IT'S NEW YEARS!! -WEEK 21

WOOOOW WHAT A WEEK!! 

Well me and my new comp are doing work out here in mobo!!  In the next month we should have 7 baptisms in our area.  2 part member families but the rest investigators!!!  And they're like actually progressing and want to be baptised, soo I'm really hoping that it works out good!! 

BUT WHAT'S BETTER THAN BAPTISM WHITES.... TEMPLE WHITES!!! 

So this last December our branch was supposed to do a temple trip for the youth and some members to get endowed but because of the typhoon it didnt work out and they moved it to May... what a bummer right.... NOPE!!!  It's a actually a huge miracle!! Because now we have 2 FAMILIES THAT ARE PREPARING TO ENTER THE TEMPLE AND BE SEALED!!!  Wow I was walking home to my apartment and earlier that day I was teaching about how everything in the world and everything that happens in the world denotes there is a God!!  And I was thinking about how our Heavenly Father works in mysterious ways for real!!!  And everything that happens is for a reason!!! 

  

Well this is my email for the week.  So sorry for the shortness but I've got bigger and better things to do!! hehehe ;) 

LOVE YOU ALL!

LOVE ELDER BAKER

HAKUNA MATATA!!

I HAVE A SON!! -WEEK 20

Hello family and friends!! whom I love soo very much!

Well this week we only worked three days because I just barely got back to Masbate with my new companion!!  His name is Elder Jardeleza and he is from Illoilo which means his native tounge isn't Tagalog!!  So not only do I not know Tagalog, but sometimes it's hard for him too!!!  And in Illoilo they speak wayyy fast soo he's wayy hard to understand sometimes!!  And we also got 2 new missionaries in our apartment!!  So that's coolio.  One is from New Zealand, so he knows English but the other is from the same place as my comp!! 

But ya, it's been a short week of work but it's been wayy fun.  The transition from trainee to trainer is kinda difficult!!  I'm used to my comp knowing what to do all the time and where to go!!!  But now it's all up to me!!  I decided that every time I make a decision I'm gonna pray about it and see if that's what  I should do.  I need all the help from the spirit I can get!!

Well it's Christmas this week and let's just say I don't think a Christmas miracle of snow is gonna go down!!  It's still blazing hot here!!  Not blazing hot, but super hot and really humid!!  I love it cause I can eat all the rice I want!! (and we definitely eat alot) and then I just sweat it all off!! hahahhaha 

Well, in the spirit of Christmas just give give give!!!  No matter what it is, just GIVE!!  Give all the service you can!!!!  And give prayers to those in need!!  And give help to the poor and needy!!  And for all you parents reading this, OF COURSE GIVE TO YOUR KIDS HEHEHHE!!! 

I hope everyone has a great Christmas week this week and have lots of fun for me!!

LOVE ELDER BAKER

HAKUNA MATATA!!

Christmas Presents!

SUPER TYPHOON (of emotions and physical) -WEEK 19

A note we received from President and Sister Guanzon through Facebook:   There is a typhoon approaching Legazpi. We want to notify the parents and families so they will not worry. "All missionaries were evacuated specifically those whose apartments that are near the sea. We are all safe." The missionaries in Legazpi will be moved to either the mission home or to the church for a few days. Sister Guanzon is out getting groceries and supplies. If your missionaries are emailing you, be sure to tell them to obey the evacuation and do exactly like they are asked to do.

A private note from Elder Baker to let us know he was safe:  Hello!!  I don't know if you know about the super typhoon that is here right now, but I just want to let you know I'm safe.  I came to Legazpi yesterday.  We got on the last boat for Legazpi cause right after, they shut down the boats because of the storm!  One of the guys on Masbate is supposed to leave to go home too, so he's trying to get here but probably won't for a couple days!!  I'll probably be here until Saturday or Sunday!! 

