Hiking the Rice Terraces With Pics!

Hello Family and Everyone Else!

Well this email is coming in later than normal because I went to the Banaue rice terraces today!  It has been a long day to say the rest. I feel like it should be 8 at night right now haha.  We had to wake up at 2 am to go to Banaue because a couple of people wanted to see the sunrise.  Now I was not opposed to this idea, but after the sacrifice of sleep I made, I was expecting to see that sunrise.  Sadly, since Banaue is in the mountains, the MOUNTAINS blocked the sunrise!!!!!  Oh well, at least the weather was very cool, I actually felt like I was back home for a second!  

We hiked a long ways.  Elder Ishibashi wanted to go to this little hut way up in the terraces.  Basically, we trekked down into a ravine with a river then climbed up the other side to past the elevation we had been at to finally arrive at the hut.  It was a pretty good hike.  l've learned that I am out of shape recently, but I will get into why a little later.  Anyways, my journey to the hut, included me almost falling off a terrace three times, getting half my body covered in mud, and of course when I reached the top the other Elders started to think I was going crazy because I was very dizzy and singing about hiking.  I think I may have made their days with that one, but man that was a good hike.  I also have many pictures of the terraces, so you will be very happy!  

While I was in Banaue, I bought a dragon carving, I took a picture of it, and a special kind of blade!  I got both for under $10 bucks which I call a successful day!  Overall, it was a fun trip.  I enjoyed doing some good exercise and joking around with the other Elders.  So this week was the week of CSPs or service projects!  I had 2 service projects in a row this week on Friday and Saturday.  The one on Friday was pretty dang brutal and is the reason why I say I definitely need to be doing some more cardio exercises!  On Friday morning at 8 am sharp we went to a members house.  It was just Elder Tabudlong, me, and the member who was a heavier set man.  Our job was to shovel out a huge pile of dirt and rocks.  I'm talking it was chest high on me and was about the width of the road.  It was one huge pile!  Now I was working pretty hard like I normally do.  What I didn't realize right away, was how physically demanding shoveling rocks is.  After an hour of working hard, I noticed my heart was pounding and my stomach wasn't feeling too good.  So I took a 5 minute rest, but its still really hot that morning.  I get a burst of energy and start going hard again.  About 5 minutes later the first urge came... Now I pride myself in being able to say I have never puked from working out.  Never! Until Friday at 9:08 am.  I puked 3 times into a small stream.  The rest of that day was pretty hard but I stuck it out!  

When we got home that night, we received another text from one of our Leaders giving us two options, we either go to an emergency service project the next morning or help out with the one day mini mission.  At this point I was laying on my bed thinking about how much a wheelchair costs in the Philippines.  My companion and I decided it was better to go to the CSP, so we would have about an hour break before we went out to work.  That CSP was a little easier, I only had to move cement bags and paint.  I learned that I can really push myself to my limits when i want to this past week.  It was pretty cool.  

I never thought I was pushing myself hard enough, but now that I have come on a mission, I have changed and my will and determination have increased!  Now I am not saying it was good that I puked, but the fact that I alone pushed myself to my absolute limits showed me just how much I have come along on my mission.  I truly believe that I can accomplish anything I want in my life as long as I have the desire! 

Our work is going pretty good too!  We are really getting help from our Single Adults and Return Missionaries to come work with us and fellowship.  We do not have any baptisms yet, but I know that it will come.  I just need to keep bringing the desire and motivation to do so!  It has been a pretty full week and I am just a little tired right now, but this has been a great learning week for me.  It is so awesome to see first hand how I have changed.  I am no longer the weakling who puts down my dumbbell when I have 2 more reps to do!  I do 5 more reps instead!  We all need to keep building our faith daily, and the best way is through constant prayer and a positive (humorous) attitude!  

Well everyone enjoy all of these beautiful photos of me surviving the rice terraces and I love you all!

Love,

Elder Warren

Boil on a Foreigner's Butt

Hello Mom, Family, and Everyone!

