Merry Christmas... And a Happy New Year

 It was so good to skype with Tanner on Christmas Eve!!  After answering all the questions we'd been saving up for him, he shared part of a discussion with us in Hiligaynon.   As he spoke, a woman in the background (internet cafe)  moved closer to listen.  She probably wondered why 6 people were crowded around a camera listening to this young man with huge smiles on their faces.  Nevertheless, we got to see missionary work in action. Amazing.  Nothing quite compares to hearing your child share the gospel in a language they didn't know 6 months ago.   What a great gift to receive for Christmas.

Hello Friends and Family!

I am a little at a loss for what to tell you this week because I just barely talked to you on Skype... But Christmas was great! I got a pair of socks from our first counselor, so that was super awesome. I know it sounds kind of lame, but I was honestly so stoked about that pair of socks. I love a new pair of socks.

Not a whole lot happened this week. We continued working, as always, and we were blessed to have some investigators come to church with us! Hopefully they will continue to progress.

The bishop in my current ward seems to really be on top of things. He said something while he was speaking yesterday in sacrament that really stuck with me. He said something to the effect of, "I am so grateful for the weaknesses I have as a leader because it shows you all what you DON'T want to become. I hope that the mistakes I am making as a bishop will be of benefit to you when you become a future leader in your ward." I really liked this because I have never thought about it in that way. Perhaps sometimes we are given weaknesses not just to make things difficult for us or to test our faith, but maybe we are given them to help other people be BETTER than we are. That's not to say that we should stop trying to improve ourselves, but that we should be patient in developing more-Christ-like attributes because we might be helping someone to improve themselves as well. The example he gave was about his mission. He said he was once with a companion that did not have the desire to follow the mission rules. What he learned from that companionship is that he DIDN'T want to become that kind of missionary when he became the senior companion. And he didn't. He was a better senior that his companion was to him. And he said that he hoped he still had visible mistakes so that his junior companion would notice so that he could become even better than him. Very interesting thought...

I hope you all have an awesome New Year! This is a great time of the year.

Elder Welton

Frozen 3 ?? --- Toy Story 6 ??

December 21, 2014

Sorry, family and friends -- actually mostly just friends -- but this will be a short email.The reason I'm not apologizing to my family is because I get to Skype them this week! So, hence the short message.

I really miss snow and everything. It really doesn't feel like Christmas without it. But that's okay! Because the spirit of the season is still the same. It really helps me to focus on the "purpose" of this time of year rather than the "environment" of Christmas. I guess it's kind of a blessing.

The Philippines continues to be as crazy as ever. I would like to share some pictures with you to illustrate how much I love this place.

You will in the attachments, that we have the "Sing-Along Version" of Frozen 3. I was very tempted to buy this seeing as I love sing-along versions of movies. But I decided I would withhold for now because I haven't even seen Frozen 2 yet. I don't want to spoil the 3rd one, right? I also found a copy of Toy Story 6. I am super excited to see the other two that must have come out while I've been gone. They just crank those movies out these days, don't they?

About my new area; I love it here. It's so weird being in a more city-area. Everyone is feeding us all the time. "Elder, eat this! Elder eat that!" Much different from where I just came from. Also, the people here have the best intonation in there voice. Filipino languages have different tones, and I think Hiligaynon is the best by far. Old Sagay was mixed with Cebuano, which has a super flat tone that almost makes it sound like they are mad all the time. But here in the pure Hiligaynon areas, people are almost singing their sentences. It is almost a lot like an Italian accent I think. Everyone sounds so pleasant.

My new companion is Elder Monzalez, he's from Manila and he's a really good teacher. He speaks English really well and so I can ask him about language questions. I like him.

We are also in a nice apartment. We have a small washing machine, I'm not sure how, but it is SO nice. I forgot how to use it kind of because I was so used to hand washing. But our apartment is wonderful. There is another companionship with us, so it's fun to talk to them after we get home and are done doing everything.

I am so excited to talk to you on Thursday, family! I will be trying to skype you around 12 pm Philippines time on Christmas Day. That should be around 9-11 Utah time on the 24th, right? I can't remember if there was a time change or not. But be ready! If we can't get the Skype working well, I will give you my cell phone number and just call you. Let's hope for the Skype though!

Merry Christmas to everyone!

Elder Welton

Love for the people

This was a great week! One of the most gratifying weeks of my mission, actually.

The biggest news right now is that I am transferring. I received the call yesterday around noon when I was in another area for a baptismal interview. So right now, I am currently emailing with two other Americans as we wait for our companions to show up. It's awesome because I am with one of my MTC friends, Elder Graves, and then another one who is a transfer behind us two. So none of us actually know enough language to get around, so that's pretty fun. It's quite the adventure.

I am being transferred to Bacolod South Zone, so right in the city, a little bit of a change from little Old Sagay, tucked back in the fields. It will be a bit of a change for sure.

This last week in Old Sagay was amazing though. I had the feeling that I was going to transfer because all of the sudden my work just changed. We have been finding new families and investigators and the impressions I got as we have been teaching are that these people are not mine to teach. I really felt almost a sense of completion and satisfaction with the area, it's hard to explain. What I really learned this last week is how important it is to love the people. For some reason, something just clicked this week. I was filled with such a love for these people and I really just desired their happiness. And I realized that I was given the words to say as I began to love them more. I think that was what I was supposed to learn in my first area... Those are just my thoughts, sorry if they are a bit jumbled. Figured I would just share :)

We had a baptism this week! I have been hoping to see these kids get baptized since I got here, and after months and months -- it happened. I am not sure why these kids are so hardcore in the picture, but they are the funnest kids. The funniest part of the baptism -- FYI, baptisms are a little less reverent in the Philippines, this place is really just different. I can't explain it -- but the funniest part was when Jeffrey, the one furthest right, stuck his tongue out as he was being baptized, as in a "rock on, Gene Simmons' tongue" style. It was quite the baptism to be a witness of. But the ordinance was still performed correctly, so I think it still counts as being baptized, even despite the presence of Gene himself. The were so happy when we visited them later that night.

About the Christmas Day call to you, Mom and Dad -- I am still not sure on the details. I will have to email you the details after I talk to my new companion and see what we can do in this area. Hopefully the internet will be fast enough for Skype, but I don't know! I am SO excited to talk to you though! If we can't get Skype to work, I will give you our companionship cellphone number, according to President's instructions, and then YOU will call me. I'll let you know for sure next week!

