New/Final area

Well, this past week has flown by. This past week, a lot has happened. It's crazy that I have been transferred to a new area only to "die" there in, now, 5 weeks.

So my new area is up near Tugeugarao City... which is the hottest place in the Philippines.. one of the hottest places in Asia! So pretty much, moral of the story, it's hot; however our apartment is pretty nice. It stays cool throughout the whole day, so when we get back after work, it's not too miserable. We are also super far from everything, so we have to buy all of our groceries and then cook all of our meals ourselves. It's kind of annoying, but it's a good thing to get used to, since it can get super expensive to eat out. My area is called San Bernardo, and it is a small branch. Actually there are almost 300 members there, but only 40-60 are active. It's a big challenge, but one that I am excited to continue to help our branch tackle. We have also been trying to find some more investigators, but a lot of the people out there are very hard-hearted and hard headed. (Their ulo's and puso's are matigas.) 

We actually contacted one man who, when we talked to him, told us that he had already been taught by the missionaries before, and that he already knows everything.. however he doesn't believe that there is one true religion, so he doesn't belong to any religion. We invited him to go to church and he immediately rejected our invitation. A lot of the people we have tried to invite have been very blunt in rejecting us. So that has been a difficult struggle, but as it says in the scriptures, to not fear man. So we'll keep goin! 

I am also the first American/foreigner to be assigned in San Bernardo in 3 years! It's fun though.. There are a lot of people who want to talk to me just because I am white.. haha. So we try to use that as a way to get our message in. Somehow. 

Not too much else has happened so far this week. It will be crazy though.. President Rahlf goes home this Thursday. We will officially have a new Mission President this weekend. Then I will be turning 21! WOO!!! Where has the time gone? I'm not sure, but I'm just tryin' to make the most of what I have left :)

Sorry this email is a little shorter than normal, but next week I will have a lot more to say, and I will have pictures of our apartment :) 

I do want to share, quickly, something I learned from my studies this week.. I have been studying about Jesus Christ more, while reading both the New Testament and Jesus The Christ. It's super interesting how even when he would tell those he had healed or helped to not say anything, they would almost always go and tell everyone! Sometimes that meant that Jesus Christ would have to leave the cities because all his "haters" would try to find him to persecute him. I have also been thinking a lot about the atonement and how important it is for each and every single one of us. That would definitely be my challenge for each and every one of us.. to study the atonement more, and try to obtain a deeper understanding of what it really means for us, as children of our Heavenly Father.

I hope you all have a fantastic week!

Stay True!

Elder Walstad    

Transferred, again

Well, earlier today we received the list of those missionaries who will be transferred in our zone, and there were only 2 names on there; and my name was one of those two. I didn't believe it at first, so we called the AP's to confirm it.. haha. It's true. I'm gonna be transferred! It's kind of crazy that I only have 6 weeks left and I will be transferred to a brand new area, only to "die" there. I'll make sure to go out strong! Give it my all. 

Earlier this week, we had our final training/meeting with President and Sister Rahlf. During the meeting they taught us about the Atonement, and they helped us realize not only how important and sacred the Atonement is, but how necessary it is for our salvation, and how much we really do not yet understand, and probably will not understand until the veil is lifted from our minds. 

Also, during our final meeting with President and Sister Rahlf, they did their "famous tie cutting/cloth cutting ceremony," where they cut the ties of the Elders and Cloth's of the sisters before they go home; however, they are the ones going home, so they cut everyone's ties. Hehe. It was a special moment :) And they are going to combine everyone's pieces and make a big quilt. How cool is that?! They are just the best. They will be missed so much!

So on Sunday, we went and attended my old branch (Mallig) Which was my first area. It was so great to see everyone again! It was funny, some of them thought I was going to be transferred back there.. hehe. I just told them I was just visiting. It was so fantastic too, because a lot of the baptisms I had there, they are still active, and some of them have, either, gone to the temple or are going! It is such a great feeling to see your converts progressing and becoming stronger in the Church.

OH yeah, and we had a BAPTISM THIS WEEK! It was SO great :) It was Katheryn, and she was probably one of the most difficult investigators to teach, but in the end she followed through, and her desire to be baptized was stronger than her shyness. WOO! It was a great service, and she was super happy. It was a great feeling to watch her as she went under the water, then came back up. Even though at first we weren't sure if it would happen, seeing her become a member of the true church brought a feeling of peace (very much needed peace, since she had tried our patience more time than I can count.) to my heart. 

Well, this last cycle has just FLOWN by, and it's hard to believe I have 1 more left. Time to go out with a B A N G!

Love you all! 

Stay True!

Elder Walstad

Interviews and Baptismal Interview Success!

So we had our Quarterly interviews with President Rahlf this week. It is all of our final interviews with him, since he will be going home in like 17ish days. I always love having interviews with President Rahlf. He is so smart, and I always learn a lot from him. He is a very wise man. I will miss him a lot, but I am excited for our new mission President, President Hyatt. (I'm not positive about the spelling... haha.) And I don't think he is the same as Hyatt hotels.

