September awesomeness

Mom,

My week was awesome! We went down to Olongapo for 3 days; one was for MLC (Missionary Leadership Council), one for the Mission Tour (our area Presidency - a member of the 70 - came and visited), and had exchanges with the Assistants to the President. It was a really cool experience, and we got a lot of training and council. Being a zone leader is fun, because we get involved in so much more things in the church. I saw Elder Bowen, the Area President, 4 times in two days. This week we have plans for me to go on exchanges with the District Leaders in Bayto and Guisguis, which means that I will be able to visit another Province (kind of like a state) in the Philippines, Pangasinan! It's been a really busy week, and this one will be busy too! 

The Cultural Celebration for the new temple?! How awesome! That sounds like quite the challenge, but I bet that it will be amazing! I'm glad that you get to be so involved in everything! 

I heard that the games didn't go like we wanted... But good luck against Cedar this week! 

I know that putting up with Grandpa and Joyce isn't easy... I can't even imagine it right now. I hope and pray that everything will work out alright. 

Maybe you and Dad could take a vacation some time, and go visit Portland and his old Mission! Haha, I bet that it is really pretty this time of year!

Haha interesting... I will ask him!

I hope that you all have a great week! 

I don't really need anything, but if you send another package could you add in some insoles? My shoes are fine, I'm just starting to wear through the insoles in the bottom. And socks maybe, the original ones are losing their elastics and starting to get almost as holy as me 😉😂

Love you tons! Miss everyone!

Elder Kobe Potter

Zone leader!

Mom,

The New Area is good! It's pretty big, and we are just walking. For right now, until I really get to know it a little better I just follow Elder Poblador around. 

Being a Zone Leader, isn' t too bad haha. We just kind of take care of any concerns that the Missionaries in our Zone have. For example, this week there is a 70 coming to the mission. We had to organize the transportation for everyone to get there on time and stuff. 

Our house right now is super cool. We are all a lot a like, and get a long really well. Elder Poblador is from Bokolod, and is 20. He is the oldest of 5 siblings too, but his youngest brother was just born, while he was on the mission.

I haven't gotten the football yet, but I heard that I have 2 packages waiting for me this week!

It rained yesterday, but today it is back to super hot again! Haha our area hasn't been to bad with floods, but my old shoes are still wet. When we go down to Olongapo this week, I hope to get some souvenirs and stuff that I've been wanting to get. 

I'm happy for Carsen. I remember that week for me, it was really crazy... I'm glad that he is so ready and I know that he will do great!

I heard that they both lost in Football... That's a shame, but hopefully they will keep working hard and get better!

Sounds like having Grandpa and Joyce over has been quite the adventure!

Aubrey Spencer is working for you as a nurse? Cool, haha that's kind of funny how it all ends up. All these people from high school that I heard about, even though I'm halfway across the planet.

Dad said that being "all in" was their topic too. I will have to listen to it again! I know that the mission is a great time to serve the Lord to the fullness of our ability, but it doesn't just have to be here. Our serve that we promised in the temple is through out our entire lives.

Love you tons Mom! Miss everyone! 

Candelaria

Mom,

I'm now in Candelaria. It's really bukid (farm land), so the houses are really far apart, and people are really busy. But the church is pretty nice here! I've got my first Branch Mission Leader, and there are a ton of members who will feed us and everything. It seems pretty awesome! I'm back in a house with Elder Sudweeks, and the house is really nice. The owner is a Dentist who works in America and just comes back home here for vacation and stuff, so he has a lot of money. 

My companion is Elder Poblador. We actually came into the mission together, and he is a really cool Filipino. We are both Zone Leaders, and in charge of about 22 Missionaries. Our Zone is the farthest away from President, and covers most of Zambeles. I don't really know what exactly being a Zone Leader entails, but I will forward to you the letter that I got from President.

I'm glad that everything with Grandpa and Joyce was alright. I prayed that everything would be okay, I know that it must have been hectic.

I knew Carsen would do great. And I know he will do great on Wednesday. Don't worry, everything will be alright! I know it's hard... but I also know that it is what God wants of us.

I love you too! Miss everyone! Have a fantabulous week!

Elder Kobe Potter

Earthquake?!?

Mom,

She told us is was 7 Missionaries who had Dengue.... I think it sounds like fun, how many people do you know who've had Dengue? 😉😂 Just kidding, we will be sure to keep using bug spray and stuff. 

My week was good! We did work, getting 13 New Investigators and Two Investigators at church. Church was interesting, the Stake's Sunday School Presidency came and tried to kind of chew-out the Branch for not paying their tithing and doing their Home and Visiting Teaching... Hopefully it helps! 

Miracles... 

     Two of the New Investigators we had this are Von and Aaron. We found Von almost a week ago, and he said that we could come back anytime, that he and his brothers were always there. But, whenever we went back, nobody was home... This happened for almost a week. I was starting to feel like he had just been messing with us, and was tired of going back to this empty house. But Elder Peguit wanted to try them again, so we did. It ended up being a really great lesson, they were both really receptive and nice. I think they will progress to be really good investigators! I know that God is preparing people to be taught and to receive the church, in all places! 

Fun! I always did love listening to President Beeson, he always tells the best stories!

That will be good for Grandpa and Joyce. I'm glad that they will be closer and will be easier to take care of. Hopefully everything goes smoothly! Are they staying in my old room? 

Good luck with School and Football! How exciting! I wish I was there!

The rain has actually stopped a lot this last week, and it was really hot again... And yes we felt the Earthquake! Elder Peguit said that he thought I was just shaking his bed to get him up, but I was sitting at my desk reading when it happened! They said it was like 6.2, not strong enough to really do any damage, just scare some people.

I'll be sure to let you know next week what happens this week at transfers! 

Love you tons! Miss everyone! Can't wait to hear from you all again next week!

Elder Kobe Potter

Football

Mom,

I'm good! It was a long week, but it was good. We had almost 40 people sacrament meeting, and 3 of them were Investigators.

Our Miracle this week, was when we opened our Fast. It wasn't anything super special, we just knelt down and offered a little prayer before we went out to work on Saturday. We didn't have an awesome day, or I didn't feel super strong, and our problems didn't disappear. But I know that the Spirit was there, it was really strong as I prayed for the people of Bagac. I know that God loves his children, and he listens when we pray!

Football! Exciting! Is Tyson playing again? What position?

The cabin... I miss it. It's one of the pictures that you sent me in those little books! I want to go back really bad...

I'm glad that Logan and Heidi are doing good and feeling better!

Is Coach Lowry still teaching? 

