The Week in Ramon

Kumusta!

My week has been okay. Elder Sarcauga and I spend a lot of time going to very far out areas and getting punted and sent away all day. I’ve eaten balut 3 times now.  It has turned into a dare kind of thing, though I hear, that the first time Elder James ate balut (my companion in the MTC) he took one bite, ran away and threw up, and ran right back, loosened his tie and announced that he was going to finish it, and to everyone’s surprise, finished it.  We found an all-you-can-eat buffet earlier for 100 pesos, but you can’t leave a thing on your plate or the price doubles to 200 pesos.  It makes me feel bad for wasting food at Golden Corral.

We have been teaching a very frustrating group of people.  None of which show any progression. one says she really wants to go to the temple but isn’t willing to do anything to get there, one is super polite super catholic, another is a 5 year investigator who has yet to make a step of progression, and another is a brand new investigating family that refuses to believe that we can know for ourselves the truth through the holy ghost.   That's who we are teaching plus the many varying less-actives and in-actives.

Mahal ko kayo,

I love you all.

Elder Allen

Adventure Time

Kumusta!

I take back that they don’t celebrate Halloween. They do, but its called "all saints day" and all they really do is get together and eat food and celebrate dead people. Nothing like in America. 

The Ramon Elders at the baptism of Jay Padilla.

Elder Hamblin got tired of Tracting because he found it boring and depressing, so he has re-named it, "Adventure Time," the time that we scour the deepest caves, the densest forests and scale the highest mountains looking for those that need to hear the "good news."

Tracting is just looking for new investigators by talking to random people about Jesus.  Adventure time is much more exciting. He now writes that in his planners…with the addition of a sword.

Interesting news about the new age limit of missionaries;

Abad is a common name in this area,
but it doesn't always work on a business.

When we heard this Friday from President Carlos, There had been 8,000 mission papers submitted since the announcement. You know how many mission papers usually get submitted in that same period of time? 300 to 500.  The fact becomes more amazing when you think of the process of mission papers and how many more will continue to pour in. There is going to be a bit of an influx of missionaries would be my guess, over the next year of course. This is an immediate installment of strength.

I have been receiving serialized letters from my father about his life and conversion, he had better keep writing them.

I love you all so much.

Have a great week, everybody.

Mahal ko kayo!

Elder Allen

Blessed are the Merciful

Kumusta!

It’s fun living as 4 instead of 2 because you get the chance to learn from 3 others you are living with rather than just your companion. The area was so huge that we couldn’t go to any neighborhood in the area more than once a week, and we still couldn’t make it all around the area.  And with the surplus of missionary's coming in, president saw fit to put four of us in one ward, so we go to church together and everything.  This week was General Conference for us, so we finally got to hear the news for ourselves.  We don’t know what to think of it, really. 19 year-old sisters and 18 year-old elders are going to be different but I probably won’t see any until I have about 6 months left.  That was a great announcement from the prophet to celebrate my one year mark,  though.

Elders Oliva, Amoi, me and Sarcauga
eating like champions.  

This week Hamblin and me went on splits and traveled all around our area and met no success. Better luck this week. I hear that you are having my siblings pray for me to eat more food.  I’ll try.  I’d love to just live off the fruit here, but that would be too expensive.  We have very far places in our area and we walk to those very far places and then walk all the way back. This is the biggest town I’ve been in, but its still a far shot from a city.

My favorite talks in conference were Elder Larry Echo Hawk’s talk on Saturday, and actually, the closing prayer to the priesthood session. It may sound weird that the prayer was one of my favorite parts, and it’s not because it was 'finally' ending, but because it was so short and so simple and seemed to be pointed directly to me.

They do not celebrate Halloween in the Philippines, in fact they don’t celebrate anything between the beginning of September and Christmas, except Christmas.  So actually on September 1st we started to hear Christmas music everywhere we go and they start singing Christmas hymns in church. 

Dorian fruit.  Smells like rotten eggs,
 tastes like egg salad.  Mmmmmm.

I study love and charity daily and have been since I realized I was a little short. Charity is defined in Webster’s as 'good will or love towards humanity' or in a simpler word, 'Mercy.'  The merciful will obtain Mercy and the merciless and the brutal will be lost. I understand my weakness and I will strive to do better.

I love you Mom, and the rest of you. I love you all so much.

Fight like Dragons... merciful Dragons.

Mahal ko kayo,

Elder Allen

Same Town, New Area

Kumusta!

