Missionary for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints
Friday, April 27, 2012
I CAN'T BELIEVE I'M TEACHING STEVE MARTIN!
Hello family and friends!
This week was really good. We had zone meeting with President Stucki yesterday so today is our Pday. :) It was really good to see the pics of you guys at Florida. I'm sure you both had a good time. Interviews went really well yesterday and so did the zone meeting. The last district meeting of every month is taught by the zone leaders, so yesterday Elder Duero and I got to teach the whole zone. This last month for the zone was great so we spoke of some of the great successes we had and all that great stuff, then we also talked about Charity and Love and the doctrine of Christ then we had a practice inviting investigators to be baptized. It was a good meeting. The interview with President also went really well. We talked about some of the things that are going well and some things that need to be improved in the Makati zone. He is really happy with the growth of the zone though. He also wanted to know what thing we are struggling with the most was, whether it be mission rules or anything. I told him my weakness right now is planning, because I'm not the best at it and I know it's something I have to work on because it's really important. There are just times where we don't plan as much as we should and times where we could plan things a little bit better and set better goals for different things and stuff. So I will be working on that a lot this transfer. :D I'm really excited!
Things are going really well though, we have a few more baptismal dates for May, and Sheryl is going to be baptized this Saturday! :D Elder Duero, the APs and I are going to do a special musical number for the baptism too. We haven't decided what that will be yet though, but we will figure/plan it out. Also! This is a really kool story but a few weeks ago I spoke to someone on the street whose name is Steve Martin (hehe) and he has been searching through a lot of religions, he almost talks to everyone that's a missionary. So I gave him a pamphlet and taught about the message of the restoration. We found him at his work which is like a 1 minute walk from our apartment and he spoke to us and asked us for another pamphlet so I gave him a Book Of Mormon and introduced it to him. He had a few questions for us but told us he wanted to come to church. Last Sunday guess who came to church all dressed up and everything? Steve Martin! We were really surprised but really happy to see him. He has a lot of questions about the church and we plan to teach him at his house. It's just really hard because almost all the time, he is at work, and of course that's not the ideal situation to teach him. So we are trying to be able to teach him at home because that would be a lot better. But he said he felt the Spirit of God while he was at church especially during the investigators class (which we taught :P). But he really likes study classes like that and even asked about study classes we have in the church like seminary and institute. It will be cool to see how Steve Martin progresses. I'm really excited for him. (I CANT BELIEVE I'M TEACHING STEVE MARTIN!)
I also had quite a few baptismal interviews to do last week. 3 in Manda 1B and 1 in Manda 2A. Unfortunately the one in Manda 2A will not be baptized on the day she was supposed to. She will not be ready quite yet. I was surprised too. That was the first interview I had where I did not pass someone.....
Also doing really well is Kennedy, I'm pretty sure he will be baptized in May, we just need to teach him more during the week. Also April was not able to be taught last week because she is busy getting ready to actually move here to Makati. So pretty soon she will be here for good and won't be going back and forth from here to Cavite. Also Elder Duero and I have been worried because our pool of less active members to teach has been going down because a lot of them have returned to activity and we need more people to rescue. Last week we had 2 people find us who want to come back to church because they have been less active for a really long time. Also, something else really cool. We had a recent convert move from Laoag to here, whose name is Albert and he is actually the brother of someone that we had spoken to on a jeepney a while ago who said her brother just joined the church but she isn't yet a member and at that time was not able to be taught. But we are going to try this week. We actually saw the girl today and said she wanted to join her brother at church but wasn't able to make it.
So a lot of good things are happening in our area. We are always finding new people to teach and the people we teach are doing pretty good. I think May will be another good month for our area. Transfer day is coming up and Elder Duero and I both think that Elder Duero will be transfered because he has been in Makati for 4 transfers now as a zone leader. I really want to stay. I love Makati. I love the city too. I also really love my mission! :D
That's about it for this email. I'm sorry if it is a bit short. I got your guys' package last week. It was great to see letters from you guys and also from Justin and Danny. I just watched the video that Danny sent. I miss those two a lot and all my other friends. Please tell them I love them and also miss them very much. Also please tell Danny I haven't any of the letters he sent. :( I will be sending one soon though! :D OH YEA! Also next week is Mothers Day so what I thought we would do is just do what we did last time when I called you guys at about 8pm here on Sunday. Let me know what you guys think! I gotta go now! Thank you so much for everything! I hope you all have an amazing week! :D
Love you!
Elder Chris Gagnon
Monday, April 16, 2012
Carlito was baptized!
Hello!
Sounds like you guys are having a great time in Florida! Haha. Well right now it is P-day and we did quite a bit of cleaning the apartment. We had apartment checks last week, so that went really well we didn't fail! Hehe. Everything is going great though in our area and in the Makati zone. In our area last week we had 8 investigators at church which is actually the most I've had since Roxas I think. I don't know if I've ever had 8 in STA Monica. I don't remember though... Either way, Elder Duero and I were really happy. :D We met a few new investigators last week and things are going well with our progressing investigators.
