Wednesday, May 30, 2018

i just imagined myself holding david george and got super excited to see you guys

LOLA!

i'm 21! this morning we played volleyball at the church and the comp and I are gonna now go eat a big phat leg of chicken with unlimited rice with our hands :) 

yesterday, i just imagined myself holding David George and got super excited to see you guys. Also hoping to get plenty of dates with you and talk life. i have so many questions for you......

The youth of Branch 2 and 1 go on a temple trip today. how nice :) 

i guess its time for my mission stats:

June 15 2016 - July 27. Provo MTC w/ Elder Larsen and Poulson.
July 27 - August 3. Manila MTC w/ same companions
August 3 - December 8. Dupax Del Sur w/ Elder Briones
December 8 - January 17 2017. Dupax Del Sur w/ Elder Mebulos
January 17 - April 12. Alicia 1B w/ Elder Fernando
April 12 - May 24. Cauayan 1B w/ Elder Ambaliza
May 24 - July 5. Cauayan 1B w/ Elder Uy
July 5 - August 16. Cauayan 1B w/ Elder Sorranda 
August 16 - November 08. Baluarte A w/ Elder Galindo
November 08- March 14 2018. Baluarte A w/ Elder Brockbank
March 14 - June 06. Burgos 1 and 2 w/ Elder Ricarte. 

anything else to stat? 

God Lives and Loves Us! 
 
Elder Kearl
Any Day Above Ground is a Good Day

Tuesday, May 22, 2018

can't wait for hugs on june 07 and a kiss for dad

MOM! GRANDMA!

good week, but man i'm excited for christmas! i've been feeling really good tbh. just content. satisfied. ready. happy. I've had such a wonderfull mission.

things learned:

Understanding - for mutual understanding to be achieved there must be listening AND speaking. sometimes the speaking is over looked but we got to say whats in our head and do it carefully and clearly.

Your "Best" - Our best is when we are using all our effort and doing things the best way possible. We often see people put in alot of effort but not in an effective way because they dont know how, ex: Someone on the piano who never learned how to play. Hes just smashing keys but is in fact "trying his best." you got to do things right. and learn how to do them right. 

hope that made sense. cant wait for hugs on june 07 and a kiss for dad :) 

Amy (cousin serving in japan) asked me these questions and here is my response:

Fav thing of being a missionary: i just love studying, learning,
setting goals, making plans, trying them out on people, seeing the
results, accounting, trying again and it goes on. IDK just being a
narrie is so freaking weird. but thats why i love it. when else would
you try to talk to everybody you see? where else would you try to
change all those peoples lives? it's just super unique with tons of
unique experiences. i love accounting with missionaries, counselling
with them, companionship inventories or helping investigators with
their concerns etc. its just so much weird psychology.

how do I deal with the stress: I actually don't get very stressed but
when i do its after church. End of the week, you see your KI's for the
week, People didn't come to church like they said they would, the
members at church don't really go to church they just stay on the
phones and try to get you to teach their classes and do their callings
and they don't really go to any meetings etc.. but what i learned, only
recently, is to not stress one bad week. it will pass and be forgotten
about. look at the big picture and realize a couple bad weeks won't
hurt anyone too much. also remember "no effort is wasted".

#1 thing learned as a missionary: Thats tough... idk planning and goal
setting has been huge. honesty. obedience. humility. really tough
question. ill let you know once im home hahaha

How do I keep myself in the mindset where i'm ready to learn and ready
to feel the spirit: Just to realize how important it is to LEARN AS
MUCH AS POSSIBLE by study and by faith (DC 88:118) in these short 2
years and CHANGE AS MUCH AS POSSIBLE or to be as Christlike and
prepared for life / success before I go home. always humbles me (Ether
12:27) enough to repent and do better and be thirsty for change. PMG
pg 19 quote.

Feelings: as good as ever. doesn't really feel any different. it sucks
learning something new tho and wishing i had done it earlier or to
notice how imperfect i really am.

