Letter From The Philippines! Elder Rubow

Half way done with my training!!  It was so fast!  And everyone keeps telling me it gets faster and faster.  Its going to be a awesome roller coaster from here on out!  Its been a very interesting week and most of it I cannot even remember.  A typhoon came through this week but Ilo-ilo was just out of its path so it was not even that bad.  I love it when it rains because it cools down tremendously. 

I was given the opportunity to bless a lot of people this week.  It was such a cool experience! I cast a fever out of a child, offered many blessings of comfort and helped with a few others. 

We started off with a zone meeting where all the districts got together and shared our progress with everyone else.  We shared goals, messages and some special experiences we had the past month.  It was pretty fun being with the group!  We went out to eat at a local Taiwan restaurant where I had  a seafood soup.  It was alright and the squid balls were my favorite part!  After that we split and I went with Elder------.  I actually never did take any pictures that day....whoops.  Anyway, he basically let me take charge.  Elder ------ is from SL city utah and is just about to leave to go home.  He is a pretty funny guy!  We went to our first two appointments and I was given the opportunity to start off the lessons.  Sister ------ was our first.  We met her a few weeks back and she has been one of the best investigators we have had in a long time here in Lapaz.  She truly was prepared!  We taught the final half of the Plan of Salvation and the Celestial kingdom.  Near the end of the lesson, ----- (the husbad) came in and heard the last part of the Celestial kingdom and he wanted to learn more and be a part of our church with the rest of his family.  It was amazing!!  We are actually going to teach him tonight.  He is usually too busy for us to teach but today he has work off.  After the lesson I got us lost in the jungle and we had to back track.  Twas super fun!  Thats the picture with me on a bridge.  Super fun bridge I must say.  We ended teaching two less active members (Mom note:  deleting names for privacy)  ------- and -----.  ----- is 14 and ----- is 11.  Their family gives them very little support and so we are trying to encourage them to come to church even if they have to walk alone.  Super cute kids and I love them to death!  We then headed home and I made tacos for the both of us.  Yay!

 On Friday we attended the baptism of one of the members sons.  He is a stud!  Super cute little boy!  He was so excited after coming out of the water he started swimming in the font!  So funny!  Afterward we went to his birthday party......oh my it was delicious!  The Constintino family are a very wealthy family so of course they went all out as do all Filipinos.  I had Lechon for the first time! (Roasted Pig)  The skin is pretty tough but so good!  I was feeling super fat by the end of that one!  I have decided Filipino parties are the best!  It felt more like a wedding then a birthday party!  I loved it!

Sunday was amazing!  We had 8 of our investigators come to the Stake Conference and they seemed to all like it!  Stake Conference here is a pretty big thing!  It was good to see a entire stake center full of members.  Stake Conference is so important because members who have not come since the last stake conference will show up.  So nice!  We had a few good talks too!  I could only understand the middle ones though.  The first and the last both spoke in Tagalog.  I need to get that one down...

Later that night we had a interesting conversation with one of our investigators.  Its really going to be a hard next few weeks for her.  She has a pretty scary story.  In the end, it was a very good lesson.  She has so much guilt and past sins, but through the Atonement of Jesus Christ, all of those can be completely taken away!  I cannot wait to see her in the baptismal font ready to become a new person again.  Its going to be great!

Elder Rubow doing his laundry!!  Yup!  By hand in a bucket!  

Well, That is about it!  I love it here and its is an amazing experience to be here doing the work of the Lord.  We also finally got Book of Mormons!!!  We have been handing them out like crazy! And!!.....We only have like two left again...hahaha that book has so much power! For all those who have never read, read a bit, read the whole thing, I invite you to read it! Daily!  I promise you that it will help you and bless you in your life in ways that only God knows.  I love you all dearly and cannot wait to see you all again.  Until then, may God be with you till we meet again. 

Elder Rubow