September 15, 2013

Being a missionary has its ups and downs. It rained a lot again this week. I hate wet shoes! No matter how waterproof your shoes are... they still get wet somehow! haha but it is fun and not super hot! Also, this week we just couldn't get our lessons in. Everyone we seemed to plan for became very busy! So we did a lot of searching for new people. Well basically it was me carrying out a big Fijian kid because he doesn't know how to say anything or do anything. So it is just a overall me against the world kind of mission now a days. It is all good, the Lord will bless me. Anyways, we have a baptism this Saturday which I am very excited for! The Livelo family we have been working really close with is doing great. They are very active now ... well the girls and after the baptism we will focus on the father, and the other non-members who live with them. Lyka was a classic example of someone that was prepared for us, we just happened to stumble upon Flor who in turn lead us to this awesome family that was ready to return to church. I am seeing a lot of fruits from my labors and I am really happy now a days! I am hoping though I can leave with the area flourishing even more! Anyways there is a lot of stuff to do here and I still have one and a half transfers left to do this stuff! So wish me luck! But, as a missionary I have to say, through all the good and the bad that has happened in the mish I know this church is true. I am learning and learning more and more and coming to know for myself even more that Jesus is the Christ and God is our loving Heavenly Father. Joseph Smith is a true prophet, and the Book of Mormon is True. I want to leave these things in the name of Jesus Christ Amen.

September 2, 2013

Anyways this week was good! I got my new companion and he is a really really really big Fijian. He eats half a loaf of bread each day and ... yeah ... it has been really worrying for me cause I don't want to pay for extra food haha. Anyways He is really nice but he is a brute. He knocks things over ... man yeah he is such an islander! Anyways our area has been ok. We have spent a lot of time this week getting to know the members in our area so that we could start hopefully getting some referrals. Not too much success. But, we got 2 referrals from less actives... so that was good! Less active referrals are always good. Anyways ... yeah getting a those referrals are like a great answer to my prayers we seem to be missing a teaching pool now a days. So hopefully we will work hard and  turn that right around! Besides that we had an incredible Sunday. I had 15 Less Active members show up to church. I was so happy to see them all! It is seriously like .. the best thing when members come to church and especially less actives. When I got to this ward we were only hitting average 80 members, and now we hit 130 last Sunday. So I am pretty stoked I hope things keep going this way. The ward has seemed really excited and so has our Bishopric. So I am expecting good things. Anyways yeah it is stressful training but I like my trainee. He has a way sincere testimony and I love his attitude. He is a testimony to me that missionary work is true. He has only been baptized for about a year, and he is now on a mission. He has tattoos, but they just are small scars from his life before his baptism. I know this work is true. The church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints changes lives for the better.

August 26, 2013

Anyways this week there was this rain storm and for safety the mission president decided to keep all the missionaries locked up in the houses. It was a miserable two weeks of reading and sleeping. Sounds good but nope it is awful!! Anyways it is the last week of the transfers so we have been saying goodbyes and wrapping up lessons. We have done a lot of work with retaining our recent converts! and I am excited to start finding again. I am also stepping up as a trainer and will be a senior this next transfer so that is exciting for me i guess. Anyways nothing much happened though. This Sunday like I said last week was a repeat of last Sunday. I think our Bishopric is really happy with our work, our sacrament attendance used to be 80 people average now it is 120 average so there definitely have been miracles this week. Anyways next week will be way better with new trainee and new ambitions for this area!

August 18, 2013

Anyways this week has been a wet one. So much rain, it makes working hard. We have had a pretty steady week. We are kind of in a steady pace and it is almost the end of the transfer so not much has happened. I have seen a lot of blessings those from my last 2 transfers here in Mapayapa. We have worked really hard and we are seeing the fruits of our labors. The Esuesta family, who I though would never come back came last week to church  I knew there was still more ahead for them. We weren't able to teach him this week, because he was so busy, but we stopped by Saturday  and he said, "Elders, I am busy, but I will see you at church." I wasn't too sure, so I wasn't expecting much. He showed up to church again with his wife. It was a great sight! He seemed so happy to be back at Church. I was way happy for him! I pray he will make a successful return! Anyways also we had a great time teaching our Part member Family, the Livelo's. They have progressed so much! They have come to church 3 times in a row now! Each time they have stayed for another hour. Our investigator at their home, Sister Lyka is making steps towards baptism so we are really excited. The family too is becoming active again so it has been such a blessing to me to see their success. To think just a month ago we found them because a member saw us taking a break to get a drink. Now they are partaking of the blessings the church offers to them. I know the Lord has poured his blessings over this area and to these people. Anyways, I think our ward is noticing new faces and a new spark for missionary work has kind of spurred over people. The bishopric has gotten excited and I am expecting good things in the coming future! I love missionary work and I love this gospel! It is the best! It is true too and it really brings true happiness.

