Some more baptisms!

Elder Booth had the amazing privilege of participating in another 3 baptisms. It was for three children, and this is what he had to say about them in one of his letters: "They are really good kids that have the desire." What an exciting day!

Here's a couple of shots of almost all who participated in the baptisms:

Here are a few shots of Elder Booth and his companion
with the three children who were baptized:

I'm not exactly sure who this picture is with. I'm assuming that they are

either a family from the ward, or people who are investigating the church...

This letter was one of the only hand-written letters Elder Booth sent to us. E-mail was taken away from the missionaries for a few weeks and this was the letter Elder Booth sent home to everyone:

Dear Fam,

Hey Michele, here is the family letter. Sorry it won’t be the longest one. It is kind of late. I did not have much time today to write. It was a busy day. I didn’t get to write mom’s and Tosha’s letters either. Please tell them I am very sorry and they will be my first priority next week.

I am still doing very well. The very good news of the week is the baptism went very well. It did get a late start because people took a while to show up, but it was a very strong program. We even had this guy names Bro. Tommy sing for us. He is very, very good at singing. I guess his brother lives in Utah and is singing from some big event in Utah. I really don’t know much about it. All I know is that he is really good at singing. He worked with us to and even sang to us while we were walking. That was a very spiritual environment. It was a very good day for us.

The next day (Sunday) was kind of a crazy day at church. At first, not a single investigator showed up for church. I would have to say we were pretty sad, to say the least. Especially when the kids we had just baptized didn’t come either. My comp said he thought I was going to cry I looked so depressed. Oh, and I forgot to say the investigators we were supposed to baptize next Saturday also did not show up. So we won’t be able to keep going with that baptism. It will be another month of church before they can be baptized. So yea, I was not happy. I did cheer up after Sacrament though when the kids we baptized came. Not only did they come, but so did Sis. Amy. She is the lady that I was really excited because she came about 4 weeks ago. Well, she finally came again. This time, though, she brought all of her kids. It was awesome. Her grandma is a member and she met her for the first time at church. So all the kids got to see their great grandma. It was a special experience. Sis. Plaza (the grandma) was really excited. She is one of my first oym’ s in the mission. I think I would stay here for another transfer if it meant I would see her get baptized. I hope I will at least hear that good news from the person who replaces me, if I end up moving. The thing that was still kind of a bummer was our investigators still did not get confirmed because they were kind of late so they did not do it. That is the second time that has happened to me. It’s all right though, as long as they are confirmed next week. I will let you know how that works out.

We did have one call teaching. I think I told you about this one guy we taught that considers himself called of god. Well, we went back there last week on Thursday. It turned out to be the longest lesson I have ever had on my mission. I don’t know if that is really a good thing, but it was a goods experience. We had to listen to him a lot because he had a lot to say. He says he is on a mission to teach and has talked to God. He actually said he believes Joseph Smith. He just thinks that happens to a lot of people. He has been to many places to learn any teaching. Well, I sat there and listened to him talk for a while and then decided it was time to finally say something. I don’t remember exactly what I said, but I remember how I felt. I felt the spirit truly speaking through me. It did not matter that I was speaking in another language. I was not struggling for words or having to think of what this or that means. I just came. I though for sure he could not deny the words. To my surprise, it did not make a difference. All he did was say I am not looking for authority because everyone can say they have authority. He said he is looking for authenticity. That is when it was hard not to get discouraged. I guess things have not changed. It does not matter if the Son of God is teaching. Some will still not believe. I feel I did my part. If my message did not help him, it helped me in many ways. I now know I can truly speak with power. Not only that, I can do it in Ilango as well. That was a very special experience to me.

For my kind of funny experience, it involves a flood. This actually happened to me a while ago. I am pretty sure that I forgot to tell you this, so I will say it now. If I didn’t forget and have already told you, I am sorry. It all started at night. At night around 10:30 the water to the apartment ceases to come out of the tap. So I was going to the bathroom around 11:00 and tried to use the faucet in the bathroom. When no water came out I just forgot about it and left it on. Then about five in the morning I wake up to use the restroom again. I sleepily walked to the bathroom and was confused when I looked on the ground and saw about two inches of water. What was worse was I could hear the water flooding the people living under us. It was like a small waterfall. I then found myself running everywhere in just my garments. It was a mess. What happened was I left it on and happened to put the bucket right over the drain. So the water was strong and could not drain. I think I will always be remembered to those people as the Elder who flooded their house. It kind of ruined my morning, but I guess it is a good story, though.

