Six Blog Posts from Elder Thurber (April 21st- May 26th, 2014)

Las Pinas Village, Manila, Philippines

May 26th, 2014

Dr. Doom goes to Mall of Asia

Dear everybody!

Well, we taught a whole dang lot this week! As Elder Mullins' training is coming to an end, we're sprinting to the finish, so to speak. 

MOA, obviously, was just fantastic. We got to see extraordinary things in normal clothes. I forgot how comfortable jeans can be. I got a bunch of souvenirs I hopefully can send out back to you all sometime soon if you're lucky.

My parents decided to send me a Dr. Doom action figure a while ago, so I decided to put him to use. He had a great time in MOA! (Mall of Asia)

Shoot... I lost track of time. I'll talk more about our teaching next week! 

Bye!

Elder Thurber 

Las Pinas Village, Manila, Philippines

May 19th, 2014

"September 21, 1923"

Friends and Family,

As you can see from the first picture, I was pretty excited to go down to zone conference in Buendia chapel this past Wednesday! It was President Stucki's last Zone Conference to all of us, and he emphasized Elder Ballard's talk on Following-up

So... I guess I needa ask you all some questions. Hopefully I won't scare the very few viewers of my blog away. 

1st: Do you have a copy of Preach My Gospel? 

2nd: Will you try to share the gospel at least 4 times a year? 

3rd: From the missionary experiences you've had, do you feel like you've adequately followed up? 

I'm not trying to criticize you for anything. Rather, I'm just excited about missionary work! I don't care if it's in my area or the other side of the world. To tell you the truth, I'm fed up with the wickedness of the world, and we need to do everything we can in our power to bring people unto Christ! It amazes me what I can do. Just earlier today, Elder Mullins and I got a pleasantly surprising text from our investigator who just needs to get married. She said (in the English language): 

“Have you ever wonder why you’re still on earth? 

It's to help other people.”

It's a good point right? I feel it more and more every day that the gospel is the only thing that'll help people the most.

It's amazing how some people just recognize it, and others take their time. We taught this lady "Nanay Esperanza" for the second time last Friday. When we started teaching the restoration she interrupted and said, “I know that what happened in September 21, 1923 is true! Because it happened!"

I was kind of dumbfounded, and assumed she was talking about the first vision, so I dumbly said that "Uhhh... it says here it happened in 1820." Little did I know she read the introduction to the B.o.M, three times, and has already prayed and received an answer that it's all true. Not surprisingly, she accepted the baptismal date. Before we left, she remarked, "It's not important whether or not you believe it's true or not,  if it's true." Ha! I couldn't have said it better myself (especially in Tagalog).

And then there's people like me. Looking back, it took me a whole long time to gain a spiritual testimony of what we teach all day long is true. And I decided to put my testimony into motion towards conversion by serving a mission. 

Sorry I'll get off of my soap-box right now and tell you about my week.

On Monday, after emailing, Elder Mullins and I went to this mall and got customized t-shirts! It's the third picture. It says "Hindi ko alam. Basta, totoo and Aklat ni Mormon." Translated, it means "I don't know. Anyways, The Book of Mormon is true." That's what we're wearing right now, as we're going out bowling in the Mall of Asia! We have already got some people asking about it. 

Shoot now I'm out of time! See you all next week!

Elder Thurber

 Gwuapo, for those unfamiliar with Spanish, just means handsome.

The check mark I did with my hand in picture 3 is just a sign to say "guapo" 

 These are centimos, that are practically worthless, unless they're together! We've been saving them for quite some time now, and we'll maybe be able to buy lunch with it before me and Elder Mullins get torn apart!

 I got my hymnbook "leathered" by this lady who does stuff like that for the all the missionaries. It was about 10 bucks.

 I thought I could be adventurous and buy a bunch of quail eggs, but it turns out they're just like regular eggs.... 

