October 19, 2014 - Fantastic Week

My companion and I with Reuben and Rachelle.

This week was a fantastic one. It rained a lot, and we got more than a little wet. On Friday, we had two members come with us to our appointments to act as fellowshippers, and between the four of us, there were only three umbrellas. I lent my umbrella to the member that didn't have one, moved everything that the rain could hurt into my bag, and got absolutely soaked. Despite being wet, cold, and more than a little tired, the day was amazing. Our day ended teaching Reuben and Rachelle. (Reuben is the investigator in the last email) We taught the portion of the Plan of Salvation concerning Pre-Mortal Life and our first parents, and teaching it to them was delightful. They asked questions that delved so much deeper than we normally go, and made comments that made it crystal clear that they not only understand what we taught, but believe it. We went home physically uncomfortable, but that didn't matter because our spirits were so full.

View of the chapel from the back

As a side note, before I left on the mission, I really didn't understand the doctrine behind the Adam and Eve and the Garden of Eden. Early in my mission, I felt like I taught it poorly because I didn't really understand it myself. That has slowly been less the case as I've taught it more and more, but it still hadn't felt like it had settled fully. That night, I feel like it just clicked for me. It's hard to explain, but I feel like I understand our origins as God's children on a level that I certainly didn't before, and that only adds to my faith in God's love for his children.

Saturday night, transfer announcements were sent out. Seeing as Elder Nierves and I have been companions for two transfers, we expected one of us to be transferred, and Elder Nierves was so sure that it was him. When we read the announcement, we were very surprised, but quite glad, that neither of us was being transferred. Three transfers though, that's pretty unheard of. (at least in our mission) I realized that when the end of the transfer comes, I will have either been roommates or companions with Elder Nierves for all but six weeks of my year in the field. Not gonna lie, we're pretty tight. *crosses fingers* Kinda like this. Heh. Life is good, God loves us, there is a plan. Birth is not the beginning, nor death the end of life. May you all have an enlightening week :)

Love,

Elder English

October 12, 2014 - Rollercoaster

My district

This week was a rollercoaster of ups and downs. Among the happenings
of the week were an interview with the Mission President, the death of
the adult son of a sister in the branch, finding and teaching one of
the most promising investigators I've ever had the honor of teaching,
and General Conference. I don't have nearly enough time to talk about
all of those, so I'm gonna stick to our new investigator and General
Conference.

Our new investigator is actually a pair of investigators, the Branch
President's nephew and his fiance. We taught them about the Book of
Mormon, which they'd actually already started reading. They
appreciated learning about where the book came from, why it exists,
and how it's related to the church. After we finished teaching, the
brother's eyes started tearing up, and he asked, "can I serve a
mission?" We explained that seeing as he was getting married, he
wouldn't be able to right now, but when he and his fiance were
retired, they could serve a senior service mission. Then we asked why
he asked. He told us that he was so grateful for what he's learned,
and he feels this desire to share it with others. That was by far the
fastest I've ever seen someone desire to share the gospel after having
received it. When he watched General Conference this weekend, he told
us that he loved Elder Bednar's talk. I expect that's in large part
because it resonated with what has already felt.
General Conference is and was fantastic. If you're reading this and
are not yourself a member, I highly suggest you watch Elder Bednar's
talk. It's entitled "Come and See." For me personally, President
Eyring's struck me to the core and made me cry. The spirit was so
strong throughout all of Conference, but the words "He knows your
name" hit me like a spiritual train.
I know the Church is guided by living prophets. He knows His people,
and He knows your name, and so much more than just your name. He loves
you.
Love,
Elder English

P.S. Random gospel tidbit for the day. I've been reading the Old
Testament lately, and Solomon's temple had a font on the backs of
twelve oxen. The record reads "but the sea (font) was for the priests
to wash in." (2 Chronicles 4:6) This font or "molten sea" wasn't just
a big pool for the priests to bathe in. Our word baptize is of Greek
origin, and wouldn't have been used in the Hebrew of the Old
Testament. They would have used the word wash, or something similar.
This font was for baptizing in. (I'm not smart enough to have figured
this out on my own, I've been using a manual as supplement to my
study)
The Gospel and the God that makes it known to His children have been
the same throughout all history.

