November 8, 2013 – Crazy Week!

Dear Mom, Dad, Elder Froude 2, Lauren, and everyone who've heard about the super typhoon Yolanda,

                Well, I’m happy to announce that the Typhoon Yolanda is almost over and my mission specifically was not so much affected. Just strong winds and a little rain here and there. Other missions, however, were not so lucky. Please pray for the people in Tacloban, Leyte, and Samar. Those areas were hit the hardest and over 1000 people were killed so far. They say it was a stronger storm than hurricane Katrina. 

                This week was transfer week! We had a storm before the real storm.  Long story short, we had to have 3 pasaway (disobedient) elders at our apartment for 3 days, dealt with another situation in which many elders came in to be interviewed and president had to change transfers last second which put us behind schedule by a day. But we managed to get through it even if we were later than we wanted to be.

                Anyway, so from transfer day, we went into exit day a day behind schedule. We took the pa-uwi (exiting or returning) Filipino missionaries to the bus stop to go home all before 6:30 am. The American pa-uwi missionaries had their flight delayed by a day because their passports were still at immigration in Manila. My companion and I split up and I went with the exiting missionaries to the War Memorial while my companion took over fixing transfers in the office. Remember how I said I didn’t want to be a party planner? That’s because I had to keep track of all 15 pa-uwi missionaries and make sure they made it all into the right cars and make sure we had enough shuttles.  Just a ton of logistics but it was like herding cats! They all wanted to be everywhere at once and they were never always together! Haha! It was a handful, I tell you.  (P.S. Remind me never to have 15 kids. :p) 

Then we had to take the new missionaries to the mission home. It was intense! But we made it 30 minutes late to the MTC but started on time in the mission home for orientation and trainer meeting. This time I went to the office to make sure the shuttles had enough drivers to take all the missionaries to their respective areas. This was the smoothest part of the week. I gave each driver a specific set of directions and everyone made it out of the mission home in a car with their luggage, all in 10 minutes. Way better than last transfer. Whew!

And for the last few days we’ve been having Mindoro bound missionaries and a super typhoon to deal with, which luckily, has been not as bad in the Metro Manila area as it has been in other areas. Barely room to breathe but we still managed to have the Benfit family interviewed for baptism and they will be baptized tomorrow night. We endure so much this week and to end it with a baptism of a golden family makes it all worth it.  ^_^  Every struggle, every obstacle, every setback, and then to help 2 young souls enter into the covenant of baptism makes all the bad events seem like nothing. Thanks be to God that everything worked in His way and, miraculously, we could help these two young men join their parents in the gospel.  ^_^ Enzo, the 15 year old, asked me to baptize him. I'm so honored! Missionary life is good. It’s all worth it! 

Okay, Ii'm going to log out now. Thanks for staying up with me and updating me on things going on at home! I'll talk to you next week. Then it will only be 5 more email sessions before I'm home! Goodnight! Love you!

Doing you Proud,

Elder Froude ^_^

P.S.

We have had free food almost all this week! We are so blessed!

Christmas is in full swing here in the Philippines!

Purple tie day!

This is where we buy hot bread rolls.  Yum!

A burning school close to our church building. Scary!

November 1, 2013 – And The Work continues!

Dear Mom, Dad, Elder Froude, and everyone who ate candy this week!

This week was a quite week for the office which means we worked hard in our area! We were teaching lessons like crazy this week mainly to our bap dates, the Benfit Family. We visited them about 4 times this week and then we took them to the Temple to go on a temple tour. We took them around the grounds and answered questions and helped them feel the Spirit.  We explained to them the temple ordinances and the blessings that come from it. It was a great day and they loved it! Their two sons, Carter and Enzo, are going to get baptized this Saturday in Makati. We're also helping the family focus on their next goal which is Temple Sealing.  ^_^  Thanks to the Bishop of the Makati 4th ward and their wonderful fellow shippers, they are ready for this weekend.

 We had a wonderful day of teaching on Tuesday. We went out about 4 o clock from the office to get to our appointments we had set. We went over to our first appointment and they weren't there, saying (too bad).  So then we walk to a potential investigator's house we met on Sunday. It was a long shot but we went over and knocked on the door and the mom answered the door. The dad was there eating at the table but they invited us in. This is the Cabang family, btw. We walked and introduced ourselves to the father.  We hadn't met him yet. We just taught his wife and two daughters the last time with some ward missionaries. He identified himself as Jeremy and says it's his birthday today!  Well, after inviting them to sit with us we start a lesson and their daughter who was upstairs soon followed.  Sister Cabang was very glad we are back because she had more questions about the Book of Mormon that we introduced to her last time we came. The father curiously asked, "What is this Book of Mormon you are talking about?" I looked at my companion, smiled and replied, "That's why we're here."

