Hello once again! Another week gone by and November is half way
over! That means Christmas is just over a month away! Thanksgiving isn't
really a holiday here so I don't have much to look forward to in
November. Plus all you hear is Christmas music everywhere so my
Christmas countdown has started! Few more weeks to go until Skype!
This
week, however, was an alright week. A few days were not great but we
still had some enjoyable days and still felt good about the week.
Had
district meeting once again on Tuesday. The district leader, Elder
Odchigue, talked about how being humble and following the mission
guidelines is key to being a successful missionary. One example that I
liked was he had someone draw a tree on the board. Then he told another
missionary to go up and draw another tree but this time it was as if he
was designing his own world and could make a tree look however he
wanted. As he started to draw it, it didn't end up working. He couldn't
think of how to design a tree that was totally different to the tree
that every one knows. It ended up looking a lot like the first tree. He
used this example to show that we have guidelines in the mission and
that is how we are supposed to live. If we try and do it our own way, it
just won't work. That goes with life as well. If we try to bend the
commandments that God has given us, it just won't work. We won't be
entitled to those blessings that God is willing to give us. Overall, it
was a great lesson by Odchigue. Plus my last companion, Elder Gabelo, is
in that district so I got to spend some time with him again so that was
fun.
This week was up and down work wise.
We were really excited to get back to Brother Neo this week and follow
up with him. Every time we went out there he was gone. The nanay that
was there did tell us that his wife has come back from Hong Kong for a
few days so I can't blame him if he is out spending time with her. We
are going to visit him again tomorrow and hope he will be there. We
really want to meet his wife as well so hopefully she will be there.
Last time we took a picture and he sent it to her.
Still
are doing a lot of finding in the area. On Thursday, Elder Carrington
and Elder Labrador had a meeting in Cauayan so I was companions with
Elder Romo for a day. We spent a lot of that day following up contacts
that we had done the previous week in Maligaya. We did not get a single
lesson/new investigator from a single one of them. Maligaya is the more
rural part of our area so I don't think we will be going there very
often any more. There is only one member that lives there but he just
left and went to Utah a week ago. Elder Romo and I split the day in half
as in we'll work in my area for half then work in his area. They hadn't
gone to a part of their area that's where we went and we just contacted
like crazy to try and get to know the area. Finally ended the day
meeting back up with Elder Carrington and Elder Labrador at a dinner
appointment with a member in the other ward. Ate a ton of food then
finally went home. Another thing, the best dentist in the mission lives
in Echague and we went and Elder Romo had an appointment with him since
his retainer broke. It was a pretty nice dentist office. I definitely
still like the ones in America a lot more but I was pretty impressed
with it.
Saturday and Sunday we had stake
conference. The temple president of the Manila temple, President
Amistad, attended stake conference on Saturday night. His talk was
awesome! He was super funny. We were laughing almost the whole time but
he had some really good lines in his talk. One of them reminded me of my
conversations with dad lately. I keep telling him marriage is far far
away but he says he thinks it will happen in two years and the ward
thinks it will happen sooner than that. President Amistad's quote was,
"Don't rush, but don't be late." I thought that was a perfect answer. I
won't rush but I won't be late. There weren't too many people there on
Saturday night which was actually kinda nice. It was really easy to
focus and listen to the speakers. Sunday on the other hand was something
else. It was packed as could be. Could barely hear the speakers at all
and even with air conditioning it was still hot since there were so many
people inside. Didn't really get that much away from the Sunday meeting
but I really really enjoyed Saturday night. It wasn't required that we
attend as missionaries but I am glad we did!
Had 3
members work with us on Sunday which was a lot of fun. Brother Mark Jun
and Sisters Michelle and Arlene. They are super cool and Michelle and
Mark Jun work with us pretty often. Working with members is always so
much better than just the missionaries. The members know the area so
well and helps us meet new people each time, especially since I am still
only a month into this area. Sunday night we had dinner with Nanay
Felix. We have planned this dinner since I was with Elder Arorong and
the night finally came. It was just Nanay, her grandson, Elder Labrador
and myself. We had a good time talking and joking with Nanay and eating
some great food. I think sometimes she gets a little lonely at the house
so we joked and laughed a lot while we were there.
That
was pretty much it for the week. We are continuing to get more dinner
appointments each week which is great. This week we have one tomorrow,
Wednesday, Thursday and Sunday. There was only Sunday dinner when I got
here so I think we've improved quite a bit! Hope everyone has a great
week this week! Love you all!
Love Elder Haacke
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