SEPTEMBER 29, 2013

Hello Everybody!

So this week was national family week! It made it easy to talk to and teach those who prioritized their families (which is almost everyone here). We had a great time proselyting this week and enjoyed getting to know our ward a little bit better. Anyway, the highlight of the week was this past Saturday. We, as an entire mission, received permission from President to attend our individual ward's family week activity! So early Saturday morning we, Elder Parry and I, got to go to the Santa Cruz Beach with our ward!!!! WHAT?! I WENT TO THE BEACH!!! Of course I didn't get to swim, that is against all rules, but we got to play the ward games and eat lots of food:) We played sack races, longest line and catch the tail. They were all a blast. Of course the ward loved that two Americans were playing games with them and so we were all the rage at the party. Elder Parry highlighted the sack race by eating the sand at the finish line, giving the win to his team. It was a pretty good wipe out if I do say so myself. I came in at second for my team and apparently looked like I was riding a caribou:) I highlighted catch the tail for the ward. They still won't stop talking about it.. To play you link your whole team together by holding on to the waist of the person in front of you. I was the "head" so my job was to catch the tail of another team while leading my own. We kept losing so on our last time playing I introduced a new strategy to my team. We were going to play battering ram to separate a tail from a head to make our capture easy. It surprisingly worked! We won that game:) However, I am now referred to Elder Carver, the man with a bright idea. That is my entire title. It is funny but got old really quick:) The activity was fun:) plus we got to wear our casual clothes!!!

Anyway, on to the important matters of my work. Sister M committed to Baptism!!! It was super exciting and very happy! We are going to continue to work with her. I feel confident she will be ready to enter into the waters of baptism by November. Sister A now meets all the requirements to be baptized but she still isn't married... So Bishop is now working with her on getting that arranged. It is free here so you wouldn't think that would be a recurring problem. Anyway, we are way excited too because this week is going to be crazy busy with appointments and trainings.I will talk more on that next week though! Now onto your emails:)

 Dad:  I don't know if I can stop losing weight. I am always hungry because my body just torches food... I eat two full plates of rice with toppings everyday for lunch and I am hungry by 3 or 4 in the afternoon. Good job on your excercising efforts! We should do a 5k when I get back! Vitamins are good. I have been taking the ones you gave me and I am pretty sure that is why I have stayed so healthy over here! Anyway, thank you for your update and I can't wait to hear from you next week!

Mom: WHAT?!?!?!?!?!? The ward split....AGAIN!!!! That is absolutely crazy!!!!!! Holy cow! That was definitely a huge change! I know that the Lord knows how to build his kingdom, but it is like you said, it isn't easy to see so many changes. I hope the adjustment goes well for you! I am also sorry you got released from your calling! Who are the new bishops?! Maybe Dad will be YM president again:) I too am glad that Nate and I are so close! I tell Elder Parry about all of our little adventures all the time:) It is great to reflect on. Oh yeah, the email title. So, I lost 10 kilos, ate McDonalds and had a baptism. I was the only common denominator. Nothing too fantastic. Another Christopher Carver at SUU? I feel like that is some funny prank or something! I am glad they didn't want me though, that would have been a pain to take care of from the Philippines! M is doing well, but isn't really progressing anymore. She reads and prays but doesn't go to church. We are trying to reevaluate how to get her to prioritize church attendance. Sister M also was unable to attend. She was feeling sick and didn't even go to work on Sunday. She was sorry about it but wants to go next week if she can. Tell Brandon congrats for me! That is super exciting!!! How does he feel about it? Another mission call! That is so exciting:) I love hearing about your week too! Thanks for the update! Hermana Ali told me you emailed her again! She loves hearing from you! I am excited to hear about your adventures for this week!

Ethan: I heard about the ward changing thing! Crazy! I miss you too! Christmas Eve and Day are coming up here! People already have Christmas trees and lights up! I am excited for Christmas so that I can talk to you all! I will get to skype:) It has been a long time Ethan, three months and 11 days to be exact, but remember the definition of a missionary- someone who leaves their family for a little while so other families can be together forever. I will be back before you know it! Palangga ta ka!

Grady: That was a big ward change! I know it will be hard but you have to remember, the Church is true no matter who is in your ward. Christ is still the head of the Church, his priesthood is still with the leaders and the Lord will never allow his kingdom to be led astray. What more do you want to know about the baptism? Sister Basal and Sister Lelet both spoke. Bishop gave great council to us all afterward. R shared her simple yet powerful testimony. I got to baptize R. The rest of the story is in last week's email.

Nate: Crazy things happened! But just like I told Grady, the Church is still true. Sounds like it will be a completely different ward when I get home! So, Falcon First should be this week right? If so, good luck! If not, I will wish you and your team good luck next week! I hope that you are able to deal with the changes well! Just remember the line from ROCKY BALBOA: "It isn't how hard you can hit, it is about how hard you can get hit and keep on going, how much you can take and keep on going..."

Ali: No email... What's up? I hope that everything is going well in your realm of life! I would like to know how everything is going!  I hope you know that I pray for you all and that I always want what is best for you all too. Please write me next week!

-Elder Carver

SEPTEMBER 22, 2013

Hello Everybody!

So, I had a GREAT week this week! Holy Cow! I don't even know where to begin! How about the baptism yesterday? Yes. Yesterday was R's baptism! It was such a great experience and absolutely amazing. The spirit was so strong, the talks were fantastic and the Baptismal Proper was successful:) Let me tell you the whole story. We showed up 15 minutes early (7:45 AM) to check the font and set everything up. The Baptism was scheduled for 8:00, just an hour before church, and when we got there the water was absolutely filthy!!!! It was green and had a film on the top! We were really concerned that it wasn't exactly sanitary, but the Bishop assured us it is fine. We found out that our font is filled with water comming from the river and it flooded on Saturday so that is why it is was green. The logic didn't make sense to me either, don't think about it too much. Anyway, nobody showed up until 8:30... including R.So we gave her two options, we could proceed as planned and start church a little late or postpone her baptism until 4:00 that day. She didn't want to wait and wasn't phased by the green water so we decided to proceed as planned! Anyway, the baptism was fantastic and spiritual! I was the fortunate one selected to baptize R :) It was so neat to see the fruit of our labors! I was hesitant of the water but figured "What the heck? I am performing a sacred ordinance for the Lord, why would I get sick?" Guess what? I didn't get sick either! 