Well, that is about all the stories I can think of right now. I am still alive and doing well. Sorry again I cannot email you. It does make things a little more difficult for me. I don’t know if this is a lot less than what I usually write or about the same. You can tell me if you feel you are getting gypped. Well, I love you all and really appreciate everything. I hope this letter finds everyone well. I am excited to hear from everyone.



Elder Booth

It's Baptism Day!! (again)

This time I am starting out with the letter from Elder Booth, as it explains what the pictures are of. Here it is:

Date: March 15, 2009 9:22:27 PM PDT
Subject: What up

Well I guess I will start out with the good news. Saturday was a very good day for me. Well, it was actually a very good day for our ward. We had seven baptisms in all. The other two elders had four and we had three. There were four investigators and three children of record. I got to dunk all three. Sorry - that kind of sounds bad, but that is the easiest way to say it. It was really exciting. It was really cool. This time I felt like they really wanted me to be doing it. We asked them who they wanted to dunk them and they both pointed to me. That made me really excited. Their names are Aubrey and Arline. I don't know if I told you the names in my last letter. They are really fun and their testimony after the baptism was absolutely amazing. I just had a huge grin on my face while they were giving it. It was very successful.

The child of record was a little weird. I had only met her twice and when we asked her if she wanted me to baptize her she said she would rather have her dad. I don't blame her, but I guess her dad had to work and the mother said he was probably not worthy to do it. So I kind of felt really bad for her. I never really though about how blessed I am to have a worthy father to do that stuff for me. Thanks dad.

Actually the rest of the night was different. Right after the baptism we had a big ward activity. We ended up playing this weird game with police and stuff. I really don't know. It was kind of fun. Either way, I lost and had to pay a price. Oh, when you lose games here you have to do a talent. So i had to dance in front of the entire ward. They all thought it was really funny. I guess you just have to do whatever it takes to brt (build relationships of trust). That's kind of a big deal in this mission. Then when I got home I went outside to wash. Then a fight broke out just outside of our gate. Elder Hamblin's Companion, Elder Lising, came outside and told me to come in so I would not either get hit by a rock or shot. As fun as it was watching, I decided to go inside for a while. The cops finally came and broke it up. I don't know, but I kind of thought it was funny to watch. Then later that night after me and Elder Hamblin got done washing we came back in and were surprised to find a cat in our apartment. We spent a good twenty minutes trying to get that stupid thing out. I think it was looking for a place to have its kids because I have never seen a cat so pregnant. That was quite the night.

The rest of the week was good. We gave another baptismal date and one of our investigators actually came to church. I was very happy to see him when he walked in. I got to go on splits again with one of my batch mates. That is getting a lot easier now that I am not so handicapped when in comes to talking to people. He came a month behind me because of an injury so he is not all that great at talking. He is learning fast though, and that is all that matters, I guess.

The only thing that is really bad is the family that I baptized. They are really making me sad. They are now inactive. I think they are just blaming everything on the church. I'm afraid the brother might be falling back into some old habits when it comes to the word of wisdom. Going to their house just makes me sad. I really hope they realize that the lord really loves them and what they should really be doing. I guess everybody needs to realize that. Other than that and some people not coming to church, it is good. I can't really think of any other crazy things that have happened.

I still have not eaten dog. I promise I will find a way before I come home, though. That is on top of the list when it comes to my goals. Oh, and I actually am learning how to cook a little bit. I will have to buy a rice cooker when I get home though if I want to make anything here. Oh well, that is doable.

Well, I love you all a ton. Stay happy back home and I will stay happy here.

P.S. I know I really should not be thinking about this on my mission. I feel kind of bad but I just have to know. Somebody here told me that Megan Fox is a man. That kind of blew my mind a little bit. I was just wondering if that was true.

Here are the pictures of the March 14th baptisms:

The first one is all of the kids being baptized, but four of them are from another area in Elder Booth's ward.

This next picture is of the three girls Elder Booth baptized himself.
Left to right: Hanna Sonyo, Aubrey and Arline Estebath (hopefully these aren't too off).

