3/18/2019. O, bakit ba kailangan pang umalis...

Hey fam

This week was really good. We had our ZTM this week it went really well. We are progressing as a zone, we talked about how we can be focused and fearless as missionaries in the work. We set our goal for 42 baptisms in the month of April, and we all committed to do all we can to hit that goal. Our mission is still going for the 300 baptisms, 300 souls baptized into the true church of Jesus Christ. We talked about a quote given by Mike Ditka " You're either in the parade, or you watch the parade. That's life." As a zone we want to be "in the parade" as we hit these goals. I also applied to life, with everything I do. Sometimes I like to just sit on the side and watch the parade but as I have served on the mission I realize the importance to use the agency god gave us and do what it takes to be apart of the big thing or the goal. If we dont we may look back at our life and regret all the things we missed out on, wish we acted when we didnt. This life is a test and it is a one time thing so we should definitely do what we can to make the most out of it. Set goals and do what you can to hit them, if you dont hit them at least you learned. 

Anyways I love this zone, and the elders in it. We are going to do big things in SJN. Love you all. sorry no pics my usb thingy broke :(

WE THE NORTH 3/11/2019

Hey hope everyone is doing well, just got my trunky letter so ya know... 

Anyways this week was really fun. On Wednesday we had transfers, one of the sisters that was transferring with us wanted to go a different way because she thought it would be cheaper, but we ended up getting lost in Cubao and after a couple hours we made it to SM Tungko and then took a jeep to the chapel. It took forever, but I MADE IT! My new area is called Minuyan ward, it is a lot smaller than the wards in Malolos but the members are so nice. The area is up in the mountains which is cool it reminds me of Park City. Our house is on the top of a mountain over looking the whole zone and it is super pretty, also we have a member that lives downstairs and she cooks for us and is super awesome. The area is pretty big but nothing compared to my last area, there are tons of hills my legs got destroyed this week. We had MLC on Friday and it was really good. President Hughes was sick so he did not talk a lot but he called on missionaries randomly to give workshops and lead discussions. He also told us that we might be getting smart phones soon! We will test them out for the whole Philippines area, I am hoping that happens before I leave smartphones would help us soooooo much! Malolos went back to back (like Jordan '96-97) in leading the mission in baptisms! It was awesome but now it is SJN turn to be the best. The zone is pretty dope, it is all elders except for the STLs which is nice because for the last 6 months I have been in a zone with all sisters. We played basketball this morning and had a fun time, there is an elder that can dunk so now I have someone to throw oops to haha. Anyways I am excited for what this transfer has in store, its gonna be fun. Love you all hope you have a great week!  

3/4/2019 TRANSFERS NA

Hey everyone, sorry last week my email was not working so I was not able to email.

So this week is transfer week. At zone interviews president told me that I was going to stay in Malolos for a 5th transfer making it my longest area... also I would have been in Malolos for 10 months. Yesterday we got the calls and president gave me a curve ball. I am transferring to Minuyan ward in San Jose Del Monte North Zone!!!! I will be the zone leader in that zone. I am really excited and still kinda shocked that I am leaving Malolos again and for the last time. I am gonna miss it out here but I am looking forward to getting to know more members of the other wards and the other missionaries in SJN zone. Hopefully Malolos can deliver in March, we were expecting 30 baptisms for March and our mission is going for 300 once again, it was a good run and I had a lot of goods times in Malolos. 

We had 2 baptisms last week, they are two kids that I have been teaching since September and I finally saw them baptized it was awesome!! They even showed up the next day looking pogi as ever in their new ties. We were supposed to have another baptism this week but there was a death in the family so it was pushed back. We got to go to the funeral service held by the ward, it was really cool. I was reminded of the love the god has for each one of us to make a plan where we can come here to earth to learn and grow and then return to him after this life with the people we love and live with them for eternity. I know that plan is real, and death is just part of the plan. Of course this plan would never and could never happen if it were not for the Atonement of Jesus Christ. We may not comprehend how great his sacrifice was but as we do our best to use that sacrifice we can feel the peace and joy that it brings. Death is hard and sad, but if we do our part in this life it is not the end and we dont have to worry. I love this gospel, Gods plan is perfect.

also just a side note... 119 days na lang hahahahaha.

Love you all!!! Ill send all the pics next week

2/18/2019 Another Week on the Grind

Hey everyone sorry again for last week I was not able to write an email. This one will cover the last couple weeks. 

So last week was pretty wild we were super busy. We had exchanges with the APs on Wednesday down in Camarin area. It was super fun I went with Elder Pajarin, he was in the MTC with me. We pretty much found less actives all day but it was a good time, Pajarin is a stud I learned a lot from him. That night we had to drive all the way to Montalban (the south east border of the mission) to drop off the zone leaders from Montalban zone. We got there at 10:30... then we drove all the way up to Malolos (the exact opposite edge of the mission) and got there around 2 am. The next morning we had zone conference at 9 and one of the APs thought he knew where he was going but got lost so we were almost late and super tired. Zone conference was really good. We learned another process we can use in our life in order to get what we want in almost any situation, it was pretty cool. We talked about sacrifice vs investment and it is cool to see the mission as an investment for the rest of my life not necessarily a sacrifice. President Hughes is a great speaker sometime I wish I could record all of his workshops and listen to them after the mission haha. He talked about pressure and how the more pressure we go through the less we will feel it, and with that he randomly called out the zone leaders to give workshops.... we did not really know were supposed to give a workshop and only partially prepared. All the zone leaders silently panicked and we started looking through our notes... I gave my workshop about using the scriptures and it went well. It was only 10 minutes so it was not too bad, all the other zone leaders did a good job with the short notice we got. We all were pressured at that moment to give a good workshop in front off the whole zone and the APs and the president, but next time I am called to give a workshop the pressure probably wont be as bad. We learned that lesson quick haha.