Zone conference was great! I see that you saw the pictures! I had a great time there and learned a ton on the Atonement. It was a very uplifting and encouraging training in preparation for the Mission Tour with Elder Neilson next month. I did get to see a few of my batchmates from the MTC too! I spent most the day with Elder Pack (other MTC district), I got a brief chance to speak with Elder Minson, his conference was the day before, I also got a brief second to talk with Sister Young and Sister Hemi. They are all doing really well and were super happy to be there! They all had the same thing to say about me. It was the first thing out of their mouths too. "You look so different!!" Yes, I look very different. I am still me but a whopping 23 pounds lighter!!! WHAT? I have lost 23 pounds in 6 weeks. That's why my shirts and pants are getting baggy....:) 23 pounds is the official weight loss because the Mission office has a scale. But I am averaging roughly 7 pounds every other week! Shoot! At this rate there won't be an Elder Carver to come home! Now, this is going to seem incredibly ironic, but that same night I got to eat.... MCDONALDS!!! It has never tasted so good! I think I realized how much I miss eating American food. But that was all right:) 

Dad- Thanks for clarifying why I haven't got emails from you the last two weeks! I was concerned for a little bit;) Anyway, sounds like you are finally kicking everything into gear for our little competition, but I got a solid 6 weeks on you now and am only 195 pounds. I broke 200 going the other way. Transfers. They can happen at any time but the next scheduled transfer for the whole mission is at the end of October. I am glad that you feel like a part of my mission, I am doing this for all of us! The Priesthood is amazing! I love it:)

Grady- It would not be good to get hit by a car. That is why I am careful:) They are a little crazy here, but that is why we don't ride bikes. Each area is assigned to a certain ward. So I attend the Fabrika ward every Sunday. There is no missionary ward, that would just be a social hour, not church. 

Ali- What happened!! Why did you get into a wreck? I am glad you are safe and I am sorry about the car. Mom sent me pictures and it looks pretty bad. I hope you get a new one soon too! Just be careful. I hope cheer and school are going really well for you! Read D&C 50:40. It helped me turn to the Lord and ask for help in all things!

Nate- Apocrypha. Look it up in the Bible dictionary as well as Canon. Record your thoughts. Find where the Apocrypha is located and then send everything back to me. Your scriptures are great! I love reading them, ironically they always seem to be where I just read too... weird... but cool! Say hello to Adam for me! I hope he is recovering quickly!

Ethan- No email this week...:( But, something way cool! I saw this little spider in the shape of an 'X'. They are good yo-yo's I hear. I thought you would think they were pretty cool and funny. Also, we have a new toko! He is little and way cool looking:) I want to hear from you next week!

Mom- You ask so many questions! Don't know why I got sick, definitely not the water though. That would be worse than just sick. Conference was great. No general authority this time, that is on the tour only. I don't exactly know who does all the cooking... but it is good food! I am glad you found me in a few pictures! Elder Parry is doing great. We are striving to become better missionaries every day! He kinda reminds me of Nate, which is way cool! It feels like I have my brother as my companion:) Sammy is doing great and a huge help. He works in Manapla during the week so we don't see a lot of him then, just the weekends. He is 24. The church building is like a small meeting house in the middle of nowhere North Dakota. It is really small but very well kept and probably the nicest building in the whole region. Schedule changes every day but we are always out proselyting by 1 or 2 every day. Studies every morning. Nothing too special. Lots of Ilonggo! I love it. A and M doing great! A came to church again and now qualifies for baptism if she gets married. We are working on that currently. M still didn't come... dang it. I lead about 60% of our discussions and that number keeps climbing. J is really busy and hasn't been an active listener. But hopefully soon because Sister M came to Church!! That was way exciting to see:) R is 13. Exactly one day younger than Grady! Definitely a small world! I am glad that everyone is okay as well. I wish leaves would change colors here! That would probably scare everybody though:) Have fun at the Corn maze! I did hear that Haley got here mission call! Tell her congrats for me if you see her soon! I hear from a bunch of people every week but don't have the time to email them all every week so I have to alternate weeks. Thanks for the hymn! I learned that one in Ilonggo:) I may have to share it when I get home:) Thanks for your prayers! I can feel them every day!

Until Next week!

Elder Carver

SEPTEMBER 15, 2013

Hello Everybody!

Wow, we had a fast week this week, which is weird because we got sick... I am fine now, we think it was just something we ate but we were down Wednesday and Thursday all day. It wasn't very fun but was not serious. That means, Mom, don't worry about me because I bounced back into full swing and am really healthy now. On the bright side, being sick allowed me to almost finish Doctrine and Covenants! I just have the official declarations left. Anyway onto our work for this week. We taught the usual Maroka crew and everything went well but still no church attendance.. A comes every week though and so that was way happy! However, the pinnacle of the week came from yesterday when......... R PASSED HER BAPTISMAL INTERVIEW!!! We will now be having her baptism this coming Sunday before church so that she can be confirmed the same day! How exciting is that!! We are praying that her baptism being the same day as church will get all her family in Maroka to church this week! I guess I should also mention that neither of us got transferred! That was a huge relief on our part. We only taught Sister M once this week but are returning tomorrow for our scheduled lesson. That 'bout sums up what our week was! I got more cool pictures, still unable to send them:( 

This week we have a mission conference in preparation for our mission tour by a general authority. That will be Thursday and Wednesday for us because we live so far away from Bacolod, but it will be good. It is still hot and sweaty but enjoyable work nonetheless! We have so much help from the ward missionaries! We did also get a new Ward Mission Leader. Sony got released because he is living in Bacolod now and his younger brother, Sammy, was called to be the new WML. They are way cool and fun to work with. Sammy is a RM so he is way talented at teaching and we always appreciate his help. Now onto your emails.

Ethan- You bust me up! I love your emails because they show me that my little brother is still the same! I love them. Have fun in school, I love you too buddy!

Grady- We walk most of the time. We could have bikes if we wanted but we would likely be hit by other vehicles when we are on the main highway and would be off roading the rest which is the majority of our traveling. I will get #5 for you! It looks way cool! I had a less active member design the jersey because he is way good at it. You will like it I think! Let me know how the BYU-Utah game goes!

