February 27, 2012

Hi Family -
Time does seem to fly fast. I just try to keep working hard everyday. It has been lots of fun. Mom, I am glad you are starting to do indexing. Bringing the work of salvation to others through Family History. Yea, missionary work again! So Haley still has the power. That is cool that you guys get to hang out for two weeks. That should be lots of fun. When is that going to be? Good stuff, send pictures.
So on Wednesday we had transfer day. My new companion is Elder Thurgood. He is from Layton, Utah. He is tall. He is really nice and a good missionary. He has until the end of June before he goes home. We already get along great. It should be a good transfer. So this is my 2nd American. Well, Elder Kaka was a New Zelander so that is sort of close, anyway.
Health issues - I am doing good. My LBM is gone for now. Hopefully I am getting used to the food. The food here is good and I am trying to be careful. I pray lots. Don't worry. Eating 10 banana muffins was definitely a good idea. It was super funny. As far as weight goes...I have lost 20 pounds. so we will see if that is good or not.
So the mass wedding was held at a big covered basketball court and the mayor performed the marriages. You asked about the baptisms. The members give the talks and do everything. The Elders just baptize. We have a good branch. Good things will happen here.
Danao Family - So Sister Latecia and her daughter Eddielyn are ready to be baptized. They will have their interview on Tuesday and will be baptized on Saturday. I will be baptizing both of them. It will be very cool and I am excited. I just hope Sister Latecia remembers everything, she forgets things sometimes, but no problems of worthiness. Anyway, it will be good, they have come to church and they are awesome.
So this week it has been hotter than it was. I guess it is starting to become summer. There are lots of hills and some days I get super tired after going up and down all day. Some days we get punted from everything because people are busy and other days we teach all our appointments. The Filipino people are very nice and very hospitable. The only thing that bugs me some days are all the "Hey Joe's" that we get. I try not to let it bother me. Life is good.
Last night we went to Makati for a fireside. We got a ride with the Bulihan Branch. Sister Ann Dibbs spoke to us. I was 4 rows from the front and it was cool. She told lots of stories about her father the Prophet. She said that by telling lots of stories she could help us understand our Prophet better and gain a stronger testimony of him. It was really good. Some random stuff, but you could really feel the love and power of President Monson. He truly is a great man. Sister Dibbs was 9 yrs. old when President Monson first became a member of the 12. I have a greater love for the Prophet. He is truly called of God and he is truly an example of Christ. In all he does, he looks to the Savior. I am more excited for Conference. It is so close and that is crazy.
Anyway, I love you Mom, I love you Dad, I love you Rob and Marianne and Curtis and Heidi. I love you Lindsay and Ethan. I love you Haley and Sam and Cole. I love you Megan. I try to pray for you everyday. I hope you all have a great week and that you know that I am in the right place. I am where the Lord needs me. I love the Filipino people. They are great. I wish you the best. Love, Elder Woolf

February 2012

Elder Welch and I with Sister Beverly and Sister Joyceln and another family member with lots of kids.
Elder Welch and I and the Danao family - Latecia and Eddielyn. They are awesome.
Elder Welch and I and the Quieta family. They are progressing. They are really nice and hopefully will get baptized soon.

Elder Thurgood and I

February 20, 2012

Hi Family -
Is it a holiday? That is cool. Thanks for the pictures. Heidi is so big. Curtis looks like he had fun hiking. Sounds like things are good in Camarillo. I am glad you got to take a break and go to California that is always fun.
So life here is good. Sorry I am emailing late...yesterday we had to go to a mall and get my comp a new camera. His broke and that makes two that have broken on Elder Welch during his mission. He might be able to get the one repaired, but it's all good. So after we got back from the mall we went bowling as a zone and that was pretty fun. Elder Welch is going to transfer to Paranaque so I will get a new companion. They said his name is Elder Thurgood. I have heard lots of good things, so I am excited to meet him tomorrow. After the zone activity we had an FHE and when we got home Elder Welch packed. So we are squeezing in the email now.
Tuesday we had two weddings. We got Sister Beverly married so she could be baptized and then we had Sister Danao married too. Sister Danao and her daughter will be baptized March 3. They need to come to church once more. The wedding was a mass wedding. There were about 30 couples. It was run by the GMA mayor. It took a long time and I was super tired. We had to wake up at 5. They talked about random stuff, the wedding took an hour and the rest took 2 hours.
Saturday, the day of the baptism, I woke up feeling sick. I had bad LBM. Something I ate was really bad. I don't know what it was, something. I got feeling better through the day, actually for lunch Elder Welch, Elder Cuch and I had a banana muffin eating contest. I only ate 10...it was fun. That night we went to the baptism. We got there are 5:45. The Bulihan elders had a baptism too. Beverly wanted to go to that one first so we didn't start until 6:30. I got to baptize Beverly and I did it in Tagalog. It was really cool! Elder Kaka and I found Sister Beverly and I was there the whole time teaching her and then I got to do the baptism. Pretty great!
So that is pretty much the exciting stuff this week. I love you. Thanks for patiently waiting for the email. I wish you safe travels home and a good week. Love, Elder Woolf