Elder Thurber

Las Pinas Village, Manila, Philippines

May 12th, 2014

"The Four Minute Mile and Our Life on Earth"

Maaaaagandang araw sa inyong lahat! (beautiful to you all!)

My week has been so fabulous. My Tagalog has really been clicking, and, as my family can protest, [attest] my English is failing me, so I apologize if the rest of my blog entries seem to be written by... well... a Filipino. :D 

I feel like I could write a book, with the blog entry title being its title. I love being a runner, and find great joy out of being fit and running half-marathons. Obviously, I'm not quite to a full-marathon yet, but I would love to get there. It's inspired by somebody told me just yesterday while we were walking to an appointment. "Oh, it's those Mormonizers again!"

In a sense, us missionaries are like running recruiters. We want everybody to become runners, to help others see the joy running [or the gospel] can bring to the people we meet. I always say to the people we meet that "We have a message that will be able to help you.” And I truthfully believe that it can. Hopefully, they'll listen. They'll maybe even believe that it will help them. 

But that is nothing more than watching a show about marathoners. While you may be inspired, you have work to do, that nobody else can do for you except yourself. So we give commitments, small at first (i.e. "will you please read the introduction to the Book of Mormon before we return?" or "will you run one lap around the block before tomorrow?") causing them to exercise their muscles, previously unused. They most definitely don't feel the pleasure out of running, do they? They're just testing the waters.

Sadly, most people don't take the advice of the recruiters. They go back to their lives, and sadly, we put them in the "former investigators" section. But, there are those who take our word for it. When we return, we hear they ran 10 laps! Or they read the first few chapters of the Book of Mormon! They come to church! They know it's true. They get the support of those who enjoy running (or the church members) and sign up for.... the marathon of baptism. 

There's obviously a wait from the time people sign up for a marathon and then run the race. In the same sense, there's a time period from when an investigator accepts a baptismal date and gets baptized. It's a time of great discovery of one's own capabilities, and to discover true happiness! There comes a point where the missionaries say "Where did you read in the Book of Mormon?" Rather than "iid you read the Book of Mormon?" 

And then the marathon begins, and, unfortunately, some fall off the path. In the Manila Phillippines mission, we have a goal of 92% retention. People have their reasons, and lose the chance to reap the rewards of finishing. 

I'm still in this marathon. In fact, I'm not even close to finishing! But it's great! 

So why is this the four minute mile? Well, you have to look at everything in its correct view. Compared to eternal life, our life on earth is just... four minutes. That's something we could all consider once in a while. It's tough, but, wouldn't you agree it's worth it? 

I testify it is! It's a great feeling, and I am soooo thankful I'm a missionary and gospel recruiter, and am helping people see the joy I do. 

Have a great week!

Elder Thurber

Las Pinas Village, Manila, Philippines

May 5, 2014 

Proper prior preparation precedes power

Dear Americans, 

It's funny to think that I'm coming up on my one-year mark, being out here in the Philippines. It’s still a few months away, but hey! Let's review what's gone on:

July 5: Elder Thurber entered the Manila Philippines Airport at 1 AM, tired, exhausted, and so confused, as everybody tried to speak to him in Tagalog

July 6: Entered the MTC, and spent six weeks there with Elder Langi, my Tongan companion. I tried to learn Tagalog, and thought I was pretty good by the time I got out. 

August 15: Got trained by Elder Balonsong down in Aborlan, Palawan, and quickly learned I didn't know Tagalog at all! I got worked to the bone, and forgot what being in the comfort zone feels like. Gained a great appreciation for my "tatay," and we achieved great numbers. 

About September 20th: Got a new trainer, Elder Hart, and switched areas. Was with him for two transfers, and started to "get" Tagalog, but still had a hard time. 

December 18th: Much to my surprise, I would finish up training an.... American! Elder Chong was his name. I prayed a lot about why on earth I was asked to train an American, because I was far from perfect in Tagalog. Turns out,it was perfect, and Tagalog started coming quickly, and I was able to help him progress, too! It wasn't perfect, but I learned a lot. 