TIP: only study PMG in personal study. use time outside of personal to
personally study the BoM. but still read it every day. Example: i read
the BoM 15mins before planning and 15mins before bed. become a walking
PMG with all chapter 3 memorized with a scripture for each sentence.

Great questions. oh and ill get Sean to look at my tooth my first friday home.

Elder Kearl
Any Day Above Ground is a Good Day

Monday, May 14, 2018

last skype call to scotty boy in the philippines

Sadly....most of our Skype call was the bottom right pic...awful connection...remote area


man was it great talking to you a couple of hours ago. not nearly as exciting as it was in the past because of how long ive been out and how close i am to personally seeing you but appreciated none the less. I sure love you guys and HAPPY MOMS DAY. 

fast week with lots of fun stuff. 

All the missionaries going home had a career workshop which i really enjoyed. it talked about getting jobs and mapping out your life n stuff which felt really good. the senior couples in charge of it shared plenty of cute personal stories as well and it was great. got to see Elder Brockbank and other friends some more which was nice. 

that night i got to work in Cauayan again in my old area. it was soo coo. the best was a member gave us a ride to visit the Amigo family! they are very special to me. they were my first close friends in my mission and probly one of my hardest goodbyes yet. the whole time i was in Cauayan one of the daughters was pregnant but gave birth the day before i left Cauayan and so i got to see that baby on its first day of life. super special. and then i got to see the baby again! its big and helathy and its crazy to see how long ive been gone from there till now in a physical representation. one of my favorite mission memories probly. such good people. 

and the next day we went to BANAUE! the "8th Wonder of the World" with my going home crew and it was such a fun experince. other than the stunning views and good crew we experinced lots of tender mercies. While on our way home we stopped at a chapel to change and a van of members from Elder Brockbanks first area who ive met before stoped by by coincidence and so Elder Brockbank was able to say bye before we finish. AND while driving through we were able to see a missionary companionship who was really close to me and is Elder Brockbanks trainee. This made it possible for Elder Brockbank to see his grandson and before we thought it would never happen. 

really neat experinces. 

Elder Kearl
Any Day Above Ground is a Good Day










Monday, May 7, 2018

airport.....signs won't be necessary but i'm excited for hugs

Hello po Lola...

ill let you know about what i want for my first meal home next week.

airport. just invite anyone who wants to come or it would be a really good experince for them to be there. ex: those thinking about missions, etc... please give them a formal invite from me. even if there needs to be ton of people its fine by me. signs wont be neccessary but i'm excited for hugs :)
 
So it reached 41 degrees the other day which is tremendous heat but life has been so good lately bc the heat doesn't even faze in the slightest for some reason. I remember last year while walking on dusty roads at 2pm just dreaming of drinking ice cold juices and soft drinks and stuff and swimming in big lakes. it consumed much of my thoughts but for some reason this year the heat doesn't even seem like a thing. I thank God everyday for that incredible blessing. everyone also says that this year is way hotter than last! I've been into the heat. 

KIBITZER - English word Elder Ricarte taught me meaning someone who gives unneeded or unnecessary advice.

I've actually been really happy lately. just having tons of fun talking to so many people everyday. On thursday I had my last MLC and near the end i was just waiting out the clock bc i wanted to get on the jeepney and talk to my seat mates about the Book of Mormon. its been fun recently bc Elder Ricarte and I try to find what peoples dreams, fears and worries are within the first 30 seconds of meeting them and show them how the Restoration of the Gospel and the Book of Mormon will give them a solution and path. WE try so hard not to be a kibitzer and try to understand all concerns with lots of questions and its been super interesting. people care a lot more once they see your there to make them happy than to just bible study with them.

I don't like going home soon tho. Its hard for me to learn something and think its been like 23 months and i just started doing it. it literally hurts. also to notice a weakness of mine i want to conquer and realize i only got how many more weeks?.... its a weird kind of stress.

wish i had some good updates about the work. we have found some good people tho.

