Splits with the AP's

We couldn't see or hear Elder Holmstead, but he could see and hear us.  He typed back and forth with us.  The Mills family were staying with us so he got to see them too.  Here are some highlights:

• Elder Buan and I travelled to Tacloban this week and did splits with the AP's.  Elder Ababa and I killed it in his area.  It was fun being with my step-son again. I sat in the front seat of the van again so I didn't get car sick.  We stayed with the AP's in Tacloban.  They just got a new apartment.  It's so nice and clean.
• We got 2 new referral families to teach.  The Estay family was a referral from one of our investigators.  The Cabangisan family was a referral from the second counselor in our branch presidency.
• Ricky and Gemmalyn came to church and are still on schedule to be baptized in June.  May Ann is on schedule to be baptized July 6th but we may have to push it back so she can be baptized with Francis.
• Transfers are this week.  I'm 50% sure that Elder Buan will be transferred and I probably will stay here in Borongan.  It's crazy that this is my last transfer!
• Travis asked him if he dreams in English or Waray-Waray. Good question...I actually dream in Waray Waray.  Elder Tabalisma said when I was with him that I slept talked in Cebuano and recited the First Vision. :)
• I have a hard time talking in English to Americans.  For some reason it freaks me out.  I can talk in English to other American missionaries but not to Americans that we meet in the streets.  The last American that we met was a 55 year old man who had a 21 year old Filipino wife.  I see that all the time here.
• Everyone's vote money is pretty much gone so things are getting back to normal around here.  One family that we are teaching got cement floors for their house so they don't live on dirt any more. The election was for governor and local offices.  The Presidential election is in 2021 and I do not want to be here for that.  It will be crazy!
• We asked him what he is looking forward to when he gets home.  I am looking forward to hot showers, swimming in our pool and sleeping in a bed.  I'm still sleeping on a mattress on the floor but it's all good.
• We deep cleaned our apartment this morning so it's the cleanest it's ever been.
• Am I getting released the same day that I get home?  (Yes)  I emailed Elder Dorius and we are planning on being companions until we get released since we are both getting home the same day.
• Matt Morgan gets home this week.  He emailed me and invited me to his Open House this Sunday - haha!
• I have pictures but this computer won't let me send them.:(

Love you all!

Elder Holmstead

Vote Money

Highlights from our video chat with Elder Holmstead:

• Last week was elections so everyone got their "vote money" from all the candidates who literally bought people's votes.  It's totally illegal here but everyone does it.  People just sit outside and wait for their vote money.  "That the crazy world I'm living in here." Direct quote from Elder Holmstead Sadly no one offered to give us poor Elders money...we probably would have taken it. :)
• Loveit, our new investigator, came to church so that was good.  Gemmalyn and Ricky did not come to church because they got vote money and are busy spending it.  Hopefully they will come next week and will stay on track to get baptized in June.
• From mom: I asked Wade what they spend their vote money on.  He said that the Capones bought electricity for their house...and a new TV.  Priorities!
• We went on exchanges last Wednesday with Elder Spencer and Elder Nuan who live in our apartment with us.  I went with Elder Spencer.  It's fun being with another American because everyone wants to talk to us.  They don't think we can speak their language and it's always fun to see the surprised look on their face when they realize we can speak Waray Waray.
• We did a service project this week with some Sisters in our branch.  We helped a Nana clear her yard so she can plant a garden (see pics below).
• A new member moved into our branch and we love her because she feeds us a lot.  She even had Lindor truffles that she brought from Canada and they tasted soooo good!
• I was struck down hard this week.  One of our members, who recently got out of jail, asked us if we would try to find his ex-wife because he thought she got baptized while he was in jail.  We said sure and we went looking for her.  We asked around and we finally found her.  She said that she wasn't interested.  And that's about as bad as rejection gets around here.  She probably thought we were the police because everyone thinks we are the police.  It's hilarous!
• We have exchanges with the AP's this week in Tacloban and I'm excited to work with Elder Ababa.  I haven't worked with him since we were companions.  Should be a good time.

