Week #23

March 23, 2015

Hello!

Well sorry I have been getting on so late these past two weeks! We have been really busy and we had a zone activity this morning! It was pretty lame but oh well!!!! Right now as I am typing this I am about to poop my pants but I refuse to use the restrooms anywhere but in our apartment because that's the only place with toilet paper! And I'm not willing to cross over on that aspect of Filipino life! This week was once again an ok week. We only had ten lessons this week again. I hate getting punted! So yeah not really any highlights of this week. Yeah so update. I just turned. I couldnt hold it... oh well!!!! haha  Well we had exchanges this past Tuesday and that was pretty fun! the elder I was with had been previously assigned in my area so he had a lot of fun!!! Also last night we had a lot of elders stay over at our apartment so we marinated some pig parts and made our own homemade bbq out of some screen we found and some charcoal and it was so good! We had a boodle fight which isn't what you think it is but I'll send you pictures! Oh and then we got invited to attend a members 18th birthday party! Here in the Philippines they take 18th birthday parties seriously! Like it's a big celebration! We also had the opportunity to watch a spider fight yesterday so that was exhilarating. Not. Probably one of the most boring things ever! Basta I really have nothing to say! so email me back with questions!! I love you! 

Elder Child

Week #22

March 16, 2015

Hello everybody!

Well sorry it took so long to get on today! We had a district activity this morning and it ended up taking a little bit longer than it should have. Anyways about this week! It was terrible. We got punted all week.(we couldn't teach lessons either because of the rules we have or there was no one there) So yeah we only got 10 lessons this past week. But on the bright side me and my companion are getting closer and closer every day! This is an awesome companionship! Basta, so yeah more bad news. There is a typhoon heading this was. The news is saying it is stronger than Yolanda! (the typhoon that hit in 2013) Yeah and it has wind speeds of 400KPH. But that's what I heard! I'll check after I send this email! But anyways! About the activity! We hiked a super cool mountain right through the bukid! It was crazy! And I did it all bare foot! It was all fun and games going up because it was cold
outside and we were just having fun! But on the way down it was starting to get hot out side. And that means the ants start coming out. Now when I say ants I don't mean the ones in Washington. These bad boys are roughly the size of a quarter and they are those weird leaf cutter ants. So yeah you could say we were all in pain coming down that mountain. There were some of us that just went as fast as we could to get it over with! So yeah we got chased by giant man eating ants! So when we got home I dumped alcohol in my war wounds and it was probably the most painful experience of my life. Oh well its more fun in the Philippines! But yeah we are so late right now! So that's pretty much it! I love you all!

Elder Child

Week #21

March 8, 2015

Hello!

Well, looks like lots of things are happening back home! Nothing new here! Just lots of rain and scorching heat. And I accidentally left my umbrella on a jeepney so now I have to buy a new one :/ You are going to be angry at me because I didn't take very many pictures this week. In fact I think I took like 3. Anyways about my week! This week was a hard and difficult time. We had no members to work with because they all went on a temple trip to Cebu this week. Also we had absolutely no lessons on Tuesday because we got punted by everybody. And then to end the day off some guy tried bible bashing with us to prove that the LDS church is false. I can honestly say he walked away from that a little humbled. It didn't help that we weren't in a good mood either due to no lessons. Basta, about my exchanges... They went fine! In fact last Monday President Maurer had an interview with the kid and he is fine now! Turns out he even had his own phone and he was texting girls from his previous areas. But yeah he is cool now. He just would never stop talking. Even when I was trying to go to bed. Basta it was ok! Oh Thursday! On Thursday we worked in Canmogsay and we had two LA lessons! The first one went great and all. The second not so great. We planned to teach them on the 10 commandments and the lesson went great! We were teaching the kids because the nanay decided she didn't want to listen. Anyways it was the very end of the lesson and we were committing all the kids to church and all but one said yes. And as we were trying to convince the last kid, the nanay showed up. She started arguing with us and telling us that they had agency. So we shared 2 Nephi 2:27 and quoted a scripture from the bible "with greater light comes greater condemnation" Then we closed and left. They didn't come to church. But oh well they have agency. Also I've noticed as the days go by it's way easier to get along with your companion when he is obedient!!! It's great! Anyways that's it! I love you all and thank you for your love and support! Oh and mom just forward the questions I asked you to Grumpa! I love you!

Elder Child

Week #20

March 1, 2015

Maupay na aga!!

