The Lost Sheep

WOW!!

It was a week I’ll never forget getting the work started in Green Island. There were multiple times throughout the week I was so shocked with what was happening I thought I was in some sort of dream.

Monday morning we got things ready to go on our little boat and made the 2 hr boat ride journey to the island with Elder and Sister Shields and two members who have family they wanted to visit on Green Island. The boat ride was SO pretty!! The water is so clear over here and it was nice have wind in your face and getting splashed a bit by water. Made it to the island and got things situated a little at the member’s house we’ll be staying at. The place is SO COOL! Haha we sleep in the upstairs part of the house and lots of the wooden boards up there are either missing or about to snap haha! A few mornings I’ve accidently stepped on some of them and thought I was about to fall through the floor. But it’s a super fun adventure!! We both have two small fans that we hook up to solar panels throughout the day so they can charge. They are supposed to run for 8 hours on high mode but we’ve noticed they only last about 3 hours on low mode haha. SO every night is burning to be honest haha! It’s all good though it’s lots of fun. Camera died this week and I left my charger in Manila but I have a new one now and will be better with pics next week.

For showering we have a well outside that has water coming from the ocean!! I’m pretty sure this is the first real well I’ve ever seen/used in my whole life! I remember growing up as a kid in Utah seeing wells at parks and houses but being disappointed when I looked down them seeing they were just for decoration haha. But we pull up the bucket and put the salty water into a tube near the well which transports the water to a bigger garbage bucket inside their bathroom in their house which is where we shower.

The whole island is sand with palm trees so we learned quickly shoes and socks won’t work here haha. We roll up our pants a little and I wear my sweet crocs and no socks haha!

The Canonigo family is the fam we live with. We call the father “kuya tata” , the mom “nanay Banching” , then they have five kids but only their two youngest still live with them on the island. Kent is 13 and Aubrey is 8. They’re like my two little siblings haha! Since there are no places to eat, part of the agreement to the rent contract is for them to cook for us three times a day. I’m pretty sure I’ll gain weight here because the mom said that’s her goal haha! We eat tons of fish which I hated before my mission but love it now. The fish is super super fresh here I’ll miss it lots! The fam went less active since the nearest church is in Roxas- it would cost too much to take the family there each week. They probably could’ve gotten permission from the bishop to do sacrament each week as a family but often the people here don’t know they can do stuff like that. Brother Tata is President of zone 4 (there are four zones on the island) so EVERYONE knows their family! Honestly the whole island is just one big family in my eyes since they know each other- even if they live on opposite ends of the island. I know there’s a reason they moved here and have lived on Green Island- the work probably wouldn’t have moved without them and all the people they’ve befriended over the years.

Brother’s testimony is super strong. He told people we taught he feels like their family was the “one lost sheep” and that God hasn’t forgotten them. He kept telling the story how Christ left the 99 to find the 1 and in his view that’s what is happening here in the island!

K now an update on the missionary work itself. We had no idea what to expect but we set goals before leaving to reach 70 new investigators in the week- 10 a day which would be more than anything I’ve heard since being here in the mission. We goaled for 15 nonmembers to be at church- what would be the most I’ve ever seen for myself in my mission. Other new areas that have been opened up lately have been around 8 the first meeting so we thought we were going into it faithful with high expectations. Well wow, we were shocked. I still can’t even believe all that happened last week haha. We spent tons of hours working and taught lessons nonstop. The people here are AWESOME!!! Many have asked us to teach them twice a day haha- once in the morning and once at night when the father is home (every single guy here is a fisherman- I’ve learned lots about fishin lately haha!) A common question for missionaries to ask a man is what his job is but we’ve found no use of even asking now because we already know the answer! By the end of the week we ended up with 117 new investigators who asked us to return to teach again.

Tuesday we gathered at the end of the island where it’s more quiet and dedicated the island for the purpose of missionary work from this point on. That was a really spiritual experience for me. President said to tell Heavenly Father our plan, what we’re willing to do, and then leave a blessing on the people as well as for a spot for a church to be available when the time comes for a church to be built. We had the Canonigo family join us for the blessing and they were super excited.