October 5, 2014 - "The Time Is Far Spent"

The Catholic Church in our neighborhood.

This week was an interesting one. We had exchanges with the Zone Leaders, and since their area is closed because it's too close to Mount Mayon, they both came to Malilipot to work. Let me tell you, you can do all kinds of things when you double the number of missionaries working in the area. We found several new investigators via tracting, some of which seemed to have genuine interest in our message. We'll see what happens with that.

The most interesting thing that happened this week was on sunday. Later in the evening, we were teaching a lesson with a less-active family, and a drunk neighbor walks into their home and sits down. At first I thought that was slightly amusing, until he started babbling unintelligibly, loud enough to disrupt the lesson. I turned to him and kindly asked him to either listen or leave. He glared at me, and I got the impression he wanted to punch me. I kind of hoped he would try so I'd have a reason to manhandle him out of the house. He didn't, and we quickly ended the lesson. While we were closing with prayer, he stumbled out.

A line of the song "The Time Is Far Spent" comes to mind. "Be fixed in your purpose, for Satan will try you; The weight of your calling he perfectly knows." I know that Satan spends a lot of effort trying to slow/stop the Work of Salvation. I know there's a lot hanging, both in this life and in eternity, on the missionary work. I love the scripture from Doctrine & Covenants "Behold, I sent you out to testify and warn the people, and it becometh every man who hath been warned to warn his neighbor" (D&C 88:84) It so simply impresses the fact that missionary work isn't just the work of missionaries, but everyone who has come to know the truth of His love and His plan. So next time you feel restrained from sharing the gospel, ask yourself, is that you or the adversary discouraging you? I testify that this is a divine work, and we all have a part in it. I have seen first hand how impossible missionary work is when the missionaries are the only ones involved. God loves us, and has promised us great joy in the work of salvation (D&C 18:15-16). Now let's get it done!

Love,

Elder English

September 21, 2014 - Mount Mayon Is Too Quiet

This week was quiet... Too quiet. Word is that Mount Mayon is planning a surprise party for the Bicol region, but we really don't know when that's going to happen. The volcano is currently at Signal 3 of 5, and if it ramps up to a 4, we'll be evacuated.

On Saturday the other two Elders in the branch had a baptism, and the branch had what they called "Family Day" which was pretty much a big Branch-wide Family Home Evening with a talent show and a showing of The Testaments.

In my Tagalog Book of Mormon reading, I recently arrived at the Isaiah chapters. I'm not gonna lie, I was a little bit worried about the Isaiah chapters, because I don't always understand what he's trying to say in English, much less Tagalog. Once I started them, however, I was surprised to find that I actually understood Isaiah better when reading it in Tagalog. I realized that reading it in two different languages at the same time is like having two perspectives when looking at an object. It makes it easier to understand what you're reading/looking at.

My teaching moment for the week was with our first lesson with a brother. He was short on time, so we only taught the core basics about God's love for us and the eternal nature of families. When we finished teaching, we asked him if he had any questions. Most people we teach those basics to just take them for granted, and don't have any questions. His response was that he had a few, which surprised me. His first was "what do you guys get out of this? With salesmen, (This mans background is in business, so that's what he relates to) they generally have a salary or receive recompense when they sell their product, and he wanted to know what we get. My companion and I looked at each other, and the one word that came to my mind was, "uh... No?" We told him that we don't receive any salary or monetary recompense when we "sell" people on what we teach. He then asked how much we receive when we finish. We again told him that we don't get a penny, and we don't "rank up" when we finish our mission. (a common misconception here is that missionary is just a rank in the heirarchy of Mormon clergy) He kind of looked at us at a loss and asked what we get out of this. A quote came to mind I heard in the MTC that goes "Missionaries are those who leave their families for two years so others can spend eternity with theirs." This led right into his second question. He asked, "How can you claim families are number one in your religion if you guys can't work or raise families?" Both me and my companion laughed and explained that the whole missionary thing is only for two years. I think he was both satisfied and impressed with our answers and with the missionary program in general. It's apparent by his questions that he's a very intelligent man, but is humble enough to learn. I'm really looking forward to teaching him more.

