Maligayang Pasko!!

Wow what a week! well first off we had our christmas conference with 2 other zones and it was really good! we even got to watch a "Babilonian" movie "the ultimate gift" watch it! it's way good but it was good to have that! haha i don't really know what to talk about cause i just talked to you guys on the phone and it was way good to hear you guys! the was the best gift i could ever get! and i was proud there were no tears! oh yeah haha. well this week was better the work was good and we were able to find some more less actives and help them it was really neat. a lot of them came to church and i was way pumped and im hoping it wasn't just cause it was christmas. but that's the culture here is most people only go to church on christmas so we'll see what happens! gotta have faith! haha our christmas day here was nuts! haha we had a eating appointment every hour from like 2 to 6 and i don't think i have ever eating so much food in my entire life haha but the people are really nice and just want to help us out! we have a busy schedule this week and im excited for that and hopefully we will see some real progression from that. haha waking up on christmas morning and seeing the sun shining and it being warm outside was a little different then i am used to and it was a little lonely for sure. Church was absolutely amazing and the spirit was so strong and i was really grateful for that service. i started feeling kinda sad and lonely but i was quickly reminded by the spirit what christmas was all about and it made things a ton better and it will be a christmas i never forget! sounds like you guys had a great christmas as well! that's really good to hear and im glad the family got together and had a good time! i'm reminded all the time of the many blessings we have out here and all that we have to be grateful for. just like the hymn. count your blessings! it really makes a difference and helps! i really appreciated everyones letters i got in the christmas package! oh man that was the greatest! reading everyones testimonies really helped strengthen mine and i thank you for taking the time and writing them! the language is still tough and i have my days but i feel its slowly getting better. just have to have patience, perserverence!! and hard work. haha sorry i'm at a loss of words cause i just talked to you earlier haha. well i love you guys and thanks for everyones support in all this! hope everyone had a merry christmas! and a happy new year! love you guys. mahal kita Elder Machen

First Baptism!

wow what a week! this week was definitely a trying one! it tested my patience and everything i had haha. but it ended up being really rewarding! so the work has been kind of tough lately and i was getting frusturated with my tagalog but i felt the lords blessings and things worked out. i realize how much the lord really provides for us out here and it really blows me away. just when we are discoureged cause we cant find someone or have nobody to teach the Lord blesses us and something comes through, it truly is great! well the most exciting part of my week or most spiritual was definitely saturday!!!!! My 1st baptism! wow let me tell you we were stressing cause friday night was the ward christmas party and so we talked to our ward mission leader to see if he had gotten everything ready for the baptism, the speakers, clean font, clean clothes all that stuff and he hadn't done a single thing!!! and we tried getting him to ask people at the party but for some reason i couldn't really undestand, he wouldn't really. so we were stressing to find speakers and all that stuff to make it a good baptism! well saturday morning came and we were at the church by 8 so we could fill up the font and try and get things ready cause the baptism started at 10. so we were working and cleaning calling and trying everthing. so 9:30 rolls around and no one is there! finally a sister shows up to type up the program thank goodness! 9:45 still no one! im stressing cause i'm hoping people show up! espically our investigator! 10 comes and still no one! then the bishop and our assistant ward mission leader comes he's a stud he's an Rm and helps us a ton so anyway our investigator still isn't here! i'm thinking man i really hope she shows up! haha but at about 10:10 she finally shows up at the church and everything ended up working out great! we had speakers clean baptismal clothes everything worked! what a tender mercy from the lord! oh man it was the most amazing experience seeing that baptism it was truly neat! it made everything worth it! i'll send some pictures from it! but that was a great experience. then we interviewed two of the koreans for baptism and i really dont know what's going to happen there cause the girl is super ready but her brother still wants some time and says he wants to be baptized with his sister so we have to work on him and help him get prepared! so saturday was a really cool day. but sunday was when it got really real! so were sitting in sacrament before it starts and Elder turns to me and says your going to confirm her. i was like are you serious! he's like you'll do fine and so i was gettting way nervous! for some reason sacrament and church is all in english so i could do it in english but still i was way nervous cause i was put on the spot big time! so we go up there and i thought bishop was just going to have a counselor or elder katigbak do it but when he asked who, elder said elder machen will do it! so i confirmed her a member and gave her the gift of the holy ghost and a blessing. it was a amazing experience i was way nervous but the spirit helped me big time. i truly felt the saviors love for this person and us as missionaries. i never thought i would be doing anything like this and it is amazing work we are doing! seeing someone take those steps and put their faith in christ is awesome! our investigator also bore a powerful testimony and it really blew me away! she's a very neat person and has a desire to learn more about the church! so that was the really exciting part of the week! just a fun fact for you haha i've lost 15 pounds already hahahah. a member had a scale and so i weighed myself and couldnt believe it! haha it's good though cause i was kinda chubby before so i'm good with it! haha. My zone leader Elder Frandsen has been helping me with the language so much! we went on exchanges and had like a two hour language study and it helped a ton! every philipino here says he's the best foriegner tagalog speaker in the mission so i'm in good hands. he's a stud and we get along really well. I can't skype but i'm thinking about calling home next p day or on sunday just depends on when we can get members phone so just be expecting either sunday or monday haha cause i'm really not sure yet! and it will probably be in the night time there so morning here. haha sorry i don't have more details. i'm doing good though just keep plugging along. we have our christmas zone conference tomorrow so i'm really excited about that! well family i love ya and wish you a merry christmas! i'll talk to you next week!!!!! Mahal Kita Elder Machen

The True Meaning of CHRISTmas!

Kamusta family! wow this week was a tough one but really good! before i tell you about that i want to share something i was thinking about yesturday at the 1st presidencies christmas devotional. So here in the philippines it doesnt really feel like christmas at all haha. and i have to admit i was feeling kind of lonely and sad about being away from home this christmas. When we would go teach and talk to people in there houses i would look around for the lights and the christmas trees...where's all the christmas stuff? and house after house there was nothing...i thought to myself these people don't even know what christmas is all about! and then it hit me...maybe its me that doesn't know what christmas is all about...maybe i'm to caught up in the presents the lights the material things of Christmas! Last nights devotional really hit me. what is the true meaning of Christmas? i've been pondering that alot and like the 1st presidency said its all about Christ. its a time for us to remember him and his great atoning sacriface. thats what christmas is really all about. we don't need the fancy presents and things to make us have a good and memoriable christmas. Its all about our lord and savior Jesus Christ. i've come to learn a very valulable lesson this week. These people here may not have money to buy presents and even room in there house for a tree but one thing they do know is the true meaning of christmas! i'm thankful for this great lesson i've learned, i know when i was back home i got rapped up in the presents and the neat things and hardly thought of what christmas is really all about. so if i could give you a gift from the philippines it would be just to focus on the real meaning of christmas and remember our savior Jesus Christ!
so this week was a tough but good one! our investigator is still going strong and is still going to be baptized this weekend! i'm way excited for her! its great. one cool thing that happened this week was i was with elder frandsen our american zone leader and we were in a taxi going to this house that was kind of far away and the taxi driver was asking a ton of questions about the church and was way interested haha the spirit was so strong and it was inside a taxi! way cool then we taught this way nice family and on our way home the taxi driver was asking a bunch of questions. i was thinking no way two in a row!!! it was so sweet he said he really liked what he heard and wanted to find the church and take his family there! what a neat experiance. haha i was way pumped when we got home cause two taxi drivers were way interested it was pretty cool. haha but finding the less active is a lot harder then we ever thought! the records we have of the people aren't complete meaning we don't have complete addresses and so we can't find the houses. we walked around for like 3 hours just trying to find one house! haha we dont have to much support from the ward but we're just pushing forward and doing the best we can. i'm learning to love this place and the people here more and more each day which has been a great blessing in my life. i just want to be able to help them more and more and they truly are really nice and great. i'm good though don't worry about me the lord is watching over us missionaries more then i ever thought! im glad you guys are doing well! thats awesome to hear your going to the temple! i never knew how much i loved the temple until i couldn't go to one! so keep going and recieve the great blessings that come from it! i love you family more than you would ever know! i'm thinking i might call home the 26th here so that will be christmas day for you there! i'll keep you updated. anyways i love you guys and hope your having a great christmas season! keep the faith and it will snow! love you family talk to you next week! mahal kita elder machen