Ali- How is your Jr. year going so far school wise? 

Nate- The ER!? I am glad you are doing better but that is kinda scary! Your pictures of Homecoming look great! I am glad to hear that you had a good time. Thanks for the scripture, I actually read that one yesterday! Priesthood power is incredible! I am glad that you recognized that power so quickly because it is real and it is wonderful. I am still waiting for the Apocrypha bit...... Also, when is your debate season starting? 

Mom and Dad- See my above bit about transfers. We didn't have anymore critters:) We have zone trainings once a month and we have zone conferences randomly. Not much of a schedule for ZCs. Let Adam know I am praying for him! He is a great example of keeping a positive attitude and I know he will recover in the Lord's timing. Questions: P-Days- My favorite part about them is emailing everybody! It gives me a lot of strength for the week to come. Favorite place to eat- Mang Inasal. It is resturant chain here. Serves great food plus that is where I can get my halohalo. My favorite place to be- The top of Maroka! It is a beautiful view there! I have lots of pictures from up there and can't wait to show you them! Temple- on my way out of the Philippines I am supposed to get to go to the Manila temple! Only once though... I look forward to going again! Hardest part- Mom, you nailed it! That really is the hardest part. I don't think it is that hard but I miss my family and friend and my music. I didn't think I would miss music as much as I do. Most surprising thing- How much English everybody speaks! If I am struggling to speak Ilonggo, they will try their English! Just like Alden's email, it is a nice thing but sometimes I would like Ilonggo only. Biggest change- my size! Literally, my size has gotten much smaller. I wish pictures worked for that too. I actually need to wear a belt now because my pants are getting too big! Sounds like Nate is doing much better. Anyway, thanks for your thoughts on Section 76! My question was concerning to verse 74 and how it pertains to the application of temple work. I have prayed though and found an answer that satisfies my question for now. Section 131 and 132 though were great assistants in answering my questions and solidifying my standard of a temple marriage. Thanks for your great examples! Random thought, Dad, how is your elbow? When I left it was nasty looking and still a gaping hole. Is it better? Also what kind of thing would you like from the Philippines? I think I have figured other things out for everybody else!

That's all for today! Until next week,

Elder the-one-and-only-Carver!

SEPTEMBER 8, 2013

Hello everybody!

I hope you are all doing well this week and that everything is running smoothly in this time of the year. This week wasn't an exactly exciting week with cool stories but some really neat things happened. First- I extended the baptismal invitation to A(R's mom) and M! They both accepted which was great! I have been leading our lessons now for about three weeks and that was a particularly great lesson! The Spirit was so strong! I love missionary work. The only problem that we currently face is that M still hasn't come to church and A missed yesterday meaning her one missed Sunday buffer is gone. She can't miss again in the next two weeks if she wants to be baptized. Her mother-in-law is an active member and told me that she was busy with something and wanted to come but couldn't. So I don't think that will be too big of a problem:)

Sister M has been really busy and we were only able to stop by once this week. The lesson was phenomenal though! The spirit was incredible and was definitely reaching beyond the three of us because her husband (J) stopped working to listen! We invited her to come to Church but sadly she didn't either. We stopped by her house after church to follow up and she was really really busy with work and said that she is sorry she couldn't make it but will try again next week. We have a lesson with her again tonight! Hopefully all will go well.

R is progressing as always! She is so smart. All of her friends are LDS and she has been going to church for quite a while now. Our lessons with her are more or less reviews because she has learned the required material at church and from her friends. Next week is her baptismal interview and we are so excited for that!

That's my accounting for this week! Transfers are on Wednesday and we find out who transfers (if anyone) tomorrow. I want to stay here but I will go where the Lord wants me to go!

Now onto your emails:

Ali- You will do great with school this year! Always look for the positive and you will realize what a fun time you have and how easy it really all is. The spider was definitely huge. He is a banana spider (which are all over here, just usually smaller) so he isn't poisonous, just fast and a little intimidating. We put him on the porch because the ants will eat him:) They are all over the place and in everything too so that was our best idea.

Ethan- Sounds like you are having a great year so far! Keep up the work! I love the Philippines and I love Ilonggo! It is a beautiful language:) It is hard to understand sometimes but I don't mind because I try to listen with my spirit and not with my ears. The spider was very creepy but it is fun to joke about! I have pictures of him and I will show you sometime! Palangga ta ka!

Grady- Happy birthday again! You didn't give me any ideas as to what you wanted for your birthday... However, I found a great one! I will get you a custom basketball jersey! They are really cool! I just need one thing. What number do you want? I am glad you had a great birthday though! You are good at volleyball too? Why haven't we played! I have got a mean swing... sometimes:) Sister B is doing better but she is starting to relapse. We are hoping that she rebounds in recovery too. They are all in high spirits right now though!

Nate- How is everything bro? I didn't get an email this week.. I hope your Homecoming royalty stuff is going well! I am still waiting for your research on the Apocrypha. Please get back to me on that. How is debate so far this year? Getting ready for the Falcon First? I want to know!

Mom- That spider wasn't particularly dangerous.... I think. It wasn't poisonous by any means if that is what you are concerned about:) I wasn't going to send it home but I took pictures so that you all can see this thing! The phantom lizard is just that, a phantom. I think he left for good though. There is a bigger one now that likes to hang out outside though. I like him though because the spiders are afraid of him. I take lots of pictures! You should be satisfied with the pictures I have taken. I got a haircut this past week and because my haircut was "boring" for the barber, he decided to customize the front. It is a little longer than I would like and I don't like the way it looks in pictures but I am thankful for having short hair again! The rain is back so it has cooled down a little bit. My area doesn't have much of an environmental change. I am way up in the jungle. Pretty rural for most areas but there are two barangays (neighborhoods) that surround our house. So it mixes a little bit but not much. The barangays are even small ones compared to Cadiz (that's the big city we go to for P-Days). Our zone changes a lot from complete  rural to ours to total urban. So it just depends. I want to hear more about this fight. Who was fighting, why and where? Sounds like the basement is progressing a lot! Thanks for sending my packages! Veggie Tales is Great! Very funny with good morals behind most of it! Check out D&C Section 76 this week and get back to me on your thoughts. I have one point of confusion that I hope you can answer. Anyway, this week was fun and great with no spiders! I can't wait to hear from you all next week!!

