"Killin' it in the Philippines"

01.27.13

This week has been great to say the least! 

Typical medical convoy vehicle in the Philippines

I want to start out by telling of a few funny but cool experiences that I had this week. First off, Elder DLS and I were waiting for a bus to come by after we got done teaching the D Family (I will get to them later), and no buses were coming at all... it was either keep waiting or walk for 3 hours. That is how far away from any living being we were. Then out of the blue, a car flies by us, stops, turns around, and comes up next to us. An AMERICAN MAN in the front seat asks, and I quote "Elders do you need a ride somewhere?" and I was like "oh ya we do!" The car that they were driving was like some kind of medical convoy thing you would see in a movie. So we get in the back of this car, and my first thought is "he's an American, he called us ELDERS... he has to be a member of our church back in the states. Has to be." So we rode for like 15 minutes in complete silence, then when we told them to stop, I got out, shook this man’s hand and asked him "OK, I've got to know, where are you from?" And he says, "I am a member of the Church. I am out here doing medical training at local hospitals here. And to answer your question, I am from Boise Idaho."-- I knew he had to be a member of our church-- knew it. Not one person on this entire island would call us that unless they were a member. Haha. 

Rural Filipino Bus

Second experience. Yesterday we were riding on a bus to an appointment and this girl gets on the bus and sits next to me. She was like 21, if that. We started talking and she asked me for a donation for her church while handing me a flier. I told her no, that we cannot give away money to anyone. I explained to her that the money we have is the Lords money and it is for mission purposes.  I was expecting a mature response and her to leave it be. But she persisted, big time --like flattering me for money. Compliments like "you're so handsome" and all this load of crap. Too funny. Guess what I did? I told her "I can’t give you money, but I do have something that will bless your life much more than any amount of money will." And she asked what it was, then I pulled a Restoration Pamphlet and told her "I can give you this and we would love to visit you sometime and teach you all about this.”  She then said no thanks, got up, and moved seats. That was funny. Oh man. Some people’s children...

Elder Ellis and Elder Garner
"Killin' it in the Philippines"

Third experience. This happened in District Meeting on Tuesday last week. So what happens, usually, is we open with song and prayer, we account and report our successes for the week to the district, then we get a lesson from our District Leader. Then whatever we were taught, we apply that into practice teaching. So one Elder becomes the investigator, and two other Elders become companions, and they teach. The one Elder who is left out, becomes the "coach" and writes what went well and what to improve. SO… our lesson was on how to react when an investigator doesn't read your assignment or isn't reading the scriptures at all. Elder DLS was the investigator and guess who became my companion?  Elder Ellis! Haha! They stuck the two greenies together. At first, I was thinking "we are so toast here..."  Wrong! We killed it!  I was the senior companion and I started the lesson, taught out of 2 Nephi 32:3. Then I bore testimony of it.  Then Elder Ellis came in, testified, added his feelings, then I added a personal experience, then we ended. The district leader was like "uhhh...... you two are American, right? I could have sworn you were..." meaning we did awesome! Ya that’s right. 

Now, onto our two investigator families.. The D family is all ready to go! We only had one minor setback. So here in our mission (I am not sure what it is like in other missions), investigators have to come to church 4 weeks in a row in order to be interviewed for baptism. In their family, all of them have come three weeks in a row, even Tat, who has a job and works every Sunday. He has been able to find a replacement every Sunday................................................................................................................................................................................ Except yesterday! Dang it! He couldn't find anyone to cover his shift yesterday so, he has to wait until next Saturday. But, as for now, the mother, and two oldest children will be baptized this Saturday, February 2nd. He will be the following week if everything works out next time. It wasn't his fault that he couldn't come. He still has that desire.  The P family finally found birth certificates though!  So, in two weeks, they will be interviewed and baptized as well. They have come to church every Sunday since the first week of December so it’s pretty safe to say that they are well on their way. Every week we ask them how their experience was at church that day and they always reply "namit gid!" This means freaking sweet! That's how I see it. 

Thank you for all you do!

Until next week.

I love each and every one of you!  :)

Elder Garner