i just imagined myself holding david george and got super excited to see you guys

LOLA!

i'm 21! this morning we played volleyball at the church and the comp and I are gonna now go eat a big phat leg of chicken with unlimited rice with our hands :) 

yesterday, i just imagined myself holding David George and got super excited to see you guys. Also hoping to get plenty of dates with you and talk life. i have so many questions for you......

The youth of Branch 2 and 1 go on a temple trip today. how nice :) 

i guess its time for my mission stats:

June 15 2016 - July 27. Provo MTC w/ Elder Larsen and Poulson.

July 27 - August 3. Manila MTC w/ same companions

August 3 - December 8. Dupax Del Sur w/ Elder Briones

December 8 - January 17 2017. Dupax Del Sur w/ Elder Mebulos

January 17 - April 12. Alicia 1B w/ Elder Fernando

April 12 - May 24. Cauayan 1B w/ Elder Ambaliza

May 24 - July 5. Cauayan 1B w/ Elder Uy

July 5 - August 16. Cauayan 1B w/ Elder Sorranda 

August 16 - November 08. Baluarte A w/ Elder Galindo

November 08- March 14 2018. Baluarte A w/ Elder Brockbank

March 14 - June 06. Burgos 1 and 2 w/ Elder Ricarte. 

anything else to stat? 

God Lives and Loves Us! 

 

Elder Kearl

Any Day Above Ground is a Good Day

can't wait for hugs on june 07 and a kiss for dad

MOM! GRANDMA!

good week, but man i'm excited for christmas! i've been feeling really good tbh. just content. satisfied. ready. happy. I've had such a wonderfull mission.

things learned:

Understanding - for mutual understanding to be achieved there must be listening AND speaking. sometimes the speaking is over looked but we got to say whats in our head and do it carefully and clearly.

Your "Best" - Our best is when we are using all our effort and doing things the best way possible. We often see people put in alot of effort but not in an effective way because they dont know how, ex: Someone on the piano who never learned how to play. Hes just smashing keys but is in fact "trying his best." you got to do things right. and learn how to do them right. 

hope that made sense. cant wait for hugs on june 07 and a kiss for dad :) 

Amy (cousin serving in japan) asked me these questions and here is my response:

Fav thing of being a missionary: i just love studying, learning,
setting goals, making plans, trying them out on people, seeing the
results, accounting, trying again and it goes on. IDK just being a
narrie is so freaking weird. but thats why i love it. when else would
you try to talk to everybody you see? where else would you try to
change all those peoples lives? it's just super unique with tons of
unique experiences. i love accounting with missionaries, counselling
with them, companionship inventories or helping investigators with
their concerns etc. its just so much weird psychology.

how do I deal with the stress: I actually don't get very stressed but
when i do its after church. End of the week, you see your KI's for the
week, People didn't come to church like they said they would, the
members at church don't really go to church they just stay on the
phones and try to get you to teach their classes and do their callings
and they don't really go to any meetings etc.. but what i learned, only
recently, is to not stress one bad week. it will pass and be forgotten
about. look at the big picture and realize a couple bad weeks won't
hurt anyone too much. also remember "no effort is wasted".

#1 thing learned as a missionary: Thats tough... idk planning and goal
setting has been huge. honesty. obedience. humility. really tough
question. ill let you know once im home hahaha

How do I keep myself in the mindset where i'm ready to learn and ready
to feel the spirit: Just to realize how important it is to LEARN AS
MUCH AS POSSIBLE by study and by faith (DC 88:118) in these short 2
years and CHANGE AS MUCH AS POSSIBLE or to be as Christlike and
prepared for life / success before I go home. always humbles me (Ether
12:27) enough to repent and do better and be thirsty for change. PMG
pg 19 quote.

Feelings: as good as ever. doesn't really feel any different. it sucks
learning something new tho and wishing i had done it earlier or to
notice how imperfect i really am.

TIP: only study PMG in personal study. use time outside of personal to
personally study the BoM. but still read it every day. Example: i read
the BoM 15mins before planning and 15mins before bed. become a walking
PMG with all chapter 3 memorized with a scripture for each sentence.

Great questions. oh and ill get Sean to look at my tooth my first friday home.