I'm glad that you are excited for your new calling! Is Dad counted in your missionaires now?

When does Carsen enter the MTC again? The 16th is our transfer day here, but it's probably not the same...

Thank you Mom for all the love and support you always send to me. I love and miss you!

Elder Kobe Potter

The climb

Mom,

My week was great! Just like all the other's, but I'm trying to have a more positive outlook on the way things are here. I'm trying to do all that I can, there is no point stressing over the things that I can't control. It was really stormy here, President said that it is a legit Typhoon that was hitting just North of our Mission. It was A LOT of rain, and some pretty strong winds. I've heard that some roofs were ripped off by the wind in our area, but I haven't seen any yet. The pictures I sent are of the rain, the floods, and how crazy the ocean was! 

I miss the 24th Parade... Remembering that made me really homesick... Hopefully I'll be able to make it next time!

Shopping for Carsen! It is really close now isn't it! Crazy to think about...

I"m glad that Heidi and the Baby are aright, it's relieving to get them out of the Hospital!

Dad is moving classrooms? Where to?

That's awesome! Ward Missionary and Stake Young Women's Secretary! How exciting, haha! I don't know what that means either... but it sounds busy! Good luck!

This week was... Tough. We had just over 20 people at church. Two of our really progressing Investigators have disappeared; one texted us to not come back, and when we went she was out of town. The other has literally just disappeared, we can't find him to save our lives... We tried finding new people, but we got a whole lot of 'NO's... President Lacanentia says that NO means New Opportunities, so hopefully this week will be better...

One of our good investigators though, is Brother Don Don. He is a Part-Member, his wife was baptised a long time ago. But when she had her kids, she couldn't go to church by herself, and just fell into that routine. They were very happy to let us in, and the teaching has been going really good. The only problem, is that Brother works a lot; 6 to 6 every day but Sunday. And then, on Sunday; he always gets called up by his Dad, or Brothers, and they have to go do chores on the Farm or something... But we are praying!

 Elder Peguit  is really great at teaching, and works hard, and gets a long well with the members. 

The house is really pretty nice here. I think I sent a picture of what my desk looks like. There is Air Conditioning, but it is really expensive... I wouldn't use it right now, because it's Rainy Season not to hot at night, but Elder Peguit likes to turn it on, so we do. 

Not really any new foods, but I have started cooking more. I used to just be lazy and go out to eat or eat something from a can. Now, Elder Peguit and me and started trying to cook real Filipino foods. We cooked Filipino spaghetti, and Adobe. Next we are going to try and cook Siniagong. 

Crazy to think how long it has been... And how much longer it will be! Haha, but I'm glad to know that I can do hard things, and hopefully this downhill slide will seem faster than the climb! 

Love you Mom, miss you! 

Elder Kobe Potter

July

Mom,

Sounds like a busy week! I'm glad that everything went well with work. 

I hope that Heidi will be okay, and will keep praying for her! I'm glad that the baby is okay, she is very beautiful in the picture!

I'm glad that Logan's toe isn't serious. It doesn't look pretty, haha. Hopefully it heals fast and he can get back to his sports!

I miss the 24th of July Parade! I hope you will take a lot of pictures for me! 

I love Grandpa too! I hope that he is doing alright, and that He, Dad, and Uncle Robby can get everything figured out that they need too... Please send him my love again!

My week was good! We got to meet President Lacanienta again, a member had a birthday party for our Youth Activity, and it has started raining a lot!

I never seem to have any big great miracles to share... A littly tiny one that I noticed this week was just the other day. We were coming home from a really far area, when some random guy stopped us on the way. He was biking too, so we stopped on the side of the road to talk. He said that his Neighbor wanted to get to know us. He said that his neighbor's daughter had just recieved a wheelchair from the church, and wanted to know more about who we are. It was just a really random thing, and the people here are usually to shy to stop us in the middle of the street. We found the little girl yesterday. She is only about 6 maybe, and has some kind of disease where she has no control over her legs from the knees down. Her Mom, a single parent, had carried her to a near bye member when we found her. As we introduced our selves, I felt the Spirit testify that this Single Mother had really been prepared to receive the Gospel. I could only think about how much the Church could help her and her little girl. She was very receptive, and we set a return appointment later this week. 

The branch here is about the same, we had 31 people at church yesterday. When we visited the people who we thought were going to come to church there were a whole lot of sickness and excuses... I just hope that what we are doing here is good enough, and that we are doing what the Lord would have us do!

We are teaching a lot of Less Active Part Member families. These are members who have stopped coming to church, and now have members in their family who are not yet baptized. It's a great way to get both the new people to be baptized, and the old members to come back to church. Or it's supposed to be... 

     The Jacob Family here, has been sealed in the Temple. They used to be super active in the church, and everyone thought that Brother Jacob was going to be made Branch President. But, slowly, they became Less Active. They have since been baptised into a different Church, but stopped going to church there too. When we found them, they were very willing to listen, but have been slow to act... The Children of Brother and Sister Jacob, who were Youth when they last went to church, now have Husbands who have never been baptized. We have been trying to teach them, and they promised to come to church yesterday. They didn't show though...

I really don't need you to send me anything, but I would love to get something, haha! But I can't really think of anything I want or need, no.

Yes, the members here do feed us! A lot actually, considering the small number of members... They are very kind, and love the missionaries a lot. 

I love you too Mom! Miss you! Can't believe it's almost been a year! 

Elder Kobe Potter

Loose your self in the work

Mom,

I don't think I know any Atkinsons here... There is supposed to be a new set of Couple Missionaires coming in soon though...

Does that mean MaryLynn knows the Dahles? or they both know the missionaries that reported? Haha, sorry, I might be starting to loose my English!

My week was good, just a little monotonous. We have been working hard, and found 7 New Investigators. We don't really spend a lot of time finding, but instead we focus more of our time on finding Less Actives and Re-Activation. This week at church we had 51 people, but that is mostly because the Stake Presidency came down and brought some of their Families... He said that he just wanted us to keep working hard here, and asked the Branch President to try and get the members to do some Home or Visiting Teaching. I cannot stress the importance of Home and Visiting Teaching in the church... There are so many Less Active Members who get offended just because no one came to check on them when they started going less active, and so they stopped coming to church all together. 

Miracles... We finally got one of our Investigators to come to church again! Sister Kaycee Coloma, a single Mother who is living with her Member Family was happy to be taught a little over a month ago. But just last week she was able to come to church. They have been renovating their house, and so they had to stay home to watch and take care of the construction workers there... But yesterday she was able to come, and we were so happy for her!