We’re teaching lots of families- many who know the Canonigo family. Some of them have anywhere from  6, 8, to even 11 kids haha! Basically everyone here has an “asawa” and kids- marriage is the main obstacle we see moving forward but they all have the desire to be married as well. The paperwork is just a mess here haha. By Friday we hadn’t even left zone 4 yet because we were so busy teaching and meeting new people in just that zone. Elder Davie and Elder Lucero (our zone leaders) came Friday to help us out and worked with us til Monday morning. We were able to make our way to a basketball court Saturday morning and before we knew it we had a 5 on 5 game going with a ref w/ a whistle, and a huge crowd watching us play. Elder Davie is 6 ft 3 and a pretty good player so it was lots of fun. We went back later that day and taught lots of families around the court who had watched us play.

We had moments where we’d find a group of about 8 and start teaching them outside under the trees. By the time we finished the opening prayer we’d have about 15 listening haha. There were a few lessons Elder Davie and I had where we had to stand because there were so many listening (over 30.) Just unreal haha.

Sunday we had two sacrament meetings. The first was at 11am and had an attendance of 33. The people who didn’t go that morning we dropped by in the afternoon and invited them to our sacrament service at 7pm. That one we had 45 show up. It’s funny because outside of the house there’s just a huge pile of flip flops because that’s what they wear to church here in the island haha! We were surprised by how many showed up- it was very humbling. The sacrament mtgs lasted about 45 minutes consisting of an opening hymn, prayer, message on the sacrament, sacrament hymn, sacrament ordinance, testimonies, closing message on forever families, closing hymn, and closing prayer. A total of 59 nonmembers were there between the two meetings combined.

I am thankful to be a missionary! We are in roxas since there’s no internet on the island haha. We have district meeting later then tomorrow morning we will be boating back to the island. Can’t wait to get back!! I’m thankful for the Canonigo family as well as other members who set the foundation for the island. Also thankful for missionaries in the past who would boat there and proselyte for a few hours every few months. The success we saw last week was definitely not because of anything we did. On the boat ride back to roxas earlier this morning I was just overcome with gratitude thinking of all that has happened over the time of my mission. I know that God lives and that he knows each of us. He knows our trials, our hopes, our goals, and even our weaknesses and strengths. He will mold us into what He needs of us if we will let Him do so. My confidence has grown lots throughout my mission but not in myself. I feel I now better trust Him and He has given me strength to do things I couldn’t do in the past. Excited to keep learning from these people next week!

Love elder reber

Roxas

Hey there!

Good week to be a missionary. Lots of changes this week- the mission is still throwing new experiences my way haha. It was awesome to call the fam on mother's day! Always super nice to see you guys and talk with you all for a bit!

Tuesday night was really hard! I said goodbye to my trainer Elder Cibuco as well as one of my companions in Las Pinas, Elder Moster. I've heard people say a trainer can be one of the most influential peope in your life and i can honestly say that about my trainer. Every time i think about that kid's face I'm just filled with so much gratitude. I've never worked with someone who went through such little school yet is so smart. He had every reason to complain but worked far harder than any other missionary in this mission haha. Totally left us all in the dust! I'm thankful for the friendship we made and hope to see him again.

It was tough leaving Makati 1st after 6 months! Lots of people there were great examples to me. I'm excited for the change and new opportunity though! Wednesday i went to new missionary orientation and met my new companion, Elder Pichay from Cagayan Valley. He's the man! He's 23 and has 2 other siblings. He's the first missionary to serve in his family. He had a pretty stable job working with computer information where he worked from 8-5 which hardly is heard of here. He has sacrificed alot to be out here i'm thankful for him! His family are all members- they were all less active for some time but are all active now! He's really shy and nervous but I'm super impressed by his desire and knowledge.

The first night we decided to talk to people on the streets right in the middle of the city in Makati haha! The people are a little more tricky to talk to but i was thinking it would be good for him to have that experience so he could compare that to the people on the island and not take their kindness here for granted. We met some really cool people with some awesome jobs who were willing to have Elders visit. We also met those who were the opposite haha. ;)

Thursday we were traveling for most of the day. We flew out here to Palawan and I had a super cool experience talking to a 23 year old German. I think he's gotta be the nicest tourist i've met my whole mission. His english was basically fluent and we have lots of the same interests. Him and his buddy were coming from visiting New Zealand and he showed me tons of sweet pictures of their hikes. I also got  a better idea of how important soccer is over in Europe. He had some cool insights there haha.

