Zone Conference and Nanay Fransisco

Kamusta fam and friends,

So last P day we got to play basketball at the church. We paid a guy to take us over there on his little motorcycle with a side car attached to the side. After we got there he left but suddenly returned with like 10 of his friends all with tons of tattoos to play us missionaries in a game! Haha it was so funny because they just came haulin into the church parkinglot blasting classic Filipino rap music. But we played them and got wrecked pretty bad (half court game of course haha) I played center and felt like Yao Ming which was pretty solid haha.

So this week I had my first Zone Conference! We woke up at 5:30 and took the train over to Makati. The train experience was easily one of the craziest things I've ever seen! Literally I have never seen so many people pile into one place before. Every time the train stopped, people would just be fighting to get into the train and literally people were helping push each other so they could fit. It was sooo uncomfortable and I couldn't even move because people were pushed up against me like I can't explain. I was by the wall so every bump we hit on the track hundreds of pounds of force would push up against me as everyone swayed towards me. Haha it was seriously the funniest thing ever. Looking into the window from outside you just see peoples faces pushed up against the windows like the movies.

But Zone Conference was super awesome. It was focused around Alma 5 which I would really recommend reading. There are soo many good scriptures in that chapter. One verse I like is in verse 27, it talks about if you were to die today, would you be ready to meet God? It's so important to live the gospel at all times and constantly do our best to improve. Many of us talk about the gospel and the commandments but we don't really act. Without God we are less than the dust of the earth, so we need to do our best to always serve Him, commit to His will, and forget ourselves. I know that the Lord's hand is stretched out for all of us, but we need to do our part to reach for him as well. I know he will accept all of us and we can all return to Him through applying the Atonement every day in our lives. I love verse 16 which says: "I say unto you, can you imagine to yourselves that ye hear the voice of the Lord, saying unto you, in that day: Come unto me ye blessed, for behold, your works have been the works of righteousness upon the face of the earth?" I can't imagine the feeling of meeting God and knowing that we did our absolute best here on Earth. I hope that I can improve every day and forget myself more and more as the mission continues.

We continue to help prepare our investigators for baptism and full activity in the church. Many of them are scheduled for the last week of October. I'm hoping that they can keep a strong desire to move forward. Sometimes they forget how important our message really is no matter how well we can teach. Yesterday at church a lot of people didn't show so it was kinda disappointing. But anyways one of my favorites is Renee. He has two kids and a wife but his wife refuses to listen as of now. They live in a super tiny room because he was having a hard time finding a job. But we taught him about prayer and he prayed for his family and actually got an awesome new job a few days later! He now works at a breakfast place over in Quezon and absolutely loves it! He is so proud of it and tries to show us pics of the food over there haha. He is just so thankful for his "many, many blessings" and is so nice. Another family is the Sabado family. It's a young couple with two kids who have been having problems in their relationship lately. But the gospel is really helping them soften their hearts and become happier each time we see them. And one more is Danni Santos and his wife. They're super Catholic but have been really interested in our church. They read over the pamphlets like crazy and we gave them a Book of Mormon last time. I like them because they have lots of good questions and know a lot about religion. Hopefully all of these people and our others will continue to progress!

So Saturday morning Elder Cibuco and I were in language study when we suddenly got a call from bishop saying to run over to the Fansisco house to give a blessing. The Nanay and Tatay of this family are members but their kids don't really like church. But the blessing was for Tatay Fransisco, who is 74 and has been at bedrest for about a year now. He is literally skin and bones and can no longer eat or drink- so we were giving him a blessing as he was getting ready to pass on. It was probably one of the strongest moments of feeling the spirit so far in my mish, the bishop gave a great blessing and it justs makes me super thankful for the Plan of Salvation. We had been visiting that family a ton to teach their kids so I have gotten closer to that family.

Nanay Fransisco is always embarrassed because her kids don't really want to accept the message and always just sit silently as we ask them questions and teach them. So earlier this week she said we could go over there for dinner Saturday because she wants to show her thanks for us. When her husband was about to pass away that morning I assumed we wouldn't go there for dinner, but sure enough she texted us that afternoon and reminded us dinner was on her. We showed up and she and to our surprise she grabbed her little purse and took us to one of the fanciest Filipino restaurants in Tondo. She ordered the food for us to make sure we got alot. We had tons of rice, chicken, octopus, soda, etc and it was soo good. It was so hard for me to eat in front of her because she refused to eat anything and just wanted to show us her thankfulness for us! But the whole time I was just in shock! Here she is taking the missionaries out to dinner while her husband was home about to pass away. How awesome is that?? I'll never forget her great example of love and service. Super Christlike. Her husband died Sunday morning but they're sure he's having tons of fun up in heaven haha.