January 29th I got transferred back to the city of Manila, and became companions with Elder Rafon, who would be returning to Tacloban after the transfer was over. I basically didn't speak English the entire transfer, except in the apartment, because he didn't know too much English. 

March 12th I was asked, once again, to train another American, and become a district leader. I get to see first hand everything I went through. 

So.... what did I learn? It's been a while! Well, from the numbers that we're achieving, I have grown to understand the importance of.... 

[Guess?]

Christ-like attributes. 

Just like any commandment, principle, or doctrine, we experience and gain a testimony of the truth of the thing by doing it! Would you like to know the church is true, the gospel is true, and that it will change your life? Read John 7:17. There is no substitute for knowing the gospel is true is by doing it. 

That's my testimony to everybody, anywhere. That I have found for myself that all of what I'm teaching is true because I have I done it. Christ's church is a church of proactivity, which is a word I just made up. Sorry. I'm losing my English. 

Picture 1: Nestor Sedon's baptism. He's Pamplona B's new recent convert. (was that redundant?) We had a great turn out at the ward, and I had the opportunity to interview him. 

Picture 2: Brother Nestor ready to get baptized by Brother Areiola, with Sister Murray and Sister Riddle. Sister Riddle actually never taught him, but both of their companions were sick on Saturday, so they went on exchanges. Interesting fact: I had to write Sister Wells on the baptismal record because he's her investigator, but, because of the transfers that happened this week, and her being sick, she never got a chance to meet him until he got confirmed on Sunday! 

Picture 3: President Stucki wanted all of the district leaders at Missionary Leadership Council (MLC) on Wednesday, so I got to see all of my batchmates here :) 

....As well as my trainer, Elder Hart. 

Picture 5: And this is the official 
MLC, consisting of the Stucki couple, Zone Leaders, and Sister Training Leaders. They all wore crazy glasses because President Stucki wants us to see the "vision" he has for us, that we just can't see yet. 

Picture 6: This is me and Elder Zook, who used to be companions with Elder Chong. True story: the tie I'm wearing right then is the tie he gave Elder Chong, who then gave it to me. 

I love you all!

Elder Thurber

Las Pinas Village, Manila, Philippines

Mon, Apr 28, 2014 

"Is That Me?"

Good day!

A lot of good things happened this week. We welcomed in the arrival of Sister Wells and Sister Ordiz, who just came back from shotgunning their previous area, to shotgunning this area! We basically split our area in half and gave it to them. Sister Wells is from Mesa, Arizona, and is relatively new and is always smiling. Sister Ordiz, on the other hand, has only 2 months left here before she heads back to Mindanao. She was a Sister Training Leader before, and is super diligent.

Our coordination meeting took forever this Sunday with the new sisters and all. We did it with Denver Dacanay, a RM, who is fluent in English. One of the things we discussed was the "new and returning member form," because we got two just this past week. After I asked him if he knew what we were talking about he said, "Oh, is that me?" He actually had a point because he's LA! I really wanted to say him "No, you're next week." But I just kept silent.

We have a great progressing investigator now who comes from a returning member family! Her name is Judelyn, and she's a katulong. Alright time for a quite Tagalog lesson: “tulong” means help. If you put “ka” at the beginning of a word usually, it means something like "to be with." For example, kahouse would be "of the same house." or kamission would mean "of the same mission." So, katulong means something like "helper." In the Philippines, everything inside is kept spotless. I've never taught in a dirty house. So, if you're well off (i.e. not in poverty or your house has an address on the map) you usually have a katulong, which basically means maid.

Anyways, Judelyn is great! She went to church this past Sunday with the Pada family, learned about the church in their province. She isn't completely fluent in Tagalog (like most people in the Philippines) because she speaks Cebuano. Just like I did with Marisa Aton, I now want to learn Cebuano.  :D

I'm going to the temple right after this, which explains why I'm emailing on Tuesday. I read the "getting ready to enter the temple" booklet we give recent converts. Reading over it made me think about how important going to the temple really is. Suddenly, once you enter, you're entering God's house! You step into a new frame of mind, where you can take your problems and trials that are in your life with new vision. Our perception of God's plan is polished. We understand what we must do. What a great blessing! What a great god to give us such things.

