Alma 34:33 :)

Hello Everyone! 

So this week wasn't too bad :) I love serving in the Philippines! Since missionary work is still pretty new here, and especially in Laoag, all of the members from every ward and every stake are SUPER engaged in missionary work. It makes this work SO much more enjoyable when you're able to work alongside the members. And as a missionary, it's ALWAYS amazing to hear their different testimonies of the truthfulness of the gospel. They all have very different backgrounds and very different stories, but in EVERY testimony it leads them to come to a sure testimony of the Restoration of the Lord's church. I LOVE IT :)

We were able to work really well with AC Ligot's father this week, Antero. I love their family!!! He took his tricycle and just said, "I'm not doing anything, want to go work?"  He sacrificed so much time with his family to be able to help hasten the work for his fellow brothers and sisters here in Laoag. What an amazing example of being a disciple of Jesus Christ! Plus it helps out A LOT because he's able to speak Ilocano and Elder Risenmay and I still have NO idea what that language even is, so the people who we teach are able to finally understand what's coming out of our mouths from our Tagapagsalin (translator) and it makes the lessons a lot more enjoyable and spiritual. This work is amazing! :)

As for John Neil and Allen, their baptismal dates are getting pushed back until after the transfer. Although I really don't think I'll be transferred yet, I'm still praying that I won't be because I really, really, really want to see them receive the joy of being baptized and becoming a member of Christ's church. But we've been able to teach a lot of other people as well. We met and taught an older farmer out in Barit this past week who is the coolest person you would meet. He makes fun of us because we can't speak Ilocano so he just says speak English! It's weird, the people who know Ilocano only know Ilocano and English. So it makes me question why we learned Tagalog in the first place haha. We're meeting a lot of amazing people though! A lot of them have been prepared through the examples of the members of the church and have helped them develop faith in the Lord JUST from their examples alone. How amazing is that??? :) 

We've been able to teach a lot of less-actives as well. Harvey Refada has continually been coming to church and you can see the difference from the first time he came back, when he was scared and timid and nervous, to this week where he couldn't stop smiling. It's the BEST to go to church on Sundays and see the people you teach being there and receiving the spirit :) And it's the best when you see people who were so distant from the gospel before and seeing the changes that they make in their lives through the atonement :)

The reason why I put Alma 34:33 as the heading this week is because I've reached a point where I no longer think about anything other than this work. Alma 34:33 says: And now, as I said unto you before, as ye have had so many witnesses, therefore, I beseech of you that ye do not procrastinate the day of your repentance until the end; for after this day of life, which is given us to prepare for eternity, behold, if we do not improve our time while in this life, then cometh the night of darkness wherein there can be no labor performed.

I've developed a lot of comfort while doing this work. But one of the advices that I'll never forget is from President Barrientos when we first arrived. He said "If you are in the comfort zone, then you are not letting the atonement work in your life." After reading this verse and remembering the advice from my mission president, I realized that the purpose of this missionary work (and life in general) is to CONSTANTLY improve, to get better, not to be idle and ALWAYS work. We're given this amazing opportunity to "prepare for eternity" through how we spend the time that we have been given on Earth. We're able to constantly improve and get better through Christ and His atonement and following the guidance of the prophets and the scriptures and through many, many, many other tools and blessings that Heavenly Father gave us to truly improve and get better so that we CAN prepare for eternity.

I love you all and I'll keep you all in my prayers as always :) I hope you enjoy this email!

Ay'etente ka! 

(I love you in Ilocano)

Elder Oslund

Hello from Laoag

Hello sa inyo lahat!

Just another week of being a missionary here in the Philippines :)

This week was pretty good! Nothing really too new to update on Allen Rae and the Cleto family. They're all doing great and have been progressing through reading and prayer. I'm so excited for them! The best part of being a missionary is when you see people change and come closer to the Lord through the Book of Mormon and prayer to our Heavenly Father. There's no greater feeling than to see the blessings that come to them because of their diligence in keeping the commandments :)

This week was a really really good one for Laoag 3! We reached the new area's high for the last 6-8 months or so by teaching 31 lessons. When I first came in they were only teaching 19-22 consistently now we're able to get up to the 30's consistently. Miracles have definitely been happening :) We seriously can't do it without the help of the ward here though! It's not only just the Elders and Sisters that are pushing missionary work but it's the ENTIRE ward that is pushing missionary work which is making our work a lot more fun when you get to ALWAYS work with the members. It's been teaching me just how key members are in this work and that we really do need the help from EVERYONE to reach the full potential that our Heavenly Father wants us to reach.

