Palompon Week 10 (8/30/2010)
Salamat sa post-its. Haha. (I haven't gotten them yet, obviously, but I know you've sent them. :] )
Hi family!
We had an AMAZING week this week. We didn't teach a lot of lessons because we went to a Leadership Training Meeting on the other side of Leyte in Sugod and stayed in a hotel. (Air Con! All the sisters were in a hotel room, but all of the Elders were crammed into the missionaries apartment in Sugod. haha.) Its about a 3-4 hour drive from Palompon. In this meeting (for 3 days!) we listened to training from our Mission President and the APs. They were all very simple principles from Preach My Gospel (one of the books missionaries study) but they actually showed us how to APPLY it in the lesson! WOW. It really sets up the lesson and everyone to feel the Spirit. And that is the MOST important thing in a lesson. Nothing else really matters as long as they can feel the Spirit. All of these trainings that we're getting now is going to be the new curriculum for the MTC. But they have not yet implemented it in the MTC. It includes How to Begin Teaching, Committing the Baptism on the first lesson, commiting to read the Book of Mormon, go to church, and LoC and WoW and Tithing, practicing relying on the Spirit to tell you what to say. We also role-played ALOT. Role-play is the new training and practice. We're able to practice it and I can tell you that even in practice, the Spirit is still there. :) All of this was just sitting in front of us the whole time, but because of the direction of the Apostles we can REALLY use it! Ahh I'm so excited!~
Sister Farnworth and I talked alot as we were going home from the LTM. (We had a lot of time of course, because of the van ride.) We were both so amazed at how strong we were able to feel the spirit for the past couple of days. We were also happy that we were able to see the other missionaries and feel of their efforts and of their spirit as well. Seeing them and their teaching helped us in seeing what we could do for our investigators.
We tried implementing the training as we had our first lessons on Sunday. We are better able to understand our investigators. For example: We've been teaching an investigator named Marites and lots of her kids and neighbors for at least 3 months. When we were able to really talk to her and focus on her as a person, we understood that she actually understood very little of our lessons from before! She didn't even really know who Joseph Smith was. I think she just thought that we were only there to teach her kids, even though she usually joined in on the lessons. But as we taught her what prophets are and their importance, we committed her to pray about Joseph Smith and have her son read to her. When we committed her to baptism, she said she would have to talk to her husband first. But I feel that we REALLY made headway with her. And I know that that was able to happen BECAUSE we had the Spirit.
I feel that this LTM was a very giant spiritual highlight in the whole of my mission. My only regret is that this didn't happen while I was in the MTC. I feel like there was a lot missing from beforehand. But now, I'm so glad that we were able to go!!
We have a concern with our Branch Missionaries. They are all eager to work... when there is a giant group of people. If there are 8 of them + the missionaries, they LOVE to work... all in one lesson. I don't really understand it because they just sit there for the entire lesson because there's so many of them, but they love to do it. We explained to them a couple weeks ago how if we split up and they teach their own lessons, we can have more investigators/baptisms. The only reason I can think of this concern is because they aren't comfortable teaching yet. So the only thing I can think of is to figure out how to train them with the training that we got. But what's really funny is yesterday I gave them a training/lesson about how important the Spirit is. We figured out that the Spirit is the ONLY way to conversion. And because of that we talked about what would NOT help the Spirit during lessons. I gave an example by pretending to be a missionary that texted, read, slept or took pictures during lessons. They all kind of got a kick out of it. But I know that they understood because when they all came to a lesson with us that evening, they ALL made sure to not sleep/text/play with their phones during the lesson. haha. Sis Farnworth said its weird that we worry so much about our fellowshippers. Heh heh.
I know that the gospel's been restored through Joseph Smith. The Spirit confirms it to me. I feel I have been SO strength-ed this past week. I know that temples are the house of the Lord. And because of that testimony, I can be sure that the Book of Mormon is scripture and Thomas S Monson is our living prophet now. I am so grateful to be here.
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Palompon Week 9
Mom & Dad~
I love yoooooooooooou!
Eva & Jessie~
Happy Birthday!! You are both one year closer to going home to the Celestial Kingdom! Harharhar. :)
I've heard of the Shakespearian Festival. It makes me want to wear a cool medieval dress.~
Please send me post-its. Haha. We bought a pack of post-its here, but they weren't the same. :P
~
You asked a good question today Eva, about do I know anyone that speaks Warai-Warai or Tagalog. Here's my answer:
You asked a good question today Eva, about do I know anyone that speaks Warai-Warai or Tagalog. Here's my answer:
Languages in the Philippines are really mushed together like a mesh pot. America is the giant mesh pot of nationalities, but everyone speaks English. Over here, everyone is Filipino, but there is a giant mesh pot of languages! NO ONE speaks pure Cebuano. When its really pure Cebuano they call it "deep Cebuano", the same way we would say "old English". Tagalog is the national language, and usually its Tagalog that is playing on TV. So everyone here understands Tagalog, but they speak bits and pieces of it. The same with English! They somewhat can understand some English, but can't really speak it because all they do is listen to English movies w/o practicing how to speak it. And because the Philippines was governed by the Spanish for so long, Spanish words are in the languages too. Like pwede and ciudad. So in total I end up hearing a combination of Tagalog, Cebuano, Spanish and English. Then there's the possibility of Warai Warai someday. Agoy!