Needle in a Haystack

kamusta family! holy cow where do i even begin haha. it was another good week kinda tough and slow. well first off i didnt get transfered and neither did my comp so thats good he only has like 5 weeks left so i'll be here in baguio for at least another two transfers which i am very grateful about cause i love it here. but one of my good buddies from the mtc got transfered into our district elder mansfield. he's a stud and we have the most legit zone! so it should be a good next couple transfers here. but the work was tough, trying to find people's houses here is like trying to find a needle in a haystack haha its way hard cause the numbering system is all messed up and we don't have complete addresses of all the people. so alot of our time is spent walking around for hours looking for these houses and talking to members trying to figure out where they live! but its good we've found some and its going to be tough to get these people to come back because they've got every excuse in the book. haha some people see us and hide cause they know exactly why were there haha. but its good im seeing a little improvement with the language and its good i've been studying it hard and have been truly blessed by the lord with it. im really excited for this new task in getting these people to come back to church haha i just need to understand what their saying and how to respond but with patience perserverence i know i can do it!. oh yeah i got a package from the schamps haha i can't spell im trying to hurry but it was way nice of them! they sent me a little christmas tree that you can decorate and they kept the tradition alive and sent me a ornament it was way nice of them and i really appreciated it. i also got a letter from kathy! haha i was way pumped when i saw that. its always good to get mail! and i got a letter from the stosichs! it was way good to hear from them it really made it a good week! oh yeah some exciting news! i'll be having my first baptism this dec 17th! we've been teaching this girl shes 26 and dating a RM so that helps a lot to. shes really progressing and has been coming to church and everything! its been really cool! the spirit is so strong everytime we teach her and she shows great faith! the koreans are planning on being baptized the 25th. but they have a hard time at church cause they cant really understand anything so they sometimes don't come which is beginning to be a problem! so i dont know there but ill keep you updated. oh man we had stake conference yesturday and Elder Maisulcha from the 70 came and spoke to us and holy cow it was amazing. it was about support from the leaders in helping reactivate and he told what was up and what was needed to hear. the spirit was way strong. haha he was way bold. i couldnt believe the stuff he was saying! he really reemed into the priesthood leaders and how we need to step it up. he's a way good speaker and i think it really fired up the people here. the philippines are great and im glad im here. i just feel so blessed its crazy! im going to try and send some pics home. but i love you guys and i thank you so much for your support! this is truly the lords work and we are all enlisted! remember that! love you family oh yeah i can call home anytime this month so when do you think? im thinking christmas or christmas eve let me know! Mahal kita Elder Machen

History For Mission In The Philippines!

Well what a week! we had a tri-zone conference this week and president jensen came and told us some crazy news. They had mission president training this last weekend and the area president had some big news. It seems my mission has completly changed for the next two years. in the mtc our purpose was to invite others to come unto Christ and be baptized. well things have changed around here! im quoting President Jensen who quoted the area president. "baptism is no longer our highest priority" when we heard that you could hear a pin drop. dont get me wrong its still a high priority but not our highest. in the philippines only 20% of recent converts are still active. so the other 80% are not. so starting this last week our mission is to rescue and reclaim the lost. a 100% of our time is spent teaching and bringing back the less active members. holy cow it was a shocker. president said this is history for missions in the philippines because it will probably be like this for the next 40 years he said or until we start making some big improvements! haha so its going to be a lot tougher job now. but we just have to buckle down and go to work. it was a good week lots of stuff going on and trying to get things organized for this new thing. my comp is district leader so were pretty busy most of the time getting things done for the district and interviews for baptism. we have 6 investigators that have baptismal dates but the 5 are the koreans and its hard to get things figured out for them because their parents aren't here and we need this form signed because their minors. so its kind of frusturating but its good there super excited about their baptism. the other one is this girl shes dating an rm so things look promising for her. she's really intersted and even came to church again this week so it was really good! dont worry about me im doing fine. haha this work is just physically, emotionally and spiritually draining sometimes. but its amazing cause the lord is always there to pick us up when we are down. haha i'm getting skinny!!!! this guy in the ward saw my BYU-I card and said i was fat before haha. thats almost like a compliment here but i looked at him like he was crazy haha. but lots of people that see pictures of me before say that hahaha i just have to laugh cause i was defiantly not fat before. oh well i cant believe i've been here for one transfer. time hasn't really gone by that fast but its starting to. we find out whos getting transfered on wednesday so i might have a new comp because he's been in this area for 3 already and they rarely keep them in for more than that but since its his last transfer who knows. but yeah its crazy that my mission is totally changed now. its crazy but we just have to bring back those less actives and be bold. our mission pres told us to be bold but loving. i just can't wait tell i can speak the language so i can help these people out more. it will come though. are zone leader elder frandsen is american and has been out as long as kody morgan and he's way good at tagalog so he's been helping me out a ton cause we see them alot. so it just takes time. i'm truly learning the meaning of patience out here let me tell ya haha. this place has really opened my eyes to a lot of things. i've learned more out here than i could anywhere else. its crazy. i went on exchanges with elder frandsen and we were talking about how much this place has opened our eyes to how blessed we are to live where we do. haha about thanksgiving they dont have that here. to be honest i couldnt even remember what day it was on. One guy asked me and i couldn't even remember. haha. hopefully christmas will be good. Baguio is alot different than the low lands and they say that Christmas here is better so im hoping it will be good its kind of weird not seeing snow and being cold but im not missing the wind! haha. the lords blesses us so much out here its amazing. he truly looks after his missionaries. we're just trying to work hard and get things done. its a great feeling to know we are helping people out in the best way possible. i'm starting to realize how important the church is and all the things we do in it. i think i took it to lightly before and i feel kind of bad about that. this is important stuff were doing here. this is people's eternal salvation and im trying to get that engravin in my head so i can be more driven and effective. but i love this gospel and i know its true with all my heart. i've learned to love the book of mormon and have realized that whenever we need answers to questions and we search dilegently we can find them in the book of mormon and that has been a great blessing in my life. i just want you guys to know how much i love and appreciate all you do for me and the sacrifices you have made for me in my life. i'm really humbled when i think back in my life and realized the sacrifices and the things you have done for me to get me where i am today. i can't tell you how grateful i am for you guys. you have no idea! just know i love you and to have faith in our Savior. always remember him! Mahal Kita Elder Machen