The world is beautiful, God is loving, life is worth living. Take care :)

Elder English

September 14, 2014 - Landmark in Tagalog

This last week has been a good one. Elder Walter's replacement arrived on Wednesday. His name is Elder Asebes, and he's fresh from the MTC. He's a really nice, well-intentioned guy who truly cares about the work. I think it's been an interesting experience for him to be roommates with a bunch of Elders who are so goofy and tease each other all the time. 

On top of his arrival, we had sister missionaries put back in Malilipot. (apparently there were sisters here before I got here, but when I arrived, they got pulled out because one of the two of them had to go home for medical reasons) This marks my first district with sisters, and seeing as my companion is the District Leader, I expect I'll learn a lot about how to coordinate with sisters. Their names are Sister Rubia and Sister Notarte. Sister Rubia actually was assigned in Malilipot some months ago, so she was hailed in the branch with lots of hugs and smiles from the sisters of the branch. Sister Notarte is from the same batch of missionaries as Elder Pangilinan, my last companion, and seems very nice, if a bit shy.

This week I hit a landmark in my Tagalog. Elder Nierves was teaching, and said a word in English (guilt) and then hit a mind block when he tried to think of that word in Tagalog. I managed to come up with it and offer it to him. (Pagkahiya) That actually happened two or three times this week. I patted myself on the back after that lesson. Also, I've hit the point in Tagalog where I've started diverting time and resources to learning the true native language here, Bicol. There are little to no written resources in the language, so learning it will be a bit difficult, but I managed to get my hands on an old Gospel Principles book in both English and Bicol (I had to sell my right leg to get it. Mom, if I have a peg leg when I come home, will you still love me? :P ) so that should offer some help, though the Bicol they use in the book is called Naga Bicol, which is a bit different from the native dialect they speak here, so learning it should be a bit interesting. I'm determined though.

First grary hair.

This week we also had a signal one typhoon, which means it was only itty bitty. It consisted of heavy winds and rain that came in at angles steeper than forty-five degrees. At some points I was holding my umbrella straight out in front of me and couldn't see anything past it as we walked. So much fun.

We've been teaching three relatives in the Branch named Al Jake, Christian, and Don. We've been teaching them the Restoration, and have invited them several times to pray. This last week, we asked about their experiences, and Christian and Don indicated that they didn't really have anything to report other than the fact that they prayed. Al Jake, however, said he felt something, but he didn't know if it was his answer. He described his feeling as a "lightening" (not to be mistaken with lightning. That's not the good kind of answer). It made me so so so happy. I let him know that that was indeed one way God answers prayers. Sometimes we carry burdens we don't even know we have, and we don't know they're there until their lifted off our shoulders, or until someone else lends their hands to the burden. When we got home, I looked up Matt 11:28-30 and read it through several times. It reads:

28. Come unto me, all ye that labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. 

29. Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly of heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls. 

30. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.

I know that if we'll take His burden upon us, He will indeed make our burdens light. I know that He answers prayer, though He may require patience at our hands before He gives that answer. I know He loves us and has a plan for us. I love you, He loves us. Have a wonderful and love-filled week.

Love,

Elder English

My first district with sister missionaries, and the first one where I'm the only foreigner.

Slow Week - August 31, 2014

This week has been really slow. My companion got sick, and we were unable to work for the better part of the week. No complaints there, I think the time indoors strengthened our companionship, but it just meant that we didn't get to work much this week.