When we got to puerto we went with a senior couple to get Elder Pichay some glasses made at an eye doctor. We both now look super pro- i'd say we look like twins with his new glasses. I'm just about a foot taller. We then took a 2.5 hour shuttle to Roxas.

This ward is straight fire! I've been in shock a little bit with how kind and loving they are to missionaries. Missionary work here is a big deal and part of who they are. They're all super excited to see what happens on green island I feel like we have lots of support going into it. We had a meeting with the bishopric and they seemed to say all the right things and are very supportive in helping us out.

We had a chapel open house friday night and saturday where lots of members brought friends and potential investigators. We had different rooms they would go in as groups- a restoration room, YM and YW room, Relief Society, priesthood, book of mormon, temple, and a room with meet the mormons playing. It was super fun meeting the members as well as investigators. A few people who went to the open house even showed up at church the next morning. Elder and Sister Shields (sr couple here in roxas) put in tons of time getting it set up with other ward members and it for sure paid off.

Saturday we had two baptisms here in the ward and Elder Pichay got to baptize someone his first saturday as a missionary! Haha it was super sweet. The other elders in this ward are also fresh starting due to some bad decisions of the last elders here haha. Elder oracay and ibanez (in training still) are both pretty new in the mission but are SOO hard working. I feel super lucky being around them and have already learned lots and had lots of fun with them. They already have the hearts of all the members- Elder Ibanez is under 5 feet but is a complete fireball. As my dad would say his spirit must be really tall. There are also two sisters in the ward.

Well we are about to get on the boat to head to Green Island. I feel pretty nervous but am also super excited for the next few weeks! We will live in the upstairs room of some members on the island. No electricity or running water on the whole island but we got some sweet solar powered electric fans to keep us happy.

I know without a doubt that the Lord is at the head of His church. I know He died for each one of us and knows where we're at and how we're feeling. I know that His power is sufficient for anyone willing to come unto Him and diligently keep the commandments of the Father.

Much love! Elder Reber

Loved our last phone call with Park!! Cannot wait to get this kid home!

The Santos Sealing and Green Island

Hello friends and fam!

This week was one to be remembered. It was my last week here in Makati 1^st and it’s been an awesome 6 months full of new experiences and things learnt that I’ll forever be thankful for! Couldn’t have asked for a better final week here!

Miller Shawn is now officially a part of Makati 1^stward! He has been jumping back and forth from Makati and Cabanatuan but now has his records transferred to our ward. He was at church yesterday and it was fun going with him. His papers for the states are starting to make some progress and he’s looking on heading back in February! I’m excited to see him there! One night he surprised us both with sweet new proselyting bags that he ordered in from California! He also took us out to eat one night in the area to eat pasta, nachos and smoothies. He puts aside all the money he used to spend on cigarettes and alcohol to spend for other people’s happiness. He’s the man!

Patrick’s mom is still being tricky. This week President is actually going to their house to meet her haha. I’m pretty sure if they meet Patrick will be baptized real soon. We had something crazy happen one day we went there though!!! He is the oldest and has three other siblings but we had only met the third and fourth of the siblings. In short, they don’t really give one about the gospel haha. We met number two though one night and she is JUST LIKE PATRICK. She shocked us so bad in the lesson and after we were giving Patrick a hard time for not telling us about her haha. All he could do was laugh. Maureen (his sister) will be baptized with him as soon as their mom is good to go.

We spent lots of time with President this week doing transfers and learning new things from him. It’s funny because we get “distracted” and he starts giving us tons of advice, explains doctrines of the church, and shares experiences he’s had in the past. I’m thankful for the time and effort he puts into each missionary. It’s amazing to see how much he cares for the welfare of each of them and is more than willing to “think it out in his mind” to find solutions and better ways to do things.

There was a missionary who had a death in the family so he got to go to the funeral over in his province. We drove him to the airport and picked him up once he got back. It was very humbling spending time with him this week. I can’t believe how much some of these guys give up to get out on missions. We got to go with him to the temple to get some of his family temple work done. It was nice being back in the temple- it’s been a few months since it’s was being renovated for so long.

