JULY 2012

From July 2, 2012:

Happy 4th of July!! I just got through writing to the sister and telling her that it's a bummer I can't celebrate 4th of July with you guys this year, but I promise you next year I will be SO patriotic. hahah. me and Elder C are looking for ways to celebrate this year, because we are both nearing the end of our missions (he goes home right before me, in August.)

Also, President Tobias goes home this week and come Sunday, we have a new Mission President, President Marlo O. Lopez. He was supposed to get here yesterday, but he got sick and President Tobias was asked to extend another week. :) That's good news to me, because then I get to say goodbye to President Tobias. I will really miss him. He is the absolute greatest ever. I have learned SO MUCH from him. It's hard to explain just how much! He also told me that he will give me his information so after the mission I can still write him. He suggested that I ask for his recommendation to teach at the MTC! I've been thinking about it a little, because just a few weeks ago, they opened up Ilonggo as a language at the MTC and all of the missionaries I knew here on the mission already have a job teaching there (because we are the only ones who know how to speak it, besides Ilo Ilo Mission. haha).  Elder L, my trainer, is teaching there now! I will need a job when I go back to BYU, so I'm considering checking it out when I get back. NOT that I've started worrying about that kinda stuff, I'm just keeping it in the back of my mind. haha. I am still focused on the work here. Which, by the way, went pretty awesome this week. :)

It started with our Zone Leaders Council, where President Tobias gave his very last training. It was really good, because almost all the zone leaders are going to be leaving these next few transfers. The group ahead of me has almost 30 elders leaving, and they are all leaders. my group only has about 7 going home. haha. It was really inspiring and I learned a ton.

Then we had some pretty great lessons with less actives that we thought were hopeless in trying to help them come back (as in they always have excuses, try to hide from us, etc.). We saw them gain personal revelation right in front of our eyes and that was definitely not because of us. The spirit was totally there and guess what? This week they ALL rocked up to church! (they are sealed in the temple and have been less active for over 20 years so the ward was pretty excited to see them).

We also have been working on getting some of the recent converts ordained to the priesthood and get simple callings, which has been quite an adventure because our bishop has been in Manila for the past 6 months and the 1st counselor has no idea what he is doing. Of course, we (the missionaries) know what to do, but we don't have any authority there and there is only so much we can help with before crossing our stewardship lines. We spent some time reading in the church handbooks with him, helped him figure out what to do, but he is still way stressed out and overwhelmed so we have to constantly remind him about every little thing. haha. It's all a great learning experience. :)

We have some pretty awesome investigators at the moment, that came from working on the rescue and visiting less actives, H and X J. and they are a complete family that is way interested and progressing! When H was a kid, he used to go to church with his grandma who's a member and has those fond memories and feelings. We met them at the house of a less active family, started teaching, and now they love learning and reading and praying. This last week was their first time at church and they had a good time. I'm pretty sure they will be baptized soon.

This next week we have a lot to prepare for, because the stake president asked us to give a 15 minute report on the missionary's perspective of the stake in a meeting with all the high counselors. yikes! haha.

Well, I gotta go, because our P-day is cut short today because we have to go prepare a baptism for an 8 yr. old child of record that will happen later today. I hope everything goes well this week for you guys! Thanks for the updates! I love you guys and pray for you always!! Halong guid, kag palangga ta kamo!

-Elder Lee
From July 9, 2012:

Sounds like things are going great back home! The sister sent me some pictures of their family at 4^th of July. OUR 4^th of July celebration consisted of making a bonfire in the back of our house to burn some things that missionaries had left behind. Haha. So I guess you could say we had our “fireworks”. Hahaha.

Other than that, this week was a pretty normal one. We went on splits with the Elders in Sum-ag (one of the areas in out zone) and spent the rest of the week trying to contact less actives that no one knows about. All the ones that have actual addresses have already been contact, so that is what we are left with. Haha. H A. and his family are really progressing. The only problem right now is that H is deciding whether to go work in Japan or Manila or stay here with his family. So we’re not sure how long he’ll be here, but we’ll keep teaching him while he is and refer him to the missionaries wherever he goes. We have another part member child, R that will be baptized soon. He was taught before, but never got baptized because of lack of support from the parents. But we have been working on it and now the support is there. we also have another member that needs to be re-baptized because her record was lost. Haha. She has been a member since 1986 and they are just now getting around to her record. We went to review the baptismal interview questions with her though, and it was surprising how much she had forgotten. Even basic things. It really taught me how we need to be actively learning and relearning the gospel. Just another reason why we need to read our scriptures every day.

President Lopez is officially here now, but I haven’t met him yet. They say he will be making surprise visits these next few weeks though, so he can meet all the missionaries. I don’t know how he will find the time to do that, though. Haha. Nonetheless, we took some time to organize ourselves again, clean up things that have gotten really bad over the years (area book, house, records, etc.). It feels really great and Elder C and I have already felt more productive in our work and more led by the Spirit because of the organization.

We have seen a lot of promising things in our ward this last week. Simply put, there have been a lot of things we have been working on to help them get going (consistent meetings, home teaching, priesthood ordinations, giving callings, etc.), but most of the time the ward has a different plan. We have been very patient and tried to let them learn things on their own, and this week it feels like they finally did. It was pretty great to see how the Lord has his own timetable and his own way of doing things, and if we just do our best and trust in him, somehow it all works out for the best. As a result, we had 3 priesthood ordinations for recent converts yesterday that we had been fighting for weeks to get, we had a ward council meeting and discussed the things that were MOST important (for the most part), set up correlations with other axillary leaders throughout the week, and got everyone united and on the same page. This week we will be pretty busy with all the plans we have, but it should be very productive. It’s just like President Tobias always said, “We are building a foundation.”

We also have had a lot of freak baguios (storms) lately. Haha.

Well, I think that’s about it for this week. I feel like I’m running out of things to say… haha. Let me know I you guys have any questions, ok? I hope this week treats you all well! You are all in my prayers. Halong guid kamo! Palangga ta kamo!

-Elder Lee

 

From July 23rd, 2012:

Well, things did NOT turn out like I expected this past week... Tuesday I found out that I was getting transferred. Then I found out that not only was I getting transferred, I was going to train and be a district leader! THEN I found out not only was I going to train, I was going to whitewash an area! THEN I found out the area I was going to whitewash was the farthest in the mission - Hino-ba-an, on the very edge of our mission boundaries. PHEW! hahaha.

