Memories of a Mission – Page 5 – "We will work for the glory of our Lord"

I learn about transfers

Friday, March 25, 2005

Well the craziness of “Holy Week” continued today with people parading down the street toward the church early in the morning and then people doing “penance” throughout the day by whipping themselves and marching around town. It was pretty nasty and I have no idea where they got the idea to do that from.

Other than all the craziness today was a pretty good day. We were picked up by the Van Ormans this morning at 7:00 to go to El Progresso farm for the youth activity that the district was doing. Elder McCauley and I taught a class on conducting music and about the hymns. It went well but it was just to a bunch of young women which was kind of strange. The youth camp was overall, I think, a big success. The youth and leaders both are really enjoying it.

Elder Malingin and Elder Fairbanks teach at the Youth Conference

After our teaching them, Elder Miller and Elder Boucher took us back to Calintaan. While they were taking us back the assistants called/texted and told us transfers. Next Wednesday I’ll be transferring to the Dasmariñas zone in Cavite Province. I’ll be the district leader for 4 elders and 2 sisters and my proselyting area is Alfonso. My new companion is Elder Durrant from Idaho and I’ll be follow-up training him. I’m feeling sort of bittersweet about this. I’ve really come to love the members and investigators here in Calintaan. More on that later.

Me with Bro Sergio Aldana

Bro Aldana’s house

The rest of the day went well. We had a good visit with Bro Fantuyaw and talked about authority and baptism. We also tried to help him see that his prayers have already been answered. We also met with Bro Aldana. We were just going to read with him but then we found out that he is feeling really discouraged about having to wait for six months. We helped him a little bit I hope. The spirit was there and both Elder Cox and I felt that we were being guided. To top off the day, we walked back to Calintaan from Malitiquang.

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Some of the Rose family commits to Baptism

Thursday, March 24, 2005

Today has been a good day. I’ve really been trying to soak up this area because I’m now in my last week here. This morning I taught a piano lesson to Lennie Tardio. It went well. She told us afterward about how hard sometimes life is. It was hard because I don’t know what to do. I trie dot help her but I’m not sure how effective it was. We also went to Dagupan this morning because we were planning on getting picture at the blacksmith shop of Bro Rose. We were also going to try to help him there. We didn’t get to though because it was all locked up and brother had no key. I’m having him make six kitchen knives for me. I think that would be a pretty good gift for people. This afternoon we went back to Dagupan. We had to walk most of the way because there were not jeeps because it is “Holy Week.” They have a tradition/belief here that every year on Easter week that God and Jesus are “dead.” Because of this, people think that it is not safe to do any kind of work because there isn’t anyone to watch over them. Also they read “the passion” over a loud speaker over and over again in a very flat monotonous voice. They started that droning this morning at 5:00 and it went on almost all day. Anyhow, that isn’t the highlight of the day.

The Field is White

We taught the Rose family a third lesson today about the Gospel of Jesus Christ. We gave them a commitment to be baptized on April 16 and they accepted. I was really excited. Salvadore, Erlinda, Karen and Jay-Ann Rose all said they would. Hopefully Rose-Ann and Irene will also accept.

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Rose family comes to church

Sunday, March 20, 2005

Wow, I have been really busy these last few days and haven’t found time to write. We had companionship exchanges on Friday and so I got to work with Elder Miller for a day. Even though he is a very large person he is as gentle as a lamb. I really enjoyed working with him.

Eating lunch with the Fantuyaw family

Brother Fantuaw

Today was also a good day. This morning we went down to Dagupan to pick up people for church. We first went by the Fantuyaw family with the Pulidos. We weren’t really counting on them so when they weren’t ready it wasn’t really a surprise. We then went to the Viloria’s house and wanted forever for them to all get ready to go. We were going to go past the Rose family with Bro Viloria but when we got out to the corner they were waiting for us. Not all of their children came but both parents, Salvadore and Erlinda, and two of their children came, Karen and JayAnn. They told us that they really liked it and they felt that they had returned. Sister told Elder Cox that hopefully her children will be baptized. I just wish that I could stay here to see it happen. We also had a good discussion about the Atonement of Jesus Christ with Mary Tess and Ricardo Malabja. They are doing well and brother is really showing progress.