Cool Stories... Yesterday we had a super fun bicycling trip to one of our farthest areas. On the way there, it was okay; just a really far bike with a mountain at the end... But on the way home, it had rained for probably 3 hours, and was still raining when we started. We were totally soaked with rain, and the mud and dirt that the bikes throw up. That might not sounds like a lot of fun, but it's maybe some of the most excitement we get here, haha!

Thank you for your advice to loose myself in the work! I've been trying too, I'm just not sure how... When we get up and go out to work I don't have any problems. I can go all day and do that, I don't feel tired or get depressed. But when we go home and have to do normal things; like laundry or cook or study, I wish that I could just do all this at home... That I could do it my way, on my time, with my stuff; not have to worry about what my companion wants or what his schedule is. That's when I just get really tired and lazy... So I will try and make sure that I focus this week on service, and making the best use of the time we have at home!

Good luck with your Trip to Colorado! Sounds fun, but a little scary... I'm sure you will be okay, I will pray for you!

Crazy to think about going home... I'm almost at 1 year now! Next week! Woohoo, haha. 

I love you tons Mom, and miss you! I'll keep working hard! 

Rain

Mom,

I wish you could have some of the rain too, that doesn't sound good... Working in the rain is not as much fun as I thought it would be... But you do get let into new houses more often!

I'm glad to hear that Grandpa is doing alright. That does sound interesting, with his two Sisters coming up... Has Dad even met them? I feel like I don't know anything about his side of the family...

Yes, we have met the New President. Last Thursday, we went up to Balanga and got to shake his and Sister Lacanienta's hands, and talk to them for about 10 seconds. President said that he thinks we must be good missionaries to be put into such a hard area, and Sister said she though it must be like "The Other Side of Heaven", being so far away from everyone else, haha. They both were very good, and (surprisingly very) laid back. But I think they will do great job, and can't wait for the Mission President Interviews we have next week.

This week was a lot like the last... No matter what we do it just seems like nothing ever changes here, and I don't know what else to do... But it was a good week, and we had the opportunity to go to a CSP (Community Service Project) at an elementary school. We had LOTS of fun moving the rocks and sand around! But when I woke up on Sunday, I was regretting it a lot... I haven't done heavy lifting like that for a long time, I was really sore in my back and shoulders! But it felt good to do hard work again, makes me miss being at the Farm, the Cabin.

Miracles; well I'm always really bad at recognizing them, I'm sure millions happen everyday to help us. But as for ones that I did notice...

     We were invited to go and share our message with a small Bible college here in Bagac. It was originally supposed to be just one of the students who had knocked on the door of one of our members. In the end, it was this 18 year old training-to-be-pastor, his pastor, and one other student. I think we did our best to share the message simply, and powerfully; testifying of truth and not attacking their beliefs, even if they were not so kind... The two students seemed very interested and curious, and I really hope that they will take the invitation to pray about the Book of Mormon. The pastor, however, had researched "Mormonism", and had some 'concerns' with the church... Polygamy, The Nature of the God Head... He also said that the Bible is complete; there is no need for prophets today. He also claimed that the Book of Mormon has been through over 300 revisions, and that our doctrine contradicts it's self. He warned us that if we continued in our error we would not be saved, even though he said that everyone who believes in Christ will be saved, no matter our works...

    The miracle here, is that I think we did what we were supposed to. If a year ago, you would have sat me down in front of three Bible students, and told me to share them the gospel, I would have had no idea where to start. But now, I was able to (somewhat) control the situation, and me and a new missionary were able to invite them to come to know for themselves the truth. It might not seem like that big of a thing to everyone at home, but I'm sure glad that the Lord was there to help me that day.

Transfers will be August 16. We had a really short, three week, transfer last time. Now we have a really long, nine week, transfer this time. This is so that President Lacanienta didn't have to transfer anyone his first day in the mission, before he even knew everyone. But August 16 seems really far away...

I'm glad that we were able to help with Elder Peguits pants too! But the pants he ordered are going to be 10 sizes to big... Do you have any idea how to cancel an order from lds.org?

Our Sunday was alright, we had 36 people at church. We found out that one of the Less Active Families that started coming back to church has a Nephew who hasn't been baptized yet, so we also got a New Investigator! 

This is my first District with Sisters in it. Let me see if I can explain it...

     We are here in Bagac, which has it's own meeting house. It's a little over an hour to get to the next city, which is called Balanga.

     In Balanga, there are two branches. They both go to the same Chapel, one in the morning and one in the afternoon. The first Ward is Balanga, which has four Sister missionaries. The second Ward is Cupang, (the name of that side of Balanga) which also has four Elders. 

Before I became District Leader, I very rarely, if ever, had anything to do with the Sisters. Now, I'm supposed to "Follow-Up" with them every night, and make sure that they are doing okay and working hard. 

Love you too! Miss you lots, hope you have a great week! 

Elder Kobe Potter

Just another week in Paradise

Mom,

My week was good, just another routine week here in the mission! Nothing super exciting, just another week it Paradise!

This week at church... Well...  Manny Paciao had a boxing match here on Sunday. Here, that is a bigger deal than the Super Bowl back at home. We had about 26 people come to church... I was not happy...

No new animals, but it has started raining pretty hard. That makes biking in the mud super fun! And super dirty...

We will meet them (new mission president) on Thursday, they haven't said or done very much so far. Actually, we don't even know their phone numbers yet...

Elder Peguit is cool. He is from Mindanao, which is the most South of the three main islands in the Philippines. Mindanao is a little scary right now; there is a lot of ISIS and Rebellion fights going on... But Elder Peguit says that it is really far from them, he never heard a bomb or saw a plane or anything before he came on the mission. He is 20, and the 2nd of 4 children. His Dad died of some sickness that he can't really remember a couple of years ago... He is fun, a little quiet and a little childish. He is very good at teaching however, and kind of thinks he knows everything. It's a little annoying, because he is still very new in the mission; this is his 2nd month, and I technically training him. But we get along alright, and we laugh and have fun! 

Sounds like the life! How fun for Logan! I miss scout camps now... Congratulations to Dad and Tyson at their tournament! How awesome! Sounds like the Sydni I know! 😉😂 Pharmacy Tech Certificate... Sounds fancy! I heard about their trip to Hawaii, it was weird to think that they were kind of close to the Philippines! Haha, but that's still a lot of ocean... It sounds like you made the right choice staying at home this time. There will always be next time!

I'm glad Grandpa was able to come home... Terminal... Just let him know that I love him, and will miss him. I hope that I can see him again before he leaves us... But if not I know I can see him again. Tell him it's ok that he hasn't been in contact, I know that he loves me and wants the best for me. That sucks to say over email...