I love you all! I'll take pictures this week.

Elder Thurber

Las Pinas Village, Manila, Philippines

Mon, Apr 21, 2014 

Record-breaking Week Ito!!

Tagalog lesson: Tagalog switches up the verb and the noun and adds words like "is, are" and so on. Ito=it. So in English it would be: this is a record breaking week!!

Truth be told, we met almost all of our Key Indicators this week, and we're pushing along.

On Friday, there was a huge parade, where we saw enormous statues of Jesus and Mother Mary, with people crunched together, holding candles. Sorry, no pictures! I can't while proselyting.

I absolutely LOOOOVEEE being a missionary! I've never been this happy in my life. It came to me the other day, when I mentioned Bro Gabino to a Less Active member. There is absolutely no comparison to the joy I feel when I'm able to bring people into the gospel. Nothing! Don't believe anybody who says they don't have time for a mission. Here's my challenge to you: go watch Mission Impossible. Missionary work is like that, only souls are at stake, not money.

pictures:

1.  Chicken feet! The Inocencio family gave us it last Family Home Evening. Get this: we found this guy named Mark who wants to come back to church, and his friend, Mark, who wants to join the church, all in the same lesson! FHE rocks!

2. This is the Mormon Batallion, coming on to church two Sundays ago! Woo!!














3. This is me, getting ready to spread the gospel.

4. Introduce yourself to Sara, the brand new Caverte family member! Brother Gabino called us at 3:00 AM on Saturday morning, telling us if we could come by and give Sister Rose Caverte a blessing after the procedure. Unfortunately, we slept through the text, but thankfully got to visit him the next night and give them our congratulations (and a small cake).

5. Us before the priesthood session, lookin' guapo (handsome).

6. This bishop (far left) and his family decided to take us our to some suuuuper expensive restaurant, Cecil's, the night before conference. It rocked, bigtime!

7. My zone leaders,  shining with power.

8. The sisters in my district. From left: Sister Riddle, Romero, Garcia, Murray. Sister Garcia makes clothes, hence, the matching clothes.

9. Mary-Ann Inocencio cutting up some mangos or "mangga." They're unripe, but that's how they like it. They dip it in this fish sauce, too.

10. Me and Elder Mullins going home after a long day of soul-saving. I thought the jeepney looked so posh, I had to take a picture.

11. Termite infestation! Ahhh!!! Don't worry, mom, it's fixed.
















12. Simon, ready for church. For being so young, he's got a bright future in the church! He's going to go on a mission, for sure.

13. Translation: It's not allowed to pee here. Poop? Try it.  

Elder Thurber

The 12 week program and 10 hours of conference AND The Power of Fasting

Mon 4/14/2014

Las Pinas Village, Manila, Philippines

The 12 week program and 10 hours of conference

Dear Friends, Family and Followers,

This week has been crazy, obviously, since I'm a missionary. We're going to be getting two new Elders in the Pamplona ward this upcoming transfer, so we're trying to split the area, and most likely, we'll have to give Brother Gabino to them.   :'(   It's alright, though; we've got so many good investigators who are progressing in our area, I remain a happy missionary.

On top of that, we're getting ready for Holy Week, which isn't exactly a good thing. Point being: people go out on the street, drunk, waving around things symbolizing palm leaves. Apparently, they do these things to show “respect” for the sacrifice of good. This is the point where I need to vent. Let's be honest, who do they think Jesus Christ really, truly is? It's so very disgraceful, mixing in blatant sin with the sacrifice of our Savior and Redeemer. How could something like this get so mixed up!! Frankly, this upcoming week for me will just have to be an example to me of how Satan uses the most ridiculous tactics upon Gods children-- and they accept it. Honestly, he just plants seeds, and then BAM! Cultural acceptance sets in, destroying people's common sense to actually read the Bible and understand its message, rather than glorifying him in vain ways.