Elder Kearl
Any Day Above Ground is a Good Day

Monday, April 30, 2018

our bus came late so we waited from 8 am to 5 pm at a highway junction on transfer day

Hello po Lola,

6 weeks to sexy has begun. I will be finishing my mission in this area, Burgos Branch 1 and 2 with Elder Ricarte who goes home 6 weeks after me. 

nothing to really add. Elder Brockbank transfered out of our old area and that was a shock bc we thought he would die there. also not very fun. Baluarte is amazing and he really didnt want to leave. also not fun having a new area for your last 6 weeks.

On transfer day our bus came late so we waited from 8-5 at a highway junction. that missionary we were waiting with got pretty close with my trainer, Elder Briones, and just loved him. Elder Briones than came back to the mission and visit and that missionary said he had a huge countenance to him. i really look up to my trainer and miss him quite a bit. hoping to call him a bit once im home.

that is soo nice to hear about baby David. wow its crazy to think we have an addition finnaly! how emily feeling about it all? 

hey could you please send me some money so i can go to the temple on my way home? just put in whatever :) its not very pricy at all. please let me know when you do thanks :) 

SKYPE: for skype i can use my neighbours wifi and ipda/laptop. a good time would be monday morning for me. is that ok? also would it be ok if i just skyped one computer? like just to you guys to keep it simple and good connection? also please invite anyone you think needs to be there. could be lots of people or a few. its all good to me. 

Elder Kearl
Any Day Above Ground is a Good Day

Monday, April 23, 2018

hey lola...hey grandma!

Hey Lola! Hey Grandma! 

On Wednesday evening i believe, i got a text from Sister Hiatt saying that David was born. later that week she sent a photo down with the senior couples of David George looking good. DGK the third. seeing Danny's pictures today was amazing and i am just so proud of those 2. really really neat. i spent the week bragging to just about everyone! no one seems to be as hyped as me although. When i show the family pic i now mention instead of Natasha being super buntis she has now brought a life into the world. exciting stuff. 

A funny story to start off: we helped at a funeral. We dedicated the grave and spoke but we didn't even know the lady. anyway when they were carrying the casket to the car they got a chicken and cut its head off and threw it behind the casket on the ground. the headless chicken flapped like crazy for like a minute. also before they put the casket in the earth they lifted all children present over the casket 3 times. weird catholic traditions to an endowed LDS woman. made me giggle tho :)

also had a pretty special experience with a missionary on wednesday. We went on splits and as we accounted at the end of the day the elder told me he has been having a really hard past couple weeks in a tough area for lots of reasons and we talked for an hour about it before going to bed. It was really hard listening to him how hard it has been with for him in his mission and i really didn't know what to say. But i just told him to be proud of the struggle and enjoy it. "who God wants to be his greatest soliders he gives His toughest battles." and how nice is it to struggle for all the good experience and things learned. it was a good experince.

LAST! i ate with Edwin, his daughter Zam and his wife who i just met for the first time, Gina! it was so incredible. its crazy to see how much Edwin has picked udp about the church. like slang and culture and his wife is super funny. they are both loud, happy and not shy. felt just like good ol' times. its cool to have such a close friend in the mission. and bc of him about 9 people have been baptized over there. i miss Baluarte. 

life keeps moving on tho! 

Any Day Above Ground is a Good Day

Monday, April 16, 2018

tiny flashlight connected so you can see where you are stabbing?????

i will be seeing Edwin in an hour here! cant wait! going to be so cool.
when and where is Moroni's quest? i'd like to hear more about that. do we have dental and medical appointments locked down yet for when i get home? 
We had interviews this last tuesday and President said that this area will no longer be zone leader area this cycle or next cycle. so there might be changes coming up. also 1 year ago i transferred to Cauayan and finished my training with Elder Fernando :) 