July 12 is really soon! But that's not fun... I will definitely pray for her and Trevor.

Everything is all good here. It's just hard to try and keep working hard when the Branch has such little hope for change... The area is really nice, except that it is so far from everything. For example; because the one little tiny bank here is closed, we have to travel almost an hour and a half to withdraw our support today... 

Thank you for your love, it is one of the only things that keeps me going! I love you to Mom, and will do everything I can here so that I can keep making you proud. Almost half way, right!? I'm pretty sure I can make it through another round of this ☺

Kasama ang lahat ng akin pagmahal,

District Leader

Hi Mom!

We had an emergency transfer my new companion is Elder Peguit. 

Elder Peguit is 20, Filipino, from a place called Mendinaw. It's a little scary down there right now, because of some ISIS and terrorist activity, but Elder Peguit chose to leave his family and serve a mission. He says his family is actually pretty far from the war, and he doesn't seem to worried about it. He is very obedient, and very good at teaching the Lessons. He's just a little quiet, and so am I, so it's a little awkward at times... But hopefully we can work it out a little better this week! He is very new to the mission, and this was just his 4th week here. 

After the transfers, I was called to be;

1. Elder Peguit's Follow-Up Trainer

2. District Leader of the Balanga District (10 missionaires)

3. Still on "Special Assignment" here in Bagac Branch

4. Lead the Area after only 2 1/2 weeks here...

So it's been a little bit of a stressful week... But we did have our baptism! The Narbuco family, three young women who are super awesome! In that picture, is their Mom, Grandma, and little brothers. They have yet to be baptised, because the Mom is not yet married (to her 3rd husband...), Grandma is a die-hard Catholic, and the boys are under-age. But they are really happy, and I'm really happy for them! 

I'll be sure to let her know, haha! She is a sweet heart, and even though I've only been here for a month she has been so good to us. 

Do I need anything? No, not really. But getting packages or letters always makes me super happy! 

That sounds like a great talk. I was reading the Teachings of President Ezra Taft Benson a while back and he has a whole chapter about building families and the responsibilities of Fathers. Most of those I think I wrote down, but I will add the other ones! I am missing my Dad a lot today too, and my Grandpas also... 

I've heard that it was a busy week! I miss that though, all the different things to go to and different things to do... Here, I feel like I just do the same thing for ever day...Congrats to Sydni for making All Star! That's awesome!

Good luck with your inspection this week, that sounds stressful...

Love you so much! Miss everyone! 

Elder Kobe Potter

Life in paradise

Mom,

Yeah, Dad sent me some details... I will pray for about Grandpa Potter, but he didn't make it sound very hopeful... How much longer do you think he has? This is way more cancer than I ever wanted to have to deal with in our family...

I heard about the endowments! That's so awesome I wish that I could have been there... Sounds like it was an awesome week.

Life in paradise... Is a little stressful! My companion got Emergency Transferred, so now I have to lead this area that I have only been in for 2 and a half weeks... Woohoo!

This week we just focused a lot about getting the Emergency Transfer taken care of, and were not able to work as much as I wanted... Not that I know any of our investigators here because I'm so new, but we should work anyways... and this week we are having real exchanges, so I will get another new companion on Wednesday... I just hope that I can do everything that I need to do for this area...

Miracles; 

The one investigator that we do have is amazing. His name is Mark, and Elder Breinholt said they didn't think that he was going to progress very well... He was out of town for a long time, and we weren't able to really get a hold of him. But when we did go back to him, we found out that he had been reading from the Book of Mormon while he was gone, and really prayed to know if the church was true. He said that he got a really solid answer that the Book of Mormon is the word of God! Now we just need to work on getting him out to church...

I did get my shoes! Thank you so much, they are awesome! Now I just hope I can find time to use them! Haha.

 A new favorite food, is this one called "benudo" I think... I can't remember... But it's basically chicken sausage, with carrots, garlic, onion, and peppers. And then they wrap it up like a hobo-dinner and steam cook it. I didn't think it was going to be any good, but it was actually really good! You serve it with soy sauce, over rice. Our Nanay, or "Mom" here cooked it for us. She says that she is our Mom here, while we are so far away from home, and calls us her sons, because she wasn't able to get married. 

My last Interview with President Dahle, was good. We mostly just talked about the Emergency Transfer, and what needs to happen in the area... He has put a lot of trust and responsibility in me with the new President coming, and I'm a little stressed. Hopefully I can do everything that needs to happen!

Love you too Mom! Miss you! 

Elder Kobe Potter

Elder Breinholt

Mom,

My week was good, just trying to stay busy! I got a little sick on Friday; food poisoning I think... super fun... But other than that I am doing great! The area is still new, and a little scary. We had more people to church this week, but still not very many. Hopefully we can keep pushing it farther!

Elder Breinholt is cool! He is 19, from American Fork. He is the 4rth of 5 children, and likes to play golf. We don't have a ton in common, and we aren't as close as me and Elder Olsen were, but we still get a long pretty well. 

I heard about basketball, that sounds awesome! Dad said Conference was awesome. President Rollins always does the same for me.

No package yet, but we have our last Interviews with President Dahle this Friday, so hopefully he brings it then! 

Love you, miss you! Hope everything is good at home!

Elder Kobe Potter

Transferred to Bagac

Mom,

Yes! I got transferred here to Bagac. Bagac is in Balangga Zone; the only Stake in the mission. That means that instead of Branches, they are Wards; or that the church is a little more organized and set up here. So all the areas in Balangga are wards, and really set up!... except for Bagac. Bagac is maybe the smallest branch in the entire mission, and is known as 'cursed'. President called me, and told my I just have to get the Melchizedek Priesthood back to the branch. So that is what we are doing! I'm not believing in any curses, and we are going to focus on the Priesthood. 

Yesterday we had 36 people come to church. Exactly one water tray of people. 5 Melchizedek Priesthood holders; the Branch President who lives two towns over, the 1st Councillor, the Elder's Quarom President, and the two Missionaries... 

But the people here are awesome so far, and I'm really looking forward to seeing what we can do with this area. I am follow-up training Elder Breinholt, a 3-month Old missionary from American Fork. He also was trained by Elder Sudweeks, the missionary I replaced here. 

It is pretty civilized here, but we also have the biggest area. On the outskirts, it gets really rural. But for the most part, we stay close here in town. There are a lot of Beach Resorts here, and it is probably the cleanest place I've been in here! Super far away from everything else though... Haha, no MacDo. But we do have a 7-11!

I can't believe it was Graduation! How crazy... Carsen looks so old now... 

