Have You Seen My Man Card???

Man card revoked...

First and foremost, I'll be the first to admit that my man card may be temporarily lost, because I use an umbrella to block my face from the sun. Here on Mindoro, it has reached 42.2 degrees Celsius (if you don't speak celsius, 42.2=hot in Fahrenheit)!So hot! The senior couple on Mindoro is always telling us about heat stroke and how to avoid it. They told us that we should be drinking about 6 liters of water a day--which is kinda a lot to carry around--so right now I'm sticking with my 500ml gatorade bottle I bring, and then buying a lot of water as we go.   

A couple incidents that happened with the wildlife here:

1. Elder Wolferts is just trying to do his laundry, but this stray cat just wanders over to me and keeps rubbing it's body on my leg. I was like, "yo cat chill!" (direct quote). But this cat had no chill. Kept rubbing it's body over me, and I'm allergic to cats, so I started taking action. I starting scooting the cat with my leg, but this cat was like a magnet to my legs haha. I started using a little force, but the cat started like hissing at me and I was scared that it was gonna scratch me and give me like some disease... So, I tried running and juking out the cat, but my moves were no match for it's magnetic abilities. This faithful cat left me no choice...I led it over to the house, and started spraying it. Low and behold, the cat ran, but still tried coming back to me! I kept spraying the cat, until finally it took a hint that I didn't like it and ran away. Elder Wolferts 1, Stray Cat 0.

Eewww

2. Elder Rabanal was sweeping, when all of the sudden he noticed this huge spider. This isn't my first rodeo with giant spiders, but it still freaks me out a little. It was pretty close to a window, so we attempted to exercise Christ-like love and lead him out of the house into freedom. However, his spirit was not listening to the promptings from us, and he decided to chase me, which ended with me repeatedly smashing it with a broom. I think we can all spiritually apply this story to our lives, but I will let your imagination run free for that one.

Elder Rabanal!! Such a happy guy!

So we have a baptism on May 11! It's a couple and they are super cool! There's no divorce here, in the Philippines; so for people that have a new living partner, they are technically not obeying the Law of Chastity, but the Church allows people to be baptized if they have lived together for more than 5 years, promise to be faithful to one another, and then they also have to be interviewed by the mission president. The mission president isn't going to be able to make it out to the island of Mindoro for awhile, so he said he would call me over the phone, and then on speaker phone we would do the interview. I had the neat opportunity to act as translator for the interview, and it was very spiritual and they both passed! So excited for them! They are so strong in the church and have such powerful testimonies!! 

LOVE YOU ALL!

The smoke you see is little people that live up in the mountains!!

New Comp!

So first of all my toe is doing super good! I got it fixed up and recovered for a couple days in San Pablo, and then said goodbye to Elder Richeson and met my new comp, Elder Rabanal, before returning to Mindoro. My new comp is awesome! He's Filipino, 22, weighs 95 lbs, and stands at an intimidating 4'11". He is seriously the nicest guy tho! Like he always is checking in on me. Sometimes I'm like "yah I'm still doing good, it's only been 20 minutes since you asked me..." haha he's a great guy and has a great spirit!

One cool experience that happened this week: Elder Rabanal and I were out working and we had planned to teach this family by showing them the restoration video and then explaining The Book of Mormon to them. I was so excited for what I thought was going to be a very powerful lesson. Our bags were heavy as we made the long walk in the heat, only to find that the family wasn't home. I was pretty sad...not going to lie. Later that day we had a dinner appointment and we were planning on doing a simple BOM share with her, but we had the inspiration to watch the restoration video with her instead. While we were watching the video, a man immediately walked in and watched it with us. I thought he was a member or something, but after the video was finished, we found out he actually wasn't, but that he was related to the person whose home we were having the dinner appointment at. This man then shared with us that as we was watching the video, he was feeling something amazing that he had never felt before. He said it was so clear, and he understood and believed Joseph's story. He admitted that he had rejected the missionaries for so long. He then told us that he had a great desire to feel the "feeling" again and asked where he could find the video. We wrote down the Church's website for him. He doesn't live around the area yet, but next week he is getting married and then he will be permanently living in the area. After his marriage he wants us to teach him and his wife!! We are so excited to meet his wife and share a message with them both next time! I love using the restoration video in my teaching. Such a powerful video!

