Here kitty kitty

  This week has been awesome! We have been continuing to teach Sister Amy and she is really enjoying our lessons. This week we had an exchange so I went over to the Zone leaders apartment which was really high up in a sky-rise. It was cool to see another area of Manila. Their area is extremely different. We also got to do a service project while there. A huge part of their area burned down so we helped a less active for 2 hours dig rubble from her old home so they can build a new one there. 

View from our zone leaders apt.

  The language is at the point where I can say funny local expressions and things like that. Which is always super funny. They love seeing some random American say things like a Native. (I wish Luke would have given me some examples, I'll ask next week).

So many "pusa's"

   This week my companion felt like we should stop at a house where we had talked to this lady. We had tried there before but nobody was home. So we went back again. This time their whole family was there and we taught a great lesson. They are extremely involved in their Catholic church, no worries. If they read the Book of Mormon and pray, nothing else will matter. 

  Fred is still Fred, really excited for his baptism. His wife isn't interested... Yet. She is a jeepnie driver, and she is almost 70. Very hard working. Fred really wants her and his family to join so we will keep inviting and trying to get them on board. 

  If you are just in the suburbs here, people can drive around on tricycles. They just drive around and you can pay to get a ride. So my companion and I play this game. I ask how much it is to get somewhere and they say something like 50 pesos, then we walk around for a minute then try a different tricycle in the same area but this time HE asks. It's always cheaper at least 20 pesos for him. The only difference is that I ask how much, or he asks how much. Haha. I love my companion, he is so funny.  He's also a very sound sleeper so sometimes when we are studying and he ends up asleep, I see how many things I can pile on him before he notices.

My companion is such a deep sleeper.  

   I also get to help lots of Recent Converts work on their family history here! Which is so fun and I love to do family history. There is always a special spirit. I'm glad I was able to do it a little before my mission so I can help people here. Yes... My small little chapel is in the middle of the richest of the richest business buildings haha. They are huge!! Look it up on line. It's the Buendia Chapel. Life is great here. I really love it. We have a new Sister in the District from Transfers, she Filipina.

Buendia Chapel

 

We're here with our ward mission leader by me and the girl on the left is a ward missionary, great people!

The joys of feeling the spirit

Hello everyone, this week my spiritual experience was when we were about to return back to the apartment, it was close to 9 and we were of course very tired. But my companion said do you want to try one more house? I said lets do it, so we were walking around... seemingly aimlessly just waiting until it felt right, and finally it did. We rang the doorbell and a really wealthy woman walked out and asked why we were there in a rude manner... Then we told her we were missionaries and we had a message that would help change her life. She said to come in. Turns out she has had a chance of having Thyroid cancer and had been praying for help and comfort. We taught a great lesson about how God is our Heavenly Father and how much he truly loves her. She isn't from here and is only visiting her son. So that day and time is the time that we could have come into contact with her.  We were so grateful that we did... One more house.

Ward party

This week we also went to lots of houses and are trying really hard to find families to teach!! We have some return appointments so we will see how that goes. 

  This week we started teaching Amy. She has 3 kids and her husband is in the Southern Philippines for work. She was a referral from a less active in the ward, we went to visit her then asked if she had any friends who wanted to hear our message and she sure did. So we have started to teach Amy. She has a really really hard life, and after our lesson she told us that she wants us to come everyday. She told us when we leave, even though she doesn't know if she can find enough food for their family, she can't stop smiling, her problems no longer seem like problems, she is more positive and optimistic, then she started crying and saying that the feeling she gets in her heart when we come is what she wants to feel everyday of her life. I know what she was feeling was the Holy Ghost, not only because she perfectly described some of the fruits of the spirit, but because I feel the spirit in those lessons as well.

The cop loves me, apparently this pose has never been done with this statue

   This week has been lots of looking for people to teach. Life is good here. Things just keep going. We have lots and lots of part members in the ward. So still trying to find everyone. 

    This week we ran into a couple foreigners who we talked to. It's really fun to talk to the foreigners because they are all here for different reasons! This French guy was just walking down the street with us so talked to him about the gospel, and he is here for a coral reef research for his school, they are usually really nice and curious about us. We usually always direct them to LDS.org so they can hop on when they get back to the hotel or whatever. This city is nuts. Lots of crazy things all the time. Lots of cats, less dogs than Coron but lots of cats here. 

Love Elder Roberts     

I love the temple

This week has been full of cool experiences. A family I worked with in Coron flew to the Manila temple this week to be sealed as a family in the temple. Since I worked with them I got special permission to attend the sealing. I had no idea that it was going to be as spiritual as it was. To see their whole family in white and sealed for eternity is something that I will never forget. Their family are all recent converts and are now enjoying one of the most beautiful parts of the gospel. It's been great to work with them and now to see them sealed. 

