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