My favorite day this week was for sure on Friday night when we were able to go on splits with Bishop Sergucio and our second councelor AC Ligot. Our bishopric here are the best! I've learned so much from them on how to become a better missionary but not only that, how to develop a stronger relationship with our Father in Heaven. Anyways, I went with Bishop Sergucio to our far area in Barit and that was an adventure in itself. I wasn't able to communicate, at all, because the people that we taught ONLY knew how to speak Ilocano, which leads me to thinking that I need to not only learn Tagalog, but learn Ilocano at the same time. The two dialects are COMPLETELY different but it'll be fun to try and learn both. My mission call states that I'll be speaking Tagalog so that will of course be my main focus but there's a lot of other people who just don't know how to speak Tagalog so I'll be teaching myself Ilocano along with Tagalog :)

 There's soooooo many things that happened through out the week that I can't really put into words in an email but things that I'll never forget. The Philippines is something new EVERY day. I love it :)

There's a typhoon down by Manila that brought like 5 minutes of rain to Laoag this past week but there's a lot of missionaries in Laoag who have family down there so pray for them please :)

We just got done with a quad zone activity at Morcos Stadium today which was probably the most fun I've had in a long time. It wasn't much, it was playing rugby, football and basketball. But the best part was just being with all of the Elders and Sisters! They're the best! Learning Rugby from Australians and Eldrs from New Zealand and Fiji was pretty fun! We have a lot of different cultures in our mission. About 50% are from the Philippines, 25% are from the states and the other 25% are from Islands like New Zealand, Kirabati, Fiji and Austrialia. It's fun being able to be with all of them :)

The biggest learning that I had this week was to learn how to truly be thankful for the blessings which have already happened. Of course we all want more blessings and to progress, but when you take the time to really see the blessings that have ALREADY been given to you is when you REALLY start to see and UNDERSTAND how the Lord has helped you in your life. My evening prayer last night lasted me until about midnight because I was trying to give thanks for everything that I have been given in my life. For me, when I did that, it became so clear to me just how much our Heavenly Father loves us and how much he wants to help us in EVERYTHING that we do. And he will, if we ask for it :)

I love you all so much and hope you all have a great week!!! I'll talk to you all soon :)

Mahal Kita

Elder Oslund

Kamusta! (How are you?)

Hello again everyone!

This week was such a powerful and such a great growing experience! I LOVE BEING A MISSIONARY!

Let's start off with the people that we have been concentrating on...

So we've been teaching John Neil and Cornell through out the week and we're wayyy too excited for them! After one of our lessons while we were walking back from Barit (Our farthest point of the area) Elder Risenmay told me the first time he taught Cornell with his trainer was a bad day for Cornell. Come to find out Cornell hadn't just been inactive for a little bit but has been inactive for over 20 YEARS. The first lesson that they taught him he had a hangover and was completely out of it. They only went back once after that, and my first couple of days here was his 3rd lesson. But my first Sunday was his first Sunday back. Now, he's fully active and IS GOING TO BAPTIZE HIS CHILDREN. HOW AMAZING IS THAT?!! That is NOTHING short of a miracle!!! It's so evident how the atonement has played a role in his life for the last 8 weeks. I'm so excited for them!!

There's some things that happened to Allen Rae this week. His parents don't completely approve of him being baptized. They want him to make sure he knows EVERYTHING in the church before he is baptized. And his mom's advice is really good she said, "If he gets baptized I don't want him to fall away from the church right after but I want him to be a faithful member." That made us really happy but she said that he needs to wait until after 15 years old. That really really hurt me because you can see and feel that he is ready.He's done EVERYTHING he needs to do to be baptized and has already read 3/4 of the Book of Mormon. But when we started the lesson you could see how scared he was of making the covenants of baptism. The look of fear in his eyes reminded me a lot like myself when I was 14 years old talking to the missionaries about my own baptism. I was scared to death. I didn't know if I was ready. But when I shared with him my sacred and personal experience of baptism I truly feel like I felt "the pure love of Christ" for him. I felt as if I was the missionaries teaching myself when I was 14 years old. So often times when I study for Allen I ask "What did I need, and what did I need to feel for me to be baptized" I love that guy so much!!!! The spirit was the strongest I think i ever felt in that lesson and I don't think I EVER loved someone as much as I loved him at that point in time. I truly looked at him and saw him as a child of our Heavenly Father who NEEDED this to return to His presence again. And...HE WENT TO CHURCH :) he liked church so much that he went to the area broadcast after but left early because an investigator going to an area broadcast is probably very very confusing haha. I love that family so much!!!