After an opening prayer we spent 45 minutes explaining the origin and content of the Book of Mormon. How it is a record of Jesus Christ's ministry and dealing with the ancient inhabitants of America. The father's curiosity grew; we bore our testimony of the truthfulness of this book and gave them each a copy. The father was really feeling the Spirit and thanked us for our visit. I think we found ourselves a next potential family. ^_^  They were very receptive of the Spirit.

That was the first part of that wonderful night. We then went to visit the Benfit family because their Bishop wanted to meet them with us and finalize the details of the baptism with us. We had an excellent lesson with their family and their bishop and bishop's son and the teacher's quorum president who were fellowshipping Enzo. It was definitely a great night!  The Spirit was felt and the Bishop, Bishop Bohn, expounded on our teachings and made it that much better. The Benfit family is now set! It was great to have so much support from their ward there with them. Pictures next week!

It's been a nice holiday week here in the Philippines.  Not much traffic which is really nice. We went to visit a member’s house yesterday, the Morrisons. They are fellowshipping the Benfit Family. (Note: We actually have no American families in our ward. We have investigators that live in our ward boundaries but they go to the English Branch in Makati.)  We went there and handed out candy with them for Halloween and gave Articles of Faith cards with the candy… it was fun!  Haha! Candy and the gospel! Filipinos really don’t celebrate Halloween unless you live in a rich subdivision like Eastwood or Valle Verde where there are a lot of Americans. Anyway, they fed us a nice chili dinner and were able to talk about the specifics of the baptism of Carter and Enzo.

I'm doing really good right now; we just came from an elders quorum activity. We got a free head massage, much needed, and free lunch! Best day ever!  Haha!  Thanks for staying up with me. I love you! You're the best!  I hope you have a great week! And I hope you all enjoyed this letter! Love you all!

Doing you Proud,

Elder Froude ^_^

October 25, 2013 – My Birthday Letter

Dear Mom, Dad, Lauren, Elder Froude2, and everyone who wished me a great happy birthday,

What an interesting week this was! Monday was my birthday! I am now officially 21 years old! We had  breakfast at this all you can eat breakfast buffet for only 160 pesos and I treated all of my kabahay (housemates) and we all ate till we were stuffed! Then, we worked the rest of the day getting things done at the office and had an FHE (Family Home Evening) at Sister Merci's house with her family. There was also a lot of food there. Then the sister missionaries in our ward bought us cake and we had dessert outside their apartment. So, it was a good day…we had a lot of fun!

The next day on Elder Pedrola's birthday, and still technically my birthday in America, we were treated by the Revillo's to Vikings (another all you can eat restaurant) for dinner. Wow! I am so spoiled! Haha!  They treat us so well in the office. I'm just afraid I'll get white and fat before I go home... >.<  Haha! I'm already losing my tan!!!

And as newly 21, I would like to thank everyone who has supported me so far in my mission here in the Philippines. It was very much worth it and more! I have gained much appreciation for life and for my relationship with my Father in Heaven who I’ve come to know more fully, not through a peaceful and blessed life, but through the refiner's fire. My mission has not been an easy mission but I know that all of the trials that the Lord has put me through and all of the hardships I’ve had to face have made me who I am today. I trust the Lord so much more now for the many experiences he's given me and for the promises he's kept so long as I’ve kept his commandments.

I would like to thank my wonderful, loving, and supportive parents and my brother Elder Froude2 for his decision to go on a mission as well. Best of luck, Bro! Thanks be to my sister Lauren and her family and her new upcoming baby! Thanks to Tito Pepe, Tita Jackie, Tita Jona, Anton, and Anya for their emails and their birthday greetings. Also, to Tita Tina, Tita Nora, and Tita Lulu for the love that they send. Maraming salamat kay Mama (Many thanks to my Grandma Norma) for her support and many emails, Tita Lennet and Uncle Monjun for their pagmamahal (love).

