October 10, 2015

October 9, 2015

This week has been pretty busy, we're getting close to transfer day and the week preceding transfer day is one of the busiest times in the office. Not too much has been going on except for the normal things in the office; driving people to the airport at 4 am, responding to parent's emails about their missionaries, answering the phone, taking care of the new couple missionaries, etc. Sometimes when I take a step back from things I'm amazed at how adjusted I have become to the Philippines. I forget sometimes that I'm living in Asia haha. When I step outside from a building with aircon (air), the brick wall of humidity doesn't hit me like it used to do or when one of my kabahays (companion/housemates)say they want balut (duck embryo) I don't watch in disgust anymore, I just eat a balut with them haha. The Philippines is such a unique place and after being here for a while now it seems to have lost its rarity to me and I want to try and remember how special it all is. I'll miss walking down the street and being able to buy pineapples and watermelon for 10 pesos (about $0.25) or hearing people yell "isdaaa" (fish) as they walk down the street carrying buckets of fish for sale. One thing I won't miss, however, is sweating uncontrollably haha That's one thing I'll never get used to!

Being in the office is pretty cool too, you get a lot of experiences with things you never thought you would experience in the mission. For example, I can now type somewhat successfully without even looking at the keyboard. a minor skill I know, but I never expected to gain that ability on my mission! haha

 

President Revillo told me that the companionships in the office will be switching this coming transfer. He explained that it would be better for the office and travel secretary (me) to be companions with the financial secretary (Elder Taño my new companion) because they often have more things to do in the office. The apartment specialist (elder Boringgot my current companion) will now be companions with the office recorder (Elder Reyes) because they don't usually need to be in the office for too long. This would also mean that I would be switching areas, Ill be getting into my fourth area Cubao.  My first four areas are Quezon City 1st ward, Quezon city 3rd ward, Quirino 2nd ward, and soon to be Cubao ward. All of these areas share a border at some point or another! haha I've been in the same place essentially for one year! I don't mind though I love the city. I'm making a prediction though that when I get out of the office, President is going to send me somewhere far away (maybe Mindoro?).  It's a mission myth and a rumor that whenever people leave the office, they go to Mindoro because President feels bad that they haven't experienced the province in a long time. Although it is just a rumor and a myth, it has happened to the last 8 out of 10 elders to leave the office haha. we'll see. 

 

I hope you guys are all doing well! I pray for you guys every night. love you!

This is me and my companion outside of the sister apartment at 4 am. We had to drive a sister to the airport really early. Recognizing the rarity of the situation, my companion and I decided to try and emulate an edgy band pic. This is the result haha I don't think we were successful.

 

October 3, 3015

October 2, 2015

This week was pretty good. It’s been pretty busy because we’ve had quite a few meetings and there are always things going on in the office.

 

Something really strange happened to me the other day that I’ve never seen happen before in the Philippines. And it happened twice! So in my whole mission I have never seen anyone ever get pulled over… but last Saturday I got pulled over twice! The first time, we were trying to get to the baptism of Sister Latham's and Sister Tropia's investigator  (I’m their district leader and their investigator asked if I could baptize her) when we got lost on the way. I made a right turn down a street like any other – two lanes, wide, safe – when up ahead I see a standing street officer waving at me. His body language was pretty casual so I thought nothing of it and waved back. When our car passed by him he yelled pretty loud and slammed on the hood of our car. I realized maybe I had made a mistake and decided I should pull over. He came up to the window and told me that it was actually a one way street! Even though there were two lanes and I was the only car on the road! They were doing some kind of construction and they had to temporarily make it a one way street. I told him that there was no sign and he told me there was. He pointed down the road a ways and I saw a tiny sign hidden behind a garbage can... pretty lame. Elder Ramirez told me, “don’t give him your license” hahaha then right after that, the officer told me to give him my license! Haha I showed him my license inside my wallet and he told me to take it out. I took it out and handed it over and he took it away and traded my license with a ticket. He told me that I needed to go to Quezon City Hall to be able to pay off the ticket and to also get my license back. I even offered to pay him off right there and then to see if he was corrupt! Haha he didn’t accept the bribe, however,  and I was pretty bummed because I knew how much of a hassle that would be but I'm not going to lie, I was pretty excited to have to go to Quezon City Hall to have to try and retrieve my Philippines' drivers license. They were pretty nice though because they told me that they could give me a ticket for two things. One was disobeying traffic signs – which costs 350 pesos – and the other was going down a one way street – which is 1400 pesos. They decided to only give the disobeying traffic signs ticket and give me a break because I'm “a foreigner who can speak Tagalog” haha.