August 12, 2013

It rains everyday here ... I am always wet... from rain, from sweat, from foreign drippings in weird places! Anyways We had a great week! I was able to baptize my investigator!! Her name is Analyn Sacoco and we worked with them for so long trying to get them married so they could get baptized. Than after that we had to teach her the doctrine really slowly because it was hard for her to remember and understand. She was a trooper though and she reads the Book of Mormon everyday! Anyways it was awesome! We Baptized her and her cousin on August 10. It was a very nice baptism and the spirit was felt! Anyways after that, Sunday. We had an awesome Sunday. They thankfully showed up to church on time and received the Holy Ghost! Now it is onward to temple prep and sealing! I am so excited for them. Also we had so many good fortunes! We had our other 2 progressing investigators show up. Sister Amee showed up with all her kids, she is an awesome investigator. She moved in with one of our families and one day we just showed up and said, "Can we teach?" and she just sat down and listened. She believes everything we have taught her too. Her husband works abroad and she doesn't want to get baptized without his permission. So ... that will be an interesting challenge depending on what kind of person her husband is. So I am praying for miracles there. Also we had our part member family, the Livelo's, show up again. I was nervous they were not going to come again, because it took us 3 weeks to get them to come once. But they showed up and even attended classes afterwards! So we were way excited when they showed up! Sister Lyka has a baptismal date for Sep. 21 so hopefully they continue in this. Last, I consider this one of the greatest blessings of my mission, was the Esuesta family. We have gone so many times to his house and taught him about building our testimony and than overcoming our obstacles to come to church. He has been telling us over and over that he really wants to return, but things keep holding him back. We went once to his house this week and just shared a simple message about renewing our covenants and how important covenants are. I have no idea what changed him, and his wife especially, but they all showed up an hour early to Church!! When I saw them... my mouth dropped! They said, "Look who surprised the Elders today!" I was so happy! It has just been an awesome week. Miracles have happened in these past 10 weeks in Mapayapa. I have suffered many trials here, but now I don't regret any of them. I have seen so many miracles and so many blessings. I am glad I am part of this work! I know that God lives and Jesus is the Christ. I hope for one day that all will receive his Gospel and return to live with our Heavenly Father and his son Jesus Christ. I say these things in the name of Jesus Christ Amen.

Anyways fun story, our zone participated in a training activity with the MTC here. We took around new guys who didn't speak Tagalog... yeah ... they were so bad! It made me feel like the smartest kid ever! haha I am way better than the new guys at TAGALOG! YEAH!! haha That is about it...

August 5, 2013

Anyways this week has been good. We have been teaching a lot of people and really working to get our investigators and our Less Actives progressing. So far we have had a great week. One of our investigators, The Sacoco's, who we thought moved away was actually just on vacation, so we have been working really hard with her for the last like month. She is way ... slow... haha Sister Ann doesn't really remember stuff and listen well. So we really had to work with her really slowly but she finally started getting it! So we got her interviewed this week and next week on August 10 I will be baptizing her and a 8 year old in the family named Carlos! So I am really excited. I am not sure how we were able to pull this baptism of but I am really excited! Anyways, we also have a part member family, The Livelo family, who we have been going for about 3 weeks. They promised us every time that they would go to church. They finally showed up! We were really excited! They came and one of them even bore her testimony! So I am really happy for them. This week was one of those weeks where I saw a lot of reward from my labors. All that walking was worth it! Anyways, I know that this Church is True. I have seen it change peoples lives. I have seen people who were just living together, get married so they can come to the waters of baptism and progress towards becoming an eternal family. I know that this Church is true in the name of Jesus Christ. Amen

Anyways, I don't really have a funny story... I have one kind of sad one I guess. It is kind of funny but had some bad results. We showed up to the Livelo family and I always love starting out joking and laughing. Our investigator, Sister Likha, had a baptism over her forehead and like practically over her eyes. I asked her why she was wearing that, and I asked are you a gangster? Haha than I started teasing her saying she had a big pimple she was hiding! I kept teasing her... yeah she did not like it and the lesson was awkward, she was really quiet and seemed upset... yeah but it was funny at the time, her family was all laughing! I guess I should watch what I say. Also one more story, I was teaching at a families house, the Balasbas family, and I was sitting on the floor. The mom and her baby were next to me and she was on a chair. In the middle of while I was speaking, the baby who is right next to my FACE!! took a poop in its diaper! I ... didn't like that too much... and I started laughing. Spirit ... GONE! Haha Anyways that's it!

July 31, 2013

Anyways This week was really slow! We are in a steady pace now and getting kind of comfortable. We are really focusing on some new people we found. We have 2 new less active families that we found last transfer. One is the Livelo family and the other is the Balasbas. They have both shown willingness to come to church and we have seen some of them come. So it is good, but we are trying to help them understand coming to church is not a sometimes kind of thing. We need to go all the time. It is what the Lord has commanded us to do and it is how we become sanctified through the sacrament. So I am still confused on how to do that, we are building a foundation on doctrine first right now, making sure they understand that. We have another Less Active Brother, who ... I really want to see return. Every time we go over to him he has a grieved soul and we can tell he isn't happy the way he chose to pursue his life. He always told himself he would come back, but now his family has all fallen away and he blames himself. I can almost see his spirit yearning for the atonement and spiritual nourishment. He says he wants to, but every time he gets to Sunday he becomes ashamed to return or he doesn't feel ready. We shared the restoration with him this last week. It was funny how it was just a simple lesson, but I asked him if he knew it was true, he bore testimony, that he knows it is true. I second his witness and I felt power in the room. It is funny how when one bears testimony to himself... he receives a witness for himself if these things are true. I encourage everyone to find a conviction in the restoration of the Church of Jesus Christ, The Prophet Joseph Smith, The Book of Mormon, and Jesus Christ and HIs Atonement.I don't know if this moment alone will help this man overcome his obstacles, but it sure gave him some inspiration. A burden was lifted from him for just a couple of minutes maybe, but it was visible to me. I know these things are true and I leave them in the name of Jesus Christ Amen.

Well here is also a funny story!I was walking one day and this old lady looked like she was asking my comp for something... knowing him he just blew her off. So i stopped and talked to her and she just asked if we were Mormons  I sad yeah and than i offered her help carrying her bags! Haha she had a lot. So i grabbed some and we started walking... like 10 seconds later she latches onto my arm and I escorted an old lady like a boy scout all the way to her street. I didn't get to teach her or anything nor will i ever get to ... cause she wouldn't let me go any further cause she thought I was going the other way. Yeah haha... awkward! Anyways it was funny cause she was super teeny and I was this giant and I was just helping down the street.