Last week I also got to go on exchanges with Elder Declaro in my area, he came from Roxas, Palawan. So I got to find out about the converts I had over there. They are actually almost all active. Larry moved away to a place near Puerto but I don't know if he goes to church there and Mel Arcenas moved away from Roxas to a place where there isn't a church yet....so he is no longer active. But everyone else is and I'm happy about that. Actually he doesn't know, but he thinks that Roxas is going to the temple soon, obviously I don't know if they have or not, but if they do that means April, Karen and Rocel will be coming to do proxy baptisms! So I really want to find out when they are coming and see if I could get permission to go see them at the temple. It would be soooooo cool! Also, he said that in October they might have another temple trip, which would mean I might get to see Tatay Guillermo and Merlinda get sealed and see Nanay Erlinda get her endowment! I heard that Nanay Erlinda actually might have a calling now so I'm really excited for her. It was just really good to know that the people I baptized are still active. I'm really happy for them. Oh yea! And last Saturday, Carlito was baptized! I'm not sure if Cheryl was baptized, but I think she was too. I will just have to find out.... I know Carlito was though so I am also really happy for him. :D
Last week was my birthday and yes, we did do a little something. Of course we worked really hard and then at about 7 at our lesson with Sheryl, we had pizza! Actually Sister Joy, who is Sheryl's friend at church bought the pizza. So we just had a lesson and had pizza. The lesson went really well. We taught the word of wisdom and for Sheryl there really isn't any problems. She is definitely ready for the 28th of April, this week will be her interview. We are really excited for her! :D
After that lesson and dinner we went to teach Kennedy, who I don't know if I've said this in my email is the boyfriend of a member, Andrea Natividad, so we teach him at the Natividad house. When we got there and they found out it was my birthday they said we needed to do something, so we ordered pizza and they gave me a slice of cake. It was really nice and I was really really full. :D
Things are going really good with Kennedy, he has a baptismal date on May 19th and he is coming to church! :D So we are really excited for him. We have a few more potentials for the month of May, and actually we saw April again and plan to visit her this week so she might actually be baptized with Sheryl on the 28th. We will know this week though.
Last week we also had ZLC and it was a good experience. It's always good to see friends in the mission. Our plan for the month of April is to stay the course, the mission is doing better and better and we don't want to fall but gradually improve and improve. There wasn't a lot of changes or new announcements for the mission. We just want to keep growing and be consistent. Makati Zone has improved so much in March and April. This April we might have the highest number of baptisms in over a year... So we're really excited for the whole zone. Everyone is working really hard and doing a great job. I just want to sort of stay consistent and not fall...
Also, this week we get to go to the temple. I'm really excited because it's almost been a year since I have been able to go. :D
Well, that's about it for this email. I didn't get your package yet but I might tomorrow. We will just have to see! :D Thank you so much for sending me money! It will be used wisely. Thank you so much for the support that you guys give me! I hope you have an amazing time in Florida and that everything goes well with Justin sending in his papers. It would be soooo kool if he got assigned to the Philippines Manila mission. This really is the best mission in the whole world. OH! Also, please thank Auntie Lynn for her card and the Blakemores for their Dear Elder! :D I was really happy to hear from them. I hope you guys have a great week!
I love you!
Elder Chris Gagnon
Sounds like you guys are having a great time in Florida! Haha. Well right now it is P-day and we did quite a bit of cleaning the apartment. We had apartment checks last week, so that went really well we didn't fail! Hehe. Everything is going great though in our area and in the Makati zone. In our area last week we had 8 investigators at church which is actually the most I've had since Roxas I think. I don't know if I've ever had 8 in STA Monica. I don't remember though... Either way, Elder Duero and I were really happy. :D We met a few new investigators last week and things are going well with our progressing investigators.
Last week I also got to go on exchanges with Elder Declaro in my area, he came from Roxas, Palawan. So I got to find out about the converts I had over there. They are actually almost all active. Larry moved away to a place near Puerto but I don't know if he goes to church there and Mel Arcenas moved away from Roxas to a place where there isn't a church yet....so he is no longer active. But everyone else is and I'm happy about that. Actually he doesn't know, but he thinks that Roxas is going to the temple soon, obviously I don't know if they have or not, but if they do that means April, Karen and Rocel will be coming to do proxy baptisms! So I really want to find out when they are coming and see if I could get permission to go see them at the temple. It would be soooooo cool! Also, he said that in October they might have another temple trip, which would mean I might get to see Tatay Guillermo and Merlinda get sealed and see Nanay Erlinda get her endowment! I heard that Nanay Erlinda actually might have a calling now so I'm really excited for her. It was just really good to know that the people I baptized are still active. I'm really happy for them. Oh yea! And last Saturday, Carlito was baptized! I'm not sure if Cheryl was baptized, but I think she was too. I will just have to find out.... I know Carlito was though so I am also really happy for him. :D
Last week was my birthday and yes, we did do a little something. Of course we worked really hard and then at about 7 at our lesson with Sheryl, we had pizza! Actually Sister Joy, who is Sheryl's friend at church bought the pizza. So we just had a lesson and had pizza. The lesson went really well. We taught the word of wisdom and for Sheryl there really isn't any problems. She is definitely ready for the 28th of April, this week will be her interview. We are really excited for her! :D
After that lesson and dinner we went to teach Kennedy, who I don't know if I've said this in my email is the boyfriend of a member, Andrea Natividad, so we teach him at the Natividad house. When we got there and they found out it was my birthday they said we needed to do something, so we ordered pizza and they gave me a slice of cake. It was really nice and I was really really full. :D
Things are going really good with Kennedy, he has a baptismal date on May 19th and he is coming to church! :D So we are really excited for him. We have a few more potentials for the month of May, and actually we saw April again and plan to visit her this week so she might actually be baptized with Sheryl on the 28th. We will know this week though.