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Left my journal in San Jose

Thursday, March 17, 2005

Well it has been a long time since I wrote because I accidentally left my journal in San Jose after Zone Conference. Yesterday we taught a good second lesson to the Rose family. Brother doesn’t really understand what is supposed to happen and why it is important that he give up smoking. We tried to explain it to him and get him started at quitting. They are still showing good potential but we are still trying to teach their whole family. We also still have the help of Brother Viloria and that really is a great help.

Me in front of the flowers

Today we were able to have a good talk with Sis. Fantuyaw. We read with her in Enos and it was good. I think she has been doing some deep thinking and is starting to come around. Hopefully both the Rose family and the Fantuyaw family will come to church this Sunday.

First thing this morning we went down to Magsikap to talk with Michael Antonio about going on a mission. At District Conference he just came out of the blue and said that he wanted to go on a mission. That is great but we aren’t sure why he wants to go because he isn’t exactly active in church. Hopefully he doesn’t think that he can use a mission to get out of the Philippines. We are going to have to do a lot of work to help him be ready to serve.

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Exchanges and Zone Conference

Friday, March 11, 2005

Today was Zone Conference. I’ve been trying to develop a talent or a gift of pondering and inviting the spirit into my life. I’m sleeping again tonight in San Jose because I have to play the piano tomorrow for the district conference. I’m on exchanges with Elder McCauley who is assigned in Rizal and Elder Cox is with Elder DelRosario. They won’t come back in until Sunday. Our Zone Conference today was about the Book of Mormon. I have a testimony of the truthfulness of The Book of Mormon but I’m not very good at knowing where to find passages. I hope that I’ll be able to improve that ability. I really need to recommit myself to the work in Calintaan because I’ll probably be leaving it at transfers and I really don’t want to get trunky.

Cooking pancakes and studying Ang Aklat ni Mormon at the same time.

“Kakabilat na palay” — Rice spread on the road to dry. This is before it’s shucked.

After the district conference with the Tardio’s and Pullidos and Sister Andales

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Companionship Inventory

Wednesday, March 9, 2005

Today was P-Day and fairly relaxing. We visited Bro Aldana and gave him a copy of the Doctrine and Covenants that we’d asked Elder Miller to pick up in Manila. He was really happy about it. I’m sure that he’ll eat it up.

Elder Zack Cox and Me

I probably wouldn’t be writing today but I want to write about what happened yesterday. We had Zone Development Meeting yesterday and Elder Miller taught about opposition in all things and about the need for the spirit in this work. It really hit me hard then that the reason the work isn’t as strong here as it should be is because of the lack of spirit and the lack of inspiration. The reason that this has happened is because of the friction that has been between Elder Cox and I for a while. We both tried to fix it individually but it didn’t work. Needless to say, we had a really long and good companionship inventory. We both just had things that bothered us about each other. It was a little bit of a power struggle. We got a lot of things worked out and I feel like a large burden has been lifted from my shoulders. I wrote a long letter to Amy about it as well and that really helped. It is true what they say, “Never go to bed angry.” Especially in missionary work because there can’t be anything stopping the spirit or the things that are supposed to happen won’t. The spirit is paramount in importance.

