Ed Got Baptized!

Well first things first, Ed got baptized!! It was such a great baptism and a spiritual day for all of us!! So many people from the ward came that there wasn't room for everyone to sit. It was so great to see the support of the ward and the Spirit of the Lord was there... 

He told us that the day before his baptism he just couldn't stop crying because the Lord gave him the joy of his baptism. It's kinda hard to translate what he said into English. But it was powerful. "Repent and be Baptized and have your sins remitted and get the spirit's zeal: oh, then you'll be united. Go cast upon him all your care; He will regard you humble prayer, And bring you home to Zion to praise the Lamb."   Hymn 322 verse 3

We love Ed so much!

Such great support from the members

So this week an Indian came into the office and asked for a tour of the chapel. Of course whenever people wander in we just stop what we are doing and go over and give them a tour! So this man from India said he works down the road. He is a Hindu, but he felt really drawn to our church, even though there are several other churches on this street, he kept asking people at his work about our church but they had no idea about it. So he came and saw the visitors welcome sign and came in. We gave him a tour and then gave him a Hindi Book of Mormon, and he really loves the story of Joseph Smith.... Anyways we invited him to come to church to the international ward. He came, went to all 3 meetings and absolutely loved it!! He asked for more material from us to take it back to India. There aren't missionaries yet in his City of over 2 million people. But some day down the road he will definitely be a member! Very good experience and very powerful with the spirit. 

This week I had to fit mountainous luggage into our van.  You'd be proud of me.

We found a great part member family where the dad is extremely inactive and unknown to the ward and the family has no idea about the church but are very excited to be sealed, so we can work with that I'm sure.

It's been a great week... and I loooooooove being a missionary :)

sorry it's blurry

Love Elder Roberts 

Be grateful for your home!

This week has been great! Really great... We have been teaching the member referral and he is just unreal... As we walked around the church he kept telling me how he never wants to miss another Sunday at church. His friends like to party on Sunday and go to the Malls but he said he likes the spiritual stuff. Ian is great. He is 26 and was living the word of Wisdom before we even taught him it just because he heard we didn't do that haha. So we just invited him to continue to live it. 

Ed is doing great.... Just getting ready for his baptism that is THIS SATURDAY!  We are so happy for him.  He is looking forward to going to the temple one day. He is 63 with no family but he told about how he can do that work for his relatives and he is determined to do that. 

This last week was transfer week so it was crazy busy. But that's always fun to get the new missionaries from the MTC, this time when I went we were loading everyone in and I heard one of the new Sisters say she was from Salt Lake, so I asked where and she said she went to Olympus, and we actually graduated the same year. I was super surprised but it was really funny that she is now in our mission, Sister Singer. 

This week we taught a new investigator Paublo Mallado, he is really into Joseph Smith and just feels the power of the restoration. We taught him in his humble house. I usually don't describe the situation here too often, it's been very humbling for me, but in this man's house we all piled in, Elder Webster, Elder Monson, Pablo and me. His house is up a few stairs in a squatters area and it was as if we taught him under the kitchen table. There wasn't enough room for me to lay down flat and there wasn't enough room for us to kneel without our heads hitting the ceiling. It was hot, and the spirit was very very strong. He had a couple pots, some clothes, and a Bible (and now a Book of Mormon). We are very excited to continue to teach him the Gospel of Jesus Christ. We have a Sister Turner from SLC who is our mission nurse.  She is an incredible woman and I really love her.  Here is a pic of us together, she says I'm her favorite.  But I think she says that to all the elders.  (My Mom went to Skyline with her son).

I love the Philippines so much and have a deep love for the people. I got to speak in church on Sunday about missionary work and I'm very grateful to serve here. I see people full of gratitude and love for the Lord. I have also gotten a greater appreciation for the strength of my family and our home ward. So many faithful people and humble followers of Christ.

I know that the Book of Mormon is true. 

I'm learning more and more about the Savior everyday and doing my best to serve Him. 

Love Elder Roberts    

Getting ready for transfers. Again.

Great week!! 

Lots of really amazing events happened this week. The Elders in our ward had a baptism and so we brought Ed and Ed loved it! We taught him more about baptism right after the other guys baptism and he brought up how little children shouldn't be baptized, and that was great for him to realize on his own. He really is doing great! Oh yeah and just for some more background on Ed he is 63, lived for a long time in Japan and Saudi Arabia and is now here in Makati. 

