Members going to the temple!

Dear family and friends!!

So week has been a way better week!!  It was super fun and kinda a little packed.  But that was worth it!! So first off, we have been getting some good progression in one of our investigators.  His name is Michael and he is on a bgd (baptismal goal date) for March 22th.  So that should be super exciting.  We are loving teaching him because he's super smart and actually understands some stuff that we teach, which is cool!  Then the next thing that happened is we had zone conference!!  Zone conference was super good!!  In our mission we are doing a great job baptizing.  For this year, our mission has already baptized about 200 people and we are just 2 months in.  So that's pretty flippin legit if ya ask me. hahaha  But one thing that the mission is struggling with is being more consistent in those baptisms.  So we talked a lot about a pipe line effect and how we need to be constantly baptized people every week in order to hit our goals.  So we talked a bit about the conversion process and how we get investigators to particpate in that and help them realize the holy ghost working in their life!  So that was super cool!! (:  Learned how to help them a little more!!

This is a less active member who is going to the temple soon.

Then also something big, we talked about how we measure our real growth as people, and seeing if we have changed and become more converted to the gospel.   But ya there was 7 questions and I was like woah... I am not the same person at all.  hahaha  It's so funny!  One of the questions was how you approach reading the scriptures and how you study them and if you try and apply them to life.  Just seeing a change there... President said that some of you probably were like "oh ya I finished 3 pages today.  That means I don't have to read till tomorrow!!!"   And as he said that I was like, oh freak if I read 3 pages I was like oh ya I'm done for a month!!!  So that's just different seeing how much that has changed and seeing how much I love the scriptures.  I finished all of Mosiah this week and I'm reading Ama chapter 10 right now.  So that was awesome!!!  There was some other questions also.  I wrote them all down but they were all so good.  I would have to say I am a lot more converted to the gospel for sure because I'm loving the mission so much! It's so fun and I can't wait to do some family stuff and be a more involved!!  When I get back , Quinn will be my home teaching partner and ima teach him how its really done. hahaha  So that was zone conference.  I got to see some other people from my batch again which was awesome!  Gotta love that!!

Zone Conference and fellow missionaries!

Then another thing that happened this week, I found out that one of my recent converts is getting sealed to his family, the one that was baptized back in December.  I thought he would have to be 1 year before he can get sealed to his family, but apparently just the parents have to have been 1 year in the gospel.  So that is so awesome!!!  They are going to the temple this Saturday!!  I, sadly, can't go, we're to far away ):  But that's so okay with me.  My recent convert is getting sealed with his family in the temple!!!!  And then another one of our less active returns is going to do baptisms for the dead.  It will be the first time she has been to the temple also in her life!!  So that is so awesome!!   I was so excited when I found that out!!  So that probably was the highlight of my week!!  His name by the way is Mark, and their family just hit a year and are super active in the church.  So they are getting sealed which is so amazing!!!  So keep them in your prayers because its so incredible!!! (:

Church was a good thing also I would say.  I learned some new stuff but only Michael, our investigator, came to church.  But that was okay.  We had a meeting with President Clark and the district president here, basically stake president, but were not a stake yet, so that was good!!  We discussed some good stuff about missionary work and that was great!!  Got some great new ideas and they are loving the work that is going on here in Guimba (his zone) and Munoz (where he lives).

 

She is the child of the branch mission leader.  Holy cute! 

He said this is what Jessie (his sister) looks like when she wakes up.  His words...not mine!

So today for p day we went to the college again and played some basketball.  That was awesome.  I still am not good... but hey it was fun!  The college kids can actually play a little so they gave us a challenge and that was awesome.  Got some great exercise in but now I'm just dead tired.  But that was basically today!! It's been a good week.  Remember that the church is true and the gospel is true!!  I love you guys!!!

Elder Hedman

 

No picture week....sad mom

So dear family!!

This week has been a super crazy week!!!!  So I'll start off with the good stuff!  We have done a lot of finding this week and we managed to find 11 new investigators which was so amazing.  We are getting them to commit to baptism so that was a great thing!!  A new man that we found, his wife is a member, and he is just so nice and so willing.  He also came to church even though we just found him this week!!  His name is Brother Sansano. He has great potential and he works as a night guard at a hospital.  So his family is very important to him and he loves the idea of being able to be with his family forever!!  So keep him in your prayers!!  That would be so awesome!!  Also we taught some great lessons this week.  So nothing to new, just new finding and other fun stuff!!  This week though is zone conference so I'll let you guys know how that goes!!

