Elder Logan Spackman ~ Philippines Legazpi Mission

We had exchanges with the ZL's and other Elders this week, It was pretty lit  . We saw lots of miracles but I'd like to highlight a particular miracle that Elder Bul-an and I saw. So for those of you who remember, about 6 months ago Elder Bul-an and I were companions for only 6 weeks. So it was so much fun to be companions with him again, even if it was just a day. We were finding in Codon and it's like an area in the middle of nowhere. The nearest place to buy groceries is like 45 minutes away by tricy. So like mountain talaga po. Anyway we found this Nanay who had been taught back then, and by back then I mean 1995. She had a baptismal date but the Elders unfortunately transferred. She was interested and expressed to us her concern. Pretty much if you aren't catholic you don't have a place to get buried when you die. So she was saying that if our church had a graveyard, she would be willing to get baptized. I think we might buy some land here for that so keep pray...

Hello everyone, I'm going to keep this one short because last time it was so long. But anyway this week was fire cause we baptized 2 of our friends. We also got to finally watch General Conference , and it had some great talks that really inspired me. Here is my favorite quote: "Brothers and sisters, a testimony is not given for temporary use. This gift from our loving Heavenly Father is meant to be eternal because the giver is eternal. A testimony should not have an expiration date. It should not weaken or diminish because something in my life has changed or something in the world has changed. It should get stronger because, like the servant’s talents in the parable of the talents , my personal testimony is a gift to be multiplied—not buried" - Elder Brown I feel like sometimes in my mission it's super hard, I still have doubts to be honest, and that's not a bad thing. Having doubts about the gospel is natural and is what makes it so we have a choice to believe...

Hello party people, Kumusta po kayong lahat? I just hit 1 year in my mission, and after watching all my friends hit one year, I've finally got here, kaya masaya na ako. I'd like to share with you all the things that I've learned while being here in the Philippines. To give a little context, I'll be writing about my experiences and what I've learned from my 4 areas so far. To give also some context about the Philippines I would like to share some history so you can better understand the culture and area. The Philippines is an oceanic water locked country in the pacific south, made up of over 2,000 islands. The first recorded people here in the Philippines were Chinese sailors and fishermen, but over time they integrated themselves into the local population. The Philippines has over 300 languages and dialects, in my area alone, I've seen about 7 different languages spoken. Tagalog is a dialect as well, and Filipino is the national language. Three different countri...

Hello Everyone! How's everyone doing? We are doing well here in San Andres. We had a good long week, at masaya ako na mag share sa inyong gabos (I'm happy to share to you).  Baptism of the Boco family: We had a baptism! It's been awhile in my mission since I've had one, not saying that mission success is based on baptisms cause it's not, and these aren't my baptisms but the Lord's baptism, but let me tell you; it's been refreshing to have some success in this area. Especially since it's been awhile since this area has had any success so it gives the members something to be proud of.   Their conversion:  My companion and I have worked really hard and we've helped revive the success and hype here for missionary work. Of course it's all through the Lord, but it's like I think Alma said that "I boast not of myself, but of the Lord". Because miracles have really been done here. One of these miracles is the BOCO family. When I first g...

This week has been better, mainly because the antibiotics have killed all the infection in my foot. I forgot who said it, but one Elder said I've gotten everything that one can get in the Philippines except dengue. Here is a quick tally of the sicknesses that I've gotten: Hit by a tricey, water poisoning, food poisoning, falling into water, falling into a sewer, and finally a boil on my foot that became infected. Maybe I'll get dengue so I can collect all the infinity stones of sickness here.  Anyway roll the highlights: Some more people we taught in Pio Duran are getting baptized! Huge shoutout to the missionaries there who grinded and did everything they could for our friends! It made me so happy because they were close when we were there, but they had to get married first. Mabuti naman! Another highlight is we have some baptisms coming up, so everyone pray for them! They get interviewed on Tuesday, so we need your prayers talaga! The funny thing is that my past companion...

My foot really started hurting maybe 3 days ago. It was just a small red dot so I thought maybe it was a bug bite or something fillipino like that. But then over the next 3 days it has grown and gotten infected and worse. I'll spare you the picture but it really hurts to walk or exist. At least today I got some medication to combat the infection.  Anyway on a happier note: GOOO UTES!!! I heard we beat UCLA so that made my day despite the hard week. Our friends: Our friends here are progressing well. We have some baptisms on Sept 13. The members here have been great in joining us and helping us despite it only being a Branch. We had 42 people attend which is a lot for us, so that made me and my comp's day better. Another thing that happened that was cool is a lot of people are reading the BOM we gave them. I know it's hard to come to church for people here, (Cost, Time and ETC) but it's nice that they are reading and coming closer to Jesus Christ. Funny thing: Bruh we w...

I think I failed to mention this in my previous emails, but we have something working against us here in the island. The thing that is working against us is the graveyard. Here is why: Here in San Andreas, When you die it is very expensive to buy a coffin, and be buried. Now it is impossibly expensive if you aren't Catholic here. The catholic church has an exclusive graveyard here for the catholic only, so when we teach people here, they are interested in listening but they don't want to join because then they have nowhere to be buried when they die.  So that has been a challenge that we have been encountering lately but other than that buhay pa ako (I'm still alive). Another one: We set another PBD for one of our friends, and he was not really excited at first to accept but once the president promised him a pair of shoes he was ready. He is the only non-member of his siblings, and he is 9 years old.  Iyan lang everyone, I hope y'all had a good week, Mahal ko kayong lah...