Kumusta po kayo?!?

This week has been very fun, frustrating, long, but so short and I really hope I have learned a lot!  The language is coming along pretty well!  We taught a lesson today that was the very best lesson I've taught yet!  We had absolutely no notes, no help on Tagalog just the Spirit and our brains!  Mostly the Spirit:)  And boy did it work!!  She had a ton of questions for us and we had answers and a lot of questions for her.  It was totally all spirit led!  We testified of Christ more than before because last night one of the Philippines Area Presidency came and he really stressed testifying about Christ.  So we tried it!  Then at the end I asked her to be baptized in Tagalog and she accepted!  I know this is just practice but I can really feel it helping me in my teaching skills and my ability to use the spirit to become a better teacher!  The whole entire lesson I was just beaming and I couldn't stop!  These Happy streaks happen to me a couple times a day lately and they are the best!!  But through my smile and really caring and wondering what the investigator needs I was able to testify with more power, and full of the spirit.  I love smiling, and I do it as much as possible, it also helps that my district and companion is super funny!  Smiling is the best you should try it...  ALL THE TIME!!! :)

One of our gym times this past week was spent playing sports in the Filipino rain!!!  We played badminton, basketball, and volleyball all in the down pouring rain.  Funnest thing ever!!!  Elder Z is very good at basically everything so we get pretty pumped up and have some crazy good rallies, it is seriously so much fun!  We even made it into a workout, by if you lose a point you have to do 2 push ups, or 4 sit ups or 4 squats, all on the soaking wet ground and let me tell you those added up for him very quickly;) ;)  Jokelang:)  It was pretty even but we both got a good workout in as well.  We then played volleyball with the sisters and basically every other hit nailed someone in the face, or someone fell down or something hilarious!  It was the best, laughing is the best!  We do it a lot in our district! 

So last week we were humbled by a Filipino ping pong player who uses the Chinese grip.  So we decided that we were going to master the Ancient Chinese ping pong ways!  So for the past week we have been playing only Chinese style play!  And we are getting so good!  One time Elder Z popped up the ball pretty high and I swung super hard to slam it!  And because I was using the Chinese grip and I don't have too good of aim yet, I nailed Elder Z right in  the face!!! Right in between the eyes!  Right after I hit the ball I hear a THUD coming from his nose, and then he went down laughing his head off!  We were both dying laughing on the ground, so hilarious!!  

A new batch of missionaries came on Friday and they are starting to open up and be funny and have fun with us!!  The Filipino missionaries really enjoy talking to us "white elders" and they say Elder Guapo to us every time!  Maybe because we are literally THE ONLY white elders in the entire MTC!!!  Oh its the best tho!  I love the Filipino, the Islanders, and the Australians, they are all so much fun!!   

On Friday we were called into President's office and he told us that we had a new kasama(companion)!!  His name is Elder Puefua and he is from Payson Utah!! He is Samoan and he was pretty hilarious!  He had been in the Provo MTC for 7 weeks then finally his visa let him come!   But he really helped us out a lot!  He showed us the real way to do companionship inventory and gave us some sweet tips for teaching, so it really was a blessing for us that we got him for 3 days before he left to Loaog.   

Also funny story, so last week on Wednesday night at about 10:45ish the Emergency Fire Alarm went off!!!  Elder Z and I didn't even wake up!  We would have died if some other Elders wouldn't have rushed into our room and got us.  They rushed in yelling, "WE GOTTA GO!!"  So we jumped out of bed and run outside into the misty rain in our PJ's!!  It ended up being a false alarm and they still have no idea about what happened or who happened but it was actually really funny!!    Also later that night our whole building shook because of the insanely crazy lightning and thunder!  For about 10 seconds our building was just shaking!  The lightning and thunder is so cool here, I love watching it!  

Well I love the MTC!! I'm so grateful for the chance to be able to come to the Philippines MTC, because it really is the best!!  

I love my district!  My companion and I get along so good, and we have so much fun!!

