Another Baptism!!

Elder Booth was able to participate in another wonderful baptism. This time he was able to perform the baptism and had a great experience.

Here is the one getting baptized:

His name is Jonald Belanda. (He's the third one over from the right, on the back row.
The little girl in front is from the other area in the ward).

Here are some of the other members of the ward and the families.

This is the letter Elder Booth sent right after the baptism. He talks about it and explains the details of the event:

Date: April 26, 2009 8:27:10 PM PDT
Subject: Got a dunk again

Hey Everybody! I'm glad that everybody is still doing well. I am not a fan of getting bad news on P-days, so that is good. Just keep that up. Plus, I hope things like the economy are getting better, even though I doubt it. Oh well, just keep on going, I guess. There really is not anything else we can do.

Everything here is peachy. We get transfer announcements tomorrow, but my source in the mission office told me that I would be transferring. Not only transferring, but going to the smallest island in the mission. It is called Gimeras. There are only four small areas on the island, so Zone Meetings are going to be the same as District Meetings, since it the zone and the district are the same thing. I guess that is not sure though, because they change things a lot in the last second. I will know for sure tomorrow morning. I have already started doing the whole good bye thing, though. We have a ton of dinner appointments this week. Actually, we had one last night. That was cool. It is always fun to eat. My companion wanted to try and beat my last record of three dinner appointments in one night, but I told him I about died that time and beating it would just suck. I still remember the ward missionary with us saying that his worm was even telling him, no, he can't take anymore. I laughed really hard about that one. This is a really good ward and will be hard to leave. I hope I had a good enough impact where they remember me a little. It's always good to be remembered.

This was a very good week. We were able to make up for the last couple of weeks with the teachings. People actually decided to be there when they said they would be. The baptism was amazing. Well, I guess they always are, but I never get sick of them, that is for sure. The program was really good. We had two good speakers and then me, my companion, and two others gave a musical number. We were going to do it in Tagalog, but I forgot to bring my hymn book. I was bummed because I like singing in Tagalog. I miss it from the MTC. Most Filipinos are kind of tone deaf, but I think we sounded alright. Then I got to do the baptism, which is always a treat. It was really cool after the baptism. He walked into the bathroom, put his hands up, and said: "Cool. I'm a member now." He was really excited, which made me pretty darn happy. Then his testimony at the end was very strong. The next day at church was pretty crazy, though. He came like three minutes late so they decided not to do the confirmation. Then after the meeting the bishop said that he would be going to Murcia to do it. That is another area that just has some groups, but is still in our ward. They come to our church every first Sunday. So they made him go to two churches, one being pretty far away. I was pretty bummed because we were not there to watch. Oh, and plus we found out that they gave him the priesthood right after. So I don't know who made that decision, but it is kind of against the rules. Oh well. You just have to support your leaders, right? My comp was freaking out a little bit. That is never fun because he usually tries to take it out on me. It seems like I do quite a bit to not punch him in the face sometimes. I think the mission is just one big anger management class sometimes. Oh well, as long as it is for the Lord.

The rest of my investigators are well. We finally got some to come to church. I was so happy to see them. It is a part member family where the member is their uncle. One is ten and the other is twelve. The ten year old really wants to be baptized, but the 12 year old will be a little harder. They did have a good time at church, though. I love it when the investigator class is full. I am really going to miss the investigators here and I hope I will be able to check up on them and find out what happens to them all. I hope my comp will continue the work there for them all.

I did have one really funny experience. We were on our way to an investigators class when this old guy yelled good afternoon to us. So of course we went over to talk to him. He seemed really nice at first. Then my companion asked if he had talked to the missionaries before. He said that he had. Then my companion made the mistake of asking him how that went. This is when he started to freak out on us. He stood up and while looking right at me started shouting that Jesus was the son of God. That was cool and all, but he started saying how He resided in him or something. Just remember, he isn't just saying this, he is pretty much screaming it at me. I had the hardest time in the world keeping a strait face. I about lost it so many times. I'm pretty sure I at least had a smirk on my face. So we eventually just walked off and he started shouting after us that we were all friends. So ya, that is my funny experience. I don't know if that is that funny. Maybe it is one of those "you had to be there" things.

Well, that is all I have to say about that. I hope every thing stays good at home. I love you all. Keep up the hard work and remember the church is true.

Love Elder Booth

Elder Who?

