Wk 38

     Hey! I am glad that video went through. I wasn't sure if it was going to or not. The Hermit Kingdom guy is Elder Andres. He is a super fun guy.

He helps me out with my language accent.

     So things are still crazy in the office. Transfers are coming up and so we are training a few guys to replace us. Not me though I will be staying in the office for at least two more transfers (3 months).

     This week we have two baptisms. The first is the mother of Dave and Geneva that we baptized 2 weeks ago, and then MJ Magsipoc, a single adult. Dave and Geneva, his sister, are really awesome. Dave has been working with us a little bit. I am not sure if Dave will go on a mission but I am pretty sure it is on his mind. Geneva yesterday shared her testimony at a Family Home Evening at another recent convert’s house. Her testimony was super awesome and the spirit was super strong. She talked about faith and how her faith as a new member is starting small. But as we read the scriptures and attend church and do all the things that Lord has asked us to do, it will grow into a big tree that can’t be moved however strong the wind is. And she had faith and was praying with her family...that her father would see the importance of the Gospel.

     So Dave and Geneva's mother will be baptized this week. The family is super strong. The mom is ridiculous. She pretty much teaches us the gospel more than we teach her. The next step is just to work on the father.  Everyday we go over to their house. The father brings in a little income but most of the time it seems like he is just outside with his buds. There are three kids in the family Dave, Geneva, and Ninita.  All share a bed, but every night when their mom is with them the three of them have a little family prayer around their bed. The gospel has made a huge difference in their family. They are planning on going to the temple even though they aren't going to be able to be sealed as a family yet.

      So to answer a few of your questions. Yes I am able to play the piano and sing a whole lot. Whether it’s blasting the Tabernacle Choir or EFY in the car and singing to it or playing on the piano at the office. Elder Booth can sing too. We have even sung at a few of our lessons.

     Yes my back is bothering me usually by the end of the day I usually feel like the hunch back of NotreDame/Iloilo City.

    Ayos a Christmas package. Yeah, there are a few things that would help a ton. I won’t need any clothes, I’ve got plenty of those. My shoes are kind of sad but that’s okay. Here’s a few things that would help.

An electric shaver. My beard is super hard. I feel like I have to rip the hair out of my face. And by the time I am done shaving my razor is already dull. It’s super expensive to which it has been cutting out of my personal fund a little bit. So if somehow there is a nice electric shaver over there you could send over or something. They don't really exist here.

The last thing is money.  Any amount of money at any point of time would be a great help.

Well Thanks for everything. :0 Love you all.

-Elder Kirschbaum

Wk 37

Wooahh Family...Hey!! I enjoyed all your emails. I printed them off so I could read them on the way to SM. Sounds like everyone is doing really well.

      Yeah mom I am growing all over the place...or what I mean is one week I will be super skinny and the next week I will be fatter. The people in the ward aren't afraid to tell me that.

     A few weeks ago one of our investigators gave us a referral. Her name is Edsy. Well Edsy is awesome. We actually gave her a baptismal date and to come to church. The only problem was her Aunt. I guess she wasn't too happy about her going.  So Elder Booth and I had made a plan to go visit her. I'm afraid to admit it but we were pretty nervous.  On the way to her house we were kind of ifish if we wanted to go or not. We said to ourselves....all right do we believe in God?...Yes! Okay, do we believe we were sent by a prophet?..... ....Yes! Then lets do it! So we went. We met a lady that was selling Batchoy (soupish pig intestine mix) and asked her if she knew Edsy. She said oh yes that is my cousin. Who are you two? Well we ended up teaching this lady.  Her name is Jennifer and she has two kids.  We taught her right there in her Batchoy shop and invited her to church. She was really excited to go to church, and the next day we picked her up with a member couple and took her to church. The topic at church was temple marriages which was perfect gid. And now just barely she texted Elder Booth and said she had lost her pamphlet that we gave her to read and she wants us to bring her one so she can read. So Elder Booth and I are very excited about teaching her and seeing how it goes. I would have to say she is a pretty good investigator for just having only taught her one time.