So the new missionaries came in on Friday, so we had two days to work in other areas. I got the awesome chance to work in my old area, Bacolod 1st ward (where I was assigned in the office) with Elder W, one of the Elders that was my batch in the MTC who is also training! It was a way good learning experience. I have always wanted to work with Elder W, and even though it was only 2 days, I feel like we got a lot done and were able to help a lot of people in small ways.

On Friday, I met my bata (trainee), Elder S from Manila. He speaks English like an Arabic person. hahaha it's way fun. The very first thing he said to me, before I even knew he was going to be my companion, was, "I want to be an Elder like you" (in his arabic/filipino accent). It was very humbling! Then we set out right away for our new area, with no idea where we were going or what we were going to do. I kinda felt like Nephi when he was "led by the spirit, not knowing beforehand the things he should do." The ride to our area was over 8 HOURS. (blehhh) and we ended up getting to our apartment late at night after asking almost everyone in town where the Mormons lived. haha.

We walked into our apartment, and in all honesty, I was very disappointed. There was mold, rat poop, dirty dishes, and bugs EVERYWHERE. So we have spent a lot of time lately organizing our house, buying cleaning supplies, and cleaning everything so the Spirit can be there. It's still not done yet, but it's a lot better than it was, and later today the Bevans Couple (our couple missionaries) will be coming to hopefully give us some relief supplies. haha.

We also spent a lot of time meeting the leaders and members and getting to know the area. The last missionaries left virtually no records, and the members didn't really like them, so we were pretty much on our own finding our way and trying to earn the trust of the members. It's been quite an adventure. haha.

We are basically getting a fresh start here, in Hinoba-an, because our branch president has only been called for a month, our Elder's quorum president for 2 weeks, and just yesterday our branch mission leader was called. At the same time, we have no idea what we are doing. haha. Needless to say, we will be doing a lot of correlating and praying these next few weeks to figure out what the Lord wants us to do here. Our biggest challenge is just figuring out where exactly to focus first. Luckily we have had some good experiences already with referrals from members (they were waiting for the last elders to leave) and a few promising new investigators. We had a good experience last night with Elder S' first chance to extend a baptismal invitation. Elder S is slowly learning the ways of the missionary and learning how to speak Ilonggo also. I have no idea what I am speaking anymore though, because He is Tagalog, President Lopez told us to speak as much English to them as possible, and our area here is very mixed Ilonggo and Cebuano. hahaha. crazy!

I can tell that thew Lord gave me this area because He wants me to grow and definitely not to get lazy my last few transfers here. I am excited to learn and humbled by this huge responsibility. I am definitely learning already how to rely more on the Lord and develop Christlike attributes.

Well, I hope things continue to go well at home. I love you all and pray for you always. Halong guid, palangga ta kamo!!

-Elder Lee

From July 30th, 2012:

Hey All!!

We have spent a whole bunch of time cleaning our apartment and I gotta say, I do have a testimony of bleach and muriatic acid now. haha. we got the place sparkling, exterminated the rats, (all 7 of them) put food in the fridge, found out where they sell filtered water, and just time time for the office to call us and tell us we will be moving apartments!! hahah. This week or next week we will be moving to a bigger, nicer apartment that actually has running water (until now we had been using a pump well). It's just next door and is owned by the same owner, so it should be easy enough. Maybe because of our hard work in cleaning the owner finally decided to trust us with the "upgraded" house or something. haha. works for us!

Anyways, there's a lot to report this week and just a little bit of time, because we still have to make the 4 hour trip back to Hinoba-an tonight. (I'm writing you from Kabankalan because we needed to withdraw money and this is the closest ATM). Anyways, we got a lot of work done this week. It kinda surprised me how much got done, because we had barely any time to work. We have 2 extra hours of study every morning, so that cuts into our time, and this week we had some killer storms (not literally "killer", don't be scared, mom. hahah) in Hinoba-an and ended up being trapped in our house for a couple days because of floods. Not really bad floods, just enough where the tricycles and motors can't get through. We just had a little water come in our house, but not much. It would have been really bad if we didn't go out there and punch a hole in one of our walls with a hammer for the water to drain out. haha. So that cut into our time a bit.

But like I said, I was really happy with what happened this week. we finally got some solid people to teach, a lot of referrals from the branch actually. About 4 investigators and a few less actives. Those 4 investigators are all potential priesthood though and really promising. It makes it easier on me because its a lot easier to study and plan when you have people to study and plan for. haha. The branch is also really getting excited. They didn't like the last missionaries, which is unfortunate, but we sat down and had a branch council and got a lot planned and talked about, and we committed them to go out and visit less actives this week. :) I feel like we will be seeing some miracles these next few weeks. I don't mean big miracles, but the small, simple ones. :)

Elder S is great. He's still learning how to speak Ilonggo and be a "real" missionary, and we have a great time together. his sense of humor is a lot like dad's. hahaha.

You are always in my prayers! I love you guys and hope you have a great week! Halong guid, kag palangga ta ka!!

-Elder Lee

June 2012

From June 11, 2012:

Sorry it took so long for me to get back today. I was on earlier today, shot off a quick email to the sister, and then the power went out so we had to leave and come back later. I had a whole bunch written, but it was lost. sorry! haha.

Time is flying by way too fast. I feel like I am in the crunch time here, trying to do all I can! haha. Sounds like you guys are pretty busy back at home. Good luck keeping up with it all! and don't forget to do the most important, little things every day! (read, pray, taker time to meditate and ponder, etc.) It will really give you the strength to make it through it all. :)

 

This has been a good week for me. I got transferred again, so I said goodbye to all my new friends in stop aguinaldo, said goodbye to escalante zone, and headed straight to.... Bacolod City. :/ hahaha. I feel just like I did when I was assigned in the office! I am in Alijis Ward, which is in a Barangay (neighborhood) called Alijis. If you look it up on google earth you might see it. We live in regent pearl subdivision. haha. I really miss Cebuano and the bukid (rural area), but I am slowly adjusting again. I basically went from absolutely no luxuries, showering out of a well, cooking my own food, beautiful views, and having to hitch rides on the back of motorbikes to our appointments, to the city where everyone is moving 24/7 and all the ward members are rich and speaking a ton of English. It also smells pretty bad. hahaha. But like I said, I'll get used to it.

 

At the moment I am just getting the hang of everything and figuring out what to do. The ward seems pretty well off compared to all the branches in Escalante, so I don't really know where we fit in just yet as missionaries. I might just end up my mission here, so I really want to give it my all and set up a good plan to lift where I stand.

