Hey everyone! Can you believe where the time has gone. I feel like this week just blew by! I’m now closer to my one year mark than the day I entered the MTC and yet again another transfer week this week! I really have no idea what is happening or what is in store for me. I may just stay with elder delos santos... maybe I’ll be a trainer... maybe I’ll be a junior ...maybe I’ll be transferred! I really have no idea what will happen.  So sorry this email is so late today. We went with the youth in our ward to a  hanging bridge. I sent some pictures! It was so fun! It hung about 50 feet in the air and was about 100 feet long! Pretty good size! All the youth went swimming and cliff jumping into the river and I wanted to join so bad.  But I was obedient and didnt! haha But we had a nice little picnic up there by the bridge and all the youth enjoyed it! Good activity for them! I wish we had swinging bridges and rivers in AZ! haha

 

But this week has been good! Numbers still continue to be low here but we continue to work hard and find more investigators. SO FRUSTRATING.

 

So I told you all about Sis lovely and that she was already baptized so we decided to fellowship and continue to teach and teach their children! So it’s been going good with the lessons to the children. They have some trouble remembering information but when we give them a hint or two they ususally have it! But the frustrating part is that a investigator has to go to church 4X in a row before he/she can be baptized so we went in with a good solid lesson on commandments and obedience. We had a really good lesson... like really good. We had them thinking about why they need to be obedient and why it’s important. The parents definitely understood and we committed them to go to church and they thought about it for a while and then they finally said yes that they would. I felt good about there commitment to going to church but Sunday came around and they didn’t show up. It’s like dang. What can we do now? They understand they need to go to church. We had a two good lessons with them especially on Saturday night and they don’t come. I feel bad for them. They are like really poor and so I understand their problems but at the same time the Lord understands a lot better and He will bless them!

As for our other investigators we continue to find and stop by their house but we've yet to get one to keep commitments! So hard.  As a missionary I cant give up! I just gotta keep working!

 

As for last week Zone Training with President Lopez.... AWESOME!! He's really a good guy. He just knows the doctrine to every point and teaches is so clearly!

 

Our topic was the Lesson 1 in chapter 3 of PMG, or in other words, the Restoration.  If there is one thing that he told us that stuck out to me the most in that lesson is that he said... "When we teach the Restoration we need to take the Sacred Grove with us"  He had us, that had been to the Sacred Grove, explain what is was like... the feeling the nature and everything.  He said as the spirit dwells still in the Sacred grove and we can take the Sacred Grove or that Spirit and teach people to really know! He also said the most important thing you can do after you do that is to kneel when you pray at the end of that lesson. He said think about it... Joseph smith kneeled on a dirt floor that day. Most of your houses you go to have dirt floors. It’s bringing the Sacred Grove into their lives even more! I really liked that and I’m excited for the next time I have an opportunity to teach the restoration to my next investigator. Also at that Zone training we had American hot dogs. Like pure American. Even with American Heinz catsup!  It was awesome!

 

As for me, I am doing good this week! The language continues to be a struggle. My conversational skills are okay. My understanding is still struggling pretty bad and also my teaching. I just can’t express myself. It’s so hard to teach in another language cause so many thoughts enter in your mind but you don’t know how to say them or if you try you just stutter and if you do know how to say them they still don’t come out clear. haha. I’m not down on myself or anything. I just keep trying. I just wish I could’ve have progressed faster. It’s alright though... I still have a long time. I’m excited to see what transfers bring though. I think Elder Delos Santos wants to be transferred, but for me it doesn’t really matter. I’m game for whatever right now at this moment! Maybe my feeling will be different in like 2 days on transfer day but I’ve just decided that whoever my companion is I’m just going to take lead. It’s going to be my mission.  I’m ready just to learn how to do everything through experience. I can’t wait around for things to happen to me... if I have been!

 

I know the church is true. Maybe I don’t know all the doctrine or all the ins and outs of everything in life yet, but I do know enough to say that this Church is True!   I know that I’m here in the Philippines for a reason. I know that I do have a reason here but I’m not sure exactly what that reason is yet so I continue to find ways to really know why I’m here.  I know that that day will come though when I know exactly why I’m here. I’m thankful for all your support in everything that I do and I love you all very much! I

Love you and pray for you even more!

 

Love,

 

Elder Sargent

then the last picture is our lunch! Cannon(rice) chicken adobo(famous dish here) and isda(fish) 

so earlier today we went with the youth to this area with a hanging bridge! the first time i did it. i was scared so i returned. the second i did it. the third i did it with no hands then the fourth and so on it was like i was a natural pinoy(philippino) crossing the bridge. there were people crossing it with like bundles of bamboo on there right shoulder. these people have incredible balance here! not sure how they do it! but this is me on the bridge.

the youth in our ward and there leaders. the leaders are Bro Dave and Sister April. Bro dave is sitting next to me and sister april is above me in the pink shirt.  they just recently got married in the temple. Bro dave is a RM from the illongopo mission and sister april is a convert. they've been married a couple years now i believe. they are really cool. bro dave is the son of the stake president here in sagay.