HAPPY BIRF-DAY ANNA!!!!

Hey!! Man Was this a great week! So much stuff is going on lately time just flies! We have had some great experiences this week, I had the opportunity to go to a few different places in the mission for exchanges this week. We went to Carissa, then San Pedro Laguna, and also here in Molino. It get pretty crazy with exchanges because we have to do 10 exchanges in 6 weeks, plus all the other stuff. But its super fun to work with all these  great missionaries, and to see all these cool places! 

      We have recently been teaching another potential priesthood holder, who should be baptized this April the 25th! His name is Brother Silverito, He is a great man. He is the uncle of one of our Recent Converts, he's about 60 years old. His father is actually a member down in Davao, his father is 85 years old and still an active member. He has had a crazy past, he's been homeless at times. But before we had even met him he had been to church a few times and really wanted to learn about the gospel. He has very little knowledge of Christ and his teachings but is so humble and willing to learn. He is truly a great example of Christ's words, " Humble yourselves as a little child", He is such a humble man. All he tells us is he cant wait to tell his father that he is going to be baptized. I am very excited for him. 

   Another cool experience just happened earlier was our newly baptized convert brother Raymond has been doing great, and just been preaching the gospel to everyone. He was so excited to give us referrals. Well he gave us 7 referrals earlier that we taught and we were expecting like a family and stuff, haha the only problem is they were all children!! Like 8 years old to 13. We taught them of course because of all the trouble brother Raymond went through to set it up. Well we just taught them the simple principle of praying to our Heavenly Father. Well as we were teaching I kind of just got the feeling like there was no use cause they are just children. But we decided to invite each child to say their own prayer one by one. Well they did, and I was touched. These humble poor children were praying for things like, " Please help my mom and dad to stop fighting, it makes me cry." And " Please help my father to be healed from his sickness, " please help my dad to stop drinking" it was then that I was touched by their spirits. These children have hard lives, really hard. But they are still so humble a grateful for everything. The gospel helps anybody no matter how big or small. And I know those small prayers will be answered.

This past general conference was just amazing! I was spiritually full my spiritual buttons were popping. I loved every talk given, it really answered all the questions for me about the future, and right now in my mission. It helped me to evaluate, and to make new goals for improvement. A specific talk that I just keep reflecting on again and again is the talk by Elder Nielson of the seventy about the Prodigals son. He told the story of his lost sister, and how we just need to watch and wait, and pray that they come back. That's what the father did, just waited. What he said was something that I never have realized before about that story. He said the whole time he related to the other son who stayed home and his sister was the prodigals son. But at that moment he said "I realized that in some ways I was the prodigal son. All of us fall short of the glory of the Father. (see Romans 3:23). All of us need the Savior’s Atonement to heal us. All of us are lost and need to be found. This revelation that day helped me know that my sister and I both needed the Savior’s love and His Atonement. Susan and I were actually on the same path back home." It blew my mind, we all are the prodigals sons, we all fall short of him, but every day our Father just watches and waits for us to come home. And when he finally sees us approaching him, he will run to us and hug us, just like the father did in luke 15. So amazing and humbling to think about. 
I also liked Elder Hollands and Uchtdorf's talk on the Grace of Christ. To always be humble and grateful for his grace no matter how big or small our sins are. Just like the lord told Simon in the book of Matthew. It was all so amazing. What a great week. That was my last General Conference as a missionary. Man time is going way to fast, we have to slow it down somehow! 

Love,

Elder MC

P.S. Happy Birthday Anna! Girl I hope you have a good one! Your present will have to wait till July! I Love You!!!!

This is our recent convert that got baptized last week, Brother Raymond. He got all these kids rounded up and wanted us to teach them :),   so we taught them this morning after our studies.

