Week #41

July 27, 2015

Hello!! 

Well this letter isn't going to be very good! This week has been hard and the work didn't go very well for us. But we did have success because we endured!! haha Ether 12:6

So first of all this past week was a little crazy! To start off with we went hiking with some youth from the branch and some investigators so that was super fun!! We went hiking up in the hills around my area and it was so amazing up there. Then Tuesday came around. District meeting. And guess who showed up at my district meeting! President Maurer and the assistants... But luckily it wasn't for a bad reason! The assistants gave the training and President Maurer was doing his quarterly interviews! So nothing bad there thankfully!! 

Our work,despite how little was accomplished, was good. We got around to everyone in our teaching pool thankfully and all the lessons were amazing! And the turnout yesterday at church was awesome! We had 11 investigators at church and they all had a great time!! This coming Saturday our investigator is being interviewed for baptism!!! Yay!!

Being a district leader is still very unenjoyable (not sure if that's a word). Preparing trainings is the worst! You gotta think about what's best for the district and what they need to hear. But by far collecting key indicators every week is the worst. Yesterday I had to collect actuals for the month so that was a mess. But I'm surviving so that's good.

Well that's it for the week! Thank you for all you do!

Elder Child

Notes: I didn't know what he meant by "collecting key indicators and actuals" - basically it's collecting data: how many lessons were taught, it measures your success for the week.  He said that the missionaries in his district probably get the highest numbers in the mission, which shows how hard they work.

Pics 1-2 - Brett said that these arm wrestling matches usually end in a stalemate, but this time he won.

Pic 3 - this is the father to Brett's favorite family in Gandara

Pic 4 - the fire alarm in their apartment wouldn't stop beeping one night so Brett put it in a bucket of water.  I suggested that he get another one and he responded with "nah, the risk of having a fire in the Philippines is so low.  The air here is an active fire station for everyone."

Pic 5 - Here is Brett on the hike he mentioned in the letter.  I asked why the two investigators were carrying machetes and he was carrying his flip flops.  He says the machetes are for clearing a pathway to hike and for killing cobras.  And he said it was easier to hike barefoot.  I asked if people get bit by cobras often there and he said that usually the kids will trap them and stone them but he hasn't heard of people getting bit.

Pic 6 - Lunch he bought from a street vendor.  He says it's delicious.

Week #37

June 29, 2015

Hello!

Well sadly this has been another week of very little work because my companion got sick. This area is just a curse!!! But we did have a lot of success despite the little amount of work! Sunday's are literally the best in the mission field because we get to see the reward for all our hard work! Yesterday we had 8 investigators attend church!! Goes to show that they actually do have faith and aren't going to church just cause we always bug them because we didn't really get that much time to bug them this past week! But anyways that was awesome!!! 

Even with the few lessons we taught they were very, very good. We have one family that is great! They read the Book of Mormon every day and have prayed and received an answer that it is true! They are totally converted already and it's only been like 2 or 3 weeks. They are a family of 4! The mother and father (thankfully married already!) and their daughter and her boyfriend (sadly not married but we are working at that!!). They are so funny because a lot of the time when we read a scripture in the Book of Mormon the tatay will just say "tinuod hini" or "this is true". I love it!! So this past week we had the opportunity to teach them lesson 3 or The Gospel of Jesus Christ! And it was an amazing lesson! The spirit is so strong every time we teach them and I can just feel it testifying to them that this is true. Sadly though we had to give them some bad news. The nanay asked us if they could all be baptized and we had to tell her that her daughter and her "husband" can't because they aren't married. But they committed right then and there to get a marriage plan going so that's awesome! The tatay also said something pretty funny! He said "kinahanglan kamo magkasal kay kon diri kamo makasal diri kamo masunod ni JesuKristo" or "you need to get married because if you don't get married you aren't following Jesus Christ". I love the guy! Also we had the opportunity to teach a recent convert last night and it was a very good convert. She is the mother of 4 kids and her husband is a member but he finally came to church yesterday!! Basta, we got to teach them about the Atonement of Jesus Christ and how it is the only way to return back to our Father in Heaven! We used Mosiah 4 (there's a reading assignment for you!). It was a very good lesson and they even had one of their Catholic friends over so it was cool cause he was totally listening and the spirit was really strong!

So Waray Waray is getting way easier!! It's so much easier to convey my feeling and say what the spirit is telling me now in every lesson! Of course since I am american my Waray Waray is a little blunt and to the point but that's ok cause they totally get it. Besides, the spirit is the real teacher anyways.

My spiritual thought this week comes from a book my mom sent me titled "30 Ways to Love Your Mission". The chapter I want to concentrate on this week is called "be responsible". Pretty much the entire focus of this chapter is that we need to take responsibility for everything that happens to us. If we are always blaming someone or something for all the bad things, we sacrifice that moment to learn and grow. If we take responsibility we can learn and do better the next time thus increasing in knowledge and wisdom because knowledge is nothing without wisdom.

Well that's it for this week! Next week is transfers so I won't be emailing until Tuesday or Wednesday. It depends. Basta, thank you for all your love and support!

