Elder Logan Spackman ~ Philippines Legazpi Mission

I think my highlight of the week was I was accepted to the University of Utah so Go Utes!!!! It's a great day to be a ute. Anyway for other news we have had a lot go on in the island.  I've had a lot of spiritual experiences where I've had to use the priesthood recently. These experiences are special and sacred to me so I won't put them here, but I would like to affirm that the priesthood has been restored. I literally saw it with my own eyes, becoming a witness to Jesus Christ. I testify with my whole heart that it's true, and that the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints was restored by the prophet Joseph Smith. To me, there is no other greater truth than this. I know I'm an imperfect person, and I am a sinner. But I know through the atonement I can become clean. Read 3 Nephi 27 18-21, it's a beautiful verse.  Also we had Zone con which was pretty awesome. We talked about sometimes you're a pusher or a puller. Whatever your role is, you need to ...

Alright everybody week two on the island, and we have some good news. So if you go on google maps and see Batan Island, to the right side of the island is another island. This island is called Rapu-Rapu and pretty much the missionaries have never been there. This is because travel is expensive, and people can't usually afford it every Sunday. So the thought was back then, why send missionaries there if the people can't go to church, or get baptized? There are a lot of members there, maybe around 30 but most of them come to church one time every month because of the travel.  Well this week, Elder Garcia and I had permission to go to the island. We saw that there is a lot of potential there, and so when we talked to our mission president, he was open to the idea of opening a group there. I'm telling you, if we had a group there, 20-30 non-members would go to church. So our goal is now to obtain permission from the stake president to start a group. It's been exciting but r...

Hello everybody, hope that you are all doing well. I am too, although I was banished to the smallest island in the mission. The population here on Batan island is less than 8,000 people. To be frank, I think this is what it is like to serve in the 1920s. No electricity half the time, no wifi or data on the island. The only way is to have power and that's rare.  No cars here or tricys, we have to walk or bike because nobody will pick us up. Most the people live under thatch huts in the muddy jungle. Definitely the craziest thing I've experienced in my 17 months as a missionary.  Now I've maybe mentioned a lot of things that aren't ideal, but as I've learned in my mission, always look at the bright side of things: On the bright side, the people here are incredibly nice and kind to us missionaries. We get fed quite a bit and they always love to joke and laugh. Our chapel here is super nice, like it's a full on meeting house for like a small ward. It even has a full...