" Nourish ourselves with the word of God"

Man this week was a good one! the weeks are flying by and by the time i sit down to write you guys an email i can't remember what happened! But i'll do my best to remember! so we started out good we had a lot of lessons and i was praying hard that we would have a lot of less actives at church and the lord sent down his many tender mercies and we were able to see the fruits of our labors! we had a bunch come and it was really good to see! This week is some of the lessons we could feel the spirit so strong and we knew we were working through the spirit! It was just one of those weeks where we just seemed to get the work done! it was a great feeling coming home and being exhausted because we had had a good days work! I'm really learning alot about life and how this gospel really helps us. i remember at home i think i was just going through the motions doing this and that but one thing so valuable that i've learned so far is that when we really devote ourselves to the gospel and put Christ first in our lives it makes all the difference! I was pondering this week how we can help some of our members return and help them realize they need the gospel. "what is it going to take to help them understand?" well we just have to nourish them with the good word of God. and that goes for all of us we all need to nourish ourselves with the Good word of God! I promise it will make all the difference in our lives! So this week was good, we had fun and got the work done! The spirit truly guided us this week and it was necessary for us to have a good. I'm really just loving the mission right now and things are going good! i'm trying really hard to remember what else happened and i'm drawing a blank! sorry this is so short! but today for Pday is way cool because in my area in bauang there is nothing there so we got to come back to baguio for pday! its like coming home! so thats fun! we had some run ins with some people that just wanted to argue with us and thats always annoying! but one cool experience i just remember is we were walking home one night and this guy drove past us on his scooter then hurried and turned around and i thought oh great this guy just wants to argue with us! but i was completly wrong! he asked us if we had a book that he could read!!!!!! oh man we were like oh of course we do! and gave him a book of mormon and he was way excited! so it was just a reminder that heavenly father is preparing these people to here the gospel! I love you guys and hope everything is going well for you! Talk to you next week! Elder Machen

"Walk in His Footsteps and Follow His Example"

Funny story that just happened here in the computer shop... so i just barely sat down and some dirty american guy here asked my filipino companion if he had been to SLC and he said no but my comp is from Idaho and so i said yeah i have... expecting him to be nice, then he went off! oh man he started ripping into us in the middle of the computer shop saying " you guys can preach all you want but this world and problems and religion is not going to solve anything!" and then i Laughed and said "well you know Sir i have to disagree with you on that one!" and before i could get another word out he just went off again and so i just laughed, turned around and started emailing you guys hahaha.
Wow what a week! it went by so fast i feel i hardly remember it! that's the problem with emailing haha is i have so many things going through my head i can hardly remember what went on during the week haha. anyways it was good and of course full of challenges. but i'm thankful for the challenges because they help us become stronger missionaries. So i want to share something i came across during my personal study this week. so i was thinking about our less actives and why they are having a hard time and they always say "elder it's just hard" and always have a bunch of excuses so i was thinking and read a handful of scriptures and came to this conclusion which the spirit gave me. so of course this life is hard and of course we have things that are painful and afflictions and whatever you can think of right? well think of the life of Christ. think of how Perfect he was. think of how merciful he was to the people and no matter what he did they still persecuted him. they still spit upon him. they did everything to him and even crucified him. What's are purpose in this life? it's to become more like Christ and our Heavenly Father. so if the Man who walked perfectly here on earth had a hard life i think we who walk so imperfectly are going to have a tough time too. we're going to have bumps in the road, things happen unexpectedly. things that are unenjoyable and hard But...because Christ is there and went through it all..We can do it too! Keep Pushing Forward. the things we go through are nothing compared to what Christ went through but are going to make us stronger and help us become more like him! We just need to walk in His footsteps and follow His example and everything will be alright!
so i was grateful that i was able to learn that from the scriptures and the spirit! So this week i really put praying to the test! everynight i really tried my hardest to pray with all my heart and like Enos wrestle my way into the presence of the Lord. and the difference in everyday was amazing! the spirit was more abundant and helped me more with everything! i got a great letter from tyler awhile ago and he said remember "you've only got 2 years to serve and a lifetime to think about it" and so i'm trying really hard everyday to make everyday here in the philippines the best 2 years! can you believe it's already been 7 months! freak time flies! so this week for the work was good! but are fruits on sunday were a little weak. we didn't have as many less actives come as we were hoping but oh well were doing are best and people still have their agency so we just have to work harder!!! despite the heat i actually like it a little better in the low lands because the enviroment is way cool! It's getting way hot here cause summer season just started! oh man i've never felt heat like this! and the humidity! haha i do like the humidity though it's alot better then the dry idaho weather! oh and Karter you've become my inspiration to work out everynight! everynight after work and planning I workout and because of the heat am sweating like a pig! but it's good and so be prepared when i get home haha. in our apartment we have two dungbells and a barbell but there kind of light because it's just a metal pole with cement on the end haha so light weight and lots of reps! well i love you guys and hope everything is going well! i appreciate all your prayers! Keep Pushing Foward! Love Elder Machen

