Eades, Oakley P

Maligayang Pasko!!! Lately I've been thinking about the birth of Jesus Christ and the circumstance when he was born. I imagine the stable where he was born looks pretty similar to the houses I am surrounded by everyday. It is so incredibly humbling here. There are no big Christmas decorations, no Santa, no snow, no gifts, etc. All the things we generally think of as “Christmas” aren't really a thing here. When Jesus was born, there were no decorations, no music, no santa, etc. Because Christmas was never about decorations or music or Santa! It's about Christ! Because of Him we all have the opportunity to live with Heavenly Father again. That is the best gift we could ever have. I am so forever grateful for the birth of Jesus Christ and the opportunities we have because of Him. This Christmas has been so different and yet so special. This is probably the only Christmas that I get to focus solely on Jesus! Last night and today (Christmas Eve and Christmas day), we wrapped up ...

Merry almost Christmas!! It definitely doesn't feel like Christmas here because its 80 million degrees. Haha enjoy the snow for me!  This week our friend Micah accepted a baptismal date! She is 16 years old and has been on and off coming to church for basically her whole life. She attends seminary and goes to FSY. She wants to be baptized so bad but her parents won't give her permission. We just recently started teaching her again and this week we taught about baptism and extended a baptismal date. The spirit was SO STRONG and she was so excited to say yes. She even asked if she could be baptized before the end of December! Her faith is so strong and she is currently praying for the courage to talk to her mom for permission. She said that even if she doesn't get permission she wants to get baptized anyway because she trusts God that it will all work out.  I'm learning and growing so much every day and I'm so grateful to be a missionary. This week I have learned just...

Nanay Elen was baptized on Saturday!!  Problem is she showed up 1 hour late to church the next day so she was not confirmed… So like half baptized?  Welcome to the Philippines haha Filipino time kills me. Hopefully she will get confirmed next week. These past few weeks have been SO HARD. Mentally, physically, and spiritually so exhausting. But I also have never learned or grown more than I have these past few weeks. Last Sunday our sunday school lesson was in Ether 12 about weaknesses becoming strengths. That lesson was definitely for me. 26 And when I had said this, the Lord spake unto me, saying: Fools mock, but they shall mourn; and my grace is sufficient for the meek, that they shall take no advantage of your weakness; 27 And if men come unto me I will show unto them their weakness. I give unto men weakness that they may be humble; and my grace is sufficient for all men that humble themselves before me; for if they humble themselves before me, and have faith in me, then wi...

God is so good, lots of good experiences this week!  We were out knocking doors one night having no success. Almost everyone outside was drunk and all the doors we knocked on rejected us. We came to a dead end so we turned around to go back and we saw a small, dark alley to the side of us. At the same time, me and my companion stopped walking, looked at each other, and said “let's go there”. We walked through this tiny alley and knocked on the first door we saw. A woman opened the door and before I could even finish saying “Hi we're missionaries for the…” she immediately said “Pasok, pasok, pasok!” (come in, come in, come in!) She didn't even ask any questions and immediately got us chairs and told us to sit down. We shared a message to her and her family about the Book of Mormon and they were so interested! About 3 minutes after we had left, we looked back at her house and she was already reading the Book of Mormon!  A few days later on Sunday, her 14 year old son, Darel, ...

Haven't written an email in a sec because I really haven't had much to write about but… this week we put 2 of our friends on date for baptism!  This transfer I have really come to understand the importance of obedience!  When I first got to this area 4 weeks ago, my comp told me this was a “dead area.” Because it had been a long time since someone had been baptized, no one was on date for baptism, and no one was receptive. I don't believe there's such thing as a "dead area". Every area has people ready and prepared for the gospel, but I think God waits for his missionaries to work hard and be obedient before helping us find the elect. And I KNOW that obedience brings miracles! Me and my companion have been working on being exactly obedient this transfer. Its taken some work, especially to help my companion understand the importance of obedience. But after a long time of this being a “dead area”, we have 2 friends with a baptismal date and we are so excited for...

Had some megaaa culture shocks this week. Transfers were this week and I got transferred to Marikina as an STL! (So scared I do not feel qualified). My new companion is Sister To’ia from New Zealand. And my new area in Marikina is closer to the mountains so I finally get some fresh air and get to see some green!  Anywho, I thought my last apartment was small and gross but boy do I take that back now. My new apartment looks a little like this: -No AC -No shower (you use a bucket and a ladle) -Ant infestation. Literally millions of ants everywhere. On the walls, the counters, the floors, etc… If we leave food out for 2 seconds it instantly gets covered in ants. Or when I get out of the shower I have to shake my towel out first and tons of ants fall out. And they are always crawling on me and I can feel them biting me lol  -The garbage truck here hasn’t come in like 4 weeks so we just have piles of trash stacked outside our door  Lol I feel like I’m camping every day but it'...

Hi hi! Been a couple weeks since I've written an email but I LOVE IT HERE. Being a missionary is the greatest thing ever. Training has been so fun and my companion is like my best friend. We have worked so hard this transfer and seen so many miracles!  To start… ELEVEN friends came to church yesterday!! This whole transfer the work has been soooo slow, but we've been working so so hard, and we're finally seeing the miracles!  (see pictures) This is the mom of our bishop, Nanay Marina. All of her kids are members except for her. A few years ago she had a baptismal date, but the day before her baptism, the elders came over to visit her and they started playing with Nanay Marina's pet bird. This bird was Marina's pride and joy. It was like her best friend and it even talked! While the elders were playing with the bird they accidentally let it go and it flew away. Marina was so mad that she canceled her baptism the next day and has held a grudge ever since! So missionar...