June 29, 2014

Good morning everyone,

It is a bummer that grandpa decided to scare you guys and take a trip to the hospital. But I have no doubt that he will be there when I walk down those stairs.. He is strong. I loved the pics of icebox canyon. You are all looking so great and in such good shape. I was pretty bummed this morning when I sat down and read President Lopez's email.
Quote "2. There should not be any kind of free weights in your apartment. If you have one- please give it away. Missionaries should not go into any kind of gym to workout. Common sense will help you understand the wisdom behind this rule. Should you have any concern, please text me."

So... my life sucks. But I know that this is the God's time and I should not be focusing on myself. I have less than 4 months left to give it my all. And thanks to Mikes inspiring letter I just read, I am pumped up and ready to make the sprint. We have a lot investigators right now so I have no time to get trunky. Plus this week is transfer week and the word on the street is that I am going to train a new missionary again. We'll see.. To answer your questions mom. I love this ward. The members are awesome! The are not as involved in missionary work as I would like them to be but that's why i'm here. This week we couldn't teach as many lessons to investigators and we wanted to. We spent a lot of time with members and less actives trying to pumped em' up! Missionaries can only do so much, but if the members are working, baptisms come. I put some pictures on dropbox of our family home evening on monday and me with some members. Sorry they are not as cool as yours... But I try. We are going to baptize brother Melchor Locsin this Saturday. He is an apa( mute) so teaching him has been really fun. We just make weird signs and then his sister translates it to him. He is rad. We are also teaching a girl named Kristen, she loves the church and the gospel but her dad is a drunk and a devout catholic. So every time he finds out she went to church he freaks out.  The other night we went over there and he was super drunk and he had just beat up his son and was chasing his wife with a "binangon" (a big knife). I almost put a fool in the ground. But the Christlike side of me said just let the cops take care of it. It's sad that there is really no law here and no rules so that stuff happens all the time. I guess that's just another reason why the gospel is so important. I love you so much and I am so grateful that we have the gospel in our lives. We need to help others get it too. I got a nice letter from the Beacrofts today. Tell them I said thank you. It was nice to hear from them. 

Birthday package? Umm... you know I love my protein bars and nuts.. I don't really need anything, you can just send me some letters and then just buy me and iphone when I get home??? 

Anyways, I love you so much. Tell grandpa how much I love him and tell him I am gonna be super mad if he tries to "peace out" before I get home...

I hope you all have a great week and I'll let you know what happened with transfers next week.

LOve,

Elder Pulsipher

June 15, 2014

Good morning :)

I hope that all of you had a great week this week and you better all be waiting on my dad to make his fathers day awesome. Here in Aguisan, I have just been doing work as usual. We had a super busy week this week. We were in Bacolod on Monday and Tuesday then had exchanges with Elder Manu on Wednesday. So we didn't teach quite as many lessons as we would have liked to but we did have an awesome baptism on Saturday :) I threw some pictures up on drop box for you. We baptized the entire Maniscan family! There is no better feeling as a missionary. The support that we got from the ward was great and then on Sunday morning they decided they wanted sacrament meeting to be awesome so they made me a speaker with the stake high councilman. I thought I was used to speaking in front of groups of people but over 200 people came to church on Sunday and I was a little nervous... But anyways, how are things going with the family? I am so proud of you Craig! I am also super jealous that you are done with school and know you are gonna start taking over the world. keep shooting BIG Ronnie! :) I don't really here about anyone else but Amy, Kelly, Kristi, Sarah, I love you and I hope that you are all doing well and fighting off the "tools". I will be home in 4 months to approve all of your boyfriends... Mom, I love all of your little "projects" ha you inspire me. I love you all so much. I am sorry that I don't have more to talk about today but sometimes the weeks go by so fast that I forget what happened. I should probably be better at updating my journal... In other news, I decided to buy some cement and metal bars and make my own dumbells. ha Don't tell anyone... But, I am going insane not being able to work out here. I miss you guys, I hope you have a great week this week. You are always in my prayers and I hope I am in yours! 

