April 30, 2012
Hi Mom and Dad and Family -
It's been a busy week. Last Wednesday we woke up a 3 and went to the 6 am temple session, the first one of the day. I am not going to lie, not one of my better sessions. I was so tired. I usually am tired because we always go to the first, but this was a new level. I don't remember a whole lot. I just remember the very end, the Celestial room was nice, very relaxing... After the session we did various things and got home at 3 or 4 and straight to work. It was good though.
Friday we had interviews with President Stucki. Just the normal interview, he is a nice man. I wasn't sure what he meant by a few things though. He answered my quetions and gave me advice on things, but, I was a little confused. I wrote down some of it to look back on. President said something along the lines of, "I hear your Tagalog is good. Then so, you have been in San Gabriel for a while, 7 months now... Then said, "Well in a few weeks we will see what the Lord wants of you."
What is that supposed to mean? I don't want to transfer. I have only been in this area 2 months. Anyway, I guess we will see.
I just found that on May 22, Elder Russell M. Nelson will be coming and speaking to us. I will get to shake his hand. He is coming to rededicate the MTC here. That is so exciting! Hopefully I don't get transferred to Palawan.
Binan - it is great! The big thing right now in Binan are the kites or sarangolas. There are so many kites above our area. People just make them and fly them all day long. I think it is summer vacation right now. Weather wise - it sucks. It has been so stinkin' hot lately. Luckily there are lots of little tindahans (part of a house where they sell various things) where we can buy juice.
We are working with Raquel. She attended a baptism for an investigator of the other elders in Binan. Afterwords she said she is super excited to be baptized on May 12. She is progressing super well and we are continuing to teach her. We have gotten super busy and it is hard to keep all the commitments. This week should be better. Things are moving along great.
Fruits - So far, I haven't eaten a whole lot of fruit. Mangos are good, I just never get around to buying any. I think they are in season right now. Of course we eat bananas. I don't know why but we don't eat that much fruit. We have it if members give it to us but that's about it. As far as calamansi juice, none so far. Weird huh?
Mother's Day - It sounds exciting! Sorry for the scattered letter. This keyboard is super hard to press and it's being difficult. Elder Thurgood goes home in 2 months, today we went to the city to shop. It has been a long day. One elder from Elder Thurgood's group is from Mesa - Elder Hyde. There is a sister in our branch that is serving in Elder Pearson's mission. Her name is Sister Tating. She is the district president's daughter. Thanks for the email, and letters. I enjoy reading Elder Garrison's experiences. I hope you all have a great week.
Love, Elder Woolf
April 23, 2012
Hi Family -
This week has been pretty good - busy. We had a good temple tour on Saturday It want well. All is now good with our apartment and it is pretty nice. I like it. The Fabillar family didn't go to church. They had a neighbor die and funerals are a big deal, so hopefully next week they will come.
So this week we found two new less active part member families. One is the Espillardo family. A member told us to go visit them. They have two kids not yet baptized. The kids are 10 and 8. They are super smart and the whole family came to church on Sunday. So hopefully they will return to activity. I think they can see how important church is now. They are a great family. The other family is the Villanueva family. The mom and dad are the only members. They have 6 kids. The older three are boys and older than the rest. They are 16, 15 and 13. The younger three are two girls 6 and 4 and a youngest boy about 2. The elder's quorum president showed us their house and we taught them later. They are a good family. The dad and the 3 oldest went to church on Sunday. Mom was sick and so the younger 3 stayed home. We also taught them after church on Sunday. The dad is very thankful that we, the missionaries, and the elder's quorum president take the time to come and visit him and his family. They are super cool. Hopefully they will continue to progress.
This week should be good too. We our temple day on Wednesday and then interviews with President Stucki on Friday.
HAPPY BIRTHDAY MARIANNE AND ETHAN!!!
Have a good week and good luck on all your adventures this week. Love, Elder Woolf
April 16, 2012
Hi Family -
So today...we moved. Hooray! It was a long day though. We took 2 trips to the new apartment. We rented a jeepney from a member in Carmona. After the first trip and loaded up the second, the two missionary couples came. We cleaned the whole house and it was pretty dirty. It probably hadn't been cleaned for a year. It all worked out. It's a little sad because our new apartment still isn't finished. We just needed to be out of this one. Hopefully tomorrow we will finish up the new house and get everything set up on Wednesday. It is good to be out. Nanay, the landlady of our old apartment, who is a member, wanted us to repaint the whole house and other weird things like replace the bed frames. The missionaries have lived there for 12 years. Obviously there is going to be wear and tear. It happens with all houses.
