Week 36

Okay so I have a lot to catch up on so I'm gonna do this real quick because we are actually EXTREMELY busy this week out here.

Monday. We had a zone p-day, went to this swimming hole and had an airsoft war it was fun to get to know the zone more. too bad that wont be happening again (ill let you know more later)

Tuesday. we didn't do much just went out and taught lessons and cleaned the apartment. 

Wednesday. We had our Zone training meeting, I gave a talk about personal study in the scriptures. I mainly talked about that everyone should have some kind of system to help their brain focus when they are studying instead of just reading. I feel really strong about this and that is why I'll never just have electronic scriptures when I'm home. GOOOOO PAPER! Then we all went to Boac to film this little video for zone conf, we did some OYMing in the bayan because fiesta was going on and there were a lot of people walking around. It was super fun!

Thursday. I made some good chicken adobo for lunch (I'm really good at cooking it now) so glad I learned it, it will probably save me in college lol. then we worked with this member and visited our members and let them know about the primary program this Sunday and that we have a practice this Saturday.

Friday. we had exchanges with the Zone leaders, I was with elder Snyder. He was a nice guy from Jordan Utah. he's been out awhile so he's really fun to work with. also my watch broke at 1:25 so all day I thought it was like 1:30. Then when I found out it was like 5 pm. I was so happy that I felt like I skipped like 4 hours haha

Saturday. We cleaned our apartment again, its really hard cause we still don't have water until night time. then we just went to all our RCLA and investigators and invited them to church. 

Sunday. we had our primary program and it was awesome! as always I love watching it. same here as back home, lovely and hilarious at the same time.

Love you all
Elder Yarro

 

Week 35

Monday. We went to Boac and fished with them.

Tuesday. we went out and had a normal day of work and lessons. We have one progressing investigator, she's really cool and wants to get baptized all the time.

Wednesday. we had our normal district meeting, and then I had an exchange with elder Striusmka. he's a super cool California born American.I'ts so nice to talk and hang out with an American every now and then. it's hard to explain, just something different about it.

Thursday. at the end of the exchange we had elder Genterone from Cebu cook some spaghetti for us. he is an UNREAL cook. after that we went back home and went to teach and preach like missionaries do. 

Friday. we prepared for this baptism, it's a member's kid, they asked us to prepare the service and my comp to baptize him. so we went and typed up the service and then invited members. 

Saturday. we had the baptism it was great and spiritual as always. I gave a workshop about enduring to the end. it was good, just the usual how enduring to the end is awesome and can be hard too but because we were baptized and have the gift of the holy ghost we can make it easier. then MARIBEL came. shes our best progressing investigator. so after we taught her, and we asked her how she felt about the baptism and she said it was beautiful and she wants that and started crying it was awesome! I love being a missionary.

Sunday. we taught a member named Rico, he is stuck in a wheel chair and his village is too far for him to go to church so we go and bless the sacrament for him every Sunday. He's really cool and he knows magic tricks. Then we packed to head out to Lucena the next day I was stoked because I'll be sleeping in my first area where I trained. and hope I get to see my old converts and friends from the ward.

Love you all
Elder Yarro

Week 34

hey everyone I got a package this week! it was from the 8 & 9 year old class back in my home ward, and I am going to reply to all the letters cause I loved reading them so much! also i forgot to bring my journal so instead of my weeklies I will be doing this hope it makes up for it!

Dear, Maddy Gibson

I am having a wonderful time here I love this place so much! I wake up at 6:30 every morning, sometimes earlier if the power shuts off! I speak Tagolog. is the national language here, at sobrang masaya naman siya kinusap mahal language ganito. I am having loads of fun! I love my mission. and thank you for saying "I like you" I enjoyed reading it but dont know how to react to it......soooo.....I dunno thank you.

Dear, Mika Hansen

Mika thank you so much for the reassurance. I know that GOD IS TRUE also, and I know this church is the one true church on this planet. you rock and your handwriting is so boss. keep it real and never not think got is true. 

Dear, Lexi

Ill try my best to have a good mission. 

