Week 17: PALUGPUT SA IMO DUH

Kamusta kamo everyone!!! Another good week diri sa Bacolod! I'll get right to it:

We went out to eat SO much this week since we had two district meetings and it was Thanksgiving so we just ate like animals. But I'm still losing the good ole poundage so don't worry mom!!! But I had chicken for Thanksgiving, I'll include a picture.

Our investigators are doing well! Mushroom boy Joshua has been doing his commitments and is SO devoted to change, he's so so excited for his baptism on the 17th and we are too :) Seriously it's the best teaching him because he just loves what we're teaching and gives such powerful prayers. Straight up homie siya. 

Basketball boys are doing well, except Joseph and his friends didn't go to church. Nice one Joseph. So we're having to readjust a few things for him but we're hoping that he'll be able to come next Sunday :) Marlon and Ricky came to church early this Sunday and BOTH of them were wearing POLOS and TIES!!!!! We about fell over dead. For real they would sometimes wear tank tops to church but what taught them sabbath day observance and they accepted SO well. I have a bakod gid picture sa ila to show sa inyo!! 

Anyways that's about it for the week, we continue on through the rain and hot and humid weather. Honestly the weather here doesn't bother me because I don't notice it but sometimes we'll be out proselyting and I feel fine but then I feel my back and my shirt is straight up soaked in sweat. Wooo pilipinas yaaa!!!! So on that TMI note I hope you all have a blessed week and welcome in December :)) Someone eat snow for me!!

Sister Pope

Lots of pictures this week get ready:

1) Happy Thanksgiving hahahaha still weird on the mission don't worry you all

2) PIZZAAAA it really was that big

3) Dinner at Marlon's house! This is what a lot of poor people eat here; fried fish, salted egg, tomato, and rice with soy sauce. It's actually really good and even more delicious with cool people. And Marlon is SO cool. He only makes about $20 a week but he always tells us how blessed his life is. He really is amazing!

4) The basketball boys at church! Ricky, Marlon, MikeMike, Cherist and Carl. They all wore the best they have :) 

5) Puto kids! They're always making puto and we help them when we can :) cooking in the pan is combo which is ~the~ tastiest thing, like funnel cake but with bananas on the inside YUM

6) John Dennis, one of our craziest investigators. He loves our lessons though and is so good about coming to church, he'll walk about fifteen minutes to church with his older brother. They're so awesome :)

Week 16: GUSTO KO MAGITOM

Kamusta kamo tanan!!! Nami gid ang semana namon, excited gid sa hambalan sa inyo :)) 

So this week was amazingggg!! Our recent converts and investigators are just doing so well and we had a really powerful lesson with our investigator Joseph. We taught the basketball boys about temples and Joseph was our focus (17 years old) and we taught about baptisms for the dead and then he turned to his older brother Ricky and said "puede kita magdalan ang ngalan ni papa didto?" which means "could we bring dad's name there?" and we told him of course and he just smiled so big. I tried so hard not to cry it was such a sweet moment. Agh so many blessings from the temples guys we need one here in Bacolod.

Funny thing about my companionship, Sister Ducado doesn't like the sun because she doesn't want to get dark or "itom" but I do so she'll always use my umbrella and I'll just walk in the sunlight, she thinks I'm so buang (crazy) haha. 

So just a spiritual thing to share from this week that I learned from the lesson we had about temples in Mosiah 16:8, "But there is a resurrection, therefore the grave hath no victory, and the sting of death is swallowed up in Christ." I know Joseph and Ricky will see their dad again and I just think of how happy they both were when we taught temples. I know that family's can be together forever and I'm so blessed to be here in the Philippines. Bacolod is really amazing :) 

Thank you all for your love and support, it means the world.

Sister Pope

1) FHE at the Lapore's with one of our investigators, Joshua! (blue shirt) We call him mushroom boy because he wants us to teach him every other day and is soooooo excited to be baptized. He's the best

2) It was Marvin's birthday on Tuesday so we brought him a cake to surprise him. The store didn't have any birthday candles so we bought 18 real candles and just stick them in the cake haha we thought it was going to light on fire. But then he was soooo surprised he started doing a shy kind of cry where you cry but you pretend like you're not crying cause all of your dude friends are there singing you happy birthday. Haha it was really sweet and was super grateful, he said it was his first birthday cake. 

