Red Flood Warning!

It's been a really rainy time here in Manila.  It's been stormy almost every day and it makes it a little hard to do missionary work when the streets are swimming pools and it takes you hours to walk to one appointment.  The funny part about being a missionary is that you embrace stuff like that.  

This week was transfer week and I'll be taking another 6 weeks in the Manila/Mandaluyong Zone!!  The Lord must really love having me in Manila i've spent almost half my mission in this zone hahaha!  I love Manila though and we'll keep working hard regardless.  

Besides the rain and the transfers this week has been pretty smooth and very enjoyable.  With the rain sometimes making it hard to leave our apartment I've been able to use that time to read more of the Book of Mormon and I cannot emphasize how important this Book is to me.  If you are in need of feeling comfort, joy, and peace in this life I can testify to you that this Book will deliver exactly that.  The Book is of God no doubt about it.  If you're not reading it I cannot tell you how much you are missing out. 

Pics:

1- We attended a birthday party at the Blanco family residence.  Their house is tiny but they are still some of the happiest people I have ever met.  I never want to forget how humble and content the people are with their lives here.  

2- Brother Blanco straight up got some chocolate bars as his birthday present and he was happy as ever about it.

3- Our zone made these sweet zone t-shirts to represent our love for the MAMA ZONE!!

4- 2nd transfer of the MAMA zone has come to a close!

5- Elder Viñas is sitting on a tall chair because he wanted us to be the same height hahaha

6- Our AWESOME Ward Mission Leader treated us to Starbucks!

7- We taught 5 students from CEU and they wanted to take a picture with us after the lesson.

8- Just a little example of what the streets look like during rainy season here

I don't know if I've said this enough times in my emails but I love my mission, I love being a missionary, I love the message of the gospel.  The church is true and we are all children of a loving God!!  Mahal ko kayong lahat!  Ingat!

Elder Burdeos

Every Single Day

Friends and Family,

Every single day this week there was something going on.  

Monday: Went to Manila Zoo for P-Day

Tuesday: Interviews with President Fermanis

Wednesday: Exchanges w/ Elder Shelley the Mandaluyong District 

Leader and my old housemate in Makati

Thursday: MLC with President and the other zones!

Friday: Exchanges w/ Elder Ludlow the Manila District Leader and P-day pal.

Saturday: MTC Exchanges!  Went on exchanges with the new missionaries in the missionaries who have yet to hit the field.

Pictures:

1- Taking a ferry to cross the Pasig river was an adventure on its own

2- Exchanges with the boy, Elder Shelley

3- MLC feat. the boyz

4- Sister Ta'ofi, the tallest one in this picture departs this transfer day!  She'll be missed.

5- We received a shipment of 10 washing machines and we still need to deliver them

6- I love Filipino food and I'm grateful for Brother Coco for treating us out while Elder Ludlow and I were on exchanges

7- Here are the two Elders from the MTC that came on exchanges with me, Elder Spiker and Elder Miller they will be headed to the San Pablo Mission!

8- We had a service with the Mandaluyong District where we moved plants from the fourth floor to the bottom floor... hard work but they made it a blast!!

Can't express to you how much I love being a missionary and having this opportunity to preach this gospel.  I can tell you however that if you follow the counsel of Russell M. Nelson and read the Book of Mormon you WILL be happier in this life.  Never been so sure of anything in my life.  Anybody who isn't reading it constantly is missing out.  Have a good week!  Love you guys!  

Elder Burdeos

Cleanliness is Next to Managerliness

HOW GOES IT MY FRIENDS AND FAMILY

This week was consisted of checking missionary apartments within the zone!  I was very impressed with the cleanliness of them all!  It was also a fun opportunity to bond with the missionaries!  

