Elder Parker Reber: Narra Palawan

This week was a nice one! Monday we finished up a project President gave us for zone conferences. We printed, laminated, and hole-punched tons of pictures that missionaries can use when they’re meeting someone new as well as in a lesson. We were kinda factory workers working pretty late some nights but glad to get most of those ready.

Tuesday morning we woke up and caught our flight to Palawan! We had a zone conference down there which went pretty well. The main focus was on switching things up as we work and especially as we find. Rather than trying to catch all types of fish with one hook we’re focusing on using different hooks to catch all types of fish. One thing we’re trying is some days leaving the apartment at 7 to meet people you wouldn’t normally meet at a different time of the day. We also are trying to be more effective when we meet people by asking them better inspired questions. Lots of times as missionaries we just have a quick few moments to meet a person so we’re trying to make the most of each situation! We were able to do some exchanges in Puerto Princesa Tuesday night then Wednesday night after zone conference we took a shuttle across the island to a place called Narra to exchange with some missionaries there. It was my first time over to that side of the island. It was a super pretty drive and it’s pretty remote that’s for sure. The people there were super kind- basically everyone you talk to you will let you in haha! We taught tons of lessons and I was able to learn a lot of new things. A neat thing that happened was we were in one lesson in a hut on the beach with a long-time less active. She opened up to us that she was offended and that was the reason she hasn’t been to church in years. She also said right off at the beginning that there’s no way she’d be going back. But President gave us some good counsel for these types of situations. He said that as missionaries we represent the church and we should simply say, “as representatives of the Jesus Christ and His church we’d like to say sorry.” So that’s what we did. We explained that the church is perfect but it’s members aren’t. We said sorry then just sat and waited in silence. She didn’t know what to say haha. I think she realized that she needed to forgive and move on like our Savior does. Elder Nudalo and I were then able to express our gratitude for Christ’s patience for both of us as we’ve tried to be missionaries for His church. Even though we as missionaries are so imperfect, I’m thankful for God and His Son’s perfect patience and hope for each of us. That lesson made me think all week of how thankful I am for Christ and His example. For His open arms and His hope in each of us.

It was super cool sleeping in my old house in Santa Monica again. There’s a little 11 yr old kid who lives next door who I became really close with back when I was assigned there and we got to see each other again. He got some iron man masks for Christmas so before walking into the house one of the nights we were there I had a pretty sweet fight with him. I’d say I took him down pretty good. There’s also a new 5 peso coin here that just came out but only people in the city have seen them. When we were using them to buy things in Palawan kids were freaking out haha it was fun to see.

We had P day over in Palawan which was super sweet! We took a 2 hour jeepney-bus ride to a place called hundred caves. I think I loved the drive there more than anything else! There were no glass windows so we had a nice fresh wind coming through as we drove through the forest and near the coast line. The caves themselves were pretty cool because hardly anyone goes there- we were the only two there for the tour haha. In the cave we saw these huge scary creatures that were half spiders and half scorpions. These caves are in this super remote barangay (little neighborhood/town place) and after we finished we walked through a little and talked to school kids and people from there. It was soo fun because they were in a spot that hasn’t seen missionaries before and the people were so friendly. Most of them were natives so it was cool talking and understanding people who haven’t really left that little spot of the island their entire lives. They had no electricity or cement homes it was really interesting and I don’t think I’ll forget interacting with people over there.

I love being a missionary and I know that this church is Christ’s church restored through the prophet Joseph Smith. I know that you can continue to trust in God in all things. Have a nice week! :)

Elder Reber