Week 8 of nothing too much happening here

1/12/2020
Well actually not really. There's not too much going on here. 

So I've gotten a lot of fun things that have happened this past week. The first, We went and found a lot of people. A lot of which were actually showing some good potential. We worked in some new areas and went finding a lot more but also decided to take some time to actually teach people regardless of whether they were fitting under the category of what the AP's  taught us here. Although still no one showed up to church this Sunday (then again it's like dumping rain here so rides are hard to come by and people just kinda stay at home the whole day like they won't even go to work and stuff it's kind of funny) but we also found a lot more people that were super interested however didn't show the interest and desire until after we shared with them and actually taught them a lesson over just a simple overview and an invite to church. 

Also had exchanges with elder Tripp which was a lot of fun :) First time I had legit exchanges with someone from my batch! It was super fun to talk with him and see how both of us have progressed since the MTC times and so on. He's an amazing missionary and I was thankful for the time we worked together. (The sun was really bright so I kinda just.... squinted my eyes) Outside of that, we also found some people that were intrigued with what we practiced as commandments and so on in our first visit with him, we taught him about God's commandment of the Word of Wisdom and that of tithing in his church. 

First: Word's of Wisdom to keep us safe from harm and our bodies protected and healthy (and of course I use the additional bonus of this commandment for being super pogi all the time ;) 

Believing in eating meat sparingly and having lots of vegetables and fruits. We also actually decided for one companion goal between me and elder Hunsaker to follow this a bit better and cook vegetables fresh from the market with our rice every day and also eat some form of fruit every day and avoiding soft drinks (which there is a lot of here... a lot...) and so on. 

Also the general things to avoid. In tagalog it actually makes a perfect acronym to describe the 5 "bawals" sa mga salita ng karurungan. SAKIT: Cigarillo, Alak, Kape, Illegal na droga, Tsaa

or cigarettes, alcohol, coffee, illegal drugs, and tea.

and Tithing being the whole 10% of income of members. As well as fasting and fast offerings for giving food and support and help to those in need. 

It's weird teaching such things at first but we quickly tied it into the whole aspect of "Modern Revelation" as God continually talks to us (his children) and to all in a general sense though his prophet Russell M. Nelson which made him understand why such things exist. He told us to come back to teach him, his wife, his kids, and so on. We will see how that goes week :) 

We also hiked an entire mountain to go to a lunch appointment with a member who referred his neighbors and others. And I'm not joking when I say hiked a mountain... it was a 40 minute adventure of a lifetime and a companionship study as we eventually reached the other side where the referral and members live. 

(Yeah the flower is still on my left ear so I don't have all these teenage girls and baklas coming up to me asking me out on dates and such) 

That's all for this week though. I'm excited for exchanges tomorrow with the Zone Leaders though (I get to go to Laoag so I'm excited to see some people I know there and all) and as well as a possibility that we get two "finders" to come and help us in our work here. Elder Wilson (old AP) and Elder Coontz (who is amazing at finding too) will hopefully be able to work with us this upcoming week and help us really find and teach us good strategies to help people not be afraid of two white people. 

T h A t ' s  a l L  F ol Ks