Well I officially made it over a year in the mission!  It is a weird and yet satisfying feeling to know that I have come this far!  We met the new mission President this week and he sounds like he will be another great leader! He is from Idaho and has actually already served in the Philippines so he has a lot of great experience! I enjoyed listening to him, and he gave a lot of great advice to us.  Although I do miss President Rahlf, I know that Our Lord has a reason why he has called President Hiatt to be our new mission President.  

This week, a couple of interesting things happened. First, I tried the dragon fruit! I guess it is supposed to taste kind of like a watermelon, but to me it really felt like I was eating water!  The fruit actually looks pretty cool and I wish I was able to take a picture of it, but I didn't have my camera on me at the time.  The inside of the fruit is a dark purple and after you eat it, it dyes your teeth purple!  So I had to make sure I brushed my teeth extra well that night!  Haha.  

Also, we went to the hospital on Tuesday for my companions going home x ray.  While we were there, I decided it would be good for me to get my boil checked out, just to make sure everything was fine.  This is where it gets interesting.  They whisked me into a room that had 3 patients sitting waiting to be looked at and 2 female nurses. Then, in front of all of them, they told me to show them my boil.  Now I don't know about most people, but I was just a little nervous about mooning everyone. Alas, I didn't have a choice, and of course five seconds after I showed them where my boil was one of the nurses yelled "Oh look its a foreigners butt!" I don't know how appropriate this story is but I needed to share it.  

Anyways, I finally got my boil taken care of and after waiting for someone to operate the counter, I only had to pay 3 bucks to get the pills.  Hospitals are really cheap here! We also had a CSP (Community Service Project) this week and I learned that I appreciate the ingenuity of electric saws!  I had to cut bamboo and man was I making Elder Ishibashi crack up.  At CSPs, I find it is funner if you aren't serious about anything, so while I cut the bamboo with a regular saw, I made sure to crack jokes about how bad I was at this.  By the time I finished, we were both crying from laughter and even sweating! I call that CSP a definite success!  

Elder Tabudlong and I are still making progress with our investigators which makes me very happy and the Branch continues to be a huge help.  I am very thankful for this Branch.  The Elders reopened this area only last cycle, so we are still learning where everyone lives because of how big the area is.  The members are so willing to work with us and help progress the work.  I can testify that members are really the key to a missionaries success! We need the members just as much as they need us.  Only together, can we strengthen the ward or branch into a growing and unified House of the Lord!  

Well I had a pretty good week overall. I continue to work as hard as I can, because this next year is gonna go faster than I can imagine! I love you all, I pray for your safety and protection, and will see you in under a year!

Love,

Elder Warren

Happy 4th of July!!

Hello Everyone and Mom!

First off, happy fourth of July!  Although for you it is still July 3rd... I don't feel that different, just a little tanner, a little weaker, and a lot wiser.  It is crazy how fast the time went by to be honest.  At on side, I can definitely see how it has been a year, on the other, it doesn't seem real.  I still remember very clearly the night I headed off to the MTC (Missionary Training Center).  Interesting how that though is still clearly ingrained into my brain.  

The work is going great in Bambang, and the members are fantastic.  They literally are helping our work progress because of their attitude.  They are super outgoing, friendly, and funny. There is rarely a serious moment in this branch to tell the truth, but that's a good thing.  The church lessons are so much more involved with the investigators because the teachers are just fun to be around.  The food also does keep my quite energetic and healthier!  

On a sadder note, I got a pretty big boil this week.  Right now, I am sitting on it, and it literally feels like I am sitting on a golf ball.  I am hoping it goes away soon, but it is sort of a long process.  Oh well, this is what ibuprofen was invented for right?!?  

Anyways, we have a couple of progressing investigators in the branch and I see very high potential for them! Also, since this past week was fast and testimony meeting, I decided to get up and bear my testimony, since I haven't gotten the opportunity to introduce myself to the Branch.  When I went up, it was very different from my last branch, the members all paid attention to me and smiled.  It was a very peaceful atmosphere and I am really blessed to have the opportunity to serve the people of Almaguer Branch!  