We had a great member referral this week that is just the coolest guy ever. He has truly been prepared by the Lord! He loves the idea of getting baptized. He works for a member of our church who is in the ward. We actually met him when he came to their sons baptism. At the end of our lesson we asked him if he had any questions and he just bore his testimony on the feeling he had at the this little boys baptism. It was really a miracle! But that's actually quite common here that we will talk to someone who says, "oh yeah my boss is a Mormon". Members of the church of course go through hard times but they are know us as a very prosperous people here in Makati. 

Elder Tanner is in our apartment and we got him a birthday cake. He is awesome, from Ogden, his companion Elder Tiu who is also super cool, he is from the one of the middle islands in the Philippines. 

Notice the missionary collar tan line

We had a popped tire this week and it was a nice and rainy day but we got on the spare pretty quick! I'll try and send a pic. 

Just getting ready for transfers and stuff this week. 

Love you all! 

I love being on a mission!

Our car battery died this week, so anytime we have to go anywhere we have to flag somebody down and convince them to jump our car so we can drive to our next destination. I'm not sure what they think when this American flags them down but we have met some cool people. The Area office should be giving us a car to use while our car is sickly. It's Zone Conference this week.

I'm top row 3rd in from the right

Zone Conference was great! It was really powerful to hear from President Ostler and we all really love him. We are starting to work on setting higher goals as a mission, things are going really well but we are looking to stretch. It was fun to see my trainer and some of my old companions. 

Food break

Elder Monson is working at training Elder Webster as the new financial secretary, Elder Webster is from Brigham City, he is picking up his new calling super quick, he will do great!  He is to my left in the below pic.

We have 8 missionaries in the ward, they are all super cool! Our Bishop is the man, he has only been a member for 5 years, he is super solid, we had chicken curry and homemade cheese (they love that flavor here) and coconut icecream. Good times with the Makati 2nd! 

Ed came to church and is really settling into the choir. Things are going great! Our Elders quorum lesson was on the temple and Ed really enjoyed learning about that for the first time. We hadn't taught him too much about it yet so it was really nice to have it explained to him in a classroom for an hour.

This is Elder Whittle and Elder Beagley, 2 of the assistants to President. and then me of course. Zone Conference. 

We met the Paublo family this week! They are super cool. We didn't know if they were the real deal or not until we sat down to teach another lesson and we could tell that they had read the Book of Mormon, the spirit was really there. They have had a hard time feeling like they were children of God because of how poor they are, they didn't think Heavenly Father could be the Father of a situation like that. And as 2 Americans we just cannot say we know where they are coming from. But we promised them if they read the Book of Mormon, they would feel they are children of God, and their hardships would lessen, and they would be happy. They read, and they felt it. They will be coming to church this Sunday. There is like 12 of them. 

Sis. Tigno who served in my home ward in SLC, who is from the Philippines tracked me down at the cafeteria.

The new Elders in the apartment are super cool, Elder Tui and Elder Tanner. It's been super fun! It's been another powerful week and I love being on a mission. 

Love, Elder Roberts 

Go Ed Go!

This week has been another great week! Getting lots of things done and getting lots of good work!

    This week we got a new mission nurse, Sis. Turner.  She will be working with us in the office.  She is from SLC, and in fact lives in the cove.  My Mom knew her son when they were both at Skyline.  It's a very small world. 

Our area is pretty small so we are at the point where a lot of the time we will be walking down the street and lots of people just pick up their stool and whatever they are doing and take it inside until we pass, then they come back out again. We also have lots of good friends in the area who are really excited to see us but everyone is starting to look super familiar. 

A couple weeks ago I talked about the Muslim man we were wanting to teach. We were able to teach him and it was extremely spiritual... You could just feel the spirit surrounding us. He is such a humble man and so religious. He kept telling us about how he is just waiting and wanting for someone to teach him about Jesus Christ. We were able to testify to him about the Atonement and the Book of Mormon. He didn't have much time with us. But there is no denying that he felt the spirit. He leaves for Saudi Arabia this week and we won't have time to teach him again. But luckily, I just had happened to bring my English Book of Mormon in addition to the usual Tagalog Book of Mormon that I usually carry around with me. I was able to give him the Book of Mormon and he was just grateful, and he promised me that he would read it cover to cover and would give it back to me next time he saw me, and it would be read completely. 

