Announcements – Archived

Good Morning!!

This morning we played rugby with a ton of missionaries at the community College. We played tackle so it got intense.

Tuesday 

Today we had a meeting with some missionaries and at the end talked about setting up a nice Thanksgiving dinner. Me and my companion got told to be in charge of decorations so we will see how that goes. I had my temple recommend interview because we are going to the temple Friday and my last one was stolen with my wallet. It rained all day which was hecka nice, Utah is so dry my knuckles crack and I have to whip out some Vaseline and put it on there.

Wednesday 

Today was pretty mid. We had a fat meeting with some lady from headquarters about our cars. We are getting a new “tiwi” that has a camera on. It just tracks our speed and yells at us if we are to fast.

Thursday 

Today we went to the Oquirrh Mountain Temple and it was awesome!! The Jordan River temple was closed so we got permission to go to the one further away. It was a great experience and the view is amazing up on the hill. Afterwards my eye was killing me and I went to urgent care. It took the whole night of teaching so that sucked. They told me I need to go see the eye specialist tomorrow. I’m going to be one eyed willy from the goonies

Friday 

We had a solid district council and then I went to the doctors. It took forever to get in because there were some insurance issues and the receptionist was trippin out. They did some tests on me and put some green dye in my eye and made my whole eye numb. He said it isn’t an infection but more of an allergic reaction from the air or any fumes hitting my eye. At least it’s not infected I guess. We found 3 new people tonight so God made up for that lose time of doctor visits. 

Saturday 

Today we played rugby for our morning workout with some elders and it was super fun. It’s a cool sport and I like it cause I can try and get shifty on people. We had shelbys baptism and it went super well, except people started clapping after she came out of the water. It was so wack. We taught a kid today that said he doesn’t want to follow God but will get baptized so we are in a tricky situation right now. We had this Karen talk to us about her inactive antichrist daughter getting mad at us for asking her kids if they were interested in learning more. She said we can not say those things. It’s worked for 4 other people we baptized so she doesn’t know what she’s talking about. It ruined our night, not going to lie. Sometimes members out here find a way to make our job harder:)

Sunday

We had a solid Sabbath day except we had to baby sit kids at church. There mom dropped us off and we sat next to a six, nine, and eleven year old for all of sacrament. I felt like a parent having to give them Starburst to keep quiet. We got through it but I’m never doing it again.

Sorry about no spiritual thought, I got no time 

Elder Willis 

Oiiii a gente!! Como vocês estão?? Bastante tempo né?? Well wow this week was a roller-coaster but it has been INCREDIBLE!! Então, vamos começar!! 

Well, the  highlight of this week was we had 2 dinner appointments with 2 less active members!! It was literally incredible.  We just reached out to these two families and they just offered to have us over for dinner!! The first one was with a Brazilian actually named Irmã Suazo!! And then the second one was the Matos family!! Irmã Suazo made us a ton of Brazilian food and we had churrasco!! We got to know her a ton and her story and shared a short message!!  I pounded that food and was stuffed. Then, we had to bike to our next dinner appointment after dropping off the food she gave us at home HAHAHA!! We had dinner with the Matos family and they are so funny!! We shared the “Because of Him” video and the spirit was SO strong!! Sister Matos was in tears and wants us to come back again this week to share another message!! 

Something super super cool that happened this week!! I SAW A FLIPPIN GATOR!! YESSSS SIRRRR!! I have been wanting to see one since I’ve been here.  I’ll attach the pic down below!! (Don’t worry mom I wasn’t anywhere near it 😂🤫)

But this week, I have learned so much from the Lord.  This transfer I have been stretched spiritually more than I feel like I have!! It’s been so awesome, but don’t get me wrong it’s also been hard!! But one thing that I have been learning is that truly, this is the Lord’s work.  He really does work through the “weak and the simple”.  There’s been many instances where I don’t feel adequate for this work.  All I want is to be the best tool in the Lord’s hands!!  There are times I’m sure we all feel inadequate at times in our lives!! But I can truly testify that all the Lord asks of us is our effort!!  No matter what the challenge may be that we face we can overcome it and rise to the occasion because of Jesus Christ! 

“These things I have spoken unto you, that in me ye might have peace. In the world ye shall have tribulation: but be of good cheer; I have overcome the world.” (John 16:33)

I love each and everyone of you!! Thank you all for everything you do for me!! Have a great week!! Tchau tchau meus amigos!!

Amo vocês!!

Elder Castillo 

Kumusta ka!!!! Last week here in the Philippines mtc. So excited for the field! Hope everyone is doing great I miss you all. Also sorry for the boring email this week I swear they will be so much for eventful next week when I’m in the field. 

Thursday- 

I was feeling more confident about the language until we taught are first  lesson in full tagalog. My hopes were shattered haha. Me and my comp taught a full tagalog lesson to a random fillipino on zoom. He was speaking at lightning speed so we didn’t understand anything he said. We could speak and ask him questions but answering his questions was terrible. It could of been way worse tho. 

