Up North goes Elder Breinholt October 8, 2017

Hello Family and Friends!

It was a good week in the Philippines Olongapo Mission for us missionaries.

We were able to work with Ruffa our referral that a member gave us and we were able to teach her with her fellowshipper. And it went really good. She prayed about Joseph Smith and the Book of Mormon and she believes in them. So we extended a baptismal invitation to her for Nov 11. And she accepted. And she really wants to be baptized. So that was the teaching highlight of the week. We also taught Bobby the Word of Wisdom and he was super shocked. And he got pretty serious with us about how he wanted his family baptized with him. But we just haven't found a good time to teach his family. So were working on it. And we worked more with these little girls who are part members. And weve been able to teach alot of people in that area. So its awesome! 

But on Friday night President Lacanenta called me up and told me I was being transferred up north to Iba Zambales.So now i'm out of the South and into the North. So i said goodbye to our investigators and Members in that ward. Im going to miss that area a lot. It was such a good area. But its all good. 

 

So i got on a bus and headed up here on Saturday. My new companion picked me up Elder Ramos. My first filipino companion! He's from cavite Phillipines and he's 22.  And right when i got here we had a baptism in this area. So we headed straight to the church and i had to unpack my baptismal clothes haha. It was a great day for those kids to be baptized into the true church. Were super happy for them. But i'm excited to work in a new area and get to know these people here and work really hard! 

The church is true. Theres no other church that is true expect the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. Im so grateful to be a member of this church. And Im grateful for this opportunity to be here in the Philippines be spreading it! Have a good week everyone and enjoy yourselves! Love you guys

Pics of the Week!!!

Squad with the shades on!!!

Everyone calls me Alaska boy!  They say I look like that kid on the can!! Haha

The Church is True!!! October 1, 2017

Hello Everyone! T'was a good week out here! This week was transfer week and I'm staying another transfer in Cupang. I was honestly shocked. This will be my 6th transfer here xD goodness. But its okay that just means the Lord has more work for me to do here in Cupang! So were excited me and Elder Leakehe to do another transfer together. Its going to be awesome. This week was fun! We taught some of our progressing investigators. Taught them the importance of Prayer and how they need to ask God for themselves if this church is true. Its going to be good to follow up and see if they did it. And we should give some more Baptismal Dates this week. We got a lot to look forward to this week! Its going to be awesome. We also moved apartments. So that's been kinda of a pain but its in a great location for our area because its in the center of it. And were living above the senior couples in our area! So were excited.  We got some new invesitgators who are the granddaughters of a Nanay in our area so they have some great fellowship and they went to church this Sunday with her! There is so much good stuff going on in our area we really just need to keep it up and keep going. 

We are so lucky everyone to be in the right Church! I think about that a ton. So now we just need to be the miracle in someone elses life and help them come to know that!

We havent watched general conference yet were going to watch it next week. So its going to be good. It'll will be nice to hear from them. We cant wait! 

More pics of the Week!

Haha found a Lagoon Shirt

Me walking across a bridge

W

Mark's Baptism!!!

By small things great things are brought to pass! September 24, 2017

Magandang Umaga po sa inyo lahat. This week was a nice week for us out here in Cupang. 

On Monday we had a sweet Zone Activity and we went to Mt Samot! so that was way nice. Great views and it was really relaxing! We had our last district meeting on Tuesday! This next week is transfer day! So we will get the news if any of us get transferred. I feel like i've really worked hard here in this area. I've now been here 2 transfers so I could be transferred. I wouldn't be mad haha i've been in the same district my whole mission so it would be nice to see some other views. 5 transfers here. But its all good. We did some exchanges and taught Mark more about his Baptism and the covenants hes going to make and it went really good! He asked us some really good questions that we were able to answer. It was awesome. We were able to teach some of our new investigators about what Jesus Christ did here on the earth and how they need to follow his example and be baptized by the correct authority. So that was good. We also taught a lady who was baptized when she was 15 and she went less active, but we retaught her and now we are teaching the kids so its going really good. They love feeding us! So its awesome. We taught Mark some more about his baptism and how we are baptized in the true church. He thought it was fun because we practiced how to be baptized. We made it fun for him. Got him super excited for his baptism! And then we went to his cousin and aunts house for a birthday party! The birthday parties here in the Philippines are super awesome! So what they do they make a ton of food and then all the neighbors come and eat spaghetti, noodles(pancit), and these nice rice cakes. I need to learn more of the names of the food better. But its coming along. Its all good. We had the baptism in the morning on Saturday. It went really good! I was able to baptize him. It went good. It was great to hear his testimony after about the church and he was super excited! And then on Sunday he received the Holy Ghost and got his interview for the Priesthood. Later that night we were invited to another birthday party. And when we go to these parties we always make sure we spread the gospel and ask for referrals. Something always seems to make more since with how people know each other or how they are related its funny! And then we taught some more Investigators and then we had a great dinner at Bishops! So lots of food this week and good lessons.