Oh and tomorrow I get to go Proselyting!!!  I am so excited!  I finally get to see the REAL Philippines:)

Tagalog Testimony:

Alam ko po na and ebanghelyo ni JesuCristo ay totoo!  Alam ko po na sa pamamagitan ng kapangiryhan ng Diyos na panumbalik po si Joseph Smith and totoo simbahan sa mundo.  Alsm ko po na sa pamamagitan ni JesuCristo, maglilinis po tayo.  Alam ko po na Nagbayad-sala ni JesuCristo para sa atin kasalanan.  Alam ko po na nagmamahal ako ng Diyos at siya nagmamahal!!  Nagmamahal po ako it ebanghelyo, at nagpapasalamat ko po si JesuCristo!! 

This gospel is amazing, and it can and will change lives!  I am here to change to become like our Savior Jesus Christ and to hopefully make a difference in others lives by helping them to do the same!!!  I love the scriptures and I know they are true!  Reading them will strengthen any testimony, I am a witness of that!!

Thanks for all of the support and the love!

I LOVE IT HERE!!! And I love this gospel! 

Have a great week!  Thanks for all of the emails!

LOVE, Elder Alldredge

Temple grounds

Elder Puefua from Payson

Temple grounds

Manila at from the Temple

Kyle at the Temple

The District

Hey its me again!!!

A ton of things have happened this past week and I don't even know where to start!  This past week has definitely been longer and harder than the first two but it has still been a good time!!  We always make time for laughing our heads off and making jokes and singing songs, it is essential for the mission.  Get ready for that everyone almost ready to go!  Its a party!!  

This week we have learned a ton, but not a lot of super huge changes that you can tell when we speak Tagalog.  We have gained a lot of vocabulary on the list, and we have memorized 3 more verses in Tagalog!  James 1:5, Moroni 10:5, and the missionary purpose.  So we are improving a lot and also reading scriptures a ton!! Who knew? Reading scriptures a lot in the MTC?  I had no idea about that;)  But let me tell you, I have come to LOVE LOVE LOVE my scripture reading time!!!  I have been reading mostly in Matthew lately and the stories of Jesus are just the best!! He is the greatest example who ever walked the earth!  If you haven't read about Christ's stories too much lately then go read in Matthew, its so much fun to read!  

This past week me and Elder Zachilli were called in for a meeting with President Reyes.  So we had no idea what to expect going into that.  But he asked if we would be the Zone Leaders for all of the LTM's!!  And also I take on the responsibility of being the District Leader on Friday!  So I will be the Zone/District Leader!!! Crazy stuff!  I hope and pray that I am up for the challenge!

The food this week was spot on ALMOST all the time!!!  We had 3 Fiestas!  They are so much fun!  We mostly eat rice and a really good meat, or lumpia(which is like an egg rollish thing, with delicious meat) so I love fiestas!  One of the nights they gave us a snack, and it was this rice thingy with coconut on the outside.  It was like sticky rice basically rolled together into a ball with some flavorless coconut on top...  Think of a huge nasty gooey, almost to the gum stage, but not quite piece of rice with no flavor. It was the weirdest thing ever!  We ate some of it, then chucked the rest cuz we couldn't handle it anymore, it was so weird:)  We also had a Pizza/Spaghetti night last night!!!!  It was the best thing ever!  I really needed a break from the rice every meal, even though its really good, but pizza can't be beat!  The pizza they gave was delicious!!  I had like 7 pieces because I knew I wouldn't get it for another 3 weeks until I leave the MTC.  We also had a giant plate of spaghetti which was very good!

We have been teaching our investigators everyday and we have seen improvement in both of them.  We committed one to baptism but he still has so far to go, lets just say he is not close at all.  But he did accept the invitation!  The other one was really making progress, and then she brought her friend who is a born-again Christian to the lesson.  So we basically had to review almost all of everything again!! But we can basically teach our entire lessons without any notes or anything!  We study PMG everyday and can teach almost all in Tagalog!!  Now we are just learning the filler words and when to use them and stuff like that!  But teaching is actually really fun, so thats good!

The Provo batch of missionaries came and it was crazy here!!!!  There was so many people!  And it was the worst having to share the Filipinos with all the American missionaries;)  Jokelang, there were some really cool guys, but I am so grateful to have been able to come to the Philippines MTC!!! Everyone was so jealous!  And they speak Tagalog like such Americans, its kinda embarrassing:)  But everyone left this morning!!