Palangga ko kamo!

Elder Carver

SEPTEMBER 1, 2013

Well hello everybody:)

We had quite the week this week!! It was so fun and lots of spiritual uplifting experiences! So, first, to explain the title of this email (Damang!!) Damang means spider in Ilonggo. The reason for that title is last night, Elder Parry and I had a battle with a damang. When I say a battle, I mean it. This thing was HUGE and mean! He was roughly just larger than the size of my hand and quicker than lightning. Elder Parry noticed him behind me and so kindly pointed him out so then our battle commenced. After roughly 25 minutes of us chasing him with a 9 foot pole trying to smash him and him running at us every time we missed, we were able to win by busting out the permetherin. It was a fairly exhausting battle that eventually we came out champions. I am sure it was fairly entertaining to see two 19 year old young men running from a spider, but it literally felt like the scene from Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets. He was massive and was out to get us. He is now shriveled up, out side on our porch.

Next, I caught a couple tikis. That may not seem like much but those suckers are also fast. I think my reflexes are getting better!! I put one of them on my tie and wore him around for a little bit. I guess he didn't want to move:) Lizards are much more friendly than spiders, unless they are a toko. They aren't nice at all, just fun to poke with a broom:)

Sister B has made almost a full recovery! She is walking around and working full days again so they were able to go to church! That was so exciting! Their spirits are so much higher now! Brother B is drawing me a picture of our family (the one at the MTC) He is really talented and has drawn pictures for President Lopez and Bishop Villamore. Count that as my first souvenir picked up.

Sister BB and M didn't come to church again this week and we weren't able to teach Sister M because she has been out of town for a while. Hopefully that will pick back up this week. We also came to the conclusion that Basketball isn't going to work because the Church is too far away from our area. We have a hard time getting people to go to church once a week, let alone twice. Maybe it will work better for other sets of missionaries that are also testing it. However, on the bright side. Sister R and her Mom are progressing at a lightning speed! R is scheduled for the 21 of September to be baptized and hopefully her mom the week after. We just have to find out her marital status before we can give her a set date. All is going well though and we are loving the work here in Fabrika. Transfers are on Sept. 11 and I pray that I will stay here so that I can see R and her Mom baptized! However, I will go where the Lord wants me to go. I will find out what will happen on the transfer day that Tuesday.

Nate- Way cool! I am glad that you got a job! Just remember that you are new to that scene and have a lot to learn! Take criticism well and learn everything you can from your coworkers. I hope it is a positive experience for you! Also, congrats on Homecoming! That is way cool! I never was royalty but that could be because I wasn't as big of a stud as you are:) Do your best in school this year and kill it in debate! Tell everyone there hello for me!

Ali- Hi! Cool picture! See all the cool things you can do with your cheer leading! What a talent that God has given you! Remember D&C 46 or Moroni 10. Foster your gifts and use them often! How is your job? Is it getting better? How are your classes this year? Junior year was the hardest year of school for me but don't be discouraged! Keep your head high and turn to the Lord for help and you will always find it!

Grady- HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!! I can't believe that you will be 13! Sorry I won't be there but just know that I wish you the best birthday and I hope you enjoy it as well. I was thinking and have been looking for things to get you but I don't know what. I need ideas! Please give me ideas that you would like from the Philippines.

Ethan- How is my youngest brother doing! Do you like school this year so far? What friends are you playing with at recess? I want to hear from you!!!

Mom and Dad- I actually started this email before you sent yours (Mom)! Weird... Sister B is feeling better! See my earlier notes. She is a less active member, not an investigator. I don't know if I ever told you that. We have rescuing efforts along our proselyting efforts so we visit less active members too!  Thanks Dad for sharing your testimony on Priesthood! I too have been humbled by its power and am grateful for the presence of it in my life! Thank you for always living worthy to give me blessings when I needed them. We will definitely judge at debate tournaments when I get back! Thanks for keeping me in your prayers! I have a quote I would like to share with you from Elder Maxwell: "God gives the picks and shovels to the 'chosen' because they are willing  to go to work and get callouses on their hands. They may not be the best or most capable, but they are the most available." I know this is true because I am by no means the best for this mission, I just made myself available and let God refine me. I ran into a couple of Pentecostal missionaries the other day and the definitely belittled me because of my lack of knowledge of Ilonggo. However, I was so proud to say that I was a missionary for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints because I know that through the gifts of the spirit, diligently seeking the companionship of the Holy Ghost, and through constant repentance in order to become a more worthy servant, I will become qualified in God for this purpose. I love my mission and can't wait to tell you all about it in person! Mom I only have 20 fast Sundays til I get home! I have had three since I left and I get home before fast Sunday in June of 2015! I can't wait to hear from you all again next week!

AUGUST 25, 2013

Hello everybody!!

What a great week! We had some truly wonderful experiences this week as well as some really trying experiences! We have continued to teach Sister BB and she is progressing in her desire and knowledge, just not going to church yet... Hopefully this next week because we have a plan! We are also teaching her sister, Mand their sister-in-law and niece, Aand R. R has been going to church with Bishop's family every week for almost two months now but hasn't been taught by the missionaries! We started teaching her last week and have already taught about the Restoration, Plan of Salvation and Gospel of Jesus Christ. She has a scheduled baptismal date now for September 21!! That was an exciting day:) She has also been sharing what she has been learning with her mom, A. We started teaching Arlene on Friday and have taught her twice now as have a scheduled return appointment for tomorrow! She is very receptive to the Gospel! Well, here is our plan. M and A are next door neighbors along with their parents, who are active members. Sister BB lives just down the hill from them enroute to the road that the Church is on. We are trying to convince them to go with Brother and Sister S (the parents) so that they aren't going alone! Hopefully that will be a more encouraging situation to go to church! That whole family is a very wonderful and humble family! I have learned so much from them and continue to learn every day! 