Church is true. I feel it's truthfulness everyday.

Ingrown no more!

day late, conference was great...

April 16, 2019

It's pretty crazy how clever I am with my titles, I just really love to keep my readers hooked and engaged. 

First of all, funny story as to why I'm a day late emailing. So I've actually been rocking an ingrown toenail since December. My toe has been in a pattern where it gets really bad, and then I work on it and perform my own "surgery", by cutting into the nail and trying to yank the ingrown part of the toenail out, followed by soaking my toe in epsom salts, and applying hydrogen peroxide. Each time I do this process, my toe will be really good for a couple of weeks, only to get swollen and painful to walk on it again. My "I can do it" attitude has led me to try this pattern again and again; however, always with the same results. In talking with the mission president's wife, I finally decided to call it and get some medical help. On Sunday, Sister Davies called me and told me that we would be leaving for San Pablo city, Monday morning, and that we would be traveling with the senior couple because they were going to Manila. Then she asked if she could talk to my comp, Elder Richeson. I gave him the phone and walked away to do something, and then I heard him say loudly, "PACK TODAY?!?!" Turns out, Sister Davies broke the news to Elder Richeson that he would be transferring! Sad! So, on Thursday, I will be getting my 5th companion in six cycles! I'm sad to say goodbye to Elder Richeson! He still doesn't know where he's going, and we both don't know who our next comps are going to be (we find out later today) So Elder Richeson quickly packed, said a couple goodbyes on Sunday night, and then we left the next morning with the senior couples. For lunch they treated us to this place that was an expensive, American style restaurant in the city and it had really good ribs and mac n cheese... so that was a tender mercy.

 

Then we arrived in the mission home to talk to Sister Davies, but guess who was there??? Elder Villalobos haha! He is now finished with his mission and he had just arrived at the mission home! It was fun to catch up on stuff! Turns out, they had 11 baptisms in my last area--which I was a little sad to have missed them--but, one thing I've learned, here in the mission, is that it doesn't matter who baptizes them, just as long as they are baptized and remain active. 

Conference was so great! Spirit was so strong! So many messages that I loved about the temple, about the home, about repentance, and, of course, about the Savior. I loved Sister Craven's talk when she said "we can't be perfect, but we can be worthy..." such a good reminder to us that even if we don't feel like we are doing as well as we should be; as long as we stay worthy, and follow our temple covenants, everything will be okay!

Recently, we were blessed to have a baptism with brother Jommel! He's awesome and his sister leaves on her mission next Thursday! It was super emotional and powerful as she bore her testimony to him before he was baptized, and then as he bore his testimony after he was baptized! Good times!

HAVE A GREAT WEEK

The Book of Mormon

April 8, 2019

I'm going to start off with a funny story, but the majority of this email is going to be spiritual, so get ready!

So first off, shout out to Elder Richeson -- it was his b-day last week and he's a great guy. We had a dinner appointment with a YSA and her family the night before his birthday, and while in the process of eating some good food, the YSA's super drunk older brother walked in the room. He started making some comments that were super random and funny, but I wasn't really paying attention to him, because at that moment, I was pretty hungry. Then I heard him rambling something unintelligible about his little sister, but I was still pretty focused on my dinner... When, all the sudden, my man pulls out a pocket knife! Luckily, he was too drunk to know how to open the pocket knife. He starts yelling at us that he doesn't want us to take away his little sister from him (he's not a member) and told us to stop talking to her. We calmed him down and he apologized to us, and explained that he just loved his little sister so much. He proceeded to give her 7 or so hugs, and would not let go. Finally he left, and the other YSAs that were eating there were like, "We almost died!!", but Elder Richeson and I just laughed it off. There was never any point that either of us feel unsafe. The house of the girl that fed us, is so far away in a random spot, however, we really appreciated it on the walk back. It was night and there were SOO many stars, as well as thousands of fireflies in the trees! It was a beautiful sight and so cool to experience it!

Okay now you can put on your spiritual goggles.