This past Saturday an investigator from the Piña Ward asked if I could be the one to baptize her. I had the opportunity of giving her a Priesthood blessing a couple months ago.  The Sister is an older lady who a little bit on the heavier side in regards to weight but I thought to myself, “that’s okay!  It’ll be hard but it’ possible.”  That was my mindset up until I saw the baptismal font.  The water was at knee level!  It was in that moment that I began to get really nervous and said a prayer in my heart that the 30 minutes of exercise every morning would somehow miraculously allow me to pull this off.  It also got better as prior to entering the font as we were out in the hall and I was demonstrating how she was going to be baptized, she informed me that she was unable to move her left hand and couldn’t grasp with it and she has a knee condition where her knees will give in if they bend too quickly so it had to be super gradual.  Through all of the difficulty she was finally successfully baptized! MIRACLES

We held a zone fireside on Sunday and we were blessed to have President and Sister Fermanis come and attend.  We had a great time and the most powerful part of the fireside was having some recent converts and non-members who are currently being taught give their testimonies on what they experienced or currently experiencing through learning more about the church.  Our recent convert Charline gave a STRONG testimony and it made us super proud :))

Pics:

1- We visited Rizal Park for our P-day which is a memorial dedicated to Jose Rizal.

2- Jose Rizal's memorial

3- Rizal Park again...

4- Night at the Mamaril residence!  Some awesome members in our ward

5- Baptism of Nanay Estela!!  The Sister from the Piña Ward

6- WOW AM I IN CHINA OR THE PHILIPPINES 

Being a missionary is hecka tight.  I love it.  

INGAT KAYO MAHAL KO KAYONG LAHAT!!

The Ulan is Very Malakas Right Now

The weather here has been pretty crazy lately!  We're finding ways to work around the rain at the moment and it's actually pretty fun hahaha.  

This week:

-I went on exchanges with one of my good friends, Elder Tuiatua.  He's a great missionary and he taught me a lot about ministering this week.

-We had our zone conference and it was good.  My favorite part was President Fermanis going off on Book of Mormon doctrine.  Absolutely blew my mind, the man is called of God.

-We were blessed to have a baptism on Saturday!  His name is Evan and he has been an investigator since last year but temporarily moved back to his province and was able to be baptized.  He came back and we quickly jumped on the opportunity to baptize him before he could go back hahaha.  He's awesome and he is loved by the ward and has tons of friends so we can expect him to stick around for a long time :))

Pics:

1)Candid photo of me and the boy Elder Ludlow on P-day at a place called Intramuros.

2)This is a good friend of ours named Kenneth.  If you ever see awesome quality photos in my emails they are all from him!  Thanks Kenneth!!

3)The whole squad @ Intramuros.

4)Had to say goodbye to some of my past companions who will be departing this transfer.  This one is Elder Dominguez from Tondo

5)Elder Harmer from Makati!  They will be missed

6)Post Zone Conference vibe

7)THIS IS EVAN THE MAN!!

8)Kenneth and I worked on making this beautiful work of art on the chalkboard for Evan's baptism.  See if you can tell which part Kenneth did and which part I did :)) 

What a great week it has been.  I love being a missionary.  HAVE A GOOD WEEK LOVE Y'ALL!

Elder Burdeos

Scattered Israel

WHAT A WEEK!!  

We had MLC with Elder Allen D. Haynie and it was a super uplifting experience for us.  We discussed the term "Scattered Israel".  These are people in our areas whom the Lord has prepared and is ready to receive.  They have a magnetic pull to the message of the gospel and will not be able to resist or deny the truthfulness of this church.   I'll give you two examples:

This is Charline!.  One Sunday she just mysteriously showed up to sacrament meeting.  Since I was new in the ward I just started talking to everybody and building relationships.  I had a conversation with her after sacrament meeting and I just assumed she was a member but she informed me that she had not yet been baptized!  She is a 2 year investigator from Zambales and she has been investigating the church ever since. The only thing that held her back from being baptized in the province was obtaining permission from her parents.  They weren’t exactly on board with the idea of her being baptized into the church. She made a deal with her parents that if she passed her board exam in October here in Manila to become an accountant they would allow her to be baptized.  We brought her along to the mission home the night that she told us that to attend a fireside with President Fermanis. They had a conversation and long story short, she wanted to be baptized regardless of what came after. We extended a baptismal date to her and continued to teach her to prepare her for that date.  We invited her to fast with us to help overcome the trials that came before her baptism and we received a text a few days afterwards that her parents had accepted her desire to be baptized and allowed it. SWEET!! The Lord will do everything in His power to help us if we do everything in our power to serve Him. So Charline was baptized and the ward absolutely loves her.  She’s been studying the gospel for the last two years and very familiar with the church already so she’s basically already been a member, the only thing missing was the baptism hahaha. She’s a huge blessing to us we are so grateful to have had the chance to witness her conversion.

