I LOVE THIS COUNTRY! I LOVE PRESIDENT BALLEDOS! THE SAINTS HERE ARE SOOO ASTIG! (AWESOME)

Well, hello all! I am indeed alive! It has been a long while since I have been able to give you any epistles so I'll be very thorough and in depth with this one!

Manila International Airport from plane

I have no idea how the differences in time zones affect travel, but I was exhausted when I finally got to my apartment in the Philippines. It went a little bit like this: We left the MTC at 4:30am in the morning and flew out of Salt Lake at around 8am. We flew from Salt Lake to San Fran then across the pacific to a 2 hour layover in Tokyo then another flight to Manila. All said and done between hitting the Philippines and leaving the MTC the total travel time was about 23 hours. We bussed to the Manila airport hotel and got there at 11:30, but were told to be out in the lobby at 5:00. A travel agency then shuttled us down to a bus station where we loaded onto a charter bus and drove through Manila to a city in the north named San Fernando. That trip took about seven hours. In San Fernando we met with President Balledos and the AP's, and bunked in the mission apartment there for the night. The next day we met our companions and sectioned into zones (transfer day) and then piled into a hired jeepney for another six or so hours into the Baguio mountains, where me and my companion finally found our apartment. So, lots and lots and lots of traveling!!!!! I'm glad to finally be in my area!

Jeepneys are the most popular form of transportation in the Philippines.

Okay, now for the good stuff- I love President Balledos! He's so humble and just a great guy. I'm glad he's my mission president. My companion is an American named Elder Wilson who's actually from Vegas, in Henderson! He and I are having a great time. He did a lot of cowboy type stuff like ranching before he came out. I am actually serving for probably the next six months in Baguio city itself! I'm told I'm reeeally lucky.

And now for the reeeally good stuff... THE PHILIPPINES! I love this country. It's a wonderfully bizarre mix of completely foreign and totally familiar! In Baguio city itself, especially, there's a LOT of English. It's soo weird. I'm trying to learn Tagalog, so I'll speak to people in it, but they almost always respond in English! Just let that sink in for a moment... the Americans are speaking Tagalog but the Filipinos are speaking English! Just a list of funny things about the Philippines-

1. Jeepneys. I knew about jeepneys before I came here, but I didn't realize that they are EVERYWHERE. It's the main form of transportation. 

2. Animals are everywhere. They just roam around and I'm not sure if anyone in particular owns them or if everyone just owns them. There's goats, chickens, cows, cats, and lotsssssss of dogs. There is a dog in Baguio for every two people, I'm not kidding. (In the boonies it seems like there's two goats for every person) sometimes the dogs get aggressive, but all you have to do is pick up a rock and they run away.

3. There is, indeed, very little toilet paper.

4. A lot of people convert their houses into vendors shops and just sell a little bit of everything.

5. Little kids LOVE calling me 'joe'.

6. Baguio is VERY mountainous. 

7. The saints here are sooo astig! (awesome)

8. There are essentially no traffic laws and it is the funnest thing ever. I have seen one traffic light in Baguio, NO stop signs, and it's just as (if not more) densely populated  as Las Vegas. Every drive is an adventure.

9. No bikes for missionaries in Baguio. Between how steep it is, how many jeepney's/taxis there are and the lack of traffic rules, we would die.

10. We have like no food... I'm so glad it's p-day. We've been living on rice, eggplant, and oatmeal, haha.

11. Lastly....its actually COLD! Never like snowing or anything, but I actually get a little chilly sometimes!

I am sooo very happy to be in this area, haha!

And now for the mission stuff! We have a golden investigator! He's soooo freaking smart, and he's really driven to learning about this gospel for himself. Most of the time we teach random families. A lot of people speak ilicano here, so I get to learn a second language too! Yay!

I love you all! Deepen your conversion! I have to write a letter to President Balledos, so I've got to go! Love you! Bye!

Elder Mikesell III

P.S. Keep sending letters! I'll try to write back! It's harder in the field, especially because the post office is far away, but they would make my day!

ELDER HOLLAND TURNED TO ME AND SAID, "THANK YOU ELDER, YOU'LL BE A WORLD CLASS MISSIONARY." !!!!!!!!

