Elder Head in the Philippines - Busy week but busy is good :) #10daysleft

This week was a really good week. It's been busy, but busy is good sometimes.
I've been running double duties this week, taking calls both about mission-related items as well as taking calls on financial problems. So I'm the Substitute Financial Secretary, as I've so dubbed myself until Tuesday when they get back. We miss Elder and Sister McNett dearly and cannot wait for their return. :)

This past week we held a meeting with this new batch of missionaries and their trainers to help them to better to share ideas with each other; what works well, what doesn't. We do this to help the trainers get more ideas on how to help their trainees and it helps the trainees to see their batch and maybe see that "this is hard for them too, maybe I'm not doing so bad." Of course, it's not a competition, but I know when I was in my training, I thought that everyone else in my batch was doing great except for me. So this just helps them to see that it's okay if your adjustment isn't perfect, theirs probably is not either.

During that meeting, we did an activity in our workshop based on Ecclesiastes chapter 4 verses 9-10:
"Two are better than one; because they have a good reward for their labour.
 For if they fall, the one will lift up his fellow: but woe to him that is alone when he falleth; for he hath not another to help him up."

So we did trust falls for each companionship and it was so fun. They all did great and no one fell except for one companionship, but the Sister caught her companion and then they both fell together. They were both okay and escaped the workshop unscathed.

We spoke on trusting your companion enough to let them fall, helping them up, and helping them improve. There's no such thing as a perfect companionship, there are always problems or improvements to be made and we can be the tool to help our companion to grow and progress.

The meeting went really well, at least we think it did. It normally does. Anywho, that took up the majority of the week.

Man, it's been so weird this past week. I've been seeing missionaries because of meetings and they all are just like "Oh man, Elder Head, you're going home. I won't see you again."

There's nothing wrong with it. Frankly, I'm getting excited too.  Taking Elder Foote to the airport this week was sure a trip though, my batch mate is leaving for home but I'm not. Yikes.

Love you!

-Elder Head

Elder Head in the Philippines - Bohol Island visits....Racing towards the finish line :) #25daysleft

Momma,

This week has been so cool!!! I've seen so many miracles this week as well as tender mercies as we were in Bohol. I'm glad that I've been keeping my journal again recently (only recently, unfortunately. I'm an idiot. Please Momma, counsel other people preparing for their missions to KEEP UP WITH THEIR JOURNAL. I wish I would've been better. Just like Ryan and Dad.) I've gotten some little, tiny souvenirs but I'm trying to think what else I should get. I already have a magnet from both of the major islands of my mission, I already have some t-shirts, I'll try to find some other cool things that are found in the Philippines that would be much appreciated.

We made it around almost the whole island. It was one of the more tiring things I've done. My legs are super sore and I dunno why, we just sat in a car the whole week for crying out loud. Haha. We started out in Tubigon, then Calape, then Loon, then Tagbilaran, then Dauis, then Valencia, then Jagna, then Pilar, then Ubay, then Talibon, and we ended back up in Tubigon to ship out back to Cebu earlier this morning.

One of the many tender mercies was that we found a package sent for one of the missionaries in Pilar which was lost off the face of the earth for months when we went to go clean up the truck of Elder and Sister Bell. Another was after looking in probably 15 different pharmacies in Tagbilaran City for this prescription during a medical emergency with absolutely no luck. Right before we were about to call it quits, the Spirit led us to this one last pharmacy which was an absolute hole in the wall of a place to get the medication for a sick missionary. The whole trip was loaded with tender mercies. It was so cool. The Lord really does give us specialized tender mercies for our needs and our growth.

Also, the past two weeks we've had two baptisms in our area. I'll get the pictures and send them to you as soon as I can.

I love being a missionary.

-Elder Mitchell Jeffrey Head

P.S. Man, Mom, I had the craziest dream last night. I dreamed about hugging you and Dad at the airport. It was such a happy dream. I am excited to see you all. It'll be so great.

Pop!
I hope your trip was fun and spiritual. Dad, the older I've gotten, the more I've realized that I have your goofy sense of humor. We just don't think before we say things sometimes and it's gotten me in trouble this week. Not in real trouble. But I've just made some REALLY dumb jokes and I laugh at myself because I'm hilarious. Anywho. I love ya and I hope that you are safe and had a fun time! Show those boys how to be men. Also, help them realize their spirituality. That's what'll help them most in preparation for the dark and dreary world.

I'm so busy and I'm so tired, Pop. My body aches and we didn't do many things that were too physical this week. It's so weird.

Love ya Pops!

Editor note:  Short update from July 22nd! 😁

Hey,
Do you remember last week when I apologized for not being more detailed in my emails to you? Well, due to the circumstances this week I don't have a whole lot of time to email you. This is the reason why I'm emailing you now. Haha.. Sorry! But just know that I'm doing well and I won't be able to email tomorrow. But write something anyways, maybe. Lately we're just taking care of Zone Interviews and will be traveling to Bohol this week for the last time for me probably.

