FIRST WEEK IN DARAGA -WEEK 86

WOAHHH ANOTHER WEEK...GONE! First week in Daraga down and 17 to go! hehehe So about Daraga, well it’s about the exact same as Guino... small teaching pool and not really any progressing investigators! BUT it’s GOING GREAT!  So this week was a lot of just walking around to all of our areas and showing me like our whole area and then teaching some of our investigators but mostly teaching less actives or "resting" members is what they're called here haha! But it’s soo sweet out here we have these 3 guys that are 18/19 yrs old and they work everyday! One guy worked with us everyday the whole day then his friend would come when he was done with school so it’s so much fun going out and working! Cause we’re always happy and it’s also good cause we can do splits a lot! Which was weird this week.. We did splits on Saturday and Sunday and I was with these 2 guys that I didn’t even know on Saturday in an area that I barely knew haha but it was  alright then Sunday I was with some other guy I didn’t know either haha but it’s good out here the member missionary work is great! But what we’ve been trying to do this week is every resting member or just other members we go to, we teach them about missionary work, cause we know that their referrals are our ONLY HOPE!! haha 

So to answer your questions... my new comp is ELDER COPADA! He is from Taguig Manila! He’s DOPE! We get along good! Do we have any baptisms lined up?? NO starting from zero again hehehe (that’s always fun!) How’s the food situation here in Daraga!??! Well lemme tell ya! So I got here on Tuesday and that night we had a dinner at bishops house the next day we went out and worked and were tracting and after getting rejected at the first 3 houses the next one accepted us AND FED US!! and they fed us TINOLA! a really good dish here in the ppines! haha Then after we came out of our lesson there the ward mission leader texted us and said we had a lunch there, soo we went and ate AGAIN! Wanna know what dish it was?? TINOLA!! HEHEHE! Then after that we have had dinner every day except Saturday!! hahaha sooo food?? NO PROBLEM!! Any funny stories I want to share?? hmm well I held a snake this week!! hehe that was fun! and I shook hands with a monkey hahaha!! 

And a verse I would like to share with you?? hmm well how about a whole chapter!! After reading Alma 26 I found somthing that an apostle said about how AMMON experienced EVERYTHING missionaries do now! and even worse!! And it was talking about how he REALLY DID SERVE A MISSION!! IT WAS HIS STORIES!! It was not Joseph Smith writing about what it would be like to be a missionary..CAUSE HE WOULD HAVE NO IDEA WHAT IT WOULD BE LIKE when he was translating the BOOK OF MORMON!! Just another testimony building experience to read that and then a cool feeling to be able to be EXPERIENCING what the great AMMON experienced in his missionary efforts!! 

AND I KNOW!! WHY he was soo happy!! He says that being an instrument in the Lords hands is how we can receive a FULNESS OF JOY!!! I testify that that is true! This work is HARD!! And STRESSFUL!! And I always ask myself...why are you soo happy!? Most of the time my answer is I don’t know... all I know is I'm doing what I should be doing and I'm being an instrument in His hands...SOOO I’M HAPPY!! 

I love you all and hope you have a great week this week and don’t forget to have an EXTRA BIG SMILE THIS WEEK! 

"live so that those who know you, but don’t know HIM, will want to know him because they know YOU”

LOVE ELDER PANADERO

HAKUNA MATATA!!

LAST WEEK IN GUINO!! -WEEK 85

So… I'm getting transfered  to a very FAR AREA!! haha kidding I’m only moving over like one city and I’m still in the same zone.. I’ll be in Daraga next week!

Well, this week we ended pretty great!  The whole week we struggled to teach our old investigators with sickness and other things coming up.. but we did teach some of them and hopefully they will see some of them progress next transfer.  A couple said they would come to church next week so hopefully that goes thru next week! 

But something SWEET happened this week! So most newly returned missionaries probably are familiar with the name “Eric Guevara" well he was one of the investigators on THE DISTRICT 2 and well, he’s filipino and now he’s the newest member in our ward.. he just moved here with his family and now they're in this ward, and GUESS WHAT!? His daughter is our newest investigator as of yesterday! Too bad I won’t be there to see her get baptized, but I’ll hear about it from my companion! 

Well, not much happened this week! Kinda slow week!  We had a service project on Saturday and put a roof on someones house in a sketchy way! But no one was injured don't worry! Well I’ll let you now how things go next week in my new area! Daraga here I come! 

ALSO I WANT TO GIVE A BIG FAT SHOUT OUT TO THE CUTEST 4 YEAR OLD EVER!  HAPPY BIRTHDAY RIGGS!  I HOPE YOU HAVE THE BEST BIRTHDAY!! I LOVE YOU RIGGS!!

peace!

LOVE ELDER PANADERO

HAKUNA MATATA!!