Wish Haze and Ava a Bappy Birthday for me! Wish I could have been there... and Happy Birthday to Caitlin Pieterson and Tyler Judd for me! I don't have any contacts for them right now...

No package yet, I'm hoping they just waited for transfer day, and will be sending it soon!

This transfer week is only 3 weeks long, to make it a little easier on our new President who is soon to arrive! So I could be leaving really quick, or getting a new companion really fast! Or, I could stay here with E. Breinholt for a long time, because the following transfer will be 9 weeks to catch up...

Love you all! Miss everyone!

Elder Kobe Potter

Small World

Mom,

That is crazy! So much change happening so fast... Hard to take in. But this is a good change, right? Something that should happen, so that we can grow more and become better. So fast!

I did have a good week, and I loved being able to talk to everyone! 

Christian Leynes is a Recent Convert, meaning he has not yet been a member for a whole year. He is really cool, and works with us the most of anyone else here. He said that he sent that a long time ago, so when he told me you answered the other day we were both really surprised, haha!

This week, Elder Olsen had some problems with his skin, like an allergy to his bag or something... It looked really painful, but the medicine we bought got it under control really fast. Because of this, we were only able to work so much... But the work we did have was awesome! We had a random Lady come to church, just because "She felt like she needed to go to church here". We found some more New Investigators to replace the old ones who have started to fall away, and all in all it was a really good week! But for specific miracles... I can't think of anything...

I asked Elder Olsen what the funniest thing that happened this was... He said it was when he broke the hammock and almost fell off the porch, but he didn't think that was very funny when it happened, haha! I think the funniest thing it when I go see Elder Rodgers in Mariveles. We went down this morning to lift and play Basketball before the transfer, and once we got back to their apartment, he gave us some of his protein shake and a cliff bar. That might not sound funny to you, but it just reminded me so much of football and basketball seasons, and then we all started talking about high school and what we are going to do when we get home... Here we had four American's, all about five hours from each other, sitting in the Philippines talking about high school... Crazy, right!? What a small world...

The Lord Jesus Christ teaches us to pray... I don't think I've gotten to that one yet in my listening... But it makes me think of 3rd Nephi. 19. This is the second day that Jesus comes to the Nephites. The disciples had been busy all night, 'noising' around the message of the restored Savior. When it came to morning, they divided the enormous group of people into 12 groups, so that the disciples could re-teach the things Jesus had taught the day before. Then, the disciples got everyone together, and they all started praying. They prayed for a long time. But after that, the disciples received the Holy Ghost, and baptized everyone. Angels then appeared to the people, ministering to the disciples. Jesus himself arrives, and commands the multitudes to begin to pray. He then goes by himself, prays to God for the people, and when he comes back, they are still praying! I love what the Savior says in verse  26; "And Jesus said unto them; Pray on" After this happened, the Nephites became a 'white and chosen people', who had more faith than the Jews. Jesus then goes and prays again to God, and thanks Him for the blessing of these faithful Nephites. That story is just what came to mind when I say the title of the talk, I hope that helps!

Love you too!

Elder Kobe Potter

Happy Birthday!

Mom,

They do the plastic so they don't have to wash the plates, just throw the plastic away and put a new one on! It helps make sure they don't run out of plates during fiesta!

This week was good, just like every other week!... No super awesome miracles, except we did get 17 New Investigators this week, which is a new record for me! 

That thing you posted makes me so happy and sad at the same time! I wish I could be there... Cookies, turkey steaks, cheesy potatoes, sounds soooo good right now... But I also know this is were I need to be. I hope that I can be the man the Lord needs me to be here!

Congratulations on your promotion at work! That's awesome! What does that really mean, what is your real work now?

I'm excited to see my new car 😎😂 just kidding! Haha!

That sounds like an awesome game for Sydni! Haha, but I'm sorry she got hit!

Crazy to think about Tyson starting in basketball... He's going to be a Senior now, huh? I feel so old...

A new suit? That's awesome! I never thought about it, but he does only have that one old one, doesn't he... Cool!

Ahhh! I miss the little kids so much! Will they be there when we get to call home?

Next Monday is our call day. We are still trying to find a place with web cameras... But I will do my best to be online at 9 here, about 7 in the evening at home I think. If you can just be ready by then, I'll do whatever I need to to get it to work!

Thank you so much for everything! I love you, and miss home! Can't wait to call!

Elder Kobe Potter

Fiesta! - May

Mom,

My week was good! Long, hot, tiring, a little disappointing, but good!

     Our average temperature here this last couple of weeks is about 40 degrees Celsius... Which comes out to about 110 degrees Fahrenheit! Add that to constant humidity that we have here, about 80% or up, and walking around for a minimum of 7 hours a day adds up to a whole lot of fun! A really good sun tan, tired legs, thirsty, and sometimes a little chaffing... But it is fun, and do it for the Lord!

     A little disappointing, because only 1 of the 3 or 4 investigators that we hoped for came to church this week... Coming to church is one of the requirements here for baptism, it has to be 4 weeks, with only a couple of absences allowed. It's a really big part of conversion too, but it's also kind of against Filipino culture. The people here think that it is enough to just stay at home and pray, and that God will understand that they are too busy, or don't have enough money to come to church... That's part of our struggle here! Love it!

This week we did have a really special experience though. We were walking back to the Church, for a meeting, coming from a far area, and trying to decide if we wanted to spend the money to ride a trike, or just walk instead. It had been a pretty rough day; hot and dry, we were punted from all our new investigator's return appointments... While we were walking to the trike waiting shed, a little ways down the road, a man walked up and said that if we were walking to town he would walk with us, so we could all go together. As we starting walking with him, and talking to him, an amazing thing happened. We found out that this Brother had been searching for the truth about religion for a long time. He told us that right now he didn't have a church, because all the other ones he had been too "just didn't feel right", but that we was hoping to try Born Again next. We asked if he had tried our church, and he admitted that he knew very little about the church. As we walked into town, we had the great opportunity to share with him a short message about the Restoration of the Gospel of Jesus Christ, and answer some of the questions that he had for us. He was very excited, seemed to be really interested. While we could not return to his home, (he is living on a private factory as a security guard), he did promise to come to church as soon as his schedule allowed. I know that God is preparing people to be placed in our lives, and that blessings come after the trial of our faith! 

Training is going good, Elder Olsen is awesome! We just study a lot in the mornings, because it's cooler, so we can live inside. When it's this hot, it's way better to be out in the wind than inside. Even though it's protected from the sun, the heat seeps in through the concrete...