Mom, I hope you and Dad get assigned here on your mission. You'll love it. ;)

I'll be taking out a little more cash for souvenirs this week probably. Just so you know.

Love you!

Elder Mitchell Head

Racing around Bohol Island this past week!

Mitch has always LOVED getting shots...#wimp  Poor Sis Maughan :)

Elder Head in the Philippines - Reflection & personal revelations #39days :)

MOM! and Dad (No you're not just an after thought, Mom just wrote me this week and I haven't got yours yet)

Holy cow sending home that batch of missionaries was SO WEIRD. I've been with them for so long and worked closely with a few of them but THEY'RE GONE. Now everyone is joking with me that "I'm next". Agay. This week was full of revelations for me. First, I don't think law is for me. I think that I'll study accounting and maybe some math. I could then use that for a few different things. I've always wanted to be a teacher, so maybe a math/accounting teacher, or I could simply become an accountant. I think I've got the nerdy glasses for that, I'll be perfect. Haha. Second, I've learned that you absolutely CANNOT run faster than you have strength. We are all human and have our limits, if we over-exert ourselves now, there will surely be repercussions later. Please check my english, I'm not positive that that's the right word. Third, you can't please everybody. Plain and simple. It's impossible for us in this fallen world to appease to every request and make everyone happy. But like the words of President Tanner "If you're right with the Lord, you're right." You can't be afraid to step on a few toes when you're standing up for what's right.

It's really hit me quite hard lately that we're really here on the earth to gain experience. If we live in the world with having only the "now" in sight, we will get what we want. If we live in the world now, but have the "tomorrow" mindset, everything will work for our good. "..all things work together for good to them that love God.." Romans 8:28. I'm sorry Mom that I haven't really been sharing with you and Dad and Ryan my mission. I've just been doing it and saying "I'm good" which is really mean. I've learned so much and am changing so much. I wasn't really compassionate, but I'm working on it. But please know that I'm all good. There that's better. A whole three words. good job Elder Head. Haha.

I feel really blessed, and really grateful for the experiences I've had/am having. The Lord is so good. He truly loves us and cares a lot more about our growth than our comfort. That's why there are hard things in life sometimes. That's why living the gospel isn't always easy. Choosing to follow the Savior is sometimes hard, but as we do so we will become more like Him and take His yoke upon us and we will fell of the lightness of that load, because he's right there with us carrying it too.

I really do love the Lord. I'm so grateful that I've come to know Him. "If any man will do his will, he shall know of the doctrine, whether it be of God, whether I speak of myself." John 7:17 I know that this is the Lord's work because I've found greater joy in doing this work than I've found in any other aspect of my life. This is the Lord's work. This is the Lord's church. This is the best work in the world and I'm grateful to be a part of it.

I love you Mom. I really am so blessed to have you and Dad and Ryan. I hope you have a great week. :)
Love,
-Elder Mitchell Jeffrey Head

Elder Head in the Philippines - An incredibly cool week with incredible people :)

Mom,

This week was so cool! We got to go around the mission with President and Sister Maughan. This past week there were 4 welcome meetings for the missionaries to meet them and they were all similar, but had lots of differences. It was really cool to watch where the Spirit took the meeting. But President and Sister Maughan are incredible people.

Lunch must've been so much fun! Elder Foote and I had a laugh about that. Haha. That's so weird that I have short time now. This past transfer has gone by so fast.

Love you Momma!

-Elder Head

Pop,
I heard that mom got really weepy when she watched it... ;) Just kidding. But I'm sorry that I'm a lousy picture taker. I don't know where it came from.

No serious injuries? I can't really see your pictures that you sent.

That's so weird that Chris will be home. When is his homecoming? What's his topic? He said he doesn't know yet..

Love ya Pop!

Elder Head in the Philippines - Welcome President & Sister Maughan :)

President & Sister Maughan arrived this week and we've been able to get some fun updates from their awesome daughter Kristin.....it has been the highlight of our week....especially a short video clip of Elder Head instructing Sis Maughan as she navigated the streets of Cebu!! #drivinginCebu #notforthefainthearted :)  Didn't see his face but got hear his voice!! #priceless #missionpresidents&wivesareawesome #thanksKristin

Mom!

It was really busy this last week. I feel so exhausted. Saying goodbye to President and Sister Tanner was really, really hard. But, at the same time meeting President and Sister Maughan was so exciting! I've been so blessed. It's been so amazing to be able to get to know President and Sister Tanner. They've helped me out in so many ways. I've learned so much from them both. Even though we've only just met the Maughans, I know that I'll have much to learn from them as well. It was definitely meant to be this way for me. I'm supposed to learn experience from both of my Mission Presidents.

Mom, you would love Sister Maughan. She's very similar to you. She's really funny and sweet and has such a solid testimony of the gospel. She reminds me of you. For that matter, so did Sister Tanner. You all have similarities, but are all so different. Very motherly. I guess that's just one of the commonalities of truly living the gospel. It molds you into something divine, but in your own unique form of good. Heavenly Father's plan is so awesomely perfect. Once we learn these things for ourselves, we are changed. It takes a whole lot of courage to change, to learn and act, but it's ultimately worth it in the end.

