Less Lost

This was a pretty good week. It is a little bit different now that I am in Mabini.

We had very few teachings this week. I think everyone was busy trying to get in work so they can have the funds for All Souls Day. All Souls day is the day of the dead here. Everyone goes to the graveyard on that day. I think it is a lot like Memorial Day but everyone cooks sticky rice and pigs. I have never been so full in my life!!! We ate a good lunch and stacked so much, I had to force myself to eat dinner because we had a dinner appointment on that day.

I still get lost in the area but I am getting use to it. You get to know the trails pretty well. We found our way pretty easy last week and this week.

We have very few investigators in this area. Lots of missionaries say this is a very hard area and I see why. You walk a lot just to get from one house to another and for the most part, the people that are close together, don't want to listen. It is going to take a lot of work to get it going. We do have a baptism on November 16. His name is Danny Diana. His family was baptized a while ago, last month, he is the last one. He wants to be baptized but was having trouble with his word of wisdom. He is now on tract and good to go. After that, we don't know who. We have some good investigators though. The Alverez family is looking good. There are 3 boys there that listen well. They live with their grandmother and their father was a member. They listen well and participate. The problem is getting them to church. They wake up late so they don't go. We tried calling them but we can't with the difference in cellphone companies. We can just text them. We are also teaching a family named Gantalao. They are doing good. They have been taught for a long time. They won't come to church is a problem. We just picked them up so we are trying to answer some questions right now. They ask some good questions. We are hoping to help them progress. That is about it for now. We are hoping to find more this next week.

Elder Torres is from Ozamiz City in Mindanao. I will send a picture next week. I haven't taken one yet. He is good. He is native Cebuano which really helps me. I have learned a lot from him. He is 3 months in the mission. He is a good elder.

Now for Elder Andersen. It was a good meeting. We had Elder Anderson, L. Whitney Clayton, a president of the 70, Ian Ardern and Larry Echo Hawk, of the 1st quorum of the 70, and Elder Nobleza, an area 70 all at the meeting. It was a very good meeting. It was 2 hours long. I was hoping for longer. Elder Clayton talked to us about the Anti-Nephi-Lehis and how they were converted. He taught us what we need to do with the recent converts. They Elder Andersen taught us about the welfare program. He showed us Bohol, the place of the earthquake, and then he talked about how we need to teach investigators. He talked about the commandments and how they help us to grow. At the end, he talked about the atonement and how it applies to us. It was a very good meeting and we all learned a lot. We all got to shake his hand at the beginning. It was a cool experience.

Love you all,

Elder Nielsen

PS love all the pictures and am thankful that I am here and not there in the snow.
PSS Merry Christmas