Week 15: More Teaching

Hey Mom! Dad emailed me earlier this week also, so I'll just reply to both of them now. ahaha So a little bit about my week! We had two baptisms last week, which you should already know probably because I'm pretty sure I mentioned it in last weeks email, but anyways, again, it was great! John, the 9 year old, is like a little brother to me, ahaha He's crazy and funny and reminds me of Sam! He doesn't care much about what he wears, he just lets his mom dress him ahaha. He has an older brother who's 12 who reminds me surprisingly of Ben too! He really likes this streetwear brand here in the Philippines called Tribal and he loves to wear bro tanks and play basketball! Their Mom is super cool, shes a single Mom right now because their father is living in Cebu (another city in the Peenz) but she handles it great and is raising those children like a champion. The father is still in the picture right now, theyre still married and he calls and talks to everyone like 3 times a day, it's a pretty complicated situation that I dont feel cleared to share with the general public so sorry ahah. Anyways, yeah theyre great. The other recent convert of ours is named Allan and he's a 42 year old father of 5! He was the only one in his family hearing from us so is now the only member of his family, but he is excited to have the rest of his family start hearing from us! Which is just awesome. He's a great guy too. More recently, we have contacted about 3 new investigators who are just GOLDEN which means they already want to be baptized after only the first lesson pretty much. One of them is a 62 year old super funny lady. The first time we contacted her, it was actually Elder Acosta and Elder Grant, one of our zone leaders, because I was on exchanges in another area working with the other zone leader. So this week we had our second lesson with her and I met her and got to know her a little bit! Shes super funny and told me atleast 3 times how handsome I was ahaha. She even asked me if I had a girlfriend, and when I said yes she said "oh who? is it her?" pointing at one of our ward missionaries ahaha. She's awesome. Anyways, as we were teaching her about the restoration, she was super interested especially in that Joseph Smith guy :). While it was my turn to teach, she was surprised I could speak tagalog so well! Which is good to hear, because even though I'm not satisfied, people seem to be recognizing that I'm getting better. Anyways, while I was teaching I could tell she was honestly listening and super interested. and she was patient with my speaking abilities which is always nice ahaha. So Dad just emailed me a good one! So I'll reply to it in this email too. Actually it was mostly the same stuff but thats okay ahaha. Anyways, other than that my week was pretty normal for an American missionary in the Philippines! Sounds like everything is great up there in Flagstaff! I love seeing pictures of Ben and Sam, they look great. I miss them! a lot, and you guys too. It's awesome how Ben is trying all these new things, he's gonna kill lacrosse just like he did cross country! Tell him the next sport he should try is Polo. It's only for rich people I think, but its super unique. :) And Sam is still destroying in his basketball! That kid's crazy. I hope he plays in college, I could see it. It's okay, I'll be home before then anyways so I'll be there to train him. ;) And you and Dad are doing great, same with the animals! Its' cool to here about Kevin Fox, I hope to see an email from him in the near future! Dang, I remember when he left. During my sophomore year! I'm glad he's home safe and sound. Regarding supplies and stuff, a couple pairs of dress socks couldn't hurt. I accidentally bleached a few pairs of mine so I have like 3 pairs of orangeish brown socks ahaha. My shoes are holding up great! No problem there. Oh, also! If pac sun still sells those chinos, they are great for proselyting! I wear the two pairs I brought and I like them a lot better than the dockers pants. If you could maybe send me like two pairs of those, one khaki and one black, that would be awesome! Thanks :) Other than that, everything is fine! I may possibly transfer this upcoming transfer date which is on MY BIRTHDAY ahaha. Kinda bad luck there, but its okay. Honestly I would like to stay in this area for just one more transfer! I don't want to leave quite yet. haha. I should go now, but I love you guys and I love hearing from you! You all have a wonderful week and DO WORK LASLEYS. Love, Elder Lasley :)

Week 14: Baptism!

Hey Dad! 

I am doing just fine! How are you doing? Oh a business trip, fun!

Things are great here, we had two baptisms on Saturday, that was awesome. Its great to be able to taste the fruits of your labors. They were both super prepared and will be great members of the church. One of them is a 42 year old father and is now the only member in his family. He has 5 children and a wife and after he was baptized, he said "they're next!" ahahah. It made us super happy. He knows what he did was the right decision and he wants to see the rest of his family follow in his footsteps. So we plan to begin teaching the rest of his family soon. we would love to be able to complete his family and be the ones to let them know that they can be together for eternity.

Things are going great with Elder Acosta! He's a great, fun companion. We get work done and still manage to have a many laughs throughout the day. I have no problems with him at all! I hope he thinks the same haha. We get along great though, we're very close.

 

I have the nerf hoop set up, but I'm the only one thats used it so far! I'll try to get a house game going, that'd be fun. A lot of my free time has been spent learning songs on the ukulele! I'm thinking of buying one actually. They're super fun. and you know how I love music.

 

Yeah my birthday is coming up! We're hoping to have a small celebration. My actual birthday is on a transfer day, when I am most likely being transferred, so I'd rather celebrate my birthday with families I have gotten to know in this area than families I will have just met once I transfer, so we're gonna celebrate a few days early.

 

Life sounds as usual up in Flagstaff! I miss it and you guys!

Sam is an absolute animal! I wish I could watch some of his games. That Larry Bird jersey is probably helping him with his 3-point game. ;)

It's awesome that Ben is involved in extra curriculars and stuff too! I always worried he would be one of those kids who doesn't want to do anything more than perform mediocrely in school. I'm glad he's having fun!

 

That picture is my favorite! Grammy and Pops doing my crooked peace sign! ahahah They're the best! We should get that picture put on t shirts and send one to everyone in the family!

And oh sweet, I'm the real deal now huh!

Anyways, I love you guys and I love getting an email from you each week! Good luck with your presentation and in California! 

Love,

Elder Lasley :)

Elder Lasley in the Philippines

Baptism