Friday- 

We so a thing called syl at the mtc it stands for speak your language. Its just to incourage you to speak tagalog around the mtc. Are zone leader had the idea to speak tagalog and nothing else for 3 hours. That was the longest 3 hours of my life haha. It was good tho because it forced me to use all the tagalog I know.

Saturday-

THE FIRST TYPHOON ON THE MISSION. What a monumental day first typhoon in the Philippines. I probably shouldn’t be celebrating it because it was pretty bad for some areas in the Philippines. For us it rained all day hard and very windy. The mtc is built really well with nice draining system so we don’t get flooding here. Other parts tho got destroyed!!! I’m talkin walking through the streets with water up to your chest. (See pic below). 

Sunday-

One month out on the mission. Crazy that I’ve spent a full month on the mission here at the mtc. I have mixed feelings a month went by fast but it also feels like I’ve been here for years haha. Sabbath day is the best day! I taught the priesthood lesson today so you know it was a banger lesson. Spirit was so strong. Its so funny to me that I still have the seminary mind set that no one will want to participate but I forget that everyone does. 

Monday- 

Happy Halloween for me hahah. Since I’m on the other side of the world I am a day ahead. So I celebrate holidays a day before you do haha. It was a pretty normal day tho haha. We got Korean bbq for lunch. It was heavenly! The cafeteria staff here are soooo good at making food.

Tuesday-  

Today I thought I was gonna get punched by a Pakistan elder. So a bunch of Pakistan elders traveled to the Philippines to get endowed since they don’t have a temple there. They came to are devotional and I sat right in front of them. I have 4 Pakistan sisters in my district and they are always teaching me phrases and words in urdu. At the devotional they told me to say some random urdu phrase to the Pakistan elder behind me. Turns out I called him fat. He didn’t look to happy but the sisters were dying of laughter. I will never trust the Pakistan sisters again haha.

Wednesday- 

Last pday at the mtc!!! Today was awesome. The Provo batch of missionaries just arrived so me and my comp did an orientation for then and gave them a tour of the mtc wich was cool. I went to the temple twice today. You can say I’m pretty holy. The first temple time was an endowment session the second time was baptisms. What an amazing experience doing baptisms was. The Pakistan sisters in my district don’t have a temple so this was there first time doing baptisms. We did baptisms for one of the sisters father, mother, grandparents, and great grandparents. What an personal experience that was. I love the temple 

Phillippians 4:13

13 I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me.

This verse give so much piraso.(peace) Tayo (We)know that through jesukristo tayo can do lahat(all) things. (He)Siya will strengthen us and make us capable to endure are mga pagsubok(trials).

Oii tudo mundo!! Tudo jóia??  Happy Halloween!!  I hope yalls weeks have been awesome!! I love and miss you all and can’t wait to dive into this week!! 

To start off my highlight this week was a dinner we had with this super amazing family!! They are inactive, but have really great testimonies!! My favorite part was just sharing a simple message at the end and the spirit that was there!! I could see that they felt the spirit strongly as well and how it softened their hearts!! They loved it so much that they want to feed us every week!! It was so awesome!!

This week my companion had to get his teeth fixed at the dentist.  And we were there for 4 hours HAHAHA from 2pm to 6pm so basically our whole day haha.  Let’s just say I read and listened to a ton of conference talks and scriptures HAHA!! So that was an adventure this week haha.

My spiritual thought this week is something I’ve been studying all week!! I’ve taken charge of making a list of my favorite titles of Christ!! I was listening to the talk by Jonathan S. Schmitt and took his invitation to start my own list!! The first one I chose was the ‘Son of Man’ and a couple things stood out to me!! First, there’s the ‘Son of Man’ and the ‘Son of man’ one with an upper case M and a lower case m.  The one with the upper case M refers to our Heavenly Father or another title for Him is ‘Man of Holiness’.  The lower case m is referring to the human nature of Christ because he himself was born of mortal man.  This to me stood out particularly because it distinguishes two totally different characteristics of Christ!! Christ had to be born of mortal man to fulfill his divine purpose.  To perform the greatest sacrifice for all mankind.  He needed to feel every heartache, pain, trial, and burden that anyone has felt and ever will feel.  I also found a few attributes that associate with this title in almost all the scriptures that this title is mentioned!! Patience, Humility, and Charity!! It’s been super enlightening to study Christ’s attributes associated with the titles that He holds!! I have been able to get to know my Savior on a level that I haven’t before!! I love this work and I love being a missionary.  Christ lives and He truly loves us perfectly!! I love you all and I hope you have a great week!!

Tchau tchau a gente!!

Elder Castillo 

Kamusta na kayo!!! Hope everyone is doing great. 2 more weeks left in the mtc meaning no more ac, hot showers, and home cool meals haha. 

