Week 74 (Dec. 13, 2015 Talavera, Philippines)

Dear Everybody!!
My name’s Elder Syphus, and I’m a missionary. Cool, huh? Being a missionary, we got to do some pretty cool stuff this week (we as in my Companion and I… I got one of those ‘cuz I’m a missionary). Starting with our Day of Preparation (a Day to prepare for the rest of the week), here’s how it went:
On Monday we got to go the Mall! It’s the NE Pacific Mall in Cabanatuan, and we actually went there for the sole purpose of getting Elder Chand’s (my companion’s) camera fixed. We didn’t do much but wait for the technician AND buy a month’s worth of food. This is worth mentioning, because as missionaries, we typically only get a week’s worth of food every week, but to rid ourselves of the weekly shopping hassle, we did the whole month’s shopping in a single day. This is what that looks like (on a Missionary Budget J )

Looks good, huh? ;) We actually typically eat better than just tuna, noodles, and oatmeal, but we wanted to see how much we could save by trying things a little different this month. So far so awesome :D

On 2s-D (Tuesday in a Utahn accent), we actually did some stuff worth mentioning to missionaries! We have an investigator Rosalina Turalba, who is very readily accepting the things we share with her (namely the Gospel of Jesus Christ- our main message as Missionaries!), and is progressing quickly to the point in her discipleship where she can make covenants (binding promises) with our Father in Heaven, specifically Baptism. Our concern, however, is being able to teach her as often as we would like with the fellowship she so rightly deserves. Our Elder’s Quorum President, Brother Malicdem (Local leader of all men ages 18 and up), though, was kind enough to clock out of work for a bit and teach a short lesson with us, before heading back. He’s probably one of my favorite members in the Ward (local congregation). He’s always super willing to take a short break and help us out in fellowshipping those we teach.

We were able to teach a few other of our progressing investigators on Wednesday. Sunil Shahani is strictly Indian by Ethnicity, but was born in raised in the Philippines. He’s insanely fluent in English and Tagalog, and is really smart, but also very religious and open. We’ve been teaching him for a while, and he keeps his commitments, but is currently struggling with testimony (a personal conviction of the truthfulness of our teachings). He’s very kind and brings us containers of traditional Indian food on a weekly basis, but has a hard time fitting in with the members. Not too social, but shows a lot of promise if we can just work out his concerns.

We were also able to teach Paul, a newer investigator of ours who also shows a lot of potential in progression and conversion, but is sometimes busy at work, planting onions. We found him during a contacting run one night, and he as very excited to listen. He is vigorous with his reading of the Book of Mormon, and truly believes in the Restoration of the Gospel through Joseph Smith, but has yet to attend church and struggles with daily prayer. He’s very welcoming and very spiritual, and it’s a huge blessing to be able to teach him. Ya, he’s pretty much just the best :P

On Wednesday, we also had a meeting with the Zone Leaders who had just gotten back from their Mission Leader’s Conference in Tarlac. They shared with us a bit about what was discussed in terms of strengthening the work and preparing for the Holidays. It was a really cool interactive meeting, and we left with a new drive and a few gifts and letters from home (thanks!!! :D :D )

Thursday, we got to meet the Gadores Family. The parents were baptized about 16 years ago, but have since fallen away from the church. They’re very welcoming, however, and we are currently in the process of teaching 2 of their children who have yet to be baptized, Alfie and Aiko.

On Friday we had exchanges with some Elders in our District. I got to go work in their area and interviewed a few of their investigators preparing for baptism. One of these was Rina Cara, a young Mother who heard about the Church from a friend. She’s INCREDIBLE. The Spirit was so strong while talking with her and her Testimony is Amazing. She has seen so many miracles in her life since she began receiving the lessons, and grown so much closer to God. She’s super excited and prepared, and just talking to her for those 45 minutes was probably one of the most spiritual experiences my whole mission. She’s “super great” J

We spent all day Saturday in Sibul and Caputican working with Newly Baptized members of the church. One of them says she has been hearing voices and seeing things, so we gave her a blessing, and things have seemed to calm down a bit since then, which we’re extremely grateful for.

