Hey T,

It sounds like you had a really fun week. This week for me was okay nothing really happened. Today I ate rat and it tastes just like turkey, so that is what I got for Thanksgiving. We had a baptism this week. It was two young boys one was 9 and one was 11 they are brothers. We baptized their mom about 6 weeks ago and that is the highlight of my week. Nothing else really happened just the same. I also ate frog again and chicken gizzards. For Thanksgiving another Elder and I  made spaghetti it was fun and we had fun making it. I guess that is about it we really didn't do much this week.  We got the transfer list this week and I am staying here. So I get to spend anther 6 weeks in the middle of nowhere, but it's not too bad!  Another elder and I have a lot of fun together.

Love you all,

Elder Doney  

Hey Mom,

This week was okay. We got the transfer list today, and I am not on it and nether are any of the elders in my zone except the two missionaries that are going home. One Elder named Elder St. Gelais is happy about that.  Elder St. Gelais and I made some spaghetti it was fun.  We were goofing around while we were cooking. I had a baptism this week.  Today was funny- some missionaries brought some food to our zone activity and one brought rat. So i got to try it, it tastes just like turkey. Well that is about all the cool things that happened this week. I am having a good time.

Love you,

Elder Doney

Thanksgiving Dinner

Enjoying Thanksgiving with Elder St. Gelais

Baptism!

November 25, 2013

Hey T,

This week was good- it was fun. I cant believe Averi is getting growing up so fast. We have some new investigators they came to church and we talked to them and now we are teaching them. It was cool that they would just come to church. Sorry its so short I don't really know what to say.

Love you,

Elder Doney

Hey Mom
The work is going good and the members are really nice. We had to move one of our investigators baptism because he didn't come to church for 2 week. My companion was really mad. He really likes the kid. This week we had something really weird happen to us. We went to go teach and investigator. When we got there, there were some other people there and one lady said she wanted to here about our gospel. So we thought cool. So we started to teach- we only got through God is our loving Heavenly father when she had a question. Then she started to talk about what they believe. It was really weird. She said that their Preacher dude told them to never read the bible he will just tell them all that they need to know. It was some weird stuff she was talking about and it felt weird. She talked for about an hour and wouldn't let us say anything. When she got done my companion and I  just bore our testimonies and i felt the spirit. It was good. I just hope they felt it too. We left them a lot of pamphlets so I hope they read them. Hope everything is going good.
love you,
Elder Doney

November 18, 2013

Hey T,

Things are going good. I know that all the missionaries that were there are all okay. They closed the mission and sent all the missionaries to other missions. I don't know of any that are coming here.  An Elder here wants us to have matching ties. So if you could send some sick ties that would be cool and anything else would be sweet.. candy. .I don't know what else to say so i guess it is going to be short this week.

Love you all,

Elder Doney 

November 11, 2013

Hey T,

Yeah the Typhoon didn't really hit here. We just got some rain and a little wind nothing big at all. The Filipinos see it as a chance to not work because it is a typhoon. So we stayed inside that day. I don't know about the missionaries there, I just know there are about 72 of them. They are saying that they should be okay but they can't talk to them because the Internet and cell phones towers are down.  I taught the two people we baptized for 6 weeks, but I was not the one that found them. The younger one is named Mary Ann Cortez and the older lady is Mylen Mendoza. 

Hey Reagan I love you too. and you too Mylee and Averi 

Well I guess that is it.  Love all of you and miss you all like crazy. Tell the girls to stop growing up so fast.

Love you,

Elder Doney 

Hey mom,

Things are all good here. All we got during the typhoon was rain and that was about it a little wind but not that strong. We had a Quorum of the 70 come talk with us this week the day before the typhoon hit. It was good, but some of the older elders said he said the same thing as 2 years ago almost word for word. So that was funny but it was still good. My day starts at about 6 30 well that is when we get up, but i get up at 6 i don't know why I just wake up and am not able to go back to sleep. Then I eat and shower if i feel like it. I shower at night. so sometimes i don't shower in the morning. Only if it is raining outside and the water is going to be really cold. Then its personal study then companionship study, then language study, then lunch. After lunch my companion likes to take a little nap so I study or talk with another Elder. Then we go out and teach. This week we had 6 investigators and 3 with a baptism date. Then after teaching we go back to the apartment, if we don't have a dinner appointment, but we have a lot this week. Then I shower then we talk. Sometimes we try to kill lizards, and flies. Then we go to bed and do it all over again. 

