Sent: Saturday, July 27, 2013 9:57 PM
So this has been a very good week...WE HAD A BAPTISM!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Marcy was baptized on Sat! and there was a huge turn out from the ward. The Bishop was pleasantly surprised, he had never seen that many people at the baptism. My response to that was that i dont do sparsely attended baptisms. Marcy not only invited her dad and sister but like 10 of her friends and they all came. Her sister now wants to take the lessons! and Marcy wants to serve a mission!!!!!! she said that her baptism was the first time in years that her dad came to a church function.
We got to witness a miracle Sat as well. Austin (the elders investigator) was also baptized that day too. When his ride went to go get him he wasnt home and was not at the library where the note he left said he would be and his phone is broke. The baptism was about to start in like 2 min and the elders were starting to get ansy cause there was no sign of austin . So we got all of missionaries together with bro paul (a member in the ward) and prayed for a miracle. Not 10 min later Austin walks in during the opening song!
We got to witness a miracle Sat as well. Austin (the elders investigator) was also baptized that day too. When his ride went to go get him he wasnt home and was not at the library where the note he left said he would be and his phone is broke. The baptism was about to start in like 2 min and the elders were starting to get ansy cause there was no sign of austin . So we got all of missionaries together with bro paul (a member in the ward) and prayed for a miracle. Not 10 min later Austin walks in during the opening song!
the spirit was soooo strong at the baptism. it was truely a wonder to see and feel.
Emmy is an investigator we got 2 sundays ago. she is the girlfriend of one of the guys in our ward (although he is at BYU right now). she is atheist but wants to know why Andrew (her bf) is so happy as well as his family. She was persecuted growing up here in south for being atheist so there is a slight bitterness towards any "christian". She has come to church twice now and is praying and reading everyday. We are going slow with her. We get the feeling that we will not be her only missionaries but we are fine with that. She is a very sweet girl and asks really good questions.
I got to try indian food this week....and lamb, at the same time. I loved it. Does anyone know if there are indian restaurants back home? cause i really think ya'll should try it. I also got to play with alpaca this week....lots of them.
Fun story. We have this gentleman in the ward who worked for the CIA and is now retired. He took us out for lunch this week and gave us a copy signed copy of his book...."Confessions of a CIA Interrogator" It looks like it will be a fun book to listen too (he gave me the ebook version)...i just have to wait 6 months to do so. Its cool, the actual book has a copy of his license to kill in it. He is not someone who i want to get on the bad side of. but he is a giant softy.
Sorry for not writting last week. But transfer info: i stayed here in Johnson City with sister hollon. we had 22 new missionaries come in...aside from the ashville stake missionaries we got at the beginning of the month. we are now up to 66 sisters in the mission. We do know that only of us (either sis hollon or i) will be staying here at the end of this transfer. and whoever stays here will be trainning and staying another two transfers...we think it will be me....
i hope ya'll are ok. I look forward to hearing from you all.
moochaco the alpaca
marcy's baptism
MISSIONARY EMAIL FROM ELDER MATHIAS BOGGS
Dear Wonderful People,
Saturday Sis. Jo and her daughters had their baptismal interviews! So this upcoming saturday is their baptism! Woo! We will see if I am still here. But most likely I won't be. Transfers are this week and I have been here for 3 transfers while this is Elder Sefeti's first. .....so chances are I will leave. But who knows. Especially with a new mission president.
Hi--it has been so very fun to hear from so many of you this week. I have had a nice week, busy, but not crazy, and weather I am getting used to, cloudy n humid n hot with an ocean breeze sometimes...guess I can handle it.
Well, it has been quite a crazy week and another crazy week is yet to follow. Last Monday we obviously had P-Day. Tuesday we had our District meeting in the next town over. Wednesday we got to have interviews with our new mission President, President Aquino. He is very nice and friendly and seems like he will be a great addition to the mission. So those were in LaPaz which is about 2 hours from our house. After that, we stopped at Janiuay which is right in the middle. 1 hour away from both.
That was the first time we have gone there.
It was really cool though. We just were going around tracting houses and trying to see if there is any potential there for them to put missionaries there. (There is gonna be a huge influx of missionaries...) So we decided we would focus on the wealthier looking houses so that if they were interested, they also had potential of going to church an hour away. :P Anyways, it was awesome. We tracted up and down a couple streets and about half of the people knew who we were and knew other Mormons. One of the first ladies we talked to said her aunt and brother were Mormons. One of the next houses we went to, we...... called at the gate (equivilent of knocking) and the lady inside saw us and immediately jumped up and told us to come in. The first question she asked was "Are you the ones that always used to come here??" We were kinda confused but after some discussion we learned that her aunt was a member and that the missionaries used to go teach her a bunch. Her aunt is in Chicago right now. Anyways, we visited about 12 houses there and about 6 had relatives that were members already! Super cool. Because we know that not that many people know members. So I feel like we were really directed to the right area and the right houses. Because Janiuay is a pretty big area and we had no clue about where we were going. We just kinda went. And it turned out being a really cool experience.
