Batac Week 58

Naimbag nga malem francis family,

This week was a lot better with Elder Tago not being sick.  We said to ourselves this week lets go out with a bang and lets work really hard  and that's what we did and the work paid off. This week we did have a lot of rain and especially last night.  We had a family home evening with Bro. Richard, and his wife Sis. Obra in the other elder's area and we watched The Best Two Years.  What a good missionary movie.  Then we ate some great food and played some really fun games.  

 

 

But the worst part was we had to walk back with no umbrellas and it is a 1 1/2 hour walk back and it was raining and dark, but we four elders walked back and we took some pictures with cows  and we crossed rivers on a little bridge made out of bamboo and I slipped so hahaha.  Then we were walking and the road was really flooded and we took off our shoes and socks and rolled up our pant legs and walked through the water which was up to our knees.  So that was really fun.  

 

 

Then the funniest thing that happened to me this week was me and Elder Tago went on splits with the members on Thursday and I got to go with Bro. Richard and we visited the Agatol family.  Nanay is a member but she has been really sick and actually passed away so it was really sad for the family.  We asked if we could share with tatay a short scripture about families, and he said yes, so we went into the room where nanay was laying and we sat in there,and tatay said to us wait brothers lets wake up nanay and have her listen or lets sit her up in the chair and we looked at him like tatay she is dead.  But the lesson was good and we shared Helaman 10:7 about families living together and told him that he will see her again.  But that's it, I taught a dead nanay and walked through rivers and slipped in and got really wet. 

 

 

I am really excited this week because we have zone conference tomorrow with the whole mission, like so exciting and ready to receive some trainings from President and Sister Andrada. But that was my week full of adventure and still loving every minute of it and I love you all and miss you all too.  Take care and can't wait to hear from you guys next week. 

mahal ko kayong lahat, 

ay-ayaten ka

Elder Francis 

P.S. I really need some new socks and I would like a Christmas tie.  I was wondering if you could send me cream soda, dr.pepper beef jerky, roasted almonds, gummy bears, candy and some souvenirs from Utah. Then I really need some money on my card again like $100.  Thank you and I love you all. Please send the drinks because they don't have those here or beef jerky either.

Batac Week 57

Naimbag nga malem Francis Family,

Hello po Francis family.  This week was a lot different with working only one day.   I had to come back to Paoay with one of the Assistants to give my training for ZTM or zone training conference.  With my companion in the hospital I had to give a really long training and it was pretty fun.  The focus was on finding and how we need to open our mouths and talk to everyone.  That's what I talked about at ZTM. 

 

 

From Tuesday to Sunday we were in the hospital and it was boring just sitting there resting, studying for ZTM, and eating snacks for 6 days.  I ate donuts, snickers, fudge bars, Gatorade, water, and mt. dew. That was my lunch and dinner for six days, like what the hospital life, t.  That's why I needed money, I ran out because the hospital is so expensive.  Thank you guys for the money.  

 

Elder Tago had dengue, he really looked sick, he had a high fever, body pains, didn't want to eat, rashes on his arms, and other things. But that was my week this week, I felt like I was in prison taking pictures and being watched everyday and  just sitting there in a small room. 

 

 

Christmas here in the Philippines does go from September to December - it is everywhere in the Philippines. I love it - Christmas music and Christmas lights, trees already up. For Christmas I would just like money, because I would like to get a bamboo backpack or a carabao belt. 

 

 

Jose is doing well, we didn't get to teach him this week.  I talked to him and he is doing great and wants us to keep teaching him and hopefully he will progress towards baptism. But that's everything. It sounds like you guys will be enjoying the next couple weeks and going to Disneyland.   Get out of the house and take a trip and have fun. I love you all and miss you all too. Take care and stay safe. 

Elder Francis

Batac Week 56

Naimbag nga bigat kabsat (Francis Family),

This week has been pretty good and a little bit different too. This week from Friday to today Elder Tago has been really sick, he said he is weak in the body, and he had a really high temperature, and he can barely walk and needs to take a lot of rests. So this week we have been traveling to the hospital to see what is wrong with him, they didn't really tell us too much, and still right now he looks bad and doesn't feel right. So it has been really hard for us to work and we didn't really work too much last week. 