Last night I just had "Pusit", or Squid! It was something I've always wanted to try since I've seen it here. It's not bad, a really salty flavor. But super chewy, like clams but doubled.

I have no idea what to do for my birthday... We will still have to work and everything... Maybe I will get some cake and ice cream and we will have a little missionary party at the house, haha! Grandma told me she had you put money on my card, so I will go get it tomorrow.  Thank you for the package, I will be looking for it!

Nathan Wallace... That's cool, a Paris France mission... I can't imagine what the work is like there...  I haven't been talking to them as much as I should... I will reach out to them again later!

Thank you Mom! I hasn't been easy, but you all have been a really big inspiration and support for me! I love you all! 

We have a lunch appointment right now (because it is fiesta!), but I will be back to finish up my email time later!

Love you tons! Miss you! 

Spring Break - April

Mom,

My week was good! But it is getting SUPER hot here...

One of my miracles that I saw this week, was we were able to reach 6 New Investigators this week. We only really had like 3 real working days (E. Olsen got sick, and we had meetings), so our stats were supposed to be really low. But with Elder Olsen's confidence, and a lot of hard work, we got 6! 6 is the most that I have gotten in one week so far, so we tied with my personal best. Pretty crazy!

Elder Olsen is doing great, other than the sickness. He just has a little skin condition, and a cough left. He has got me on this diet, so we can try and loose the "rice fat" I heard you and his Mom are now friends on Facebook?

Crazy to think about Spring Break... Time has gone so fast! I hope Easter was fun, and that St. George was good, I wish I could have gone, haha! Summer is right around the corner, do you have any senior trip plans?

The members here try and tell me about how good the Jazz is doing this year, but I don't know enough about the NBA to really be interested... Haha!

I'm glad your lesson in Relief Society went good. I also had to teach in Elder's Quorum, and was only asked to prepare a lesson right after sacrament!  I'm glad so much good is going on at home, and hope and pray for all of you!

Love you all! Miss you! 

Elder Kobe PotterSS

Easter

Mom,

Happy Easter too! Crazy to think!

I did just get a package, and love my Hawaiian Shirt! It is super awesome! And all the stuff from Bailey was great!

This transfer, I stayed in Cabcaben. But I got a new companion. I mean really new, because I am training a new Missionary. His name is Elder Olsen, from Victor Idaho. He is super awesome, and has been really prepared for his mission. His mom is actually Filipino, so is way ahead on the language and culture than I was when I first got here. He is a little sick right now, but other than that he is doing great!

This week, I saw a miracle in becoming way more confident in my finding. I used to be really shy, and didn't really want to talk to anyone else. But after an interview with President Dahle, and he mentioned that I looked more confident, later on it was super easy to reach out to people. It might not be much, but that was something that helped me this week.

It did rain yesterday, which was weird because we are still supposed to be in the middle of the dry season... But it was good, it let Elder Olsen sleep a little better while he had a fever.

This Easter week is called "Holy Week" here in the Philippines. It involves a whole lot of Catholic extremism, that was very interesting... I couldn't help but think that you all would be down at the Condo, finding Easter Eggs and swimming! I miss everyone! Have fun at Bryce Canyon, take pictures for me!

I just got released as District Leader, so I could focus on being a Trainer, but I will try and tell you what I learned. 

In the Preach My Gospel Manual, it has an awesome quote; 

“I have often said one of the greatest secrets of missionary work is work! If a missionary works, he will get the Spirit; if he gets the Spirit, he will teach by the Spirit; and if he teaches by the Spirit, he will touch the hearts of the people and he will be happy. There will be no homesickness, no worrying about families, for all time and talents and interests are centered on the work of the ministry. Work, work, work—there is no satisfactory substitute, especially in missionary work.” – PRESIDENT EZRA TAFT BENSON 

I know that this is a little bit specific towards Misisonary work, but I think it also applies to normal jobs too. There is no satisfactory substitute for real, hard work. I've also heard the quote, "The sled dogs love the harness." Most dogs would cringe and complain if made to wear a harness, and pull a load. But the sled dog has found joy in the work, and found a way to be happy. That was the hardest thing for me at the beginning of the mission, finding joy in the work. I was just here to get it over with, I lacked energy and enthusiasm. Like some of your workers, I was just there to "get it over with". They need money, I needed to serve a mission. I didn't need to like it...

But, as time went bye, I found that if you do have fun, if you can find the joy in the work, it makes it a lot easier to go through. I makes the day's go faster, and the hard things become a little easier. I don't know how to help your other nurses see that, but I hope this helps a little.

Love you all! Miss you! 

Elder Kobe Potter

April 9

Mom,

My week was great, just another day in Paradise!

Conference was good, we got to watch in our church here. We didn't get to finish though... The USB wasn't working like it should have. Halfway through the Sunday Afternoon session, it quit working. But I got them all downloaded on my MP3 Player, so I can listen to them now!

Yes, putting the money on the card will be the easiest thing, and I can just withdraw it on our Support Day.

I heard, that's crazy! That's where Carsen wanted to go, right? Awesome!

Exciting with the car, can't wait to hear more!

Congratulations with your lesson! Here we have to teach Gospel Essential Classes, if our Investigators come to church... 

I can't believe it's Easter either, and there are supposed to be some interesting traditions here... Someone told me that people actually Crucify themselves here... We'll see if those are any true.

It has been ridiculously hot here, with the high at 90 and the low at 70 everyday. It's dry season, so we get very little rain, just a whole lot of sun... But my tan has gotten really good! Haha!

This area is really good! But, the members are a little distant from missionary work. Even though there are about 140 members every week, our new Branch President says that 'He cant find a good BML'... But we are trying our best! We should be having a baptism this week! 

Transfer day is on Wednesday, so I will let you know next week what happened! 

Great job with the Family Scripture Study! It takes about 21 days to make a habit, but 66 to make sure its not going to go away! That's about two months of the same routine.

Love you all! Thank you! 

Elder Kobe Potter

April

Mom,

My week was good, time has been flying here! We had a Zone Conference, and I got to see my Trainer, Elder Sudweeks again! He is training, so I have a "Brother" in the mission! Haha! 

As for the shoes, I bought a pair of tennis shoes here last week or so. But, they are about to fall apart already... I guess I'm a little to rough on the Filipino quality of stuff... They might last me another week or two before I wear a hole out the bottom rubber part.

Engaged!? Holy cow... That's crazy! I feel like we are way to young to be doing stuff like that...

I'm super excited for Carsen to get his mission call! We just had a Sister here get her mission call, to the San Pablo mission here in the Philippines. She is super excited, and said that she would like to try and work with us sometimes, to practice her teaching. Fun!!