"Keep Pushing Forward"

Wow what a week! where do i even begin? well this week was a trailing one with lots of ups and downs! oh man it really put me through the test! well the work here in the low lands is better i have to say! we teach alot more lessons to people down here! so that's good! i really enjoy that! i learned alot about myself this week and i really felt the lord was trying to teach me something this week. it just seemed day after day i was just getting beat down and no matter what i did i just couldn't get back up. well that's what i thought anyway...but i was wrong. no matter how hard the days are no matter how many trails we have to endure, no matter what gets thrown in our paths. Heavenly Father knows and loves us, he hears and Answers our prayers. One thing that's hard to realize sometimes is there not always going to happen right when we want them to. It's like praying for patience and then expecting to receive Christ like patience immediatly! haha. sometimes it takes time. He knows what's best for us and when we need things, it takes Faith! long-suffering and diligence, that's what it takes! Remember "Keep Pushing Forward!" so other then it being a little challenging it was rewarding as well! we had some less actives come back to church and i can't even describe the joy that brings! seeing the fruits of your labors! So to answer your questions! haha the humidity is ok, i've gotten used to being wet all the time and i do enjoy not having dry skin. the food, well the food isn't as good and we don't have any fast food resturants here! so that kinda stinks but all is well. no worries. i think i'm getting a little skinnier haha but i've been working out hard everynight because i saw karter in those pics and he's getting Big! freak i couldn't believe it! i miss the kid! oh and a cool fact about here, this may be one of the only places in the world that you can go to sacrament meeting and hear 3 different languages in one talk! haha english, tagalog, and Ilokono. another dialect here. I'm convinced the philippines had to be close to the tower of babel because its crazy how many languages are here! tons! and each one is completely different! oh and turns out i really like the beach! oh it's way cool going to teach LA's and they live in a little hut of "sawali" like weaved walls idk how to describe it but they live right next to the beach haha its crazy and the nice ocean breeze feels pretty good. The people are really nice here and i've learned to love them! oh and to answer your question about living with 3 filipinos haha well it's interesting. haha but i enjoy it were always laughing and joking around so it's pretty fun at our apartment. well family i love you guys more then you'll ever know! this work is amazing! keep pushing forward back home! i'm so proud of you guys! Pagmamahal Elder Machen

"Humbling...Eye Opener"

Howdy there pamilia! how's everything going back in the good ole US? Things here in my new area are interesting but good! the branch is super nice and welcoming! oh man so being here my first full week here was a eye opener! oh man i thought it was humbling in baguio but its nothing compared to here! one cool experience though is come to find out my area is right next to the beach! we went and taught this guy and i looked down and everything was sand and i said elder "malapit ba tayo sa dagat?" or "are we close to the ocean?" and he was like oh yeah it's just right there i looked and there was the ocean! oh man it was awesome! so we teach a guy that's like right on the ocean it's way cool we went back there on wednesday and did a little service for a older man in the ward. we helped water all his plants and he has a lot so it was good to help him. he lives way close to the ocean so it's like my favorite place so far haha. but i can't tell you how humbled i was this week. it really hit me hard. on wednesday when we helped that guy water his plants we went to his house...well lets just say it's like a few walls and the floors are just sand with some bamboo. i don't really know how to explain it but it was the sadest thing i have ever seen. my heart just ached for this guy. he's pretty old and lives by himself. and he's probably one of the nicest people i've ever met. i can't even begin to explain to you how humbling the circumstances here are. everyday i just was in awe sometimes when i saw how people live here. but like i said last week despite the harsh conditions they are so happy all the time and always give thanks for everything they have! its such a testimony builder to me! so my comp elder apduhan has been having me lead out in teaching in most of the lessons and i have to say i love it! i love being able to share scriptures and things to try and help people. it's the greatest feeling in the world. sometimes my tagalog starts to "nose bleed" "expresion they use here meaning start to run out of things to say or something like that haha" but then he comes in and starts connecting it to something and its awesome the way we have been teaching our lessons. living with 3 filipinos is tough sometimes but it's good for the language. this was good and went by quick. we have a lot of work to do in this area. i'm happy here in the philipines. at one point i thought i would never learn to love this place but it's growing to be a special place in my heart! all because of help the lord has given me and answered so many of my prayers! i came across a way cool scripture this week during personal study! Mosiah 7:33! read it! it helped me a ton this week and i shared it with a lot of the people and it was cool! i love you guys and hope everything is going well! Elder Machen