Then on Thursday, we went out to another small neighborhood that we had heard about but never been to. We started walking down the road that leads out to it. As we were walking people would ask us where we were going. We told them "Badu." They would always respond, "Wow! That's really far! You're just walking??" We told them yes and that we liked to walk. And in our minds we figured they were just being Filipinos and that it really wasn't that far. ....well after about an hour of walking the same thing kept happening. "Wow. That's a long ways away still. You're just walking??" And we told them yes and continued. Anyways, after 2 and a half hours of walking, we arrived to the neighborhood of Badu. And it was pretty small. By that time, it was about time for us to go to our next appointment. So.... we called the first Motorcycle we saw and got a ride back. :P Haha. Yeah... didn't teach anyone or go to any houses. We were going to but then we just decided it was time to go back. So we did. :P haha. So that was another fun adventure. And has also been fun to tell people around here that we walked to Badu. Haha. Good times.
So one thing to let you know about the Philippines and religion here. It blew my mind for a long time but now I am used to it. People ask us what our religion is. We tell them LDS and our nick-name being Mormons. They say, "oh ok. ....so are you Baptist??" We say no, We're Mormons. "7th day adventist?" No. Mormons. "Iglesia Ni Cristo?" No. We are our own independent church. "Oh..... so.... Roman Catholic!" No!!! We are different. We are the Church of Jesus Christ of Later Day Saints. At that point they realize that we are our own seperate religion. Following which they say, "Oh. But you Believe in Jesus Christ. Well as long as you have faith in Christ, that is all that matters. All religions are good." Haha. It has been so hard for me to adjust to! The reason behind all the questions is that there are a lot of break-offs from the Catholic Church. And they have their own different names. So then when people are a different religion, the people here just think it is a break-off from the Catholic church. It has been a weird adjustment for me to make. But it has been interesting. It is kinda sad. But I read verses like Jacob 3:9 and it reminds me that I can't really judge them because of it. It is what they have been taught their whole life. And If I was in their situation, I would probably be the exact same. :P So, we just try to show people why it is so important and try to help people be less confused. :) The gospel is a wonderful thing. ...Especially when we follow it. :) Anyways, that is my week. Love you all. Now to personals.
Mom- I love you. Yeah, seems like love really is the key. After all, the scriptures say if we have not charity we are nothing and can do nothing. And it is true. If we don't love the people we can never know what they need and how to help them. And they will never accept what we have unless they feel our love. So that is something I need to work on. It is not really part of my personality. But definitely something I need to change. :) Thanks for the love and support.
Dad- Sounds like things were busy. But hopefully everything went alright. That is cool that Luz gets to go to Mexico. Seems like you are just vacationing all over the place right now! Crazy. :) And nice story about the Contenedor. Haha. Poor kid. Love ya.
Grandma Boggs- Being a missionary is definitely exciting and keeps you on your toes. It is definitely a big responsibility. :) But it is fun. Wow.... Cow Gut Soup huh? You ate that every day for lunch? That sounds delicious... I bet you don't miss that. :) Thanks for the updates and the letters and the love. Love you lots.
Mike and Rabilin- Sorry I didn't respond last week. But that is awesome that I am famous and that you got to watch me in the video clip of the Payson Temple. :) Sounds like things are going good with you all and that you are staying busy as always. Crazy to me that Charly is already 6! I swear that Quinten is only 6. :P Crazy. Love you. Thanks for the prayers. :) I need them!
Brandon and Julie- Thanks for the letter last week. You were up really late writing it. And then I didn't even respond. :P That is nice that you don't have to commute so far anymore and that you can kinda get settled down in the office. I bet that is a lot nicer. Hopefully things are going good in the neighborhood and that the kids are still healthy and having fun. :) Love ya lots.
John and Tiana- Wow. Still waiting. ....ok. by now you could not be. Who knows. :P Not me! haha. But glad everything is still going well. That is sweet that you got to have Pancit! That is the second most popular food here. ...most popular is rice. haha. But Pancit is one of my favorites. :) I could eat it all day. :) Haha. Good work in school John. I bet those grades were great to see! That is impressive! And having a religion class again should be fun. Even if it is crazy. :) Thanks for the e-mails and support. Love ya.
Alright. That be all. I am out. Halong Kamo. Andam sa Ayam. (Watch out for the dogs.)
MISSIONARY EMAIL FROM DEEANN
Sent: Sunday, July 28, 2013 9:26 PM
I am still learning at the Library. This week one lady talked about how we could find postcards, old ones that would show what cities were like when our ancestors lived there, or when events occurred, like earthquakes, or floods....in different places. She said since there were no televisions, postcards carried photos of the news. Anyway it was interesting.
