Sunday was an adventure!

Dear Family I Just Saw 4 Days Ago,

Alright so this week well... you heard it all! Hahaha! We just talked last week! haha! Man that was amazing to see you all! It blows my mind how gwapo Brody and Brigham are getting! Dad I hope you are feeling better and Mom you are beautiful! You are just all so amazing! Love the spirit you bring! 

Well so we had a good Christmas, after the call it was just a normal day. There wasn't much celebrating here in the bukid because no one has money to celebrate! So we just visited and shared to all we could! It was good! 

Saturday was another very normal day! Lots of good teachings we went to get people ready to go to church! They were all doing really good! We have a lot of great potential in this area! 

Sunday was an adventure! I was in charge of the special sacrament at Bario Puey, and yes the Mower Couple did come to visit! It was really nice to see them and have them help with the work! The are out there is so far it goes over rivers and you go up and down mountains. Well when we got there me and a High Councilmen in our ward went and round up the investigators and it was awesome to see that they were all getting ready to leave there homes to come! We even caught this old nanay, Sister Cortez. She was reading the Book of Mormon because she thought the service was cancelled do to rain! When she saw us she quickly ran into her room to get changed to go to church! Well usually the service is out side, but it rained so we cramped ourselves in a little house to have our service! 

Well as we had the service we started the sacrament, and I was going to say the prayer on the Bread, well when the hymn started I lifted the cloth and there WAS NO BREAD!! The members who set it up didn't have any... So I looked at Elder Mower and prayed he had something! The prayer was answered when he had crackers/skyflakes in his bag! Phew... well we broke those and the sacrament was a great success! It had an attendance of 29! And Elder Mower gave a great talk on feeding the light inside us and make it shine bright! I then gave a talk on how we need to feed the light and then let it shine unto all! I think we really pumped the members up out there to help in the missionary work! 

After the special sacrament we had a great Ward Council (I think one of the first in Dian-ay haha). That is our focus to help the leaders learn their callings so they can train others to become leaders! It seems to be going real well! I guess we will see! :) 

Well I don't have much else to say... We have a potential baptism this week, Brother Archie Mendoza, he is the son of the people who have the special sacrament out in Bario Puey! He is a good kid!

Tomorrow I will be in Bacolod with Elder Mu on exchanges. Elder Mu is the assistant to President Lopez. So yep going back to Bacolod for 2 days! Haha! Woohoo! OH and guess what? We will be having Mission Presidents Training on my Birthday!! Haha! So yeah we will be with President on my birthday! Woohoo! :D haha! Great times! 

Well I love you family! I am glad you had Merry Christmas! I will be there next year to celebrate! Woohoo! I love you and miss you! See you next year ;) 

Love,

Elder Minson

 

Christmas Day Baptisms!!! It's a white Christmas in the Philippines

Special Sacrament Meeting Bario Puey

 

I know this is the work of the Lord!

Merry Christmas to my Joyful Family,

Well this week was yet again another adventure! Like you all we have had lots and lots of rain... It rained everyday! Everyday I came home with lots of mud on my clothes and shoes! Haha! The shoes are still on though! Haha!

So this week has not had much happen! Like for the most part it has been the same ole same ole! Lots of teaching, and walking, and teaching, and walking! haha! We had a great week this week though!

We had around 10 investigators say they will be baptized and 4 of them are this Christmas! We have Sister Michelle Acak, Sister Elnora Canete, Sister Jeya and Jessa Elliodora being baptized this week! We have the rest of the Acak family (5 others) and Sister Mary Ann Rigodos, and Brother Jason Fortunado, and 2 others in the Rigodos Family, Brother Ryandel Dantez, and Boyboy Mendoza. They are all super elect and we should see them being baptized within the next couple weeks.

Well also to go along with that this week was amazing in our attendance at church. It was a record for me and a record for Elder Allam in this area.  It was 16 investigators at church! The Lord is amazing and his work is great! I know this is the work of the Lord!