Well I'm lovin the mish. Ever since zone conference I've loved it even more. It really inspired me to love the people and forget myself. Solid spiritual recharge. Hope all is good in the states! I made some world famous pancakes the other morning and they were super pro. We didn't have syrup but I'm quite the chef and can work with any ingredients. Right mom? Hope you all have a good week!

Love Elder Reber

Hey Joe!

Happy Monday!

Another good week down here in the Philippines. I'm getting more adjusted to the different lifestyle here and continue to learn more everyday. I've been called "Joe" about a million times which is what Filipinos call white guys. It's funny to see people just stare at me as I walk down the street. Especially the kids, I'm pretty sure lots of them haven't seen an American here in Tondo before. They all attack me everywhere I go and want high fives. It's funny and keeps my spirits high :) Also, I'm pretty sure my back, neck, and shoulders will be messed up by the end of my mission.  I have to constantly duck and squeeze through the smallest of places here. Every single day I hit my head on something and the Filipinos around me start laughing. It is pretty funny even though I have a huge bruise on my head from one time. Literally though it's so hard to fit in Jeepneys and squeeze into these small homes!

So last week I got to introduce myself to the ward and bear my testimony which went pretty well. I don't know if they really understood what I was saying but I got through it in straight Tagalog. The bishop and the missionaries are about the only people who are willing to serve. The bishop is soo awesome. He works so hard to support his family and works really hard in his calling. Everyone kinda just goes to church for a social event here and talks throughout lessons. Tons of kids are running around screaming and aren't the most reverent haha. It's a little different but the spirit is still there. I'm the only one in the ward who can play the piano so I'm really glad I can help with that a little. Bishop wanted me to teach some of the youth. It's hard for them because the piano in the church is probably the only piano in Tondo. But I'll let you know how that goes!

We taught a lesson about making investigators feeling welcome to the ward. We are trying to regain their trust and give them a stronger desire to serve! 

So we have a lot of investigators here. Nobody was really progressing when I first got here and we have been working hard to find those who are ready to hear the word! We have tons of lessons every day but it's really hard to find them for their next lessons. Many of them always forget our appointment and say their busy. But we have quite a few who are really starting to progress which is exciting.

We had a few interesting lessons this week. We went to a members house and walked in literally five minutes after she had found out her husband had been cheating on her. It was super intense and really unexpected because he was an RM. But it was cool to see her put down her phone and just forget the turmoil for a few minutes. I felt the spirit really strong as we talked to her and taught her. It was cool because she wasn't scheduled to go visit but we just decided to go as we passed near her house. The spirit really does guide us even in the smallest ways and it's been cool to see a few experiences like this already. On Friday we went to visit Lester, a 16 year old who we had committed to baptism. When we walked in his dad was there also, and apparently he's some priest for one of the churches here. We totally got bashed the whole time which is pretty rare here. We are told not to argue with people so we just gave simple scriptures and bore testimony with smiles on our faces. Honestly he seemed to be questioning himself a little by the end and we didn't even have to do much. I'm just glad that I know this is the true church, everything about it makes perfect sense and there's nothing to doubt!

I went on exchanges with Elder Lambert on Thursday which was super fun. I learned a ton from him and enjoyed talking to him. He's from Herriman and we have lots in common especially since we both grew up in Salt Lake. We had literally 40 people gathered around us at one point because we are Americanos. We handed out tons of pamphlets and he got lots of return appointments. A few of them were even halfway through the reading by the time we left! The people here are super funny. Lots of them are pretty depressed here in Tondo but there are also lots who are always happy. They're obsessed with the NBA and you just see tons of them wearing basketball jerseys pulled up over their beer bellies. I'm definitely going with their style in college.

