Magandang Araw Po!!!

This week was another crazy week in the Philippines!  First off, right after I finished emailing last week, we were waiting for a Jeepnee to pick us up and take us home, but there were absolutely no Jeepnee's going through at that time, so we were standing on the side of the road, in the rain for 1 1/2 hours!!  Finally we decided to call the Office Elders to come rescue us and luckily they were fairly close so they came and picked us up.  So you know how I said the road road overflowed and there was a lot of water.  Well that was nothing!  On our way back through the water was probably 2 feet deep in certain places and it was literally a river going straight across the road!!  They had to open up the dam because there is so much water so all the water goes straight to LaPaz:)  We thought we were going to float away, seriously that was pretty scary!  But we finally made it through and decided that we should not sleep at our house just in case it floods, so we slept in Tarlac at the AP's house.

After another night back home the next wave of the Typhoon was going to hit, so we were evacuated out of LaPaz for safety precautions, again...  But this time it was for 2 days!!  So we slept at the Zone Leaders house.  I went on splits one day with the Zone Leaders and one day with the AP's.  And apparently I am the first trainee to go on splits with the AP's in our mission so that's also super cool!  So after the two days we got to come back to LaPaz to still find a flood.  LaPaz is literally the worst flooding city in our mission, which is crazy cuz there are some pretty bad ones. Also even up till now there is still a flood on the far side of the road, so we can't teach 2 of our investigators.  So as you can tell we haven't had much time to work in LaPaz so this week we are really trying to push to get back on track!

This week Ronald and Romel came to church, and they said they really enjoyed it and would for sure be coming back again next Sunday!!  It helps to also have really good young single adults that are their close friends as well.  Also this morning we played basketball at the church with the Zaragoza Elder's and a bunch of the YSA's.  It was super fun, even though we were all drenched with sweat at 6:30 in the morning;)  There is the Philippines for ya...;)

We also taught a lady in only candle light this past week.  It was seriously the coolest/weirdest thing ever!  I couldn't even read the verse out of my Aklat ni Mormon because it was so dark.  We sat in a circle around the candle, it was pretty legit!  One of the ladies we taught this week recorded our lesson on her phone, secretly she thought.  She was very hard to teach because she had lots of comebacks and questions.  But I hope she shows her pastor that recording because I know that all of what we said about the gospel is true, and it always will be!  We also saw two guys handcuffed get taken to the police station, so that was interesting:)

Transfer day is this week!  Nothing will most likely happen to me, but our zone will change a lot because there is quite a few departing missionaries.  My first transfer in the field is basically over... Halfway done with training!! BOO YAA!!!

Well have a great week!!  Thanks for all the letters! Don't forget to smile this week:):):)

LOVE, Elder Alldredge

Splits with the AP's

Flooded 7-11 in LaPaz

Flooded streets after the Typhoon

More flooding

Out with the AP's

Washing clothes

Kumusta Everybody?!?

So the big news this week was Typhoon Karen! (or Typhoon Sakira)  So it was supposed to be huge, it was supposed to go directly through our mission and tear things to shreds.  This typhoon was supposed to be so bad that me and my companion were evacuated out of LaPaz and we went to Tarlac for safety precautions.  So we stayed the night at the AP's house until about 1:00 on Sunday.  Church was cancelled in all of the Tarlac Stake as well.  But Typhoon Karen was a Malaki SABLAY!!! Or in English, A BIG FAIL!!!  I was really hoping for some intense rain, lots of flooding, I wanted so much rain that we would have to swim to get home, and have some crazy experiences;)  But all we got was some medyo hard wind and rain on Saturday nightL  Last week we had way harder rain than this so it was pretty lame, but I guess it’s ok because all the missionaries and members are safe.  But we were just on our way to Zaragoza and the road was covered with about a foot of water!! We were like WHAT?!?  It hasn't rained all day!  But apparently it built up from this weekend and overflowed from the rice fields and houses into the roads and the palenke(outside food market thing)  It looks so cool!  While driving on the road in the Jeepnee, everything was the exact same level, because of the water is so high, so thats pretty sweet!!

This week we gained 3 super solid investigators, and they have super high potential to be baptized!!  One of them is Lynie Bernardino who is the sister of Anthony, the one who will be baptized on November 5^th.  And she is such a good investigator with so many good questions for us to answer.  Also we are now teaching Ronald and Romel who are friends of one of the Less Actives here in LaPaz.  They are seriously so good!  Ronald used to come to church with his brother until his brother moved out, so he already has a very good idea of what our church is about.  Also when we asked them if they read the Aklat ni Mormon they said yes, we got together yesterday and read it in a circle, aaaaahhhhh they are so Golden!  It’s the BEST!! They also came to the Zaragoza Elder’s baptism on Saturday.  I gave a talk at the baptism:) It was on the Gift of the Holy Ghost, in all Tagalog!!!

I had my first Zone Interviews this past week, which President does quarterly.  It went well and I also learned a ton from the Workshop that Sister Clark gave while President Clark interviewed.  They did one role play and asked for volunteers to do it.  When nobody volunteered, she picked me and my kasama to do it;)  Shiempre!!!  I am literally the worst Tagalog speaker in the Zone, but it actually turned to be halfway decent, so I was good with it... once it was over.

Sorry for no funny stories this week!  I was expecting the Typhoon to deliver that, but nothing :)  Next week I will do my best to have a bunch of funny things ready to tell.

This week I also learned more about how much the Savior went through for us.  We watched a video about the Savior, his Atonement for us, and the Crucifixion in district meeting.  He and only He could have done this act for all mankind.  So because He did this for us, we better use the gift of repentance everyday!!  It really can bring us joy and happiness whenever we truly repent and change.