So my valentines day was kinda lame.  I just ya know worked as a missionary but that was awesome!!  Haha Some members gave us some cadburry chocolate so that was super delicious and nice of them!!  But the best was I had a date with my pillow that night.  I slept so great so that was awesome.   Other then that not to much!!

No pictures, so this is one I found of a beach in the Philippines.

So this week there has been a lot of problems in the zone just as for the work wise and contention in companionship's.  So I was on the phone with the ap's (Assistants to the President) a bit and talking with president a lot about stuff.  I have been seeing and just hearing from other missionaries, so that was good we had to do some stuff to fix that.  Included there, we went on exchanges and I was with Elder S.  He is from St George.  He is a super nice guy and has a great desire to do be obedient exactly and just give his best!  So that was super fun.  I had to help him a bit because his companion doesn't wanna be obedient.  So I talked to him a little bit about stuff I saw and some things that might possibly help.  So that was good!!  We will have to keep an eye there.  But the zone did have 5 baptisms this last week.  So that was awesome.  Our branch had one and it was from the sisters, so we attended that!  Sorry I didn't take like any pictures this week so I'll send you some next week!!  (Sad mom here!)

Our companionship is doing good.  There;s small things here and there that bug me.  He just doesn't wanna lead like at all.  So I'm trying to adjust to that.  So that's hard.  But I emailed our president to see what would help. So I"ll let you know more about that next week!

I miss ya guys!!  Crazy to think that I'm like 7 and a half months away from being home.  That's so weird.  I still feel like I'm brand new out here.  So that's the crazy thing!  It was great getting emails from Sydney.  She is so funny.  I can't wait and go to baptisms at the temple with her when I get back!  It will be so fun!  Love you guys!! Also, we are supposed to apparently, according to Sydney, go on the cruise and Disney World and the Caribbean.  And not come back to the Philippines.  I think that would be cool!! (: a full family cruise I'm so down!! (: hahaha   Love you guys!! (;   A new car when I get home also just sounds awesome!   :p Remember the church is true and so is the Book of Mormon.  I'm reading it again.  I'm in Mosiah 17.  I'll give ya a week to week update to let ya know how much i read!!(;

Love Elder Hedman!! (:

MLC Meeting

So dear Family and Friends!!

So this week has been a good week!! So first off I'll talk about our MLC meeting!  It was really good.  It was fun spending the day in the mission presidents home.  There are actually 6 people from my batch that are now zone leaders and 1 Sister training leader.  So that was awesome!!  We took some pictures so I'll send some home to you guys.  The zone is going okay.  We have had a lot of baptisms lately.  So what is going on now, is we are just doing a lot of finding right now.  So that was good.  We averaged as a zone 5 new investigators this week per companionship.  So that was really good!  We are having I think 5 baptisms in the zone next week.  But as for us as a companion ship, I think our next baptism will be in March.  I might not be here for that.

At our meeting, nothing really much changed.  We have to be more careful for who we are teaching and what is the purpose of our teaching them.  We are focusing a ton on preach my gospel which is perfect  because that has all the answers that we need here as a missionary.  So we are going to be focusing a lot of our finding and on finding more families to teach because that is what we really need right now as a mission.  We need to be having a bigger focus on finding more families and bringing them into the gospel.  So that is what me and my companion have been trying to do.  We are trying to find some good families.  So far we haven't found a family yet, but we are finding a lot of people who have been prepared to hear the gospel so that's really good!  So we just keep praying that we may be able to find a family that is prepared to hear the gospel and hear the message that it brings.

Sounds like a lot of stuff is changing in the ward back home.  Make sure you keep me updated there.  That would be cool to see what would happen because it has been like that for a long time if not forever!!  Haha So nothing else really happened this week.  We have exchanges with the other missionaries this next week so that should be interesting.  If you have like any specific questions, just let me know.  Remember the work is true and I love you guys!!  It's a great time to be a missionary and happy valentines day this week!!