Last night we had to say good bye to some really good friends that we have made, it was so sad!!! I love those guys!!  The Filipino elders were all so nice and cool to us.  But because we were Americans, everyone wanted our emails, and wanted pictures with us, it was hilarious!!! I think by next week I'll have like 20 random emails from all Filipino elders, but hey i love em so its all good!

We are now the only people here at the MTC!!! There are 13 of us, ONLY 13!!  In the whole Philippines MTC!!  It is really sad when you go to lunch and there is only one table set up for us.  But we also feel like we run the place, and we know all the "secret tunnels" and stuff;)  We have all the ins now, especially being a Zone Leader, its awesome!  

Oh and we were supposed to go out in the field tomorrow, for proselyting but they couldn't because they had to change all of our schedules for some reason, so next week we will proselyte on Thursday!! I'm so pumped!! I get to see the outside world, instead of being locked in the bubble of the MTC, that I love btw!  But I'm just pumped!

Well there's another week for you!!  Thanks for the emails! 

I LOVE ALL YOU GUYS!! 

I love it here, and i do my very best every day to become more like Christ!

Smiling and laughing are the best ways to make your day better, so do it as much as possible!!

Have a great week!  And I LOVE THE PHILIPPINES!!!
The people here are seriously the greatest!!

Paalam, LOVE, Elder Alldredge

Temple at night - beautiful!

Lunch for all of the LTM Missionaries!  All of the other missionaries are gone now until the next batch Friday

More fish for lunch!

MTC Flags

Add caption

2 of my very favorite Filipinos, Elder Perez and Elder Abasanta

Helaman District, it's a partay!

The Elders in the LTM Zone!

Manly roomates!

Elder Esco!  He is my roomate and he is hilarious!  Probs about Mandi's size!

Magandang Hapon Lahat!!!!

Ok where to start about this week...  This week has been long days but a very short week, it has been very tiring and very fulfilling, also very fun but very boring at times. So I'll just say Sorry now cuz I am all over the place today:)

First off, my language is improving everyday!!!  I am basically fluent now!  Its the best thing every!  Jokelang Jokelang!! I can speak missionary a whole lot, but just talking is a different story.  We have a basic core that we are supposed to memorize that is about 250 words and I have around 150 of them memorized.  I also have memorized 1st Nephi 3:7 all in Tagalog!  Now that is such a long verse in Tagalog, it took about 4 days of hard core trying to memorize but we got it now:)  

Ok the Food!!  The food is MAS MASARAP!!!  In other words delicious:)  Our food is basically all rice with some ulam or meat every meal and vegetables to go with it.  Some of the crazier things I have eaten is a whole fish head;)  Thats totoo!!!  I really did!  I ripped it straight off of the body!  The meat is actually super good!  We have also had to name a few rolls filled with meat, chicken adobo, the milk which is pretty nasty here!  One night we had a burger night with burgers and french fries, and let me tell you, they did a very good job at making them!!  Nevermind the mayo stuffed in the meat or the really weird french fries.  But it was pretty good!

Sister Pongyan is our main teacher and she is so much fun!  Sometimes she struggles controlling our laughter and jokes:)  But most of the time she can teach us very well and we learn a lot!  So we taught Emil, our investigator until last Thursday night, and it was going very well!  Then on Friday he walks into our District room in a white shirt and tie with a teachers badge!!!  WHAT?!?  We were so mad, but it was also super funny!  So now Sister Pongyan is our umaga guro and Bro Emil(or now Bro. Cabrullio) is our hapon guro.  Oh haha guro is teacher, my bad;)  

So it rains every day all day here in the Philippines!!! Sometimes we get some sun for a couple of hours then it goes back to raining.  A lot of it is more like a mist its so nice!  But then when it decides to dump buckets it literally dumps buckets and buckets of water!! Sheets just come down and you can hear it everywhere inside the building.  But I LOVE IT!!!

It is so cool to see the streams of water, its great!  So there is a tunnel under the street to go over to the temple, and it flooded like a lot!!!  So ya the rain is fun here!