Yesterday we went to teach a girl, she is a friend of a girl in our branch. When we got there the girl that is a member her cousins where there.  They were not members so we taught them to. We had a kid that just got back from his mission on Wednesday with us and at the end he talked a little bit. We were teaching about Heavenly Father and families. The boy said that he knows that families can be together forever through temple ordinances. The cousin of the girl looked at me then asked what is that. So were tried to explain and as we were we said priesthood and he didn't know what that was ether. So we tried to talk about that to. We just told him that it's impossible to learn in one day. So he wanted us to come back to teach again. It was really cool.

Well that is about it for me. I don't know what else to say. Hope everything is going good back home.

Love and miss you,

Elder Doney   

November 4, 2013

Our Kitchen

Our Baptism

I walk on this street all the time 

A man coming back from working in the fields

October 28, 2013

Hey T,

  I got my new companion, he is really cool. We get along really well and have a lot of fun together. We had a baptism this week. It was good. There was no power when we went to go fill up the font. They have a tank outside so we where hoping that is would fill up the font. It all worked out and we got it done. We got new Elders in my area. One of them is American. It's really nice to have another American in my area. He just got here Wednesday so he has no idea whats going on, just like me. Sometimes I translate for him, but I am not the best at Tagalog so there are some times when I don't know what they are saying.  I guess I am better then when I got here. I miss you all and can't wait to see you again. 

Love you,

Elder Doney 

October 20, 2013

Hey T,

I am by a city called Burgos. It's above Cauayan City where the mission home is. It's not even close to the ocean. The other language has some words that are the same as tagalog but over all its not like it at all. I don't understand it. We didn't feel the earthquake at all. We teach one class on Sundays and we bless the sacrament every week. The members are okay they never really help us at all and no one ever works with us. If they do they expect us to buy them a snack.  The food is alright, some times it's not the best. I am in a really poor area so the food is not the best most of the time. Hope everything is going good. Good luck with volleyball this week. 

Love you all,

Elder Doney  

October 7, 2013

Hey T,

We watch conference this week. Last time it was in English, so I bet this time it is too. The language is okay. I have to speak it every day because no one here knows English. They can say simple things, but in my area they mostly speak ilocano so I don't ever really know what is going on. The people are really nice and the area is in the middle of nowhere I don't know how to really explain it except that it is fields and houses there is nothing really out here. I can't imagine Averi speaking! In my mind she is still a little chubby girl.  This week was good I went on a split and had a lot of fun. One lady asked me to marry her daughter. We asked another lady a question and she didn't say anything. Then we asked her again. She said she was sorry that she got lost in my eyes. It was so funny. The Elder I was with and I  were laughing so hard after the lesson. Hope you have a good week.

Love you,

Elder Doney 

September 29., 2013

Hey T,

Things are going good. I am in a little place called Mabini. I can't call it a town because it is so small. No one can speak English, just Tagalog and ilocano.  My President is really nice and helps me out a lot. There is only me and my companion in my area, so we have a lot of time to talk.  Tell Averi happy birthday for me. This week we had a party for family and it was fun. I got to hang out with the missionaries from my zone because we were all invited to the party. That was nice. Hope you have a good week. I got to head now my  companion wants to go.

Love you,

Elder Doney

September 22, 2013

Hey T,

The area is good. It is like a little farm town. The houses are really small and made of like bamboo and wood. There are only like 2 big houses and they belong to people not from the Philippines, so we never go into them. The people are really nice. They love to look at me. I am the first American that has been in my area for over a year, so the people just stare at me. It's hard to talk with them because no one knows English and I don't know Tagalog very well,  so if they ask me an important question and I don't know what they said and my companion will translate the best he can. It's a lot of fun not knowing what is ever going on. haha My companion is okay, we don't talk much, but I don't like to talk much. The people get mad that I don't talk, but I don't know what to say.  Well my companion just got up and walked out the door. So I guess I have to go. 

