Elder Steve Brousseau in Laoag, Philippines

We had a fun week. We had a great zone conference. We learned more about the Bible and about Charity. We had wonderful departing testimonies from those missionaries going home. Elder Peterson also performed! He sang a solo of "I Know My Redeemer Lives". He did really well since he was told a few minutes beforehand that he was doing it. It was great seeing a bunch of my good friends and making a few new ones. One thing we discussed in zone conference was Charity. I then took the opportunity to study that topic that night. The scriptures are ripe with knowledge of charity and I encourage you all to study charity and see ways you can improve. I love that as we develop charity, we also develop the other attributes of Christ. When we have charity, we have faith and patience as well. To be able to have the pure love of Christ is a life long goal but we can get as close as we can in our Earthly journey. I love you all and I hope you all have a great week!

Wow. The first week of training is sort of done and what a week it was. So the title is because that happened a few times this week. We would go to people's houses and they would see 2 Americans and heard me speak Tagalog but only saw the 2 Americans so they told us to come back when we have a translator. Do I look like the Tatay of this elder? I think we look close enough to be related. We are getting the 2001 babies now which blows my mind for some reason. If any of you know the Hawks (aka Adrienne and Darcy) Elder Peterson, my new trainee, is their cousin! That was crazy to find out. Anyway, we are learning a lot together. One thing I have learned this week that I feel impressed to share with you is that God will make you equal to anything He calls you to do. I have felt so inadequate to be a District leader and a trainer at the same time but as I have been going about my duties, I have been able to see the strength of the Lord in my life. It has been a really cool growing exper...

This is Elder Saberdo. He's my new companion here in Ballesteros. He's great! Now that you know him, I can get to my week. A lot happened but mostly we just visited the members this week so that they could meet Elder Saberdo. We also met this Nanay on Saturday night and just kind of invited her to church. The member we were working with that day waited until after our conversation to tell us that she is crazy. On Sunday, she came to church and started asking people for money and apparently, later after we left, she started calling people devils and went hysterical so one of the members called the police. So that was super fun. But, on another note, my companion has a super strong testimony so our lessons have been going great! I'm excited for this next week! I hope you all had and will have a great week! I love you all and I know that God has a plan for you! He will help you through anything you have a problem with if you just pray to Him!

*Editors note: This week, you'll see his last two emails* Sunday, June 23, 2019 This week was crazy but not like really busy crazy, more like fry your brain crazy. It's hard to explain so I won't try but I will tell you some things about this week. So this week, we didn't have baptisms scheduled but we were able to attend the baptisms of the other Elders in our district and not only that, President Peterson was there! He was here for interviews but stayed for the baptism. We had a funeral we were invited to attend for a member as well as one of our investigators passed away. That was crazy because we had talked to him the day before. So that was a bit rough. I just find solace in the fact that now he can be taught by some of the most experienced missionaries ever. Anyway, none of the lessons we had this week are really standing out to me but it was a good week. I have been reading Jesus the Christ in my studies recently and I am just in awe of how many years it too...

So Happy Father's Day to all those fathers and future fathers out there. Also, Happy Birthday Kenzie! This week has been a lot better so thank you for all the prayers that you may have sent my way! We had some great experiences this week but the highlight for this week was for sure Friday and Saturday. Friday, we had the baptismal interview for Maricel and she, obviously, passed so that was super cool then we went to another appointment with the Ulibas family. This is just a sweet Nanay and her son that have been super welcoming to us. That is actually where that picture with the Buko(coconut) came from. We taught them Lesson 1 and the spirit was so strong. It was one of those lessons where I was speaking words in Tagalog that I didn't know but I just threw them out because they felt right and it ended up being the right sentence structure and the right words so even my companion was surprised afterwards by how much Tagalog I spoke. But the lesson went great and they received ...