Anyway, we are out now. Our new apartment is cool and will be even better when it is finished. It has 3 floors and is in a gated community with guards. Our new landlord is also a member, less active, but coming back. It is super quiet except for the roosters across the street. It is all good though. I like it and it will be good when all is settled and the renovations are finished.
Other than that exciting event, it has been a pretty normal week. Teaching lots of less actives. Searching for less actives that disappeared off the face of the earth. Teaching super great investigators who are super ready. Talking to lots of people. Dodging tricycles, motorcycles, jeepneys and tons of people, and enduring the "hey Joe's."
The cool experience of the week: We are teaching a tatay (father), and his name is Salvador Fabillar. He is 56 or so. He can't read and he is waiting for his kids to buy him reading glasses. One son, Val, was baptized maybe a year ago. Then his wife was also baptized. On my first day in Binan another son named Jun was baptized and he is progressing pretty well. We are the first missionaries he has listened to. He hid from Elder Welch and the other Elders because he has sores on his skin from years of hard work. This week we taught about our purpose in life and then left him 2 Nephi 31 to read. When we came back he had reading glasses that Val had bought for him and he had read 2 Ne. 31. He said as he read about baptism he realized he needs to change. He smokes and drinks but he is going to stop now. He wants to be a better person now. It was super cool. He already has a baptismal date for May 5 but now he is getting closer to being ready for it. Cool stuff.
Missionary work is pretty awesome. Binan is fun. Lots of good work going on and lots of progress. The members here are way great. We have good branch missionaries and nice members who are ready to work. Hopefully the less actives will continue to return and we can grow the branch.
You asked about the strangest thing I've eaten: I haven't eaten anything that weird here in the Philippines. I generally don't search for those things and we have good members that haven't asked me to eat anything weird. I have eaten some new stuff like a whole fish, littlish ones. They are called "dying", a dried fish that is pretty salty. The head is a little crunchier but good. Then there is ampalaya or bittermelon. It tastes very bitter (strange huh?) and it leaves a very unique after taste that is gross. I have also eaten some weird chocolate rice porridge that didn't taste good. Elder Welch and I had to force it down and try hard not to loose it. No Balut yet. We only get that once before we leave.
Mom, I guess I didn't tell you that Katie West smuggled In-n-Out for me and my companion at the MTC? I thought I did. Thank you again Katie. It was really good.
Marianne and Ethan - Malapit na ang birthday mo. Excited ako para sa inyo. Ang susunod na lingo. Sasabihin ko maligayang bati sa inyong dalawa. Pero ngyon...Astig!!! Have a great week prior to your birthday. Just sharing some Tagalog.
I will try and send some pictures next week. I pulled out money Saturday so just check and make sure everything is good.
Oh and guess what, I guess that is another Elder Woolf in the mission. He is brand new and I don't know anything other than that his name is Kayden Woolff. So the office will be pretty confused and might mix up our mail. Well, I love you and until next week when we can talk again.
Love Elder Kevin Woolf
So today...we moved. Hooray! It was a long day though. We took 2 trips to the new apartment. We rented a jeepney from a member in Carmona. After the first trip and loaded up the second, the two missionary couples came. We cleaned the whole house and it was pretty dirty. It probably hadn't been cleaned for a year. It all worked out. It's a little sad because our new apartment still isn't finished. We just needed to be out of this one. Hopefully tomorrow we will finish up the new house and get everything set up on Wednesday. It is good to be out. Nanay, the landlady of our old apartment, who is a member, wanted us to repaint the whole house and other weird things like replace the bed frames. The missionaries have lived there for 12 years. Obviously there is going to be wear and tear. It happens with all houses.
Anyway, we are out now. Our new apartment is cool and will be even better when it is finished. It has 3 floors and is in a gated community with guards. Our new landlord is also a member, less active, but coming back. It is super quiet except for the roosters across the street. It is all good though. I like it and it will be good when all is settled and the renovations are finished.
Other than that exciting event, it has been a pretty normal week. Teaching lots of less actives. Searching for less actives that disappeared off the face of the earth. Teaching super great investigators who are super ready. Talking to lots of people. Dodging tricycles, motorcycles, jeepneys and tons of people, and enduring the "hey Joe's."
