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