Elder Kearl

Any Day Above Ground is a Good Day

last skype call to scotty boy in the philippines

Sadly....most of our Skype call was the bottom right pic...awful connection...remote area

man was it great talking to you a couple of hours ago. not nearly as exciting as it was in the past because of how long ive been out and how close i am to personally seeing you but appreciated none the less. I sure love you guys and HAPPY MOMS DAY. 

fast week with lots of fun stuff. 

All the missionaries going home had a career workshop which i really enjoyed. it talked about getting jobs and mapping out your life n stuff which felt really good. the senior couples in charge of it shared plenty of cute personal stories as well and it was great. got to see Elder Brockbank and other friends some more which was nice. 

that night i got to work in Cauayan again in my old area. it was soo coo. the best was a member gave us a ride to visit the Amigo family! they are very special to me. they were my first close friends in my mission and probly one of my hardest goodbyes yet. the whole time i was in Cauayan one of the daughters was pregnant but gave birth the day before i left Cauayan and so i got to see that baby on its first day of life. super special. and then i got to see the baby again! its big and helathy and its crazy to see how long ive been gone from there till now in a physical representation. one of my favorite mission memories probly. such good people. 

and the next day we went to BANAUE! the "8th Wonder of the World" with my going home crew and it was such a fun experince. other than the stunning views and good crew we experinced lots of tender mercies. While on our way home we stopped at a chapel to change and a van of members from Elder Brockbanks first area who ive met before stoped by by coincidence and so Elder Brockbank was able to say bye before we finish. AND while driving through we were able to see a missionary companionship who was really close to me and is Elder Brockbanks trainee. This made it possible for Elder Brockbank to see his grandson and before we thought it would never happen. 

really neat experinces. 

Elder Kearl

Any Day Above Ground is a Good Day

airport.....signs won't be necessary but i'm excited for hugs

Hello po Lola...

ill let you know about what i want for my first meal home next week.

airport. just invite anyone who wants to come or it would be a really good experince for them to be there. ex: those thinking about missions, etc... please give them a formal invite from me. even if there needs to be ton of people its fine by me. signs wont be neccessary but i'm excited for hugs :)

 

So it reached 41 degrees the other day which is tremendous heat but life has been so good lately bc the heat doesn't even faze in the slightest for some reason. I remember last year while walking on dusty roads at 2pm just dreaming of drinking ice cold juices and soft drinks and stuff and swimming in big lakes. it consumed much of my thoughts but for some reason this year the heat doesn't even seem like a thing. I thank God everyday for that incredible blessing. everyone also says that this year is way hotter than last! I've been into the heat. 

KIBITZER - English word Elder Ricarte taught me meaning someone who gives unneeded or unnecessary advice.

I've actually been really happy lately. just having tons of fun talking to so many people everyday. On thursday I had my last MLC and near the end i was just waiting out the clock bc i wanted to get on the jeepney and talk to my seat mates about the Book of Mormon. its been fun recently bc Elder Ricarte and I try to find what peoples dreams, fears and worries are within the first 30 seconds of meeting them and show them how the Restoration of the Gospel and the Book of Mormon will give them a solution and path. WE try so hard not to be a kibitzer and try to understand all concerns with lots of questions and its been super interesting. people care a lot more once they see your there to make them happy than to just bible study with them.

I don't like going home soon tho. Its hard for me to learn something and think its been like 23 months and i just started doing it. it literally hurts. also to notice a weakness of mine i want to conquer and realize i only got how many more weeks?.... its a weird kind of stress.

wish i had some good updates about the work. we have found some good people tho.

Elder Kearl

Any Day Above Ground is a Good Day

our bus came late so we waited from 8 am to 5 pm at a highway junction on transfer day

Hello po Lola,

6 weeks to sexy has begun. I will be finishing my mission in this area, Burgos Branch 1 and 2 with Elder Ricarte who goes home 6 weeks after me. 

nothing to really add. Elder Brockbank transfered out of our old area and that was a shock bc we thought he would die there. also not very fun. Baluarte is amazing and he really didnt want to leave. also not fun having a new area for your last 6 weeks.

On transfer day our bus came late so we waited from 8-5 at a highway junction. that missionary we were waiting with got pretty close with my trainer, Elder Briones, and just loved him. Elder Briones than came back to the mission and visit and that missionary said he had a huge countenance to him. i really look up to my trainer and miss him quite a bit. hoping to call him a bit once im home.

that is soo nice to hear about baby David. wow its crazy to think we have an addition finnaly! how emily feeling about it all? 

hey could you please send me some money so i can go to the temple on my way home? just put in whatever :) its not very pricy at all. please let me know when you do thanks :) 

SKYPE: for skype i can use my neighbours wifi and ipda/laptop. a good time would be monday morning for me. is that ok? also would it be ok if i just skyped one computer? like just to you guys to keep it simple and good connection? also please invite anyone you think needs to be there. could be lots of people or a few. its all good to me. 

