You only have two years to do this...

02.24.13

Monday

Hey all! How is everyone doing?  Swell I hope! 

So this week was.... SO BORING! NOT! Haha. A lot has happened. A few things that I want to make sure to say. So I will get right on to it.

First off, my new companion, Elder I, is an amazing! I feel like I teach so well with him! I think that is because we get along really well and he understands me. He was born in Manila, but he grew up in Vancouver, Canada. Our Zone Leaders even refer to him as a "foreigner" Hahah! He's totally non-native though. He says "oh yeah" to me all the time. Not in Hilagaynon either. The kid is too funny for words. He might even be one of the companions that I will keep in contact with after my mission. Canada road trip (oh and as I write this, all the little Filipino kids that are here in the computer shop are all gathered around me and my computer as I type… like as of right now. Haha they can't understand English so... when they read this as I type, they won't get it.)! 

So a few things about church yesterday - they only have one priest in this Branch. He was in Bacolod with his parents yesterday so there was nobody to bless the sacrament. Guess who the Branch President asked to bless the sacrament? Us. Luckily, he told us to do it in English, which was nice I guess. Don't get me wrong, I wanted to read the prayer in the language, but when I opened my Libro Ni Mormon to the verses in Moroni chapters 4 and 5, I realized there were so many big words that I would totally butcher. So, I went with English. Maybe in a year’s time I can do it in the language if I get asked to again.

Oh! As we finished the opening prayer, and older man walked in. And by older, I mean he is like old. I found out that he is 95 years old. 95! He still works as a fisherman, all by himself. He still walks without a cane or help! It's nuts. 

new area, Hinoba-an

-So this area that I am in now.... holy smokes. It is like 15 times bigger than my last area. And since President Lopez wants us to have as many lessons with investigators with a member with us, we bring 1 or 2 with us. But since they are poor and cannot afford to take a tricycle as far as we go, we pay for them. And because that is part of what our support money from the church is for. But.... it adds up fast because our area is like enormous. President told us that he will most likely adjust our support money so we can meet the needs of this area without any restrictions. Still no word yet, so we will see. I don't worry about getting fed dinner so much anymore. We had a dinner appointment every single day last week. 

old area, Cadiz

Fish market in the Philippines

Guess what else? Because this area is right on the ocean, they get fish for so cheap. So, every meal I have eaten since the minute I got here 11 days ago, I have eaten fish. I hate fish. Anyone who knows me will know that if I had a choice between beef, chicken, or pork, and fish, I would throw the fish to the dog and eat everything else. Here I can't do that. Well, it is like President says "you only have 2 years to do this. So, don't mess it up." Haha- honest quote. So I eat it anyway. I have had maybe 5 different kinds of fish lately... and I can't remember the names of them. But 2 types of fish I do like a little…enough that I don't have to choke it down. I am getting used to it though. 

OK-- onto our investigators!  We have like 4 that are willing to listen and learn. First off, we have Sister B. She was investigating the church like 2 years ago but the missionaries stopped visiting her because she was a live in with her boyfriend. But, there was a mass wedding here in our area and anyone who had 100 pesos, the Mayor married legally. So we began teaching her again! She is still really interested. Her husband however, is not. We found out that he is a really active Pastor in another church here in this area. Kind of a problem you'd think, but he allows us to teach his wife. He just wants no part of it. I thought it would cause tension but he is totally cool with it. Maybe after we baptize her, he will soften up. You know what they say!  Next, we have L and M. They are in same situation as Sister B. Investigated, weren't married and then discontinued. But now they are married and they both listen and learn. Brother L’s brother is actually the 2nd counselor in the Bishopric here and ironically their house is right in front of the church, as in 25 steps from the front of their house, to the church. Those three investigators have all been taught the Restoration only so far. We will invite them to be baptized this week. More on that next Monday!