My comp likes to remind me everyday of how close he is to going home.  I just help him to work hard and have lots of fun doing it.  He got a haircut this morning and the first thing he said when he was finished was, this is my last haircut in the mission! Haha, I love how he is excited, but he also still knows he needs to finish strong!  

Well I am doing great over here.  I continue to grow in my testimony and in my ability to eat anything I can get my hands on!  Haha I love you all and will talk to you in another week!  

See you in one more year!

Love,

Elder Warren

New Area - Bambang

Hello Everyone!

Well I am now happily here in Bambang!  This is one of the farthest Zones in our mission and is in the mountains.  I have to say the 4 hour drive was a little brutal to the knees but its nothing I can't handle!  The area is a little cooler than my other areas due to the fact that I am on a mountain, but I still manage to sweat a lot.  Story of my life!  

In other news, we have a pizza place literally right next to us and man do I take advantage of that!  One of their pizzas is like the perfect snack size for me!  I just need to make sure I don't spend too much money on them haha.  My new companion is Elder Tabudlong and he is pretty funny.  I can also see that he is ready to go home, but I am making sure we end his last cycle good!  

The area is pretty great so far.  We have a ton of members in our branch which is a total difference from my last area.  Like my last area, everyone likes to ogle over me but that's ok.  The major difference I have noticed is that people are a lot more outgoing in this area.  I love it because it makes it easier for us to get contacts!  

Alright!!!  I have realized there are various advantages to having a companion who is going home after this cycle.  For one, we get a lot more food!  Members are always feeding us because they know that my companion will be going home shortly.  It's also awesome to have a companion who has his Testimony to such an elevated level.  He truly believes and knows in what he is teaching.  He is my 5th companion so far in the mission and he is my 4th Bisaya (native) companion.  For some reason, I seem to get along really well with the Bisayan!  

Anyways, leaving my last area was a little hard.  Its hard to believe that I only left that area 4 days ago.  It was harder for me because in those  months I really bonded with those members and investigators.  I really treasure those relationships I was able to build with the people of Naguilian.  I hope that I'm able to do the same with the people of Almager branch!  At this rate, I may have to return to the Philippines after all because I have a ton of friends here!  I feel rather accomplished right now as a missionary.  

My main reasons behind going on a mission were to help others find the true joy that comes from the gospel of Jesus Christ and to form eternal relationships with the people that I meet.  Throughout my mission I always pondered about what things I could bring back with my in the next life and I realized that one of those things is relationships.  The beautiful thing about relationships is that is built spiritually rather than physically.  The connection you build with people you meet and love is not seen, but rather felt.  I am really glad that Heavenly Father created such a beautiful place where I can build such relationships and bring them with me throughout all eternity.  After all, I do love spending time with my friends!  

On another bright note, my new Zone Leader is my MTC batch mate Elder Ishibashi!  He looks like he is doing really well and he is super excited to be in the same Zone as me.  We will have a great cycle this cycle.  Well I love you all and I am grateful for this new opportunity to serve in the Mountains!  I feel at home here.  

Well I will talk to you again next week!

Love,

Elder Zach Warren

Getting Transferred This Week and 10 Donut Limit!

Hello Everyone!

Well it has been one packed week.  I picked up a cough at the beginning of this week and it hasn't wanted to leave me alone.  The members tells me it has to do with the heat and my back sweat.  I told them I was doomed to have a cough the rest of my mission then because I am always sweating!!!!!  

Anyways, I will be officially transferring out of the Cauayan Zone on Wednesday!  It has been a lot of fun here in Cauayan, but I am ready to see more of the mission and meet more peope!  On Sunday, a lot of less active members came to church and it made me happy to see that before I left. I got to see almost all of the seats filled up at church. 