We had a couple really hard days this week though. Wednesday and Thursday we had almost everybody cancel appointments with us so we were out in the field for 6.5 hours with only 3 lessons taught each day. That's not exactly a picture perfect day, but we figured out a new system that will allow us to improve our proselyting. We are now turning everything into working by areas of strength. We have three areas that are very productive areas to visit so those places are the only places we will go from now on. Maroka, Fara-on, and Crossing/Shopping. All of our investigators live in one of those three areas and they all have many members to help with fellow-shipping. We think that our new tactics will help us be more effective tools in the Lord's hands.

Sister B is doing much better!! We gave her the priesthood blessing and she said that she has the faith that our blessing would heal her! What a neat experience! We returned a couple days later to find her walking again! What?! How cool is that! Brother B received an early motorcycle rent payment from his nephew and was able to take sister to get some medicine until they can get to the doctor. It was literally a miracle before my eyes!  That was such a neat, wonderful experience! Talk about the faith sister had to be healed! It reminded me of Moroni 10 where it talks about the gift of the spirit to be healed because that kind of faith is definitely a gift!

Sister M is continuing to progress! She told us that she has prayed about our message and the Book of Mormon and believes that it is true! That was wonderful to hear! We have taught her about the Plan of Salvation now and assigned her to read Alma 40 before our return appointment on Wednesday. I have the faith that she will follow through. Last night when we were teaching, there were lots of distraction around and it wasn't inviting the spirit. So I prayed in my heart that God would help us block out the distractions. Guess what happened next! There was a brown out (small black out) and it silenced the loud music, the drunk karaoke and the yelling down the street! That was really cool because the lights came back on in 2 minutes or so but everything else had still stopped! Another miracle before my eyes! 

Sadly Basketball didn't happen this week. The other Elders that we are coordinating with got sick because they ate some expired bread and eggs. Not a very wise idea, but this week hopefully! Shoes... Mom, please send them to me. I will write the information down and send it next week so that we can get the right size. On the plus side, I have continued to slim down at a remarkable rate! We had a baptism this past Saturday (for the Cadiz sisters) and I was asked to baptize Brother L! That was a really neat experience! Anyway, we took some pictures and I look considerably thinner. I think I am close to 200 pounds now, which means since I entered the MTC 2 months ago, I have lost 20 pounds! What a blessing! I also have been having a grudge match with a toko that made home in our house. I won though! We got him out and he came back so we shot him with permetherin and then were able to get him out. He is still alive and living next to our trash can, but he is out for now! I will send pictures next week! I think I figured out how to do it here, but not this week. Sorry!

Nate- Sounds like you are living life as usual! Keep that up so that my brother will be the same when I get home! I hope you get this job and your interview goes well. Where is it for? What will you be doing when you get the job? Keep me updated!

Ali- How is Cheer going now that football has started? Are you getting more busy? I hope that school goes well for you and that you continue to grow through scripture study and daily prayer.

Dad- Testimony is key! We learned in the MTC that our testimony is our only truly unique message. Our Gospel is unique but all missionaries can share that. Our testimony is our own and that won't ever change! Great council! I miss the fathers blessing before school. I always looked forward to that! I love you and pray for you and the rest of the family always!

Mom- I love your emails! They are so full of wonderful detail! You help keep me up to speed on how everybody is doing! I guess the amount of rain we had been receiving was unusual because it is the end of dry season. In a couple weeks rainy season will start and it will likely rain every day. Say goodbye to the little bit of tan I have been able to accumulate... I am glad that all my siblings are way excited for school! Have fun Ethan in Ms. Bauder's class! Grady you are now half way done with your pre college schooling! Congratulations! Conference will be broadcast to our stake center a week later. We will get to watch it there and invite our investigators and other members to join us! I am excited for that! I am glad that there wasn't a crazy announcement at the stake conference. My language is improving! I am better at the end of the day than the beginning. By planning at the end of the night, I usually struggle to speak English and will often forget words that I shouldn't. A frequent is mountain. I don't know why, but I just call it the bukid now struggle going back. It is a fun little problem:)

Palangga ko kamo!!

Elder Carver 

AUGUST 19, 2013

Hello to everybody!!

I hope that you are all doing well and still busy as usual! There are a few things that I wanted to share with you all this week! 

First. Sobre Init! That means "overly hot." It perfectly describes what this last week has been! There has only been one day that it rained in the last 6 and it was only for 10 minutes. It has been crazy hot! I have literally been dripping sweat off of my face all day and soaked from head to toe by the end of the day. It was really convenient though for drying my laundry:) 

Next. Sister BB. She didn't come to church again so her date has to be postponed... However, when we visited her this past Friday, her and her sister both expressed an extreme desire to come to the Lord through baptism. We are going back to Maroka to visit them tomorrow to teach them again. Hopefully all will go well and they will follow through on attending Church. That way they can fulfill their desires. 

Next. Sister B. She was one of the first people I met here in Fabrika. She is a wonderful sister who is less active. She has intense arthritis and isn't able to attend church very often because of the extremity of her arthritis. However, this last week we stopped by to visit and invite them to Church and Brother B said that Sister is really sick. It was definitely more than arthritis that she has. So yesterday afternoon we visited and she was indeed really sick. They don't have money to go to a doctor because Brother has been unemployed for a few months now. Bishop gave us authorization to offer a priesthood blessing though, so we plan on stopping by this week for that. We shared D&C 24:8 with here and told her that we would continue to visit frequently while she recovers and that God will be with her too if she continues to pray and read. The Spirit was so strong in that lesson and I know that they felt God's love and confirmation of our message. Please pray for her health!

Next. Sister M! She is a new investigator that we picked up last week and is progressing really fast! We have taught her three times already and before we could even invite her to church she was asking when our service was! I had prayed that morning that I would be able to open my mouth and that the Lord would place someone prepared for me in our paths. That was the result. What a testimony of faith! I am so grateful for that experience!! We teach her again on Wednesday about the Plan of Salvation.

Now onto your emails.

Ali-I hope all is well with you and that you are ready for another year in school! By the way, what is your expected graduation date? I may be home for it, maybe...

Grady- No we have not had any baptisms yet because we are basically building the area from the ground up. We had to start all over with the current investigators because the previous missionaries here didn't keep a record of what was taught and how many visits they had. But we have a few that are working towards baptism right now! Great school schedule! Good luck with your basketball endeavors! I hope you make the team.

