JANUARY 2012

From Januray 2, 2012:
Merry Christmas and Happy New Years!!

It is the craziest thing to me how every day I am SO TIRED when I come home. like, it never feels like I can get enough sleep and I am always exhausted, but at the same time, for some reason, I'm happy! I just don't get it! haha.

Our New Year's was pretty.... uneventful. haha. We weren't allowed to watch Disney movies this year like we did last year, and we had to be in our apartments by 6. Luckily, we had lots of members feeding us and bringing food, but other than that, it was just me and Elder Cre in our apartment watching church movies all night. haha. I can totally see why we needed to be in our house, though. The fireworks are insane here! haha.

It feels really weird to think that this is the same year that I will come home. Time flies! Especially with our investigators here. A few weeks ago, it felt like all of their baptism dates that were being set were WAY far out there, but then yesterday it hit me that they are really close! We are really going to be focusing on those 4 with a date these next few weeks (Brother N., Brother M., Sister D., and Sister J.) to help them better prepare. It is pretty exciting.

Church for us on new years was kind of strange. haha. Bishop decided that it was just going to be sacrament meeting, and it started a few hours later than normal. And when I say just sacrament, I mean JUST sacrament. No speakers, no intermediate hymns, nothing. A prayer, a hymn, a hymn, sacrament, a hymn, and a prayer. It was about 20 minutes total, I think. hahah. It's true, that that IS the reason we go to church, to renew our covenants, but it just felt like something was missing. haha. oh well. It gave us a good opportunity to explain to our investigators more about the sacrament and that it is the most important part of our going to church.

Things are going good being a new zone leader, too. All of the district leaders in our zone are also new district leaders this transfer, so it's good to be able to train them and get a whole fresh look at things.

 

I also wanted to say really quick that this week, I saw a little random kid with a BYU shirt on! Haha. And every once in a while I see a Seahawks or Mariners jersey too. I took pictures of the BYU kid. So crazy! Haha. Maybe I'll be able to send some pictures this week.

Anyways, I think that's about it. I am way excited for another new year and all the things that will happen. I've been thinking a lot about new years resolutions lately and how that relates to the atonement. A new fresh start on things. It really is refreshing. I know that if we stick to the Gospel of Jesus Christ, follow the commandments, and serve others things will work out for the best. I love you all! Have a great rest of the week!! Halong gid, kag palangga ta kamo! Maayong Pasko kag bago nga tuig man! 

-Elder Lee

From January 8, 2012:
Happy Epiphany!
  

This week I met a star. well.... a Filipino star. haha. his name is Coco Martin and apparently he's a famous Filipino actor. everyone says he's like the Tom Cruise or Brad Pitt of the Philippines. haha. He was here in kabankalan for the annual "Sinulog" festival, which apparently is a lot bigger than I thought it was! The festival started on the 6th and goes till the 15th, and the whole city is basically shut down for it. There are people coming from all over the Philippines for it and apparently it gets broadcasted to the rest of the Philippines as well. Our apartment is way close to the plaza, so we hear the tribal drums and fireworks all night every night. It's way bigger than Christmas or New Year's. In a way, it's really hard for missionary work here, but on the other hand, it's really easy to find people to talk to and get referrals for other missions. haha. So right now me and Elder Cre are just focusing on those 4 progressing investigators and getting the "rescue" underway in our ward.

Things are going really well with brother m. and sister d. (surprisingly). They are both preparing themselves really well for baptism. Brother m. should be baptized on the 21st and sister d. should be on the 28th if all goes well. We'll see about the n. family, it seems like they might have to push back their date a few more weeks because different things have come up where they can't go to church or keep all their commitments. They really are progressing spiritually, though. Their baptism should be very soon... :) Jorgette is also keeping her commitments, but we are just going to have to push back her date because we simply don't have time to teach her everything she needs to know by her baptism date. We just can't meet with her enough times a week. We also have a few new prospective investigators that came to church, so that's pretty cool. we'll see how they progress in these next few weeks as well.

The ward has really taken hold of the new focus to re-activate. Well... at least bishop has, but I'm sure the rest of the ward will follow. Later on this week the Philippines area presidency will be holding a broadcast for all ward and stake auxiliary leaders, where they will give instruction and direction on how to go about doing this in each ward. Luckily, the zone leaders were also invited to attend. ;) I'll let you guys know how that goes next week probably. It's really exciting to see things finally get moving and to see the members finally getting active in this work. :) This really is the work of the Lord, but it really depends on our faithfulness how fast it will move. That really is the key. I've realized that if the Lord wanted to, he could make everyone members of his church right away, in the snap of a finger, but instead, he allows us to participate in this work to grow and to learn in the process.

Well I think that's about all I have to report this week. Halong gid, kag palangga ta kamo!

   

-Elder Lee

From January 16, 2012:  

Hey All!! 

It was way funny to hear about David Archuleta coming to the Philippines. That will start a whole 'nuther round of rumors here. haha. When it was announced that he was serving a mission, I can't even tell you how many people asked me if it was true he was coming to Bacolod, and that he was already in the MTC in Manila. hahahah. I also got to sing in sacrament yesterday and tons of people were saying things like, "You sing just like David Archuleta! When he comes to Bacolod maybe you'll be his trainer!" But the sad thing is, they were serious! hahaha. anyways. I just think it's way funny. The Philippines is hilarious. :) 

Anyways, this week has been pretty rough on the work. First off, the Sinulog festival was WAAAAY bigger than I thought it would be. We hardly got to work at all this week, and on Sunday (the festival finale/highlight) we were on lock down in our apartment. Not to scare you, but this was way bigger than new years was and even the masskara festival in Bacolod. I just seem to be hitting all the big festivals at the right time! haha. Sinulog was broadcasted all over the Philippines and there were tons of people visiting from all over. Lots of Americans too, which was pretty weird to see. haha. On Sunday the tradition is that everyone runs around drawing on each other with charcoal (like chickens with their heads cut off), whether you want them to or not. So it was literally like a battlefield getting to church and back that morning, dodging people and taking alternate routes when we saw groups of teenagers. haha. And then DURING church, the parade with all the tribal drums and giant santa ninos decided to go RIGHT by the church. It was deafening loud and so distracting for all the classes and sacrament meeting. so nuts. haha. Most of the members here didn't even GO to church. Most that did were from out of town, visiting for the festival. Needless to say, I am way happy and relieved that it's over. phew! Maybe we can start getting things under control here. 