in the last 24 hours, a girl our age said she would join the church for us and kept calling us handsome and one guy telling us he has 10 books of mormon and he had a friend read that book and then go crazy and shoot his wife. that man has also apparently read the whole Book of Mormon. so idk. you wake up every morning here not really knowing who you will talk to or what the day holds for you.
i also feel impressed to tell you about the mission legend of Bro.Pete. so Pete is a 60+ yo man who married a filipino here and now lives here. He served in ward and came home and family issues arose. he moved to the Philippines and opened a shop. He ended up getting robbed and beat and left with nothing to his name. He had no money and living far from anyone he knew in a 3rd world country. Pete prayed, than a missionary found him, saw he was holding some pearls and offered to buy them off of him. Pete than started a business selling pearls to missionaries, got baptized along the way (maybe even before the philippines not sure) and made it back up on his feet. Found his wife, got reconnected with his family and fought to get his rightful pension from being in the military. Now Pete cooks chimichangas for mission meetings and provides us missionaries with Pearls, Swords, Blow Dart Guns, Belts etc.. He's such a funny and ridiculous guy but loves helping the narries out. i now have a place to stay if i were to come visit here :) He doesn't get along with the mission rules but we all love him. Bro Pete.
oh man this guy just came in here and is trying to sell me a tazer, a baton sword and many different switchblade knives and some have a tiny flashlight connected just so you can see where you are stabbing i guess idk. he also has some belts and hair clippers. very convincing. guess you will see what happened once i'm home :)
hey well gotta go meet Edwin and his wife! can't wait. 
 
LOVE YOU MOM!

Elder Kearl
Any Day Above Ground is a Good Day

Sunday, April 8, 2018

youth have a powerful influence over the hearts of the people



hey mom! 

it was a another quick week! i got to see Elder Brockbank and it was heavenly. sat next to him for MLC and man i miss him. they are having ridiculous success in Baluarte! like 6 of our investigators are going to be getting baptized here soon! helps as well to have a filipino over there. a little better than 2 weird foreigners. 

Conference was super super good. it was cool standing with my tiny band of filipino members during priesthood. even though only a handful of the whole district came out, the power was felt. i've never felt like i've had more clear direction in my life. stay posted. I liked Elder Bednars, Bishop Causse's, Lynn G. Robbins (he's my guy) and President Nelsons talks alot. 

heres a cool experience from the week for the youth:

We had this experience this last week where we were teaching this LA man and we had a struggling youth come along to teach with us. the youth was in full proselyte... looking good. anyway this LA man has an LA son but the son would just leave when we would share. so we start our lesson and i just assume the son (who is like 30 btw) is out of there but as we teach he stands in the doorway for a time, we continue, then he sits in the lesson! it was super neat and than at a random time near the end of the lesson the LA says "I see my past self in that youth. i'm jealous of the opportunity he has now to be with the missionaries and active in the church. its time for me to return". it was super cool. then at the end of the lesson instead of asking the nice father to pray, we ask the son, he almost says no but instead just gets to his knees and we follow and than he prays very slowly and carefully. with some emotion and then says afterwards "this is my first time praying in a very long time." the father than came to church on sunday. the son i know will be following shortly. Youth have a powerful influence over the hearts of the people, it helps as well when they dress the part. 

life keeps moving :) 

Elder Kearl
Any Day Above Ground is a Good Day

Monday, April 2, 2018

I've had an amazing mission so far...

hello po nay,

Please make sure to message Sister Hiatt ASAP once david is born so she can inform me. thanks :) 

Elder and I had a very successfull week! we had an investigator at church for each branch, dinners at LA's houses, members introducing us to LA's, and a good council meeting with the Elders Quorum of the Lord. 

I've been feeling good. It's been hitting me how close I really am to coming home. I've been getting good emails from Danny and Scott Wolff and Jesse which was super great! 

Edwins wife flies into the Philippines tomorrow and Preisdent is allowing for his WHOLE family to meet us for lunch one pday here. i am soo excited to see him. Ill be seeing Elder Brockbank on Thursday and a holy kiss may be in order. 

