302 days

Dearest Family, (yes Domenick [Elder Casper] is family...)

Well... Where do I start for this week... Elder Ferrer and I have been having a lot of fun lately. We've finally managed to get things going here, after the countless weeks of Elder Liquiran and I trying... Guess we just needed some fresh ideas... Earlier today the Assistants called because the had a question... But it totally wasn't funny what they did.. Elder Morgan calls and starts with "Elder Archuleta, Kamusta? (How are you?)" We talk for a little bit then he asks "Well Elder Archuleta are your bags packed?" "My bags? Why?" Elder Morgan laughs and says "Cuz you goin home son!" Totally freaked out.. Then he laughs more and says he's kidding.. Good thing this assistant is actually a good friend of mine here in the mission... Other than that, Elder Ferrer and I have been rather busy, I've basically been teaching him everything I know so that he can be a better missionary than me when he gets to where I'm at... SO I will make peeps sad by saying no pictures this week. Remember as a missionary I am to be like Christ and do as he did.... And He didn't have a camera... But this week I'll make sure to take pictures.

Love to everyone! Have a great week! Read Alma 37!

Elder Archuleta

How many of these are left? I lost count...

DEAREST FAMILY and othe peeps who will be reading this,

Yo! California! What it do? 

Well today has been a good day. There are two other Elders here who are also from California, so I feel very Californian right now. Elder Ferrer and I have just been at work like usual... Like I've been saying not much is changing... Which might be why things are actually kind of boring.. Because that was President Lopez's thing, constantly changing EVERYTHING all the time. But The new mission president, President Ferrin, is actually kind of funny too and he's really cool so I'll enjoy him for the time being. 

Well, where do I begin? ... *crickets chirping* Yep. That's kind of how my life is. Wake up, eat, study, eat, teach, go home, plan, eat, sleep, repeat. I've been working on Tagalog and English actually, because it's just gone pretty much. But I think I'm going to try to do something fun this week or have something happen or JUST SOMETHING... I did get the package though! :D But the candy is like already almost gone... But I really did enjoy the letters. Jake's was the best.. "and I was like Bro.. Calm down..." 

I think I have a few pictures to send, I'll check. 

Elder Archuleta

He never sent any pictures.  :(

asdfjkl

Well you can tell I'm running out of clever names for my emails..

Well this week has just been the same as usual. Not a whole lot happened, but we do have some fun things going on this week.. Wednesday we have a training with the new mission president... so HOPEFULLY that'll turn out well. It's a 3ish hour ride to the area where he's going to be giving the training (and like 20 minutes from my last area) so slightly excited for that. 

Elder Ferrer and I have been just doing our thing... He's been doing really good at learning Ilonggo.. So probably by the end of this transfer he will be like 95% fluent.. But we've been doing good so far. He's been teaching me Tagalog so that's been really fun too! That and Dad emails me and first thing I read is Ilonggo... Apparently Tagalog too.. And Cebuano too! :D Just a lot of languages goin on here...

Well, no word on the package.. I've been following up like everyday on it.. it's making me sad. 

I'm going to try to fix my sd card and get some pictures going, so I'll just end here. 

Elder Archuleta

Pictures!!

Waterfalls... Half my zone (we're all elders here)

Letter from President Lopez February 8, 2014

My wife and I sincerely appreciate all your prayers. Your faith and fasting generated so much hope in my pursuit of becoming better. Thank you for the many messages of hope and support. I wish I could respond to each one of them individually. We are so overwhelmed with your pure expressions of love and extending your hands of assistance. We love our missionaries! Being with them is living closer to the Lord- the joy and the witness of the pure love of Christ is always manifested in these young men, young women and dedicated couple missionaries. It had been a wonderful journey to be with them during our mission. We will carry these amazing experiences with us for eternity. They will always be our missionary sons and daughters and family. I am a living evidence that faith gives more life than we could ever imagine- I am a living witness of the power of the atonement of Christ, it heals and it enables. The power of the priesthood, as we diligently seek it, can always be manifested in us beyond our comprehension. I’d like to give me some time to heal. My children and their families who are around me provide sufficient comfort and ease at this time. We love you all! Thank you for your prayers and your support.

The people of Negros will always be in our hearts. The members and leaders had been an amazing strength in our missionary efforts. We will always cherish our friendship. I testify that the Lord is hastening His work in this small part of His vineyard- the missionaries and members are fully engaged in accomplishing this marvelous work in the Bacolod Mission!

We have a Facebook group for our returned missionaries “Philippines Bacolod Mission Returned Missionaries 2012-2015”. We desire to keep in touch with you- our dear elders and sisters.

 

Marlo Oliveros Lopez

Week number kwan....