So… this week we're using our Word of Wisdom pamphlets to try to destroy his baleful tactics. I'm slowly learning as a missionary that I've just got to live the truth!

My title just kind of describes this week. We basically got one lesson in the whole Saturday and Sunday. Thankfully, we had a full tank of people in Brother Gabino's jeepney which hauled them off to church, including the Pascual family* and their two neighbors who we're teaching: Marisa and Mary-Ann! WOOOO! They all had the wonderful experience of watching General Conference. I, obviously, enjoyed it immensely.

I thought Elder Ballard's talk was particularly touching. And I distinctly remember Elder Packer's statement: "I know God." Can you imagine? His spiritual level? When we sing Follow the Prophet, do we get it? This is important! These men are the men God uses to talk to us! What a great, great blessing! What an opportunity to listen to them for 10 hours! It stinks that people may think two hours is good enough.

On the flipside, I got a cold because of the air-con. But it was worth it cuz I got to hear prophets!

I'm sorry, but once again this computer, like the ones next to it, won't accept my USB for some reason, so no pictures this week, either.

Hey! Do you know what'd totally make me happy? Send me some letters! They're like the WD40 on the machine of missionary work.

I love you all and I know this church is true!

Elder Thurber

*minus the dad. He was called in to work.

Mon 4/7/2014

Las Pinas Village, Manila, Philippines

The Power of Fasting

This week has been delightfully.... exhausting. I don't think I've talked to so many people in my life about the gospel, trying to plant seeds and give out pamphlets, return appointments, ask for referrals, and get their number. On the bright side, I'm getting better at learning names because I constantly have to remember them!

I suppose I have two great experiences I'd like to share today. First, is with Edwin, who has about 8 kids, who are mostly grown up. He opened up to us last week and talked frankly about his cigarette problem. And this week, when we returned, we found out he usually smokes 15 cigarettes a day. Even more surprising, though,  is his willingness to change. But, obviously, that won't happen overnight. In fact, we passed by his house the other day and saw him smoking and drinking with his oldest son. I asked him how he's doing, and he simply said "I'm not good at all." This was only last Saturday.

So why do I think this is a great experience? Well, he accomplished his goals. We started using our Word of Wisdom pamphlet, and there's a goal section, and he's been accomplishing his goals! His most recent one he accomplished is going to church. Out of about 8 missionaries who have taught him previously, I had the awesome privilege of seeing him come through the doors of the church and to see members coming by and shaking his, and his son's, hands (who, incidentally, is not a member. Hmmm...). I truly feel he is going to overcome this problem, and brings me back to the 'ol faithful scripture: Ether 12:27

Ether 12:27 And if men come unto me I will show unto them their weakness. I give unto men weakness that they may be humble; and my grace is sufficient for all men that humble themselves before me; for if they humble themselves before me, and have faith in me, then will I make weak things become strong unto them.

Cesan is second. She has been getting a lot of chiz miz or gossip from the neighbors, who talk bad about her switching religions. Also, she and her husband are struggling financially lately, and can't pay for the necessary procedures to get married for her to be baptized. We suggested to her that we could all fast for her. When we came over on Saturday night to start the fast for her, she looked pretty sad, and said we couldn't teach her tonight, because she has somebody to talk to, and was helping her out. But she still said she would fast, thankfully.

Sunday night finally rolled around with all of us fasting, including Brother Gabino. She didn't come to church earlier that day b/c she didn't have any strength in her-- but she did fast! And she said she received a calm reassurance the night before, telling her that she needed to be baptized. She also gave me a great insight. She said that from one degree or another, we will face adversity just as Jesus Christ did to be able to come back to heaven. I never thought of it that way! She's following Christ through overcoming these problems! I also got to talk to the RS president, who said she would be more than willing to talk to Cesan personally to help them get enough money to get married! 

