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