The End of my Mission - April 29, 2020

Today, I talked with my Stake President and after weeks of praying and decision making, I decided not to go back out in the field to Serve a Mission. It wasn't an easy decision, but one I feel is the best for me right now. Their is so much going on in the World and my answer for me right now was to stay at home.
I loved my 6 months of Serving and will miss it. But, being with my family right now I know is the best thing for me.

Officially Released as a Missionary - April 1, 2020

Today I was Officially released as a Full-time Missionary. It was a sad day, some tears were shed. The church also announced that decisions would not be made to return to the field until April 30th. Now I wait to see what is next and where I would be reassigned.

I'm home....

I'm home for this short "Mission" Intermission... hopefully! Thanks Covid-19..  What a crazy time we are in..... But, as we believe, this is just the beginning... 5 days ago I got home on March 22, 2020. It all started on March 16, 2020 in the Philippines when we got a notice from our Mission President that we needed to pack and be ready to move out immediately... The Presidency of the church got word that they needed to move out all foreign Missionaries immediately out of the country or risk their safety staying in the country as the Virus would continue to spread there.

So, as they took the safest measures they could to move 1600 missionaries in 22 missions in the Philippines and put them all in the MTC there. They were successful in doing so. They then were in the MTC another 3 to 4 days waiting for the church to then Charter 5 jumbo planes to bring them all home. All missionaries were cleared from having the Virus when they left, so the risk of them getting it was more from us than from them. He is in quarantine for the next 14 days and will hopefully hear if he will be reassigned on to another mission or will be released and Served his time.

We are so happy he made it home safely. We continue to pray for all the missionaries coming home and that are still in the field... Enjoy this togetherness with your families, as life will get back to normal soon enough. 

No more emails - Coming home...

Because of the Coronavirus hitting the World and the Philippines making a Presidential decision to move out all foreigners, Elder Dodd is coming home..
It will be 14 days of quarantine before being reassigned back into the Mission field in the States. We hope this will be the case. But if not, he will have served his Mission and be done.

Thank you for all the Love and Support during my Mission!

Email #21

Hello Everyone! This week has been good, lots of things to talk about.

[Monday - March 2, 2020 - Day 139]

So got on a usually packed bus this morning to head down to the computer shop in Mariveles. On the way, I stopped and bought myself a 32GB flash drive. I also tried to withdrawal funds but of course the ATM ran out of money. After the computer shop, we tried to get lunch from Blue Plate but they were closed. (It was almost like they expected us or something). We got lunch instead at Billy's Grill.

Me and my companion decided to go on a hike in Mariveles. It was beautiful, the hike was treacherous and steep but it was worth it. 

[Tuesday - March 3, 2020 - Day 140]

Had our District Council Today and afterwards, ate lunch at Blue Plate since it wasn't available yesterday. Went and proselyted in Storage. A person that we were teaching treated me and my companion with some homemade popcorn. 

[Wednesday - March 4, 2020 - Day 141]

Got a text about Coronavirus from our Zone Leaders. I guess every other Asian country has been evacuated, except for the Philippines. We are doing good so far.

[Thursday - March 5, 2020 - Day 142]

Some Catholics came to our apartment and asked us if they could set up a station here and to have one of us read a couple of paragraphs. Our house mates said sure and now I am the one reading the text.

[Friday - March 6, 2020 - Day 143]

So the Catholics walked into our front area of our house. There were about 30 of them and I read the Tagalog text aloud. It was an interesting experience. We get these ice cream bars 

[Saturday - March 7, 2020 - Day 144]

There was a massive wasp in our window, and a bat flew into our apartment and of course flies into our room. Elder Lewman tried to catch it but it went into a hole in our bathroom ceiling.

[Sunday - March 8, 2020 - Day 145]

Nothing notable happened today.

[Closing]

Sorry, this email was kind of rushed but I hope everyone is doing great! Please take care and I'll update all of you next week.

I believe this was downtown Mariveles

Hill or Mountain they hiked on there P-day

View from the hike

My new companion enjoying the view

Me checking out the view

The hole in our apartment where bats flew in.. eek

Email #20.. I got a New Companion...

This week took a long time to get through and kind of stressful.