 

Well time is short, because we are about to go to a family home evening with some investigators. Next week I will have a more complete report. I love you guys a ton! Have a good week and remember to always do what's right! You are all in my prayers. Halong guid, kag palangga ta kamo!

 

-Elder Lee

From June 18, 2012:

One thing I've noticed my whole mission is that everything is affected by that small time we have every day to study and pray.
 

This week has been a pretty hectic one for us, but looking back on it we got a LOT done. Elder C and I really have a good time together. It's important that we are on the same page as a companionship because we had a ton of crazy things happen this week and we were able to work it all out. We had a problem with one of our missionaries, but the emergency was all taken care of. That is what has taken most of our focus this week. We have also been taking the time to meet all our missionaries this week and do apartment checks, so we're off to a good start this transfer. We really do have a great group of elders and sisters here. I have been way impressed with the work here in Bacolod South Stake. The leaders actually know what their callings are and are doing them! Last Sunday we were asked to come give a training to all the ward mission leaders and ward clerks on their responsibilities and duties, and it went really well. I was excited, because it's something that I've wanted to do for a while. It's a pretty established stake, quite a big difference from the Escalante District in the mountains. haha. But actually, just last week I found out that Escalante was the only District on Negros (there are 4) that technically qualifies for a stake. In fact, most of the STAKES here don't even technically qualify to be a stake (#of priesthood holders, full-tithe payers, temple recommends, etc.) so I feel really good about the work that we did there.

 

Anyways, in the Alijis ("Ah-lee-heese") Ward, things have been very good this week. We had a big success on Sunday with the less actives that came back. Almost all the less actives we visited rocked up to church. :) The only problem is now trying to help them be consistent. haha. Kyle and Kryzhia C., two part member kids, are preparing to be baptized this week. They were interviewed on Sunday and passed, along with a long time member (14 yrs. old) that realized his baptism was invalid because he was baptized 6 months before he turned 8. haha. So he will join them this Saturday. kinda funny. We have been working with one brother (Brother B) who has been coming back to church with his wife, and trying to help prepare him to be our new ward mission leader (we don't have one). He is really smart and has memorized a TON of scriptures in English and is always quoting them. He was really progressing and was about to be called, but we just found out that he will be moving to kabankalan for work and will only be able to come back here every weekend. So he won't be able to be our ward mission leader probably. So now we have to start the search again. haha. oh well. We've also been teaching a Preach My Gospel class, trying to help the young men and young women preparing to serve missions. That's been going really well.

 

Elder C and I also realized this these past few weeks that we really like cooking. For some reason, everything we have been cooking lately has been turning out awesome! haha. Most of it is just experimental, too. we've done peanut butter cookies in our toaster oven, no bake cookies, stir fry, sinigang (a filipino dish made from tamarinds), marinated pork strips, teriyaki chicken with homemade sauce, puso burgers (burgers made from the hearts of banana trees), and a few other awesome concoctions.

 

Well I think that's about it for this week. hopefully this next week things will calm down a bit. We'll see what the Lord has in store for us! :) I hope you all have a great next week also. You are always in my prayers! Choose the right! haha.

 

-Elder Lee

From June 25, 2012:

We had a whole lot of crazy things thrown at us again this week, and we really had to look for the small miracles to keep us going.
For instance, we had a baptism this week! (woot woot!) Like I said last week, this was 2 part member kids (Kyle and Kryzhia) who are living with their grandparents now (who are very strong members) because their mother died. We also baptized an active youth that realized his baptism was invalid when he was a kid because he wasn't 8 years old yet. haha. So we talked about it with the leaders of the ward in PEC (by the way, our bishop has been in Manila for the last 5 months and hasn't come back yet) and we had it all planned out who would be speaking, fill up the font, clean the chapel, etc. and on Saturday, Elder C. and I had the impression to go early to the baptism to check it out and help out if we needed to. Well, we showed up an hour before, and no one was at the church and nothing had been done, so we went to get a key and started cleaning and preparing the chapel. The only problem was that we had no water coming out of the faucet in the baptismal font. Everywhere else was fine, but for some reason the baptsim font wasn't working. By this time it was 10 minutes before the baptism, no one was there yet, and we had no signal on our phone, so we decided to start filling up buckets of water and dumping them into the font. (I don't recommend that to anyone) well, everyone showed up and we were way tired and wet and the leaders were all embarrassed that they didn't have good communication with each other, and then they decided to get hoses to fill it up so it wouldn't be so tiring. The hoses went way slow and about an hour and a half AFTER the baptism was supposed to start, we were still only to the 1st or 2nd step on the font. Then the water all of a sudden turned on, but the pipes were rusty or muddy or something, so it all turned into mud in the font. hahaha. go figure, right? Everyone just wanted to get through with the baptism, so we went out and bought 5 pesos of chlorine (didn't make much of a difference) and proceeded with the baptism. Everyone was stressed and tired, but despite all the problems, everything was put into perspective when kyle, the baptismal candidate, gave his testimony. The spirit filled the room and almost everyone forgot what the problems were. It became clear that the really important thing was that they were making a covenant with God and following Jesus Christ and becoming members of His true church, and they knew it was true. :)

We also had a whole bunch of other problems come up this week. I will spare you the details, but I'll just say that this week really built my patience and we sure learned a LOT of lessons. We are ready to put it all behind us and start a new week with a new perspective on things. haha.

We also had a cool leadership training meeting, with all the zone leaders, district leaders, and trainers. It was president Tobias' last training (he leaves the beginning of July) and it was amazing. The only hard part about it was that it went from 8am to 6pm with a one hour break for lunch. Phew! hahaha. Like I said though, it was way worth it. Kono (word on the street is) that this August we might be having "a very important guest coming to tour Bacolod mission". As in, more important than our area 70 they said. Who knows! That could be cool! haha.

Well I think that's about it for my report this week.

I hope you know that you are all in my prayers. remember that as we do God's will and follow his commandments with a broken heart and contrite spirit, he will bless us with the inspiration that we need. :) Halong guid, kag palangga ta kamo!!
-Elder Lee

 

May 2012

From May 7, 2012:

WOW! what a report!! I pretty much figured that this week was going to be the big week. haha. I am overwhelmed with joy for my new niece and gratitude that everything turned out alright. :) Congratulations- sa bagong mga ginikanan!! (CONGRATS to the new parents!!!) Life will sure be different for them from here on out. My prayers are with them as they make the adjustment! haha. Well that news kinda blows all MY news outta the water. haha.

