Congrats On The Call James!

Friends and Family!

It's been a great week here in Inabanga with Elder Meliang. But first of all congrats again James on the mission call! Puerto Rico is one lucky place and the San Juan mission and mission president are very very lucky to be getting you. You are going to be great missionary and will love it. The people will love you and you will influence and bless the lives of many. Congratulations. It was also so fun to see everyone! I miss and love you all!

Well just to update you all on this last week. Michael had his interview but his baptism is going to be pushed back a little bit becasue of some things which is sad but it shouldn't be a problem. He should be baptized just not as soon as we were hoping. He was the only one that came to church yesterday which was disappointing. We are going to get them to come this week though. You can count on it. Roel told us last week that he is moving to Cebu for work this week which was sad but he said we give him as a referral to the missionaries assigned there. He also said he wants to visit the temple and take a temple tour which will be awesome if he does it.

I'm sorry I'm really low on time again this week. I don't know what happened. I just want to share some experiences I've had really quickly. Yesterday I prayed that I might be able to understand a little more of the Atonement and that I might feel it in my life. Since then I've had 3 or 4 experiences and times where I've been able to understand a little more fully what the Savior went through and i've been able to feel His power in my life. It's been amazing and I'm so grateful for those experiences Heavenly Father has blessed me with. I wish I had more time to go into more detail about the experiences I've had but all I can say is that I testify that Christ suffered and took upon him all of our sins and mistakes and imperfections so that we could be made completely clean and inherit eternal life. I would encourage all of you to read Believing Christ especially the last section "Lord, how is it done". I testify as a representative of Jesus Christ that He lives and loves us. That He has an infinite ability to save us from sin, heartache, and affliction. He "descended below them all" so that He could lift us up. I love Him and am grateful for the love and the mercy and power He has shown me. I love you all and pray that you might feel His grace and mercy in your lives. Have a great week!

Love, Elder Fox

New Comp In Inabanga!

Family and Friends!!

It's been an exciting and crazy week this last week! Transfer calls came and I'm staying in Inabanga! Elder McQuiston moved to Panglao and is actually comps with Elder Larson who is from Olympus! I'm training a new missionary so I got to go to Cebu and pick him up which was fun to be up there in Cebu. My anak's (son's) name is Elder Meliang. he is from Mindanao so he speaks Cebuano which is awesome! He also has worked with the missionaries for 5 months before coming which is great because it takes some of the load off me. He has been a member for 1 year 7 months and he is the only member in his family. He's a great anak. He struggles with English so I'm trying to help him with that while he tries to help me learn Cebuano. I should be here in Inabanga for two transfers with him which means I will hit my year mark here in Bohol and that means that I hold the record for being assigned on Bohol the longest. Haha we all say that I've been assigned to the Bohol mission. I love it here though. It's the best. Anyway so that's the update on transfers. 

To give an update on investigators. Michael continues to progress and hasn't had any slip ups with his drinking for a few weeks now. His interview will hopefully be on Saturday which is really exciting. He's a great kid. He's the only one of our investigators that is coming to church right now. We have a lot of great people we are teaching but they just don't come to church. Let's see Juvi and Anabel are awesome. Juvi was baptized but Anabel hasn't been. They need to get married so that's their main concern and also Anabel tends to kind of run away or not be there when we come to their house. it's really frustrating. The times we have taught her she's great and really nice but the problem is just being able to teach her and get her to come to church. Juvi is trying so hard to get her to listen and join him but she is being difficult. Juvi is an awesome guy and is so patient with her. I love them both so much and they have awesome kids as well. 

Roel is another investigator who has committed to be baptized on July 19 but hasn't come to church. He is 31 years old and isn't married yet but he is a really nice guy and has a good heart. His concern is just coming to church which is most people's concerns. This area is awesome though. We have a lot of investigators and we are finding more and more every week. It's an awesome area to be assigned. 

I asked President Tanner what I could do to become a better missionary and he said to work on and get better at recognizing and having the Spirit with me in all that I do everyday. He said how that would help not only on the mission and in church callings but in all things such as school, career, and relationships with others. I really liked that advice and it's something I'm going to really work on and get better at. I would encourage all of you to learn to recognize the Spirit and follow it in all that you do every day. Especially James as you are preparing for your mission. I love the Holy Ghost and am so grateful for it. Without it there would be no point in being out here and I would be totally lost. What an amazing gift Heavenly Father has given us. I love Heavenly Father and the Savior and the Holy Ghost. I am so grateful for all They do for me each day. They lift me up and enable me to continue on and to become better. I love Them and testify of Them and Their purpose, that is to bring us home. What an amazing time we live in. I love and pray for you all! Have a great week!!

Love, 

Elder Fox

Elder Fox, his anak (son) and Elder Murdock

God Loved Us, So He Sent His Son

Family and Friends!!