Humbling Week!

wow what a humbling week it was! holy dude man it was crazy i started feeling better and so that was good, but it was just one of those weeks where things just weren't falling into place. i dont know i really feel the Lord wanted us to learn something from this week and i haven't figured out what that is yet. it's good though can't complain. i was truly humbled this week with a lot of things. where to begin, 1st off i realized how important it is to have the spirit with you and to recieve guidence from the spirit. without it we are just lost 2nd, i realized that we are so blessed to live in the US and to have the things we do. we taught this kid he's 18 and we went to his house and there's 3 of them that live there and honestly it about humbled me to tears cause this house was probably 6 by 8 room straight concrete and and small bed in the corner. and he had to sleep on the floor. i looked around for a pillow or blanket but nothing. it was really sad but he seems interested in the gospel and i know it will help his life. 3rd, i realized how blessed we are to go to our pantry or fridge and eat whatever we want. haha you dont have that luxury on the mission. i've never gone to bed hungry before and i can tell you that's how people live here. i was truly humbled when we go home at night and realize we have no food and end up eating like a pack of raman noodles. it just really makes me realize how blessed we are. this week was tough though it really tried my patience and faith. im not going to lie i got frusturated this week cause so badly i want to learn the language so i know what people are saying. it drives me nuts not knowing what people say. it was tough but i had to remember it takes time and i have to have the right attitude about it. it will come. but nobody seemed to want to listen to us this week haha. man every investigator or former investigator or less active either didn't have time, didn't want to, or wasn't home. man it was tough but the lord sees perfectly and so we just have to have faith and know things always get better. one good thing is we had a some promising investigators come to church this sunday! we were way excited! so that was good. haha im still working on the christlike attribute of patience and charity. i can truly feel the love from the Lord for us missionaries and it drives me to try harder. the mission is the hardest thing i have ever done but i've already learned so much i couldn't have learned without it. so its been really good. haha yeah i've lost a lot of weight haha i still can't believe it when i put my slacks on in the morning im like holy crap what happened haha. its all the walking and not eating we do haha. its not bad though. sounds like im going to have to watch out for karter when i get home! that's good he's working hard and getting stronger! Way to be Broski! haha that's awesome. Mom you workaholic! take it easy would ya haha. your awesome and i love getting your emails everyweek. Dad haha i totally forgot about that letter i sent off when we first got here and had to laugh cause i remembered that experiance. haha im glad you got a kick out of it. hmm what else. haha i dont know it was a tough week for work. were waiting to hear back from our mp about if the Koreans can get baptized. there a special case so we have to get approval. they're great though and show a lot of faith. two of the boys didn't come to church yesturday and said they don't like the church meetings so we have to work on that. my companion only has about 1 month left haha he's getting excited about going home and i have to give him a hard time telling him he better be married by the time i come home so i can go to his wedding haha. it's funny the philipino humor is really different. sometimes i dont think he understands what im saying cause they don't really get american humor. haha i know this week will be a better one just got to keep working. it's weird looking at the calander and seeing that its november and its hot outside haha can't say i miss that cold wind. haha no they dont celebrate thanksgiving here. but it's been christmas here for about 3 months now, any month that ends in "ber" its christmas haha. its funny. haha i got a letter from kathy and tyler this week and it was like christmas morning! haha tyler sounds pumped about his mission call! that's awesome he's turning his papers in soon. well family be safe out there and don't have to much fun without me haha. i love you tons and hope you have a great thanksgiving. Mahal Kita Elder Machen

Holy Cow!!!!

Well the inevitable happened this week. i thought i was going to be an exception! oh boy was i wrong. i got the "mimis" this week and they struck like a freight train. "hope you laugh at that" oh man i dont think i have ever been this sick in my entire life! it started up saturday morning and i can't remember the last time i have been this sick haha it was rough. i have been just gettting some rest and trying to get better. i tried to go as long as i could on sunday but couldn't quite make it through the day. i hate not being able to work it really bothers me but the mimis got the best of me this time. i managed to make it here to the computer shop to write you guys a email but im really not feeling good i have the flu or something really gnarly haha. oh well i'll be fine. no worries. im thinking it was from the "isaw" my companion made me eat hahaha. isaw is chicken intestine!!! yummy! haha no it was disgusting and tasted like straight blood. that may be why im so sick but who knows haha. this week was a good week. i felt some improvement on my tagalog. i was able to understand a little bit more which i knew was completly from the Lord cause it was pretty neat. i was able to teach a little bit more. we went on exchanges this week! my first real exchange and i was kind of nervous but i was with Elder Demis he's from Canada, hes from ottowa. haha i can't spell. but he's a stud and helped me with my tagalog. so we went to his area in la trinidad. its a way cool area. so we went around and started teaching and he would just be like ok elder machen your giving the scripture and the thought. and i was way nervous but he helped me and it ended up being better then i thought. he said my accent was pretty good and that i have good sentence stucture and i just need to work on vocab and congigations. so that made me feel good and on the exchanges we ended up giving 3 priesthood blessings! i was surprised when one of the guys asked me to give him one because we were on exchanges and he didnt know me but i just had to put trust in the spirit that i would know what to say and boy did the spirit help me out a ton! it was a neat experiance. the mission is amazing. its the hardest thing i have ever done and i have had to learn patience like never before. and you guys knew me before i wasn't the most patient person hahaha. oh one thing i wanted to share with you is for personal study i was studing moroni 7. i came across what i thought was one of the coolest things. after reading it i came up with my reciepe for recieving the lords blessings and for me learning this language.1. Having Faith that Jesus is the Christ and our Savior. 2. having Hope that he can do whatsoever thing is expediant of Him. 3.Being meek and lowly of heart or humble. 4. Having Charity the pure love of Christ, thats one ive really been striving for, and 5. Obediance. read verses 33-48 and you'll be able to see more of what i'm talking about but i thought it was cool and wanted to share that with you. but then we had a teaching appointment with elder demis and we thought it was going to be just like 2 people but it ended up being like 8 people! haha oh man i was super nervous but we had a rm there to help us and it was good we taught the restoration and i was just trying to understand what they were saying but the natives speak so fast haha. anyways the rm was teaching this one part and elder demis leaned over to me and said ok you got prophets. i just looked at him like are you serious! haha. he just smiled and said you got this. well i did my best and managed to get a few sentences out and he filled in but it was pretty cool. just trying to improve everyday. the lord really helps us alot out here. it was good though! it was a great week besides me getting sick but all is well. haha i have to say the girls here i kind of ridiculous sometimes, i cant go anywhere with out people yelling out guapo. which means handsome. haha i have had people tell me to take them back to the US. haha its pretty ridiculous sometimes. haha when we were teaching that group of like 8 with elder demis they were mostly girls around the age of 20-23 and they asked if i had a girlfriend and i had to just lie and said "yep sure do, shes waiting for me" i figured telling a little white lie would be better then.... well who knows haha. but yeah something kind of funny for yeah. haha sorry this email is kind of all over the place im just trying to write fast! but it was a good week. yesturday was kind of frusturating cause we still couldn't get our investigators to come to church except the koreans. they still all want to be baptized which is good but turns out they might be a special case baptizm so we have to talk to president about that. oh well as long as they get baptized sometime thats all that matters. well i hope everything is going well for you guys sounds like your doing great! hopefully winter turns out to be a good one! im going to miss not having a white christmas haha. but everybody says christmas in baguio is pretty cool so im excited about that. oh yead dad i tried my card and it worked i dont know if the bank is going to be shutting it down soon cause they will see its been used in the philippines but if so just tell them the situation and it will be fine. oh kim asked about the food, well the food is pretty good just lots of rice and meat. the meats a little different but i like it. haha i like being in baguio cause theres lots of mcdonalds and kfc haha so we eat there alot. but i have already lost a lot of weight especially from being sick. haha today i put my slacks on and was like holy cow what happened. the waste was way loose haha. oh well. i've been working out everyday so ill get that six pack back haha. oh yeah christmas package mom. just send american candy ive been really craving it lately and oh if there is a extra ipod laying around like karters gray one or his touch you could send that to me because i pods here are ridicoulous expensive so maybe do that if possible and i would apprecitae it thanks a ton for everthing glad things are going well for you! Mahal kita Elder Machen