This week we ALSO got new additions to our home... 2 little boys! hahaha. Nanay A, our relief society president/land lady/cook/laundry lady, will be watching her two grandchildren for a while, while they go to school here in Bonifacio. There is CJ (6 yrs. old) and MJ (8 yrs. old) and it is way fun to have new energy in the house. haha. of course they don't go in our side of the apartment, but it's basically the same house. Nanay is excited. It feels like when I used to watch the other nieces before I left on my mission. haha.The only hard part is that they are from Manila, so they speak Tagalog and don't know much Cebuano yet. But I will be helping them learn English and they in turn will help me relearn Tagalog. It should be fun!

The work went really well this week too, even though our time to work was limited. We went to Bacolod on Wednesday for a Zone Leaders Council, which went really well. We learned a lot and are excited to pass it all down to our missionaries. Thursday and Friday was the annual fiesta in our barangay (neighborhood?), so needless to say we were inside before it got dark and the drunks all came out. haha. Then Saturday we had a small emergency with one of our missionaries, but it worked out ok because Elder and Sister Bevans (one of our 3 couple missionaries) were coming up to escalante to give a missionary fireside, so they were able to help out. Everything is ok now. Afterwards, me and Elder F helped with the fireside. It was way fun because I got to be the translator for about 50+ young men preparing to serve and Elder Bevans. haha. It turned into an all day thing, but I think it was a way good use of time. It also built my testimony about how strong the youth of the church are. I feel like and old fogie sometimes when I say "when I was a young man"...but, when I was a young man, we were pretty good (we thought). But when I looked at all those young men that had a desire to serve even though their circumstances back at home are really rough, I realized how Heavenly Father really did save the choice spirits for our time. Each generation will be stronger and stronger until the 2nd coming. It's a cool thing to think about!

As far as the work in Bonifacio goes, we have been trying to focus on helping some of our investigators really progress towards baptism. Edgar (male, 30+ yrs.), Jok Jok (male, 18 yrs, sister o.'s kid), Andrea (girl 11 yrs, part member), Yeshen (girl, 9yr old, part member) and Aira is a new one that we met this week (another 9 yr. old part member girl. haha.)

The J family is actually a cool story. Here in the Philippines, news travels about as fast as it does in Lima, Montana. Everyone knows about everything the instant it happens. haha. The J family's parents are both school teachers and are sealed in the temple. A few years ago they were VERY active, and I wont' say what happened, but a problem came up and because of it the family has been inactive for about 5 years. Well, we heard news that they were ready to make things right again, so we went to check it out, and sure enough, they were. It was like finding a gold mine. This family remembered almost everything about the church and has almost every book written by the church in their home. If they come back to activity, they might just be the strongest family in the branch. They are definitely the kind of leaders we are looking for. It was so humbling to see this family who finally realized what they really wanted in their lives and built up the courage to humble themselves and want to make things right again. It just goes to show that repentance is possible for anyone who humbles themselves. Sometimes we think that our sins are too big to be forgiven, but that is WRONG. No matter how big, everything can be made right through the Atonement of Jesus Christ. :)

Well, this is getting kind of long, so I think I'll stop there. I hope you all know that I love you and am praying for you always! Halong guid! Palangga ta kamo!!

-Elder Lee

From May 21, 2012:

Well, this week went pretty well for us. we had a lot of zone leader responsibilities to take care of, so we didn't get too much time to work in our own area again, but the time that we did get to work went really well. We are to the point now where we have steady PEC and ward council meetings (which could be more effective if they were staffed with more than 3 or 4 people, but hey, at last it's happening, right? hahaha), and our attendance is consistently around 100.

The biggest thing now is this new program that the District is putting into effect, called the B.U.H.E. program (Branch Unified Home Evening). Buhiy also means "living" in Cebuano, so they say this program is to help our units live. hahaha. Family Home Evening is a big misunderstood principle here, and it's pretty rare for a family to actually have consistent family home evenings (about 1 in each branch). So this program will help to teach what family home evening is and strengthen the members. Right now, family home evenings only happen if we (the elders) or the branch president set it up and go do it. The members also think that if there is no priesthood presiding (i.e. branch president or a counselor), or there is no snack, it can't go on .haha. They also think it is mostly like a party with lots of games. haha. So each neighborhood will meet at one house every week, sort of like a group family home evening and we will teach each neighborhood what family home evening really means, give them a sort of template program (with suggestions) and pick one active member in each area to be accountable. After we teach them how to have a spiritually uplifting family home evening that strengthens the members of the family, we will follow up with the member in each area each week to see if it happened.

So that's the vision of the District Presidency. I'm pretty excited because if it gets up and running, it will solve A LOT of the problems we are facing (Less Active reactivation, how to get parents to assume their responsibility to teach children in their home, having regular scripture study, etc.). Of course family home evening should be each individual family, but I think this is like step 1 of achieving that goal and when this gets up and running they will move on to applying it in each individual family. And if there is a family that wants to have their OWN family home evening, they will be encouraged to do it on Sunday or Tuesday night. We'll see how it goes. haha. We also finally got our branch missionaries organized, because for the longest time we didn't have any or no one knew what their responsibilities were. So they will also be put to work on helping this BUHE program work.

Other than that, not too much else to report. We will be having a few baptisms this upcoming June 2, one part member child named Yeshen and another middle aged man named Edgar that we have been working with for a WHILE because he is kinda.... slow... haha. Even though Yeshen is only 9 yrs. old, she is the greatest. She is way smart and even though her parents don't go to church, she comes by herself and brings her 3 little siblings as well. her dad has a problem with the word of wisdom and after our lesson about it she asked us why her dad drinks and her parents always fight about money. We told her that we wanted to help and that's why she needed to be a good example to her family by always keeping the commandments, so she can help them too. It just melts my heart. She always prays so innocently that her parents can come back to church and stop fighting. If only her parents knew... *sigh* I really do love the people here. Everyone we are working with. Sometimes I just get worked up when I think about how different people's lives could be if they only humble themselves and come back. But we can't force them, all we can do is love them and help teach them true doctrine.

 Well, this letter turned out a lot longer than i expected, so I'll just stop there. haha. I hope you know i love you all and am always praying for your success!! Halong! Amping! Ug Palangga ta kamo!!

-Elder Lee

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

 

March 2012

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! :)

-Elder Lee

From March 19, 2012:

Hey All!