During our interviews, we were challenged to pick a Christ-like attribute to focus on, and so I have decided to focus on Knowledge. While I was deciding on what attribute to work on, I was reading in D&C and I read the verse that talks about the advantage we will have if we obtain greater knowledge in this life. So that is something I will be working hard on, to increase. Not only towards the end of my mission, but of course, the rest of my life.

So we have an investigator (Katheryn), who we call Kat-Kat. (I always call her Kit-Kat.. hehe) Anyway, we had scheduled katkat's interview for Saturday, and when we went there Friday to teach her, she refused to pray. She is a very very very shy person, to the point where we will sit there for an hour trying to convince her to pray/read. So we told her that she had 5 minutes to pray, and if she didn't pray, we would leave and come back later that night and try again. She didn't pray so we left. We called that night and asked her if she would pray and she said no. So we thought that we would have to move her baptism, since she isn't prepared yet; however, we felt that we should give her one more chance on Sunday. So Saturday night, we went to teach her, and after working alongside her sister (Joan), she prayed AND read. We were Ecstatic! 

The interview continued on Sunday, and she passed! So we have a baptism this coming Saturday. We are so excited, and so glad that we listened to the small prompting to give her a "3rd strike." Also, on Sunday - our "Golden Investigator Family" attended Church for the 2nd time in a row! They came late, so when we got there early, we started to get sad because it had been an hour and they still hadn't showed up. So as we were getting ready to go inside, I saw them pulling up on the Tricy, and I couldn't help but jump and shout for joy! Haha. They probably thought I was a little crazy, but it was the BEST feeling to see them come to church. We also had a few Less-Actives finally come to church, after helping bring them back for a few weeks now. 

We also attended a baptism in our zone. The San Pedro Elders. It has been almost a year since their last baptism, so it was a special time for those members. But, crazy/funny story, when we pulled up, some of their young women were outside, and when they saw me, they literally screamed at the top of their lungs and came running towards me begging me to take pictures with them. Haha. Good times.. haha. 

The time is flying by so fast. It's hard to believe that this cycle is going to be ending in a week. I know that as long as I go out giving my all, there won't be any regrets, and I'll be able to enjoy these last weeks. 

I love you all! Have the best week ever!

Stay True

Elder Walstad

Golden Investigator and Final MLC with President Rahlf.

There are a lot of big changes coming up this month! One of them is President Rahlf will be going home! He leaves June 30th, and our new Mission President, President Hyatt, will be replacing him. President Rahlf took some time to talk to us about the "Passing of the Baton" during our MLC. He pleaded with us and told us that "If we love President and Sister Rahlf, that we will love and switch out loyalty to President and Sister Hyatt." The spirit was really strong in that moment, and I could really feel the love that President and Sister Rahlf have for each and every one of us missionaries. As sad as it is that President Rahlf will be leaving soon, it is exciting to be here, even though it's only a month, and experience changing mission presidents. 

President and Sister Rahlf also taught us about being women and men of God, and how, especially in this day and age, we have to be diligent in following the commandments of God and "Being a light on a hill that cannot be hid." "Letting our light so shine before all men." (3 Nephi 12:14-16) Our examples will be more and more important as we approach the Second Coming of Jesus Christ. The world will only worsen, but we can, as Latter-Day saints, improve and be better. We can continually strive to become more like Jesus Christ. "Be in the world, but not of the world." 

So for the past few weeks, we have been really trying to improve our relationship with our branch. So one thing we have been doing is trying to have them work with us. Earlier this week, we texted the second counselor in the branch presidency, and invited him to come work with us in one of our further areas. When we got there, our first lesson was with one of our Recent Converts, and during our lessons, she opened up to us and told us how she doesn't really have a strong testimony of President Monson.. but she believes that Joseph Smith was a prophet of God. The member that we worked with, President Amaro, is So smart! He used the bible to answer all of her questions, which was perfect since before she became a member, all she used was the bible. The lesson was about an hour or so, and I have to say that I probably learned more from President Amaro than our Recent Convert did! Then after that lesson, we went and contacted a referral which we received from the sisters a few weeks ago. After talking to that Nanay, we decided to teach about families, and then the spirit was super strong! 

At the end of the lesson, we invited her (Nanay Venjita) to pray. At first she refused, because she was shy, but after the member we were with, took some time to explain to her the importance of praying - She prayed! It was just a very short and simple prayer, but it was powerful! Then we invited to her go to church, and yesterday, she was one of the first people to show up! Then, one of the members in our branch is a really good friend with her, and when they saw each other, she had an immediate fellowshipper. As well as with her son - one of the young women is his classmate, so it worked out perfectly. 

This past week, we have gained 7 more new investigators, and the work in our area has improved So much! It has been such a huge blessing to see all these people that the Lord has prepare for us. We are hoping that our baptism will also continue this coming June 18th. We will see! 

Well, I love air conditioning and doing pushups! 

Love you all! have a Great week!

Stay True!

Elder Walstad