Love ya Momma!

-Elder Mitchell Head

Jeff opened his letter to Mitch this week with, "It's getting closer. July 1. Wow and the summer is going to go so fast." Haha!

Pops, you can't say that. That's not okay. ;) I'll be back for the next one! So no worries. Don't lose any eye balls or anything during the family 4th party, ha? That's an excellent idea to study the scriptures even more. The Lord's promise is really true that if you treasure up the words of Christ, the Holy Ghost will give you exactly what's needed in the very moment. So keep it up Pops, I will too. ;) Haha. Love ya!
-Elder Mitchell Jeffrey Head

Elder Baladad, Elder Head, Pres Tanner, Sis Tanner, Sis Maughan and President Maughan

Elder Head in the Philippines - Farewell to President & Sister Tanner

This week has been so good. There was a meeting in Bohol as a last farewell of President and Sister Tanner to the missionaries and each zone did a musical presentation. The highlight of the whole activity was when all the missionaries on the island of Bohol sang for President and Sister Tanner a medley of 'As Sisters in Zion' and 'We'll Bring the World His Truth'. It was so powerful. The spirit in the meeting was absolutely palpable. It wasn't done by the greatest of singers, but it was sang with all of their hearts and it sounded absolutely perfect.

Later in the week we had another meeting for the missionaries on the island of Cebu. In our zone, Liloan Zone, we redid the lyrics of a song to match the occasion. The message of the song was one of gratitude for President and Sister Tanner's devoted service for the past 3 years and our gratitude for them. It was really emotional.

I've been so blessed to have been able to work with them so closely and have them to have been such a big part of my life. I've learned so many lessons from President and Sister Tanner. This week, saying goodbye to them will be so hard. I'm not looking forward to saying goodbye.

We're excited for President and Sister Maughn to come. We're nervous because we don't know what to expect, but we know they were also called of God and will have much to teach us as well. I'm excited for the opportunity to meet them this coming week.

-Elder Mitchell Head

Elder Head in the Philippines - Transfer week ;)

Dad.

I'm sorry that I'm just now emailing you but my Preparation days will once again be moved to Saturday. So...I'll be staying until August 24th. The reason for this is because the Lord has called me to be President Tanner's assistant. The mission needs me to stay for that last week because I've gotten a taste of just how hectic it truly is and I don't think that the Lord would want me to leave early with transfers and all the things we'll be working on that week. Thanks for understanding. With regards to my homecoming talk, we'll have to move it to August 28th, if that's okay. Tell Kate congratulations and I'm excited to talk to her for a week before she goes in. Haha.

Ryan and Madi look so happy which makes me really happy too. :) I'm excited to meet everyone in person but that's still a little ways away. Tell them I say congratulations as well. I don't think I'll actually have a really solid set day to email because this next month will be really busy with President Tanner going out and President Maughan coming in.

Yesterday at the LTO I had a really cool experience. So the LTO is like the DMV, but it takes approximately 3 times the amount of time. So my companion, Elder Baladad, went in to get his license and it turned into a whole day affair. We got there at about 8:30 in the morning and didn't end up going home until 5 pm. For the most of my time there I was sitting in a large room on metal chairs with a tiny electric fan blowing on our heads. There was a television in the room which wasn't too hard to avoid with my companion sitting next to me. For the first few hours we just sat and talked to each other and the other people sitting next to us. After those first few hours, Elder Baladad had to go and take the driving test which ended up taking another 2-1/2 hours. That's when things started to get tempting. They were playing movies on the TV that I had never seen before which sounded REALLY cool. I caught myself a couple times staring at it. But I knew that I shouldn't and tried really hard not too look.

After a while, I started to think, "Well, why not?" So I decided to read in the white handbook why the heck it wasn't allowed. In the white handbook under most of the headings, they have assorted scriptures to help broaden your understanding about the rules. James 4:4 was really cool, which said basically that you can't be a friend of the world and also expect to be friends with God.

I then started to feel bad, as we should when we do something we know to be wrong. I prayed and asked for forgiveness and strength to not watch it anymore. As I prayed, I felt prompted to talk to the old tatay next to me who just sat down. So I did and it turns out he knew missionaries from last year. The old tatay then asked me where my companion was. I told him that Elder Baladad was in the next room taking the test. The tatay then proceeded to stand up and walk directly into the room that said "No entry" which was restricted for the workers only. He came back a few seconds later and told me, "My grandson is the one giving our the test. I talked with him and he agreed to let you sit in with your companion in the testing room." So minutes later, to the surprise of my companion, we were sitting next to each other in the nice, quiet, aircon-ed room with no television.

Man, it was so cool. Father really listened to my prayer. He helped me to be obedient. I feel like he will do that for us in a lot of other aspects as well. We just need to ask, seek, and knock. Ask for help, seek a way, and act on that way.

Love ya so much,

Elder Mitchell Jeffrey Head

Last week we received some pics. Good times in the 'Pines :)