March 31, 2013

Hey family!

Welp we got pulled out of Victorias last week! Got moved to Caduha-an, we're white washing here too! Crazy huh? Haha. But Elder Pineda and I are still companions and the Zone Leaders here in Cadiz zone, Victorias is actually in the same zone as ours. Last week was great though, it's so much fun white washing because you have no idea what you're doing, I've really learned a lot about agency lately, and learning to be one who acts and is not acted upon. We've found some pretty solid investigators, and the branch is great. Even though there's less than 100 active members, they are all so willing to work and help the missionary efforts. Especially our branch President! President Lapid, he's so humble and great. The stake president is in our branch as well, so we're excited about that.

We're really focusing on the Book of Mormon here in Caduha-an, trying to get the entire branch reading and studying in the Book. We had an amazing experience with one brother. We asked President what members of the branch we needed to focus on for re activation, and he told us to help his son, who is a returned missionary who has been less active for years. The first time we visited over there, we shared the Book of Mormon with him, and gave him a reading chart too to check off as he goes. The second time we came back, he was almost done with 1 nephi 1, and he shared with us all the things he learned. He also said he was so happy to be reading in the Book of Mormon again, because he had been studying in other books than the Book of Mormon the last couple of years, and he also came to church for the first time in a long time on sunday. I have such a testimony of the power of the Book of Mormon. I know its true, because i've seen its effect on the lives of others, and especially mine. That Book changed my life! I'm so happy youre reading as a family too, keep up the awesome work fam :) I'll keep working hard, and eating rice. I love you all so much.

Elder Doane

March 24, 2013

Wow hey fam sorry don't got too much time left! But hey this last week was great, Genalyn's baptism was amazing and was way spiritual! Her mom attended too, even though she's way strong catholic, but we have hopes for her as well! I've been focusing a lot of the work on the Book of Mormon, and i testify of it's power! We're really trying to strengthen our investigators testimonies in the Book of Mormon to give them that foundation to increase faith in Christ and properly live the Gospel. I testify that this Gospel is true! Because I've seen the power of it in my life and others! I'm so happy! The mission is great! I'll keep workin and workin, the time is just flying. Transffers are this week, i'll probably be staying here! Anyways, love you all!

Elder Doane

March 10, 2013

Family! Hey don't got too much time, gotta prepare for our training wednesday at our zone conference. But this last week was tight, tons of miracles have been brought about in the work. Thanks so much for the emails! Wow so good to hear from Dave, sure sounds like he's doing great. Demi's throwin the shot? I wish i could coach her, I'll totally be into it when i get back. Get her in the weight room! Drakey boy had me crackin up again with his email, love that kid so much. I'm sure he'll do great at his talk on sunday! That's so cool! Please do record it. Devon's going to spain? Wow another qfl speaking spanish, that's so cool though i'm so happy for him! Mom sounds like she's doing well too, i'm so happy that you're all doing so well it makes me so happy.

This last week was amazing. Sister Zipp's baptism was great! She reminds me so much of Demi it's hilarious. I love her so much! You see her in the picture? She's wayy smart too. The area is doing well, Elder and I are really trying to break false traditions that have been left in this area by other missionaries, it's way hard but we're really working at it. Lots of misssionaries have came through here and been disobedient and all that, but Elder Pineda and I are staying exactly obedient and doing all we can to change the members perspective on the missionaries. I love this work so much. I'm doing great, just so happy all the time and constantly learning more about the gospel. I love this work so much, i'm never going to leave it. I love you so much family, i'lll send more next week.

Elder Doane

March 3, 2013

Hey Fam!

Thanks for all the emails, I don't have as much time so I can't send you all individual ones. Haha drake and demi crack me up. Hows momma doin? I love the email she sent me last week. Yeah dad will you please tell my coaches I love them? Coach Jackson, that's way cool that he's Demi's throws coach. I love Coach Hathcock! Football was probably the best decision I made my senior year, that was a blast. I'll never forget that guy, what a great coach he is. Sounds like Dave is staying busy with work, good for him He snagged that airport job! What an answer to prayer. Haha I love hearing stories about Drake doing funny stuff, I just crack up here in this computer shop where we email. Hey dad have you been in contact with Bishop Bills at all from my BYU Ward? If you could contact him and let him know I love him that'd be awesome. I think his name is Jeff Bills. I could not have asked for a greater bishop in that BYU Ward, he really played a big role in preparing me for a mission. Way good to hear Devon is gettin' his call soon, I can't wait to hear! That'd be tight if he got sent here to the Phillies. Tell dave to shoot me an email next week so I can hear from him!