Love you all!  Have a great week.

Elder Holmstead

Service project with the Sisters for Nana

Working hard - pulling weeds

Making some progress

Elder Buan's "carpet roll"

The view from the field we worked on clearing.  Another beautiful day in the Philippines!

Me and Elder Spencer with "King LeBron".  We actually call him LibLib.  He's awesome!

Happy Mother's Day

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

• Happy Mother's Day! It's crazy to think this was going to be our last call before I get home but we still have 8 more calls.
• We went to Catbalogan this week for Zone meetings.  We traveled about as far west as we can go in our zone.  It was another long, bumpy trip.  We pretty much went up one mountain and down the other side to get there.  I sat in the front seat this time so I didn't get car sick.  We almost couldn't find any buses back to Borongan.  Me and Elder Buan were running around the bus terminal trying to find a bus that could take us and our entire zone back.  Luckily we found one so it all worked out.
• I had my last interview (before my final exit interview) with President Argana this week.  He asked me to start setting goals of what I want to accomplish when I get home.  That's kind of weird to think about so I haven't started that list yet.  But I'm going to work on it.
• I set a goal to read the Book of Mormon one more time before I go home.  I am in Alma so I'm getting there.  I love Alma 5 and reading about the battles that Alma the Younger fought in.  I am also still reading the Old Testament.  I'm in Deuteronomy so that's going good too.
• It's election week in Borongan so we have a curfew at 6:00pm tonight and 5:00pm tomorrow.  Elections here are crazy.  People will stand on the corner and literally give people money to vote for them.  This election shouldn't be too crazy, but you never know in the Philippines.
• We had one of our investigators at church yesterday so that was good.  Ricky and Gemmalyn weren't able to make it because Gemmalyn had to work.  But they let us know beforehand that they could't make it so that was good.  They are still progressing and we are hopeful they will get baptized in June.  We also found 2 new investigators (Danica and Loveit) so please add them to your prayer list.
• My trainer, Elder Roth, is coming back to our mission this month so it will be fun to see him.  He is actually coming back to see his girlfriend so that's interesting.

Side note from Wade's parents: We got Elder Holmstead's flight plans last night.  He will be flying home July 10th, arriving in the Cedar City airport at 6pm.  He actually leaves Manila on July 10th at 8:10am, travels for over 24 hours and gets to Cedar that same day at 6:00pm.  That's going to be the longest day of his life!  We are so excited for his return, but are enjoying every last minute that he has in the Philippines.

Thanks for all your love and support!

Zone training in Catbalogan

Matching ties and watches

On our way to Zone Training in Catbalogan.

Posing with our matching watches at a local restaurant.  They had the biggest and best burgers around!

MLC in Tacloban

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

• MLC was the best!  We did some fun games including a trivia challenge of the Missionary Handbook which my team won.  It's always a good time seeing Elders from my batch and past companions.
• While I was in Tacloban we went shopping and I got a sweet machete.  I'm hoping it will make it on the airplane ride home.
• I got sick on the bus ride back to Borongan but I'm feeling great now.
• Ricky and Gemmalyn came to church again this week so that was awesome.  We are going to teach them this week about tithing which has been a hard concept for them so we are hoping it goes better this time.  They are still on track to get baptized in May.
• I have been studying the Old Testament lately and I'm enjoying it.  The mission has definitely taught me how to study.
• Fast and testimony meeting is interesting here.  If anyone talks for more than 2 minutes, a member of the bishopric will tap them on the back which means time is up.  They will also tap someone if their story or scripture does not relate to testifying of Christ.
• For p-day this morning we had a fun adventure.  We traveled to a village, crossing the bridge in Borongan, (see pics below) and picked coconuts.  We mixed the coconut milk with sweetened condensed milk - it's so good!
• This is going to be a busy week.  We have Zone Conference and interviews with President Argana.  It's my last interview before my exit interview. WHAT!?

MLC with the AP's, Zone Leaders and STL's

MLC with President and Sister Argana

Elders from my batch.  We are all going home together.