The other reason we weren't able to work that much this week was because we spent most of our time traveling to the areas in our zone doing interviews, helping missionaries with their problems, and giving trainings. The trainings all went really well, even if I still have no idea what I'm doing. haha. The Lord definitely helps those he calls. We also watched a pretty intense broadcast on Saturday from the Philippines area presidency. It was for all ward/stake leaders. They pretty much introduced the goals for 2012. I am way excited, because it is exactly what this nation needs right now. They started by showing some pretty harsh statistics, which opened everyone's eyes. They said that it was meant to disappoint, but not to discourage, and we can't fix anything if we don't know it's broken. yikes. Then they introduced the plan to begin the rescue of the 500,000 less active members out of 700,000 total members. It is time for change, and like I said, I'm way excited to see this actually happening. :) So that was exciting to watch.

Next week we have our zone conference, and me and Elder Cre are also in charge of training for that so we will see how it goes. After doing mission wide apartment checks, President decided that the theme will be "organize yourselves". haha. Very fitting. :) 

 

Not too much else to report on, besides the fact that brother m. was interviewed yesterday (woo hoo!) and will be baptized on saturday. He'll be a great addition to the ward. With the n. family, we are still waiting for them to take care of a few of the requirements, then they will be good to go. with jorgette, we just need to find time to teach her, and then she will be fine. Sister d. is still learning... she has a testimony, but doesn't understand everything quite yet and wants to be baptized a.s.a.p. we want to make sure she understands what she is doing and has a little more time to figure things out, so we will probably push her baptism date back as well. We'll see! The work of the Lord continues to roll forth, no? :) 

Sige halong! palangga ta guid kamo!!!

-Elder Lee

From January 23, 2012:
WOW!!  Snowmageddon 2012!! and "Happy Disaster Week," eh? I'm really glad to hear everyone is safe and recovering from the killer storms. Phew! I can't even imagine. This week I have been thinking "I sure wish it would snow" but now, I don't think I'm wishing for that anymore. The weather here is always the same. Every week, no matter what season. You either have SUPER killer hot days, or super killer hard rain. I apologize for the entire nation of the Philippines for sending that forecasted moisture over your way. hahaha. Most of the time people don't have electricity over here. Well, it's about 50%. Just depends on the neighborhood. So I've learned a lot about using what you have and surviving on very little. I'm a lot more comfortable now with the idea of living without hot water or electricity.  But like I said, I'm glad everyone is safe. I'm sure it was a wake up call though for people who don't have food storage or emergency supplies. yikes!

 

Well this week was a pretty good one here in Kabankalan. We had the baptism of brother M., so that was pretty exciting. One more family united! :) His testimony is very strong and he will be a great addition to the ward. Bishop and the members were so excited, they ordained him a priest basically right after he was confirmed, so they could put him to work dayon (right away). haha. We have also seen our ward aligning their vision with "the rescue". They had a ward council meeting yesterday (the first in 4 months) and picked names and set plans to visit them and started right after church. I'm pretty sure we will be seeing the results of their efforts very soon. 

Along with that, we realized this week the rest of our investigators are not progressing as well as they should be. It will probably have to be another month before any of them are baptized... sister d. has not been keeping her commitments for some reason, the n. family are still waiting on their marriage, and Jorgette has just not had time to meet with us. We want to have patience with them all, let them work out their own problems, but at the same time we don't want to keep teaching them if they are not progressing. We'll see what happens and then we will have to decide really soon what to do. We have, however, had a lot of unexpected success with finding new investigators that have good potential. None of them came to church, but we will work with them this next week. 

I think that's about all I have to report this week. Things have gotten kinda boring here in Kabankalan, because the Sinulog Festival is over. haha. This next week though we will be going on splits in 2 different areas with our district leaders, so that should be fun.Halong gid, mismo sa mga baguio! Palangga ta kamo, kag nagapangamuyo ako para sa inyo pirme! :) 

-Elder Lee

From January 30, 2012:
Hey Familee!!!       

In all honesty, I can't wait to get back to our home ward and see how everything functions there. In countries where the church isn't completely established yet, the missionaries spend a lot of time working with the ward and stake leaders in about every aspect of the work. Plus this last week we just had my first MCM (Missionary correlation meeting) with the stake president and high counselor over missionary work. So I've just been thinking a lot lately about working with ward and stake leaders. Especially right now with the new focus to rescue the less active. The area presidency has asked missionaries to "no longer be watchers and observers, but to nudge the ward leaders in the right direction". Obviously we can't overstep our bounds, but we are being asked to be more pro-active and aggressive in helping them do things the right way. I have gained a completely new perspective out here about how things are supposed to work and about how much i didn't realize went on in ward and stake leaderships before my mission. I definitely have a greater appreciation. Even just little things, like having fellowshippers for investigators, or working on the CMIS lists on the computers, I never really understood it before the mission. It's probably the same with all missionaries. Basta (anyways) I just can't wait to get back and see how things really work. hahah. 