Elder Hedman!

New companion and another baptism!

Well, it's been a good week family and friends.  First off, I can't believe it's super bowl Sunday.  Let me know who wins this next week.  I can't believe this is the last one I have to miss so.  That's awesome!! Haha But sounds like everything is going good back home!  Sorry I don't have a lot of time to email today but I'll let you know the things that happened this week.

First off,  I'll let you know that tomorrow is our MLC meeting with the president again.  So that will be really fun.  I'm excited for that.  So I'll let you know what happens with that next week in my email.  I'm sure some things will be changing here in the mission so that should be interesting. 

So this week was a crazy good week!!  It was transfer week and seeing how I "killed" my companion in the mission and I didn't have a companion, I had a feeling that I'm as going to be getting a new companion!!  So my new companion his name is Elder Magallanes.  He is Filipino but the weird thing is, he really isn't from here.  This is the first time that he has been to the Philippines.  He was actually born in Australia and raised there.  So he is actually English speaking and only here did he learn how to speak Tagalog!  So we are both foreigners I guess you could say.  So that's the new companion!!  He's a really nice guy and he's good.  He's obedient too which is great of course!  So that's my new companion.  I'm sure you will hear more about him as the emails come the following weeks!

So this week we did have another baptism which was really great!!  We finished off the family that got baptized last week.  It was good that she also got baptized.  But I was kinda sad that they all didn't get baptized together.  But hey what's important is she got baptized right.  So that was so awesome!!  I have had 12 baptisms now in this branch so that's so awesome!  And also this week we found a new person who is a referral from a member who accepted a BGD (baptism goal date) for March 22.  I don't know if I'll still be here, but hey that's awesome!!  I'm hoping the family will also want to listen.  The parents said its okay for the child to be baptized but they are catholic.  So I'm hoping as we teach her, they will open up because I  want to baptize more families.  So that's fun!!!  We are also doing a lot of finding considering we don't have very many investigators.  The ones that we do have aren't progressing very well.  So it's a lot of knocking on doors.  Or I guess since they aren't doors just screaming tao po.... so that's fun!!  Hey as long as we keep working hard, we will find some great prepared souls.  I just have a feeling it will work!!

So thats basically this week in a nutshell.  Not to much has happened, but its been good!  I'm excited for the upcoming week with the meeting with president.  So that should be really fun.  I'll let you know how that goes. Hope all is going well with you guys!!  I love you all and keep up the great work! And thanks mom and dad for the more pictures i love it.  That's how it should be each week.. :p hahaha Love you all!!

Elder Hedman

4 Baptisms This Week!

So ya 15 months now!! So crazy how fast the time has been going by!  I still don't feel that old here in the mission/  So that's going pretty crazy.  I'm actually like one of the oldest now.  A big batch just went home so that's crazy!!  All my older friends just went home, so I don't have any older friends really now!  Just a couple!  I have been getting some of your written letters.  Sorry I never say anything about it.  I don't have much time to write letters.  Super busy, but I'll try and get some started!  Sounds like the family is going really good.  That's awesome.  I love hearing about the family.  I miss them!!  Can't believe Quinn is actually growing up... that's weird!!  And Sydney is also! I'm excited to come back and spend some great time with you guys!!!

So as for here in the mission!!  My companion just went home! It's my first "kill" in the mission, so that's pretty awesome!!  It was great and he was a great guy!!  It's sad to see him leave!!  As for right now, the transfers don't happen until Thursday, so my companion is actually my companion from the MTC.  His companion also went home, so we are together.  He's freakin' awesome still.  So it's super fun.  We just laugh and talk about stuff from the mtc and have fun and teach hard!!  So that is really sweet!!  I've been loving that!!  So until Thursday, he will be my companion!!  I do know that I will be training a new companion as a zone leader.  So I'll train a new zone leader.  I think he's actually older then me in the mission so that will be fun!!  President just told me a little about it in our interview... so that was good!!!

The interviews went well with president.  It was fun.  He didn't have too many questions.  It's just different because it used to just be questions about me and my work and how i was doing.  This time it was all stuff about the zone and companionship's and what I've been noticing here in the zone.  So that was cool!!! A lot different!!  But it was good.  We also gave our workshop which was great.  We actually chose to do it about being accountable and accountability, which was really sweet.   I've learned so much stuff while I've been out here on the mission, so its crazy!!  I know I'll keep that principle forever now that I realize how important it is!  So that was basically all that happened this week for the interviews!!

