Typhoon Karen

October 15, 2016

Dear Families of Missionaries in the Quezon City North Mission,

I am writing to inform you of the situation in our mission related to the pending impact of typhoon Karen.  The Church has been observing this storm for days and has made numerous preparations for its arrival.  The main track of the storm should be north of our mission but we will have wind and rain as the margin of typhoon will be felt here.  It is also possible that the path could go further south and we would be impacted directly.  If that happens, we are lucky because we are located far enough inland that much of the energy of the storm will be expended by the time it reaches us.

In any event we are preparing for a significant storm.  Yesterday we alerted all of our missionaries to purchase enough water to last them through next Tuesday and enough food to see them through until Tuesday.   They have also been instructed to keep their cell phones charged.  We have a calling tree in place for rapid communication if needed across the mission.  Each missionary has been instructed to have 1000 Pesos in small bills ready for an emergency.

If the weather looks at all dangerous we will be keeping the missionaries inside their apartments.  It is the plan to be very cautious and if we error administratively, it will be our intent to error to the side of safety.

If the storm compromises our electrical or internet infrastructure, you may receive your email late next week from your missionary.  I as the mission president and the Church will report again when the storm is finished regarding the safety of you missionary.

Join us in prayer for those who will be impacted by this typhoon.  We pray for their safety and protection.

Sincerely,

Kim C. Bertin

President Quezon City North Mission

Because of HIM

Because of HIM

·        Question: Do we really understand the Atonement of Jesus Christ?

1.       We teach this in every lesson ( all 5 Lessons) 

2.       We know it is central to God’s Plan and is the most important event in the history of mankind. But ask ourselves do WE understand it?

Takeaway- To explain what the Atonement of Jesus Christ truly

·         Atonement-

1.       To atone is to suffer the penalty for an act of sin, thereby removing the effects of the sin from the repentant sinners and allowing them to be reconciled to God. (PMG 58)

2.       To atone is to reconcile or bring to harmony. To be compensated for and made right – Through Jesus Christ we can be reconciled to our Heavenly Father “having been made perfect through Jesus Christ..” (D&C 76:69)

We understand to atone means to pay for another person’s sins, but.. Why do we need the Atonement?

·         Why is the Atonement necessary for our Salvation?

1.       Moses 6:57 All men must repent. No unclean thing can enter into the Kingdom of God.

We are sinners. We are unclean. Therefor we cannot enter into the Kingdom of God. No matter how righteous we are, we are stuck. We will never be able to enter into the Kingdom of God, we are in fallen state.

2.       Mercy cannot rob justice. The Eternal Demands of Justice require our sins to be paid for or atoned for, every sin must be atoned or paid for. We need someone to redeem us, and pay our ransom. We are unable to pay our own debt of sins. And are therefore stuck, with an impassable barrier in front us.  We are hopeless by ourselves. Because of the fall we cannot overcome physical and spiritual death by ourselves. We need a mediator, redeemer, and savior to pay the price of our sins to release the bands which are binding us. Without a mediator, all hopes of returning to our Father in Heaven are lost because “.. In Adam all die, even so, in Christ shall all be made alive.” (I Cor 15: 19-22)

·         So we understand that we need a mediator, redeemer, and savior. But why Jesus Christ?

1.       Jesus was called to be our Redeemer before the foundations of the world. ( Ether 3:14)

2.       He was the only sinless, perfect person to live on this earth.

3.       “He suffered temptations, but gave no head to them.. “ ( D&C 20:22)

4.       He is the literal Son of God. He was able to die because of his mortal Mother. But he had the power to overcome death because of his immortal Father.

·         How did he atone for all mankind?

Jesus Christ performed a three-fold Atonement.

1.       First, In the Garden of Gethsemane. D&C 19:18-19 “Which suffering cause me to tremble because of pain and bleed from every pore. “

We usually just think about the sins that Jesus Christ atoned for in Gethsemane, but he suffered for so much more. He suffered for our pains, sicknesses, temptations, afflictions, infirmities, illnesses, struggles, doubts, fears, heartaches, suffering, grief, guilt, sorrow, humiliation, mental pains, physical pains, emotional pains, physical torments, depression, failures, inequities, weakness, and inadequacies.  

2.       His suffering did not just end in the garden it continued onto the cross. The death and crucifixion of our Savior Jesus Christ is the second part or second-fold of his Atonement.