Because he lives. /Email from April 6th

Hey family! Well this week has been a great one! Lots of stuff happened and so little time. We had a week of exchanges, and our MLC. It was kind of cool, first time I was on the other half of the Council. I had my first opportunity to teach to all these great missionaries. But it was an awesome experience! We talked a lot about honesty this month. Because there's been a bit of a problem with that here lately.  I have really reflected upon the principle of having an honest heart. That's why I mentioned it in our planning meeting. I really hope it will help out. That's truly what they are missing, they aren't honest with themselves, they aren't honest with their companions, they aren't honest with their work. So through that they aren't honest to the Lord. We just need to start with ourselves, if we continue to just be honest within our hearts, all else will fall into place with the work and obedience . 
The best part of the week though was our Baptism of Brother Raymond. It was one of the more spiritual baptisms i had ever been too. Everything went somewhat smooth and after he was baptized, there was a beautiful musical number given. Which made brother Raymond cry. These were the words to the song. 
"Oh my soul hungered the moment I knelt down to pray,
And felt all my doubts wash away.
Oh my soul hungered, He heard my cry.
The voice of the Lord spoke peace to my mind.
Oh my soul hungered Things that were old became new
When I learned to feel what I already knew.
With all my heart, With all my soul,
I wrestled before the Lord to make my life whole.
He filled my hunger, He fed my soul.
He fed my soul.
The truth that belonged to everyone else
Is now a sacred part of myself.
Oh, I found out what I could not find,
When I heard with my heart
What I knew in my mind.
Oh, my soul hungered."
He said while he was listening to the two speakers and preparing himself to be baptized he could remember all of his many past sins, and the feelings he had. Then after his baptism when he listened to the words, He really felt the lords mercy, and atonement. He felt he had been forgiven, which brought him to tears. The next day he was confirmed a member of the church. And was first to get up there and bear his testimony. He gave a great simple testimony of this true church. And said he felt like he had angels with him. As he spoke all I could think of was the promise in 2 nephi 31: 13-14 
"yea, by following your Lord and your Savior down into the water, according to his word, behold, then shall ye receive the Holy Ghost; yea, then cometh the baptism of fire and of the Holy Ghost; and then can ye speak with the tongue of angels, and shout praises unto the Holy One of Israel." "But, behold, my beloved brethren, thus came the voice of the Son unto me, saying: After ye have repented of your sins, and witnessed unto the Father that ye are willing to keep my commandments, by the baptism of water, and have received the baptism of fire and of the Holy Ghost, and can speak with a new tongue, yea, even with the tongue of angels"
He truly could speak with the tongue of angels, all he could say these past couple days, is this is the happiest time of his life. And I hope Pray, and fast that it will continue. I see great leadership in that man. It was great to be the instrument in his hands in this part of the vineyard. What a great Easter present. He is a great example of the Easter spirit. Christ lived again so that we may all live. He overcame all death sin and sickness, because he loves us. We just gotta find him. 

 Love, Elder Collins

Temple Day!

Hello WASUP!

 This week was really a great week for Elder Rindlisbacher and I. Transfer weeks are defiantly the most tiring of all the weeks. Man I think we got like 4 or 5 hours of real sleep in two days! It was actually really cool for me to have the opportunity to be at the going home fireside.(The fireside we do for the missionaries going home) The testimonies were great, and to see the sadness but excitement in all those missionaries eyes really strengthened my desire to work even harder. Because I don't want to even imagine blessings or people that I would miss If I didn't give it my all. 

      Being able to go to the Temple this past tuesday was also amazing. Every time I truly learn something new. My experience in the celestial room was amazing. Blessing of being an Ape:) I was told never go to the temple without a question in your heart. And every time he answers, without a doubt. Its like he's right there, actually he is right there. We also got to visit the American Cemetery in Manila on the way home from the temple! It was soo cool. Its the graves of all the Soldiers that served here during the war. Pictures on the way! 

   We also have a baptism coming up this week! I'm really stoked for it. Even in all the busy times its amazing to still be able to find and teach people like Brother Raymond. His story is really great too. He was a very prideful person back in the day. He had it all, great job, money and all that stuff. He smoked, drank and partied with friends. He wasn't very nice to people. Then one day life really hit him. His brother died due to alcohol. He lost his good job. And many other things. Well he broke down a bit and it really humbled him. That's when Bro. Yaona, his friend and member of Molino 1st,  introduced him to us. He was so excepting about the gospel. He knew that it was time to change, trusted in god that this was the right way. Well just like it always is step by step, Sunday by Sunday you could see his countenance change. He started out with so little knowledge. Wearing a t-shirt and jeans to church. To now wearing a shirt and tie. Shaking every ones hand as they walk in. Really being excited to become a member. People are surprised when they find out he's not a member. haha, It was really cool this last Saturday we taught him about temples and family history. As we started to teach him he asked us, " Hey wait, what about my brother who never got to hear the gospel?" And man, to see his eyes widen when we told him about temple work for the dead. It was so cool. Time and time again I've seen the atonement purify, and change peoples life. Unbelievable, the church is so true, all you have to do is look at the experiences of the members of this perfect church. 