Remember the pic like this from Jay's blog???

Holy cow, it's week five?! I cannot believe I've been here for this long! A very exciting week this one! First off, my flight plans are in! I'm leaving in exactly one week, at 4:30 in the morning (ugh) but the whole thing will take about 18 hours. We are flying from Salt Lake to San Francisco to Tokyo to Manila. We'll be driving to Baguio from Manila the next day. Very, very exciting stuff! I can't wait to get into the field!!!!

The MTC has been very good to me though. This is my usual day: wake up around 6:30am, shower, breakfast, class (progressing investigator, language skills, coaching) lunch, study block (personal, companion, and language study) gym time (the time in which I dominate four square) dinner, and depending on the day it might be evening classes or a devotional. The food here is SUPER good! It's been hard to keep healthy, actually. They try and fatten us up before sending us into the Philippines, I guess. The MTC choir sings for the devotional, but I haven't been singing with them very much. I still love singing, but it's not the kind of choir I participated in before I was called. You don't sign up or anything, everyone just kind of shows up. They do a good job, but the music (I'm not boasting or anything) isn't as difficult as I like, and there are just too many people.

The companionship's got reorganized by the branch presidency because someone had to go home, so I was actually in a tripanionship for a while, but my new companion is Elder Anderson who is great. He's from Utah. All in all, the MTC has been downright groovy. My favorite part, personally, is being able to attend the temple every week, being surrounded by people of your beliefs, and the Spirit that you get to feel ALL the TIME. Also, a great part of the MTC is all the nonsense the missionaries carry on throughout the years. We are, indeed, still in possession of the sword of Laban, (the blade forged of pure coat hangers by the mythical missionaries-that-had-way-too-much-time-on-their-hands-and-are-probably-home-early-now-ites). The stuffed rat who we named Scabbers is actually missing... it's my personal belief that it came to life and ran away. He's in a better place now though.

So, here's the really, really cool stuff that has transpired since last we spoke: I finished the Book of Mormon cover to cover! (Before my mission there was no part of it that was unfamiliar to me, but I had never read it from beginning to end on my own.) I have prayed to my Heavenly Father for the truth and have received a witness of the Spirit that the Book of Mormon is true, and that Joseph Smith was not only a magnificent man, but a prophet of God. Finally........ so about a week and a half ago, in a zone leadership meeting, my branch president mentioned he would be conducting a fireside and that he wanted someone to volunteer for a prayer. Not thinking a lot of it, I volunteered. I later found out that the "fireside" was the weekly MTC devotional with all the missionaries from both campuses of the MTC there.... no pressure.... then, early on the morning of that devotional we heard that the speaker was..... President Holland!!!! We all heard that and freaked out but found that it's actually Elder Holland's son, Matthew Holland, who is the president of UVU (who we found out is JUST as powerful a speaker as his father, if not better in some ways). Jeffery R. Holland isn't a president he's an elder... we were a tiny bit bummed, but it turned out that ELDER Holland came to see his son speak! So, I did indeed have to pray in front of every missionary in the MTC (around 3000), the MTC Presidency, AND about eight feet away from Elder Holland. Good thing I did theater. I really wasn't super nervous though, just very excited.

Usually when the speaker is a man, his wife will introduce him, but this time Elder Holland introduced his son, so he went to the pulpit directly after my prayer. .......when he did he kind of turned to me casually and said, over the microphone, "Thank you elder, you'll be a world class missionary." And then proceeded to introduce his son.

VBH78BH$tVB8E9WG53$!t413!!!!!!!!

I'm taking that as a prophecy. It was talked about very much in my journal that night. So, I got to spend an hour an a half sharing the stand with Elder Holland. Yup. Enough said.

Love everyone!!!! Don't just have a testimony, be converted to the Lord!

Elder Mikesell III

I HAVE LEARNED THAT THERE ARE THREE THINGS THAT NO ONE ELSE CAN TAKE FROM US - OUR EXPERIENCES, OUR TESTIMONY AND OUR CONVERSION

Hello all!

