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