Elder Bednars visit

This week all of the missionaries in our mission got to together and were able to listen to Elder Bednar and Elder Bowen along with their wives! It was sooo good. We left Thursday morning and got home on Monday morning. Not too much happened before the trip, we found some new investigators and Ceasar is still doing well. He reads the Book of Mormon and the pamphlets even though he can barely see! He's been saving up for glasses for awhile now and said he should get them this week. But it's cool how he reads, he says he always has a huge headache after like two minutes of reading because of his eyes but as he continues reading his headache goes away. It's cool seeing his faith grow as he continues to do the right things. One other thing is we have permission to do some studies outside now to save time. Our area is kinda far from the house so we had language study right by a sweet river by our investigator's house. A little hot but alot prettier than at the classic desk haha. Saves time too so it probably won't be the last time we do that! I love Palawan:)

So in the airport in Palawan we met a member who was from Quezon City but actually lives in Australia now. He's traveled like the whole world including Utah. He bought six of us missionaries lunch which was super super nice of him. It's the first time I've had a ham sandwich on my mission! On the plane ride to Manila I sat by a French guy and had a good convo with him. He had just chilled alone in Palawan for 3 months in a little hut in El Nido haha. He wasn't too interested in the message though, he refused to take a card which doesn't happen alot with Fililpinos haha. I also met a guy from Ukraine later on in Manila. It's super weird talking to foreigners.

We stayed with the Mandaluyong elders. 10 of us piled into their little house and it was a blast. I was able to go to Mcdonalds and Mang Inasal while there which will always give Elder Reber a smile. I broke my rice record at Mang Inasal haha. We were assigned to be with Elder Mitchell and Elder Jones. They're both so awesome. Elder Mitchell is one of my best friends in the mission, we had a blast teaching together. Elder Jones is from England and i just bashed him how Real Salt Lake would take down Manchester United in soccer haha. Also, Elder Cibuco my tatay was in their kabahay so it was fun to update him about Tondo and to actually be able to speak Tagalog somewhat better to him.

We had interviews friday with president. Interviews are always the best. I always can't believe how President loves so many missionaries as much as he does. It's like we know each other so well even though we've only talked a few times. I'm hoping I can learn to love people I don't know to well more and more as I continue my mission and throughout my life.

Saturday was the big day. We had a mission luncheon in the morning where I got to see EVERYONE. It was so fun. I've met some awesome people here in my mission. Elder Jervoso told me that Lheia Dela Cruz as well as some of our other investigators will be baptized in 3 weeks! Also the Santos' daughter and her whole family is taking mission discussions now. Super cool. We then got a huge mission picture with Elder Bednar and got to hear from him for a few hours. Elder Bednar is the smartest guy I've ever met it's crazy. The spirit in the meeting was awesome. It will probably be the only time in my life I'll be in the room with an apostle, a member of the 70, and a mission president. A few quick things I thought were cool: "you don't just go to the celestial kingdom for what you did, but for who you became. If you think the gospel is a hassle to live right now would you really want to live in the Celestial kingdom where everyone loves living its principles? If you keep living worthily throughout your life you will over time have no disposition to do evil or something against the will of God. The more experiences you have, the more you will be able to acheive this state." "The faith that moves mountains is the same faith that trusts His will. You won't ever see huge miracles but you must look for the small ones daily. Those are what will convert you."

My favorite though was a question one missionary asked, "what makes a person a great person?" He talked about how all of the other apostles and prophets he has worked with have absolutely no ego. They do nothing for themselves or for personal recognition. Their will is God's will and they have complete trust in Him and will do anything neccessary while in this life because they know of the blessings of God's perfect plan. He said they're better in private than they are in public. Integrity is something that not many people see, but God sure sees it. I learned I can really improve on putting away my selfish desires and give all I can to Him. It was a cool experience and I have no doubt he's an Apostle of God, just like Peter was in times of old.

The rest of the week was great. We had zone conference Monday actually so that's why i'm emailing today. Tons of meetings this week haha. Great week that I know I'll never forget my whole life. I'm super thankful for this opportunity to be a missionary! Take it easy everyone.

Love Elder Reber

This was the first time in over five years that every missionary of the Manila, Philippines Mission were able to meet together. What an amazing opportunity this was for Parker.