Last week we also had ZLC and it was a good experience. It's always good to see friends in the mission. Our plan for the month of April is to stay the course, the mission is doing better and better and we don't want to fall but gradually improve and improve. There wasn't a lot of changes or new announcements for the mission. We just want to keep growing and be consistent. Makati Zone has improved so much in March and April. This April we might have the highest number of baptisms in over a year... So we're really excited for the whole zone. Everyone is working really hard and doing a great job. I just want to sort of stay consistent and not fall...
Also, this week we get to go to the temple. I'm really excited because it's almost been a year since I have been able to go. :D
Well, that's about it for this email. I didn't get your package yet but I might tomorrow. We will just have to see! :D Thank you so much for sending me money! It will be used wisely. Thank you so much for the support that you guys give me! I hope you have an amazing time in Florida and that everything goes well with Justin sending in his papers. It would be soooo kool if he got assigned to the Philippines Manila mission. This really is the best mission in the whole world. OH! Also, please thank Auntie Lynn for her card and the Blakemores for their Dear Elder! :D I was really happy to hear from them. I hope you guys have a great week!
I love you!
Elder Chris Gagnon
Transfer week/Holy week/Easter week was really stressful!
Hello Family!
We had a super stressful but great week here in Makati! We got very little work done the past week, but there were some things of course which did go really well. :)
I'll start with last Tuesday, we had a district meeting, Elder Duero and I attended the Makati District meeting. It went really well. And we also said good-bye to the 2 part time missionaries. Actually Elder Koochin, got transfered to Alfonso which is Dasmarinas Stake which is where one of the part time missionaries are from so that is kool that they will still get to see each other. Unfortunatly one of them actually didn't get replaced by a new missionary. Elder Malits new companion is Elder Declaro, who is also a new district leader. Elder Declaro is Filipino, and he was actually the one who took my place in Roxas after I got transfered. Elder Koochins replacement is Elder Bueno, who was a zone leader but is now a district leader of the Mandaluyong district and we also have sister Verma from India who is in the same district as Sister Gupta so they actually knew each other before the mission. Sister Guptas new companion is fresh from the MTC so yes, she met David Archuleta! Her name is Sister Richardson, and she is from Utah. She actually also sang for the General conference and you can see her a few times. It's pretty cool. The Makati zone is really cool right now and things are going really well as always. :D
After the district meeting last Tuesday we hurried back to our area to get some work done and we were able to teach Sheryl who is still doing great. We taught about faith and it was a great lesson. Sheryl's friend in the church who was present at the last 2 lessons has really been helping out and everything has been going great with Sheryl. After that we had to run back to the mission office at 7 to pick up Elders who were going to Palawan on Wednesday. So we didn't have a whole lot of time to work in our area.... And then they slept in our house. The next day at about 3:30 I had to wake up and take the ones going to Palawan to the office and Elder Duero went later to bring the one Elder going to Coron. It was really early and I didn't get a lot of sleep. Haha. So I stayed at the mission office until the leadership meeting at 7:30. It was a good meeting and the whole mission was there. It was great to see people that I haven't seen in like a year because I was on Palawan. I also got to see Elder Glodo which was cool. He's with one of the other Canadians in our mission. After the transfer meeting we had to go to the mission home for 2:30 because we were going to work with the new missionaries for their first day. I remember my first day, I worked with Elder Curwen and Elder Polanco in the old zone leaders area in Makati zone. It was funny on the jeepnee we had to pay and one of the new missionaries could not stop laughing because he thought it was so weird haha. I got to work with Elder Woolf that day. He is from Utah and he is going to Pasay zone. Elder Duero got to work with his grandson in the mission because his trainee is training him. So that was also really cool. I can't remember where he is going though. Elder Woolf and I only got to teach once to the Morales family. Then we went to a dinner appointment and had to go because we were already late at getting them to the mission home. We got in a taxi at about 7 and got to the mission home a little bit before nine because of crazy traffic. It was unbelievable! It usually takes us 20 mins to get from our apartment to the mission home but because so many streets and stuff were closed we couldn't get there! It was crazy!!! We ended up sleeping in the mission home and it was really nice because even though I messed up because I should have left earlier, President and Sister Stucki made sure I had a good stay and everything at the mission home, they even fed us breakfast. They are really, really good people.
