No email letter today... just photos :) Photos are good .... right?!

No email letter today... just photos :)  Photos are good .... right?!

Pictures 1-2: So there's this new gang in town, you ever seen em?

Picture 3: Just a big group of missionaries

Picture 4: We were all wearing the same dang tie

Picture 5-8: Activity we had today. Went to some place called Cagsawa ruins

Grandpa Willard Kenneth Fisher passed away on April 24th 2018

Hey mom, my mission president called earlier telling me that he got an email from Dad saying that Grandpa had passed away. How are you dealing with it? I'm alright, to be honest, I kind of expected it... But I'm extremely happy for Grandpa because I know that he doesn't have to lug around that painful physical body anymore, and he can run and leap in the spirit world.

President let me send out a quick email just to let you guys that I'm doing well. But I don't care about myself, I want to know how you are doing! I know you probably aren't taking it too hard (it's been expected for a while now) but you're still in my prayers :)

I love you so much mom, I'm sorry I can't be at home for this time.... But again, you will be in my prayers. I love you mom ❤

Moms response email: 

I’m doing OK :). Thank you for the email. I had a few more tears than I expected.  I feel for grandma. Grandpa wasn’t doing too well for a few months now. The night before he passed he was complaining of having a hard time breathing. Grandma asked if he wanted to go to the hospital and he said “no he was done with doctors”. He went to bed. The next morning grandma went to work at the temple early and got home around 12:30 pm. She noticed there was no food out on the counter from breakfast. She has told me for months now she hates going to check on Dad because she doesn’t want to find him dead. She waited and Mike came over around 2 pm to chat with her at lunch. Mom sensed that dad had passed but she didn’t want to say anything to Mike and tell him because she didn’t want to disturb his day. Mike left back for work. She decided before she checked on him to read a ensign article. She finish and decided to check on him at 3:30. His arm was off the bed and bluish in color. She touched his hand and called his name. She knew he had passed peacefully. His eyes were shut and the covers were neatly placed over his body.  She then called Mike. He came over and called me. The police came a while after and then the crematory person came to get him.

I am in the air plane now to go be with Mom and family and to make final plans. Grandpa insisted on being cremated. We will have a small gathering Friday with immediate family.  He has always said he didn’t want a funeral because there was nothing good to say about him. That is what breaks my heart the most. I pray he is happy and can help prepare grandmas mansion in heaven. I pray grandma won’t be lonely. I will do all I can to help her this week and will return Sunday.

I love you and always pray for you. Thank you for your sweet email. I’m proud of my Elder cook. Talk to you soon ❤️ I love you. Mom.

This area is full of interesting surprises!

This area is full of interesting surprises! But these surprises are starting to become normal, so we kind of expect it all now anyways. What I mean is we meet a lot of people, and on the first lesson they are SUPER interested and such, but then we come back for our second appointment and BOOM they hide from us. Why? Well we learned yesterday from one of our investigators that if her pastor finds out that she's listening to the "Mormons" then they get punished at church. What kind of punishment are we talking about? I have no idea, but it sounds pretty warped to me... Sounds like they are really capping off the ability that people have to think and reason for themselves.

So yep, that's this area! But we are still trying to find as much as possible and work with the members a ton. We are working out this new thing where we get the members involved on the third lesson with our investigators so they can invite them over to their home for dinner and stuff. You know, just so they have a friend right away in the church.

The Monilla siblings are still progressing well, and Lannie is tons ready for her baptism on May 5, and Francis is excited for his baptism on May 19. We keep trying to introduce them to the members, but they are just SO shy, and it makes it difficult for them to make friends. But we have trust that as they get used to being around the members, they will eventually open up to them.

We are also teaching the Magdaong family, and they are VERY receptive and are going to church and have baptismal dates for May 19. Our only problem with them is that they aren't married, so we have a lot of work to do to get them married before that date. But everything is possible!

Honestly, that's about it for the update this week. I can't give much of an update on our other investigators because they come and go so easily haha. But I have a ton of pictures! Love ya'll!

