just living and loving and learning

hi mama,

kumusta po nay,

elder kearl here, hows canada? 

good? good.

super classic week and as per typical a lot of ups. also alot of stress/suffering but thats the best bc thats when you learn some important life lessons and build some charecter. 

forgot to mention about my indian friend that he was just blasting pink floyd and also all the resources for his house were imported from dubai. what a guy. also, they have so many different  kinds of ice cream here. deffs the strangest is cheese flavour. super good tho. 

3 neat experinces to get me going. for 2 days it was cold!! like not just at night but during the day was cold. i wish i wore a sweater but i forgot :/ its bc theres a typhoon in a different part so the whole day was overcast with a freezing breeze. got me feeling nostalgic for fall in calgary. super strange to feel cold during the day and to have no sighting of the sun. pretty cool tho. 

second, we visited a member in the hospital. i've heard some bad rumours of the hospitals here but it wasn't too bad. maybe im just too used to this place to notice but it was alright. anyway, before leaving the super sunny occasion, my comp and i offer a blessing, he says he is feeling good so he respectively declined. out of good manners, we asked if his non member room mate would like one. he quickly accepts. whats cool about this guy is, he's something like 23, his wife is 19 and they had a kid when she was 14! i'd like to say thats uncommon here but it isn't the first time i've run into that. i seal the annointing and felt prompted to talk about him as a father, super powerful. after the member then asks for a blessing so the del norte elders bless him and when we left, the non member was in tears a bit. i love the priesthood. 

a third was visiting the baptism the Aritao elders had. an old like 70ish couple just following the example of Jesus Christ. super cool and extremely humble to change their lives at that age. the full immersion part was hard for them both but after some attempts it got figured out. also hard for the husband bc he only has one leg. very powerful testimonies afterwards.

yeah other than that just living and loving and learning. 

most people i've seen at church yet and you could imagine how that feels for 2 missionaries running around all day everyday to see them acting w faith. love it.

more stuff happened than that as per usual but thats all you get bc of low time :/ thats life

mom, i'm so sorry but i really don't have much time. i'll answer your questions next week. i have an insane amount of emails to answer every week in such a short time. i make time tho. gotta spread the love! 

i'll let you know about the call at christmas. i'll be able to skype so get an account ready.

i lost all my pics again but will probs get em back next week. 

and heres the weekly scrip 

Romans 8: 38-39

For I am persuaded, that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come,  Nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate u from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.

"come what may and love it"

sumasaiyo,

KEARL 

i pull the sneaky move and just ask for some water

hi mama,

kamusta po nay

pretty good week w a lot of ups. i'll quickly share the highlights.

so i was on splits w an Ilocano missionary named Abubo. we are patch mates. pretty neat. a typical fun lovin file  so there is this huge 3 story mansion up in the mountain i've been eyeing for a while so i decided today was the day to contact. we roll up. i pull the sneaky move and just ask for some water. they hook up but the man i contacted was indian! from new delhi. no tagalog. just good english. he invited us to sit on his huge cushy couch and we started talking about india and stuff. he works in dubai tho. i love indians. thick accent. so he married a filipina and she is from dupax. he decided to build this mansion for his wifes family i think and whenever he's around. we both agreed on how amazing the philippines is. after talking about his huge house, he asks us if we want a tour and see the view from the top. hard to say no to a tour. complete MTV Cribs style and he spared no expense in showing us his fav things. on the top floor the steps were granite. bunch of rooms. huge tvs n stuff. just wealthy. killer view and convo. then came down and a filipino came out of the bush w 2 kills. a big wildcat and a komodo dragon. scored a pic. he got one of me as well. got our water./ made the contact. checked out his swimming pool and made it down for more work. what an unexpected event tho wow. he told us we can come back whenever and i think we just might.

on a more spiritual note. we have had some very cool experiences with a part member family named the Picars. tatay wants his fmaily to get sealed in the temple so hes asking us to teach his kids. simps! the kids are not interested at all. wont pray for us. wont answer questions. just being kids. but we were talking about the plan of salvation. i asked tatay why he wants to get sealed in the temple and he looked at his kids and explained. not too sure what he said. pretty Ilocano (the other of like 4 languages in this province) but the spirit hit and from then on the kids have been slowly progressing. working with families is the best.

i had some other powerful experiences this week but i'll cut it short because of low time. Briones and I scored 10 lessons in a day. we have been working harder and seing the results. life is just cruising.

Alma 31:37-38

37 And after that they did separate themselves one from another, taking no thought for themselves what they should eat, or what they should drink, or what they should put on.

