#Binyagz4dayz --Baptismz 4 dayz

Wazzzup Fam!

Another quick week has come and gone:) So on Wednesday we had our zone conference and all of the Elders wore suit jackets this time! Haha I borrowed one from a member because I don't want to buy one😂 It is wayyyy to hot for suits here...wayyyyyyyyy to hot. Our zone conference was a success though, I had to give a workshop alone which was fun to do. I told them an acronym about planning that I made  called "FAST." It came from when Dad told us he was going to get in shape one new years and then I told him he was going to be FAST without the S. (Fat) Haha they all thought it was good;) The planning part of it was:

F-aithful

A-ccountable

S-pecific 

T-ime

We had 3 baptisms this week! The first one was John Paul! We met him 5 weeks ago on a Saturday, he was bye the church and I felt like I should go over and talk to him. We talked for a little while and then I invited him to church the next day, since then he hasn't missed a week and is excited to get the priesthood soon!

The other two are brothers, Luigi and Dave Norbe:) We found them when I first got here in Malolos area. There whole family has been taking the lessons, but Luigi has been the strongest by far. He has been helping his whole family get to church even when his Dad always has work and his mom wasn't interested. Now he has set the example for his mom and she has been coming to church a little bit now. We will probably baptize their brother Third, and their sister Coleen. They are an awesome family!

Yesterday was an exciting day for me. First, we got to sing in sacrament meeting with just 4 of us haha! It was funny bc the two sister missionaries were singing super quiet so it was basically just Elder Pajarin and I. Then we got to confirm the 4 people that got baptized. I confirmed John Paul and Luigi which was cool, but it is always a little scary to give a blessing in front of everybody in Tagalog haha. It went smooth though.

Then after sacrament we had a stake missionary training meeting. Basically we invited all the Stake leaders, and the 1st councilors of the bishopric, Elders Quorum, and Relief society, and the Ward Mission Leaders to attend. Then the High Council man for missionary work had each Zone Leader and STL give workshops on how members can be more involved. I chose to just lead more of a discussion instead of trying to teach them all. Haha 2 of them had been mission presidents before so I just gave a good short workshop and then listed things that they saw working in their own wards that others could apply. It was fun!

Life is good here in the Philippines:) Have a good week😊

-Elder Reber

Palawan? Nope it's Pamarawan

Kamusta Fam:)

This week was a super fun week! I'll start off by talkig a little bit about our Ward Mission Leader named Romel Roque😂 He is honestly the funniest guy ever because he always has a ton of energy and laughs like Donold Duck! Anyway, there was one night we were waiting for a member to pick us up in her trike. Brother Romel thought he saw her and was in a really hyper mood so he ran across the street yelling "ALALISSSSSSAAAA!" (Her name) Haha he was like skipping across the road looking like a Bakla just to mess around with her, but then he realized that it was a complete stranger! Haha it was so funny:) He was going off about Americas Got Talent the night before that which was super funny. He knew all the funny people from it so it was a fun conversation😂

This week we went to Pamarawan! Park might be thinking that sounds like Palawan, and it is:) haha it is an island in our area that we had to take a 30 min boat ride to get to! When we got there it was flooded like crazy so we did what we normally do in those situations... barefoot for dayzzz. Haha it was fun to meet a bunch new people and eat crabs:) We found a few new investigators out there that have potential, but it is so far from the church it might be tricky. We want to talk to President about maybe being able to do special sacraments out there.

One of our fun experiences of the week happened on a tricycle! We were just driving to an appointment and the side car that we were riding in detatched from the motorcycle! There were like sparks flyying behind us as we came to a stop😂💥 Luckily we weren't going too fast though so nothing too bad happened:)

We had a good Sunday yesterday:) We had 5 investigators at church, 3 of them will get baptized this saturday! Luigi, Dave, and John Paul😃 They are all awesome potential missionaries! Then after church we got to go teach our favorite investigators again... the Pajarins! Haha we taught Elder Pajarin's family about priesthood to try and get his little brother more excited to endure to the end. We wanted the priesthood blessings for families to open the ears of his Dad. The priesthood really is so important for families so it was fun to share it with Elder Pajarin's fam!:) I shared about how Dad gave us school blessings each year, and about my Pfiefferhorn story of course:)

Anyway, hope you guys had an awesome week too! I get to give a workshop this week in zone conference again so that will be fun!

-Elder Reber

Pumayag si President na gawin ano??? President gave us permission to do what???

This week was another week I will remember for a very long time. Haha that has started to become a habit in my weekly emails. But really we had one of the coolest lessons I have ever been apart of...

So my companion Elder Pajarin was actually born about an hour away from where we are serving right now. He moved back and forth from here and Davao multiple times throughout his life. But he submitted his mission papers when he was in Davao (southern part of the Philippines). A few months ago his family moved back into our mission. Elder Pajarin told the missionaries in that zone to go and try to teach his family because only his little sister is a member. His little brother has had problems with the word of wisdom for years, but has recently overcome smoking and will be baptized this August. So last Friday while we were at MLC, Elder Pajarin asked our mission president if he could be the one that baptizes his 18 year old brother. President told him that he could definitely go and baptize his brother, but then he kept talking "Actually Elder Pajarin, I don't see any reasons why you shouldn't go teach him!" President wanted us to be the ones that teaches his family so that we can help his parents get interested in the church as well! So yesterday we rode up to Baliwag to surprise his family!

It was so fun to get to meet them and learn more about Elder Pajarin's life. I think it has brought us closer as a companionship. We taught them about temples and eternal families. What an amazing topic. I told them about a quote I love, "Missionaries leave their families for a short amount of time to help other families be together forever." It was awesome that Heavenly Father answered Elder Pajarin's prayers to help his family get sealed. If there is ANYONE that can convince them that the church is true, it is him. That was the first time his Dad has ever listened to missionaries. It was awesome to testify to them about the blessings of having my family sealed together in the temple. Honestly, I have always been a little jealous of my companions that are converts. It is really powerful to be able to say they had their prayers answered before they were a member. But, this moment was perfect for me. I pondered on the drive over there what blessings I have really received from my family being sealed in the temple. I gave one of my most heart felt testimonies I have ever had in a lesson. It was really cool. Elder Pajarin said that was the first lesson he has ever been nervous for in his entire mission, and it was also the first time he has cried while bearing testimony. Wow, it really was such a powerful lesson! His brother gave the closing prayer without asking any questions. Elder Pajarin said that was the first time he has ever heard his brother pray in his life:):)

This week we had 8 investigators at church. Luigi and John Paul are both getting closer to their baptism:) I love seeing people change their lives around as they understand the importance of the gospel.

Well, I gotta go buy myself some mangos and bananas😎 Talk to your guys next week!

-Elder Reber

Rainy season

Off they go to a very memorable lesson:)

The very best missionaries to teach this family for sure!!

The most memorable lesson :)

Pday Activity

So fun to see him with all of the cute kids!