Thank you so much for all of your emails!!!  They really are my favorite thing, and I ALWAYS leave the internet cafe beaming because of your emails :)

Have a fantastic week!! I love ya'll so much!!!

LOVE, Elder Alldredge

The Tarlac Zone

Zone training

Elder Alldredge and Lastierre doing the role play!

Week 4!!!

Kumusta family and friends?!?  This week had a couple real struggle days and a couple amazing days!  But of course I will only tell you about the amazing days:) And don’t worry the struggle days, they weren’t all that bad anyway…:)  Those days just call for a change of my attitude, so I gotta work on that!! 

So General Conference was Napakagaling!!!  I loved every second of it and am very sad that it is over, but luckily we can read the talks in a little while so I’m looking forward to that!  One of my favorite talks was Elder Nelson’s talk which was all about JOY!  And how we can make every day, hour, and moment into a happy one.  And that is really how it should be!  What is the point of living life if we are not happy while in it?!?  There were so many good talks that I loved, including President Monson’s short powerful testimonies of the Word of Wisdom and the Plan of Salvation.  If these are the things the Prophet of the Lord chose to talk about in his 5 minutes in General Conference, they really must be so important!

I also had my first Zone Training this week and it was a good time, I learned a whole lot.  Except that out of about 25ish missionaries me and my companion were called on to give a Role Play in front of everyone… Oh man, it was rough but also super hilarious!!  Also I am literally the worst speaker at Tagalog in the Zone by far, so I think they just wanted to get people laughing at my “not so good” Tagalog.  And it worked!!  So I guess I did my job;)  But everyone was super complimentary and nice about my speaking skills after so those are always good confidence boosters!

On Tuesday we were teaching an old lady investigator, and during the lesson it started to rain.  This was not just any rain, it was literally dumping buckets and sheets of rain!!  So we were trapped in this investigators house for about 2 hours because the rain was so heavy.  All around there house was filling up with water, it seriously got to about 1 foot deep and it was THE COOLEST THING EVER!!!  While I was loving every second of this storm, everyone else thought it was the worst thing ever, so that was hilarious :-)

We found a new investigator this week and her name is Jovilyn Tajores.  She is a fantastic person to teach and she really just soaks it all in.  She has been having a rough time lately because her husband left her last week.  So we feel that she found us at the very time she needed us!  I know that the Lord allowed this to happen, and it put her in our path so we could find her at this time and teach her when she needs it most.  We taught her The Restoration and then extended the Baptismal invitation.  And she said “Bakit Hindi??” Which is why not?  Haha I loved that answer! And I really feel that she will gain a testimony of the Aklat ni Mormon and this church.

Another thing brought up quite a bit in conference was about how members can share the gospel.  So try to be that person that prays for opportunities to bear your testimony, and that just helps other people out!

Thanks so much for all the emails! 

Have a fantasic week!  I love y’all!!!

Elder Alldredge

The rains came down and the floods came up...

Drying off after the storm poses?

The Garay family in the Branch

More of the dabbing...

I can’t believe it’s already P-day again!!  This past week went by sobrang mabilis! It is October now and I am just waiting for the leaves to change and soon the snow to start coming but I doubt it here in the Philippines;)  We have come to realize that opening up a new area is not an easy task.  We have a couple investigators and only 2 of them are progressing.  But those 2 are on their way to being baptized at the end of this month, so that is awesome!  Lately we mostly just OYM because most all of our appointments get cancelled or some other excuse, so we just find, find, find.  Smiling makes people smile and it forces you to be happy.  Whenever you find yourself not smiling, just do it!! What is to lose, also people will notice your smile if it is on your face all the time so just SMILE!!!  Also pray to be the answer to someone’s prayer this week!!  As we ask God for those opportunities, he will provide them!

This week I had my very first exchanges with the Tarlac Zone leader, Elder Santiago.  It was a super good experience to see how someone else does missionary work and now I try to implement the things that he did that were good.  So we were teaching Nico, one of our investigators and then 4 of his friends came over and asked if they could listen to the lesson…  Uh, Of Course!!  So we were teaching the Plan of Salvation to 5 20ish year old guys and it was super cool!   It was the coolest thing ever to see these guys so locked in on what we were teaching, because the Spirit was their and testifying of truth.  Because the Spirit only testifies of truth!  I really believe that these 5 are going to get baptized sometime in the near future.  But sadly the 4 friends were from Victoria so the sister missionaries get to teach them.

Me and Elder Santiago went to the Bukid to some random house in the middle of the rice field.  And we got a return appointment to teach them later!  But the views from the rice fields were amazing with the sunsets and everything, it was so cool!  Also a couple days this week were super hot so there was rice covering the street, everywhere!  It is so hilarious how different and funny the culture is here in the Philippines!! I love it!

My favorite scripture that helped me this week was D&C 84:88.  I know that this is true.  God is always there to help us, especially when we struggle! 

Also favorite quote for the week, “Never Suppress a Generous Thought!!”

As we do this we will truly become more Christ-like, and that is the goal!  I have tried to apply it this week, and it helps me to serve those around me more frequently, so that is always good!  

Thanks for the emails, they always make me so happy!!

Have a fantastic week and don't let a generous thought pass by without action.  

I promise it will make you happier and you will have more opportunities to serve those around you!

LOVE YOU ALL!!!

Elder Alldredge

The Bukid!

Carabao enjoying the wet field

Standing on a concrete pole in the middle of a rice field for some reason.

Not sure what he is doing

Because you need to see every view of him

and the dab

Awesome sunsets

Brother Garay's family

Brother Garay's Birthday!  He is hilarious!