In this post, we have some pictures of some of the Elders that Elder Booth is serving with. Here is a picture of Elder Lising , Elder Hamblin's companion, playing with a fake snake. He looks like he's not totally convinced that it's fake...

Here is Elder Lucas dodging the light saber:

This is one of Elder Lucas in a remote area that he and Elder Booth were in:

Here is a letter from Elder Booth:

Date: April 19, 2009 11:23:22 PM PDT
Subject: Grabe Damo kabalaka nah jokes long

Hey everybody. It sounds like everybody is still having a great time back in the US of A. It's too bad I could not have been there to see all those races in St. George. That sounded really fun. Plus, the cherry on top is Michele kicking Ryan's trash. No, just kidding. I'm sure there is a very good excuse for that.

Everything here is still really good. I'm getting kind of nervous because transfers are getting closer and closer. I am just worried something crazy will happen like going senior and getting a new language at the same time. That really is not on my list of things to experience right now. I doubt that will happen, though. I guess it will be really nice seeing new things and seeing new people instead of the same old stuff all the time. I do love this area, though. I am going to miss a lot of the members here. I will have to write them through pouch mail.

Nothing all that exciting has happened this week. It was a lot of the same thing, actually. We did have Stake Conference though, which was cool. It was a live studio broadcast. The two main speakers were Holland and Eyering. They are two of my favorites, so I was pretty excited. They had really good talks that were directed just to the Philippines. I think it hit home to a lot of them. The main subject was families, though. Man, I guess they really are important. I guess if the family truly fails in the end, then we will all fail in the end. So keep up the love and unity.

Our investigators are doing great. We did have an incident where the one that is supposed to get baptized on Saturday decided to skip town for a couple of days. I guess his actual family lives in another town. I really didn't think it was a big deal, but my comp was kind of freaking out. The second night he did not show up our nightly planning kind of just consisted of him sitting there trying to think of what could have happened, and me just sitting there playing with a rubber band. I don't know, maybe I should have worried more, but it just seemed like no biggy. He did finally come back though, which made my comp almost jump for joy. Actually, now that I think about it, he might have. So the baptism is still on as scheduled. He is a way cool guy I am really excited for him.

Oh, and we finally had one other come to church. Our investigator to be baptized brought him. I really don't know him though becuase he only knows tagalog and that is not my stong point right now. I try to teach him in it and I look like a fool. Oh well. That is just the name of the game. I just wish that I could remember all the stuff from the MTC. I think I have forgotten everthing I learnded there when it comes to language. However, if I did not learn tagalog in the MTC, then I would not have been able to learn Inlango at all. So the lord really blessed me with that one.

Oh, we did get a golden investigator that has actually worked with us a couple of times. Her friend is a ward missionary that she will come with. She was really shy at first, but we found out that she actually has quite the personality. She is really fun and will be a great addition to the church. I probably won't be here to see it through, so that is kind of sad. Oh well. That is just how it is here. Sometimes you plant, and sometimes you harvest. Either way, it is the Lord's work.

Man, I can't really think of anything too funny happening to me. We did teach at that lady's house that just starts crying sometimes. We taught a bunch of little kids. It was kind of weird when she would be introducing herself and then just bust out in tears. I felt really bad for her because the kids would just start laughing. She did, however, laugh by the end of the lesson, so that was good. I just wish she had some help from her husband to go to church.

Oh and remember Elder Hamblin? He's the elder from Arizona that I live with. I guess he got to dress a dead guy. He told me that was quite the thing to do. I dont know if I really want to experience that one or not. I'm not a huge fan of the whole "dead body" thing. I already have a hard enough time seeing them at the funerals (I think they look weird enough here), let alone go and put some clothes on them. I guess they just had to put his garments on and stuff. Sounds fun.

Oh, we had our zone activity today. We had a sports fest. It was really cool. We played some soccer, bump out, and dodge ball. I did pretty well. I was undefeated in bump out and dodge ball. I even made a goal in soccer, which is good since I am no good at it. Well, sorry this email does not have too many cool stories. I will try to experience cooler things this week. Oh, and I should be telling you about a baptism as well. Well, I love you all. Keep the faith and remember the church was true then, it is true now, and it will be true forever. (Some of my favorite words from Holland).

Love
Elder Booth

Above Ground Graveyard

This post is all of an email from Elder Booth. This time, the pictures are incorporated into Elder Booth's email...


Date: April 12, 2009 8:08:12 PM PDT
Subject: Happy!! Easter!!