Love
 Elder Pulsipher

May 19, 2014

Hello Family,

I was so awesome to talk to you all last week and I can't believe that people are trying to burn down carlsbad! What the heck! But I am super happy that you are all safe and I will keep you all in my prayers. I know that the Lord is watching over you. This week was another killer. Super tired but it was awesome to see the fruits of our labors when 14 investigators showed up to church on sunday... We DO WORK! I just hope they all go on to be baptized even though I most likely will not be here to see it because today is transfer day. But, I have not gotten a call yet so maybe I'll stay. One of the high points of last week was my exchanges with elder solis, he was my follow up trainer in lopez jeana and he is about to go home. And he enjoyed letting me know that... They have a huge waterfall in there area which was cool to stop and check out for a second, it reminded me of havasupi! But right now I am just wondering where all the time is going... I know that my letters have gotten terrible because I think I just end up saying the same thing every week. I will remeber to write down the miracles that I see this week so that I can share then with you next monday. Tell Sarah I love her and Happy b-day! I love you all. Talk to you next week!

Elder P

April 27, 2014

Hey everyone,

I love you all so much. And miss you a lot. I don't have a lot of time to write you guys this week because we are going to the waterfalls today! But I want you all to know that I had a great week. We baptized the Estelloso family except for their dad because he is still in Manilla. They are awesome and it was another sweet baptism in the river! We also had a national day of service where we cleaned a school and a swimming pool which was fun. But we also just found out this morning that my two best friends in the zone are transferring tomorrow so that is gonna be pretty lame but the show must go on! I hope Mom and Dad are having a sweet time in Manilla are having a sweet time up in florida and that the rest of you keep fighting off the guys until I get home. bye bye

Elder Pulsipher

April 20, 2014

Good morning,

Well, easter was just not the same here in the Philippines this year. Just an average day of work. They did not even mention it in church... But it's all good though because it was easter for me! We got so much done this week. I hit a record high of lessons taught in a week of 60+. And I was also battling mild depression... haha I think I gained about 10 pounds this week because of my mental state but that is passing now. There is nothing that I can not overcome in the strength of the Lord. This week I also had exchanges with Elder Gibbons which was great. It is always nice to be able to get together with a cool american and talk for a while. But he just transferred today so I wont see him for a while. Church on Sunday was awesome. 160+ people at church with 8 investigators made me happy. And we were able to extend baptismal dates to 7 of the 8. I am convinced that in life, the better you get and the closer you get to God, the bigger and harder the trials... But it's only because that's what we need to become even better! I am trying to apply the principle of good men becoming better and better men becoming saints through the atonement. I am a little bummed that I wasn't there to make your easter better but that's all right. Just suffer for 6 more months and I'll be home. The word in the zone right now is that I am going to transfer in the next couple weeks. Hopefully I don't step down though because there will be a general authority at the next leadership training... We don't know who it will be but it's always cool to listen to a GA. Two weeks until mothers day! What are you gonna do for Mom this year? Mom, I work hard for you every day because I know those blessings will come. Our call/skype will be on May 12th from 10am to 1.  That is Philippine time though because I haven't done the math yet.. I am excited to see you all. You better be there. And you better make it an awesome mothers day for the mother I love so much! I would love to see some pictures of all of the stuff your doing. Seeing you guys makes me miss you less. I love you all so much. I hope that you all are taking life by the horns and "DOING WORK". At least that's what big black would say. Have a great week this week. Till next time...

Elder Pulsipher

April 13, 2014

Good Morning,

This week was another quick one... They seem to go faster every time. Last week I didn't transfer! I think internally I wanted to transfer but I am also kinda happy that I am staying. I guess my work is not yet done in la castellana! We have a lot of baptisms lined up for the next couple weeks too so it will be awesome to see their baptisms.. I also had exchanges with Elder Farner this week who is a 6 5" hilarious kid from Colorado. We had so much fun on our exchanges and got so much done! My Branch President went to Manilla for a month so we are lacking a lot of support in our Branch right now but we are making due with what we've got. I was also super inspired after general conference this week. A couple of my favorite talks were Elder Zwick in the saturday session and Elder Bednar in the sunday session. It's so true that our burdens give us traction! If life was easy and if we had no trials, we would never grow.. The weight is what helps us move forward. I find myself sometimes wishing that i didn't have to deal with a lot of the things that I have and will have to go through. But if I never had those experiences, I would still be the same kid that I was. I also love the never ending message that we have never gone to far that we cant come back and we should never say "that's just the way I am". We can always change. That is the reason that our savior suffered for our sins. So bad men can become good, and good men can become better. Until we all become the saints that we need to be. It was a great conference and I hope that you all take some time to go back over those talks and take them to heart. We all need a good pump up some times and our Prophets and apostles are great at pumping us up. I am ready to put it in 4 wheel dif and "till it" for the last 6 months of my mission! I don't know when my exact release date is but I am sure I will be home before Nov 13 unless President try's to extend me.. It would be cool to be home for kate's baptism though. We will just have to wait and see what goes down. The new car is looking sweet and I think you made a great choice on the infiniti.. I am glad that craig and andrew are getting big because I am gonna make them both look like clowns when I get home.. I might not leave the gym for the first couple months because I miss it so much. But unfortunately, I am needed here and I am not a quitter... I love you all and I hope I get some pictures and good emails from my busy brothers and sisters next week... Peace, love, happiness