Take Care!

Elder Welton

Here are some photos from stake conference that Tanner's mission president posted:

with Elder McCleary - also from Riverton

transportation looks a little more fun in the Philippines

 

Typhoon Ruby

Well, we survived the storm. That's pretty exciting I guess!

So, Thursday we had a Zone Training which was really nice! We were told in the training however, that because of the storm that was coming, we needed to be in our apartments by 6pm Friday night, and stay home all Saturday. As I wrote in my journal, "I am not really nervous about this storm because nothing interesting usually happens wherever I am." I felt like I was always that kid in high school, that the only day I happened to get sick and stay home, something awesome would happen at school. "Elder Welton, these two kids got in a fight while you're gone!", "Elder Welton, we just watched a movie in class today and ate food", "Elder Welton, they gave out free money while you were gone!" ...  That last one never actually happened, but that's how it felt. So, based on my luck in the past, I figured I was a blessing to the Philippines at this time, seeing as my presence alone would probably cause the storm to either take a different path or to disappear.

Friday came along and we got a call around 3 o'clock. The Zone Leaders said that we had to move to Sagay City and stay with the other Elders there because our apartment was too close to the beach. Now things started getting serious... So we left the church, where many of the people in our area had evacuated to, and then went home, packed, and then hurried off to Sagay. We ended up arriving and found that there were 4 companionships in one apartment. So it ended up being pretty crowded. We then received word the the storm would pass over our zone on Sunday night. So now the lockdown was extended to Monday -- today.

The next three days proved to be a real struggle. Not with the storm or anything, but really just with trying to find things to do in this apartment to fill our time. We got some studying in and really just talked for hours on end. And as bad as the storm sounded, nothing actually happened. The wind and rained picked up a little bit on Sunday, but we actually never saw much of anything.

The coolest experience I had during this time was on Sunday. We received permission from the bishop in the area we were staying in to hold our own sacrament, seeing as they were not holding one at the church because it had been turned into a sort of shelter for the time being. But the Spirit that was felt during our small sacrament meeting, in an apartment of eight elders, with a plate with two pieces of bread, two cups of water, and an ironing board holding them -- it was truly sacred. I realized at this time that it doesn't matter where you are in the world, whether it be in the mountains in a special sacrament meeting, in lockdown in an apartment, or in a beautifully constructed chapel -- the doctrines and ordinances of the gospel are the same. Despite the conditions we were in, this was probably the most sacred sacrament meeting I have had in my life. It emphasized the importance and symbolism of the sacrament. And although it's hard for me to explain in this email alone, I truly realized how important the Atonement is to our lives and how wonderful of an opportunity it is to partake of the sacrament each week.

So this was really kind of a weird week. And I am really just excited to be out of that house, I missed going out and working. And I am also grateful that everyone here is safe.

I loved the setup you did for the Christmas party! I hope it went well! It looked amazing! I wish we had stuff like that here. The costumes looked great!

Hope everyone has an AWESOME week! Stay safe!

Elder Welton

Gratitude

Hello Family, Friends, Pastors, Teachers, Evangelists and so forth.

Hope that everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving! It turns out, the Filipinos don't really care much for Native Americans and the Colonists, so we didn't really celebrate anything here. But I was full of gratitude nonetheless. Everyday should be a day of Thanksgiving!

I actually have a good story to share about gratitude today, now that I think about it. So earlier this week, I had quite the surprise one morning. I woke up, just as usual, and started getting ready for the day. I wasn't wearing my glasses after I woke up and I went in to the bathroom. I look over into the mirror -- this mirror is HUGE, by the way. It's also super awkward because that's also where we shower and there's just a giant mirror right there on the wall. But, anyway, I look into the mirror and I realize that my face is kind of red. I can't really tell because, again, I'm not wearing my glasses, but as I got closer I began to realize that I had rashes all over my face! I discovered that the rash had spread over almost my entire body, more concentrated on my upper body, though. Then I realized it was kind of itchy too. Yay! (MOM I AM OKAY I PROMISE. Don't worry.) I called the nurse and we figured out a medicine I could take, which would help with the itching. So off I went to a different city to try and find the medicine, looking like a leper and everything. It got worse as the day went on because of the heat, which made the work harder, but I also thought it was super funny because I realized what a good story this will be to tell. When I got home that night, I was trying to think of how I could manage the rest of the week like this, because I had been told it might last about a week. I prayed for the strength to be able to make it through.

The answer to my prayer came the next morning in the form of a storm. This may sound ridiculous, but that storm was what saved me this week. I was filled with so much gratitude for that rain because that rain meant that there would be no direct sunlight, which irritated my skin so much. And not only that, but the heat was so much less intense because of it. Of course, this meant we had to trudge around in the rain, soaking wet, but it was much better than if it were hot. I realized during this that there is a positive to EVERYTHING, no matter how difficult the situation. And I also learned that sometimes we are given the strength to endure our trials in ways that we wouldn't expect. Heavenly Father could have easily taken away the rash, made it heal instantaneously if he wanted to do so. But instead of REMOVING the trial, he gave me a way to MANAGE the trial. And he does this in every one of our trials, we just have to look for it.

I would like to answer one of your questions, Mom.

So about my clothes drying, sometimes they just never do. Usually we have to leave our clothes out in the sun all day and then come back to them. Usually they can dry in a few hours on the line. I can't tell you how many times that I have left my clothes on the line, almost dry, but not quite. What happens is that we go out when the sky is clear and the sun is out, but mid way through the day, my clothes that were so close to being dry get rained on by some random storm that rolled in. Whenever it starts to rain and I remember my freshly washed clothes back at home, I want to cry a little bit. The phrase has become way too familiar to me now; "Elder.......Our clothes......." is all we have to say and suddenly we understand the pain that we are both going through inside.

I want to answer all of your questions, I just don't have the time to explain them!! I am so excited to talk to you all at Christmas, make sure you plan out a list of questions that I can try and answer for you. And pick them carefully because the time will go super quick.

Thank you again, Mom, for the Christmas package. This morning we opened the first present in our stockings. We picked the socks package, I love new socks! Elder DeGuzman loves the stocking you made for him, and he loves the socks and said to tell you "Salamat gid!" for him. (Thanks you so much!)

