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