 

 

We had MLC yesterday and got some training from President and Sister Andrada and the Assistants too. The mission is having trouble finding and baptizing so that's what they talked about and two quotes they said got my attention. First quote was "It starts with you".  That is so true missionary work does start with you, if you don't go find people to teach, missionary work won't progress and we won't have baptisms and the second was "Begin with an end in start", I really liked this one because he kinda told me never to judge others, but to look at them wearing white and think of them as my brothers and sisters and I should be excited to share the gospel and bring the truth and light with others. So those are the quotes that really touched me.  I can take that into my life and always think to myself "God has a plan for me and he knows individually and loves us too". 

 

 

I love being a missionary and being able to spread the gospel to the Filipino people here and I know God called me here for a reason to find someone that needs to hear it.  If you only have one baptism in the mission, maybe that was the person God sent you to find. Missionary work is not easy, it really takes effort, obedience, diligence and a lot of work and effort. But I see the miracles and how much the gospel changes the lives of others and I can see the happiness and joy in those that are baptized and know this is the path God wants me to take and I know this is the true church. I know that this is the right thing for me to do and i am here for a reason and that is to invite others to come unto Christ by helping them receive the restored gospel through faith in Jesus Christ and his atonement, repentance, baptism, receiving the gift of the holy ghost, and enduring to the end. That is my purpose as a missionary and I am ready to share that with others. 

 

 

This week will hopefully be better and hopefully Elder Tago will get better and we can work a lot more. I really love hearing from you guys and seeing how much fun you guys are having and how close it is to Christmas like wow!!! I love you all and miss you all too, take care always Francis Family. 

Ay-Ayaten ka o mahal kita

Elder Francis

Batac Week 55

Magandang hapon po francis family,

This week has been great and really hot.  I really miss the rain and the cold.  I don't like this hot weather and I hate always sweating and being stinky and gross all day. But that is the Philippines and the mission life that I just need to enjoy and have fun. I really love the Philippines and the people, 

 

 

Today we had lunch with our homie Jose or the brother from Sacramento California.  He is a great investigator of ours, he calls us homie and we are his best friends. He cooked lunch for us today and we had squid and fish and of course rice. Then he also came to church and he said it was different, but he liked it and he really wants to change his life and wants us to help him. He has a huge problem with smoking and drinking and has a lot of stories and he wants to change his life around, he has been to prison and jail a lot of times and thinks he should be dead already, but he says to us that God is keeping him alive and has a plan for him. So he talked to us and now he is one of our investigators. 

 

 

Also this week we had a family home evening and I was the conductor for it and we had so much fun.  For the games we played a game where the person in the middle thinks of a subject like animal and we have to guess what animal it is and who ever guesses it rights gets baby powder to the face or lip stick.  I got so much baby powder to the face, because the tradition here in the Philippines is that they love to embarrass people and love to laugh, so they always have someone that loses do a talent. I love the family home evenings here in the Philippines and the fun traditions they do for it. 

 

 

Not too much happened this week, I am still here in Paoay with Elder Tago for another 6 weeks which is okay.   Hopefully next month we will have some baptisms. Like two or three so that will be exciting. But everything is going great and loving the mission life and the Philippines and surviving everything and getting to meet new people everyday.  I can see the Lord's hands in this work and the people that he leads us to every day.  Take care Francis family and I miss you all and love you all too. 

Ofa atu or ay-ayaten ka or mahal kita

Elder Francis

Batac Week 54

Kumusta Francis Family!

This week has been a really good week, because we do have power and water now after the big storm or typhoon.  There was not too much damage here in Laoag, it just left us without power for a couple days. We have power now and I am super excited that we do because without it it was really hot and no fans, no drinking water, we couldn't shower inside, we had to go outside and use a pump to get the water and showered out in the back of our apartment. Then for water for those days we had to go to 7-eleven every day and buy snacks and water and things to drink, so that was fun to do for a week, snacks and 7-eleven everyday hahaha. 

We are able to teach now because the water is all gone and it's just super hot and I am starting to sweat again, I really miss the cold and the rain. This week I had some fun moments and that's why I love this work.  So first me and Elder Tago were working in one of our areas, Buga, and it's a really green area and all bukids and we were finishing teaching a family and started to walk through the bukids and it's still really putik (muddy) and we were walking and I fell in and my shoe got stuck in the mud and I couldn't get it out and my other foot got stuck too and then oooppp I fell in to the water and got all dirty and covered in mud hahaha.  I was laughing so hard and we got to our last lesson the Dela Cruz family and they are members and they laughed at me and they said to me you guys don't have anything like this in America right? So that happened to me on Thursday and it just made me love the Philippines so much more and how beautiful it is here. 