Well, life is still moving here in kabankalan as well. We went on two sets of splits this week, so that was pretty exhausting traveling back and forth. But the splits went really great and I definitely learned alot. It's always good to do splits, because you are always humbled. haha. Either you get a fresh set of eyes in your area, or you go to another area and see how they are doing things. And with the transfer ending this week, it's good to figure out what to do for next transfer. That being said, I don't really have an idea of what will happen this transfer. Elder Cre goes home in one more transfer, and the office has been asking us to look around for apartments for 2 more elders to be put here, but I don't know if they secured one yet or not. I think we might be staying, but we'll see. Anything could happen. 

The investigators have still been going alright... Jorgette was the only one who came to church on Sunday though, so that was kind of disappointing... haha we have had to move her baptism date back because she has been out of town for the last few weeks, but when she saw us on Saturday (the 28th), she remembered that that was the date we set originally for her baptism. She wanted to set a new date right away, so that's encouraging. haha. Her husband is a less active member and is really doing his best to relearn everything and repent. We haven't been able to follow up on sister d. or brother n. yet, so we don't know why they didn't come to church. We still haven't had a chance to meet with sister d. (2 weeks, now), so we are a little worried, but I think as soon as we can meet with her again she will pull through. The lesson we had with brother n. this week went awesome, they are very excited for their baptism and marriage and have been continuing to read, but then they didn't come to church again... :( However, the less-active work with the ward has been going GREAT. :) We have seen instant changes and the ward is really excited. This is the 2nd week in a row they have gathered the troops to go home and visiting teaching, and this last Sunday we had about 4 or 5 less active families come back. Bishop has requested that we reteach the missionary lessons to the less actives all over again, as if they were investigators, so we have been spending a lot of our time doing that. we really have noticed a huge difference in just that. A lot of less actives say they still have testimonies, but they really have forgotten even the most basic things about the church. 

We'll see what happens this next week, you never know when transfers are close! haha. Halong guid, kag palangga ta kamo!      

-Elder Lee

 "C.T.R. - Cook the Rice" :P

December 2011

From December 5, 2011:

Sounds like Christmas is just around the corner again! We have seen decorations up here since September, so I have been hearing carols and seeing christmas lights for a good few months. Here, they start celebrating christmas in the "ber" months. I'll be honest, this week has been another one of those roller-coaster weeks for me. VERY humbling and something I learned alot from.

Well to start off, I think I told you a while ago about this couple we have been teaching, the D. family. They are about 40-50 and very very poor. Brother D. has been suffering from sickness in his lungs so it has been hard for him to get out of his house, and it has been very hard on sister always having to work, take care of him, buy medicine, have enough to eat, and somehow have money to get to church. Brother, however, is one of the most humble, spiritually powerful people I have EVER met. No joke. I was so amazed at how quickly he accepted the gospel with true faith and had a hunger for the gospel once he heard it. A few weeks ago they really tested their faith and made it to church. It was an amazing experience and brother was determined to be baptized and go to church every Sunday. We went over last Wednesday and our plan was to teach about the Word of Wisdom, but we got to talking before the lesson and I had the impression to teach the plan of salvation instead. As soon as I whispered that to Elder Gib, brother immediately started asking questions about who he is, where he came from, why he is here and where he is going. It was totally inspired and as we testified to him, he teared up and told us that was exactly what he had been waiting to hear. We went to a leadership training that Friday and while we were there I received a call that Brother D. died the night before. We immediately went to comfort sister. While we were talking to her, she told us more stories of his incredible faith. Sister, up until now, has been a little bit stubborn and her testimony is the only thing we were waiting on before they were going to be baptized. She told us how he would always be reading and show her passages and pray even though it was hard on his body, and that his dying wish was that she gets a testimony and gets baptized for herself. There's a lot more that she told us that really hit me hard, but I don't have enough time to write it all.  Anyways, so the past few days, sister has been a wreck. We have been visiting her and comforting her, and the members have been amazing in helping her out (we will have a small "Mormon service" on Saturday), but because of lack of food and sleep we haven't been able to really testify to her yet to help her get a testimony of her own and help her realize that her husband is not lost and she will see him again. They also have a 19 yr. old son that until now we haven't had a chance to meet. Anyways, after seeing all the Catholic traditions and all the mourning and things around here, I have really gained an appreciation of the knowledge that we have of the plan of salvation. It gives SO much hope. We know exactly how great God's love is for us, what is waiting for us, and what we have to do to be happy in this life and be with our families in the next. Brother D was a tremendous example to me of a truly humble and faithful person who will receive all the blessings heavenly father has to give him in the next life.

The rest of our investigators have also been having tough times lately. Hardly any of them came to church. It looks like our most progressing investigators will still be a while before they can get baptized. We have about 6 or 7 that for one reason or another will have to wait a good few months before they can be baptized. In the meantime, me and Elder Gib have decided to start looking for the ones who are ready NOW. so that should be fun. haha.

In other news, our training in Binalbagan was for all the dl's and zl's, and it went really well. They revealed to us what the Philippines area's goals for 2012 were: rescue, reclaim, and retain. It's great because our mission doesn't have to change really anything. President Tobias was already in line with this vision and has trained us on everything we need to. He is a very inspired man. Anyways, the main theme of this vision is accomplishing all of that THROUGH the Book of Mormon. Helping everybody to feast on its words and receive revelation for themselves. So that's what I've been studying a lot lately-how the Book of Mormon really teaches us ALL we need to do.

Anwyays, I did receive the Christmas package from home!!! I do have to admit though, I already opened it. hahaha. I couldn't wait! I did promise to myself that I wouldn't eat the chocolates untill Christmas and New Year's though. :) haha.

Again, thanks for all your love and support. I am so grateful to have the knowledge of the gospel in my life! Halong gid kamo, kag palangga ta kamo! Indi ako makahulat hasta makatawag ako sa inyo para sa pasko!! :D

-Elder Lee

From December 12, 2011:

Hey Everybody!

We did get to watch the Christmas devotional last night, and we got some Christmas decorations up in our apartment now, so I am definitely feeling the Christmas spirit. Later this week will be our mission Christmas conference, and in a few weeks will be our ward Christmas party.

