August 4, 2013

Hey guys,

So, we thought for sure that Elder Cano would be transferring, but no... We'll be together for at least another six weeks, which is all good because we get along really well and we both love to eat(a lot). We both decided that we have been in this area for so long because we have a purpose to do here. We also decided that we have not been as obedient as we should be. So yesterday we opened our transfer with a fast and decided to be exactly obedient. If we want to bring for miracles here in the mission field then we need to live the higher standard. But, I think that goes for all of us. This last week was really good. We worked really hard and are preparing a lot of people for baptism. We had 2 baptisms on Saturday but then there was a big rain storm on Sunday so they couldn't be confirmed. We were pretty bummed. There are supposed to be 4 more huge storms here in August so that should be fun but I hope that it doesn't interfere with our work. He are preparing 5 people to be baptized on Saturday(all teenagers), but one of them has a step-dad that doesn't like mormons and will not talk to us. We are gonna go talk to him tomorrow. Hopefully we can soften his heart and resolve some of his concerns. People here think the weirdest things about mormons. They all think that we are here searching for gold and we walk around with detectors all day. Other than her, four of them for sure will be baptized on Saturday so that will be exciting. I am super excited about this transfer and I can't believe how blessed I have been in this area. I am stoked that you guys are getting in on the missionary work. That's rad that dads new best friends are the missionaries. Ward mission leader??? That would be sweet. Well in other news, my shoes are pretty beat, one pair are pretty hammered and are not gonna last much longer. The other ones are practically brand new because they hurt like crap to wear. Ill throw some pictures on dropbox for you guys to check out. Don't forget that I love getting pictures of you guys too. I want you guys to know that this gospel is true. I have seen it change lives that I thought that there was no hope for(mine included). There is nothing that will bring us more joy and true peace in this life than living its principles, and sharing that joy with others. Thank you so much for the examples that you are setting for me and I love you and miss you so much. I pray for you every day and I hope that you feel my love even though I am on the other side of the world. Keep it real. Don't forget what you represent.

Elder Pulsipher 

August 11, 2013

Hey everyone,

Its true, it is my b-day week but feels pretty much the same. I don't know what a "staycation" is but I am stoked that you guys are gonna spend some time together. I am very tired today after a couple 14 hour days of straight proselyting but I gotta say that my joy if full. Saturday and sunday last week were probably the most rewarding days of my mission as of yet. Saturday was our baptism at the beach resort here and it was pretty sweet. And then yesterday we witnessed a straight up miracle at church. WE showed up at 8:50 because we were waiting for the boat for a long time but we were surprised that so many people were already there. But then we were even more surprised when people just kept on showing up. The sacrament meeting was rad, we had 5 confirmations and a new baby blessing and then Elder Cano and I helped all of our youth to prepare a musical number. "They all sand I Know That My Redeemer Lives" and President Gayon spoke and the spirit was so strong. After church, our branch president pulled us into his office and Elder Cano and I thought that we were in trouble or something. But, he just wanted to tell us how grateful the he was for our service here and how happy he was that the branch had progressed so much while we have been here. He told us that the attendance hit 70 and that's the highest its been in almost 14 years. I cant believe how many blessings that we have received and how many miracles that I have seen here. This area and our investigators here have completely changed my perspective on missionary work. I think that growing up i the church it is hard to see the effect that the gospel has on peoples lives. My testimony of the gospel and of the Lord preparing people for it is so strong. There is no doubt that this is the Lords work and that He is at the head of it. I am so glad that I get to be a part of it right now. But anyways, what is your plan for your "staycation"? Hopefully when I get home we go on a legit "vacation"... Because I am gonna need it. My body is so tired that I wasn't sure if I was gonna be able to stand up earlier this morning. But, then I stood up and somehow it was all okay. I am sure your all probably wondering was my big plans are for my B-day. Well, I will probably have weekly planning in the morning, and then I'll go proselyte for a few hours. My neighbor raises chickens for a living and I convinced him to give me one to kill and eat on my birthday. So that should be fun. I was thinking that maybe we could all pull a Joe Dirt and on the 16th you could all look up at the moon at like 9, then I could look up at it too and we could be like connected... But then i'll realized that I am on they other side of the world so that joke went bad. But anyways I love you guys, thanks for the B-day package that you sent, I still havn't got the last one so it probably got jacked. But Ill keep you all updated. Also, happy B-day to my big sis Kelly. Hope you can get poo bear off the boat and get him to take you somewhere nice. I love you all and miss you.