It's down right strange that it's been a month already. The MTC goes by FAST. Things go well at the MTC. I'm afraid that this update might be a smidgen smaller than the ones that have preceded it... I'm very hungry this day. I am verrrrry excited to get out in the Philippines. It's been snowy and rainy and cold here,which is my favorite weather, (which is awesome, but there will be a dramatic change once I hit the Philippines)

 

....I don't know, I guess I'm usually a lot more interesting than this. I'm just learning, studying, praying, and being a beast at four square, really. I'm so hungry that its hard for me to think right now though!

 

For any sisters contemplating a mission, do it. The blessings are incredible, the MTC is hard but fun, it's an amazing experience that will bless you, and your future spouse.

 

ooookkkaayy........ that's about it........ sorry to be disappointing this week.........

 

OH! I forgot something very important! In my opinion I've had a very weak testimony throughout my life. Some people may argue with me, but I've mostly walked on the borrowed light from my parents. Well, when you hit the world outside your home, there is no borrowed light. I love the MTC, but I've been struggling spiritually for a testimony. I wish to be truly converted to the Lord, but I can't do that without first having a testimony. I realized something a few days ago- that I've never, or hadn't for a very long time, felt the Spirit on my own. I've felt it through my parents, the testimony of others, the scriptures, church, testimony meetings, music, conference talks, camp outs, everywhere. But with me and only me, no other influences, no people, no recordings, no words, no writings, nothing, I have never felt the Spirit. I have been repenting, studying, pondering, obeying, and praying for that witness. Last night, I got it. I received a witness by the still small voice, that is the Holy Ghost testifying unto me, that Jesus is the Christ and the Son of God, that He atoned for my sins, and that God the Father loves me. 

 

I have learned that there are three things that only we can destroy, that no on else can take from us - our experiences, our testimony and our conversion. No man or woman on this earth with any amount of money, scientific degrees, cunning words or hostility can take away my experience last night, when I knelt before my maker and received my witness. Our testimony- people can believe what they want. They can even believe that I am a liar or that God is not, but I have a testimony in God the Father and Jesus Christ. Our conversion- a testimony is not enough. It is shaky ground when Satan hurls at us his hurricanes and firestorms. In order to overcome those things we must be converted- and someone who is truly converted will never and cannot fall away. 

I say these things in the name of Jesus Christ, amen. 

"YEAH, I TOTALLY KNOW IT'S JUST A GAME. IT JUST ALSO HAPPENS TO BE MY LIFE."

 

Week three, still going strong!

Again to all the old people who shook their head and chuckled when I told them I would NOT be homesick, I say to you HA. Still going good. Maybe it'll hit me when I'm in the Philippines, but I'm quite fine right now, thank you very much.

 

Week three has gone well! The two new districts came in, finally! We were getting super lonely. So, funny goings on with that! Four missionaries found out that the are related... in one district Sister Vaka and Elder Vilingia... super cool Tongan missionaries who are actually first cousins! They opened their mission calls and found out they were going to the same place on the same day, got here, and found out they were in the same district! They bicker all the time. So funny.

 

So there's an elder in my district (our zone has three districts, my 'old guys' district and the two new districts,) named Elder Cook. One of the sisters, Sister Fuester, is actually from London and was adopted from out of the Philippines. They found out Elder Cook's uncle married her sister, so Sister Fuester is technically Elder Cook's aunt... they had never met before, and Elder Cook is actually two years older.

 

AND we found out a sister in the new districts.. is 28!!!!!! The cap age limit for sisters is 28 and for guys it's 26! We had no idea! She looks super young, but she has a career, a masters degree, and her own house! Her companion is barely nineteen! Sooo funny. We are a big weird happy family.

 

 

At first I was running, but then I got into four square, because it's WAY more fun than running. At first it was like six people and then all the sisters in the gym would get in on it day after day. (Most of my elders are basketball players.) Then MY elders got in on it, we separated into two courts because the elders got really serious about it really quick, and now we have the most intense four square games ever, day after day. A very popular comment as we play and argue and yell is,

 

"Yeah, I totally know it's just a game. It just also happens to be my life."

 

It's pretty intense. There's one sister who plays with us because she's hardcore and the sisters court is too gentle for her. We call her Sister Mulan, very funny stuff. She's actually pretty fierce.