A few hours after we left the mission home, we had to go back and work with new elders going to Palawan. There was so much travelling it was nuts. That day, which was Thursday we got to teach Sheryl again and a new family who will come to church this coming Sunday. It was really nice. Then they both left and that was the end of working with other Elders. Needless to say, transfer week/holy week(Easter week) was really stressful. :)
General conference was awesome though! I loved Uchtdorf's talk too! I thought it was the best one of the conference. Also, we were really surprised to see April at the conference! She now has a baby! She came and she is now ready to be baptized. We are thinking that if everything goes well and if she still wants to be baptized it will probably happen with Sheryl on the 28th. We are really excited for her.
I love Makati, It was weird being in the city at first but I'm used to it now, so it's all good. Also yes, the activity was a success for the most part, we found a few potential investigators and all of our investigators actually came to the showing. It was a great event. :)
Things are going good in our area, I love being a missionary and sharing the gospel. It's such a great thing to do! I'm excited for this week because we have a lot of potential investigators to go back to. And also, there is Zone leaders conference which is this Friday the 13th. It should be another great experience. Oh, and also, Carlitos baptism is this Saturday, another reason to be really happy!
Thank you so much for all the support! I love you guys so much! Thank you for the package! I haven't gotten it yet but I think it will be here tomorrow when I go to the office. We will just see. I love you guys and hope you have an amazing week! :D
I love you all! :D
Elder Chris Gagnon
We had a super stressful but great week here in Makati! We got very little work done the past week, but there were some things of course which did go really well. :)
I'll start with last Tuesday, we had a district meeting, Elder Duero and I attended the Makati District meeting. It went really well. And we also said good-bye to the 2 part time missionaries. Actually Elder Koochin, got transfered to Alfonso which is Dasmarinas Stake which is where one of the part time missionaries are from so that is kool that they will still get to see each other. Unfortunatly one of them actually didn't get replaced by a new missionary. Elder Malits new companion is Elder Declaro, who is also a new district leader. Elder Declaro is Filipino, and he was actually the one who took my place in Roxas after I got transfered. Elder Koochins replacement is Elder Bueno, who was a zone leader but is now a district leader of the Mandaluyong district and we also have sister Verma from India who is in the same district as Sister Gupta so they actually knew each other before the mission. Sister Guptas new companion is fresh from the MTC so yes, she met David Archuleta! Her name is Sister Richardson, and she is from Utah. She actually also sang for the General conference and you can see her a few times. It's pretty cool. The Makati zone is really cool right now and things are going really well as always. :D
After the district meeting last Tuesday we hurried back to our area to get some work done and we were able to teach Sheryl who is still doing great. We taught about faith and it was a great lesson. Sheryl's friend in the church who was present at the last 2 lessons has really been helping out and everything has been going great with Sheryl. After that we had to run back to the mission office at 7 to pick up Elders who were going to Palawan on Wednesday. So we didn't have a whole lot of time to work in our area.... And then they slept in our house. The next day at about 3:30 I had to wake up and take the ones going to Palawan to the office and Elder Duero went later to bring the one Elder going to Coron. It was really early and I didn't get a lot of sleep. Haha. So I stayed at the mission office until the leadership meeting at 7:30. It was a good meeting and the whole mission was there. It was great to see people that I haven't seen in like a year because I was on Palawan. I also got to see Elder Glodo which was cool. He's with one of the other Canadians in our mission. After the transfer meeting we had to go to the mission home for 2:30 because we were going to work with the new missionaries for their first day. I remember my first day, I worked with Elder Curwen and Elder Polanco in the old zone leaders area in Makati zone. It was funny on the jeepnee we had to pay and one of the new missionaries could not stop laughing because he thought it was so weird haha. I got to work with Elder Woolf that day. He is from Utah and he is going to Pasay zone. Elder Duero got to work with his grandson in the mission because his trainee is training him. So that was also really cool. I can't remember where he is going though. Elder Woolf and I only got to teach once to the Morales family. Then we went to a dinner appointment and had to go because we were already late at getting them to the mission home. We got in a taxi at about 7 and got to the mission home a little bit before nine because of crazy traffic. It was unbelievable! It usually takes us 20 mins to get from our apartment to the mission home but because so many streets and stuff were closed we couldn't get there! It was crazy!!! We ended up sleeping in the mission home and it was really nice because even though I messed up because I should have left earlier, President and Sister Stucki made sure I had a good stay and everything at the mission home, they even fed us breakfast. They are really, really good people.
A few hours after we left the mission home, we had to go back and work with new elders going to Palawan. There was so much travelling it was nuts. That day, which was Thursday we got to teach Sheryl again and a new family who will come to church this coming Sunday. It was really nice. Then they both left and that was the end of working with other Elders. Needless to say, transfer week/holy week(Easter week) was really stressful. :)
General conference was awesome though! I loved Uchtdorf's talk too! I thought it was the best one of the conference. Also, we were really surprised to see April at the conference! She now has a baby! She came and she is now ready to be baptized. We are thinking that if everything goes well and if she still wants to be baptized it will probably happen with Sheryl on the 28th. We are really excited for her.
