Week 60: Big Fish in the Little Zone Conference

This week was pretty darn fun, not gonna lie. I don't know why I would lie about something like that, but I promise that I am definitely not lying about this one.

This week we had exchanges with the elders from Almaguer, which is the area right next to us. I was with Elder Whetstone for the day and it was pretty darn fun. We were walking down the street and this lil filipino boy gets our attention to show us his small fish that he caught.

His friend also had one so we took a picture while we were manhandling their fishes. In hindsight, it was pretty gross, but I used rubbing alcohol after so I don't think I got any diseases.

They slept over and we went to Zone Conference together the next day, which was pretty darn fun, as usual. President Craig talked to us about Gathering Israel, how various people have lost their birthrights in the scriptures (and what that means for us), and about the blessings given to the tribe of Ephraim. It was pretty darn cool. Elder Koontz, one half of a senior companionship in the mission, gave a nice little message about Ammon, the Nephite missionary in the Book of Mormon, and I really liked these verses in Alma 17:
31 And it came to pass that he flattered them by his words, saying: My brethren, be of good cheer and let us go in search of the flocks, and we will gather them together and bring them back unto the place of water; and thus we will preserve the flocks unto the king and he will not slay us.
32 And it came to pass that they went in search of the flocks, and they did follow Ammon, and they rushed forth with much swiftness and did head the flocks of the king, and did gather them together again to the place of water.

I really like the imagery of this missionary "[rushing] forth with much swiftness," and gathering the flocks of the King. I'm pretty sure the Lord isn't gonna slay us if we don't gather all his flocks, but imagine the blessings we could miss out on if we don't try! We can become instruments in the Lord's hand just like Ammon and gather the Lord's sheep to the place of living water. Imagine how happy that would be. Actually don't imagine, just read Alma 26. missionary work is great, even if you're scared the King is gonna kill you the whole time and you don't actually know how the flocks are gonna end up gathered. God's got a plan.

Love,
Elder Menzie

Tagaloging quick time:
Ganon ba? -- basically means that you're questioning the validity of what someone has just said

Zone Con Pictures:

Week 59: Nimbus 2002

This week has just been such a week in the life. I don't really know what I meant by that, but if you can find meaning, more power to you.

We're doing good in Bambang, living it up and all that jazz. We got the super cool opportunity to test out vehicles in our area, which was super interesting, but I guess we'll see how the implementation is. Here's a picture:

Shoutout to Elder Herrera for getting that million-dollar shot, I didn't make it easy for him. I like the Firebolt  more, but the Nimbus is okay.

We also had a baptism this week, which was super cool.

Khim Arnaldo got baptized this week, and it was great. Khim's 11, in the 6th grade, and goes to church with her whole family who are members, but she just didn't quite get baptized when she was 8, and then she lived in Cagayan for a while (which is actually the province where my last area is) but she's back and we corrected the fact that she hadn't been baptized. Khim is great. Her interests include Zayn Malik and Mobile Legends, which for the unfarmiliar, is basically like if you took League of Legends and made it a mobile app. For those unfamiliar with League of Legends, I can't really help, because I don't know it well enough to explain it. Ask my college roommates Bryce and Taylor, they could help.

But I digress.

Khim's baptism went well, all things considered. The faucet in the baptismal font worked, so we didn't have to pump it manually. And that's always a plus.

We had a zone activity this morning and hiked to the top of this hill in our area to a cross:

I thought it was going to be bigger, and I didn't expect so much trash, but it was still a pretty darn good view.

We talked with the zone a little bit about faith. Joseph Smith taught that Faith is “the principle of action in all intelligent beings,” and I just think that makes sense. I like that a whole lot, especially when you compare that statement to Nephi's story in 1 Nephi 3-4. In 1 Nephi 3:7, as I'm sure many know, Nephi says:
"I will go and do the things which the Lord hath commanded, for I know that the Lord giveth no commandments unto the children of men, save he shall prepare a way for them that they may accomplish the thing which he commandeth them."
That is a stellar example of faith leading to action. Nephi had faith that the Lord would provide a way for him and his brothers to accomplish the commandment, but even Nephi admits he had no idea how he was going to be able to follow the commandment:
"And I was led by the Spirit, not knowing beforehand the things which I should do."
So what did he do? He tried to follow the commandment the best he could. It was as he "came near unto the house of Laban," (1 Nephi 4:7) in the act of trying to follow the commandment that the way was made clear unto him. That's how we actually are led by the spirit, by putting ourselves in places where the Lord can use us, through our personal obedience. I think that principle obviously applies to missionaries trying to fulfill commandments that can be pretty easily measured numerically, but also in our day to day discipleship of Jesus Christ.

Love,
Elder Menzie

Tagalog like nobody's watching
ayaw kong gulay sa tyian ko -- I don't like vegetables in my belly

Week 58: The Climb

Hey to all the party people out there. This is Elder Menzie, back at it again with another email. This week has been a really fun one, and I can tell that this cycle with Elder Herrera is gonna be super fast.

This week for exercise in the morning one day, we looked at a hill right behind our house and decided we wanted to hike it right quick. For very specific reference, the height that we climbed was probably a little smaller than Ward Hill back in Shrewsbury, MA. Here is a picture:

It was super dang fun, and the whole thing took like half an hour. It was awesome.