This is Jay-pee!  His story is similar to Charline’s in regards to parents not being on board with the whole idea of joining a different church.  He’s been investigating for years as well and his girlfriend in Ilocos is a member. He’s studying here in Manila and that’s why he’s currently in our ward.  He has also been studying the doctrine of the church in the meantime of waiting for his parents to approve his baptism so he was very prepared by the time we found him.  Again, we invited him to fast with us to help pave the way for his baptism and the Lord came through once again. He's really open to learning more about the gospel and has a strong testimony of the fact that our families can be together forever. He believes that one day his family will also have the opportunity to receive the gospel just as he did.

WOW the Lord is so amazing. Blessing us openly just like He said he would. I don't have much more time to email but I would just like to bear my testimony that we truly do have a loving Heavenly Father who knows what we need. He's there to pick us up when we are down and we can turn to Him for anything. I can also testify of the power of the Book of Mormon and the role that it has on keeping us converted. Elder Haynie mentioned 2 things that every member can do to keep from going less-active:

1) Read the Book of Mormon DAILY

2) Pay tithing

If you are not currently doing these 2 things then WHAT ARE YOU WATING FOR?  I would highly suggest you do so.  Make God happy and I promise He will do the same to you, only in ways you would never see possible.  

Love you guys have an awesome week!!!  

Elder Burdeos

HAPPY 9TH OF JULY!!!!

Yeah I totally forgot to say happy 4th of July last week but we can appreciate the greatness of America every day... right? :))  

This week was awesome.  We walked and walked then walked even more... MISSIONARY WORK!

Pics:

1- Brother Peñalosa, the previous bishop in our ward, took us to visit some families! 

2-President and Sister Andrada were the previous mission presidents in the Philippines Laoag Mission.  They came home this last week and it turns out they are actually in our ward!!  It was such a crazy experience casually having a night with a former mission president.  

3-I had an opportunity to arrange exchanges with the Elders currently assigned in my old area in Tondo and I showed them to some of my old investigators.  It was so nice seeing them again and they are still very interested in the church!!  What a blessing that was.

4-Some of the Tondo boyz

5-The Sisters had a baptism this last Saturday!  Welcome Sister April to the Lord's restored kingdom!!!

Charlene and Jaypee are getting baptized on Saturday!!  It's just the best feeling in the world being a missionary.  The church is true!!! I LOVE YOU GUYS

Elder Burdeos

Another 6 in Sampaloc/MYSA!!

Kumusta na kayo?  Medyo matagal na hindi di ko kayo nakausap.  This week was transfer week and this one was especially difficult because a lot of my good friends here in the mission went home.  They will be missed but with or without them the work of God carries on. The work is hastening!!!

We’ve seen many blessings this week in regards to progress being made in our area.   A couple of our investigators, Charlene and Jaypee, have accepted the baptismal invitation we extended to them for July 14th.  I know that they are ready to make this covenant with God and they know it too. I am so excited for them! I’ll keep you updated on their progress in preparing for that date.

Pics:

1- Said bye to the boy Elder Ho Ching who will be opening a new area on Palawan. CUYO!

2- RIP MAMA ZONE PART 1

3- It was Elder Viñas's birthday on Friday so I bought him a surprise cake and the Sisters helped me arrange a surprise Ward home evening for him that night.

It’s a privilege to be a part of this great and marvelous work.  It’s not easy and it takes a lot of patience but I can testify that it is the work of God.  Something that I would like to share is an awesome quote from a member of our ward that she said while we were teaching Charlene:  “When we take care of the things that matter to God, He will take care of the things that matter to us”. I know that it a true statement, and if we do our part to follow God, he will provide 100% of the time.  

I love you guys be safe and have a good week!

Elder Burdeos