Our last investigator deserves his own paragraph. It is kind of sad so get ready. His name is Brother M. He is a fisherman, and works nights. He has a girlfriend/wife?  -Hard to explain that. Her name is D. She was married in the past and had one son. Her husband left her and the child in the dust for another girl in Manila. That was 10 years ago. Now she is with Brother M. But since she is poor, she can't legally divorce her old husband. So her situation is called "Co Inhabitants". And here, it’s the closest thing to marriage. The Church however, has come out with something regarding this. Since they can't legally be married, but they are "committed" to each other, they can be baptized. That is the only good news. Bad news is, he can't hold any callings, or receive the Melchizedek Priesthood. On top of all that, they can't have a temple recommend. Meaning.... they can't be sealed together for eternity.  We just found this out yesterday. President Lopez would also like to interview F before his baptism. Good grief man. It is such a hard situation. We haven't told him or D yet. We will have to soon though. President will instruct us on what to do. -More on that next week.

Well family, friends, and loved ones, that is all for this week. All I can say now is, have a great week. Thank you for all your prayers in my behalf. I feel them every day. I love you all so much.

Love From The Philippines!

-Elder Garner

Legit English and Mondragon, How sick is that?

02.18.13

Monday

HEY MOM! HAPPY BIRTHDAY! I LOVE YOU SO MUCH! 

Sorry I am getting on a little late, I had some things to get figured out and such so... It is all a work in progress. I will explain further in my email now.

I think you all may know that I did get transferred. I am no longer in Caduha-an. I am in Hinoba-an, Sipalay Zone. Here is how you can tell where it is, look at a map of Negros Occidental, and look at the border between Occidental and ORIENTAL, and I am the last area on that border. NEGROS ORIENTAL is where the Cebu Mission officially starts. Don't ask how the boundaries work- I have no idea. Let’s just put it this way, I know I am in the farthest area south in the mission. It is about 7 hours on a bus south of Bacolod. So ya. very far. I will go through the big events that happened this week though now.

So on Wednesday, we got a text from our mission secretary about paying your share of the bill if you end up getting transferred. We asked around the Zone to see if anyone else got it and only 2 other companionships did… so we figured it was a sign that either Elder DLS or I was going to be leaving. So we spent the day teaching until around 6, then we went to visit some members that we are close with, just in case. So we did just that. At around 9:30 we came home, closed the day, and planned for the next day. We hadn't received a call from the President or the AP's yet so we figured we jumped the gun or something, right? I had just finished writing in my journal, brushing my teeth, and I was about to go to sleep when one of the AP's called. He told my companion that I would be leaving tomorrow and that we need to be in Bacolod by 8 the next morning. Meaning I had to start packing right then. And I was all comfortable and had a system with all my stuff, too! Haha dang it! Oh well. The entire time I was packing, I could only think about where I was going (the AP told my companion that we would find out tomorrow), and who my new companion would be. I finally got to bed around midnight after packing for an hour and a half (man I am so bad at packing..... I needed so much help. But, I got it done. So, that was that.)

 We woke up and left for the Mission Office at 6:45 am, and got there around 8:15. I found the one of the AP's and asked him where he wanted me to wait. 

Bacolod LDS church building

He told me to go into the Chapel in the church and just wait for my companion to come. So, I went in and found most of my batch in the chapel, too. They ALL are training right now. I asked, "How do you all know that?" They told me that the AP's told them when they called. So I asked the AP "Am I training or no?" He told me "No, Elder Garner, President Lopez has something special for you." SO.... ya I got nervous because I knew nothing. My companion finally got there around 9:30 am. His name is 'Elder I'. Sounds Filipino right? Because he is. But when he opened his mouth to talk to me, English came out! And not just Filipino English, it was like legit English. No accent at all. I asked "Where are you from????" and he replied "Vancouver, Canada".  I have a Filipino/Canadian companion! He is about 5'4, and weighs just as much as I do right now which is like 183 now! He has a scale at our apartment…so yes I have lost an additional 5 pounds since December.