Sunday was Sunday, an awesome day of Spiritual growth and enlightenment J After Church was over, we headed out on a contacting run and met this old couple who had a Pamphlet that we give to people hanging on their wall. We starting talking to them, and got permission to take a look at the pamphlet. It was given to them in 1992… Whoa. It was covered with but still intact, and they recognized us as those who gave it to them originally. They were really excited to listen to us again, but their age keeps them from doing too much besides sleeping and eating. We shared a short message with them though, and promised to visit on occasion. It was really cool J

So, sorry this letter sort of changed styles halfway through :P I don’t know what I was going for at first, but realized I wouldn’t be able to keep it going, so I cut it out. Interesting twist though, right? But ya! That’s my week! Let’s do it again sometime :P

Love Elder Syphus



Birthday Celebrations :)

Christmas = $4

Hi Mom!

Ya, I got the packages. THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR THE OVALTINE!!!!! I mixed it with some hot powdered milk, and it tastes exactly like Stephens as far as I can remember. SUPER delicious :)
The Choir Tour sounds awesome! Can you send me some pics of all the Madrigals in their outfits? I've yet to see it, except for the pictures Kylie sent me.
Give my love to Zami and Kack! That's so awesome for them!! Has it already been 9 months since Kami got pregnant? It seems so fast!! That's crazy!!

That's sad to hear about Bro Fairy and Bishop Bennett. It does seem like it seems to be making its way around :( Kind of scary, but it's good that they're generally able to fight it efficiently enough. Send them my love as well.

Skype will be like always. Christmas evening for you, morning on the day after for me :) I'll let you know the specifics next week. Love you!!!!

Love Elder Syphus​

Week 73 (Dec. 6, 2015 Talavera, Philippines)

Dear Mom of Mine,

Thanks for the birthday wishes! I haven't received anything yet, but maybe on Wednesday. We'll see. If they arrived at customs on the 24th then I'm not as worried. I though it was back in October or something that they got to The Philippines, that's why i got a little concerned. I trust this ladies reputation though, so all should work out :)

Rosalina is still going strong. She attended church again yesterday and whenever we stop by her house to say hello and check up on her we always catch her reading the Book of Mormon. She really love the story and everything, and will definitely be going places.... if we could ever teach her :/ That's the probably the hardest part of being an Elder, and by that I mean not being a Sister. It seems like the majority of people who are actually interested are female, and we ca't teach them as Elders unless there is another male adult present. Rosalina was originally goaled for baptism last Saturday, but we weren't able to teach her all week, and so we still technically can't have her interviewed because of lack of completion in terms of lessons. We try to have members come work with us, but they always flake at the last minute, so it can get kind of frustrating. She's not losing faith though, and that's all that matters :)

Ariel hasn't made much progression. He still isn't smoking, but he's also still not coming to chruch. We try to set teaching appointments with him, but he always leaves right before we show up to run different appointments. He actually is really busy, so it's not like he's lying to us, but it's just hard because he lives so far away, and the only way to get to him is to walk. The rain and stopped a bit though, so now we're just walking through dirt instead of mud. We'll see where we can get him though.

Roger is still really discouraged :( He's having Physical Therapy, and they've seen little bits of movement on his left side, but it comes and goes. He has one of those things that Kylie used during her shoulder recovery, where he grabs a handle with his dead arm, and then pulls another handle with his good arm, and then a Pulley System will move his dead arm up and down for blood flow or something. He's still always happy to see us, and the incident has put so much innocence into his... aura? Haha, I don't know what word to use for that :P Anyway, he's still going strong :)

We found new investigators this week!!! We went really hard on findings, and almost broke 100 contacts but got stuck at 99 when curfew struck last night. Grr... But the investigators we found this week are actually pretty promising. We haven't been able to teach any of them a second time yet, but I'll keep you updated on their progress. Paul, Mark, and Nanati are the most potential. Things should be fun :)

Anyway, love you soooo much Mom!! 19 days!!