First off thanks for sending me an update on the week... Anyways this past week has been awesome with my new companion! We have been going hard. I'm sad to say that I now know the difference between an obedient missionary and a disobedient missionary. I am learning things from Elder Dela Cruz that I should have learned in my first twelve weeks with Elder Estrada. It's driving me crazy that I was doing a lot of stuff wrong and I didn't even know about it. Anyways, my companion is the district leader for this transfer and he absolutely hates it! I don't think i ever want to be a DL, ZL, or AP. I just want to be a normal missionary the entire time cause it's more fun! Also benefits of being the companion of the DL I get to know all the problems of the district! There is currently a companionship where one of the elders is absolutely terrified of his companion. Like to the point that he doesn't want to go to sleep at night. I can understand that because his companion is a complete weirdo! Anyways we have received reports that his companion yells at him and threatens to beat him. And guess what! I get to go on exchanges this Friday with the crazy one. The zone leaders made the decision for that because I am the biggest in the entire district and they think I can make him stop. Hopefully I don't die... If it doesn't stop we have to report to the mission president. I love the mission! Anyways this week was super fun! We worked with the members a lot and my companion is saying that the BM's are good here but he needs to talk to our branch president because there is absolutely no structure to our branch! Anyways the language is coming to me even faster now because my companion can't speak Waray Waray and I am actually included in the lessons! Also sad news. We were supposed to have 4 baptisms this past saturday but we only had one. There is something else I also didn't know. There is an 18 year old rule. Karuyag sidgnon, either the investigator needs to be 18 years or older or they need to have a fully active parent or they need to attend church regularly for 3 to 4 months! So sad. Well that's it for this week! I love you!

Elder Child

Week #19 - First Transfers = New Companion

February 23, 2015

Hello!!

Well first of all I want to apologize for not emailing yesterday. We got our P-day changed due to transfer day. Basta, I am staying in my area, Talosa, but I now have a new companion! His name is Elder Dela Cruz and he is Filipino! It's super sad that I have to switch companions cause I was pretty close to my trainer but tis the missionary life! So about the past week. We are having a ton of progression in our investigators! We have been teaching 6 new people these past two weeks! 2 girls that live by themselves and a family of 4 and they are awesome! They all attended church this past Sunday so that was awesome and they all have baptismal dates within the next month! The only problem is the tatay (father) of the 4 member family. He has so many questions about our beliefs because he has been catholic his entire life and he is reluctant to change his religion.  Oh well! Also we have 4 baptisms this upcoming Saturday. The 3 Abraham kids in Canmogsay and Kirstine Ibanez from Talosa! So something I just found out - my new companion doesn't know Waray Waray so I have to teach him. Oh no. This is going to be an adventure! haha So some fun things happened this week. First, on Tuesday we were out tracting in Canmogsay, major bukid, and we decided to try and take a short cut through a rice field (not a good idea) and I ended up slipping off the embankments that you are supposed to walk on and sinking pretty deep into the mud. Now the mud in rice fields is not normal mud. This stuff is like quick sand. Anyways as I tried to pull my leg out I lost my shoes so we spent about 15 minutes trying to find my shoe! Fun times! Also we had branch home evening this week so that was pretty fun. Filipino games are the best because nobody is scared of getting embarrassed! Well that's about it for this week! Thank you all for your love and support! I love you! 

Elder Child

*Interesting things Brett has eaten this week: snail and stingray. A member also made some homemade bread, which Brett says is a sweet bread because they use lots of sugar.  And they don't put anything like jam or butter on it. They just eat it plain.

*His new companion is from Manila and speaks Cebuano and Tagalog.  So Brett gets to teach him Waray Waray, the language that he was thrown into when he got to the Talosa area 12 weeks ago.  He is nervous about that, but knows that if they use their language study time wisely and follow the Spirit that anything is possible.  He has such a good attitude!!  Elder Dela Cruz has a fun sense of humor so Brett is happy about that.

*The picture of the house belongs to a family they are currently teaching.  The father makes 1000 pesos ($25) on average per month.

*Brett seems to be over the stomach bug he had, so that is good.

Week #18 - Happy Valentine's Day!

February 16, 2015

Hello!