Love you,

Elder Doney

September 16, 2013

Hey T,

  I got transferred. I am in the middle on nowhere. So we don't have anything to do an P-days. We take a 45 minute ride to get food, then we email. We did play basketball this morning, but it's not as fun as when I would play back home with my friends. Filipinos are just not as good at it and it's too hot. We are in the middle of nowhere so there is nothing to do out here.  We have to drive a long ways to do anything.  Volleyball sounds fun. I always liked to go watch Mackenzi  play. I can't wait for when I get home to watch Mac's senior year they better be good and go to state. I would love to go watch them play at state. Tell Mac to practice up. Nothing really does happen out here we just work and study. It is just me and my companion in our apartment so we don't have much to do.

Love you,

Elder Doney

September 9, 2013

Hey T,

Things are going good here. That video you found I was singing at a party we went to. It was a farewell for one of the Elders who was going home. It was something that the ward put together. We have a bigger one that all the missionary go to. I am getting transferred to a new area. I will go to it Wednesday, but I don't know where I am going yet. We don't knock on doors and we don't use facebook. Some people don't even have doors and everyone has a fence around their house so they wouldn't be able to hear you if you knocked,  so we yell stuff in Tagalog to let them know we are there.  I miss you guys like crazy.

Love you all,

Elder Doney

September 1, 2013

Hey T,

This week went by faster than last week, but it still wasn't very fast. Nothing really happened, well nothing really too exciting to write about. We just work everyday.  I think I got all the pictures, I got a lot- Thanks!  I will have to start sending one at a time because I sent like 6 but you only got one. I will see if i can fix that. Everything sounds really fun back home. That picture of Averi killed me I was laughing so hard. She looks a lot bigger then when I left. That is crazy I have not been gone very long and she is already starting to change a lot. 

Love you,

Elder Doney

Hey Man,

It's good to hear from you. Hunting season sound like a lot of fun. All the elders here have never been hunting let alone shot a bow or a gun.  I tell them about it and now they all really want to go, it's funny.  It sounds like everything is going good and that you are having a lot of fun.  Have fun man and thanks for writing. 

Elder Doney

August 26, 2013

Hey T,

 Nothing really happened this week.  I feel like i am doing the same thing all the time. I can't believe how fast everyone is growing up. Reagan sounds like a very positive girl. She seem like someone that will always think of the glass half full haha. I can't believe school has started again if feels like it just got over. I don't know it seems like everything is going to fast out here and I feel like I am not learning much.  I would love to see the pictures that Reagan took for the fair and I would love to see some of the things that Mylee did. How is Morgan doing and Holli and Mike? I dont hear from them much. Also how is tyson i dont hear from him ether. I love you all.  Tell Reagan Mylee and Averi to stop growing up, at least until I get home. 

Love you,

Elder Doney

August 12, 2013

Hey T,

 It was a really long week.  We don't have any new investigators and we only have one coming to church, it's hard. We don't teach very much because they are always gone or just tell us next time, but we just keep going back to them. I would love to be there for Holli's wedding, but we can get them to get married in the temple and I can be there for that one. That means that you will have to start working on them. I really love it here, but i just want to be in America.  Everything is so dirty and you know how I am about dirt. I clean my apartment while all the other missionaries are sleeping. We had a typhoon last night so we had leaves in our house. i dont know how that happened.

Love you T,

Elder Doney

This picture was posted by Charlie Flores to facbook. The names only
names I can find are Bernadeth Cruz Borup, and Jhom De.

This was a video posted on Facebook by Arlene Limmid Quijencio. I
could't upload the video, but I shared it on my Facebook page!https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?v=700031356689150&set=vb.100000468754286&type=2&theater

August 5, 2013

Hey T,

Elder Black was never my companion. I knew him in the MTC and we hung out a lot. We had a lot of fun together. It was transfer week this week, so we were in meetings a lot of the time. So nothing exciting happened. We got a new Elder in out apartment. His name is Elder Cass, he is from St George Utah. He is cool we have a lot of fun. I want to go back to the golf course we went to for Heathers wedding that was a lot of fun. You will have to see if you can get me back on it when I get home. School sounds really fun, so does volleyball. I wish I could be there to watch Mackenzie play, but I will be able to see her play her senior year so that will be fun. Well I dont really have much to say. Thank you for everything. I love and miss all of you like crazy.