38 And the Lord provided for them that they should hunger not, neither should they thirst; yea, and he also gave them strength, that they should suffer no manner of afflictions, save it were swallowed up in the joy of Christ. Now this was according to the prayer of Alma; and this because he prayed in faith.

sumasaiyo,
Elder Kearl

package arrived but they cut through pics of Jesus

hi mama,

kamusta po nay,

great week ngl. back home it was remembrance day, joeys birthday and not to mention you and Dads anniversary! exciting exciting. congrats to all!! 

so all the photos from my camera got erased because of the sketchy computers here. that sucks. i have most of them on a back up card tho so all hope isnt lost. plus an elder told me he might be able to recover them!! lets pray! sucks tho because no pics this week and there were some of the best ones yet. next time maybe.

also this week has had quite a few cold days. 2 nights i actually had to wear a sweater to bed because my blanket (aka bed shet) wouldn't quite cut it. and some late night tricy rides were insane cold. like shivering. loving it tho. 

OH AND I RECEIVED YOUR PACKAGE!

yeah, so friday i got your package. so epic. they were in pretty bad shape and customs went through it. cut right through Jesus :/ i don't think they took anything. i'm assuming they just took a little looksy. no harm, no foul right? the matching PJs are epic and i thought it was very nice of you to pack stuff for my comp too. he thinks you are pretty awesome. i'm excited about the pictures, advent calenders and candy! tons of canada stuff and my touque, super appreciate. we started the lego advent calendar because it's now like 22 days till Briones leaves me. that will be a sad day. Briones loves the pocket BOM and i threw the small family picture into my BOM and have ben showng it off to everyone. thanks so much. friday was one of the best days yet. it's going to be hard to wait till dec 24 to open the other package but Briones hid it for me so were all good. 

another thing i want to mention is the Zone Meeting we had. so the Zone Leaders talked about what they learned at their meeting with Elder Schmutz, the GA. all about foreordination in the pre-existence. before we came to earth our Heavenly Father foreordained us for the various things we would do in this life. he told me i would serve this mission and in this area and i happily accepted. just as he did with you. he also informed us of our trials and hardships and again we happily accepted and were probably excited to get going. super interesting stuff and they used that topic to reinvigorate us for the work. and it did its job. Briones and i are now a divine teaching machine. nothin but sunny days over here. 

A bunch of less actives are getting active and we are slowly but surely finding more lost sheep. nothin crazy yet so no huge reports to send back home. the work is progressing but mostly just planting seeds. one day someone will harvest. until than we plant some more.

KEARL 

Mesmerized and staring at a white person

hi mama,

kumusta po nay.

i’ll start this letter by sharing a funny experience then i’ll share a juicier one later. 

so pops and i were on our way to bagumbayan for some following up. and in the court i see an american! the first thing my companion says quietly to himself is "hey joe". classic. i run up to him to see what the heck a  white person is doing here. he’s from Connecticut, married a filipina and is here visiting family. as we were talking i would actually reply in tagalog and quickily revert to english. good guy. not interestred :/ but a cool convo none the less. we passed the court again shortly after and i asked my comp if we can stop and look at him for a while. super creepy right?? i was just so intrigued to see a white person. quickly realized the irony and how flilipinos feel towards me. i often forget i’m white because all i see is tan!! oh man maybe i am filipino. 

other then that we had an amazing oppurtunity to hear from a visiting General Authority. Elder Evan A. Schmutz of the 70. spoke in the sunday pm session of confrence and talked about trials there. at the confrence we heard from him, his wife, the mission president and his wife. i’ll try to share what i loved most about there talks. all were about obedience and chastening us for very good reasons and something our mission needs. 

Sister Hiatt started and shared a powerful quote "its better to be trusted than loved”. 

President Hiatt talked about hope and asked us to ponder what our hopes are for our missions and if were doing what is necessary to achieve them. 

Sister Schmutz talked about looking back at your mission on your last day and if you would feel ashamed or confident with your service. she then challenged us to make the mission a hightlight of our lives. 

Elder Schmutz talked about the covenant we made when we accepted our call and the seriousness of honouring the standards set for us. he said something very blunt, but very powerfull. "if you feel like your mission is a chore, repent or go home." he compared us to consecrated oil. we were a regular thing before we came out but now we are set apart and different. would you consider using consecrated oil for cooking? 

all these talks were very straightforward, to the point and necessary. they were filled with love and i have never felt more humbled in my life. its time to set it up a notch and recommit myself to this work. im happy to say my companion and I are very obedient already but we have felt re-energized to change our natures not just our behaviours so after our missions we will be different but stronger than when we left. we are working harder, becoming happier and trying to make our parents and the Lord proud of our service when its all done. this self refinement isn’t east but i can’t help but appreciate it. 

i’ve decide to start sharing a weekly scripture. this week it corresponds to a photo. 

Mosiah 8:23

Now they were desirous that salvation should be declared to every creature, for they could not bear that any human soul should perish; yea, even the very thoughts that any soul should endure endless torment did cause them to quake and tremble. 

LOVE YOU ALL,
ELDER KEARL