And thank you Dad for the experiences you keep sending me. I really am inspired by them and it helps me a lot to hear that you were once in a situation so similar to mine. I really do appreciate them and love getting them.

And just FYI, the rash is totally gone now. No need to worry Mom! The nurse takes good care of us here!

Hope everyone has a good week!

Elder Welton

Here is a picture of us this morning opening the first present! (we had to use a timer and it was so hard, so that's why it's kind of awkward framing)

Taking Shortcuts

Hello Friends and Family!

Good week this week!

We have a part of our area called Tagnipis that rarely is visted by missionaries, one, because it's kind of small, and two, because it's FAR. Layo gid kaayo! But, we decided to investigate. So, off we went, tromping through the jungle, hacking away at plants with a machete, wiping sweat from our brows... Not really, but it makes the story sound better. But we decided to try and find the mystical "shortcut" that we have been hearing about for a few weeks now. Three hours later, we had walked all the way there and back, and there was no shortcut whatsoever. I even managed to sweat through my clothes and had to go home and change, so that was fun. BUT, the fun we had along the way was when we first started. We found a kitten along the way, that upon coming across him, I quickly identified it as the same cat that belonged to one of our Recent Converts -- the very same cat that sat in my bag just a few weeks ago, if you remember that picture. So, we decided to take it with us. For the next two hours, it sat in Elder DeGuzman's bag, meowing and meowing the whole way. It was awkward to explain to people why we had a cat in our bag, but we knew that it needed to be returned to it's owner.

Something I am thinking about as I write this is that, often times, we want to try and take shortcuts in life. Often times, we think that the rules, or commandments don't necessarily apply to us. Or maybe we do things even knowing that we shouldn't maybe because we think we know more than God. But, what I learned in my journey to Tagnipis, is that when we are searching for shortcuts, we really should just look for the normal way to get there. When we arrived there, we discovered that there was a tricycle(this is what we use for transportation, basically a motorcycle and sidecar) going to and from Tagnipis for only 10 pesos, roughly 25 cents. It's just like life. The way to get there has been established. We have all we need to know to make it back to our Heavenly Father, we just have to follow it. If we hadn't tried to find that shortcut the whole time and gone the way we knew worked, we would have saved about 2 hours of our time.

Things continue to go on. It's hard to get out of bed every day and wonder if I will help someone, but I know that nothing happens until I try to do something.

I love hearing about the things happening at home and hearing all the stories that everyone tells me! Even if it's just the normal details of life, I enjoy hearing it! 

Take care everyone!

Elder Welton

Mission Tour, Crazy Preacher, Feeling Blessed

Hello!

So this week was a really fun week! We had our mission tour on Friday with President Ardern, our Area President. He gave trainings on our work and how we can become better missionaries and everything like that. It was a really cool experience, he's very wise.

It is always fun when we go to Bacolod because we get to stay with a bunch of missionaries. We slept there the night before because the conference was too early to make it in the morning from our area. So we stay in this "hosting" apartment with everyone and we basically just sleep on these pads on the floor. It's super fun, but it's so hard to sleep there! Elder McCleary and I just talked because we couldn't fall asleep until about 12. Speaking of which, Mom - yes, he is in my Zone. He was transferred there when Elder Cruz was transferred and so now I see him a lot. It's way fun! He's actually sitting next to me right now as we email. Sister Schimbeck is on the other side of me. It's always fun to see them.

At mission tour, we had this, like, feast of food and it was so so good! It was the best food I have had so far! I ate a lot and then I didn't feel good, but it was worth it. We also ate at this restaurant called Manginasal. It was so delicious. Basically, they give you half of a roasted chicken and then unlimited rice and you just dig in. It is fun because you just eat it with your hands. I like that.

Earlier this week we ran into this Baptist preacher. It all started out as a normal conversation, but it eventually got crazy hahaha. He started going all preacher on us and it was kind of scary and I couldn't understand what he was saying! We basically got stuck there for about an hour as this man and the people with him started getting into a debate. We eventually were able to close the lesson and just ran.

I had a really good experience yesterday that humbled me. We went to a member's house to give a quick message. Brother Lamis is a return missionary and so is his wife. Only he was home when we went, so we talked to him for a little bit. He told us the story of how he was converted to the Gospel and how he decided to go on a mission. He explained how he was the only member in his family when he decided to go on his mission. He didn't have support from his family to go, and his dad even told him that if he left, he wouldn't have any place to come back to when he was finished. He said it was hard for him, but he knew that he needed to. When he was on his mission, he said that he never heard from his family until it was close to his first Christmas on his mission. He said he was shocked to receive a letter from his dad. The words he read in the letter gave him just enough help to keep going. His dad said, just as he said before he left, "I don't want to see you back here..." but what was different this time was that at the end of this was "...until two years". Brother Lamis said that even this very little bit of support helped him out immensely. And I realized how grateful I am for the support of everyone back home who encouraged me to go and is continually encouraging me to serve. I am very blessed.

To answer your question, Mom -- Tagalog, Cebuano and Hiligaynon are all very different, but similar concept. Hiligaynon, from what I can tell, seems to have come from broken Cebuano. A lot of the deep words from both languages are the same. Tagalog is the national language and they study it in school, so everybody knows it. A lot of people here tend to mix Tagalog into a lot of their languages, so it is helpful to learn both. In my area, I am on the border of the Cebuano/Hiligaynon areas, and so they are mixing English, Tagalog, Cebuano, and Hiligaynon. It took me about a transfer to realize that about half of the people we teach are speaking Cebuano - that's how close Hiligaynon and Cebuano are. From how I have heard it explained, Cebuano and Tagalog are further apart than Hiligaynon and Tagalog, but that Hiligaynon is closed to Cebuano than to Tagalog. Really, this place is just a mess of language and I have no idea how people know what anybody is saying. I think that's why that bag of Sweet Corn says "etc.." on the ingredients. It really explains the quality of the communication here.

I have no idea if I will be transferred. President transfers people randomly, you never know when he is going to do it. I guess we will see if I am or not!

Hope everyone has a good week!

Elder Welton

Photo from mission tour lunch

President & Sister Ardern (Area)  President & Sister Lopez (Mission) 

New Companion

Hello Family and Friends!

As the title of my email says, I now have a new companion. Pretty cool, right?