This week was relatively straightforward, no need to wake up super early this week but we've been out late because of the increase in missionaries and the increasing distance our zone interviews have been. I mean, we've been going farther out. Anyway, we've just finished up the last two zones on Thursday and it was a killer 31 missionaries with 7 more that still need to be interviewed on Monday. It was a late night but fulfilling. The crazy thing is that after this next week, it's transfer week again and we'll need to start preparing...I mean a lot of planning will come up and we'll need to prepare more workshops!

On the bright side, Sister Merci is getting baptized in 4 hours so I am excited! We are still getting good missionary work done even though we're very busy. Then the Benfit family is coming along really well. We taught the Word of Wisdom and we'll finish the rest of Lesson 4 before their baptism on Nov. 10^th, close to mom's birthday. Oh and btw, Brother Todd's team won the finals for the PBA last night!

Well, that's all for now. Two months are coming to a close and I’m going into over gear…there is no time to be trunky, no time to falter, the kingdom of God is calling and I'm moving onward! I love you all!

Doing you Proud,

Elder Froude ^_^

Sister Merci's baptism day!

Me at the office

With Elder Merrill

Happy 21st birthday, Elder Froude!

This video was sent to us by Elder Froude's mission president' wife.  Thank you, Sis. Marie Revillo!

October 18, 2013 – “Seek ye first the kingdom of God…”

Dear Mom, Dad, Lauren, and Elder Froude 2,

                Another week of twists, turns, and exciting events! Success has been achieved in all aspects of the work so far and inasmuch as I have kept my promise to study the scriptures. For the scriptures so state in Matthew 6:33, “But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you.” It’s a promise that’s been given to me several times by many different leaders and I’ve held on to that and sure enough, no matter how hectic the schedule has been I’ve been able to overcome it with more strength than I had expected, despite the lack of sleep and food. I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me. In my new assignment, that strength is vital. Thanks be to God!

                It’s really hard to pick out certain experiences by day or chronologically because this entire week has seemed like a blur. Let’s start with some good news… Sister Merci (different from Teresa) has accepted the invitation to be baptized and will be baptized in 1 week! We are so excited for her! She ran into a little obstacle on the way but she is showing great faith and pressing forward. I know the Lord will bless her life in the weeks to come. It’s funny how all of the investigators that I teach to be baptized have something come up before their baptism.  So, expect baptism pictures next week!

 

Sister Merci

                 I’ve been lacking in sleep lately. We’ve had to take a few people to the airport at 4:00 am to be sent home for medical reasons. It was sad to see them go but they said they will be back as soon as they can. We had to pick them up from various parts of the mission, go outside of the mission to the airport, come back, and then drop off another one at the bus stop. Immediately afterwards, we went home to shower and change then go directly to Pasig for a zone interview until 7:30 pm. While doing our assigned workshop, I felt so bad because someone was answering a question and I had no idea what they said because my mind shut off for a second, but I was able to wake myself up after that. Then we took some sisters to their apartment in Marikina. Marikina used to be Elder Pedrola’s old area so he wanted me to try this special sisig (pork dish cooked in spices and calamansi juice, which is like lemon here in the USA) that he thinks is the best. I will now tell the story of the greatest sisig!

                On our quest for the Greatest Sisig, tired and hungry from our long journey, we take many different rights and lefts to get to the greatest sisig place. We got lost at one point but promptly made it back to the right path. We then arrived at this small shop for where they sell this sisig for 50 pesos but we had to buy our own egg and rice. Haha! Elder Pedrola kept saying how it was the best sisig that he has had. Tired and hungry, we wait for the sisig and sit down to eat. I’m enjoying the sisig although konti yung portions (portions were small…meaning one order is not enough for growing boys like the missionaries!). But I thought it was good and then Elder Pedrola, realizing that something was wrong told me, “I’m sorry Elder Froude… that it is purong taba (almost all fat). Then I realized that there was barely any meat in it! But instead of reacting negatively about it, I just laughed! It was a fun adventure! Elder Pedrola and I have both had a long day and then our dinner wasn’t the best, but it was fun. We could have made it seem like it was the worst day ever, being up since 4:00 am, but we just laughed it off. It was the best decision we made!

Yummy Sisig!

                The next day, we took President Revillo to the airport at 4:00 am so he could go to Mindoro and afterwards we emergency transferred (ET) 3 elders and sisters to replace the ones that just left. Again, from various parts of the mission to other further parts of the mission. So, we’ve been doing a whole lot of driving lately, to and from the airport, and have been in, basically, every zone in the last 3 days for one thing or another, and still found time to prepare Sister Merci for her baptismal interview which is later today at 6:30 pm. All is well.

