March??

Yeah I cant believe for one second its March already!! Crazy!

This week went well! The progression of our branch is amazing!! Yesterday we pull up to the meetinghouse and I see a bunch of young men standing outside the entrance! Usually we're one of the very first ones there so that shocked me a little bit! And then we go to find out that they are ushering people in just like we did when I was in young mens! And that was just super super super exciting to see that! I was probably more excited than I should have been but it was cool! And then the meeting started EXACTLY at 9, which in the Philippines is really rare! And then to top it all off, the missionaries didn't participate in the sacrament program, which means the branch's own priesthood holders were doing it all! Holy cow it was an exciting thing to see!!!!

This last week I went on exchanges with my district leader, Elder Larson in Villaverde. We had a really good time and learned a lot! One thing I noticed was how prepared one of their investigators was! We taught the Law of Tithing and Law of Chastity and she was so willing to ask questions and learn by the spirit! She's getting baptized this week and I can tell that she was definitely prepared before the missionaries even started talking to her.

We also had some RM's from the branch come work with us and they were super talented! This work is the best when we have support from the branch!

We have some investigators here that are so close to accepting the gospel! One is Nanay Jesusa. She's so humble and willing to learn and knows that The Book of Mormon is true and that Joseph Smith is a prophet, I think she might just struggling a little bit with the social aspect of a change like this!

But I love love love being a missionary! I always think I wouldnt want to be anywhere else right now! Even though there are some crazy people we talk to that just make us laugh, its a good life.

Take care and have a great week!

Elder Navarro

bought a pawnshop. joke!!!

my Idaho brother Elder Poulter

bought a house

this is a beautiful part of the world

Elders Kocherhans, Larona, me and comp Balea-an

with young women in the branch

Ang bilis ng oras! (Time flies!)

Hello.

Its crazy how fast time has gone by. Feel like yesterday that I just came into the MTC! Anyway

I'm hearing about people get their mission calls and going out its crazy! Super exciting tho!

We had zone conference this last week with President and Sister Rahlf and it was such a blast! They really focused on going beyond what you think you can do. He showed a clip from "Facing the Giants" when the guy crawls across the field in a bear crawl to represent that we can do more than we think we can. But they do it in such a loving way I love it! They are such amazing people! We got some new standards of excellence for this 2015 and when I first saw them, I was a little scared because they are really high and going to push us a lot! for example in one week the goal is to talk and testify to 70 new people in a week. But we tried literally talking to everyone we see almost and I know that this is the way God wants us to do the work in the Philippines! We're really lucky here, because here, people are a lot more open to listen and talk to missionaries than in other countries, so this is definitely the way that missionary work can be done here! But I still believe and know that the very very best way to find people is through members! Because immediately there is that support! I'm sure you've read that in PMG. So true. So true.

People are starting to progress. I think I've said this before, but we have a lot of new investigators! The one that comes to mind right now is Nicole, she wants to follow Jesus so bad and is really spiritually and religiously mature for her age! But I really want to teach their family so bad!! They're so nice and already comfortable with the missionaries! We have found some families, but they arent really progressing. There is one though that I really think could! The Garcia family. The three kids came to church with one of their friends and the kids so far have really shown a lot lot of interest! The mother however, not so much..... but I totally believe her heart can change! Also another tatay. He's an older guy, but he reminds me sooooooo so so much of Joseph Smiths experience! He's so confused why there are so many churches and he's attended many of them trying to find the truth. He's been praying so hard that specifically Jesus Christ will appear to him in a dream and literally point to the right church. He says if that happens the arguments over and he will do it. Such faith!! I already feel such a love for the guy! And its hard because his body has a lot of problems so he has a hard time traveling a long way.

We got to play basketball again this morning with another zone! Its some good basketball too! There's four really good players there and I enjoy playing with them so much! Dang! We start really early so we dont get caught in the crazy heat. And even then, the heat starts coming and sun shines, and you feel like dying. haha its fun tho!

