I don't normally go hiking in flip flops and my whites...

but when I do you know I'm going to baptize a child of God!

This week was a great week. There were quite a few setbacks but it's better to look up. It's better to look forward.

A lot of appointments fell through. We didn't nearly accomplish most of our goals for lessons or for our investigators. Church attendance was kind of low There is a lot of potential for everything but it seems like everything is in a standstill. 

Despite all of this things are still fine. The baptism went wonderfully. It was such an amazing experience for the both of us. The Spirit was so strong. The ocean felt great. Words can't really describe how I felt.

Being here in Villaba has made me realize the importance of the priesthood. The 2 baptisms we've had have both been young boys. We've been working really hard to find families and potential priesthood holders. We've found them but now the task is to help them understand and accept the Gospel. Our branch has been without an Elders Quorum President and Branch Mission Leader for half a year now. Our Branch President is probably the best in the entire world. He is giving his all in serving everyone and simultaneously preparing his family to go to the temple in April. He's only been a member for 6 years, but he has such a firm grasp on the Gospel and truly does magnify his priesthood.

My thoughts have been very clustered lately. Somehow it all revolves around Charity. Haven't quite made all the connections just yet but it is a subject that has been on my mind lately. In cebuano its gugma nga putli or pure love. I've been thinking about how true it is. It is the pure love of Christ. It's loving others the way God loves us. It is a Christlike attribute that I don't yet have but I am  striving to work for.

On Tuesday we had a district meeting about Charity. I never really put a whole lot of thought into why I came on a mission before. Last year my thoughts were oh everyone else is putting in their papers I should do the same. Everybody else is getting a call I should get one too. I've realized that that is quite a pathetic reason to come on a mission. I was reading in my journal about the week before I came on my mission. I wrote about a family scripture study we had about courage. I had written 2 Tim. 1:7. Basically there are two reasons to do anything. One you can do it out of fear. (Fear of punishment that you're not going to fit in with your peers or not fulfilling priesthood duties.) Or you can do it out of Love. I've been trying to change the way I think about things. About the way my Father in Heaven loves me. About the way He has a plan for me. About His expectations for me. About my expectations for myself and who I want to become;  not what I want to be when I grow up but who I really am.

I read a great talk called the Fourth Missionary. What I've learned from it is that this isn't a sacrifice. God gives us everything we ever have. We can CONSECRATE ourselves to Him. It's not about the 2 years. It's about giving your whole will to the Lord and surrendering all of your righteous desires and wants for His will. We can serve with our might and strength but it doesn't mean a thing if we don't serve with all of our heart and mind.

Big growing week this week. I have a long way to go still. But that's part of the plan, Everyday we make choices that bring us closer or further from our Father in Heaven. Choices that help us become more or less like Him.

All in all, I am feeling great. I love my area I love my companion I love my mission president. Life is really good. 

Love you all

Elder McGuire

 

 

5 months ba?!

Wow time just doesn't even feel normal anymore. It felt like this was a super long week but at the same time I can't believe it's been 5 months. I feel like I am in a time warp or some strange dream that feels real most of the time until I look at a calendar or clock. Overall though, things are looking great!

Tuesday was great! We went to Ormoc for our zone meeting and received some great training on asking inspired questions. It has been really helpful in asking investigators what they really understand about what we have said, but it's also great for me to ask myself and see how much I understand the doctrine. It's crazy, you'd think after growing up in the church for 19 years I would know quite a bit about the Gospel. Every day I learn something new though. Tuesday night was awesome! We got to teach a new investigator in English! He is super smart. He is the manager of the bank and super interested in the Book of Mormon. I hope he keeps on reading and has more questions. We teach him again tomorrow!. 

We also have a baptism this Saturday for a 10 year old that we've taught. I finally get to baptize someone in the ocean!!! Other exciting news is that I bought a sundang (it's basically a machete.) And yes mom the purchase was completely justified because I need it for service projects. They don't have lawn mowers here.