     That is just one of the stories that happened this week. The work here is just amazing. There are so many people that are ready to receive the restored gospel.

      Well a little update about me. Yes I am gaining a little more weight, and working out in the morning. The Office is going good. I ordered way too many supplies for the mission, and we don't have enough space to put it. So we have all these boxes of Plan of Salvation pamphlets just stacked to the ceiling underneath the shelves in the kitchen. I think President is kind of wondering the reason we have so many boxes. The sad thing is though, we only received one third of it.  Two times as much is about to come.  I am a little bit scared.

     Well that is about it for me today.

Mahal na Mahal ko kayo, Palangga ta kamo. or I Love you all.

-Elder Kirschbaum

Wk 36

Hello Family!

    This week we had three baptisms on Sept 11th. Which reminds me that Kyle had 3 baptisms too. Tell me how that went. Ours went really well. We baptized 3 single adults. Rhea, Geneva and Dave. Rhea is a super quiet girl. She was a referral from a member in our ward. After every baptism they give the people that were baptized a chance to bear their testimony. We were a little nervous for her and how she would do up there in the front of everyone. Went she got up to bear her testimony she wasn't shy at all, and gave the most beautiful testimony. It was really awesome seeing each one of the people we baptized get up and bear their testimony. Both Dave and Geneva cried as they talked about the change that had taken place in their life. 

      We will be baptizing Geneva and Dave's mother on Oct 2nd. Their mother is such an amazing women. Usually investigators have concerns or something that you can adapt the lesson to. But Eva is such a perfect investigator. The other day we were going to leave her to read Alma 36 about Alma's Repentance Journey but we forgot. Welp our next lesson we said...sorry we forgot to leave you something last time. She just said ah that’s alright I decided to read Alma 36.  Elder Booth and I were way surprised she read the chapter we wanted to give her. We gave her a high five and then she pretty much taught us from Alma 36. They are a super amazing family.

     This week has been a normal week in the office. On Tuesday I do all the personal orders of missionaries...Quads, DvDs...etc...On Wednesday I take the car and go to the boat dock and pick up all the mail. Then to the BPI bank to send to the church. On Thursday we go to SM city super mall and send letters, and buy supplies. Friday I drive to all the transportation ports and send cargo to all the missionaries on Panay. That is pretty much what goes down every week. 

     We eat a lot more in the office. Mac Dos, all you can eat rice with meat. It is affecting my weight. I gained the forty pounds back that I lost and am back at 210. Nah jk. I weighed myself yesterday and healthy pa.

We really get fed alot here though in Molo.  It takes about 20 mins for the lesson we teach...but then they have to give us a marianda/snack which takes like another 20 minutes to eat. So it takes about an hour at each appointment.

     Today is Elder Booth’s birthday (he's from Moapa Valley to answer your question mom) We are going to go eat at Pizzario in a few minutes. Pizza is a rare occasion so we are all really stoked. 

     Mother I asked Elder Booth if he knew of any sandals...He just said that they were BaWAL(not allowed anymore...since President got mad at me last time for wearing them.)

     Leah! I still haven't heard how your journey in the Gawapagos was. Send pictures huh?

     Heidi how is the belly and the new house and Chloe Ashton and Oli? Kierston how’s piano? Mom, Dad...How are things with you?

Love ya'll 

-Elder Kirschbaum

Wk 35

 Hey! We just got done with our Zone Conference.  Elder Edwards from the Quorum of Seventy came and spoke today. He got up and just asked us to ask him questions.  Then he would answer them.  He is way smart. One of the things he talked about was how the Lord really prepares the way for us. For example Joseph in Egypt. One day Joseph went to go give his brothers some lunch and the next thing he knew they threw him in a hole and sold him. For the next 14 years he lived as a prisoner and a slave. But it was all made like that so that he could be 2nd in command. Heavenly Father takes us on the path that we need to walk.  We each have our experiences in life that we are having for a reason. There is a specific reason I am in the Philippines, Mckay’s in New York, Josh is...well in the MTC, Leah is going back to college now, Kyle's doing his thing in Vegas. :) Heavenly Father is preparing our path so that we can become a tool in his Kingdom. He talked about alot more things. A lot about the Spirit. It was really good, and even though I was up till 3:00 am last night I was able to stay awake for his talk.

