Philippines Cauayan Mission

Philippines Cauayan Mission

Monday, May 16, 2016

New Companion

Well just like Dad said I can't believe it's already May 16th! Time continues to go by so fast! Hopefully you enjoyed the pictures last week. I finally found a net shop here in Roxas that will read my SD card. However we aren't there today since they had a problem with their internet. So looks like we're back to not being able to send pictures. Next week shouldn't be a problem though. But I too had a great time last week talking to the family. Not too much longer and I'll be talking to you all in person! Even though I just saw you all last week I can't wait to see you again. Last night I was sitting outside the apartment talking to Mark about post-mission life. And it seems like every time we sit and talk to members for a little while we start talking about the same thing. Most often the topic is marriage but that's still a while out. I'd say I'm not trunky though. I'm definitely not the lazy trunky but my mind does start to think about home pretty often!


So like I said last week on Skype, I will be getting a new companion this week. My new companion is Elder Dialino. I was actually his district leader back when we were in Roxas so we knew each other pretty well before we met up on transfer day. But before that, I'll give a little recap on the last days with Elder Castillo. 

Last Monday we had FHE with the Cordova family. It was super fun and we did hooga booga. Remember to ask me what that is when I get home since I don't really want to explain it through typing. I can say that now since I'm somewhat close to coming home. But spending time with the Cordova family is always fun. Roel Cordova was a speaker yesterday at church and he did a great job. He is so intelligent and knowledgeable. He spoke about humility. He is a teacher so he is really comfortable speaking in front of groups. 

Tuesday we went to Gamu in the morning for a csp. We helped a member clear a spot of his land that was covered in weeds so that he can plant some vegetables. There was only 6 of us that went so we ended up doing quite a bit. We stayed focus though and didn't spend too much time there. Everyone else had to get back to pack and get ready for transfer day the next day as well so we tried to go as fast as we could but still do a good job. After that we ate with the family we did the service for then went back to get ready for the day and prepare for transfer day. We went around during the day and said bye to a lot of the members. Ate dinner with the Ancheta family then came home and Elder Castillo finished packing. 

Wednesday morning we took off for Cauayan and took a kaliglig with the sisters in Caliguian. Our ride fell through the night before so we called the sisters and they said they had some room in the kaliglig so we decided to just go with them. We took the back roads through the rice fields so travel was pretty long! Still got there on time though. Read the transfer list and found out my companion was coming from Tuguegarao so I went to KFC with some friends and ate lunch. Later in the afternoon he got to Cauayan then we left right away to get back to the area. We just commuted which took forever. Spent over 2 hours traveling back to the area. If we had vans like back in the day it would have taken 30 minutes. Takes forever waiting for the jeeps to fill up before they leave. We waited on the second jeep for what felt like a century. Finally got back to Burgos then went out and introduced him to some of the members and investigators. So pretty much every day since he has been here we've had a horrible time at work. Not as in we have a problem but as in the success that has come normally pretty easy in this area hasn't been there. I think it will be back to normal this week as we get back to our normal schedule. Dad's quote from Elder Jeffrey R. Holland in this weeks letter was perfect for our week this week, "The great thing about the gospel is we get credit for trying, even if we don’t always succeed." So with that being said I won't give a daily update but I will tell you about our new investigators this week. Because of our unsuccessful appointments, we ended up doing a lot of tracting which led to some new investigators. First one is Edwardo Passion. He's probably like 60 yrs old but super nice. Most the time people like Tatay don't listen very well but we kept the lesson very simple and I think he really liked it. He said he wanted to come to church at the Mormon church so we told him what time to go but he didn't end up going. We taught him Wednesday evening then the other two days we went back to him he wasn't there so he might have forgotten. After our lesson with Edwardo, it starting pouring rain. We both had umbrellas but we were still soaked by time we got back to the apartment. It was a good first day in Burgos for Elder Dialino. 

Our other new investigators this week are Sister Marissa and Sister Luce. Marissa's husband is a member but I'm not sure if he is still active. He is working in a different town and just comes home once a month or so. Sister Luce is a member of the Espiritista church but was very welcoming and she listened very intently to the lesson. Elder Dialino mentioned the word prophet at the very beginning of the lesson but we really taught about the Godhead and families. Then at the end of the lesson she asked if we have a living prophet. I remembered the conversion story of my ward missionary leader in Amulung and it was because he learned we had a prophet. So next time we go visit them we will teach about prophets and I think she'll enjoy it. 

We continue to become closer with the young men here as well. Ian, JV, and Josan were all at church yesterday. We played basketball again with them this morning. They are also a lot more comfortable around us missionaries than they were before. They're still a little crazy but hopefully as they continue to come to church they'll clean up a bit. 

We had two more less actives at church yesterday other than the three young men. There was also Tatay Dannug and Sister Monique. President Bulos noticed that there were more than usual there in sacrament meeting which was good. He does something weird though every week and I don't think the less actives like it very much. When he gets up to speak every week he says he's thankful for everyone coming and then names everyone in the congregation. It is awkward and takes time. Then for the less actives he says glad your back or something like that. I think it makes them feel uncomfortable and I myself think it is a little weird. Oh well, see if we can get that changed in the next few weeks. 

So that's pretty much it for this week. We struggled some days but still had a lot of good things happen this week. Everything will get settled down this week and should get back to normal. Hope everyone continues to do well back home. Love you all!

Love Elder Haacke

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