Well as far as the work here, things really went well this week. We were very worried on Saturday though. because it seems like for the past few weeks, something has happened where we can't really get a full week of work in. First we were robbed, then brother D. died, and this week we both got sick. It was really weird, just a one day fever thing, but it was just bad timing for both of us. I was out all day Tuesday and then Elder Gib was out all day Wednesday. haha. And then we had to go around to the other areas in our district to do some baptismal interviews, so we barely had any time to visit our investigators. So we were really bummed on Saturday that we didn't get to work much, but Sunday everything turned around and we were able to see the fruits of our efforts. :)

First off, we had 3 investigators come to church that we didn't expect would! They were all part members and it was way exciting to see. One of them (Brother N.) even told us the night before that because of all the problems that were going on in their lives right now (I can't explain them all, but they are having TOUGH times. example: they were saving up to go to church, but they were robbed and all the money was stolen and they were living off of their earnings on a day to day basis), that they probably weren't going to go go church for a few weeks till they figured everything out. We just simply testified that if they follow the commandments and the basic principles of the gospel, God will help them and they can trust in that promise. So it was a huge thing that they decided to go. :) It was a huge lesson to me and really taught me a good lesson about faith.
Sister D. is also doing a lot better. The ward has been AMAZING in helping her through everything. The funeral ended up being held at the church (I sang a solo of Where Can I Turn for Peace - phew!), and the members donated tons of money to help sister D. out. they visited her everyday and really impressed me. We were a little worried about her, because up until now she hasn't really accepted what we had been teaching, and even all the times we visited her this last week, she hadn't changed much. Well, we saw that change finally happen at the funeral service on Sunday. She said that maybe that was why Heavenly Father took her husband at this time, so that she would have to figure out for herself what he knew and so that she would finally take it seriously. She said that she had finally found comfort in the words of the Book of Mormon and that they weren't just words anymore. It was a huge witness to me of how true that saying is, that the biggest miracle is the miracle of conversion.

Another thing that we did this week was a CSP (community service project) at a local school. We... hmmm... I don't know how to explain this in English... it's called "tapas", which basically means to harvest? haha. anyways, we helped harvest a tubo field (sugar cane) which was owned by the community. Sugar cane is EVERYWHERE here, so it was fun to actually learn how to do it. Maybe next week I can send some pictures. :)

We also found out this last week, that the Philippines area is going to be putting a huge focus on rescuing and retaining less active members in 2012. Here in the Philippines, we have about 700,000 members, but only about 114,000 are active. It's a HUGE problem, and up until now, it hasn't really been focused on. so i am excited to get that work started here in kabankalan. :) It means there won't be too much tracting, mostly visiting less active members and part member families aside from our progressing investigators.

Anwyays, I'm definitely looking forward to this next week. hopefully nothing too big will happen, so we can get a full week of work in. I hope everything continues to go well at home. I love you and pray for you guys every day! Halong guid, kag palangga ta kamo!

-Elder Lee
 
From December 19, 2011:

Well, all is well here in kabankalan. No need to worry, we didn't get hit by any major storms. We definitely heard about it, and had some nasty baguios (storms) ourselves, but nothing dangerous. Just lots of heavy rain here. We are pretty protected here on Negros, With ilo ilo and cebu on our sides. I'm just getting tired of hand washing my clothes everyday when I get covered with mud. haha. It's pretty unavoidable.

This week has been pretty good though. We still didn't get to work as much as we wanted to, because of different things that came up. We had our stake missionary Christmas devotional, which went really well! It was meant for recent converts, investigators, and returning less actives and it was great. there was a special "traveling missionary choir" put together, and they were amazing! They sang things like the Carol of the Bells, "Believe" by Josh Groban from Polar Express, a Filipino version of "My Favorite Things", and other stuff too. It was a huge success and really put me in the Christmas spirit. :) Christmas has come so fast!! Our ward Christmas party will be on Christmas Eve, so that should be fun. We are hoping to see lots of investigators and less actives show up. :)

Well like I said, the big thing this week will be transfers. We are pretty sure Elder Gib is transferring, but there is always a chance that he won't be. (That happened when I was in guihulngan, rememeber?) We also have been asked to look for a new apartment this last week that can fit 4 elders, so that's a pretty big hint that they will be putting 4 elders here. haha. that's exciting. I never thought that I would have to learn how to "house hunt" on my mission though! it's been pretty fun, but also pretty stressful because they asked us to look for one on Friday and said we needed to have one on Monday or Tuesday. phew! kapoy! (tiring!)

This week was good for our investigators. Right now we have 4 really good investigators, 3 of which are part-member spouses, and the other one is sister D., who's husband died a few weeks ago. We also have been meeting a lot of other potential investigators this week, so it's good to prepare the harvest for next transfer as well. This week, brother N. and brother M. have really made progress. Me and Elder Gib are positive that they will be baptized this next coming month. It helps that both of their wives are RM's. haha. But really, we have really seen them overcome challenges and gain their own testimonies this past week. We are really excited because they are both potential priesthood holders and their kids are pretty young still and they have a desire to be sealed in the temple! The other two, sister D. and J., our other part member, are still kinda alang-alang (wishy washy). They have big potential, but they just need that desire within themselves first. Until they start acting and searching on their own, we have decided to back off a little bit.

I love you all and pray for you always! keep doing what you need to and what the Lord wants you to do! I hope you all have a wonderful christmas. :D halong gid, palangga ta kamo, maayong pasko (merry christmas), kag tani , kita-y kita sa lunes! bisan kon indi puwede, malipay gid ko nga makapamati ako sa inyong mga tingog! :D

-Elder Lee

NOVEMBER 2011

From November 7, 2011:

Hey everyone!
Sounds like things are still going good back in the ol' U S of A! haha.