Some pics from the Philippines

The Mission is Awesome!

Wow this last week flew by! haha which is good cause it means we were working hard! This week was a alot of people didn't want to listen to us and we got shut out a couple of times but its all apart of the work! we taught some good lessons and the people seem to be intersted. i was able to contribute a little more in the lessons and i feel the lord blessing me, its coming slowly but surely. haha the philippines are still crazy though but im learning to like and make a good time out of it. this week we got alot of rain, my 1st experiacne with rain and ill tell you idaho has never seen rain like this haha we were soaked one night and we had to hurry to a dinner appointment. haha theres so much that goes on during the week its hard to remember all of it and write it all down haha. but you have been asking about church.. well church here in baguio isn't too different from home well haha ok it is but i guess compared to the low lands its really good. they do their sacrament meetings in english but its broken but i can still understand it. you can tell the church is still young here but its coming along. i like going to church the members are real nice and they always help me with my tagalog. haha thats awesome Sister Divine added you on facebook haha i was at their house and she kept telling me she wanted to add you on facebook so thats neat. she's really nice and always helps the missionaries out. she has a great family and their kids are funny cause they won't speak tagalog they only speak english haha. but she's great. we got to go back to urdenta this week for new missionary training and i got to see elders dalton and tapusoa. it was awesome to see them again and we couldnt stop laughing about all our experiances already haha. Elder tapusoa is like a big brother to me out here, he's such a stud! love that elder. but yeah its my companions 21st birthday today haha! he's funny and i was trying to get him excited about it and he was just laughing. he goes home in two months. but he's a great elder and has really been helping me out. the lord really does bless us out here alot and its amazing how much closer i've come to my heavenly father since being here. i have grown to love reading the scriptures and the stories they hold. the book of mormon is central to everything and what a blessing we have to have it. some of my favorite time during the day is personal study in the morning cause i get to spend time reading and studying and applying the scriptures. one big thing i learned this week was with out faith and trusting in the lord we can't do anything. i've realized how important faith is and to never be slow in remembering our many blessing we recieve each day. the mission is awesome! when we teach lessons and i usually dont know what they're saying it doesn't really matter cause i can deffiantly feel the spirit and its incredible. i was able to contribute a little more and i know heavenly father is helping me say the things i need to say every lesson. haha it just makes me smile all the time haha. but i'm getting into the swing of things and am staying positive and learning to laugh at certain situations that i have no control over. another thing this week i had to focus on was patience. oh man let me tell you i was getting frusturated when we would go from lesson to lesson and i couldnt really understand what they were saying. i want to help but i couldn't understand haha so i really had to have patience this week and just know that it will come. theres a guy in our ward that went to the naga mission and knows clay reed! haha it was cool cause we talked about that for a little bit! he also new my roommate dan from byui. haha it was cool but yeah things are good here and im just pushing foward every day. haha can't complain. i love getting everybodies emails every week. its good to hear how everybody is doing and things. mom sounds like you have been quite the busy bee haha, settle down! haha joke lang. means just joking, but seriously haha. thats good to hear you like what your doing i know that makes things alot more enjoyable! Dad i love getting you emails everyweek and hearing about how your doing and everything. such a stud! haha i think about all the stories from your mission you told me and just to work hard and forget yourself in the work. it really gives me motivation to follow your example. Karter my man! thats good to hear physical therapy is helping you and your excited about ski season. i have to admit im going to miss that and sledding alot. haha its kind of weird to look at my watch and see that its novemeber 7 and its hot outside. im used to the wind and snow haha. just keep doing work bro! love yeah. thanks for all the emails i get from everybody. i feel bad i cant email back but i really do appreciate gettting them from everybody! im going to try and upload some pictures so hopefully it works and gives you a little idea about what its like here. haha up and down all day long haha my legs are going to be in shape ill tell ya! haha ive already lost weight, you can see it in my face my comp was looking at some pictures from the mtc and was like oh man your already skinnier! haha then i looked and was like oh man your right haha. all the little kids ask why i have dark circles under my eyes haha. hope everything is going well for you and you have a good winter!

WOW!!!

Wow first off thank you so much for everybody that wrote me this week. means a lot. im sorry i cant reply to your emails because we are not aloud to kind of annoying but just trying to be obedient. well let me just start off by saying what a week! i have truly felt all your prayers this week becasue the lord has truly blessed me. this week was a lot better and im getting into the swing off things. the more i listen to other elders talk they say im pretty lucky getting sent to baguio. its not really hot here its perfect. we have a warm shower and so the living conditions arent too bad compared to other places. haha the language is still kicking my butt, i cant understand a thing about whats going on during the lesson but this week was a pretty good week i would say. one of the coolest things is we were teaching a family from korea and they dont speak tagalog and just a little bit of english. so i got to teach the lesson and it felt great haha. i guess my companion and his companion before had been teaching them but they both speak pretty broken englsh. anyways at the end of the lesson i invited them to be baptized and they said Yes! wow i couldnt believe it! it was truly a miracle from the lord. what a blessing. some of the kids went back to korea so we couldnt set a date but still its a work in progress. haha my comp says the people in baguio are a little meaner then the ones in the low lands because we had trouble having people want to listen to us haha kind of frusturating. but we extended i think 3 or 4 other baptizmal invitations and they all said yes. haha i usually invite them but thats just because i can say it and elder katigbak is trying to get me involved as much as possible haha but its a neat expercience to teach a lesson and feel the spirit so strongly. but yeah this week has been pretty good and cant complain ive realized this is where im supposed to be and i just need to do it! haha the lord has truly blessed me this week. haha baguio city is crazy i have no idea how in the world they built this place because its just tons of houses stacked on each other on hills that are straight up and down its crazy! haha i told my comp that they literally built a concrete jungle on top of a real jungle haha it blows my mind. but the living conditions are super poor and its really sad to see. it really makes me realize how blessed we are to live where we do and with a nice house. i wish i could show you the all the things. im sure brandon miller knows exactly what im talking about. the food is good we usually just eat at mcdonalds or macdo haha and kfc. so nothing to weird. i refuse to eat balut. the fertilized duck. haha everyday they try and get me to eat it but theres no way. haha tons of rice. everywhere you go has rice haha. but the food is good and i havent gotten sick at all yet. im trying to eat as little porations as i can so i dont get sick. ive learned that in america we live to eat and here people eat to live. haha ive learned you can go along time without a meal. haha let me tell you though im going to be able to jump out of the gym when i get home becasue the stairs and hills we climb everyday are no kidding straight up and down haha. im working out everyday and that helps out a lot. man i dont know what else to say. its been a lot better week. hope everything at home is going well. oh yeah the things here are a lot different haha i dont know how to really say it without being inapporiate but its happened a couple times where we are teaching a lesson and all of the sudden the women will just start breast feeding right in front of us. i was like are you freaking kidding me!!!! so thats usually when we just end quick and get out of there. its crazy! thats just what people do here i guess. its funny when we walk through these poor areas and all the little kids are little shy but they always stare at me then say to there friends.. "look americono!" haha i just turn and smile and usually give them a high five or something then they laugh and run away cause the people are really shy here. haha its funny though. the people here are really nice. when we walk through the big mall here i get some real dirty looks haha it just cracks me up because i know they dont think there doing it. theres just not any americans around here. im trying to take pictures but i never really have time to and i dont want to look like a tourist haha. ill try and take some today during p day. cause its pretty cool this city is. thats awesome chandler got home!! haha he wrote me and says hes hating life at home haha thats funny. payton goes in soon to doesnt he? i think like november 17 right? awesome! he'll do awesome! well im just trying to keep going and get the language down so i can start contributing but its been a lot better this week. i love you guys so much and you are so awesome! thanks for all the help and support and uplifting advice. it really helps espically all the emails i got from friends and family that are RMs. it really helps. anyways thanks for everthing ill try and take more pictures and sorry i didnt address all your questions. we dont have a lot of time. MAHAL KITA Elder Machen