Anyways! More about that day. I asked him where our area is, and he told me that is "the farthest south in our mission you can possibly get." And was he ever right! I said goodbye to my old comp and Elder Ellis, then we left to get on a bus with my luggage. The bus ride was a full 7 hours from Bacolod. All the way down to the tip of the island. A little oasis called Hinoba-an. And by oasis, I mean it. It is right on the beach. Lets just put it this way, our chapel is right in front of the beach. Like 20 steps. And by beach, I mean white sand beach. I have been taking a ton more pictures so don't worry. Oh, and before I forget, one side of our area is the beach, and the other side is the mountains. It's like I am getting the white sandy beaches of California and the mountains of Utah all in one area! Except the mountains are not near as big, but they are more green for sure and still just as beautiful. 

When we got to our area, I stepped foot into our apartment, and thought ‘we live here’?  Hmmm, it’s like the people building the house didn't bother finishing the floor or the roof. The floor is like what an unfinished basement would look like (cement), and the roof isn't totally sealed all the way. Meaning birds and insects fly in all the time. Last night we had a bat fly into the house actually.  I won't complain though. Actually, Elder I tells me that President Lopez might want us to find another apartment soon anyway because next transfer he might split our area and put 4 elders in one house, just to lighten the load in our area. It is pretty huge. Plus we are getting like 24 new missionaries next transfer so why not? 

Anyway, we have spent the last few days meeting members and trying to get me accustomed to the area and all the new people. He knows I am still sort of new, so he helps me out (Elder I). Oh, and just for your information, I will not get any letters for like 6 weeks if you send any. Apparently, since the area is so far away, the couple missionaries only make the trip down here once a transfer - which is understandable because it is like driving to St. George and back from our home in Lehi. Ridiculous. We do, however, have a post office in our area. So I can send letters regularly still. The last thing I am trying to find is a place to print pictures, so you all can see what I am living in.

Hinoba-an beach

YOU ALL HAVE TO SEE THIS AREA! Every time we drive by the beach or the mountains I just fall over in complete aw... it's incredible. It is actually like a big tourist spot here. I see non-native people all the time actually.

Hinoba-an mountain range

As for yesterday, I was asked by our Branch (yes I am in another Branch, in a District, not a Stake) President to be the first speaker. I had just arrived at the chapel. I did ok though I think. I didn't get too many confused looks as I spoke so it was good. Oh, our President's name is President Mondragon. How sick is that???  

That is what I have so far. I would tell you names of places and such, but I am still trying to learn them. I will continue to look for a place to print pictures. I think we may have found one actually, just the only thing is-  they only print out wallet sized ones and one size bigger. I hope that is ok. I love you all so much! Thank you for all your prayers. Keep doing the righteous actions I know you are all doing! -Until next week everyone. 

Love From The Philippines!

-Elder Garner

Don't allow Satan to make you his meal...

02.10.13

Hello to all who may read this! How is everyone this fine day? Good I hope!

Garrison 'pinching out' the last candle!

First off, I would just like to say HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO MY BRO BACK HOME THIS COMING WEDNESDAY! HAPPY BIRHDAY GARRISON!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Have a great day lil' bro. I love you. On top of that, your birthday is on our transfer day. Congratulations!  Your birthday is on the most suspenseful day of each six week period of time.

Speaking of transfer day, We will find out tomorrow who stays and who goes. I think I told you all that President Lopez told me that I will stay and so will Elder Delos Santos, but he used the words "most likely" and "I don't expect a change" so...... maybe he could have received new revelation since then? Haha who knows? You all will find out next week!

Ok, so an update on our two investigator families… two major things happened this week that will be a major setback. It is kind of frustrating. One major thing happened with each family. First, the P family. The ones who need to be married. Umm, so we went to their house to teach them last week and when we got there, the dad wasn't home. We asked his "live in partner" where he is and she said he will be back in 10 minutes… so, we waited for him. So this is where I got irritated. He showed up...... DRUNK! Hammered. He couldn't have walked in a straight line even if he had been holding onto a rod. This is the same dad that we have already taught the Word Of Wisdom to. He totally knows better. He tells us that he wants to get married in the temple and stuff but then he goes and does that... goodness. We haven’t seen them since that night. We go back on Wednesday if none of us transfer. But, one of us will be here for sure.