                I hope you are doing well this week! I’ll be 21 in a couple of days! Thanks for the video cake and eating it for me! Have a great week and I love you!

Doing you Proud,

Elder Froude ^_^    

Happy 21st birthday, Elder Froude!!!

In front of the Manila Temple

October 10, 2013 – Life as an AP

Dear Mom, Dad, Ryan, Lauren and everyone who loved General Conference, or still doesn’t know what that means,

It’s been another busy week in the office; many good things have happened and many workshops have been taught. In short, I am doing quite well and I’m glad that my brother is enjoying the DR!

This week has just been one workshop after another. For the last 3 days ,we’ve been doing zone interviews in Marikina, Sumulong, Quezon City South, and Taytay. Each day, we start off with opening remarks and hymns and then we have the district and zone leaders give a workshop for about 2 hours. Meanwhile, Elder Pedrola, Sister Revillo (mission president’s wife), and I have been driving around and checking all of the apartments to make sure that they are clean and that they have no contraband items. In one apartment, we confiscated about 3 giant machetes, pocket knives and such, and samurai swords. I feel like the police! It also means that in that time span, we had to brave the roads of Metro Manila and try not to get hit or hit anything or anybody. Anyway, we are alive and well and have checked many apartments and phones these last few days. After that, we go back to the chapel and teach our workshop about the baptismal invitation and the reasons why it is good to invite investigators early to be baptized. It’s a really fun workshop actually. We have them role-play with each other and they gain much revelation for their investigators. So, the meetings are scheduled to end at 4pm but don’t get done until like 7. Then we drop off President at the mission home around 8:00-8:30 and then we just go home and sleep. Sometimes, we don’t even eat dinner because we’re so tired or too full on pan-de-sal (Filipino bread rolls) and trail mix. Haha! Last night, I forgot the house keys so we didn’t get into our house until like 10:00pm. Sigh… but it’s all good.

Traffic in Marikina

Friday was fun; we had the trainer-trainee meeting today and a lot of it was on stress management. We were kind of unprepared so we chumba-chumba’ed (just winged) our way through it but it worked out in the end. This new booklet, “Adjusting to Missionary Life,” was very inspired, I believe. The suggestions they have in there to cope with certain stresses is very helpful. Especially for me cause I have had problems falling asleep since I came to the office. So, I looked up things on that and they have been very helpful so now I’m nice and relaxed when I go to bed. Not that I’m developing insomnia or anything but that my mind is on so many things that it takes longer for me to sleep, unless I’m dead exhausted. Haha!

Trainer-trainee workshop

Sis. Wilson (right) with her trainee, Sis. Sims

On the good note for this week, we’ve been working in our area and Elder Pedrola felt on our 2nd appointment with this family (Esterez family) to commit them to baptism and they said yes! All 4 of them! Ahh!!! Their baptism is on December 13th, right before I go home, so I hope we’ll be able to help them come to church enough to get baptized. ^_^

Let me tell you a little bit about my companion, Elder Pedrola. He is a great Preach My Gospel missionary. He is Filipino and his first language is Waray but he is really good at Tagalog and quite good at English too even though medyo mahiya siya sa English (he’s a little bit shy in speaking English). Pero ayos lang….masipag naman siya at humble pa. (But he’s fine…he’s conscientious and humble.) He's probably one of the most hardworking missionaries I’ve had the pleasure to work with. He has many great ideas and we switch in our teaching quite well…like there is a great unity in our teaching from the beginning. He's a great guy! We are good friends and we’re both doing well.

I'll tell you about general conference next week, okay? We finally get to watch it tomorrow. Goodnight!!! Thanks for all of your support!  I wish you the best…you are in my prayers. I love you!

Doing you Proud,

Elder Froude ^_^

October 4, 2013 – My busy week

Dear Mom, Dad, Elder Froude2, Lauren, and everyone who knows that not getting enough sleep is bad for them but still doesn’t get enough sleep,

Well, I can say that this week has been jam-packed with adventure, workshops, meetings, and everything a missionary needs to keep him busy on the last 3 months of his mission. Let’s start from Sunday and work our way out…

Sunday: We coordinated with the sister trainers/leaders that we share a ward with (Qurino 1st ward) to teach about the importance of member missionary work. It was a great success; we got many compliments. We had videos, we used role-playing, and we used handouts and all to commit the members to help in finding new investigators. Many of the ward members loved the presentation and committed to refer their friends for us to teach! Which is great! Then we spent the rest of the day preparing for our workshops later this week and sending out all of the important information that missionaries need.