A Simple Testimony

Pamilya! holy crap this place is nuts! the philippines is so crazy, if you guys could look for 60 secs what i see everyday it would probably break your heart. These people have nothing here. its pretty sad. i think im still in shock about the whole thing cause its pretty rough. the culture is nothing like america. not one bit. haha i have no idea whats going on most of the time i just follow my comp and bare a simple testimony. we teach and talk to alot of people. idk its only been a few days so nothing too exciting has happened. my companion invited this one lady to be baptized and she said yes haha but i didnt know that until the planning session that night because i cant understand anything. the plane ride was really long but ok. im in baguio right now in the university branch. one nice thing about baguio is that its nice and cool so its never too hot. oh and we have a heated shower! i guess thats pretty rare here. its been rough trying to get adjusted to everything. most people live with families of like 6 in something that looks like those little shops on the side of bruces house. there that big to. unreal. my bedroom at home is bigger than some peoples houses. its crazy and most don't even have more than 1 light bulb. we taught this older couple and they had to unscrew the light bulb in the kitchen and then move it into the living room. haha i had to do it because everybody was too short. haha i think im the only american here besides the other elders in the zone cause i have yet to see one. just be very grateful for all the things you have at home like somthing as simple as a fresh glass of water! and all the nice conviences of the US. its crazy how people live down here. but yeah its been a hard few days trying to adjust. everybody just stares at me because im a tall white guy and sometimes ill pick up AMERICONO! haha here in baguio i dont get called joe i guess thats just in the low lands. man i dont know what else to really say. the traffic here is ridiculous because there are no traffic rules whatsoever and riding in jeepnies are kinda fun haha. hope everything is going well back home and hope you guys are doing good. pray for me out here cause its 100000 harder than anything i've ever done and i could use the prayers. im trying. the language is completly different. people can barely understand the tagalog i do know so they tell me i can speak in english but i just say no im trying to learn tagalog and they respect that. the old couple we taught who commited to baptizim. the old guys name was fred and he asked if i spoke tagalog and i just said a little. he wasnt very intersted in the lesson and went back into the kitchen to cook again and he can't hear very well. so when it was my turn to bare testimony he looked down at me and came back into the living room to listen. i almost started to cry and he just looked at me and listened. it was neat. then after i was done he went back into the kitchen and started cooking again. so that was a neat experiance. my companion is a stud, he is a really hard worker and is setting a good example. his name is Elder Katigbak. but yeah its been rough but just trying to get through this first couple months then hopefully things will start to get better. love you guys and stay strong. my mission presidents are amazing! they're really nice people. well family i dont know what else to say haha. love you guys more than youll ever know. being half way around the world in the craziest country in the world is a lot harder than i could ever imagine. love you guys very much. Mahal kita.

Check it Out!

I wish this was a post of a letter from Elder Machen, but we haven't gotten his first letter from the Philippines yet, but Sister Jensen, his Mission Pres. wife has a blog.  She has posted pictures of the new missionaries who just arrived!  So exciting to see him there!  We are hoping for his  e-mail  tomorrow!!  So check out the Baguio blog.... BaguioJensen.blogspot.com

Holy Cow!

Kumusta pamilya! holy cow can you believe its already been two months! its gone by so fast i dont even know what to think! i leave monday! so dang exctied though and super nervous haha. our last week in the mtc was good just like any other week just our schedule got a little messed up with getting ready to leave but no worries. man i dont even really know what to say! just a flood of different emotions! its crazy im really excited to go though! this is what ive been called to do so im exctied. haha its going to be one heck of a ride haha and i have to say im just ready to go

do work. the language is going to be tough but i know i ll be alright! hope everything is going great for you guys! haha i dont really know what to say today just cause its such a crazy feeling! haha im excited for the flight and airport! maybe an opportunity to spread the word! haha the flight i think is like 14-15 hours so thats not to fun. i leave the mtc at 6:30 monday night and fly out of salt lake to san fran at 9:50 so we get to san fran at like 11:30 or something like that, then we leave san fran at 1:20 in the morning and fly straight to hong kong! we get to hong kong on wednesday because of the time thing haha crazy, then we fly to manilla and im not really sure about the times of that haha. but ill probably be able to call at salt lake so make sure you can talk from like 6:30 to 9 or something. haha once i get to manilla i have no idea what happens next, i dont know if we bus to urdenta or they pick us up! haha i have no idea. so that should be exciting. but it will be quite the travel time and im sure ill be spent. cant tell you though how grateful i am to be serving a mission and really understand how much of a privelage it is. its going to pretty neat! dont worry about me the lord will be watching over us espicially. no worries. tell everybody i say hi and i love them.

We're Really Doing It Harry!

