CHOSEN TO WEAR THE MISSION SANTA CLAUSE SUITE (PROBABLY BECAUSE I AM THE FATTEST WHITE GUY IN OUR TRI-ZONE) & I FOUND MY NEW CAREER

My District

Hello fam and friends! First things first, the hurricane is like 500 miles away, so no need to fret :P Shout out to Kelly, dad and Kayla for emailing me and keeping me updated!

This week was one of the busiest weeks, evah! We had our tri-zone Christmas conference, and you will all be pleased to know that the mission president's wife chose me to wear the mission Santa Clause suite costume. This was probably because I am the fattest white guy in our tri-zone, but far from being offended I can sincerely say I was overjoyed. I believe I've found my new career. The only problem with the suit was its apparent lack of a beard, but you get away with what you can. The tri-zone conference was half dedicated to training and missionary matters and the other halt to food, gift exchanges, singing Christmas carols, meeting with friends in different districts, musical presentations, skits and watching a movie! We got to see How to Train Your Dragon 2! I was pretty dang excited. It was actually quite impressive from a writing standpoint. Kind of made me miss movies :P

Other than that in the pressing news, the news is actually quite scarce. Transfers will be announced tomorrow and my companion feels in his guty that he will be gone. You never know until you know, though. I certainly hope not because I love Elder Guiuo so darn much. The ward has been doing quite a wonderful job of making sure we are fed. I hardly have to buy groceries anymore.

In the latest investigator news flash, Brother and Sister Naghahanap are encountering difficulties. Because of problems with the birth, the price sky rocketed and Brother Naghahanap was forced to turn anywhere he could to find money. He also applied for church services but due to the discretion of the Bishop and the circumstances, he was denied. He hasn't been replying to us since and we're worried that he was offended. Please pray for him and his wife and their newborn, partially for their health and partially to soften their hearts!

Lastly, today is my 11th month mark. Just typing that sentence gave me this weird feeling in my stomach. All the cliche's because they are totally true: the mission goes by tooooo fassssst and the longer you've been out the faster it goes. I'll make sure to do everything possible so that there shan't be any regrets at the end of it!!!

Love you all :)

Feed you fire!

Elder Mikesell III

Brother Binyag's Baptism

BROTHER BINYAG WAS BAPTIZED, THE MEMBERS FEED US ALL THE TIME & WE'VE BEEN CELEBRATING CHRISTMAS SINCE SEPTEMBER!

This week went well! and not well... but mostly well!

As far as lessons and statistics went.. it was a little rough. Our mission president gave us quite a list of things to accomplish on a day we had our most lessons planned, so we were only able to get away with one lesson that day. The huge upside is that the members of Lingsat Ward feed us like allll the timmmmme, haha! I barely even have to buy groceries in this area. But it was a tad weird also. We had a woman stop us in the street, a Filipino, and in surprisingly fluent English demanded that we hand over the voice recorder my companion apparently had in his bag with a recording of her son's voice on it. We found out later she was some kind of doctor practicing in America but got traumatic brain damage and is now a bit off her rocker. She's harmless, though.

Brother Binyag was baptized!!! Regrettably, I forgot my camera this p-day, but I assure you pictures will arrive this coming p-day. It was verrry good to see his family kind of completed :) Also, Sister Naghahanap finally gave birth! But please pray for them because Brother Naghahanap is having financial difficulties and he's not sure how he'll pay the hospital bills.

Also, a few funny cultural notes about the Philippines!

-They begin celebrating Christmas in September because they do no have Halloween or Thanksgiving. It's definitely different to hear Christmas music in October.

-People go Christmas caroling here as well, but they demand money after they are done singing, haha.

-The traditional Christmas dinner here is spaghetti and fried chicken. I'm not kidding. They sell that meal in McDonalds here, too.

I love all of you dearly! This gospel is true. My sister needs to email me back.

That is all!

Feed your fire!

Elder Mikesell III

DRUNKEN BRAWL, CHASING DOWN A DOG, EATING STEAK FOR THE FIRST TIME IN 10 MONTHS AND A BAPTISM DATE SET!

11-30-2014

Hello all! I shall endeavor with zeal to keep you all updated as to my doings! This week has been rough, but also good. Some of the week's highlights are these:

-We saw our first drunken brawl in our area, haha! It was kind of scary but also kind of funny because both combatants were above the age of 60 and the weight of 250.

-I had to chase down a dog that got out of one of our investigators gates and I actually won! It's a Filipino breed and has really stubby legs, so even though the bugger was fast, I still managed to catch him by sheer virtue of leg length, haha. The funnest part was wrestling him back to the house.