Wednesday was pretty good. We taught some more investigators that are somewhat progressing. I am still trying to understand why it's so hard to scrape up 10 pesos to come to church. In the evening we went contacting with the Branch President and we are gonna start teaching some new families. We also got the announcement that there is no transfer for either of us so Elder Cottle and I get at least 4 more weeks in Villaba. 

Thursday and Friday were kind of rough.  We taught the Balombao family both days. Once with a member and one without. Nanay said she was content to stay Catholic and didn't want to change. It's so hard because Tatay really wants to be baptized but not without his wife. We had to drop them because we can't waste anymore time there trying to invite her to change when she doesn't want to.

Saturday night was great! We taught a new family with President Jose. The Gorillo family is actually related to him somehow. They call each other cousin so I'm assuming they are haha. The lesson went really well. President Jose is an amazing Branch President. He's been a member for almost 6 years. It is so amazing to hear the change in his life from the time he investigated until now. Living the Gospel brings so much joy and happiness to people. He is an amazing example of that. I've really learned from him that I need to find people that are willing to live the Gospel and professionals. They will build up the church after we leave. I've made that my new goal to baptize a family. Funny enough I read in Preach My Gospel the other day that that is exactly what I should be trying to do. Love how that works out.

All in all I'm doing great. The power of the Atonement is real. The blessings from living the Gospel are real. This church is true. 

Keep praying no matter what. Ether 12:12 The miracles come after we show our faith!

Love you all, 

Elder McGuire

Still alive and feeling great!

This week has been a crazy one.

Tuesday was alright. We went to Palompon in the morning for district meeting. We really do have an awesome district. We discussed the Book of Mormon and how we should be using it. It really is the word of God. I know it to be true. That is the way people are converted. When they read and understand the doctrine and apply it to their lives. In the afternoon, we went to Silad. I really need to obtain more patience. We keep teaching families that say they will come to church and then they never do. It really frustrates me but then I see one or two of the families that we did teach come to church and it's all worth it. 

On Wednesday we went back to Palompon and had exchanges. It was a great experience. I went with Elder Arganda my district leader. We taught some solid lessons to a semi active family and an investigator. I also got to have the experience of eating botbot and the sabao of lubi as well as the lubi. There are several words for coconut in Cebuano. It was delicious and I'm really gonna miss the fruits here.

Thursday was really good. In the morning we did weekly planning and in the afternoon we visited Bro. Brigoli, the returning high priest. He has some amazing stories about his life and when the missionaries first came to Villaba back in the 90s. He reminds me so much of my grandpas it was great! He is on track to return and be sealed with his wife this year in the temple.

Friday we woke up at 3:45 to catch the bus to Tacloban. There was a training meeting for all trainers and training. It was really good. They split us up and gave us training on how to make study more effective and how to set better goals and be more focused on achieving them. Unfortunately there are no return rides to Villaba until the next day. So we got back on Saturday around 2. No mom the package isn't here yet but transfer day is on Friday so I might be headed back, if not my new companion can probably bring it to me.

Saturday night was alright. We taught Angelo Arique. our closest investigator to baptism. The problem is he hasn't learned to read yet so we are teaching him how. He has really improved this past month and I'm hoping that he can get past his baptismal interview tomorrow. After that we went and taught the Sabarez family. We started teaching about faith. Somewhere in the middle of the lesson someone got offended and turned on the TV. We were able to apologize and close with a prayer. Hopefully it wasn't something we said that offended them. Praying hard for them.

Sunday was good. We are still averaging 70 people. I just wish we could get one more family to come. We got some referrals from the ward and President Jose is going to come with us to teach them this week. Hopes are high. Last night we also talked to a professional. He knows English. We gave him a English copy of the BoM a few weeks ago. He has some questions and wants to learn more. I am really hoping he accepts our message and continues to read.

Overall I'm doing great. I feel heavier and need to do more cardio and eat healthier. All in all though I'm doing fine. 

It sounds like you all are having a great time over there. :) It's great to hear that you're all having lots of experiences in life that will help you grow!

I love you all. Thank you for all the love and prayers and support and letters. I could not do this without you all. Salamat kaayo!

akong gihigugma ang pamilya nako!

Elder McGuire

 

 

Week 20

This week has been really good!