It's been a good week getting two know Elder De Guzman! Before he came here, he was studying to be in general education. He will probably become an elementary teacher when he comes home. He's super nice. I imagine it must be weird watching us two walk down the street talking because I speak English to him and he responds in a different language. He mixes a lot of Tagalog (different Filipino language) in with his Hiligaynon, so that's kind of fun. Pretty confusing, but it's good for me!

This past week has really shown to me how much I have grown since I have gotten here. When I was with my trainer, I could always count on him to fill in the gaps and it discouraged me from making the effort to explain things. I have started to realize how much I can actually understand now and I have started becoming a better missionary, willing to try new things and to talk to people. Even still, I can really only understand about 20% of what people are saying, sometimes even less, depending on the topic. But I have been amazed to see the help I get from Heavenly Father as I start to depend on him and try my best to accomplish this work.

To your question, Mom, this is THE top mission in the world, from what I have been told. From the statistics our Mission President has been showing us, each companionship in this mission is essentially doing the equivalent work of one district in other Filipino missions, and then sometimes the work of an entire zone in other missions. It is quite the standard to try and live up to, and especially as a new missionary, it's hard to keep up with the pace. But I know that, eventually, my capacity will be increased to be able to keep up with the pace. It requires a lot of diligence and energy, so I am usually dead tired when I get home. Every day, we usually eat lunch around 11 and then get home at about 8-9. We are allowed to take an hour for dinner, as outlined in the missionary handbook, but nobody ever takes it because we are so busy. So often times we don't eat for about 9-10 hours. BUT, because of our diligence, the Lord has blessed us with the capacity to just work.

"Therefore, take ye no thought for the morrow, for what ye shall eat, or what ye shall drink, or wherewithal ye shall be clothed...For your Father, who is in heaven, knoweth that you have need of all these things."

I have seen this promise in my work so far. When we put our minds on the things that matter the most, we will see miracles in our lives. Blessings come from obedience to the commandments and to our callings, as missionaries AND members alike.

So, I forgot to ask you this the other week, but I was reading in Doctrine and Covenants the other day, Section 76. I was surprised to see my very own last name above the section heading of 76. At the end of Section 75, someone with the last name of WELTON is mentioned. WHO IS THIS?? It has to be a relative of some kind, because nobody is named Welton..? So, that's your assignment this week. I imagine someone in our family must know, right? Anyway, just a fun experience.

I'm hoping I will be able to use Skype at Christmas! I guess we will see what's available when the time comes.

Also, I loved seeing all of those snacks that you guys bought! The Pancit Canton, imagine eating that almost every day. My favorite kinds are the Lemon Calamansi and the "Original" flavor. I'm not sure what "original flavor" means or what it tastes like, but it tastes good, that's all I know.

Hope you all have a great week! Stay safe!

Elder Welton

Attached are pictures of my technology success from last week and then a lovely portrait of me trying to wear a poncho (I think it is sized for Filipinos).

Technology, Transfers, and Skeletons

Hello Family and Friends!

So this has been a CRAZY week. Let's start from the top.

A few weeks ago (might have been a few months ago, I don't know), I accidentally sat on my mini speaker that I use for music while it was charging. So, because the charger was plugged in, it broke of the little spot where you plug it in. (For all you tech savvy, the charging port broke off, it ripped the solder out and some of the traces). Naturally, I had two choices: enjoy the time I had left with it because I wouldn't be able to charge it again, OR I could fix it. So that's exactly what I did. I fixed the thing. How did I fix it, you ask? That's a great question. Being here in the Philippines, it's a little hard to find tools to fix it, so I got creative. A few pieces of tin foil, paper, and super glue were all it took! The thing is working like a champ now. I have a picture that I can try and send next week. I am honestly shocked it worked haha.

BUT, now let's get to the crazy part of my week.

On Tuesday, our phone broke. This is our only lifeline to the outside world, and luckily for us, this ended up being the most inconvenient time possible for it to break. I managed to fix it long enough to get all of our contacts and to contact the office about it, but it ended up breaking again later that day. So we managed to go the rest of the day without our phone, what a pain that was trying to contact people through other people's phones. Then on Wednesday, we needed to contact our President about something, and luckily we had his number. So we ended up calling him and talked to him. At the end of the call, he mentioned something about needing to contact Elder Cruz later. We informed him of our phone being broken and that we would call him later. So we called later and he said that Elder Cruz will be transferring. He wasn't sure where yet and didn't give a date, but he said he would. On Friday we found out that the AP's had been trying to contact us the whole previous day and we hadn't responded. Apparently they had a transfer call for Elder Cruz before the actual transfer day. He ended up being transferred on transfer day anyway, though, because they had to find a new assignment for him. 

So, now I have a new companion! He seems really nice, he's a Filipino, and he is 26, a little bit older than me. There is a little bit of a language barrier right now, but I imagine that will start to disappear as time goes on. Hopefully we will be able to work hard and get to know each other at the same time!

It was kind of hard leaving Elder Cruz. We had some good talks this week as we foresaw the coming transfer. But I felt it was really time for us to split up. It is scary that I have to lead now, but I really feel this is the only things that will help me to grow. No more being babied by a trainer. I'm not sure what I am doing yet, but I have faith that I will be able to do whatever the Lord asks. "For God giveth no commandment save he prepareth a way." Not an exact quote, but it gives me so much comfort. Faith truly is what will get us through the hard times in life. A former AP in our mission, Elder Sablan, would always say, "You don't need to be sagad (kind of like "skilled") to be a good missionary. You just need to have faith." Right now, with as little as I know as a new missionary, my ONLY option is to have faith. 

We also learned in our zone conference about our attitudes. We were taught "to treat things, not as they ARE, but as they OUGHT to be, or COULD be." The potential we all have as children of God is something we know not. But everybody and everything has the potential to be something great, so why not treat them as such. Not sure why I shared that, but I felt like it was important.

We had an opportunity to proselyte in the cemetery yesterday because of "All Saints Day." This is essentially their version of Halloween, except it's a two-day-long party. So that's pretty cool, I guess! Basically, people just hang out by the graves of their family members and have food and stuff. So we went and taught a lot of lessons on the Plan of Salvation. It was cool! Most of the graves are above ground in cement boxes. One of them was like, broken open. And guess what was inside of it? Yep. A real human skeleton. I noticed it while I was teaching a lesson, so of course I kind of stammered through the rest of it, because the whole time I was thinking, "Am I looking at a real skeleton? Is this real life?" I wanted to get a closer look, but I thought that might be disrespectful. It was kind of cool though. I hope someone fixes it. 