 

The second time I got pulled over that day was after the baptism and we were driving down EDSA when another street officer gave me some very confusing hand signs which I interpreted as “move forward”.. apparently meant “turn right” I moved forward and he pointed to the curb and told me to wait for him. It was about 6pm and EDSA was packed as usual so there was no where I could run. He came up and told me to give him my license.. for a second I had forgotten that I had gotten my license confiscated earlier and started fishing around my pocket for my wallet. I was super bummed when all of a sudden I remembered that I had no license! I told him pretty happily and he said why are you driving!! He seemed to be a bit more compassionate when I told him that I had just gotten it confiscated earlier because I was pulled over. He told me to be careful and to just get out of there haha.

 

I never ever thought I would get pulled over in the Philippines for driving, and in one day, it happened twice. It was pretty fun at Quezon City Hall too. Some pretty funny people and a pretty disorganized government system. All in all though this week was good. I really like the office and it’s a super cool experience. For example, getting  pulled over and having to retrieve your license at Quezon City Hall!

 

 

 

September 25, 2015

 

Hey Mom! 

Things are going so well right now! I'm so happy here in the office, I really feel like im a big help to the mission. Our days are spent mostly in the office and occasionally around the mission when we get assigned to do random tasks. I felt like at the beginning, there was no way i could ever be the office secretary. I thought for sure i would never be able to fulfill this calling. Bur right now I truly feel that I fully know how to do everything I'm asked to do. even though I only had about 4 days of training. I feel pretty confident and capable. T

 

To summarize my responsibilities, I'm in charge of all travel, all correspondences with other missions and ecclesiastical leaders of missionaries, processing all missionaries info into the computers, making appointments with the temple and a bunch of other things. Its really fun but slightly stressful at times. Every day we get to leave the office at 4 pm and go proselyting. The usual missionary schedule is 10am-12 pm proselyting, and then 2-9 pm proselyting so its a big decrease in proselyting time. Ofte times we need to take extra time in the office to finish the things we need to get done for that day so sometimes we don't get to go out at 4 o'clock. It can be hard sometimes. Our area is struggling right now meaning we are having a hard time finding people to teach. It's easy to blame that on our very limited working hours but we can still get a lot done. i actually love to go out proselyting after a long and stressful day in the office. It feels good to get outside and walk around. It feels good to sweat and talk to people. So its a huge blessing that were still allowed to work.

 

I do miss Elder Valencia's bicol express! It's a bummer because usually missionaries cook their own food in between proselyting hours for lunch, but because we're so busy in the office, we don't have any time at all to go home and cook food so we just buy ulam and rice at karinderias on the street. I like it too because they have some really good food most of the time but i do miss cooking. I'll get back into it when I get out of the office. The weather has been pretty hot as usual. Raining every so often but nothing too extreme. Driving is fine. I'm pretty safe on the streets as to not get in an accident. Everything is going really well here! I'm really happy and excited to keep working hard! I love you guys and hope everything is going well back home!

 

p.s. I think I hit my year mark next transfer? that's so fast! 

 

 

 

 

 

pulled over and having to retrieve your license at Quezon city hall!

September 23, 2015 (letter from Henry's mission president)

22 September 2015

 

Brother and Sister Mark Van Slooten

23019 Oxnard Street

 

Brother and Sister Van Slooten:

 

I am happy to inform you that Elder Henry Thomas Van Slooten has been called to serve as the new Mission Secretary in the Philippines Quezon City Mission. 