On the upside, we got three glorious referrals. Those are very very rare, and have panned out into three wonderful investigators. I'm so grateful for the trust of members when they introduce us to members of their family and circle of friends. I know that such efforts by the members bless both the members and the people they introduce, and their bravery will not go unnoticed by the Father. He loves all of us, and would have all of us come unto our fold. We're squandering the blessings of the Gospel if we do any less.

I love you all,

Elder English

Transferred

Hello all, things have been pretty crazy these last couple of weeks. The Bicol region, which is where my mission is, was hit by a signal 3 typhoon, so the work here changed dramatically. We were advised by our Mission President that in most cases teaching would be less effective than service, and post typhoon clean up was encouraged as the primary focus for missionaries. The ensuing two weeks (and the last two weeks of the transfer) were spent offering service to people in Pio Duran. Service ranged from clearing debris from yards to cutting down destroyed banana trees to removing trees that had fallen on houses. Our attire changed from oxford and tie to t-shirts, and instead of bags and scriptures we carried machetes and saws.

Typhoon damage

This last transfer ended, and I was informed that I was being transferred. I've been in Pio Duran for the entire seven months that I've been in the Philippines, so finding out I was being transferred was a little heartbreaking. I said goodbye to the members and my roommates, and readied my things.

The way transfers work in the field, you are informed that you're being transferred, but you aren't told anything about where you're going or who your new companion will be until you meet at a central "transfer point" where elders and sisters meet their new companions and go from there to their new companions.

When I arrived in Legazpi, where our transfer point was, I was informed that my new companion would be Elder Nierves. Both Elder Nierves and I arrived in Pio Duran at the same time, and we had been roommates for six
months, so we know each other quite well. Our area is Malilipot, right outside of Tabaco, and it's one of the, if not the, closest areas to the Volcano Mayon. It's also heavily Catholic, which is different, since, in terms of actively religious people, Pio Duran was a pretty even mix of a variety of different Christian religions. The apartment we have is actually a stone's throw away from a huge Catholic Church. In the apartment are two other elders, a Filipino, Elder Analao, and a New Zealander, Elder Walters.

The work here this last week hasn't been quite as service-heavy as it was in Pio Duran. It's been a pretty even mix, and most of our teaching has been with less and inactive members. One of the members we teach, I don't
really consider inactive, though she hasn't been to church for months, if not years. This sister is in her seventies and bedridden. She lives with her husband in what I can only call a hut with one real room. The Typhoon
left it standing, though the roof is completely useless at this point against rain. And yet, even though this sister has probably the hardest life I can imagine, her faith is one of the strongest I've seen. She loves to have the missionaries come and teach, and she always asks that we sing before we share with her. During our first lesson with her, I felt this outpouring of love for her, and the scripture 1 Samuel 16:7 came to mind, which reads: " But the Lord said unto Samuel, Look not on his countenance, or on the height of his stature; because I have refused
him: for the Lord seeth not as man seeth; for man looketh on the outward appearance, but the Lord looketh on the heart." I love this work, and I love that it brings me into the lives of so many good, strong, faithful people.

June 8 - Mangoes!!

Ethan is grateful for fresh, native mangoes.

This week was lots of fun, in a "we worked really hard, but had a blast" kind of way. We're finishing up preparations for the Pertez children's baptism. The date we have (and I'm pretty sure this one will stick) is the 21st. Lessons with them are so much fun, though sometimes they're a bit shy.


We've also been teaching Nanay Rosemary, a widow we've been teaching for a while. I feel like the members we've designated as her fellowshippers are doing a fantastic job of befriending her and helping her with her day to day life. Often fellowshipping is the hardest thing to facilitate as missionaries, so it's so nice to see that bridge being forged long before the baptism happens.

Yesterday, we went to Binodegahan, a relatively far away area, and went to a member's house to pick up one of the youth to come work with us. He got ready, and then left the house with us. A few minutes later his little brother, maybe four years old, came running out, tears streaming down his face, yelling "Where are you going!?" over and over again. Our member, whose name is Hyrum, picked him up, took him inside, and then sprinted out of the house at top speed. Needless to say, his little brother likes him a lot.