This last week was transfers. we (the Ramon Elders) were given a special invitation. we were told we had to be there. The area was split between me and Oliva. I'm opening a new Area on the other side of Ramon. its just Ramon 1st and 2nd now. I'm in Ramon 1st now but its still just one ward. My new companion is Elder Sarcauga (Sar-ka-ooga). He's from Davao and is about five months in the mission. I am follow-up training him after hes spent 3 cycles or 18 weeks with his first companion. The only thing harder than training is follow-up training someone who is set in their ways. Elder Oliva's new Compaion is Elder Amoi from Fiji. He's a 250 pound rugby player. We talk about rugby a lot. 

Elder Nay and his MTC batch

We spent most of the week tracting because we have no one to go to and found a nice 52 year-old woman who is not a member but one of her kids is a bishop in manila. She said she seen the temple and said it was the most beautiful thing she had every seen and is willing to do anything to get into it because thats how she imagines heaven. So we gave her a baptisimal goal date and invited her to church then she grabbed one of her grandchildren and said," We are going to church."  It was great.  Hopefully her faith is as strong as it sounds. That's an investigator we have here now. 

There is nothing more important in this life than happily loving and serving with all your heart, might, mind, and strength every soul that crosses your path and nothing should ever stop you from doing it.

Some pictures!

First is Elder Nays enitre batch singing at Transfers.

then my Batch (me, Nielsen, Procter, and James)

I Love you all very much.

Mahal ko kayo,

Elder Allen

My MTC batch, one year into our missions.

A Perfect Brightness of Hope

Kumusta!

Our new apartment!  Finally!

Life can sometimes be viewed as "the long night." We wait for the promised blessings of a new day. Though life can sometimes be very dark and lonely, we must look forward with a perfect brightness of hope, that the sun will rise again. Though it may not rise tomorrow, and it may not rise the next day or for a very long time, if we do as the Lord commands, the sun will rise and it will be bright and glorious and "the long night" will end.

That's my spiritual thought of the day. 

We moved again this last week, and transfers are this coming week, so I may only get to live in this house for 4 or so days. But thats okay. Next week I'll give you the good news. I dont know what the good news will be, but it will be good news.

I love you all.

Take the good news to heart and share it with everyone that crosses your path.

Mahal ko kayo,

Elder Allen
  

Balut, a fertilized, fermented duck egg.
One of the delicacies of the Philippines.

Lost Over 30 Pounds

Kumusta!

An interesting fact:  I had lost about 30-35 pounds out here, but I am gaining it back slowly through eating (important pala) and exercise.

We are continuing to try and move houses again.  And that’s about all the drama we’ve been dealing with this week, making things a little stressful.   We are also having a tough time trying to deal with the size of our area.

The sign says "its forbidden to fix cars here".
That doesnt stop them

 What we like to call 'the gathering of
Isreal.'  Those little lizards are 'butikis' or gekos.
They are everywhere and they poop on everything.

Typical interaction between
Elder Hamblin and I

That’s about all that’s happened this week.

Mahal ko kayo,

Elder Allen

Me and Oliva. He was trying to look tough,
so naturally I had to give him bunny ears.

Editor's Note:  The weight loss not only explains why he looks so skinny, it also explains all the food in the last post.

Eating Large in Ramon

Elder Hamblin and me eating a pizza. A pizza like 
that is almost impossible to find here in Isabela. 

Kumusta!

About two weeks ago Hamblin and I split this pizza between us. It’s meant to feed an entire street of Filipinos, but we managed and everyone was impressed.  Then last week after District meeting Elder Griffin dared us to try the 'Godzilla Burger' challenge.  Four of us each bought a burger and we each finished it with only a few side effects.

Giant burger.  We've been taking on 

wierd food challenges lately.

I am trying to move again this cycle. It will be my 3rd move, 3rd cycle in a row, and 3rd house in one area. I have yet to live in any of these houses that I find and bargain for for an entire cycle.  The new house is kind of like a small mansion here. Hardwood floors; now tha’ts impressive. President wants to put another pair of missionaries in our area. So the house needed to be big enough for 4. The senior couple who looked at it thought it was big enough for 6. I am now recognized as the house hunting missionary. Fortunately, the houses I find aren’t bad. We are actually trying to move out of our apartment now without the landlord knowing because he’s not a very nice person. We are leaving him with 2 extra months pay in advance and no contract because he voided it by not being nice…so he has nothing to complain about.

So this week we have some old and new house drama to worry about. And I’m going on Splits with Elder Griffin this Thursday in Ramon. Ramon was one of his old areas so he’s excited for that.

That’s all the news I’ve got.

Mahal ko kayo,

Elder Allen

I found my icecream shop.
I knew I left one around here somewhere.