This week was even crazier than I have time to describe in an email. But I hope you all have a great week!

Take Care,

Elder Welton

Answers to mom's questions:

How are your contacts working?  I don't see you wearing glasses in recent photos.  

Contacts are working awesome! I am able to wear them just fine here! Everytime I go into air conditioned places, I start to feel the dryness again. Yay. They have hurt a little lately, probably just because I wear them constantly, so I have been trying to take a break whenever I can and wear glasses.

  

How is crime/safety there? 

Crime is fine, no crime really. Pretty safe. I don't think people could afford any dangerous weapons here haha.

 

 Is the concept of tithing difficult for people to accept there because of limited means?

  The tithing thing is something that I am actually surprised about. There aren't very many who question it. I think maybe because it's common to ask for donations in churches. For sure I will run into some people with the concern, though.

 

Do you show church videos to investigators?  How...on an Ipad?

We don't show the movies to people here. We have a dvd player, (no iPad, people would be so distracted by the iPad itself) and we can show a movie at the church, but I haven't yet. 

Sugar, Corn, Sweet Corn Powder, Etc...

I would like to start out with a picture I have been meaning to send you guys for a while. It really seems to describe my feelings here in the Philippines. There seems to be a lot of confusion here, I think maybe because of communication issues. Pay close attention to the Ingredients list --

I would like to talk about that last ingredient, "Etc..." It's almost as if the manufacturing process of this product, "Sweet Corn", is simply common knowledge..? Surely they neglected the MSG that is, no doubt, included in this. Despite the fact that the packaging is quite vague, the actual stuff inside is super good. It is honestly the coolest thing ever - it tastes like real corn! Like, I don't know how you reproduce that kind of flavor, but they managed to do it! I gave Sister Schimbeck some of it at our Zone Training one time. She was shocked. It really is so cool.

As I write this, it makes me think about prayer. Sometimes we often get into the habit of, "I need this, I need that, etc, etc, etc..." I know I do that all of the time. For example, I often use the phrase "Please bless all those that need help at this time, that they may receive it." This is essentially a blanket statement. It's laziness. SO, perhaps we can take a little more time in our prayers. And before hand, we can think about those people we should be praying for. I have seen how the Spirit is much more present as I pray for people individually, and for SPECIFIC things in my life, not just vague statements asking for "help of some kind."

We baptized another investigator on Saturday! Sister G. B. has gone through so many sets of missionaries and has attended church for years and years, but has never been baptized because hadn't gained that testimony yet. It's hard to think about what must have been different with us compared to the missionaries before us. But what we think opened the door for her was Joseph Smith. She had not yet gained a testimony of Joseph Smith. But as we challenged her to pray about it, she had a change of heart. After her interview on the Sunday before her baptism, her mother was in tears because she never thought that she would be baptized. It was quite a good experience and I am so happy to have been able to be a part of her conversion.

(answering questions from mom)...

I'm going to have to think about my missionary plaque scripture, I will try and let you know next week!

You asked about my companion, and I really haven't told you anything about him yet, sorry! Elder Cruz is from Manila and he is one of the most unique people I have ever met. He is constant energy and it's so funny. The funny thing is, he has only started being the way he is on his mission. Before, he was very secluded, read books by himself all the time, and didn't really talk to people. He is the exact opposite now. He has migraines all the time though. Sometimes he has a really hard time with it, but he's a good sport about it. It makes me grateful to not have a problem like that. He goes home in January, so he's almost out of here. It's weird to think that he is finishing while I am just now starting my mission. It will be sad when he goes home or he is transferred.

Speaking of mission time, my four month anniversary was just the other day! It's hard to think I have been gone that long already. Seems like just yesterday I was dropped off at the MTC. Now I'm 1/6th done with my mission. Whenever I think about it, I start to reflect upon what I have experienced in the last while that I have been here. And then I think about how much more I will learn in the rest of my time here. It's exciting to think about the person I will become by that time!

Anyway, I hope you all have a great week! Sorry I haven't been able to answer all of your questions, there really is only so much I can tell you in the time I have.

Love,

Elder Welton

Barefoot

(This letter is from 10/19/14)

This week was a week full of adventure!

First of all, I got that package, Mom! Thank you so much! It was nice to have some America here. And some good food.

There was so much rain again this week! At one point earlier this week, I had two options presented to me: wet shoes and socks for the rest of the day, or take those shoes off and barefoot it like a man. Needless to say, I took the more manly option and tromped through the mud and rain. Of course, I did not look manly at all with my man purse and rolled up pant legs. That's okay though.  I will attach a picture for your enjoyment.

I had a super cool experience yesterday. I had to give a talk for sacrament meeting (there's an answer to one of your questions, mom) and so I wrote it out in English and I thought it was pretty good. I planned on giving it in English because I'm still not confident enough just to get up there and speak whatever I want. But during the sacrament I had a thought come to my head that I should just try it in Hiligaynon anyway. So, I said a prayer asking for help, that if I opened my mouth, it would be filled with what I needed. I was shocked to realize that at the end of my talk, I had just given the entire thing in the language! I truly have witnessed the gift of tongues, and it was awesome! HOWEVER... even though this experience was quite the faith-builder, I have dug myself into a bit of the hole. After having given this talk, people now assume that I can understand fluently. Little do they know, I have no idea what they are talking about 70% of the time. So now, I need to catch up a little on the understanding part hahaha. But people said I had a really good accent compared to a lot of the Americans they've met, so that was cool!

So, to some of your questions, mom:

What type of technology do Filipinos have where you are?  

The Filipinos have some technology here, a lot of the stuff we have in America. The only difference is it's about a solid 10 years behind, give or take. The Nokia cellphones of the early 2000's are what we carry around as missionaries and what the majority of people have here. Also, the computers are super old here, usually. I saw a computer running Windows 2000 today in the "hospital." There are quotations around that for a reason...

How long will you be with your trainer?

From what my trainer was told when the President talked to him, he will most likely be transferred on November 5th, the end of this transfer. So, following this, I will be leading the area and trying to figure out what to do!