Now onto the D family, the rule in this misson, and the rest of the missions in the Philippines is you need to make sure your investigators are confirmed the following week after their baptism or they need to be baptized again. I am not sure how it is in the rest of the world, but that is how it is here. And... ya you guessed it. They didn't make it to church on the Sunday after they were baptized. We went and visited them on Saturday and before we left we made sure to tell them what would happen if they didn't make it to sacrament meeting on Sunday. So they did know!  But something happened and they didn't come... who knows what will happen. I will let you know how it goes in my email next week. I am quite sad about it....

So other than that, this week was great. I had a few experiences that I want to share quickly. First, remember that RM that just came home in our Branch this last week? He worked with us a few days back. That was cool! He is still like way fresh off the mission boat for sure!  You could tell he was still new to being home too. His name is RM by the way. In our teachings though, he like made me nervous in a way.  I had not ever taught with someone like him before so it kind of threw me off the first few lessons but I finally just put it behind me and did what I needed to do. I think it was just harder at first because he spoke different languages in his mission so he was struggling to speak Ilonggo that day. So a lot of the words that he said I had no clue what they were. It wasn't until more than halfway through the day that I realized he was speaking words from another dialect. That whole time I thought it was Ilonggo and I didn't know any of the words.. it was discouraging at first, until I realized that it wasn't our language here! It was such a relief. So with that, everyone we taught understood him except for me. Talk about being the odd man out -- totally unfair. But it's all good. J  

Second! Oddly, this happened at the same house where RM lives. We were eating with his family for lunch and randomly his mom is like "Elder Garner how many temples can you see from your house?" My first thought was "they don’t even have a temple on this whole island.... when I tell them, they might tell me to leave…" I replied by telling them that I have been to the temple more times from the time I got my mission call, to when I entered the MTC, than these members have been in their entire lives. It is really sad actually. It is so expensive for them to take a trip to Cebu as well so that is why I feel bad. But, I continued and said "There are 7 temples close enough to my house that I can go to..." and they all looked at me and yelled "lucky!!!"  Our branch is trying to go on a temple trip this April so hopefully they can go! 

Mount Timpanogos Temple

Provo Temple

Jordan River Temple

Draper Temple

Salt Lake City Temple

Bountiful Temple

Oquirrh Mountain Temple

Illustration of the 'Fox and the Bird'

OK, to end, I just want to share a story that RM shared to a less active family as we taught them. It goes like this. "In this story there is a bird, and a fox. Both looking for food before the winter comes. As the bird is flying, he sees the fox on the ground and decides to ask if there is anything that he has found.  The fox replies 'no I have nothing, but I tell you what. You give me two of your feathers every day, and I will look for you’. The bird gets excited and replies 'ok!' So every day this goes on. The bird finds the fox, and gives him two of his feathers. This pattern continues until the bird has no feathers left.  He cannot fly anymore-- making him the fox’ meal.”  In the end, who is the fox? Who is the bird?  Open up to 2 Nephi 28:21.  You will see that the fox is Satan. And the bird represents the people that are willing to listen to him, and fall slowly but surely off the path that would have eventually led back to the kingdom of God. In your lives everyone, be careful of what you do and say. It is so important to realize and think about what you are doing before you do it. As members of this great church, we know what is right and wrong. Just remember that Satan doesn't want you to return to our Heavenly Father and obtain eternal life. "Satan does not have the power to take a life, that is one of the many things he cannot do. But apparently he will take down with him as many as he can to the pit of endless woe." - Jeffery R. Holland

Know how much I love you all. Until next week everyone! Thanks for all you do for me.

Love From The Philippines!

-Elder Garner

Changing the World Completely...

02.03.13

Hello all! 

How is everyone doing? I hope all is fantastic back in the great U.S of A. I will just get onto my week. 

