April 2012

From April 2, 2012:

 

Well it was way awesome to hear about General Conference ahead of time!! haha. Now I have an idea of what to listen for and stuff. I hope all goes well, because they are trying to do something new this year and instead of making everyone go to the stake center (cuz its WAY expensive and no one can ever make it) they are giving each ward a DVD of conference so they can play it whenever they want. The only problem is, we don't know what language it is going to be in (Cebuano, Tagalog, or English). haha. And the tv at our building is broken so we will bring our branch president's tv to the chapel and try to watch it there. Another thing is that hardly anyone in the branch knows what time it will be shown because it wasn't announced on Sunday, so we will be spending a lot of time this week spreading the word and rounding up the troops to listen to conference. haha. yikes. we'll see how it goes!! In any case, I can always watch it on lds.org next Monday.

This week was ok for us. We have been surviving on our poor people budget this last week because I still haven't got my support card from the office yet, but hopefully this week it will come in. haha. Things have been going well in the branch, too. Church attendance was alright, although we were disappointed with a few less actives that are beginning to slip back into inactivity. The branch has been doing a lot to help though, which is good. We have been seeing gradual progress in visiting teaching and home teaching.

Right now we have a few more investigators that have recently popped up, 2 are part member 10 year old girls,  both of which their parents are less active. I have learned a lot this week about how important it is to teach the gospel in the home. I have seen it my whole mission, that too many times the parents rely on the church and the missionaries to teach their children and forget their own sacred responsibility. Because of that the parents eventually go inactive and bring their spouses and children with them. I'm grateful that growing up we always read scriptures and had family home evening. Because of that, we decided to focus on the parents of these families and helping them create righteous habits. The family is the #1 place to teach the gospel.

Our other investigator is named Raymond, and he is also part member, but an adult. He is living here with his brother who is a less active member from another city on Negros and has returned to word of wisdom problems. He's actually a recent convert. haha. They are actually really receptive, and will definitely come back and be baptized, but the only problem is that they work at a bakery and have to work on Sundays. We are trying to help them ask their boss if they can get just a few hours off on Sunday to go to church, but it all depends on the boss.They say it's a long shot, but hopefully Heavenly Father can make a miracle happen for them. If not, it's probably not their time yet, but maybe we can help plant the seeds anyway. :)

Other than that, the work of the Lord continues. This week will be jam-packed, because on Wednesday and Thursday we will be in Bacolod for Elder N's ERC (workshop for people going home) and then ZLC (meeting for the zone leaders). Then we can work in our area on Friday and then Saturday and Sunday is General Conference. phew! I get tired just thinking about all we have to do on Tuesday and Friday. haha. oh well.

I hope everything continues to go well with you guys this week. Hopefully you will put to good use all the things you learned form general conference and carry that spiritual high with you clear up until the next conference. :) I love you all and pray for you always! Halong mo jud, ug palangga ta kamo!

-Elder Lee

 

PS - that was actually pretty hilarious what you and Sarah wrote about the tour and everything!! hahah. you actually had me going until that audition part. haha. sayang (its, sad) no one celebrates april fools here. I was trying to explain it, but it didn't work so well. haha.

 

(Editor's note: Adam's mom and sister told Adam that they announced at Conference that currently serving missionaries were required to extend a year due to political unrest. They also mentioned missionaries were also invited to audition for a spot on the Elder David Archuleta World Tour of missionaries...it was an April Fool's joke that seemed to have played out well...)

From April 9, 2012:

This week has flown by WAY too fast. First off, it was Holy Week, and the work DIED because everyone was celebrating and doing their catholic rituals. Also,  we hardly had any time to work in our area because Wednesday we were in Bacolod for Elder N's meeting for departing missionaries, Thursday we were in Bacolod for a zone leader meeting, and Saturday and Sunday were spent getting copies of general conference, setting up general conference, and watching - you guessed it - general conference. haha. We were struggling to find time to visit our progressing less active members (that sounds like an oxymoron or something, haha) and investigators, but we got to everyone we needed to.

This week has been a spiritual high and a constant flow of revelation from the two days of training in Bacolod and the two days of general conferences. phew! Sometimes I feel like I'm ready to take on the world. haha. just kidding, but sometimes it really does make me want to do everything I can to help the kingdom of god roll forth.

Like I said, we spent a lot of time on Saturday and Sunday PREPARING for general conference. Our district tried something new this year, because it is way expensive for everyone to go to the district center for general conference and every year no one ever does. they decided to give every branch a copy of it so it can be shown in the branch's building. One problem was that this plan wasn't announced until AFTER church last Sunday. it wasn't planned out very well either. It was almost like no one knew that conference was coming up. haha. They even scheduled meetings for the district's youth conference in the middle of 3 of the sessions!

Well we did a lot of running back and forth to get things coordinated and to let the members know what was going on. It all turned out well in the end, and we were able to download a cebuano version of conference from lds.org to show to the branch. As usual, no one showed up on Saturday or for priesthood session, but we had full attendance for the Sunday sessions and it made me really happy to see members UNDERSTANDING what was being said. That was the first time I had seen a translation of general conference here in the Philippines, and it went very well. We had English in one room and Cebuano in the other. At the start, almost everyone was in the English room, but after about the 1st talk or two, almost everyone left to go to Cebuano except me and a few others. haha. It was pretty funny, but the members all said it was WAY better to hear it in Cebuano. Hopefully they continue to do it next October and plan a little more ahead of time. It really makes a difference if you can hear something in your native tongue. Even if you understand it in English, it touches your heart more if it is in your native tongue.