The cool experience of the week: We are teaching a tatay (father), and his name is Salvador Fabillar. He is 56 or so. He can't read and he is waiting for his kids to buy him reading glasses. One son, Val, was baptized maybe a year ago. Then his wife was also baptized. On my first day in Binan another son named Jun was baptized and he is progressing pretty well. We are the first missionaries he has listened to. He hid from Elder Welch and the other Elders because he has sores on his skin from years of hard work. This week we taught about our purpose in life and then left him 2 Nephi 31 to read. When we came back he had reading glasses that Val had bought for him and he had read 2 Ne. 31. He said as he read about baptism he realized he needs to change. He smokes and drinks but he is going to stop now. He wants to be a better person now. It was super cool. He already has a baptismal date for May 5 but now he is getting closer to being ready for it. Cool stuff.
Missionary work is pretty awesome. Binan is fun. Lots of good work going on and lots of progress. The members here are way great. We have good branch missionaries and nice members who are ready to work. Hopefully the less actives will continue to return and we can grow the branch.
You asked about the strangest thing I've eaten: I haven't eaten anything that weird here in the Philippines. I generally don't search for those things and we have good members that haven't asked me to eat anything weird. I have eaten some new stuff like a whole fish, littlish ones. They are called "dying", a dried fish that is pretty salty. The head is a little crunchier but good. Then there is ampalaya or bittermelon. It tastes very bitter (strange huh?) and it leaves a very unique after taste that is gross. I have also eaten some weird chocolate rice porridge that didn't taste good. Elder Welch and I had to force it down and try hard not to loose it. No Balut yet. We only get that once before we leave.
Mom, I guess I didn't tell you that Katie West smuggled In-n-Out for me and my companion at the MTC? I thought I did. Thank you again Katie. It was really good.
Marianne and Ethan - Malapit na ang birthday mo. Excited ako para sa inyo. Ang susunod na lingo. Sasabihin ko maligayang bati sa inyong dalawa. Pero ngyon...Astig!!! Have a great week prior to your birthday. Just sharing some Tagalog.
I will try and send some pictures next week. I pulled out money Saturday so just check and make sure everything is good.
Oh and guess what, I guess that is another Elder Woolf in the mission. He is brand new and I don't know anything other than that his name is Kayden Woolff. So the office will be pretty confused and might mix up our mail. Well, I love you and until next week when we can talk again.
Love Elder Kevin Woolf
April 8, 2012
Hi Family -
So, you would like me to tell you some stories of what is happening here...let's see. We were able to baptize Joanna Pasion. She is 8 and her mom is less active. She is a cute little girl and she is super smart. She remembers the things we teach her and she is reading in 2 Nephi now. It is cool.
We have a family in one area called the Basa family. They are really nice. They have a girl staying with them whose name is Raquel and she isn't a member. She is our golden investigator. Her first Sunday at church was Fast Sunday and she said she felt that it was right, she liked partaking of the Sacrament. We have taught her only a few times and she loves the messages. She believes it all. When we gave her a baptismal date, she had a big smile on her face. She went to General Conference and loved the spirit she felt from the speakers. It is pretty freaking cool. She should be baptized on May 5.
So, Holy Week (the week before Easter) - People really like holy week, I think it gives them an excuse to party, sad when it's called "holy" week. There are lots of drunk people and lots of fights especially in the poorer areas. On Friday we went to one of our areas called Malaban. It is a poorer area. We went to a members house and the mom told us we should get out of Malaban because of all the drunks and fights. I guess just before we got to their house there was a fight. While we were there talking, her less active sister came home. She was way drunk. She made her way by Elder Thurgood and I and stopped. She looked at us and then she smiled and said hi. After saying hi, she started crying. Then she told us about how she is a bad person. It was a super weird conversation. She said she is a master drinker or something like that. She also said that our church has demons in it, because of plastic members or something. We talked to her for a while. We found out that she was offended by gossip. Elder Thurgood was very bold and forceful and told her that if she wanted to change, she needed to come back to church. It was a strange experience. She knew her English even though she was drunk.
On Friday we also went to the main square of Binan or Beyernes Santo. There were lots of saints and stuff on parade. We didn't see anyone nailed to the cross and we missed all the guys whipping themselves. Although on Sunday the main road going back towards our apartment had lots of mysterious spots on the asphalt. It was hard to get people to church because of all the Catholic things going on. But, now it is over for a year.
Conference was great. I liked Elder Hollands and Elder Uchtdorfs talks about forgiveness. I liked Elder Oaks talk about being grateful. Anyway, I really liked conference.
