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