Gosh this work is true! And i'm loving every second!!! I know that Jesus Christ lives and directs this work here in the Philippines! There are times like right now... when I feel Him so close to me!

Love ya!

Elder Navarro
 

Oh heres another story about spiders! Haha we found 2 more huge ones in our apartment, and the first one, Elder Baclea-an tried to kill with his sandal and when he did, he like threw it against the wall and apparently it had a huge huge egg! And then it exploded with a billion little tiny spiders! Which means that they're all going to grow and be huge like its mother...I'm scared. ha but yeah i'm not looking forward to finding those things. but we're spraying a lot of insect stuff around so I hope that that is enough protection. haha.

Not Much Time

So I dont have much time left, but... (some stories i sent my family)

Our week over here has been great! One of the highlights was the Solano District Conference this last week. It was awesome to see all the Saints in the Solano District gathered together like that! President and Sister Rahlf also came and spoke and holy cow they are definitely inspired and being led!

So we are teaching a younger kid named Nicole and she loves religion and loves Christ, so we've been teaching her for a while and she believes that Joseph Smith and the Book of Mormon is true, but she is still a little apprehensive about getting baptized. But the past lessons it has almost been just like a good time, but now I think she realized that we werent just there to laugh and have a good time, but we were completely serious about our invitation to her to be baptized. But I'm super excited for her because I can literally see and feel the Holy Ghost testifying to her that this is what she needs to do! Now I really hope she just commits and then maybe her parents will let us teach them as well! That would be so awesome! I've been really praying to find a family to teach! That is seriously the greatest thing in the world!



pict of a Tricycle or "Tricee"

A cool experience last night actually. We were working in Sta. Lucia and we had a dinner appointment at 6. And since our area is gigantic, it was probably about 45 mins away from Sta. Lucia. So long story short, we were in the middle of a teaching and I looked at the clock and noticed it was 5:50. I thought, "oh crap.. I absolutely hate being late and we're still really far away!" So in my head I thought again, "eh its alright... we'll catch a tricee and then a quick jeepney and we'll only be like 10 mins late." Even though I had a feeling that we had overstayed our visit there. So we finished up and jetted outside to try and catch a tricee.... 3 passed by us without stopping and then all of the sudden, there was absolutely none. Then we received a text from our dinner appointment asking where we were. I felt horrible!! So we just started speed walking and I was praying so hard that we would find a tricycle. I prayed "Heavenly Father, I know we should've left earlier and planned a lot better, but please please please send us a tricycle so we can get there fast" But there was still nothing. Usually you can hear them buzzing around but there was none! I was sooooo disappointed, but as we were walking I saw a parked tricycle and we decided to go ask for help and a ride and amazingly, they agreed and we got a ride to the highway, And I was thinking on the ride that this was really sent from God. I think sometimes we think that God will just give the things we ask for to us with nothing on our part, no effort besides the fact that we ask. But I believe Heavenly Father taught me a lesson last night. That He will prepare, according to his will, a way. But we have to be willing to take the step of faith and act. And in my case that was looking for a tricee and doing everything I could to obtain one. I know that God answered my prayer even more because right when we got to the highway there was a jeepney right there as if it were waiting for us... and it was one of those really really fast jeepneys! So I don't believe at all that experience was a mere coincidence.

Keep pressing forward! Heavenly Father loves His children and this work is being led by Him and Jesus Christ!

Elder Navarro

Good Times

Things are going awesome over here! This morning we got up early so we could play some basketball with another zone who does their p-day over here in Solano! And I have a friend here named Elder Poulter. He played for Rigby high school and is just a year older than me. And I remember playing against him in the summers! So we played against them this morning (4 on 4 and 5 on 5) and gosh it was so fun! It was super nice to be able to play and talk about basketball with him! He's a super nice kid and a good player so we had some battles out there on the court! It was especially nice because I've been having some basketball withdrawals lately. We agreed to get together after the mission and ball it up!