Where he hung and died for us. While he hung, wounded, naked, and with a thorn crown on his head for us. This is one of the most excruciating ways to die. Yet, he partook of the bitter cup. He loved the His Father and all us that he was willing to die for us, and hang on a wooden cross in Golgotha.  Motivated by love and empowered by grace.

3.       The third and final fold and part of his everlasting and infinite Atonement ended in his tomb where he was laid. When he overcame death and was resurrected on the third day. And he became the first fruits of them that slept. ( I Cor 15:20)

With his resurrection he overcame physical death and provided that we all may overcome death and be resurrected. (Alma 11:44)  And thus completing His everlasting Atonement.

·         Jesus Christ did his part by redeeming the world. But, in order be saved we must also do our part.

1.       Although we are redeemed unconditionally from the universal effects of the Fall. We are accountable for our own sins.

2.       D&C 19:16-17

3^rd Article of Faith.. “.. BY obedience to the laws and ordinances of the Gospel..”

Mos 4:2   We can be forgiven and cleansed from the stains of sins IF we “ apply the atoning blood of Christ.”

We must do our part and have faith and repent of our sins to be forgiven.

Jesus Christ suffered all of our sins. He knows with a perfect knowledge exactly what we are feeling and going through. Only IF we reach out him, will he be able to extend his arms of mercy unto us and give us remission of our sins, strength in times of need, and comfort in times of tribulation.

The Atonement is the supreme expressing of Heavenly Father’s love for us. And the Savior’s great expression of love for His Father and all of us.

“No other name given, nor any other means whereby salvation can come to the children of men. “  Mos 3:17

“ In the world ye shall have tribulation; but be of good cheer, I have overcome the world.” John 16:33

·         Video: Because of Him.

Commitment: Will you study the Atonement in order to more fully understand it.

“Because of HIM” we know all things are made possible.. Amen. 

Fighting Against the Adversary

We had another great week last week. Our investigators are continuing to progress and are moving towards their baptisms. We are also starting to find and teach new investigators by using the recent converts in our area. The newly baptized members are now starting to invite their friends to listen to our message. We are still searching for our next "Espiritu Family", a family which is prepared to hear our message and are willing to act and keep our commitments. We know that they are out there, so we are doing our best to listen and follow the quiet promptings of the Spirit in order to find them. 

We had an interesting experience last night that I would like to share. Two weeks ago Elder Perkins and I talked to this happy looking man that was walking down the street in the rain. He was a little shocked and intrigued when he met two Americans that were out walking around happily in the rain and while speaking Tagalog to each other,  so he decided to listen us. After we gave a little overview of our message he invited us to visit his house and to teach him and his wife. We came back on the scheduled day and had a powerful first discussion with them. We then came back a second time and taught them more about the Book of Mormon. They committed to be baptized if/when they knew the Book of Mormon is true. After the lesson, Elder Perkins and I talked about how we really felt that they would progress. We stopped by their house a few more times, but they were gone every time we visited. Then last night, we were finally able to teach them again. 

In our lesson with them last night the wife opened up some concerns that she had been thinking about. She told us about all the hard things that had happened to their family in the last week since the time her family read and prayed about the Book of Mormon. She told us her mother had a stroke, her husband's boss (who also wanted to listen to our message, and was planning on going to church with them) got in a motorcycle accident, their eldest son was sick all week with a fever, they started to have financial problems because somehow there was a problem with the husband's paycheck. She told us that all of things thing have happened since they read and prayed about the Book of Mormon. She then said something along the lines of, "Perhaps this is God answering our prayers, that we should not listen to your message." Elder Narciso and I testified about how finding the truth is not an easy process and how Satan or the Adversary of God's perfect plan did not want them to find out the truth. The Spirit filled their house as we testified of the truthfulness of our message. At the end of the lesson they committed to us that they would read the Book of Mormon every night for the next week. 

This experience reminded me about Joseph Smith's first vision. Before Joesph Smith received an answer to his prayer, his faith was also tested, and Satan did everything he could to prevent Joseph from receiving his answer and understanding the truth. Satan knows our potential in this life. And he will do everything in his power to keep us from reaching our divine potential and receiving answers to our prayers. We also think that Satan knows the potential of this family and he is doing everything in his power to prevent this family from coming to the truth. But, we know that Satan cannot dwell in places where there is light or where the Spirit dwells, so we know if they read the Book of Mormon every night, their house will be filled with the Spirit.