Haha, 5-buck! What I would give for a good pizza... They have pizza here, but it's not very good. Their cheese is fake, and their sauce is really plain. And they only put a little bit of meat on it...

We haven't had conference yet, we do it this Sunday, so we can download it in Tagalog if they want... But I'm super excited! To think that I have been here for two conferences... Crazy!

It's weird to even think that we have cars... Only like, super rich people here have cars, people who work abroad, or out of the Philippines, and send money home. That's awesome, I want pictures when you get the new one!

Sydni told me that you would be coaching, that's awesome! Good luck, I know you will all do great! You can ask Dad for all his advice on yelling at people and good workouts! 😉😂

I love you all too! This week has been awesome! Miss you!

Elder Kobe Potter

March 26

Mom,

Woohoo! How exciting about Carsen's papers! That's crazy! Did you get that big map out again?

This week I had an email from 17 people. I know that I don't have to answer every one, but I like to try my best to get to every body. I can imagine how hard it is to write and not hear anything back.

This week has been good, but I always feel like we should be doing more. Miracles...
Last week on P-day we had a miracle. Right after emailing, Elder Boota told me that he had gotten an email from a bunch of his friends and family. He told me that he hasn't gotten a single email in the whole time that he has been here, on the mission. He said that he prayed super hard, that he would get an email. If he didn't get an email, he was going to stop writing home... When he was done, he had 15 emails, and one person even stayed up till midnight(Kirabati time) to chat with him.

Another Miracle, is the awesome number of referrals we have been getting. Even though the majority of them go to the other Elders here, we still have gotten a lot of referrals this past week. Referrals are the number one, almost guaranteed to get baptized convert in missionary work. Some one told me that the statistics is; Missionary found, 1 in about 30 will be baptized here. If Referral, 1 in about 10 will be baptized. That's 3 times a better chance! The only problem now is trying to track everybody down, in a place without real addresses... The addresses here are very vague. For example; "The house under the mango tree, with a dog, down the street from the shop". Which would be great, if there wasn't a shop on every street, and a dog at every other house...

Elder Palacio, the Fillipino Elder who was my housemate last transfer, says that he is in the Utah Provo West Stake right now.

Crazy how much is happening back home! Time has gone bye super fast! Still seems like forever though... I'm excited for the packages, I will let you know right away! Love you!

Elder Kobe Potter

The ocean!

March 12

Google says that this is the adress right in front of the street that leads into our house. We live down the street, to the left. The owner of the land, has two houses that they rent out here.

Pinag-apugan St

Mariveles, Bataan

14.458701, 120.594773

Yes, he was transferred last Wednesday, his replacement is Elder McKammerman. He is from Kerns, Utah. Weird to me that Yingling would be super allergic to seafood, but live so close to the ocean his whole life...

Sister Pangilinan, is a little crazy... You can always tell her to stop, haha, but the missionaries there probably appreciate the help! Jasmine was my first baptism here, so their family is a little special to me, even thought Sister never would come to church for us...

Cabcaben is a good area, very big. No bikes, but they do have a lot more jeepnies and trikes than San Juan did. But the investigators here are a little lacking... In our lists, it says there are 15 Investigators who have accepted a BGD, but its going to be more like 3... We only have the one investigator who will come to church, the others are busy or can't/won't pay the travel fee.

The food here is mostly the same, hopefully I will be able to have some more seafood here though. We are so close to the ocean, and the 2nd Councilor is a fisherman. The kind who goes diving with a wooden-spear gun. Cool! We ate at his house, giant shrimps in a vinegary sauce. Really good! 

When we get really tired, me and Elder Boota go to the pier and talk. He was basically raised in the sea, and knows everything about it. He talks about the tides, the wind. He knows where there will be fish, the seasons of the month when the jellyfish will be close to the shore, and what days are best for fishing. He told me right before he came to the mission, they spent 3 days strait at sea. Just a small, wooden boat, maybe 10 feet long and 4 feet wide. Said it was the best time of his life. He is the only member, the oldest of five. He has 7 Older adopted siblings though, and one of them served a mission. 

We will baptize at the church, unless the investigator really wants it to be in the ocean. 

His name sounds familiar... Butuan is down on one of the other islands, he might have to learn two languages for his call. Here on Luzon, the main language is Tagalog, but on the other islands they have their own languages.

That's awesome, Carsen deserves it! Congratulations to the both of you for making it through wrestling! 

Love you, miss everyone!

Elder Potter

March 5 Transfer!

I got transferred to Cabcaban. It is the 2nd to furthest south area in the entire mission! We got here by bus, three buses actually. It took about 6 hours all in all, without stopping to eat or anything. Our house is really close to the ocean, but our area is a little farther away. We actually went and cleaned up the beach as a service project this last week, with all the youth. Really dirty here...

My companion is Elder Boota, he is from Kiribati. He is really cool, and fun to be around. He has only been in the mission for 3 months, so his Tagalog is not very good yet. He is the only member in his family, but his 4 younger siblings are investigators right now, and one of his adopted brothers served a mission in Australia.

The house is different too; two stories! I will try and take pictures this week. We have two Filipino companions in the house, Elder Aquino (really cool, older than me in the mission) and Elder Lavantes (i think that's how you spell it, he's only been here for 3 months too). 

I have also been called as District Leader here in the Cabcaben district... Woohoo... Its just a lot of statistics, and calling the district to make sure everything is alright with their companionship. The other two companionships I have in my District are both training, and Elder Wilcox is on his last transfer. Every time I call him, he likes to remind me " 5 weeks na lang!" or " Just 5 weeks!"

Prom? Seems so weird to me that it's time for Prom... That means the school year is beginning to wrap up! Crazy, crazy, crazy...

Sydni needs glasses? I've been thinking about getting a pair here, but we are just busy all the time, I never have. 

Border League... It feels like I was just playing border league basketball a month or two ago. I remember we had to do a ladder in 13 seconds, and if we didn't make it in time we would have to go again until we did. Chad was on the team, and would run into the walls because he was running so hard!

Who bought that land behind the house again? Is it still the same people, or is someone else going to move in?

Love you too! Miss everyone more and more every day! 

Elder Kobe Potter

February 28

Yes transfers this week! I can't wait either! 😉😂 I will let you know as soon as possible.

Elder Spring was sick with Denge; as mosquito borne disease that makes your blood really thin and gives you a really wierd rash. Dangerous, because if you get cut you might bleed out...

Elder Kalo had some interesting sores under his armpit... Yum... He took some anti-biotics and they went away in 3 days. 

I have a little cough and runny nose that I don't think will ever go away...