Hey everybody. I hope this email finds you having a very good and Happy Easter. Sorry again for not getting a very good email last week. If it makes you feel any better, I'm pretty sure I was more angry than you. It's all good though - I will just try and make this one that much cooler.

Well, this week was pretty interesting. They kind of celebrate Easter a little differently than we do. Actually, it really isn't Easter Sunday as it is Easter week. They actually call it Holy Week. My companion was explaining some of the things and it is kind of crazy. It doesn't really start getting wierd until Good Friday. Everything is closed and they are all watching some priest guy on the TV and radio. I have no idea what he was going on about. I really didn't care, though. Well I guess they have to watch it since nothing else is on. It's kind of like when you don't have satellite and the only thing on is the presidential debate. That was always a bummer. That always meant I had to get up and actually do something. Watching was never really an option. It's pretty much the same here. All of the kids were out playing more than usual because they had nothing to watch and all of the parents were inside trying to listen. It actually hindered the work quite a bit. We kept getting punted by people who wanted to watch the other people teach. There were a lot of people curious as to why we really did not celebrate the week thing. We just told them that we try and remember the Atonement every week and not just once a year. I don't know if they liked that too much, but I guess the truth hurts. Just ask Laman and Lemuel. they will tell you all about it. So ya, that was pretty weird. Then at night it got even weirder. A bunch of people all get in this funeral procession (sorry can't spell) type thing and march down the streets while carrying big statues of saints and Christ. The most disturbing one was at the end. they had a big class coffin thing with Jesus inside. It would not have been bad, but he was all bloody and stuff. One of the elders called it the black parade. That was a new experience for me. I guess it could have been worse though, because in other places they actually crucify people in remembrance. My trainer was telling me of this guy in his old area who had permanent holes in his hands from getting crucified every year. That would be a little creepy to see.

Saturday and Sunday were still pretty normal except everybody was still gone and punted us. Oh, and I guess they say you are not supposed to do anything on Saturday because if you get cut or hurt in anyway it will never heal right or something like that. I'm good, I think. I couldn't find any cuts at the end of the day.

Well, our investigators are doing about the same. Sister Mary Ann did have the baby and her name is Jade. She is really cute, plus I like the name a lot. That's a good one for a girl. There are still a lot of problems with the marriage, so I don't know if I will be here to see how that works out. Actually, I am pretty sure I won't be. Sister Amy still has not received her answer. I am beginning to worry, but we just have to have faith and hope that she has faith as well.

Jonard is still very strong. I love teaching him because he is very spiritual and fun. It is a sure thing he will be baptized on the 29th. Our president was a little disappointed we only had one for the month of April, but I think it is alright. He cares about the numbers a little more than I do. He actually cares about them a little more than a lot of people do. Ya, all the rest are pretty much the same. We did have one the said she would not be joining our church but it was alright if we kept coming back to teach. So we will probably have drop her. I guess it just is not her time.

The other culture thing that was cool this week was a funeral. It was a fairly prominent person in the ward that died, so the funeral was a big deal. First, we went to the viewing, which was cool. My companion got volunteered to give a talk right there on the spot. I felt kind of bad for him until I found out that I would be the one dedicating the grave the next day. So I was pretty nervous the whole next day. We were very involved. We helped carry the coffin and everything. It turns out though, that right when I was expecting to hear my name being announced, they said that the previous bishop would do it. I was kind of relieved, but I will admit that it would have been kind of cool to do. The graveyards are kind of cool. They do the whole stacking thing. There are just a bunch of cement boxes. So that was cool.

(Here are a few pictures of it. Elder Booth did feel a little creepy taking them)...



We actually got to watch general conference this Saturday and Easter Sunday. I have now watched every single session, including the priesthood session without falling asleep. I even took about five pages of notes. I would recommend that, actually. You get a lot more out of it. It was an amazing conference. It was truly a spiritual experience. I did notice they talked a lot about the hard times going on right now. When they were fully justified in just saying I told you so, they actually gave words of encouragement. Be happy and everything will be alright, as long as you are on the Lord's side. I think my favorite talk was Elder Holland. He really opened my eyes on the pains of the Lord Jesus Christ. That was amazing. So I encourage all of you as well to keep an upbeat attitude. If you have faith then you will not fear. I love you all and hope you will continue in the work of the lord. Thanks for your amazing love and support.

Elder Booth

Here they are leaving the graveyard:

This is another surrounding area: