This week has been a pretty good one. I feel like a lot happened, but I really don't have that much to say! haha. We got moved into our bigger, better, cleaner house next door and it already feels a ton better. :) The Bevans couple, the couple missionaries that have been with me most of my mission (they go home to Canada in a few weeks) came and worked with us and we had some amazing experiences. We definitely saw some miracles. I won't talk about them right now, because they were pretty special, but maybe I will talk about them someday after I am home. What I learned from that experience is that the Lord knows us. He knows exactly when and where things are supposed to happen and he sends others to answer our prayers. I also learned about the reality of the priesthood and how real our faith in Jesus Christ is. :)
Other than that, we have been focusing a lot in our branch on the Young Men. The young women are doing great, but the young men are struggling a bit. We only have 2 or 3 active young men out of about 25 and we have a new young men's president that doesn't really know what to do. And even though those 2-3 young men are active, most of them are involved in drinking and smoking and things like that anyways. So to help the branch we have been trying to get some of the active priests to come work with us while we visit the inactive youth. It has turned out to be a really great experience and we can see the excitement and understanding start to grow in the youth. We have been trying to give suggestions of some activities to do, so that can get started rolling. If you guys have any suggestions of good activities for struggling young men that require basically no budget, let me know!! haha.
Our investigators have been doing well also this week, but a few have had some minor set backs. Arnel G. is doing great (with the help of his active RM girlfriend) and is starting to develop a testimony of his own slowly but surely. Arnel P. looks like we will continue teaching him here, but he will probably get baptized in Manapla, the city close to Bacolod where his family (who are also members) are from. He's just going to school down here and doesn't really know anyone, so we felt like that would be best. Junji M. was another referral from a member girlfriend that we were finally able to teach this week. He's awesome and really has a desire to know about the church, it's just hard to set time to meet with him.
Well, I think that's about all for the report this week. I hope you know you are always in my prayers. Keep doing what you know is right and trust in the Lord! Everything will come through in the end. I promise! Halong guid kamo! Palangga ta kamo!!
-Elder Lee
From August 13, 2012:
Hey Familee!!!
I can't BELIEVE how fast time is flying!! you already got my flight plans?? can you please send them to me? because we don't get a copy, just you guys... haha. I also have to go get some chest xrays this weeks as preparation for coming home. YIKES! I feel like there is so much more I need to do here before I go home.
It was good to hear about things back home. The summer is just about wrapping up for you guys, right?
Well, things could not have gone better this week, I think. I had alot of prayers answered and really feel great about the way things turned out. We had kind of a rocky start at the beginning of this week, things just weren't going as well as we wanted to. Then we had exchanges with the zone leaders and I felt like Elder S should lead the area in Hinoba-an instead of me, so that he could get a good opportunity to lead and become more independent. It just so happened that the couple missionaries, the Bevans, also decided to work with them that day, so he had alot on his plate. At the end, everyone I talked to said he did really well, but he didn't think so. Then the day after that we had a few not-so-awesome lessons, and he really started getting down on himself and didn't think he was an effective missionary and started talking about having a desire to go home. So i did my best to encourage him and help him through it and i said alot of prayers for him. well, my prayers were answered on Saturday.
We have been working alot with the young men lately, trying to help them get organized and more active, and we held the 1st young men's activity in a long time on Saturday. We attended and helped out a little. We taught them how to play capture the flag, then we ended up relating it to the gospel. At the end we had a wonderful lesson about staying away from tempatations like word of wisdom and law of chastity, because almost all of our young men are struggling with that. At the end Elder S bore a powerful testimony of the trials he faced before his mission and I even saw a few of the young men crying. After that one of the young men asked if he could talk to our branch president about some things he did, and we helped him out there. That made it all worth it. Elder S said one of his goals here on the mission is to help others his age come back like he did. I could tell that that experience really helped him feel good and boosted his confidence in his skills as a missionary. I told him I think that was the reason we were sent here to Hinoba-an, and that that is all we need to do as missionaries to be successful - bear sincere witnesses of truth to help others repent.
We also had an amazing day at church, where we saw the results of our hard work this week. All 3 of our focus investigators came (2 of them for the 1st time) and we are pretty sure that all of them will be baptized on September 1. and lots of less actives returned as well. the young men were more organized in their classes and in administering the sacrament, and we just got all their quorum presidencies called, and everything just went great. The branch is really getting excited. They keep saying it's because of our hard work, but we keep telling them that it's not us, it's them. One of our branch's goals is to have over 100 attendance within the next 3 months. That was set last week because it has never before been achieved. This week the members did some visiting and inviting and we had 104 attendance this last Sunday- In just one week of setting the goal! haha. We have alot more goals to work towards now this week. I hope we can have another week like we did this last week. Today we are going to reward ourselves and take some time sight-seeing around the beaches and caves here for our P-day. it really is so beautiful. It should be fun!
Too bad I can't send pictures yet. I keep looking for a place to send them, but no one has good enough internet and the ones that do have good enough internet won't allow USBs to be put in the compters. haha. go figure.
Well I hope this week goes well for you guys, too. I have a testimony that Heavenly Father really does know what he's doing and what's best for us. If we just have patience and trust in him and do all we can, even when it gets hard, he'll stretch us and help us to grow and help us to achieve our righteous goals. :) Halong guid kamo!! palangga ta kamo!!