We had ZERO investigators come to church! :( We were a little surprised. Attendance was really low too.
We did manage to teach Justin this week even though we didn't have a set appointment with him. It was AMAZING. We taught him the Word of Wisdom and the Law of Chastity and he accepted it RIGHT AWAY. He said he'd stop drinking coffee and when we told him that living together without being married is not God's way, he said: "Maybe the Lord will forgive me, cuz I didn't know."
AHHHH SO GOLDEN!!
It was especially funny when we taught him that earrings for boys isn't good and he had one on during the lesson. He just laughed and said: But it makes me gwapo. He said he would take it out later that day. And the next time we saw him, he pointed out to us: Look! I'm not wearing an earring anymore! He was smiling so big. :)
We have this community (barangay) in our area called Dry Dock. Half of it is literally houses on top of big bamboo sticks in the middle of the ocean! Our relief society president lives on top of the ocean! We joke that she has "Air con" because the wind is so amaaaazing wonderful over at her house. We walk on bridges made out of bamboo sticks. I reaaaaally have to take some pictures of it at some point.
The other communities (besides the main roads and houses) are basically swampy rock places. When I first got here, sister Farnworth told me: Our branch president lives in a swamp. o.O It's only half true. There were a couple of times where we couldn't get to the 2nd counseler's house because there was water all the way in front of his house.
I've included some pictures...
Me with a chicken. (Sister Farnworth has a picture of me with him when he was still a fluffy pink chick. Yes, he was painted pink by the kids in the neighborhood)
Our Branch presidency!
One recent convert, Juliet. She wants to be a missionary! She's only 17 though so she has a while to go.
Me with our 3 month plan of investigators. We have a lot! (That's what I need the post-its for. Haha)
I read a LOT of general conference issues yesterday because Sis Farnworth had a fever. It was pretty cool catching up on all the words of the prophets. :)
I'm in Mosiah 7 right now. How's your reading going?
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Palompon Week 8
Mom & Dad~
I love you!! Eva said that someone at your work asked if you were going to sell your red car, haha! Stewed tomatoes?!
Emily~
Do you remember my friends Autumn and Zack? They go to singles ward in El Dorado, on Woodruff street. :)
Eva~
Child Discovery Museum? I actually remember going to one with Tutu and Grandpa. My memory's not very clear, but I remember that fact. :) It might be the same one!
I don't quite understand your entry about Lizzie's ABCs. Does it have something to do with the picture?
Stewed tomatoes every meal? Hahah!!
We will probably be emailing from this time from now on. :) So make sure you give enough time to send me a letter!~ (This email chat has really bad speed connection today. Argh.)
The flies in the Philippines are evil. We got a couple in our apartment this week and they are just so bold! They were literally landing on your food as your are eating it. And they don't move if you wave your hand at them like other flies. They just sit there until you are basically hitting them with a fly swatter, then they fly around and avoid you.
We have a problem with our investigators! They agree with everything that we say! To a point where its trouble because we know they don't REALLY agree/understand it.
We have a couple of investigators who tell us Joseph Smith is a true prophet when we ask them to pray about it. Agoy. (But they haven't prayed yet about it! How do they know he's true? I dunno.)
Filipinos aren't skeptical enough!
We had a lola named Nanay Sevilla who agreed with everything we say! But she's read only a little bit and has NEVER even prayed. And she likes to insert by saying: It's all one Lord, just different ways to get there. (Even though she agreed that there's only 1 true church of God on earth)
Then we taught her daughter who lives down the street. And when we asked her to pray about it, she said: Oh, he's true. Sister Farnworth and I just looked at each other without saying a word. Like Mother, like Daughter I guess...
I took a while to read through your emails, so my email is short today. But I love you all and thanks for the love I get every week in my inbox.
I started reading Mosiah yesterday. How's your Book of Mormon reading? :)
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Palompon Week 7
Eva~
Have fun using my car. ;)
Mom & Dad~
I love you!!!
Tiffany~
I DID get your email, don't worry. Haha. Actually I think I might have gotten it in the actual letter before the email. But I did get to read it. :) Haha, salamat (thanks) for the letters <3
Jessie~
Agay means ow. Agoy can be used in the same way. But it's been used in a sort of "Yeesh" kind of way. Haha. It's just language stuff that meshes into my brain that I don't want to bother filtering out when I email. Hehe. I printed off your talk last week and read it. It was so good! :) I'm really happy that you are feeling more comfortable in giving talks. It's really actually kind of fun now (having so much practice on the mission... hahaha..)
Emily~
I sent you an email. ;)
Transfers have been answered! And I am still here with Sis. Farnworth in Palompon. :)
What's Loratdine? We have a member asking what kind of medicine it is and I dunno.