But every one has been getting better, healthy for the new transfer!

Elder Palacio, our house-mate and District Leader, has finally recieved his Visa. He has really been called to serve in THE UTAH PROVO MISSION, but as been serving here while waiting on his Visa. He will probably leave on the 8th of March, and then be serving there! I know it's super small chances that he meets any of the family in their wards... But if they do, I would ask you all to help him, and talk to him! He's super excited, but a little scared too. 

Yes, Sister Pangilinan! She is funny, two of her children are members, and she is now taking the discussions. Hopefully she will progress well! No, the shoe store that I thought they had in the mall here closed or something... I can't find any were that I can trust that the shoes aren't fake...

Congratulations on your calling! Exciting! Another cousin! Wow! The Mellings, Lee, and Spencer! That's a lot of little babies that I won't get to know for a while...

This week has been good, busy with Elder Palacio running around getting his papers taken care of. All the members keep asking us who is going to leave, and where we are going, they want to write and get letters from everyone who is leaving. It's funny to me, they will go through so many missionaries in their life, why would they want a letter from us?...

Our investigators here have been progressing, but slowly. We are especially having a hard time getting people to church... Hopefully we can be more effective with our time this week, and help them to feel the spirit more powerfully.

Love you all, miss you! 

Elder Kobe Potter

February 19

Happy Anniversary! Crazy! 

We talked about Pioneers this week too, during Elders Quarom. They all just wanted me to tell stories about Utah, and about the Pioneers that I know in my family. While that was fun, and we plan on showing 17 Miracles later this week to the youth, we tried to change the topic back to them, how they really are Pioneers here in the Philippines. They don't even have a real chapel yet, they are just renting a building and lot... Crazy to think about. Makes me really grateful for the Pioneers that sacrificed so much so that the Church has progressed so much, that we have so many blessings back at home. 

That's really cool! Yeah, find out where she is from in the Philippines, that's really fun! One thing my teacher in the MTC said is; "The number one export from the Philippines is Filipinos". That's super true, people here want super bad to go to other countries... The money transfer here is really low, and so if they get jobs in other places of the world, and send even a little money home, it helps a lot. A normal meal here might cost about 30 pesos, which is less than 1 dollar ( about 47 pesos). 

No, I didn't get the new shoes, I forgot to bring the personal money that I withdrew... Later today I hope to go look, and see if they have anything my size. 

Yes, our baptism is still scheduled for March 3, but Transfer day is March 1. I'm a little nervous, and also excited. I would be fine staying, or going. I love this place, and want to see the progression here, but I've been in this house for over 6 months now... That's a really long time for this mission, we usually get transferred about now. 

I think with the Temple back at home going up, it's a great time to talk to Grandma about it. As we teach the Plan of Salvation, we try and keep it very simple for investigators. But as we re-teach Recent Converts, we make sure to emphasize the doctrine of Missionary work in the Spirit world. It is a motivating factor for temple attendance, family history, and mission work. I think that with some prayerful preparation, Grandma will definitely be ready for that. I would hope to be there when it happens... But I also don't think it can wait!

I know you will get a calling soon! Our Relief Society and Primary were re-arraigned this week, and our Branch President didn't tell any of the 1st or 2nd councilors that they were going to have callings. As they stood up with surprised and confused looks on their faces, our President talked about the importance of callings and service in the church. I thought that was a little odd... Another thing I am grateful for in Utah, the Bishop will probably let you know before you get a calling!

This week has been slow, we have been dealing with a lot of sickness in the house. Because of that, and the situation with us being so far away from the area, we haven't been able to work as much as we needed to... Hopefully this last week of the transfer we can refocus and devote our time for fully to the Lord. 

Thank you for all the love and support! Love you all, miss you! 

Elder Kobe Potter

February 12

Mom,

I just checked earlier today, and was just under 190 #. That's about 5 pounds less than I was when I entered the MTC. But I'm afraid I've put on a lot of fat here, rice is really fattening I've found out... And I don't like working out without shoes, and we didn't have time to go find new ones today. 

We got the package from Aunt Tammy just this last week. It was awesome thank you so much! My Filipino house-mate was a little shocked and amazed by Styrofoam packing peanuts. 

No baptisms this week... The next closest scheduled ones are for March 5, but it might have to be moved back...

What are the names of the people who have friend requested you? The youth love Facebook here, and creepily stalk me when I tell them I have one...

I heard about basketball and wrestling. How exciting! Super fun for State Basketball, and I told Carsen that he is the only person I know who can say he was in the top 10 wrestlers in his state. Even though he didn't get a medal, we all know how much work and effort he put into it. A medal is to show other people your good. All of us already know.

I get Chaz's weekly letter, he sounds like he is doing great. Shared a letter in French last week, and whatever little French I used to know is completely gone... I can only think in two languages at a time I guess!

I hope it is a good quality hammock... There are a lot of people who will try and rip me off just because I'm "American and Rich". But I am excited for it, hehe.

I did not hear anything about an earthquake, we don't get to listen to the News or TV... Where was it at?

Sorry I'm so late this week, we spent all morning in the Hospital. Elder Spring has Denge... Fun!

Love you too! Miss everyone! Take care!

Elder Potter

January 8

I just got a package. It was the one that had socks, stuff from Ms. Truman and the Hunts. I didn't see a flash drive in that one, was there supposed to be? I haven't gotten Tammy's package yet, but I'm sure it's on it's way!

Our investigator, did make it! The family, well; Brother is working in Manila, and Sister took the kids to Santa Cruz for a family reunion. Then she got sick, so they couldn't make it back in time. We will probably visit tomorrow. 

My testimony of Joseph Smith and the Restoration... It's such a simple doctrine. We believe that God is our Heavenly Father. He loves us so much. He gives us prophets to teach us how to be able to return to live with him and our families forever. Jesus Christ is one of our prophets, and he suffered and died for our sins. That brought about the Great Apostasy. But because God does not change, he called another Prophet. A young boy, had a desire to know the truth. He did what we all can do, ask God through prayer. And God answered him, just as he will answer us. The Book of Mormon testifies that Joseph Smith is a Prophet. The Spirit that can be felt at the Church of Jesus Christ of Later Day Saints testifies of it. The Holy Ghost testifies of it every time we pray with a real intent and true heart. I know that he was the Prophet of the Restoration. He, and the pioneers, suffered so much in order to establish Truth again on the Planet. No unhallowed hand can stop the work. It rings true with every living thing. I know it is true.

I'm glad everything went good! Say hello to Laith for me too! Love you all! Miss everyone! 

Elder Potter