The work here is the busiest its ever been in my whole mission! Haha, every night we come home I am just soooo tired. I remember always reading Colton's letters about how tired they were and now I totally understand. We had exchanges this last week with the Fabica Elders, and I kid you not their area is like going on a father's and sons hiking trip. There were certain parts when we were woking that I was breathing way hard because I was out of breath! Also there were some parts where I thought I was gonna die when we were jumping over rivers and crossing bridges. It's nothing like America here, and I love it. That's why we're so tired when we come home haha. The shoes are holding up! I've been using the ones grandma sent me, the tie ups. The other ones got some pretty sweet holes in them, so i'll probably get them repaired or something. I don't know I feel like we should be using hardcore boots or something here haha. But I seriously have fallen in love with this area, I love the people in our ward and those we teach so much. Ziphineah will be baptized on Saturday! She passed her interview, and her less active mother just returned yesterday too, what a miracle! Yesterday she asked me to baptize her, so i will definitely send pictures to you guys next week. She reminds me so much of Demi! It's so funny. She's 11 years old, and wayyyyy smart! I'm way excited for her. We also have a baptism on the 23rd coming up as well. We're really trying to make our area a model area for the zone, so we gotta get more baptisms! Oh yeah this week there were 2 gigantic spiders in our apartment, like gigantic! The biggest ive ever seen. all 4 o us in the apartment were running around screaming like girls trying to shoot the things with permatrin, it was hilarious. Elder Pineda and I are really doing great, he's such an amazing Elder. So humble and diligent. Today for pday we're gonna go to this sweet resturaunt, at least it looks sweet we have no idea if it's any good. I wanna get some pants made soon, theres a lady in the ward whos pro at that, so i might be withdrawing some money. Anyways! I'm really having a good time here, just so happy all the time no matter what. I'm leaning how to rely on the Lord more, and just feel like i'm gonna be a missionary for the rest of my life. I am just so thankful to be brought up in this true church you know? It's our duty to share this Gospel. And I'm fulfilling my duty. I love you guys so much! I hope you all have a great week.

Love,

Elder Doane

February 24, 2013

Week 1 sa Victorias! 

Hey fam!

Last week was great. The Zone Leaders Council at the mission home was way sweet, first of all because they have the best food over there, second of all because we learned tons! Giving the zone training on wednesday went very well, I love giving trainings! It's a good opportunity to learn as a teacher as well. Our job as Zone leaders is to proselyte. Meaning, work, work, work. We don't too tons of meetings with Presidents, or tons of administration stuff, but President wants us to set an example with our key indicators so we can inspire the rest of our zone. It's way cool, President Lopez really has the right vision of missionary work. We have one investigator Zippineah who will be baptized on the 9th! after that we should have lots more but we just gotta keep wokin to make sure they get baptized!

Funny experience last week, there were these people playing basketball, like 30 of them, and i went up to them while we were out proselyting. I had this bright idea to try to get those who were sitting down to let us teach them while they were waiting till the next game. So i went up and hey gave me the ball, and they all backed away thinking i was gonna go up and dunk! So i was like 'no no! Come here come here!' tried to get everyone to come close to me. So some of them did, and i just started talking to them about basketball. Then i asked them if they had prayed yet, so they could be safe while playing ball! They just started walking away laughing, and weren't that interested haha. So i kept trying and trying, just to get them to listen to us so we could share, but they didn't want to, so then i gave the ball back and went on our way. Walking away from that at first i felt a little discouraged you know? Like we didn't get one person out of that! But in PMG chapter 9 it tells us no effort is wasted in all that we do. After i thought about that, the Spirit just overcame me. Like i felt it so strong in my heart, just burn. Because i took an act of faith. I didn't care what those guys would think, i just cared what my God would think. It was such a cool experience, and i definitely plan to do it again. 

Faith is a principle of action. We can acquire faith by starting with a simple desire, a little spark of fire, or a little seed (Alma 32). Our faith can grow grow and grow, until it becomes a gigantic tree, impenetrable and immovable. I have a testimony of the Gospel, that if we live it, that we will enter the Father's kingdom when the Savior stands to judge us. I love this Gospel, and love this work! I love you all, keep following the Gospel so that our Father in Heaven may bless you.

Elder Doane

February 3, 2013

Hey fam!