 

Beyond that, the Tagalog is coming along very well. In TRC me and my companion spoke to a native Filipino, all in Tagalog, and we managed pretty well! I feel very good about it.

 

My testimony is growing. Because of the sacrifices I'm making, I can feel the constant companionship of the Holy Ghost. I've gained huge insights into obedience, the atonement, faith, and my purpose as a human being and a son of God.

 

I love the MTC! Love everyone! Defend the faith!

 

Elder Mikesell III

ZONE LEADER, IT FEELS GOOD TO LAUGH & THE TAGALOG IS GOING PRETTY WELL!

Well, hello all! First, exciting/funny thing... my companion and I were called as zone leaders! Haha, so my zone has two districts, 16a and 16b. 16b is leaving today, like we just said goodbye, so my entire zone is just the seven elders of my district. But TWO new districts arrive on Wednesday! There will be four sisters and twelve sisters... which is kind of a problem because there are no sister training leader (basically a female ZL) to help them... its just us... so that will be fun, haha. Oh, and we have to pretend to be more confidant than we are because we've only been here for two weeks if that...so that will be fun.

Funny goings on - Elder Anderson, in our district, had his birthday on Sunday, and his mom basically sent a party in a box; candles, streamers, matches, balloons, cupcakes, party hats, donuts, like everything. We decked out our room and had a party, sooo much fun. So, there were only two elders in the district that just left, Elder Wooden and Williamson, funniest guys ever. When they left about two hours ago, they passed all their stuff down to us. That stuff included:

 

-every form, of candy known to man woman and child

-a stuffed rat that (according to the legends) has been passed down for five generations 

-a full life sized sword made entirely of wire coat hangers (called the sword of Laban, crafted  by the most disobedient missionaries to have ever walked the halls of 16m)

-a Nerf basketball hoop

-assorted tennis balls and Nerf footballs

-and some pretty awful ties.

-and the "scroll of the oaths of zone leader"

the scroll is really an index card which outlines the ceremony with which the title of zone leader is passed from one generation of Elders to the next. I'd tell you what the ceremony is, but it's a secret. (quit freaking out, it's pretty tame, haha)

We're all going to miss them super bad, haha.

 

I've started to understand that the MTC has a weird way of making things that aren't even funny into absolutely hilarious. I think it's because we are all so tired and worked that it feels good just to laugh.

 

The Tagalog is going pretty well. Here's my prayers in Tagalog at night! All from memory!

 

ama po namim sa langit nagpapasalamat po ako para kay jecucritso at para sa aklat ni mormon at ebanghelyo ng diyos. paki-basbasan po ninyo ako na kaloob ng mga wika at ng maramdaman espiritu santo. nagpapasalamat para sa nguyoun araw mugundung. si pangalan ni jesucristo amen. 

 

It's super crazy that I've been here two weeks already. MTC time: the days go by waaay slow but the weeks go by super fast. It's the weirdest thing ever.

 

Now for serious time. I would like to bear my testimony to anyone who might be reading this. If you are not a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, I highly encourage you to seek out the missionaries! I can testify and promise that the message they can carry to you will make you happy. It can solve any problem, it can lift you up to overcome any obstacle. However, as great as the missionaries are, my testimony is not of them, it is in the Lord and redeemer Jesus Christ. As an ambassador of Him, I plead with you to come unto Him, to gain faith in His atonement, to repent of your sins, to be baptized by a holder of the proper priesthood authority of God, to receive the Holy Ghost, and endure to the end. I can witness that the Lord Jesus Christ is the Savior of not only mankind, but to YOU, whomever is reading this, I mean YOU. He loves you, knows you, and cares about you. Come unto Him, and be healed. 

 

If you are a member of the church, I have some words for you as well! Something interesting you learn in the MTC is that our purpose is not to convert people. It's to bring others to Christ. Conversion is a consequence, not the sole goal. Here are my words to those in the church-

 

Do you have a testimony?

You don't? pray, study, ponder, with a deep desire to gain one, and you will gain it. I can promise this as an Elder of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints.

 

You do? Good for you!

But that's not enough. If all you have is a testimony you will fall away from Him when your trials become great, or your pride overcomes your humility. You must be converted. Being converted unto the Lord is what you must now obtain. A testimony is knowing that your beliefs are true. Being converted to the Lord is consistently living what you know. I believe I know people who have been truly converted. They are amazing Christ like people.

