From March 5, 2012:
Well
this week had its ups and downs. The downs were that we barely had any
time to work this week in our area, and it definitely showed in our
attendance on Sunday. I was kinda disappointed in our branch, because
when it came time to start, only 40 people were there. The branch
president waited about 30 minutes for more people to show up, and even
then it was only 80. Usually we reach about 100.. and a lot of
less-actives we had been working with didn't show up either. On top of
it all, I think I lost my wallet yesterday. Yikes! I'm not panicking
yet, because there are still a few places to look, so we will keep
searching today, but if I can't find it I will let you know. The only
things that were really important in there were my cards (Filipino and
American Drivers License, debit card, and Missionary Support card).. :-/ It's a
bummer, yeah, but I remember the stories of S's stuff getting stolen
before, so I'm not too worried. Haha.
But
on the good side, we had another baptism this weekend! Brother Gaga N.
was baptized and confirmed. One more family completed! They got married on Tuesday at a huge, city-wide mass-marriage thing,
which was pretty funny. He was supposed to be interviewed right after
the wedding, but during the ceremony all the couples were forced to
drink wine as the tradition! Me and Elder N RAN down from the
bleachers and yelled at them not to drink it, but just fake it. Haha.
Then we got a nice announcement from the Master of Ceremonies guy "and
we'd like to welcome the Elders from the Mormon church here right now!
Give them a hand!". Pretty awkward, and a little embarrassing, but the
crisis was averted and he passed his interview. Hahaa. Success.
The baptism went well on Saturday, and we had a few less-active elders
speak, so that was a good experience and the spirit was strong. They are
right on the verge of coming back. We also had them learn how to give a
blessing on Sunday. On Wednesday we went on splits with some of our
Elders that were having a hard time, and on Thursday and Friday we had
surprise special trainings from President and the APs that lasted all
day and were pretty helpful. This next week we have a lot of things to
do, so we will do our best to plan well and really hit the pavement.
Haha.
I think
that's about it. Basically because I can't think of too much else to
report on. Haha. Amping jud kamo, ug palangga ta kamo. Kini mao ang obra sang Diyos jud. Kahibaw ko na.
-Elder Lee
From March 11, 2012:
Things were alright for us this week. The wallet scare was the biggest deal this week, but it's ok now. My wallet never showed up, but we went to Bacolod on wednesday for a zone leader meeting so we talked to the office elders and were able to get some cash to live off of. haha. We are budgeting pretty strictly, but we'll be just fine. My new support card should be here in a few weeks. Other than that, this week was pretty normal. We were pretty disappointed again on Sunday, with and attendance of only 45 (usually 80 or 90), but we blame that on the heavy rain. it's rally hard for these people to go anywhere when it rains because up here in the mountains it gets super muddy. It shouldn't matter though, if someone's faith is strong enough, right? but even with just a few people, we had a really good time and I was really impressed with what I saw at church. The classes that were taught went really well and were exactly what the branch needed, and our PEC meeting afterwards was really really effective. I got to introduce the new strength of youth pamphlet (which is AMAZING, by the way!) to all the youth and leaders, which they really needed. they didn't even know about the old strength of youth pamphlet, and alot of the youth are struggling with problems like friends and alcohol and things. It looks like things are starting to turn around and the leaders are realizing their duties and getting excited to help the work move forth. We don't have a very big investigator pool because s much of our time has been spent working with less active members, but sister O. is still doing well and progressing. She should be baptized around march 24. We are still tryng ot get her son to com to church, though. He listens in the lessons and reads his assignments, so we don't know what is really stopping him yet... we'll leave that up to the spirit to solve. haha. :)
well sorry this is a
short report, we don't have too much time to email. love you all! Halong guid, ug magistoria lang ta sa dason!
:)
From March 19, 2012:
Hey All!
I am starting to feel like my updates for you guys
are getting lame. haha. We're definitely working hard, but it doesn't
seem like too many exciting things are happening. haha. but maybe I
should just try to gain joy out of the simple things, no?
Actually
this week went pretty well. After two weeks of lame church attendance,
we finally had some good weather and saw alot of success. We broke 100
in attendance for the 1st time in like 4 months, and we had about 4 less
actives come to church for the first time. The branch has started to
hold meetings on their own without us having to drag them all into a
room, and they are getting more productive. :) Sister O. was interviewed
on Sunday as well and will be getting baptized on Saturday, so then we
can start focusing on helping her son, Jok-Jok.
We
also had transfers this week, and me and Elder N didn't get
transferred so we helped everyone else get to their new areas and stuff.
I'm pretty excited, because we have alot of great missionaries in our
zone this transfer. And I am no longer the only kano (American) in the
zone, they brought in another one. haha. It should be a good transfer.
It's also Elder N's last transfer, so that will be interesting as
well. Luckily, he's not the trunky type. He really wants to do
everything he can before he goes home, so i just hope we don't get too
worn out with all the plans we have. haha. We have been thinking alot
lately about Abraham 4 (the creation), President Tobias' favorite
chapter. He always points out little things in there that we can really
learn from. one thing is when it says that "the gods ordered and watched
untill they were obeyed" (or something like that) so we feel like that
is where we are right now in the branch (and with the missionaries in
our zone, too). The part where we are following up and watching and
reminding until things become a habit. I hope I stay here a while longer
so I can really watch things really get moving.
Well, the work of the Lord never ceases to amaze me. :) Have a great week! Halong guid, ug
gugma ta kamo!
-Elder Lee
From March 26, 2012:
This
week I am writing from Bacolod because we got called down here for a
quick specialized training from the AP's. kinda crazy, but oh well! You
gotta do what you gotta do. haha. We actually had alot of success this
week in Bonifacio Branch. Sister O was baptized , meetings (PEC and branch
council) are happening on themselves and slowly becoming more
productive, less actives are slowly coming back, and for the 2nd week in
a row we had over 100 attendance. :)
We did have
a slight mishap this week with a few of the elders in our zone, but
people were moved around and transferred, and all is well now. The only
hard thing is that we have one companionship covering 2 areas, so we
will be helping them out every now and then with their work.
Me
and Elder N are doing good. He has really decided to push it hard
for his last transfer and sprint to the finish, so I'm excited and just
happy that he is not being lazy. :) Other than that, I think that's all I
really have to report this week. haha. sorry it's not much. my brain is
kind of jam packed right now with things that we talked about in the
meeting, but I'm sure next week I will have more to say. haha. sorry!
Halong jud, ug gugma ta
kamo!!!
-Elder Lee
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