Sooo right now we are under like signal 5 or something for a danger of a super typhoon!! And it's supposed to be like absolutely crazy strong!!  So if everyone could PLEASE SEND ALL YOUR PRAYERS TO THE PEOPLE HERE IN THE PHILIPPINES!! Well that's the physical super typhoon... the emotional typhoon is that I'm going to be training!!  From trainee to trainer!  I can barely even speak Tagalog!!  It's gonna be a real test of my faith and patience!!  Well Elder Irabon had his last week in the mission field this week!!  And it was a pretty crazy week because he's the branch president we were trying to get the whole ward ready to be handed over to the new guy and we had to throw a christmas party of course!!  And that was really stressful to find enough food for everyone!!  We ended up with like 50 pounds of adobo!!  It still wasn't enough!!  We had 150 people show up to our party and the 4 moms that were dishing out the food didn't get to eat any!!  We were only expecting to have 100 people!!  It was great tho to have sooo many less active members and investigators show up!!  And then our attendance at church the next day jumped up to 95!!  We went from 60 to 95!! in one week!!  Let's hope we can keep it that steady and keep growing and eventually we're gonna have a ward in mobo!!!  Also we're getting 2 more missionaries moving into our apartment this transfer!!  So our area is gonna be split!!  Which will really help the branch grow!! 

PLEASE!!! SEND YOUR PRAYERS TO THE PEOPLE HERE!!  THAT'S WHATS GONNA HELP THEM STAY THE MOST SAFE AND MAYBE THEIR HEARTS WILL BE OPENED TO OUR MESSAGE!!  

LOVE ELDER BAKER

HAKUNA MATATA!!

http://www.accuweather.com/en/weather-news/melor-to-threaten-philippines/54139705

http://www.cnn.com/videos/world/2015/12/14/philippines-typhoon-sater.cnn

BALUT......WHAT??? -WEEK 18

Well this week I had BALUT for the first time!! And it was actually really delicious!!! lol I sent a pic of me and the egg and if you look closely you can see some black lines... ya that's the chickens hair... lol I just loaded it with salt and had no regrets!! That was while I was in Legazpi for the Mission Christmas Conference!! lol kinda early, but it was soo cool to see all the missionaries in our mish and to see my batch from the mtc!! Also I finally busted out the selfie stick my fam sent me and lets just say I fell in love with it instantly!! lol

"BALUT"

"selfie stick love"

reunited and it feels so good!

Elder Baker and Elder Downing from the MTC with a couple Sister Missionaries too

Well this last week we celebrated my comps birthday which is the same day as my girl Elle!! (HAPPY BIRTHDAY ELLERY!!)  Well to celebrate we had a FHE lol that's how we celebrate birthdays here, hahha plus alot of lessons!!Well we also had another baptism!! Oh side note... at the Christmas conference, we found out who the top baptizer is and guess who it was... Elder Irabon "the great" that's his nickname in the mission!! And it's no wonder why!! He has over 70 baptisms in his mish!!

 I hope everyone is having a great Christmas month soo farr!! And always have the Christmas spirit of giving this whole month!! I am able to give the greatest gift of all this Christmas season and that is eternal life! (D and C 14:7 I think lol I'm not perfect ok!) but this month I invite you all to pray for opportunities to give.. whatever you're giving, maybe it's service or maybe it's a dollar to someone in need! But the most important thing to give is your heart to that person, and let them know they are loved by you, and a loving Heavenly Father!!

Well as you guys know by now, I love giving challenges to you guys back home and along with giving the challenge, I want to invite you all to read Moroni 7:45-47.  First just read thru it, don't mark it or anything! Then read thru it again, and think about what you could do to develop better charity and go thru and mark the things you do good, and don't mark the things you don't do. Then work on doing those things better this week!  You can also read 1 Corinthians 13 that's a sobrang maganda chapter! (very beautiful)

Oh k funny story to end! So last night when we were about to eat dinner the members I was with wanted me to pray in English to bless the food... AND IT WAS THE FIRST TIME I'VE PRAYED IN ENGLISH COMPLETELY SINCE THE FIRST DAY IN THE MTC!! And it was really hard!  It kinda made me happy and wierded out at the same time!  Well time to go.  I love you all!

LOVE ELDER BAKER

HAKUNA MATATA!!

Teaching wherever he can!

  Grab the biggest leaf around..instant Umbrella!

   

  

45. And charity suffereth long, and is kind, and envieth not, and is not puffed up,

seeketh not her own, is not easily provoked, thinketh no evil,

and rejoiceth not in iniquity but rejoiceth in the truth, beareth all things, 

believeth all things, hopeth all things, endureth all things.

46. Wherefore, my beloved brethren, if ye have not charity, ye are nothing,

for charity never faileth.  Wherefore, cleave unto charity,

which is the greatest of all, for all things must fail - 

47. But charity is the pure love of Christ, and it endureth forever;

and whoso is found possessed of it at the last day, it shall be well with him.