Kamusta pamilya! this week was another great week in the mtc! oh man how did you guys like conference! it flew by I don't think ive ever taken so many notes in my life! it was a great conference though it always is when we can hear from the prophet and apostles! i really got a lot out of it! hope you guys did too. this week was really amazing and i was so blessed. the lord blesses us so much its insane! i was so grateful for the blessings i received it was a good week. things are getting close though! we got our travels plans yesterday and the butterflies are coming! man its insane its already been about two months! where did the time go! its so crazy! im way excited though its getting really close. We're Really Doing It Harry! haha dumb and dumber quote for ya. after conference though the desire to preach the gosepl to the philippines is even more on fire haha. the tagalog has been good this week the lord is truly blessing us with the language. its amazing how much we've learned and what we can do. last night we have this thing called TRC its where RM's or members that speak tagalog and we have to teach them for 40 min, so we planned our lesson about revelation through prayer and we kinda planned it around two RM college kid, well when we got in there it was a native right out of the philippines! oh man i was nervous! but we just prayed that the spirit would help us. oh man it sure did! teaching straight tagalog for 40 min is kinda tough haha but the spirit really led and guided us! we taught her and the spirit was there for sure! oh and to tell you she is a recent convert!! that made me really nervous to but the spirit was there and it was amazing! and at the end of the lesson she said are tagalog was really good for only being here 8 weeks. the lord truly blesses us! so that was really cool! some really amazing things happened this week it just makes me so excited to get to the philippines! i know its going to chew me up and spit me out hahaha but ive gained a lot of faith in the mtc and especially reading the book of mormon about all the missionary stories in there have really brought me great comfort! its great here and i cant wait for all the adventures im going to have! well have a great weekend and i love you guys so much take care and always remember the lord in all things. Love you guys! Mahal Kita! Elder Machen

Ready to start this Adventure in the Philippines!!

kamusta palmilya! hope your all doing great at home and i hope karter is doing alright! i was super bummed when i heard about that man i cant imagine the pain he must be in! im praying for him! this week was another great week in the mtc haha not much else has happened the same ole same ole haha but its dang cool the spirit is super strong and it, this week was good cause i heard some things that i really needed to hear and read some stuff in the book of mormon espically about faith. so it was a good week, i feel i made some progession with the language and was very thankful for that its amazing how the spirit works in here. hope the team can paint those goal posts blue this year! its been to long haha cant wait to get my camera back that will be super neat haha we got the new districts in haha and they're alright haha, i just cant wait to get to the philippines and start this adventure! im really excited for general conference! it will be really cool experiance and the rumors flying around this place is that there going to announce something that will change missions forever! i dont know what that means i guess we will have to wait and find out! im super excited to hear about it though! so pay attention. i get to usher for the sunday session in the big aditorum here so thats cool we get reserved seats that are really nice haha. sorry theres not much to tell haha nothing has really happened just a lot of spiritual experiances, we are truly looked over and blessed out here on the mission its unreal, i was reading from the book of mormon and it was amazing, the book is so dang powerful its unreal, i challenge you to start reading it and start with a prayer before you read and it will make a big difference, there is something important from every verse, its so dang cool!!!!!! i cant even begin to tell you how much i love it. i hope the fam is doing great and everything is going well for you back home, im doing great here and loving it, getting really excited to leave, we get our travel plans next week!! im pumped so ill tell you more about that next week, this is starting to get really real haha! but i love you guys and hope everything is going well! Mahal Kita Elder Machen

HOLY SCHNIKEES! (as Kegan would say) AMAZING WEEK!

kamusta po kayo pamilya?! it was great to get your letters and dear elders this week sounds like it was a good one! tell karter to get his butt in gear and write me or email me or something haha geez i want to hear from my little bro! things are going great out here had an amazing week. went for a good rollercoaster ride but nothing i couldnt handle with help from the lord. the langauge is coming weve been learning alot and sometimes is so much to take in but im working hard and it gets better every week. its crazy to think i only have 3 more weeks in the states until im outta here and over to the philippines! holy schinkees haha im getting scared! im super nervous but i know ill be alright. they do a great job here to prepare us. oh man let me tell you the impact it made on elder tapusoa that you guys wrote him! man he was really exctied and touched that you guys did that! haha Dad he said you were way funny, i dont know what you said to him but he sure laughed and enjoyed it haha love you pops, momma bear he came and gave me a hug after he read your letter and said that it was really nice and that it made him feel really good. you guys are so awesome, i just brag about you to all the elders and tell them how awesome you guys are! elder moore says hi, he's next to me emailing too. well you wouldnt believe it but for tuesday night devotional we had another Apostal come and talk to us. Elder Russel M. Nelson. we got the specail edition of the ensign you guys should get it i think it comes out soon, but he came and talked with us about the importance of the BOM. we went over the Ensign and he shared a ton of amazing things, i can offical say i studied the Book or Mormon with a Apostol of God, a member of the Quorum of the Twelve. i thought that was pretty neat. thats 3 Apostols since ive been here!! man were blessed! and again we had amazing seats like 10 rows from the front it was awesome! the spirit those guys carry with them are amazing. well nothing to exciting this week happend they all seem to blur together so i cant rememeber haha. i need to bring my journal with me so i can remember, but teaching went ok this week started off rough then got better. still progessing with our investigators and thats a good feeling! i cant believe its been over a month already man times weird in here. the temple was good this morning did sealings again and after we do that we get to go to the celestrial room and theres no one there and its an amazing peaceful feeling. spirit is so strong! i got a package from bryce and he loaded me up! hes awesome and i sure love them, everybody was asking if they could but the mtw dew from me haha i guess it is true you can make some money in the mtc. wrights also sent me a package and it was really nice, i need there address so i can thank them for everything! i may just send a bunch of letters home to you guys then you can send them out! hope karters doing well in football i want to see pics and exact details of how he plays, haha elder moore and i and elder day look forward to getting those letters to see how he did haha its funny they dont have little bros and i just brag about karter and they already think he is the biggest stud...which he is. everyday they ask if i got a letter about how is game went or how he is playing haha its awesome. i have a stud little bro. i got a letter from grandma and grandpa and that was really good! haha they really make me laugh! they said they were worrried i would loose a lot of weight in here cause i dont like hardly any food and espicially the ones that are good for me haha. i love them so much! im loving the mish! its amazing and i have come to find a new and profound love for the Book of Mormon, its amazing and i wish i would have studied it more when i was home, oh well its all good, really study it pamilya! it will do wonders for your lifes. that book can answer any question you have about life and i know that to be true. keep doing work out there pamilya! you guys are awesome and i know that! Mahal Kita. Elder Machen