Love Elder Syphus



Trying to be Ninja with one of my ties. Apparently, this is how Ninja outfits actually work. Just one super long piece of fabric that you just keep wrapping around yourself. My tie wasn't quite long enough :P

This is Sophia, right before throwing me the letter. I chose to send this picture because of her dachsund in the Background. Asterix :)

Here's a better pic. She's so funny and makes me feel like she would be a perfect sister for Linkon and them. Haha. Fun fun fun :)

Week 72 (Nov. 29, 2015 Talavera, Philippines)

Hi Mom!

Could you get me Kambree's Email?
Still no packages, but I got your letter. That's why I asked for Kambree's email. I said I don't know if I will because you said they got here to the Philippines over a month ago, right? Doesn't that mean I would've collected them by now? The next time we get mail is next Wednesday, so we'll see what happens then :)

This week has been good. Roger is still strong and hasn't lost faith, but he's just really weak. He was really happy to see us though, I'm glad about that of course, haha. The one companionship I mentioned last week is still struggling, so the Zone leaders had exchanges with them. Their finding efforts in terms of contacting people that day more than doubled the other 6 days combined. It seems like the Zone Leaders are the only ones keeping their heads above water :/ I'll be going on exchanges this week and hopefully addressing the issue, but I'm super nervous so just wish me luck. Ugh. Haha :P

We've got two investigators that we've got goaled for December, so keep them in your prayers. Ariel Manuel Sr and Rosalina Turalba. Rosalina has been attending church but has trouble absorbing the doctrine. Brother Manuel knows his stuff, but he hasn't attended church yet. We think our Bishop here would be a really good fellow shipper for him, so we've got an appointment later with him to coordinate schedules. Lots of work and really stressful, but I also love it so much. Being a missionary is awesome, and it only gets better as things get harder, haha. Makes no sense, but it's true :)

Anyway, love you!!

Elder Syphus

Week 71 (Nov. 22, 2015 Talavera, Philippines)

Dear Mom,

I don't know if I answered last week, so I'll answer now. Still no packages. If I don't get them tomorrow, I don't know if they're going to show up :( Sorry :(

Anyway though, your week sounds awesome!! That's so awesome that they were all sealed together.Tell me again about Aria? I forgot her story. But seriously, that's so great for them.

This week has been sort of rough :/ I still love the work and being a missionary, but Satan is working really hard right now here in Talavera. I won't blame this part on Satan, but it's devastating none the less. Roger had a stroke. It was right after church last sunday, but we didn't find out until Tuesday. He was rushed to the Hospital and has been there since. He's still fine and alive, but his entire left side is compltely paralyzed. We visit him everyday or every other if we're short on time, just to encourage him and show our love for him, but he's understandably very down about his situation. His wife practically lives there in the hospital, but it's not like hospital rooms. I don't know if they have this is in America, but It's basically just a long hall with beds along the wall. It' interesting.

Work is dropping in our district because one of the Elders is close to going home really soon, and doesn't really want to work anymore. His companion sort of just follows along with him, so their area is suffering a lot. It's sort of stressful and keeps me from focusing as much as I should be on the work, so we're not doing so hot either. We'll definitely be making some changes this week though, so no worries. Not the end of the world, haha. We've just got some stuff put in order and we'll be back in action.

Sort of uneventful this week, except for the new McDonald's that opened yesterday, but besides that nothing incredibly exciting. Love you though!!

Love Elder Syphus

Week 70 (Nov. 15, 2015 Talavera, Philippines)

Hi Mom!

Sorry your birthday wasn't everything it should have been, but I'm glad you enjoyed some time with the family :) That's really all I want to do for a while when I get home. Daniel says he and Corinna are planning a trip to Disneyland for our old group of friends when I get back, but we'll see how that goes, haha.

Oh my goodness, reading about Saxton and the plays put me literally has put me to tears. It's incredible the kind of stuff that man has done for so many people. Even though I only ever worked under him backstage, he's still had a huge effect on me. It makes me so sad that I wasn't able to be there for the show and ceremony, but I know I'm right where I'm supposed to be, which I'm just as incredibly grateful for. Send him my love and best wishes, should you ever get the chance. He and his work were a huge part of my life in highschool, and maybe an even bigger part of me actually learning a lot about myself, things that I doubt I could've learned any other way. LOVE YOU SAXTON!!!!