To close my letter, I'd like to leave you with, what is in my opinion, the most beautiful word in the Tagalog language I have learned so far. It takes up an entire line in the Book of Mormon.

 

pinakamakapangyarihan. 

 

It means the Lord omnipotent, or is another title for Jesus Christ. My favorite so far. Love you all! Defend the faith!

 

Elder Mikesell III

MTC GREATEST EXPERIENCE EVER AND HARD, PROVO TEMPLE AWESOME AND "MY BOOTY TOO BIG"!

Well, hello there everyone and anyone! Okay, first thing, THE MTC IS THE GREATEST EXPERIENCE EVER! I love my district, which is composed of six other studly obedient elders. I love the food (although I'm pretty much just eating salads every day, because, ya know, I'm gonna get swoll)! I love the Provo temple. I love the atmosphere, the waking up early, my teachers, the spirit of this place - everything! Okay, second thing, THE MTC IS HARD! I am sooo tired all the time. Being with someone 24/7 is way more challenging than I thought it would be, the language is ALIEN to me, (there's almost no correspondence between English and Tagalog expect for a few randoms words that are just borrowed from the English language), I constantly feel inadequate, sub par, and lonely even though I'm never physically alone. However, the Lord is with me, and I will not fail. Where I am weak, He is strong, and it will be only through my faith that I succeed in my purpose, because that's what He requires. Elder Anderson, an elder in my district, gave me an amazing quote~ "If it doesnt challenge you, it doesn't change you." I am going to be a whole new person after the MTC and a whole new new person after my mission!

Anywho-sies, some great stuff is happening! I'm learning Tagalog at a steady pace, and I'm always getting better. We went to the temple today, and the Provo temple is absolutely amazing. I've started running, as Kelly would be glad to hear. On our temple walk I saw my first temple protestor, which was weird. What he was yelling made NO sense, and you could tell he had never bothered to learn what we teach. I got to hear an MTC talk from Elder Bednar, and it is without a doubt, so far up until this point in my life, the greatest talk I've ever heard. I don't know if its available on the internet, or if it's just at the MTC, but it's titled "The Character of Christ".

READ Elder Bednar's Talk "The Character of Christ"

Funny story time- something I had never ever heard of was that your third day in the MTC you teach an investigator that only speaks the language you are learning. We were like, whaatt the heeckk?! Her name is Melody, and she's straight from the Philippines. We're all pretty sure she's actually a member who's just a super good actor. The only reason we know that is, she kind of acts like each companionship is a new lesson, even though the entire district teaches her companionship after companionship. Basically, the only reason we think she's an actress is because she's too good at it. So, getting back to the story, me and my companion are trying to teach her sa tagalog, and we use the word "kami" as we, as in Heavenly Father is our/kami slash Heavenly Father. The only problem is that in Tagalog there are two words for our, tayo which means all our (roughly) and kami which is our, but exclusive. We basically told her that God was mine and Elder Youngerman's Father, but not hers. bnsrobubnwruhnbt3!!! We had to fix that the next day. Unfortunately, we also accidentally said we are God, but that was resolved quickly. All in all, even though its hard, the MTC is awesome and I wouldn't go back for anything if I had anything to say about it! 


These are the elders in my district (usually districts are mixed with sister and elders, but mine is just elders, which is wayyy better I've decided). Elder Youngerman- my super tall companion. He likes to run off on me, but besides that, he is an absolute stud of a companion. He's the district leader. Elder Anderson- is going to be an apostle, his name, the way he looks, the way he talks, everything, there's no doubt in my mind. Elder Curtis- sooo funny. I've had, I think, more emotional bonding with him than anyone else in my district, and he's not even my companion! He's a fantastic elder. He's the elder in every group that has a girlfriend back home that is "totally going to wait for me" and sends him letters every day with kisses on the envelope. Elder Doogal- is sooooooo freaking hilarious, and he doesn't even know it. Like he's serious all the time, but its hilarious what comes out of his mouth. Like here's an example- (Elder Cook) "Sisters have a special place in my heart." (Elder Doogal) "Blood has a special place in MY heart." hahahahahahahahahahaha, weird things become absolutely hilarious in the MTC! Elder Perkins- doesn't talk a lot, but he wears the most good looking ties in the district and is a fellow music nerd. He was born with twelve fingers!!! The extras were amputated and he still has the scars. Elder Cook- super obedient and super well meaning. He's my iron rod in this district.