[Monday - February 24, 2020 - Day 132]

We headed to Limay for the computer shop so that I could help Elder Hoffman with this project. Before then, we traveled to Alion to drop off Elder Bybee's clothes and to get his haircut. After the computer shop, we headed to lunch at Cafe Carlos and then got on a bus to Mariveles for the rest of the day. Elder Bybee knew that this was his last transfer in the Mariveles area so we were going around saying goodbye. He wanted to take me to this place that sells really good mozzarella sticks but unfortunately they were closed because of the Coronavirus. 

Took a trike to the Mariveles apartment to stay the night and climbed into bed. I got smart and actually brought a pillow. They have this broken water pump so every two to five minutes or so, this thing makes a loud buzzing noise. It might be a long night..

[Tuesday - February 25, 2020 - Day 133]

Last District Council meeting of the transfer. Afterwards, once again, we went to Billy's Grill for lunch. During lunch, I had this realization that I was missing something. I decided to check my bag for my flash drive and it was gone. I thought that maybe I left it at the computer shop in Limay so I called the Elders in Limay to try and get it from there. Unfortunately it is gone for good. On the positive side, 95% of the drive is replaceable.

Ran to the market and bought these extremely well done knock off legos. The uninspired names make me laugh every time. During our visit at the market, Elder Bybee gets a call from the Mission President. He called to tell us about what is going with transfer day tomorrow. I am staying in Cabcaben and Elder Bybee will be leaving to go to Botoland in Zambalas. So kind of far away from Cabcaben. I will be receiving a new companion, Elder Lewman. A American Filipino. Our house mates decided to do a little BBQ for Elder Bybee, they cooked some pork shish kebabs.

[Wednesday - February 26, 2020 - Day 134]

Transfer Day! Took one last picture with Elder Bybee before heading to the bus station. Stayed at the bus station for a good three hours then a bunch of Elders show up. I met my new companion and we headed to go eat lunch at Mcdonalds. Once we got home, I studied while he unpacked for a little bit then we made plans for the day. Showed him around this place called Batangas II. Then had a Family Home Evening at a member's house.

[Thursday - February 27, 2020 - Day 135]

We did a weekly planning session and overhauled the board. I decided to bring Elder Lewman to this place called Pariparan. Today hit me hard with reality. It is actually kind of stressful leading the area, having to teach my new companion everything about this large place. It's also a big change for him since he has been in really small areas for the majority of his mission.

Today happened to be Fiesta in Pariparan so there was a lot of noise and no one was home. We tried teaching this one person but there was so much going that it was difficult to even say anything. Luckily once it got dark, everything calmed down. We were able to get in a few lessons. Before we went home, we decided to sit and watch this basketball game that was happening in the neighborhood. 

[Friday - February 28, 2020 - Day 136]

Today, we could not get anything. It's the first time that I ever gone home without any lessons. I brought Elder Lewman to this place called Housing. This member fed us this interesting, what do I even call it, porage? I'm not sure what it is called but it was really good. It had corn, bananas, and some other types of fruit in it. We left Housing disappointed for once. Went back to Townsite and got stopped by this drunk guy. He claimed that he saw God and Jesus and asked me if I would help him. It was kind of strange. 

[Saturday - February 29, 2020 - Day 137]

This member in Capitol invited us to eat breakfast so we went and ate. I lost my favorite tie, why can't I stop losing stuff? Me and Elder Lewman failed to plan for the day but we decided to just wing it which actually, today went pretty well, compared to yesterday. I decided to bring Elder Lewman to our farthest area, Alion. Taught some good lessons and took the hiking trail down from Alion and into Captiol. Went home and played some chess. (Elder Lewman loves chess)

[Sunday - March 1, 2020 - Day 138]

Today was fast Sunday, went to Batangas II after church and taught for a little bit. I found my favorite tie, I'm not sure how it ended up in my house mates closet.

[Closing]

Thank you for reading, I'll make sure to have something Spiritual to share next time. I know I have been doing a terrible job haha. Please take care everyone and I love you all, until next time.

Funny Legos....

Saying goodbye to Elder Bybee..

Me, Elder Bybee and our roommates

Working on our planning for the week..