Well This week wasn't the best week in the world! We only worked three days due to sickness. We both had pretty bad lbm and super bad stomach cramps! But we still got the most OYMS out of all the companionships in our zone! So the was good! But bad news... we lost a family of investigators. They were going good then the past two times we have tried to visit them they run away and hide. It's really stupid because we make eye contact and they know we see them then they run inside and pretend nobody is home. Oh well. Anyways good news! We have 4 baptisms next week! Really looking forward to that but we need to finish the lessons so a lot of hard work this week! Also I am still in fact lactose intolerant as I tested out. Ugh. I gave my first pair of pants away to a member that just got his mission call to Iloilo! He only had one pair of pants so I decided to help him out. Also another heart crusher. I don't know if I told you about this last week but we helped a family fill out a self reliance packet (lays out all their expenses for the month and their average income and everything. The tatay (father) makes on average about 3000 pesos per month (that's $66) and he has to spend double that to support him family (wife and 4 kids). Yeah that was a real shock. Basta, we found 9 new investigators this week! So hopefully they progress and make up for our losses! Also the lady we taught the word of wisdom to has stopped smoking!!!!!!!! Finally! But she still refuses to come to church... Also climbed another coconut tree this week and I got pictures! Sadly my companion didn't feel the need to take pictures when I got to the top of the tree. Just halfway up. I don't understand the thought process of foreigners sometimes.  Also gave our dog the first bath it has ever had in its entire life. I don't think it likes getting wet... Oh well!!! So that's pretty much it! I love you all! 

Elder Child

*He got the two boxes that we sent in November and December, which is much faster than the Christmas boxes that we sent last Fall and he received in January.  I guess there is no real pattern for the delivery service.  

*He said they find most of their investigators by tracting.  He said everyone in the Philippines wants to talk to everyone.  His companion will break the ice by asking if they have any food that they can share with the missionaries.  Then Brett will joke that he is from Mindanao (<--that is a mission in the Philippines that is exclusively for native Filipinos because "American's can't go there or they will get shot").  He says they all laugh then invite them in to visit.

 One of Elder Child's little friends

 Mini Elders' Estrada & Child

  Mini Elders' Estrada & Child

 Elder Child with some of his little friends

 How they bring water to their home from the community well

 Talosa Zone Training Meeting

Their "pet" dog - Brett was teasing it with his PopTart - which he requested that I send more of!

Week #17

February 9, 2015

Akong pamily ngan mga sankay,

This week has been awesome!!! And it flew by so fast. As the time passes it just goes by faster and faster. It's weird, disappointing and a little exciting all at the same time! So I will start with the bad this week. Our water filter stopped working at our apartment and we didn't realize it for several days until we both realized that the water did taste strange. In those couple days (4) we started getting stomach cramps, lbm, and we were feeling dizzy all the time. We thought it was just the flu so we didn't tell anyone and just went on with our work. But today we decided to finally contact the office and Sister Maurer (the mission presidents wife) gave us a list of drugs which we are currently taking. Not fun. Basta!! This week we also had a lot of success!!! We now have 11 investigators with a baptismal dates and we have now officially reactivated 4 less active families! Also we had 90 OYMs (open your mouth/intro on the street kind of thing) which we were informed is the most out of our entire zone so that was pretty exciting! We also have 13 new investigators! Sadly transfer day is in two weeks so I have no idea if I will be able to continue to teach them! Let's cross our fingers! I got a new camera so lots of pictures! Also the weather has been really weird recently! It's cold for the Philippines but still pretty hot for America! Also on Saturday we had a super spiritual lesson with a less active family and the tatay/father, the only member in the family because all his kids are below 8, opened up to us about not coming to church. He described the persecution he received from neighbors, so called friends, and even his wife for being Mormon. He even started crying. So we had an on the spot lesson on prayer and shared the scripture in Matthew that says if you are persecuted for Christ's sake you will be saved. or something along those lines! It was an awesome lesson! Also I am getting way better at speaking Waray-Waray! hopefully I don't get transferred to a Cebuano area next because I want to learn to speak this language first! Well that's all for this week! I love you!

Elder Child 

*Brett received a package of notes from the kids at the Kamiakin Seminary.  He was so happy to get them and would love to receive more handwritten letters!  I can always include them in his monthly box so if you don't want to have to mail it all the way to the Philippines, we can send it from here.

Pictures 1-2: Investigators

Picture 3: the kids they are teaching where one is deaf and unable to talk so they have to write everything down during the lessons

Pictures 4-5: birthday dinner at a members house - that is their kitchen

Picture 6: Shrine to Mary in the courtyard of their apartment complex

Picture 7: Steel structured building after Typhoon Yolanda (November 2013)