Elder Gamboa: Our First Missionary

Elder Rye Lester Gamboa is now serving the people of Philippines Butuan Mission for two years. He left last December 6, 2013 and trained 12 days in Manila, Philippines Missionary Training Center. After that he will fly to his area (Butuan). He is now assigned in San Francisco, Surigao City to be exact. he is now enjoying his work and starting to love the people of Surigao.

We able to contact him last Christmas via Skype and call. It is our first Christmas that our family is not complete. He told us how happy he is serving the Lord, in fact I cried a lot because I miss him so much. I am a proud sister, a very proud sister. I never thought he will serve his mission, but now, he prove to everyone that he is now a changed man. He sent us his email and I wanna share it with you. Awhile reading this powerful message from our missionary, this made me cry and mama too. Here's his E-mail:

my message sa inyo lahat:

im here at surigao san francisco my first area, the people here are nice and they have a different language but i know this is easy. my first sunday was great. i talked to a lot of people and i introduce myself to them in the pulpit with a surprise talk good thing i have markings on my BOM. i love the place this is very cool place,the members function very well and it surprise me. being an elder feels like a hero, its true they treat us like that and they love us. now i know how it really feels like. its very good to be a missionary. you will feel god's love more here. sorry to say to those who havent gone to mission will never know how we felt. my companion is very good i love him we get along very well. i will ask those who want to go on a mission prepare first before going here and have a real testimony. this is not a game, this is not fun, this is not easy, but there is joy in it and the satisfaction is very great that you will cherish is the rest of your lives. learn to love the people and read the scripture. you need to testify here because they need that witness. you cant testify the things which you don't know. for mommy you dont need to worry sa akin because i treasure up your wisdom I am always reminded by that. Take care of yourself mom dont think about me because I am in the lords errand there would never go wrong. pls TAKE CARE OF YOURSELF. PLS PROMISE ME THAT. when you have good health you will be in good thinking, you will have happy life. im always praying for you guys so be worthy to receive it, i have made covenants with heavenly father and he is very ready to give the blessing to you i promise that do your thing. sa mga ka KOSA ko jan minimize away you cant love other people if you dont love you brothers and sisters, i know madali lang yan pero d ko kayang gawin! joke! kaya nako na maong kaya nyo rin. i love you mga ka kosa so prepare before going on a mission PLS help mom as much as possible kaya nyo mag work sa bahay mag tulungan kayo sa bahay para konti nlang ang stress ni mama. sa mga babae jan help mama pa rin malaki kayong tulong kung hindi mag aaway at mag ttrabaho nalang. nigga your so black that i dont have much message for you. so take care of my family and be a good dog. guard the house very well and SIT! i love you all mom.

Endowed na! :)

Before he left to MTC.

Selfie2,

Batch mates and Mission mates

MTC teacher

My District in MTC

My sis and mom

MTC Companion

The Moments I Live For!

One week vacation before second semester starts. It's very memorable to be with your family in the temple. So far, as we started living in Dumaguete, this is our first family temple trip. A very unexplainable feeling I experienced during our stay in Lahug Cebu Temple, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints.

Before we went to Cebu, trials come along our way. We don't have enough money to go there. My savings is still small for all of us. So I used my power to find ways. (charrlonngss) I don't need to tell every detail, to make the long story short, I find ways to gain enough money for all of us. My mom also do the same thing and my siblings and I save enough money for our fare. Last August we decided to save 5.00 a day and mom doesn't know about this. Actually we did save for my mom's surprise birthday party. My mom never waste time, she spends most of it inside the Temple and perform ordinances. I and my siblings also do the same thing but only baptism for the dead. We brought with us many names of our ancestors who are dead already, it is a great opportunity for them to receive the truth. I with my family is very thankful for all the blessings we received every minute of our lives. 

We also celebrated mom's birthday in the patron house. We surprised her early in the morning. We bought cake, card and gifts. I think this is the first time we surprised mama on her birthday! Because in the past years, we tried to surprise her but she always caught us in the act! Hahaha but now, mom is really busy doing the ordinances and we had the chance to decorate a banner and buy a cake for her. As her daughter, it's really good to see your mother happy. She molded us and teach us everything that is good for us. She never leaves us even though we really see in her eyes that she's tired of raising us alone. I know how grateful we are to have a wonderful mother in the earth. We chose her in the Pre-existence and we never regret of choosing her. We love our mama so much! Nothing can ever  do  such sacrifice and unconditional love she gives to us, no one but mama Gemma Bordaje Gamboa!  😊 

In line with the celebration of mom's birthday, we went to SM to have a dinner. We also rode bump cars and played in world of fun and Bibo. I enjoyed a lot! How much more the birthday celebrant? Hehe I know she was! After we stayed at the patron house we also checked in the toros apartelle with a very cheap price. One of our closest friend helped us in paying our bills! What a blessing! 

Through thick and thin, mama never leaves us. I appreciate every little things she did for us. I and my siblings will never become as what we are right now if mama left us. I am a proud daughter, she taught us to live the gospel, influence us in good ways, loves us unconditionally, take good care of us and most specially mold us as a good daughters and sons of god. 

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You'll always be in my heart!

21 months and will sooner be stopped..