Guess what?! I'm getting transferred! I know I sound happy about it but I have mixed feelings. I know it is where I am meant to go, I'm excited, but I also know I will miss Pasuquin and the people that make it great. It feels like I am going to be leaving my home all over again. We good though! I think this experience will truly be for my good! Also, I can brag that I out lived 5 sisters in Pasuquin! So this week, we had our interviews with President Peterson and I realized while we were there that I feel so comfortable talking with them so I was happy to find that out about myself. It was a good interview.  We also had another great lesson with someone Elder Dagulo and I found last week so that was awesome! Sisters Autufuga and Mariano are going home and I am going to Cagayan! I'm going specifically to an area called Ballesteros. I am not only transferring but also becoming the senior companion! That is super crazy for me. Elder Dagulo is going to have Elder Peterson (a ...

Happy Mother's Day! This was a disagreement my companion and I had this week but we found out that we were both right. That was nice to hear that I am starting to be able to recognize words I don't even know yet. I know the word now though thanks to this. I say a disagreement because while we can't agree on everything, we both try to stay civil and we try not to argue. It really helps for us to listen to each other's position so maybe we can find a compromise.  Anyway, my week has been great! It's been raining a lot here in Pasuquin and some of the people we are teaching have really been engaged in our lessons. I was able to talk to my Mom yesterday which was so fun! The members are always so willing to help us with food or lessons and many other things! They really are trying to be representatives of Christ in all they do. It really is amazing to me the people that just come up to talk to us. We were eating the other day and were about to leave when this guys mot...

I promise my companion is not as crazy as my pictures make him seem. He just is a goof. Also, I'm wet in that picture because it was raining. You just can't see it. Happy Birthday to my Uncle David and Elder Kirkby! This week, we were able to find in a very natural way. Namely, it was pouring rain and someone offered us a ride to central. We found out that they lived in our area and we were able to introduce ourselves to them and share a bit before we got to central. We got so wet that day, it was easier to see without my glasses than with them! I was absolutely soaked through my clothes. Not only that but the lightning was blindingly bright and the thunder sounded like the end of days. It sounded like an earthquake! It was really fun to be a part of because I, like my sister, love rain. We were also able to find by playing basketball with some members and their nonmember friends. That is one of my favorite ways to find to be honest. You really can find using things that you li...

Time flies when you are teaching about Christ! On the 24th I reach my 6 month mark on my mission! Craziness! Happy Anniversary this week to Chris and Jess! Super excited for you! Congrats to all my friends getting mission calls for the last little bit! I'm proud of you! This week in terms of teaching was uneventful. The best teaching we were able to do was an FHE with some members but that was really fun! They do have some interesting traditions here for Easter that includes a parade with "floats"(really just carts that they pull) with statues that signify Jesus's life that they walk with on Tuesday, Thursday, and Friday. It was interesting to watch. Easter was great! I always love celebrating Jesus especially when it is about His mission on Earth. I know as we always try to celebrate Christ and put Him as the center of our lives, not only will we be blessed but people will see the change in us. People have always asked me why I'm so happy all the time and most of...

So I haven't actually watched General Conference yet sadly but I will get to next week. So as a brief summary of our week, we did a service project to help some one renovate their house, we are still teaching and some of them seem golden, and we had fast Sunday. If you are just wanting to know how I'm doing, I'm great! I'm getting this out of the way so I can tell a long story but those that don't want to read it can see how I'm doing.  So on Wednesday, we were  on our way to San Isidro but on the way there, we didn't feel like we should go that way. So, we went back to central to see if that is where we were supposed to go. We felt the way to go was Puyupuyan, which we did. Then, all the people we were going to visit were not there. So, being kind of confused, we went to Naglicuan to try to visit a member that was in the clinic recently. On our way there, we passed the house of some one we're teaching. We thought we heard some one say elder from the...

That's what I say to my companion every time he says he doesn't know. Joke lang ito talaga. But kind of real, sometimes. We keep working hard and trying to get new people to teach while still visiting those we were teaching before as missionary life is. This week we have had more wonderful people help out. Some of our areas are 4 km. away and that doesn't really sound like that much but factor in that it is mostly uphill and in the heat of the Philippines, it makes it hard to visit all of our areas. It also doesn't help that we have around 20 areas so we try to visit multiple each day. That leads to a lot of walking which means we don't have as much time to teach but the transportation to those places is expensive. The free rides that people are giving us are really helpful and usually it helps us to be able to teach them while they are serving us. These people truly are gifts from God. We taught a few good lessons and had district conference. It was all about min...