Elder Gallego and I are cool now. I've humbled myself and grew up quite a bit since we were companions, and it's a lot easier now for me to realize that even though he may have some weaknesses, just like we all certainly do, him and I are both here for the same reason- bringing souls unto Christ. It's been fun talking to him and reminiscing on days and events out in Guimba, a whole 20 minutes away from our current area :P It's nice to talk to him again.

This week was interesting. We were able to talk some more to President Clark about Roger Arcilla's baptism, but because of some past transgression, chances are nothing will happen for Roger while I'm still here. And I don't mean here as in "here in Talavera", but here as in "here in the Philippines." Yup. I could be done with my two years and chillin' in Nauvoo before Roger gets baptized :/ He's definitely accepted the gospel, and is really strong and faithful in his testimony, but stuff has happened and any further progression with him is just really foggy. Ya. Hard stuff :(

We still stay strong though :) We've had some good work here, and have got some investigators who seem to be pretty serious and interested. They're keeping commitments and making lengthened strides to making and keeping some very important covenants :D Our next baptism, it seems won't be until December, but we're planning quite a few. Things excite :)

And for just some extra tidbits and stories, I met a deaf person!!!! And it was practically signing to an American. I've met a few others, but their Sign Language is different, but this one knew ASL!!!!!!!!! Her name was Cherry Alvarez, and apparently she got really sick when she was a kid and lost her hearing, but has since learned sign. It was so awesome though just because we were able to have a full on conversation. I'm definitely better with Tagalog than ASL, haha, but it was good, nonetheless. Her actions and energy and expressions were all exactly in line with the Deaf culture in America, which made it all the better.

In other news, I've got a not-so-secret admirer out here in Talavera, and I guess you could say we're pretty much besties. #nbd Her name is Sophia, and she is 9 :P Hahahahaha!!! I was out washing my clothes one morning on our back porch when a little wad of paper with a rock in it flies over the wall and almost hits me! I pick it up and there's a note on it from Sophia. Apparently she saw me one morning and just got super intrigued with the super white foreigner next door, and finally built up the courage to send a me quick note ;) So now during dinner or other times when we're not doing much we throw little rock notes back and forth. I've probably got like 20 from her so far :P Such an awesome little kid.

Anyway, love you Mom!!! Happy anniversary to you and Dad on the 18th!! Love you both!!!!

Elder Syphus


Zone Activity. I love these guys :D Our Zone Leaders are Elder Amparado and Elder Martel (Far left w/ Missionary Planner shirt, and 3rd from the left on the back row. Super pogi, and kind of looks like Daniel. From Canada)

I cooked :-)

​Elder Chand is teaching me how to take selfies. ..... >.>

Week 69 (Nov. 8, 2015 Talavera, Philippines)

Dear Mother Mom,

HAPPY BIRTHDAY MOM!!!! I LOVE YOU!!!! How are you guys planning on celebrating?? Dad got anything big planned for the two of you? Or are you saving that for your anniversary? I hope it's a good one!! Love you so much!!

And guess what. I'm still in Talavera!! With Elder Chand!!!! We both thought for sure that I was being transferred since I've already been here for three, but President Clark seems to have something else in mind. I can't say I'm disappointed, because I've really grown to love it here. We just had another investigator interviewed for baptism yesterday and he passed, but a report still needs to be sent in to President Clark. He should hopefully be baptized though within the month. Things are still rolling :) We've also got a family who is re investigating now that His older member sister is home from Japan. We've got them goaled for December. I'll be here at least until December 31st, and that's when SISTER SHIPLEY GOES HOME!!! All the sisters in my batch, that is, but I say Sister Shipley because she's from St George. Craziness, right??

Oh, and you wouldn't believe who our new housemate is. Elder Silva got transferred, so now Elder Valdez has a new companion. Elder Gallego. This will be a interesting transfer :P

Love you Mom!! Happy Birthday again!! I'll try to write a letter and send that as well. Thank you so much for everything!!

