Crocs to Flip-Flops

So this week was incredibly fast. Tuesday was zone conference and it was the best. We all met at the mission home and it was just our zone so it was a really great time with President and Sister Koster :) They are the best and you can really tell that they love you as they do their own children. We also had MTC exchanges (which is new missionaries from the MTC for the day into our area and they work with us, and go back after work is done.) And we (Elder Cagnayo and I) were in charge of it! haha It was a really good experience and the new missionaries just had that special spirit that comes from the MTC :) This week also, we reflected on President Koster's words about having a "vision" for our area and ourselves and what we want them to become. This past week, me and Elder Cagnayo came up with a vision for our group and it is defiintly a good one, we were guided by the Spirit. We were blessed with the highest attendance in our group since I have been here! We had 30 people come to church, it was amazing!!:)  This week was good. The Lord lives.

So let me briefly explain the subject line. So I haven't mentioned this in any of my letters, but I'm sure that you have noticed that in my pictures I have been wearing crocs.. haha. So for the past month I have had ingrown toenails, and so I have been able to wear crocs as we watched them and cleaned them. So this week because they weren't getting better and weren't healing, we got to go to the hospital here in our mission, and we saw a doctor today, They said that they would have to do a "minor procedure"  on my feet in order for them to heal. So that's exactly what we did. We met with the specialist at 12 and at 3 I was wearing nice hospital clothes (the ones that dont have the backs on them) and flip flops as I was being rolled down the hall to the surgery room. I was then laid on this table with a blanket as they strapped a "safety belt" to the table so I couldnt "fall off". I'm not sure but it seemed pretty fishy to me ;) They loaded my toe up with a couple shots of anesthesia and they tried to operate but I could still feel it, so they just unloaded about 5 more shots and took something out. I'm not sure if I have a toenail still on my foot because I didn't want to watch as they did surgery. So that's my watered down story of my first operation in my whole life. It was great of course! I'll send pictures next week:)  The Lord lives, The book of Mormon is truly the word of God:)

-- 

Elder Cody Aguiar

Philippines Quezon City Mission

Divine Design

So ever since last conference I have constantly thought and pondered about Elder Rasband's talk about the Divine Design of God. And everyday it's gotten more and more real for me. There have been a lot of great things that have happened this week. One of them that topped it off for the week, happened last night with a recent convert here :) He has been stuggling lately with some things he struggled with before his baptism, and he started going back to his old life. This was really hard for me because I just have this special love for him and we are close. But as you can imagine, it was even harder for his mother to see him like this. I won't tell exactly what happened because I feel it's not really my story to tell, but yesterday I could see as he told me that a huge blessing, a huge miracle, happened to him. As we talked about it, about him and the Lord, it was a very tender moment, especially for him. I know this is kinda vague, but I know talaga that the Lord is SO mindful of each one of us. Even when we feel like we are alone (as I mistakenly felt last week) that's when God is closest to us. This Gospel is true. This Church, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints is true. There are a lot of things or people that say otherwise, but the Lord has blessed me with many moments I cannot forget or mistake for mere coincidence. If you follow all the commandments-both scriptual and latter day- the Lord has given us, there is no way we won't know these things personally for ourselves! :) 

I love the Lord. I love my God, my Father in Heaven. I love this Church, I love this missionary work and know it to be the most important work on this whole earth. I love my wonderful HUGE family the Lord has so lovingly given to me in this life. I know that without a doubt Jesus Christ, the Son of God, is at the head of this church because afterall, it is His.

Have a good week, remember to be loving, remember to see the many blessings you receive every day (One of my favorites, simple but powerful, Alma 26:2) and you will truly be humbled :)

 

-- 

Elder Cody Aguiar

Philippines Quezon City Mission

Eating corn, like Nacho Libre ;)

A member from my last area sent this to me. In the middle are two of our converts attending the temple.  How awesome!  Mark your calendars for Sept!  Temple dealings of course!

Busy busy busy

So this week honestly has been sooo stressful. We had transfers and I have a new companion just after 6 weeks of being here in this new area. So I'm still adjusting and trying to remember the investigators and members, but with faith and hard work I'm sure it will all work out!

I don't have that much time, but this week as I said, was so busy, and I honestly felt like I have just been kinda thrown out in this area and I have no idea what I'm doing, like I was forgotten. Then on Sunday, when we attended church at our group, as I was the one to bless and my companion to pass the sacrament, I just looked at each of the members. Because there isn't a lot of us, we as the missionaries know each and every one (well for the most part) of the sturggles they have. And how great is it that they could all attend sacrament meeting with their individual struggles and all go out of the meeting somehow stronger to meet the next weeks needs? How PERFECT is the Gospel of Christ. As I was sitting there, the Lord helped me to remember some very tender moments I have had in my life that I knew without a doubt that the Lord was there. He helped me to remember I wasn't forgotten. The feeling of the spirit was a special one on Sunday.

As we plead with the Lord each and every day and do what he wants, it will all turn out for the good :) That's His promise to us :)

-- 

Elder Cody Aguiar

Philippines Quezon City Mission

FHE

"family picture" anak ko sa gitna​

Part of my area

They took my camera haha!

Christmas
That big slab in the bottom right is 12 pounds of pig :) lechon style

1340!

So maybe I would like to start out to say Merry Christmas, Happy New Year and happy january 9, because we haven't any time to email that last couple weeks! Its just been super busy! :) 

Also, I would like to explain what that number is in the heading! No, it's not my social security card, its not my pin to my bank account... it was the number AS A MISSION OF THE SOULS AND STORIES WE WERE ABLE TO BRING UNTO CHRIST in the year of 2017!  SO GREAT ISN'T IT? I'm thankful I was able to be a part of people's lives in bringing them unto Christ through the sacred ordinace of baptism :)

For 2018 our goal for a mission is 1900 souls (1 stake) to be baptized through our hard work, obedience, fasting and prayer :)  I'M SO EXCITED AS WELL to say that President Koster (our amazing mission President) said that I COULD EXTEND MY MISSION UNTIL 2019!!! (6 extra months!!!!) Which I'm so thankful for to stay here and just be a missionary! (*ok that part about extending my mission was a JOKE please dont have a heart attack family, I love you! hahahaaha) But I do love it here and I'm so happy.

So today is transfers and I'm staying here in my area, but my companion is transfering to Angono which is really close to my first area Tayuman. So my new companion is Elder Cagnyon, which is finishing his 12 weeks and I will be his first senior companion here in the mission! So that will be fun. I really love this area and hope that only after 6 weeks I'll be able to remember where everything is exactly because it's a total maze here! hahaah. And I found out that our district is changing and me and my companion will be the only elders with 4 other sisters so you could say that it's pretty powerful here ;) 

Also I'm trying to learn Bisaya (which is another dialect in the southern philippines) because almost all of my companions, that is their native language, and most of the people in this area speak tagalog and bisaya! haha wish me luck! It's been pretty fun and they said I"m a fast learner so we will see how it goes!! haha 

Thats all for now! ill try to send pictures for all of you :) di ako makapag english haha nose bleed na ako dito!

Elder Cody Aguiar

Philippines Quezon City Mission

The Sanchez Family