We actually did just double our goals! hahaha. For our zone, at least. We have goals as far as the rescue goes, how many less actives are contacted for the first time and how many of them are taught, and President Tobias has decided it's crunch time since he's about to leave. haha. He wants to go out with a bang, so all of our standards for pretty much everything are being bumped up. haha.

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

February 2012

From February 6, 2012:

 

It is very weird to think that other friends my age are going to be coming home within the next few months. Time has FLOWN by! It seems like October will be creeping up on me too fast.

(SIDE NOTE: I just finished typing up this entire email, but then we had a small earthquake and it was all lost. So I'm going to try to remember what i was going to say. haha sorry!)  EDITOR'S NOTE:  The news said it was a 6.8 centered not far from where Adam is currently serving-glad he was emailing and we don't have to wonder if he is okay!

In other news... I got transferred again! I feel like the Lord really just likes to keep me outside of my comfort zone. haha.  I was kinda surprised, because I really didn't want to transfer, but now I've had a few days in my new area and a really like it. I know this is exactly where I need to be right now. I got moved back into a Cebuano area, called Bonifacio. It is a barangay (outskirts?) of a city called Escalante. My companion is Elder N, who is a native Filipino from Davao, but VERY much American in how he acts. haha. It's great. He goes home in April, so we probably have 2 transfers together. We are at the very tip top north of Negros Island. I asked people before I came here if Escalante was more of a city, or a bukid (mountainous) area, and they said it was a "city/bukid."Then I got here and saw exactly what they meant. Although we still have a city, we are far away from any luxury. haha. Our zone is all pretty close here, too. Very opposite of Kabankalan, where our zone was HUGE and way spread out.

I hope I stay here for a while, because I really like Cebuano. It's interesting relearning Cebuano again, but it's coming a lot faster than before. The only hard part is that our area is the boundary of Ilonggo and Cebuano areas, so it's very very mixed. Some are Ilonggo, some are Cebuano, and some just give up and speak Tagalog. haha. I have been way confused lately as to which language I am actually supposed to be speaking. I have literally had a few lessons already where I used 4 languages (ilonggo, cebuano, tagalog, and english) in one sentence! oh well. that's the life of a missionary in the philippines, I guess! pagsulay ra na! haha.

At the moment we have 2 part member children (MonMon Hernale and Jonler Jaud) that should both be getting baptized in this coming month, if we can get their parents reactivated. Other than that, we have one part member family (the N. Family) that is just like the N. family from Kabankalan - not yet married because they are very poor, but very humble and willing to be baptized and live the gospel. The wife is a member and the husband is not and they have 2 children. We did have one cool experience this week though, we met an older lady (Maria O), about 50 years old that had talked to missionaries before but forgot what they taught. So we taught her about the Restoration on Saturday night and invited her to come to church not really expecting her to, and then she showed up and had a great time. She participated in the classes and got along really well with the members. So we'll go back to her and see how she continues to progress. :)

Other than that, we have been spending a lot of time "organizing ourselves and preparing every needful thing". haha. Elder N has only been here one transfer, and the missionaries in the past (no offense to them) did a horrible job of keeping records and staying organized. We also decided that a big focus for our zone will be teaching the units how to use their MLS systems on their computers. The records here are a mess and it will really help to get things organized to help the "rescue" work move on. Updating records, lists, addresses, etc. We've got a lot of work ahead of us this transfer, but I'm pretty excited. :)

Well, I think that's about it. I love you all and you're always in my prayers! Gugma ta kamo! Amping mo jud!

-Elder Lee

From February 13th, 2012:

Hey Everybody!!

 

Sorry for the scare last week. haha. It felt like just a small tremor to us, so I didn't think anything of it, but apparently it was alot bigger in other places around Negros. The whole week we were hearing news about the earthquakes. You were right, the center was Guihulngan, where I was assigned before. It was crazy to see some of the pictures. On the news, it showed that a bridge right in front of my old apartment collapsed and the road was completely ruined, so cars couldn't make it through. Luckily, it's all over now. No more tsunami warnings, and everyone who was evacuated has been told they can go back. There's just the clean up effort now.

 

The Elders there are ok too. They were pulled out by the couple missionaries, the Bevans couple, who said that they (the Elders) really wanted to stay and help the members and investigators. Elder Bevans asked if they had kept their emergency water filters from the beginning of their mission and they said no, and then asked if they had 72 hr. emergency kits and they said no. Then Elder Bevans said "You cannot help others if you can't help yourself first", and pulled them out. The Elders really regretted the fact that they hadn't prepared for the emergency: "if only I had my filter, I could stay and help!" It was a tough lesson to learn for them, but I definitely realized how important it was to be prepared. There is no way we can help others in an emergency if we ourselves are not prepared. (both physical emergencies and spiritual emergencies). It reminds me alot of the parable of the 10 virgins.

 

And as far as MLS goes, even if it goes outdated in 5 years, it will still take a while for the people here to get a hang of the new technology. haha. Lots of people here (mainly the adults) don't even know how to type yet. We really are teaching them like the pinaka (most) basic things about MLS and computers. But it seems to be going well so far. Our branch's CMIS list is about 1/2 updated now, so that's good.

 

The investigators here are also doing well. Johnler (a part member 10 yr. old kid) passed his baptismal interview on Sunday so he will be getting baptized on Saturday. The challenge will be trying to get his dad to be the one to baptize him. He is still less-active, but our branch President said he will interview him right before the baptism and determine if he's worthy. It would be really great if the father can be the one to baptize, but, again, it kinda comes back down to his own personal preparation. (there's that parable again! haha.)

 

Sister O. (a relatively new investigator) is doing really well. She really understands the gospel and now has a testimony of the Book of Mormon and the Restoration of the gospel through Joseph Smith, and it really participating in the branches activities. We also just barely met her 19 yr. old son and were able to teach him, so things are looking really good there. Her baptism should be sometime in early or mid March..

 

Brother Rodolfo "Gaga" N. is a part member who is not yet married, but saved up their money to go to Escalante City this week and fill out their papers. They should be getting married on February 28. woot woot! haha, They are ready to be baptized.

 

I think that's about it this week. Next week we have a zone activity, we'll be going hiking and having games and a devotional, and I don't know whether it's going to be an all-day thing or not, so I apologize in advance if I can't get to an internet cafe to write you guys next week. but I will try. :)

 

Anyways, love you all! Amping mo gyud, ug gugma ta kamo!