In terms of a spiritual message for the week, we just got an issue of the General Conference edition Liahona. President Uchtdorf's talk on gratitude was phenomenal. I highly recommend it. Gratitude is a theme all throughout the scriptures. One of my favorite examples is Lehi. He's just left his gold, silver, home, and the land of his fathers to go out into the wilderness, where he must rely wholly on the support of the Lord, and the first thing he does after leaving is offers thanks to the Lord. An attitude of grattitude really is a huge part of living a happy life.

God bless,
Elder English

March 31 - From Pio Duran

This week has been an absolute blur. Tuesday was transfer day, and I received a new companion and a new calling. My companion's name is Elder Molina, and he's wonderful. He has three months left on his mission and is very experienced. He's quite good at English, and has been helping me figure out some things that confused me about Tagalog. He's also a very good cook, and has been showing me how to cook some native Filipino dishes.

As for the calling, I was asked to serve as senior companion right out of my training, which is kind of overwhelming. It means that I choose where to go and who to visit. My companion gives advice and suggestions, but I make the ultimate decision. I'm also responsible for the record keeping, which I haven't really done before. It's funny, because last week I wrote that the Lord sometimes piles on more than you think you can handle just to show you that you can. I had no idea how true that was until this last week, but I do know that it is true. I think I've shared this quote before, but it still applies. "God doesn't call the qualified, he qualifies the called"

Elder Haymond from Santaquin, Elders Nierves and Molina from the Philippines and Elder English

One of the sisters in the ward that is always feeding us. We're so grateful for her hospitality.

Beautiful Filipino flowers

Toploading selfie with beautiful Filipino flowers

Unshucked rice that the natives here spread out on one side of the road to sun dry. You see these everywhere on sunny days.

March 24th - From Pio Duran (Part 2)

***Mama Questions and Answers***

So a couple of questions for you. What do you eat when you are at home in your apartment? What do you guys fix for yourselves? If you get a chance, I would love a picture of the exterior of your apartment.  Also, what is church like there? How is it the same or different from the wards over here?

Um, lots and lots of rice, and usually a bit of meat as a side dish.
They have a word for "thing eaten with rice" Ulam. Usually our ulam is
canned corned beef, langoniza (a type of sausage) hot dog, chicken, or
some other meat. I personally like the pineapple here, so I eat that
with my meals, and when we have fruit I'll have that with my meals. I
also will buy bread and actual cuts of pork when I'm in Ligao and make
sandwiches with that and pineapple. I'll see if I can't get a picture
for you before next week.

 Um Sunday Worship Service. Well, it's anywhere
between thirty and fifty people in the branch, with a ton of those
being children and only three or four being Melchizedek priesthood
holders (not including the missionaries). They sing in English, though
the pronunciation is usually different, and there's no piano, so we
sing without accompaniment, which can be... interesting. The sacrament
prayers are also done in English. On top of that, the leadership isn't
nearly as organized here as it is at home. When I first got here, they
just had a Branch President, though we've helped him know what to do,
so he's extended callings to several brothers, so that is getting
better.

So, we got transfer announcements Saturday Elder Carpio is going
to be transferred tomorrow which makes sense since my training is
officially over. I'll be staying in Pio Duran for another six weeks at
the least, and I'll meet my new companion tomorrow. Elder Rennaker is
also getting transferred out of Pio Duran, which is too bad because
we've become good friends in the twelve weeks we've been here
together.

March 24th - Fro Pio Duran

We crossed over the ricketiest looking bamboo bridge, and we
stopped to take pictures at the end of it.

Add caption

One of the Members Caught a Snake Turtle

Random scenery on the way to a dinner appointment.