Elder Pulsipher

April 6, 2014

Hey everyone,

This week went so fast. I don't even remember what happened but I know that we only had 3 investigators at church yesterday and it was huge bummer. That's okay, because there is always next week. Unless of course if I transfer tomorrow because it is transfer week. haha It will be lame if I do because I love my area and the members here so much. I am for sure gonna have to come back and visit... Who's coming? ha Well, I was talking to the ap's last night and I heard some news that I am not to excited about but... It's whatever. I did receive some serious revelations this week though that have really strengthen my testimony. This work is real. I love it, even though it's hard. I am so happy and I have no idea why. But anyways, I am super stoked about general conference this weekend. I hope that it pumps me up to tear it up my last 6 months here.. Haha I am gonna do work! You guys should tell me what our vacation is when I get back so that I have some motivation to get in shape... I hate myself ha I had exchanges this week with Elder Ellis who is probably my best friend in the mission. We killed it.. We taught everyone we saw and had an awesome time. It's hard always being with a Filipino sometimes.. Just cant relate about a lot of stuff. Elder Ellis and I also made fried chicken when we got hope that night which was awesome. haha Teaching people was super hard this week because of the Banana festival in my area. It is two weeks long and everybody gets wasted. But there are a lot of bananas and I have never wanted a "nana" shake from beef and bun more in my life... haha The work goes forward. I have a feeling I might get a call later tonight or tomorrow because it is transfer week! I don't want to leave but I just have one of those feelings. We will see what happens, but I love you all so much. I miss you like crazy, can't wait to skype on may 12...

LOve you, Elder Pulsipher

March 30, 2014

Well, I was just uploading some pictures onto the computer and I put my usb in and found out that everything had just been erased.. What are you gonna do. I am sitting next to Elder wilstead right now in bacolod emailing. He is telling me that he only has 55 days left until his family gets here. They are coming his last week to tour the mission before he goes home which sounds pretty sweet. But, I just gotta keep going for a few more months and I'll be saying that two. I have been emailing some people from home though and it's making me wonder if I really do want to come back.. haha Life in the mission here is super busy and super hard but the pros out way the cons by a long shot.I'm not gonna lie, it makes me feel super awesome when you guys quote me in your talks or use my stories in your lessons. But it also makes me wonder if your saying good stuff.. haha This week was crazy. Super busy especially with transfers and the sisters coming. We had to get all there stuff ready and pick them up and show them around the area and everything. Splitting our area also sucked because we had to give them all the city part which means I am out in the middle of no where again. haha To be honest, I feel way more at home in the bukid(jungle) anyways. Our new sisters are sister Smoot from Utah and Sister Dequina from Manila are our new sisters and they are super cool. We will get along well with them. The are also the STL's, which are like the sister zone leaders so La Castellana needs to be off the hook! We had a baptism on Friday (sister Rosavilma Francisco) and she is awesome. She has three kids to that are lined up to be baptized in the coming weeks. We had 8 investigators at church on sunday so that was awesome hopefully that number will keep steadily increasing... I put  some pics of the baptism in dropbox and some of the animals in the zoo in our area. It is super weird that there is a zoo here, its in the middle of no where but vthe have a bunch of lions, birds, snakes, fish, and like a 20 foot alligator named "bong". Yeah, Philipino's are super weird but I love them anyways. This week was more of the same so sorry I don't have anything else super exciting to report. Maybe next week.. I have MLC tomorrow and the zone training on wednesday, then exchanges after that so this will be another quick week I am afraid... But, thanks for all of your letters. You don't know how much better it makes my week when I get to here from you guys.. 43 days until we get to skype... happy mothers day to mom :) "You only got one shot, do not miss your chance to go. This opportunity comes once in a lifetime.." Eminem  Love you, talk to you next week.

Elder Pulsi

March 24, 2014

Hey you guys!