 

-Elder Lee

From February 20, 2012:

This week has been quite the roller coaster for me, it definitely had its ups and downs, but I was definitely able to see the Lord's hand in His work. :D

 

First off, last week me and Elder N went on a Buko juice (coconut milk) excursion with some of the branch missionaries. They own a few coconut trees so we climbed them (ok not ME, mom. no need to worry. haha.) and made awesome fresh coconut milk with the juice, a little sugar and milk. YUM. the only problem was, I think there might have been some bacteria in what we drank because the next day was pretty miserable. haha. Luckily, it was only a one day sickness. I've had buko juice plenty of times before though, so I don't know if it was just this batch. And also, I don't know if I already told you guys, but our apartment is connected to our relief society president, a 60 yr. old widow named sister Adana ("nanay adana" (momma adana)) she is basically our mother out here (so you don't have to worry mom. haha) and she'll cook for us and help us out when we need. So she helped me out when i got sick. :)

 

Then on Wednesday I had just recovered in time for our exchanges with the elders in Mabini. Well, it had just rained the night before and Mabini is the most mountainous area in the whole mission. There is absolutely NOTHING out there and the Elders in that apartment have to hike a mountain every morning to fetch their water. I was assigned in Mabini for Wednesday. Everything was going fine, untill the end of the day when we were about to head home. We came up to a road (the only way back home) and it was CRAZY muddy. We were being careful, but me being my klutzy self, fell and got my shoes stuck in the mud that was up to my knees. hahah. it was hilarious, but really miserable. well I was able to get out eventually, but I was COVERED in mud and my shoes were like 10 pounds heavy, but I said in my head "I'll go where you want me to go!" and rolled up my pants and took off my shoes and walked barefoot the rest of the way home in mud that was up to my knees. hahaha. Well, at that point I was really tired, and hungry, and miserable, so on our way home we stopped by an inactive family that Elder Y (my companion) had met one time up there. They got me all cleaned up and then we asked if we could share a message with them. I think the fact that I was covered in mud softened their hearts, because Elder Y said that they tried to teach them before but they wouldn't even face the missionaries. So we were able to teach them and their teenage children who aren't yet members, and it was a really powerful lesson. :) I learned that Heavenly Father definitely has His purposes, and we just need to trust Him with His work.

From February 26, 2012:

Life just keeps moving! I can't even believe how fast the time has flown here. I feel like a just got here, but then I realized it's already been a month!

Well, this week has been a pretty good one for me. I didn't have to take any mud baths, and aside from a small cough that made me lose my voice for a day, I didn't get sick. On Wednesday I got to go on splits with Elder T (my old companion), so that was pretty fun. It was pretty nice because we already knew how each other teaches and stuff. Haha. Then at the end of our splits we got a call from some of our elders who had a small problem, so we went to their area to counsel with them and help them out. The cool thing, is that to get to their area, you have to ride on a small paddle boat! Haha. It was pretty exciting because, I mean, how many missionaries get to do that? Haha. We decided that next week we will go on splits with them to help them out as well. I hope I get to be the one who works in their area, because it is pretty beautiful. It is pretty untouched by man and very far away from any normal civilization. I took some pictures, but pictures just don't do it justice.

 

I gave a talk on Sunday in our branch, and I think it went pretty well. I decided to be a little more blunt with the branch this time, trying to follow the spirit at the same time and keeping it appropriate to say at the pulpit, of course. Haha. The topic was about loving our neighbors, and our branch seems to have a problem with that. There are a lot of politicians in our branch for some reason and it's about time for another election, so I decided to address that as well has helping the less actives to come back (as in, politics have no place in the church, we need to love everyone regardless of their position, forgive and forget, etc. etc.). I got a lot of compliments about how those things needed to be said though, so I think it was ok. haha

 

Anyway, the work went well in Bonifacio this week. Brother G, and his wife that is a member will be married tomorrow, be interviewed right after, and be baptized this Saturday. We are very excited for them, but realized this week that they still have a lot to learn as far as the Gospel goes. They know as much as they need to for baptism, and they are very humble and willing to repent, but we are going to have to continue to work with them after their baptism to help them prepare to go to the temple in a year. That's the ultimate goal, right? Right. Sister O. is also doing well. She is still progressing and keeping all her commitments to us. We had a good lesson with her son Jok-jok this week and he said that he wants to change his life and accepted the invitation to be baptized, so that was pretty exciting! The only problem is, that was about a week ago and we haven't been able to teach him since then he's never home! Haha. We did, however, meet his older brother, M, who is working in Bacolod and visited for the weekend. We taught him and referred him to the missionaries there, so hopefully that goes well too. The gospel is for families, not just individuals! Haha. We also have had a pretty good experience working with a less-active 19 yr. old named Bobby L. He actually wants to serve a mission but was huya (shy) because he hadn't gone to church in a while. He thought that he couldn't serve a mission anymore, but we told him he definitely could if he works at it, and we got him a white shirt and pants to wear to church, and he has started reading the Book of Mormon, so things are looking really good for him. We'll keep teaching him and helping him along.

 

By the way, I just found out this week that Mark M., the boy I taught and baptized in Bacolod, is also planning on serving a mission! And the B Family is going to be sealed in the temple in the next few months, and the R family is also planning on being sealed at the end of this year, and Juanito B, a man that I taught in Guihulngan, is now the teacher for Sunday school and 2^nd counselor to the branch president! There's more I'm sure, but I can't really think of it at the moment.  It really is crazy when I think about all that has happened since I've been out here. I can't believe it's been so long! It is very rewarding to see people continuing in the gospel.

 

We also got to meet with the District President of the Escalante District this week, so that was good to align our visions and discuss things that need to happen. The work is really progressing in our zone. Every week, more and more successes are happening and baptisms are really happening fast. The big focus here though is working with the ward and stake leaders, so we talked a lot about that and how to go about it. I am learning a TON about church leadership and working with them and teaching. We are also keeping up the work on MLS, so that's good. Well, I think that's about it.

 

I love you all, keep doing what you need to! You are always in my prayers. Halong guid kamo! Gugma ta kamo!

 

-Elder Lee

JANUARY 2012

From Januray 2, 2012:
Merry Christmas and Happy New Years!!

It is the craziest thing to me how every day I am SO TIRED when I come home. like, it never feels like I can get enough sleep and I am always exhausted, but at the same time, for some reason, I'm happy! I just don't get it! haha.