This week me and Elder Zacchilli had the opportunity to each give a blessing.  Both blessings were to Sisters in our district.  He gave one to Sister Makihele and I gave a blessing to Sister Tukia.  Sister Tukia was not feeling well at all, and she looked not good.  So she asked for a blessing and of course we told her we would.  Elder Z annointed and I gave the blessing.  It was such a cool experience, one that I will remember forever!  I just knew everything was from God and I was just his mouthpiece in that moment.  I really know that God is there and he answers all of our prayers!  Sister Tukia is doing much better now thanks to our Heavenly Father, he is so good to us!  But we need to pray to him and ask him for things!  He wants to hear from us!  Also we have to invite the spirit to be with us in everything that we are doing!!!  If we are not inviting him to be there then why should he come?!?  Well he would be there anyways if we are doing whats right, but in more abundance if we ask him to be there.  Here in the MTC we pray so much!!  I have come to cherish prayer time and I pray very specifically for things.  I also pray most of the time in Tagalog which really makes me think about the words, thats such a good thing!!

Also Sister Fukofuka passed out yesterday!!!  We were walking into the room and she just went down!  So we all kinda panicked and rushed to her side and sent people to get help.  She ended up being just fine and was joking around like normal like 5 minutes later, but it was kinda scary to witness.  Thankfully she was ok! 

Also if you think COED is good at school.  You should watch the volleyball we play here in the Philippines MTC!!!  It is insane how good everyone is!  I love it!!

Sorry this week was not as exciting as last week!  But just know  that I still LOVE IT!!  

I have made so many friends, and everyone is so nice!!  

I'm pretty sure everyone knows who the 2 white Americanos are, thats me!!! And I'm proud of it!! 

They all love to talk to us and try to teach us Tagalog.  We don't remember much of what they tell us but its good to know people care!  And we remember those things every once in a while, so thats encouraging:)  

The days kid of mix together because we do the same thing every day, but it is such a good thing to be doing!!  I LOVE BEING A MISSIONARY!!!

Everyday we get pounded into us how we have Christs name on our chest!!

I am a Representative of HIM!!!  So I need to act like it every second of every day!!

I love the Philippines and I love you guys so much!!!

Have a great week!!  And know that I am just doing great!!

MAHAL KO KAYO!!!! 

PAALAM!!! 

Elder Alldredge

Airport

Sweet Jeepnie

Manila

City Roaming

Elevator shot

Pre-meeting selfie

Manila Temple

Helaman District

More Helaman District out on the grounds of the MTC

Helaman District

MTC roaming

Not sure

Emails at the computer room

Fish heads - it's what's for dinner!

Looking good I guess

More District Pics

Name tags

Lil' Bros

Lil' Bros

MAGANDANG UMAGA PAMILYA & FRIENDS!!!!!

Ok first off I LOVE LOVE LOVE it here!  So much fun!

So i'll tell you about my flight experiences because there were many!  So I met some elders and sisters going to New Zealand on their missions and i flew to LAX with them.  They were super fun!  We just all talked about our missions and partied!  Then at LAX airport we got food then they had to leave on their flight, so I was the only missionary in the airport!!  I was walking around for like 30 minutes by myself not knowing where to go because they covered up my ticket with some sticker and I had no idea!!  But I finally found Elder Zacchilli!!!  He is my MTC companion!  He is from San Diego and he loves to be active, he plays rugby, football, and volleyball so we fit pretty well together!  It's been very good!

Then we flew 15 HOURS to Hong Kong!!  That was such a long flight!  We slept for about 6 or 7 hours, then tried to read scriptures and books for the other part.  But we finally arrived then Elder Zacchilli almost got arrested because they thought he had lasers... they were pens!!! HAHA  Then we took a 2 hour flight to Manila.  