WEEK 17

WELLL WELLL WELLL I've got some news for you guys!!! I'll start with a Tagalog scripture that I memorized this last week...

bilang nattasan ni jesucristo bibinyagan kita sa pangalan ng ama at ng anak at ng espiritu santo, amen. WELLLL, since none of you know Tagalog lol it is the baptismal prayer.... why would I, ELDER BAKER need to memorize the baptismal prayer?  hmmmm wait maybe I got my first baptism.... BUT MAYBE THERE'S MORE!!!  NOT ONLY DID I DO MY FIRST BAPTISM... BUT I DID IT IN THE OCEAN!!!  WHAT!!!?!??? That has literally been a life time goal of mine!!  Ever since I was a kid I dreamed of the day I would baptize in the ocean!!  Little did I know it would be in the Philippines 3 months into my mission!!

WELL, remember when I ate that chicken intestines!!!! well I continued my journey to the rest of the chicken!!  Next I ate the chicken DUGO... BLOOD!!!  hahahaa it's masarap!!  or delicious!!  Then my next part of the chicken, of course, would have to be the FEET!!  Ya that one actually wasn't good!! lol 

"Fried chicken BLOOD on a stick"

"the chicket FEET" ewwww

Well, we had 2 family home evenings this week and those are soooo fun.  I love those!!!  I'll send pics next week.  Sorry for the short letter internet is bad today... I LOVE YOU ALL AND REMEMBER, PRAY ALWAYS AND HAKUNA MATATA!!

   

LOVE ELDER BAKER

HAKUNA MATATA!!

In case you were wondering:  One week Elder Baker wrote to me from the MTC........he told me that he had a lot on his mind and he was wondering how he would be able to do it all.  The teaching, the language, the culture/food in the Philippines, the homesickness feelings, etc......... He had been praying for help with all of this and he said that he knew Heavenly Father would help him and he did feel better, also he had a song come to his mind....he's a lover of disney songs!!!  He thought of the song "Hakuna Matata" from the Lion King.  He decided then and there to "WORK HARD AND DO ALL HE CAN and leave it up to the Lord to do the rest".  Hakuna Matata, it means no worries for the rest of your days................Dillon's Mission Motto.

Hakuna matata

What a wonderful phrase

Hakuna matata

Ain't no passin' craze

It means no worries

For the rest of your days

And it's a problem-free philosophy

HAKUNA MATATA!

"MOTHER I LOVE YOU, MOTHER I DO"

A hand written letter I received from Dillon Thanksgiving weekend!!!  Made my day❤

Dear, my beloved mother!

"Mother I love you, Mother I Do" I think that's a primary song, di ba?  I've just been thinking about you and the fam lately, I was in our interview with the president and we were talking about if anything has been bothering me and I said no, not really about the mish.....I've just been a little homesick lol!  Who isn't homesick on the mission right?  Well, we talked about how I just need to remember that my family will be more blessed if I'm here serving than if I was home!  So to help you guys receive maraming blessings I'm gonna stay here lol!

Well, me and president Guanzon were talking about how much more I'm gonna love my family after the mission and how awesome that day is gonna be at the airport when I come home!!  ahhhh!  I'm so excited for that.  That's always been one of my fav things is seeing missionaries coming home!  (side note...I made predictions for who changes the most out of the cousins, I'm guessing Maggie and Max/Luke.)  Well, I love you so much and I pray for you specifically and the whole fam every day.  It's cool at night when I pray usually around 10:30 pm here, it's 7:30 am there so it's around the time everyone is waking up, so it's like we're praying at the same time for each other!  cool huh?

Well, Mahal na mahal kita!  Magandang Gabie for every night for the next 2 years!  LOL!

Love,

your over-weight lover heavy D!

aka Elder Baker

akaka Dillon Christopher Baker your Baby!




p.s.  I miss your tacos

p.s.s  I miss you Jammin out to Bon Jovi!

p.s.s.s. I miss morning breakfast you made me!

p.s.s.s.s I really miss our washing machine and you washing my clothes LOL!

p.s.s.s.s.s.  I miss you getting mad at me for not doing my homework and I wish I would have listened to you!  I've realized that I'm actually pretty good at studying LOL!  And I actually kind of enjoy reading now!