Elder Kearl

Any Day Above Ground is a Good Day

hey lola...hey grandma!

Hey Lola! Hey Grandma! 

On Wednesday evening i believe, i got a text from Sister Hiatt saying that David was born. later that week she sent a photo down with the senior couples of David George looking good. DGK the third. seeing Danny's pictures today was amazing and i am just so proud of those 2. really really neat. i spent the week bragging to just about everyone! no one seems to be as hyped as me although. When i show the family pic i now mention instead of Natasha being super buntis she has now brought a life into the world. exciting stuff. 

A funny story to start off: we helped at a funeral. We dedicated the grave and spoke but we didn't even know the lady. anyway when they were carrying the casket to the car they got a chicken and cut its head off and threw it behind the casket on the ground. the headless chicken flapped like crazy for like a minute. also before they put the casket in the earth they lifted all children present over the casket 3 times. weird catholic traditions to an endowed LDS woman. made me giggle tho :)

also had a pretty special experience with a missionary on wednesday. We went on splits and as we accounted at the end of the day the elder told me he has been having a really hard past couple weeks in a tough area for lots of reasons and we talked for an hour about it before going to bed. It was really hard listening to him how hard it has been with for him in his mission and i really didn't know what to say. But i just told him to be proud of the struggle and enjoy it. "who God wants to be his greatest soliders he gives His toughest battles." and how nice is it to struggle for all the good experience and things learned. it was a good experince.

LAST! i ate with Edwin, his daughter Zam and his wife who i just met for the first time, Gina! it was so incredible. its crazy to see how much Edwin has picked udp about the church. like slang and culture and his wife is super funny. they are both loud, happy and not shy. felt just like good ol' times. its cool to have such a close friend in the mission. and bc of him about 9 people have been baptized over there. i miss Baluarte. 

life keeps moving on tho! 

Any Day Above Ground is a Good Day

tiny flashlight connected so you can see where you are stabbing?????

i will be seeing Edwin in an hour here! cant wait! going to be so cool.

when and where is Moroni's quest? i'd like to hear more about that. do we have dental and medical appointments locked down yet for when i get home? 

We had interviews this last tuesday and President said that this area will no longer be zone leader area this cycle or next cycle. so there might be changes coming up. also 1 year ago i transferred to Cauayan and finished my training with Elder Fernando :) 

in the last 24 hours, a girl our age said she would join the church for us and kept calling us handsome and one guy telling us he has 10 books of mormon and he had a friend read that book and then go crazy and shoot his wife. that man has also apparently read the whole Book of Mormon. so idk. you wake up every morning here not really knowing who you will talk to or what the day holds for you.

i also feel impressed to tell you about the mission legend of Bro.Pete. so Pete is a 60+ yo man who married a filipino here and now lives here. He served in ward and came home and family issues arose. he moved to the Philippines and opened a shop. He ended up getting robbed and beat and left with nothing to his name. He had no money and living far from anyone he knew in a 3rd world country. Pete prayed, than a missionary found him, saw he was holding some pearls and offered to buy them off of him. Pete than started a business selling pearls to missionaries, got baptized along the way (maybe even before the philippines not sure) and made it back up on his feet. Found his wife, got reconnected with his family and fought to get his rightful pension from being in the military. Now Pete cooks chimichangas for mission meetings and provides us missionaries with Pearls, Swords, Blow Dart Guns, Belts etc.. He's such a funny and ridiculous guy but loves helping the narries out. i now have a place to stay if i were to come visit here :) He doesn't get along with the mission rules but we all love him. Bro Pete.

oh man this guy just came in here and is trying to sell me a tazer, a baton sword and many different switchblade knives and some have a tiny flashlight connected just so you can see where you are stabbing i guess idk. he also has some belts and hair clippers. very convincing. guess you will see what happened once i'm home :)

hey well gotta go meet Edwin and his wife! can't wait. 

 

LOVE YOU MOM!

Elder Kearl

Any Day Above Ground is a Good Day