week 96

Hello!

This week was a good week. Lots of changing of thinking but it was good! More about my companion. His name is Elder Fomai. He is 19 years old. He is pure Samoan but in 2013 he was adopted and moved to Australia. Thats where he was baptized and became a member of the church. He plays rugby and we have a lot in common so we get along really well. He looks like a boy from the Tongan branch or someone I would play rugby with. Its great.

As for the area.. umm.. its a little rough. My time here at the start we spent a lot of time "harvesting" and we didn't do the best job planting. So we have kind of hit a dry spot in the area. We do have a couple of investigators that are progressing but just in this past week lots of different issues came up so we are about to just start over. As we talked about it i felt super disappointed. I put it together that my last transfer in the mission would consist of just walking around and finding new people. Not the most exciting thing. But two things came to my mind that i want to share. The first was a letter my older sister wrote me just last week and I dont think there could've been better timing for the letter. In the letter she told a story about a women from her mission who started investigating the church in 2009. She simply saw two american blonde boys who were always walking around with a smile on their face. little by little she met the missionaries, went to church and was baptized but not till 2013! so even though she met the missionaries in 2009 the fruits of the laborer didn't come till 4 years after. The second thing that came to mind was the baptismal interviews I had the chance to do this past weekend. We spent a lot of the weekend traveling around to areas in the district to do interviews. Each of the 4 interviews I did, not one of them had been found by those missionaries. They all ranged from months to years of investigating. However each of the 4 could name every single elder or sister who taught them the gospel. 

Sometimes as a missionary you want to just baptize everyone and do your own thing. You are focused on yourself and how to help yourself. This week has taught very clearly that its not about me. Its about the people here in Tanza. So if i spend the next 5 weeks walking around smiling away at people that is okay. Of course I am going to do my best to do more but if thats all I get.. then its okay. I am so happy to serve the Lord and to give it my all. 

Love you all!

elder gsack

week 95

Hello!

Today was transfer day and elder calmacio is gone! Its a sad day but he is off to bigger and better things and I am really excited for him. Its been a really good transfer and I am happy with the things i have experienced. Well today also starts my last and final transfer! i will be finishing my mission here in Tanza! My new companion is Elder Fomai and hes from Sydney Australia! He seems really cool and I know he plays rugby so things are looking up for me.

This week lots has been going on and its been lots of fun! We have continued to work with our newer ward missionaries and they are the best. It is kind of a good pick me upper when they work with us. They are always smiling cracking jokes and really willing to talk to new people.

A really cool experience we had though the other day was when Elder Wakolo from the Seventy came and dedicated our chapel here in Tanza. Before the chapel was dedicated he stood up and gave an amazing talk about being and staying active in the church your entire life. He shared a quote from Elder Bednard which said "Your testimony will not save you in the last days... only your continuous conversation will save you." I love that. This gospel and church is not just a one time thing. Its not just a thing you do for a little and then quit. Its something we always need to be striving to be better. We always have room to improve. 

Sorry dont have a whole lot to share its a busy day and I have no pictures because I left my camera at home. But love you all lots!

Elder gsack

week 94

Hey!

This week was an okay week. Lots going on and we had a super different kind of zone conference. Of course it was Presidents last zone conference so it was almost like a funeral hahaha. They explained how the switch with the new mission president is going to work and how everything is going to change. Just a little odd. However both sister speirs and president shared with us some cool things they have learned while serving here. That was really sweet to see both miracles and some other fun things. 

Also this past weekend we had our one day mission and it actually went really well. It was almost funny how excited these kids were to share the gospel. We got instructions to let all the youth start conversations and find people and if it came down to a teaching situation we were supposed to step in and take over. So I had with me a 13 yr old deacon and a 18 yr old priest who is preparing to go on a mission. They didnt seem very excited but we got to the entrance of the subdivision and i gave them both 20 pass along cards. I told them if they would legit talk to 20 people each and give out all the cards with a testimony i would buy them ice cream, and wow they took off. who knew ice cream would motivate kids so fast. Well within two hours we had talked to over 40 people, taught several people and found tons of new investigators. When the cards ran out I was expecting them to turn to me and ask for their ice cream but they turned to me and said "Elder there are still so many houses we haven't tried, do you have any more cards?" It almost made me laugh. Here I was with a deacon and a priest who were complaining earlier and now they were asking for more. So we continued to share and knock on doors. At the end of day i kept my promise and bought them ice cream and asked them about their days and they both shared with me how they always thought missionary work was hard but today proved them wrong. They said how they both really enjoyed their time and sharing the gospel. I know sharing the gospel sometimes can be scaring but if you give it a shot I know you will have fun with it! 

I love you all lots! Hope you have a good week. Transfers are next week and I got no idea what is going to happen so stay tuned for my last transfer!! 

Elder gsack

week 93

Hello!

This week has been a pretty good week. We had the opportunity of going on exchanges a couple times this past week and it was just a good time. Also last Sunday our bishop stood up and told us that we all need to be at church early next week because part of the area presidency is coming! They are going to dedicate our chapel this coming Sunday so it should be really exciting and hopefully a really good service. We are excited! 