If you remember last week, I told you that we had some stressful, crazy things happen, and it pretty much lasted for 2 weeks, but now it's over so we have a chance to rest and re-organize ourselves. .....right in time to be transferred! hahah. yup. It's official, I'm getting out of the office. I'm kinda sad of course, because I have really learned to love it here, and we have alot of investigators that will be getting baptized soon after I leave, but I know it is time for me to go. I don't know where I'm going yet though, I will find out on wednesday. I will continue being a district leader though, so that will be interesting. haha. So sorry to leave you in suspense again! Next week you will know where I am on the island again. haha.

This last week was pretty good, though. Ma recieved the Aaronic priesthood, and next week he will be blessing the sacrament. Pretty much most of our investigators are making great progress. :) We didn't do anything to celebrate Halloween though! Apparently, only the rich "Amercanized" people really celebrate it. They said there is trick or treating, but only in the rich rich neighborhoods, and I didn't see any costumes or anything. haha. The entire city, however, shut down the 2 days following Halloween. They celebrate All Souls Day and All Saints Day, where everyone goes to the cemetaries to visit their kindred dead. For the most part, it was a peaceful celebration, which is pretty lucky because kono ("word on the street is"?) there are usually alot of crazy things that happen on All Saints Day. haha.

Well I don't really have too much else to say. I think next week I will have alot though. :) haha.

Halong! Palangga to kamo!
-Elder Lee

From November 14, 2011:

Hey hey hey!

This week has been another great one. :) My new assignment is in the city of Kabankalan. :) My companion is an American, Elder Gi, who hails from Moroni, UT. (close to Aunt L I think). Anyways, he is actually the batch ahead of me (meaning he got in a transfer before me), so it is pretty fun. We were in the MTC at the same time, when I was there for my first 3 weeks, he was there for his last 3. It's weird being the senior and district leader of someone who has been out here longer then me, but it's ok because we are pretty much equal in decision making and stuff. Anyways, he's a really great guy and I am really excited for what will be happening in the area. He has been here for 6 months now and is doing an awesome job leading it.

The area is HUGE, which is both a blessing and a burden. They used to have 4 elders here, but they recently changed that. Even though Elder Gi has been here 6 months, he STILL hasn't been to some of the places in our area! haha. It will be a struggle to go from appointment to appointment, but with good planning, it will be alright. The ward is actually really big, too. Very well organized and lots of members. It can pretty much stand on it's own without the missionaries, so i am grateful for that. :) In fact, by the end of the year the goal is for this ward to split into two, and become the stake center for a new stake. It will take alot of work because they still need more tithe payers and members in attendance, but it is very possible.

I tell ya what, though, I was definitely living in luxury in the office. hahaha. I miss my hot water and toilets that flush and fast food restaurants. That's ok though. This will be good for me. ;) and Kabankalan is a pretty big city too, so we've got what we need.

We actually had a baptism this last week of a part member kid, who is 9 years old. His name is Br and he is AMAZING! haha. Even though he is 9 years old he is the smartest 9 yr. old I have ever met. He reads the scriptures all the time and understands everything we teach. We still have a few things to explain though. Right before he was confirmed on Sunday, he asked me if he could go sit with the deacons now and pass the sacrament. hahaha. I had to tell him that is was an awesome goal, but he had to wait a few years. :)

When I get more familiar with the area, I will give you more detailed reports as well. haha. Halong guid! Palangga ta kamo kag matuod guid ang simbahan! :D
-Elder Lee


From November 21, 2011:

Haha. well, Happy Thanksgiving to everyone as well! I hope you all have a good holiday. Me and Elder Gi are still not sure what we are going to do this year... we could get a real turkey, but that means we would have to kill it and prepare it ourselves, so that's probably not going to happen. We will probably just make mashed potatoes. haha. There is an RM here that just got back from serving in Temple Square and San Francisco a few months ago, so she is down for attempting to celebrate with us too. ....we'll see. hahaha.

It was pretty bizarre to me that you were able to go on a virtual tricycle ride in Kabankalan! I will have to check that out when I get back to the states. :)

This week actually went very well for us. We were able to start to see the fruits of our efforts. The first week we were here, our lessons were kind of weak because we didn't really know how each other worked, but we have been practicing and getting used to each other and have really noticed the difference it has made in our lessons. We have had some pretty spiritually powerful lessons this last week, and it was finally enough to help our investigators test their faith and act. It truly always goes back to the spirit. That is why we always do our studies, and have to obey the rules, so that we can be worthy to have the spirit work through us.

Anyways, this week we will have another baptism of another 9 yr. old part member, who's dad is a less-active RM. It has been really great to see Brother (his dad) beginning to repent so that he can be worthy to baptize his son. We have a few other baptisms set for December, but they are not totally sure yet. One is the N. Family, where the mom is a member but the dad isn't. The dad is doing great and really wants to be baptized to be an example to his kids and has been gaining a testimony. The only problem is that they always have to have someone to watch their house, so they can't all go to church at the same time. We have been trying to find someone they trust to watch their house while they go to church, but the sad fact is that they can hardly trust anybody in their neighborhood. Even their family members have stolen things like bamboo and pigs and chickens. So that is the only road block with them.

The other amazing family is the D. Family. Brother and Sister are about 50 and both also have very strong testimonies of the Book of Mormon. They read all the time and really want to be baptized. The only problem is that brother has a sickness in his lungs and most of the time he can't leave their house. The church is also airconditoned, so he was afraid he couldn't sit in there for 3 hours. Well we had a really powerful lesson with them, where they FINALLY opened up to us and the spirit was able to come in an testify to them. They tested their faith and came to church this last Sunday and had a great time. Brother's body was really strengthened by the Lord. he didn't have any problems. :)

Another family we are teaching is the S family, who just had a baby last week. They are also progressing very well. The only problem is they are not married so we need to work their marriage out first. The Filipino government is SO CONFUSING. haha. Half the people that work at the government center don't even know all the requirements, so we will be working knowing what to do as well. haha.

