Pet Monkey

WEEK 50
Dear Family and Friends,

     Another great week has come and gone in Tanauan.  We have really been focusing on increasing our teaching pool, and we found a lot of new people to visit this week.  One of the funny stories this week.  We were tracting and all of a sudden I saw this monkey tied up outside of one of the houses.  I told my companion that we had to baptize that house because they had a really cool pet monkey.  We walked up to the house and it turns out that the mother in the house was very interested in our message.  She said that she has been a member of a certain religion her whole life and feels like she's doing something right by going to church and reading the bible, but still feels a little lost.  It was really fun to explain to her how we have the fullness of the Gospel on the earth today.  Pictures with the monkey will definitely follow.

     My companion and I are getting along great.  I'm just getting him to push outside of his comfort zone a little bit more.  More members are starting to work with us and now the elders quorum and high priests are going in groups and visiting members every Sunday morning since sacrament meeting starts at 1:00 for us.  The area is progressing and our work is getting a lot more productive and fun.   

     I am now coming up to a year in the mission and the days are flashing by.  It's really fun and startling at the same time.  I'm just trying to make the most of the time that I have now.  Thank you for all of your support and encouragement!  

                                                                         

- Elder English 

Missionaries Are Human

WEEK 49
Dear Family and Friends,

     We had another great week here in Tanauan City.  My companion and I are getting to know each other better every day and our work is getting better.  We had the opportunity to go out and talk to a lot of new people and found a lot of new members that we didn't know about before.  For example, we were teaching one of our investigators when another woman walked up and asked if she could join the lesson.  Of course, we said yes and then she turned out to be very interested in us.  It's interesting how the Lord sometimes takes us to people, and sometimes the Lord just saves us the work and brings them to us.  We were able to find a few new investigators this week and really focus on the members and those that we don't see at church every week.  

     We have 5 investigators who should be getting baptized soon.  They are all experiencing a lot of trials in their lives right now and sometimes we can see that they're not sure why they are going through all of these things.  I was a little bit impatient at first, but now I'm excited for them.  I'm excited for them because I know that if they can work through these things, they will be an even stronger member of the church. 

 

     We also had the opportunity to teach a woman on the spot while we were tracting.  She has two kids and her husband just disappeared.  She said that he left for work about 4 months ago and still hasn't come home.  She has an amazing attitude about it and harbors no bad feelings about her husband at all.  That was the biggest thing that impressed me about her.  We basically told her that we are only teenagers and we have never gone through an experience like that, but we know that the Restored Gospel of Jesus Christ is for everyone.  I've realized that it is really important for others to see us as normal people.  They see missionaries and automatically think that we aren't human.  It's really fun to connect with people and to help them see that I'm a normal person.  My companion is still having trouble speaking and I'm applying a little more pressure every lesson or OYM.  I know what he is going through and I know that the only way that he will improve is to make mistakes.  He will learn even faster if he makes all those mistakes really fast.

     Everything is going well and we are excited to get a lot of work done this week.  Thanks again for all of your support.  Happy Father's Day to all of the tatays, especially to Danger Dan!

- Elder English

The Sweaty Season

WEEK 48
Dear Family and Friends,

     I've noticed that the biggest point of conversation for all the missionaries in our mission is the weather.  We are technically in the rainy season right now, but it won't actually start cooling off until September.  So all of the missionaries have come to an agreement to call it the sweaty season.  

     Other than that, our work is going well and we are continually finding more people to share the gospel with.  We met this little kid while we were walking the other day.  He told us his name was Jackpot.  We didn't believe him so he said we could even ask his parents to prove that it really was his name.  We said ok and he took us right to his parents.  We found out that his name really is Jackpot, but more importantly, his family was really interested in our message and we were able to teach them about the Restoration right there.  It really was a testimony builder for me to know that God is preparing people to hear our message.  Sometimes he even has people like Jackpot to take us right to them.

     We have had a lot of time to just walk around and talk to people and it has really helped me come to love the Philippines and the people here.  The work doesn't even feel like work anymore.  We just get to go around all day and share our message of happiness.  Of course there are discouragements, but I've found that they just fade into the background if we are just out working hard.

     Everything is going well and hopefully we will have some baptisms coming up!  Thanks for all of your support!

                                                                                  

- Elder English

The Heat Continues

WEEK 45
Pamilya at mga Kaibigan,

     My companion and I just finished another week of hard work here in the heat of the Philippines.  Everyone is saying that the rainy season should be starting soon, but I haven't seen any evidence of it.  The temperature in Tanauan has been around 42 degrees Celsius or about 107 degrees Fahrenheit the whole week and then you can throw the humidity on top of that, it gets pretty taxing to walk around all day.  I feel pretty bad for my new companion.  He went from a Utah spring to a Philippines hot season.  It's a pretty drastic change and he has definitely been feeling it.  He's been running a pretty high fever that comes and goes without warning, so the mission nurse has been advising us to stay in the apartment when his temperature is high just so it doesn't turn into something more serious.  

     But even with the current circumstances, we have still been able to get some really good work done.  There are two families that we have been really focusing on these past couple of weeks.  I've come to find that sometimes it's better to just be a friend rather than a lecturer in the mission.  I remember when I was new and we would have a conversation with whoever we were teaching before and after we shared our message.  Sometimes I would get impatient thinking that we needed to do everything as fast as possible.  I just wanted to get in, teach, and then get out.  I've come to learn in the mission that people are much more likely to feel the spirit of our message if they know that we actually care about what's going on in their lives.  Even as we talk to people on the street and in front of their homes.  I was always rushed to get to the invitation at the end of the conversation.  Now, I just love learning about people's lives here in the Philippines and an invitation to hear about the Restoration of the Gospel is just a huge bonus.  