All in all: we have been greatly blessed lately and I've had an amazing mission so far. mom, i cant wait to just go for lunch with you once I'm home :)

Thats it, thats all. Heres some things from my friends emails this week:

1. We don't earn heaven, we learn heaven.
2. We aren't just saved by grave, it must also change us.
3. God does not send angels bearing a book for a generation to whom it has no relevance. We ignore that book and/or take it lightly at our peril and condemnation. It is not just a nice book with nice principles.
4. No matter what we do we can never do more than is required of us--meaning we never become the issuer of debt to the Lord.
5. Faith simply cannot be dependent on circumstance, that defeats the whole purpose of it. Faith in its purity, and by nature, is unwavering and immovable. Meaning we cannot wait for a green pasture to renew our faith, the faith must take us there.
6. We cannot maintain an even level of folly. We are either moving up or down, and every step up is a righteous one. 
7. Holiness and righteousness are inseparable.
8. The value of love is not found in it's reciprocation.
9. God is perfectly capable of hearing every silent prayer you utter and is also perfectly capable of communicating with you in ways that keep you on your toes in all the best, but perfectly stretching, ways. 
"Treat yourself like someone you are responsible for helping."
Elder Kearl
Any Day Above Ground is a Good Day

Sunday, March 25, 2018

what a blessing to come from strong stakes back home

you would think i would have more to report on right now but can't say there is a whole lot. experiencing some Burgos life. in the middle of nowwhere trying to get friends to come back and enjoy the restored gospel. 

had a pretty special experience blessing the sacrament. not many Priesthood holders in the second branch so they utilize us pretty good. When i was a 16 yo back home it didn't mean a whole lot to me tbh bc i didn't really understand what it was. even for a big part of my mission i didn't know a lot about the sacrament but 3 nephi 18 makes it so clear and it is an amazing chapter. had some really strong feelings lately of having to do my best while i'm here especially as we were blessing the sacrament that i really just got to do this well bc i want the people to be happy and i've been taught and have blessings that others need to know! pretty emotional. 

also taught a RC older couple temple preparation class with no preparation on my part and that was interesting. super cool to see them take this step. but they started looking more and more worried as the class went on. I'm very grateful for Grandma Rosenvall's friend for preparing Ben Palmer and I so well in there home:) kind of a sweet experience now to look back on.

really appreciate living in a country where the church is very established. what a blessing to come from strong stakes. 

i've been having similar good struggles like i had in my first area which is cool! it feels like my mission has started to repeat its self for some round 2 growing and learning. feeling more dedicated that ever and i'm excited :)

We have had a dinner appointments every night since i've gotten here (many at LA's or non members) and have some service planned for a LA friend.

wish i had more to say, sorry!

Elder Kearl
Any Day Above Ground is a Good Day

text from sister hiatt...his mission mom!



Hi Sister Kearl,

Still loving the energy and positive attitude of your son.  He has another zone leader assignment in a zone and district with the opportunity to exercise in his priesthood leadership.

Unfortunately, his time is ticking away too fast.  

Hope all is well in your home and life.

Love you all,
Sister Hiatt

I added extra photos because I know you are excited to see him.  I am rejoicing with you but very sad to see him go.  He's endeared in my heart with his contagious happiness.




Monday, March 19, 2018

hey, no more counting days mom, i'm anti that

super cool stuff. when you look at it alot is really going on back
home. i love telling people that we will have a new baby in the family
soon. i hope you relize that like 5 diffrent people a day see you and
the family haha.
HELLO PO NAY!

so big week! President gave me a pretty neat assignment to finish me
off. me and a fresh Zone Leader (Elder Ricarte (also my batch (we
arrived at the same time))) opened the zone leader area of Burgos on
wednesday. The guys we replaced are great missionaries who were doing an
amazing job but this weird place "needed a fresh look" -Pres.. The
missionaries left the place with some solid people to teach but i can't
help but really miss Baluarte. it was hard saying good bye to some of
my new best friend who i grew to love over the 7 months i was there.
but it'll be good using my last 3 months here.