We had good lessons all week. Interesting travel experiences. Like in the picture you see us on an extended bridge because as you see in the other picture the river overflowed and there is no was to cross on a motor. so we had to hike to get to the bridge in the mud to cross the bridge!

So I will talk later about the Christmas Call, but we will be talking on Christmas and it will be awesome! I am super excited to see you all! I don't have much else to tell! The days go by so fast here and it is really hard to remember everything! I have written everything I remember. I hope to have better things to talk about on Christmas!

I love you all! I miss you so much! Have a Merry Christmas to you all and keep those shoes on! I Keep strong, be charitable and show love and joy to all! You are the examples! I love you!

Love,

Elder Minson

From Dian-Ay Sagay Stake - In the middle of the Bukid.

Dear Super Family of Awesomeness and Jolly,

Well this week was an adventure! I went from a very city area, to probably one of the most BUKID areas in the entire mission! I mean we are in the mountains! Like every morning stepping out side it feels like stepping out of a cabin in the Rocky Mountains! The fresh air and cold breeze! Awe man it is just awesome!! You will see some pictures of what I am talking about!

So yeah this week was great, but honestly really hard to talk about stuff... Our travel time is sooooooo lonnnnnnggggg!!! So yeah we don't get nearly as many teachings like in Bacolod. I do have some good experiences and some funny experiences from this week though!

So my second day in this area we decided to go to this one family. Elder Allam seemed to really like them even though they are so far away! So we went, and walked and walked and walked and walked... Lots of walking took place okay... and then we finally got to the top and taught them! And Elder Allam was right they are GREAT! I wish we could visit more then once or twice a week but that is just not possible. So on our way back it got dark... and with the whole typhoon thing last week everything is mud here... Lets just say it was the Frammar all over again! By the time we got out of there My arms were covered in mud from falling and from catching myself before my shirt got hit..... It was an adventure!

Well we have this one area with a special sacrament and it is in the middle of the bukid (Mountains)! We have to take a thing called a Habblehabble(pretty much just back ride on a single motorcycle) to get up there!! Well after 20 minutes on that we finally arrive. All the pictures I am sending of the environment are just from that ride up the mountain to get to this area! So the people up there love the missionaries.We have that special sacrament and we are trying really hard to make it into a group! It is amazing! We have this one Old Nanay Canete who is just awesome! She is so humble as well! We love her and she will hopefully be baptized in January.

So yeah this week has been kind of a scramble... I don't know what to really talk about... My companion is awesome! He is batch with me to come home so that is really fun too! We teach really well together and are really trying to plan and get this area so we can travel less and focus on individual areas everyday because it is just to big and we just don't have the money to spend on so much travel! We think we will get it working out thought.

The Zone Leader thing is alright. I feel not so worthy of it. I am obedient, but I just am not one of the strongest missionaries in the mission. I will take on the calling though and try to magnify myself for it! I am glad for the opportunity to be a Zone Leader and help others. We will see how this goes in the next couple weeks!

Well I love you all! I am safe and strong and happy so don't worry about me! I love and miss you all so much and am super excited for our phone call on Christmas! I am keeping my shoes on and working hard! Thank you again for the package and for the letters, they were awesome! Thanks and love you lots!

Love,

Elder Minson

Brock and His Companion at Stake Conference in Sagay

Brock with his New Companion Elder Allam

Brock Got His Christmas Package.

Brock got his Pic of the Ogden Temple from Grandma Vicki

A little gift from some new friends in the Philippines..

We just received these photos from the Minosa Family in the Philippines. They are the family who wrote us last week telling us about Brocks transfer.  They have been awesome at letting us know how he is doing. We are so blessed to have our son in a country of people who are so selfless and thoughtful of our needs. They called themselves his family in the Philippines and I believe it. We are growing to love these people our son is serving.

...the one thing I do know is the Lord will help me!