I ATE WHAT?! -WEEK 16

soooo.... I ate CHICKEN INTESTINES THIS WEEK!!!  I have a picture for proof!!  But computer is being dumb so probably no pics... but next week maybe!!!

I don't have alot of time because the dang pictures broke my computer!!  But I just wanted to share a quick story.  So on Sundays we do exchanges and while on exchanges I'm with a member in our ward and then I become the senior companion... man it's pretty scary being the one in charge while teaching, but I also love it, it's soo fun!!  I teach wayyy better too, because I actually have to be more focused and can't just rely on my comp to teach them!!  But yesterday, we were teaching a less active during our exchanges and we were teaching about repentance!!  And then at the end of the lesson we were talking about her coming back to church and she said she was just too lazy and stuff and then the weirdest thing happened... I started talking to her in almost perfect Tagalog ( k maybe not almost perfect, but really good) but while I was talking to her, I was feeling the spirit soo strong as a taught her and testified to her about attending church and the benefits and blessings of church, and I know she was feeling the spirit.  I could see it in her face!!  And after, she said ok ill do it!!  Because earlier she said I'll try and then we said "dont try just do!!"  And then she decided she would start coming back to church!!  We'll see if she attends this week.. hopefully!!

Also funny story!!  There's an American guy that lives like 30 minutes away from our apartment and I see him sometimes riding around on jeepneys and he always yells at me lol!!  But today I saw him at a restaurant for lunch and he came and talked to me and said " hey I was thinking about you the other day, I really was!  I was upstairs in my room praying and I started thinking about you!" (you know why he thought about me.. the spirit was reminding him of me so that we the missionaries could teach him the gospel!!)  But after that he said " I wonder if I'll ever see him again and if I do I'm gonna talk to him!"  Well, he did and we were just talking about where we were from and weirdly he has family in Scottsdale lol!!  But after, I asked him if he would be interested in listening to our message!  And well, he said no... but I know that we are supposed to teach him!!  That's not just a coincidence that he thought about me while praying!!  So next time I see him I'm gonna try to teach him!! 

Time to go.. but I love you all... ALL OF YOU!!  We might not talk but I see all the people that get this email and I literally love you all!!  And your support, whether it's helping me or my family!  I'm so grateful for it!!  And everyone that reads this, if you see my mom this week you better give her a hug this week and tell her that her son in the PPINES loves her sooo much!!  Because it's Thanksgiving week and I realized how much I didn't thank her for everything she did for me growing up so this will be my way of kinda making up for it!!

ps. "don't try just do!!" whatever your trying to do better in your life stop trying and just DO IT!! 

pss. don't forget to pray! there is power in prayer! - did you think to pray hymn!

psss. if your having a bad day listen to or read some hymns!!  They are amazing!!  They help me alot!!

pssss. I LOVE YOU ALL AND DON'T FORGET 👇

LOVE ELDER BAKER

HAKUNA MATATA!!

"Chicken INTESTINES"

Oh, how praying rests the weary!

Prayer will change the night to day.

So, when life gets dark and dreary,

Don't forget to pray.

ALAM KO TAGALOG!! -WEEK 15

Translation: I know Tagalog!! lol Slowly but surely I'm starting to know more and more!! But this week I felt like my Tagalog had gotten wayyy better it's the craziest thing that I'm literally teaching people in a different language!! The other day I was sitting in a lesson and I wasn't understanding anything!!  And I was thinking like how really weird it was that I was speaking a different language I was like focusing on her mouth and the noises coming out and it was the weirdest thing, thinking about how some random noises were coming out of her mouth and although I couldn't understand... it blew my mind that I make those same noises and words when I'm speaking!! And pretty soon  (k maybe not soon) I'll be speaking that language fluently!!  Well at least I hope I can!!  I have faith and pray for the help to learn Tagalog better everyday!!  I study hard and I'm just trying to focus on being able to teach lessons in depth and good!  Then I'll work on the whole fluent thing lol!!

Well this week one of our investigators that has been gone for a week in Manila returned and we got to start teaching him again!! And he's soo close to being ready for baptism!!  And guess what!? I MIGHT BAPTIZE HIM!! YEET!! I hope he chooses me it's either me or his friends brother!