Picture 1: Laundry circle

Picture 2: Before they fix the economy here, they gotta teach em how to use the potty first

Picture 3: On our way to a service project

Picture 4-6: Pictures from the service project. We donated a bunch of wheelchairs to a hospital nearby

Picture 7-8: I found the secret to sexy

Picture 9: I got super good at holding a wheelie on a wheelchair. We took a bunch of videos and I was able to go around the cultural hall a couple times without breaking the wheelie

Picture 10: Epic wheelchair wheelies don't come without a cost

Picture 11: Dinner with the Monilla Siblings and the Galang Family (members)

EVERYONE GET READY FOR THE MOST DESCRIPTIVE EMAIL EVER

EVERYONE GET READY FOR THE MOST DESCRIPTIVE EMAIL EVER

Monday: Bag got stolen and all of my other stuff

Tuesday: Taught some cool lessons and went tracting for a long time

Wednesday: Went on exchanges with some other elders, and it was a good day. Had to chastise some disobedience out of them, but it was chill

Thursday: Had to super chastise some other elders for the garbage that they were doing, but it's chill now

Friday: I dont remember, but it's in my journal

Saturday: Found some cool new investigators!

Sunday: FINALLY got francis to accept baptism on May 19! He even says he wants to serve a mission some day

The end. Sorry, my time on the computer ran out haha. I'll do better next week! Love yalls!

From Elder Cooks Mom:

So to explain the stolen bag since Austin didn't have time.  Austin told me in another email a little more detail. "So what had happend is I left my bag in one of the Tricies (tricycles) we rode, and right as I stood up, I meant to grab my bag, but the guy just drove away... Fun stuff.  So no gun or knife involved.  The only thing that was in my bag was my debit and mission card and SD converter, so I still have all of my pictures and stuff.  I have plenty of personal money and plenty of support left.  Don't worry at all, I'm chillin.  Its actually better not having to lug a bag around all day haha"

Picture 1: Philippines Scenery

Picture 2: 4 guys

Picture 3: Actually taught this guy once in my last area. He showed up randomly last week and told me that he got baptized! His name is Joel Laurio

Picture 4-7: Pictures from church! These are all investigators. The two girls actually left to Manila, so we aren't teaching them anymore :( But I like the one girl's shirt that says "Coffee keeps me going until it's acceptable to drink wine." Perfect church shirt right? hahaha

General Conference week

This past week was great!

Since the Philippines is behind in like EVERYTHING, we got to watch General Conference a week late, which means just this weekend. But it was still so awesome to watch the solemn assemble and be able to sustain Prophet Russell M Nelson as the President of this church.

We are searching as much as we can for new investigators, but it seems that they are much better at hiding then we are at searching. Our most progressing investigators come from the Monilla family. Lannie Monilla is that one girl who kept hiding from us so we had to corner her in order to teach her, but now she's so excited for her baptism. She even came to general conference yesterday and she loved it! (even though it was all in English haha) Anyways, one of Lannie's brothers, Francis, who is 13 years old shared a really cool experience with us the other day.

We have been teaching Francis and Nelsa (who I call "Bonaynay") about the Book of Mormon and how important it is to receive a witness from the Spirit that the book is true. For if it is true, then Joseph Smith truly was a prophet of God, and this is indeed Jesus Christ's church here on the earth today. So we told Francis and Nelsa that they need to ask God if the book is true and we are SURE that he will answer you through the Holy Ghost. Well, Francis was the first one to act that night, and the experience he reported to us was pretty interesting. Francis asked his older brother, Jonathan, who is a member, how to ask God if the Book of Mormon is true. So Jonathan kneeled down with him and said a prayer asking if the Book is true and said "There! That's how you do it. But when you pray, go into the kitchen. The spirit's signal is stronger in the kitchen." Yeah, I don't really know where the kitchen thing came from, but it made us laugh!

Anyways, Francis went to the kitchen to ask God and he said that right as he did, he felt this overwhelming feeling, which he described as electrifying, and it made him get goosebumps all over his body and then he started crying and took that as his answer. After that he read the book of Mormon for hours that same night.

Well, I guess Francis shared this experience right away with Nelsa, and she actually told us that she got scared when Francis told her about it, so now she's scared to ask if the book is true because she feels like she's gonna get shocked or something when she does. We were laughing a lot at that, but we reassured her that it's not a scary thing at all because Heavenly Father isn't going to scare us, and that nothing bad ever comes from God. This was just last night when we shared this with them, so we will visit them tomorrow to follow up again.

P.S. Sorry if my story was confusing right there haha

Anyways, I know the Book of Mormon is true! It helps me out every day that I read it because it answers life's greatest questions. So many times it helps me find answers to questions I didn't even know that I had. I love it!

And that's all for this week! Love you all!

Picture 1: Walkin around and stuff

Picture 2: Dad, I found this sweet lil samurai

Picture 3-4: There was a blackout, so I used the stove to heat up the iron

Picture 5: A member in Irosin made this for me, and it just barely got to me the other day. He uses straight charcoal. Not a charcoal pencil, but like straight up charcoal from the fire. I keep it on my desk now :)