So last night, I finished The Book of Mormon for the second time in the mission field! Holy cow, how I've come to love and need this book in my life! Upon completion, I first reflected over verse 3 where Moroni exhorts us to ponder "how merciful the Lord hath been unto the children of men, from the creation of Adam even down until the time that ye shall receive these things..."  Before I started my prayer, I thought about all the many miracles and the Lord's gracious hand in the lives of the people of The Book of Mormon, and also, all of the many miracles I've experienced in my own life. As I took Moroni's infamous promise, I prayed and then I pondered about the Book of Mormon. No crazy revelatory manifestation of truth hit me this time, but I just felt good. I thought about how I feel after I read it each time, and how important it is to my happiness. I can honestly say that I know the Book of Mormon is true. I know that more times than not, God answers our prayers through acts of faith. I also know that The Book of Mormon testifies of Jesus Christ, and I have come to realize who my Savior is, more through the Book of Mormon, than any other way. I know that Heavenly Father loves every single one of us. If you feel like you aren't feeling that love, then the advice I give to you is to read The Book of Mormon, and I can promise you, through personal experience, that you will feel his love. I absolutely love when the apostle Paul declares, "For I am not ashamed of the gospel, because it is the power of God that brings salvation to everyone who believes..." I feel it is appropriate for me to add my own testimony to Paul's powerful words: "For I am not ashamed of the [Book of Mormon, which contains the fullness of the] gospel, because it is the power of God that brings salvation to everyone who believes..."

Also April 6 was the 189th anniversary of the restoration of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. I know Joseph Smith was a true prophet of God. I have knelt where he knelt, in the Sacred Grove, and have felt a small portion of the feeling he must of felt in the presence of Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ. I also know that he was a true prophet because The Book of Mormon has provided me with absolutely, convincing evidence of his sacred calling. I am so grateful for the conversion I have felt through my missionary experience and I'm excited to continue to grow in spirit, while continually reading The Book of Mormon.

Please please watch this video of Elder Holland testifying about The Book of Mormon! The spirit is always so strong when I watch it!!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2_M8asSSGvw

Love you all, but more importantly, Heavenly Father loves you! 

-Elder Wolferts

Here are some scenery pics!

Seven months!!!

April 1, 2019

April fools... it's EIGHT months.

This week felt like it went by so fast!

On Tuesday we had exchanges, and I was with Elder Checketts. This was my second time having exchanges with him because in my first area he was my zone leader, and my companion was district leader. It's pretty crazy that Elder Checketts and I ended up in the same district on the other side of the mission. Our exchanges involved a lot of walking and not a whole lot of teaching, which is too bad. We were going to an area where he hadn't been for awhile and we just tried to find less actives. We walked so much, but Elder Checketts is so funny and we have a lot in common so I didn't mind it. 

Also, he found this small shop that, for some reason, has betty crocker cake mix so we made the best microwave cake possible!

On Saturday we had a branch activity at a "resort". When they say resort, it actually just means that there's a swimming pool. Elder Richeson and I just chilled, talked to some members and participated in the activities that we could. The members definitely loved tempting us to go swimming. They would jokingly say, "Elders jump in, it's not swimming, it's bathing". The pool actually looked pretty nice and this was probably the first time I actually missed swimming a lot. 

Also funny story... on Sunday, all these YSAs always want to work with us, which seems like it would be a good thing, but they usually just talk to each other in the lessons, and we often find that they hurt the work instead of help it. Also, there should only be a couple of people working, but there were too many people, even to split up into groups.

 

This particular day, they showed up to our house, as we were doing companionship study, and when we saw them approaching our apartment, Elder Richeson ran to hide, and told me to follow. We then hid while they were knocking on the windows and trying to look inside to see where we were. We ended up sneaking out the back door, because we had a busy day and didn't want them to come with us. It was super funny that we snuck out of the apartment to do missionary work! We ended up having a really good day of work, and I think we found this family that has a whole lot of potential. 

The YSAs weren't super happy, but I think we made the right choice haha.

I hope you all have a great week! I'm super excited for General Conference, and I hope you are too! 

Thanks for your support!!