I feel like email time keeps getting shorter and shorter every week! I only have 15 minutes again to write. I'm so sorry but I'll try to get it out. First of all happy father's day to Dad and to all dads everywhere! I love you so much Dad! Transfer calls are tomorrow so I'll find out if I'm moving or not and who my new comp will be. I really wish I could go another one with Elder McQuiston. He is awesome and we get along really well. I had the chance to go on splits with Elder Cornwall (one of the zone leaders) the other day and it was awesome. He is going home this week which is crazy. He's been here for a long time and it was really fun to learn from him. He is a really good missionary and teacher. He taught me a lot about how to teach to the needs of the people and how to ask good questions and mold the lessons around them. It was really fun to watch him and learn from him. I've been working on getting better at that stuff and it's made the work even more fun than it was. It's fun to teach people and not just teach lessons. Anyway I'm really grateful I could work with him. I don't have much more time left but wanted to share my feelings about the Savior since we can't testify of Him enough and I had a neat experience last night as i was getting ready for bed. I was listening to God so Loved Us so He Sent His Son and the Spirit was so powerful as I listened to the lyrics.

Oh, love effulgent, love divine!

What debt of gratitude is mine,

That in his off'ring I have part

And hold a place within his heart

Those words are my words. His love filled my soul and I was overwhelmed with gratitude. What debt of gratitude is mine that He came and suffered and died for me, a sinner. I love the title of this song and testify that it is true. God so loved us so He sent His Son, His only Begotten and Beloved Son. I testify that They live and love us and that They will support and help us through all of our trials and challenges. They live to help and love us. I love Them and will forever be grateful to Them. I love you all and pray that you all can feel Their love and support in your lives. I hope all of you have an amazing week!

Love, Elder Fox

Floating Restaurant!

Family and Friends!!

 I'm really low on time this week. I only have about 10 minutes or so to write since we had a zone activity in Loboc which is pretty far away and we got back pretty late so I'll try to write as much as I can. The activity was way fun! It was a floating buffet restaurant with a guy singing classic songs and then we had a performance which was really sweet. It was probably the best activity we can do here in the mission other than golfing of course. Congratulations Jimmer on graduating high school! That's so crazy you've graduated now. You were all wondering about investigators. We have one who's family is all members. He's about 25 and a super awesome kid. He was supposed to be baptized a couple weeks ago but drank with his friends so it had to be pushed back. He said he never drinks to get drunk just a little because his friends do it. This is a big problem here in the Philippines. Groups of friends are called barkadas and it's kind of like the cool crowd. But the problem is is that a lot of these barkadas all drink and smoke and stuff and if you don't do that stuff then they leave you and you're not a part of them anymore. And that's basically all the kids you've grown up with and all the kids you know. It's a real challenge and I feel so bad for him. We haven't told him to change friends or leave them but we know he has to and we are praying that he will. We are just trying to teach him the doctrine and let the Spirit work in him. I think he knows he has to but it's really hard. He's such a humble and penitent kid but he's in a tough situation. I love him and so prayers in his behalf would be awesome. We are working on getting him friends inside the church which will be good. He has a baptismal date for July 6 by the way.

As far as district leader it's going well. It's become easier and not as stressful. It still kind of is but it's not bad. For my personal studies and reading I've been reading the Book of Mormon and I'm now in Alma 51 and it's awesome! I love the Book of Mormon! I've got the Book of Mormon fever and I'm sure Elder McQuiston is sick of me telling him how awesome Moroni is and how awesome the book is. Also I've been studying the Savior and our Heavenly Father. I've been reading the Book of Mormon, Teachings of Joseph Smith, and Jesus the Christ to learn more about Them and Their nature. I think I've mentioned this but I read in T of JS about the scripture that says and this is life eternal that they might know Thee the only true God and Jesus Christ whom thou hast sent. And Joseph Smith says that that is the only way we can receive eternal life. We must know Them and he says once we know Them we then know how to approach our Father in Heaven in way that we will get an answer and when we do that He will unfold the heavens unto us. Joseph Smith also said, "Once we are ready to come to Him, He is ready to come to us." That's probably not exactly right but I really liked that quote. So that's my personal study right now. I'm also printing off the King Follett Sermon by Joseph Smith and he talks about the nature of God. I'm really excited to read that and study it. Well I"m out of time. I love you all! Thank you for all of the prayers! Know i pray for you all too! I know our Heavenly Father and Savior Jesus Christ love us. I know They live and They lived once as we are now. They aren't a mystery. They are two Beings with bodies of flesh and bone. They have all wisdom and all power and all love for us. They really do want the best for us and want us to return to Them. They will do anything to get us there and all we have to do is trust Them and strive to know Them and become like Them. I love Them and I love this gospel which is the way back home. I hope you all have a great week! Love you all!

Love, Elder Fox

Playing golf to help make the long hot walks to the less actives house

Floating restaurant!

Performance on the river