A New Companion

We had rain this morning which was nice. It has been really hot in the afternoons but it gets cold at night and i am waking up every morning blowing my brains out! and then i will sneeze for like 10 minutes.... so i do not know what the deal is... it is only in the morning..

Well my new companion [Elder Tandas] is a very good companion. He is very nice and a very good teacher. He talks to people very nicely which helps with new people letting us teach. We have a lot of new investigators that i like to call TIME EATERS they just eat up our time which is good and bad... because they end up asking way too many questions that just end up distracting the lesson and trying to get them back on track. All of their questions are great, our lessons will give them the direction they are looking for but we continually have to explain to them that we will answer their questions another time because it is part of another lesson we would like to share in a later visit. (Insurance that we have a return appointment). Well we are working in two different sides of our area every other day and then in the mornings we go to another area and work. Sometimes in one of our areas we end up walking for about 40 minutes to our last appointments because there are no more jeepneys. some times we catch a tricycle which is normally when we are about half way to the last area. Well sadly we did not have the success that we should have had with investigators coming to Church because of situations that had occurred. 2 of our investigators who committed to come to church, even if they were going to come by themselves, ended up having something happen with their dad, which didnt allow them to return later that night to come to church the next day. 1 of our other investigators, his fellowshipper (who was going to come the morning of and take him to Church), got Shingles. He is in pain and didnt believe me when i told him he has shingles. 2 other investigators promised to come next week because they plan to have people over for her birthday on [this] sunday so they did not come of course. We did have one investigator who is 11 years old that is a part member family who did not get baptized because she is too shy to answer questions and did not answer any of the baptism questions when she was interviewed. She has started to answer simple questions that i ask now which is good. So hopefully when the time comes she will be ready for her baptism. So that is about what is going on in the work around here. we have a lot of new people and some that we havent been able to revisit because of loss of time at appointments or they just have not been at their house. So we are just going to try and get down to business with these people and teach them.

Pogs!

yeah, we dont talk about any of the disasters cause we are so far inland its not a big concern.

We heard about the big moon but it was going to be at 1 in the morning. although i woke up, i did not want to go out side... But [do] you remember that one night we were at payless and came outside and the MOON was Huge but when we got back home it had become small. If you can find pictures that were taken on the internet i would like to see them.

Anyways... when brother garcia left, the couple missionaries took him back to his home which was far away but i got sent to the area with the zone leaders so just a, "well good bye and good luck" But the night before, we ate well and enjoyed our last night together. he returned this morning to visit the members before he enters the MTC. So i got to see him for a few minutes but because i will not be in kalikid i wont see him later tonight.

Well the zone leader here became the next assistant to the president and so the last AP is working with us. He was my zone leader back in Victoria Tarlac. So it has been fun working with Elder Scott and Elder Landingin but i miss my area and my members and i am excited for my companion to come tomorrow so that i can get back to working with my investigators and what not. My new companion is Elder Tandas he has been out for a [long] time. He replaced me back in Guimba when i left. We did work in my area and we had good success with 3 of my investigators who i hope will come to church! anyways Elder scott is obsessed with Pogs... do you remember pogs? they were those cardboard disc's that i had like 4 tubes of?? well the kids around here play it here all the time. So back when it was cool to have pogs no one new how to play them... WE KNOW NOW! hahaha you can buy pogs anywhere around here and they are 3 for one peso... so we bought like 15 pesos of pogs and play them at night before we would go to sleep. Life in the Philippines is different that is for sure but you always have two choices to make... Hate it and complain all the time or Jump in and just enjoy it all! I will be coming up on 6 months remaining right? I best continue to enjoy life here!!

hey i am getting out of here now! I am done and tired of sitting at the computer and i think Pizza hut is calling me! And people are singing Jim Croce in the Videoke restaurant (videoke is Karaoke) its like the 5th song in a row! hahaha yeah i probably will never play pogs when i get back!! hahaha okay love ya!!