-A less active family agreed to feed us on Sunday night... with steak, carrots, potatoes, peas and coke. I nearly cried. We eat rice day in and day out here, unless we get fast food. I haven't even seen a serrated steak knife until that night since I got here, haha. Me and the other American present feasted well because if the statistic holds, we won't be having another meal like that for the next 10 months.

-Brother Binyag also passed his interview! He is scheduled for baptism December 6th! Thank you all so much for the prayers on his behalf. Now that he's entering in the covenant, his family is one step closer to being eternal :) It's the kind of stuff that makes a missionary's eyes water.

-We also met another man who we found out has been less active for 40+ years but that wants to return. (!!!) He also wants us to teach his family. I shall dub them the Naghahanap family. (For those of you who are unaware, all these people's code names are Tagalog puns, haha). Please turn your prayers to them as well! His wife has accepted a baptismal date but is VERY pregnant, so it might be difficult for her to go to church.

-Lastly, (I hope the length of this letter is pleasing unto my earthly father :)) this week has been really good in one way and hard in another. The good side is that your prayers for my area were answered! We did much better this week than the previous, as far as finding new investigators and teaching goes. Please continue those prayers! The hard part: There's a sad history of disobedience in the Philippines missions. One of the elders I knew kind of closely is going home today early because of poor choices. Me and my companion had to report what was going on and what he was doing :/ I have NO desire to mess up anyone else's life but it was the kind of decision where you can choose to please the Lord or your apartment mate... not both.. sad day... please keep him in your prayers as well. It's quite common for missionaries that get sent home to become disengaged with the church and the blessings it provides.

I suppose that is all for this day. I love you all :)

Feed your fire!

Elder Mikesell III

INCREASE IN HILARIOUS SIGNS SINCE TRANSFERRED, 6'2" FILIPINO COMPANION, STRUGGLING AREA, NEW INVESTIGATOR & 90 DEGREES WITH 100% HUMIDITY

11-23-2014

Hello family!

I will endeavor to give much more detailed reports now and in the future. You can all thank my wonderful father for the change :P

I've begun to notice an increase in hilarious
signs since I transferred... 

So, covering all of the circumstantial things I've been talking about in the past, I am now in the big city of San Fernando! San Fernando is actually one of the three stakes in my mission and is also home to the mission president's home and the mission office. The city is right next to the ocean and parts of my area also go right next to the great big blue. I and my district attend the Lingsat ward, which is one of the best units in the entire mission! The chapel is literally next door to the mission office, so I see President Balledos (my mission president) much more often now, haha. The mission office is also where we get and receive mail, so mail will come to me and get to you all much faster while I'm serving in this area.

My companion is a 6'2" Filipino named Elder Guiuo, from Rizal, near Manila. Him being that tall is kind of worth mentioning since Filipinos are usually shorter than I am, haha. To be honest, our area is struggling. The attitude of people in the cities is VERY different than in the rural provinces. In my last area we could average five or six, sometimes seven lessons a day. Last week, me and Elder Guiuo in my area dedicated 6 hours to finding... and couldn't teach a single lesson, haha. The investigator I mentioned before has dropped their baptismal date because of conflicts with his wife... so, we have no baptisms scheduled. Except for last night we got an investigator that moved into our area from Luna! His name is Brother Binyag, and he's doing really really well as an investigator. His wife is already a member, and they have the cutest darn baby you have ever seen. He's scheduled for December 13th. If you pray for anyone, pray for him! Satan tries the investigators just before they are baptized.

There are 4 of us in the apartment, myself, an Australian and two Filipinos. I love them all as brothers! I would like all of you to remember how wonderful the cold is there while I am working in 90 degrees and 100% humidity here in the Phillies, haha. I love you all and I hope this is a better step than I've done in the past as far as keeping you all updated!

Feed your fire!

Elder Mikesell III

The funny signs continue. Tagalog is a completely phonetic language where everything is spelled exactly how it sounds. Sometimes they try to apply that principle to English and the results vary, haha.

3 WORDS, TOTAL REJECTION IN AMMONIHAH, STOKED FOR MY PACKAGE, FIRE & PICTURE CONTEST

11-16-2014

In my mission we do a mini movie called 3 words. Every missionary takes a photo of themselves with their 3 words. This was mine. Later they put them together in a slide show.

Guiuo and Mikesell, Alma and Amulek type stuff. It's pretty legit. well, Alma and Amulek type stuff when they were in Ammonihah and no one wanted to listen to them, but it's still fun! haha

This was my face and excitement level upon receiving the package from Kelly. I cannot express how stoked I was for that package Kelly. It was truly what I needed.

