Elder Austin Russell Cook Philippines, Legazpi Mission 8-2016 thru 8-2018: These people totally want to listen! Almost every person we talk to wants to hear our message, and many of them are willing to hear more.

So this week was another successful week in the hottest place on the planet! Actually I learned that this place is in the cold season, it actually gets about 25 degrees hotter than this in the summer, so that's going to be TONS OF FUN!!

Anyways, this week started off pretty dang well! We teach at the local prison every Tuesday, which is super awesome and I really enjoy doing it. And that same guy who just looks like the most thug looking man I've ever seen is still just blowing my mind. (I think I talked about this guy like two weeks ago, so I'm not going to give another description in fear of sounding repetitive) We give everyone we teach these pamphlets in order to teach some of our lessons a little easier, and apparently there's a section in the back of the pamphlets that have lists of scriptures and a blank space underneath to write your thoughts about each scripture in the Book of Mormon that you read. I didn't even know these spaces existed (Because no one ever does them) But I noticed in his pamphlet, literally every line is filled out with his personal thought on his reading of the scriptures, and there's probably a good 30 different scriptures that it lists for people to study. I'm pretty sure he wants to be baptized too, but he's not allowed out of the prison to do it, so that's the only bummer for him.

And wow, it barely hit me this week that Christmas is literally right around the corner, and I barely even noticed! They have some Christmas decorations and music here, but it's not nearly the same as back home. Seriously, there's no cold weather, no caroling, the decorations and music aren't the same, and overall it's just kind of a drag. But that's okay, I mean, my mind has been elsewhere because we have been so busy with the work, which is really nice.

Every time we teach Tony, he always calls all of the little kids

walking by to come over and listen. He says, "Hey! Come

Listen! Bible Study!" and they always listen to him. So this is a

picture with some of the cute kids who listened in on our lesson

This week we have found some super golden people to teach. These two older men, Tony and Luis, are just so prepared to receive this gospel it’s crazy. They come to church and love it, they read the Book of Mormon without us hardly even asking them too, and they ALWAYS have questions about the church and always accept the answers we give to them. Really, they are just ready for all of this, and I am super excited for both of them. I know there may be some road bumps (as there almost always seems to be) but I believe that they can work past them.

Another thing that's been different about this week is our street contacting. We've made a goal to talk to 30 people randomly and talk to them about what we believe, which sounds crazy, but these people totally want to listen! Almost every person we talk to wants to hear our message, and many of them are willing to hear more. It sometimes takes guts to talk to people out of random (Especially when you don't know the language) but seriously, it works in this area, it's amazing!

Me and Elder Montemayor ready to take on the world

That's about all for this week! I know that even more stories will come with next week, and they will be awesome! Don't worry about me, I'm super happy over here, and I hope that you are all happy back home. Love you all, and can't wait to tell you more next week!

Love Elder Austin Cook