Re: Ryan & Chelsea's twins

twins... really.... that is just "two" much! haahaha well they will probably be born on my birthday! and that will be okay it doesnt really effect me! just means MORE CAKE! hahahahaa well congrats to them!

Well Brother Garcia will be leaving on thursday and i will be heading out to another area for a week until transfers then i will go back and work! so yeah that is the plan i was told... so other than that there is nothing new.. it is just in the next area its not far they said i will go back and work in my area with them a few times so that i do not have to pack a lot.. also they want to use my hot water!! hahahahha

okay i am leaving!

Q&A

Question: What's new?

Answer: nothing really.. just getting work done like always! we have a lot of investigators that.. are not going to church! but they are very nice and actually reading the book of mormon! so yeah that is all.. i went to find a flag of the philippines-- i found one... it was crappy quality and expensive so i did not buy it... that was my adventure earlier! Brother Garcia is doing great i am going to miss him when he leaves!

Question: You sent some pictures from baptisms and have written about them but you never mention if you have performed the ordinance. I know that here the family member holding the priesthood is encouraged to do the ordinance work.. is it the same there?

Answer: Yes we are encouraged to invite members to do the baptism to exercise their priesthood... we were told not to perform the ordinance but they give us the chance now to do so.. But i would much rather have someone in the ward perform it so that they have a connection with the member. so i have not done so.

Question: Of all the areas you have served, which area have you liked best? And why?

Answer: Every area has been different and i have liked them all. They all have their differences. In Jaen it was all the youth that made the area funny and welcoming. (I saw one of the youth at the Mall earlier and just talked real quick.. that was cool). In Guimba it was the relief society that made that area great. all of the nanays and their jokes and good times. In Victoria it was all the single adults that made it feel like home. Here in Kalikid its just the members that are nice and all of the work here that is making this area great. Even tho i hate all the gossip stuff and problems that was caused a year ago that broke the branch into two and things havent been back to normal and all i hear is stuff that i do not care about. But i still love the area, all of my areas! I do not think one was better than the other!

Something Wonderful

I asked Elder Grow to tell me something wonderful about this past week and this was his response:

Something wonderful-- i love my companion and i am going to be horrible sad when he leaves! But we are cleaning up this area and just getting the work done! I do not have much else to tell except we have a lot of new people that we are teaching and meeting so we are just having a good time!! anyways we are leaving now! Love ya!

One Happy Little Dude

i am freaking good! my companion is a short term missionary. He will enter the MTC after this transfer and he will be serving his mission in Baculod. He is BROTHER Garcia, he is not an Elder but i LOVE this kid!! hahaha he literally has ZERO experience in missionary work but he tries even though he fails horribly he doesnt just want to give up. And because this kid makes me laugh like ALL DAY LONG i do not even care that i have to teach whole lessons because he is just awesome! We also had some great lessons that we taught with a strong spirit! The work is awesome and probably because Brother Garcia is just an awesome kid that gets nervous when he speaks and yet tries! Anyways Elder Grow is just one happy little dude here! We almost got to see a cow give birth but it was TAKING my whole life and just got to see the first start to come out! Then we left.. hahaha We had a baptism on saturday and it was awesome, When he was invited to bear his testimony, he gave a very sincere testimony and expressed how this was everything he wanted and knows it’s all true. Like always when I get to see people make a commitment to Heavenly Father, I get to feel how important this work is and love to be a part of it!
Yeah the pictures here are of: people who work with us; the baptism on Saturday; things i get to see... like GIANT spiders! hahahaa also fighting spiders!

yeah you gots to love the philippines just like i do to truly enjoy living around here! Well i love you all and thank you for the support and prayers! They actually help! ;)

Baptism, Saturday February 12, 2011

Brother Garcia, Elder Grow, and the couple missionaries at the baptism
Brother Garcia and Elder Grow, February 13
Brother Garcia and 2 members of the ward that work with the missionaries.
Monkey in a tree
Elder Grow teaches Monkey in a tree!
Things Elder Grow gets to see.....
and touch!
Fighting spiders

Kalikid - Bongabon

Bongabon is nice, no complaints here! seriously we do not use the AC sadly! But the little tiny water heater for the shower works and is amazing!! Shoe goop gets used all the time! my shoe i think will just have a layer of shoe goop protecting the outside because i love that stuff! hahaha... I am in the process of finding shaving cream.. the soap mug is empty... hahaha

transfers are going on and i am going to be training a Short Term Missionary... so, just excited for the new changes! Elder Timbas is transferred it will just be me and Brother Garcia.

