Planting

Hello everybody! Had another great, fast week here in Amulung! Stayed super busy this week with different things which made this week go by super fast! Can't start this week out at district meeting because we didn't have one. We had zone conference as the replacement but I'll talk about that later. Since we didn't have district meeting, Tuesday was a normal and usual day of work. Went to an area called Manawag. There are quite a few less actives there is what everybody says. We don't know that many people there so we did some finding that day as well. We were able to eat lunch with the Abalos family then go out to work. Visited the elders quorum president since he hasn't been able to come to church the last couple weeks cause of his leg. I don't know what kind of sickness it was but he had like a hole in his leg it was constantly dripping blood. He said he's had it before so I guess it is normal to him. I've never seen it before. So we shared with him then went and bought him some lunch since he can't walk. We visited a few less actives, found a new less active, and got two new investigators which finished out the day. On our way out of Manawag, we went by the Abalos family again and they gave us some dinner. Then we made plans to help them at their farm the next day. 

Wednesday morning we got up at 5 and went back to their house. Met up with Nanay and the oldest daughter, Develyn, and another Nanay in the ward and took off to the farm. It was a pretty far walk but not horrible. Tatay was already at the farm when we got there making rows to plant the seeds. He went along with the plow and the caribou then we planted the seeds. Nanay and Develyn would finish 4 rows by the time we finished 1 but it was still really fun. Once we finished we all went back to the house and had lunch. So that makes 3 meals in a row at the Abalos family! They are a great family though and so it is really enjoyable to be around them. Finally got home, showered, took a quick nap since we were both wasted then went out and worked in Santa Teresa for the rest of the day. We were able to get a couple lessons to some recent converts to progress in their reteaching and also teach one investigator there as well. Overall pretty good day. Planting at the farm was way fun!

Thursday was zone conference! It was here in Tuguegarao so we didn't have to travel anywhere. There were a few people I was excited to see from the other two zones that were there but for the most part I didn't know a lot of the missionaries that were there. The mission has changed quite a bit the last few cycles. Lots of missionaries have gone home and the groups coming in have been pretty big as well. But President and Sister Rahlf did a great job as always in teaching us. We studied 2 Nephi 28 really well. About all the things that Nephi saw would be happening in our day. Also taught us a little about our purpose as missionaries and the uniqueness of our message. Then we ate lunch (super good), played a game, then went back in for the last bit of conference. For the second part we talked about the Sabbath day and how we need to really get the importance of it across to our investigators and members. Then it ended with a short testimony meeting. Overall a super good conference. Took almost the entire day but I learned a lot and loved the scripture study that we did!

Friday was the usual weekly planning. Not a fan but made it through. That is the one thing I won't miss. But Friday was a good day as well. One lesson I really liked was to the Alcasor family. I guess Elder Gabelo had taught them one or two times before but had now stopped for like 2 months. On Friday we were able to teach them again and just shared a simple message about prophets. They are really interested and want to listen. I think the only part that will be difficult is to get them to come to church. We will work on that though. The part I liked in the lesson was when Tatay gave the closing prayer. In the prayer he mentioned how he hopes and prays that the lessons won't stop this time and that we will be able to continue to share to him and his family. They didn't end up coming to church this week but we will definitely continue this time with the lessons and hopefully they will progress. 

Saturday we went out early, about 9:30 and went to a far area. One investigator lives out there that is close to baptism and she only comes home on Saturdays and Sundays so those are the only days we have to teach her. She was there and we were able to teach the rest of the commandments to her. We have scheduled an interview for her this coming Saturday. We want to be able to share with her one more time before the interview but even if we can't, we know she is more than ready for the interview. After we visited her, we ate lunch at a members house then traveled to Tuguegarao to do an interview for the zone leaders' investigator. The interview went well and had no problems. After the interview we came back to Amulung and just worked close to the church. Coming back took forever though. How travel works here is there are tents set up and so you go to that tent that has the vans going to your destination. As soon as the van is full (as in packed full) you leave. As we got there, the van just left so we were the first ones in the next van. That meant we had to wait for ages for it to fill up before we left. Eventually made it back and got three more lessons before it was time to go home. 

Sunday once again. Turns out I was a back up speaker and the person that was supposed to speak came so I ended up not giving a talk. The president and 1st coundelor from the stake came on Sunday. Talk about chastisement. His talk was a little harsh in sacrament meeting. Then he taught priesthood which was pretty harsh as well. Anyway, had 2 investigators at church which is down from last week but they all had descent reasons. We had the single adults work with us again on Sunday. Brother Sherwin and Roderick then Sisters Jingle, Rocel and Marge. We ended up splitting and I went with Brother Roderick. It was just us two and we were just going tracting while the others did the appointments. We ended up teaching two first contact lessons. One of them was super good. His name was Jacob. He was familiar with the church because of his friend at school. Before we even said anything he asked if we were Latter Day Saints. So of course we knew right away that he was familiar with the church. He is a smart kid and is very willing to listen. The lesson was alright and we told him we would probably be back next Sunday again. That was my second time now working with brother Roderick and we get along pretty well! I really enjoyed working with him on Sunday. 

Overall we had a good week! Had some success and a great zone conference! Lesson count for the week was 23. A little lower than normal but should be able to bounce back this week. Hope you all have a great week. Love you all!

Love Elder Haacke

  

At the Abalos' farm. The field behind us is one that we planted.