January 13 - From E Pio Duran near Ligao

I feel like this last week, the focus for both me and my companion moved away from me and towards the people we teach. We have stopped preparing cookie-cutter lessons in the name of training and started preparing lessons specific to the people we teach, which has been such a relief. I talk much less, but I feel like the lessons we do give actually make a difference in the lives of those we teach.

For example, we recently taught this brother who's a new investigator and has several Word of Wisdom issues. We taught him the Word of Wisdom as our first lesson due to the guidance of the Spirit. He seemed to receive it alright, and committed to giving up cigarettes and coffee, which were his only problems with it. We weren't quite sure how committed he was however. This last visit with him was about a week after that, and he said he'd been living the Word of Wisdom. I'm so glad that we've made that transition to teaching people not lessons, or we never would have started with the Word of Wisdom with that brother.

I know that God is guiding His work and he's guiding us. It hasn't always been easy, but I know that the outcomes will be worth the effort. I know that without righteous effort on our part, we can't receive His guidance, just like Nephi say in 1 Nephi17:23. 

January 6th from E Pio Duran, near Ligao

Wow, I'm actually here. It's been a whirlwind of a week. A lot has happened and there's a lot that I'm adapting to. There have been more than a few frustrating times, but when I think about it, there have been so many tender mercies. For example, yesterday was Fast Sunday, where I introduced myself to the ward. I was pretty worried that fasting would be miserable because we do so much walking and it's already hard enough to get enough water in me to make up for how much I lose because it's so hot here. To my surprise, it wasn't a problem. I didn't even notice that I was hungry or thirsty until we were on our way to our dinner appointment with a family to break our fast. I know that God sustained me in my fast.

My companion's name is Elder Carpio, and he's wonderful. He's a native to the Philippines, so I rely on him to converse with the people. I can teach lessons pretty well, and when we're talking about spiritual subjects I can pick up what others are saying, but I don't have a firm enough grasp of the language to converse well. I've been teaching him English, which he's actually quite good at for never having been immersed in the language, and he's been teaching me boatloads of Tagalog. I'm really glad I've been given such a competent and supportive trainer.

First Companion and Trainer:  Elder Carpio

Found a Crab on the Beach

Teaching the people has been difficult, but so incredibly worth it. A lot of our effort have been in reactivation, though we have some promising investigators. We have one sister that we're almost certain is going to be baptized in less than a month. She's seventeen years old, and she only heard the message of the missionaries who were here before us about a month ago, but she has such a powerful testimony. Another sister has many questions about the LDS faith itself and our specific beliefs, but she has a very well rounded knowledge of the bible and believes firmly in serving God, which is already such a powerful basis upon which we know we can build.

The Philippines itself has a lot of things that I've had to get used to. For example, transportation. In the Philippines there are two main types of public transit: Jeepneys and Tricycles. Jeepneys are old WW2 looking jeeps with the back sawn off and extended back about twenty feet. On each side of the back is a bench which people cram into like a can of sardines. Tricycles are motorcycles with a roof and a metal sidecar welded on. Aside from the driver, Jeepneys can put about twenty people inside, and Tricycles can fit about six people inside. However, both types of transportation have metal grating welded on to the sides and roof at random places, so if the inside is full, people hang off the sides and climb on the top. I've had more than one opportunity to hang off the back of Jeepneys, and you quite literally have to hold on for your life.

My Closet

Mayon Volcano as the Plane Lands

The Philippines is a wonderful place, and I'm so blessed to be able to live and serve the people here for two years. It's difficult, but I know that the words of Nephi and 1 Ne 3:7 are true, and that the Lord will make a way for me to accomplish the things he wants me to. I hope that when time are rough, you know that you can turn to the Lord and he will buoy you up.

November 23rd - From the MTC

My first day was pretty disorienting. Once I got all of my materials and dropped off my luggage in my room, they sent me straight to my classroom, where they immediately jumped into a lesson. I should have realize, but I didn't know that they practice immersion here. I was so so lost. The material we were supposed to be learning was "Getting to Know Someone." A lot of it was lost on me at the time, because I couldn't make out the instructions due to it all being in Tagalog. One thing I did learn is that Tagalog is a very guttural language. The sound "ng" from song has its own consonant and is often used as its own word to mean "of" more or less.

In that first class, I met my companions. Yep, companions plural. Apparently three man companionships happen and are commonly called tripanionships. I love Elder Whitney and Elder Rilloraza. They're fantastic missionaries with great testimonies.

Elder Whitney very recently graduated High School and is still eighteen, but knows a lot about missionary work because he has an older brother that got back from his mission a week before he reported for his own mission.

Elder Rilloraza graduated from High School when he was sixteen, and only has a single term left of college before he has his bachelors. He's was in the ROTC program for the Air Force. He is second generation Filipino, so he understands a lot of what is said, but isn't used to speaking Tagalog, and what he does speak doesn't have the words of respect that missionaries are taught to use. In a way he knows a lot more than we do, but he also has a lot more bad habits when it comes to Tagalog.

After we left class, Elder Whitney  felt quite ill and didn't eat at Dinner, and vomited more than once. We took him to the front desk where they gave him some medication and where Elder Rilloraza and I obtained consecrated oil from a brother there. Once we got back to our room, with help from the missionary handbook, Elder Rilloraza anointed the oil, and I was able to seal the anointing for the very first time. It was a beautiful and intensely spiritual experience. I think I quoted scripture in the blessing itself, but I definitely couldn't do so if I was asked to do so know, and I'm not even sure which scripture I quoted. All I know is that later that evening, Elder Whitney was up and about and feeling much better.

The other amazing thing I learned on that first day is that Elder Ryan Moe and Elder Jordan Kocherhans, who I went to school with, are both here in the MTC, and Elder Kocherhans is my zone leader. I also ran into Sister Mary Hoskins on my third day. I love running into fellow missionaries from Maeser.

The second day, I learned that there's a journal that is passed between Maeser Alumni, and each missionary that gets hold of it adds a single entry into the journal. I saw names that I recognized from my first year at Maeser all the way down to classmates of my own year. The last entry was from Sister Sami Baker, who was a very good friend. Hers was the only one that I read all the way through, and it brought a powerful spirit to my heart and a broad smile to my face.

The third day, after two days of learning the language, we were given the task of giving a lesson to our "investigator" Brother Ricky. We were told that Brother Ricky speaks very little English, that he already had been given a Book of Mormon by a friend, and that he was originally from the Philippines. That lesson had me very very worried. I wrote down my testimony, using the very limited Tagalog I knew, and did my best to memorize it. Before we entered the room, we said a pretty desperate prayer. Then we knocked on the door with a "Tao po" which is the common phrase that Filipinos add to knocking on doors. Brother Ricky opened the door, and we fumbled our way to being welcomed inside. The message that we shared and the answers to the questions he had weren't pretty, but I think a native would have understand our general meaning. I felt the spirit, but was very relieved to have it over with. One thing I realize in retrospect is that we cannot teach the Lords message without feeling the Lord's love for our investigator, regardless of if he's an actor or not. It's something I pray for and ask the Lord for help with.

I love you all and so does Ama po namin sa lagint (our Father in Heaven). He's watching out for Tayo (all of us)

Alam po ko na propeta po si Joseph Smith. Alam po ko na totoo po ang Aklat ni Mormon. Sa pangalan ni Jesucristo Amen.