GAWAIN MISSIONARY! -WEEK 30

My subject this week descibes my whole week!!   In English "missionary work" 

hahahaha Because that's all we've been doing this last week! of course!! 

But really it was just another week out here in the mission field!! 

We have transfers coming up this next week and usually the trainer gets transferred after training!  So I'm kinda expecting to get transfered!! And if I do, I'm gonna be really sad to leave my home here in Mobo!! This is all I've ever known here in the Ppines!! I'm scared to leave!!  Mostly I'm scared to leave my new moms!! hahaha (I'm a mommas boy!) hahahaha what I mean by that, is the two nanays here that feed us all the time!! It's funny, one of my mommas is just brand new! She's the mom of the family we just baptised!! I'm seriously gonna be soo sad to leave them!!  This whole last week we've been joking with each other like we hate each other so that we won't be sad if I leave.  haha  But I think it's just made us closer hahaha!!  Any of my close friends know I joke with the people I love the most!! ;)  And then the other nanay is the Gamba's mom!! She's been my mom since the day I arrived here, she always feeds us hahaha and always makes her sons work with us haha!!  But I don't know if I'm being transferred yet, I will let you know the next time I email if I'm in a new area!!  I will find out Friday and then transfer Monday!

But I just wanted to share a quick lil story!  So a lil background: when I got my call, Ellery Anderson's mom said to me " Don't even worry about the language! One day you'll start speaking and thinking in Tagalog and then even dreaming!!"  Well, she proved to be pretty much correct.  I find myself thinking in Tagalog all the time. And then one night my comp woke up in the night to go to the bathroom and he heard me sleep talking.. IN TAGALOG!! hahaha I guess I was closing a lesson saying something like "well if you don't have anymore questions, that's all and we leave these things in the name of Jesus Christ amen." HAHAHAHA that was pretty cool to hear!  That for me to know my brain is doing all the practice teaching while I sleep, so when I wake up, I'm ready to teach hahaha!! 

Well, that's all I got time for!! Just wanted to let you know I love you all!! 

Oh and I totally forgot I never updated you guys on the Elder Nelson talk.  So I will share one verse he shared and let you guys "ponderize" it!!  The verse is D & C 11:20!!

LOVE ELDER BAKER

HAKUNA MATATA!!

 The AWESOME Masbate Zone! 

a new pair of shoes Elder Baker has picked up!

D & C 11:20  Behold, this is your work, to keep my commandments, yea, with all your might, mind and strength.

BI...BI...BINYAG!!! -WEEK 29

WELL THIS WEEK WAS PROBABLY MY FAVORITE WEEK EVER!! IT'S UP THERE WITH THE BAPTISM IN THE OCEAN!! 

Well, binyag I baptism in Tagalog!!  And we had a baptism this week of  MY FAMILY!!  I call them my family cause they literally are my family hahaha!   I love them soo much!  This family is the referral we received back in December!!  Or something!  But we've been working with them for a long time getting them ready for baptism and sadly the dad didn't get baptized because he has work 3 hours away and he's only home 2 days of the whole month!!  But he wants to get baptized!  He heard our lesson about the restoration the first 2 times we taught them and he knew it was true!!  But he can't attend church so he can't be baptised!!  But he wants too!!  The family is already planning a temple trip!!  

So the baptism was great.  There was 4 of them.  3 the Cantoria family and then their niece that lives with them!!  So what we did is I baptized 2 and my companion baptized 2.  I got to baptize the mom and the niece!!  It was sooo great!  But the best part was the testimonies!!  SO, the niece bore her testimony and it was really funny!  She said the missionaries are soo great,  one time even though elder Jardeleza had lbm (loose bowel movements) they still continued to teach us!! hahahha   

But the moms testimony was great.  She talked about the first time she met the elders in the hospital, she could feel something was different about them!!  And her kids would always see us walking by their house when we would have to walk home and the kids would say I want to be like them someday! hahaha   But then she just talked about how in the first lesson we taught her, she knew our message was true!!  When we taught her the true nature of God the father and his Son, she said that it was true and the catholic church teachings were wrong!!   I was soo happy the entire time she spoke I was just smiling the entire time and AHHH IT WAS SOOO AMAZING!! 

LOVE, ELDER BAKER

I LOVE THIS WORK!!  I LOVE THIS PLAN!!  I LOVE THE PPINES!!  I LOVE THE GOSPEL!! 

HAKUNA MATATA!!

