Philippines Legazpi Mission: Elder Feraer

Another productive day for our companionship. We went to Nagas spillway and we visited and taught all our appointments. It's a long journey but worth it. 😊 In the afternoon we went to Coro-coro and met a part-member family and their son also came and worked with us. Their family reminded me of mine. He's also an only child and the only member of the family so far. We had a good day in missionary work today except for one thing. But it's alright I'll just apply this D&C 84:106 and it will help solve the problem.

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Light! There's good news for us. We'll move out soon and transfer to our new apartment together with the other companionship. We'll experience having electricity and we can sleep well again at night soon! 😃 We also had a productive day in missionary work and I really felt the guidance of the Holy Ghost while we're teaching. However, there is always an opposition in all things... 2 Nephi 2:11 I'll overcome it. 

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We travelled to Tabaco Zone early for the pre-zone training meeting for all the leaders in Tabaco. It was my first time to experience this. It's really different compare with my time in Catanduanes. Our ZLs and STLs prepared a wonderful workshop and we (District Leaders) got an overview of what will happen in the Zone Training. 

Zone training today was all about different ways of finding people to teach. One particular way that I really like is through service. Phil 2:7 We also had a fun practice teaching through OYMs. In the last part, Elder Bahinting and I were assigned to E. Decicio and E. Nielsen and they just spoke English all the time. Fortunately, I handled it well and my companion did a good job too. We're becoming more united as time goes by. 😉 

We had a meaningful and spiritual teaching moment with one of our less active members. We hope that he'll attend church again this Sunday.

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District Conference! I saw and met my beloved Comun saints again! 😃 I'm really glad that I saw the Delos Santos family again. They are the first that I met and baptized. I also just found out that they are planning to be sealed in the temple soon. THAT'S AMAZING! 😍 Sister Guanzon is really a good speaker. When she talks, everyone listens. She told a story about a grandmother who saw a thief and shouted Acts 2:38 and the thief surrendered. It was a funny story! Hahaha. 😂

We rode our way back to Tiwi at the top of the jeepney. It was a fun ride! 😁

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I did baptismal a baptismal interview before noontime. I'm glad that I'm the one who'll interview Bro. Bobis after all this time. I've known him since I'm a trainee because of companionship exchanges before. He's a good and funny man. I asked him all the needed questions for baptismal requirements and afterward, he passed the interview. He'll finally be baptized soon! He and his family celebrated it by capturing and making a delicious chicken dish. Haha. They also invited us missionaries to eat lunch with them. 😊

In the afternoon and evening, we attended the Priesthood session and pre-district Conference at Tabaco City Chapel. I had a better understanding now of Priesthood oaths and covenants. D&C 84:33-44 I also learned something important from one of the young men in Tabaco District. I know, I experienced, and I achieved a lot of great things as a missionary so far. But that's because of the help of our loving Heavenly Father. I'm just an instrument and His disciple. The glory will be Thine forever.

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Using time wisely, that's my workshop today in our District Meeting. My district mates share their own experiences and insights about it. Everyone understands the importance of it. 

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I came across these verses (1 Nephi 16:2,5) during my personal study and it humbled me. Humility is really important. From now on, I'll lower my pride in some of the circumstances that happened recently for the companionship of the Holy Ghost. In our afternoon work, we went to Nagas and we found a new potential progressing investigator. Nagas is our far-flung area but our time there is always worth it. We also arranged and organized our area book tonight so we can plan more effectively.

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I woke up early and I feasted upon the words of Christ early on. These verses (1 Nephi 7:4-5, 17) made an impact for me today and I had new insights about them. It gave me strength in what I am currently experiencing in our new area. 

It's our first P-Day in Tiwi and we played basketball. There's a basketball court near our apartment and fortunately, my new companion likes and plays basketball too. He's also good at it. After we played, I kept myself busy organizing my stuff. 

We e-mailed in the afternoon and the internet speed here in Tiwi is surprisingly fast! It's the best one so far and I'm loving it! 😃

We had a good day in proselyting. We finally taught a lesson to an investigator and it feels so good! 😃 This was a good sign for us after many days of rejections. It was all hard-earned lessons, not given. We really worked hard and searched for them. I shared this verse (1 Nephi 10:19) with one of our new investigators and I hope he'll pray and seek for the truth diligently. It's also my 13th month on the mission today. 

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It is our first Sunday with Tiwi Branch. They welcomed me by assigning me as one of the speakers, blesser, and teacher for today of the Sunday school class. Welcome to Tiwi Branch! 😁 It's all good and I'm happy about it. 😊 I saw some familiar faces including the Bobis Family and Bro. Zary. They welcomed me and they are happy that I'm assigned to Tiwi. Unfortunately, they are both not in our area. We also didn't know any active members who live in our area. Bro. Zary just received his mission call and he'll be assigned to Laoag. We're all happy for him. 

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Today was the first-ever district meeting of the newest district in Legazpi Mission. It's quite a good feeling that I'm the first D.L. of Tiwi. This is somewhat historical in some kind. 😅 We're only four missionaries in our District (like in my previous District). My companion and I are also with Elder Reyes and Elder Nibarger. They are in the second half of Elder Nibarger's training. Elder Reyes is from Ilocos and he's here in Tiwi for a long time now and he might be the longest-tenured missionary ever here in Tiwi. Elder Nibarger is from Washington, U.S.A. and both of them are friendly to me. I can feel that we'll all be getting along really well.

My workshop today was about Christlike attributes. I chose this topic because it's an important part of being a missionary. Faith, hope, charity, love, knowledge, patience, humility, diligence, and obedience are the attributes of Christ that we must adapt and develop. If we develop all of these, it will definitely help us to become better disciples of Christ. Jesus told us to come and follow Him and the perfect way to follow Him is to be like Him. My D.L.'s message is 2 Cor 5:17.

After the meeting, we went to Tabaco City to withdraw and I saw Sensei Nielsen! He bear-hugged me like a kid that he didn't saw for a long time. 😆 He's happy that I'm back in Tabaco Zone. We talked about Comun and I hope I'll have a chance to visit my old area again through companionship exchanges. He's also up for it. This is his last transfer cycle in his mission days and he'll go home soon after this. Hopefully, we'll work together in Comun just like in the old days.

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I've been to Tiwi when I was a trainee. I enjoyed being here during companionship exchanges. It is also a beautiful place. Now, it is my third area in the mission field. I'm happy that I'm quite familiar with this place and I knew some (few) of the members already. 

Elder Bahinting and I are also both new in this area. It is really challenging when both missionaries are new in an area. It's an open area and it's really hard to start and find the people in the previous missionaries' teaching pool. We don't have any idea where to go on our first day. We spent most of our time tracting. No one is available to work with us today. Our patience will be tested here. Alma 17:11 

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