Once again, this computer doesn't like my camera usb, so I'll just have to send pictures next week.

Love, 

Elder Thurber 

Magandang Gabino!

3/24/2014

Las Pinas Village, Manila, Philippines

Friends and Family and Foes,

This week has been one of the best weeks of my entire mission. Miracles are happening. I felt like God was just pouring out ways for us to teach the gospel.

It's because of Brother Gabino!

My title is a little joke off of the phrase "Magandang gabi," or "Good (beautiful) night." And it's so true! He got a call just last Sunday to be a ward missionary, and I whole heartedly approve. He has been working with us every day of the week, and provides a stirring testimony of the power of the gospel to all we teach. Additionally, he shares scriptures in his testimony, and how they're helping him.

Seven investigators were able to attend Pamplona's First Sacrament Meeting today because of him and his faith. Get this: when we came over to his house last Friday, he had a story to tell. He said he talked to his boss about how our church time is being changed to 9 o'clock in the morning. At first, his boss was so upset, and said to him, "Do I need to find another jeepney driver?" Bro Gabino, in reply, said, "I'm giving my Sundays to the Lord. I have six days to do my work, but the Sabbath day is for Him, because He has blessed me so much in my life." His boss was impressed with what he said, but still said he would have to work on Sundays. So guess when his shift is? 2 in the morning until 6 in the morning. I was thinking, “Wow! What faith!” Despite his lack of sleep, he wanted to work with us on Saturday night, and we taught great, spiritual lessons! At one point we went on splits and when I returned to him and Elder Mullins, he said he would be willing to take all of our investigators to church on Sunday morning! That's what this picture is about. Sorry it's kind of  hard to see.  We had a full investigators class! Thing is, Bro Gabino's going to do it again next week!   :)

From L to R: Rose Caverte, Sophia Caverte, Juan Dumlao (he's less-active), Arlyn Ceran and her daughter, May Ann, Angelica, and Jerwin Jr Inocensio, and Cesan.

I had the opportunity to interview a man named Edgardo, who is an investigator of Sister Romero and Riddle. He is a rather forgetful man, so I had to take it slow going over the questions, but he had a great spirit about him. At one point, he was trying very hard to remember all of the parts of the Word of Wisdom, and got so frustrated at himself, because he had been trying to remember them all but forgot cigarettes, and I gently explained it was no big deal. After most of the questions were over and it was apparent he was ready for baptism, I started saying "When you will be baptized on April 5th..."  He cut me off and said "HALLELUJAH! WAHOOOO! TINANGAP AKO!" (I'm accepted!) and got out of his chair! It was a testimony builder for me to see somebody so old and having gone through so much get so excited for baptism because.... well..., he knew it was true! I can't wait to attend his baptism and give him a tie :).

This is my awesome new companion, Elder Mullins, from Indiana! He's brand new to the mission and is learning Tagalog rapidly, and is just a fun guy to be around. He says he likes the weather in the Philippines, which surprises every Filipino, because they hate it. He's super into video games he says, and will probably be a computer science major when he gets back.

That's all for today! And I haven't even covered half of it! But time is short, so darn.

Elder Thurber

We Baptize, We Retain, We Reactivate, We Marry People 3/17/14

March 17^th, 2014

Metro Manila: Pamplona District, Paranaque West East Zone

(Note from Matthew's mom:
Today I posted five blog updates for Matthew's blog.  The first post is the "Starting Over--In Manila; Feb. 3rd & 16th."  I recommend you scroll down and start with that post so you'll understand his story better.)

HAPPY SAINT PATTYS DAY EVERYBODY!

Ok, I included the last part of the Manila mission motto and modified it a bit just because this describes my experience.

On the 29th, we're going to have a baptism of Cesan Dela Cruz. But before that, we're going to get her married. And our next baptism, Arlyn Ceran, is in the same situation. That'll be on April 12th, hopefully, if everything goes as planned. We constantly have to go over the Law of Chastity and help people understand that when they are cohabitating, they're sinning. It's hard to teach this because we know how easily offended Filipinos can be.