We should be moving out of this apartment this week. Our new apartment is complete on the inside, but the outside just hasn't been painted. It got stalled because of holy week. That shouldn't interfere with us moving in. This morning we started the big clean. I cleaned the bathroom that hasn't been cleaned in a long time...it was gross. We put some muriatic acid on the walls to try and get rid of some grime. Glad to be leaving soon.
You asked about our water, we have good filters here in the mission. In this apartment we have a stage 3 water filter that is good and reliable. Better than the 1 stage we had in San Gabriel. It isn't a problem.
Happy Birthday Saxon!!! - April 8.20 ka na!!!
You asked about finances, so the last time I pulled out money I bought 2 caribou belts and a wall of hollow block and cement. I just want to have money for souvenirs I find along the way. I don't foresee any more walls being built in the near future so I think I won't have to take out more money for a little while.
Keep me updated on how the family is doing. I wish I could see the video of Curtis, but oh well. I hope you have a great week and that you enjoyed my stories. I love you and wish Megan luck on the ACT. Dad, keep me posted on that lady in Rizal City. Wherever that is. Maybe I will go there someday.
Love Elder Woolf
So, you would like me to tell you some stories of what is happening here...let's see. We were able to baptize Joanna Pasion. She is 8 and her mom is less active. She is a cute little girl and she is super smart. She remembers the things we teach her and she is reading in 2 Nephi now. It is cool.
We have a family in one area called the Basa family. They are really nice. They have a girl staying with them whose name is Raquel and she isn't a member. She is our golden investigator. Her first Sunday at church was Fast Sunday and she said she felt that it was right, she liked partaking of the Sacrament. We have taught her only a few times and she loves the messages. She believes it all. When we gave her a baptismal date, she had a big smile on her face. She went to General Conference and loved the spirit she felt from the speakers. It is pretty freaking cool. She should be baptized on May 5.
So, Holy Week (the week before Easter) - People really like holy week, I think it gives them an excuse to party, sad when it's called "holy" week. There are lots of drunk people and lots of fights especially in the poorer areas. On Friday we went to one of our areas called Malaban. It is a poorer area. We went to a members house and the mom told us we should get out of Malaban because of all the drunks and fights. I guess just before we got to their house there was a fight. While we were there talking, her less active sister came home. She was way drunk. She made her way by Elder Thurgood and I and stopped. She looked at us and then she smiled and said hi. After saying hi, she started crying. Then she told us about how she is a bad person. It was a super weird conversation. She said she is a master drinker or something like that. She also said that our church has demons in it, because of plastic members or something. We talked to her for a while. We found out that she was offended by gossip. Elder Thurgood was very bold and forceful and told her that if she wanted to change, she needed to come back to church. It was a strange experience. She knew her English even though she was drunk.
On Friday we also went to the main square of Binan or Beyernes Santo. There were lots of saints and stuff on parade. We didn't see anyone nailed to the cross and we missed all the guys whipping themselves. Although on Sunday the main road going back towards our apartment had lots of mysterious spots on the asphalt. It was hard to get people to church because of all the Catholic things going on. But, now it is over for a year.
Conference was great. I liked Elder Hollands and Elder Uchtdorfs talks about forgiveness. I liked Elder Oaks talk about being grateful. Anyway, I really liked conference.
We should be moving out of this apartment this week. Our new apartment is complete on the inside, but the outside just hasn't been painted. It got stalled because of holy week. That shouldn't interfere with us moving in. This morning we started the big clean. I cleaned the bathroom that hasn't been cleaned in a long time...it was gross. We put some muriatic acid on the walls to try and get rid of some grime. Glad to be leaving soon.
You asked about our water, we have good filters here in the mission. In this apartment we have a stage 3 water filter that is good and reliable. Better than the 1 stage we had in San Gabriel. It isn't a problem.
Happy Birthday Saxon!!! - April 8.20 ka na!!!
You asked about finances, so the last time I pulled out money I bought 2 caribou belts and a wall of hollow block and cement. I just want to have money for souvenirs I find along the way. I don't foresee any more walls being built in the near future so I think I won't have to take out more money for a little while.
Keep me updated on how the family is doing. I wish I could see the video of Curtis, but oh well. I hope you have a great week and that you enjoyed my stories. I love you and wish Megan luck on the ACT. Dad, keep me posted on that lady in Rizal City. Wherever that is. Maybe I will go there someday.
Love Elder Woolf
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