First Week in the Field

Hey Fam!

Well I'm a real missionary now! I have so much to tell you guys about my last couple days!! First of all though, on my last Sunday in the MTC I got to bless the sacrament in front of all the 300 missionaries so that was kinda cool! Also, I met President Stucci mom and dad:) He came to the MTC to find me and said he was your Stake president in Louisville haha it was random but I thought I would tell you! Also I went out proselyting on MTC splits again before I left the MTC. We went to the same area as our first exchange and I found out that girl I taught on that trike ride was accepting the lessons now from the missionaries!! Her and her sister were two of their new investigators:) I was pretty proud of myself when I heard that haha!

Arriving to my mission was so fun! We got to meet president Hughes and his wife. HE IS SO COOL! He gave us a few workshops and everything he said was so good. He's such a good speaker haha I know I'm going to learn a ton from him! 

Now for the fun part though, My trainers name is Elder Barth. He is from cottonwood heights and went to Brighton! I didn't know him at all before, but we know a few people in common so that has been fun! I'm lucky to have someone that knows about all the hikes up little cottonwood and that knows all the hang out places with our friends! It has been super helpful to have all those things in common.

We are in the Lagro Ward, which is in the Fairview zone. It's definitely the best area I already know it! Haha we have a huge mall in the middle, but we can't really go to it because we don't have time, and president doesn't want us to spend too much money on food. It's crazy though because the mall area is pretty nice, then we hop on a jeepney or a trike for 6 mins and were in super poor areas. We spend most our time in the poor spots walking though the little alleyways! It is so humbling to see how content these families are to be living in little rooms that are like 12 feet by 12 feet. Especially the Ambidang family. They have a tiny room for the 5 of them, but they have been so helpful and kind to us missionaries already. Last night they gave us both sprite which was super nice because I was low key about to die from the heat of that room haha. They are members, and have such strong testimonies! It's just cool to see how kind Filipinos are and how they're willing to give up anything in order have the gospel in their lives.

Yesterday I got to meet my ward! The Lagro ward is going to have a special place in my heart after my mission I can already tell. They were so welcoming to me, and all the members seem to have really strong testimonies. The youth here are absolutely amazing! The ward mission leader is named Jared. He is 18 years old and has come to a lot of our lessons with us to help us out. I think it is super cool because they assign kids like Jared to callings that work a lot with the missionaries to help them prepare for their missions.

Also, the bishop called me up in sacrament meeting and had me bare my testimony in Tagalog! Lol I did alright, but I know my grammar was probably super bad haha. It was nice though because now all the members know who I am, and they all want to help me with my Tagalog:) I have been able to understand the gist of most conversations, but I still don't know what they are saying for sure haha. Tagalog is a fun language though and I can't wait for the day that I can speak it without thinking super hard about it!! I've just been staying positive about it bc I know it is going to be a couple months before I can talk more with people.

We also got to confirm two little girls in sacrament meeting. They got baptized last week but had to be confirmed in sacrament meeting this week because they are converts, and last Sunday there was a typhoon so they couldn't go to church. Their names are Glyza and Rojean. It was cool to be able to confirm them members of our church on my first sacrament meeting though! The people here are so humble and ready to hear the gospel.

We got to give two blessings this week to members that were sick which was cool. I love using the priesthood to help people. I know God gave it to us for us to use often, so it's always cool when people have enough faith to ask us to come over to give them blessings!

On Thursday night, we got caught in a super crazy rainstorm!! IT WAS SO FUN! The water was up to the middle of our shins! We were drenched, but luckily one of the members saw us and offered to drive us home in his car. The weather here is nuts!

Anyway, I'll tell you more about the food and the people next week after I experience it a little more. So far so good though!

Love you guys!

-Elder Reber

 Graden was trying to download pics onto Dropbox but it was taking awhile and started back to his flight to the Philippines:) It never did download all the way to his present time but I added a few we have never seen. Always happy to see pics of our cute missionary!

I spy the temple!

Had to add these pics- thought it was too funny even took them :)