Friday we tried something new. There’s a part of our area called BGC which is a huge city full of crazy nice buildings that have been built within the last 15 years. We never go there because most people are working there and guards won’t let us into apartments. We “opened it up” earlier this week though haha. We planned to go with some STL’s and the office elders over there to a park/mall place to introduce family history to people for an hour and a half. It was soo fun haha. We carried clipboards around with us so we’d look professional and basically pretended to write down people’s answers of what they know about family history. Most people accepted answering a few questions of our “survey” haha. It’s funny because at first we were scared to talk to some of the wealthier guys so we warmed up by talking to any construction worker we saw. Once we got a feel of how we could effectively get someone pumped for finding their ancestors we began talking to all the other people. Some people shared some really neat things honestly and we got over 30 names and info of people who are interested in missionaries visiting! Following that we had a district blitz in Makati 2^nd so I was able to go to that area again. We went and found Eric if you remember him haha. He’s still not willing to leave his house but at the end of the lesson he got a bit emotional and thanked us for helping him come closer to God. He said he’d never forget the missionaries coming to teach and said he’d be super ready to let in missionaries if they ever have some time to share.

Saturday had to be my favorite day of my mission! Elder Cibuco, my trainer, flew in from Busuanga a few days earlier so we could attend the sealing of Danny and Rosemarie Santos! He goes home Wednesday so it was perfect timing. We got up early and made our way over to the temple. We were there outside for a few minutes then out of nowhere we hear someone scream “Elder Reber! Elder Mitchell! It was our Provo MTC teacher, sister spencer! It was her first time back in the Philippines and of course we run right into her haha! We talked to her for about 10 minutes and Danny asked her to get in the picture in front of the temple haha. The sealing itself was really special for elder cibuco and I. It was super surreal seeing them in there dressed in white and for the two of us to be the witnesses for the sealing. I remember seeing them for the first time way back in my first area and the difference now is tremendous. That was my first sealing I’ve ever seen so it was really cool.

We cruised our way back to our area after the sealing for June Bolando’s baptism. His service was kinda crazy since we didn’t have a key to the church. We ended up having the service at the buendia chapel. We didn’t have access to baptismal clothes so we gave him one of my white shirts and baptismal pants of one of the other elders haha! The font was taking FOREVER to fill up so we had all the speakers/testimony go before the ordinance itself. Even after waiting, Elder Mitchell still couldn’t get him under haha! We ended up dragging a hose from outside through the church into the font to speed the process. All the missionaries were filling up pitchers of water from the sinks. It was kinda nuts but luckily I was just on piano duty throughout that whole time. June was super excited to be baptized and again, it was cool seeing someone who has changed their lives so much following the Savior’s example.

I continue to feel more and more blessed to be out here. Don’t know why someone like me deserves the experiences I’ve been seeing as a missionary. I’m thankful for the church, I know that Christ is at the head of it. I know that God knows us and can do amazing things to each of us if we’re willing to become humble and trust in Him. I know His ways are much higher than ours.

I’m excited to continue to share this with others in my new area! I’ll miss the office and this area, but I’m pumped for the adventures ahead. The Giffords are the best and decorated the office for Elder Burdeos and I before we leave haha. I’ll be picking up a missionary from the mtc Wednesday then we’ll be flying to palawan to be assigned in Roxas. We will be starting sacrament for the first time on an island called Green Island. I hear the boat ride is about 2 hours from roxas but honestly not sure there haha. We hear a member there is willing to rent their house to missionaries but that will be figured out when we get there haha. I’m kinda nervous because I’ve never held a sacrament under palm trees but I know with the strength of the Lord we will do whatever is needed to spread the gospel to this tiny island.

Happy mothers day! I love my mom and am very grateful for all she has done for me throughout the years! :)

Elder Reber

Highlight of the week pic had to be moved to the top! Love the Santos Family

A big thank you to the Giffords. So cute how they take such great care of the missionaries!

So fun!!

Love seeing the support that the Santos family received. 

Elder Cibuco and Sister Altre were the escorts. 

Goodbye Elder Fiesta

Hello there!