Last week was a very busy week. We had tons of meeting and workshops we had to give. We had to figure out transfer plans for all the missionaries. We had to prepare for MLC. It was quite hectic. I feel like Dad when he is running around in April trying to get all the taxes send off. It was a little stressful because I didn't have Elder Perkins here reminding me of things and helping me. We were on our own. But it all went surprisingly well. We were able to get everything finished without any problems.Tender Mercies! 

On Thursday night we had 2 hours to prepare a workshop about the Atonement for the MLC that was on the next day. So we spent our first hour digging through the scriptures and reading everything we could about the Atonement. Then the next hour we threw everything together and made our workshop. I learned so much from preparing our workshop. The Atonement truly is a gift. I will send you our little outline we made. I encourage you to do your own little study about the infinite and everlasting Atonement of Jesus Christ. And also, our workshop went great. We received many complements. 

General Conference was GREAT, I learned a lot. I loved all the talks, especially the ones in the Priesthood session. I don't have enough time to writ about all the things I liked, maybe next week. 

Have a Great week! Mom and Dad good luck in Peru, and make sure to remember your only favorite boy that hasn't received birthday or Christmas presents in the past few years as your are doing your souvenir shopping.. ;) Have a great time! And enjoy your trip! Love you all! 

Nagmamahal,

Elder Nielsen

PS> HAPPY EARLY BIRTHDAY CHE CHE! You are getting soo old! Joke lang ;) 

The Tripod is Over.

We had another great week this week. We saw a major improvement with the part-member families that we are teaching. The Aquino family came to church again on Sunday, but this time their older daughter was able to come also. She is still in college, and her college is far from their home, so she is normally not at their house. However, this weekend her daughter did not have class so she was able to visit home for the weekend and go to church with her family. She is also interested and wants to be taught. We are excited for the progression that the Aquino family is showing. Melva and her son M-Bong also attended church on Sunday. Unfortunately, Brother JR was not able to attend due to his work. We are still helping JR and Melva fill out and notarize their marriage papers in preparation for their upcoming wedding. Their baptism is scheduled for the last week in October. 

We have really seen the power and effectiveness of teaching and finding part-member families. After hearing President Bertin's workshop from last zone conference about using all the different finding techniques, Elder Perkins and I really started focusing on using all of the different finding techniques. And because of this new change in our finding we have started focusing more on the part-members in our area.  We now have five or six part-member families that we are focusing on and teaching. Some of those families are starting to progress and went to church on Sunday. And last night, we able to find two new part-member families that are willing to listen to our lessons. 

And I also have some exciting and sad news, Elder Perkins is heading out of the office. He will go serve his last few transfers as ZL in Kalookan. Kalookan is really struggling right now, and there have been many missionaries send home for disobedience. So he is excited for the upcoming challenge before he goes home. And my new companion is.... Elder Narciso! He is a really nice and smart Filipino. I like him a lot. He was actually our Kabahay (house mate), so he was living with us serving as a ZL, but now he has been called to serve in a new calling in the office. He was called last week, and has been working with us for the past week. So we were in a tripod or three-some all week. But, this now means I will have to train him in the office. I feel like I still need to be trained.. but I will do my best. I have to show him all the computer things, workshops, ect. But he is smart and will pick it up real fast. We will do great! 

I am very thankful for the opportunity that I had to be companions with Elder Perkins. He is honestly one of my favorite companions, and I feel like I have learned the most from him. He has taught me to work more effectively with members by just stopping by their house a few times a week just to say hello and see how they are doing. He has also taught me how to be a little more creative in my teaching and to focus more on the people we are teaching and not the lesson we are trying to teach. He is truly a great missionary. And with that, I am very excited to work with Elder Narciso. I have only seen and heard good things about him. He has such a big heart and really cares about the people that he is teaching. I am very excited to see what work the Lord has prepared for us, and the work we can accomplish in the upcoming months. 

That is pretty much it. Just staying busy and teaching the Gospel with other great people. That last transfer just flew bye. When you are having fun and loving what you do, the time flies. I am verrrry excited for next week's General Conference. I have reviewed most of the talks from last April in anticipation for this one. I am very excited to her the Lord speak to us through his chosen servants. 

Have a wonderful week! Be safe in Peru! I love all of you lots!

