I'll do Better Next Week

Changes again!

So I am getting another companion today! :) I'm not going to say my last companionship was bad. It just wasn't my best one. haha But I know my new companion and he is super cool! And he plays the ukulele soooooooooooooo we are going to be super close!

This week was great!

Tatay Jose came to church with his whole family even though it was really, really, really far away from their home. So he will be baptized this Saturday! And his wife shortly after and hopefully he can be the one to baptize him! It took a lot of work but we should start seeing some good success these upcoming weeks!

So we worked everywhere this week because I think my companion knew that he was going to be transferring. But it's cool, I know the area now and I'm just trying to find the focus area.

So the computer shop lost power twice so I am going to try and send this out before that happens again!

I went on exchanges again this week and it was really fun! I got to go to the other area with Elder Rivera he's Canadian haha it was fun! When we got home from exchanges we didn't have any power in their house because the wind had been so strong it had cut a wire. You would think we wouldn't be able to get anyone to fix that late at night but there is always someone!

The APs called randomly last night saying that E. Ballesteros was transferring so after we said goodbye to members he packed and I got all the numbers for the week for the zone! I was only with him for 4 weeks which is super fast. I am really excited for the changes.

Sorry this email is short and not really exciting. This Computer shop is really frustrating. Anyway, hope everyone has a great week!

-Elder Warnick

He just walked!

Hope everyone had a great week! I sure did! :)

The week wasn't anything more than the usual but we were able to get a lot of work done.

We went on exchanges twice which was really tiring but it was great. The first time was after district meeting and I went to San Enrique, one of the district leaders areas and I was with a really new missionary his first area was my second area so we were able to talk about members and investigators and recent converts in that area. I feel like I was able to help him and his area because he was struggling a little bit. Their apartment is really only meant for 2 missionaries but they somehow have 4 Elders crammed in there.

I came back to the area and we worked for a day way up in the mountain. I am hoping that we stop working there soon because we don't have any investigators there and the less actives really don't want to see us... But the view is cool. It's just a time waster.

The we had exchanges again. I was really thinking and hoping that I was going to be with Elder Clayton, my MTC companion but I don't know it just didn't happen.. My comp wanted to go with him so yeah I just wanted to make him happy. While we were on exchanges though Elder Clayton got a cal from the APs that he was transferring. So it was a random transfer and we don't really know why but he left the next day. I was able to talk to him before he left and it was great to catch up with him and even though we didn't really have a great relationship i the MTC we are really close now!

Everything is changing in our area! My first week they changed the branch presidency and our new President is 23 years old and he has been home from his mission for about 6 months. But he is great! He is doing all the right things and this area is really going to start turning around! We have one baptism planned for the end of this month. It is a super nice old man named Jose and he walks to church and back every Sunday! We asked him why he walked and he said it was too frustrating waiting for a Tricycle! haha so he just walked!  It would be like walking from the top of Santaquin bench all the way to like Salem something like that I can't really remember Utah Geography.. haha but he is so awesome and he is a strong old guy. His wife should be baptized in the next couple weeks as well she just needs to get rid of her smoking problem.

I guess I really never talk about the language here but I am really going to miss speaking this language it's such a fun language and every thing is funnier in Hiligaynon! I actually started studying Tagalog pretty seriously this week so I'm just trying to broaden my understanding, they still use a lot of Tagalog in Hiligaynon so I just want to be able to understand everything

We contacted a family this week who looked super golden. But when we got to the house everyone literally ran away. But the nanay who was sitting there continued to listen to us. We could really see her honest desire until her husband came in, he immediately began criticizing us and everything we had to offer. We couldn't do much other then leave with a prayer and walk away. It's really rare here to come across people like that because mostly everyone is super friendly and inviting. So it's sad to see situations where people reject the truth right away.

On a more positive note when I went on exchanges this week I was with Elder Pedres and he is from Legaspi where Ammon Haymond served and so I asked him if he new a Elder Haymond and he did! It was the first time that has happened and it was super cool. The church makes it a small world for sure! 

I had a lot of cool pictures this week of the area but this computer isn't recognizing my card... That's what i noticed though. The further out you are from the city the harder it is to get a decent computer shop. Oh well I'll just keep the suspense going!

-Elder Warnick

Push

I'm so tired! But we just keep going and going. I think that's just the whole point of it all we just give it our all and that's when we have success.
This has been my hardest area so it really is a challenge. I can see what needs to be done though to get things going.

So I realized I failed to explain a lot that has happened and what my new experience is! So my companion's name is Elder Ballesteros and he is from somewhere that sounds like LA ONION haha it's somewhere northern Philippines. He is super tall! Like 5'11" or 6' I'm only like and inch taller than him! But he is really skinny. He is the same batch as Elder Derecho and they only have 4 months left. Elder Ballesteros lets me know that all the time! haha Our area is in La Carlota zone but it's called MANGGAPSANG (mung-gup-sung) we are the most mountainous area in the zone and one of the most in the mission! We have a dairy farm about half a mile from our house and they have chocolate milk and yogurt-it's a big deal because it's not really a thing here!

MLC was really great this last week we had some great training on Finding and Learning and Retaining. I don't have my notes with me right now and so I don't remember everything President Barredo said but I remember everything I felt. And I really felt the spirit and the love that he has for us! He is such a great mission president. It's amazing how even though I have had 3 mission presidents they all have such great love and are really amazing men. Zone training was also great. Even though we are the smallest zone we set goals. Discussed Problems and things are going to start changing! I am just grateful that we don't have and difficult missionaries in our zone, everyone wants to have success and work hard! It's such a blessing for a struggling zone.

We went to the zoo today! Which was super fun! we never really do much for P-days and stuff so anytime that we do anything other than Basketball it's always a lot of fun. We almost got to hold a big snake too but there was some news crew that was there doing some segment and so I think we got on TV haha and we didn't get to hold a snake so lose lose.

If you have any questions about the area or anything just ask me because I always feel like I don't do a very good job with my emails!

Just really pushing through. Trying to do my best and figure out how to help these missionaries and the zone! Love you all!

-Elder Warnick

Cool Tree House in our area

Visit to the Zoo

Happy New Year

So everything was really new this week! But it was good!  My area is super bukid! Which means mountainous. So Monday after we left Bacolod we took the trip down to La Carlota which was a pretty long trip. It had been a whole year since I had gone south of Bacolod! So it was cool to see the same stuff I saw when I first got here.

We have 4 missionaries in our house and it's fun! It's been a while since I have been in a house with 4 it makes adjustment a lot easier. I am just really used to my last area so everything here is new and different. Our area is really close to a Volcano called Mt Canla-on and it had been raining sulfur before I showed up so it's crazy!

Everyday we were pretty much hiking up and down the mountain-like I have never had anything like this before, but it's fun!

We are going to Bacolod again today for MLC so I am kind of pressed on time again. I never really feel like I can send out a decent email anymore. hopefully the pictures can describe my experience this past week.

I'm in a branch though! I am not really used to a branch and we are in a small meeting house but I really liked it the members are super nice and they are there for the right reasons.

I promise next week I will be able to send a good email because I will actually have time!

-Elder Warnick