Goodbye President and Sister Reeder! :(

Hello po.

FIRST OFF...

HAPPY BIRTHDAY DAD!

and

HAPPY BIRTHDAY LOLA (Grandma)!

Too bad I can't be there to celebrate with you, but I know you guys will have a great time.

This week was incredible. First and foremost, Elder Maquimot and I have been doing great. We've pushed ourselves this week to find more investigators and less-active members in some of the farthest parts of our area. We found an investigator, brother Gyson, who was a former investigator in Daet, a neighboring city. Ever since he moved here to Labo, he said the missionaries never got the chance to teach him. So we showed up at his doorstep and he was more than welcoming. He's one of the most genuine people I've ever met and I can't wait to continue to teach him and help him come unto Christ. We also had our last interviews with President and Sister Reeder. They go home this week and the new mission president and his wife come in. It'll be very sad to see them go because I've learned so much from them, but I'm very excited to learn and hear from the new mission president and his wife. It's also rained here every day for the past week, but I've somehow managed to not get my feet wet this week. I'm truly adapting.

Other than that, something that I learned this week is how Christ's Atonement can be applied to missionary work. Imagine. Jesus Christ, the most perfect person to have ever walked on the face of the earth, was spit upon, rejected, and blasphemed. As perfect as his teaching was and the gospel that he shared, he was despised. As missionaries, people don't always accept us, especially when we're doing our best; when we're at our peak. But it's at those times that Christ is at our side. He knows what it's like. Elder Jeffery R. Holland noted in a talk regarding this that as difficult as missionary work is, in order to become the least bit consecrated or to know who Jesus Christ is, we have to go through these things as missionaries. It's hard. People say no and we don't know why. But I know that if we have Christlike love for those we teach, nothing else matters. I love being a missionary. I hope all of you have an awesome week and I'll talk to you again next week.

-Elder Bondoc

My last picture with President and Sister Reeder. :(

​We got the chance to teach a group of students the other day. That was a neat experience.