My comp and I were able to give 5 blessings this week. It's cool to see the people's faith that the blessing will really help. And I know that they do help! I'm thankful for the priesthood and for my mission call. I know God has a plan for everyone and knows all things. I'm thankful for Jesus Christ and His atonement. He has experienced everything we will go through and because of Him we can be happy for all eternity. We can't even comprehend how short this life is and how great the blessings are in the next life. There are times here in the mission where it can be pretty hard, but I know that great things come through hard times. I'm excited to continue to share this awesome word! Have a good week everyone:)

Love Elder Reber

Parkers favorite shoes! We knew he was called to the right spot when Crocs were actually on the list of things to bring!

Elder Reber and Elder Cibuco

Inside their apartment

TONDO with Elder Cibuco

Wow things have been crazy!! I've been having a blast here in the field so far. Yes the rumors are true. I got to see Elder Odom for like 20 seconds at the Provo mtc right before I left for the airport. It was pretty sweet to see him. But anyways, I was in the Philippines MTC for 6 days or something and it was pretty fun. It's way different from the Provo MTC and i'm pretty glad i went to provo haha;) The mtc here is alot smaller and we ate rice every single meal. I've actually had rice every meal here so far except for once haha! But anyways, in the philippines mtc we got to leave once to go practice proselyting which was fun. The Filipino missionaries were all super nice and loved seeing all of us americans haha.

Last Wednesday morning I finally started the real mish. The traffic and driving here is totally insane. It's hilarious. There will be like 3 lanes but 5 cars will be packed next to each other. They have no driving rules here. If you stop at a stop sign people will think you're crazy haha. On the way to the mission home one sister threw up because they drive so funny here. Cars get within inches of each other kinda like in Mexico but they never hit. When we are proselyting I always feel like I'm going to be hit haha they just get soo close!

When we got to the mission home we met the mission president and his wife. They're both super nice. We got to go to a cemetary in Manila that has 1700 people burried and over 36000 names on big marble walls. It was super pretty and nice there. We happened to run into the first Philippines missionary, Ray Goodson which was funny because I golfed with him over at Willow right before I left. He said he played with dad the other day??

I'm serving in the Tondo area!! It's the poorest and most dangerous area in my mission. The sisters are actually not allowed here. Haha it has certainly been an eye opener! I can't really explain how poor it is. Most houses are around 8 feet by 6 feet or something. It's sooo dirty here and smells really bad haha! I'm constantly stepping over trash. It's totally packed with people too. There are tons of houses right next to each other and stacked on top of each other. It's basically a big maze. A house in Utah could fit 30 houses here haha! Haha maybe google Tondo Riverside to get an idea. No way we will ever run out of people to try to talk to. I haven't seen a white guy yet except for one of my roomates. His name is Elder Lambert and he went to Herriman. He's been really helpful and can teach me alot of words and explain things well because he knows English haha.

My companion is super awesome. His name is Elder Cibuco. He is a native and spoke Cibuano growing up. But his Tagalog is really good. He has only been out 3 months so we are both pretty new! He doesn't really speak English but we somehow communicate super well and get along great. He's a stud. He's really hard working and is completely obedient. Haha I'm always so tired by the end of the day. He's the perfect companion for me and we've been getting alot done here! He only went to three years of school because he needed to work to help out his family. Being with him and being here in Tondo has made me soo thankful for my lucky life. I tried to not take things for granted but I think I took alot more for granted than I was even realizing!

The Tagalog has been pretty hard. They talk SO FAST here and really quiet. I feel like I'm not able to help as much as I want so sometimes it's kinda frustrating. He's been having me start all of the conversations with people which has been a blast! We talk to everyone even if they have tons of tattoos and sitting there with a cigarette. But I do all that I can to help out in lessons and contacting. I read a scripture that has helped me a ton this week. It's Mosiah 4:27 and it basically says "it is not requisite that a man should run faster than he has strength." It just constantly reminds me that I can't just expect to show up at a country and be able to speak a crazy language right away. I'm starting to understand a little better every day. 

It's super hot here and my fan is my best friend. I have to put it on my bed or I'd probably die at night. It rains alot right now but Friday was insane. I couldn't believe how much it rained haha! They don't have any drainage here so there were literally rivers throughout the streets. This place is just so crazy haha!

I'm so thankful for my mission call! Hope you all have a great week. Remember to be thankful for all of your blessings and focus on the good! Ingat mga kaibigan at pamilya!

Love Elder Reber

Saying hello and goodbye to Elder Odom. So glad these two got to see each other one last time. Parker waited for him at the entrance of the MTC. They only had a few moments together-so glad it happened!