Elder Murphy, Elder Laitenen, Elder Ababa and Elder Holmstead

Borongan District

More pics of Borongan District

Kids of a family we are teaching.  They are the best!

Birthday dinner celebration Filipino style

The Capones family.  Their kitchen is on the right behind them.

A random vehicle burning down as we drove by.  No one was there to stop us - we could have walked right up to it.

Bridge we crossed going to the village to pick coconuts.

Another beautiful day in the Philippines.

...and another!

On the back of the trike as we headed into the village to pick coconuts.

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

Word of the week: Scandalous

We are having technology issues with Wade in his new area.  He could see and hear us last night but we couldn't see or hear him.  So we talked to him and he typed his answers back to us.  Here are some pictures and highlights from his week:

• He said they spent a good portion of the week putting out fires.  They had some disobedient missionaries that were calling Sisters in their mission at midnight. Thus the subject of this post.  He said they had to some some transferring and re-arranging of companionships but everything is all good now.
• They had 2 investigators come to church so he was excited about that.
• He said the weather is getting very hot and it hasn't rained as much lately.
• He is still sleeping on a mattress on the floor in his apartment.  He said there are big cockroaches everywhere that they have to kill.  He's just grateful there aren't rats and snakes in his apartment.  He has seen rats in people's houses when they have taught investigators.  He hates rats!
• He said they did get rocks thrown at them once during one of the elections there.  But he didn't take it personally because they weren't throwing them "at them", but were just throwing them at anyone and everyone.
• He loves his companion, Elder Buan and gets along so good with him.  They have lots in common.
• He's excited for General Conference, especially because they get to watch it in English.
• He said he's freaking out because he only has a little over 3 months left.  Time is going by fast!

This river is close to his apartment.

This is how the kids get around the village.

He thought this sign was funny.  Especially the one thats says "Drink...Don't Drive."

Wade found a store that sells NBA jersey's for super cheap.   He picked up several but this one is his favorite. 

MLC and Borongan Zone

We got to video chat with Elder Holmstead again this week.  Here are some highlights:

• He was transferred to the Borongan Zone.  He really likes his new companion, Elder Buan, and his new area.  After 7 months he said he was ready for a change.
• They speak Waray-Waray in Borongan so it's taken some time for him to get used to speaking that language again.  He is starting to feel more comfortable with it.  He is still pretty lost in his area but he's starting to figure out where things are at.
• He asked us to pray for his investigators:
• Ricky and Gemmalyn
• May Ann Capones
• Francis Capones
• Lyra, Pauline, Angel
• Dominic is still progressing also so he asked us to keep him in our prayers.
• He and Elder Buan travelled up to the Dolores Branch which is at the top of their zone.  He said he doesn't look very far on a map but it's a 3 hour drive.  They rode in Jeepney's.  He said they are full of people and roads are very bumpy so it's a rough ride.
• He and his companion haven't had time to shop at all since he was transferred so they were planning to hit a grocery store on p-day.
• He said there are 150 members in his branch.
• He had a great birthday and appreciated everyone who sent him an email.  He said the Filipino's try to guess his age and most of them think he is 30 or 40 years old.
• He found a store that has some sweet NBA jersey's so he's planning to pick up a few.
• He said the temperature there all week is supposed to be 80 degrees!

Baptism and Video Chat

Wade didn't get a chance to write a group email this week.  However, we did get to video chat with him for awhile so we loved that.  He was excited about the baptism they had last week of James Carlo.  Transfers are this week and he thought he was going to get sent to a new area.  He has been in Sogod for over 7 months so he is the "oldest" missionary in the zone.  I got an message on FB from a member in Wade's area and she said that he will be transferring this week to Borongan, Samar.  In her words, "Elder Holmstead is going to his next area now  after 7 mos, we will definitely miss him   He's been a good missionary and a friend/brother to us...my children will miss him too.  We are blessed to know your son.  God Bless you and your Family. -Francisco Family

Also, Wade's birthday is on the 13th so send him a birthday message if you get a chance.  He would love to hear from you all!