Anyways life in Kalikid is going good. Members are awesome and we are always having good laughs. I love the RM's we have here. Talking to them and listening to stories about crazy experiences they have had on their missions is always great! We will also have a baptism on Saturday and that will be nice to have. We will be working on finding some new investigators and helping some of the new ones we are teaching find their answers and prepare to be baptized. Well i will be having a child here in the mission.. but its more of a premortal existence child. I will be taking an intelligence and giving him a spiritual body! hahaha I will be training a Short Term Missionary as he wants to receive his mission call. So it will be me and Brother Garcia. This shall be fun! =D Well I really do not know what else i need to inform you all on! I am like hungry all the time... could this be a sign that i have a stomach dragon?? hahahaha Actually its just normal for me to be hungry all the time! Anyways all is well in the Philippines except it is getting Hot! Maybe i will have to use that A/C after all ;) hahaha Thank you for the love and support!!

Shoes & Dr. Pepper

yeah i totally left my boots and other shoes in my last area... gave the other pair that i never used to a recent convert... they were not COMFORTABLE for walking! but its okay. [Regarding the shoe shine kit and Shoe Goop was sent in Christmas package] the shoe shine.... it was dry... ahahah but the SHOE GOOP is AWESOME! love that stuff. yeah i have one pair of shoes but they will last. they have like a new sole so they are good! [How did he use the Shoe Goop?] i had a hole on the side of the shoe... i used it for that! and i fixed my companions shoes... he had no reaction

I got these pics from the new elder in the mission he is just all full of naivety and excitement! which makes me laugh and yeah so i am just doing the work, getting stuff done! Totally used the air con in our room the other day... it was FREEZING in our room! that was awesome! anyways we might have a baptism in 2 weeks that will be nice so we are excited about that... well i am excited.. my companion i think has zero hope for people and just thinks the worse in all things! he is weird... but hey it is part of the mission life! anyways that is about all the excitement right now. a whole lot of walking is what we do!! Well thanks for all the love and hopefully i will have some nice long letter next week! love ya all!

Ps

i totally drank a dr pepper like 3 weeks ago!! it was a 7.5oz can of DELICIOUSNESS! that is the size of their drinks around here... it was just a normal dr pepper... but it tasted so good! it was the last can in the gas station

Jan 2, 2011
Jan 7, 2011
Jan 21, 2011

Jan 21, 2011

Short message

Anyways so work here is nice we teach a lot... like this is the most teaching i have done my whole mission! We are just out trying to find some new investigators but we seem to be just planting seeds.. which is okay one day they might sprout!

Pics

Sorry for the delay, pictures will be in place soon!

Transferred

I am in the Bongabon zone... in the Kalikid branch (although it should be a ward probably) its interesting... a lot of 'bukid' or farm land... but we work in like little subdivisions... so it feels like i am in places back in sacramento... these people are pretty well off.. there are a lot of car owners here =D hahaha we are just one jeepnee ride from the central city of cabanatuan. we have two malls. this is the area where i first ate at a pizza hut and that will probably happen again! haha

my new companion is Elder Timbas he is extremely nice... he was the companion of Elder Gregorio in the MTC and they are as different as night and day hahahaha elder timbas is a quiet kid who asks a lot of doctrinal questions... so no jokes or pranks probably

Christmas was just another day. New Years we could not leave our house so i really got bored with reading (although i am reading the Great Apostasy by Talmage) I just couldnt take anymore and Elder Timbas is just a unique and curious kid so he had a whole lot of little things to do to keep him entertained..... while i slept.... hahahaha

still new around here and trying to get my bearings straight! next week [the blog] will be more interesting! and [I'll send] pictures because this computer shop is cool and doesnt ask to scan things and bug me about attaching my camera!

its kinda of cold here... oh i have aircon in my new house my new house is WAY TINY but it has air con and a broken water heater for the shower.. i could probably fix it... oh the sad thing is... that because it is cold here.. i have no need for this air con! hahahaha oh the irony!