about the place. it sure is weird. its the equivalent to like
standoff. the place right before cardston. you travel between 2 kinda
big cites in a hot bus/van thing for like 30 mins surrounded with no
houses just farm and then stop at a gas station and resturant and then
your here. BURGOS, ISABELA. our house is legit tho with cheap air con
all day ere day and my comp is clean :) easy apartment to keep up (not
like the last one). we live in a compound with a bunch of members but
only a few (maybe 1) are active. the place feels like UTAH bc so many
people are members and everyone calls you elder and not just brother.
but soooo many endowed members are LA so president told us to focus
there.

the area is tiny! but we live in our area, close to the church, and
just walking everyday which is something im really not used to! first
in my mission! no roomates which has been nice tbh but were covering 2
branches! the boundries and everything is super confusing bc members
just go to church at whatever time they want. hard keeping track of
everything. we live across the street from a great member family and
every one here just works on the farm. its honestly really cool here. i
really enjoy it. no ones busy ever and its super rural. i rode a
caribao! (water buffalo thing). just feels like i'm in a western movie
at all points of time.

life is moving on. starting to hit how much time i don't have left but i
dont wanna think about it. hey no more counting days. i'm anti that.

2 years ago i got my mission call and endowed. crazy.

-- 
Elder Kearl
Any Day Above Ground is a Good Day

Monday, March 12, 2018

things are looking way too good in this area

North Carolina??? how cool for eric and emily. where? are we gonna visit? im really excited to go to a restaurant just the 2 of us... 

thats crazy about baby david coming so soon. whats the plan with him? 

lifes been so good mom. it feels good. i think i'm starting to get nervous about coming back.

HELLO PO NAY!

so we had a lesson with a young mother of 2 and she ended up crying at the end and then her and her husband came to church! its good stuff. feels good.

so on the way to church from our further area with Edwin and that new couple in tow, there was a check point set up to catch people w/o licences or something. so it was set up in a very visible place and when people would see it they would just stop and turn around and the cops didnt care an ounce. one guy even walked over, asked the cops what was going on and who's getting busted, walked back to us bc we stopped and told everyone how to get through. turns out they were just checking vans. of course the cops all had big ol' rifles! hardly anyone got checked. very casual situation. i hope you get how funny it really was. if not, it's just how it goes :) 

We started speaking english with Edwin recently and it is so funny! he wants to learn so were helping him out. turns out his wife is coming in april to visit for a month but big chance i'm not here. this is actually really hard for me. 

nothin else but things are looking way too good in this area. 

Elder Kearl
Any Day Above Ground is a Good Day

Monday, March 5, 2018

there is so much goodness going on in this area


hi mama, 

thats cool your staying busy and baby David is getting spoiled! when are you finishing school? like for good and also this summer? what is you and dads plan? just keep plugging along or like moving to italy? anything crazy? kick me out or something! mix it up! 

no travel plans yet. probably end of this month. its close to 100% im out of here on june 6th. no way around that we will just see how long it takes me to get there.  please make doctors and dentist appointments for me please.

HELLO PO NAY,

quick higlight: so geese are really aggressive here and always act like there going to attack you. not cool. so i walk past a goose who is just giving me the biggest stink eye and stares at me as i walk past him and when my body passes him this guy takes a lunge at me! what a freak! but i quickly turn around so it doesn't bite and i mange to grab its super long neck and throw it to the side making it do a 180. not cool.

Hey, so Samuel and Joesphine who got baptized last weekend have been working with us a bit! its cool hearing what Samuel had to say. he said that he didn't want to waste our time and have us keep coming back for no reason so he took the challenge and asked God if the Book of Mormon is true. He said he had one dream where a voice told him very clearly that "the Book of Mormon and what we teach him will help make him clean." super cool to see. His neighbour and daughter will be baptized here soon. that neighbours wife is like "yeah get baptized! i love the mormons!" and shes over in japan or something. hopefully Amy will find her.

