New Missionaries to the Baguio Philippines Mission

Largest group every to enter the Baguio mission

New Missionaries and their trainers at the Lingsat Chapel in La Union

Kumusta from Baguio

Well... I made it. I am officially up in my mission. We woke up this morning at 4:30 and made our way in little vans to the bus stop. Then at around 6:30 we were on a bus to baguio. We got here at like 2:30. It was a long ride. Lots of sleep and scripture study. But, I'm here now and I am sooo excited. We didn't really get a p-day this week because we left the MTC. So I will write again on Monday. Love you all!!

Love Elder Thomas 

Pic Largest group every in the Manila MTC (281 of the 285 capacity). This is half.

 Leaving the Manila MTC.

1 More Week

I made it one more week here in the Philippines. And, I only have 8 more days before I bus up to Baguio. I love it here. The food takes a little bit of getting used to, but it is soooo good. We have rice for every meal and there is almost always some kind of meat. Breakfast is the one meal that throws me off the most. Our past few breakfast's have been rice, omlet's and hotdogs. But, I also always have PB & J toast. The bread here is unreal.

We finally got a good rain storm here. I know that in a few weeks, I will be begging for the rain to stop, but it was super fun to experience it for the first time. The rain drops are massive and we all just get soaked. Our exercise time was during a big storm and so we played volleyball in the rain. It was tons of fun.

We also got to go to the temple this week. It was amazing. The temple is beautiful. The session rooms are super small and so, our 2 districts filled the 25 seat rooms and we had to get a few extra chairs. 

We still teach lessons every day and they are getting better. Our last 3 lessons have been nothing like what we planned for them to be. I am amazed that after 5 short weeks in the MTC, I am able to speak enough to teach a couple different lessons. We also got to go next door to the MTC and talk to people who are staying at this house. It was pretty hard because we don't have a lot of vocabulary outside of gospel vocab, but it was a good experience. I know that the gift of tongues is real. I feel it every time that I try to speak. 

We get to go on splits with the missionaries in Manila tomorrow and I am super excited. I can't wait. Then a week from tomorrow, I make my way up to Baguio with a 7 hour bus ride. I can't wait to get this all started. I love it here in the MTC, I love the gospel, I love the people and the language, and I can't wait to teach the people up in Baguio. 

-Elder Thomas

1: Elder Nelson with bananas

2-4: Manila temple 

5: the MTC

 

Kumusta from Manila

Wow. I'm in the Philippines now. I love it. Wierdest thing... We left from LA a little bit after midnight on Monday night. The next time I saw light was on Wednesday at around 6 in the morning just before we landed in Manila. The MTC here is awesome. The rooms are super nice and were just built last September. It is right across the street from the Manila temple.

Some people have been wondering about food. I ate yellow watermelon and it was incredible. We also had liver with eggs and rice and it really wasn't bad. We are allowed to leave the MTC on P-day to go shopping and stuff. There is a little store around the corner that sells Mango shakes. We are all super excited for that. 

The weather here is super humid, but I kind of psyched myself up for the whole thing so it really hasn't been that bad. It hasn't rained yet which really surprised me. The forecast that I looked at in provo said it should rain every day. We will see.

Drivers here are nuts. We were in this giant bus on our way from the airport and there was not a single time on the whole drive home that we weren't within like a foot of another vehicle. People just drive and it magically works. There aren't really rules as far as I can tell and the drivers just stare each other down and one of them ends up going first. I'm not sure how it works, but It is funny to watch. 

I haven't really done a lot here so far. We had a few hours to pack and then we just fell asleep in the afternoon. Then, we were allowed to go to sleep at 7 which was awesome. But, then we all woke up at like 4 in the morning. But, we have a crazy full week ahead of us. We are just about to go do a session in the temple. I am so excited.

I love it here. I love the gospel. I love learning the language. I can't wait to get up to Baguio. 

-Elder Thomas

Pictures:

1/2: From the airplane of Manila. I didn't realize it was such a big city. 

3/4: the view from our room. The courtyard is beautiful. I'll send better pictures next week when I have more time. 

5: Our room. It is pretty messy because we are still unpacking. But it is awesome. We have our own sinks, our own toilet, and shower. And the beds are rather comfy

Half way + ZL

Well... I'm half way through my stay here at the MTC. The days take forever, but I can not believe that I have already been here for 3 weeks. We are all kind of anxiously waiting to see if we will get flight plans and visa's here in the next week or so. There are supposed to be some missionaries from our zone that leave here at 5 weeks and go to the MTC in Manila. But, none of us have any clue who it is. We hope to know this week.

Also, me and my comp are the Zone Leaders now. We showed up to sacrament meeting last Sunday and they just announced it over the pulpit. We knew as soon as everyone else in our zone knew. On Wednesday 3 new districts joined our zone. We have 62 missionaries. (5 sisters and 57 Elders). Me and my comp got to teach the new missionaries in the hour long orientation that they had their first night. It was super fun. 

The lessons that we are teaching with our "investigators" are awesome. We only take notes into the lessons that are in English. We used to write lessons in Tagalog and then basically read our lessons. Now that we have enough vocab, we are able to follow the spirit more and teach to the needs of the investigators. I know that the gift of tongues is real. I feel it every time that we prepare a lesson. I am able to remember the words that I have studied and learned over the past 3 weeks. 

I love missionary work and preparing for the field. I can't wait to teach the people of the Philippines. 

I love you all and keep you guys in my prayers. 

-Elder Thomas

Pictures

Me and Elder Oakley Miller

Me, my comp, and the last Zone Leaders

My roommates (who just left)(sorry about the lighting. they put my camera in sunset mode before taking the picture to make it "more majestic")

And a picture of our zone at the temple this morning 

++The Baptismal Invitation in Tagalog