This next one is Hannah and her family:

This is still Hannah and her family, but with Brother Makilan, the ward mission leader also:

Here is Aubrey and Arline by themselves:

Next is a picture of the three girls getting baptized with Elder Booth
and his companion, Elder Lucas:

Here's a picture of all of the people getting baptized (all 7) and their
families and the ward mission leader:

These next pictures are of a HUGE beetle named Engre (I think that's what it is). The kids love playing with him. I'm not sure if he is a pet, or if they just picked him up:

Wow! That is one Huge Beetle!!

Elder Booth's First Baptisms!!

What an amazing time! Elder Booth's First Baptisms! As you can see from the letter, he's pretty excited about the whole thing. Congratulations! How exciting! Go Elder Booth!!

Date: February 1, 2009 7:07:38 PM PST

Hey everybody. Well, I would have to say this has been a really good week. I guess I will start out with the good stuff, which are the five baptisms my companion and I performed on Sunday. I went on splits on Friday so the district leader could interview them. We found out that one of the boys that was supposed to be baptized was actually only seven. It's kind weird here. They always say they are a year older when they are relatively close to their birthday. All of the interviews went great though. We also found out that they could not do it on Saturday, which was the original day. Since we had one planned for Sunday morning, we just put them all at the same time. It still was not to easy though. Don't get me wrong, it could have been a lot harder. It was a long process getting them in the water.

First on Saturday the father cut off his finger. Well not all the way, just mostly. He just sewed it up himself. He said it hurt pretty badly. My companion does not do well with that sort of stuff. You should have seen his face when he was describing it to us. It was pretty funny. It was alright though - he just said he would deal with it. He is an amazing guy. I could learn a thing or two from him. Then Sunday was pretty hectic. We were supposed to be at the church at six thirty but we both forgot to set our alarms for earlier. So the morning was really crazy when we were running around trying not to be late for our own baptism. Then on the way there, it was raining. So when we were waiting on the corner for jeepney, we got splattered with dirty water so all of my baptismal clothes got black spots all over them. By then I was a bit flustered, to say the least. We finally got there though, and were actually still the fist ones there. Filipino time is nuts. It was amazing though because they all showed up. Even if it was late. We actually even had an investigator come that we invited. It was an amazing experience. Nothing could make me wipe the grin off of my face.

There were five in all getting baptized. The family had four and we had one other. My companion baptized the parents of and the other sister and I got to baptize the two little girls. It was so cool and they were all so happy. I got some good pictures so I will send those back as soon as I get the other memory card. (Oh, and don't worry Michele, you can put whatever you think is cool on the blog - I don't really care). Oh and the family's name is the Taladros. I didn't think I would get to baptize an entire family my first transfer. Oh, and I was looking at it and they were actually my first appointment in the field. The kids are great. They have three girls and one boy. The girls are 13, 11, and 5. The little boy is 7, so we will be getting him ready for next year. The other investigator was our golden one. Her name is Mary Jean Endrada. She is a house help to one of the really strong members in the ward and she was just brought to us to teach. She is really smart and learned everything so fast. To top off our Sunday, we actually had a really less active member come back to church. We were really impressed. She is a return missionary but she stopped coming because she got offended by somebody. That is a pretty big problem here. She came back though so my trainer can now die happy. That has also been nuts. My trainer is leaving tomorrow, so things are a bit crazy around here with them trying to get ready to go. It is just going to be me and the other elder from my batch in our apartment for three days. I really don't know how that is going to go. I am pretty nervous so I hope the lord helps us out.

Nothing really happened too crazy with the culture. Everything is normal to me now. I am sorry. If you really want to know something though, don't be afraid to ask. I love you all and I am sorry if I missed something . Just let me know and I will be sure to include it next week. Oh, and just so everybody knows I can receive pictures and stuff through email. That seemed to be a popular question. Well, I love you all and thanks again for all of your support.

Elder Booth

Here are some of the pictures of the wonderful day:

Elder Booth and Elder Erickson with the Taladros family

Brother Taladros with all of his kids

Brother Taladros with the girls getting baptized

As Elder Booth mentioned, they had to move the Taladros baptism to Sunday. They already had a baptism scheduled for that day, also moved up from the 7th so Elder Erickson could perform it. Her name is Sister Jean and here she is, getting ready for the big event also:

Sister Jean, the Golden Investigator

Sister Jean with Elder Booth and Elder Erickson

Sister Jean with Elder Erickson

Sister Jean with Elder Booth


Sister Jean with her family

What a wonderful experience for all of those involved! A truly amazing day!