Velosis Family

That is one of the goals for the mission. Here in the Philippines we are working on getting all the members to the temple, as individuals, and especially as families. It's amazing to see the hand of the Lord here and I know that this is His work, I'm so grateful to be a part of it. Hopefully that is one family of many more people we can get to the temple. Covenants are how we become closer to our Father in Heaven, and it is one of the ways he manifests his power.  I love it here and there is lots of work to be done. The area presidency is really focusing on Temple marriage and multigenerational families in the gospel. That's the big push to get the Philippines established. In ten years, this place will be like Utah. You have no idea the increase here!! Lots of RMs from here, are now returning to their branches and then getting married. The work is nuts. There are many more temples here to come.  Btw I saw Elder Cooper (the elder from Vegas that was in my foursome in Coron) and he said I've gotten taller, so maybe when I get home I will look a bit taller, tell Porter to top that.

 

Me and my Comp at church

 My comp is doing great! We rode in an elevator together and he told me it was his first time! They really don't have anything where he lives, seriously just a mountain haha. But he is really funny and doing great. Oh man I finally feel at home here in Makati, it's taken a long time haha. But just know I feel like it's home and I feel settled here. Things here are no longer foreign for me, the weather, the food, the language, the culture. I don't feel like the weather is unusual here anymore. It's still hot but it's just normal now. Same with the food. It all feels just really normal. I cannot say that I'm fluent in the language but it's no longer a barrier or stress. I still have a lot to learn but I feel very comfortable in the language. 

  We have a transfer this week but I will probably stay here at least another transfer, which is great I'm really loving it here now. 

Fred is still Fred. He is going great, he told us his eyes hurt too bad to keep reading the Book of Mormon. So I had the idea to get one of our recent converts to read to him every day since they are friends. Turns out it's a win win. So they are both excited about that idea which is great! 

  We are working with a part member family with two teenage boys. They are great and they have told us that they would want to serve missions like us! Which has us really excited for them. They come to church but not very consistantly.  But they do a good job of keeping their commitments. 

  Family nights are really fun here in this ward. They love to have the missionaries over for food, games, and a spiritual thought. Lots of the church population here is really young. So it's great to go over to houses and invite the spirit and let the kids know what it means to serve on a mission.

View out of our apartment

  We have been talking to lots and lots of people this week and have been looking to always have a pool of new investigators.  The weather has just been hot with only a little rain. The rainy season is coming up. But it's always raining so whatever haha. 

The Book of Mormon is the word of God. Read it every day. 

Love Elder Roberts    

New Year's Eve = War Zone

New Year's Eve was absolutely crazy... There are a lot less regulations on fireworks and things like that so it was like we we're in a war zone being bombed. All the missionaries had to be back into the apartment by 6:00pm. People die every year. They go crazy haha. Here it's a bigger holiday than Christmas. So we just went back to the apartment and we all ordered Pizza and hung out.   
So the Chinese investigator is doing great!! We are so excited for him. This week we had one of our investigators (Fred) tell us that every time we leave he checks everything we say to see if it contradicts the Bible. He told us everything we say about the Book of Mormon truly clarifies the Bible. He is looking forward to being baptized so he can pay tithing he told us. He has tried lots of churches but he knows that ours makes it so the Bible has clarity and direction.  

Fred.  He wasn't feeling well this visit

 I really wished I could still play piano..... Don't say I told you so. Make sure Trevor can play!!! Tell Clark I'm proud of him for taking it up.  SO the people on Christmas Eve were just nice members, returned missionaries. Haha you are not going to believe it!!! Elder Monson and I are now in the same apartment!!! He is an office Elder... Finance.... It's super nice to have him in the apartment! SO fun! 

This is me and Elder Monson who i traveled over here with to the Philippines MTC.  Kenny Monson's nephew.  Now he's in our apartment!  I love him!  We are with Pres. and Sis. Bowen from the area 70

When walking in the streets of the Philippines you can hear lots of kids yelling at you and stuff. Some of my little friends that are always hanging out on the street we walk through love to yell, "Yo Roberts, whats your problem?". Haha they aren't being rude it's just one of the English phrases they know and they think it's super funny. They laugh forever. Lots of the kids also call me "Utah Jazz." They seriously love basketball here!! I'm pretty sure if the Jazz could win the NBA title the baptism font would be full of people. We could meet lots of people from that! They love Karl Malone and Stockton too. Here the big teams are the Bulls, Golden State, Cavs. You can try and walk down the street but the police block it off for street ball. Gotta love it .  Here's your weekly food spread picture.  The members love to feed us and we really appreciate it.

Seafood Delight

Love Elder Roberts