     We got to see the results of our work this Sunday as the two inactive families that we had been focusing on attended church.  Both attended church as well as all of our investigators with baptismal goal dates.  Sunday was definitely full of lots of smiles.  Things are going great here in the Philippines!  We're just waiting for the rain to start.  Thank you again for all of your support!

- Elder English

Looks like Bradyn is making some new friends.

MAINIT AT MASAYA!

WEEK 44
Dear Family and Friends,

     Another great week of hard work has passed.  We are right in the middle of the hot season and it is certainly living up to its name.  It is unbelievably hot here in Batangas and the mission has authorized water breaks and 20 minute naps throughout the day, since there are a lot of missionaries coming down with migraines, dehydration, heat stroke, and other medical problems from walking in the sun all day.  The good news is that the heat hasn't really stopped us.  We have been able to find different ways to get things done and accomplish our goals. 

     One thing that we have started doing has actually worked really well.  We are trying to find new people to teack but it gets amazingly hot outside on the street.  Instead we do something that I call shop and talk.  We will go to the highway in Tanauan and start going from shop to shop.  At first I thought that people would get mad about it, but we have actually had a lot of success.  The other day, we talked to people at a music store, a sports store, and a pet store.  We found some people that were interested and invited us to return, found some members that we didn't know about, and were able to talk to a lot of people.  We also got to see some cool basketball shoes, guitars, and hold some puppies in the meantime.  All in the comfort of air conditioning.  I talked to the mission leaders about it just to make sure if it was okay, and they said that they're going to start trying it themselves.  It has really amazed me how friendly people are here in the Philippines and how the Lord blesses us when we open our mouths to share the Gospel (no matter where we are).  

     My companion is doing great considering all the adjustments that he is going through.  He has been getting really bad headaches from the heat and we are trying to get as much work done as possible while making sure that he stays healthy.  He was running a bit of a fever on Saturday and Sunday so we have been taking it a little easy, but we were still able to meet a lot of our goals for this week.  Things are going great and we should be having a baptism in about two weeks!

Thank you again for all of your support!

                                                                                         

- Elder English

Training

WEEK 43
We were able to visit with Bradyn via Skype for Mother's Day.  He looked wonderful and sounded very happy and enthusiastic to move the work forward.  He has found great joy in interacting with the people he is among and mentioned how much he liked the openness of everyone and their willingness to engage in deep discussions regarding life.  He certainly appeared more confident and readily expressed that his language and communication abilities have greatly improved.  Bradyn also met his niece, Kinley, for the first time and I was thrilled to still receive a brief e-mail regarding his week.

Dear Friends and Family,

     So, I picked up my new companion last Thursday at the mission home.  His name is Elder Hodges and he is from Bountiful, Utah.  He is 18 years old and I'm really exciting to train him.  He's a really good Elder who wants to work really hard.  That's all that you could really ask for in a companion.  We both get along well and I'm super excited to start him off on a good note in his mission.

     This week we had a lot of appointments fall through, so we did a lot of walking in the  sun.  We were able to visit a lot of members, and share messages with them.  Training a new missionary who doesn't speak Tagalog yet has really pushed me out of my comfort zone, but I am learning a lot.  We have found a lot of potential investigators and I am really excited for the coming weeks and the things that we will be able to do in Tanauan.  

     We had a really good experience this week as we have focused on helping our investigators progress towards baptism instead of just working our way through the lessons.  I have noticed a big difference in the work when we are working towards a vision instead of just working our way down the teaching record.

     Things are going great here in the Philippines and I'm excited for all of the new things that I will be able to learn from this companion.  Thank you all for your support!

- Elder English 

New companion, Elder Hodges from Bountiful, Utah.

Playing a bit of basketball.  

A hugely popular sport in the Philippines.

Kinley was not willing to wake up for the introductions.

Battle For Greatness

WEEK 42

Dear Family and Friends,

     Another great week has come and gone in Tanauan.  Unfortunately, we were forced to extend the baptism of the family that I have talked about before.  They had an accident in their family and they haven't been available for us to teach.  Other than that, we've been focusing on visiting members and finding new investigators.  We haven't really seen results from it yet, but I know that we will if we just keep at it.

  

      I've mostly been getting prepared for the new missionary that will be coming on Thursday.  I'm really excited to train and help them see what missionary life is like.  Training is by far the most fun thing I've done on the mission and I wouldn't mind doing it for the rest of my mission.  

     My companion and I have been through a lot of weird situations during the past week.  The Philippines is also in a deep depression right now after the loss of Pacquiao in the "battle for greatness".  Filipinos are very happy people, but I probably saw more sad people on Sunday than I have in the rest of mission combined.  We have also got chased by quite a few dogs in this new area that we tracted.  But we have figured out a secret for dogs in the Philippines.  You just bend over and act like you're picking up a rock.  Even if there's not one, every dog in sight scatters.  I'm still surprised by the new stuff that I learn every day in the mission.  Even if it is how to scare away dogs.

     My companion and I have been working really hard on extending the invitation to be baptized in the first lesson.  I've noticed that this has really helped me listen to the Spirit.  Whenever I'm not sure, I just sit and think for a few seconds.  I act on the impression that I get, even though my mind is telling me that it's completely wrong.  I've noticed a huge difference when I take a few seconds to just stop and listen.

     Everything else is going great and my companion and I are really excited about what's happening in our area.

- Elder English  

We haven't received any photos from Bradyn with the past few e-mails, so I decided to add one of our own that has reference to the Pacquiao boxing match that he mentioned.  Kinley is sporting one of Uncle Bradyn's Pacquiao t-shirts for the occasion.