Dear, Malia McDonald

I am having lots of fun here! thank you for saying im the funnest person on earth and definitely "out of space." That made my day! you are out of this world! hahah and the philippines are great! this place is always warm!

Dear, Avery Gewondtan

My mission is FABULOUS! i love it here, and i have already entered the temple multiple times! and the temple here also! so your hoping worked out! hah thank you! and I hope I help alot of people too!

Dear, Bethany Kenney

Its a blast here in the philippines. hahah I love it here! I just finished playing with a monkey someone had as a pet! and my testimony and great! its growing but I know without a doubt this is the true church and where people can find happiness and love in this life and eternity in the next! and I dont know if everyone is getting along well....there are like 150 of us here.... hahah I hope so though! I dont mean to suprise you haha! and Ill try my best to be safe! 

Dear, Mauri Ann Heim

It is hard sometimes, like now we do not have running water in our apartment until after 8pm everyday....so yea its harder.... hahahha buts thats okay! and I wanted to go ANYWHERE but stateside in america, also I hope xmas in the philippines in the philippines is magical also! everyone here loves christ so much and they are all very excited! and I will be careful! and I do love my mission!

Thank you all so much for these letters they made my entire month to read them hahahah so great! I love my ward and miss you all! stay safe! 

I love that Elder Mumm finally came to visit you!  He said you guys are awesome! and isn't he just the best hahaha what stories did he tell you?

 

Ok these pictures take a little to explain. some are of me and my comp at the yearly "miss gay" pageant. We got invited by a member who won miss marinduque last year. I'ts a beauty pageant except for baklas (cross dressers, transvestite) so yea...all those girls on the stage, are not girls....at all. haha the pic of us by the tree are of me and comp with her, she is a girl. hahaha 

 

 fishing today I only caught a shirt..........it was a hard sink but my skills allowed me to do it.

  a monkey some neighbor had as a pet so we were messing with her. her name was moimoi

 

we don't have water in the morning anymore....its just really hard so we bought a trash can and fill it with water the night before....and use that to cook and shower and wipe hahaha

 

Love you all

Elder Yarro

 

 

Week 33

"time flies when you are having fun, or secretly sad cause you are 11,000 kilometers from home and work hard anyways." - Elder Striuskma

really funny kid and a little depressing but oh well. 

Monday. For this last P-day we mainly just cleaned and went out to work. I know this is small but like......i don't know what else to say, describe scraping food off of plates in the sink isn't really worth remember 5 years from now. 

Tuesday. big day! like most we went and worked and got around 20 oyms and lots of lessons! We have this one girl who is good friends with a member so shes been taking the lessons beautifully and wants to get baptized.

Wednesday.  we had District Meeting, then we went to the palengki and I bought these awesome airsoft guns,one is this big sniper with a laser sight and the other is a blue AK47. this kid next door came and played with our guns and we asked if we could come and teach him and his family and he did not want us to.

 

Thursday. THIS WAS AN AWESOME DAY! we got this member in another elder's area to let us work with him on his rice FARM! yes that's right I picked and plucked and planted rice. it was soooooooooooooo awesome. I didn't wear shoes and we just got walk out in the rice field and planted and worked. it was so freaking awesome! my comp has the pics so ill try to steal them from him

Friday. We had two lessons they weren't anything special. just visited some members and asked for a referral. but her daughter is like this really beautiful pageant winner so I asked if I could pose with her crown and to tease her later hahaha. 

Saturday. We had Disctict conference. it was a lot of fun I got to see the mission pres and his wife and catch up with them in the morning. then later that night I had 5 more interviews. I always get scared for these. because I take them very seriously. but I got through it and I felt the spirit and really helped them understand they were ready and be more excited for it. 

Sunday. We had district conference. Then all the zone came to our house and we cooked for them. we all celebrated and told stories. it was a good day. 

sorry no pics this week. the computer is being weird. 

Love you all

Elder Yarro

Week 32

Monday. P-day we had a good day and got  a lot done, then went out and worked.