Sumasaiyo,

Elder Nielsen 

'Singing in the Rain'

We had another great week last week. First off, the Espiritu family was finally baptized last Saturday. It was a wonderful baptism and there were many members and nonmembers who attended. Three of our investigators were able to attend the baptismal service. The Espiritu family has changed so much over the last couple of months. They have completely changed their behaviors, habits, and life style in order to bring their lives in line to the will of God and His Gospel. We are happy that they were able to accomplish their first goal, which was entering into the waters of baptism. Their next goal is to be sealed in the temple as a family. Overall, it was a very successful and happy that I will always remember. 

The Aquino family also attended church on Sunday. They are a recently found less active/part-member family. The father and the mother are both members, but none of their four children has been baptized yet. At church, we introduced them to the members and helped them make friends in each of their classes. We talked to a member who said he would be willing to get Brother Aquino a job, because he has recently become unemployed. Our ward played a big part in fellow-shipping and welcoming the Aquino family. We are pretty confident that they will come again next week. 

It has rained quite a bit lately. It makes it a whole lot hard to play basketball when it rains because the court always get wet and slippery. That is right, there are no indoor courts in the Philippines. They have covered outside courts, but there are none close top our house. It is kind of a bummer. 

But we had a cool missionary experience that started in the rain. I will copy it from Elder Perkins email. And I think I might just forward his email to you. 

"Our area is luckily one of the areas in the mission that doesn't experience too serious of flooding. Or so we thought. This past Monday, after our P-Day was done and we were going home from proselyting, a sort of flash flood rose up in one of the lower parts of our area. We had to wade through it to get to the other side. Somewhere along the trek, Elder Nielsen and I felt it would be a good picture opportunity. But what started out with an idea to take your typical flooding picture turned into something much, much more.

After a couple of selfies, we took individual shots in the rain. Eventually for some reason, we decided to jump in the pictures. They turned out great on the waterproof camera so we snapped a couple of more. But then we decided we needed a companionship jumping picture. Nobody was outside at this point in the rainstorm, but hope shined through the storm when a lonely stranger trudged through the water. We approached him and you could tell he was a little shocked to see too 6' Americans jumping around in the water, and all the more when they came up to him and asked him in Tagalog to take pictures of them jumping. He snapped a few good ones.

We figured there was some purpose he was sent on that flooded road other than to take pictures of us so we explained to him although we were excited and happy to take pictures in rainstorms that we don't experience where we come from, the real reason we are happy is because we have a message about families (ie the Gospel). He invited us to come to his house.

Since that point in time, we have taught this former stranger, June, as well as his wife and child Karen a couple of times and they have huge potential. They said if two Americans can have fun in the rain sharing a message in Tagalog, there must be something special about what they are sharing. We are hoping for a baptism at the beginning of November. The other cool news there is they have a friend that now wants to listen to us as well!

God works in mysterious ways. With that said, I wouldn't recommend the 'jumping in the rain' proselyting approach all the time."

I am learning a lot from serving in this area. I have really seen how powerful and helpful the members are and can be in missionary work. They play such a crucial role in Lord's work. I solemnly believe the reason the Camarin 2nd Ward is doing so well and progressing is because of the help we are receiving from the members. The members really make the difference. 

But everything has been going swell. Elder Perkins is a great companion. We have a lot fun together. He might be transferring this next week.. But we will see what happens.. 

And I was not informed there were Peru trips being planned while I was gone?! What is all that about? First, there was the trip to Hawaii. I was left home. And now this? Who is the man in charge of all this trip planning? You are going to get lost without your tour guide ( ME).  But anyhow, that sounds like a lot of fun! Good Luck! 

This mission is great. It is a wonderful experience. Choose the Right! Love you all!

Nagmamahal,

Elder Nielsen

ps. Happpppppppy Birrrrrrrrthday Car Car! You are getting so old! But you are awesome Carly. SO sweet and nice. Keep watching over your two other sisters for me. And guessed what?! Next year you can start hunting! Watch out! You need to start practicing! Looove ya! :) 

Teaching zone conf

Mission tour

Ballerina or Air Jordan.. you decide. 

Espiritu Baptism

Email from his companion:

Subject: What a Wonderful World
To: 

*Name two different artists that sing a song with that title (one of the titles doesn't include What a)

"It was the best of times." -Name that author too for an extra point

Water. For being bawal for missionaries to swim in, water pretty much has summed up my time here in the Philippines. From sweating to rainstorms to baptisms, we as missionaries are pretty much always surrounded by water, so my email will mostly be focused on that element today.