 

Another happy week here in Makati! No complaints over here. Elder Mitchell and I have been loving each moment weve had especially the past few weeks. A hard part of the week was seeing Elder Fiesta, my last companion, head home.

 

He was able to extend his mission 1 month so he was the only missionary leaving last Tuesday night. His family came to pick him up and it was way fun meeting them. They were in the office conference room waiting to see him and he pulled up in a taxi (of course calling us a few minutes before asking for us to bring a Book of Mormon out so he can give it to the taxi driver.) We got to see him see his family for the first time in 2 years which was really cool. We had a dinner that night at the mission home and we all had a little testimony meeting. I think the biggest thing I learned from Elder Fiesta was courage. It's really what makes him different from so many missionaries. He's never looking inward at his weaknesses but continually focused on those around him. He would do anything for the people he'd teach. The crazy things he did throughout his mission didn't come because of his confidence in himself, but because he trusted that God would always uphold him. He will be missed here in the mission but I know the Lord will continue to use his strenghths throughout the rest of his life.

 

One day this week we took JR and June on an "adventure." They both don't have much so we decided to take them to get a cheap white shirt, tie, pants, socks, and shoes. June had never been further than Guadalupe Mall (about 10 min walk from his house) in a few years so it was cool to get them outside. We took them to lunch at Mang Inasal which is one of the Philippines' favorite places to eat. Literally all day these two guys see commercials and signs about Mang Inasal and they've never eaten there. It was kinda crazy when we both figured that out- a meal there is about $2.50 in american dollars but they've never had money to go there yet. I've probably eaten there 50 times throughout my short time here. They were super pumped for that and we had lots of laughs. After that, since it was a holiday and there was no traffic, we decided that we may as well run them over to the temple to tour them around outside! The Manila temple has been closed for a few months for renovations and it was opening day. There were tons of people including a few members from Tondo 2nd haha! Got to see bishop and his wife again as well as a few RM's from our mission. It was an awesome day!

 

I know i've mentioned Patrick's name in the past.. we found him a few weeks ago and he's been investigating the church for about 2 years now. He's been wanting to be baptized forever but just needs his mom's permission. He literally knows just as much as i do about the church haha. We had a cool lesson with him this week where we felt like we should promise him he'd be baptized by a certain date if he'd testify to his mom what he knows then asks her for her permission to be baptized (he's 17 right now.) It was a really powerful lesson and he was in tears thinking about finally being baptized. We walked out of that lesson kinda shocked thinking "wow! Hopefully that promise will be upheld." I do know however that it will. We also called his grandpa who is a member but lives in Ilocos and asked what we can do on our part to continue to help Patrick. He said he's talked to his mom many times but it just hasn't happened yet. I'll keep you updated here though!

 

Had an MLC on thursday which is always something i look forward to. One of the big changes that came from that is area boundaries are gone now! Missionaries who share a ward with another companionship will need to work together to work with members and help investigators progress. It's no longer "this is our investigator" but "this is the Lord's investigator." Both companionships will be urged to help investigators progress which will give investigators a chance to meet more missionaries with different strengths and styles. It will take some time for missionaries to adjust but we're excited to see change little by little moving forward.

 

I was pondering courage throughout this week and was able to learn a little bit more of what it is. For me, like i said earlier courage isn't self-confidence in oneself, but complete confidence and trust in God. With this optimism and trust, one is able to be the "first" to do something. Two examples of courage I thought of were Joseph Murdock (one of the pioneers), and Teancum in the Book of Mormon. These people were people who "set the course for others," "faced challenges that haven't been faced before," "went the extra mile," and "were the only ones who dared." Courage is being willing to do something while not knowing what the result might be. It's stepping into darkness first, then light follows after you act. It's normally not convenient and is tested during hard times. It won't be developed in one experience, but it needs to be something tried constantly. It’s shown at times when your other Christlike attributes are tried. When you have courage, you do not fear what man can do. In a talk I read a few weeks ago I think the speaker mentioned that the phrase “fear not” is used 76 times in the scriptures.

 

Anyways, those are just some thoughts I guess. But the work has been great! I’m excited for another week ahead! Keep pressing forward with courage! :)

ELDER REBER

Elder Fiesta and his family

Love how they got to run into old friends at the temple