I think I want to dedicate an entire paragraph to this, because it has become more and more apparent to me as time has gone on. I’ve learned that you must not raise your voice to a Filipino for a second, or they will get offended. You can't reject the food they give you, or they think "Oh, this Americanos too good for me, ah?" But, seriously it's actually practically impossible to tell if you really do offend them, because they won't acknowledge it or anything. On the flipside, I can imagine a Filipinio coming to America and saying how easily Americans get offended. It's also just common nature for them to say "Oh, my goodness--you're getting fat! You probably should go on a diet." What's worse is when it comes to the language. When a lesson is over, they love going over how you did in the language. I.E. how *YOU*  did-- if they thought it was understandable. And they are blunt. blunt. blunt.  

But they're also so nice! We have a good new investigator, Sister Chi Ann. We taught her yesterday, and she said she would come to church this Sunday before we even got the chance to ask her! Ladies and gentleman, that's what I love to hear! We taught a good lesson, and we got a good new investigator who went to church last Sunday without us noticing her!

We have a sweet new chapel, where I got to lead my first district meeting. I gave a little lesson on being obedient and how we're "instruments" of the Lord. I talked about the new piano that's coming to BYU, and how important it is to have great instruments, especially when the Spirit of God is the one using us! I made four bullet points, or "strings" in the lesson.

1. Be exactly obedient.

2. Sound understanding. (get it? Sound? Music?)

3. Charity and love.

4. Testimony.

I chose these bullet points because I feel missionaries need to be worthy conduits, or instruments of the spirit!

That's all for today,

Elder Thurber

PS Sorry, my camera isn't registering on this computer right now, so no pictures this week.

I'm Going to samoa! 3/9/14

March 9^th, 2014
Metro Manila: Pamplona District, Paranaque West East Zone

Good friends and family,

Yes, it's true I will be going to samoa, very soon! Ok, well, not really--but let me explain. Here's a little Tagalog lesson first. All these words--"on, in, by, at" can all be translated to the word "sa" in Tagalog. It's the most versatile word I know. So, if you were going to say “my house” in Tagalog, you would say "Sa house ko." It really just designates location. WELL, I'm going to sa moa later on today! And MOA is the Mall of Asia, one of the biggest malls in the entire world! I got permission today, and am going to take a bunch of pictures, so be prepared.

Since I finally have time, I'd like to share about my awesome recent convert, Brother Gabino! I can honestly say that I was the lucky harvester of a truly converted man. The other missionaries saw the previous Gabino, the one he always talks about, who constantly would argue with his wife and would smoke all the day long. I came in at the end of his conversion to the gospel. It's truly incredible! I remember meeting him as he would tentatively speak about his baptismal date, and his skepticism and questions about the gospel. Many of my most spiritual lessons have been within his very small house with his two kids and wife.

When we went to him last Saturday, we saw him reading his scriptures, with a highlighter in his hand, taking notes on the Tagalog triple-combination that we gave him. We didn't follow our lesson plan at all, rather, we spent our time answering his questions, unfolding, through the spirit, how we can "stand in holy places" here in Manila. He then gave us some great examples of how he has been doing missionary work while he is driving his jeepney. It's so darn inspiring!

Last Sunday he gave the closing prayer in Sacrament Meeting. He also came with a tithing slip in his hand, not knowing that you don't need to pay tithing every week. What faith!!

From him, I have learned the raw power of missionary work, to change a person’s life. The change is so visible! Manila is a pretty gross place, to be honest. Everybody's got a cigarette in their mouth. Amidst all of it, here is Brother Gabino! He has strengthened my testimony that I am in the best two years of my life because I'm helping everybody for the rest of their life.

In other news, I'm getting a new companion, fresh from the MTC! All I know is his name is Elder Mullins, and he's an American. Seeing as I've trained before, I kind of know what's going on, but now I'm more prepared!