   Elder Rindlisbacher and I actually read in the Preach My Gospel in chapter 9. Is whenever given the chance ask members and recent converts to share their conversion experiences with you because most people here are converts. It will help you get new finding ideas and also strengthen your desire and testimony. So we have made a little goal to do that whenever we find the chance. 

    We had a pretty cool experience this past Friday. We were walking and our plans fell through, so we were trying to think of where to go. We both had the impression to go to this nanay that we had OYMed last week, and every time we usually go there, she has an excuse for us not to teach. But we went anyway, and as we had thought she denied us again, saying "she was leaving." So right as we walked away this man called out to us. He asked us who we were, we introduced ourselves, and he said, "Halikayo! Lets go to my house!" We went with him and taught him the whole first lesson. He is a great man, who teaches his kids about Jesus, and how to follow his example. he reads the bible daily, and believed also that some kind of apostasy happened on the earth. What a cool experience, we are excited to go back and teach. I'm grateful we followed that prompting to go to that lady that day. Who knows if we ever would of met that man. We are truly in the Lords hands.

 Love, Elder Collins

Transfers na naman!

Hey family! Well its transfers already! ARE YOU KIDDING ME? haha man that flew by! The fastest transfer by far on the mission. And you know what transfer week is for apes, haha a busy week! But I'm super excited. We got a day of driving missionaries, going to the temple, hauling luggage, giving training, and driving more missionaries, and getting the transfer for missionaries to go smooth. Its pretty sweet. And guess what, I already go my trunky letter, haha the letter to plan your flight. Its going too fast. 

I'm super excited for the temple again. One of the bigger blessings of being an assistant. Not alot of people or missionaries get to go. So I am always so grateful for the opportunity. To be able sit again and to ponder and talk with my Father in Heaven. Stoked!

   Another cool part of the week was seeing brother Raymond, our investigator at stake conference in a shirt and tie. He went to all of the sessions too, even on Saturday. One thing that really touched our hearts was when we each gave him one of our favorite neckties. It really meant a lot to him and he said to us, " I really feel something in my heart, like a tingling feeling. I know this is true and that I am in the right place." It really made me feel the spirit too. I can really say that there is no better feeling then to know your investigators feel the spirit. We are blessed right now to feel the spirit everyday of our lives, but when they feel the spirit its a small miracle that takes place in their lives. If all goes as planned he should be baptized this April 4th. 
Its been a great week, we have been struggling lately to balance the assignments we have with the work that we want to accomplish. But this week has been a great blessing to see a few of the people we found last week start to progress. The English speaking couple we taught last week is now progressing, they really want to search the Book of Mormon, and pray to know if its true. Even though they have already said they believe its true. Another family we found said the same thing. And they want to come to church also! What a blessing. Its great to be able to balance the work.

Love you, Slow down the clock! 

Elder MC

Mission Tuuur

Hey! Man what a week! It has been awesome! Of course you already know that Elder Echo Hawk came of the 70/ Area Presidency. Well Tuesday was his first day here. First thing he did was interview President Tye. Then us. haha We had a 45 minute interview. He was a pretty serious dude, but we got him jokin a bit and talking about football, haha. Anyways the interview was cool, he mainly just talked about the mission and asked about our families. After that we drove him around a bit to look at a few missionary apts. haha that was pretty fun too, little scary driving him, you just gotta drive slow. haha. After that we had the opportunity to have dinner with him his wife and President and Sister Tye! Man that was cool. The next two days were zone conferences with half of the mission on each day. I conducted one day, elder bacher conducted the next. It was an amazing two conferences. I learned so much! Everyone who spoke was amazing. Ive reviewed my notes that I took like 3 or 4 times this week. That's awesome he emailed you! Send me a copy I wanna see it.

  This week for our work was actually pretty great due to we didn't get to start till Thursday night. This past week we have really cleaned out our teaching pool and have had success finding really prepared people. We have a lot of plans for baptismal dates. One particular finding experience we had this week was this last Saturday afternoon, we had been talking to people for awhile and hadn't had to much success, but as we were walking down the street we say this couple with matching T-shirts on, and big smiles.  I knew right then that we needed to talk to them. Well they were great, and they speak fluent English, actually that's what they prefer. They invited us into their home, and accepted our message. They said everything we were teaching made sense. And the husband asked for an English copy of the Book of Mormon so he could study it. It was awesome. Earlier in that day we had a man just stop us on the road and tell us to come in because he wants to hear us, and he had a lot of questions for us. Well boy did he ask and ask and ask, haha but the spirit really helped us to answer the questions he was giving us. well after only a short lesson, he told us he wants us to meet and teach his whole family. It was just an unbelievable experience. We plan to go back on Saturday and invite them to baptism. 