      So yesterday an Elder Adams had some allergic reaction, a fever, and his blood platelets were way down. There has been tons of dengue fever going around here.  All the hospitals are full and it is hard to get admitted now. Anyway this poor missionary was itching like crazy so we gave him a blessing and took him to the hospital at 12:00 midnight. So we had a really late night. Then waking up at 6:30 the next morning was very fun.

     I have to sleep on the top bunk in our apartment with my alarm across the room in order to wake up. Then I walk around the apartment with my eyes shut because they’re too tired to open while I get ready to take a shower.  Kapoy Gid ko ya.:)

      We have 3 baptisms coming up this week on the 11^th.  Then we have 3 more planned for next month on the 2nd.  One of those investigators is name Jojo. He is the father of a family we are teaching. The mother works while the others stay home. Last time we were at Jojo's we asked him what he felt about Joseph Smith. He told us about how grateful he was that we had met them. (We met them while we were trying to find a house while it was raining. They told us to come in out of the rain.) He said that other churches had come by his house to talk with him, but he said when he met us there was something different. You had cared about the problems that were going on in our life, and then you gave us a book. I don't quite understand it completely when I read it but I feel good when I read it, and I know if I continue reading I will find out if he is a true prophet. We gave him and his daughter baptismal dates for Oct 2nd. Hopefully we will be able to teach the rest of the family.

      Welp I just had an interview with Elder Edwards of the 70. You can find a picture of him in the last conference Ensign. He is a really really neat man. We talked about the Office schedule a little bit...late nights. It went good.

      I am learning a little every week. The language...is a joy. medyo palagput galing sige lang. Hope all is well with you.

Love, Elder Kirschbaum

Wk 34

Hey Kyle,                                            

     That is way neat you were able to go to visit the temple with Jackie. I really wish we could do that with our investigators. The closet temple here is in Cebu. You have to hop a few islands to get there.

   Transfer week is over. There was a lot less sleep this week. I got to pick up the new white missionaries from the Airport. That was pretty fun. They are all super nervous. Just how I was when I got here. They have no clue what’s going on...what anyone is saying, and they’re terrified with how we drive. So we did transfers this week and on top of that we had an amazing baptism on Sunday.

   Regen and Marc and a little kid named Miki...were baptized this week. Regen and Marc are both fathers which is awesome. Their wives are already members. It has been quite a story with them. Both of them are working as security guards with very difficult schedules.  While we were teaching them they had to do 24 hour shifts just so they could be taught.  Pretty much they had no sleep. 

     On the Sunday of their baptism Regen had to go to work at 12:00 and church only ends at 12:00ish. He was super worried that he would lose his job if he was late. He was able to be baptized and it was a good experience.

     It is crazy how there is always something even up to the last minute that can hold you back if you’re not ready to confront it. The best part of the baptism was Marc's testimony. He talked about how hard it had been with work...and at times he was really close to not following through but he thanked us.  At the time he was about to give up...we had called him to see how he was doing and that had made the difference.  Now the next step is working on their goal to go to the temple next year. One of them has a really cute baby girl....and the others wife is pregnant with their first.

     There is so much to learn every day. I just want to soak it all up and be good. But it is definitely not like that. Little by little. I have been trying to create better habits and be more consistent with things. Man the language...is a challenge. It’s good though. I love it. 8 months now in the Philippines. Time has flown. I wish I could share with you more of what is going on over here.

Well love you brother, and I love hearing from you almost every week ;). Magandang Gabi.

-Elder Kirschbaum