On top of that assignment, I'm going to be a district leader! I found out just maybe 20 minutes ago from looking at the zone leader's screen that has the transfer information email.

Yep! I just got a lot of responsibility really quickly. Oh, goodness!

That's all for now!

Elder Thurber

This is delicious Lechon Sisig at Chik-boy! It's a soft delicious meat with onions and peppers.

I want this house!

Our zone activity last week. (We watched "Frozen." No, we're not disobedient, we just rocked our numbers in January and President Stucki gave us permission to watch it.) I'm going to miss this Filipino, Elder Rafon! He's not going back to Tacloban, yet though. He'll just be transferred.  

No... time... uggggg.... March 2nd, 2014

March 2^nd, 2014
Metro Manila: Pamplona District, Paranaque West East Zone
Just three things I have time for are:

1.     I think I want to be a religion teacher at BYU when I grow up. All I want to do is write about the church and learn about everything!

2.     Rose Caverte FINALLY said the prayer this week! She's a returning LA, and the wife of Bro Gabino. It's literally taken since I've been here to get this to happen. We gave her a blessing because she was sick earlier that day, and when we asked her to pray, like we usually do, she bowed her head and a heartfelt prayer came forth! It was awesome.

3.     The Ceran family came to church yesterday! Edwin is the nephew of our ward mission leader, and is always away from home when we teach his wife, Arlyn.

Have a great week!

Elder Thurber

Here are a few pics:

This is a very popular religion here. Directly translated, it means the earlier way, but, in a deeper Tagalog viewpoint, could mean the true way. It's very industrialized, as you can see by this picture!

This is halo-halo, which, translated, means a big mix. It has a lot of tasty things in it like ice cream and cookies, but at the same time corn and beans! Pretty delicious

A very friendly member family who feeds us good food.

February 23rd, 2014

February 23^rd, 2014
Metro Manila: Pamplona District, Paranaque West East Zone

Everyone,

Ok I have like five minutes, so I'll make this quick.

I had a great zone conference, which focused on faith. Truly inspiring. I'm surrounded by those willing to step into the darkness and exercise great faith in the Lord. But, at that time, I still had my doubts in my head. Then, in church, five minutes before Sacrament Meeting started, I was asked to give a talk. Yikes! Well, I rushed to put together a talk, and decided faith would be a good subject for me. Knowing how much Filipinos love jokes, and how bad I am at making them laugh, I asked my companion, Elder Rafon, for a joke I could give. His response shocked me. He said "Whenever I get asked to speak, I get nervous, and my butt gets realllly big." That sounds totally inapproriate in English, right? Well, not so in Tagalog! The audience cracked up. Filipinos are so chill!

In my talk, I asked a question: “When do we exercise faith in Jesus Christ?” For me personally, I understand that exercising faith is doing something you know is right but is hard. When have you exercised faith? Not to make us feel guilty, but when haven't you exercised faith? I'll leave you to answer that for yourself personally. 

Two pictures of the Great Gabino on that great day with me and Elder Rafon and a member!

The cake we bought brother Gabino. He deserves it. He was smiling before I took this picture, but I one thing I still don't understand about this culture is how they don't like to smile during pictures.

Still not smiling. This is actually my tie and polo! I gave it to him. He said it's the first time he's ever worn a tie.

This is the Robles family. Their son, Lehi, often works with us. As you can see, they are quite nice, and love to feed us American food whenever possible!

This is siopmao (show-pow). I got it at 7-11 which is ABUNDANT here. It's this doughey goodness with teriyaki.

This is me at Jollybee, a huge food chain here in the Philippines. I bought a float.

This is a great example of how unreal this city is. This guy is selling homemade baskets, pulling it along using a cow, in the busiest city in the world! What the freak!

Me and my companion chilling at the great and spacious building (our church) before Sacrament Meeting starts.

GAAHH my time is up! I have much more to write. Bye!

Elder Thurber