See you in two Elder Cheney!

Free McDonalds?? Almost like he hit the jackpot!

Reminded him of a cute sister back home!

Rice for every meal! 

A favorite mission friend from the Provo MTC now at the Manila MTC

We aren't even sure who this cute Elder is but we loved this photo!!

Manila Temple

Elder Reber in front of the Manila Temple

Manila American Cemetery

Another cemetary view

This is Ray Goodson. One of the first missionaries in the Philippines who eventually returned to be a mission president there with his family.  He continues to do so much for the church in this part of the world. Thankful Parker got to meet him before he left and run into him there. 

We are assuming this is the view from Parkers new home.  He says he is lucky to live in the nice part of the neighborhood.

Another neighborhood view

His companion Elder Cibuco and parts of the other two Elders he lives with. 

Manila Mission Home Welcome

We were so thrilled to find actual pictures of our missionary at the Manila Mission home!! He looks great, not sure if he is in the same clothes or not, but is looking good regardless! The president and his wife have posted these on their blog, http://thephilippinesmanilamission.blogspot.com/. We don't have many details but from what we can gather, he is not traveling to Palowan but staying in the city. We will soon have ourselves a city slicker!
Hope you enjoy the fun pics as much as we did! Thanks for your support and prayers!! Sure love our Philippino Parker and look forward to hearing from him!!

Made it to the Manila MTC

Hello!

Well I'm finally here in the Philippines! The traveling to get here was pretty intense but I made it! 4 of us Elders got kicked off our first flight because it was overbooked, then they couldn't get us on then next flight to LA. We almost had to stay in a hotel in Salt Lake but they got us onto a third flight last minute. The airlines felt bad and gave us a free voucher for dinner. Of course we hit Mcdonalds! Free mcdons has got to be a miracle amiright? We got to LA and the flight there got delayed as well. We were able to place a Book of Mormon which was pretty sweet. We made it to Hong Kong and booked it across the airport to catch our flight to Manila. It took 34 hours total to get from one mtc to the next.

The first step off the plane here at the Philippines resulted in my glasses fogging up haha! It's sooo humid here and super hot. Just like what I've heard. We went down to pick up bags and of course both of my bags didn't make it. Haha yep that's right! I'll be livin with what I have on me for the next few days or however long it takes for them to find my bags haha! I guess it's a good way to jump right into the Filipino culture ;)

Well this is about all of the time I've got this week! Not sure when my pday will be over here yet. It was super fun to talk to the fam while at the airport. I get to go proselyting tomorrow for five hours with Quezon City missionaries!! I'm so excited even though I probably won't understand anything. It's all becoming more real now and it's super exciting!

Have a good week! Sorry I didn't have much time.

Love 
Elder Reber

Last week in the US

6 days til I leave!!

We got our flight plans this week which was pretty exciting. We fly to LA, then Hong Kong, then Manila. I've loved the mtc but I'm so ready to go meet the Filipino people! We skyped a Filipino member and taught for thirty minutes a few days ago and it made me even more pumped. It also scared me a bit because she talked sooo fast haha. I just know the first few months will be pretty tough but will be quite the adventure at the same time!  My district is starting to go crazy a little bit, it's pretty funny to see how weird they all really are haha. We've come up with some pretty dumb things to keep things rollin here ;)

Soo this week was a pretty spiritual one so I'll just jump into it!

We had two sweet devotionals this week. The first one was Elder Holland's son, Matthew Holland. He talked to us about Joseph Smith and the Book of Mormon. There's alot I could say but the thing that stood out the most was how faithful Joseph Smith was throughout all of his trials. His life before he even became a prophet was full of hardships. His dad was supposed to be pretty wealthy, but after many unlucky events, the family was broke and had to move up to New York. Before they moved, Joseph started having problems with his leg and had to have a big surgery on it without anesthesia. The family then walked to New York with a large group and Joseph was somehow left behind stranded with his bad leg. As he was laying there, an unknown man picked him up and carried him the rest of the way! Holland then asked us, why did his life have to be so hard? Surely, God could make the prophets life easy. But he was preparing Joseph for the future. Through those hard times he gained tons of experience that helped him become the awesome guy that he was. As a prophet, he obviously went through many more trials but he remained faithful and persistent in doing what was right. 