Restless Week

This week has been rather a restless week! I am not sure if I was just having a hard time getting a good nights rest this week because of maybe a sickness or if just thinking A LOT about concerns and situations of our investigators and our area. Trying to find investigators is just not working for us. We can’t get return appointments or we have conflicting schedules that we can not make it to their houses. There were two very uplifting things: The Domingo family came to Church on Sunday even though they might not be baptized anytime soon because of their situation they are specifically in right now. They have committed to continue to come to Church and wait until they can be baptized. Also Nanay Lydia actually committed to a Specific Date for baptism! So we are very excited about that and as she will continue reading, praying and going to Church, she will for sure be ready to make that special Covenant to Heaven Father through Baptism. I read in Mosiah Chapter 18 which I shared with Nanay about a part of the Covenant we make with Heavenly Father when we are Baptized, which talked a lot about becoming one people (or a Zion people). I used the same question Alma asked to the people to Nanay and she shared how she would love those blessings and Covenant to God. We talked a little more and Extended a Date to her. She was a little hesitant because she was worried about not being Worthy and we talked about how all you need is a desire to want to change then afterwards make that change. We talked about a new life as being part of Christ’s Sheep and how after baptism you will receive that new life to start over. She finally agreed that Jan. 15 will be her date. We told her to pray about this date and if it feels right then that is your answer and that this is your time to Prepare. She was very happy after we ended our lesson with her which was great to see. On Sunday I felt just a huge weight upon my shoulders not really sure why maybe exhaustion or maybe just the weight of the missionary work on my shoulders. Later I was asked to share a lesson in Gospel Essentials. I liked the talk that was given earlier about Talents and based our lesson about Talents, Weaknesses, and Blessings. We talked about how we all have talents, God Given Talents, which we should use in our lives; we also have weaknesses in our lives. We talked about how our Weaknesses can strengthen our Talents or how we can make our Weaknesses turn into a talent and making it a Strength and Grow from them. I asked a question to the Class about Weaknesses, “Weaknesses… If God gives us Weaknesses, are they a Trial or a Blessing?” The Class had a split decision between the two. We came to that decision that after we overcome the trial of our weaknesses we receive blessings from the Lord. We talked about how our Faith will grow and we will increase in eternal progression. We came back to Talents for our close about how we should always share and use our talents because they will be strengthen and become better and help others as well. That is the purpose of why the Lord has given them to us. Every missionary has talents that have appeared here in the mission that they might not have known they had. They should not bury their talents, or hide them and not share them. I know that I have seen talents appear since I have been out here and how I can use them afterwards and I am grateful for that. I do not want to lose them or hide them that is for sure! Anyways I love this work even when it just gets tough and tiring, but nothing like asking the Lord for help and receiving that Comfort! Anyways love it here for the most part! hahahaha oh I ate DOG adobo style... IT WAS DELICIOUS!!!! I have heard that Cat Adobo is apparently way better! soooo Duck (Check), Balot (Check), Frog (Check), Dog (Check), Snake ( ), Rat ( ), Cat ( ), Bat ( ) not sure if i am wanting to eat bat yet... anyways Love ya all

No Complaints

my day is good... no complaints! had an awesome district meeting in the morning lots of laughs and improvement in our teachings. Went to the mall.. ate good food filippino bbq...