-Elder Lee
From August 20, 2012:
I'm starting to feel the pressure. This transfer is wrapping up, and then I only have one more transfer! I can't believe you already know that President Lopez came and visited... haha. it just happened like 2 days ago! it kinda.... weirds me out. but it's cool! haha. That way i don't have to grow up and i will be able to keep in touch with everything in the mission after I go home. haha. just kidding about the growing up part. ;)
Anyways, this week we stayed pretty busy, but it wasn't as great as last week. We focused alot this week on becoming better listeners instead of talkers. That is one of the most important skills to work on as a missionary. It takes alot of patience and listening to the spirit and what people are saying in order to know what they are REALLY saying, and how to help them the best. We met a few former investigators this week, and also a few less actives that are really deep thinkers (like philosophers), so we learned alot from those experiences. I am really proud of Elder S. I think he's going to be a better missionary than I ever was. haha. He's still struggling with the language, but he is teaching me alot.
We also had an awesome activity this week for the YM/YW, where the Bevans couple came and gave a fireside about the responsibilites of the quorums, classes, YM/YW Presidents, Branch Presidents, etc. It's fun to play translator all the time for them. haha. There was alot of things that I had forgotten out here in the Philippines, just because you never see them! For example, having a Bishop's messenger in sacrament meeting, or bishop's youth council! haha. it really opened their eyes of how things could be, and places to be able to improve for the branch. It was exactly what the YM and YW organization needed, I think. Then on Sunday, after a little nudging and reminding, they got all the Presidents and Counselors of the quorums set apart and sustained. (Finally!) :) We can really see a difference in the youth now that they have responsibilities and opportunities to lead. This Saturday we have a District General Priesthood Meeting, so the goal is to get as many as we can to go to that meeting. It will be really good, because Elder Bevans will be leading it and it is the last training they will give out here (they go home next week!). I will really miss them. they are a couple I really have gotten close to on the mission and really look up to.
Our investigators are doing well, but we had a few setbacks this week... I won't talk about them, but I'll just say that Arnel P. will probably be the only of the 3 progressing investigators that will actually be able to be baptized within the next few weeks. He is doing really great and overcoming word of wisdom problems and reading all the time in the Book of Mormon. He even told us he wants to serve a mission! Way cool. :)
Well, I think that's about it for this week. We have alot to do today, so i'd better get going. I love you all and pray for you all the time! Good luck with this upcoming week! Halong guid kamo! Palangga ta guid kamo.
-Elder Lee
From August 27, 2012:
Howdy Doody!!
Well, things went really well thsi week in Hinoba-an. Arnel P passed his baptismal interview yesterday, so he will be baptized this saturday, and Arnel G was married to Chona M (an RM in our branch) and he will be baptized the following week. We also have been really impressed with what we have seen in our branch leadership lately. Just yesterday we had 2 recent converts given the priesthood and given callings with minimal reminding on our part! haha. The youth are not exactly where we want them to be yet, but they are making big improvements. There are just a few more things to work on before Elder S and I will be satisfied, ;) like filling holes in the presidencies, and getting consistent activities going without our help. haha.
This week I have decided to really give Elder S lots of opportunities to grow. In a sense, I am going to be turning everything over to him for these last 6 weeks (decision making, record keeping, planning, etc.) I'm even having him teach our district meeting this week. it's NOT because i'm getting lazy or anything though! haha. In all honesty, it will be hard for me to do because i like to take over and take control if something is not going how I think it should. so it should be a good learning experience for both of us. haha. He is doing great and I really feel good about the work we are doing in Hinoba-an. We have both felt like we have already made a big difference (with the help of the Lord and the Holy Ghost and lots of prayers), and are trying to expand our vision to help things continue to improve.
We had a good experience last night that made me think a little. We had set up a family home evening with a poor, less active family, that has recently been coming back to church and trying to prepare for the temple. When we set it up they said "but we don't have anything to prepare" (food), so we said "don't worry about it, we'll take care of it all". We set it for Sunday because that is the only day the husband is home. well, we forgot about the food until saturday night, when all the stores were closed and sunday of course was the sabbath day, so we weren't able to buy anything and we had nothing left in our house to bring (we had already eaten). We thought it would be fine, but when we got there we realized the family had nothing to eat whatsoever. No rice, no food, they were relying completely on us. I felt SO HORRIBLE. They have two little kids and the thought of them going to bed hungry that night just made me so sad. I seriously considered breaking the sabbath to buy them things to eat, figuring it would be ok to help out a family. On our way home from the family home evening, we were still thinking about what to do and i said a little prayer in my head for them, and then when we got to our doorstep we saw that some of the members had left bananas and bread and other food on our doorstep as thanks for something we did earlier that day. We immdeiately grabbed the food and ran back to the family (they were really far away) and handed them the food just as they were going to bed. I will never forget their faces. It was so filled with gratitude and love and they couldn't stop thanking us. It made me feel SO much better.
After thinking about this, i learned alot. I learned that we need to follow the commandments to the best of our ability in order for blessings to come. president Lopez always says "Obedience brings blessings, but exact obedience brings miracles". That is so true. I also thought about that family. They had their hoped crushed when we showed up with no food the first time, but they didn't complain at all. They were ready to submit to the trial and go to bed hungry. That really is the meaning of true faith, i think. No matter how dark our day may seem, we need to have the trust and hope that the Lord will take care of us (and he WILL, every time), and anything he throws our way is for our good.
I hope this week you guys all have a great week and trust in the afflictions that come your way. Look toward the future with hope. :) I love you all and you are always in my prayers!! Kita-ay kita dugay-dugay! (See you soon!) - WOW that sounds weird to say. haha. Halong!! :)
-ELder Lee
