"The Word of God"

Well fam sounds like things are getting back to normal and i'm glad to hear dad that your doing better! and sounds like everything is keeping you busy back home! that's neat you got to go to kevins farewell! sounds like he did great and i know all those guys will be great missionaries! i'm glad to hear they are all going! well things are keeping us busy here in the phillippines! this week was full of great experiences and ups and downs of course! one cool thing that really strenghtened my testimony this week was we went and taught our investigator brother willy and we asked him how is book of mormon reading was going. he said "everytime i read it i just get this comforting relaxing feeling and makes everything seem ok." wow i just couldn't help but smile and know that this man is really feeling the spirit and the truthfulness of the book of mormon! the only sad part was is he didn't come to church so we gotta figure out why. but that experience really strenghtened my testimony of how real the book of mormon is. but yesterday at church we had a lot of LAs show up! it was amazing and a great sight to see people coming back to church! i know i sound like a broken record sometimes but the spirit just continues to guide our work every day its just amazing! time is going by so fast i can hardle believe it! i couldn't be happier right now and my comp is coming out of his shell and it's been a great improvement! i found great comfort this week reading the book of mormon, i read mormon 8, wow that really had a impact on me! you guys should read it. well i'm kind of at a loss of words haha because i got to talk to you guys on tuesday! but just know i'm doing great! loving everyday and just trying to do my best! keep up the good work at home! you guys are great and i love you so much! Elder Machen

"A Week Full Of Miracles"

Well fam sounds like you guys had quite the week! cant say im not concerned about my pops! get better dad! ill keep you in my prayers! well this week was sure a good one! it was one full of moments that just made my heart swell with joy! well ill start with today and kind of work backward! so this morning we went on a nice run through the "bukud" which is like rice fields and stuff well it had rained super hard the night before so it was intense haha. they have these little walk ways inbetween the bukuds so we were running on those but it was kind of hard haha anyways im out front and all the sudden i hear this big splash! haha i look behind me and the other american turfed it hard and landed in a muddy field haha he was covered, it was pretty funny, im really enjoying running lately trying to get into shape and stuff. anyways back to the more spiritual stuff. so to start off earlier in the week we stopped by our investigators house and hoping to teach but he was busy and couldnt but we thanked him for coming to church and he told us the story, so his disease has the symptoms of parkinsons so its pretty bad, well the night before sunday we gave him a blessing on his request and this is what he told us, "so i was sitting there waiting for my legs to get better cause there were bad when i woke up and about the time i needed to get ready to go to church, they got better and it allowed me to go to church!" just watching him walk breaks my heart and so i can see the problem with him going to church but when i herd this i couldnt believe it! it was absolutly amazing i couldnt even begin to describe my feelings at that moment. our heavenly father loves us and blesses us according to our needs. so needless to say it was amazing then we went to his house again later in the week and he had been reading the book of mormon and we asked him if he had prayed about it to know if it was true, he said "umm honestly i havent prayed yet....because i believe everything you guys have been teaching me, i dont have any doubts." i was blown away in amazment! wow i thought this man was prepared to recieve the gospel! so that was just one of the experiences that strengthened my testimony, another quick one is on thursday we devoted that day to finding to new less actives so we were walking down this street that we always do and i honestly didnt know where to go so i prayed that the spirit would guide us, all the sudden i felt the prompting "go right" i thought why? ive never been there before. again "go right" so i listened and we ended up finding new less actives!!! wow what a experience! then another one that strengthened my testimony about the book of mormon is we went to this returning less active and asked if she had been reading she said yes and so we asked her if she has noticed any help since she has been reading and she said "since i have been reading i noticed that we always have food and its good food to. we havent gone hungry." wow i thought what power and blessings come from the book of mormon! honestly this week was just amazing! i just love being a missionary and wouldnt change anything right now! i love you guys and hope that you all continue to be steadfast in the commandments and you will reap the blessings! i can promise you that. have fun and get the work done! love you Elder Machen

"The Spirit of the Lord"