When you learn to put aside all other thoughts and worries back home, and what's going to happen after this mission, and truly become a fully consecrated missionary is when you feel the purest joy and the most love for the people who you serve for and with. I don't think I have ever developed such amazing relationships with other people in my life and ESPECIALLY developing a relationship with the Savior.

I LOVE THIS WORK SO MUCH!!! I LOVE THE PHILIPPINES!!!!

I'm seriously too blessed to be here speaking this language and helping others be able to return to our Heavenly Father. THIS IS THE LORD'S WORK!!!

The love you're able to feel for other people is incomprehensible, you really really really want them to experience the fullest amount of joy in their lives...and take it from me...there's NOTHING that brings greater joy than the gospel :)

Miracles are happening in the Philippines and I'm SO excited and blessed to be apart of it! The work is just the beginning in the Philippines!!! :)

Well that's it for me here this week! I love you all and hope you all are finding joy in your lives as well!!!! :)

Mahal kita,

Elder Oslund

Ano ang Pinakadakilang Biyaya sa Inyong Buhay? (What is the greatest blessing in your life?)

Hello everyone! Happy 2015!

"What is the greatest blessing in your life?" 

If any of you are wondering we made it through New Years just fine! I was so surprised at how much they celebrated the New Years here. We had to go into our apartments at 5 PM and it's a good thing that we did. From 5 PM -3 AM there was nothing but fireworks coming at every direction you can imagine. Just imagine a 10 hour grand finale haha. It sounds cool until you try to go to bed at 10:30. But they sure do celebrate the New Years pretty well here! They flood the streets all day, and it was impossible trying to get any lessons on New Years Eve because everyone just wanted to feed us haha. It was amazing for sure!

This week was pretty amazing. Allen Rae is awesome. He shared his testimony about how when he was younger he read a lot of different Bibles and he said that they were all different, every single church had a different set of scriptures and when the missionaries came over and gave him a Book of Mormon he felt more of a direction in his life. He's been reading from The Book of Mormon and praying everyday and you can literally see the change in him from lesson to lesson. I love that kid! He's still having some trouble coming to church though which is very disappointing because once you have that testimony you NEED to act on it and show your faith by keeping the commandments. He's awesome though, I'm so grateful to be able to teach him!

The Cleto family is doing amazing as well. Cornelio is becoming such a strong example to his family's life about living the gospel and how the gospel blesses families. I've seen first hand how much difference there is in a family who is founded on the gospel and a family who isn't. It's like night and day for them! They just seem happier, closer, and have received so many blessings as far as work, school, and family matters. Our Heavenly Father loves His children here so much! It's amazing to see the changes in people's lives everyday.

We taught a lot of less-active members through out this past week to try and get them on a good start to 2015. We often asked "What is the greatest blessing in your life?" That question set the pace for the rest of the lesson. A lot of them said work (it's extremely hard to find jobs in the Philippines), school, family, friends, and some said church. 

Whatever the reason was I told them the greatest blessings in my own life. I had to think about it, but it wasn't that hard to come up with the answer to that question. There's no doubt that the greatest blessings in my life has been the love of the Savior for me, personally, and my family. I never realized just how much I loved my family until I came out on my mission. They're seriously the greatest!

It was so great to see most of the less-actives that we taught start off the new year strong and come to church on the first week.You can see how nervous they were to come back but you can see how they were able feel the Savior's love for them, personally as well.

On top of those blessings that I named I just want to share a few more. I am extremely grateful for The Book of Mormon, I never realized until about a month ago just how much power that book contains. I've been able to see it change my own life and I have been able to witness it's power in other people's lives as well.

I'm grateful for my decision to be baptized and later my decision to go on a mission. Both of those didn't come at an easy price. I promised to make commitments and to follow those commitments for the rest of my life, in turn, a lot of sacrifices and a lot of hardships and trials have happened. But all of them were eventually overcome by the Savior's atonement. I LOVE BEING ON MY MISSION. It's been by far the best decision I've made. But each day is a different trial and a different opportunity to grow and get better.