Have you done any service projects?

No service projects yet!

(We'd love to hear  about who you are teaching or a particular experience)

And teaching people, I have plenty of stories to tell! I wish I could explain this place to you guys! It's so hard to explain in words. I am so excited to talk to you all at Christmas, so I will try to write some notes of what to talk about!

That's about all for this week! Love you guys!

Elder Welton

Letting the Cat out of the Bag

So, hello everyone. I hope things are at least a 7 on a scale from 1 to 10.

Basically, General Conference is the best. I loved every minute of it. I have never been so excited for it, it honestly felt like Christmas for me.

Ever since the MTC, I have always loved hearing Elder Bednar speak. So you can imagine my excitement when he was announced as one of the last speakers. He gave a great talk that I could go on and on about.

Lately I have been realizing something that I had never thought about before. And especially during this conference, it reaffirmed the same thing. But I am so grateful that my native language is English. English is the language of the Restoration. The Book of Mormon was even destined to be translated into the English language. Our mission president and even church leaders are constantly encouraging members, missionaries, and other leaders to learn English. The ability we have to fully understand the messages at conference is so valuable. I'm sure you noticed how much harder it was to learn from the translated versions of the Conference talks, I know it was for me. It's because so much gets lost in that translation. So, we are very blessed.

This week it has rained SO MUCH. Goodness. It was relentless. But it was actually kind of fun trying to navigate all of the mud and stuff! My feet were soaking wet, so whenever I stepped, it made this satisfying "squishy" sound. The mistake, though, was when I took off my shoes and socks in someone's house. The biggest trial for me this week was putting those wet shoes and socks on after my feet had already dried. I'm sure you all can understand how much I truly suffered.

Also, I am attaching a picture of a cat. This little cat was so cute. We were teaching a lesson with someone and it kept wanting to lay next to me because it was cold, and apparently I'm warm. I ended up putting it in my bag. It was the perfect spot. I even put stuff on top of him, but he kept sleeping. Probably could have proselyted all day with him sleeping in there. And I almost did! But I decided to let him roam free with his mother. I think he is happy.

Hope everyone is doing well! Have a good week!

Elder Welton

ANSWERS TO MOM'S QUESTIONS

Do members ever get to go to the temple, or is it too expensive?

 

 Members rarely go to the temple. The temple options are Cebu and Manilla. Usually people go to Cebu because it is closer. But many have to save up for quite a while to even go once. I don't know how many people have returned to the temple after being endowed and sealed.

Do you use your English scriptures when you go out - or Hiligaynon?   (Kyle bought a mini set of scriptures on his mission to carry around - would that help?)

 I actually never bring my personal scriptures out. My companion gave me a little book of mormon that I carry around with me and then I carry a Hiligaynon version usually. A little set of all of the scriptures would be awesome if you can find some!

 

Do you have an oven?  Refrigerator?

 

We have a refrigerator. and a toaster oven the size of probably a normal toaster. Very small. And then a burner.

 

What are the meat options there, or do you not each much meat?

 

 Meat options are beef pork and chicken. There is very little meat on the animals here, though. And we often substitute pork for beef because it's a little pricy for our budget

  

What interesting food have you tried there?

 

 I have tried a ton of food here. I wish I could explain it to you guys. I really miss American food, because here, it's not that good, so I don't eat a ton. Yesterday we made mexican food though! We had to use these white beans because pinto beans dont exist, and then we made the tortillas by hand. It was actually so good. We made a lot of friends with our burritos haha.

 

Anything you'd like from the US (I.e. food, toiletries, clothing)? 

 

I WANT STUFF FROM THE US haha. I will start making a list as I think of things that would benice. It's hard to figure out what doesn't go bad in three months while it's shipping though.

A Reminder that Life is Fragile

So this week, the biggest highlight was that I got to see my batch-mates!  It was SO FUN! We are all in the same situation right now and it really felt so good to talk to people going through the same thing as me. And also, we had some pizza! They were GIANT. Like, I haven't even seen one that big in America... It was also probably the first real meal I have had since I got here. It was delicious.

That was so cool to see the pictures of Stacy's house! It's so classy and sophisticated. Very modern. And her private parking spot, sweet.

We had something really hard happen this morning and it has kind of taken up all of my thoughts. But yesterday we went to one of our investigator's house, they are actually a part-member family, and we taught them just the first few parts of the first lesson. It was just a normal visit, we've gone many times just to visit them, as they are less-active. But this morning we got a text that the mother in the family passed away. I was so shocked... Just the day before we had talked to her and shared a message with her. And then now she's not there anymore. It's just a reminder of how fragile life is. And it really brings me peace to know that there is something more after this life. People who don't know that they can see their family again - what a sad thing for them. It really helps me to realize what my purpose is as a missionary. We are truly bringing a message of hope and happiness to Heavenly Father's children. What a blessing it is for me to have front row seats to that miracle.

I am SO excited for conference! The area of the Philippines that I am in actually has to wait a week to watch conference. The time-difference combined with the slow internet and lack of satellite's at the church means we have to watch it delayed. So while you back home get to enjoy the luxury of watching it live, I have to wait the extra time to receive that new guidance and revelation. It's worth the wait, though! Plus, it's all in English! I'll be able to understand it all!

The language is going well for now. I still can't understand much, none of my batch really can either. It's really just the new normal - not being able to understand what's going on haha. But it slowly gets better. It's always comforting to hear from the people that really struggled with the language. The fact that they can understand now and speak is great to hear. It will just take time. For now, I stumble through what I can and just hope the Spirit can carry the message for me!

I think that's about it for this week. Have a nice week! Let me know if you have any questions about anything so I can answer!

Love,

Elder Welton

Here are some photos from Tanner's training meeting at the mission home. 

 (posted by President Lopez)

Heavenly Father - a wise parent

Hello Family!

So this week was a good week, I guess! Not many noteworthy events!

The work continues on! It's interesting waking up each day and having no idea what you might experience before you come home. I can't even remember what I did this morning, let alone the past week.

We have had some awesome experiences as we have explored new parts of our area. We found that in one part of our area, missionaries have not been there in about four years! That seems crazy to me! They were very happy to see us. We have also had people placed in our path that are willing to listen to us. It is so cool to see how Heavenly Father helps out in our lives.