I love Makati, It was weird being in the city at first but I'm used to it now, so it's all good. Also yes, the activity was a success for the most part, we found a few potential investigators and all of our investigators actually came to the showing. It was a great event. :)
Things are going good in our area, I love being a missionary and sharing the gospel. It's such a great thing to do! I'm excited for this week because we have a lot of potential investigators to go back to. And also, there is Zone leaders conference which is this Friday the 13th. It should be another great experience. Oh, and also, Carlitos baptism is this Saturday, another reason to be really happy!
Thank you so much for all the support! I love you guys so much! Thank you for the package! I haven't gotten it yet but I think it will be here tomorrow when I go to the office. We will just see. I love you guys and hope you have an amazing week! :D
I love you all! :D
Elder Chris Gagnon
Thursday, April 5, 2012
I'm in an internet Cafe right now in tears...
Makati zone meeting
Elder Gagnon and Elder Duero at the service project
Primary kid handing out flyers at the service project
Hello Po!
I'm in an internet Cafe right now in tears. I usually read President Stucki's emails first then I read your guys' last. But before I read your guys' email I just want to share what President Stucki sent.
Dear Elder Gagnon,
I am pleased to hear how things are doing. Yes, you and Elder Duero are staying together. I am pleased to hear about the less-active members you are working with and teaching. That is exciting about your new investigators as well.
You will be pleased to know that I received approval from the First Presidency for Carlito to be baptized. Another reason to rejoice.
I commend you for going to the rescue of your brothers and sisters. The Area Presidency has encouraged us to stay the course and continue this great rescue effort to help less active members come back. While we do that, I encourage you to continue using your spiritual eyes and ears to find investigators to teach among the less active members of the church. I promise you that the Lord will help you find many investigators to teach among the members and help you complete families so they can eventually go to the temple.
Keep up the great work. We have reasons to smile and be happy. This truly is the Lord's work. As you stay focused on your purpose, you will accomplish what the Lord has called you do. You are in our thoughts and prayers. I sure hope you have a wonderful spiritual week!
Mahal ko po kayo,
President Stucki
So Carlito will be getting baptized soon! I am soooooo excited for him! It was such a big blessing to teach him and I can't even describe how I feel that he is getting baptized. :) Anyways, I am now going to read the rest of the reports and emails. :)
This week has been super great! Never received so many texts asking about who is going where and who their new companion is going to be. Haha. Everyone is super excited about transfer day this Wednesday. I know what's happening. Hehe. Only Elder Koochin and Sister Terano are leaving, the 2 part time missionaries are going home and they will be replaced with 2 new missionaries fresh from the MTC. And yes, Duero and I are staying for round 2!
Last week we had to teach for the last week in March and discuss our successes and everything for the month of March. We had a good month. We had 8 baptisms for the whole zone which is the best in 4 months. Elder Duero and I also really prayed on what we should teach to the zone and what we wanted them to learn and apply in the work. We finally decided to teach about the doctrine of Christ which will be the focus of the mission for the next three months and we also tied that in with getting investigators and less active members to church seeing as that is the mission goal. The mission plans on returning 3500 less active members to church. So we tied the doctine of Christ to bringing people to church. Then this week for the first week in April we had more investigators at church and we had 6 come back to activity (4 were in our area). Elder Malits area even had 19 less actives at church! So if the keep going they will have 19 less actives returned to church. We also had 5 baptisms in the zone, so it was quite a good start to the month. :)
We were super happy! Nanay Morales and her kids came bringing 3 of them back to activity in the church and also tatay and their 3 other kids came for the first time! We have been working with the Morales family since we got here and that was the first time all of them came to church! Also we had Alex Garcia who was inactive for 2 years come back to activity and we are going to start teaching his brother this week.
Last week we also met Sister Sheryl who was a referral from the APs. We actually taught her with the APs last Tuesday and that was sort of like them passing her to us. She found the church and came 2 Sundays ago but to the APs Chapel. She was taught once by the APs then by us and the APs. She is really nice and really prepared. I don't think I have ever met someone more prepared in my whole mission. She understands everything and then acts upon it. She has been to church 2ce and she has a baptismal date for the 28th of this month. Oh and last time we taught her she gave us a cake because she appreciates us teaching her! She is really nice.
We also have been teaching Kennedy who also has a baptismal date but needs to be moved because he didn't come to church last week... He will be baptized in May though. :) We also got to teach Tatay and Chris Suarez who are also doing really well but couldn't come to church because they went away last Wednesday but will be back tomorrow. They are awesome though.
Last Saturday we had a service project. We cleaned the streets around the church and spoke to everyone and invited everyone to our Ward activity on Friday. We are going to have a big screen projector placed outside and watch movies about Christ. It should be a really great experience. Also during the service project. We met a family, spoke to them and invited them to church. It was really great to see the ward really involved. The next day 4 of them attended church and we havent even taught them yet. We plan to teach them tomorrow. They are super nice though! They live in a huge compound really close to the church and a few people seem interested in listening to our message.