Dear Family that I am Proud of,

(Photo Sent by a Ward Member)
Brock Minson and his companion Elder Basay
With their investigator of Brother Zyrone. This is the Guy
Who took the lessons and then went to work in Saudi
then came back was retaught the lessons and Baptized
in a week. Brock so wishes he could have
spent more time with him

So yeah this week was cool and stuff! Did a lot of work and we kicked butt in our amount of lessons even though we had a lockdown this week! I mean it was just fantastic! Then I got transferred... 

So to start I want to talk about Brother Zyrone. Yes he did get baptized. We taught him everything and it was great! It was really nice to see him get baptized! I have pictures but I am short on time today so you will get them next week. He was a great investigator and I am really sad we only got to teach him for a week because he was so elect! It was a good baptism! 

Elder Minson and Elder Babida... Brothers.
Sad to be seperated for this transfer but
look forward to the after mission life. Lifetime friends

OH before I forget I don't think I ever thanked you Mama! I am so thankful for the package it was amazing! My feet are doing really well I have plenty of medicine and stuff so I should be good with all that! I love the socks they are amazing and helping a ton! 

Well I really love this time because of Christmas! Yes I am excited to talk with all of you, but the really cool thing is the campaign the church is doing right now. "He Is the Gift!" Go on you tube and it will be all over the advertisements! It is amazing and we are using it in our work here! We are actually putting ribbon on some pamphlets and make it look like it is a gift and it really gets people excited to receive the gospel! I am excited to keep teaching it and using it to get new investigators! 

Well Typhoon Ruby was a big woop! Nothing happened here in Bacolod, it didn't even rain hard! I hear in the northern zones it got hit a bit, but nothing to bad! Well it just allowed us to relax and luckily I got all my laundry done! Just in time for transfers!!

Alright yes I did get transferred and I am super sad about it because I love Bacolod 6th Ward. Brother Michael is a close friend of ours and has helped out a ton sense I have been here. He use to drive us around to get us to our interviews for the other companionship and also helped with the work as well!  I will also miss the Minosa Family a ton! They are amazing people and i love them to death! I will also miss my companion Elder Basay he is a strong worker and I believe will do good things as long as he stays focused.

Well I am transferring to Sagay Zone. I will be in a very bukid area called Gemay (I think that is how it is spelled). This is the highest baptizing zone in the whole mission! So I am super excited to see how things go there! Oh and to add on to the news of being transferred, I have also stepped up! I am now the Zone Leader of Sagay Zone! I have a big responsibility on my shoulders, but I feel like I can do it with the strength and power of God. I feel very 2 sided on this position, not sure if I am excited or scared, but the one thing I do know is the Lord will help me! I will try and magnify this to my greatest capabilities! 

Questions from Mom: 

SO how are things going??????

I am great things are pretty crazy right now but i am excited to see what I can do! 

Do you like your new companion??? I should say do you know your new companion haha?
I know who he is but I am with another missionary becasue he is transferring also to Sagay zone. So we are companions for today tell we get to sagay later this afternoon.

How are your feet? Are the new socks helping you at all?
Feel are good and the socks rock! 

Ok so I asked a few questions DON'T forget to answer them hahaha?

I won't ;) hahah\

So that is about it for this week. OH I did hear good news from Cadiz! I talked to the Stake President last week after email and he said that cadiz 2nd branch is turning into a ward!! And Bayabas Uno, that area me and elder Babida found will be turning into Cadiz 3rd Branch!! Such a great thing to hear! 

Well I love you all! I know you are all probably asleep and tired, but I just want you all to know I love you! Thank you all for writing me! Thanks you for the pictures and the good news! Keep strong and keep happy! I know God is here to guide us and will protect us! Thank you so much! l Love YOU!!!

Love,

Elder Minson

 

These pics are from a Facebook Friend connected to the
Bago ward (Brocks last area) The chapel became a temp shelter

Storm once again steered Clear of the Island.
A little rain and wind but nothing Serious