On Wednesday, Elder Sorronda and I had to come up to Cauayan because he is going to be a trainer.  I worked with another Elder while he was in his meeting.  On Thursday, I had splits with our Zone Leaders and I was given the opportunity to work with Elder Posadas.  We went to one family of his that I could tell were the joking type.  The problem was that the parents were not active.  I knew I was kind of going to have to be straight with them, when Elder Posadas asked me to teach the lesson.  I was pretty direct when I told them that they needed to be better examples to their children.  They made the excuse that they needed money, but if that was the problem then how were their kids getting to church?  It kind of seemed like the Father had many excuses as to why he couldn't come to church, but in the end it came down to the fact that he wasn't willing to exercise his faith.  At the end of the lesson, the parents weren't joking anymore and I could tell that I had struck a chord with them.  Although I love to joke with others, we need to realize the importance of attending church and repenting of our sins.  Our lives should be centered around our beliefs, we can't only go to church when it suits us well.  We should be making a valiant effort to return to our Savior, because he sacrificed everything for us.  

On Friday we had a specialized training, we watched a video that was to train new mission Presidents.  At one point it said, why would [we missionaries] think this work would be easy when it was such a great challenge for Him.  Jesus Christ preformed miracles on this Earth and yet people still dwindled in unbelief.  That part of the video really hit me.  It made me realize I need to put more faith in the people I am teaching.  If it was that hard for Our Savior, it will be that much harder for me.  I won't give up, in fact after that day, I had a renewed sense of purpose.  I know this work won't be easy, but the joy and happiness it will bring me in the future can't even be described.  

Well to end on a funny note, this morning I bought 10 donuts and 2 sodas, and because of this fact, I was not able to eat lunch.  Lesson learned, 10 is my limit.  I ate 7 with ease last time and was still hungry for lunch but I guess 10 is just over doing it.  

Also Happy Fathers Day to my dad and to Grumps and to Grandpa Matthews.  All 3 of you have left a deep impression on my life and without you men I would not be the man I am today!  Grumps, your still weak and you have strings hanging out of your shirt.  

I love you all and will talk to you again in a week!

Love,

Elder Warren

The Baller Technique

Hello Everyone!

Well it was another good week for me!  We have a truly progressing investigator.  He has attended church for 3 weeks now.  Since last week, he has accepted the word of wisdom and has given up coffee and has stopped his occasional drinking!  I am honestly so happy right now that I am finally on the route to my first baptism. Part of me hopes that I get to stay at least one more cycle, but I will go where the Lord wants me to go!  

This week I got to teach the youth about stories they can use to explain to their non member friends the importance of the Priesthood.  I was very impressed by the scriptures that were provided in the lesson book.  There are several references to the priesthood in the Bible.  Almost all of the passages we shared were in the Bible so that their friends would have a better understanding.  Honestly this is one of the things I love about our church.  Although many people like to disagree with our beliefs, our church is centered off the same authority as the Church of Jesus Christ back in Biblical times.  I love how I don't have to be confused about the governing of our church because we have the same positions as in times of old.  It also makes my life easier because to be quite frank. 

Anyways, we went to the Quirino area again and for what seems like the first time in forever, I dunked for some little kids.  Afterwards about half the neighborhood wanted to get to know me.  Talk about a great way to get contacts!  My companions mouth literally dropped open when the people started to come towards us.  Haha and then to make things better, all of the people were shocked when they found I was pretty fluent in Tagalog.  Now don't get me wrong, I am not even close to perfect at Tagalog, but they thought I had lived here for years.I usually started my contacts off by telling them that, yes I played basketball in america, and yes I was about as tall as Stephen Curry, then I was able to smoothly transition to the gospel!  I call it my baller technique! :) 

Side note: By the way, have I told you that I think I have grown an addiction towards peanuts... I buy them by the kilo!  I just cant get enough of the salty flavor they provide!  I also thinks its an indication that I may need more sodium in my diet.  Oh and I found a cheap donut shop!!!!  I bought 10 donuts and they were amazing.  