DUECES

Elder Pulsipher

July 7, 2013

Hey everybody,

This week was really good and it really made up for our struggles last week. Church yesterday was amazing, 60 people came and we ran out of chairs, all of our investigators were there and less actives that haven't come to church in years. I was so happy and the spirit was so strong in our testimony meeting. We have 15 investigators right now so we are really busy and really tired... We are preparing three of them to be baptized this Saturday. I definitely have come to love the members in the ward so much here and that's good because I will probably be here for a few more months... Thank you so much Mom and Dad for your words of comfort and you are both so right. I just need to forget about myself and put my faith in the Lord. I am so happy that you are all doing so well at home and everything is rolling so smoothly. Make sure you keep Sarah close to you, high school definitely has a way with changing people..but you know that. We had a family home evening on Saturday in the middle of the jungle and it was so much fun. We played a bunch of games and every time you lost, someone would put coal on your face. It got a little out of control...i'll put some pictures in dropbox for you. As far as the language goes, I am pretty fluent in Illongo and Cebuano which feels really good, but I for sure cannot take credit for that. How fast I learned the language is probably the biggest testimony building experience I've had so far. It amazing me how much divine help and guidance has been giving to me in this work. There is no doubt that this is the Lords work. As far as the 4th of July goes, it was just another day of work here in the Philippines, wish I could have been there to spend it with you guys. I bet it was rad in Carlsbad. I am really sorry that you guys had to do some yard work, that must have sucked, but then again I wouldn't know... I am stoked that Dad is still helping Grandpa with the yards when he can. I remember whenever I would do there yards I would always start without them noticing because I loved to see the look on their faces when they came out and saw I done. Tell them that I love them and miss them so much. As far as my health goes here, I still try to eat well but its impossible to find the foods that I want to eat here. You guys know how picky I can be sometimes. But the bugs and stuff here are not that awesome, I wake up with random sores all over my body all the time and have had multiple mosquito bites get infected and nasty. Its a good thing that your sons no pansy... Man, I just realized that my birthday is coming up soon! You guys probably forgot all about it. Unfortunately I cant call home on my B-day so that sucks, I really want to talk to you all. Anyways, I love you guys so much and your all in my prayers. I am sorry that my letter was pretty lame but it will be better next week. I miss you all so much. Can't wait to here from you next week. DEUCES

Love you'

Elder Pulsipher

July 14, 2013

Hey everyone,

I can't believe I got a letter today from all my brothers and sisters!! Well, except Kristi... It meant so much to my to be able to hear from all of you and know that you are thinking about me, even if dad encouraged you to start thinking about me... I love you guys so much and its a bummer that I couldn't be there to sweat balls with you guys in Vegas. Well, bummer for you. Thanks so much your all the pictures too. Now I am just thinking about why I am the only fat, ugly one in the family. I guess every family has to have a mascot... haha I did just want to let everyone know that I am really proud of my sister Amy. That is pretty rad that she took the initiative and stood up for what she believed in that meeting. That is what we all need to be doing. We need to have the courage to stand up for the gospel and not be afraid to tell others what we know. And we need to have faith sufficient to know that we will be helped when we do. Anyways, last week was pretty good but really painful. On monday I woke up with a big sore in my arm pit that just kept getting bigger. I finally found out that it was a "pigsa", well thats what it is in Tagalog. I think its a boil in english. Ill try to put a pic of it in drop box. My companion is a pansy so I had to do surgery on it myself. I took a pretty sweet video but its definitely not appropriate to put on the internet so you"ll just have to wait. Other than that, the week was pretty standard missionary work although we did have another miracle at church on sunday. Eleven of our fifteen investigators came to church and our sunday school lesson was so awesome. The spirit was so strong there. We also had a baptism on saturday but we were pretty bummed because one of our investigators pulled out because her mom in manila doesn't want her to join the "mormon church". That's alright though, there is still time for her. The baptism was at the beach and it was pretty hard because it was low tide, we had to walk about 400 yrds out into the water because it was so shallow, at least in was quiet. Congrats Kristi on your incoming baby girl, and on selling Reno. I am glad that you are all doing so well and I know that the Lord is blessing your lives. What mom said is so true, obedience and sacrifice brings power. Lets all sacrifice a little more to help the Lord hasten His work and we will be given the Power to become great instraments in His hands. I love you guys, and miss you so much. Till next week

Much Love

Elder Pulsipher

June 23, 2013

Hello everyone,

I so happy that you guys are all done with your moves and you are all doing so well. It must be rad to finally be able to live in the carlsbad house. I would love to see some pictures of how it all turned out. Is the ward your in a bunch of rich people? Somoan missionaries are a lot of fun but they are usually pretty disobedient. There are a bunch of somoans in Bacolod but I am good friends with Elder Joseph Auga Mata-Mata (yeah thats his last name) so maybe its him. Dad, buy the 450! A 580 is way to huge and heavy. A street legal 450 looks a lot better, its a lot lighter and has more than enough power, plus that's true, I am gonna need a bike for when I go back to Idaho. To be honest I have been pretty down this week, every morning I sit on that boat going to my area and I just think about the lake and all the good times we've had on the boat. Have you sold that thing yet? I think I recall mom saying you could upgrade to a mailbu when you moved to Carlsbad but Im not gonna get into that. This week was transfer week but I didn't transfer and Im still with Elder Cano. But its all good because he is a good missionary and we get along really well. We have been super busy teaching this week but somehow we keep finding some literally insane people to teach. We had to cut a few lessons short and bail this week.  That was fun. We did have to baptisms though witch was awesome. The service is kind of hard because we have opening exercises at the church and then walk 45 minutes to the beach. Then we walk back and close at the church. But, its fun still. I am trying to teach my companion english which is hard but he is learning fast. In other news I have seriously put on some weight in this area which is not making me to happy but I am trying to focus on the work. That's what is important right now. As far as the language goes, I still struggle with Cebuano because it is so different, the words in Illongo mean the opposite in Cebuano. But its a struggle that I know I have divine help with. I think I tend to forget how much help I have here in the field. It really makes a difference to step back and count your blessings. I am so happy that I have you all behind me supporting and praying for me and I want you to know that you are always in my prayers. I just wanna say good luck to Mike and Kristi in finding a house. Hit up D&C 121-23 for a pump up. This is but a small moment... haha Well I am so grateful for all of your letters to me and I love you all so much, I cant wait to here from you next week.