Singing in the Rain- Our area is luckily one of the areas in the mission that doesn't experience too serious of flooding. Or so we thought. This past Monday, after our P-Day was done and we were going home from proselyting, a sort of flash flood rose up in one of the lower parts of our area. We had to wade through it to get to the other side. Somewhere along the trek, Elder Nielsen and I felt it would be a good picture opportunity. But what started out with an idea to take your typical flooding picture turned into something much, much more.

After a couple of selfies, we took individual shots in the rain. Eventually for some reason, we decided to jump in the pictures. They turned out great on the waterproof camera so we snapped a couple of more. But then we decided we needed a companionship jumping picture. Nobody was outside at this point in the rainstorm, but hope shined through the storm when a lonely stranger trudged through the water. We approached him and you could tell he was a little shocked to see too 6' Americans jumping around in the water, and all the more when they came up to him and asked him in Tagalog to take pictures of them jumping. He snapped a few good ones.

We figured there was some purpose he was sent on that flooded road other than to take pictures of us so we explained to him although we were excited and happy to take pictures in rainstorms that we don't experience where we come from, the real reason we are happy is because we have a message about families (ie the Gospel). He invited us to come to his house.

Since that point in time, we have taught this former stranger, June, as well as his wife and child Karen a couple of times and they have huge potential. They said if two Americans can have fun in the rain sharing a message in Tagalog, there must be something special about what they are sharing. We are hoping for a baptism at the beginning of November. The other cool news there is they have a friend that now wants to listen to us as well!

God works in mysterious ways. With that said, I wouldn't recommend the 'jumping in the rain' proselyting approach all the time.

--------------------------------------------

I love my companion and this area. Elder Nielsen is one of the great missionaries I have met and I am blessed to be with him in this area. 

Espiritu Baptism- It went through and turned out incredible. It was one of the best baptismal services I have attended since I have been here and was without a doubt the one with the highest attendance. All their neighbors and friends came from the ward and supported and their testimonies were great. They really are ready for missions and temples. Good news about the baptism- we had a number of investigators show up as well with members that we weren't expecting and it seemed like they really enjoyed the service. 

Missionary work is the best thing I could be doing in my life right now and I have never been happier.

Have a wonderful week!

Mission Tour 2K16

This week just flew by. It seems that so many things has happened. But like always, as I starting to write this letter nothing comes to mind.

First off. We had another great week last week. Yesterday after our stake conference, the Espritu family had their baptismal interviews. Not surprisingly, every member of the Espiritu family passed their interviews so their baptisms will be held this Saturday.They are very excited to be baptized and become members of The Church of Jesus of Christ of Latter-Day Saints. We feel that they have truly repented of their sins and are prepared to enter in to a sacred covenant with our Father in Heaven. Junior, Melva, and their son M-Bong are also working towards their baptism. Junior and Melva have not yet been married so last week we taught them the Law of Chasity and committed them to live the Law of Chasity and be married. They accepted our commitment, and are now working towards saving enough money to pay for the expenses of their marriage and filling out all the paperwork for their marriage. 

And also, I think I forgot to mention to all of you that we were going to have a mission tour. Elder Evan A. Schmutz of the Seventy visited our mission last week. And it was GREAT. I learned so many wonderful things. He arrived here on Tuesday and asked to meet with all of the senior couples in the office, President and Sister Bertin, and us. He was a very nice man. Very warm and friendly. WE had a big group meeting and he asked us a few questions and got to know us a little better. Then Elder Perkins and I had an interview with us. He asked us about the our mission and the missionaries in it, and what we thought about it,about the legacy of our mission, how we were handling our busy schedule, about the obedience of the missionaries serving in our missions, and about other new things that the Missionary Board has implemented into our mission. It was very nice interview, but I have to admit it was still a little bit intimidating. Then later that afternoon we had a Missionary Leadership Council and Elder Schmutz, his wife, President Bertin, and Sister Bertin all spoke to us. It was great. 