 

The Mission Secretary requires a missionary of exceptional integrity as he handles many confidential matters.  It also requires exactness in keeping Church records.  We are thankful that your son possesses both these important qualities. 

 

Sister Revillo and I feel it is our blessing and opportunity to work with your son. Thank you for raising such a fine young man.  We appreciate the love and encouragement you give him.

 

Sincerely,

 

Carlos G. Revillo, Jr.

Mission President

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Elder Van Slooten

Philippines Quezon City Mission

Mission Secretary

Telephone: (02) 913-3863

Cell: +639235422454  (I'm not gonna lie, this is tempting)

 

September 19, 2015 (still need to get used to Saturday pdays. Date night Fridays may ba a thing of the past)

September 18, 2015

This week has been insane! I can't believe how busy we are in the office! Well we aren't necessarily busy in the office.. we have to drive all around the mission to run random errands that our mission president gives us.. for example last Monday my companion and I had to go with two workers to get a house ready for the incoming couple missionaries - the Hansens. We left at about 7 am from the mission home with two random guys from Baclaran that Sister Revillo hired to help us with the house. They didn't speak English at all except for two words.. every time I would make a good move in traffic or something, they would laugh and say, "ooh sexy move" hahaha! They were super funny and they were good workers too. We had to move in a bed, install an aircon (Filipinos say aircon to mean air) unit, install the stove and move in a washing machine, and move some furniture around. It was super cool because it felt like I was doing another random job with dad. That was a lot of work and we kept on having to go back and forth between the mission office and their home in Antipolo, Rizal which was pretty far. It was a really pretty drive though and I got to drive through some really provincey areas. It felt like back in 2010 when we were driving through really mountainous areas like Sagada or Banaue rice terraces. We've basically been doing a lot of  preparation for the incoming couple. I was put in charge of planning out their first few days so I decided to take them to the insanely busy LTO (Land Travel Office) to get their drivers license. We luckily were able to get their license on the first trip so we didn't have to go back and forth 5 times on separate days like some couple missionaries have had to do in the past. As we were waiting in one line Elder Hansen went up to me and asked, "Is this an abnormally long wait or something"? hahaha I told him, "This is an abnormally short wait". He was a bit shocked but he actually served a mission in the Philippines 42 years ago, back when it was still called the Philippines mission. The entire country was one mission and it was for sure way different than it is now. I'm sure there was no LTO 42 years ago.

In other news.. I had  very special visitors this week in church! haha Grandma and Grandpa Nieves, and Tita Rory came to visit me at church! Grandpa was SOOO happy to see me! They all were but he especially. I could tell they didn't really understand what I was doing here on a mission as they kept suggesting we go out to lunch. Nevertheless they were so stoked! Grandpa kept hugging me from the side around my waist and resting his head on my chest (I don't remember being that much taller than them). He was yelling, "apo ko yan"! (This is my grandson!!) haha Grandma can no longer walk too well so she was in a wheel chair. She kept holding onto my arm and trying to stand. It was pretty sweet haha! She kept asking for a kiss on the cheek and stuff. It was slightly embarrassing as this was all happening right outside the chapel about 10 minutes before sacrament was to start. It was so good to see them. President Revillo told me that he will allow me to visit them in Paranaque towards the end of my mission. I'm super glad he said that too because I would have never in a million years suggested that I leave the mission just to see my grandparents. He was the one who came up with that idea and brought it up to me so I guess I will just go along with the flow! haha this week was great. We're so busy and it's just such a different life in the office. You get placed in the weirdest situations and you get the coolest experiences. 

Also the yard looks so different! I'm so excited to try the sand vball court! It looks really nice and I wish I could be there to help but even more I wish I could send those two workers from Baclaran to help you out, dad! haha it looks like you guys are doing really well. I pray for you guys every night! I love you guys!

