March 9, 2014

March 9, 2014

Wow, I am not sure what to say about this week. It was pretty crazy. On Tuesday the zone leaders came upstairs and told us that they needed us to come help them move some sisters into a different apartment. We got everything out of the apartment and loaded up into trucks and a Jeepni. It was actually fun. I was so used to doing the same thing every day that even though it was hard work with a lot of heavy lifting ( maybe it just seemed heavy because I am so weak ahah) that I really actually enjoyed it. Then we were told by the land lord that the apartment would be all fixed up cleaned and painted before the day we would move in. So when we got there they had just finished painting the house hadn't been clean and there were still many repairs so for the rest of that day me and Elder Rabanes the Zone Leaders and those Sisters cleaned repaired and moved the sisters stuff in. What was kind of weird was that I thoroughly enjoyed it and there apartment that was rather nasty and not very nice looking turned into an awesome place that I would be happy to live in. Even though we didn’t have that much success with actually missionary work, my house repairing and cleaning skills are improving. I don't have anything about the work this week because our area is going through a rough patch right now ahaha. We will see what happens this next week. On an even better note. We have a dinner appointment later tonight:) Have a fantastic week!:)

P.S. I am getting tan......haha joke I can't get tan J

Elder Ball

March 3, 2014

March 3, 2014

TRANSFER WEEK!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Wow this week was crazy! I don't think anyone would have ever guessed what happened to me this past week! Just take a guess to where I transfered...Right now..................Okay..........So here it is I....................Didn't transfer haha I thought I would be I didn't so I am going in to my 5th transfer here in Urdaneta 1st! I will be here for 7 months haha pretty crazy! I don't know what the Lord and President Monahan have in store for me. But I am actually pretty happy that I didn't transfer because I love this place and the ward is awesome! But at this rate I will only have 3 or 4 areas my whole mission hahaha. As far as the work goes this week it was pretty good me and Elder Rabanes who is still my companion were able to work with 2 new missionaries on Wednesday and Thursday that had just arrived from the MTC here in the Philippines. It was pretty cool to see all the Progress I have made in teaching and now really see that I am not so much a noob here in the mission now I am just kinda young not a baby:) A sister from Utah who has been in this zone my entire mission just went home this last week because she finished her mission and it was way weird! She was way sad and her house mates said she cried every night that last week! I hope I grow to love the mission that much to! Not to the point of me crying every night but that I truly love the people with all my heart and want to continue helping them!

One scripture that I really liked this week is 2 Nephi 1:25 It really spoke to me this week haha but seriously as members and people we need to shake off the things that are not of God and not in line with the example of Jesus Christ and suit up in the Gospel of Jesus Christ and his Atonement to be truly free and be able to obtain true happiness.  I have changed a lot on my misson and I like the changes! But I am still just as awesome.......or just full of my self haha:)

Elder Ball

Feb. 24, 2014 Brother Million was baptized

February 24, 2014

BAPTISM!:) So this week was good our Investigator Bro. Jaime Million was Baptized this last Friday! It was awesome seeing him baptized!!  Me and Elder Moreno Planted the seed Me and Elder Carullo nourished him and me and Elder Rabanes Harvested him. It was awesome see him progress and us help him work through concerns and doubts to see him with his testimony now. He is 62 and his wife is super hard in the heart and mind hopefully she will accept the gospel later in her life but probably not while I am here but you never know! So Like for Kyler it is transfer week! I am still in my first area and I actually really do not want to transfer! I love it here and love being in the city with the office so close the AP's in my zone and the Zone Leaders in our house!!! I also found this quote the other day that I like by Boyd K. Packer that I like it isn't crazy deep or anything it is so simple and so true it is "We are not obedient because we are blind, We are obedient because we can see" That is so true to so many things. If we truly understand our heavenly Fathers plan there is not any commandment or anything requested of us that we would not do or follow!!

Love you all!

- Elder Ball

Feb. 16, 2014

Feb. 16, 2014

Magandang Hapon sa inyong Lahat, This week was a good one.  Lots of stuff happened and we had some great success with teaching and Investigators progressing to Baptisimal Dates or IBD's.

First I went on exchanges 2 times this week, once with my District Leader and then again with one of my Zone leaders who lives in our house. With my District leader Elder Liston our very first appointment we were contacting a man who said we could come back. We sat down outside and then another man saw us and asked if he could join, we said OF COURSE you can join. So we hadn't even finished the opening prayer and this second random guy starts firing off questions and being all crazy, and then sadly commenced a bible bash. We answered every question proved every one of his accusations wrong, but there was no spirit.  Me and my companion were mad, the man was mad and then I said something I probably shouldn't have that reignited his fury and questions when I said, "Brother if you continue on the path you are on now you are not going to be saved." As you could have guessed he did not like that and that is when part 2 of the bash started! I learned a few lessons from that bash. That there can be no spirit when you are mad and are pretty much arguing.  At the end, you didn't prove anything.  They just don't like us now and some people have heads harder than.....I don't know something really hard. Even though we were right in everything we said, we were wrong in the way we handled the situation. We should have testified closed and left. And another bad thing was that the first man that we were supposed to teach who didn't say a word the whole time doesn't want missionaries to come back. So, I learned that Bible Bashing is bad and nothing good comes from it.

    MMM mmm mmm…pringles and coconut milk.   – Personal study snacks. J

On a good note we had a lot of progression with our IBD's and one of them will be baptized this week. Elder Moreno and I found him my 3rd week in the Philippines and he is finally being baptized!!! Another good thing is I can't say that I am fluent but I can speak consistently an understand everything people say other than deeper grammar that I don't know, so that is cool. It is kind of weird to think about that I can understand 2 languages that aren't even close. But It is really all because of the help from Heavenly father and because I am on his errand that I can. This week was a good one.  Lots of things learned and a lot of good things happening in the Urdaneta 1b area!!:)   

Have a fantastic week!

Elder Ball

Feb. 9, 2014

Feb. 9, 2014

Hello from "It’s more fun in the Philippines" this week was pretty normal.  We really struggled with teaching this week most of our appointments fell through and we got rejected by more people than my entire mission! But I learned a very important lesson this week in church from a talk that our sub Mission President gave. He was talking about trials and about hard things in peoples’ lives and we all know that trails are to help build us an make us stronger and rely on the savior for our strength but he also said that trails are for us to be able to help others through those same trails. I had never thought about it that way before. If we rely on the Gospel and the Savior and come out of the trail stronger we are able to then be a tool in our Heavenly Fathers hand for his other children. It made me think about my own trials of hardships weather the will of God or brought on by myself that If I endure and rely on the Savior and always try to continue to be closer to him I will be in a position to help others later on and to help them see that we can get through everything with the gospel of Jesus Christ and that everything will be okay as long as we are obedient and follow our Older Brothers example. The saying "And they lived happily ever after" is not for this life, It is for the next. And I know that if we are all obedient look for ways to serve and never let go of that Iron Rod, we will all live Happily Ever After, and help others to do the same!

I Love You All,

Have a fantastic week!

Elder Ball