It all works out

Well Holy week is over. Not too much of a celebration for Easter. We didn't see any crucifixions but we heard a lot about them, a lot of our investigators went and watched them? It's weird.

We were everywhere this week making sure that everything was going to go well for our baptisms on Saturday. It was a lot of work because we had some problems with nanay Linda.... so all her kids are members and 2 of them are RMs but we realized this week that they had been telling her that she wasn't ready to be baptized! So we were kind of frustrated and confused.. and even now we don't know why her kids were telling her that. Anyway the interview was done and everything was good to go but she told us that she wanted to wait until next month.. long story short we talked her through it and helped her to realize that she is ready and that you don't need to know everything to be baptized. We were hoping one of her sons would be able to baptize her but I was the one who ended up doing it, it was still a great baptism and she looked really happy.

Our Recent Convert Jose was able to baptize his granddaughter on Saturday. When we asked him if he would be willing to do it he told us that he already had memorized the commission. In Hiligaynon. It was his first time baptizing someone and of course it was his granddaughters first time being baptized so little to say they were nervous and he had to do it twice, she wasn't too excited for the second time but it was still a great day to see Tatay Jose baptize his granddaughter.

Well even though we had all of those small trials this week we were still able to see the miracles! So many investigators went to church and we have almost all of April set up for baptisms and we are now working on getting May set up.

I sent a lot of pictures so hopefully that can do a better job of showing my week than my email.

THE MISSION IS GREAT!

-Elder Warnick

Tricycle Rides

District Meeting

Inovelnyn's baptism - She is kind of scared of me. Haha go figure I am white.

I'm clean (Nanay Linda baptism by Elder Warnick)

Zombie Dog

Haircut (Filipino Version)

Coke (You drink it out of plastic bags)

Skinny?

Ruins

Home

Happy Holy Week

It's holy week... which means they have legit crucifixions.. yeah I haven't seen it yet.. just signs and stuff.. anyway---This week was great! We didn't really get to work but we got to have an awesome experience at our mission tour!

We worked in our area on Tuesday and we were able to talk to our 2 investigators that are going to be baptized this Saturday. They live in completely different areas so we had to go from one part of the area to the other so that they would be ready for their interview and then we had to go to Bacolod for our MLC again.

The MLC was great because we actually didn't have to do any training! We got to go to Bacolod with all of the Zone Leaders and STLs and hear Elder Haynie speak. It was awesome! He had a sweet training about the history of the Philippines and how it was being prepared for missionary work. It was super interesting. And he explained about the importance of participating in councils and stuff like that, it was sweet!

The mission tour itself was also great. I got to spend the night in Bacolod and we were in my old area TALISAY. So I decided to make a surprise visit to the Buslay family! It was just the same as if I had never left-meaning Sister Buslay went all out and made us a bunch of food. I also got to meet her husband for the first time and he is now a Recent Convert! So they should be able to go to the temple next year after her son gets home from his mission.
It was good to see a lot of the missionaries and to receive more training from Elder Haynie. Me and Elder Cagampang actually go to sit with him at lunch and talk to him. He was really humble about the fact that he is a General Authority and explained if the Lord needs you to serve he will make it happen haha he was never expecting to be a General Authority but he's great!

When we got home from mission tour we needed to get the interviews done for our investigators and that meant that we needed to go from one area to another which was sooooooooo far and there was nothing to ride so me and E. Rivera walked the whole way. We were wrecked but we had dinner with our Branch President and we downed the juice.. We weren't even hungry just thirsty! haha

The week was great but this next week will be even better!
Thanks for all the love and support!
Palangga ko kamo!
-Elder Warnick

Visiting Sister Buslay in Talisay

Holding a snake

The Result

This week was amazing!
Miracles.
Success.
Sounds like the beginning of a movie or something.. anyway
We were able to get a good full week of work in this week and it was awesome. We kept working in Haguimit which is the area closest to our meetinghouse with NO SUCCESS. Not really none but very little. Everyone always says that the people closest to the church are the hardest people to teach. So we have been trying to teach or at least talk to as many people as we can in that area. We found one person who wanted to listen so that area is just going to come slowly.

But something that I think I have said before is in those moments when we are walking around and talking to everyone and trying to get something to happen those were the times when nothing was really happening. But because we were working so hard that's when the blessings come! Example: We were working in Haguimit and trying to make something happen there and nothing was happening but because we were working so hard we started to see miracles in other areas! We went to a Less Active family and we found out that everyone is baptized in their family except for one of their kids and a grandchild so ages 9 and 14 so if we help that family come back to church we can also get the other 2 baptized.

The Zone is doing amazing! This week everyone's key indicators (investigators at church, lessons, etc) DOUBLED! I love my zone! They are so pisan! (diligent) even though we are the smallest zone everyone is doing great! I guess you could say everything is pretty fulfilling right now.