As for myself, there's a TON that I learned that I want to share from general conference, but I don't think I can type it all and I forgot to bring my notes. haha. One of the biggest things I noticed was that there was a big emphasis placed on FAMILIES. More on saving our own family, through teaching children and praying with them, and stuff. just like I wrote last week, that has been on my mind a lot lately - the responsibility of parents to teach their children and just how to do it in the right way. The other thing I noticed was for the priesthood.The scripture from D&C 121 was referenced a TON. (I think I counted 5 times?) there is a lot to learn from just those few verses and it sounds like that is what the priesthood needs to be studying and applying right now. haha.

So this next week will be a pretty exciting one. Of course, because of my birthday (although I don't really have any plans), but also because we will be going on exchanges again and we will be getting a lot of things done that we have needed to for a long time. We will enlist the help of some of the YM who are struggling with desires to serve missions to split with us, which is something we have wanted to do for a long time. It will be pretty busy, but I'm excited.

Enjoy the time you have together and remember the things that matter most! I love you all and pray for you always!! Amping!! Palangga ta kamo!!

-Elder Lee

 

From April 16, 2012:

 

Hey All!

Thanks for the birthday wishes. I didn't really do anything, except 2 little girls that live next door to the church came running in in the middle of our district meeting to give me flowers and say happy birthday. haha. It was priceless. Other than that, we just had a big dinner because Nanay A. (the owner of our house/relief society president) has been remodeling her house for the past few months and it's finally done. She ended up buying a whole bunch of food to celebrate and threw in a delicious cake. I definitely don't FEEL any different, I just have to get used to saying that I'm 21 and not 20.

About your seminary class mom, I have WAY too much to say about missionary work to type it all out, but I will say that what I have realized more and more lately is just how centered it is on the doctrine and gospel of Jesus Christ. Maybe you can explain that missionary work is not just baptizing people but helping them (members and nonmembers) to develop faith, repent, be baptized, receive the Holy Ghost, and ENDURE TO THE END. So your students can even do missionary work within their own wards, through helping their fellow members to stay active and endure to the end and go to the temple and always partake of the sacrament worthily! haha. hows that?? ;)

This week actually went REALLY well. :) We worked really hard this week and saw the fruits of our efforts. Jok Jok (son of sister O.) FINALLY came to church! so we will start to teach him really seriously now to help him prepare for baptism. Turns out, he's way good friends with a less active member we have been working with (Fred s.), who wants to come back and serve a mission. So we had Fred work with us a few times this week and he helped teach jokjok and went to church with him. He is also good friends with ANOTHER 19 yr. old less active that wants to serve a mission, named Bobby. It works out great, because now Fred has a reason to come back to church and prepare for a mission, and so does bobby! (and a reason to stay away from alcohol and cigarettes, of course. haha. that is everyone's problem.)

In the meantime, we are still teaching Andrea S. (a part member child), who is doing really well. We just have to find some way to help her father come back to church so he can be the one to baptize her. He is still struggling with word of wisdom and is way shy though, so we'll see. We also have a few potential part member families to teach, so we will try them all out this next week.

This next week will be another fast one. It's Elder N's last week, and we have a zone conference, and we don't know yet if we are getting training there or not. haha.

I love you all! palangga ta kamo ug halong jud!

-Elder Lee

 From April 23, 2012:

 

Maaaaaayong BUNTAG! (gooood morning!)

hahaha.

 

The past 3 weeks have been nothing BUT sun. The hot season has started, and it hasn't rained in weeks until last night. Everyone is complaining. It's ok with me though, because when it's sunny I don't get muddy and sweaty walking around, I just get sweaty. haha.

We don't know what's happening yet, but I'm pretty sure I'll be staying in the area with a new companion. I'm only basing that off the fact that we have to go to Bacolod tomorrow for Elder N's departure and they haven't told me to pack my bags yet. haha. I'm happy though, because I really want to stay in this area a long time, and I feel like there is still more to be done.

 

Things went pretty well this week. It was Elder N's last week, but we were out working really hard this week. probably harder than most other weeks. I was way impressed at his determination to "endure to the end". haha. It definitely inspired me to work harder and harder until the very last day. I am realizing again just how fast time flies and how little time I have left. It scares me sometimes!

 We spent a lot of time this week working with some of the young men preparing to serve missions (Benji and Hanz , who just need medical left, and Fred and Bobby who are returning less actives and want to serve in a couple years). It has been really good to help them out. Especially since a few months ago, none of them were very active.. haha. We have seen them and about 4-5 families come back these past few weeks and all of them are on the verge of being re-activated. it really is exciting! The branch members have also gone out visiting members these past few weeks. of course it's always the same 4 or 5 people visiting (the relief society president and a few RM's), but we've seen the fruits of their efforts nonetheless. The goal now is to involve others and get more people visiting teaching and home teaching.

Our zone is doing well, too. We had zone conference this past week where President Tobias and the APs (both of which are going home) gave their last trainings and testimonies. A very much needed and very uplifting, inspiring, and revelatory day. :) It was just the boost we needed to get us jump started for this next transfer. Well  I can't think of much else to report, so I guess that's it. haha. sorry!

Well! I hope this week treats you all well! Continue to apply the gospel in your lives (even in smaller ways like reading and praying daily) I love you all and pray for you always. Halong, ug palangga ta kamo! Amping gyud!

-Elder Lee