot of my other Vegas friends from the tour too.

MONKEY SQUAD

We've been doing some good work here, and I'm loving the new area! Also, my old zone leader I had during my first 2 cycles, is now my district leader, so that's pretty awesome! He's super funny. He called me for like 20 minutes last night and we caught up on our missions! Even though it is sad to leave Elder Grant, I am super stoked for this new cycle! 

Seven Monthsss

March 4, 2019

Crazy that I've been here seven months! It feels like just last week, I was saying six months! Thursday is transfer day and there's a 98% chance that Elder Grant and I will be separated, but who knows! Speaking of Elder Grant, we had (most likely) our last exchanges! I think this was our sixth one. It was so hot and we walked so far, but I was grateful that I got to walk and talk with one of my best friends! 

Last week, I wrote about teaching in "sign language". A couple of funny things happened this week with Zherwin, the guy who can't hear or talk. First, was that we have district councils on Wednesdays, and Elder Villalobos and I were giving a workshop to our district. I brought some gummy worms to encourage participation and because, of course, they taste good! Zherwin always attends our district councils because Wednesday is the day that he and his mom walk to the church and clean it. He was really loving the gummy worms. I think he ate half the container! I just let him keep eating because I'm pretty sure it's been a long time since he's had gummy worms. The next day we made the long walk to their house. When we got there, Zherwin was at school so we waited for 20 minutes for him to get back. His mom and neighbor kept giving us these delicious exotic fruits that tasted so good! When Zherwin finally got there, he was holding a skateboard! We were all confused as to how he got the skateboard. We tried to interpret his sign language, as he attempted to tell us how he got it. It was so funny! But to this day, we still have no idea how he got it! We were there to teach him, but before we could get to our lesson, he taught us the word of wisdom that we had taught him the previous time. It was so funny, but it was so awesome to see him starting to learn the basic doctrines! 

His baptism is March 23rd, and most likely, I'll miss it! I'm pretty sad about that. But as long as he gets baptized, I'll be happy.

We also had a cool experience where we taught this basketball team of 16 year olds, one of which was a referral. We taught seven of them and had a really good lesson, and then five of them came to church the next day! This past Sunday, we had twelve of the people, we are currently teaching, come to church. That's a new record for me! I'm grateful for the miracles Heavenly Father is performing in the lives of the people in this area, and the opportunity we have to be instruments for him! 

Last week, I  mentioned to my ward that I might be leaving this Thursday. The ward is so nice that we have already had three dinner appointments in a row, and we also have dinner appointments for the remaining three nights before transfer day! The people in this area are amazing and they each have a special place in my heart!

Family Home Evening

Speaking Sign Language???

February 25, 2019

So this week was a good one! Lots of hard work. We were able to achieve all of our goals, which is something that we haven't done for awhile. I was super happy when we doubled the number of investigators, attending sacrament meeting, from four to eight! We also extended two invitations for baptism this week, both for March 23rd. We extended one in Tagalog and the other in... signs and pictures?!?!

So, there's this single mom and her son who live far up on the mountain. The 18 year old son has been unable to speak or hear since birth. They are both super active and they walk like two hours, every Wednesday and Saturday, to clean the church! No one tells them to, but they are just awesome and want to do it! Then, of course on Sunday, they always make the long journey, yet again, to come for church! A couple weeks ago, the mother asked me if her son could be baptized. I talked to my Mission President about it, and he said that if he can understand the basic doctrines and then pass the interview then then we might as well baptize him. So Elder Villalobos and I have started to try to teach him. We learned the alphabet in sign language, and with the help of some people, including my awesome little sister, Sara, we've learned a couple little basic signs regarding the gospel. Our lessons have involved a lot of drawing and pointing at pictures haha! I wish my sister Sara could be with us, because she's super good at sign language! He's super fun to try and communicate with, and I'm sad that I'm most likely going to be transferred and won't be there for his baptism!! 

Thank you all for your prayers! I feel them, I really do! Just know that my prayer list at night is pretty long for a lot of you. Please let me know if there is anyone else who could use some extra prayers!! 

The computer shop I'm at doesn't allow people to send pics. Next week we'll hopefully go to a different one so I can send some!!

LOVE YOU ALL!