Elder Ramirez and I were on our way to Morong to pick up a refrigerator for the Hansen couple. We decided to stop and stretch and take pictures at this cool place on the side of the road. Notice my very Philippino (Filipino) haircut. You sit in a chair and no matter what you tell them, they do the same thing they do to every guy that gets their hair cut. They shave the sides and leave the top super long haha

September 14, 2015

September 4, 2015 (HBD Elder Van Slooten)

 

                                    (riding in a jeepney and falling asleep)
Things are going well! I'm not too stressed and I've been working well here! also I'm in a threesome haha! the one on the left is Elder Brewer (hes' the one that's training me to be the secretary lol) He's from around Sacramento and is suuuper smart and suuuper good at his job as secretary.. part of the reason I'm so nervous,  he used to program iphones and androids before his mish... idk what that  means but basically he's really smart. He's also 25 and I'm only 18... oh wait 19 haha!) and the one on the right is Elder Ramirez. He's the apartment specialist for the mish! He's from New Zealand but he was born in the Philippines and moved to NZ when he was 11-ish so he's fluent still.

Basically what I do is a  lot of typing and stuff.  My job is to process all incoming and pauwi (outgoing) missionaries, process their info into the computer, correspond with their families, bishops, stake presidents, etc. and  arrange for all of their flights (if I mess up people either won't come into or leave the mission... haha ) I have access to pretty much everything in the mission. It's pretty crazy but I'm adjusting okay.

It sounds like you guys are doing really well! I got your package btw!!! It was so cool!! The belt was really big so I had to poke a new hole in it so it would fit me but I really like the ties. I immediately wore them when I got them haha!

 I love you guys!!


September 11, 2015

My week was pretty solid, super hard.. but solid!  Everyday is so stressful haha! Like the other day I got an email that a new couple was coming into the mission and President Revillo said "Elder Van just make a draft of their schedule for the first week. Arrange for travel to pick them up at the airport and set appointments with the Philippines Area Office and Buruea of Immigration for fingerprinting and visa processing. We'll discuss your draft tomorrow." and I was like uhhh I literally have no idea what any of that is haha! Just kidding, I know what to do but it's super hard because i have to train myself! The office secreatary before me is already home! haha I trust myself though. I'm learning so much and I truly don't believe I could be doing this without Heavenly Father's help. Sometimes I'll be doing a random task and I'll think, "How in the world do I do this again"? and I'll just randomly happen to find out exactly where to go and what to do.  I'm sooo thankful for the Holy Ghost haha! I would be dead by now without him. Driving in the Philippines is.. very..scary.. haha!  Its pretty hard but a fun challenge. I think its making me a more aggressive driver which could be bad for the real roads but good for Tijuana border crossing. (never use your blinker if you want to change lanes when its bumper to bumper. don't even turn your wheels until you're ready to turn. then you pounce at the perfect moment - catch them off guard - and squeeze in in front of them. random EDSA driving tip haha)

My new companion is Elder Ramirez and he's a Filipino from New Zealand. Not gonna lie, at first he kind of bugged me. We got along fine but he was just a different kind of guy. I'm adjusting to him so well and I kept praying that I would be able to understand him and be patient with him. Man my prayer was answered! We're so close now and we get along perfectly. He feels like another friend from back home. I'm super glad I was able to adjust to him

 

this is just a random picture of me and my old kabahays (companion/housemates)but I wanted to send it because I got your package and the shoes are perfect!! I seriously love those shoes so much ahaha! and I got your other package with beans and tortillas. I am very excited about that. The belt was super cool! It was just really big so I had to poke a new hole in it. I think I'm losing weight? The other day I saw a lady from my first ward and she said, "ay elder! ang laki ng pinayat mo!" (Oh Elder, you're losing weight")haha I can't tell though.

 

I hope you guys are doing well! I pray for you guys every night! I love you!!!