I was reading Jesus the Christ this morning, SO GOOD. I was reading about the pre-existence and the role that Jesus plays in all of this. I also read about how our agency works. I gained a much better understanding of how Heavenly Father knows what we will do in our lives, but that nothing is "destined" or unavoidable in our lives. Heavenly Father knows what will happen to us because he knows our tendencies. Much like a parent can predict the course their kids will take if they go down a certain path, our Heavenly Father works the same way, except he has been watching us for much longer than our earthly parents. He has had the entire pre-earth life to watch us and get to know us. It makes me realize that He will never give us a challenge that he knows we can't overcome. He KNOWS what we can handle, and he KNOWS what we need to happen in our lives to refine us and prepare us to become like Him. Just a little insight I have today.

I get to see my MTC batch on Thursday! I'm so excited! It will be so good to see them and to talk to people going through the same thing as me!

Ben, the funny thing with your rubik's cube is that I just taught my companion how to solve it. Now he's bored of it because it's so easy for him now! I cleaned it the other day because it's pretty much dying right now... I can't imagine how fast your "speed cube" must be.

The hike looks AWESOME, dad. I loved the socks too, I can see the similarity to the Ricola guy. There are some amazing sites here too and I wish you all could come see them. My camera can't even do it justice. Absolutely beautiful here.

That's about it for today I think!

Have a nice week!

Elder Welton

This was super pretty!  Even more in person.

Creative Statistics and Communicating with Eyebrows

Well, not much really happened this week! All the days just kind of blur together now haha.

We are realizing that we need to start opening up some new areas of our area so we decided to go out farther to see what there is. It takes a while to get out to the new area, but from the looks of it, it seems like it will be a productive area that we can at least spend the whole day at! The other area is way farther and we haven't visited it yet, but I think it has a lot of potential based on what we have heard from members. It's way out there and super pretty! I will send pictures.

Something I have started doing to keep myself entertained is to keep track of almost everything. I am going to have so many statistics when I am done with my mission. My favorite is "Lessons taught to Investigators with a Dog Present". Other ones include, "Lessons taught to Investigators with a Less-Active Present" and "Lessons taught to Investigators with a Chicken in the House". I am sure someone can find some use for these numbers. I can't submit them to my Mission President, though, because I can't find a spot to report those to him.

Meanwhile, my English is steadily going downhill. My grammar is a mess. I am also using my eyebrows to respond to people a lot, that's something everyone does here. So, odds are that when I come back to America, I am going to do that. It seems super mean in America, but here it's just normal.

I was able to baptize Brother Dela Cruz this week! He is an awesome person! He has an awesome testimony and seems to really understand what we have taught him.

Something I observed while walking the other day:

There is another church that is in the plaza down the street form our church. They were playing the "sermon" or whatever they call their meeting over the loud speakers. It made me think about how in the Bible it talks about those who would worship out in the synagogues, worshiping so that others would hear them. It made me so grateful that our church is not like that, that we are taught that your relationship with God is a personal one. And it also made me wonder if I am doing things to show those around me that I am worshiping God, or am I doing things out of the pure intent of my heart. Just something I thought I would share!

Hope everything is going well for you all at home! Things are going great here!

Love,

Elder Welton

This is the path we walked on the other day.  Sweet, no?

We burned our garbage this morning.  The destruction of the Ozone Layer originated in the Philippines.

They burn EVERYTHING.

Isa Ka Bulan Na

Well, I have been here about one month now! How about that! The time here is so weird though! It feels like I have been here my whole life, but it also feels like it has only been a few days.

This week's recap:

Monday I got a haircut, that was fun! They used a straight razor and only scissors. very precision haircut. Probably the best I have gotten. And the cheapest. Maybe one dollar. Yay!

We just found out yesterday that essentially the rest of my district will be transferred to different areas. This will become a training area, is what we "think" will happen. But you never know with President Lopez, because he emergency transfers people EVERY week. So you really never know! That's pretty exciting.

People love the bouncy balls, by the way. The Sisters, especially. Everyone asks me for them now haha.

So I went on exchanges for baptismal interviews again this week and we had something way funny in one of the interviews. When we got to the question of "Have you ever killed someone or participated in an abortion," the little girl we were interviewing just stared at us. We thought "has she killed someone or something??" We figured she was too young to have done that so we just continued. We found out later from the sisters that she thought we asked her if she had ever LOVED anyone before... I can imagine why she would be confused. The word for abortion and love sound similar. Also something that I thought was way funny is that all of the kids in interviews, when you ask them that question about having killed someone or not, will respond with "wala pa", which essentially means "not yet." It makes me think that they have plans to do so, they just haven't yet killed the person.

I have been sick most of the week, so that's been fun! Just flu-like symptoms, no fever though, I think. Our numbers kind of dropped this week because of that. That's okay though. We are going to do better this week.

To your email, Mom, we usually only use the pamphlets for our lessons. The Hiligaynon Book of Mormon is actually hard for a lot of people to understand, mostly because a lot of the people aren't very educated. And because they don't really study the language in school. They just know it from what people speak. The language isn't very exact either, so they don't actually have a translation for Hiligaynon. All of our pamphlets are in Tagalog, a different Filipino language that they actually do learn in school. So I have no idea what they say, but I will probably try and learn it by the end of my mission. The language here is really a mess and mix of different languages. But it's fun! I really have just gotten used to not understanding people and stuff, it's really just my new normal. And it's not too difficult to deal with, I have faith that it will come in time!

I realize now that I have no idea how to cook food with the stuff I can actually buy here. So if you find any recipes online for sauces, dishes, ANYTHING with rice... Send them to me please! Also, try and avoid any dairy ingredients, mostly because dairy doesn't really exist here. And if it does, it is disgusting.

I tend to eat a lot of hot dogs and rice. The hot dogs are red here and they are actually REALLY good. I'm guessing the fact that they are loaded with MSG is probably the reason why they taste so good.

Not a very eventful week, unfortunately... I hope everything is going well for you at home! 

Halong Kamo!

Elder Welton

This is our family home evening from Monday! I taught them the "hand game", one that I thought would be a simple game, apparently it was too complicated.

This is Sister M____'s  baptism. She's awesome.

Faith

Hello Family!

A few weeks ago I got an email from my MTC teacher that honestly made me laugh so hard because he absolutely nailed our situation here in the Philippines. It is a little irreverent, but it really portrays the culture here.