The best relationship is when your lover is also your best friend and you can be yourself with him and he still love you for who you are. No amount of distance, pain, fights or differences in opinion can break our bond. We're like the best of friends.  What I love about him is that he adore my peculiarities instead of complaining about them. And one more thing that I love about him is that you have no peculiarities to complain about! 

I don't know how we will manage to keep our relationship when we are so far away. But one thing I will always remember is that I love him. Here comes the time that he'll be leaving for his mission on the 25th day of October, 2013. He is assigned to labor in Philippines Laoag Mission. I am so excited in his new journey to face. I am looking forward to see his achievements and accomplishments in the future. He may not be the same as who and what he was before, but I know he would be become a better person after his full service. I will always be proud of him.

Return with Honor Elder Delara! :) enjoy your mission and make the most of it! Help Laoag Mission Build their Zion! See you after two! I will miss you. 

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Graduation Day is fast approaching!

Analogy: One day, I wanted to increase my physical strength. I asked my Father about the things that I should do for me to be able to gain more physical strength. He told me to push a huge rock. I pushed and pushed the rock each day for a month. After a month, I went to him and asked him if how will I move the rock. It was a huge rock, it was impossible for me to move it even an inch. I told him that he was just making fun of me. When I told him those words, he didn't reacted for a space of approximately ten minutes. After a short period of silence he told me that, "I never asked you to move the rock, I only asked you to push the rock. Now look at your body and tell me if your body didn't had a physical change." I was surprised that I felt so strong and fit.Sometimes in life we need to obey even if we do not completely understand a particular command. What I did in my college days was to take all of the required subjects even if I am not sure if those subjects are related to my course. Now I realized that those subjects that I took gave me more skills and abilities to find a good job and achieve my goals in life.

College is a lot of fun as long as you don't live it below your privilege. It is a great privilege for me to be a student of Silliman University College of Business Administration. Credits to our loving Heavenly Father for giving me this privilege with the help of my loving and supporting earthly parents. Being a college student isn't easy. Projects, reports, assignments, mid-term exams, final exams always leave me scratching my head at the end of the day. But Silliman University is not just about making a student study hard every time. There are lots of activities organized by student government to make the college life more fun. This is what I mean of living with your privilege as a student. Attending and participating this activities and events makes it more easy in college. You get to meet new faces and friends that can help you survive the challenging college life.

My remaining months in Silliman University I will surely treasure and try my best to accomplish everything before leaving. Graduation day- a great event in our lives, for it is the beginning of a voyage into an unknown sea, the future. I can say that our past four years in our Alma Mater is so memorable. A day where you breathe freedom yet shed tears for leaving behind the place where you transformed from a boy to a man or from girl to a lady.One of the very important knowledge’s that I gained was how to become a better leader. In my college, I learned alot from my teacher, they help students build their confidence and how to become professional. 

Before Mimi will leave from his mission, I let him see my graduation pictures and I want to thank him for being one of my inspiration through out my college years. He helped me by letting me borrow his laptop for reports and case study; for coming with me every time there is a practice or required event to be attended. He will never witness my graduation day but I am sure that he is proud of me. :) I am so overly excited on my graduation day.

Thank you Gino Cordova and Rimus Briton Delara for your contribution to make this blog post nice.:))

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Temple Trip 2013

Every year I always plan to visit the Temple located at Lahug, Cebu city. I am always excited every time there is a temple trip. This time I am with my Institute family same as last year's temple trip. August 30-31, 2013 is one of my unforgettable moment in my life. We had our devotional with our Temple President: Pres. Pagaduan and his wife. They talked about Temple Marriage and what other ordinances we can do during our temple visits and how it help our lives. here's some of our pictures:

Institute Family <3

Cebu, Philippines Temple
taken by: Keneth Lou Culis

waleeeeeeey!
taken by: Clifford Supat

taken by: Gino Cordova

background:  Cebu, Philippines Temple
taken by: Gil Aurus Alcoran

We also witnessed the Wedding of one of our IRSC member, Manuel Crausus and Doloresa Amante. We planned a surprise party for their reception in the temple ground. After their wedding they were really surprised and thankful; you can see it with their eyes. here's some of our pictures:

with the institutes students!

taken by: Keneth Lou Culis

taken by: Rona Putalan

I am always dreaming of Marrying in the temple. In five years time, I hope and I pray that I will marry in the temple. I hope you also have the same goal as mine! :) We just need to be faithful and worthy of our doings. If we do our part, we will be an eternal family and friends! I Love you all. <3 

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The most awaited part!

August 24, 2013 is the most awaited part of my friend's life Gerna Lois Bacayo. On that day she was baptized and bare her testimony in front of us. It's a wonderful feeling to witness her most unforgettable moment in life. As she testified, and I quote "At Last! This is it" as I heard this line my heart is so overwhelmed to have her not just a friend but an eternal friend. Being a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints can be challenging. It is not just a Sunday religion. It requires dedication and devotion. Gordon B. Hinckley, fifteenth president of the church, said that every convert needs three things: "a friend in the church, an assignment (calling), and to be nourished by the good word of God." I know you don't have the problem with these things, you are an elect of God that will truly understand and love the gospel. Congratulations Gerna, welcome to your new journey! I know you're a good daughter of God! :) padayon sa paglambo! Gihigugma tikaw ug mas gihigugma kas Ginoo! Be strong!

Congratulations!

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