The earthquake was far from my Palawan paradise.

Hello world!

You may have noticed from the subject line that there was an earthquake a few days ago. Our phone told us so. it was a magnitude of 6.1 daw. I don't know if that's super big or what. We didn't feel it at all though because it happened in Batangas, which is far from my Palawan paradise of Roxas. It would have been a bit closer had I been in Manila, but Uncle Ed and Aunt Elaine would have had it far worse than me. I haven't heard any other news, so probably it's not a gigantor deal. 

 Rob got to play hymns for everyone at Zone Conference :)

Elder Tanner and Elder Fawson's break-out class.

This week was our zone conference, so that's always fun. We got to learn loads of cool stuff from President Fermanis, then teach loads of cool stuff in the break-out classes. Elder Tanner and I taught about using the Book of Mormon in EVERY aspect of the work. Not only in teaching, but in finding, asking for referrals, answering questions, resolving concerns, studies, and anything else that you can think of that a missionary does. I want to reiterate real quick what President Monson said about the Book of Mormon at the last Conference, that if you're not reading it every day, "please do so." I think that's his nice way of saying, "thou shalt do so!" In this regard I stand with Nike. "Just do it." I am. I'm learning about faith this time through, and this morning I just started into the Isaiah chapters of 2 Nephi. Fun fun fun!!!

Photos of Zone conference from Sister Fermanis' FB page

A crazy thing happened just before zone conference started. A few of us were sitting in the gym with one of the senior couples, and he started saying he wasn't feeling well and asked President Maskera to drive him home. Then he got super pale, and passed out. A couple people caught him before he fell out of his chair and he was just limp for a little bit then started to make weird sounds in his throat. after about 20 seconds or so he woke up and we gave him a blessing. Someone anointed him with oil then they all looked at me and I went to seal the anointing and give the blessing. It was super all of a sudden. After the blessing he was taken to a car and driven home. His wife said he would be fine, but that was the last I heard from him. Then the next day when we got home that night we got a text that said he was all well again and able to go about his normal missionary duties that day. So let this be a reminder to you that the priesthood is real. Don't take it for granted, and if you are a holder, always be worthy to use it, because you never know when the time will come that you'll need it. That was a cool spiritual experience that happened this week. 

There was a frog in our house last night. I caught him and put him in a little garden area out front. I think he'd appreciate living there more than under our sofa. :)

We found a new investigator couple this week too. They're Muslims and right in the middle of us sharing about the restoration the guys prayer reminder alarm went off and we had to cut it short so he wasn't late for his prayer. I guess they have set times that they have to pray every day. They are super nice though, and I was able to eat my first Nutella sandwich since my arrival here in Roxas more than 6 months ago. What a blessing that was! :)

That about sums up all the excitement of my week. I hope you all had Nutella sandwiches and frogs a part of your life this week too! Oh yeah, and the Book of Mormon. Good stuff, that Nutella! :)

Mahal ko kayo!!! Ingat.

Elder Fawson