**We're going to post his last two emails in this space today. Sorry for the delay** March 3, 2019 Transfers, the decision is... Elder Tuiaki is transferring to Magapit! It's okay if you don't know where that is because neither do I. I'm getting a new companion though named Elder Dagulo! He's Filipino and apparently he's chill but I don't really know what that is supposed to mean.  We have been teaching this member's grandma this last week. She seems pretty interested so that is cool. We worked really hard this week but for the most part it seems like we just went to empty houses so that was a little frustrating but we just roll with the punches, you feel? We went to San Juan this week and we saw no people. Just good views. Tatay Ernesto is doing a lot better now. He's someone I gave a blessing to in like my first week and we found out later that he has arthritis but he seems to be doing better than the last time we saw him! I'm still ...

Who heard the news? Probably all of you by now but I am super excited to be able to talk to my family every week. This week was a weird change but a welcome one to be able to call my family! The time difference is crazy though. Being 15 hours ahead is a little rough on my family but we'll figure out the best way to do it. Obviously, I had exchanges this week but I'll get to that in a minute. Congrats on your mission call Anna Low! New Zealand is going to get a great missionary! Rachel, I'm very glad your papers are in and I can't wait to hear where you are going! For those of you who have things I should be congratulating you about, Congrats! I would love to hear about all the great things going on! Also, shout out to my little sister for being a solo star! You're doing great! Be prepared for a lot of pictures this week. We spent a few days in San Nicolas this week because that is where the hospital/doctor's office is for Elder Tuiaki's ear infection. ...

It's also kind of hard to sum up this last week. So instead all just get into it.  I feel like not many notable things happened this week. We had FHE for one of our investigator's birthday(her mom is a member) and we talked to her brother who is a teacher at a catholic school and we had a good conversation about the gospel and we asked if we could meet with him again sometime to just talk about religion for a while and he seemed super excited about it because he has some questions that he thinks we can answer. That was pretty cool. On Sunday, Elder Tuiaki and I were the back ups if the speakers didn't show up(of course) but they ended up coming in time so that was a relief but I felt like I had a good talk figured out based on this weeks Come Follow Me chapters. Jesus really does know what you are going through and all you have to do to see that is act on His words "Follow me." Something from the booklet really stuck out to me. It was the question would you ...

The members feed us so much and I love it so much! We got fed almost everyday this week. I finally found out that Sis. Barbie and Bro. Gerald consider me a son so that was a huge bright spot in my week! Elder Kartchner worked some more magic in our bathroom when we had a leak so that was nice. So we got our funds for this next month this week and Elder Tuiaki had a bunch of trouble. The ATM we were using zeroed out his account without giving us any money so we tried another ATM and he still had zero but I was able to withdraw. Elder Dankers(one of our office elders) Was able to figure it out with the bank and everything so he was able to withdraw today so that was nice. We played good basketball with some non-members the other day and it was super fun! The sisters had another baptism this week and Elder Tuiaki baptized him. The Spirit was really strong in the meeting. Then, at church, I was asked to confirm him. One of the other men in the ward ended up doing it which was kind of a ...

Thanks for all the toilet paper but we got a bidet this last week so I'm good! What a way to start a email, am I right? Oh, thanks Mom for the pants. They help a lot this last week as I'm sure you can see by the pictures and the subject line. But, I'm getting ahead of myself. Let's jump in shall we? Monday: We went to Laoag and did normal p-day stuff there. We tried McDonald's here in the Philippines and eh. It's pretty good. Way over priced so don't expect me to go there much. Tuesday: I taught district meeting. Want to know something fun? The senior couple came to our meeting. It was good though. I of course used videos to help get my point across. The Kartchners then came to inspect/fix our apartments. The completely changed our bathroom by making our toilet, shower, and sink all work in there and of course adding a bidet. Super awesome highlight of the day! Wednesday: Not much except me being super happy I don't have to shower with a buc...