This last week was amazing. We're doing a lot well in our amount of teachings, and finding more people to teach! Yeah sister Nita was baptized! I got to baptize her too! It was such a powerful experience, and her less active husband came to the baptism too, and he also came to church on sunday! He bore his testimony, after not coming to church for years, and came up to me after the meeting and touched his chest and said "good feelings". Ah it was so awesome, i could just see how much he felt the spirit. Yeah im pretty sure ill be staying here in Santa Fe next week when transfers come up! We're getting couple missionaries here, and president wants me to help coordinate with them to have families for them to teach and that stuff, we're way excited too cuz hopefully they'll invite us over to eat at their place. :)

Hows the scripture reading going? I'm so happy that you guys are reading and praying together. I had a pretty amazing study about baptism earlier, i really wanted to find out why its a commandment to be baptized to enter God's kingdom. Basically what i found was this- throught the Fall of Adam we are all natural men and women... we are separated from God's presence. But through baptism, we accept upon us a new name, the name of the Savior Jesus Christ, where in we become clean from all of our sins, and are reborn through the Atonement of Jesus Christ. We are given the Gift of the Holy Ghost to help us along the path, to guide us back to Heavenly Father's kindgom. Heavenly Father is so merciful to us He's given us the Sacrament, wherein even if we mess up we get a chance to renew those covenants that we made with Him through those emblems of the great sacrifice. The Gospel is just so beautiful isn't it? I have such a strong testimony that if we have a question, and we really ask with a sincere heart, the truth will be revealed to us through the power of the Holy Ghost.

I love you guys! Keep going to church, i promise i will too! ;) I love it here in the Phillies! All the ward members say im filippino now because i've gotten their accent down! But it's just the size part where i stand out.

Elder Doane

January 27, 2013

Nami nami gd ang simana namon!! 

Hey family!

This last week was nuts! Sorry didn't have much time last week. Well, no idea where to start. First of all, got a new comp! We had an emergency transfer, and Elder Malit got sent off into the mountains! Haha i have no idea why, but it's all the Lords business. I'm now with Elder Henson! He's from Provo Utah! It's SO NICE to have an american comp, where we can just talk to each other about american stuff and laugh all the time, it's so awesome. Now people really look at us like we're crazy. We stand out like the twin towers here, he's only like 5'8 too, but he's got some bulkiness to him. His training is over too, so we have so much time to work!! It's so tight!! I love love love it. We've really been trying to work hard lately, last week in 3 days we had 18 lessons, so we really plan to kick some tail this week. President told me he wants more out of our key indicators, so i saluted him and said yes sir.

So last week i was talking about miracles, and i have to explain myself! First, Sister Nita! Sister Nita has been an investigator for over a year now, and she could not be baptized because of her living situation. I remember when i first came here 5 months ago and she said she wanted to be baptized so bad but she couldn't because of their marriage situation, and we would tell them and tell them that Heavenly Father would prepare a way for them. Well the way has been prepared! Last week we set up an interview with her and a mission presidency counselor of ours, and she got ok'd to be baptized! He said her testimony is so sincere, and she has such a desire to follow Christ theres no other way except baptism for her to progress! She will be baptized this saturday! Truly a miracle, because i've seen her from the beginning really thinking there was no hope, and this saturday she will be baptized. I think i'm going to be the one to baptize her. I'm so happy for her! She's way happy too!

Also brother Bernard! Brother Bernard is a street contact Elder Malit and I had, we were just walking around trying to find people to teach and we saw this old man sitting outside his house just laying there. Really skinny, small guy. I approached him and just started to talk to him, asked him if we could share our message with him. He accepted and set up a return appt., so we went back and he had finished the pamphlet we gave him. He accepted the invitation to be baptized the first time we taught him, and he said he would read and pray about the Book of Mormon. On the next day we came back he was in 1 nephi chapter 7.. and we started him out at the introduction. That was january 15th. Up to now, he is in 2 nephi chapter 8 and has came to church these last 2 weeks. He is so prepared for the Gospel! I know without a doubt Heavenly Father sent us there! He told us this story.. he was in the hospital because he had some serious lung problems, and he didn't have any money to pay for his medical condition to be taken care of.. so he just prayed for help. He prayed and told God that 'if you still have a purpose for me here, please give me a way to get this medical condition taken care of, and live, but if not, that's okay.' so then his doctor that he's really close with showed up, and payed for all of his expenses. Then the 2nd day he came out of the hospital, we met him. Tell me Heavenly Father does not love his children. Each and every one of them! He will be baptized february 16th. We have 4 investigators on date as of right now, we hope to get lots more this week! Hopefully we will have a baptism every week from now until the 23rd, hopefully even more! 

I'm so happy you guys finished 1st Nephi! I'm going to go start 2nd nephi again so i can read along and share insights with you guys as well, i know that reading and praying is makin us stronger as a family. This gospel is true! I know it! I love you all so much fam. Kitay ta dugay dugay ah? :)

Elder Doane