But the work here was a little slow this week. People going out of town, not being there for appointments, and a TON of walking. Sometimes days and weeks like that can be really discouraging and frustrating! I definitely felt that these last few days. But I really learned that it really is a choice to have a good day or not. And Heavenly Father knows my limitations, and won't give me anything I cant handle.. But that doesn't mean it will be easy. A lot of times we have challenges that will really push us to the brink of giving up.... But one of my favorite scriptures has helped me for sure in 2 Nephi 31:20. And the words "press forward with a steadfastness in Christ" really have a new meaning to me.

But another thing that is really saddening is people's situations. Whether its money or a bad day or family troubles, it sucks to have to see people going through that! And even though we cant help them with money or changing their situation, we can give them the best gift this life has to offer which is the gospel. And I'm discovering every day how much and in how many ways the gospel helps us live and its literally endless! A huge example to me of this is Sister Lina. She really doesnt have a lot of money and her and her husband split a while ago so she's raising an 11 year old kid by herself now. She's super strong tho and always seems to be happy even when her situation is hard. There are so so so many other examples of strong saints who continue to press forward even in hard times. I'm super grateful for tender mercies! They are everywhere!

But yeah this week we were able to give people baptismal dates and I feel good about the direction we are going with them! But yeah this week was a slower one for sure. We did however get a surprise visit from the District Presidency and other leaders in our Branch last Sunday so that was awesome and the church is in good hands in this part of the Philippines.

But anyways, Thank you for the update and know that I love you guys!

Elder Navarro

 

Teaching part of the Plan of Salvation

 

 

Indiana Jones pose on a hanging bridge

 

My comp Elder Baclea-an

 

We got to fly kites on Prep Day with Elders Volpe and Larona

 

Girl in the middle Afrilyn, an investigator. She's a stud!

 

with ZL Elder Kocherhans, He's awesome!

with Elders Larona, Kocherhans and Baclea-an

 

 

Transfers and some new faces!

Hello!

So this last week was transfer week and unfortunately, my tatay, Elder Saguire, was transferred...But thats alright! The work still continues! My new companion is Elder Baclea-an from Cavite. He's an awesome guy and are already getting along really well! So thats been a tender mercy for sure! Another crazy thing is that he's taller than me! Thats another change haha!

The work this week has been going really well! A highlight this week was actually my first full day with Elder Baclea-an. We were in Sta. Lucia and we were getting punted like no ones business! And I was also pretty nervous because Elder B didn't have any idea of the area, let alone people to go to. So I've been praying a TON for some guidance in figuring out where we need to be.. I had an impression that we needed to visit one of our old investigators, Mardi. And it was a longshot because she's rarely at her house because she goes to school far away. But we went for it. Getting there was a little discouraging because there was a ton of drunk people and men hitting on us, it was sketchy. But we got to Mardi's house and her little brother or cousin comes up to us and tells us that she's there! And amazingly she was! So then we got to talking and eventually got to share with her again about the gospel! And during that lesson it was confirmed to me without a doubt that we needed to be there! She was super receptive and was asking us questions and really opened up to us about her situation with the Gospel! She believes its true and wants to be baptized but she gets discouraged because the teaching is always cut off by her at school. But anyway, I fasted this last Sunday for a solution to help her. So we'll see where this goes!

But yeah as always the language is a roller coaster. There are days of complete confidence and thinking to myself, "holy crap im fluent!" and then there will be a day or two of "I'm pretty sure they're speaking chinese." But all is well! All is well.

I'm realizing every day how imperfect I am and how imperfect we all are. And there are times when that is super discouraging. But I'm so thankful to people around me who have helped me through those times when it feels really hard. Its amazing how the Lord makes up all that you lack when you just try your best! I saw this last week when we found a ton of new people to teach in one of our areas.

But sorry this is long again. But I thank you so much for the prayers that have been said on my behalf... its humbling to think that. thank you. The Lord is taking care of us over here! :) Love you all! Have an amazing week!