-peanut butter SUCKS in the Philippines and buying the American stuff is expensive
-licorice is no where to be found
-I was on my last stick of deoderant, was out of floss, bar soap and mints
-those granola bars are the best thing ever when you're proselyting and get hungry
-my garments were downright torn up
-almost all my socks have holes in them, and the ones you bought are the perfect size and don't dig into my skin up at the top of the elastic
-the shoes are the BOMB.COM! my shoes before had holes in the soles so rocks would get in while I was proselyting and the tendons in the back of my ankles would get really stiff and pained and I in longer have to worry about that nonsense!

To keep the mosquitoes away, the Filipinos burn stuff to make smoke. I got a little carried away. 

I love the disclaimer on this advertisement, haha. 

My last district in a late 1800's family portrait pose. The award of "my favorite person ever" would go to whoever could send me back this picture in black and white, maybe with a little grainy, old timey look for effect.

TRANSFERRED TO SAN FERNANDO, FIRST TIME WORKING IN LEGIT CITY AND EXCITED TO SEE WHAT MY NEW AREA IS LIKE!

11-9-2014

MY NEW AREA, SAN FERNANDO

My new companion, Elder Guiuo

I was indeed transferred! The call came early in the morning while I was in the shower, and I yelled quite a bit before answering pleasantly, "Hello President!" I have been transferred to a city named San Fernando, and it is my first time working in a legit city. While I was up in Baguio, I was really in the outskirts of the city, but this time I'm in the heart. This means ya'll will be receiving letters again! It is veeeery different than where I was in Aringay, but I do like it, haha. The only problem is that my apartment is about 2 and a half minute's walk from McDonald's and KFC... crap, I'm going to get fat again. It's also very different from a branch where the church is very new and they are still working out the kinks, it's a well organized efficient ward. Whoa. My companion's name is Elder Guiuo (it's pronounced gee-oh). He is 22 years old, he's been out for about a year,and he is from Rizal, which is close to Manila, the capital city of the Philippines. My apartment mates are Elders' Gomez and Tucio, the first  from Australia the second from Cavite. I am excited to be here, and I'm excited to see what my new area is like! We have one investigator who is prepping for baptism, but it's veryyyyy difficult for him to stop smoking. He can't get past that last cigarette. Please pray for him! We'll use the name Brother Tagumpay. I love you all! More next week! Feed your fire!

Elder Mikesell III

My new apartment.

This is Chad, the goat, from my last area in Aringay. He was always chillin outside our apartment.
He has a righteous/gnarly surfer hair brah. 

fgdfdgd

3/4 CHANCE OF TRANSFERRING, HOTTER THAN AFRICA AND SISTER LUZON IS GETTING BAPTIZED!

11-3-2014

Hello all! I am very close to transferring. In my interview with President a few weeks ago, he told me face to face that I would be transferred, but the last time he told me I wasn't going to transfer, and I did, sooooo, I give it a 3/4 chance because I've been here for quite a while, haha. But, I've grown to love Aringay, even though it's hotter than Africa. Sister Luzon will be baptized this Saturday :) I probably won't be here to see it, but it's not the missionary that matters, it's the message and the work of salvation. I'll also be hitting my 10 month mark really soon which is odd as well. I'm not counting days, but it's hard for me to forget because I became a missionary on the 15th of the month, so it's like every two weeks there's a "whoah, it's a new month already?" and then in the next two weeks it's like "whoa I'v been out another month already?" and then over and over again, haha. I know I've been neglecting pictures, so today is like picture blitzkrieg! I apologize if I've already sent some of these in the past, I can't remember which ones I have and haven't sent. Please pray for Brother Luzon who is working on overcoming the Word of Wisdom challenges he's having.

That's it! Love you all!

Elder Mikesell III

My area floods a lot. 

The branch mission leader in the front, a branch missionary in the back and the missionaries.

My zone.

I want to die in this country, haha!

We had some visitors in our local chapel... I guess the iron bars over the windows were bought from Savers or DI?