I love Makati so much. It's so great to be a missionary. I love it EVERYDAY! Haha. Thank you for the package you guys sent. I should be getting it soon. Also thank you so much for all your prayers. I have to go now because time is up. Oh yea. and the word I sent last week, "kahanga-hanga" means something like wonderful or something like that. It's really deep though and people are surprised when I use it. People are starting to say that I sound like a Filipino when I speak Tagalog. I don't feel like I do and I still have this pangit white guy accent. Anyways. I hope you all have a great week! I love you all so much! Mom, good luck with your new calling! I hope and pray that you will do great. I know you will!
Love you guys!
Elder Chris Gagnon
P.S: HAPPY EASTER! :D
Elder Gagnon and Elder Duero at the service project
Primary kid handing out flyers at the service project
Hello Po!
I'm in an internet Cafe right now in tears. I usually read President Stucki's emails first then I read your guys' last. But before I read your guys' email I just want to share what President Stucki sent.
Dear Elder Gagnon,
I am pleased to hear how things are doing. Yes, you and Elder Duero are staying together. I am pleased to hear about the less-active members you are working with and teaching. That is exciting about your new investigators as well.
You will be pleased to know that I received approval from the First Presidency for Carlito to be baptized. Another reason to rejoice.
I commend you for going to the rescue of your brothers and sisters. The Area Presidency has encouraged us to stay the course and continue this great rescue effort to help less active members come back. While we do that, I encourage you to continue using your spiritual eyes and ears to find investigators to teach among the less active members of the church. I promise you that the Lord will help you find many investigators to teach among the members and help you complete families so they can eventually go to the temple.
Keep up the great work. We have reasons to smile and be happy. This truly is the Lord's work. As you stay focused on your purpose, you will accomplish what the Lord has called you do. You are in our thoughts and prayers. I sure hope you have a wonderful spiritual week!
Mahal ko po kayo,
President Stucki
So Carlito will be getting baptized soon! I am soooooo excited for him! It was such a big blessing to teach him and I can't even describe how I feel that he is getting baptized. :) Anyways, I am now going to read the rest of the reports and emails. :)
This week has been super great! Never received so many texts asking about who is going where and who their new companion is going to be. Haha. Everyone is super excited about transfer day this Wednesday. I know what's happening. Hehe. Only Elder Koochin and Sister Terano are leaving, the 2 part time missionaries are going home and they will be replaced with 2 new missionaries fresh from the MTC. And yes, Duero and I are staying for round 2!
Last week we had to teach for the last week in March and discuss our successes and everything for the month of March. We had a good month. We had 8 baptisms for the whole zone which is the best in 4 months. Elder Duero and I also really prayed on what we should teach to the zone and what we wanted them to learn and apply in the work. We finally decided to teach about the doctrine of Christ which will be the focus of the mission for the next three months and we also tied that in with getting investigators and less active members to church seeing as that is the mission goal. The mission plans on returning 3500 less active members to church. So we tied the doctine of Christ to bringing people to church. Then this week for the first week in April we had more investigators at church and we had 6 come back to activity (4 were in our area). Elder Malits area even had 19 less actives at church! So if the keep going they will have 19 less actives returned to church. We also had 5 baptisms in the zone, so it was quite a good start to the month. :)
We were super happy! Nanay Morales and her kids came bringing 3 of them back to activity in the church and also tatay and their 3 other kids came for the first time! We have been working with the Morales family since we got here and that was the first time all of them came to church! Also we had Alex Garcia who was inactive for 2 years come back to activity and we are going to start teaching his brother this week.
Last week we also met Sister Sheryl who was a referral from the APs. We actually taught her with the APs last Tuesday and that was sort of like them passing her to us. She found the church and came 2 Sundays ago but to the APs Chapel. She was taught once by the APs then by us and the APs. She is really nice and really prepared. I don't think I have ever met someone more prepared in my whole mission. She understands everything and then acts upon it. She has been to church 2ce and she has a baptismal date for the 28th of this month. Oh and last time we taught her she gave us a cake because she appreciates us teaching her! She is really nice.
We also have been teaching Kennedy who also has a baptismal date but needs to be moved because he didn't come to church last week... He will be baptized in May though. :) We also got to teach Tatay and Chris Suarez who are also doing really well but couldn't come to church because they went away last Wednesday but will be back tomorrow. They are awesome though.
Last Saturday we had a service project. We cleaned the streets around the church and spoke to everyone and invited everyone to our Ward activity on Friday. We are going to have a big screen projector placed outside and watch movies about Christ. It should be a really great experience. Also during the service project. We met a family, spoke to them and invited them to church. It was really great to see the ward really involved. The next day 4 of them attended church and we havent even taught them yet. We plan to teach them tomorrow. They are super nice though! They live in a huge compound really close to the church and a few people seem interested in listening to our message.