Let The Lord Take Your Burdens

kamusta pamilya! oh man what another great week out here in the mission field! i think we have to be one of the most blessed missionaries in the mtc because for tuesday night devotional we had another general authority come! Elder M. Russel Ballard came and addressed us! it was amazing! i love hearing from the apostles. he said so many great things and a lot of my prayers were answered. this week i was really struggling with the language and it seemed i had it a wall. i was super frusturated and was doubting i was ever going to be able to speak the language and had been praying really hard for help. well tuesday night it had come and Elder Ballard seemed to address all the questions i had been pondering. what a wonderful blessing from the Lord! ive learned alot here already alot about the gospel and alot about myself, its amazed me, i was truly blessed this week. one of the hardest things about this is not being able to physically talk to you guys, cause at home whenever i had a rough day i could talk to you guys about it and it would help...well i cant do that here hahaha so one thing i have really learned is how to pray and let the lord listen to me and take some of my burdens away. let me tell you its been hard sometimes but it has truly blessed my life and i know he listens and answers our prayers! lets see what else happend. its been a really up and down week and its sometimes hard to stay postivie but i try my best! i have great guys in my district and we all get along really well, elder day and i study language cause hes awesome at it and weve become really good friends. him elder moore and elder tapusoa are like brothers haha. oh something neat happened last night. so since we got here i started in our district ugly tie thursday haha casue i have a lot. well yesturday a elder in our district elder calinog asked if he could wear one of my ties, i was more than happy to let him wear one. well elder calinog is philippino and he is a recent convert to the church. he is amazing and a very hard worker! well he loved the tie and when we came home after the day was over he came to give me the tie back and i just said keep it! its yours. i want you to have it! he was overwhelmed with gratitude. i never thought as something as little as giving a tie away would effect someone as much as it did. he was so thankful and really excited about it. none of his family is lds and so hes out here without much background support and i have so much respect for that elder. so that was really cool. kaleb is good! i saw him and talked with him for a little bit he brought me some sweet slim ties haha im repin the slim ties out here hahah. the language is tough i feel like i kinda hit a wall and im just trying to break through but im trying! Elder moore is good ever since Elder Holland came and spoke he has been both feet in! its really great! the food is still bad haha i could use another care package hahahaha. those pics of karter are awesome my whole district was like what a stud!!!! elder moore who plays at utah state was like that kid is a freakin stud haha everybody was impressed and i was one proud older brother haha! i dont remember how much i weighed when i got here but im now 175 but im not fat haha me day and moore wake up early bought twice a week and go running around the mtc, so thats helped and we've started doing ab work outs and other things so its been good. so i dont think i have gained any weight. kaleb said i looked skinnier but who knows haha im not to worried about it. hows everybody doing back at home? im sure there great but tell them hi for me! i love them! um the oldest district right now only has one week left so after that we will be the oldest district haha and we get a ton new philipinno elders so that will be good! i getting good at tie trading not going to lie haha. im really shootin for the slims and paselys now haha. but i really do love it here and im really starting to learn whats truly important in life and how blessed we are! i love you guys so much and appreciate you more then you will ever know. after doing sealings today the sealer said to us that we should really thank our parents for living their lives righteously and allowing us to be born into the covenent and how blessed we are because of that and i realized how true that was. so i want to thank you ma and pa for allowing me to be born into the covenent and recieving those wonderful blessings that the lord has bestowed upon us. love you guys!

Don't Sweat the Small Stuff!

kumusta po kayo?! it was good to hear from you this week and all the neat things happening at home! i love hearing about karters football games sounds like he is tearing it up! i love it, he is such a stud love you bro!! kard man you have to let me know how things are at home, and what i mean by that is who is your big crush now hahahahaha keep it real at home bro! your the man! prepare to go on a mission cause its the greatest thing youll ever do in your entire life. well this week was a big rollercoaster hahaha. i swear thats what a mission is! just a lot of ups and downs. still though cant complain i knew this was going to be a challenge and im still loving it. this week was good and i was really blessed with the spirit and i really felt like i was blessed and was able to get back to myself. i was in a little funk for a little bit cause i was so stressed with everything but its all good. the craziest things started happening to me this week. everytime i started feeling bad for myself or getting really frusturated i was quickly reminded by the spirit that i am doing whats right and to just buck up and quite feeling sorry for myself. the thought always popped into my head this isnt about you this is for the people in the philippines and to serve the Lord so get over it. hahaha i love how the spirit was straight forward with me. it was a neat experience and it happens all the time it was pretty cool. this week teaching our investigators went well the tagalog is slowly but surely coming along haha im a little slow when it come to putting sentences together and my grammer is really bad but it went well. ive been getting alot of help from Elder Day, he is a pro at the language and helps me out a lot. he has become a great friend of mine. Elder Moore is still like my brother here haha hes the man, with both stuggle with the language but help each other. the spirit here is unlike anything else, its really neat. im getting excited for the BYU game next week becasue we have gym time that night while they are playing so were just going to go out and try and listen to it ahahah. youll have to let me know how it goes. i love hearing all the stories. thank you so much for the package this week! that was a great surprise for the day. i think i about finished off the whole bag of chips last night haha. i love the ties! the slim ties here are awesome. you guys are the best. thats awesome about berg hes the man. haha tell brandon miller he my grammer is still pretty bad so when he translates my testimony it might not be completely right. haha but im trying. every thursday we have a thing called TRC i dont know what it stands for but we go into a room and teach RM's that speak tagalog so it can be pretty nerve racking at times. but its pretty fun and good practice. learning a language is tough but its completely worth it. i love you guys so much and ill try and bear my testimony again. Alam ko po na totoo ang Aklat ni Mormon. alam ko po na sumasagot ng Diyos ang panalagin. Alam ko po na tagapaglitas po si JesuCristo. alam ko po na buhay propeta si Thomas S. Monson. alam ko po na mahalaga po ang panalagin. si pangalan ni JesuCristo, Amen. i love you guys so much and thank you for all the support. Dad thats awesome that you bore your testimony in church. thats awesome. Your such an example to me and everyday i think about all the important lessons you taught me espically about not sweating the small stuff. im still working on it haha. mom thats awesome about your new Job! sounds like your really going to enjoy it. Proud of you! im writing in my journal everynight so if theres anything i forget in my emails you guys can read it in two years hahahaha. ive seen alot of people i know here! saying goodbye to steve kinda stunk haha cause i was kind of envious that he got to leave this place hahah but its all good i saw him everyday while he was here and we would chat for a little. but ive seen austin reece a couple of times and ryan conan, blake brinton and some kids from IF. i cant wait for kaleb to get here haha im pumped for that! hes going to love it! the older district left on monday and that was tough because we made some good friends. and we didnt even get a younger district so were going to go from youngest to oldest. well im getting kicked out of here so i love you guys!!

Oh Man What a Week!

ANO BIYAN! TALAGA?! Pamilya haha i was surprised when i saw no email from you guys this week haha its alright i got your letters and it sounds like your doing awesome! on man what a week! i cant believe how fast it went by! the days feel like weeks and the weeks feel like days haha. on man there is so much to tell you where to start. well i should probabyly start off by tell you about the coolest thing that happend this week. For tuesday night devotional Elder Jeffery R. Holland came and spoke to us! it was amazing. and boy did he let us have it haha. i love Elder Holland because he doesnt beat around the bush. he tells yeah just how it is! he talked to us about how everybody love the missionaries, and that the members look at us and think that we are perfect. well were not but they have the right to think that and we do not have the right to defile that! let me tell ya he got really animated when he said that! it was unreal. he said how we need to repesct and honor the name we bare on our tages. he talked about how his mission was the greatest thing in his life besides getting marred and how much it ment to him. one thing he said quote, "one thing that really pushes my hot buttons." is when a missionary goes out for two years and then comes home and acts like nothing has happend. oh man he got really animated and let us have it! it was amazing to feel the spirit that guy carries with him. he didnt even bring a talk he just got up there and was directed by the spirit about what to say. it was incredible. the things that happen in the mtc are like nothing else. we got a new investigator and he is a tough one and we were struggling but this last time i really felt we taught through the spirit and i now it really helped me when i was teaching, it was a really neat experiance and strengthened my testimony. the language is coming we learned a ton this week and the oldest district helps us out a ton! they all leave on monday though which stinks but at least we wont be the youngest district anymore haha the new batch of philippinoes are coming in haha. we had the opportunity to go to the temple to day and it was an amazing experience! we did sealings for the 1st time and it was a great experience. we had the greatest group of people in there and they truly were great to us. after we were done elder moore and i went to the celestial room and we were the only ones in there! i have never felt the spirt so strong in my life. i cant even describe it to you but it was truly amazing. we learn so much everyday about how to teach, study the scriptures, and be guided by the spirit this is truly the lords work and we are just merly intruments in his hands. theres no way i could do this with out the spirit. it would be impossible. i love you guys so much and love getting your letters and dear elders about how things are going on there. i would like to share my testimony with you guys. Alam ko pa na totoo ang Aklat ni Mormon. alam ko pa na buhay tagagpaglitas si Jesucristo. alam ko pa na totoo propeta si Thomas S. Monson. Alam ko pa na totoo ang Ebanghelyo ng sa mundo. Si pangalan ni Jesucristo, Amen. this is a marvoulous work and a wonder that happens in the mission field. i love it so much and i love you guys. keep your chin up when times are rough and just earnestly pray and have Him lighten your burdens. Elder Holland also talked alot about prayer and how we need to "wrestle" with the spirit and have a pray that "fights" its way into the presence of our lord. i have really learned to pray out here and the difference it makes is really neat. Karter i want to challenge you to work on your prays and really pray from the heart and not just recite it. i know that if you do this you will be blessed and you will see the difference it will make in your life and our families life. Love you Bro!! Mom and Dad i couldnt do this without you and thank you for the support. Love Elder Machen

Great Week!