Thursday-

 This was the craziest day so far on the mission. We got to leave the mtc for the day and go prosaliting. I got a new companion for the day wich was a kid from utah that’s been out for 3 months. This was the most humbling experience of my life. So we headed to the elders apartment in a jeepney (a tiny bus that is like a taxi haha). Manila is packed with people and the traffic is insane. We got to his house and it was so humbling. The house was so tiny there were cockroaches on the ground no running water and rats. It was a big wake up call fs. Me and my companion for the day walked to a person they have been teaching for a few months that is getting baptised soon. While on the way there I got cat called by 3 ladies it was scary. There were thousands of kids on the streets that would run up to me and call me there older brother in tagalog and give me highfives haha. The kids were sooo nice. Once we got to the guys house we taught the lesson in tagalog. I don’t know much tagalog so it was difficult to talk to him and understand. The spirit was still so strong and I will never forget this day.

Friday- 

We got a new batch of missionaries today wich was cool. It was nice seeing new faces. They looked like they saw a ghost when they arrived to the mtc haha.

Saturday-

Me and my comp got the opportunity to speak to the head of international mtc. They came all the way from provo to see us. They chose about 12 missionaries out of the mtc to talk with him. I got the opportunity to meet with him wich was pretty cool. 

Sunday-

 Love the sabbath day and being able to partake of the sacrament here at the mtc. The spirit is so strong.

Monday-

 learning tagalog grammar made me so frustrated. I feel like it’s just a bunch of made up rules haha. I leave class with my brain hurting. 

Tuesday-

It rained all day today. The sky was grey and it was dumping rain. It rains in arizona but this is a different type of rain that I’ve never experienced before. 

Wednesday- 

Pday today!!! Called my family today wich is always great. Miss them lots! Me and my comp went to the store and bought a ton of snacks and treats. We tried to place a book of morman but everyone was avoiding us because all the missionaries try talking to them everyday. They all have been given the book of morman from one of the missionaries here at the mtc haha. 

Sorry for the short email. It’s hard to write at the mtc since we do the same thing everyday hahaha 

D&C 121:7-8

7 My son, peace be unto thy soul; thine adversity and thine afflictions shall be but a small moment;

   8 And then, if thou endure it well, God shall exalt thee on high; thou shalt triumph over all thy foes

This verse is so comforting. Are trials and hard times that we go thru are just a small amount of time. If we endure to the end we will be blessed and have ever lasting life. 

Good Morning!!

This week flew by and was filled with some good times. Definitely was able to see the lord’s hand in our lives this weekTuesday 

We woke up and went to cracker barrel with a member for breakfast and it was nice. I have never been there before but it’s pretty good. We helped a family build a dresser for them and it’s sad because all the kids live with their grandma because their mom was murdered by their dad in front of them all. It’s horrible to hear about that but we know the gospel will bring joy and peace that they so very much need right now. We also set our boy Eric on date to be baptized, his sister tried to attack us 

Wednesday 

My companion woke up with school threat energy today. He had a dream the STL’s did some dumb crap and ruined the zone. His day was ruined. We had ZLC and talked about how everyone needs to stop talking crap about missionaries. It’s too easy sometimes. We had a Hispanic dude buy us pizza and says he likes the missionaries and eats with them all time. He said we can call him ” papa” and he always says ” i love you guys” Ain’t no way I’m calling a dude papa.

Thursday 

We had lunch with the AP’s and some other elders so that was super nice. We had weekly planning so we got everything ready for the baptism this weekend. We contacted a ton of people and found a new person to teach which was nice. It was a slower day so we will have to make up for that tomorrow. I hate cats but this cat looked like Garfield at our investigators house so I was petting it. Dude scratched the crap out of me and made me bleed.

Friday 

We had district Council today and not to be rude but we had a missionary give the most ineffective training I’ve ever seen. It was on making small talk with people. I had to do a roleplay about a guy having an anime picture in his house. We ate some pupusas with the AP’s and they hit hard. It is my companions birthday tomorrow so we had dinner with a family and it was a good time. We didn’t find any new people today which sucked so we gotta go hard tomorrow.

Saturday 

Today was my companion Elder Ellis’s birthday and his birthday gift was our baptism today. The baptism went well but I swear we haven’t had any baptisms go smoothly besides one. Half the time a kid was playing on his iPad full Blast. We had a birthday dinner with some other elders at King buffet and it was super good. Ate some nice squid. It was 41 degrees today and rained for a long time. It might snow tomorrow so I’m excited to see if it does 

Sunday 

Woke up today to see snow falling from the freaking sky. It was literally 70 degrees like a few days ago so it makes no sense at all. It snowed off and on the entire day so that was really cool to see. We had a couple of our investigators come to church this week and even sat through the 2 hour stake conference. We found a new kid to teach named Cameron who’s an absolute stud. 

Spiritual thought:  2 Timothy 2:3

Thou therefore endure hardness, as a good soldier of Jesus Christ.

What does it mean to be a soldier of Jesus christ? As members of the church we must stand tall and be proud of who we are and what we stand for. It’s not easy and it is difficult at times, but we will always be lifted up and given strength to fight our battles if we look to the savior. He is the light of the world and the only Begotten son sent down to redeem us. We can be saved through him 

Elder Willis