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Companionship Trials

Monday, March 7, 2005

I’ve been doing a lot of pondering and thinking today and a lot of self-evaluation. My relationship with Elder Cox is still stretched at best. I often find myself angry or upset at him because of what he does or says. For instance, he has this bad habit of always spitting. It isn’t befitting a servant of the Lord to always be spitting just because of discomfort. I want to just tell him to stop but I’m afraid that he will get upset with me and it will just hurt the companionship even more. The same things happens with his Tagalog. Also sometimes I get the feeling that he is just waiting for me to leave and then things will start going right. For example, when we are planning I will often suggest what should be done and he will blatantly say that it isn’t right and that we should instead do his idea. I’ve given up giving my ideas because they always get blasted down. I don’t’ know what to do. I want to be friends with him but it just doesn’t work. It’s probably just me being proud again. Pride is probably one of my worst faults. I am always thinking of myself and then when I think that I’ve recognized pride in myself I feel proud again because I’ve done something that most people can’t do. It is just one big vicious cycle that I can’t seem to get out of. I think that I’ll talk with President Beck about this later on this week.

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Teaching the Rose Family

Saturday, March 5, 2005

Well, as you have probably guessed, I was really tired last night and so therefore my thoughts and my writing both got really confused. Hopefully I’ll do better tonight. Today was a good day. This morning we got to teach a piano lesson to Sister Lennie Tardio. She is really improving but is just shy that she will mess up when she plays in front of people. We also did some good tracting this morning. We didn’t get to teach anything off of it but at least we are doing our part. We also helped at the primary activity this morning. They didn’t really know what to do but at least they are obeying the instructions coming from the PBO.

We started our fast at lunch today. I’m fasting for a dual purpose that I’ll be able to be more diligent and wise with time and also that we will be able to get the Malabja’s birth certificates in a timely manner. Right after lunch we went to Malatiquang and got to teach Bro Aldana’s oldest son a first lesson. It went well. We also dropped by the Malakad and Ronquilio families to remind them to come to church tomorrow. We also were able to teach Salvadore Rose about the word of wisdom. When we were there yesterday, Bro. Viloria taught well about it but we just wanted to cement it and get a firm commitment from him. Hopefully he will be able to make it to church tomorrow. The only problem is that his twelve-year old daughter has a really high fever and he doesn’t want to leave her alone. Brother Romil will go by their house tomorrow before church and hopefully bring him with them.

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Starting on Another Marriage

Friday, March 4, 2005

Well there have been a lot of developments since I wrote last. Yesterday we went to teach Sister Mari Tess Malabja about chastity and the Sabbath Day. Well it all went well until the end when I felt impressed to ask her if she was married to her husband. I didn’t think that this would be ab problem because they have been together for a long time and have several children. Well, we asked and it turns out that they aren’t married. Just to complicate matters, neither one of them have their birth certificates which are needed in order to get married. We went to the municipal this morning to see if there is anything that we can do without the certificate. They told us that there was nothing we could do but find the certificate. So thus begins another long road toward marriage. We’ll start looking for that this week.

The other thing that developed today was that we found out a lot about what is happening at the Zepata’s in their situation. It turns out that the only reason that they are Seventh Day Adventists is because of where they live. The man who owns the lot that they live on is also 7^th day and doesn’t exactly want us there. That is kind of a huge hurdle to get over.

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Getting dirty on the ride to San Jose

Tuesday, March 1, 2005

Tuesdays are really crazy days. We left the house this morning at 6:30 to go to San Jose. We were hoping to get some things done there early and so we left earlier than usual. The jeepney we rode today had a trike on the top so we weren’t able to ride on the top but we had to just hold onto the back the whole hour trip into San Jose. It was hard and really, really dirty. My pants and nice shiny shoes were all covered in dust by the time we got to San Jose. In District Meeting I taught both the attributes and skills lesson. For the attributes we read and discussed Pres Benson’s talk on pride. That is one topic that I’ve been reflecting on lately and thinking about how I can become a more humble person. For the skills lesson, I talked about how to benefit more from the personal study of The Book of Mormon. I think that both lessons went well and that it was helpful.

This is how we got our clothes washed. An endowed sister from the ward came every week and washed them for us.

Pres Isla’s Carabao and it’s calf

When we did email today, I downloaded a firmware update for my camera so that it will save on the larger memory cards that I have. My family is doing well even though the refrigerator broke and they are still dealing with Joseph’s sickness.

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