Christmas Talk

Hey Fam,

This was another amazing week:) The first highlight was probably zone conference! Elder Chambers and I gave a workshop on contacts (finding). It was my third time on my mission that I wore contacts😂 At the beginning we had them guess what our workshop was going to be on, then after a few guesses I asked what was different about me. I think it made it a little bit more memorable for them. Then we just gave a 20 min workshop on different ways to find and how you should be ready to share different gospel points depending on who they are. Not everyone is the same, and neither should a lesson:)

In my interview with President I found out that I will be staying here in Baliwag 2nd ward! I'm so glad I get to spend Christmas here! However Elder Chambers is leaving to go finish up an Elder's training. President talked to me about the importance of self control and self respect. There are a lot of thighs we have to do everyday as habits that build up who we are. We should evaluate the habits we have every once in a while, both big and small. Then choose one you either want to change, or pick one you want to gain in your life. Habits bring control in life and discipline to yourself. It reminds your body that your mind is in charge. Self Control is portable. Whatever we develop ourselves into now is who we will be in the future. No matter what part of the world we are on... or even in the after life, our spirits, knowledge, and personality will be the same!

President Hughes takes habits to the next level in his life haha. He said every single morning he takes a cold shower because it keeps him out of the comfort zone. He said if you are willing to choose the harder route EVERY TIME in both small and big decisions then you will start seeing growth in yourself a lot faster. "What impedes the way IS the way."

I got to give a talk in sacrament this week!! It was probably my best one yet. I talked all about Christmas:) I just focused mainly on the true meaning of Christmas, and how we can better remember and follow Christ this Christmas season. One cool thought I had is that God gave us a lot of signs that Christ would come. Prophets spoke of it, the new star appeared, angels appeared to the Shepards, the day the night and the day of straight light, etc. Well have you ever thought that as God gave us signs of the coming of Christ, we are giving him signs that we are coming as well? We make decisions daily that show God we want to return to his presence. Are you reading your scriptures daily? Saying pour personal prayers? Do you sincerely seek opportunities to serve others daily? I know that as we make the correct decisions daily, we will gain power in our lives. We will gain the light of Christ. We will gain confidence in ourselves. We will gain a testimony of the truthfulness of the Gospel of Jesus Christ, and we will gain peace and joy from that Gospel! 

I love you guys tons! Sorry my emails keep getting one week off😂 

-Elder Reber

Graden says they really know how to throw a ward party! 

Another great companion- Elder Castro

No running water working in their apartment

Christmas Shirts

2019 Christmas was a great one!

Best Week of my Mission

Heyyyy Fam!

This week was absolutely amazing! Here are some of the reasons why...

1) We had 7 baptisms in our ward! Charlie Galvez, Angieleen Canella, Trisna Juan, Tristell Juan, Trisha Juan, Maria Juan, and then one ward baptism. Charlie and Angieleen both got baptized by our Recent Convert Prince which was awesome to watch him used his newly received Priesthood! It was super awesome to see the harvest of our super hard work!

2) We had 13 other investigators come to church! We have been really bold AND loving with our invitations lately which seems to be working. If they don't keep commitments we are just moving on to find people that will.

3) I got to watch one of our investigators named Bernardita finally get married! Her husband Gramvelle is a less active member that we have helped come back to church, and now we will hopefully work towards Bernardita's baptism! I learned at that wedding that 1+1=1😂 Because the husband and wife have one purpose daw:)

4) On Wednesday, we got a message from our mission president that we were banned to wear neckties until February 1st! The area presidency wanted us to see if we were more "approachable," especially to the ages of 15-30😂 However, on Friday he texted us again and said they were going to talk about it more with the Stake Presidents to see if it's something worth trying haha. It was super weird walking around with the top button of my white shirt down... but it was a lot less hot tbh😂

5) We had the primary program this Sunday! If you think the kids are funny back home, you should come watch the Filipino kids up on the stand!

6) We met an investigator named Darin Dave. For those of you that don't know why that is funny, my dad's brothers are named Darin and Dave... And they are twins😂 He kind of has two sides to him, I'll let my uncles fight over which one is their half ;) #1- He is changing. Came to church. Likes the lessons. Asks lots of questions.

#2- He used to be in prison for selling drugs. Smokes 20 cigarettes per day. Lives alone currently... but is dating a returning less active member (which also used to be in prison😂) Which one is Darin and which one is Dave? 🤔

7) DEXTER ANTOLIN came and visited us on Sunday! He was a recent convert in my second area that worked with us like 5 times a week:) It was awesome to hear how my ward was doing over there! Crazy to think I was in that ward last Christmas! Time is flying by!

8) Elder Chambers and I say "GOOD MORNING" to everyone we see... No matter what time of day it is! It is funny to see how many people say good morning back and then like 5 seconds later after we have walked past them they say "oops good afternoon" or "ayyy good evening."

9) We had a storm day on Tuesday. So basically we weren't allowed to go outside because of the typhoon warnings. It made for a chill day of studies, lots and lots of stories, and making tacos:)

10) Last but certainly not least, we had a ward FHE for my birthday! They had tons of food, cake and saging. We ended up being in charge of games and the lesson... So we just picked a game we knew would be fun, then figured we would connect it somehow to the gospel. It ended up having a dope message behind it about member missionaries and not going with the flow. Bishop told us after that it was one of the best FHE lessons he has ever heard! Then he asked us if missionaries do that one a lot nowadays Bc he hadn't heard it yet😂 We just started laughing and we like "yeahhh we just came up with it on the spot so that makes sense you haven't seen it yet." He was super impressed which was fun to see us gain more of his trust! 

Overall things were just rolling great this week! Loving life here in the Philippines!

-Elder Reber

We are still a week off on pictures--

Happy 20th Birthday Graden!

Birthday Dinner

This one is for Graden's sister in law, Jenni. He made friends with a Mr. B as well :)