I love Makati so much. It's so great to be a missionary. I love it EVERYDAY! Haha. Thank you for the package you guys sent. I should be getting it soon. Also thank you so much for all your prayers. I have to go now because time is up. Oh yea. and the word I sent last week, "kahanga-hanga" means something like wonderful or something like that. It's really deep though and people are surprised when I use it. People are starting to say that I sound like a Filipino when I speak Tagalog. I don't feel like I do and I still have this pangit white guy accent. Anyways. I hope you all have a great week! I love you all so much! Mom, good luck with your new calling! I hope and pray that you will do great. I know you will!
Love you guys!
Elder Chris Gagnon
P.S: HAPPY EASTER! :D
Sunday, April 1, 2012
Things are looking great in our area!
And that is us at an FHE at Sister Dimacalis' house!
Makati zone without the A.Ps or the office elders singing at the groundbreaking, From left to right, Elder Koochin, Elder Duero, Elder Victorio, Brother(part time missionary) Encarnation, Me, Elder Malit, Sister Gupta, Sister (another part time missionary) Conjelado, Sister Terano, Sister Lopez, Sister Mohrmon and Sister George
Elder Duero and I at the goundbreaking!
Hello Family!
This week was super awesome! We got a ton of work done and things are looking great in our area! :D We had almost no distractions last week so we were really able to focus on our area and on work almost the whole week! :D
Last week I got to go on splits with Elder Victorio in his area. He is actually Elder Koochins anak and he is in his third transfer. He is a good elder. I'm going to recommend him to go senior for the next transfer. Elder Koochin is probably going to leave next Wednesday because this is his 4th transfer here. So yea. We will see what happens. This transfer is going by so fast. Transfer day is already April 4th. I'm pretty sure Elder Duero and I are staying together which is good. :) Anyways, working with Elder Victorio was really good and we had a good time until I got a text from Elder Duero saying we had a surprise meeting with the stake. So I went back to my area, met Elder Duero then went to the stake center. It was just about a ground breaking for the new chapel. the zone was invited to go and we did a special number. We just sang the Spirit of God. It was good. The ground breaking was really good too. There was no rain. :)
Last week we lost one of our baptismal dates. We had Glenda who was committed to be baptized on April 21st, but she left and is now in another mission. We referred her to the Elders in that mission though. It was cool though because later that day we had a lesson with Kennedy and we extended the invitation to him to be baptized on April 21st. He accepted! He has been to church 2ce so far and is doing really great. He is really receptive and understands things very well. :) Also last week we found a tatay and his son and the came to church last week and they both really liked it. It's a bit hard though because the son only speaks Tagalog and Visaya and the tatay only speaks English and Visaya. So teaching them is like a halo of all those languages. Elder Duero only uses Visaya because that's his language and I kinda just use Tagalog when I speak to the son and Taglish when I speak to the Tatay. Haha. I'm going to start learning Visaya though so I can just use that. :) They both seem really good.
Also this week we got a referral from the A.Ps. They taught this 24 year old girl last week and gave her a baptismal date. They say she is super golden. She was actually the one who found the missionaries. But last Saturday the APs realized that she lives in our boundaries so we have to be the ones to teach her and she technically has to come to church in our ward. We're going to meet and teach her at the stake center this week with the A.Ps. It should be really good.
Also, one of the best parts of last week was Sunday. We had 6 investigators at church, which is the highest amount of investigators in who knows how long and we also had 3 people come back into activity meaning they have been to church 4 times in a row. It was very good to see. Also! The best part of church was....Zaldy (our recent convert) received the priesthood! He is now ordained to the Aaronic priesthood to the office of a Priest. Oh and also guess what? HE HAS A CALLING!!!! He was called right after to the Young Men's Presidency of the ward as the second councellor. Elder Duero and I couldn't believe it. We were super happy for Zaldy. I know he will do an amazing job in the Young Men's Presidency! :D
Well that's really about it for this week. This coming Wednesday I get to work with missionaries from the MTC. It's part of their training, so that should be fun I think. I will be working with 2 and Elder Duero will work with 2. So yea. It should be fun.
Oh yea, About my area. It's not like San Pedro, San pedro was kinda like Lasalle with like a million more people. Makati is kinda like New York City or Downtown Montreal with a lot of buildings, traffic, people, noise, big malls, McDonalds. Everything you need you can find in my area. Palawan on the other hand was like Camp Tamaracouta with a lot of people and you couldn't get anything. Haha. Yes, it is humid here. I felt that wall of humidity when I came back from Palawan.
Oh yea, and now that I am in Makati the mission office is really close. It's about a 30 minute walk from my apartment. It's right beside our stake center actually. It's out of my area though. It's in my zone though so I can go there if i need to and not have to get permission from anyone.
Also that's super kool about your new calling! Is that the investigators class? Or is that the class that Brian Carpenter used to teach? I can't remember what the names of the different classes are called, so yea. Anyways if what your talking about is the Book of Mormon, you should also use the Book Of Mormon study guide the institute uses. If you can somehow get one. I have been reading it with the Book Of Mormon for a while and it's really good. I have learned a lot. :)
Anyways good luck with all of that. Also please thank everyone that wrote me and I haven't received anything yet but yea...Thank everyone :)
I love being on a mission so much. It's the best thing in the world. I love you guys so much and hope you have a Kahangha-hangang (deep tagalog word I learned last week. Hehe.) week! Thank you!