Lots of goodbye's to all the members in Guino!!

HUMBLING WEEK -WEEK 84

Soo this was a totally weird week especially for the Philippines!  So remember last week we found a ton of SWEET NEW INVESTIGATORS!! So this week we went back to go teach them and to teach our other investigators in those areas... well on Tuesday .. EVERY APPOINTMENT FELL THRU... so with nothing to do we went finding, thankfully we found 2 new investigators! Then Wednesday .. same thing.. every appointment fell thru except ONE!! Which was with a potential investigator! The finding again..and lots of walking! Thursday .. same thing no appointments.. Friday ..same! Saturday we went to Lomacao and taught 2 of our progressing investigators which one of those is getting baptized next week!! WOAHH!! But after that Saturday afternoon... same thing appointments feel thru!! But we ended up contacting a new investigator that we are really excited to teach!! He’s a part member that really looks up to his brothers example of changing when he received the gospel! So we’re hoping he will start the change also! 

SO HERE’S WHERE THE GOOD PART STARTS!! 

So Sunday was fast Sunday out here and I was fasting for let’s say... a MIRACLE! For at least 1 of our investigators we’ve been working with to come to church besides the one being baptized... well NO MIRACLE!! so at this point I had reached a new low!! I was soo disapointed of the week we had, and how we had no fruits for our efforts at the end of it! Well at sacrament meeting I get called randomly to say the opening prayer and then after the bishop asked me to stay on the stand with him! So I stayed, and then the sacrament started and still feeling super sad I started to pour my heart out in prayer why nothing good had happened this week.. then a verse popped in my head.  One of my favs! D and C 6 verse 35-37!  It’s Jesus Christ speaking and he says we need to perform the work which he’s commanded us and to DOUBT NOT! AND FEAR NOT!! And to remember the marks in his hands and feet and be faithful and we shall inherit the kingdom of heaven! Then I remembered what Jeffery R Holland said that missionary work isn’t easy! And how Christ never had it easy either! And as I thought about Jesus Christ and his sufferings in his missionary journey and it made me feel SOO much better! I started crying up on the stand in front of everyone! (awkward..) BUT FELT SOO HAPPY!! It took a whole week but I finally learned what it was all for and learned something great from it!! And definitely humbled myself!! haha! 

BUT WE ARE SOO BLESSED ALSO TO HAVE A BAPTISM THIS COMING SATURDAY!! 

LOVE ELDER PANADERO

HAKUNA MATATA!!

FYI…this is what we had to do to get water for 4 days…pumping it out and carrying it up to the house hahaha everyday about 2 or 3 times a day!! wake up.. pump some water.

TIME FLIES WHEN YOU'RE HAVING FUN!! -WEEK 83

MARAY NA HAPON PO SA INDONG GABOS!! 

Soo it’s been another GREAT WEEK! that flew by... why is it that when you’re having soo much fun that time just seems to be gone as fast as a box of krispy kreme donuts!! (I’m having depression problems still cause I ate my donuts tooo fast! hahaha) So this week we were BUSY! I guess that’s why it went fast! So Tuesday we had a normal working day and went to a couple of our progressing investigators and also did some finding! Well while we were finding some lady yelled at me and said come to my house!! hahah so I yelled back and asked her name then we wrote her name down and went and found them last week but this week we got to teach them on Tuesday and the mom is really open and wants to learn! And one of her kids went to church back in the day with one of her friends...then when we went to go back and teach them...THEY WEREN'T THERE...sad right??? NOPE!! cause guess what!! Their neighbor is SUPER INTERESTED ALSO!! #blessed!! So we started teaching all of them this last week! And hopefully they’ll make it out to church this week! Then on Wednesday we had exchanges with the ZL’s!  AKA ELDER EGBERT!! (for those that don’t know he was my comp in the mtc!!) so we got to be companions again on our exchanges!! Which was awesome! Even tho we just did finding the ENTIRE DAY except for 1 appointment at night before we went home hahaha! Then on Thursday we had interviews with President which was awesome! Then FRIDAY was exchanges with our roomates! Which was just another day of finding haha!! With no results.. YET!! The pic of the lady scooping the rice into a sack is a lady we talked to and then helped carry her sacks of rice back to her house! And she said we could come back and teach her this next week! #blessed! Then Saturday was the baptism of the two child of record baptisms! Then we traveled to go to Legazpi for the Saturday session of stake conference! Then by the time we got back, we just ate and went to sleep haha then woke up and went back all the way to Legazpi for conference!! hahaha so it was a busy weekend full of traveling!! but VERY FUN! 

Then this morning we went to Cagsawa for our district activity! 

And NOW its time for another EXTRAordinary week!! Pray that we keep being #blessed with new investigators and progressing investigators! 

LOVE ELDER PANADERO

HAKUNA MATATA!!