February 13, 2012

Hi Family -
I am glad things are going good. Happy Birthday Arizona. It was hot this week and today it is raining a lot. I still haven't bought an umbrella. Oh well. Maybe I will buy one someday.
This week has been good. We had a zone conference on Tuesday. We had good messages and practiced teaching, inviting the head of the household to pray, and inviting less actives to go to church. I had fun and learned a lot. Sunday was weird though, we got to church and the Danao family and Beverly weren't there. They are to be baptized on Saturday. We went to their home and the neighbor said they were visiting a sick relative out of town. On the way we saw Joyceln Siapoc, who Beverly always goes to church with, but no Beverly. I was not feeling good then. We asked around a little more and found another less active member and got her to go to church with us. We missed the first block, priesthood, but made it to Gospel Essentials and Sacrament. Beverly was there, Hooray! We have one who will be baptized this Saturday. Danao will be baptized in 2 weeks. Oh and you know what? Beverly picked me to baptize her. So I will baptize someone for the first time this Saturday. Exciting stuff!
So this week will be a busy one. Tomorrow we have to wake up early. The Danao family and Beverly and her husband are getting married at the city hall. It starts at 6 am. Then Wednesday I have to go to Bulihan for splits and the baptismal interview for Beverly. Then Saturday the baptism. It is the last full week of this transfer. Busy!
I love you. I encourage you to keep reading the Book of Mormon. Megan that means you too. Every day. The Book of Mormon is important, pray, read, and pray. Think about Christ and relax a bit. All your studies will go 100% better. I know it is true. The Book of Mormon is amazing. I love it. I am in Alma 19 right now, and sometimes I don't want to put it down. I write down my thoughts and sometimes I fill a whole page. The only book with a true promise from God. I love you family. I wish you the best. love, Elder Woolf

February 5, 2012

Hi Family -
I am glad to hear about life. Thanks for telling me about the super bowl. That is exciting. I forgot what time of the year it was. Sweet, Giants again. I am glad that Megan got to go on a date and now Dad gets to go back to Canada. Have fun in the ice, just don't slip, that would stink. Tyler Fletcher comes home soon? That means Jordan Frost should be home now from the Baguio Mission. There is a sister in my branch who was under him as AP. Also, Elder Garrison is close to his one year mark, times flies doesn't it!
You asked about P-days, we really don't do much. Yes, we are maybe 40 minutes to an hour away from Tagaytay and we can't go. We asked permission and President said it was too far. I don't understand the reasoning, but I follow my President. I really want to go though, it looks cool. We try and find fun stuff to do. Last week we climbed a mango tree on top of a hill. The hill was steep. We go out exploring and climb some of the hills around us.
We have a Zone Conference tomorrow. We go the Dasma Stake Center about 30 minutes or so away. We are really close to the zone boundary. It is closer to go to Dasma than to Binan and that is where our district center or stake center is. I don't have to go to Binan every week my district meets at my chapel. After Zone conference we have a FHE at a members home, that should be fun.
This week I went on splits with the district leader. His name was Elder Morris from Colorado. It was good and we taught some good lessons. Then on Fri. and Sat. we got punted from everything, even some meetings with members. We only taught one lesson on Friday and the same on Saturday. I am just trying to take advantage of the pday and zone conference to recover and refocus. Hopefully things will go better. We have two families to prepare for baptism. Next week we have two families getting married and then baptized. Hooray. So that is my life as a missionary. Life is good. Things are progressing and going forward. I love you and hope you have a great week. love, Elder Woolf

January 22, 2012

Hi Family -
I am glad Dad survived Canada and he isn't a popsicle. Winnipeg sounds cold. Here in the Philippines it is still hot. It is all good though at least I am not in the city. I am glad Dad and Megan get to sing in the "Lamb of God". Singing is a great way to feel the spirit. It is also a great missionary opportunity. Make sure you take people to it. That is one of the easiest and greatest ways to share the gospel. Take non member friends to the performance and then talk for a little while after about Christ and the message.
So congratulations on your new calling, youth conference is great. I like that the focus is on the temple. I think getting everyone to always set their sights on the temple is super important. We need to keep the temple as our goal and it will lead us back to our Heavenly Father.
I got a letter on Friday from Bro. Walz and a letter from Wendy. They were great letters. Thank you. The Philippines is great. The food is good, the people are nice. We have 19 progressing investigators and our leaders didn't believe us. People actually read this week or they went on the temple tour with us or they came to church. We had 8 last week. Anyway, life here is good. We are finding new people.
I get to go to the temple again this Wednesday. Keep being awesome. Send me some pictures and letters. If you send me pictures I will send you some. Love Elder Woolf

January 15, 2012

Hi Family -
I am doing good. So, church was good, we had 4 investigators there. 3 strong investigators and a newer one. Sundays are busy, our church is from 1:30-4:30. We have studies in the morning then PEC at 12. Before church we go encourage our investigators to come. We leave church at 5ish. Then we go teach two or three people and then go eat somewhere.