But while waiting for our suitcases we realized that mine were not there!!!  Elder Zacchilli had his but mine were gone!  So we talked to security, and my bags were left in LA!!! HAHAHA we were kinda freaking out!  But they sent them on the next flight and they said to come back the next night to pick them up!  HAHA ya right!!!  By ourselves not knowing where to go... in the Philippines!  In a taxi, of some sort!?!? NO WAY!! So we went to talk to our drivers, and they said to have them send it to the MTC, so I went back in by myself and convinced them to send my bags to the MTC.  I seriously thought my bags were going to be empty arriving at the MTC.  The MTC President was really worried and said that some of my things might not be there.  Because there is a big problem in the Philippines with things like that!  So I just prayed and prayed that they would come safely and that nothing important would be stolen, and because of those prayers and a whole lot of luck my bags came without anything being stolen!  Except maybe my flashlight,.. I cant find that;)  But its all good!  Super funny experience!  Oh and I wore Elder Zacchilli's clothes until I got my luggage. 

Then once we left the airport we drove through the craziest traffic in the world!!  Holy nothing in the US compares to this in the slightest!  It was hilarious, I was dying laughing the whole entire time!   I thought we were going to crash like 10 times and we were within inches multiple times.  But actually their driving style is somehow really safe!  The Filipinos don't get mad at all at anyone, most all of the time they will let anyone switch lanes and things, but there is also nonstop Honking, so funny!  

Then once we got to the Privato Hotel, which is SO NICE!!  We went into our rooms.  Then we got a knock on the door, and about 15 Filipino Elders rushed into our room!  They were all speaking Tagalog and were teaching me and Elder Zacchilli as much as we could take in.  No actually way more!  Then we gave them some American treats and they went crazy eating it, they loved it!  So picture about 15 Filipino Elders surrounding a bed with 2 white Americans sitting on it, and all of the Filipinos talking to us and teaching us.  It was the funniest thing ever!!!!  Oh and basically anything we say the Filipinos die laughing at because we talk weird and we always say Tagalog words wrong!  SO FUNNY!!!  And they call me and Elder Z guapo, then we say Hindi Hindi(no no), kayo Elder GUAPO!!!  Then they all bust up laughing, its the best!  My confidence in my funniness is going up:)  It's like Kaylee laughing at all of everyone's jokes then times that by 10!  That is a Filipino for you!

We arrive at the MTC the next morning and me and Elder Z are the only white Elders or Sisters!!  About 100 missionaries came and only us 2 were white!  I LOVE IT!!!  We had to go through a bunch of tests and stuff, with immunizations and stuff so we got to meet everyone!  They really are the nicest people ever!  Then they asked about my musical skills, and asked me to prove it by playing Called to Serve.  SO I played it and seriously everyone stopped what they were doing and basically started dancing to the music!!  They were all complimenting me on it and they were so grateful for my mom for teaching me!  So thanks for that mom!!!  

So far I have played the piano at almost every meeting!  Last night a general authority Elder Babita from the Philippines, and I played for the whole thing!  I played for all the missionaries in the choir on We Thank thee oh God for a Prophet!  It was powerful!!  I played prelude music for about 30 minutes before the meeting, then after the meeting one of the teachers just kept on telling me to play songs and everyone to sing to them, all of the missionaries!  So in just last night I probably played about 30 hymns!!!  It was crazy!  I was basically sleeping while I was playing towards the end...  JOKELANG!!! 

Ok I just want to say sorry to all the other missionaries out there because my MTC district is seriously the BEST there is!!!!  We have so much fun!  One word to describe us, is JOKELANG!!!  We say it basically every other sentence.  Its the best!!  There is me and Elder Z then 5 sisters.  Sister Fukofuka, Sister Tukia, Sister Makihele all from Tonga, then Sister Tham from Malaysia, then Sister Falau from New Zealand.  And they are all hilarious!  We play pranks, we Jokelang all day long.  And we also have such spiritual meetings and testimonies shared in our district room, I LOVE MY DISTRICT!!!  Sister Fukofuka is so crazy, she talks so much and is so hilarious!  Me at kasama ko love to mess with her, cuz she is so funny!

On Sunday was testimony meeting and I bore my testimony!  Ako nakakita, Magandang Umaga!  Ako po si Elder Alldredge, taga Utah po ako.  Then mostly in English unless I really knew the word in Tagalog.  But I have learned so much Tagalog already!!!  I can say almost the whole prayer in Tagalog.  I can bear my testimony in Tagalog.  I can even teach mostly all of a lesson in Tagalog to our investigator who only speaks Tagalog!  But we have most of it translated before hand.  But we have taught our investigator Emil 3 times now and it gets better everytime.  We now mostly ask him questions, try to understand his very fast speaking Tagalog, then respond with our testimonies in Tagalog.  Understanding him is so hard!  But we are working on it, trying to become better everyday!  