Then on Friday me and Elder Tago went finding for new investigators and found this Tatay under a tree and went to talk to him and found out that the tree with clothes all torn up and dirt every where and like no shelter was his house and he was really happy to live there.  He spoke really good English to us because he spent 5 years in America.  He told us he had a white cow and Elder Tago asked him if the cow had a name and he said no, so he told him lets name it RYAN, hahaha like really he named the cow after my name, so that's the name of the cow: Ryan. 

On Saturday me and Elder Tago traveled to Badoc because they had a baptismal interview for us to do, so I got to do it - my very first one.  I was a little nervous at first, like what do I do but I just prayed hard and it went well, then the kid got baptized later that day. Then Saturday night we went to 7-eleven for dinner and while we were eating a brother came in really drunk and started to talk to us and he asked me where I was from and I said America and he said well of course you are, where in America and I said Utah.  He said he was from Sacramento California and he got deported here. He lived in America for 22 years, so he is super good at English, so we talked to him and he told us about his story why he is here.  He said he had two girl friends in America and a two kids with one and then he broke up with her and it was his birthday and his x-girl friend was over and then his girlfriend came over and saw her and was really confused and mad, because she is bi-polar and she called the cops and so he spent like 6 months in jail an then other stuff, I don't really know and now he is here. He was a really interesting guy and he really wants to change his life.  He drinks every day and swears like no other, but he wants to stop and needs help, so he wants us to help him.  So this week we will go talk to him and share with him that God loves him and has a plan for us and through the atonement we can become clean and forgiven of our sins. So that's what happened to me this week and it was really crazy and fun hahaha. 

It sounds like you guys are all doing good and are all safe.   Emily is enjoying school and soccer and her team is just destroying everyone like crazy and dad is enjoying work. I e-mailed Elder Egbert (Jace), and he is super excited to join me here in the Philippines and is a little nervous about the language and the culture and the difference. I told him not to worry and that he will love it here and the people and the food. Like I do, I love the Philippines and everything about it and the mission life is different but I can see the blessings from it. I might need some money for traveling and I need to buy a new umbrella or a jacket. But thank you you all for everything and I love you all and miss you all too. 

Ingat po kayo palagi at mahal kita. 

Elder Francis

Batac Week 53

This is Elder Francis and I am dead, this is his spirit talking to you. Elder Francis had an accident in the typhoon he went for a swim and a shark attacked him and he fought it off, but then he got bitten and died.

Jokelang Elder Francis is alive here in the Philippines even though it rained like crazy and there was flooding like crazy, and the water came up to my knees. This week was crazy.  From Friday to Sunday we had no power and it rained like crazy, we had to stay inside on Friday and Saturday and we went to 7-eleven to buy snacks. Then today I found out that we have no water to drink or power for two weeks, so this will be fun and challenging. I really need some money on my card for the next couple of weeks, we will be going out to eat for a long time and we cant put anything in the fridge. So we will be eating snacks for two weeks, like yea!!!. 

 

 

But I am doing great and enjoying this weather and my first typhoon in the Philippines, like the rain was crazy and the wind.  After it stopped we went outside and saw the damage and the floods were crazy, water up past my knees and destroying houses and homes of people. We were walking home from 7-eleven and the wind was so strong my umbrella rapped all the way around me and broke. So I have no jacket or umbrella. 

 

 

As a zone leader I have to text my zone and keep updated on how they are doing and if there are any problems and if there are, we travel to them to help them. I love being a zone leader and being a example to others.  

 

 

One story, we walked to this house they are recent converts, the Perdido brothers , and the storm or floods and the water was past our knees and we got to their house and they were so surprised - what we were doing outside our apartment.  We were checking on our members and making sure everyone is safe. On Sunday church was thirty minutes later and we had no classes because of the flooding. This week we didn't really do that much except from Friday to Sunday we stayed inside played card games, talked, studied, slept. It was so boring, but now we have no power or water to drink for two weeks, so we bought some snacks and huge water bottles for the next two weeks. So that's what happening here in Paoay or the Philippines. 

It sounds like you guys are ok and enjoyed summer and Emily is doing great at soccer and loving school.  Who are some of her teachers?  How is everything going, the family, the ward, and life. I miss you all so much and love you all too. 

Ay-Ayaten ka 

Elder Francis