malamig na ulam

What? That’s so awesome that Kenzie got to play the piano with Jon Schmidt. Does she still take piano lessons? I think I told you this last year but I regret not learning the piano.  I play occasionally when I have time, I can play Love at Home and I Believe in Christ one handed, but that’s pretty much it

 Last Monday after the trip to the falls we went to a birthday party and I brought no bake cookies, everyone loved it. We also ate dinner there but we were late, so we had malamig na ulam and matigas na kanin

Tuesday one of the members worked with us and we got to ride in his tricycle. Then we went to his house for dinner and ate tenola. Seriously the best ulam ever. But we don’t have the right ingredients for it in America

Wednesday we went to Dingalan and played basketball in the morning then had DDM. It was the first time since the MTC (almost an entire year ago) I actually enjoyed a game of basketball. In the afternoon we taught RJ's stepbrother.

Thursday we went to Bugnan, it was the same as every other time we go: We had to say hi to all the members  and teach the same less actives who still don’t come to church.

Friday I worked with Elder Hawaikirangi in our area, it was sweet. We taught Tatay  and he tried to tell me we were all wrong because Emperor Constantine was the one who changed the Sabbath Day. I tried to explain to him but he didn’t really get it. So that was a fun discussion. Then the rain came and it didn’t stop. In the middle of the road it was almost to my knees. Elder Hawaikirangi said he's never seen rain so deep before (He got here in January). Last week we had some investigators (a family) come to church last week and today they mentioned they got offended by the relief society so they don’t want to come back anymore.

Saturday we went back to Bugnan, and an RM from Bicol and he was assigned in Gobaldon a few years ago. Everyone wanted to talk to him so that basically destroyed our work. Before we left we had a small party with soup (hot soup on a hot day. perfect combination). Then I dropped our cell phone in the river on the way home, so that was pretty cool.  And we actually have a baptism scheduled for Sept 15.

 I love you!

Elder Williams

 They are not allowed to take pictures during missionary work time so most of his pictures are from P-days. 

 

waterfalls

Hello family,

We went to the waterfalls today.  Yeah the falls today was way better than Camiling Zone. I'm uploading pictures so check the server. 

 So Monday after the day was over I made some no-bake cookies, Elder Abuan and RJ said they were 'masyadong matamis('too sweet')  so I made another batch with less sugar, they were the best! Then we were playing ping-pong at the church, and the rain was ridiculously strong, I couldn't believe it. The storm got so bad the power flashed on and off for several seconds. I don't know if this was a joke or serious, but both RJ and Elder Abuan blamed it on a ghost so we went home
Tuesday was sooo boring. Elder Abuan woke up and was so sick I made him go back to sleep, he basically slept the entire day. I never told you this but my first weekend in college all my roommates went home and I was nag-isa (alone) in our dorm. I was such a loser I didn't even walk into the hallway or anything. I can confidently say it was the least productive day of my life. Tuesday I did a lot, like read books and cleaned our apartment, but the day never seemed to end.

Wednesday we went to Palayan for DDM.  At DDM the APs were there and they talked to Elder Abuan about his sickness.

Thursday we went to Bugnan and it was awesome. We ate lunch at a members home.  Also, when we got home Elder Abuan went right to sleep, he didn't bother to take off his shoes or necktie.

Friday we taught this less active guy Tatay, he basically knows everything but hasn’t really come to church since his wife died. Then he asked us "Why did God create our spirits? What was the purpose behind our creation?" Then he answered his own question (like he does every week) and basically said we were created so that God would have someone to worship Him.

Saturday we went to Bugnan again and had an FHE, it was awesome! We played Charades and our team lost so we had this punishment where we had to speak (not sing) the words to Called To Serve. I was the one who had to do it and I gave it like a speech, it was sweet. By the end of it everyone was laughing and cheering, but I know most of them didn't understand because it was English.

Sunday we spent all day in meetings, the stake president showed up and basically told us all the things we are doing wrong as a branch. Then I made more cookies because tonight we are going to a birthday party.

Check the server for the planking pictures, I had a really good one today

So we're basically out of time because of the crappy internet shop we have. Remind me to tell you about it next week.

I love you!

Elder Williams

"Maganda pala dito"

I don’t know if I can write too long of an email. I forgot my camera AND my journal. 

It was a good week. I got your package this week! Did you ever get mine? I’m afraid it might have gotten lost (do things like that happen often)?
Can you send me a no-bake cookie recipe? We’re going shopping at a really good grocery place and a member here is having a birthday soon so I need to know what to buy mamaya. (later)
Tuesday was a really boring day. We weren’t motivated to work because transfer announcements were on Wednesday.
Wednesday we had transfers. Elder Abuan and I are still companions!! We went with the elders in Dingalan to Bugnan for lunch, and the zone leaders just called us and told us who would be transferring. Kind of boring with only four of us, but oh well. Afterwards, they went back to Dingalan and one of the members in our branch gave them a ride. They took our key because they left stuff in our apartment. Nanay Garcia (the lady who used to wash our clothes but doesn't anymore because she charges too much, we need to learn to budget better) is the only other one with a key. So we went to her house around 8:30 after our work in Bugnan and got the key from her. She lives really close to us, so we just went home after that. They Dingalan elders gave our key to that member. Anyway I know what I said it really magulo (confused) but what I’m trying to say is we are down to one key right now.