Monday: We had our weekly planning meeting with President Revillo (who is Filipino and does speak Tagalog or more Tag-lish to us) and were able to coordinate for our workshop topics for zone interviews and the Mission Leadership Council (MLC) coming up on Thursday.

Tuesday: Was a big long day. We did 2 zone interviews for two different zones and each of those times we took Sister Revillo out to check missionary apartments to see if they were clean and such.  Haha! (Something they routinely do.)  In the zone interview, there are 3 workshops that go on while President interviews people 1 by 1 during this time. The District Leaders teach a workshop for 1 hour, then the Zone Leaders, and then Elder Pedrola and I (the AP’s) had a great workshop on the baptismal invitation that we give to each of the zones in their zone interviews. So, we did that twice and we didn’t get back home until like 7:30 because we went directly to our baptismal dates’ house (people who are getting ready to be baptized), the Benfit family. They are such wonderful people. They are Americans living in the Philippine for job and schooling opportunities. Brother Todd works for a few basketball teams as a sports therapist and Sister Benfit is taking up Dental Schooling here. They are a great member family but their kids are not yet baptized so we are doing our best to teach them all that they know so they can be baptized, hopefully, by the beginning of November…that is our goal for them. They are so nice and they gave us an entire pizza to eat. Do you know the scripture where the Lord says, “…take no thought for what ye shall eat or drink,…” well, Elder Pedrola and I have had many experiences where that scripture has come true for us and this is only one of the many times this scripture has been fulfilled. ^_^

Wednesday: We spent it mainly for preparation for MLC and taught a little but that was all for this day.

Thursday: Get this, we had an 8-hour MLC meeting about all of the changes, improvements, rules we had to discuss; it took a really long time but it was necessary. Some of it could have been shorter, yes, if people would just accept the changes but people had to debate a bit about a few things. Anyway, let’s not get into that. The important thing is that the last 30 minutes of this meeting were for Elder Pedrola and I to give our workshop for “Becoming a Preach My Gospel Missionary” which is the topic that all of the Zone Leaders will be teaching about this next week to the entire mission. It is also in the October Liahona if you want to read it. It’s by Elder Bednar. Then when we got back to the office by 7pm I was so beat and so tired and my companion said, “Come, we need to teach Brother Edgar and Sister Merci  before we go home.”  And I’m going to be honest, I did not want to teach after that super long MLC meeting cause I was so tired I was about to fall asleep on the couch. But with the last strength that I had and surprisingly good Tagalog we were able to teach Brother Edgar about the Gospel of Jesus Christ. It was a good lesson and lasted about 30 minutes and it was exactly what he needed. After that lesson, at about 8:00, we went to teach Sister Merci, still feeling exhausted but still trying to endure to the end. We then ate dinner and finally went home. I was so, so, sooo very exhausted but the house was medyo makalat (a bit messy) so I cleaned the table, washed the dishes, still with my missionary clothes on, then went to the bathroom to shower. It’s about 9:30 at this time and as soon as I turned on the water, the water shuts off….NOOO!!!!!!! I scream and go downstairs thinking I’m going to die of exhaustion and sweatiness.  So, then I had the idea to use the water I put in the fridge to shower. I think I used about 2.5 liters of cold, cold water to shower then I went to bed. It was a long day! (The water was turned off due to construction, I found out later.)

Friday was full of meetings.

And now we are at today! So that was my week how was yours?  I love you and thank you so much for supporting me and Elder Froude 2. Have a good night!

Doing you Proud,

Elder Froude ^_^

P.S.

Being an AP is a lot easier than a Finance Secretary, I think, because we actually get to teach nice spiritual workshops and I’ve been able to feel the Spirit so much more in regards to teaching and training missionaries and of course in the preparation. That is my favorite!  ^_^

Pictures from my last area, Morong, Rizal

The Orvillo Family

Morong Zone

The Jensens...senior couple missionaries

New missionary, Elder Magno

My previous companion, Elder Millora

Sister Kahui...she has a great singing voice

Sister Cutia...they call her my twin.  She has Filipino parents, live in San Jose, CA., doesn't speak Tagalog, and went to BYU.

With Elder Coe, one of my former companion

Exiting missionaries

My new companion, Elder Pedrola and our new van

Lunch at McDonald's

My new apartment