Tuesday, August 15, 2017

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