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.