I think that's about it for this week. Have a good Thanksgiving! It's a great time to remember what is most important. :)

Halong! Palangga ta kamo!

-Elder Lee

PS- I forgot to tell you that this week I went on splits to another area in my district called Tapi, which is WAY bukid (wilderness). We walked 7 kilometers to one appointment and 7 back! haha. It was crazy, but I really gained an appreciation for Kabankalan and being assigned in a city where you can find what you need.

Also, Elder Gi and I ate chicken feet last night! It wasn't bad! just thought I'd share. haha. Halong liwat!

From November 28, 2011:

Hey everyone!!
It was good to hear that turkey day was a success! I missed watching the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade, snicker salad and all the good stuff, but come next year, I should be celebrating it again with all of you! :) It is crazy to think how fast time flies though. Last Thanksgiving, I was in the mtc! Listening to Jeffrey R. Holland! phew! haha. This Thanksgiving we made our own feast of homemade fried chicken, mashed potatoes and kool-aid. It was strange to eat chicken without rice (remember when we went to Chow King in Renton and I thought that was weird?? and halo-halo too? well... that's changed. hahaha), but the mashed potatoes were amazing and really made it feel like a good ol' fashioned American dinner. :)

This week was sort of a tough one for us, but we are trying to be positive and look at the bright side of things. For one, last saturday night our apartment got broken into and some of our stuff was stolen.. It wasn't so bad because not a whole lot was taken, just things like shoes, cologne, and a usb. Luckily all the rest of our stuff was in the other rooms where they didn't break into. The same thing happened to me when I was in Guihulngan, so it wasn't so bad. We talked to our taggiya (the owner) and he should be putting up bars on our windows tomorrow morning.

Another thing that happened was that we had a baptism on Saturday, of another 9 yr. old part member child (i think that's the last of them. haha.) who's dad is an RM and was recently re-activated. The only problem was that our bishop sometimes likes to just change things up on everybody because he can. haha. Last Sunday, he randomly decided that sacrament would be last instead of first for that week, so most of the ward members and investigators were confused. For the baptism, it was scheduled for 7pm because the dad wouldn't get back from work until then, but bishop decided that the day of he would switch it to 5, so we had to run around telling everybody and rounding up the people involved. hahah. We went to the dad's work and got him. Again, it was sort of a weird situation, but we are counting our blessings that we had a baptism and no one was too offended. haha.

As far as the work goes, on Wednesday I went on splits with the zone leaders in Isabela, so that was good. I learned alot there that we will try to apply in our work in Kabankalan. :) At the moment we have about 7 or 8 investigators that are doing really great and progressing. They are our focus. But each of them for one reason or another, can't be baptized until about January. For one it is because of word of wisdom, for another it is because of marriage, and for another it is because he is waiting for his wife to gain a testimony. So we are still trying to decide what to do with them because they really are progressing, but their dates are way far out there. Each of them this week have all had major problems come up all of a sudden. I realized that this normally happens when investigators start to really progress. Things out of their control begin making their life more difficult. It's hard not to be able to help, but hopefully our investigators will put their trust in the Lord and rise above the challenges they are going through right now. They will either come off stronger and closer to the Lord, or fall away. It will be a huge indicator of whether this is their time or not to be baptized.

Anyways, I think that's about it this week. I gotta go, because later today we are holding a zone activity here in Kabankalan. that should be fun. :)

Salamat guid sa tanan! Nagapangamuyo pa ako para sa inyo tanan adlaw-adlaw! Halong guid, kag palangga ta kamo! :D
-Elder Lee

OCTOBER 2011

From October 3, 2011:

I am really excited to be able to listen to General Conference next week. Mostly, I am excited to see the reactions of all of the recent converts and investigators that will be able to listen to the prophet's voice for the first time. It's so great to see. Even though people here don't understand everything that is said in English, they sure feel the spirit and it is an amazing opportunity to gain a testimony that there are living apostles and prophets today. :)
It was way cool to hear about the new temples being built!! Two now in Provo now, one near where Cory served, and one where Seth served (Kinsasha)!! That's amazing! Hopefully one day there will be a temple here in Bacolod, but I don't know if that will be anytime soon because the Cebu temple was just dedicated last year and it is pretty close for the members here.
I have been doing alot of thinking lately about hitting the half-way mark. Like where I was when I started, where I've been, how things have changed, and how I want to make the best of the time I have left here. Time goes WAY too fast. That being said, I am SO EXCITED for this next transfer!! haha. It will probably be my last here in Bacolod 1st ward, so I want to make the best of it.
There are now 6 of us assigned in the ward!! They brought in 3 new Elders to help out in the office and start being trained for their future positions. They are all pretty new in the mission, this is only their 2nd area, but they are WAY GOOD. haha. Elder V, Elder Gal, and Elder Gra. I'm also excited because my companion is Elder Gra!! I wrote about him when I was assigned in Guihulngan. We went on splits when I was still a junior and new to Cebuano, and he was only 2 weeks still in the mission. haha. The spirit is so strong with him. I learned a ton from those splits that we went on, and I remember hoping one day we would be companions! Well, it happened! haha. He is the new supply manager, so right now we are kind of working together to find out exactly what he needs to do.
As far as the work goes, I feel really great about it. Because there are now 3 companionships instead of 2, we re-divided the areas and now me and Elder Gra basically have the "uncharted territory" of our ward, where there are only a few investigators. The area is called Villa Angela, and it is HUGE, so it's basically like we are opening a new area. We have only worked together for 3 days, and we already have has some amazing experiences and met lots of new potential investigators.
Mark M. is really surprising me. Last time we met with him, we gave him a Book of Mormon with a little assignment to read a few verses and to pray about them, and when we came back, we saw that he had read a chapter a day, highlighted the things that were good to him, and now has a testimony that it is true. He also related EVERYTHING we taught to what he read in the scriptures. Right now he has a baptism date for the 29th of October, so if that goes through, I will still be here for it. :)
Another cool experience was just yesterday when we went home teaching with the Elders Quorum. We visited a less active brother and he was so ready for us to come visit him. The whole time we talked about how God had not forgotten him, even though sometimes we forget Him. He told us about all of his worries right now with his family, and his job, and life in general, (all of which, the answer to them was the Gospel and living the commandments) and asked us how he can repent and come back. We shared with him the story of Enos, and he said we can come back to teach his wife and kids who are not members. Right when we were about to leave, though, he broke down into tears and told us that lately he has been having dreams about missionaries knocking on his door and that we were an answer to his prayers. Even though I have seen this type of thing alot of times now on my mission, it was still a very touching experience.
Well, I think that's about it. Like I said, I am WAY excited for this next transfer. I can tell that very good things will happen, and I want to make the best of it. :) Oh! by the way, I got my Filipino drivers license, and am now one of the drivers here. I've been able to get some good practice in now, so I am alot more confident. haha. It's really not so bad. :)
Anwyays, I hope all is going well back at home, and that you guys have a great time at General Conference! have a good week, and try to apply what you learn! I love you all and pray for you always.
Halong, kag palangga ta kamo!
-Elder Lee