Elder Navarro

It's almost February already!

I get the feeling that there are going to be a lot of changes here in the next week or so. So its transfer week which means a lot of missionaries are on the edge of their seats to see if they're the one! So turns out that my companion, Elder Saguire, will be transferred. As well as my zone leader Elder Volpe (who is now going home to apply the principle of "finding", he learned from his mission).

So this week has been great! We had splits again this week with the district leader. I was with Elder Larson again. He's an awesome guy and an awesome missionary! We got to work in our area and it was a good experience to talk and teach people we knew without Elder Saguire! But that's how its going to be from now on ha! I'm really super super super super super grateful to my tatay/trainer Elder Saguire. He was truly the one that Heavenly Father wanted me to be companions with, and I could see evidence of that everyday!

So one super amazing thing happened yesterday at church! We have really been focusing on member-missionary work so we can really work together with the members here! And yesterday we saw some of the fruits of that effort! A few young women brought 3 of their friends to church! We got to know them and they want to be taught by the missionaries! So we have an appointment with them this week!

Also Brother Vinson (a 16 year old young man) invited his best friend to Family Home Evening with us and he really wants to know find out more about the gospel!

This work is literally being led by Jesus Christ and its amazing to be a witness of the hastening! And as a side note.. Elder Volpe got really sick again.. so he gave his final talk yesterday kneeling on a chair... just in case haha. And then while he was talking all the Branch Presidency were on the edge of their seats! (in case you dont know.. he passed out in the middle of his last talk)

But we are also teaching a man named Shan. He is half filipino and half pakistan. so naturally, he grew up as a muslim, but is really interested in Christianity so he loves to talk to us! We had an awesome awesome lesson about faith with him and I pray that his heart will be opened so his faith will grow!!!

I'm super super super thankful for the Gospel! Its true! The Book of Mormon is the word of God! The Atonement not only covers our sins... but it enables us to do more than our own capacity.

Love you all! Thank you for all you have helped me with! Have a great week! Sorry this is a long letter!

Elder Navarro

The Work of Salvation

Hello everyone!

Hope things are going well over there and I dont forget you in my prayers! The work over here has been a little slow lately.. The bummer thing is that there are a few of our investigators who we really feel could be progressing and really starting to come closer to Christ but due to work or school... some of them are rarely home.. so thats been a real bummer.

This last week we had an Elder's Quorum activity for bonding and just having a good time at the farm
of one of our members. He has a lot of this land for i'm not sure what, but its right next to a river and its just beautiful!!! This spot specifically reminded me of Idaho! Ha but the night was awesome! We had food, activities, a devotional, testimony meeting.. it was just an awesome time with the priesthood holders of our branch!

So theres a family we visit pretty often, the

Eneja's. And they're an awesome family! Their father works really far away and is only home ever so often.. but this family doesnt usually come to church. But the father came back this last week and the first time i met him was on sunday when he came to church with all his kids! Such an awesome guy and an awesome family! We visited their family that night and their family started to really open up to us! Talking about family and how much it means to be sealed in the Temple of God for eternity! Needless to say it was an amazing experience.. to feel the Spirit of God as it pertains to families.. That really is the essence of the Gospel.. How important the family is in God's plan. Love is an amazing thing.

Then this last week, after the father had already gone back to his work... the family again came to church! Awesome because Sister Eneja hadnt been to church in a loooong time! But during the meeting when we were talking to her she said, "dont worry elders... I wont be leaving anytime soon" Wow!

Its been a fun week! The Church is true! Miracles are happening every day and the heavens are open!

The only bummer part is the odds of Elder Saguire transferring are pretty high since he's been here close to 8 months.. but we'll see what happens.. anyway love you all!

Elder Navarro

new ride

 

Sporting a rice farmer hat

haha preparation day baller

 

riverside with Elder Saguire

Elder Volpe's last meeting with the zone before homebound

 

Polynesisan Haka warrior dance