MASS MARRIAGE

February 17, 2020

Guys I'm sorry, lately I have been loving procrastinating these grouply emails until I almost have to go. Which means, I have to rush through them and they're pretty short, but maybe someday I'll fix that... 

This week we got to witness the marriage of some of our investigators! Every Valentine's Day, the Mayor does a free mass wedding kind of thing, so we decide to go witness! Turns out there were 186 couples that were getting married, and it was no small event! They had so many speakers and the whole thing seemed super political. Just when we thought they were finally gonna get married, there was an intermission which included a couple of dance numbers and a mini concert? Yah it was interesting, but to be fair, the singer was insanely talented. The whole extravaganza ended up taking 8 hours!!! The senior mission couple were good sports and wanted to tag along, but by the end we were all like, "FINALLY IT'S OVER!"

We have also had some really cool experiences with getting people to church through using the sacrament and focusing it on the Savior. Two investigators made their way to church this week, that had previously been taught by the missionaries for over a year, and still hadn't come to church. Everyone has a place in their heart for Jesus Christ, and when we're reminded of the reason and sacrifice for this sacred ordinance, we feel impressed to make steps to come closer to Christ.

Saturday night I had an impression that I would be asked to give a talk on the spot in sacrament meeting, so I decided to prepare a little something, and sure enough I was asked to speak with no notice. I talked about Joseph Smith and his sacrifices in helping to provide a strong foundation for the restoration of Christ's church, so that it would never be shaken in this dispensation. I invited everyone to remember and act upon President Nelson's challenge, he gave to us, in preparation for this upcoming special General Conference.

Earlier this morning we went on a really cool hike to a little waterfall! We walked through a river pretty much the whole time! No, we did not go swimming. Yes, we did go under the waterfall. :)

MGA BINYAG

February 10, 2020

Another week of no running water :)

This week was a good one! I'm going to play soccer (finally found some people who actually know how to play) in 15 min so I'll make this quick!

Highlights:

1. Had 2 great baptisms that I've really seen progress in the gospel. The mom has a severe knee injury so when she walks to church it takes her about an hour and a half, but that doesn't stop her! 

2. For a weekly activity, we went to a zoo and there was a super cool hanging bridge!

3. I love fruit. It's a fact. I eat so much everyday.

4. Washing dishes with no running water is kinda hard.

5. Found out if you say double quarter at McDonalds they'll give you a half pounder. 

6. We did a service project where we cut down a bunch of fallen down trees into small pieces. I got SO BURNED. 

7 Comp and I started running long distance. Wake up at 6 and run for like 40 minutes

We're also putting in a lot of work in the area, and last week had a lot of people come to church for the first time! This area was not looking too hot a couple weeks ago, but it's picking up!!

Pics: 

Baptism!

Tamaraw - rare species of water buffalo. They're almost extinct and you can only find them in Mindoro.

Me with the tamaraw!

Someone in the district brought an American flag to our district activity and he took my pics with it. He was joking that I was Filipino and just got called to Kaysville, Utah and I leave July 1st.

got water? cuz we don't...

February  3, 2020

Not a whole lot of updates this week. We haven't had water for five days now, so that's fun. Not as bad as it seems because we have a water pump thing in the back, so we just haul buckets of water for us to use, but washing dishes and doing laundry isn't too fun...

Church, this past Sunday, was the first time that we have had power for sacrament meeting. I found out you can actually feel the spirit stronger when you hear the speakers haha. Testimony meeting was pretty powerful, as members spoke about how some of them overcame trials during and after all the recent calamities (2 super typhoons hit this area in the last couple months). A less active came to church for the first time in a couple years. She has faced a crazy amount of challenges with her house getting beaten up from the typhoon, and then her cousin died a couple weeks ago. She recounted what had happened by sharing that after the storm hit, workers were trying to fix some of the power issues, so they cut everyone's power and told them it would be back on January 25th. Her 15-year-old cousin was swinging from the power chords on the 21st, when all of the sudden they fixed the power and it came on early. The substantial voltage killed him on the spot. Super sad! We taught her again this morning and talked about temples and Heavenly Father's plan for His children. Spirit was strong and I know she felt God's love for her and that the spirit was telling her that she'll see her cousin again. Her dad, who's not a member, joined the lesson and then said he wanted to learn more about our church, as well as baptism! We just happen to have 2 baptisms, coming up on Saturday, that we invited him to, and he said he'd come!

Besides that, same old, same old in the Philippines!! I get to eat so much fruit everyday and we started running every other morning! So that's a huge perk about the island life!

KIDS WILL DO ANYTHING TO DISTRACT THE MISSIONARIES FROM TEACHING...

Super cute kid posing with me and my comp

My First Comp From Utah??

January 27, 2020

Soooooo turns out my comp isn't actually from New Zealand...

Last Wednesday we were walking around,when my comp looked at me and said, "Want to hear something funny?" And then he continued, "I'm not actually from New Zealand, I'm from Utah!" He told me that he was tired of doing the New Zealand accent with me anymore, and there was so many things that he wanted to talk about, but he couldn't because I thought he wasn't from America! This man's not just from Utah, but PROVO, Utah hahaha! Ever since he confessed, we've gotten super close and had way more to talk about. Elder Arakaki is shredded! We've been working out together. We go on runs every other day and do ab workouts together. Let's just say my abs have never been so sore, and every time I cough or sneeze my abs hurt so bad! It hurts so good!

Also, here on the island, we proselyte early in the morning on Monday and then we take a trike to San Jose -- a nearby city -- because our area has no computer shops. After that we have the rest of the day to do our shopping here in the city and then chill at the zone leader's place. Tuesday morning is our district council, and it's also in San Jose, and since there are no trikes that can take us back Monday night, we just sleep over at the zone leader's. It's the same situation with the whole zone, so it has become our routine every Monday: We proselyte in the morning, chill at the zone leader's, play volleyball Monday night -- because no one is awake at night -- and have a mega sleepover haha! 

Spiritual experience of the week:

We taught this lady, Nanay Castro, who has been taught for 4+ months, yet she has never come to church. We decided we'd try teaching a powerful lesson centered on Christ, Saturday night, and if she didn't come to church the next day, we might consider dropping her. We taught a lesson on the sacrament, emphasizing the authority from Jesus Christ and that the priests have to bless the sacrament. We wanted her to understand that Jesus  Christ is the reason behind every speaker and discussion in His church, and especially His sacrament. We promised her that if she came to church, she would feel the spirit. I gave her a kind of bold statement. I challenged her by saying, "Try coming to church and during the sacrament, if you feel the spirit that means that this is the true Church of Jesus Christ. If you don't, then we won't come back." Well, she came to church. However, right when the sacrament started, the power went out! Satan was really trying to make it so she didn't feel the spirit! I was praying most the time for her to feel the spirit, despite the circumstances. I think she had a good experience, but we'll follow up with her tomorrow night! We were also able to have 10 people we are teaching come to church, which is 7 more than last week!

RIP Kobe Bryant! So sad! Found out while I was buying some pastries this morning.

Also don't take running water for granted! Haven't had it for 3 days and I would appreciate it if it came back :)

Filipino kids!

So many dogs here.