From October 9th, 2011:

Hey all!
It's amazing to me that no matter how diffrerent the topics are at General Conference, and how they are not assigned, there is always something that if we have an open heart and open ears, we will feel is put in specifically for us. I also had tons of personal revelation that I received from this conference. My only complaint was that this one seemed so short! I wanted more!
Luckily, the investigators and recent converts that we really wanted to come, were able to come watch. Even some less-active members we have been working with! :) Those who understood the "deep" English understood mostly all of what was said, and I could really tell that they felt a witness that what was being said was true and that we really have apostles and prophets today. What really amazed me though, was that even those who didn't understand what President Monson or anyone else was saying, still felt the spirit and said that they really felt something different with the music and speakers. :)
As far as the rest of our work went this week, it has just been amazing! I don't know why, but all of a sudden the work here has just been booming. We are finding new investigators and families left and right, and almost everyone we talk to wants us to teach them. Of course, there have been a few people that have hidden from us when we try to come back, but that's pretty normal. hahaha. Really though, I don't know what has changed. I know the Lord is behind His work. :) Even though I come home every night absolutely EXHAUSTED, I am still happy. I don't get it! hahaha. :)
Lately, all the kids in the neighborhood where we lived have started calling me "tito kano". (Uncle American? kano is what they called americans here.) hahaha. It is so funny! They come and give me high fives every morning. At first, they used to always call me "daddy". I have no clue why. haha. Then I started telling them, "Indi ko tatay mo!" (I'm not your daddy!) so now they call me uncle. haha. That is definitely one thing I am going to miss when I leave here - the kids are the greatest!
Well, I think that's about it for this week. besides the fact that I am now on my "downhill" of the mission! That is so crazy!! Time flies by way too fast. I didn't really do anything special, besides cook for everyone in our house. This transfer has been a good opportunity to reflect and rededicate myself to the work. Anyways, I gotta go now- short on time. sorry!
I hope you all have a great week and apply what you learned from conference!!
Halong gid, kag palangga ta kamo!!!
-Elder Lee

From October 17, 2011:

Work here in Bacolod has been going great, despite the Masskara fesitval that happened all this week. President said we could watch some of the street dances, just as long as we didn't stay too long. woo hoo! hahaha. It was pretty cool! We watched the "electric" masskara on friday night, where they all wear lights and each barangay (neighborhood?) competes for who has the best presentation. The actual celebration was on Saturday, though. Sadly, we missed it. We assumed there would be a street parade, but they held it all in one location near the SM Mall, right after we left the Mall area and went to some appointments. haha...oh well. I've seen bits and pieces of it on tv's around the city, so I feel satisfied. I was able to pick up cool cheap souveniers too, so that was a plus. haha. I'm sure you guys could watch clips of it on youtube and stuff if you really wanted. haha. Anyways, you probably don't care about Masskara too much, I'm just talking about it because it is a HUGE deal here and all throughout the Philippines.
So like I said, the work actually went GREAT this week. It's true, everytime I feel the work really start to progress in an area, I get transferred and move to a whole new area! I understand the phrase now "leave your area better than you found it", but I wish I could've stayed in some of my past areas longer to see the fruits of my labors. oh well. The work of the Lord goes on!
This week our huge success was that we had 6 investigators at church!! It was really surprising! :D we were expecting about 8 or 9, but we decided we will still take 6. hahah. Of 5 of those investigators it was their first time at church, and they had a great time. Most of them realized that they already knew alot of members, and had no clue they were members of the church! :) God works in mysterious ways sometimes. haha. The 6th investigator that came was Mark, our most progressing investigator right now. He went to all the sessions of General Confrerence and had a great time. He has a really strong testimony and is always highlighting what he reads in the Book fo Mormon. It's weird, we haven't really had any problems teaching him the gospel or the comandments. Everything we teach him he happily accepts and changes his life to live it! I ended up giving him one of my white shirts to wear at church, and he went out and bought a 300 peso tie as well! (300 pesos is ALOT. Ties are really expensive here.) He should be getting baptized on the 29th, which means he will be interviewed sometime this week. It has been really great to help him and see his progress.
Other investigators that came are Jo, An, Is, Je, and To. Jo works at a furniture shop right next to the church, and when we met him, he asked us when he can be baptized because he hasn't been yet, and he understands how important it is. We were like, "boy, do we have a message for you! " haha. When we teach him he can get VERY off topic, but he is an honest seeker of truth so we are having a good time teaching him. An is only 10 years old, but the rest of her family are less-active members, so it has also been fun teaching them. The only hard part is making sure she understands. We are looking for ways to keep lessons interesting and easy to understand, like object lessons and drawings, so that changes things up a little bit. :) Je is also a part member. He always says things like "you mean my wife could have told me this all these years and she hasn't?? This is amazing! I'm going to talk to her after this!" hahaha. To has a sister that is a less active member, so we found them through using the CMIS lists. He and his wife literally live RIGHT next to the church, so even though they are pretty poor, it is very easy for them to go to church.They are also really receptive, even though we have only taught them once.
Another thing that happened this week is I got kinda sick. Nothing big, it's just that we've had alot of baguios lately (storms), so it was probably because of the rain. Just a cold. I lost my voice for about two days, so it was really embarrassing to teach, but it's ok. I think it made people listen more when I spoke anyways. haha. I feel alot better, and my voice is coming back now, so all is good. :)
Well, things are still moving here an Bacolod and the Lord's work is still going forth. No need to worry about me! haha.
Halong guid katama, kag siempre palangga ta kamo!! :)
-Elder Lee

