Week 73

Week 73
8/11/14

Downed tree from typhoon 

didn't make it...

So this week turned out pretty good...On Tuesday we started out the day by walking up this mountain to start trying to find new people to teach... maybe I'll take a picture next time of this road that leads up all the way to the mountain. So we started just to talk to some people and it turned out they knew some of the members so they said we can go back and teach them WOO! and we also got to teach some of the our investigators from before... we just haven't had a chance to teach them because of the typhoon... So one of the pictures I sent was me on a tree that fell down.... in the back ground that's Mt. Iriga or Mt. Asog I think its the same mountain... but yeah we taught a really great lesson to that family... our topic was about families so it sort of made me miss home but it was a super great lesson.... mean while we still have no electricity here in my area.... so its super hot... can't drink cold water and can't use my fan when we go home... so its been a little hot to sleep at night. They say it might be a little while until it comes back... they say October... I think its a joke (I hope) but its literally our little town that we live in that has no power... so the lessons have been going good we have a new investigator and she is really cool... her name is Sister Cherry her husband is a member but she isn't... she really likes our lessons with her so hopefully we can get her to progress to baptism. But this week me and my companion helped this one family who are members to rebuild there house... So what we did is get a bunch of palm tress and carry it to their new home which probably estimates about 150 yards away but you have to walk up a hill and down a hill and through a rice feild... so I basically carried the load for us... but it was a decent 100 pounds per bundle... reminded me of football practice. 

A little shaky..

The umbrella definitely helped LOL

Later that day we had a party for an anniversary of a father who died, his family throws a party every year so it was nice to drink nice fresh coconut water and juice.... that was a good day. Another fun thing happened yesterday, our gas ran out for cooking so my boy scout skills came into handy... we made a fire to cook rice and other meat and water... so we did not starve. But again this week has been great we also had zone training and it was great to see the rest of the new missionaries here in the mission and my friends.  This has been an all around good week. Thanks to all that has wrote me. your emails are always awesome. Til next week.

Elder Llorens

Week 72

Week 72
8/4/14

New Companion and Good Food

So this week was okay... On tuesday I got to pick up my new companion in Naga and I got to eat McDonalds for breakfast and pizza hut for lunch.... I was so full. I also got to see basically all my friends in the whole mission and got to hang out with them for half the day. So Elder Jalocon is my new companion and actually was my room mate in my last area in San Jose so we have been just telling stories from the past to each other. 

The first day together we did service at a members house, I played with a baby goat that day and unfortunately killed a duck.... the house we did service at didn't had anyway to repay us so we ate duck for lunch.... it was actually really good. I went really hard that day during service... they gave me an ax to cut down trees.... I got a sweet blood blister. But I drank unfiltered water for lunch.... so that night I paid for it.... so the next day we did more work and service and the day after we had a district meeting then later went to Pili to withdraw money and grocery shop. When we got  home my companion put his grocery bag on my bunk bed and I was still feeling bad from the water so I laid down.... that night at like 2 o clock in the morning I felt something furry on my feet so I shined my flashlight at my foot and I saw like 4 freaking rats right on my feet.... SO that was not fun... happened like 3 times that night..... So yeah not fun.... not to many lessons this week but we have 2 progressing investigators one of them is getting ready to be baptized at the end of the month and the other one is super nice... her husband is a member. I had a great opportunity to give her baby a name and a blessing. While we were giving her little baby a blessing she started to cry so it was a fun experience. 

Loser!

 Last night we had a family home evening and played a game and if you lost you had to put charcoal on your face.... I basically looked like an Apache hahaha way fun. So i think this week is going to be really good.  I am doing good, the health is somewhat okay but I am just here having some fun doing everything I can here in the Philippines. But thanks everyone for all the messages you send me they are always awesome. Later this week we have more parties here with the members. So the fun continues . Also I am going to have a knife made here in our area because there is a blacksmith: the handle of the knife is going to be horns from a water buffalo... so hopefully we get pictures of it this week. but I think this is it for this week... thanks all! 

Elder Llorens

Week 71
7/28/14


So  I sent an update last week, but I guess it didn't go through.  Last week was really intense. So on Monday we got a text from our leaders that we need to prepare because a typhoon was going to hit the Bicol region the next day and that we need to be ready to go to our evacuation points. So we didn't really think much of it but I was over looking our plans and basically I just got a strong feeling that this typhoon was going to be bad and that we needed to go to a safer evacuation area... I am thankful I went on that feeling because Tuesday night at about 7 o'clock metal sheets, houses, and  animals were flying around getting destroyed. The house that we even evacuated to got a major leak on the 3rd floor and our house got flooded. But this was the craziest storm I have ever been in. I just remember looking outside the window seeing banana trees getting cut in half by the wind and power lines just flopping in the air.... I was a little scared. The next day was a mess. We went outside to see what it was like and it was like looking at a garbage dump because the whole city was destroyed. We helped move this giant tree blocking the road for this lady. After that we made the decision to go around and start helping members. So thats what we did. But it was really sad to see that a lot of homes were gone and destroyed because of the typhoon. All last week and all of this week we spent cleaning up homes and helping people with their problems. So it was really fun giving service to others.  Overall it was a really  humbling experience. So even our house was destroyed a little everything inside was soaked in water and part of our roof was gone. But I am really glad that we got to help the people here and give them some hope in their lives. I even got to meet new people that I didnt know before which is really cool. I think overall this has been a really great experience even though we still have no electricity because all the power lines were knocked down . So there has been a lot more mosquitoes and its been a thousand times hotter. But its okay. I got a lot of blisters on my hands. I've fallen on barbed wire and I have broken a pair of my sandals so far. Tomorrow I get a new companion... I sort of feel bad for him because he is coming to one of the hardest areas in the mission. But its going to be fun. Hopefully he will be fun and the time will fly with him. But overall this last week has been really rough but its also been really good. Thank you for everyone who has been emailing me your the best!