However I had two different cool experience this past week while on exchanges. We were in studies and got a phone call from the branch President in the area saying that a child of a member in the branch had just passed away. The child was only 6 days old and passed away and they needed help setting things up at the church. Of course you could guess that the mood was really sad and just quiet at the church. The family arrived with the child and they were setting things up for a viewing. As sad as it was there was a feeling of peace and comfort. Mid way through the family asked us to stop and all say a prayer together. A member gave the prayer and it was very simple and sweet. They then continued to talk about the Plan of Salvation and how of course this is such a sad time but that the baby girl now was in a better place with no pain or problems. We are so lucky to have such a loving Heavenly Father to give us that kind of chance to live with out sickness or illness after this life. 

The second thing that happened was in a lesson. I wasn't in the best of moods. We had been walking all day, it was hotter then ever so i was sweating more then ever and no one was listening to us. But we got to this appointment the family we wanted to teach was not home but there were two brothers sitting outside the house. They started to ask some interesting questions and I could tell they wanted to bible bash. So i started to say goodbye when I felt a prompting to stay. i didnt know why i thought they just wanted to bible bash but I felt we needed to stay. So i turned to Elder Garner (Who is from centerville and went to school with Hannah Pertab) and said we need to stay elder. and he looked at me a little weird but said okay. As we sat down and talked to them they had lots of questions all over the board and some of which were quite hard but little by little we were able to answer every single one of them in a way where it left no room for discussion or argument. We eventually were able to turn it into teaching lesson one and got them to listen to our message. By the end of our lesson they were asking us if they could come to church and hear more of our doctrine. Now looking back I realize some of those questions i didnt have a perfect answer but the Lord took care of the rest. I did my best to explain everything and the spirit confirmed it to them. I am so thankful for the help of the Lord in our work everyday. I love it.

Love you all lots, Ingat kayo palagi 

Elder gsack

Mad i gave away your little animal toys to our investigators son and he LOVES them.. also you can barely see it but on that mountain side there is a big cross. Its ontop of mount summit and its a famous place to visit in Bataan.. just kinda cool you could see it the other day

week 92 I want angel hair pasta so bad with home made bread

Hello,

This week was a pretty good week. We have been struggling recently getting people to church so we have been trying new ideas as a companionship to try and help people get to church. We are also doing a one day mission kind of thing with the ward this Saturday to try and help find some new part members and help investigators come to church. I don't remember but do we do that back home? One day mission?

However for an experience this week it actually happened yesterday. We left the house and started our long walk to an appointment. As we were walking we could see super dark clouds in the distance and could see thunder and lightning. My companion looked at me with a little fear in his eyes and asked me if we were still going to go. Of course with my Oregon heart not afraid of the rain I said yes elder we are still going. Well fast forward a little it started to sprinkle and then slowly rain and then all hell broke loose. The thunder and lightning was literally cracking right next to us and it wasnt just one or two but it was crack after crack after crack of lightning. However It came to a point where we both felt a little bit of electricity in our umbrella so we stopped and said a fast little prayer as more lightning and thunder went off. After the pray i looked at my companion and said "Elder we are running as fast as we can till we get inside a member or investigators house to wait this out" And so we took off. And honestly looking back maybe I am not as fast as i used to be but I have never ran harder then I did at that moment in my entire life. I kid you not as we ran a good 5 minutes it was down pouring rain the thunder and lightning was non stop and so loud. I felt like guns were being shot right next to my ear. Anyways moral of the story is the love and protection i feel from Heavenly Father. We ran through that lightning for a long time with big metal umbrellas and through rice fields. The odds were not stacked in our favor but in the end we were okay. I think we all have times in our lifes where Heavenly Father takes over for us. We all come to a point where we have no more control over what is going to happen. Its all about the will of Heavenly Father. Put your faith and trust in Him and He will do the rest. 

I love you all lots and am so thankful for all the prayers you give for me. Have a good week!

Elder Gsack

week 91 I want one of those tall costco chocolate cakes with that super creamy vanilla ice cream

Hello,

Hahaha i was thinking about desserts the other day and I thought of Bro Taylor bringing in the costco chocolate to priest quorum. So good. 

This week was a pretty good week. Its been super busy but good. We have been running around all over the place doing baptism interviews and exchanges. Yesterday I got to go on exchanges with the zone leaders which was a really good experience. We walked further then ever and I got some good time in the sun. It was funny last night seeing my tan lines both on my neck and on my arms. Its almost a joke how bad it is. 

i had a really cool experience the other day. I went down to the sisters area for a baptismal interview. A while back in February I did a baptismal interview in this same area for a mom and a daughter and hadn't heard of them since. Well as we arrived in the sisters area I saw the same little daughter that I had interviewed months before. She ran up to me and said "elder follow me you are interviewing my dad today!" she grabbed my hand and proceeded to drag me to their house. Well it turns out since February the mom and the 3 kids had been baptized and now the father of the family was ready for baptism as well. It was so cool to sit down with this father and talk to him about his conversion to the church and his love for the gospel. The coolest thing was how the family now had a goal date for being sealed in the temple. The father was baptized last Saturday and confirmed on Sunday. He is receiving the priesthood this coming week and the whole family is working towards temple sealing. What amazing blessings this gospel brings! 

Also the other day we found ourselves wandering in a cemetery. But they are a little different here. They are not below the ground. They are just built up one after another in concrete boxes. Its actually kinda cool. Ill send pics. Some times as well they have the whole body decay first and then put all the bones in a bag and just bury that. I have a video of my companion explaining it that ill send.

I love you all lots! Hope you all doing well :)

elder gsack