Then on Thursday we had our actual mission tour. They again all spoke to us. They talked a lot about obedience and how we need to be exactly obedient to qualify for spiritual power. And how every time we are not obedient it dulls our spiritual power. It was great. They are all very talented speakers, and I took down so many notes. My favorite part of the whole meeting were the experiences that Elder Schmiutz shared. One of the stories he shared was about how on time on his mission when he was training, he was teaching an investigator and they asked a question about the Book of Mormon and how do they actually know there are people living on the American continent and stuff.He said that morning he studied about how there is "other sheep that are not of the fold" in John 10. But he said he forgot where that verse was found. Then he said, he a vision type thing, and he said his scriptures appeared in front of him (his real ones were still on his lap)  and they opened to the that exact page where that verse was found. And he could see the verse clearly and he read that verse word for word. He said while this was happening he could still see his investigator sitting in front of him the whole time. 

Second story. He was talking about how when he was a lawyer he would wake up from 4-6 every morning and would study the scriptures. He said he many powerful experiences. He said because he was doing this he started to have many spiritual experiences. One night while he was sleeping he had a very real vision of Outer Darkness and what it was like. It was suuuper cool. He had a few more cool stories, but there is just not enough time to type them all. But overall, I learned lots of wonderful things. Great meetings.

Besides that, everything is going well. The are is great. There are many people to teach. 

I am very thankful for the opportunity that I have to serve with Elder Perkins. He is very passionate about missionary work. He works so hard and cares so much about the people he is teaching. I have learned so many things from him in such a short period of time. He truly is a wonderful example for me. 

This Gospel is great. I love studying it. Thanks for all the love and support. Have a great week!

Ginagugma taka

Elder Nielsen 

ps. Tell Addi that I have not yet received her package. 

Golden Members.

Zarina's binyag. 

We had another great week last week. Sister Zarina was baptized last Saturday. Her baptism was very successful. All of her young single adult friends were able to attend her baptismal service. Zarina has many friends in the ward, and she has also signed up to go to Baguio with all the other YSA in October. We know that she has truly repented and understands the covenant that she has made with our Heavenly Father.  However the highlight of her baptism was the fact that her mother was able to attend. Her mother's husband, who has passed away, is also a member of this Church. We have been teaching Zarina and mother for a while now, but her mother just never really progressed or went to church. However, her mother attended Zarina's baptism and also went to church the next day. After Zarina's baptism her mother whispered to us, with teary eyes, "Thank you." We feel this is the start and the little push that Zarina's mother needed. We really feel that she will start to progress, and we are hoping that the next baptism that she attends will be her own baptism. 

Last week, we started focusing a little more on part-member families, and we have already seen many little miracles happen in our area because of our new focus. One miracle we have experienced is that we were able to find a part-member family that Elder Perkins has been looking for the past few months. This family has member in their family that was supposed to be baptized a few months ago. He had attended church four times and was preparing for his baptism. Unfortunately, they moved to a new house, and the missionaries were never able to find their new house. Then yesterday, when we were in our area, Elder Perkins saw their family walking down the street and we were able to talk to them and find out the location of their new house. We set a return appointment with them on Wednesday. 

We also just recently discovered that their is a very active member in our area, that missionaries never visited. All the other missionaries have thought she lived in the Sister's area. Another member in our ward showed us her house because this Sister had a referral for us. After visiting for a while with this Sister, we learned that she has been a member for a very long time and that she also does a lot of Visiting Teaching. She literally does missionary work, she is the best! Her husband has passed away, so she just does visiting teaching, to stay busy. We struck gold on this one. We found the golden member. She knows pretty much all the members in our ward, less active and active. She was able to tell us where some less active families, that we had never visited, lived. At one of these less active's house, we met a family that has been less active for a few years and the missionaries have never visited their house. This family welcomed us in and we were able to meet them and teach them. In this family they have a 15 year old, 20 year old, 21 year old who still have not been baptized. Not all their children were home when we taught them, but at the end of our lesson, we were able to extend a baptismal date to one of their kids. We were invited to come back and teach them on Tuesday. 

I can not think of anything else. This area is great. We have seen so many miracles in this area. We are expecting 6 baptisms this month and 4 baptisms next month. 

And to answer Mom's questions from last week, we do not have house help anymore in our mission. It is not allowed. So we do all the cleaning and stuff. But we do have a member that does our laundry for us. So instead of taking 3 hours to do our laundry by hand, we pay someone to do it. They come to our house and pick it up, and then come drop it off again. It is great. It gives us more time to play basketball on P-days. And for cooking, we do not do that either. Our next door neighbors cook, and we just buy food from them. It is great. And it tastes a lot better than our cooking. 

Have a great week! I love you all. 

Nagmamahal,

Elder Nielsen