Love you,

Elder Doney

July 29, 2013

My Mom received this e-mail today from a Mother of one of the Missionaries that Bracken has got to know. 

Hello, Sister Doney

This is Elder Blacks Mom.  Your son and mine have become really good friends.  I am so happy that Jed (my Son) has found a true friend.  He speaks so highly of Elder Doney.  This last few months as been a struggle adjusting to the phillippines.  My son is in Burgos Area, and he has struggled with the language and companions, but now is doing so well.  Each Letter I ask him about Elder Doney, and each time he responds with how much he misses him and loves your son.  I am grateful for you in raising a fine young man.  Someone who has high values, and will keep in contact with my son. 

Jed is my oldest and first going on a mission.  I had a hard time in letting him go, but now I can see the blessings of a mission, without it he wouldn't have met your son.  

Thanks again

Sheila Black

Ephraim Utah

July 29, 2013

Hey T,

I never liked rodeo week, but now I wish that I was there. The food here is okay, we eat a lot of rice- like a lot. I really like chicken curry, but they have a lot of good food.  We have a mall here and it is just like back home. Then we have another place and there you do try to get the price down. I don't really do it that much because I don't shop there very much. I do have some people there making me some pants. I can't wait for them they are going to be so nice. I really like my companion. We have a lot of fun together.  We found out today that we get to spend another 6 weeks together  so we are happy about that. My President is cool. He is really nice, but he is just new,  he hasn't changed anything yet so that is good. My favorite thing to do on p day is sit around then go and email. I have already seen all the places I can go to so there is nothing else that we can do. We just work all day.  I love you like crazy  and miss you all.

Love you,

Elder Doney

July 1, 2013

Hey T,

Things are going good. My new companion is awesome. We have a lot of fun together  and we get along together really well.  I have not met my new Mission President yet. He just got here Yesterday. I will talk with him next week. The pictures on facebook are probably from the members here that will come work with us sometimes. They are cool and we have fun. I can't believe how fast the girls are growing up. They are going to be totally different it will be weird. They might not know who I am,  so I will have to make them love me all over again. I know i can do it. Love all of you so much and miss you like crazy.

Love you,

Elder Doney  

June 24, 2013

Hey T,

My companion is way cool. We already get along really well and have a lot of fun. He has been here for 7 months and has already trained an Elder and is now a district leader. He is way cool. His name is Elder Saba.  My week was okay it felt like we didn't get much done because we had a lot of meetings and stuff to do, but it was fun. The language is still really hard. I still feel like I have not learned anything, but they say it just takes time. I have learned a lot just not in the language department. I really like the people. We have a lot of fun.  This week we just got a new Elder in our zone. He is from china. He is the first Elder to come to our mission that is from China. He is awesome! He can speak a little English, but he doesn't know that much, he just reads and teaches us chinese. It is a crazy language. I would never be able to learn it. Other than that things have been going the same. I love you and am always thinking about you. Keep me informed so I wont be behind when I get home.

Love You,

Elder Doney

Facebook Pictures

These pictures are from Jethro Tuzon and Henry Hank Culebra. 

They post them on Facebook 

Elder Delector's Farewell meeting

These are some Facebook pictures that some friends in the Philippines posted on their pages. 

Elder Doney, Samson Kaloni, Jethro Tuzon, Charlie Flores, Glynberg Scott Joem Gawan, Ako Si Budang,  Hannah Grace Soriano and Bernadeth Cruz Borup

Henry Hank Culebra

With Jethro Tuzon

Elder Doney, Samson Kaloni, Jethro Tuzon, Glynberg Scott Joem , Charlie Flores, Ako Si Budang and Hannah Grace Soriano Mesde

June 17, 2013

Hey, T

Things went good this week. My companion goes home tomorrow so we didn't do much this week. We had a baptism and it was good. It was an older lady and she just cried the whole time. She bore her testimony and just cried then said thanks and sat down. It is hard for her to speak because she has a throat disease, but she loves the church. Other than that we didn't do much, just the same as every week. I miss you guys like crazy and wish I could be there to see the girls grow up, but I am happy with what I am doing and I will be able to see them in 20 months. 