Ed

Ed came to church again this week! And yes, he did join the ward choir! Haha he is so cool. He was introducing himself in Priesthood opening exercises and announced to everyone kinda in the form of a testimony about how he is no longer going to be Catholic but will be a Mormon. He then said pointing to us, thanks to my 2 friends, I know what church I need to join now. Then he sat down.  Everyone in priesthood just nodded with their eyebrows raised, thinking "that's what I'm talking about". The Elders Quorum has been great for him and hopefully he's getting some friends in choir. 

Elder Monson is transferring, so we will be in a threesome for three weeks until Elder Webster is done with his office training.  This was quite unexpected but change is good. 

Great week. Great time to be on the Lord's side. Time to gather the elect from all the ends of the earth. 

Elder Roberts   

When it rains, it pours

It's been a great week here in the area! We have been working really hard in the office to get out as early as we can so we can go and teach! And we have truly been blessed and have met many cool people this week. 

View from inside the van.  Just road flooding all the time

This week, along with the rain, the blessings have been pouring from heaven! It's been the most successful week we have had in our area. We were just able to find some cool people to teach and we taught Ed again, who came to church and seemed to really enjoy to it! He is extremely involved in the Catholic church with choir and their leadership stuff. But they announced a ward choir practice for after church so we thought that would be so cool for Ed as an investigator to join the choir! That would be a great way from him to get involved. But he is such a nice man and he actually gave Elder Monson and I a necktie when we went over to visit him. Then we both wore them on Sunday when he came to church! It was a fun moment! He is about 50 and lives with his Sister and Brother. Never married worked in Japan for a long way time. He is such cool investigator and just keeps getting cooler. He agreed to be baptized in July... But he still has a long road in front him. Pray for him!

We found a family this week with 7 kids!! They in live a skinny alleyway in a humble home. When we go over to teach all the kids gather around and just stare at us with big eyes. They are cool family! Hopefully we can get some cool members to work with us to help them get to church. It's a lot easier to teach people than it is to get them to go to church, but when they do go they always love it. 

We taught Ray this week who used to be a driver for an LDS family. He was extremely impressed by the way they lived and acted. For some reason what got him the most was how polite the kids were because of Primary. Which is pretty cool. This week we are just preparing for Zone Conference next week so it shouldn't too busy but random stuff always comes up. 

We see some really humble wonderful people!

We were visiting a less active in this pic.  Just to give you an idea of how small this "house" is, I'm at one end of the house. Elder Monson is at the other end. Then he has a little mattress to my left... That's it. We went over to teach him a lesson and he had a little dinner for us! Spicy dried squid rice and little noodles. 
Love Elder Roberts 

Pig's Blood is kind of chalky

This week was transfer week and everything went really well!! It's always fun to pick up the new missionaries from the MTC and talk to them on the way to the mission home. This is a really good batch of Missionaries. My companion was feeling a little under the weather this week so we didn't get out a ton but we did get to go out last night which was nice. The mission is really going by fast!! I might be in the office 1 or 2 more transfers then I'm out!! But we will see haha. 

Yesterday was our fast Sunday and we were really excited because we had a nice dinner appointment set up for later that night. This family had a son who had just left for a mission so they have been having us more lately probably because they miss him. But they are a part member/ less active family so it's nice to go over there and build a good relationship with them. So by the time we get to their house I'm quite hungry and excited to eat. We sit down in their home and the mom pulls out dishes for the night, and I go quite pale. They pull out a kinda famous dish here in the Philippines, pig blood. It's boiled pig blood  with chunks of intestines inside and an occasional ear... and then rice. Well that was a fun surprise. Luckily I see her pull out another dish, but when I asked what it was the dad laughed and said, don't worry it's pig, so I said well what part?? He chuckled and told me it was heart, liver and the rest of the innards of the pig... Spicy... So I shoved down the pig blood and innards and luckily they had some noodles and chicken as well which helped. The blood tastes super chalky. But the dishes are actually not too bad. Here is a short video that a nice lady took of us and sent it to our Mom's

Elder Monson and I are going to work on lots of finding this week. We just are choosing a specific spot in our area and are just going to talk to everyone there! Hopefully that will help us get some new contacts. Patrick is looking forward to another lesson this week so hopefully we can help him get off work on Sunday to come to church! 

Have a great week everyone!! Love you