Tuesday. We had 8 lessons and 20 oyms. It was really fun, we got this missionary in the branch to join us and it was a good day. We had a lesson with a less active sister and she was crying because she wanted to go to church but was afraid the branch would judge her. so I commited her to pray if god wants her go to or not. it was a good lesson.  This last Sunday she came and she was so happy. She said God told her to go! that was dope! 

I have noticed that the people here over react a lot, like one guy left the church because he didn't get passed the sacrament. so I said "so you left he perfect gospel and our lord Jesus Christ because a 12 year old didn't give you the sacrament? do you think he hates your or what?

I think its just that the education here isn't so great. and also because they like media from American dating movies too. like showing weak immature people in a cooky relationship doing funny things. I dunno to be honest.

Wednesday. I had my very first district meeting as a DL and it was a little scary but the lord was with me and I think I did a good job. so that's good. then we played a round of munchkin!

Thursday. during lunch we went to Boac and ate horse at this local diner, it is actually freaking good. I will definitely eat some more. Then we went and worked hard!! We also bought some penny boards and we all went skating and now we skate to our appointments. lol woo! 

Friday. we went to this skydeck on our way to our area and I got to the see half of the island I have some BOMB pics of it, Ill put them in another email. we found another new investigator and she is so nice haha really promising. then we finished the day with more oyming!

 

 

Saturday. We went to this area by the port with all the ships and it was fun to oym some people there. Then I had a baptismal interview with an investigator with some elders in my disctrict. I was super nervous cause this interview determines whether the investigator is ready for baptism or not, but it went well. and I passed her because I felt she was ready to make those commitments with god. The interview was amazing. hahah one of my fav things to do as a DL The interview took a while and all the jeeps to our area stopped and we didn't have money to travel back so we slept in Boac with my other elders it was awful we all shared beds and I didn't get a blanket or pillow hahaha #missionlife 

Sunday we went to church and I helped pass the sacrament then we taught youth class, I LOVE THE YOUTH HERE THEY ARE SO FUNNY AND SPIRITUAL! then we took a quick nap at the apartment and went out to work the rest of the day. 

so all in all its suuuuuuuuper dope here on the island. We have to do a vacation on this island holy balls. amazing white sand beaches. soooooooo pretty. like for real.

 

hoooooooooooooooooooooo frick I miss snow, and cold. Everyday here the weather is the same, it feels like time doesn't move hahaha

 

Love you all

Elder Yarro

 

 

 

Week 31

First of all I wanna say I love it here on the island, everything is soooooooooooo beautiful and laid back! this place is so quiet and the people are so nice and I love teaching lessons! I just love this area I am the district leader here! Being DL means I mainly keep the district motivated to work and report numbers and go on splits. I'ts cool. also just saw the basement so much different holy crap. and thank you for a;; the prayers, I'm praying for you all too, I love my district so far they are all really cool.

Monday. We had another lazy pday in Ibaan and played some pool where I wrecked my companion.

Tuesday. spend my last day doing....you guessed it! knocking doors! woo! 

Wednesday. had our last district meeting, it was fun I got to say goodbye to all these people I love so much. Then I worked with elder shumway, who is new and I felt like I helped him a lot coping with the mission and stuff he was having trouble talking to his trainer cause he was a Filipino. Then I cooked for them and we ate this huge feast with a fellow shipper outside talking it was the most fun I've had in months. 

Thursday. was transfer day, very long day I ended up waiting for these other two elders at a jolibees (a fast food place) for 7 hours and they never showed! but we got a call that they skipped me and left straight for the island. so I ended up sleeping at the zone leaders house which destroyed my back. 

Friday. first thing I did was get on the ferry and go straight to the island. I LOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOVE THIS PLACE! like no joke this is the best place ever. I don't have  pictures yet because Ive been busy but I just love it here so much. On the ferry ride I saw some flying fish they were soooooooooooooooo cool the ride is about 3 hours long

Saturday. Lots of hard work we went and just taught a lot of lessons I miss teaching lessons man its been waaaaaaaaaaaay too long. 

Sunday church was crazy because I gave a suprise talk (thanks dad for the backup talk idea) and I had to bless the sacrament in Tagalog for the first time, but I managed to do good in both of them so I'm happy. We were supposed to have a broadcast from the area 70 and we invited the other elders in our district but they couldn't connect so it got cancelled. so they just chilled at our house because all travel on the island stops at 7. hhaha its really been fun here!