Love Elder Syphus


Haha, Love the letter Dad!! Thank you!! I'm assuming Linkon or Liam played a part in it. Tell him thanks for his role in it as well :) Wait how old is Liam now?? I thought it was Linkon because he said he was four, but you said Liam was random, so now I'm not so sure. Haha, it's crazy how much you lose track of these kinds of things. Any big plans for Mom's Birthday tomorrow? Or is she just going for a another shopping spree at Walmart? ;) Tell her to try the Mall by See's. I'm starting to realize why people like shopping, haha. I think we waste too much time just wandering around and looking at stuff. I always find myself stuck in the watch stores :P
Love you Dad! Thanks again!!

Elder Syphus

Week 68 (Nov. 1, 2015 Talavera, Philippines)

Dear Mom (and all),

We had a pretty good week this week. We had Zone interviews on Tuesday with President Clark, and there were a lot of good workshops about more effective studies and planning. The interview was a good one-on-one time to just talk and give President an update on being a Missionary, but I realize that I should actually bring something in. It's sort of like my calls home. I never prepare anything to ask or talk about so it's just a bunch of silence (I accept full responsibility for that). I didn't really go into the interview with any questions or comments, so it was just a really quick one. Definitely learned something from it, though :)

On Thursday we had exchanges with the Talavera B Elders, but spent a lot of it in Cabanatuan City taking another language test. Thankfully, the only two that needed to take it were Elder Silva and I, and we were already planning on pairing up for the day, so it all worked out. We had a good day of looking over their area and any skills we need to improve on. Exchanges in general have always been a pretty good time :)

Friday was awesome, just because of one of our investigators, Ariel Manuel Sr. His wife and son are both members, and another one of his sons was baptized, but never went back to church to be confirmed, so that's definitely a big concern for them. However, Friday night, Brother Manuel told us that he was finally deciding on giving up smoking! Missionaries have been teaching him for at least a year, but there was any never any serious progression because of his addiction, but he's determined to give it all up now, and he seems like he's becoming a lot more receptive to everything we're teaching him. I think if we can continue to help him out and be baptized, it will be a really big help for his kids as well. The Mom is in Saudi Arabia, and so the kids aren't working with a lot of support right now, Gospel wise. I think this will definitely be a big step in the families Salvation :)

On Saturday, we had another baptism!! Jhomel Apolonio Dela Cruz is 16 years old, and the missionaries have been teaching him as well for about a year. The original concern was that the church was so far from his house, but now, he's determined not to let it stop him. He's and awesome example of the truthfulness of the old saying, "If there's a will, there's a way." The cool thing is that one of the original Elders who taught him in assigned here in the Zone again as one of the Zone Leaders, and so he was able to come to our area to actually perform the baptism!! It was a really awesome experience for all of them, and Jhomel is looking like he'll be a really strong member of the church.

Sunday was sort of uneventful because of All Souls Day. It a November 1st celebration where everyone gathers at the cemetery to visit their dead ancestors, and basically just spend the whole day in or around that general vicinity. A lot of people aren't necessarily in their... right minds, per se, because of the big gatherings, and so things get a little iffy, so President gave us a 7PM curfew. After studies and church and other meetings, we only ended up with about an hour and a half of Proselyting time :/ It was alright though. We got to contact a few people, and share with them God's plan to reunite families beyond the grave. It was good :)

And that's the week! Transfers are this Thursday, so we'll see what's happening, but I'm almost certain I'm transferring. It's all good though. Where He wants me, I'll go :)

And now, pictures!

 

Here are the pictures from Anthony's Baptism Last week. My camera was dead so I had to have Elder Chand send my the ones he took.

These are drawings of Elder Silva, from Sri Lankga. We're making a Zone Shirt and because Cabanatuan is the Tricycle capital of the Philippines I thought We could have a Trike Race on a shirt. These are the 4 Districts. We're #4. The Japanese Samurai one :D

Logo/ Zone Silhouette

The 4

Space Trike (The Districts decided what they wanted theirs to look like)

Food Trike


Pirate Trike

And Samurai Trike :D The writing translates to something like "Clan 4- Devious"

Jhomel's Baptism