And I AM SO GRATEFUL TO BE HERE IN THE PHILIPPINES!!! I don't know where else I would rather serve. I love the people here so much, the members are the best and I've been able to learn and grow so much from them. I really can't tell you how much I love them. 

It's been weird being here though. Since I've been talking almost always in Tagalog whenever i speak English I say the English words with an accent. I hear a lot of Elders and Sisters from the states that have been here for 15 months+ and they all have accents. I never would have thought that I would develop that but looks like I already am! 

Well guys I love you all! I hope everyone has a great week this week and starts out the 2015 year strong! I'm so grateful to be doing this work here for this entire year!!! :)

Mahal kita!

Elder Oslund
 

Happy New Year!

Hey guys!

Sorry for the day late email. We had transfers on Monday this week and P-Day on Tuesday so the departing missionaries could be at home before the New Years.

Anyway this week was pretty awesome but very difficult too! It was amazing to be able to skype home on Christmas Eve here and be able to talk with everyone! This Christmas was awesome too! Laoag 3rd Ward is the best and have the best members. We're pretty spoiled here! But aside from all of that this Christmas was a very special one for me. I was able to feel the Lord's love on such a sacred day more than ever before. Of course it was hard to be away from family but I just felt like this is where I needed to be on that day which was a very very special feeling. I felt His love in my life and in return I was able to share that Love with the people we were able to associate ourselves with that day! It was pretty great!

Some pretty amazing things have been happening to some of the people we've been teaching. Some of my favorite people that I've been able to meet have been these investigators/ less active members and it's been a blessing to be able to teach them!

So the first one his name is Allen. He's 14 years old and his missionary lessons remind me A LOT about what my missionary experience was when I was receiving the lessons as well. It's been hard for him to come to church because his dad is away on business in Manilla and he has two baby sisters so he tries to take care of them with his mom while trying to get everything in order for school. On Thursday night I was able to go on splits with our second counselor. When we taught him he had A BUNCH of questions about Old Testament doctrine which I'm familiar with but some things that I didn't really understand fully myself. And trying to communicate those stories in Tagalog made it even harder. I had to rely on the spirit to tell me what to say. After he said, "Elder Oslund, after this lesson tonight I feel like the church is true." After I had to tell him that he needs to pray and read because that's the only way he'll know it's true. So he's been praying and reading every night and is going to make some sacrifices to come to church! It's been amazing to see the transformation he's gone through since I've been here!

The next one is a 12 year old named John. When I first came out his Dad, Cornelio, was in active and hadn't been to church in a year or so. After we taught him on a Saturday morning on my first week here he's been to church every week since. At first he had forgotten pretty much everything what the missionaries had taught him before so we had to start from the start. After we taught the Restoration he wanted his son and daughter to take the lessons as well. Their Mom is very Catholic and has a hard time trying to understand the purpose behind missionary work and the church. But since then Cornelio has been able to understand and remember the lessons, he's teaching his family about the gospel, and his son will be baptized along with his daughter who is turning 8 at the end of the month! Elder Risenmay and I were so excited because this is a MAJOR first step in inviting the gospel into their family. I love it when we're able to see just how much the gospel of Jesus Christ has blessed families. Especially in the Philippines. I feel like the only thing that will save the Philippines are homes based off of gospel principles of Jesus Christ. It just goes to show how important this work is here and in EVERY part of the world!!! :)

We've been trying to stress how the ONLY way people can find out if this church is true and that the Book of  Mormon is true is by. 1. Reading it. 2. Praying about it. It's very hard for people to actually DO these things. The ONLY way for them to know if it's true are by those two things. There isn't one thing that any missionary can say to convince them that it's true but they need to find out for themselves by demonstrating faith and acting on that faith by reading and prayer. Heavenly Father doesn't require much. All He requires is for us to seek Him and to ask Him if it's true. "If you will ask of me you shall receive; if you knock it shall be opened unto you."