Dad- I hope that we are able to go skiing when I get back too!! I missed that this last year..If you are looking for my area on the internet, your best bet would probably be looking up Cadiz Philippines. That is the real city near my area. Thanks for your scriptures that you have shared with me and I hope that you are doing fantastic!

Ethan- I am going to love getting home too! Sounds like you had fun with all of the family! Palangga ta ka!

Nate- Congrats on being so busy! What was the area that you went to for high adventure? That sounds way fun! President Hollist taught me something once pertaining to D&C 4. God qualifies whomever he calls. You were called to serve in the Youth Conference Counsel so he qualified you! Never feel inadequate of whatever God places before you. Anyway, way to go! I always knew that you were a stud! Dancing with a pretty girl! The Philippines is great, and unusually dry, even if I am sweating a lot.... I will continue to update you! Take care bro!

Mom- Basketball starts this week so I will take it easy. I am a ref anyway, not actually playing so no worries. We will use the church hoops of course! They are outdoors here but still usable! We don't know how many people yet, hopefully a lot! A keeps coming but he is what we call a casual investigator. He likes to listen and follows through mostly but doesn't want to be taught individually. It makes it difficult but soon. I know he will become a progressing investigator soon! There aren't very many places to buy shoes here and my feet are huge here so I doubt there would be my size anyway. I will talk to President Lopez though and get back to you. I haven't heard about your wood shoe tree idea but it sounds cool. I will look into that. There was a typhoon? It has been so dry that I wondered if there was even weather! We walk most everywhere except to get to Maroka. We take a Ceres Bus to get to Ribotan and then walk from there. Other than that, it is all walking. It has been great though! I have already lost at least 10 pounds! I dropped one belt knotch and my jeans have a hard time staying up! (found out about that this morning!). Glad to hear that Jed was able to get though airport security:) and that Wes got home safe! Glad to hear that the Grows are doing much better! Send them my regards! That's crazy what happened to Josh though! I hope he recovers quick! Why do you need another car? Did one break down? Please tell Brother Rivera hello for me! He is a great man and example to us all! I hope all went well with the family this weekend! Tell them hello as well. HaloHalo is fantastic idea! I love it here. You are exactly right! I was very blessed to have Alison in my life! She is always so happy and a wonderful example! Tell the Swallows hello too! I hope all is going well for them! Let me know what happens next Sunday!!! I want to know why you have an emergency stake conference! Maybe President Monson is visiting....:) Thank you for your scriptures! I love them! I do have an idea for you actually! Pick one topic to focus on this time reading through and only highlight verses pertaining to that topic with one color. Make sure you write in the margines why you highlighted it though or you may forget down the road. Anyway, I hope all is well and that you continue to prosper in the ways of the Lord.Take care!

Elder Carver.

AUGUST 11, 2013

Kamusta Pamilya!!!

Lots has happened in the past week! First, I can't believe that I have already been in the Philippines for more than a week! It feels like yesterday that I was talking to you all on the phone in the airport, now I am teaching the Restoration to real people in the Philippines. Wow! Time is already just slipping by.

This last week was an unusual week, as I understand it. We had two trainings: Zone and President's. In Zone training we talked about how to find people to teach through the members. It was good and kinda felt like the MTC again. President's training was great though! We discussed new potential proselyting methods. Each group was given a new method to put to the test. The first two discussed came right from the World Wide Broadcast in June: Church Building Tours and Facebook Proselyting. The assignment my group  got is to start a basketball clinic! Basket ball is HUGE here so we are going to try to use that to our advantage. Our prospective age group is seminary and early institute teenagers. We are hoping this idea will be very successful! We will begin by having a 15-20 minute devotional and then 40-45 minutes of Basketball. It sounds like a great, fun idea to make people more comfortable with the Church.

We were up in Maroka the other day teaching, that's the mountainous region, with Brother Sony.We taught Sister BB, who has taken missionary discussions for quite some time, and guess what!? I extended the Baptismal invitation and she accepted! From what Elder Parry has told me, she lies all the Gospel Principles and reads and prays daily, so she is ready for the next step;  however, she doesn't come to church because it is too far. She would have to walk 30-45 minutes to get off the mountain and then pay for a trike to get to church. For one person that wouldn't bee too bad but she has 7 little children who want to go too, so that walk became harder and the ride more expensive. I know that if she is willing to make the step of attending church and show her faith, God will bless her. Our current problem is showing her how important going to Church is.

Mom, could you send me another pair of shoes? Just a pair of brown proselyting shoes. Mine seem to have caught a moldy illness and want's to keep it no matter how much I clean them up. I'll be fine for a while, I would just appreciate a new pair. I wear a 9-9.5 Wide (size D if specific). Please send the shoes one at a time by air mail to ensure them getting here. All packages should be sent to:

Elder Christopher Carver

Philippines Bacolod Mission

Galo St. Between Lacson and Mabini

Brgy. 22, Bacolod City

6100 Negros Occidental

Philippines.

Thanks! Other than my odd pair of shoes, everything is GREAT here! The fruit is to die for, the people are so nice, the members are incredibly faithful and we are taken good care of. I love it here!I am so glad that I made the decision to serve a full-time mission and dedicate my whole self to the Lord. This work is wonderful! Participate as much as you can back home in missionary work! You will not regret it:)
 The Philippines is BEAUTIFUL! Everything is so green! The food is wonderful, it was back home too, I loved the Filipino food Maxfields and Fairbanks served. I especially love fresh Jackfruit. It is way good and super DELICIOUS!

I am glad to hear that Palangga ta ka is one of your regular phrases now! When you said it on the phone it was near perfect pronunciation too!
 Laundry was hard but it was rather relaxing. It gave me ample time to think and ponder about what I want to accomplish while on my mission.

Nate- Dude..... I heard you went on your high adventure this week! How was that? Remember King's Peak? It was so great! I really miss spending lots of time with you. Talking with Elder Parry made me realize how much we did together. Remember all of the weekends we spent at Debate tournaments just hanging out being best friends? It was great! I am so excited for you to go on your mission and to experience what I have so far! It is a wonderful fantastic thing!