Hello Family! 

So this week, as usual, we've just been trying to get used to things here. My companion, Elder Ferrer, is new in the mission (Hence I'm training him..) Today alone is his 5th day. We've been having fun though. I've been teaching him Ilonggo and he's teaching me Tagalog! :D It's cool. But when it's just the two of us, we just speak English. Last night we were singing the Pokemon theme song... He's basically a Filipino version of me. We get along great, and we actually did okay this past week, even though we only got to work for 3 days. Monday was P-day so we were here in Kabankalan, Tuesday we were in Candoni, Wednesday and Thursday we were in Bacolod, so Friday, Saturday, and yesterday we were able to work. But this week we have all week, so Yay! :D

I emailed Kara like last week (or last last week)... but it's Kara. She's almost as bad as Shayna... Who also hasn't emailed me... Whatever. 

Pictures! I'll send those in a sec.

Sincereeereelty 

Elder Archuleta

And then we got this....

Hold on I might just kill someone.. I think this computer just delelted all my pictures..

 Sad face :(

Letter from President and Sister Ferrin to the parents 1-30-2015

Sister Ferrin and I are so pleased to introduce ourselves to you and thank you for your missionary's consecrated service in the great Philippines Bacolod Mission!

We are thrilled to serve with your missionaries here and we look forward to their miracles.

We add our faith and testimonies to yours as we pray for the recovery and health of President and Sister Lopez. They are our dear friends and we have served with them here in the Philippines for the past two years. We spoken with them several times this week. He is out of the hospital and they have been given an apartment in Salt Lake near the Church headquarters. His body is weak but his soul is full of faith. They feel your prayers and express their gratitude. He will begin his full time employment with the headquarters CES department in March. She will return to Bacolod the last week of February to retrieve their things. They are optimistic and hopeful. Please keep them in you prayers. They are marvelous saints!

When we arrived here in Bacolod on January 28th we bid farewell to the departing batch. Elder and Sister Echo Hawk of our Area Presidency conducted the departing missionaries final interviews and blessed them with their testimonies.  Your  missionaries will long be remembered and appreciated. Their experience and success will inspire us all.

Also on January 28th we welcomed the 20 newly arrived replacement missionaries. Sister Ferrin and I had the blessing of traveling from Manila with these wonderful new missionaries. She and I had been serving in Manila for the past two years as the Missionary Department's In-Field Representative for the 32 missions in the Asia and the Philippines Areas. Traveling with these new arrivals reminded us of our days as the Mission President and wife in the Philippines Naga Mission in 2007.  What a treat it is to be with your missionaries! We look forward to loving them all!

We seek your support and prayers as we go forward. We know this is His work! Our prayers are with you in this great Hastening of the Work. Your support for your missionaries is essential to thier happines. 

With sincere love and appreciation,

President and Sister Ferrin, Philippines Bacolod Mission

Onward ever onward!

Week number 40 something.. lost count

Dear Family, 

So this week has been really interesting.. Let's start with the good news!

So my area is kind of the armpit of our zone... We usually have the lowest numbers, that kind of thing. But this past week we finally we able reached the zone goals (and actually exceeded them a bit too). Not as good as when I taught 90 lessons that one week, but going from 20 lessons (on average) to 59 is an improvement. AND WE HAD A BAPTISM!! 3 to be exact. I was so happy. I absolutely love them (will include picture). Brother was kind of what we call a "palagpat" (puh-lug-put) which means he's basically the same as Jackson... (I forget the English for it, but this word doesn't really translate into English..). When we first met him, he was a little mad and told us that we cannot teach him, but he'll go to church that Sunday. He came to church, went through sacrament and classes, and after church apologized to us and asked us to teach him. Best part, HE'S OUR NEIGHBOR! :D So we can always follow up on him and see how he's doing. He's also one of those converts that you know will stay in the church. Every Sunday he brings a notebook and takes notes during classes, He gave his testimony last fast sunday (he was still an investigator at that time) and when he gave his testimony on his baptism, i think the spirit had a body because you could just feel it and you knew it was the Spirit... It's crazy, his wife (still an investigator) says he's changed so much, and so have their two grandchildren.. But they are my absolute favorite family EVER. 

So other than that I have like a bajillion pictures to send... 

Oh! I forgot! Elder Liquiran got transferred earlier today! And I have a temporary companion now (Elder DeGuzman) because on thursday I'LL BE TRAINING AGAIN! Woo! DLT! (District Leader-Trainer). So hopefully there will be pictures somewhere.. Even if it means I have to take them... We'll see.

Love to you all, be safe and stuffs.

Elder Archuleta

Pictures!!!!  FINALY! (No explanations or commentary on them)