This week was pretty much average other than MLC on Friday. MLC is usually a fun, relaxing meeting where the spirit is really strong and we get a really good lunch. This time President Hughes decided to pressure us a little more and did the same thing he did at  zone conference. I did not give a workshop but it was cool to hear the workshops that the missionaries gave on the spot. They did a great job. On Saturday I was sick all day. It was the first day in my entire mission where I felt sick. I dont know what it was but I threw up all day it was bad and the worst part is that our water pump broke LAST WEEK and its still not fixed so we have to carry our water up three flights of stairs in a bucket haha, and our cr still smells like throwup. Hopefully it will get fixed this week. 

Thats it kinda long but all goods haha. Love you all have a great week!!    

The man they call Elder Francisquete 2/4/2019

So first I just want everyone to know that my new companion is the most interesting man in the world. He is Elder Francisquete ( not a filipino name but he is from Davao). He is already 26 years old... he always lets me know that he was in 7th grade when I was 6 years old haha. He is a professional heavy metal rock singer, his band has toured all over the Philippines and in Malaysia already and he is on itunes and everything.... its pretty legit. He performed in the biggest arena in the Philippines and it sold out. He has changed a lot in his life, he was pretty sketchy back in the day so its cool how he can relate with almost any of our investigators that have WOW problems or anything like that. He is also like their same age so the investigators actually listen to him better, he is a great teacher. He is a great cook and I have not been hungry since he cam here. He is also was a ghost writer for Forbes... im not sure what that is but it seems pretty big. So he is really good at english and sounds totally american, also he knows a lot about Philippines sports because that is what he wrote about. Pretty much a legend, I am glad he my companion.

This week was pretty good, just the same everyday teaching and walking its the best! Our zone is doing really well. We were the top baptizing zone in the mission for January! Malolos has never been the top zone so it was a great accomplishment! I am lucky to be in a zone with great missionaries, they work really hard and you can see the success. We are gonna keep pushing to get the top again in March. Its a big week with 5 saturdays.... lots of baptisms. I am loving the mission and I love this country. What a time to be a missionary! 

Love you all! Ingat lagi

Pics

1. Our area

2. Francisquete's breakfast

3. We did not swim I promise    

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Elder Hunter Munk 

Pamarawan & Transfers 1/22/2019

This week is transfer week.... I am staying in Malolos 1st ward for another transfer. This will be my 2nd 6 month area. My new companion is Elder Fransiquette, he is like 25 I met him in my training he is awesome its gonna be fun. I am excited to stay and hopefully we can get some our investigators and families to church so they can be baptized. My companion Elder Bryan is going to Valenzuela. I am gonna miss him he was a great companion and we had lots of fun here. 

This week statred off great we did a service project out in Balayong. We picked tomatoes in a big field. It reminded me of a farm in Idaho and so for a second I pretended I was picking potatoes haha. It was a lot of fun and the man who owns the farm said that he would come to church... he didn't but at we are gonna go back and teach him some more. We had a lot of dinner appointments this week it was awesome. I love this ward because they know what Americans like to eat and that is what they feed us! It was a good week eating wise. Today we went to Pamarawan. It is an island in our area, I have never heard of any missionary ever going there before so we decided we would go. It was a boat ride down the river, and when you got there it looked pretty much like everywhere else in the Pinas. Cement buildings and lots of people. But the view was cool and you could see Manila bay and the big mountains in Bataan. We ate some crabs and prawns and rice and talked to some of the people there it was really fun. On our way back we went to a place they make salt at. It was really cool it was like rice fields but all of it was salt. It was a good experience, too bad there are no beaches in our mission, that was the closest thing we got.

The work is going well. It is pretty much the same thing every day, we are trying to get a couple families to come to church. There are lots more part members here in the ward we just are working on getting their less active family back to church. I am loving my mission and lucky to be here!! Its more fun in the Philippines!!!! 

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Elder Hunter Munk 

Binyag ni Iannah 1/15/2019

This week was a pretty good one. We had a baptism for Iannah on Tuesday night and it went great. We joked with the bishop that we should start having baptisms on Tuesday instead of Saturday because everyone was free, and no one was using the chapel. It was a really good one and her less active brother and mom came as well to support her. We have been teaching and visiting her since October so it was good to see her get baptized. The rest of the week was normal, we had exchanges with the Tabang elders, I went with one if the trainees and it was a really fun time. On Sunday we had a stake broadcast with elder Holland. It was nation wide so the entire country watched it live, pretty cool. He talked about the changes and why they were necessary. He also talked about timing, the things that have changed in the church have been talked about by the brethren for 40 years, but now they need to be put into place. All in the timing of the Lord. It was a really good experience, it was all english of course so they were a lot of people that were not paying attention a whole lot, but it did not get too loud. This week went pretty fast, next week is transfers so we will see what happens there. I am pretty sure I am staying here another transfer so I will be here for 6 months! making a total of 9 months in Malolos zone haha. Love you all, miss you all, have a great week!!! 

  

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Elder Hunter Munk