A TERMITE NEST IN OUR APARTMENT & CLEANLINESS IS NEXT TO GODLINESS

This week we had a mission leader conference in which our mission president gently chastised us for the apartments being dirty. I went home and told the other missionaries about what we had been told (and that our apartment was soon going to be checked by the mission president's wife). We look at one another, looked at the apartment, and unanimously agreed, "Yeah, we gotta clean this place, haha." So, we set to it. Now understand nothing was SUPER bad, just as you would expect from a group of four young men ranging in age from 18-22's apartment to look like... until we started under the staircase. This space is usually covered by two old broken toasters ovens, but when my companion started clearing those out he screamed that there was a giant ant mound underneath the stairs. We all ran to check and doubts started: we couldn't see anything going in or out of it, and it looked like poorly poured concrete, the kind a contractor would leave in spaces they know will never be seen or inspected. I got a broom, poked it, and found that it was rock solid. We all breathed a sigh of relief, discounted it as just ugly concrete in a weird cover and started back cleaning.

I went to take the toaster ovens outside but stopped; because the end of the toaster oven's plug went literally inside the "concrete", and I knew for sure the toaster ovens weren't there when the contractor poured the concrete. Calling everyone back, we pulled mightily on the cord until BOOM it came loose. We got a flashlight, peered inside and lo and behold... it was a rock hard giant termite mound. In the space where we pulled out the plug we could see the termites and other maggots trying to repair the hole. We quickly went to our "mom" (A.K.A. our super nice land lady) and asked for her help. I thought she would call a professional, but she and her friend just went at it with a machete, a shovel and a bucket instead. We spent the next hour cleaning out the nest.

Cleanliness is next to godliness, haha!!! Rest assured, it is cleaned and termite free now. Enjoy the pictures, and I love you all :P That's all for this week.

Feed your fire!
Elder Mikesell III

STILL IN ARINGAY, AS MANY CHURCHES AS AMERICAN FAST FOOD RESTAURANTS AND ANOTHER GROUP OF INVESTIGATORS

September 29, 2014

I'm still in Aringay! Me and Elder Tolentino will be together for at least another transfer. Aringay is great fun to proselyte in. The big problem is just combating people's lack of interest. There are SO many churches in the Philippines. The great apostasy is evident in America, but it is RAMPANT in the Philippines. Think to yourself how many fast food restaurants you see in Las Vegas, imagine each one of those is a different church. That is the Philippines, haha.

Here's another investigator group, along with the Luzon family: the Maligaya family. Brother and Sister Maligaya are a cute couple with two daughters, but they aren't actually married. It is very hard for them to get married because they aren't exactly wealthy.

I love you all sooo much!!

Love,
Elder Mikesell III

THE LUZON FAMILY FINALLY CAME TO CHURCH AS A COUPLE THIS SUNDAY!

September 22, 2014

Hello family! This week is the end of our transfer and the last 6 weeks have gone by wayyy fast. I'll know either today or tomorrow whether or not I'm transferring, exciting stuff, haha. Also, one of the Elder's in our apartment, Elder Sison, is going home today! He's been such a freaking stud. It's weird because a lot of the missionaries I knew in the beginning of my mission are starting to go home, including my trainer, Elder Wilson.

The Luzon family finally came to church as a couple this Sunday! I know they'll be baptized! Although, it may not be with me in the area. I believe in them to be able to find the truth for themselves. Please pray for them, especially Brother Luzon!

I love you all!
Ingat!

NEVER KNEW LIGHTENING COULD BE THAT BRIGHT AND CLOSE, THUNDER COULD SHAKE YOUR BONES, AND THE WIND COULD BLOW SO HARD YOU ACTUALLY GET SCARED

September 14, 2014

Not much has changed since the last letter, but I suppose these are the highlights:

-We had a typhoon last night which was pretty fun. We had to go home early from proselyting. It knocked out the power for most of the night as well. Super fun. I never knew lightening could be that bright and close, thunder could shake your bones, and the wind could blow so hard you actually get scared. But it's over now, no biggie, haha.

-There are 4 of us in our apartment. One of us, Elder Sison, was the assistant to the president for quite a while, but his mission is basically over. His companion will be joining me and my companion in a tripanionship for about a week.

That's about all this time :P I love you all. Please write me! Ingat!

ARINGAY - THE SMALL FISHING CITY WITHOUT A GROCERY STORE WHERE I CAN GET REGULAR PEANUT BUTTER

September 8, 2014

So, Aringay is the small fishing city I work in. It's between the ocean and the mountains of Baguio. The town itself isn't too rural, but it's small enough to not have a post office or grocery store where I can get regular peanut butter. The people here are VERY nice, and half the time are surprised to see a white person and almost all the time surprised that the white person in question can speak Tagalog. The Tagalog has gotten a lot better. I've been able to speak well for quite a while, but understanding what other people are saying has been very difficult. I'm finally getting it. It's really good to have a Filipino companion, as well, to help me. Elder Tolentino is from Quezon City, which is next to Manila, the capital of the Philippines. He speaks fluent English, and he's actually a lot more like me than both of the American companions I've had in the past. He did dancing and choir before his mission, and his whole family are members.

