Survived the Earthquake

Here are the highlights and pics from our video chat with Elder Holmstead:

• We had a big earthquake in Borongan this week.  I was talking on the phone with some Elders in another district when I started to feel the earth shake.  The Elders I was talking to asked if I could feel that.  They took cover under their desks while me and Elder Buan ran outside.  It was long...it lasted 30-40 seconds. Everyone was safe and nothing happened to our apartment.  That is the 6th earthquake that I have been in since I was transferred to Borongan.
• I am in Tacloban for MLC today and tomorrow.  I woke up at 2:30am this morning so we could catch the 4:00am bus.  The bus ride was rough and I was car sick for most of the drive.  But I'm feeling fine now.  We are going to go shopping and do a few things while we are in Tacloban City before our MLC meeting.
• This week we have District meetings on Thursday and Friday so hopefully we will still have time to do some work in our area.
• We had lots of investigators come to church yesterday so that was awesome.  We have several that are on track to get baptized at the end of May so we will see what happens.
• We have two new investigators, named Benji Allera and Emmanuel Celajes,  Please add them to your prayers.
• I tried teaching someone we met the lessons in Cebuano, but it has been too long since I have spoken that so I struggled bad.  It's crazy how fast you can lose the language if you don't use it.  We will see if I can test out of the Cebuano class at BYU.
• There is a pizza place in Borogan that serves huge pizzas.  One pizza fed 10 Elders - it was huge!  The cost was about $3 per person. It was the best!
• One of the Elders in my batch just got his flight plans.  We will be going home the same day.  He will arrive in SLC on July 10th so that should be the day I get home. I haven't seen my flight plans yet, but they should be coming any day now.  My companion lovingly reminded me today that I only have 10 weeks left.

Love you all,

Elder Holmstead

My district at the beach playing frisbee on p-day

One of the beaches in Borogan

The view of sunset from the porch of the Capones home

Some of the Capones kids

The Capones family.  We are teaching Francis (tatay) and May Ann.  This room is their entire house.  The sleep on the mats that they are sitting on.

The daughter of a family in our branch that feeds us every Sunday.  They are the best!

Staying in Borongan

Here are some highlights from our video chat with Elder Holmstead:

• I'm still here in Borongan with Elder Buan and I couldn't be happier. We received 4-5 new missionaries this week so we were busy on Tuesday picking them up and getting them to their new areas.  Several of them came from Sogod, which is about as far away as you can get from Borongan.
• This week was "Holy Week" in the Philippines so we weren't able to do much work.  Thursday everyone was off work, Friday was the same since it was Good Friday.  On Saturday and Sunday everyone went swimming at the beach.  We are hoping that things back to normal this week so we can get some teaching done.
• A couple of our investigators are close to baptism so we hoping to get them committed to a date in May.
• May favorite part of Come Follow Me this week was reading the daily scriptures about the last week of the Savior's life.  I read every footnote in Matthew 26 and it was cool to see how connected the Book of Mormon and Doctrine and Covenants are to the Bible.
• Today (p-day) we are getting together as a zone to play ultimate frisbee on the beach so that should be a good time. 
• Elder Buan lovingly reminded me that I have 11 more weeks until I go home.  We asked him if he was getting trunky at all and he said, "I love where I am at right now and am enjoying the work so much."
• Next week is MLC so he will be heading to Tacloban next Tuesday.

Happy Easter everyone!  I love you all.

Elder Holmstead

Philippines Tacloban Mission

Exchanges with AP's

Here are some highlights from our video chat with Elder Holmstead:

• I had exchanges in Tacloban this week with the AP's.  I was with Elder Murphy from my batch.  We set a goal to testify to 30 people in one day.  The most I have ever done in a day is 22 so I knew we would have to work hard.  And we did it!  We spent all day testifying and we met so many new people.
• General Conference was awesome!  Some of my favorite talks were Elder Stevenson from the Priesthood Session, Tad R. Callister, Elder Bednar, Brook P. Hales and of course, all of President Nelson's talks.  We only had about 5 members at the church on Saturday morning for the Priesthood session, but then more filled in throughout the day.  We had a pretty decent turn out on Sunday for those sessions.  A lot of members go on vacation during conference week.  We did not have any investigators attend conference so we will be working extra hard with them this week.
• I loved the music at conference! The BYU choir was the best and probably some of my favorite music I've heard at conference. I am going to download it so we can listen to it in our apartment.
• Elder Buan affectionately keeps reminding me that I only have 12 weeks left.  This is crazy!
• Elder Buan's brother got released from the hospital.  Thank you for all your prayers.
• I am in a trio this week because an Elder in our Zone went home.  The new Elder is from Tonga and he's a big guy.  He's awesome and we are having fun together.
• Transfers are this week so we are going to be busy getting new Elders settled into their areas.  I think (and hope) I will be staying in Borongan with Elder Buan.
• The weather is so hot.  We took a trike bike from our apartment to the internet cafe because it's too hot to walk.  Even though the cafe is only a 5 minute walk.  I'm constantly sweating.

Side note from mom - Elder Holmstead looks so good. He is healthy, happy and always has a big smile on his face. We love talking to him and are so grateful for the closeness that it has brought our family. We will be reading the daily scripture about the last week of Christ's life from Come Follow Me together as a family this week.  Wade reminded us that a family that prays together stays together. It was a good reminder of how important our family prayers are and how they help us stay close.

Zone Conference and Interviews

Here are pictures and highlights from our video chat with Elder Holmstead:

• There was an earthquake this morning so that was pretty exciting.  It lasted about 5 seconds and I wasn't sure if we should run outside or just stay in bed.  So we stayed in bed and luckily all was well.  That was the biggest earthquake I have felt since I've been here.
• Can't wait to watch conference.  I already listened to Elder Holland's talk this morning while I was emailing and doing reports.  My companion is trying to download the rest of the talks so we can listen to them today. Our branch will watch conference together on Saturday and Sunday this week at our church.
• My companion's brother (Ian Buan) is in the hospital so please pray for him and put his name in the temple.
• We met a new family this week that we have been teaching.  They already have a date set for baptism so I'm excited about that.
• We had a couple of our investigators come to church on Sunday so that was a highlight.
• I travelled for 4 hours to the other side of our zone for Zone Conference.  It was a bumpy ride, but the views of the village were amazing. We left at 4am so it was a long day.  After ZC, we went to one of President Argana's favorite restaurants and it was so good.
• Interviews with President Argana went good. I asked him if I was going to get the chance to train.  He said, "Elder Holmstead, how many Elders will you help if you train."  I answered one.  And then he said "How many elders can you help if you are a Zone Leader." So it looks like I'm staying in Borongan as a ZL until the end of my mission which I am more than ok with.  But President did say the he will pray about it and let me know if the Lord feels different.
• One of the couples we are teaching is having a hard time with paying tithing.  I testified of the blessings and promises that will come to them if they will have faith and pay it.  The spirit was so strong and I could feel that what I was promising them was true.  Please pray for them this week that they will accept tithing and continue moving forward.

Home sweet home!

Inside of our apartment.  There are 4 Elders living here so we should have 4 desks, but there is only 2 so we share.  We get 13 containers of water which should last the entire cycle.  Ours are almost out so we will need to buy more.  Good thing water is cheap to purchase here.

This apartment is made for 2 Elders, but there are 4 of us so 2 of us sleep on the floor.  My bed is the blue one on the floor.

I made Adobo chicken last week.  It actually turned out pretty good.  I am trying to perfect some Filipino dishes before I get home.

FHE with one of the families in our district.

Zone Conference