Mom- Your emails are fantastic as usual! They always have so much information in them. I am adjusting great!! The humidity has almost stopped  bothering me but it is still noticeable. I get bit by mosquitoes a lot, but it is okay. It is usually just my legs, but yes that was a nasty bite that I got the night before because I forgot to turn my fan on. I always have a fan on at night to blow the bugs away. That seems to work. The oils only work in the small concentrated range. I put them on my arms and my arms are bite free so I will probably start putting it on my legs too. Foot fungus hasn't appeared yet because I make sure my feet are dry before I put my socks on. The shoes may prove to be a concern in the future though.. I have already seen the Lord's hand in our work! It is prevalent in almost all that we do. I will try to send pictures this time, I have a few. Elder Parry's full name is Samuel Parry and he isn't aware of any blog that is being kept for him. The language is coming fairly quickly. Sister Lara and Sister Person (native Filipinas) both said that my Ilonggo is really good. They are two of the sisters in my district. We taught A again. He gladly accepted the second visit in which we began to introduce the Restoration. We gave him a Book of Mormon and we will be returning today to teach again. Sounds like Park City was a lot of fun! Glad you got to do that. Thanks for the Pictures too! They were great to see! I don't recognize the basement anymore! Enjoy the Characters of Christ! It is wonderful! Tell Ben Hello for me! I miss him too! Alison is doing great! She has a lot of people to write but she will get back to you eventually! I can't believe that Jed is heading to Peru!! That is so exciting. He is going to love the MTC. I also can't believe that Wesley is getting back! I remember when he left! Thanks for all of your prayers. I pray for you all always. So do the members that we meet with! Just know that there are a lot of prayers headed your direction!

Palangga ko kamo!

Elder Carver

AUGUST 4, 2013

Kamusta ang bisan sin-o!!

So, four whole days in the Philippines! I am surviving just fine so far. I knew missionary work would be hard, but it is a lot harder than I expected it to be. Really long, exhausting days, however they are more than rewarding!I absolutely love the work here! I feel like I have been stretchd and molded and will definitely continue to be. My progression in the Scriptures and Ilonggo has taken off again! I love it:) Here is some basic information you might like to know. I live off of roughly $5.30 U.S. dollars a day and I am a wealthy person here. My training companion is Elder Parry (no, not L. Tom). I am in the Fabrika area of the Cadiz zone. To give you an idea of how my area is like, it is beautiful jungle up in the mountains with an overlook of the sea. I can physically see the Ilo Ilo mission from my area. My area is on of the poorest areas in my mission. President Lopez described it like this. Fabrika is a third world community of a third world island of one of the poorest third world countries. People will commonly have absolutely no money. They will go without money for a few days and it's normal. But, they are truly the happiest people on Earth. They are so kind and loving! They always want to give what little bit they can. They always try to feed us, even when it means they won't have any food for themselves. Yes, in four days I have already experienced this more than a few times. The kids are hilarious! They all want "up here's" which just means a high five. My companion dishes them out all the time!! We get called kons (short for Americans) Joes (I think they relate it to G.I. Joe) and they call us Der!! (short for elder). The Filipinos are all about shortening words and nickname! My name is said Elder/Der Carber. The "v" makes a "b" sound like Spanish.

There are a couple of stories I want to share with you. First: there is a young man named A. We met him last night. We went to teach the S family. They consist of inactive members, investigators and recent converts. So our time is very wisely spent there. Their friend, A, was there last night. He is definitely Catholic. He had a cross necklace and did the cross sign after the opening prayer. He was very willing to listen and participated actively throughout the whole lesson. He wanted to keep reading from the Book of Mormon too! It was really neat because we had to travel into Cadiz for a baptismal interview (my companion is District Leader) so we got delayed one hour from our proselyting. So we showed up an hour late to the S family, in which we would have missed their friend. Anyway, we set up a return appointment for next Sunday and their friend said he would be there!! He is the first new investigator of my mission!!!

Next story. Also really cool. We were teaching the J family last night too. They weren't able to make it to Church because they have been out of money to pay for the bus for a few days now. They are recent converts. Brother Jwas sharing with us at the end of the lesson that he knew that if he continued to pray daily and read daily that he would find work. He was literally testing his faith right in front of us. And guess what happened!? Moments after he said that, his phone rang and he had a job offer!! Talk about a tender mercy of the Lord! It was such a spiritual night, last night and it was preceded by an incredible fast and testimony meeting that morning. The members have so much faith here and sacrifice everything for this Gospel. It is an incredible sight to see!

Now onto everybody's questions. Traveling was way long!! We were in the air for 16 hours total.... We flew from Manila to Bacolod to finish our last hour of flight. Everything is beautiful here in its own way. The culture is very different but I like it! It is definitely an adventure every day. It is very hot and EXTREMELY humid. My body doesn't stop sweating at all. I sleep with a fan blowing on me all night long just to make sleep possible. I am adjusting fairly quickly though. When I am sitting in a lesson, I will almost stop sweating;) That's considered quick here. Sorry I didn't get to call from San Fran. I literally had 5 minutes there and they were all spent connecting. They had to hold the plane to Tokyo for us.... The time change actually hasn't effected me at all. We stayed the night in Manila and got up extra early so that we would crash the next night and I have felt no jet lag since then:) Some parts about the Philippines are like I thought it would be and others not. It depends on what I am considering. The Fairbanks and Maxfields helped me prepare a lot!! Tell them thanks for me!! My companion is great!! He is from Lehi Utah. We graduated the same year and has been out here for 6 months now. I am the first missionary he has trained so it is a learning experience for us both. We get along great and he knows so much! I enjoy learning from him. My house. I live in one of the poorest areas of the Philippines but my house is one of the nicest ones in the mission. I don't understand how that worked out... I have a shower with cold water only, but it is fine by me because it cools me down. I see a lot of lizards! They rarely get quite as big as I thought they would but big none the less. The tokos (big lizards) are hilarious. They make freaky noises and eat the tikis (little lizards). We have on toko somewhere in our house but he is ninja sneaky so he stays for now. Not a lot of other critters though. I did see a really cool, yet dangerous, spider though. Just one. He was bright yellow and shaped kinda like a crab with a "Y" shaped shell. Cooking is great. LOTS of rice but it is all very good. I will be doing laundry later today so I will comment on that next week. Unlike most missionaries, I actually lost weight in the MTC. I now weigh roughly 215 (10 pounds less) with a 35 inch waist. We will indeed see how fast that changes. I went down one whole belt notch in the MTC. I still have a solid 17 1/2 inch neck though.