We are teaching this family and this cute kid wanted a picture with me, but then turned... Lol

Me and my new Companion Elder Lewman on p-day talking with Family. His cheesy grin for me.. Oh and he is only 5'1... The pictures will be fun to see when they are standing next to each other.. :))

Email #19...

Hey everyone! This week has been a slow and kind of an uneventful week.

[Monday - February 17, 2020 - Day 125]

Me and Elder Bybee stayed in Cabcaben for the computer shop. Had to rush cause we decided that we wanted to go on a hike but the hike was cancelled because we needed a tour guide, and it was about to rain. It also was a six hour trip one way. So me and Elder Bybee decided to do our three hours of proselyting for the day and then head to Mariveles with our house mates for the night. It got dark by the time we got to this mountain. It was pretty overlooking all the lights from the houses. After our night hike, we went and ate dinner at a members house.

[Tuesday - February 18, 2020 - Day 126]

Had our second to last District Council of the transfer. Went to our favorite place, Billy's Grill. The employees decided it was a good idea to weld inside the restaurant in front of everyone. Kind of funny.

[Wednesday - February 19, 2020 - Day 127]

For exercise time, Elder Elisan and Elder Bybee decided to dig a pit in our backyard so that Elder Elisan can burn our trash.While they were digging, I was sitting at my desk when I hear Elder Bybee yell for me. When I got out to the pit, on their shovel, was an unknown bug of some sort. None of us could figure out what it was. Then we found a few more of them. We decided to place them into an ice cream container. We left them their for the rest of the day. It wasn't until we came home that night and checked on them that we found that the ants have gotten to them and killed them. Everyone could see the ants carrying little bits of the bug away from the container. Elder Elisan had permethrin and sprayed all the ants to death.

[Thursday - February 20, 2020 - Day 128]

Me and Elder Bybee went to Alion, nothing happened today.

[Friday - February 21, 2020 - Day 129]

For this morning, we walked over to Maligaya to teach. Afterwards, we got on a bus to get a ride down to Mariveles to meet with Elder Orr and Elder Canal. Ate at this burger place for lunch called Angels and then started exchanges. I took Elder Canal back with me to Cabcaben and we went to go teach in Housing. I took the lead in a Tagalog lesson for the first time, it was rough.

[Saturday - February 22, 2020 - Day 130]

We were still doing exchanges. During our personal study, I accidently fell asleep and woke up around 10:30. We were suppose to be out by 10:00 so I hurried and got my stuff, me and Elder Canal ran out the door. So I decided to take Elder Canal to Maligaya, we found this area that me and Elder Bybee hasn't explored yet. It was kind of interesting, at the end of this trail, there is this bamboo bridge that crossed this wide river. It was a little sketchy crossing it. Elder Simene and Elder Elisan was suppose to secure this unlimited buffet but unfortunately the buffet didn't open around lunch time

[Sunday - February 23, 2020 - Day 131]

A pretty normal Sunday. But, I want to share that I have been studying the books in the Pearl of Great Price. It has helped to confirm my knowledge of things. I am grateful for this book and the Book of Mormon. And I am excited that it is what we are studying this year.

[Closing]

Thank you everyone who reads my weekly emails. I love you all and can't wait to update you all next week. Take care!

A night hike we took on our P-day

Dinner at a Members home after our hike

(Thank you Princess Diane Lopez)

Now that is a piece of fried chicken..

So, they have to dig a hole in the backyard to burn their trash. The other day this is what they dug up. They didn't really want to know what it is.. Lol

They put them all in a bucket and returned later to see the Ants had gotten to them and killed some of them. Then they sprayed everything with Permethrin. It's something they give them over there that kills bugs instantly. Patrick has to spray himself and his clothes and in his house daily with this stuff.

Pancake mix with syrup... who knew! They have the weirdest things over there..

A pig farm the came across..

A trike ride they took this week with a mirror in it.. And you can't help but take a picture.. Lol.

These 2 have had a great friendship while serving.. You couldn't ask for a better 1st companion.

We have loved Elder Bybee and will miss him. Patrick will be getting a new companion this week (Feb. 26th). 

Another interesting bridge they came upon and had to cross..

The fields of the Philippines.. Patrick is still amazed at how green it is..