I found a computer shop but there is nothing else here.....not even a 7/11

My new companion is  really cool we get along well. downsides his music taste is AWFUL he been here since February. and he's from Mindanao, which is the lower part of the Philippines, foreigners arent even allowed to go there. Lots of muslims and violence there. look up the history on Google.

My new apartment is freaking awesome! I'll send pics next week. We just have a stove top. and we cant get the gas to work yet... we are gonna try and work on it all today to get it fixed hahaha

this week will be dope! I'm so excited I love it here. like I would have you all come visit me and we all just hang here for a week

tell isabelle to name her drain pouch. the sac of cleanliness. or draw a face on it
I finally heard from Elder Mumm, my trainer!  sounds like he is doing great, I told him to go visit you.

We mainly eat carrots and mangos, for breakfast we have burgers with mango......and whatever a member feeds us normally gulam. which is a mix or veggies and meat

I love getting the pictures from home they dont make me homesick, they made me happy.

Love you all
Elder Yarro 

Week 30

Monday. I had a lot of lbms from some kind of food hahaha, also bought some emergency jeans because I ruined my slacks.

Tuesday.  We played some pool and did a lot more door knocking, my comp got the training call and he's training in this area so that means that I will be transferring. the question is where haha.

Wednesday. We had our zone training meeting, we all met up as a zone and it was really fun! 

 

 

Thursday. We went door knocking again, we found another member who got offended and left the church. he was a super active member. you can always tell by the way they talk about the calls. really sad to see a titan of a saint in a state like this. When I get back I will NEVER let a saint get to this point. I will ask all my bishops for a less active list and go help. this gospel is too important for stuff like this to happen. 

Friday. we knocked more doors (see a pattern?) and watched some basketball.

Saturday. I went to get a freeze slushy. then I got the transfer. I didnt even ask to be transferred, it just happened! TO MARINDUQUE whoooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo That's an island. Its not just an island. its so small you can walk around it in a day. hahahaha, it'll be hard cause there will be even less stuff there than here. but it'll be so dope to be at the beach. soak my feet. The island has a branch instead of a ward, but I dont care as long as they are enthusiastic about the work. yea I got a few emails from people back home, was nice and refreshing! Im so glad I'm done here and I might be a district leader.

Sunday. I had my last church in this area and then we went and knocked doors again.

 
 Family Question and Answer Time!

Questions

Millie: how many times have you read the BOM so far

Mom:: how often do you cook and what do you make the most 

Isabelle: how are your ties holding up?

Dad: what's your favorite Filipino song

 

Answers

millie:3

Mom: adobo and everyday.

Isbelle: not so good.

Dad: may alak my balak

 

Questions #2

Millie: who is your favorite person that you have taught?

Isabelle: what's the scariest bug over there

Mom: is there anything that we bought you for your mission that has been useless and what has been the most useful (besides pants and shirts? We're the expensive socks worth it?

 

Answers#2

Millie: Jun

Isabelle: either the Lagnat spider or hawk wasp. 

Mom: Most useful. the towels. and least I dunno all of it is pretty nice and the socks are nice too. all the filipino elders ask for a pair and I have plenty to spare. 

Questions #3

Millie: what is the best dessert you have had there

Isabelle: do you eat with chopsticks or a fork more often

Mom: do you still keep in touch with elder Munn, your trainer, and how if so how is he doing back in the real world? Did he have a hard time with the transition?

 

Answers #3

Millie: nothing. lol mango graham cracker cake. SUUUUPER good

Isabelle: fork in the left hand spoon in the right, you would be suprised how well this works. 

Mom: he hasn't emailed me so non whatsoever. 

Questions #4

Millie: do the girls paint their nails over there

Isabelle: have you woken up with any bugs on you

Mom: have you bought yourself anything fun since you have been there, other than pants

 

Answers#4

Millie: no they dont hahaha

Isabelle: of course

Mom: got these dope leather scriptures. still waiting on them. and other than that just books.