The family we need you to pray for right now is the Luzon family. All my other investigators haven't been keeping their commitments, so unfortunately, their baptisms have been postponed. The Luzon family's mother is actually the daughter of our last convert :) The father doesn't have a job right now, but he's looking. They have one son, very good people. Although, Brother Luzon is very quiet, it's hard to tell what he thinks sometimes. Sister Luzon is very prepared and has been coming to church for quite a while!

Love you all! Ingat!

Puppiesssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssss

The best place to baptize ever, no clean up, haha!

A wig we found looking for slacks on p-day, my silly companion.

I AM IN LOVE WITH THIS COUNTRY AND WILL DIE HERE!

My District!

I haven't updated everyone in far too long, for which I apologize, haha.

This week was extremely rewarding! Sister Mabait was baptized just this last Saturday! She lives in a very humble home and her husband works overseas. All of her children, except for her oldest, have been baptized, and her oldest son JUST left on his mission about two days before we arrived in Aringay. Her family is crazy, but we love it!

I've decided that there are only two kinds of weather in the Philippines: dry and hot OR wet and hot and occasionally typhoon force winds. I have also decided that I am in love with this country and will die here. I have some investigators you can pray for! Their name is the Matapat family. They live in a bahay kubo, or bamboo house with no power. They were visited by missionaries before, but they were too shy at the time. One of the counselors came to my companionship and told us that they wanted to be visited again because of tragedies that had happened in their family since then. Sister Matapat, the mother of the family, has been widowed three times now, and she's only in her forties. Their entire family accepted the invitation to be baptized in the first lesson and they all came to church! They have a lot of challenges, so please keep them in your prayers.

That's all this week! I love you all! Feed your fire!

Elder Mikesell III

The sister missionaries convert, John

Awwwwwwwwwwwwwwww

Happiness

This is a fruit called rambutan. You don't eat the outside, but the inside has kind of a citrus flavored jelly... it's wayyy good!

My companion was sleepy, haha

RICE & MICE IN ARINGAY

That is not grass, it's rice :P

We had a visitor in our apartment, haha!

THE KIND OF RAIN LAS VEGAS WOULD THINK THE WORLD IS ENDING, NOAH'S ARK STYLE

The best looking, hardest working and most spiritual missionary in the Philippines!
Oh, and that's Elder Mikesell standing beside him! Hahaha!

Hello fam bam!

We have some investigators for you to pray for! The first is Sister Masipag. Her children are all members, but she and her husband are not. Her eldest son is actually serving a mission in the Manila Mission and her husband works overseas. She is finally finding out for herself if this is true or not! Her baptism is currently scheduled for August 26th.

Next is Brother Pammati. He basically felt that Joseph Smith is a true prophet and that he wants to be baptized... on the first lesson, but we're trying to help him because I think he may have an anxiety disorder from the way he acts and speaks and he became very nervous about the baptism. Please pray for him!

You are free to vomit!

Nothing crazy this week. The members are great, this country is beautiful, and as I've been rededicating myself to the work, I have felt the Spirit greater in my life. As for the typhoon, it hasn't affected northern Luzon. It's mostly happening in the Bicol region, which is pretty far. My area is on the other side of the Philippines from the open ocean, so if it does hit here, it won't be as strong as it would be having come from the open ocean. It does rain here every day, though, haha, and it's heavy. The kind of rain Las Vegas would think the world is ending, Noah's ark style, but it's not so bad when you realize it's just water. After making sure anything valuable is dry, you just do your best and remember that you'll be dry some point later on. At left is a lovely picture of what a missionaries foot looks like in the Philippines. The water soaks into your shoes and you have to deal with it for another 6 hours or so, haha!

Thank you for everyone who is sending me letters. I can't actually write you back because there is no post office here in Aringay, but I can get your mail because it is pouched from the mission office through the mission leadership. I love you all! Keep on swimming!

FEED YOUR FIRE!

Elder Mikesell III

Converting the caribou. Serious stuff here in the Philippines mission field!

Baking muffins poor missionary style!!! Haha, they were actually quite good.

This is the "car" of the Philippines, haha. For every car you see in Las Vegas, picture one of these
and that is what it looks like in my area. The only difference is that every last tryke in the
Philippines is unique. No standard model or anything, haha.

The first pug I've seen in over 7 months. I was pretty excited.