Another investigator we have has been saying that she believes what we have taught her and believes Joseph Smith is a true prophet and she even attends church!  One little, kinda big, actually it's a huge problem... she won't pray to really KNOW for herself that all the things we have taught are true!!  And we want her to have a SURE KNOWLEDGE that the gospel is true and not just believe so that she wont fall away!!  And so we had taught her a whole lesson on how to gain a strong testimony and then we both bared our testimonies of how we came to know and we had a member with us so he told his conversion story and we invited her to pray that night!  The next day we went back to see how her prayer was... and she didn't pray!!  So we taught the same lesson again just a lil different and we told her straight up she needs to KNOW IT'S TRUE FOR HERSELF!!  And I've never felt the spirit more strong than in that lesson when I was testifying to her at the end of the lesson!! And I know that the Holy Ghost was helping me cause I bore a strong heart felt testimony in really good Tagalog!! Not perfect but it was pretty good!!  We haven't been back yet I think tonight we will go by so next week I'll let you guys know how it goes hehe!!  So that was some cool parts of my week!  Now some interesting/funny stuff!! 

Well first of all I have a challenge for everyone that reads this! To find a scripture that has a winky face on it!!  Second of all look up Jacob 6:12!! It's words to live by!!

LOVE ELDER BAKER

HAKUNA MATATA!!

When Christ was on the earth,

He promised he would send

The Holy Ghost to comfort us,

Our true, eternal friend.

The Holy Spirit whispers

With a still small voice.

He testifies of God and Christ

And makes our hearts rejoice.

100 DAY'S SAY WHAT!?? -WEEK 14

Well I'm getting close to 100 days holy cow it's gone by soo fast!!  Time flys when your having fun right!? YES I'M DEFINITELY HAVING FUN!!  I love the mission!!  Although I'm a little jealous of Tanner jumping in the snow!!  That looked like fun!  But its ok I love my random humid rain storms lol!! 

So this week was funn!! IT STARTED OUT TEACHING A PASTOR...  lol so we were teaching this family and then out of nowhere their grandpa comes up and starts telling us everything we're teaching is a lie!!  Ya it was pretty sad but instead of arguing, we just wrapped up the lesson and left!  That pastor is lucky I don't speak Tagalog or I would spit straight fire at him!!  GOSPEL FIRE!! 

And then another cool story.  So Friday we went to go to one of our investigators who is an old man and when we got there he was like worried about something and we got talking and he said his sister had escaped out of her room and he didn't know where she was.  She is a 30 yr old lady but she has a little mental problem so he was scared about where she was!  So we started driving in a trike towards the city looking for her!  It was kinda fun.  As we were going we would ask people if they had seen her walking and the first guy said ya she walked by about an hour ago!  Then the next guy said she passed by 30 minutes ago!  Then 10 minutes and then we got into the city where it was gonna be really difficult to find her.  I was sitting in the trike and said a quick little prayer to find her and then like 1 minute later we saw her on the side of the road!!  So we picked her up and went back to his house!  Then we were teaching the investigator and she came out and started to listen.  Part way thru the lesson we asked our investigator if his sister knew how to read and he said no she never went to school.  Well we grabed the Book of Mormon and took it over to her and asked if she could read it and she read it perfectly! (in Tagalog of course) and the guy was soo confused he had no idea she could read!!  But she did so we gave her the Book of Mormon and asked her to read it!  Then on Sunday guess who showed up at church!!?? The INVESTIGATOR!!  Sadly not his sister because she was to shy to go but it was great that he came!! 

So to end this letter I want to quote my boy Nate Garry! "I know little... but the little I know is big!" I was thinking about that and for me it's very true for 2 reasons! 1. I'm not the smartest when it comes to teaching stuff about the gospel!!  But I know it's important and the little I know is VERY BIG!  2.  I know VERY LITTLE Tagalog, but the Tagalog that I do know... IS VERY BIG  and the most important thing any American could say to these Filipinos!!

LOVE ELDER BAKER

HAKUNA MATATA!!

ps. Don't forget you have Heavenly Father that can help you through anything!!

 Elder Baker LOVES the little kids...and they love him right back!

 A sample of his meals.  Elder Baker totally happy to eat it!

 Karaoke.....It's HUGE in the Philippines!  Elder Baker had fun pretending : )

Monster butterflies?

I am a child of God.

His promises are sure;

Celestial glory shall be mine

If I can but endure.