Friday we had a 'film showing’; we showed the movie The Testament at the church, it was awesome! We had tons of people show up and this one family we started teaching, they brought their kids and before they left the wife said "Maganda pala dito" (Turned beautiful here). The entire day was spent cleaning the church and going around to people's houses inviting them; we only taught tatay Daelo, a super smart less active guy. He knows more about the millennium and second coming than anyone I’ve ever met. He also meets with the Jehovah’s witnesses a few times a week, so I don’t know what his deal is.
Saturday I got the package! Sister and Elder Lutz were the way to Dingalan and stopped at our apartment in the morning. but the problem was, we didn’t have a key (see Wednesday) to get into the house because we gave our only key to RJ so he could wash our clothes for us and he left to buy laundry soap, so I took it with me across the river to  Bugnan. We ate lunch at the DeLeon's house (the place we slept at a few weeks ago) and afterwards opened the package. People here have a weird obsession with snow, so we tried the snow you sent and Sister Marivi asked if we could make snow for her plants in front of her house. So we made some and she sprinkled it around. Then we looked through all the pictures (which were awesome! Except the part where it makes me want to come home so I can race again) and everyone said me and McKenzie have the exact same face (but I’m pretty sure that’s because I'm the only person in this side of Nueva Ecija with blue eyes). Then we left the package at their home while we worked. Did I tell you about the less active Family? It's a less active family who we've been teaching for a few weeks, literally everyone in Bugnan tell us to re-activate them. She told us she couldn’t come to church because she had a meeting on Sunday, so we shared a few scriptures (2 Nephi 1:10, jacob 1:19), told her she had free agency, and invited her to pray about it.
Sunday we hardly worked again, we just sat in meetings all day and then did weekly planning at night (because we were cleaning all day friday). But the less active Family came to church!!! When we left her house on Saturday I honestly did not expect her to come. She spent the entire lesson justifying why she wouldn't go, but something must have changed. I wish there were words to describe how happy I was. It’s been a good week.

ps I’m not flooded, we are in a second floor apartment and in the mountains. If our apartment gets flooded, it’s probably the end of the world.

ps we need to go now. Thank you for this opportunity to serve a mission

I love you
Elder Williams

1 year 1 month

I’m trying to upload pictures but it’s not really working. I am getting a few of them though. Look in the folder labeled "Cabanatuan"

So on Tuesday I worked in Bongabon City, another city in our zone, with Elder Masuela. His companion and Elder Abuan had a meeting in Cabanatuan. it was cool but Elder Masuela was kind of lazy.  We met the ZLs at their house and got to Bongabon at about 8:15am. He slept until 11:30 then we ate lunch and laid around until 2:30. At 2:30 he took a shower, and then we went to work. We were in the middle of one lesson when the ZLs called and said they were finished with their meeting and we needed to meet them at their house. So then we went to another less active and sat there for about 15 minutes before we left. By the time we got to the ZL's house and Elder Abuan and I went back to Gobaldon, we basically had no time to work

Wednesday it rained again. It was like hurricane type rain, the van we were in had a hard time getting home. We went to Palayan in the morning to hear announcements from the ZLs about the meeting on Tuesday, and then we had to go to Cabanatuan again to withdraw our support money. We didn’t get home until 4pm. I worked with Elder Rabino (from Davao) in our area. He’s a super new missionary and so he basically just followed me around while I taught. 

Thursday we went to Bugnan (across the river) and RJ, our branch mission leader just preached to everyone we saw. He reminded me of one of those guys you see standing on a soapbox in the park. He does that a lot when he works with us because he misses his mission a lot.

On Friday we visited tatay, one of our less actives who had a stroke and can't walk very well.

Saturday we went to Bugnan again and ate with a Family for lunch and then another Family for dinner. Coming home was really cool, too. We got to the river a little bit late and nobody was there with a balsa to take us across. So then Harold (the guy from last week’s story) totally did something dad would do:

Every night, the guys who nagtatawid just leave their mga balsa (the raft) on the beach until the next morning. So we are on the side of the river with no way to get across, and the last thing we want to do is stay in Bugnan again. So Harold went to one of the rafts, untied one of the tires, and sat us down on it.  Then he pulled us across the river. A few times he was actually floating as well because the river was so deep, a few times he accidentally kicked me

Sunday we didn’t do a lot of work, mostly just meetings and paperwork. Then we ate dinner at Nanay’s house, she’s the lady who washes our clothes for us. Afterwards we were going to teach them but her grandchildren were watching Sleeping Beauty so she asked if we could wait until it’s over to teach her. Elder Abuan was falling asleep while we waited; he had a really bad headache. So we came home around 8:30.

This morning we had a zone activity and went to some garden place with a bunch of statues of Jesus. I enjoyed being with the other missionaries, but I would have enjoyed it more if I was a Catholic

Below are pictures of Elder Williams apartment. He said it is the nicest place he has lived but hates that he does not have running water.