What else happened this week....
-our house is infested with birds because we don't have a ceiling just a tin roof..
-I ate squid again
-truth is I am pretty used to everything around here so I can't really tell when something is weird or out of the norm.. haha I'm filipino now!

We get to have another Mission tour this week so we will be going to Bacolod to have a meeting with Elder Haynie and his wife and then later in the week the rest of the mission will meet up for the trainings. It's going to be a good week.

We are also getting everything good to go this week for two baptisms for the end of this month and we have April set up pretty well for baptisms!

AND I still can't send any pictures! just keep building the anticipation!

I love you!
-Elder Warnick

Bacolod Mission - March 1, 2016. Zone Leaders, STL's, AP's and Office Staff

 

 Elders:Paskett, Christensen, Tacuban, Ehninger, McCracken, Warnick - Departing August 3, 2016

Sisters: Silos, Lozada, Jasareno, Narisma - Departing March 30, 2016

I held a snake!

This week was a lot better. Mostly because we were actually able to work!

We went to the zoo again today and I got to hold the nasty huge snake. It was chill. And this computer shop doesn't let me send pictures so... dasun na lang ah (I'll just do it next time)

Another MLC this week and it was great. There actually weren't very many trainings but I still got a lot out of it, like a lot of impressions on what the zone and missionaries need and that is what we tried to apply in the Zone Training. I would say we have had a lot of good trainings before but this past one was great, like I really felt like the zone got it. They understand what they need to do! It's going to be sweet!

Part of what me and Elder Cagampang took away from the training was that we needed to keep in mind that our area will be inherited by other elders as well. So we decided if we kept doing the same thing that all the other elders before us were doing, everything would just get worse and worse so we decided to start finding closer to the church and even though it will be slower withing a month it should start having success. Just this week we already found a lot of people that we probably would have never talked to if we didn't change our work style and schedule.

This week wasn't really crazy! I don't have anything cool to share.


The other Sister Mesobre is still coming to church and her son is also going to baptize her at the end of this month :)

We haven't really been doing anything new just doing a lot more of what we are supposed to be doing. We are going to be having another Mission Tour in a few weeks so if I am still a Zone Leader that means that I will get to have a special dinner/meeting with Elder Haynie. :)

I guess we had a cool experience before I send this email. There is a family the TAYCO family and they have been members for a while but ever since I have been here they have never gone to church and we have been to their house but nothing has really came from it. The mother had a stroke in 2014 and hasn't come to church since. I am guessing due to the fact that she can't really walk or talk but we actually were able to teach her on sunday. And we could feel it. She wants to come back she couldn't really speak to us, just king of grunt. But now that she hasn't been able to come to church and the lives of her family members have become too busy. But we hope to help them come back soon.

Love,

Austin

Shaking hands with President Russell M. Nelson (President of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles)

Hospital... Again

So last year  I remember staying a night in the hospital for someone in my district that was sick. But this time it wasn't someone in my district... it was my companion. Yeah it wasn't me again! Don't worry. So what happened was last week Elder Cagampang was feeling a pain around his bellybutton but we really didn't think too much of it and by Monday it was gone, but Tuesday morning he couldn't even get out of bed to get ready and study. But he eventually did and then we went to district meeting. But you could tell he was in a lot of pain. We texted the nurse and she asked for all the symptoms and before we knew it she told us to come to Bacolod for a check up.

We made the trip and met the nurse at the bus terminal and she took us to the hospital we went in for his check up and the doctor was pretty sure that he had a appendicitis so we went to the ER and they did a bunch of tests on him and he got a ultrasound but they couldn't see his appendix because he's too fat! haha We laughed about that but of course it hurts for him to laugh. We spent one night in the hospital and the next morning the doctor came in, checked up and told him that he needed to have the surgery. So before I knew it I was alone! They drugged him up and took him away! I was able to come down and see him when the surgery was over and they showed us his appendix-he was so out of it he sad "kaonon naton" which means lets eat it! hahaha yeah for the next two days he was recovering in the hospital and I did exchanges with one of the District Leaders so that we could get everything ready for our baptism. Because even though E. Cagampang was bed ridden, President still wanted our baptism to happen. And it did! E. Cagampang came home on Friday and we had the baptism on Saturday!

The Baptism actually was one of the best ones I have ever had.Sister Mesobre was reallly excited for her baptism and her son was the one to baptize her! It was his first time baptizing someone so he actually had to do it 4 times. But it was really good and we read a letter from her son on a mission, so it was a really great service.

We haven't really been able to work this week obviously so it hurt our area but it's expected when one of us had surgery! E. Cagampang is doing good now, we are just taking it easy! We actually are going to Bacolod again today for MLC and we have to go back for his check up on Friday so it's going to be another rough week for the work.