One time he asked where the church was at.  And I told him "Daon and pinto!!"  I thought pinto was street... NOPE;) It is actually door:)  So he points at the door very confused, and I Bust out laughing!!!  Then me and Elder Z were just laughing hard while he was sitting there obviously very confused.  It was so funny!  But we make a lot of mistakes, but we are working on it, trying to be better!  Oh and I also commited him to be baptized in all Tagalog!! I have the "will you follow the example of the Savior and be baptized?"  All MEMORIZED!!! In TAGALOG!!!  It is super long but I prayed for help on it and boy does it come, praying helps with everything!  

Well I love you FAM!!! and friends!  I miss you a lot rn!!  But to tell you the truth I haven't even started thinking about home until basically right now!  There is just so much to do and I LOVE IT!!

Missionary work it so fun, and I am so happy! 

Don't worry about me at all!!  I LOVE IT HERE!!

Mahal ko ito!!!!  I LOVE the Philippines!!  I LOVE the Filipino people!  I LOVE my district!! 

I really LOVE BEING A MISSIONARY!!!

I am so happy here!!  I can't stop smiling!  And everybody here is amazing!

The Philippines MTC is awesome!!

Thanks for all you do and have ever done for me!! 

Keep writing me!!!  I appreciate it!

Mahal ko kayo!!! SO MUCH!!!

LOVE, Elder Guapo:)  jokelang...;)

Paalam, Elder Alldredge

New Zealand Elders & Sisters

Airport selfie with Elder Zachilli in the background

Kyle and Elder Z

Kyle & Elder Z waiting for the plane

Elders in the hotel maybe?  Kyle wearing Elder Z's clothes

Got to the MTC - no luggage!

Nice new haircut - high and tight!

MTC!

The Temple is closed for 3 months but it is great for pictures!

MTC District!

Magandang Umaga Family!!!

The past three days, well two i guess since i skipped Wednesday have been such an adventure!  I flew to LAX with some missionaries going to New Zealand and then stayed with them for a while in the LAX airport, after I left them I was by myself until I found Elder Zacchilli who is my MTC companion!! BOO YAA!!  I am the Senior Companion and we have so much fun!  We were the only white Americans who arrived at the MTC today, along with about 100 other Filipinos, and other islanders, and Asians.  It is so fun to hear them and they laugh at us so much!  We are just that funny i guess:)  HAHA mostly because we don't know how to speak Tagalog very much.  But we are already learning very fast, its so fun!  We say Salamat po, and paalam to everyone its great!  Mom thank you for teaching me piano, also Kaylee thank you!!! When they heard that I played the piano they took me to the piano to test my skills.  Man, do I have skills!!!  They were all going crazy, because nobody else here plays the piano!  So thanks!!  My companion will lead all of the music and I will play the piano.  

We have met so many elder and sisters, and everyone is hilarious!! I LOVE IT HERE!!!!

The Philippines is so funny!  Everything just makes me laugh, I smile more than I ever have before in my life!  It's seriously so much fun!  I hope everyday is as much fun and as much laughing as today!  Even though we woke up at 5:00.  But its ok cuz today is great!  

I met a couple other elders from Utah and they are excited to see me play basketball.  Little do they know that I'm gonna kick their trash;)  HAHA birolang:)  But it will be a lot of fun!  

I love you all so much!! And miss you a ton! 

But just know that I smile nonstop!

I have fun nonstop!  Everything is so great!  I LOVE IT HERE!

Don't worry about me because the church is true, and I LOVE IT!  

Have a great week, and my p-day is on Wednesday so get ready for that!!

I love you all so much!!  Gotta go have some more fun!! :)  

LOVE, Elder Alldredge

ps(apparently my hair is too long!!! hahaha so funny:)  It is shorter than my comp but his is fine and mine is not.  So I may be bald in the pictures I send next wednesday;)  HAHA it's all good!)

LOVE YOU!!!

PAALAM!!!