Thanks for the update on the family Mom! Sounds like everybody is doing great and still the same as usual! I love you all! Glad to hear that Grady is finally growing;) Ethan needs to stop so that I still have a little brother in 2 years! Sorry that the basement is going so slow. Please tell President Perkins and the rest of the Stake Presidency hello for me! They are great examples to us all. Also send my hellos to the Bishop and his counselors! It sounds like Ali and Nate have done a lot of growing up since I left. Keep it up you two!! I look up to you a lot! Congrats on the Book of Mormon, Mom! It wonderful and I love it. Everybody should read it! They should have people that invite others to read it..... :). I don't know if you have watched the Characters of Christ yet but watch that before you start your reading over again. Jed and Alden. You need to watch the Characters of Christ while you are in the MTC. It changed the way I read and study my scriptures and definitely brings everything home! Jed, good luck with your MTC experience in the next couple of days!

I love you all!!

Palangga ko kamo!!

I can't wait to hear how you are all doing next week!

1 Nefi 1:1.

Elder Carver

JULY 31, 2013: Letter from mission president

Aloha!

We warmly welcome your missionary, Elder Carver , to our Philippines Bacolod Mission. He arrived safely and in good spirit.

My wife and I will love your missionary as our fellow servant. It is my desire to assist your missionary to reach his missionary potential.

Kindly take note of the following:

1. You may add me as a friend on Facebook (Marlo Oliveros Lopez) to give you a photo perspective of our mission. I should be posting pictures of our missionary soon.

2. The first 90 days is usually the most difficult period of his missionary labors. I encourage you to email our missionary consistently and include uplifting and encouraging messages from the family members.

3. I need your assistance in encouraging our missionary to be exact in his obedience to the mission rules. Obedience brings blessings but exact obedience brings miracles.

Our heartfelt gratitude for sharing your missionary with us. I promise that I will take good care of him .

President Marlo Oliveros Lopez

JULY 30, 2013

Hello family!!

I just wanted to take a second to let you know that I made it to Bacolod just fine!! Sorry we didn't get a chance to talk in San Fran. So far so good. President Lopez gave us just a few seconds to email home, letting you know that We made it safely! I will talk to you on my P-Day, whenever that may be.... Anyway, look up Marlo Oliveros Lopez on Facebook. He said he would be putting up pictures of us all tonight! The Filipinos are really the happiest people ever and way funny!! My sense of humor fits right in:)

Until next time!!

Elder Carver

JULY 27, 2013

So, Saturday night prior to leaving the MTC. We were given permission to email our families while doing whatever laundry we had left to do. Needless to say, here I am!! I just wanted to thank you all for all of your support. I love getting my weekly emails and letters from all the many people that send them. I love you all and enjoy hearing what is happening in your realm of the world. I have been so blessed here at the MTC and I am sad to say goodbye to many of the people I am. I have grown to love all of the people here! I know that I will love the Filipino people just as much, if not more. I have witnessed so many miracles here and know I will witness many more to come. Tomorrow during my sacrament meeting, Districts 45A and 45H will be singing a departure musical number. That is both the Ilonggo districts (I am 45H). We will be singing I Need Thee Every Hour. That song is so powerful!! It is also a testimony to what I know to be true. A couple other Hymns that have really impacted me here are Hymns 112 and 268. If you don't know the tune, I invite you just read and ponder the lyrics. They are so powerful! If you do know the tune, I would invite you to sing it. There is an unknown power in the Hymns of the Lord. Sing them often, even if you are like me and aren't very musically inclined. I sent a few pictures home, I hope you enjoy them!! Nate, feel free to wear the Philippines shirt! I only wore it a few times;) I love you all and can't wait to talk on Monday!!! Until then, take care and confide in the scriptures. A few that have really impacted me lately are John 8, Moroni 7;10, and Alma 18. Please read them when you have time. They all testify of the love of God and the power of the Gospel. I would like to share with you my testimony in Ilonggo one last time before I become immersed in that language for the duration of my mission.

Kabalo ako nga, matuod ang Simbahan ni Jesukristo sang mga Santos sa Ulihing mga Adlaw, Kabalo ako nga, matuod ang Libro ni Mormon kag pagpasag-uli ni Jesukristo. Kabalo ako nga ginpanumbalik sang Dios ang kamatuoran paagi kay Joseph Smith kag Manluluwas si Jesukristo kag buhi sia. Kabalo ako nga, palangga kita sang Dios kag kilala kita ni Jesukristo. Sa ngalan ni Jesukristo, Amen.

Palangga ta ka!!!

Elder Carver

JULY 25, 2013

Kamusta Pamilya ko!

So, here is the plan for Monday. I will be calling from the SLC airport for sure and maybe if I get time at the San Fran airport. I will buy a phone card here at the MTC. I am way excited to talk to ya'll! However, if you want to ask me a question while talking on the phone, I request that you begin by saying "May Pamangkot ako" I will then answer with "Ano Pamangkot mo" and you may proceed. It will be fun to try and I will probably forget it but let's hope for it!

Guess who I hosted!!!!!!!!!! ELDER SWALLOW!!!! I was his personal escort around the MTC!! It was so great to see him again as well as his family! I must admit, it was really hard to not give them hugs... It was definitely the highlight of my day! Elder Swallow lives in the building next to me and we are in the same building for classrooms, so hopefully I will be able to see him a couple times before Monday Morning. Sister Swallow has pictures of us, make sure you ask to see them because it was such a neat moment!

So yesterday, after hosting was done I put my new missionary dot back on and everybody treated me so much nicer! It was a humerous thing to do. I got ridiculed by my district for doing it though. I think they were just jealous that they didn't think of it first;) It was funny nonetheless.

I will be sending my package home on Saturday after I have packed everything and know what I don't need or can't take. It will have some cool things in there! So, I hope you are able to send that Icy Hot I requested because I messed my shoulder up again.... twice.... in the same day.... Oh well, that's the human body!

 I am glad that the A/C is fixed! Please get that package to me asap! I am supposed to be completely packed Saturday night. I hope that I answered all of your questions! Please let me know if there is anything I missed. I will send more pictures! Ali should recognize some of the people in them!

Until Monday!!

Elder Carver out!!