To start off we went to Ormoc on Monday afternoon. We got talking to this one guy on the van ride down. He knows English but we decided to speak Cebuano. He was really nice and we ended up giving him a Book of Mormon. Turns out we had already met his dad who is a Brgy Capt in Suba. We followed up and taught them the Message of the Restoration on Wednesday. The son  said he would be baptized if the Book of Mormon was true. I really hope he will be.

In Ormoc we met up with Elder Cottle's grandparents who are serving in the Cebu temple but came to visit for his birthday on monday. It was awesome. They took us to Moon Cafe. You would not believe it but there is actually some decent Mexican food here in the Philippines. Granted it wasn't really spicy at all but man it was the best meal I've had in a long time. I had a chimichanga a fajita salad a beef taco and  a pineapple shake. His grandparents also got me some garments and a copy of Preach My Gospel. My plan is to give one away and get the other bookbound. 

On Tuesday We had a really good district meeting in the morning. In the afternoon, we taught another new investigator whose son is a member in Manila. We taught another investigator and more less active families.

On Thursday we went on exchanges with our Zone Leaders to get certified. Elder Cypers is an awesome missionary. He really knows Cebuano and is a phenomenal teacher. It was awesome that I got to work with him. We got punted in the morning from some of the less actives so we went finding. We gave away some copies of the Book of Mormon but I don't think it's going to go anywhere fast with them. We had my stew for lunch. They said it was awesome. In the afternoon, we actually got to teach some families. We taught the Porquiado family and shared about Alma the Elder praying for his son and the Angel experience. We committed them to pray for and invite their less active son to return. After that we went to Suba to teach a less active priesthood holder but he said he was busy. So we went to the hospital and left copies of the BoM with the chief nurse, who is actually the wife of one of the Brgy Capts. Hopefully something comes of that. After that we took a ride to Bangkal and taught one of the Brgy Capts and his wife the Message of the Restoration. It frustrates me so much when we teach it as clearly as we can and then they say that all religions are the same and we believe the same thing. After that we taught another less active family. We went back home and  did evaluation and certification. I am now certified for the first level. Which means I could be a senior companion if called upon by the Lord and President Andaya. 

On Saturday we taught the Balombao family. We read the reading assignment with them and then proceeded with a lesson about baptism. We shared from Mosiah 18:8-14. There was such a good Spirit there. When we asked the question What have you against being baptized so the Lord can pour out his Spirit more abundantly upon you. Bro. Balombao answered with verse 12 saying this is the desire of his heart. Sister Balombao still doesn't see the difference between the religions no matter how many times we try to explain it. She can't read very well because her eyes are old. We asked her to read one verse from 3 Nephi 11:26. She read it. We asked her to pray about it and she did. She asked for an answer. I think that is the first time she may have ever read from the Book of Mormon and prayed about it in public. We invited them to a baptismal service on the 16th. I really wish Nanay would have an Alma the Younger experience.

Sunday was really cool. We woke up and had studies then went to Priesthood meeting. Halfway through an investigator walked in. He was from Tabango which is about 15 km north of here. He asked to know a little bit more about the church. Apparently he had read a lot from his neighbors copy of the Book of Mormon. We talked to him in the sunday school room and explained a little more about Joseph Smith. He basically quoted the Testimony of Joseph Smith and knew about several Book of Mormon prophets. We gave Oliver his own copy of the BoM as well as all of our proselyting pamphlets. We asked President Andaya if we can go teach him or if Tabango can be opened and have some missionaries there, He has yet to respond. I really hope we can go there. The members here are totally willing to help open the area.

After Sacrament meeting we attended branch council meeting and urged everyone to get started on temple recommend and patriarchal interviews now so everyone is prepared. Thankfully they listened. I heard they were at the church til 5 doing interviews. The attendance was pretty good but there were still a lot of people absent. We need some consistent growth here. 

Overall I'm doing great. Thank you all for your letters and prayers. You really make it a lot easier on me knowing that you're all following the Gospel.

Love you all

Elder McGuire

4 months already?!