August 29, 2015

August 28, 2015

So I have some interesting news... last Thursday Elder Valencia and I were doing our companionship study when we got a call from President Revillo. I was a little bit scared to answer and so I made elder Valencia answer. He talked to President for a few seconds and then his eyes opened wide, his jaw dropped and he said "yeah here he is President". He handed me the phone and I say hello president. President says "hello elder hows your sore eyes?" etc etc. he asks me how im doing and things like that. then he says "Elder, the reason I am calling is because I have an extra calling for you" (I'm already a district leader so I guess I'm going to have an additional calling???) I said ".. uhhh sige po president what's that?". he responded by explaining, "so as you know the new couple missionaries - Elder and Sister Condie - came in two weeks ago and Elder Condie was to be my new office secretary. However they are not working out. I want you to be my new office secretary. Can you do this for me Elder Van Slooten?" ... haha I didn't know what to say. I probably sounded very awkward as I responded, "umm yes president.. I can do that for you". "good", President Revillo responded. "this means that you will be helping me run the mission from behind the scenes. Are you familiar with Microsoft word? excel? do you have a drivers license? you will need to get a drivers license, you will be driving all over the mission" President continued to explain some of the other responsibilities I will have and some of the many things I will have to do and what will happen in the next few days. "Elder you have my complete trust. I need you to learn fast. Elder Brewer will be training you and as you know, he goes home in eight days. Can you get your bags packed tonight? I want you to be in Quirino in the office tomorrow morning early to start your training. Elder I am relying upon you. can I trust you"? umm at this point I was speechless with about a thousand thoughts running through my head. I don't want to drive in Manila I'll die! I don't know how to be a secretary? I've never organized and planned the affairs of a mission! why me? I'm the least qualified! haha I responded and said "President I will give 100% to this calling. you can trust me". President simply replied "Great. be ready tomorrow by 8 am. thank you Elder". He hung up the phone and Elder Valencia and my kabahays - Elders Barenno and Scoffield - were all yelling "what happened, what was that"!! it was a pretty funny experience. so there ya go. I got emergency transferred into the office as president's secretary. My new ward is Quirino 2 at 1 in the afternoon (in case I have any prospective visitors) my pday is now on Saturday so you guys will be emailing me on Friday night.

This is a picture of me and my kabahays before i got transferred. My first night in the office was nuts.. we had to go pay the rent that the couple missionaries had before they left and we dropped by their apartment to get their key. Elder and Sister Condie are awesome and they looked pretty sad to be going home so i offered to give them a blessing if they would like. They accepted and it was very spiritual. Elder Condie was all teary eyed and he told me that he feels like he has known me his whole life. After we collected their key he offered to walk us out to the street. Elder condie told us "We had dinner with the President Revillo and his wife last night and they talked about you elders a lot". He then looked right at me and pointed at me saying "especially you Elder Van Slooten. President Revillo really depends on you and he sees a lot in you" (gulp) hahaha jeez talk about pressure!! I'm sad to see the condies go though. they were only here for two weeks

August 23, 2015

We had a baptism this week! his name is Jericho Bibon 15 years old and he reminds me of Ryan Barnett. we have a super solid friendship. haha! he's one of my favorite converts because he's super funny and we're always sitting next to each other in sacrament meeting and having fun together.

After i baptized Jericho i wanted to yell into my towel. I was so stoked! Then the         

following Sunday the bishop told me that Jericho wanted me to confirm him. I was so  

scared haha! I've never confirmed anyone before in my life! It worked out well                                  though.

 This is our last baptism. Mariella May Ramos Cruz. I baptized and confirmed  her.      And that's our bishop crouching in the front. He's the old mission president of               the Tacloban mission!                                                                                                      

 This is a view of the neighborhood that I live in. If you walk along the   
 river,  you'll run into our street and then you turn left on our street and you'll find our house! Isn't that funny! haha! it looks so uninviting from the outside (and from the inside too) but it's a pretty cool neighborhood. it's always flooding and pretty often the river will flood over that wall and were stuck hahaha!

Me and Mister Buddy Reyes!! He gave me 1000 pesos haha! I told him not to but he forced it on me.