Oh! ps- I just found out that in a couple weeks I will be made the District Leader here becasue our current district leader (Elder S) will be going home. He extended his mission by 3 weeks, so he is leaving in the middle of the transfer. phew! Wish me luck! haha.

From October 24, 2011:

Hahaha! wow! I didn't think my english grammer had gotten that bad yet! Especially here in Bacolod. We speak english all the time! haha. I have noticed a few things here and there, that make sense when I say them in ilonggo but not in english, but I didn't realize that I have been writing that way in my emails!
About the Angry Birds trunk or treat theme...all the missionaries here are SO CONFUSED as to what angry birds is!! haha We heard them make reference to it in General Conference, and almost all the souveniers for masskara here had angry birds on them...balloons, backpacks - you name it! After your description of men and boys hitting birds with pigs though..... I think I'm more confused!! hahaha. Maybe I'll figure it out when I get back, if it's still popular... haha.
As far as the work this week, it just keeps getting better and better! Elder Gra and I are really getting good work done. Which means, like i said before, it's pretty sure that I will be transferred soon. haha. I really don't want to, but I will go wherever the Lord wants me to! haha. This last week we taught 20 lessons, which hasn't really happened before for office Elders. Usually it is around 5-10 lessons, depending on the week. Our ward had a huge attendance on sunday and a ton of investigators betweeen the 6 of us elders. Things are definitely looking up, and the ward is getting excited again about the work.
Mark passed his baptismal interview yesterday, and is VERY ready for his baptism on Saturday. Next week I will try to send pictures. We have a few others that we are pretty sure will be getting baptized in November, during the next transfer. Jo, An, and An's neighbors Ju and Va are just a few. We also have a few other families that we have been teaching that are very receptive. I really don't know what the difference has been this transfer, but things are just going well. Hopefully we can keep that success going. We decided we needed to stay open to new investigators as well, even though our teaching pool is kinda full. That's how it goes, right? You harvest and plant, harvest and plant. This is truly the Lord's work. Thank you also for all of your support and prayers and letters. They really do help!
As far as office work goes, we are just beginning the preparation for departures, arrivals, and transfers. It should be a little easier this transfer with more Elders in the office. We are, however, losing one of our best elders this week, Elder Sc. he was supposed to leave last transfer, but extended about 4 weeks so he could train someone else to take his spot. He is our tech whiz. haha. seriously. this guy is amazing. Anwyays, I think today we might be able to go with him on all his "departure activities". We are going bowling, out for lunch, and maybe taking a tour of Negros! haha. should be fun!
I have officially started my calling as district leader, so that should be fun. We'll see how the first district meeting goes tomorrow. I'm kinda nervous, it's the Lord's work, not mine. I know where I can lean on for help. :)
Halong, kag palangga ta kamo!
-Elder Lee

From October 31, 2011:

This week has been a roller coaster! haha. Last week was absolutely fantastic, and then this week... BAM. We got hit with alot of stressful, crazy things. haha. Be careful what you wish for, right? I will spare you the details. I think i'll just say... "welcome to the office." haha. It has definitely been one of my most trying weeks. Don't worry though, I am totally fine and safe. :) But basically, we haven't really had a chance to visit any of our investigators this week, so we only had one of them show up at church.
On the upside, though, we did get to have our baptism on Saturday! It was pulled off very well, with lots of help and support from the ward. Ma felt great and the spirit was very strong. Leave it up to a baptism service to remind us of what is most important, right? The only snag that we hit was that they couldn't get the drain to the font to close, so during the service, amat-amat (slowly but surely), the font was draining. When it came time for the baptism, the water was only up to the middle of our shins! hahah. So we decided to try it anyways. I was the one baptizing, so I was really grateful for all those "death drops" we did in dance. haha. I think I really got the technique down for getting people as close to the ground as possible, without hitting their head on the ground. ;) It was great, though, and we got it right the first try. Hopefully I will be able to send pictures later.
Another good thing about this week though is that I have had alot of time to study the scriptures. More than ever before, I think. I also gained a greater appreciation for the Old Testament. Until now, that has been my least favorite book, because I always thought it was so boring and confusing, but since I have had a good amount of time to study it, I've realized just how useful it still is to us today! Even though it is different people in different periods of time, we can still relate to them and recieve revelation for our personal problems today. I think that is the difference between the words of God, and other books. The words of God are applicable in all periods of time. :) The principles are the same and eternal.
So anyways, I think that's my report this week.
I know that the Gospel is the answer to happiness and peace in this life (and in the next) no matter what our circumstances are. It's so simple. We just need to do our part and everything else will fall into place eventually.
Halong gid, kag palangga ta kamo!
-Elder Lee