This past week has been quite inspiring on Tuesday we had exchanges
with the Zone Leaders. While working with one of the Zone Leaders, he
had me do some door to door contacting, and expected me to do it more
or less on my own. It was pretty intimidating, but after doing it a
couple of times, I realized that I know a lot more Tagalog than I
thought I did. Since that day, I've held several independent
conversations with natives. It has occurred to me that we are often
like that. We underestimate our capabilities because we constantly
tell ourselves that our capabilities are less than they actually are,
and we miss the development of those capabilities. Then when God or
one of his instruments kicks us out into the open and forces us to
rely on those capabilities, our first response is fear and then we
realize that we've come a lot farther than we realized. Often times
trials and tribulations are designed to force us to realize that we
are much more capable than we think.

Closer to the end of the week, while teaching one family, we met a man
from their church who said he was a "layman preacher." He asked what
our holy day was and why, and I explained that our holy day is on
Sunday, and that I wasn't exactly sure why (I knew that previous to
Christ's time, the Sabbath was held on a Saturday but I wasn't sure
when exactly the transition started or why the change happened). I
researched it and the following day we returned. I started to explain,
citing Acts 20:7 and planning on then moving to D&C 59:12. He
interrupted me, and went off on a rant about how Sundayworship was
biblically unfounded and was instituted by the Catholic church. This
was the first time I'd run into anyone who wanted to bible bash, and
any attempt for me to finish my explanation were ignored. He continued
to throw out scripture after scripture, each time citing his own
interpretation of the scripture to make a case against Sunday as the
holy day. The entire time the man talked, there was absolutely no
confirmation by the Spirit that what he was saying was true, no doubt
because of the aggressive and combative manner in which he spoke. If
anything, I was getting the impression that the things he said weren't
true. Finally, Elder Carpio stopped him, told him that we were willing
to return if and when he was willing to listen to us, and he bore his
testimony. Very quickly the environment and the feel of the situation
changed. I'm not sure that the family or the preacher will be willing
to soften their hearts, or if they were in a spiritual place to hear
the spirit's whisper, but it was a wonderful opportunity for me to
develop my recognition of what the spirit feels like in two very
different situations. Sometimes people just want to argue about
religion. Our role as witnesses of Christ is to explain to earnest
seekers of truth and testify of what we know to be true, not to
facilitate combative angry dialogue. The Spirit is driven away by
contention, and the Spirit is the most powerful testament that what we
as Latter Day Saints teach is true.

March 17, 2014 - from Pio Duran

This past week, we were taught a new finding technique. On Tuesday, all of our morning appointments fell through, so we fell back to tracting. The area that we were in had been thoroughly tracted by us and by the missionaries that came before us, so when we would go from house to house, people had already hidden in order to avoid us and avoid hurting our feelings by turning us away. As we went through this area, we passed a trio of small boys. My first initial evaluation of them was that they probably wouldn't be receptive. (preteen boys rarely have the attention span to listen to our message) However, my companion and I exchanged a glance that indicated we'd both felt that we needed to stop here and teach. We taught them a very brief overview of the Restoration of the Gospel, and to my surprise, two of the three boys sat through the entire thing and were quite eager to learn more. Over the week, they introduced us to about half a dozen of their friends. Each of those contacts will allow us to meet a set of parents, and I have no doubt that we'll find a receptive family in one of those homes.

It brings to mind Alma 37:6, which teaches, "that by small and simple things are great things brought to pass" This past week has been a definite testament to that truth. Through a small lesson to three seemingly simple young boys, a great growth has been seen in our work, and I expect even greater things to continue from that contact. I know that the Holy Ghost knows which small and simple things are to be the tools of the Lord, but we have to listen and acknowledge the guidance we are receiving to help great things come to pass. I know these things to be true.

 Toploading vistas

Elder Rennaker found two adorable puppies, and they fell asleep on his lap.

General goofiness at a dinner appointment. This also serves as your Before picture.

Post haircut photos. Considering the fact I didn't have any of the vocabulary necessary to communicate with the barber about my hair, it turned out pretty well. Sidenote: They use straight razors here... Most terrifying haircut of my life.