OYM - Open Your Mouth

Well this week we enjoyed the work. We have seen how much control Satan can have over people that are so close to finding their answers. Our investigators are struggling with coming to church but understand the importance and have even followed the words of Moroni “… Doubt not, but be believing…” They started to realize how these things they have been learning and studying are true but the feeling of how it all cannot be true. Each investigator believes that the Book of Mormon is true, and with the explanation that if they know that the Book of Mormon is true, then Joseph Smith and the Church have to be true hands down. They understand this and then when they get so close to making big commitments Satan comes and just tempts them with things that seem so small and insignificant and they end up becoming further and further away from their answers. This is hard and tiring because we don’t have much control over this and we constantly encourage them to come back to the right path. I have gone back recently and studied Lehi’s Dream and just looked at that Dream as if you were a missionary. You would be Lehi and everyone around you would be your investigator, you have partaken of this fruit (which would be the Church or Baptism) and you are waiting for the others to come as you beckon for them. There are those who have partaken and felt embarrassed from those laughing and pointing from the building and fall away. They become lost in that dark mist and end up worse then before. As missionaries we stand tall holding our light for those to come and partake or return to that warmth and comfort that was felt when you partook of the fruit. I also had a new insight or a testifying moment in the mission work about being in the right place at the right time. I testify right now that as missionaries you are PUT or PLACED not just in your area but in brief moments, to OPEN YOUR MOUTH. We had a horrible afternoon the area we worked in had a party going on so no one was home. So we went to our back up area to re-contact some OYM’s we had. No one was home as well so we circled about and stopped a at recent converts cell phone load booth thing to check up on how things are going. Her “boss” is a very nice lady but kind of quiet. Elder Gregorio pointed out the Book of Mormon that was on the desk and asked “Have you been reading it?” She replied “No, well sometimes, just a little here and there.” We asked a series of simple follow up question which lead to her asking a lot of perfect questions about the Book of Mormon. We then had a great opportunity to share about the Book of Mormon to her. She like immediately understood that this is not a new Bible, that these were Prophets called to teach the gospel and write down the things that are happening in their lives. We introduced to her The Restoration briefly so that we can come back and talk more about it with her. We then immediately met this Nanay who was looking for lotto numbers and had an immediate contact and shared briefly about what we do as missionaries and explained the pamphlet to her. She agreed to a return appointment and just seemed really happy to have met us. As missionaries when you get depressed when basically all of your appointments fall through and you tend not to open your mouth because you are just so depressed, but this is the time to just find new people even if they are not interested right now about the message because you did your part by inviting them, they need to choose to accept. As long as we do our best our garments are clean, don’t miss good opportunities to Share the Gospel! So guess what the next time you are randomly somewhere or doing something just think how can i share something about the Gospel to someone and invite them to "come to church, read the book of mormon (that you just gave them, hahaha) or pray to know that what you shared is true" Just think about how many missed opportunities you have had in your life. Anyways last Christmas in the fillipines! Enjoying it while i can! Love ya all!

Tatay

Elder Grow is tired! hahahaha so here in Victoria the work is kind of leveling off but this is the normal occurrence in Victoria. We went out finding and met two new people. one is 81 which i still do not believe because his mind is way Sharp and witty and he doesnt look like the normal 81 year old filippino who looks like he is like one week from dying! so he said okay to being taught BRIEFLY but he ended up Talking WAY too much and what we taught was brief because he interrupted every 2 minutes. then we closed the lesson and me and Elder Landingin (the Assistant to the President) knelt down and Tatay just kept talking away! So we asked him like 4 times if he would kneel and pray with us.. he just continued and me and elder landingin just waited and tried not to laugh. Mainly because we were late to meet with our companions. Anyways Work is going good. we had received great comments from the Assistants to the President about our work and how our Recent converts and investigators really trust us and they would like to know our secret. We had no answer for them, we just rock and gain peoples trust.