 

This is my prayer so far in Tagalog, from memory! ama po namim sa langit. nugpapasalamat po ako para sa ebanghelyo at ng alklat ni mormon, at para kay jesucristo. pakiabasbasan po ninyo na koloon ng mga wikas at ng maramdaman espiritu santo. Also, are we going down? in tagalog is bababa ba? So funny! And "good water" is mabuti tubig, which literally sounds like my booty too big! hahahaha! Like I said to a lot of people, I love everyone from back home, but nope, still not homesick! And to all the old people that insisted I was going to go through an awful shock with no fancy electronic gadgets like the internet or my phone or tv or movies or music... to you I say, HA! That stuff I miss probably the absolute least. I'm way better off without them, no doubt. Sorry for all the typos. The keyboard in the computer lab is awful. The computers in this lab are weird, too, and aren't sending pictures... one of them is, but there's a waiting line of like eight elders to get to use it... I'll send them as fast as I can. I'll write more! love you all! Defend the faith!

Elder Mikesell III
(I'm referring to myself as Elder Mikesell the third, dad is the first and Jay is the second. Just so ya know.)

BEST NEW DISTRICT AT THE MTC!

 L-R in the photo: Elders Dougal, Curtis, Youngerman, Anderson, Perkins, Mikesell and Cook.

 

Dear parents,

 

My husband and I serve with a Tagalog branch presidency at the MTC. It was our privilege tonight to meet what is going to be the best new district at the MTC! You parents have obviously done a good job raising these young men. We look forward to working with them; our Sundays are always something to look forward to!

 

I'm especially glad to welcome some pianists, Elder Perkins and Dougal, and a vocalist, Elder Mikesell. The entire district will be singing in the choir for devotional next Tuesday night. :-) Elder Youngerman was called as district leader. 

 

L-R in the photo: Elders Dougal, Curtis, Youngerman, Anderson, Perkins, Mikesell, and Cook. (The only thing that could be better is the addition of sisters:-)

Warmly,

Sister Sowby

American Fork, UT

 

TODAY I ENTERED THE PROVO MTC!

 Reporting to the Provo MTC! Taking a few pictures...

 Left, in front of the Provo Temple; top, in front of the MTC; bottom, GOODBYE FOR 2 YEARS!

Bottom right, eating with my dad and grandparents; top, my dad dropping me off!

TONIGHT I WAS SET APART AS A MISSIONARY & I'LL ADD A NEW VERSE TO "I HOPE THEY CALL ME ON A MISSION"

Tonight I was set apart as a missionary for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints! It’s a little bit surreal. Beginning when you’re old enough to sing, they have you sing “I Hope They Call Me on a Mission”. All throughout your Aaronic priesthood years, your told over and over how this or that will benefit your mission, how you can or can’t do that on your mission, the stereotypes, the jokes, the myths, the rules, then your call comes, and everything finally starts happening!

I am ready. I am ready to be an ambassador for the Lord, to feed my spiritual fire, to speak with the power of the Holy Ghost and to bear witness of the Lord Jesus Christ. 

Or at least I’m ready to start learning how to.  

 

I think I’ll add a new verse [to "I Hope They Call Me on a Mission"]:

I’m glad they called me on a mission,
I’ll gladly serve a year, no, two!
I know the Lord will help me daily,
So I can teach and preach and work as He would have me do.

Elder Alec Mikesell

MISSIONARY FAREWELL & OPEN HOUSE

Thank you to everyone who came to support Alec yesterday! So many great friends and family came to listen to him speak! He did such a great job and will be an amazing missionary!

Sunday, January 12, 2014
Alec Mikesell Missionary Farewell
11:00am Los Prados Ward Building

Sunday, January 12, 2014
Alec Mikesell Open House
6:00-8:00pm Mikesell Home
Ice Cream Bar