"CHAWING GUM"
--yikes!--

So first off, I just want to make a few things clear if any of you come to the Philippines, don't ever give a Filipino gum. Both my parents and Nana and Papa send it to me, and we aren't allowed to chew it because it "takes away from our image as representatives of Jesus Christ". So, I have been giving it all away to our Branch Missionaries. Can I just say big mistake? I should have known right off the bat to not do that, but what else was I supposed to do with it? --can't waste it! They all chew with their mouths wide open. Like a cow chewing on grass... it’s bad. I can't tell them to not do that because I don't want to offend them so I am just going to have to deal. 

Next, I don't remember if I have mentioned this before but the legal drinking age here in the Philippines is 16. I have seen and witnessed kids that look like they are 12 walk up to the register, and purchase beer. All the time! So, I have made up my mind that I need to carry with me the "Ang Pulong Sang Ka-alum" or "The Word of Wisdom" pamphlet with me all the time. I actually have like 5 with me right now as I type. Now I just have to gather up the courage to give them out. It's scary trying to talk to a drunk person!  I have a hard enough time trying understand SOBER Ilonggo, but when they are drunk??? Oh man. So much harder. And don't worry mom, they all here are "funny drunks" not "angry" ones. --Always tripping over themselves and slurring their words. Not all of the island of Negros is like this though. There are just a ton of them here in my current area.

Elder Garner, Michael and Elder Delos Santos
(look closely at the grass line)

Lastly, in our Branch we had a missionary come home! He left on February 26th 2011. That date has a special meaning to me as well. Sweet Heart’s my Junior year in High School! Anyway, his name is RR. So because he came home, we were invited over to his house for dinner. We had a good conversation! He told us all about his mission. I asked him how many languages he knows now, and he said 6.....6!? Holy smokes! The main language in his mission (Alongapo Philippines) was Tagalog, then Cebuano, Vissaias, English, and guess what else? Broken Spanish! That was kind of funny to hear. Anyways, he just got released yesterday. So lets just put it this way, he came to church with his Nametag on, and left with it off.. 

So, two major things happened this week that I didn’t include in my email last week, due to the fact that I didn’t know about them until we had already left the computer shop. So one, we had exchanges last Tuesday!  I stayed in my area, and basically Elder Ellis and I swapped companions. So his companion (the district leader) came and worked with me in my area. It was a good day! I have known him since the day I got here 4 months ago so we had some fun. We taught the D family about Covenants (since their baptism was coming up at the time, and I will get onto that later), and the Dad told us he will do his best to make it to church to be interviewed on Sunday. Which didn't happen. Dang it! It's weird.... he made it to church 3 weeks in a row, then randomly, when he has an interview, he can't make it. Hopefully he opens up to us if he has any concerns. We want to help him! I guess only time will tell. Anyway, we also found a new investigator family too! The R Family. It's a family of 5, and the Mom just died like a week ago due to cancer.  She was 44. So the first thing we taught them was God’s plan for families. We have been back one other time and taught them about the Restoration. We would have gone back another time, but when we did, they were all drinking and gambling --at the mother’s funeral. I didn’t know what to say or think. We will go back tomorrow most likely. So ya, fun day!

Pres. Lopez teaching the missionaries

We also had Zone Training on Thursday! President Lopez came and trained us in our Stake Center in Cadiz (like 15 minutes north of my area). We were expected to be able to return back to our areas by 2pm but that didn't happen. We started at 9 am sharp and President took the first hour and a half to explain to us how he wants district meetings to go from now on (starting tomorrow). It is only supposed to last 1 hour and a half. So 1 hour is spent on discussing needs of investigators and 1 less active family within the district from each companionship. Just give each other ideas on how to help that person the most, you know? There are 8 of us in the district so this could actually be useful. The next 10 minutes is for the district leader to give us a lesson on whatever he thinks will help us this week, then the last 20 minutes are for practice teaching. So that was that.

Then from 10:30 to 12:30, President Lopez trained us on "finding" new investigators through our own efforts. Since members here in the Philippines aren't all that active in helping us and giving us referrals, we have to take it into our own hands. Meaning, OYMing (open your mouth --like talking to random people on the bus, street, or whatever. That is what the pamphlets are for), holding missionary firesides and have members bring their non member friends or simply just ask members for them. We will give some of these a shot this week.