I'm learning more and more how amazing the Atonement is in our lives. In these past three months alone I've grown so much because I've been able to use the Atonement in just about everything that I do on day to day basis. I can't even begin to describe some of the spiritual experiences I've had with prayer and being strengthened because of Christ's Atonement. It especially helped when we had a hard day just walking and no one wanting to hear our message. I read from 1 Nephi 11:25 and realized that it happened to the best example of missionary work that ever lived, and it was way way way harder for Him as well. So I prayed to be strengthened and right after I no longer felt those burdens but was able to go on with the work and have a great day after.

I love this work! It's the hardest thing I've ever done but there's nothing that I'd rather be doing, nor is there another thing that I SHOULD be doing except for this work. I love you guys and I hope you can feel strengthened from my prayers as well :) Love you!! Talk to you next week!

Elder Oslund

 

MALIGAYANG PASKO (Merry Christmas!)

Hey guys!! Maligayang Pasko!!!

This week has been an amazing week. Everyone here is pretty busy with Christmas coming up and things are getting pretty crazy in Laoag haha. They like to celebrate Christmas here in a very loud manner. There's parades all night and day, then home made fireworks all day and night. They just really love Christmas here, even though it doesn't really feel like it (to me at least) haha. It gets so rowdy on Christmas Eve that we need to be in our apartments at 5 o'clock and stay there for the rest of the night because they just flood the streets with parades and fireworks. Right now, all the little kids are out caroling which is pretty awesome except here in the Philippines, when people carol they carol for money so it gets pretty annoying at times haha. But we end up giving them candy or a pamphlet which still makes them happy :)

The language is getting SOOO much better. We went on splits on Saturday with a member and the ENTIRE 4 hours I was with him I was able to converse and lead all the lessons in Tagalog. After that I kind of thought to myself, "Did I just really do that??" There's no way I could have been able to do that after only learning the language for 3 months without A LOT of praying and A LOT of patience, and A LOT of studying. Heavenly Father DOES answer your prayers!!! This entire mission has been evidence that he hears our prayers and WANTS to answer them! 

We had a mission wide Christmas Conference this week and we were able to see our friends in the MTC which was awesome. But the big news was that our mission's "Standard of Excellence" went up A LOT. This past year our goal was to baptize 1,000 people in our mission, which we accomplished. This year our goal is to now baptize and confirm 2 people per companionship, per week. With a goal of 50 lessons per week from each companionship. So needless to say we will be VERY VERY busy this upcoming year. The thing that helps me realize is that the goals that we receive are inspired by the Lord through the mission president and area authority. When the mission received the goal of 1,000 people they thought it was impossible too, but they accomplished it. Right now we have the tools to reach those goals but we're just prayerfully asking for guidance as to HOW to use the tools that we have so we can be able to accomplish it. So a lot of this week has been coordinating with the ward mission leader, the bishop and stake president with ideas to have the goal be accomplished.

The best part of Christmas Conference was that we had an "Amazing Race" styled competition between all the zones in our mission. It actually felt exactly like the amazing race too haha. We ran ALL over Laoag and we were able to see things in Laoag that was amazing. The Philippines and Ilocos Norte is pretty amazing!! :)

Laoag 3rd ward is the greatest! Seriously! We're trying our best to have members help us out in missionary work and they have really been helping out a lot. We're spoiled being missionaries in the Philippines and especially in Laoag! They're the greatest people and I'm so grateful to serve them! We have basketball tournaments every Monday morning now between members and the Elders in our ward and Laoag 2nd ward. I feel bad because they LOVE basketball here and it's hands down the most popular sport and they're really good at it too, but they're just so short that we're able to get all of the rebounds and get really easy points on them. Our team has three 6'3" Elders, one 6'0" and one 6'5". Their tallest player is 5'8" haha. So it's kind of funny at times. 

After the healing with Sister Rhea's little girl they've really started to grow in the gospel. They now see the importance of having a worthy Melchezidek Priesthood holder in their house and Raymond is now trying is hardest to receive the blessings of the priesthood again. Miracles are happening!! :)

I was able to baptize an 8 year old little girl named Faith this past week. It was awesome! She's the coolest little kid and her mom is so sweet and nice to us missionaries. Her Dad is working abroad right now and hasn't been back in a while. It was so awesome to be able to be apart of such an amazing ordinance :)

I have so many funny stories to share to my family this week when I get to call home. I'm seriously way too excited to share them! It seems like everyday is a new adventure here in the Philippines haha.