Peace,

Elder Pulsipher

June 9, 2013

Hey everybody,

Thank you so much for the pictures! You all look so good, Sarah looks like she's 20 and I don't now how Amy got so hot? It was so good to be able to see all of you together and happy, keep the pictures coming please.And thanks for all the letters that everyone wrote me. A special thanks to Craig you noted that I am looking pretty "gay" lately? right... Dad, to answer your questions about the boat ride. Yes, it is a Malibu LSV 247 and he did offer to tow me. I think about wake boarding everyday because the water here is always glass except when there is a storm, but the water is pretty warm, almost hot. As for the peeps in Vegas dealing with the heat, I wish I could say I felt bad for you. I sweat from the moment I wake up until I go to sleep. My area is an oven. But I love the members and have a lot of fun with the people there.This week went so fast its crazy. But, unfortunately it was not our most progressive week. I got bit by something on my foot last week and it got pretty swollen and infected and I really had a hard time wearing shoes, but that's just life in the Philippines I guess. We have two investigators that are really progressing and understanding and I really want them to be baptized. The problem is that they are always working and they are never there when we go to their houses. Missionary work can be frustrating sometimes. In other news, I am getting pretty tired of people calling me Joe. I was about ready to nock out this teenager last week but I found my sense and now I am just trying to be more Christlike. I could definitely use some more patience so that's what I am gonna start working on. I have been thinking a lot this week about aligning our will with Gods and how much happier we would be if we could just forget ourselves and focus on doing the will of the Lord. I still have a ways to go in that area, you guys know that its rally easy for me to get distracted with my appearance and other worldly things but I am just gonna forget about what I want and go to work. That's my goal for next transfer. Mom, to answer your question about why I am so poor is because i'm I don't want to just blow that money on food, I still have a lot of fat to loose before I have to worry about starving. I have been using that money to buy things that I need and stuff to take home. Its not that bad, it's more exciting when we run out of money because we have to get creative with the stuff we eat and buy. I'm fine, don't worry. Another package already? Wow umm I guess just more of the same, fruit and nuts, beef jerkey, skip the candy, you know me:) But I do need some long black socks, mine are all shredded. All the socks here are kids sizes. Put some more pictures in the package too, that would be awesome. Well, thank you guys so much for everything, good luck with the move and keep on being the good examples for me that you are. I love you all and I know that this church is true, this gospel is the only place to find refuge from the world and help with the struggles that come in this test of life. Keep it real, Share the gospel. PEACE

ELDER PULSIPHER

June 1, 2013

Good Morning from Bacolod,

... I have been doing a lot better with the schedule but unfortunately its causing me to put on some serious weight. ha We walk all day and then come home and eat all night while we study. This week I am gonna work on temperance in all things. My companion and I get along really well but I wish he could help me a little more with the language. I have to get all my help from members and little kids. I am definitely getting more comfortable in Cebuano and can pretty much hold my own in any conversation. But, I still have so far to go to become the teacher that I want to be. I am pretty sure I'll never be fluent. But I guess that's just life, we strive every day to become better more Christlike people even though we will never be perfect. ...We had some really good and some really, well not good, teaching experiences this week but one in particular made me really frustrated. We have been teaching a less active family for a while now and on Saturday I felt impressed to share with them about the sacrament and about the Savior because they were offended because of something someone said to them. I felt like the whole lesson was totally lead by the spirit and the Dad even started crying and committed to go to Church and then just none of them showed up. Agency is a blessing and a curse sometimes. It seems like that happens every week buts the blessings and happiness of missionary work far out way the let downs. One blessing this week was a girl named Jona May got baptized. She has been one of my favorite investigators because she had such a desire to change and to be baptized. Every commitment that we gave her she did. Yesterday we taught the ten commandments and we had her read them the day before. She memorized all of them(in English) which was pretty hilarious, but I thought it was awesome and then she bore her testimony yesterday in Church too. ..I just want to let you guys know how happy I am right now here in the mission field, my testimony is strengthened everyday by these awesome people and I love the Branch that I am serving in right now too. Yesterday 58 people showed up to our little meeting house and I am sure that's the highest its been in years. ... I love you all so much and I am so grateful for your examples to me and for the letters. I am still waiting for that package but I am sure that I will be here soon. Thanks and I love you.

Elder Pulsipher