We just gotta finish this transfer strong and keep up the good work. Keep teaching people the restored gospel and get more and more people aware about the gospel. 

Something that also hit me this week was about how small things great things are brought to pass. And that just by little decisions our whole day or whole week can be effected, even our whole lives. So we just need to always choose the right and do that which the Lord would have us do! I like this Scripture here that says in Alma 

6 Now ye may suppose that this is foolishness in me; but behold I say unto you, that by small and simple things are great things brought to pass; and small means in many instances doth confound the wise.

So we need to keep doing those little things like Reading the Scriptures, praying everyday, and going to church every week. I know the Lord will bless us as we do these things.Love you guys. Keep up the awesome work. 

--

Elder Breinholt

Philippines Olongapo Mission

More pics of the Week. Sept. 17, 2017

ZONE NAMIN. BALANGA

Elder Breinholt and my companion Elder Leakehe.  That's our area in the back

CMON BYE FOOTBALL!!! I'M REPPING THE Y IN THE MISSION.  PHILIPPINES. YOU GOT THIS!

The girl who interviewed us.  She is 23

Pics of the Week

Sweet Bridge

Fruit called Atis

Our District at Mount Samot

Dreams like a 40 story cross! Sept. 17, 2017

Hey everyone! Merry Christmas! The Christmas songs have started here in the Philippines. It is time... but other than that I was able to give my first talk in church and my first blessing!

Mark had his interview for his baptism and he passed! So its going to happen this Saturday! Were super excited and we've been helping him get more ready. Hes been to church 8 times now. Hes a stud. Were going to baptize him at the church. It has a font.

So this week we got a text from my first area telling us we had to give a blessing for a member in the hospital here in the city. And it turned out it was Tatay Fernandez. This tatay worked with us so much in our first area and he is a big asset to the missionary work in Bagac(my1st area) but he had a heart attack. So we were able to give him a blessing and it went good! He has been recovering and hes getting better slowly. But it was awesome I was able to give him a blessing for the 1st time in the field.

We weren't able to teach our member referral this week. So we were pretty bummed. But we will teach her this week. Were going to make sure she understands the Book of Mormon and is reading it! And then we will move onto lesson 2. We were able to teach Bobby some more and his family. Hes such a cool guy. We also need to help him get reading the Book of Mormon and we haven't been able to teach his family in a little bit. So hopefully this Friday we can teach them as a whole family! We were also working with some of our not progressing investigators and it doesnt look like they are going to progress. Thats the family where we went to their church. But it is what it is. God has a plan. We will see what happens. But weve found some new investigators that weve been trying to progress. So its all good. Something else funny that happened this week was we were asked if we could be taught tagalog for a class video. So this group made a video of us and they taught us some words in tagalog for their class. We knew all of them except for 2. It was sunset and dimple. Haha but we acted like we didnt really know the tagalog. It was funny!

We also got to taste a fruit that is only here in the Philippines. Its called atis. Its sweet and you rip it open and eat everything but the seeds. Its super good and nice and sweet.

We also had our President interviews this week and that's always a good time! Its always nice to sit down with President Lacanienta and talk to him! Hes super cool and he has been doing great since he and his wife have been here!

Saturday night we got a text from the Ward and were asked to give a talk. Theres 4 of us in the ward so they wanted 2 of us to talk. So me being the longest in the ward i decided it better be time to chastize them. haha jokelang. And then we decided Elder Orchard was fit for the other spot. It went good! Except that i laughed at my own joke. I told them how Brian and Terri Ann were married in the Salt Lake temple and Janae and Connor followed them and then i said and hopefully i follow them too. Haha it was funny. But i was able to talk about the Book of Mormon. It went all good and it was all in tagalog. So i was proud of that.

But yeah that was pretty much the week! I hope you guys had a good week. I love you all. We just got back from a zone activity. We played sports and went to Mount Samot. Its a big cross on a hill and it has some cool history. Its basically just a memorial giving thanks to all of the solders who helped free the Philippines in the time of World War 2. The bases here in our mission helped that a ton. And my first area is from where they marched the prisoners all the way down to where we are now. So its super cool. Its super history. But then the USA nuked Japan so it ended everything. So go team. But that was my second time there. this time was better because it wasnt foggy like last time. but other than that

I'm grateful for this opportunity to serve in such a cool place. I'm really loving it more and more im here. It is really great!