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