Elder Child 

Pic 1-2: a dessert they make in the Philippines.  It's ice cream inside of a coconut.  They made it for a district lunch.

Pic 3-6: they went to a resort on the coast for a district activity

Week #35 - a tough week of being sick

Hello!

Well this past week wasn't so fun! We didn't work at all because I have been sick since Tuesday. I have had body cramps, a sore throat, runny nose, and a cough. So yeah not fun! On the bright side I read Jesus the Christ and 30 Ways to Love Your Mission! So that was pretty productive! But on Saturday we did get out for a little bit and we got two lessons in so that was ok! But yeah other than that this past week was pretty darn boring! Basta, this past Sunday we had a Philippines area broadcast from Salt Lake so that was cool! It would have been awesome but it was all in Tagalog so I only understood like every third word. Basta, this morning we went biking again as a district plus two sister from the other district and it was really fun! We went out on a pier and looked out across the ocean! It's so cool being so close to the ocean here but it's sad because I can't go swimming! But yeah I really have nothing to say this about this week :/ My spiritual thought (I had a lot of time to study this week) can be found in the war chapters in the Book of Mormon! Just by reading the war chapters you can learn and understand the way people are. The way they think and why they do the things they do. To read and watch the pride cycle at work is amazing and it can teach a person a lot about the ways of the world! But yeah that's it for me this week! I love you all and thank you for your love and support!

Elder Child

Notes:

*We went back and forth a bit about member missionary work.  Our family talked about that tonight for FHE and came up with our family plan.  Now it's time to get to work!  He reminded me that when people feel wanted and loved, they return.  Thank you Elder!

*He said that it is raining a lot there, more than usual.

*Brett wondered if his Harry Potter loving companion was casting spells on him to make him sick ;-)  He is feeling better and unfortunately just had to let it work it's way through his system.  Hopefully its a better week!

Pictures:
1 - another picture of his "batch" - they all entered the mission field on the same day

2 - after their district activity

3-4 - out on the pier - Brett said no one fell in and they only trusted him to hold them up

5 - His July 4th box arrived early.  They are only taking about 2 months lately. It's going to be really hard for him to not open his Christmas boxes if they arrive a month early!

6-8 - on the pier - he said he wasn't really in the water and that there was a 7-8 foot drop

9 - enjoying some flavored tuna and chocolate pop tarts that arrived in his box

10 - his zone

Week #32 - First full week in Gandara

May 24, 2015

Hello!

Wow what a week! I have discovered since last Wednesday that this is definitely going to be a hard area. Last transfer my companion had a companion who didn't ever want to work so he doesn't know this area at all! Plus our teaching pool (last Wednesday) consisted of about a total of 10 people so that was a little interesting to see. Basta this past week has been full of hard work including finding, talking to the branch president, and just about everything else if you are opening an area! My companion is American and his name is Elder Thompson. He is a very good missionary with a big desire to be obedient and work. We live in the tiniest apartment I have ever seen! And we come home every night to cockroaches all over the place so it's fun to have a killing spree! Elder Thompson is definitely getting better at the language even though he has the worst American accent in the world! haha It's so funny to listen to him sometimes! The upside to having an American companion is that people really like to invite you into their homes and listen to you speak. Especially the girls. Anytime a girl sees an American here they instantly think "gwapo"(handsome). So it's a little challenging but fun none the less! But yeah about the work. We had a lot of finding. And this area is huge so that meant a lot of walking. My shoes now have holes in them. Anyways we have 7 new investigators and we taught more lessons in the past week than he taught with his last companion in the last transfer so he was a little happy with that. Then it got to Sunday. I don't really think you can call the Gandara branch a branch. It's more of like a group! haha We only had 41 sacrament attendance and then I had to force a "branch" council afterwards. So we kind of just sat them down and told them all this stuff they need to do because they have no organization at all. Oh well I hope that by the end of this transfer it has improved a little bit! Also this past week I had the opportunity to ride in a ambulance! We were working with a member and trying to get a ride to a super far away barangay and a ambulance happened to stop to get some snacks and the member asked if they would give us a ride. So they did so that was pretty awesome! Basta that's pretty much it for this week! My spiritual thought for this week is just strive to be like the 2060 stripling warriors! That's my goal too! Well I love you all and thank you for your love and support!

Elder Child

Notes:

*I asked him how they kept their food uncontaminated from the roaches.  Brett said that they have to put their food in bags and tie them shut.  And they have a "drying cupboard" to put their dishes in so the bugs can't walk all over them.

*They found a new family to teach last night.  It is a mom and her two teenage children.  The father ran away.  The daughter's name is Angel and they asked the missionaries to come back every day to teach them.  Brett told them they could come every other day.

*Pic #1 - Just Brett and a little boy.  So cute!!

*Pic #2 - Elder Thompson and a big praying mantis

*Pic #3 - Brett and his district having lunch.  He said the pizza was disgusting.

*Pic #4 - Elders on a pot pot.  It belongs to a member in their branch.  It is the family vehicle.