    We have also continued to help Bro. Raymond progress. He has a baptismal date for April 4th. He just came to church his 4th time around this past week. It has been a really cool change in him. Every time we teach him he just seems happier. And his first time at church he was wearing jeans and a t-shirt. The next time jeans and a nice shirt. The next time he was in slacks and a nice blue button up shirt. This last Sunday he was in a white shirt and slacks. He looked like an active member. All he needs is the tie. The gospel is changing his life. Its amazing to see.

   Our Elders Quorum teacher gave a great lesson yesterday on Jesus Christ. He really said something that hit me. He was talking about most peoples beliefs of Jesus Christ. And since he was an RM he knew the typical answer if we ask them why they believe in Jesus Christ or what is their belief. Was for them to be saved, or because that's what their teachers and parents have said. He said that was a selfish answer, "so I can be saved". He said we as latter day saints Believe in Christ because we "love him," and are grateful for what he did for us.  I really liked it, We should be doing all these things, just because we love him and cherish his gift he gave to us. I think Ezra Taft Benson said that a testimony is a "gift". "Conversion" is paying and being grateful for that gift. Something like that. He said that knowing and loving Jesus Christ can really help us shape our priorities in life, make decisions, and overcome trials. We can truly do anything if we know Christ in our lives. Man I love my mission!

Love, Elder Collins

Move it or loose it sister!! (Myles referring to his Filipino driving skills!)

Hey Guys! 

Well this week has been pretty busy! And I'm dead tired! haha but its been a good ride! (literally) We had a great week we have been doing a lot of preparation for our mission tour this coming Tuesday-Thursday. Elder Echo-Hawk of the Area seventy will be visiting our mission this week. And we get to drive him, and what not. Also we have an interview with him for 45 min! haha Its a little nerve wrecking but Im excited to learn from him, and hear what he has to say. He will be doing training with one half of the mission on Wednesday, and the other half on Thursday. Elder Rindlisbacher and I will be conducting the meetings. And I think we both have to speak a little bit. haha itll be my first time to speak to the whole mission. Its pretty crazy! But this week should be a pretty busy one! 

   Another thing that happend this week. Was we got a suprise email saying that we had to get 67 of our foreign missionaries who are going home this year. To Manila for fingerprinting on Saturday morning at 8am. We got that email Thursday afternoon. So it got really bust and crazy trying to inform all the missionaries and get them to the office, and then get them to Manila. It was a pretty hectic process! haha But it was a learning experience. I have really learned a lot, and strengthened my testimony and learned more about christlike attributes and leadership. I have grown in patience, and diligence, and love for others. Its so great to be in a position to truly just think of others, and ways to serve and help missionaries forgetting about yourself. Ive seen and had a lot of spiritual experiences with Elder Rindlisbacher. 

        Our work this week went well. Because of many distractions and things that came up, including fingerprinting. We didnt have as much work as we had planned and liked to have. But we gave it our all with the time we had. We have specifically been working with Brother Raymond, a referral given to us my first week here. He has been progressing very well. He willingly excepts the doctrine we share, and reads the assignments we have given him. He has attended church 3 times in a row now. This past week we were able to focus on the restoration and the Book of Mormon with him. We invited him to pray about it. And at our next visit he told us he believes that Joseph Smith was God's called Prophet and he is now reading the Book of Mormon. This last Sunday we saw him at church, wearing Sunday's best, and he was earlier than the members who were supposed to pick him up. He is a great prepared son of God. And when his wife gets back from work in a another part of the Philippines he is going to share it with her. He lived a very different life in the past, a life that he expressed he never wanted to go back to. Once he gets a strong testimony of the gospel, and atonement of Jesus Christ. Hes going to be baptized, and become a great leader someday. I just know it. Through all the busy stressful times. Teaching the gospel to him is a breathe of fresh air.