Our New Year's was pretty.... uneventful. haha. We weren't allowed to watch Disney movies this year like we did last year, and we had to be in our apartments by 6. Luckily, we had lots of members feeding us and bringing food, but other than that, it was just me and Elder Cre in our apartment watching church movies all night. haha. I can totally see why we needed to be in our house, though. The fireworks are insane here! haha.

It feels really weird to think that this is the same year that I will come home. Time flies! Especially with our investigators here. A few weeks ago, it felt like all of their baptism dates that were being set were WAY far out there, but then yesterday it hit me that they are really close! We are really going to be focusing on those 4 with a date these next few weeks (Brother N., Brother M., Sister D., and Sister J.) to help them better prepare. It is pretty exciting.

Church for us on new years was kind of strange. haha. Bishop decided that it was just going to be sacrament meeting, and it started a few hours later than normal. And when I say just sacrament, I mean JUST sacrament. No speakers, no intermediate hymns, nothing. A prayer, a hymn, a hymn, sacrament, a hymn, and a prayer. It was about 20 minutes total, I think. hahah. It's true, that that IS the reason we go to church, to renew our covenants, but it just felt like something was missing. haha. oh well. It gave us a good opportunity to explain to our investigators more about the sacrament and that it is the most important part of our going to church.

Things are going good being a new zone leader, too. All of the district leaders in our zone are also new district leaders this transfer, so it's good to be able to train them and get a whole fresh look at things.

 

I also wanted to say really quick that this week, I saw a little random kid with a BYU shirt on! Haha. And every once in a while I see a Seahawks or Mariners jersey too. I took pictures of the BYU kid. So crazy! Haha. Maybe I'll be able to send some pictures this week.

Anyways, I think that's about it. I am way excited for another new year and all the things that will happen. I've been thinking a lot about new years resolutions lately and how that relates to the atonement. A new fresh start on things. It really is refreshing. I know that if we stick to the Gospel of Jesus Christ, follow the commandments, and serve others things will work out for the best. I love you all! Have a great rest of the week!! Halong gid, kag palangga ta kamo! Maayong Pasko kag bago nga tuig man! 

-Elder Lee

From January 8, 2012:
Happy Epiphany!
  

This week I met a star. well.... a Filipino star. haha. his name is Coco Martin and apparently he's a famous Filipino actor. everyone says he's like the Tom Cruise or Brad Pitt of the Philippines. haha. He was here in kabankalan for the annual "Sinulog" festival, which apparently is a lot bigger than I thought it was! The festival started on the 6th and goes till the 15th, and the whole city is basically shut down for it. There are people coming from all over the Philippines for it and apparently it gets broadcasted to the rest of the Philippines as well. Our apartment is way close to the plaza, so we hear the tribal drums and fireworks all night every night. It's way bigger than Christmas or New Year's. In a way, it's really hard for missionary work here, but on the other hand, it's really easy to find people to talk to and get referrals for other missions. haha. So right now me and Elder Cre are just focusing on those 4 progressing investigators and getting the "rescue" underway in our ward.

Things are going really well with brother m. and sister d. (surprisingly). They are both preparing themselves really well for baptism. Brother m. should be baptized on the 21st and sister d. should be on the 28th if all goes well. We'll see about the n. family, it seems like they might have to push back their date a few more weeks because different things have come up where they can't go to church or keep all their commitments. They really are progressing spiritually, though. Their baptism should be very soon... :) Jorgette is also keeping her commitments, but we are just going to have to push back her date because we simply don't have time to teach her everything she needs to know by her baptism date. We just can't meet with her enough times a week. We also have a few new prospective investigators that came to church, so that's pretty cool. we'll see how they progress in these next few weeks as well.

The ward has really taken hold of the new focus to re-activate. Well... at least bishop has, but I'm sure the rest of the ward will follow. Later on this week the Philippines area presidency will be holding a broadcast for all ward and stake auxiliary leaders, where they will give instruction and direction on how to go about doing this in each ward. Luckily, the zone leaders were also invited to attend. ;) I'll let you guys know how that goes next week probably. It's really exciting to see things finally get moving and to see the members finally getting active in this work. :) This really is the work of the Lord, but it really depends on our faithfulness how fast it will move. That really is the key. I've realized that if the Lord wanted to, he could make everyone members of his church right away, in the snap of a finger, but instead, he allows us to participate in this work to grow and to learn in the process.

Well I think that's about all I have to report this week. Halong gid, kag palangga ta kamo!

   

-Elder Lee

From January 16, 2012:  

Hey All!! 

It was way funny to hear about David Archuleta coming to the Philippines. That will start a whole 'nuther round of rumors here. haha. When it was announced that he was serving a mission, I can't even tell you how many people asked me if it was true he was coming to Bacolod, and that he was already in the MTC in Manila. hahahah. I also got to sing in sacrament yesterday and tons of people were saying things like, "You sing just like David Archuleta! When he comes to Bacolod maybe you'll be his trainer!" But the sad thing is, they were serious! hahaha. anyways. I just think it's way funny. The Philippines is hilarious. :) 

Anyways, this week has been pretty rough on the work. First off, the Sinulog festival was WAAAAY bigger than I thought it would be. We hardly got to work at all this week, and on Sunday (the festival finale/highlight) we were on lock down in our apartment. Not to scare you, but this was way bigger than new years was and even the masskara festival in Bacolod. I just seem to be hitting all the big festivals at the right time! haha. Sinulog was broadcasted all over the Philippines and there were tons of people visiting from all over. Lots of Americans too, which was pretty weird to see. haha. On Sunday the tradition is that everyone runs around drawing on each other with charcoal (like chickens with their heads cut off), whether you want them to or not. So it was literally like a battlefield getting to church and back that morning, dodging people and taking alternate routes when we saw groups of teenagers. haha. And then DURING church, the parade with all the tribal drums and giant santa ninos decided to go RIGHT by the church. It was deafening loud and so distracting for all the classes and sacrament meeting. so nuts. haha. Most of the members here didn't even GO to church. Most that did were from out of town, visiting for the festival. Needless to say, I am way happy and relieved that it's over. phew! Maybe we can start getting things under control here. 

The other reason we weren't able to work that much this week was because we spent most of our time traveling to the areas in our zone doing interviews, helping missionaries with their problems, and giving trainings. The trainings all went really well, even if I still have no idea what I'm doing. haha. The Lord definitely helps those he calls. We also watched a pretty intense broadcast on Saturday from the Philippines area presidency. It was for all ward/stake leaders. They pretty much introduced the goals for 2012. I am way excited, because it is exactly what this nation needs right now. They started by showing some pretty harsh statistics, which opened everyone's eyes. They said that it was meant to disappoint, but not to discourage, and we can't fix anything if we don't know it's broken. yikes. Then they introduced the plan to begin the rescue of the 500,000 less active members out of 700,000 total members. It is time for change, and like I said, I'm way excited to see this actually happening. :) So that was exciting to watch.