Week 15: MISSION TOUR

Hey everybody!!! Merry Christmas! Haha, Christmas is in full swing here. Anyways, I'll get right to it because I have noooooo time this week :))

So Ricky is back home after being on vacation FOREVER, he's one of the basketball boys and recent converts, and is working with us again. Yay! People are amazing, especially him. We're really excited for his brother to be baptized next month. 

Mission tour was this week and ammaaaaaaazing!!! We had stake conference first with Elder Quentin L. Cook which was such a treat and then our mission tour had Bishop Wadell and Elder Robins speak. General authorities are just so amazing and we're so blessed to have their direction and guidance here on the mission, they said so many great things I needed to hear. To sum it up into one sentence: hold on to your families, they are SO important. 

Just a quick description of my area, it's mostly city but has a part with a lot of sugar cane fields. I actually really like being in the city because it's so much easier to teach lessons, I haven't scheduled a single appointment on my mission because people are always home and you'll just go up and be like "hey! can we teach you?" and they're like "yeah I'm not doing anything" haha, it's so great. I've really come to love this area and I'm so excited to see how it will progress while I'm here.

Anyways that's all for this week, things are going well and I'm loving the mission. I feel the language coming so much easier and loving the people has been a lot easier too. Until next week!! 

Sister Pope

1) Campo! (sugar cane) I'll try and remember to take pictures of city next week, it's just soooooo crazy in the city we never have time to just stop and stand

2) Basketball boys, Ricky is back!! Marlon, Carl, Joseph and Ricky. Joseph is Ricky's younger brother and is sooo excited to be baptized but is also a teenage boy so we're working on him keeping his commitments

3) We all DIED when we see this picture after I took it haha, that is Joseph's true laugh while Carl is tickling him. I love these boys!!!

4) Carl and Aldrich, they really like this picture I took of them

Week 14: SEE? WHAT PUNTED CAN DO?

November already whaaaatt??? Ano nahitabo??? Diin ang tion makadto??? Crazy. This week was pretty good, all good smiley things even though we got punted a LOT. I'll get to it though:

The companionship is going really well! Don't get me wrong I was hecka nervous to be companions with someone who speaks only a little bit of English but she is so so cute and sweet and I'm really blessed. Whenever something bad happens she'll say "see? what _____ can do??" So the most common thing was "punted" this week. Yey. Also I'm teaching her basic English which includes but isn't limited to the word "ghetto" and "thirsty" and "crusty". only the essentials guys.

Best thing this week is that ALDRICH IS BAPTIZED!!! Seriously it was so amazing. Back in September I have a picture with him and the other basketball boys and that picture was actually the first night I had met him and he was SO mean to me. He wouldn't pray, didn't want to look at us, and when extended baptism to him he just death-stared at me and said no. Little by little though he started listening to our lessons and at the end of one lesson he told us he wanted to change. And he's changed so so much. He stopped drinking, smoking, and stopped wearing his earrings because he wanted to change and I'm just so proud of him. He's amazing! Also speaking of amazing, I've been trying to get one of our investigators to stop wearing his earrings FOREVER but he just would not take them out. We taught about the Atonement one day though and after the lesson he gAVE ME his EARRINGS!! I was so surprised and he looked at me dead in the eye and said he would never wear them again. The Atonement changes lives people. 

Not much else happened but things are doing well as usual. I love my area and the awesome people, even though they drive me crazy sometimes :) So blessed this week and I'm excited for next week!! We have Stake Conference and Elder Quentin L. Cook is coming!! Yay. 

Well have a good week everyone and talk to you next week!!!

Sister Pope

1) Sister Ducado and I by the rice fields

2) Aldrich's baptism! Seriously such an awesome experience, and our recent convert Ricky was able to baptize him. So awesome! Also fun optical illusion, you might think I'm pregnant in this picture but my shirt is so messed up. Everyone there though thought the picture was so fun and they kept calling me "busong" which is pregnant in ilonggo!! I swear I've lost weight here haha. Anyways we love Aldrich and he's great

3) Our investigator's earrings!!! Still can't believe he gave them to me