Love You,

Elder Doney 

June 10, 2013

Hey Dad,

Things are going good here. Dont send that bag yet, because my zone leaders are saying that we might not be able to use backpacks anymore they might have to be something else, I will find out more and let you know. This week was good. We were really busy. We teach a lot of lessons. We have a baptisms this week so we are getting the lady ready. She is the mom of our bishop and she has been investigating the church for 9 years. My companion is awesome, every lesson with this lady she starts crying because of how she feels about the church now. It's awesome, she is really exited to be baptized. The people here ask me what my favorite sport is. I say golf and they always say "Oh so you are rich" because the people that golf here are only the rich people, it's funny. I miss you like crazy and cant wait to come home and golf everyday with you.

Love you,

Elder Doney

Where we eat Lunch

Riding a Carabeo

June 3, 2013

Hey T,

This week I went to a dinner appointment and they have 2 little girls and they remind me so much of Reagan and Mylee. They were singing and dancing for us. It was so cute. I was thinking of Reagan and Mylee the whole time. One of them won a beauty contest and was in a really big magazine here. It was cool to see the magazine. Things are going good here. Today we went to a lake here and went boating. It was fun. The food is really good but the language is not going so well. I feel like I am not learning anything, but it's okay. It is the start of the rainy season here so it rains a lot. They have started to plant rice so a lot of the people are working all the time. I love you and am always thinking of you.

Elder Doney

May 27, 2013

Hey T, 

Things this week have been going really well. The baptism when really well and we had a really good time. There is nothing I can really think of that I need. If I think of something I will let you know. Sorry I don't really have a lot of time this week, and I don't really have much to talk about- sorry. I just want you to know that I am always thinking about you and miss all of you like crazy.

Mahal Kita (love you)

Elder Doney

May 20, 2013

Hey T,

The girls are growing up to fast.  I am missing all the good things, but there will be plenty more when I get home. Things are going good here. I need a sleep catch up day, but I can't sleep that long I just wake up. This has never happened before. Last night I went to sleep at 11:45 and then woke up at 5:45 it was way weird. I am so tired, but I cant sleep. Other than that, things are going great. The work is really good. We are always busy and never really have time to study for that long, so the language is hard, but that's okay. We have 4 people being baptized this week, but I think that it will only be 3-  we will see what will happen. I am really hoping that the one will be baptized. Just keep letting me know what is going on back home. I love and miss you like crazy.

Mahal Kita,

Elder Doney     

Eating Balut

Mother's Day

We were able to talk to Bracken for Mother's Day! Not only did we get to talk, but we used Skype so we were able to see him as well! It was such a good day and he is so happy! He loves the Philippines and the people there. He even said that he loves the food-he thinks he has a rice belly. The Elders that he lives with were with him and they look like they have a lot of fun together!  We were able to talk about what he does every day, they have five more baptisms lined up! They have been teaching Noni Violet's daughters and they are ready to be baptized. He said that it is way hot and the humidity is horrible. He called us Monday morning his time. It was election day so they had to get back to their apartment for lock down because they say it can get pretty crazy!  It was so good to hear from him and see how happy he is. We are so proud of our Missionary! 

First Baptism

Walking down Main Street

A view from the car

Eating one day old chicken with Noni Violet

May 5, 2013

Hey Nanay,  (Mom)

Things sound like they are going great. I will be skyping Monday morning at 9 here so it will be Sunday night about 7 for you. You can have whoever you want to come. I have about an hour or how ever long. I don't know if i miss mowing yet. We played basketball today and I got so sun burned! All the Filipinos were laughing at me because I am so red.  I don't know any Tagalog so I don't think I will be able to say anything to you next week, we will see.  Love you and think about you all the time.