Time sure does fly when you're on a mission. I can't believe how fast it's gone. It does not feel like 4 months since I said goodbye.

However, it was another good week here.

On Tuesday we got some new investigators. The brothers of a recent convert were over at his house and invited us in. They had questions like who was Joseph Smith? so we jumped right in to the message of the restoration. We gave them a Book of Mormon each and committed them to read it. Unfortunately they were not there for the return appointment on Friday because there was a huge fiesta over the weekend. I hope they read it and have more questions and that we can find them again. They live in a pretty bukid (out in the middle of nowhere) area. Also the recent convert is less active now because he is offended by someone or something that happened last year. That seems to be the story with a lot of people.

On Wednesday morning, we got up at 3 and went to Tacloban for a conference. We got to hear from the Mission President of President Andaya, President Leishman. He gave a really good talk. There is a big difference in Returning with Honor and just returning. He also said that President Hinckley told him that the church would be well known in the Philippines when his children's children were serving missions. Which is now!

Because of the way transportation works here we couldn't get a ride home that night so we stayed in the downtown apartment. We couldn't leave until 11:45 the next morning. Which means we got back at 4 in Villaba. We did weekly planning and didn't have an opportunity to get out to work.

However Friday and Saturday were good. We taught a few less actives and got a new investigator as well. He is the "husband" of another member. That seems to be an issue here in that lots of people aren't married yet living together. However, I would say it's about the same in the US. Wildy was really interested in what his "wife" believes. He accepted a Book of Mormon and said he would read 3 Nephi 11. He also said that if it's true he wants to be baptized! Only problem is he is only in Villaba on the weekends. He lives in Ormoc during the week as a delivery driver for Coca Cola. We gave his name to our Zone Leaders and they're going to teach him while he's there and we'll teach him while he's here. 

Sunday was alright but there were a lot of absent people. We averaged 70 for the month of January. That pretty good seeing as it used to be around 40 or 50 but we need 80+ for February and March. I wish everyone could recognize the bigger picture here and see what blessings the restored Gospel of Jesus Christ can bring.

The big news of this week is that we set up a time to teach our neighbor's family tonight. He is a baranggay captain. They know some English. they have their own business selling mineral water. They have a car and a few motorcycles. They are very nice and offered dinner to us this past week before we even knew them very well. Hopefully they are prepared to receive the message. They received copies of the Book of Mormon in both English and Cebuano a couple weeks back. Hopes are very high for tonight.

Later today we are headed to Ormoc because it's Elder Cottle's Birthday today. His grandparents serve in the Cebu temple and got permission from both mission presidents to come visit us. I'm pretty excited.

Life is great. 

Keep on praying

Keep on being obedient to the commandments

Keep on exercising faith in our Savior Jesus Christ

This work is the work of the Lord

Love you all

Elder McGuire

What a week!

This past week has been quite awesome!

To start off, we had an FHE with a less active family. We watched the Restoration video with them. It's very interesting to me how when it's the news, people can't seem to pull their eyes away, but when it's something spiritual it's like the tv is not even there. It was slightly awkward. However, at the end we testified of Joseph Smith and the First Vision and it turned out really well. There was a great spirit there and they ended up coming to church as a family yesterday.

On Tuesday, we went to Ormoc for our zone meeting. Unfortunately there wasn't enough time to get certified at the end. Elder Cypers and Elder Misalucha (my Zone Leaders) said they would come do exchanges with us sometime soon so we could both get certified. After we got back, we taught a less active family and a returning family. Both came to church. The Borja family is so sweet. They struggle from day to day but they have such great faith in the Lord. Tatay is such a good family man and is really skilled but he needs a steady job. He has amazing faith. He was one of the first converts here in Villaba like back in 1997ish.

On wednesday Tatay Borja came with us to visit less actives in the morning. If anyone deserves blessings from faith it's him. In the afternoon we visited more families in Brgy. Tumamak. We are really stressing the importance of being temple worthy and going to Cebu in April to receive endowments and be sealed. There are quite a few families that are planning to go.