Well family i have to start out and saying this week was a good one! at first it felt like we were just climbing this mountian and everything and anything was getting in our way! and then on about thursday to sunday we made it to the top and started "skiing down" haha. oh man it was a real neat experience. me and my comp are doing a lot better now! i'm still working with him but he's coming out of his shell and we are really starting to enjoy the work together! so this week was fun because on tuesday we got to do a service project for this family. i finally got to use a machete!!! it was awesome! we went hacking away at this huge bamboo tree and cleared it out! it was awesome i felt like indiana jones or something with this big machete in my hand and hacking at this bamboo tree! it was a neat experience and something i love doing! service! anyways that was a good time and then our lessons this week were really good as well! our goal this week was just to really step it up and to work even harder! i was proud of my companion cause he stepped up as well and we got work done! Brother valle. the old man were we water plants is doing ok, his health his declining and he lives all by himself and so it's taking a tole on him but we keep going out there to cheer him up. we haven't been able to water as much because of the rain but we still find ways to help him. another really neat experience we had this week is probably about in our are lessons but this week my testimony was really strengthened on the gift of dicernment. it was amazing to be the instrument for the spirit and finding out these peoples concerns. so that was really cool and then we went to our investigator brother willy! he is a great old man and really progressing! it's great because his best friend is a less active member but still has a super strong testimony so we are trying to do the hit a two birds with one stone thing and so hopefully we can get both of them closer to Christ. so we went to his house and we always ask if we can help him in anyway and he said well elders yeah i think i could use a blessing. i was shocked and my heart was filled with joy as i heard him say that. it's great when they request it because it means they have great faith. it was a great experience giving him that blessing and humbling. anyways when we went to church yesterday i was kind of bummed cause he wasn't there and only a few of our LA's were there. but as the meeting started they just started flowing in! and it was great because there were some there that haven't been there in a really long time so it was amazing! then walked in Brother Willy! oh man again my heart was filled with joy as i saw him struggle to walk because of his disease. the man has amazing faith, it's not easy for him to come to church becaue of his sickness but he still does and it's amazing. so all in all this week was truly one lead by the Lord and it was a blessing to be a part of it. i love you guys so much and hope you continue to follow Christ and do what's expected! love you guys so much. This church is true and this work is the work of God, i love you all Elder Machen

"Walk With Faith"

Well howdy fam! i loved reading your emails and sounds like your doing great! this week flew by and it's hard to believe i'm already at the computer again. well this week was a challenging one. my companion is super shy and i can't get him to crack that shell. we also had a lot of traveling to do this week so it cut alot into our proselyting time. it's all right though we still got in some good work done. well rainy season has hit in the phillippines and it rained everyday this week! the rain here is crazy and we are only starting according to all the natives. they say it's gets even worse later on so that should be exciting! i actually like the rain cause it cools down and we aren't walking in a oven. haha but this week was good and filled with good adventures! some great things happened this week and it was neat to see! maybe it's just cause the gloomy weather but i swear all are LA's and investigators just had some big problems and we had to do are best to nourish them with the word of god and invite them to come closer to christ. a neat experience we had this week is we were teaching our investigator brother willy and we gave him a priesthood blessing after we taught about it and he was like "oh that's exactly what i need!" so he has great faith and he said he felt some improvement so that was really cool! it's just amazing to see the spirit of the lord work through us and the people we teach. we were able to meet some new LA's this week and it was good cause they were priesthood and that's exactly what we need in our branch! anyways sunday was kinda of a bummer cause we woke up and it was pouring outside and i immediatly thought to myself this is really going to test our LA's faith. when sacrament meeting started we had like 30 people there and by the time it ended we had like 50 maybe. so it was kind of a bummer not seeing some people that have really been progressing! but there are always days like that on the mission and we just have to push forward and keep enduring. i honestly think there was something the lord wanted me to learn this week and he set some trails in our path and really tested our endurance. i've learned it's times like those when you just think you can't do anymore and want to give up is the time that we need to stand tall by kneeling. then stand up and little taller and walk with faith and everything will be alright. it may be scary at times and we may be down in the dumps but Christ will always be there and we just have to trust in that. And always smile! haha that's at least what i try and do. just be happy. it took me awhile out here to learn that but it makes all the difference! i love you guys and want you to know that i honestly couldn't be happier right now! i love it here and i love this work! this is honestly a marvolous work and a wonder! hope you guys have a good week and enjoy! remember to always read and pray and be strong! i love you guys Elder Machen