August 2, 2016
Hey family!! I got your package! it was so nice to get it and the timing was perfect! also the shoes fit me perfectly and are really cool! I wrote you guys a letter so hopefully you get it soon. I will send it tomorrow so it shouldn't take too long.

 

My new companion is elder Valencia from Bicol and he doesn't speak a lot of English.. which is a bummer because it's hard to talk to him for a long period of time but! he's super cool! we teach so well together. also a huge bonus is he's really good at cooking. He made Bicol express and chicken curry with fresh coconut milk we bought across the street. SO good! and now I know how to cook it too so hopefully I can somewhat emulate what he created the other day. I really hope that I remember all these cooking things. I want to cook for you guys when I come home! although it won't be as good as mom's cooking it will be better than my cooking before my mission haha!

It was so hard to have Elder Salisbury go. He was my best friend on the mission, and it's not like I'll see him in the future at mission meetings or anything. He's home now so I'll have to wait for when I'm home to see him again! It was pretty sad the first few days without him but I'm adjusted now. He's going to study at UVU right next to BYU so I bought a little coin purse here, wrote Sam's number inside of it, and told Elder Sals to give Sam a call when he gets home and deliver her the coin purse. haha! We'll see if it gets to her! 

 

Mom, that book by Elder Groberg is an amazing book! Brother Olsen gave it to me to read before my mission. It helped me a lot actually and there are a lot of passages from that book that I remember that are very applicable to life right now in the field. I wrote you guys a letter kind of about that. pray that it gets to you! because I think I have sent some letters in the past that didn't get to you!

 

 

August 9, 2016

Hey family! I hope you guys had a good trip to Mex. That'd be cool if Jolie got some surf all on her own to try and shortboard. What board is she riding btw? Did you guys put a leash plug on my longboard yet? Also I hope this coming school year goes great, mom! I pray for you every night crisscross on the floor in front of my fan haha. It'll be nice to be so close to school.

 

 

August 16, 2016

hey family! this week was great! I had a visitor in the Quezon city third ward!!! Buddy Reyes!!! it was so cool to see him!! oh man if you guys ever see him in the near future make sure to tell him how good it was to see him!

 

Sounds like you guys had a great trip to Mexico. I wish I could have been there haha oh well I'll get there in 2 years.

I also wish I could get more done on pdays too, dad. Time is so fast on Mondays. We're not really allowed to go on hikes in this mission at any time so I don't think I'll be going on any hikes any time soon. If we want to go to a zoo or anywhere cool it has to be in our area,  then even if it is in our area we have to text president for permission before we go do anything like that on a pday. hahaha he rarely allows us to "waste time" on pdays. Missionaries from the Philippines say that President Revillo is the most strict mission president in the Philippines haha.  I don't doubt them but I also think it's good in some ways. We get a lot done and missionaries really learn to grow up with his strictness and we really work hard. although yes, dad I'm with you. I wish I could go on a hike too. Once a missionary asked him "President, can I read 'Jesus the Christ' by James E Talmage?" President said "Elders and Sisters, once you have 100 percent memorized the Book of Mormon and Preach My Gospel front to back, inside and out, you can read whatever you like" hahaha! it was his way of saying, read nothing except for the bom and pmg. Hes' so funny. Yeah I honestly learned to go with the flow. I love the scripture in the New Testament "Don't kick against the pricks" I try to remember that and accept things as they are.

 

Also our stake president surfs and he was telling me about Siargao and how there's

always surf there year round. I think we need to make a trip  back someday

 

This week we had another baptism! I'll try and send you guys a lot of pictures but it was awesome. every time I baptize someone, and I dry off afterwards in the bathroom I wanna yell into my towel from excitement haha. And yes Jericho is so pumped on being a member now. almost every time I see him he says "Elder van! magmimisyon ako sa inyo. sa lugar ninyo ha!"(I will go on a mission and I'll be going to your place) haha He reminds me so much of Ryan or Jacques Barnett. We have our own secret handshake and we're always joking around with each other. I hope he serves in the California San Fernando  Mission! Chances are slim but I'm hoping.