--

"I'm sure culture shock has hit y'all. Tell me about it! I wanna know so i can have a good laugh at your expense! Have you figured out how to eat the chicken people feed you that seems to have more bones than meat? Have you had to crap in the woods cause man you just weren't gonna make it to the CR [bathroom]? Does your companion seem nutso? Can you understand what the sam hill your investigator is saying? Do you have any idea what to write in your letter to president? Does your apartment have mold growing in the corners? Is it hotter than H-E double hockey sticks? Are you so tired of being called "Joe" that you may ask to be moved to the Atlanta, Ga south mission? How's the ladle?"

--

This describes exactly what is going on here in the Philippines. And I didn't realize that someone else has wondered the same things, especially about the chicken and how many bones there are! Like, it is seriously more bones than meat. I'm not sure if the chickens here are a different breed and have more bones or something, but it's crazy. I'm sure Elder Ben Jessee would know, he was really good at breeding chickens in Minecraft.

Elder Kurtis Lloyd is honestly famous here in the Philippines. I forgot to tell you that when I was in MANILA, very far from Tacloban, I brought up the story of his machete experience. This was the day that we went proselyting in Manila. When I mentioned the story, the Elder I was with said, "No way! HE'S your friend?? EVERY missionary in the Philippines has heard that story!" I thought it was hilarious. And even more, when I got to Bacolod, this was confirmed by more missionaries who had heard the same story. Although, some versions of the story have been altered to portray Kurtis and whoever he was with as having barely survived the incident. I assured them that he was fine. Fun story.

This week has been a lot of growing for me. I can only look forward to the changes that will happen over the rest of my mission. This past week I have been reading a lot of Book of Mormon in my free time. Yes, my free time. I have such a strong desire to "feast upon the word" on my mission, and I am disappointed that I neglected to have good study habits before my mission. But, I also know that priorities are different back home, and so I don't blame myself too much for that. But now I have to do some catching up! Yay!

I have really been studying a lot about faith this week. A verse that Elder Cruz shared in a lesson hit me really hard and so I decided to study it later that night. It is in Alma 32 and it really just talks about how faith is never perfect. Even if we only have the DESIRE to believe in something, not necessarily even that we DO believe in it - that small desire to believe will be what God builds the foundation of our faith upon. These are all the words of Elder Welton, so I hope they make sense. But the question is, "Where do we have faith and where do we have only the DESIRE to have faith?" These are the areas we need to work on. And I have found many many many of these areas in my own testimony. I never truly understood why "Faith is the first principle of the Gospel" until now. Learning is exciting, isn't it?!

No mom, I haven't really lost weight. And boy was I disappointed. I felt like I was and even my companion thought I was, but I weighed myself and it was essentially the same. I think it was a fluke though, I will try again soon.

The mud is crazy here. It DUMPS when it rains here. There is so much water. And mud. Everywhere.

We baptized the R family on Saturday. Ayosa! It was actually a super funny baptism, the font wasn't full enough, so they had to lie down. It was actually really awkward for me though, I had to do this awkward half-squat thing whilst raising my hand to the square because he was sitting down. As long as they go all the way under, it doesn't matter HOW they get underwater, as long as they get under haha. If they need to lie down, so be it! But they were both so funny. They were both so nervous and excited to be baptized, I loved seeing such a strong desire. It's nice to see how much their life is blessed by their decision.

Anyway, I know there is a lot to talk about, I haven't even answered half of your questions. But things are going great! There are often times that I get pretty discouraged, but I am truly learning to rely on my Heavenly Father. I am grateful for that!

Have an awesome week!

Elder Welton

                                               This was fun.  We rode a boat for exchanges

                                                       Doesn't this look photoshopped?

The G family.  They are crazy kids

                                                                        Ocean

Bro. Jet and I before baptisms

Baptisms, embracing the heat, & greeting kids

Hi!

Well. Another week I guess! They go by really fast... It seems like every P-day goes by and then it comes back around. I don't even know!

I had MY first baptism on Saturday! It was awesome to have baptized someone who I actually taught. We baptized the O Family and it was a way cool experience. I actually messed up the first one. I said "Having been commissioned of Christ" rather than "Jesus Christ"... Whoops. But that's fine! We then confirmed all of them in Sacrament the next day and I gave my first priesthood blessing. I felt bad that it was in English because I knew the girl couldn't understand it, nor could most of the congregation, I imagine. BUT I don't think that's super important in the grand scheme of things. Then we gave one of the members a blessing after sacrament, that was also a first for me. Yay!

So the fruit here, Dad, is SO good. I really need to start buying more because I have honestly been eating horribly. But they have this one fruit, red and spiky on the outside, but then you open it and it has a clear fruit on the inside. SUPER good. And then the mangoes, I don't even know... They are so good. Super sweet. Delicious.

Yes I am writing in my journal every night! So many missionaries don't but I am not going to make that mistake. Even if I only write something small and useless, I still do. It's the principle of the thing that causes me to keep writing.

The climate is hot and humid. Almost always. I really have just embraced the sweating. There really is no option. Some days, we take our umbrellas just to shield from the sun. I feel like a weirdo, so I don't do it that often, but also it helps! I carry around handkerchiefs to wipe my face. Sometimes I fan myself with pamphlets. When it rains, it cools down, so I love the rain. But also it floods sometimes because it usually rains a lot. That makes things difficult, and the mud is thick. But it's really not too bad. I don't really complain or think "it's SO hot" mostly just because that's how it is. Just kind of embrace it.

Loved the story about sharing time. You married the right person. I wish I could have seen it myself.

Something I thought was funny was all the kids when you are walking around, the really little kids will come run up to you yelling "Migo, Migo, Migo," the Spanish word "Amigo". I think it's so funny. The kids here are insane and they don't usually wear clothes. There's probably around 1,000 kids that I have to shake their little hands each day. I'm afraid of getting diseases, but what can you do!

This is kind of a short email, don't really have time to fit in more. But I hope everything is going well! I loved the story about Grandma and my friends who work there. Try and find out who they are! Have a good week!

Love,

Elder Welton

P.S. Sorry again to those I have neglected to email back. Time is so tight here. I barely have time to finish my weekly email. BUT I would love to hear from you all still and I will email everyone back in time.