WEEK 56+ - September 15, 2017 (Laoag, Philippines)

with Elder Basa and new elders

Hello everybody,

Sorry that this letter is coming in so late. We had MLC (mission leadership council) on Monday and exchanges on Tuesday, so we were planning on emailing on Wednesday. Then some things came up and now here I am emailing on Friday haha. Since I will be writing to all of you again in three days, I think this letter will just include everything that happened last week. Then on Monday I'll update you up to this past week, so at least you will have something to read on Monday.

(Monday's MLC...twinning)

Week 9/4 - 9/10

So this week has got to be my favorite week. When it is the first week of the transfer, Elder Basa and I are fully involved with the going home missionaries, and also the incoming missionaries. Tuesday seems to be the busiest day. We travel to the bus station and make sure everybody is there that is supposed to be (all of the transferring missionaries - those moving from one area to another to serve). Then we make sure the luggage gets taken care of properly. It's kind of shocking seeing some of the missionaries so careless with their luggage. They just give it to the guy and assume it will go on the right bus. So we watch every bag and double, triple check with the conductor that it will be in the right spot. This is where we see the results of our travel instructions that we put together on Sunday. We see if everybody understood them and if they were correct. If they aren't right and or hard to understand, we get tons of phone calls from confused missionaries. But, it seems we did a good job on the instructions, because we didn't have too many problems. 

After all of that in the morning, we took the departing missionaries to the airport and sent them home. It's weird seeing these missionaries expressions before they head home. Some are really excited, some are a bit nervous, and some are in a bit of shock. Then President Andrada gives that hug goodbye and they realize that this is the end. That's when the tears start coming.  

After we drop them off, we speed back to the mission home, because that's where all the trainers are waiting. We then give our training to the trainers. I really enjoy this part, and love giving a good training to them, because really the trainer has got to be the most important calling in the mission. It's sad that some missionaries don't take the calling seriously and give their trainee a hard first 6 weeks. So we are pretty bold and direct with them in that meeting. But for the most part, the room is filled with excitement. They are all excited to meet their trainee. (These trainers are paired up to work with missionaries serving in the Laoag area until they meet their trainees on Friday.)

On Wednesday, the two office elders, President, Elder Basa and I all headed to the airport at about 8:45 pm to pick up the 19 incoming missionaries. Well, their flight was delayed and they didn't get in until about 10:00, but it was a lot of fun to see all 19 of them. Haha, especially the 15 non-filipinos and hearing them try and mutter out some Tagalog. We took them directly to McDonalds and fed them, and then got back at about 11:00 and sent them to bed. So we got a solid 7 hours of sleep in before the full day of orientations, training, and food on Thursday. One of my favorite parts of the week was after dinner on Thursday, we all went to a big shopping mall, Robinsons, so that the new missionaries could withdraw money and buy anything they needed. There were 19 of them, so elder Basa and I split up. I took all the Americans and Basa took all the Pinos. So inside these malls were are tons of people and there we were, about 15 white Americans walking around in a herd. Hah! The looks on these peoples' faces were hilarious. There was not one person who wasn't staring at us when we walked in. Then while the missionaries were buying stuff, I tried to make them talk to some people and open their mouths. They struggled to get a few words out, but were good sports about it. Then they just looked at me and told me to talk haha. One thing that never gets old for me is the reaction of the people when I start speaking Tagalog or Ilocano with them. They are always amazed, and then start testing to see how much I know. It's a lot of fun, both for them and for me. 

The new missionaries with Pres & Sister Andrada

Friday is the day that they have been waiting for. The day the trainee meets their trainer. So we managed to pack 40+ people into President and Sister Andrada's living room and have that meeting. The room is filled with excitement and when they all open their letters to see who their companion is and where they are assigned everybody goes crazy. They search to see who their comp is and start taking pictures. Then we send them off to their assigned areas. After that, everything seems to be quiet and calm. 

So yeah, that's what our week consisted of. For sure the busiest week of the month (this will happen every six weeks). One thing I have been doing this last week is studying a lot of Ilokano. Elder Basa is pretty good, so he helps me a lot with it. I enjoy the challenge of trying to master Tagalog and try to be able to speak Ilokano as well. Gives me satisfaction in my speaking :)

Saw the hand of God in our work this week. Even though our proselyting hours were so limited, we were praying that our investigators would keep their commitments and make it to church. On Sunday, we had 8 investigators there. Our prayers were answered and we are continuing to have success because of God's love for His children. 

Love you all, talk to you soon! :)

-Elder Jenkins