I made this graham cracker freezer cake that is delicious and i make french toast a lot! And as much as missionaries complain about their houses being horribly gross i laugh because I have seen and been in houses that one.. smelled worst then any house here and two... That were horribly disgusting then any house i have been in here! Some houses [here] do not have a floor.. it is Dirt... and Yet that is more clean then some of the houses me and dad have been in! So i am a very happy missionary whether or not my roof leaks or i do not have a Shower Head! hahahaha But cold showers are something i could do with out! and just to make people laugh... The bucket of water is way cleaner then using Toilet paper! You will be converted if you use it! hahahahaha well thats whats going on with the mission life of Elder Grow and last remark here... "Do not let the little moments pass you by in the mission because you will regret the things you had a chance to do but chose not to! Love the mission love the life, get the work done!" Love ya all and thanks for the Support!

Dancing??!!

so we had a baptism on saturday! that was nice.. very unorganized but he got dunked... TWICE hahaha he had a toe pop up out of the water so we had to re-do it. no, i did not do the baptizing...

What will Elder Grow be doing this Thursday (Thanksgiving)?

"will be having a District leader meeting then practicing a presentation for our christmas conference!

elder nicholes has been assigned to come up with something... it could be a skit.. it could be dancing.... it could be singing...

the dancing is always horrible and not very funny... mainly because there are people who try..."

8 Days A Week

nope, no transfers... we will be doing 6 more weeks here! thats the news

i saw the manual (new Church Handbook) and looked at it. the opening and closing prayer for sacrament was a new thing i did not know. Married couples should not give both prayers. i thought that was interesting

We have a baptism on saturday which i get to attend because i am still here! hahaha Too bad everyone thinks i am transferred! it will be fun to see their reactions that now i am not!

This church is true whether there is or isnt reverence in sacrament meeting! hahahaha we had a primary presentation in our ward and we had an investigator who really is scared to come to church but he ended up coming and even tho the children are not so focused it was good. but the members were so irreverent during it all [that] our investigator did not get the experience he was looking for, but it was okay. we followed up with him and explained in more detail the purpose of primary presentations. so yeah he was okay i guess.. i just hope he will come next week!

[I still have a] hole in the shoe and i'm tired cause we had 8 days of no pday! that is a long week!!!

anyways i am leaving now

bye love ya

A Long Week Ahead

"i just want this next long week over with to know if i am getting transferred or not! its really going to be a long week over here this new schedule is soooooooo not cool for out 6th week in the transfer. i want to know if i am training... or becoming a zone leader or am i going to be a district leader still but in a new area or am i not getting transferred.... that is the usual thoughts that come when we are close to transfers... and especially this one cause we will only have one night to pack."

"its hot! its very hot! hahahaha weather is very weird here"

"yeah i am just not feeling like i want to write... but i do want to say i found A&W cream soda and hickory smoked bbq sauce and i will be cooking pulled pork sandwiches and will be happy! yeah so i am very anxious about that!"

"One of our investigators Angie has not been very active in our lessons and seems to want to stop listening. I feel one of the issues is that she is very shy about being asked questions during lessons. She often thinks that her answers are wrong even though we stress to her that what she says can in no possible way be wrong. When questions are asked she often just freezes up and we wait for her to answer and she will give a good almost correct response. We had a lesson that she was almost like not wanting to even be there. I felt that we needed to address this issue and talk about why we ask questions. She understood and I hope that she understands more and will want to answer questions more next time. Sherwin on the other hand is like way amazing and studies a lot. He is very active in seminary and he asks very good questions about what he would like to understand. He is scheduled to have a baptism on November 20. We also have two other people that we haven’t been able to teach but they came to church which was shocking, Mark and Kevin. Mark is an older brother to our recent converts and Kevin is the older brother of Sherwin. They both want to know why their siblings are so interested in all of this. Mark was once interested but stopped. Things in Victoria are still going strong although one of those lulls in the work is what it feels like, but to me it just means to step up and work more.

Elder Gregorio and I are doing well. Teaching is about the same. I do notice sometimes he will change certain parts in a lesson and won’t just repeat the same things over and over again. I had one lesson where I just felt I needed to be bold with a few of our not progressing investigators. I stressed at the end of the lesson on the plan of salvation that if they want to return to live with our heavenly father again they need to be baptized and find out for themselves if this is the true church. We gave a baptismal goal date to them and invited them to church and I felt that if they would come they would feel closer to the Lord and be able to receive their answers. I promised them this if they would just take the first step. They sadly did not come to church on Sunday. I know that I am at least doing my part and sharing with them what they need to do to know if this is the true church and they need to do their part.

