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!!

GUINO IS GETTING A BAPTISM!! -WEEK 67

WOOAH WHAT A WEEK! It’s been quite a crazy week with transfers happening last week! On Tuesday we had to get the elders in our house sent out and then I was lucky to be in a trisome with my boy elder Nonu! (my companion back in Mobo) he got to work in our area on Tuesday and it was so fun to be working with him again! 

On Tuesday we found a new less active family, the Milliamina family. The mom is a member but the dad is not a member but all her kids are members…  they all have families now, but we taught them and hopefully we can get working on the dad to start coming to church!  he’s just the kinda guy who just relaxes believes in God but it doesn’t drive him to do anything haha but we’ll see what happens with him! His wife didn't come to church this Sunday but we’ll see what we can do to get them to come! 

We also found the Mota family... a less active family also (lots of new LA's hahah)  The problem with the Mota’s is they live out in the MOUNTAINS hahaha over a hill down a hill thru a river and then up another hill haha! But they’re awesome!! 

Other than less actives, we found a part member family, well actually we didn't find them but... we found this kid that isn't a member hahaha so this family is funny.. the dad is a member.. inactive... the mom is NOT a member... but has gone to church every week since 2013 haha she can’t get baptized until they get married in February! BUT she said she wants to have her son get baptized now…... WHICH MEANS GUINO IS GETTING A BAPTISM!! First one in over a YEAR!  You could say I'm a little excited hahaha!!  And guess what.. the moms little sisters live with her so we’re gonna try and involve them in the lessons also!  The family is the Monillia family! 

Soo this week I had a great time just sitting back and relaxing... hahaha I gave elder Ayson the chance to lead to see if that would help him and...YESS IT WORKED! He started working a lot harder this week so I had a lot better week than I have been out here in Guinobatan! 

I LOVE YOU ALL!! I’M SOO UNBELIEVABLY HAPPY OUT HERE!! #PpinesBaby

LOVE ELDER BAKER

HAKUNA MATATA!!

Whenever I am good and kind

And help someone I see,

I feel so very happy,

For then I'm helping me.

Tra la la la la la la la,

I'm happy as can be

When I am helping others,

For then I'm helping me.

WHAT A WEEK! -WEEK 64

Well it’s been quite a week FULL OF SURPRISES! HAHAHA ;) but it’s been a humbling and good week to learn from! I learned this week that "missionary work isn't easy. Because salvation isn't cheap” -Elder Holland.  This week we had some struggles with teaching people and keeping our heads on straight as missionaries! I’M GRATEFUL for the trials our Heavenly Father has given me especially in this new area! YES it’s been a struggle BUT YES it’s been LOTS OF FUN!! 

SYEMPRE we had success cause everyday is a success as long as you go to sleep happy.. hahaha we did find some more people to teach, actually one lady we found is sister Leonora Monellia.  She is an old lady with diabetes and she can barely walk!  But she is a spiritual lady. She kindly let us in to teach her! She expressed with us her trials and struggles of trying to help her kids get a good education and as we started to teach her the first principles of the gospel that God is our loving Heavenly Father and has a plan for each of us and how his gospel will bless us, she responded with tears in her eyes how thankful she was that we came to share with her and she CAN’T WAIT for us to come back and explain everything thats in the pamphlet we gave her! Soo happy for people like her that we find! 

We also continued to work with some of our potential progressing investigators, Christian Paul or CP3 and Christian Milliamina they both have their individual problems one with wow and one with attending church because of work BUT BOTH SHARE THE DESIRE TO BE BAPTIZED!! We tried to help one of them with his problem of drinking coffee by giving him a big packet of milo which is like a substitute of coffee haha so were excited to see how he’s been doing with no coffee and hopefully can stop the alcohol problem! hahaha 

Other than that we've been working on bringing back some less actives in our group area and help build that area!  Yesterday we had a sportsfest and we went and played bball with the ward members and me being dumb didn't play in any shoes and now the skin on the bottom of my big toes are like peeling off... just a lil blood.. SHOUTOUT TO THE POOL BASKETBALL BOYS!!  If 8 of your 10 toes aren't bleeding you're not going hard enough!! LOL! 

LOVE YOU ALL AND HAPPY HALLOWEEN AND DIO DE LOS MUERTOS AND ARAW NG MGA PATAY AT ARAW NG MGA KALULUWA! HAHAHA!  

ps. no halloween here normal day

LOVE ELDER BAKER

HAKUNA MATATA!!

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.