Another cool thing was how he described how the Book of Mormon came to be. There's no way that this book could've came to be without God's help. It was translated in 85 days into a new language by men who weren't super educated. During this time, they spent tons of time translating the book but they were still doing many other things like moving to a new place, receiving the priesthood, and spending some time with their families. Emma Smith said that Joseph wouldn't even reread a page to make sure it was correct, because he already knew that it was good. And last of all, the book is 100% perfect. I love Jsmith and the Book of Mormon so much. Holland said the more time we take to study Joseph Smith's life, the more we will love him and know that this church is true. 

The other devotional was by Elder Anderson, one of the twelve apostles! He talked about missionary work not being complex, but not being easy. He just whipped out tons of scriptures the whole time and focused on miracles. It's crazy how smart the apostles are haha. He brought in a great spirit and it was pretty sweet.

Over my mtc experience I've learned a ton. It's crazy how much my testimony has grown in five weeks, can't imagine the things I'll learn by the time my mish is over! One thing that really sticks out is the power of prayer! We pray like 20 times a day here. It truly makes a difference. I encourage you all to have more sincere prayers! Believe that God is actually listening and that he can truly bless you if knock and ask.

Have a good week! Enjoy summer for me. I know this church is true! Next time i email ill be in crazy Manila! Mahal ko po kayo!

Elder Parker Reber

Be Yourself

Hello friends and fam!

This week was pretty solid. Just continuing to learn about the gospel and improving the Tagalog. Thanks everyone for the birthday emails, letters, packages, etc! I'm so lucky to know so many awesome people who are so supportive. Can't believe I'm 19.. I'm officially a tang (old man) now haha :)

Haha the bday was definately different here but it was pretty great! My district all surprised me with funny gifts including a journal that says "they call me sister" on the front. Haha we all get teased so much it kinda reminds me of my friends back at home. Nearly 50 people piled into my room to sing happy birthday haha. I'm pretty close to all of the samoan elders and they made sure to hunt down the whole zone to embarass me haha! Doesn't beat my birthdays at scout camp tho ;)

This week I heard a super cool story. There was a missionary from Australia that had a pretty rough life but decided there's got to be a better way to live. He worked super hard to save money and made lots of life changes to be able to go on a mission. He got called to the Philippines. The whole mission he struggled with the language. He worked really hard at it but it just wouldn't click. On top of that he got sick allll the time. He started to lose hope as he got to the last six months and wondered if God even wanted him on a mission. He kept working hard and stayed obedient and tried to be positive. Things then got harder as he got transferred to the hardest area in the mission that hadn't had a baptism in months. One day in this area he knocked on a door and a big family answered. Every single family member except one was deaf. He then got permission to learn sign language which he miraculously learned in about a month. Faster than anyone could possibly imagine! He went on to baptize the entire family as well as dozens of other deaf people the family referred in the most unsuccessful area in the mission!

Isn't that just so cool?? It taught me a few things. We should never give up. We are given challenges so we can grow. You don't grow in your comfort zone. You grow when things are difficult and when you're working hard. Next, God knows each of His children. He won't give up on any of us! He just wants us to be happy and return to live with Him. He wants us to reach our full potential and he does that by giving us experiences both good and bad. Lastly, it taught me that we are all different and we all play a part in God's plan. This Elder from Samoa just couldn't learn Tagalog to save his life, but he could learn sign language crazy fast. One thing that has really stood out to me here at the mtc is how there are so many DIFFERENT people. So many different cultures, interests, humor, families, and talents. You can easily look at the negatives in people, but if you just focus on the good you will realize how great people are in their own little way. We shouldn't try to act like others, but if we can learn to see the good in others, we will notice what we like in a person and can try to apply that to our own lives.

We had a fireside tuesday night. He talked alot about seeing our investigators with our "spiritual eyes." We need to be able to look at people and see them by their potential, not by where they're currently at. I love that through the atonement, anyone can have a change of heart and begin to find happiness in their life. He then pointed out that we will be "blind" if we are looking inward. We need to be able to turn outward if we want to be successful in life. Being selfless doesn't make your life easier but it will make your life better!

It was fun to see both Elder Fife and Elder Briggs yesterday! They look like such amateurs haha jk. I know that they will be such great missionaries. I'm so grateful for my friends and I know they will all do awesome.

Have a great week!

Love,

Elder Reber