Love

Elder Doney

April 29, 2013

Hey T,

I got 2 pictures, one has Morgan in it and you are bowling and the other has Averi, Reagan and Mylee in their pajamas- I love them. It is really hot here and it rains every night. It is sunny and hot all day then at night it rains so much! It's really nice because it cools us down. Some Elders just stood out in the rain for like 2 minutes and were soaked. It was funny. We did not have the baptism this week we had to move it out 2 weeks for reasons I will not go into. I have started to work out also because I am starting to get a rice belly. I feel so fat. Today we went caving- it was way fun. We had to crawl for a wile. We got so muddy, but it was way fun. Tell Mylee happy birthday Sunday for me. Love you guys and think about you all the time. I look at the pictures the girls drew for

me almost every day.

Love you,

Elder Doney  

 On our way to go caving

Elder Kaloni acting like Gollum of Lord of the Rings

Another good week

Things are really good. This week went by a lot faster, I was really happy about that, but the weeks still feel really long.  We are having a baptism this week and I am doing one of them. I am excited and scared at the same time. I don't want to mess up. I don't know if I will have to do it in Tagalog or in English. We have been teaching them, but I was not the one that started teaching them, but we are really close to them. They have a little boy and he is one of the coolest and funniest little boys, he is 2. The language is really hard!  I can only say a couple of words then the rest is in English. Everyone says it takes time, but I can't wait!  I just want to know it. We have like 12 missionaries in our zone and 4 of us in our ward. I am getting really close with the Elders here and I feel like I am opening up more to them. I have just been thinking about all the things I will be doing when I get home. Then I realize that I still have like 22 months and I just start laughing. It's fun here just trying to get use to all the poverty and all the trash is hard, but I think that I am starting to get use to it.  I love you and am thinking about all of you every day. I will be able to skype on Mothers day. I told Mom a little more about it. I don't know exactly when, but it will most likely be mothers day night for you I will let you know more.

Love you,

Elder Doney 

I love it here!

My mission is awesome. I am in Santiago City. We have 2 McDonald's it is awesome. I love to go there. This is the only place in my mission that has 2 McDonald's and there are only 3 in the whole mission. The Country is way cool. There is a lot of trash every were, but it is still way cool. My companion's name is Elder Delector. He has only 2 months left so I am his last companion. Friday he had a really bad reaction to some medication that he took. So we spent the night and all day Saturday in the hospital, it was not fun. I had to sleep in a chair. When I got up to go do something my right leg was completely numb so I fell over. Everyone started to laugh. Because we were in the hospital I missed the Saturday session and the Priesthood session of General Conference, but I was able to see the Sunday sessions. They were so good. It is good to hear what the Prophet has to say. That has been my favorite Sunday. Here in the Philippines if you have great respect for someone when you shake their hand you will put their hand to you forehead. When I was walking down the street a bunch of little kids came up to us, because I am white they all just stare at me, and one of them came up to me and put my hand to his forehead. I have no idea why, but it was awesome. It made me feel so good. The people here don't have very much money. We have one Nanay (mom) here that we call the missionary Nanay. Every day for lunch she feeds all the missionaries here, it is crazy. She really cares about the missionaries. They don't have much and her husband wanted to do something for the missionaries so he fed them and when he died she continued it. She is an amazing person. I love it here and will send pictures when I get take more. I love and think about you every day.

Love You,

Elder Doney       

Mom, 

 Things are going great. It is so hot I do nothing but sweat all the time. I have not had any one yell at me. I have had people swear at me because I am white, but most of the time the kids just look at me for a really long time. Here if you really respect someone when you shake their hand you put their hand to you forehead, it is a sign of respect.  I was walking and a bunch of little kids came up to us and one of them did that to me. It was way cool. I have no idea why, but I liked it. The people here love the gospel and are willing to listen to you. They are way nice we have 3 people getting baptized on the 27th and like 4 on the 11th next month, it is way exiting. One sister we are teaching, her sister is active in the church. They are rich and they always have us come do laundry in their laundry machine. She told me last time we taught them that she tries her hardest to do what we say, and when she does she can feel that it is true. I told her lets go get baptized right now. It was way cool. I missed the Saturday session and Priesthood session of General Conference because I spent Friday night and all day Saturday in the hospital with my companion. He had a really bad reaction to some medication he took. It was way scary, but everything is okay now and he is up and about. I was able to see the Sunday sessions and I loved it!  It was so awesome to hear the words of the Prophet. Could you send stuff like top roman and Oreos and goop and what ever you can think of. My companion loves Papa Jay's jerky! I still have some but he ask me all the time if he can have some. I love you and think about you every day. I can't wait to tell you more stories and send some awesome pictures. I don't have very many pictures yet when I get some good ones I will send them.