I am learning how to find birth, marriage, and death certificates...at least some ways to find them--as I try to "prove" that the information in Family Search is correct. I am working on my own ancestors, and sometimes helping my companion. It takes me lots of concentration, and sometimes I get confused and need to start over, but I am making progress.
I was able to go to the Temple, and once the session was in Tongan and we had earphones to use for English and then another time things were in Spanish and I understood most of it, so that was fun. I enjoy the flowers and I still walk by the Temple for exercise in the early am and 'freeze in place' sometimes to watch the hummingbirds. There a lot of them.
Tomorrow the Senior Missionaries will be having a potluck dinner with our Mission President and his wife. It will be nice to meet them for a few minutes.
I love you all, and pray for you and hope you are feeling blessed. Keep smiling, DeeAnn, mom, friend, etc.
ps. some of you ought to ask Brandon Boggs why he practiced putting his finger in his eye?
MISSIONARY EMAIL FROM IRMA MICAELA DURAN
Sent: Monday, July 29, 2013 8:44 AM
hey family and friends!
things are going well here. We're working with a woman named Paula. She's absolutely amazing! she's been marked for baptism 2, due to her 23 year habit of smoking, but she's really trying to quit and I KNOW she will. She's accepted the gospel 100% and she's ready to be interviewed, but she just needs to stop smoking. we're doing everything we can to help her and i hope it all works out for the better.
two weeks ago i lost my comp. haha it's kind of funny =). we were separated for a whole hour. We were on the bus and we came to our stop and i got off and my comp walks over to get out and then the doors close right in her face! it was SOOOO funny. i smiled and waved goodbye to her and then i started following on foot thinking i'd see her at the next stop. she wasn't there. i ended up calling my district and zone leaders and of course they didn't answer. i called my sister training leaders and they told me to go back to the original stop and to call President. I just about messed my skirt. President didn't answer the first two times i called him, but he did call me back. Seeing Presidents name on the phone screen stresses me out, sabes? but i'm getting ahead of myself. i decided to go back to terminal and wait for her there, but in order to get there i needed to take another bus. so i waited at a different bus stop and just as i was about to get on the bus i see sister ornano getting off! it was a christmas miracle! God knows best. wow it was SO funny! we were having a laughing fit for like 10 min and President called. I told him what happened and then he laughed and said, "Sister Duran, you know it's not a good idea to lose your companion, right?" haha he's a funny guy. Well everything worked out fine and nothing horrible happened.
I have to go. I love you all. Have a good week. You're in my prayers.
Com Amor,
-Sister Duran
MISSIONARY EMAIL FROM ELDER DAVID BOGGS
Sent: Monday, July 22, 2013 9:29 AM
this week has been full of surprises. to start out, at transfers, i found out that my companion has only been out for 6 weeks and that i would be finishing his training! then at the end of transfer meeting, elder pettersson (pronounced peddersen) and i found out that we would be in a trio covering two areas until the other missionary's companion gets back. (he had to go home for a surgery of some sorts on his nose). and missionary that is with us is none other than my very own mtc companion, elder Hitchcock! since we are covering two different areas, we are also sleeping in two different appartment depending on where we end up at the end of the night and where we have to be the next morning. its quite fun :) i have yet to unpack fully. our appartment is up in hagerstown and the other is down in martinsburg west virginia . the one in martinsburg has a washer and drier so we do our laundry there.
The branch i'm serving in is the Falling Waters Branch. it is about twice as big as spa creek with 30 to 40 members at church each sunday compared to the 10 to 20 on a good sunday. i had to go up and share my testimony in sacrament meeting. surprisingly, i wasnt nervous. and i didnt really have to figure out how to say what i wanted to say. it just came out! i think i left the majority of my fear of talking to people in annapolis . and spanish is coming easier as well because my companions know about the same amount as i do so it isnt unconciously intimidating. the members here are pretty cool from what i have seen. we have been helping a family make a patio. its hard work. we have been shoveling dirt, shoveling gravel, raking the gravel, pounding it down, and getting fed while we work. the patio i have to say is going to look awesome!
i'm doing great and hope y'all are doing the same! love y'all!
lots-o-love,
~ elder boggs
WARD WIDE WEB
Our whirlwind of a summer is almost ready to come to a close. July was our month of many vacations:
We began our marathon vacation adventure on the east coast. Jeremy, Jennifer, Trevor and Logan got to go tour Washington DC,
and here we are on Times Square at about midnight.
We came home from the east coast and went up to Shaver Lake the next day. We spent a week there with friends and family having fun, riding the raft, and enjoying campfire treats. Here is one of the 2 photos we took the entire week we were there - glow in the dark night :)
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