Love,
Elder Chris Gagnon
Makati zone without the A.Ps or the office elders singing at the groundbreaking, From left to right, Elder Koochin, Elder Duero, Elder Victorio, Brother(part time missionary) Encarnation, Me, Elder Malit, Sister Gupta, Sister (another part time missionary) Conjelado, Sister Terano, Sister Lopez, Sister Mohrmon and Sister George
Elder Duero and I at the goundbreaking!
Hello Family!
This week was super awesome! We got a ton of work done and things are looking great in our area! :D We had almost no distractions last week so we were really able to focus on our area and on work almost the whole week! :D
Last week I got to go on splits with Elder Victorio in his area. He is actually Elder Koochins anak and he is in his third transfer. He is a good elder. I'm going to recommend him to go senior for the next transfer. Elder Koochin is probably going to leave next Wednesday because this is his 4th transfer here. So yea. We will see what happens. This transfer is going by so fast. Transfer day is already April 4th. I'm pretty sure Elder Duero and I are staying together which is good. :) Anyways, working with Elder Victorio was really good and we had a good time until I got a text from Elder Duero saying we had a surprise meeting with the stake. So I went back to my area, met Elder Duero then went to the stake center. It was just about a ground breaking for the new chapel. the zone was invited to go and we did a special number. We just sang the Spirit of God. It was good. The ground breaking was really good too. There was no rain. :)
Last week we lost one of our baptismal dates. We had Glenda who was committed to be baptized on April 21st, but she left and is now in another mission. We referred her to the Elders in that mission though. It was cool though because later that day we had a lesson with Kennedy and we extended the invitation to him to be baptized on April 21st. He accepted! He has been to church 2ce so far and is doing really great. He is really receptive and understands things very well. :) Also last week we found a tatay and his son and the came to church last week and they both really liked it. It's a bit hard though because the son only speaks Tagalog and Visaya and the tatay only speaks English and Visaya. So teaching them is like a halo of all those languages. Elder Duero only uses Visaya because that's his language and I kinda just use Tagalog when I speak to the son and Taglish when I speak to the Tatay. Haha. I'm going to start learning Visaya though so I can just use that. :) They both seem really good.
Also this week we got a referral from the A.Ps. They taught this 24 year old girl last week and gave her a baptismal date. They say she is super golden. She was actually the one who found the missionaries. But last Saturday the APs realized that she lives in our boundaries so we have to be the ones to teach her and she technically has to come to church in our ward. We're going to meet and teach her at the stake center this week with the A.Ps. It should be really good.
Also, one of the best parts of last week was Sunday. We had 6 investigators at church, which is the highest amount of investigators in who knows how long and we also had 3 people come back into activity meaning they have been to church 4 times in a row. It was very good to see. Also! The best part of church was....Zaldy (our recent convert) received the priesthood! He is now ordained to the Aaronic priesthood to the office of a Priest. Oh and also guess what? HE HAS A CALLING!!!! He was called right after to the Young Men's Presidency of the ward as the second councellor. Elder Duero and I couldn't believe it. We were super happy for Zaldy. I know he will do an amazing job in the Young Men's Presidency! :D
Well that's really about it for this week. This coming Wednesday I get to work with missionaries from the MTC. It's part of their training, so that should be fun I think. I will be working with 2 and Elder Duero will work with 2. So yea. It should be fun.
Oh yea, About my area. It's not like San Pedro, San pedro was kinda like Lasalle with like a million more people. Makati is kinda like New York City or Downtown Montreal with a lot of buildings, traffic, people, noise, big malls, McDonalds. Everything you need you can find in my area. Palawan on the other hand was like Camp Tamaracouta with a lot of people and you couldn't get anything. Haha. Yes, it is humid here. I felt that wall of humidity when I came back from Palawan.
Oh yea, and now that I am in Makati the mission office is really close. It's about a 30 minute walk from my apartment. It's right beside our stake center actually. It's out of my area though. It's in my zone though so I can go there if i need to and not have to get permission from anyone.
Also that's super kool about your new calling! Is that the investigators class? Or is that the class that Brian Carpenter used to teach? I can't remember what the names of the different classes are called, so yea. Anyways if what your talking about is the Book of Mormon, you should also use the Book Of Mormon study guide the institute uses. If you can somehow get one. I have been reading it with the Book Of Mormon for a while and it's really good. I have learned a lot. :)
Anyways good luck with all of that. Also please thank everyone that wrote me and I haven't received anything yet but yea...Thank everyone :)
I love being on a mission so much. It's the best thing in the world. I love you guys so much and hope you have a Kahangha-hangang (deep tagalog word I learned last week. Hehe.) week! Thank you!
Love,
Elder Chris Gagnon
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