DISTRICT SERVICE PROJECT

Week 58

Monday, July 24, 2017

Hello Friends and Family, 

I hope you all had a great week.

This week was a little bit of a different week, but it was awesome. On Tuesday,  we had a Zone Meeting with President Cruz. It was amazing... he taught about the Atonement and about some deeper doctrine which was really cool to learn. Then on Friday, we had a meeting with Elder Collins, the Philippines Area Medical Advisor. He shared medical information and also medical precautions we should be taking for things such as Dengue, etc.  It was very interesting and so helpful to learn all the information he taught us. 

Other than the meetings that took place, the work was good this week.  We are really working right now in our area to become closer to members. We have been feeling that the work here in our area could be so much effective with the help of the members, so we have been visiting a lot of members. One cool thing we did this week was a District Service Project for Sister "F".  It was so fun. We all worked hard and cleaned up her yard.   Afterwards, she made and bought all of us some absolutely fantastic food.   I love her so much, and now she is beginning to help us with the work!  

Our Investigators:

Our investigators are doing alright. We are struggling to get them to church, but our best investigator right now is "R" Sr. He is the father of "R" Jr. (the baptism that happened here my first day here.) He is so awesome, His life has really changed because of this gospel.  We're still working with him on a few things, but he will be baptized in the near future.  "L"   is still doing great, there are some things we are just working through with her, but we're getting there.  

That's really all I have this week.  The work here in Jaro is great and I love you all!

Plangga taka 

Love, 

Elder Andersen

The District...minus 2

The Boys

CSP (Community Service Project)

CSP (Community Service Project)

CSP (Community Service Project)

The Best Sign!

The "V" Family, Bishop, and Bro 

LIVIN' IT UP IN JARO

Week 57

Monday, July 17, 2017

Hello friends and family,

I hope you all had a great week.  We are just living it up here in Jaro!

This week was a lot of fun.  The craziest thing that happened to us this week was when we got a delivery of a bunch of our supplies (closets,brooms, mop, etc.).  We came home one night after work and Elder Geocadin needed to use the restroom. I was just waiting for him at my desk so we could close our day.  We closed our day and then we knelt to pray.  While we were praying, sweat was dripping down my face and into my eyes.  My eyes sort of opened for a second while I was wiping away the sweat...and i actually did a "double-take" because right in front of my eyes was a whole bunch of stuff. I think my jaw dropped in amazement.  After Elder Geocadin finished the prayer, I just pointed at all the stuff.  He was like...WHOA...The Lord has provided for us!  haha!  It was just crazy that we didn't notice it all when we got home.  It was great,  and now we are living good..no more living out of suitcases.  We really have eveything we need except for a refrigerator.  Ours is broken and we are waiting for a new one.

This week has been great though. We have one investigator, "A", who will be baptized in a 2 weeks. He is sooooo cool,.  We can only teach him on Sundays because he stays at his work during the work week. He is so awesome, and so ready to be baptized. 

We also have another great investigator named "G". She is also great. She is a real seeker... she has been baptized is so many different churches because she has constantly been searching to find the truth.  We have been having great lessons with her, and she is liking what we have to say. We finally found out her concern, which is great and we're just trying to help her see how this is the truth.  One great thing about her is every time we teach her,  one of her neighbors sits in on the lesson. This week we had a funny experience with one of her neighbors, "R" While we were teaching, there were people that were constantly going in and out of the house.  "R" said, "He's Satan because he keeps interrupting us." When a boy came back through the house, a little kid we were teaching said,  "Oh,  it's Satan!" hahahah It was soooo funny I about lost it, laughing. 

Another funny thing happened while we were walking to "G's" house. There were group of guys that were drinking,  and they were all talking about how tall I was. Finally when I passed by, one guy jumped up and asked me how tall I was?  I told him that I was 6'4", and he turned  around to his friends and was like "you see!"  I watched these guys give him a bunch of money because they were actually betting on my height...haha!  Also Sister "L" has been  doing great, we are just struggling to get her to church, but we are working it out... haha.  This week has been great.  I love this place and I love this missionary work!

I hope you all have a great week, 

Plangga taka

Love,

 Elder Andersen

Our Area

Rain Storm

Rain Storm

The Comp...Elder Geocadin

Our new apartment and our new closets

New Apartment

New Apartment

New Apartment

New Apartment

LIVING OUT OF SUITCASES!