Elder Llorens

Week 70- The Aftermath

Week 70
7/21/14


Hi all, no official update from Elder Llorens this week.  Typhoon Rasmussen or Glenda as the Filipino people call, it hit last Tuesday and Wednesday.  Here is a news clip:

Residents in the Philippines on Friday (July 18) repaired houses and began assessing damage to infrastructure, after Typhoon Rammasun swept across the country. Fifty-four people have died, and three are reported missing, disaster officials said. The storm destroyed about 7,000 houses and damaged 19,000, the executive director of the National Disaster Agency, Alexander Pama, has said. More than 530,000 people had taken refuge in evacuation centres, official figures showed.


We did not hear from Seth on Sunday, but heard from him last night that he is okay.  He had to travel to Naga to find working internet, and it was very sporadic.  His Mission President sent this email:

We have lost power and Internet to 80 percent of our mission. All of our missionaries are safe. 

We know that his house was damaged, but he was in an evacuation location during the storm.  He said that they have been helping the people with repairs, but that his area was ravaged by the storm.  Thank you everyone for the continued prayers and support.

Tammy

Bonus Pictures 7/14/14/

Bugnay Berries a treat!

They make your tongue purple

Basketball

roads we walk

storm coming in

beautiful country

Week 69

Week 69
7/13/14

This week was pretty great... I didn't get sick so I think that was the best of the best..... but yeah this week we actually got a lot of good work in.... we found a couple of new people to teach now... funny thing is that they are all related each other.... basically its a small town every knows each other type of thing. But yeah super good week and the work is progressing. We had a lot of good lessons with investigators and some other members in the area. And because the members here are legit and they always work with us, we try and  give our support back to them by helping to  work in the palayan (rice field) with them.... just pulling weeds and things like that.... but its a hard job definitely got in a good work out for my hands and forearms.... the next day I had a blister on my hands, I guess thats the sign of hard work. 

Working the fields with  Ernie!

But I also got a chance to work with some of the other elders... Elder Joaquin and I worked in my area and had a good time teaching our people. But the worst of the worst for this week had to be the brown outs every day, 3 nights in a row with brown outs. You might be wondering why its a big deal... the big deal is its still like 90 degrees at night and to top it off there are millions of mosquitoes eating you alive... so I wouldn't be surprise if some weird disease is in me.... so that has been just terrible. We got a text from our leaders that we are going to have a Typhoon hit our region tomorrow so we have to be ready to evacuate tomorrow. So this should be interesting, considering our area is in the middle of no where and we don't have a 2 story house where we are suppose to hide in ahaha. So yeah hopefully its not a bad one. But this week has been good and hopefully the week coming up will be awesome like this week.Its awesome to see the blessing and miracle happening here in the Philippines. Thanks again for all the support.

Elder Llorens

Week 68

Week 68
7/5/14

Sister Lilia Baptism

Well this was a great week. This last Saturday our investigator Sister Lilia was baptized, she decided to be baptized at the last minuet, which was really cool. She texted us and told us she wanted to do it. So that was a great day! We paid the Bishop in Tigaon to drive us from San Ramon to the Ocampo chapel and even cooler her mom who is a less active member showed up  to her baptism also.  Earlier that day we met some other people possibly interested in the church... We blessed their home and basically walked an hour just to get to their house and had to walk back..... not fun but worth it. One of the other days I went on exchanges and I saw literally the biggest tree ever!  It was awesome. I took a picture in front of it while all these random people were starring at me.... a little awkward. 

The biggest tree ever!

And yesterday I participated in naming and blessing a baby that was really sweet, instead of being calm the little girl wouldn't stop crying and wiggling while we were blessing her hahaha.  But the not so fun this week might be the 2 night in a row that we have and brown outs from 10 at night till like 10 in the morning I got a ton of mosquito bites and haven't gotten good sleep in a while so I look like a mess ahaha . And I got sick 2 nights also so this weeks work has been a little slow but its all good we have been busy for sure trying to get things done here. But I am pretty pumped I officially got my acceptance letter to BYU-Idaho so thats going to be fun for sure! Can't wait to take my talents there..... my talents are currently killing rats and giant spiders and walking for miles ahahaha. The work is awesome this week so far is one of my favorite ones of my whole mission. Definitely worth it being here and teaching people about the gospel and strengthening my own testimony. I am hoping this week will be a lot better than last week.  Later tonight we have 2 lessons set up so hopefully those don't fall through. But I love the emails from everyone they are so awesome and encouraging to hear from you and all of you accomplishments also. You are always in my prayers. But thanks everyone again for all of your support and cheering me one. But I gotta go now, I hope you enjoy the pictures!

Elder Llorens