Now we know that we must also

Witness faith in Jesus' work,

Be baptized to show obedience,

As was Jesus Christ, our Lord.

APOSTLES... THEY'RE IGHT -WEEK 28

HAHAHAHA KIDDING APOSTLES ARE AMAZING!!! 

We had the very lucky privilege to listen to an apostle of the Lord speak to us yesterday!!  Elder Nelson President of the Quorum of the Twelve!!

So it went like this!  He showed up at the chapel and then we all went outside and took a big group photo on one camera and I don't have the pic yet but later I will!  But after the pic he and his wife and Elder Ardern of the Seventy and his wife waited in a line to greet us at the meeting!  And we all got to shake his hand!!  LET ME JUST TELL YOU SOMETHING!!  I received a stronger witness that he's an Apostle just from shaking his hand!!  THERE WAS POWER IN HIS HANDS!!  Yet, they were still those old man hands!  But it felt like the worlds strongest man was gripping my hand!! 

Well, I only have a lil time to talk about his talk!  And I left my notes at home so next week I'll go more in depth on his talk!  But I just want to tell you a cool experience!!  So he was teaching directly from the spirit, first of all no teleprompters out here in the Ppines!!  But so he was just sharing with us his personal insights!  And he did this like 4 times, he would be sharing and then say.. wait my minds going somewhere... somewhere in D and C... section 136.. verse (sorry I forgot the verse but it's in my notes!) and then he would just read this verse and we got the opportunity to watch an Apostle read a verse!  Break it down!  Expound the verse!  And then LIKEN IT!!  It was the greatest experience to watch a master gospel teacher at work!!  Ten feet in front of my face!! 

Other updates on my area!!  WE HAVE 4 BAPTISMS THIS SATURDAY!!!  MAYBE 6!!  hahaha the family is finally being baptised!!!  All though the dad is not being baptised, because he doesn't have time to attend church because of work, he really has a strong desire to be baptised with his family and their big family goal is to be sealed in the temple!!  Funny story... So one of the kids was messing around during the lesson and the mom goes "listen to the lesson or you're not gonna be able to go to the temple with the family" HAHAHAHAHA how cool is that!!!  They're already starting to become worthy to enter the temple!! 

Well, that has been my last week!!  I hope everyone is having a great time wherever you may be and I encourage you to always pray and read everyday!!  And one thing that was taught in the conference was to really think about your prayers!!  And your relationship with God, and your prayers will become more meaningful!! 

YA HA BIBI!! (arabic for mahal kita or in english I love you)

LOVE ELDER BAKER

HAKUNA MATATA!!

PPINES UPDATE! -WEEK 27

Well sorry, no super cool stories this week or anything fun happening this week hahaha!  But it was a great week none the less!! 

So update on the family baptism!!  YES THEY ARE STILL GONNA GET BAPTIZED!!  But I don't know if this rule is the same in all missions but to be baptized here, they have to attend church 4 weeks in a row!!  So sometimes it takes a long time for people to be baptized and sometimes you have an investigator that is sooo smart and knows about all the lessons and actually reads the Book of Mormon, but they don't have money to attend church, so they don't attend!!  Which means they can't be baptized!!  But then you have other families that give up the money they would use for lunch and use it to come to church!!! 

I'm definitely learning lessons of sacrifice out here in the ppines!!  Pretty much all the young men in the branch have sacrifice written in their Book of Mormons!!  BUT ALL THE MEMBERS HAVE IT WRITTEN ON THEIR HEARTS!!  If I come home with one thing learned (besides the gospel, cause I definitely learned more of that haha) it would be how to sacrifice!!  I'm so thankful that the Lord sent me here to be able to learn these important life lessons!!  And I'm so thankful for the examples in my life of sacrfice!!  And I'm so thankful for so many of my friends going out and sacrficing 2 years or 18 months!! to help the people of the world that are kept from the peace and happiness of this life, because they know not where to find it!! 

WE HAVE THAT PEACE AND HAPPINESS THEY NEED AND WANT!!  SO GO OUT AND SHARE IT!! 

LOVE ELDER BAKER

HAKUNA MATATA!!

And after many days an angel of the Lord appeared unto Adam, saying:

Why dost thou offer sacrifices unto the Lord? 

And Adam said unto him:  I know not,

save the Lord commanded me.

And then the angel spake, saying: 

   This thing is a similitude of the sacrifice of the

               Only Begotten of the Father, which if full of grace and truth.

--Moses 5:6-7