Pamilya! yeah haha its been a great week! sorry i dont know how long this email will be im cause they only give us 30 min and i have 13 mins left haha. but yeah its been good, ive been learning a lot and cant believe how much in the short amount of time ive been here! i have the best branch presidency and zone and district! we get along so well and i have made some good friends! haha the food here is rough! i swears its not real or something cause man its just not that good! but this week with our investigator we kind of struggled with the language and teaching the lessons that she needed to hear. thats one important thing i learned this week is really focus on your investigator and get to know them and what they need to hear out of the gospel. we have a new one we get to teach this week and its going to be a tough one but im ready for the challenge. its been a little frusterating with my companion cause he hasnt really helped with preparing our lessons but all is well and it will be alot better this week! i love you guys and miss you! im trying and working hard and the blessing are unreal. we are so blessed in this life and ive realized that and how important missionary work is. haha sounds like karter had a good football game! Karter you are such a stud! love you bro and stay healthy so you can keep doing amazing out there haha, youll have to teach me how to fly fish when i get home. sounds like you guys had a good time! Mom thats awesome about all your opportuniuties that have come up! im so proud of you! i think you should do it! sounds like an amazing experience! ill send home so pictures next week of our district i think youll enjoy them! things around here have been good we got to go to the temple today and that was a good experienece. we did inititories! the work here is tough and i dont know what i expected but its harder then i ever thought it would be, this week was a little tougher but i realize i just have to stay postivie and im loving every minute of it! its amazing! Dad i love you so much and hope everything is going well! ive enjoyed the updates of the football and youll have to let me know throughout the season! stay positive and trust in the lord and everything will work out i have faith! you guys are the best family ever! i love you all so much and apprecitate all you have done for me. oh real quick i could use so more bottoms garments. medium drylux. and i dont remember but they have it written down in there! im out of time but i know this church is true and i love this gospel so much i know this is were im supposed to be and the lord blesses us so much love elder kegan machen

Loving this Place

Hey Pamiliya! kumasta po kayo! haha hows it going, im absolutley loving this place it is amazing! i dont understand how but its honestly amazing! 1st order of business!!!!!! i forgot my wallet in Grandma and Grandpa car!!!! it has my temple recommend in it and i need it by friday! so please overnight it so i have it next week i would greatlyl appreciate it! its in the back seat right behind the driver. excuse my spelling im trying to hurry! theres so much to tell you guys theres just not enough time! man ill tell yeah angles walk the halls in this place and im not talking about the elders haha the spirit is absoultly amazing! 2,700 elders sure brings the spirit into this place. its weird ive never been happier! haha everyday i get up and just think how blessed i am and i have the most optomistic attidtude like ive never had before its great haha! i probably have the coolest distrisct in the world there are awesome! elder lundy is my companion hes great! then the other to in my room elder tapusoa hes from New zealand!!! haha man those islanders are awesome! haha hes my favorite we always joke around and he makes me laugh so hard! the zone im in is great to! but to the serious stuff! everyday we have class for like 4-6 hours and its straight togalog no english! haha its crazy and overwhelming at times. but yesturday we had to teach an investigator in all tagalog!!!! haha we know like nothing but its amazing how the spirit helps you out! i was able to get across somewhat of what i trying to say and i thought it went well, today on the other hand i felt it was a disaster! its frusturating when you want to speak to her and explain things but i dont know how haha but all is well its good practice and i havent used my notes both time. haha like elder Tapusoa would say just freestyling it ahahahaha! but i am so happy and just want you guys to know how much i love you guys and appreciate everthing everyone has done for me to be out here! i cant thank you guys enough. tell everyone hi for me and make sure to check your email every friday! oh man were always so busy here its nice cause theres no time to dwell on things. its just work work and study study all day haha. usually i would hate this kind of stufff but i absolutly love it i cant even describe how happy i am! haha ive only been here 4 days and it feels like a month haha time is weird in this place! i wrote you guys a letter but it just got sent today! haha oh momma bear maybe if your filling genoruous you could get me those glasses cause those would really come in handy so i dont have to wear my contacts all the time casue my other glasses i dont really like at all haha. all is good though ive been learning my testimony and prayers in tagolog and thats pretty neat! umm but yeah please just send my wallet very quickly cause i need the money in there to buy things that i need. you guys are awesome and i love you so much! i think ive already seen everyone that i knew was going to be in here so thats cool. ive seen steve everyday and we even ate lunch together so thats nice always seeing a friend. im trying hard and i feel good about it. haha my P days are on friday so be expecting that and i guess people can email me and i can write them back excpet immediate family. haha i got on today and there was no email from anybody haha!! umm im still a little rusty but im going to try this, my testimony in tagalog. "Alam ko po na totoo ang mga pamiliya ay sentro sa plano ng Diyos, at muhal po tayo ng Diyos. Ang kaalamang ito ay tumutulong sa akin kapag, at mulungkot ako. Nagpapasalamat ako para sa ebanghelyo. si pangalan ni JesuCristo. Amen. haha i memorized that and said it to our investigator rosalie! haha she understood and it was a neat experince. oh yeah real quick its awesome cause we have gym time everyday and at first i was playing basketball but i suck at that so i went and tryed 4 square! holy cow you would think its like a religion in this place!!! people get so intense overy it and i was just cracking up at them! i was playing with a whole zone that was going to mexico and i was the only kid there not in there zone haha oh man i was laughing pretty hard cause a couple of the kids would be so pissed if they got out! haha i thought i would share that little funny story! but i love you guys and your great! hopefully you see this fast! cause i really need my wallet! so please overnight that so i have it fast.i can get another recommond here but i would rather not if you guys can just send me mine! haha pasensya im a little paranoid about it. haha but i love you guys and all is well with me! i can tell this is going to be the longest 8 weeks of my life but i know im going to enjoy it so much! I LOVE THIS PLACE SO MUCH!!!!! oh yeah i would like to know where payt is going im assuming he got his call but how would i know :) oh man i got 2 min left but i could go on forever the spirit is amazing and i love my district i wish i could tell you all about it cause its amazing~!!!!!! know that i am perfectly ok and that i love you guys! tell everyone hi for me i love this so much and i know that this church is true. i know this is what i am supposed to be doing and have found a great lovel for the book of mormon.