Love You,

Elder Doney     

First Area- Santiago

I miss all of you. Things here are good. I am getting use to the food. I am starting to eat a lot of food. We will have dinner then I will make like 2 sandwiches. The people are way cool and always so nice. They always care about you and if they think something is wrong they will come and talk to you and see how you are doing. We have not watched Conference yet, we don't watch it till this Sunday. I am so exited to watch it. I heard they watch it in English. I am hoping so I know what is going on. We have 8 people with baptism dates. It is crazy and all of them except one came to church Sunday. It is so awesome I can't wait to see them get baptized. The people here are so open to listen to you. They will not turn you away. I still don't know any Tagalog. Some Elders that have been here for 5 months still don't know it. They can speak a little more then me, but they still can't talk with people. It has been so hot here. Every day is hotter then then the last. I can't take the heat - I am so tired all the time until it is night and it cools down then we have a blast. I do not have to do laundry by hand anymore in my area. We have a rich member in my ward. She said that she wants us every Monday to come and do laundry at her house in her washing machine. I am so happy!  Things are going great here. I love to here about every thing that is going on and send lots of pictures. Love you tons.
Elder Doney  

Mom, 
Things here are great. It gets hotter and hotter every day. My companion is awesome and is always trying to help me. The members are amazing they are always talking to us and helping us. We always have fellow shippers. They love to work with the missionary's. We have one member in my ward that is rich, for here, and she told us every Monday that she wants us to come to her house and do our laundry in her washing machine. I am so happy it makes everything easier. The language is really hard. All I really want are just some snacks that I can eat all through the day, and anything that you can think of. We have not watched General Conference yet, we don't watch it till this Sunday. We have 8 investigators with a baptism date. I am way exited. I really don't know what they are saying all the time so I just sit there. Other than that everything is the same. I love you and think about you every day.
Love you
Elder Doney    

Living in Paradise?

How are things going at home? Things are crazy here. Its so hot all the time. We cleaned our apartment today. I killed like 10 spiders. I don't know if i got all of them. I guess I will find out. The roads are crazy if you don't watch where you are going you will get hit. My trainer is from the Philippine, but he can speak some English. I still have no idea what the people are saying when they talk, it's crazy when we teach. There is a lot of poverty here, but the people are all so happy all the time. Most of the houses here only have one or two rooms. One house we taught in only had a bedroom and a hallway that they used for the kitchen. We have 3 families with a baptism date. It's crazy. My companion and I are opening a new area. The food is weird, I didn't eat much at first, but now I eat so much. Most of the food really doesn't have a taste, or just a little of a taste. I did laundry for the fist time today. It was no fun. It was by hand, and it took so long to do. I am luck they say because I don't have to use a bucket to shower yet. The people are so nice when you go into a member's house they always try to feed you. Sometimes the food is not good. Things are going good. If I think of something else I will have to tell it to you next week. We only get to email on Mondays. and we have to pay  for the time we use. I am always thinking about you.

Love you,

Elder Doney

 At family home evening 

Some of the food we ate at family home evening 

My roommates and my companion. 

My companion is on the right. The one in the middle

 is Elder Oldem, from the Philippines.  The one on the left is 

Elder Kaloni he is from Salt Lake but his parents are from Tonga. 

 

My bed room

   

 

 Right in the front doors of the church I go to

He Made It!

Elder Doney with his Mission President

Philippines Cauayan Mission

Mission Map

The Philippines Cauayan Mission takes in most of Region 

2 in the wide Cagayan River Valley stretching from Santa Fe,

 Nueva Vizcaya in the south to Alcala, 

                                                                                 Cagayan in the north. 

                             The Mission Home & Office are located in the very center in Cauayan City.