Week 56

Monday, July 10, 2017

Hello Friends and Family,

First of all, I would like to wish my Grandpa a very Happy Birthday!   I love that man so much and I have so many memorable stories with him... "DOUGLAS!!!"

This week there really wasn't anything crazy thing that happened.  The biggest thing that happened this week however, was that we moved! The new house is sooooo nice and so much more accessible.  We just don't have any closets yet and our  refrigerator is broken.  So, we are living out of our suitcases, and we have to eat out every meal... haha not too bad.  

This week was really good. Our most progressing investigator is a lady named "L".  I may have talked about her last week. We have been visiting her a lot and she is sooo great!   Every time we visit her, we talk for a little bit, and when we ask if we can share.   She's like... "YEAH... That's what I've been waiting for!"  She is so great. She really enjoys reading the Book of Mormon because she gets to know Jesus Christ through it. We are so happy that we found her.  She she lives very close to some members in the Ward, so we have some great fellow-shippers lined up! We have also been "finding" a lot, because our pool is a little small.  It's been a little slow, but it's coming along.  One other crazy thing that happened this week was that we got our electric bill.  Before I got here to  Jaro, they hadn't received an electric bill for three months.  Finally... on Wednesday, we got the bill...it was almost 14,000 pesos. Almost 150 dollars.  We couldn't believe it...we had to spend part of our week going back and forth from our place to the electric place.  It was a super big hassle, but we got the issue solved.  They had made a mistake and the bill was only 2000 pesos...so much cheaper!

That's about all I have for this week. The work here is great, and I'm soooo glad to be here in Jaro! 

Halong kamo pierme, plangga taka

Love,
Elder Andersen 

Other questions answered from our personal letters:

Q:  Did you feel the earthquake that happened this week in the Philippines?  Did it impact you at all?
A: No earthquake felt here at all!


Q:  What is your new companion's native language?
A:  My companion's native language is Ilonggo, so I have been learning deep Ilonggo.  I have learned some funny words.  

Elder Madrid.  Actually now, it's...Brother Madrid.  We are friends from the mission.

Baptism from the Jaro 2nd Ward.  Elder Geocadin baptized them.

GOOD WEEK

Week 55

Sunday, July 2, 2017

Hello Friends and Family,

This week was great! All start off the usual way...

This Week's Crazy Story:

On Saturday, we were tracting all morning.  After about two hours of just getting straight denied, one of the craziest things happened to us.  We were talking to this lady, and she asked us if we wanted some water.  We told her that would be nice, and she brought us into her house. (Her cousin came into the house with us.)  She started making us juice, and then brought it out to us along with some crackers. (A typical thing to do here.) We talked a little bit, and drank all the juice. When she saw that our juice was gone, she went and made us some more and also got us some bread to eat. A little bit later while we were talking to her cousin, she was making us hot dogs, eggs and another pitcher of juice.  We were in this lady's house for awhile, and then she offered to make us rice and fries and a whole bunch of other stuff,  We told her thank you, but that we were full...haha   She was one of the nicest people I've ever met!  

So, her cousin is literally crazy... haha.  His name is "D.A.".  Apparently he knows EVERYTHING.  He told us he was paid to go to Harvard.  (He's been to America one time and really isn't smart...he's "clever".  While we were talking, he was waiting for Donald Trump to call him.  It was a good time talking to him, and the lady who gave us all the food is actually interested in our message!

The week: 

This week was a lot of fun, the people here are soooo nice.  We get fed almost every night, it's awesome...but it means I'm gonna get fat.  We have had a lot of good teaching experiences this week too! We found this one lady, "L", she is dope, we've taught her her twice and she loves our message, she tells us to come by any time. She has had some family problems in the past, so we'll be able to help her with her problems.  We have also had a lot of success teaching and getting part member families interested in the gospel. l.  Some members have been helping us too.  Yesterday at church we received a few referrals and had two members bring their friends to church.   Yesterday was a fairly successful day at church... we had 5 investigators that came.  The work is good and this area is really starting to progress! 

That's really all that I have for this week, I love all you so much and I hope you all have  a great week!

Plangga taka

Elder Andersen