So as for the baptism!!!  We actually only had 4!  It's kinda a funny story!  4 is still amazing of course.  But we got there and one of the people that was supposed to get baptized was at a party and lost track of time so she showed up late to the baptism after everything was over.  So 4 of them got baptized and we just moved the baptism up until this upcoming Saturday!!  So we will have another baptism this Saturday.  That's pretty sweet!!  So over all, I've had like 12 baptisms in 3 months and that is so awesome!!!  We are getting great work done here!!  Now we just have to do all this finding because like nothing good now is happening in our finding.  So that's fun!! hahaha  So I'm working on that!  Maybe it's just a trial of patience.  But I know as we continue to be obedient and work hard, we will find souls that the Lord has prepared for us to harvest.  So that is good!! (:

I'd love to hear how about things happening with cousins also and stuff in the ward with members and other stuff.   How is the old ward doing?  I miss the members there!!  But its crazy to think that I'm so far out in the mission!!  Thanks again for everything that you guys do!!  I love you guys and its a great time to be in the service of our savior!!  Remember he is the only way to salvation so we might as well turn our lives to him to be changed to become better!!  I love you all!!

Remember the atonement is real and it will be there every step of the way! (:

Elder Hedman

Truly converted

So this week was a pretty uneventful week also!! Sorry, it might not be to long.  This next week will be kinda eventful.  It's the last week of my companion and then he goes home.  We also have interviews with president tomorrow.  I'm excited but we have to give an hour workshop, so that sucks.  More studying and planning... wohoo!!! hahaha (: 

The zone tshirt!

So first off, dad sent me a picture of Quinn playing basketball.  What the heck, he's not a midget anymore!  That's kinda crazy.  Everyone is looking so different.  I don't even recognize people in pictures anymore.... so whatever. (:   That's cool you got to eat Filipino food.  That's all I'm eating when I get back.  I'm not eating anything else, besides subway I guess. (: haha

So this week was a pretty good week.  We actually didn't have a baptism.  But the sisters in our branch did so we went and got pictures.  But this week we have 5 baptisms!  So that's pretty sweet!  I'm looking forward to that!!  I'll make sure and let you know how that goes!!  It's kinda cool because it's my companions last week and we have 5 baptisms.  That is going to be his record for a week.  That's 7 this month.  That's like amazing.  We have had amazing work here so that's going awesome!!  But we just can't seem to find new people.  Maybe when my new companion comes, the Lord will have prepared so many people for us.  So I'm looking forward to that!!  So this week, I've been working just on my Book of Mormon reading and just about the atonement still.  I'm still learning a lot.  I love listening to talks still.  I just learn and learn more and more so that's pretty fun!!!

I've learned to see why the lord loves children so much!!  So this week we were teaching a recent convert with her family and it was so cool!  We were just like messing around before the lesson and she went to grab something.  Her older sister grabbed like her journal thing and read to us what her new years resolution was.  She is 12 years old by the way and named Jasmine.  All her resolutions were about being more involved in the church, going to all the activities she can, reading the Book of Mormon every day and talking notes, and making her prayers better.  I was like woah- that is so awesome!!!!  I was just so impressed!!  It kinda made me feel like crap because when I was 12, I'm pretty sure my resolutions were like drink more soda, play more video games, and probably like learn how to talk to a girl.  So I was so impressed!!  It's so cool seeing the gospel work miracles in the lives of people.  I can't believe how much it has changed me and helped me through everything.  I don't feel like the same person.  I just feel better always and never worry about myself and just want to help others.  It's kinda a really cool feeling!! 

So I've just had some great testimony builders while I've been our here that's for sure!!  Every day I feel like I'm getting more and more converted to the gospel of Jesus Christ!!!  So that was basically my week!!   Sorry I don't really know what to say.  I always forget stuff that happens during the week!!! 

Just remember I love you guys!!  This week marks my 15 month mark out here in the Philippines.  Crazy stuff!!  But I'm loving it!!

I love you guys!!!

Elder Hedman