On Thursday we kind of got bunted all around and didn't have a whole lot of success. We did meet a Filipino/American from Washington. He's Catholic and his wife is a member. Even though he wasn't interested in listening to the message he was really supportive and gave us a free ride home when we were walking back at night.

Friday we went back to Ormoc and had interviews with President Andaya. Unfortunately I can't buy a guitar here. They are super cheap here like 30 to 40 bucks. Bummer kaayo...  We also received some awesome training to improve our teaching skills as well as finding and working with members. When we got back we taught the Balombao family. Tatay is so ready to be baptized and is converted to the Gospel. His problem is he cant get work off on sundays. Nanay is a whole nother problem. She has a testimony that the Book of Mormon is true and Joseph Smith is a prophet but thinks that all religions are the same and no matter how many times we try and reteach the apostasy and restoration and authority, she doesn't quite get it. Also they are worried about how far away the church is. it's 30 pesos roundtrip for me and Elder Cottle but they get discounts for being senior citizens. I'm not quite sure what else to teach them. They just need to exercise some faith.

Saturday was somewhat unsuccessful as well but Sunday was fantastic! We had 85! There was a brown out and no electricity or fans but it was reverent. I spoke on Obedience and Elder Cottle spoke on how great things come to pass from small things. President Cabintoy from the Stake Presidency spoke on Tithing. It was awesome! Everyone seems to be pretty committed to returning and accomplishing this goal! It's so awesome!!!

Earlier today we did a service project for one of the Brgy Captains. Hopefully he will be prepared to receive the Gospel. Hopes are high for this week and we're hoping to keep on improving.

Thank you all for the letters and support! It sounds like the Lord is really blessing all of you. That's an answer to my prayers! :) 

Keep on keeping on! Study the scriptures pray magnify your callings and keep the faith!

Love you all

Elder McGuire

The Stovetop Brownie Experience

I'll explain the title later.

But Hello again to everybody!

This last week was a good week.We didn't have as many lessons this week and it kind of showed in the Sacrament attendance but we're not getting discouraged. In fact Sacrament meeting yesterday was really great! Angelo Sinining's entire family came to church! And he passed the Sacrament. It was so awesome! We actually taught his family the first few points of the message of the Restoration on saturday. They're all really nice. another high point of sacrament meeting was we got a really inactive high priest to come to church. Brother Brigoli was on time and clean shaven with his scriptures. Everyone was super excited to see him. There were smiles and hugs all around. He said he wanted to be active again.

On Saturday was the Philippines Area Broadcast. We went to the Ormoc stake center to see it. It was really good. It has really refocused our efforts on what needs to be done.

Now to explain the title. On the 10th I decided I wanted some brownies. However, we dont have an oven. Nor does any missionary apartment in the mission. So I decided to get resourceful and make them in a non stick frying pan on the stove. I'll have you know they turned out great! They were delicious and I ate all of it. Also the next day I made some of that vegetable stew again the next day and this time I threw in a lot of A1 steak sauce. Oh yeah! I can definitely cook.

My Cebuano is great. I have definitely been blessed with the gift of tongues. I can communicate with most everyone but I'm still a little slow. Also, Filipino humor is a lot different than American humor. Still working on that whole thing.

Next transfer day is not til February 15. I'm pretty sure I wont be transferring though. Elder Cottle has been here for 6 months and they're not going to whitewash the area. 

For any packages please send beef jerky and nonperishable american food. Filipino food isn't exactly the healthiest. However, I'm staying in shape and doing just fine.

Our investigator pool is pretty good. We're teaching the SInining and Montibol families. Both are progressing pretty well. We're also teaching the Balombao family. They are in their 60s and have been investigating for like the past two years. Tatay wants to be baptized more than anything but doesn't want to without his wife. Nanay is devoted to Catholicism. However, last lesson we really had a breakthrough. She thought that Mormonism and Catholicism were basically the same. I explained and testified about the authority of the priesthood. we have a lot to cover with her. We fasted for her to receive an answer. She didn't come to church but I'm thoroughly convinced that if she will, she'll know that this is the true church.

Just going to keep pressing on this week. Thank you for all the prayers and support.

Keep the Faith

Love you all!

Elder McGuire