Edwin killing it again! so we had a FHE with edwin the other day and his crew and they loved it! the crew had another one and they invited 3 of their friends and 2 of those friends went to church! one of them was a dad named Vangel who drinks a lot and we taught him a while back but didn't really care. but after teaching him once again after the FHE he comes to church because he wants good family strength. and the other friend was a fellow teenage girl who didn't seem to interested at first but is pretty into it now. 

there is so much goodness going on this area its hard to balance everything. crazy.
 
Elder Kearl
Any Day Above Ground is a Good Day






Sunday, February 25, 2018

made a decision to buy some gasoline and light 'em up...worked like a charm!


Hello po nay! 

Things are looking good right now. Edwin is moving up! 2nd counselor in the Young Mens presidency! Elder Brockbank and I are just rooting him on every step of the way! Big W there! 

Samuel and Josephine are now baptized! It was a great service! and now their neighbour, Rocky, who has been shaky before now, is taking in this whole mormon thing. a good shot and their daughter who went to church and didn't like it bc she has no friends went to church again! thats my 9th and 10th baptism in this area! incredible success! we have been so blessed. 

We found this cool family as well, the Bulaclac family. their last name means flower! they live like across the street kind of thing to the church, moms been a member for like 30 years but when she moved here went LA and nobody in the ward knows she is a member. Her kids ranging from 5-22 years of age are stoked on it and the 10 yo and 7 yo came to church! crazy these 2 young kids just showed up with a Book of Mormon and filled out the restoration of the gospel of Jesus Christ pamphlet in hand! i felt like their dad getting them to class and stuff. cool crew. 

our kitchen has been smelling bad this week so we looked around and found like 25 super rotten eggs from 2017! when we threw em outside of the apartment in our garbage pile they were popping and like exploding. after we moved em outside the smell got worse and we got tons and tons of flies so we made a decision to buy some gasoline and light em up. worked like a charm. Elder Brockbank decided that is probably what zombies smell like. kind of a loss. 

We are also now so into popcorn. twice daily!

Elder Kearl
Any Day Above Ground is a Good Day

some stats for perspective:
1st area: Dupax Del Sur, 4 cycles, 1 baptism
2nd area: Alicia 1B, 2 cycles, 1 baptism
3rd area: Cauayan 1B, 3 cycles, 2 baptisms
4th area: Baluarte A, going on 5 cycles, 10 baptisms.






Sunday, February 18, 2018

2 more baptisms coming up on saturday

Hello po nay,

we got 2 more baptisms coming up on saturday! Joesphine and Samuel. They are super cool. we just contaced Josephine one day and it went ok. we weren't sure if we should go back but Elder Brockbank decided we should and we got through the first lessons and saw they were pretty legit. now they are legit and love the church! "i wasnt sure about the Book of Mormon at first.. but i now know it comes from God." - Samuel. They are an older couple around 50 years old and the guys a little rough around the edges. super cool to see em progress. Joesphine would get home from work at 6 and spend the next hour working on the Book of Mormon assignments we gave her till we came at 7. seriously mosipag. 

the best was bringing Edwin along and hearing the things he would say. 2 Nephi 29:6 was the scripture that changed him. He said it hurt a bit to hear but it was just what he needed. He remembers EJ (shane lethabys friend here) explaining something and it was really meaningful to him. the funny thing was i remember teaching him very different than others. when he wasn't coming to church i remember the thought in my head being "Just have patience, don't freak him out, he will come around." he's now reading 3 hrs of scriptures a day and we have a FHE at his house later with the local street youth. LOVE THAT MAN

Elder Kearl 
2 Nephi 29:6 Thou fool, that shall say: A Bible, we have got a Bible, and we need no more Bible. Have ye obtained a Bible save it were by the Jews? 

mosipag = hard working

Monday, February 12, 2018

loved the feeling at the funeral...reminded me of Grandma Rosenvalls


HEY MOM! hello po

Hey, i had a dream Saturday night about me coming home and entering the house and hanging out with You and Emily. i missed you guys quite a bit yesterday. i'll be honest i'm getting pretty trunky. i'm getting way to excited to get home and move on. i'll be honest tho, i really love my mission and enjoy being here and love the service this is. but, 20 months is a long time to be doing the same thing!

thats amazing about your cool experiences at work with babies and their families.. super cool stories. Heavenly Father cares very much about how we come in and out of this world and it's cool you help so many families be happy. MVP

quick week with 2 exchanges in our area with the District Leaders and a funeral! 