Last Friday we had an area meeting. We got to hear from President Teh, Elder Ardern and Elder Nielson. It was really good. The whole entire Philippines is now focusing on the less actives. Do you remember Jacob 5? The tree where the branches overcome the roots. Yes, that is the Philippines. We currently have 22% of our members attending. Our attendance stays about the same but we are good at baptizing. We need to make our branches stronger and get our members back to church. Once that happens wonders will happen in the Philippines. We need more active priesthood holders, adult members with temple recommends, more active young single adults, and more full tithe payers. One cool goal that was set is that every member should bring one person back this year. That would be awesome.

Our branch has a nice building. We share it with another branch. For priesthood we meet in a room that is too small. We have maybe 30-40 priesthood holders. 10 of them are young men. We always have 70-80 people, at least, to sacrament meeting. The members that come are awesome.

I thought I would tell you about our investigators:
Beverly Siapoc - Her conversion was helped because we had some awesome lessons with members. She is getting married on Feb. 14th and then she will be baptized on the 15th. She knows most of the lessons and tries hard to do what we teach. She is reading. She needs to continue to come to church. Her husband is busy with work so we haven't been able to teach him. They have 3 kids.
Latycia Danao - She is the mom. She is getting married to her husband on the 14th as well. She will be baptizd on the 15th. Her daughter Eddielyn, who is 15, is also progressing well. They come to church often. Again, the dad isn't interested in listening. Yesterday we built them two walls because the ones that were up before were made of whatever...and they were afraid of thieves breaking in and stealing stuff.
Ramos - Rejonan is 12 and he is awesome. He has come to church many times. We are trying to keep him reading. The mom hasn't come to church for a while. She is the reason Rejonan isn't baptized yet. The Dad asks lots of questions. We need to work on the whole family coming out to church.
Mary Ann - She is a neighbor of a less active. She is a good investigator. She has a baptismal date for February 11. We taught her the plan of salvation. She has come to church once. We are trying to get her to read the Book of Mormon, which shouldn't be too hard. We teach the lessons at the less actives house and are trying to get them all committed to coming to church.
Almarez Family - They were referred to us by a member. They have many challenges but we are working with them. The mom and dad are trying everything to keep the family together.

San Gabriel is a beautiful place. There is the main road then little streets that come off of it. Many of the streets drop down off the hill, they drop down into the valley and then go back up on the other side. Some days we have lots of hills to go up and down, but it is good. The members here feed us and help us teach. It is a lot less hot here than in the city.

This week is busy. Interviews with President Stucki on Friday and taking investigators to the temple on Saturday. Anyway, Love you lots, Elder Woolf

December 2011 Photos

Our temple tour on Dec 17. Elder Welch and Sister Ramos, our investigator, and me
My zone with our investigators - everyone who came with the mission to the temple.
Awesome sunset in the Philippines.
Overlooking the river. Being on the hill gave a cool view.
We didn't have a Christmas tree so we drew one. Elder Cuch & Elder Jacinto needed presents so we got them something. We had to have a tree to put the presents under.

The Spencers are the missionary couple over housing, they are nice. They invited us all over on Christmas night. We ate lasagna and had cheesecake for dessert - so good!

Nov/Dec Photos

My Zone at the Christmas party. Elder Welch, my companion is on the bottom left
Elder Cuch, Elder Jacinto, and I. Elder Cuch is my batch and Elder Jacinto goes home to Isabella Jan. 11
My district at the Manila Mission Christmas Party. Lots of fun with friends.
My first young coconut, Buko. It was good!

Tree of Life?? Just kidding. Walking home we passed this tree with cool white flowers. It was growing out of a basketball hoop. Only one branch on top was kept, the rest chopped off and converted into a basketball hoop.

January 8, 2012

Hi Family:
I am glad to hear you had a good time in Utah. It sounds like you had lots of fun. I am glad you are all doing great and are happy. Cole sounds super funny. I have awesome nephews and an awesome niece. I do miss the cold a bit. I like having changes in the weather. We have changes, it gets rainy and then you get wet, then you sit by a fan and it is pretty cold. Sometimes you will get lucky to cool off on the air con buses after walking a ways.

So this week has gone by fast. Trying to work as hard as I can. Transfers are coming up, I don't want to leave but I am ready to leave at a moment's notice. This week has been good. I had to teach every lesson which is part of my training program. I can teach well and if I focus I can understand most of what people say. There are a few words that confuse me but it is good.

San Gabriel is awesome. We have two investigators that need to get married. 5 or 6 that we need to get to church. We need to balance teaching less actives and investigators. There has been some misconceptions that the older converts can't go into the temple until they are endowed. One family that are recent converts have traveled to the temple 2 or 3 or times with the youth to do baptisms and they thought they weren't allowed to go in. We hope to change that and help them be prepared to go in also.

My companion is pretty good. We get along and teach well together. The other elders are good guys. We took one to the mission home. He goes home on Wednesday, he is from Isabela, up north in the Cauayan mission.

Love you lots. Keep being awesome. Good luck on the New Year's Resolutions.
Love, Elder Woolf