When I got my mission call to go to the Philippines, I had a sort of fantasied idea of what it would be like. I was thinking proselyting through the jungle and blazing the trail and finding these people and teaching them Jesus. That's not really what it's like, but Bambang gets pretty darn close:

That would make a pretty good album cover. So would this one:

That was me after our District Conference on Sunday. For the uninitiated, District Conference is kinda like a Stake Conference, except smaller, because a District is what you have when a group of units in the Church (branches, wards, groups) isn't big/strong enough to become a stake. It was great, because President and Sister Craig were both there, and they gave some great talks to the congregation about ministering, missionary work, and what discipleship really means. President Roberts, who is a counselor in the mission presidency, and his wife were also there. Sister Roberts gave a super good message about some ministering she had the opportunity to do and the way that the Lord can use us as tools in his hand as we're following the way he's given us. It was super great, and some of the people we're teaching who came to church said they felt a really special spirit when they were speaking.

Being on a mission is awesome. I'm having a ton of fun going on hikes and taking silly pictures, but I love the amount of time I have set apart to just serve others and study my scriptures and deepen my understanding of God's love.

Love,

Elder Menzie

Tagalog paradoxically:

paseinsa, hindi ko maroonan na magtagalog -- sorry, I don't speak Tagalog

Week 57: Pump it

This week has been like a roller coaster that got picked up by a tropical cyclone and spat out before you could say "We're not in Kansas anymore,"

It was a lot.

We start off the week with Elder Salas. He's home now. He fought the good fight and all that jazz. Some members fed him on Monday night, and then he left Tuesday morning. It was a true 8 weeks that we had together.

Wednesday, I got my new companion, Elder Herrera Morales. He is from Mexico, but grew up in the US for most of his life. It's cool, because he was actually my Zone Leader back in Tuguegarao, and now he's my comp down here in Bambang. He also had to make that monster of a bus ride that I made when I came from Tugue, so we were waiting for him to show up for most of the day, which was fun, and by fun, I mean boring, but it was okay, because there's sweet sweet air conditioning in the chapel, which is where we waited.

Elder Herrera got here, and then Thursday, we had to travel again to go to Cauayan for some meetings, but it was okay, because I got to try out a tie pin that Elder Salas left behind. It's a circular American Flag, with a nice peace symbol stamped on top. It's just as good as it sounds, but one of the APs said it wasn't "quiet dignity" but, to be honest, I don't know what's more quiet or dignified than the stars and stripes, and if that's not what's wrong, I guess he's just got a problem with peace. That's on him.

Friday rolled around, and we had interviews with President and Sister Craig, Which were great. President Craig spent a large amount of the mission talking about Boston and how great it is, which is a pretty fast way to get on my good side, especially when he was talking about the Boston Temple. It is one of the best. President Craig is great.

On Saturday we were excited to get a full day of work in, but then we got a call from the sister missionaries for the other branch in Bambang, who said that the faucet for the baptismal font wasn't working, so we told them to call President Craig and see if they could just baptize their person in the river. That was a no go, so we went over there with our District Leader to go pump water into buckets and throw the water through the window and into the font. it took 3 hours, but it was great.

Love,
Elder Menzie

Tagalog Graciously:
Sobrang mabait at masipag ang mga Elder -- the Elders are very nice and hardworking

Week 56: Dinners, Pictures and Baptisms

Hey all you good people! I've had a good week. I hope that you're doing good. Goodly.

One of the good things that happened this week is we got to have dinner at the Perallta family. They're members here in Bambang, and they are VERY nice. They are also VERY good cooks. there was fried fish, chicken and chickpea in this good sauce, and this this thin, fillipino soup-type stuff called  sinigang, which, if I'm being honest, is usually just okay, but their sinigang was really darn good. Also, I took a picture using the timer function on my camera, and before I clicked the button, I didn't even check the framing, but it turned out pretty good.

We also went to an area that was even further than Malayo, and I took a picture again.

It's called Kasibu and it is VERY pretty. We found a lot of new people there, and I think something really cool could happen there if it was given the proper focus.

Also we had a baptism this week! I sent a picture of Sister Divina last week, and she got baptized this week! it was awesome.

It's been so cool to teach Sister Divina. We were just walking down the street like 5 weeks ago and we didn't have anyone to go teach, and we saw her house, and said "A nice person probably lives there" and we were right. Sister Divina is probably one of the funniest people I've ever met in the Philippines. She came to church as soon as we invited her, kept all commitments, and just made it easy to baptize her. It was awesome. When she passed her baptismal interview, she shouted "TAPOS NA? YEAHHHHHHHH!" Which means, "It's done? Yeahhhhhhhh!" It was super funny. I'm so grateful for the opportunity I've had to teach her. I love not having to worry about people. I feel so sure in Divina's conversion that I don't have to worry about her, because I know that she knows in whom to trust. And that's the foundation whereon if men build they cannot fall.

Love,
Elder Menzie

Tagalog With a Smack of Ham:
Kwan -- what you say when you forgot a word