Well I love my mission even with the ups and downs!"

PHOTOS!

"Me and Elder Latu posing as we wait for someone to open the gate to the church"
Sep 5, 201"Simbahan natin.... wow i just wrote tagalog... Thats our Church"
Sep 5, 2010"Posing for the camera"
September 17, 2010"Coming back from zone activity"
Sep 20, 2010"This is Deo. He was in a Seminary for 3 years to be a priest... NOT ANYMORE! hahaha he got baptized... sometimes he preaches when he is asked to share his testimony"
Sep 25, 2010"I caught a baby goat"
Sep 26, 2010"remember Deo yeah well he still had his seminarian outfit... we asked to borrow it... hahaha"
Oct 16, 2010"evil monkey! Actually not so evil.. i gave it a banana once.. i do not trust him tho!"
Oct 22, 2010"This dog hates me.... Sometimes... not sure why but now i can at least pet him and he licks my hand."
Oct 22, 2010This is J-Mark (his real name is Hazell) he just got baptized on saturday. also my new companion elder gregorio. (More Bars) (I believe the brownings will laugh at the more bars joke)"
October 30 2010

The Victoria Ward

Well this week is great, boy do I just love Victoria! We get these new investigators that just kind of pop up out of nowhere, especially when we are struggling at finding a solid investigator. We have two new investigators, Sherwin and Angie. Sherwin is a cousin to our recent convert and Angie is a friend to them. We had just started to teach their nephew who is a part member family and we had made an agreement with him to come to church 4 times consecutively before we start to teach him. He had come 4 times in a row and asked us to teach him. His name is John Palolo, he is 9 years old and really wants to be baptized. We had taught him the first lesson one day and then Sherwin had come to church. They suggested that we teach him with John. After we taught to them they invited their friend Angie to come and listen. Angie did not really want to come. she was very hesitant during the lesson, but she was taking those first steps into new territory. Angie did not come to church this last Sunday, but when we asked her why she said she was sick. She did however read, she actually read a lot! So we were very proud that she did take the time to read. Teaching to them is a little chaotic at times but the whole time they are trying their hardest to focus and be active in the lessons. but towards the end of lessons after disturbances have ceased, right there at the end, everything just calms down and we get to review shortly, testify, ask follow up questions about the lesson and give commitments to them. We have also found one family where their daughter is the only member in the church and her mother really wants to be a member but her husband just never received his answer, when the missionaries had taught him before. He had read the Book of Mormon, all of it as he says, and prayed and waited for that feeling that this is all true. He had said that he believes in all of the things we say and he has read and I explained that we can’t receive answers for things that we already know. We definitely saw something kind of click with him then. We gave them a baptismal goal date and encouraged them to prepare themselves to come to church on Sunday. There was no hesitation in their commitment to do so. We have definitely seen the Lord’s hand in the work especially when we were down and struggling. We also will have a Baptism on the 29th of October at 3:30pm for J-Mark, which will be very exciting. he is ready for his baptism! Yeah so our work here in Victoria is awesome no complaints really! Elder Grow doing some Harvesting!

Regarding Typhoon Juan, October 18:

surprisingly the weather people are very accurate here they know like the hours of the storm! they were like 6pm we will have a storm and sure enough like 620 we had a storm! it wasnt anything horrible it was just like a bad rain storm back at home, nothing scary. The normal path we take was flooded tho and what i thought was shallow... happened to be very deep. so yeah i used the boots which was a HORRIBLE IDEA so i had water in my shoes for a good while! hahahaha but other than that it was weeak! and i forgot to close some windows and our desks got wet but they dried off in like 3 hours so nothing was damaged. seriously i was disappointed. i expected some fallen down trees or something like back at home... but no..