But all in all we still are seeing a ton of miracles and the zone is still improving.

-Elder Warnick

Sister Mesobre Baptism

Elder Cagampang at Hospital for Appendix Surgery

Food - When you are in the hospital

I was hugged..

I shook hands with an Apostle of the Lord! :)

I guess I could end my email right there?

Nah I'll share a little bit. Where do I start? So Monday we were supposed to get our support. The money that we get every two weeks to use for groceries and transportation but it was late which wasn't that big of a deal except for the fact that the next day was presidents day and our cards are from America... long story short we our support was delayed 3 days and most of the missionaries in my zone weren't able to travel! They couldn't work because they had no money! But the day before we were all supposed to go to Bacolod, the money arrived! We were saved. The office told us it was a good lesson to have an emergency fund. haha thanks?

The mission conference was awesome! We went to Bacolod early in the morning to practice our seating arrangement and the picture. Pre. Barredo wanted it to be perfect, we were able to eat lunch afterwards and then the whole mission had to be back at the chapel at 12 for the real picture with Pres. Nelson. The moment he walked in was amazing! It was so quiet and you could feel the respect and of course the spirit! Elder Haynie of the 70 was with him as well. When the picture was done we were to sit down but on the way to our seats we got to shake their hands! I didn't realize how old he was! 91! But he was glowing! haha He still had a lot of life in him. The talks were great! Pres. Nelson focused on who the savior is and who we are. It was so good! Most of my take away from the conference was how much more I need to make the most of every moment here on the mission. It's extremely fast!

We had exchanges again because we are going to be having another baptism! Sister Mesobre! We actually emailed her son who is on his mission right now and we are hoping that he replies because we asked him to send us a short paragraph of what he would want to tell his mom on the day of her baptism. And we are going to read it at her baptism! :) It's going to be one of the best baptisms!
But something weird about the exchanges was that I GOT HUGGED!? It was so weird. The other elders have an investigator that is kind of enthusiastic I guess? She is really all over the place in the lessons and everytime I said something she would place her hand on my knee.. and then after the lesson we got up to leave and she said "tani makabalik ka di kon mangranan ka" which translates to "hopefully you can come back if you're rich" haha oh and she hugged me when she said that... she's like a mom! It was weird!!!

But all weird things aside, It was a good week and pretty productive. The Zone is getting better and I think it has to do a whole lo with the fact that we have been raising expectations! Everyone is great!

Valentines Package from Home

It is oil ... or is it?

Happy Lub Day

That was a fast week! Yeah V's are pronounced as B's here so go figure.

So happy valentines day I guess? They didn't really celebrate it here but I saw some people sporting pink and red. I actually forgot it was Valentines day! Oh well there's always next year! ;)

Anyway we did work this week! And we had miracles.

So we have been really focusing on two areas in our area one is called Yubo and the other is San Miguel. Yubo is the progressing area and that's where basically all of the recent converts are. But San Miguel has a lot of Part-member families so there is a ton of potential. That's where Sister Mesobre lives and we had a miracle with her this week! We weren't able to teach her, she was always busy and so we were nervous that maybe something would happen and she would lose her desire. But we were able to teach her saturday night before sunday morning and we needed to teach her about the word of wisdom so that we could find out if she had any problems with that, she was agreeing with everything we were teaching and then we decided to extend a baptismal invitation and before we even said baptism she said Huo ah! which means YES with a capital ! And her other son who lives in Bacolod is going to baptize her! BUT that's not all! Her next door neighbors are also her family and the mother has two RM sons and she came to church with Sister Mesobre and she wants to be baptized too! So I guess that's what we are going to do in this area-baptize all the parents of RMs? haha BLESSINGS!

So Nanay Loyda got baptized! And it was awesome! The whole situation could have gone either way! Because leading up to her interview she was still smoking! She had got rid of her coffee problem but she was still smoking. But the interview went great she passed everything but Elder Rivera told her if she were to stop smoking in that moment for the rest of her life she could get baptized. And that's when you could tell she really wanted to be baptized. We fasted too just to be sure! The day of her baptism was great, everyone was super happy and we totally thought that Tatay Jose was going to baptize her but he didn't bring any extra clothes and he said he didn't think he could do it because he's old so Elder Cagampang jumped into one of those baptizing suits and performed the baptism.

Everyone is getting ready for the arrival of President Nelson and we are all excited. President Barredo told all of us that we need to practice our sitting and standing? haha Yeah he wants it to be super professional. It's going to be so awesome! I saw the seating arrangement thought and my zone is in the back.. hmmmm it's okay we still get to see an apostle of the lord!

Sorry this computer shop isn't letting me send pictures.. I'll try again next week because I got some sick ones!

-Elder Warnick