Elder Logan Spackman ~ Philippines Legazpi Mission

Logan sent a voice memo this week instead of an email. Hopefully you can open this link .  

Hello mga Kaibigan (friends),  This week has been a crazy and chaotic week for sure so let's start - sorry if this email is long, you can just skip to the photos if you don't have time, I won't mind. Monday: Woke up and went to district council meeting which is a 30 minute jeepney ride. If you haven't seen a jeepney, look it up, it's so crazy how many people you can fit into one. After getting to district meeting, we went shopping in Legazpi, and there we got a call from the AP that on Tuesday, I would be flying to Manila for my Visa. They asked me to pack a two day kit and to be at the AP apartment by 7:30pm on Monday. Got there, slept on the ground on a mattress with no pillow or blankets or sheets, with cockroaches crawling around, but hey, cockroaches never killed anyone. All the Elders from the MTC were there so that was lit.  Anyway we drive to the Airport on Tuesday at 4am and we get to the front and I hand her the tickets and my ID and she says, "These...

Hello!  It's been a week and I'm officially in the field! A lot has happened, so I'll give a quick recap: First, last week at the MTC, Saying goodbye to all my district mates was definitely tough, but it's okay because I'll see them again! For any district mates reading this, I love y'all keep in touch. Saying goodbye to Elder Lybbert was also tough, he's a great person and was a great companion.  Anyway, we rode to the airport in a van and let me tell you - the traffic in Manila is insane. It's scary driving anywhere because there are like a million people on the road in bumper to bumper traffic. We got to the airport and waited in line for awhile to check our bags, it was all the Legazpi Missionaries, so we are all tight. Hopped on a little plane and took a 40 minute plane ride that was the scariest plane ride of my life because it was so cloudy and stormy. Landed in Legazpi and met the mission president, then I met my new companion and trainer, Elder ...

Hello mga Kaibigans,  It's time to go to the field after 60 days of MTC life. I'm going to keep this one short because in the Manila MTC they don't give you time to call or write your family, so I'm writing this one in my bed right now.  If I had to summarise the MTC, it's like a springboard for the mission field. Of course it's a springboard for the language, but also a springboard for your own personal conversion and gospel knowledge. I know so much more now than I did before I got here. I'm so grateful for the MTC and all the available resources here, especially the teachers. All my teachers have been my favorite.  Anyway, I fly out to the field in two days, and then I'll be out working in Legazpi! Next time I email it will be from the field!  Peace Out, MTC. Manila Temple Elder Ward: A Tale of a Long Devotional

Hello mga Kaibigans (friends), it's another week closer to the field. In fact, this is my last week till the field and it feels about time because we just hit week nine, and I'll leave next week on week 10 on Thursday.  Not a lot really happened this week, except the food they served yesterday for lunch. Now chicken feet isn't bad, it just tastes like that stuff that you put on your Top Ramen when it is chicken flavored. However, chicken liver and heart, I wasn't a fan of.  The language is coming along, however we've been informed that once we get to the field we have to learn another language that's completely different, Bikol. It's not that the locals won't understand Tagalog, they all know it, but they say it's nice to know introductions in Bikol especially for the older generation.  Spiritual thought:   When you read the scriptures, think about the perspective of who's writing it. For example, in Matthew 26 and all of 3 Nephi 11 and onward, J...

Hello friends and family! This week's email is going to be really long because a lot happened so if you don't have time you can just look at the photos. Also, I still have three weeks in Manila; I leave for the field on December 12th. Alright here we go -  Tuesday : Took the bus to the FrontRunner, then went to the Salt Lake Airport, waited for three hours, then flew from Salt Lake to San Francisco. After eating some food, flew from San Francisco to Manila.  For those of you who have never been on a flight for 15 hours, it's very long. Especially when you can't fall asleep or watch movies so I looked at the flight map and listened to classical music for 15 hours. The food was not very good to be honest, but the filipinos on the flight were so nice. Let me tell you two things I've observed about the people here: They are soooooo nice and especially if you speak to them in Tagalog. They laugh, but not disrespectfully, our teacher explained to us. No matter how much I ...

Hello friends, and now teachers (extra pressure). The final week of Provo MTC has come and gone. In all honesty, this week has gone by so fast, and has been so fun. Fun things:  We may or may not have thrown a small function. Elder Hieslbetz and I were security guards and we had tons of candy and food for our district. Elder Anderson also popped a Martinelli so that was very entertaining to watch. Spiritual things: What I've gotten out of this week and through prayer is how critical it is to trust in the Lord. Because no matter where you are or any stage of life, it's in God's plan. God has a plan for all of us, and ultimately it's up to you what you want to do, but Jesus is always waiting with open arms. Friends, the atonement is so, so powerful and it's not just for forgiveness, it's to help us grow as people. My invitation to everyone reading this is: Think about somebody you might have troubles with, disagree with, don't get along with, and pray for them...