      One particular experience we had was this past Saturday. Its was pretty crazy from Friday night, to Saturday afternoon. Having to pick up the mattresses from Carissa, the help missionaries get to their apartments for the night. And then waking up at 3 so we coukd pick up missionaries and get them to the office on time. Well we didnt get much sleep. And we were pretty weak by the end of the day. We finished with the fingerprinting and dropping of missionaries around 5. And we were beat, with only 3 or so hours of sleep we were pretty tired. We just kept getting the feeling of just going home and resting for a bit. But we knew that we might miss out on time to work the field and that it was not the right thing to do. I kept thinking of the word of Elder Holland to the missionaries in brazil, "Just reach down, pull up your socks, and go to work. Start fast. Run hard, and to the tape! You can rest later." So with a prayer in our hearts for strength, we went to work tired,and half asleep,:) But we ended up having a great experience of being able to find one of Gods prepared children. We taught her a simple overview of the gospel message and invited her to read. There was a great glow on her face, as she accepted the invitation to read. And that next day, after just one short lesson. She came to church! Can you imagine what would of happened if we didn't go to work? If we just rested? We might never have found her. And that would of been on our heads. I'm grateful for that spirit and blessing from God to give us strength for that day. He knows us, and he knows our strengths and limitations. He knew we were close to that limitation. But he knew we could do it. He blessed us with just enough strength to carry on. And the results were positive. He really is mindful of his missionaries. Its been a good ride:)

Love, Elder Collins

HEY sorry I'm late!

Hey guys! Sorry I'm super late today. We ended up having to drive 2 hours to Manila to take some sisters for x-rays up by the temple. And then two hours back haha. Im pretty beat. But it was cool to see Manila again! The even cooler part was I was the one driving! haha I got my Filipino license this last Friday. Its so crazy driving in the Philippines. There are no traffic laws so its just a free for all haha. Its like MarioKart sometimes! :) Well this week has been great for Elder Rindlisbacher and I. He is probably one of my more favorite companions! He is a stud. We have a good time together. 

    We were also able to go on exchanges with the Bacoor Zone Leaders this past Tuesday. It was really great to go back and work with Elder Christensen in Imus again and be able to see all the people that we found and taught together. They are now recent converts of the church, it really strengthened my testimony of this gospel, and this work. No matter who taught them in the end, they were converted to the gospel of Jesus Christ, that's all that matters. We also were able to teach a family together that we had found right before I left that area, who were now progressing. But the mother was having a hard time on her testimony of the prophet Joseph Smith. So at the end of that lesson we felt prompted to have her kneel down with her family and pray and ask about Joseph Smith. She agreed, and as soon as she started the prayer the spirit was so strong. She finished her prayer, and just sat there in deep silence, we all had such peaceful feelings. She looked up with tears in her eyes and said she had never had a feeling like that before. Elder Christensen said that lesson was a big breaking point for them, so I'm excited to hear how it goes with them. 

    We also went on exchanges with the Molino Zone Leaders. (our next door neighbor) I had the pleasure of going to their area. Well we also had a pretty awesome experience that day too. Elder Matina (My batch) and I were not having much success at the start of the day, nobody was at home. For Elder Matina it was a little frustrated, so we stopped for a second, took some breathes. Then Elder Matina just said, "lets just listen to the spirit." We took a few more breathes then walked down this street. As we were walking Elder Matina says, " hey lets just go left" And literally right as we took that left trun we hear "Elders!" haha we ended up meeting a security guard, whose wife and children are members in Cebu, and he has a son on a mission in Davao. He was not a member because he had moved to Cavite to work. Well we taught him, and it was a great lesson. He already seemed like a member. I cant express how important it is to just listen to the holy spirit. I think sometimes when we are frustrated we forget that simple thing. Just stop and listen. And you will feel something. 

  Elder Rindlisbacher and I also had a cool experience yesterday. We had been teaching this lady and her children. We felt prompted to ask this particular member to fellowship her. We didn't know why but we figured it would work. Well when we showed up at the appointment last night. It turns out that they use to be enemies back in the day, because they argued about something at the palengke. But they became really great friends at that lesson last night. And the sister we were teaching even asked the member if she could pick her up next week for church! So it worked out really well, and that member was forever grateful that she was able to make up with that person. Another great result of following the spirit. 

This week has been great, busy busy of course. But I truly love every minute of it.

 Love, Elder MC

                                                  Working with brother Credo, he is a great guy!

Brother Credo bought us Barongs (traditional Filipino clothing)