Man, this week was rough and I am super beat right now... Mostly because we spent the last 5 hours fighting with landlords and painting the sister missionaries house. The sisters are supposed to show up tomorrow... To be honest, I actually loved it. I haven't gotten to do physical labor for a long time and I milked painting that house for as long as I could. I really miss yard work and the gym. My mind has no time to relax anymore, it just goes and gets stressed out all the time. But you guys know that nothing can stop this fool. Elder Reyes and I worked super hard this week. We extended a bunch of baptismal commitments and committed everyone to come to church and then come saturday night. A huge storm comes. Here, nobody goes to church when its raining so we woke up sunday morning super bummed. Then when we got to church.. big surprise. No investigators. But then while we where teaching priesthood, one by one we saw the tender mercies of God and the fruits of our labors when 8 of our investigators showed up. It's a small thing but for real, sunday either makes or breaks your week. If church is good, the week was awesome. If church sucks, the week was crap. But this week was awesome! ha I also found out that you all still love me when I got a package full of goldbond on saturday. :) I also just want to tell kelly that I love you. You know why.. Other than that, our week was full of teaching people and walking... I still get called "fat" and "joe" everyday and I am pretty over that but whatever. The work is still true. Sticks and stones right...  I love you all and miss you like crazy. Thank you for your prayers. I always keep you in mine. I hope you have an awesome week! 

Love,

Elder P

March 16, 2014

Good morning,

Sometimes I feel like I say the same thing every week in my letters to you.. But this week is gonna be different. We were super busy! On monday we worked because they moved p day to tuesday. We went to bacolod for p day and had zone conference in the mission home for the first time in over a year. It was great until there was a black out and elder reyes and I ended up training in a hundred degree room. But the training went well and it was nice when President Lopez expressed to me how well we did. He has never said that before! I think its funny that you say that you can see how much I've grown and improved. I don't see it. I am the same inferior self conscious Tanner I have always been. I think that I have just learned that when I can't do it, God can. Sometimes I really do feel like I am not the one talking and when I look back on lessons, I have no idea why I said the things I did. My patriarchal blessing says that if I seek the Lord sincerely, honestly and often I will be guided. I see that fulfilled every day. That is his promise to all of us... I hope that you all take that promise for how real it really is. I think in the church we just get used to talking about all these blessings that we "can" receive but then we think we have to be perfect to get them. It's not true. All we need is real intent. But anyways, haha we wasted a day this week finding an apartment for the sisters  who will be assigned in my area next week. It will be nice to have the extra help. But, I really hope they are cool because it is super hard to wait on needy sisters all the time... I am sure they will be cool. Hopefully good looking too. haha Yesterday we were stoked because we had some investigators come to church that we really were not expecting. It's always nice to see the tender mercies of the Lord. Well. I love you all, I love you all love me too, your always in my prayers. Dueces

Elder Pulsipher

February 9, 2014

Good morning,

Well I guess it's night time there but anyways, it was great to get all your letters today and also the package last monday. I got to big it up at MLC and I was so stoked, especially on the push up bars! The wal mart protein is a little... um yeah. Maybe a different kind of protein next time. I am sure Craig or Kelly could help you out there. But either way it is a huge blessing and I loved it. I guess the last package got lost or something but oh well. It probably made some little Filipino happy. This last week was insane. Super busy from leadership training to Zone training to district conference this weekend. But its funny that this week Elder Tallano and I had the highest key indicators this week than I have in my whole mission. We taught 74 lessons this week. All super high except for the baptism column.. :( But, we keep working and know that we will see the fruits of our labors. In District Conference, an area 70 came (Elder Collado) and he was a great teacher. It was so awesome to listen to him speak and feel of his spirit. He talked all about "being your brothers keeper", and about how we will be held responsible for those people that we are called to serve. We will be asked "where is your brother" just like God asked Cain. It was great until President Lopez called me up during his talk to train a few hundred people on the law of tithing, I do not like teaching in front of big groups of people that is for sure. But never the less, I think it went well.  Tomorrow will be our mission Presidents training and I have to give a training there too. This calling sucks. I love being the one taught and not the one teaching but I know that I will grow and become a better missionary from it. We had a couple awesome things happen in our area this week and the members are really starting to warm up to me so I am happy and doing great. I love you guys and I cant wait to hear how your time in Vegas went and to see the pictures... Sorry but the computers here don't let me upload pictures but hopefully next week I can get some on dropbox. Miss you all, cant wait to hear from you.

Elder Pulsipher