But before I end this weeks email I just want to wish everyone a MERRY CHRISTMAS again!!! My favorite quote to hear right now is from President Monson he says "To catch the real meaning of the spirit of Christmas, we need only drop the last syllable and it becomes the spirit of Christ." It's not the easiest thing being away from family on Christmas. It is very very difficult to do this work. But the thing that continues to influence me to KEEP going and keep pushing and keep trying harder is the love I have for our Savior. He loved us so much that he came, lived and died for us to be happy. He called me to labor in the Philippines for two years to be able to spread the message of His life and His Atonement so that OTHER families and OTHER sons and daughters of our Father in Heaven can be happy. I am so grateful for our Savior. I KNOW THAT HE LIVES. I see the miracles he extends to His Sons and Daughters EVERY SINGLE DAY. My invitation to you all is to remember Him and what He has done for you this season. I am eternally grateful for Him and for His life. I am so grateful to be able to keep working here for this next two years because of the love He has given me in my own life. 

I love you all and hope everyone has a very MALIGAYANG PASKO :)))

Mahal Kita!

Elder Oslund

Great Week to be a Missionary in the Philippines!

Hey Everyone!

This week was very very tough but it was so worth it in the end.

First off, Filipinos know how to celebrate birthdays haha. On Tuesday every single lesson we had pretty much turned into a dinner appointment to celebrate my 20th. Then when the ward found out that it was my birthday they said they should have announced it in sacrament because they throw big parties for the missionaries on their birthdays. Oh well, seyoung (That's a shame). But it was still hands down one of the most memorable days I've had. The entire day was just amazing. We tried pig intestines, dragon fruit, the president and his wife dropped us off cake and pizza. Elder Risenmay and I were spoiled the entire day haha

In the evening we had FHE with the Guillermo family where we ate...more, and had a really really fun time with them. The Guillermo family was the first family I met on my mission so it was really fun to celebrate with them. 

But the most memorable gift that day was when Elder Risenmay and I received a call from a part member, less active family before the FHE started. They said they needed us over as soon as possible. So we rushed over there soon after we ended our last teaching appointment for the night and they invited us in. Their younger daughter had a really awful fever for the last 2 weeks and they couldn't afford to take her to the doctor. When we went inside her room she was crying and screaming and just miserable. I felt horrible for the parents and for her of course. They said they needed us to give a priesthood blessing to her. So I was asked to give the blessing. When I put my hands on her head I felt how hot her head was and I was almost in tears with her, I couldn't imagine what she must have felt like going through that for two weeks. I gave the blessing as the spirit directed me and told her "to be healed". When we left their house she wasn't crying, she wasn't sweating as much but she still had the fever.

The next day we walked by their house to go to an appointment in the morning. We saw her Dad outside in their bakery and asked how she was doing. And I'll never forget his reaction, he was so full of joy and said, "She's all right now Elders!" with the biggest grin on his face. That made my birthday the most special birthday just to witness the power of the priesthood on your mission for the benefit of someone else. It was the best feeling I ever felt because I was just overjoyed for her well being. It was incredible.

The rest of the week wasn't as spiritually uplifting as that, in fact, it was probably the hardest week of my life. Every single person that we had planned to teach dropped us and we had no where to go and no one to teach. But the moment when we stopped and prayed for someone to find to teach, we knew exactly which way to go and within the next 10 minutes we were in a lesson teaching someone about the gospel. 

We were able to watch the Christmas Devotional this week and it really got me into the spirit of Christmas finally. Here in the Philippines, there's no lights, no Christmas trees, hardly any decorations, but it is still the most celebrated holiday. They start celebrating Christmas in September so it's been Christmas here for a while now haha.

But in that Devotional I realized just how much Christ gave for US. "For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life." (John 3:16) Christmas means so much more when you're in the service of others and helping others out. The message that we share as missionaries in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is about how families can be together forever, the importance of sharing, and serving one another. I'm so blessed to be apart of HIS work during this holiday season in the best country in the world :) 

I love you all and hope you all have a great week!!

Mahal kita!

Elder Oslund

Elder Oslund with his mission president and wife, Julius and Lourdes Barrientos

 

Elder Oslund with Elder Risenmay from Kentucky and President and Sister Barrientos outside the Mission Office in Laoag

Having fun with some members

Making new friends

Getting ready for Christmas

The Christmas spirit is  in the Philippines

A taste of home

At a meal with members

Some of the members in Laoag

More cow friends

Some rice fields in Laoag