After, President and his wife brought home made sandwiches! Like I am talking ham, turkey, and egg salad!  Man… so good! First meal I have had without rice in who knows how long... Then President Lopez took 15 minutes for each missionary to interview us. In my interview, he told me that he "doesn't think any changes will take place in my companionship for this next transfer".... Meaning I will most likely be with DLS for another transfer it sounds like! Then he told me I will most likely train after that. So come March 27th, I should be on a bus to Bacolod, to pick up my trainee! President took us all home after that. Pretty nice of him!

Saturday, February 2nd, 2013. Baptism! Can I just say how much that I love these days? It is so cool to see people completely change themselves for the better, take upon themselves the name of Christ forever, and enter into the waters of baptism. Nanay, and her two oldest children were baptized. Elder DLS baptized them and I had the opportunity to do something that I hadn't done yet. I was asked by our Branch President if I could "witness" it! So, I was part of it in a way. That was so amazing! After baptism, the new members are asked if they would like to share their testimony. Nanay got up and bore a beautiful testimony. In it she could hardly speak due to the fact that she was crying so hard.  She told everyone that she felt this overwhelming feeling as she opened the door to the bathroom after she was baptized that she can't describe. And, for all the members that were there, we all knew what that meant. It was very special to say the least! 

Elder Garner and Elder Delos Santos with
Cadiz Branch young adults

I am so happy knowing that what I am doing out here is for the good of the Filipino peopIe. I have seen how people take upon themselves a new way of life and living in order to change for the better. This work is so amazing! I cannot wait for my brothers to take their part in this. Garrison, you are up next. Start preparing buddy! Time flies quickly. All in all, I am so glad to be here, doing what I am doing. This truly is the work of God and it will change the world completely someday soon enough. Each person that is baptized is another soul, a brother or sister, and another son or daughter of God that is being added to His Kingdom. And I am so happy to be a part of it. I love this work with all my heart and soul. Despite it being hard and trying at times, it truly is worth it when you help others come unto Christ. 

Elder Garner with local friends in Cadiz

That’s all for this week! Have a great day everyone. Until next week! Be smart! Be safe! Pray! Read the Scripts! I love you all so much! 

Love From The Philippines!

-Elder Garner

"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

Obi-Wan, the Lord and patience

01.20.13

Hey all!

I can't believe that I am already writing you all again! Where does the time go? For crying out loud... well, here I am again! 

Elder Garner's Christmas Package in Utah
6 weeks before he received it in the Philippines

First off, I just want to say that I did get your package finally! All was safe, and sound. Thank you for all the stuff. Now all I need to do is find a place to exchange that money in our area. I think there is one in Victorias (where we email and do p-day stuff), I just need to find out where it is. The candy is all gone by the way. Haha it didn't last very long at all. Elder DLS and I love our new ties! Thank you so much. 

A few things that I did find this past week, and some small things that happened, first... guess what I found when I was grocery shopping last week, I found MOTT'S APPLE JUICE!!!!!!!!!!!!! Imported straight from USA my friends! Haha I bought the big container. I drink mostly water and Gatorade still, just apple juice is my favorite as you all know.  I had to have it. Weakness!

On another note, I give a big thanks to the music industry in America. Because of them, almost every kid in Philippines high school thinks the ‘F word’ is acceptable. Let’s just say I got sworn at a few times this past week. Ya not fun for me. I just kept walking and tried to ignore it. I need to figure out how to explain to them that in English that is an awful word. It’s quite amazing to me at how much influence  America has on the Philippines -- in everything.  