Next week we have our zone conference, and me and Elder Cre are also in charge of training for that so we will see how it goes. After doing mission wide apartment checks, President decided that the theme will be "organize yourselves". haha. Very fitting. :) 

 

Not too much else to report on, besides the fact that brother m. was interviewed yesterday (woo hoo!) and will be baptized on saturday. He'll be a great addition to the ward. With the n. family, we are still waiting for them to take care of a few of the requirements, then they will be good to go. with jorgette, we just need to find time to teach her, and then she will be fine. Sister d. is still learning... she has a testimony, but doesn't understand everything quite yet and wants to be baptized a.s.a.p. we want to make sure she understands what she is doing and has a little more time to figure things out, so we will probably push her baptism date back as well. We'll see! The work of the Lord continues to roll forth, no? :) 

Sige halong! palangga ta guid kamo!!!

-Elder Lee

From January 23, 2012:
WOW!!  Snowmageddon 2012!! and "Happy Disaster Week," eh? I'm really glad to hear everyone is safe and recovering from the killer storms. Phew! I can't even imagine. This week I have been thinking "I sure wish it would snow" but now, I don't think I'm wishing for that anymore. The weather here is always the same. Every week, no matter what season. You either have SUPER killer hot days, or super killer hard rain. I apologize for the entire nation of the Philippines for sending that forecasted moisture over your way. hahaha. Most of the time people don't have electricity over here. Well, it's about 50%. Just depends on the neighborhood. So I've learned a lot about using what you have and surviving on very little. I'm a lot more comfortable now with the idea of living without hot water or electricity.  But like I said, I'm glad everyone is safe. I'm sure it was a wake up call though for people who don't have food storage or emergency supplies. yikes!

 

Well this week was a pretty good one here in Kabankalan. We had the baptism of brother M., so that was pretty exciting. One more family united! :) His testimony is very strong and he will be a great addition to the ward. Bishop and the members were so excited, they ordained him a priest basically right after he was confirmed, so they could put him to work dayon (right away). haha. We have also seen our ward aligning their vision with "the rescue". They had a ward council meeting yesterday (the first in 4 months) and picked names and set plans to visit them and started right after church. I'm pretty sure we will be seeing the results of their efforts very soon. 

Along with that, we realized this week the rest of our investigators are not progressing as well as they should be. It will probably have to be another month before any of them are baptized... sister d. has not been keeping her commitments for some reason, the n. family are still waiting on their marriage, and Jorgette has just not had time to meet with us. We want to have patience with them all, let them work out their own problems, but at the same time we don't want to keep teaching them if they are not progressing. We'll see what happens and then we will have to decide really soon what to do. We have, however, had a lot of unexpected success with finding new investigators that have good potential. None of them came to church, but we will work with them this next week. 

I think that's about all I have to report this week. Things have gotten kinda boring here in Kabankalan, because the Sinulog Festival is over. haha. This next week though we will be going on splits in 2 different areas with our district leaders, so that should be fun.Halong gid, mismo sa mga baguio! Palangga ta kamo, kag nagapangamuyo ako para sa inyo pirme! :) 

-Elder Lee

From January 30, 2012:
Hey Familee!!!       

In all honesty, I can't wait to get back to our home ward and see how everything functions there. In countries where the church isn't completely established yet, the missionaries spend a lot of time working with the ward and stake leaders in about every aspect of the work. Plus this last week we just had my first MCM (Missionary correlation meeting) with the stake president and high counselor over missionary work. So I've just been thinking a lot lately about working with ward and stake leaders. Especially right now with the new focus to rescue the less active. The area presidency has asked missionaries to "no longer be watchers and observers, but to nudge the ward leaders in the right direction". Obviously we can't overstep our bounds, but we are being asked to be more pro-active and aggressive in helping them do things the right way. I have gained a completely new perspective out here about how things are supposed to work and about how much i didn't realize went on in ward and stake leaderships before my mission. I definitely have a greater appreciation. Even just little things, like having fellowshippers for investigators, or working on the CMIS lists on the computers, I never really understood it before the mission. It's probably the same with all missionaries. Basta (anyways) I just can't wait to get back and see how things really work. hahah. 

Well, life is still moving here in kabankalan as well. We went on two sets of splits this week, so that was pretty exhausting traveling back and forth. But the splits went really great and I definitely learned alot. It's always good to do splits, because you are always humbled. haha. Either you get a fresh set of eyes in your area, or you go to another area and see how they are doing things. And with the transfer ending this week, it's good to figure out what to do for next transfer. That being said, I don't really have an idea of what will happen this transfer. Elder Cre goes home in one more transfer, and the office has been asking us to look around for apartments for 2 more elders to be put here, but I don't know if they secured one yet or not. I think we might be staying, but we'll see. Anything could happen. 

The investigators have still been going alright... Jorgette was the only one who came to church on Sunday though, so that was kind of disappointing... haha we have had to move her baptism date back because she has been out of town for the last few weeks, but when she saw us on Saturday (the 28th), she remembered that that was the date we set originally for her baptism. She wanted to set a new date right away, so that's encouraging. haha. Her husband is a less active member and is really doing his best to relearn everything and repent. We haven't been able to follow up on sister d. or brother n. yet, so we don't know why they didn't come to church. We still haven't had a chance to meet with sister d. (2 weeks, now), so we are a little worried, but I think as soon as we can meet with her again she will pull through. The lesson we had with brother n. this week went awesome, they are very excited for their baptism and marriage and have been continuing to read, but then they didn't come to church again... :( However, the less-active work with the ward has been going GREAT. :) We have seen instant changes and the ward is really excited. This is the 2nd week in a row they have gathered the troops to go home and visiting teaching, and this last Sunday we had about 4 or 5 less active families come back. Bishop has requested that we reteach the missionary lessons to the less actives all over again, as if they were investigators, so we have been spending a lot of our time doing that. we really have noticed a huge difference in just that. A lot of less actives say they still have testimonies, but they really have forgotten even the most basic things about the church. 

We'll see what happens this next week, you never know when transfers are close! haha. Halong guid, kag palangga ta kamo!      

-Elder Lee

 "C.T.R. - Cook the Rice" :P