June 8, 2011

Dude! My little brother is a beast! That tall, buff, scholar award winning Haka man is... well, the man! Nice work Eric. I am so proud of you! Keep going on being the smartest person you can be, and the pinakabrite (most smart) person in the school. It honestly doesn't matter where you come from, you can be smart. There is a girl in my ward who has no father and is extremely poor. Their house is built above the ocean on bamboo poles. They hardly have any food and no electricity or running water (except when it rains, then it runs through the roof and into the house), but she is the valedictorian for her school. So just keep going and be that genius college student who gets that rocking job afterward.
It’s exciting to hear that Keegan comes home this week. I was thinking about that the other day and figured within the next month he would be home. I can’t wait to be able to talk with them about our missions. And I am excited that Justin is going to serve. That is awesome. Tell Richard congratulations and Grandma Hart happy birthday for me. I'm glad everyone is doing well.
We have a baptism this Saturday, Janice. She is 14 and she loves the gospel. She understands everything. Her neighbor is an awesome member who is good at missionary work.
Susan, our recent convert here is doing great. She got kicked out of her son’s house because his wife doesn’t like Mormons and they fought about it. Then she was in the neighbor’s house that is scary to walk in because I have to watch my step so I don’t fall through the floor. Then yesterday she was down the path a little at someone else’s house. So she has no money and is homeless, but has never been happier. She just feels at peace because she trusts the Lord, something that didn't happen before her baptism. She spends her days reading the gospel principles manual and the Book of Mormon. She is learning so much. That is awesome to see. Last Saturday she had absolutely no money, but needed money to get to church on Sunday, and knew that she needed to come so that the Lord wouldn't be mad at her. That was what she said. So she prayed with faith, and when you do that miracles happen. She was able to somehow get 15 pesos so that she could get to church. That's about $0.32 in dollars. Even though that is only enough to buy a few small pieces of bread, that was the miracle she needed, and she came to church. She is such a good example of exercising faith and not using problems as an excuse for not keeping the commandments.
On Saturday while we were tracting we saw a picture of the Manila Temple in someone’s house so we went to the door and said, "Ayo" "Ayo" until he came to the door. He didn't talk much and didn't seem too friendly but asked what time church was and said he would come the next day. When we would ask him questions he would just stare at us. So we shook hands and left. Then the next day I saw him in church! Afterward we asked bishop about him and the bishop said he is almost deaf and you have to yell so that he can hear you. So we went back on Tuesday and it turns out he is a really nice guy, he just doesn't answer your questions if he doesn't hear you. We asked if we could come in and he said "Why wouldn't you come in?" We shared a lesson with him and it ended in a good experience. He is a good faithful man who teaches his son well.

My investigators
Zenida Algabre - pray that her husband Pedro will let her be baptized.
the Castillio family - they need the faith to be baptized, even though it will be a life changing experience that will bring many struggles... no money.
Luz
Janice
the Tinimbacan family
the Requerme family

Carson’s Advice
If you want someone to like you, make them your best friend and treat them like it. They will learn to like you too.
Nothing can make you happier than living the gospel and keeping the commandments of the Lord.

I sure love you all! Take care,
Elder Schenk