Young Obi-Wan aka Elder Garner

Another thing, I got cold this last week, like super cold. I was cold enough that when I got out of my bed in the morning, I took my blanket with me, and draped it over my shoulders as I wrote in my journal. My companion called me Obi-Wan Kenobi... Haha. But yes, there was no sun, and it was windy and rainy all week long. I will admit, again, I froze in the mornings but I finally got smart and boiled hot water to use when I shower. I have been here for almost 4 months, and I just started doing it... It is such a smart idea! So I just boil the water while I iron my shirt in the morning, and by the time I am finished ironing, I have hot water to use! Genius. Proud of me? 

Oh! I also found a tailor in our area! She lives way close to us, and she is way good at what she does. She did a few of my companions shirts, and it looks way good. So I gave her 3 of my pants to work on. I will get them back this week. Guess what the price was? 70 pesos for three pairs of pants. That’s $1.50. Dirt cheap! How about them apples?   

I forgot to mention this a long time ago, but I started collecting things from other religions that get handed to me on buses. For instance, this last week, we met a Muslim Filipino! It was way cool. He didn't have any intentions of bashing with us, he knows a lot about our church actually.  We had a nice little chat. I told him all our beliefs and he told me his. I shook his hand as he handed me a pamphlet.  That pamphlet is now in my suitcase. I will just add it to my mission box when I get home. Kind of cool! 

As for my companionship with Elder DLS, it was a better week than last week. I figured out a few things. He is just quiet because he doesn't know how to express himself in English. I mean as much as I wish I could speak fluent Hilagaynon, I just can't yet. So on Friday, in our companionship inventory, I asked that he has patience with me and my language. In return, I would do the same for him.  I will do the best I can to help him express himself, in whatever language. We kind of have a system now. So I am not as frustrated. We just need to have more patience with each other in every aspect of the word.  

I came to the conclusion that the Lord wants me to learn more patience. Seeing as I came into my mission with a past of not having much -- always in a rush, always wanting something done now --that kind of stuff. So all in all, my mission will teach me more than just the gospel, more than just another language, but it will also help me develop better Christ-like attributes that I can apply to my own life, use in my own life, and my future family’s life someday. 

I never thought about that before I came here. I know now, that I will learn something new from each companion that I have. I started a list in the back of my planner of "things I learned from my companion this transfer"-- so I will do that every transfer and learn as much as I can. These next two years will do more for me out here than whatever I would have done if I chose not to serve. And for that, I am so glad. I love this work!I

So out of our two investigator families, the P family, and D family, the D family will get baptized on February 2nd, if they come to Church next week. They have their interview next Sunday, too. They have been taught all of the lessons they need.  All that's left is to refresh their minds. And we need to get their baptism records finished too... for 4 of them; Dad, Mom, 11 year old son, and 8 year old daughter. February 2nd though! I couldn't think of a better way to spend the day, than helping a family come that much closer by making that first covenant with our Heavenly Father, to entering his kingdom again. As for the P family, they have been taught every lesson possible -- all of it. They just need to get married now. That is all that is left. Our branch President is going to go try to get them their birth certificates today so... I will let you know next week how that ends up going and what the finalized plans are.

Filipino man working in a rice field 

Speaking of investigators, we got 2 more this past week! They are the parents of our Elders Quorum President. The only problem is, they live out in the middle of nowhere, and it takes like 20 minutes to get to, by motorcycle. 20 minutes! My comp wanted to walk at first, but the Elders Quorum President said he's crazy and it would take you all day just to get there -- Which is true. Also, the father works like day every day in the rice fields and he is only available on weekends after 8 pm. So the plan is we go there on Saturday and Sunday at 8 pm. That will just be our last appointment we have those days. We did go there last night, and the spirit prompted us to teach about families then go right into baptism… it sounds kind of weird I know but after  we invited them to be baptized and they both accepted!  How about that? So right now, we have 10 investigators that can be baptized in the next month or so. They all have the desire to follow our Savior and his example! So great! 

That was my week folks. It has been a pleasure writing you all at this time. Let’s do it again sometime. How about next week? Same day, same time, same place? Sound good? Sweet! I'll pick you up at about 11:45 am my time (I think my sense of humor is still intact). 

I love you all so much! Thank you so much for all your love and support. Until next week! 

Elder Garner