Recently we have been having some problems with the women in our branch and as I was listening to one of our less active sisters talk about her concerns about attending all 3 hours due to the fact that there was some contention, a thought crossed my ind: "Who's house is this?"  The thought hit me so clearly that I lost my place in the conversation.  Immediately I was able to answer that the church is the Lord's house.  As it is the Lord's house, all of the members come together to worship and think about our Savior.  The Lord's house is not a place where the members should be diving into groups and talking about each other in negative ways.  It is a sacred place where everyone should be gathered together for one purpose, to come closer to Christ.  

This week I am going to focus my lessons to the women on the sacredness of the Lord's house and how we should be treating it.  It is high time this Branch felt some warmth and love! And who better to give it than us missionaries!!!!  I know this church is true.  The church is a sacred house of the Lord and should be treated as such.  It is no place for contention and definitely not a place to speak negative about others.  The 3 hours we have there are very short and should be cherished every second.  It is an opportunity to receive revelation for the things we need to focus on for the following week.  It is an opportunity to improve on ourselves and come closer to Him who was our perfect example.  I challenge all of you to truly ponder what it means to spend 3 Hours in  the Lord's house.  

Well to leave off, Id like to send my prayers off to the victims in the mass shooting.  I can't believe that was able to happen on US Soil.  I hope the government works hard to control this situation, because it seems to be getting scarier everyday.  

Well I love you all and will talk to you again soon!
Love,
Elder Warren

Hanging out

Crossing the Bridge

Pondering...

The "Dam"

Silly Kids

Yet Another Food Joint, Street Flood and Frog Invasion!!

Hi Everyone!  

I can't believe that summer is already here.  Man its been a long time now.  It truly amazes me to think about how much time has gone by already.  The scary part is that I have only been in 2 areas so far.  So in the next year, I could only have 2 more areas!!! Thats crazy!  

Thats too bad to hear about the death of Scottie.  He was such an amazing kid.  I always enjoyed seeing him when I went to their house those couple of times.  I know he is reunited with Heavenly Father and watching over his family now.  His happiness is greater than any of us could comprehend.  

So as for this week,  I just got done eating at chicken deli, its like a second hand version of mang ingasal.  Basically, you get some meat and then unlimited rice.  Polynesians have actually made it so that we can only get so many things of rice.  Its ok though, because I have not yet beat that record.  The secret to eating this way is to have only a little bit of meat with each spoonful of rice.  Then you can get your ulam, or meal to last or at least 4 scoops of rice.  Then you just drench the rice in chicken sauce until you are full!  I know all of the secrets now to eating like a Polynesian.  Seriously though, the chicken sauce is amazing and I love to order their pork sisig.  

The weather has not gotten any cooler besides the baguio that passed through the other day.  Let me tell you, I had not experienced true rain until that evening.  When I was trying to walk to the tryke from our last appointment (we needed the ryke because all of the streets were flooded) the water came up to past my knees!  I think I may have screamed like a little girl when the coldness enveloped my legs!  My first though was that hopefully no worms would go up my pants!  

When we got back to our appartment our walkway was COVERED with frogs.  I literally believe we may have a frog infestation.  They were in our house, on the walls, everywhere.  We had to spend some time getting them all out of there.  I also experienced my first tree frog and man those things can jump!  

Anyways our work is starting to take a turn for the better!  We had 3 investigators attend church yesterday!  The difference is that they all had friends or family members who came with them to church!  Now how hard is that?  I am hoping more members start to take this initiative because most of our investigators are friends with members!  I feel a lot better now that I am starting to see the results of my work.  It is an amazing feeling to see it pay off.  

Anyways I continue to do good over here.  I just can't seem to ever fill my bottomless stomach!!! Luckily, members are pretty generous over here.  Well I love you all and will send some pictures soon!

Love,

Elder Zach Warren