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