The bishop told us to attend the funeral of a woman i've never known but she belonged to a really great family so we attended and i really enjoyed it. She was an 82 yo lady with polio her whole life. we attended the very simple service and then buried her in a nice cemetery in the city. i was not able to participate in the the walk they do here. where the people attending the funeral walk behind the vehicle carrying the casket from the service to the burying spot. i think it's a really cool tradition actually because you get a huge crowd following their loved one. it's funny too bc people driving by will just throw change at them, hahaha. good service and loved the feeling there. reminded me of Grandma Rosenvalls quite a bit. not much to say but it was nice.

We than attended a "Home Teaching Convention" which was pretty absurd.

This morning we went fishing at a members fishing pond and caught like 30+ fish. this small pond had so many fish that you could just put the line in the water and within a minute something would bite. super sunny! 

Elder Kearl

1 Nephi 3:7















Sunday, February 4, 2018

may or may not sell my kidney to provide them with the funds to make that come true


NAY!

so i'm not transferred! i'm going to do 5 cycles in Baluarte! that's pretty rare in this mission. that's going to be 7 months here! I'll be with Elder Brockbank for 3 cycles! again, very rare. i was with my trainer for 3 cylces but most people are in an area for 3 cycles. in Cauayan i was there for 3 cycles and had 3 different companions. 

Yesterday Edwins wife was baptized in Hong Kong. super cool to think about our influence reaching hong kong. the family is now complete and have a huge potential to be sealed for eternity. we will see how it goes. may or may not sell my kidney to provide them with the funds to make that come true. Edwin is the pride and joy of my mission.

we attended a crazy meeting on friday and accidently became members of like a government thing. so it was a meeting for the VFO (values formation officers) and they basically go to communities weekly and teach stuff like honesty and stuff. it's good stuff. so what happened is a while ago we got some numbers from the city mayor's secretary and we texted him and like the head pastor of the city invited us. we arrived 5 minutes early while the meeting started an hour late. when the main pastor guy came in he just yells "OOO PRAISE THE LORD!" and said that over and over again. the meeting was 60% pastors sharing scriptures and 40% business. so many praying and even a time to grab a "Prayer Partner" and pray loudly at the same time. the room erupted in sound. Mayor walks in. everyone gets excited. we all get pictures with him and pray to or for him. not too sure which. long story short, it was in the top 5 things that happened on my mission. super fun.

that's it from this week. I LOVE YOU GUYS!

Elder Kearl 

3 Nephi 12:16 








Sunday, January 28, 2018

this body can not put on any weight for the life of it



Hello po nay! 

the January 29th weigh in:
5' 10.5"
148lbs.

i've been eating my self sick every meal. so much oatmeal and peanut butter every morning. 3 eggs and half a chicken breast with a scoop and a half of rice w/ ketchup for lunch. 4 eggs and 6 pieces of bread toasted for dinner every meal for the past 5 months to no avail... this body can not put on any weight for the life of it. things have been moving around tho ever since Coach Brockbanks been pushing me for my daily morning and night exercise. we will see this coming june if Scottie really can get the swimmers body tho. nobody hold their breath. mapayat for life.

Hey, so Kim got baptized! she bore a very good testimony afterwards. She said she used to hide from Elder Galindo and I but then Edwin (our guy) preached the word of God a little (Kim actually said that) and then she started listening. Edwin also let us teach in his home everynight till like 8:30 which is a really close to 1am in the Phillipines. He used to not let Elder Galindo and I teach him after 6:30 so he sacrificed a solid sleep schedule for Kim. Edwin is the man. 

Elder Kearl