We eat lots of kinds of fruit here in the Philippines. I've had guavano, which is like a super sweet gelatinous mass thing. And this other fruit is in season now, that looks like a small oval spiky ball. There's a red and yellow variety. There's also jackfruit, which looks like a giant puffball fruit thing. And that really smelly one that I mentioned before. They also have watermelon and fuji apples (expensive) and mangos. But it seems like mangos aren't as much in season anymore, so they're getting more expensive now.
Justin came to church again!! He REALLY does feel a difference when he's at church. He says that he feels refreshed after he comes to church. We committed him to baptism this month too. They only thing we're really worrying about is trying to teach him twice a week so we can finish all the lessons beforehand. :P
We also taught one investigator, Mayann Mabini and two new members, Gary and Juliet. This week was pretty fun with lessons because we had them teach US the lessons. Mayann wasn't even prompted, she just started teaching us everything that she remembered and it was amazing! Sis Farnworth and I were just looking at each other and smiling during the lesson because of her teaching us! xD
On another lesson, Juliet was having a blast because we basically told her it was her turn to be a missionary. She just started snickering while she was teaching us and we were pretending to be investigators. "What's the Book of Mormon? That's your bible right?" She loves a challenge. xD
How's your Book of Mormon reading going? ;P I got past 2nd Nephi yay! Now I'm in Jacob. :)
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Palompon Week 8
Mom & Dad~
I love you!! Eva said that someone at your work asked if you were going to sell your red car, haha! Stewed tomatoes?!
Emily~
Do you remember my friends Autumn and Zack? They go to singles ward in El Dorado, on Woodruff street. :)
Eva~
Child Discovery Museum? I actually remember going to one with Tutu and Grandpa. My memory's not very clear, but I remember that fact. :) It might be the same one!
I don't quite understand your entry about Lizzie's ABCs. Does it have something to do with the picture?
Stewed tomatoes every meal? Hahah!!
We will probably be emailing from this time from now on. :) So make sure you give enough time to send me a letter!~ (This email chat has really bad speed connection today. Argh.)
The flies in the Philippines are evil. We got a couple in our apartment this week and they are just so bold! They were literally landing on your food as your are eating it. And they don't move if you wave your hand at them like other flies. They just sit there until you are basically hitting them with a fly swatter, then they fly around and avoid you.
We have a problem with our investigators! They agree with everything that we say! To a point where its trouble because we know they don't REALLY agree/understand it.
We have a couple of investigators who tell us Joseph Smith is a true prophet when we ask them to pray about it. Agoy. (But they haven't prayed yet about it! How do they know he's true? I dunno.)
Filipinos aren't skeptical enough!
We had a lola named Nanay Sevilla who agreed with everything we say! But she's read only a little bit and has NEVER even prayed. And she likes to insert by saying: It's all one Lord, just different ways to get there. (Even though she agreed that there's only 1 true church of God on earth)
Then we taught her daughter who lives down the street. And when we asked her to pray about it, she said: Oh, he's true. Sister Farnworth and I just looked at each other without saying a word. Like Mother, like Daughter I guess...
I took a while to read through your emails, so my email is short today. But I love you all and thanks for the love I get every week in my inbox.
I started reading Mosiah yesterday. How's your Book of Mormon reading?
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Palompon Week 6
Eva~
Jordan has the Loveland chin!! There's also a movie about that Mafia man, Jessie has it. Oh and before I forget, the day after you told me that you saw the Eclipse movie in theaters, I saw it for sale from street vendors in Ormoc, the stake center of our area. Hahaha.
Emily~
Yay! You got to visit Eva this week!? :) I am jealous.
Mom~
I love you!!
I love you all so much!! *MUAH*
It was so great getting emails from you and encouragement! :) I have some things I'd like to tell you about here..
JUSTIN CAME TO CHURCH AGAIN! yay!! He's had quite a life-change this past month. The first time we met him, he was all happy and bright and wanted to go to church. When we last visited with him this week (we lost contact for a couple weeks in the meantime) his finance broke up with him, and he hasn't been able to find a job! Agoy! He was telling us how he had no idea what to do now, so we encouraged him to come to church, because even though we wouldn't be able to give him an answer, the Lord can. And then he did come! Ahhh. We're so happy for him. He really gets along well with people and the members.
We also have a Sister named Enie who has come to church 3 times already! In a row! THAT'S AMAZING!! :) She's even started reading the Book of Mormon! We're so excited to teach her again on Tuesday. We're planning on committing her to baptism. :)
I wrote last week how Filipinos are "ulaw" right? Well, there's one thing that they are DEFINITELY not ulaw about. And that is singing at the very top of their voice, no matter how badly, on street-side videoke. (Cheaper versions of Karaoke). Only 5 pesos for 3 songs. There's also a culture difference here where the Filipinos LOVE dance groups. They had TV shows of people competing with their dance groups. A couple times when we were coming home from appointments, we'd see a dance group on the street starting their practice. Filipinos love to dance and watch other people dance. :) (Oh and they also have TV shows of people guessing the tune from videoke songs with the first 5 notes only...) They really like videoke and dancing. Haha.
The 'L' thing that our BML was doing, is the thing people do in pictures. In Korea/Japan/China everyone does the 'V' sign right? In the Philippines, they do the L thing. It means "Gwapo/Gwapa" ahha. :)
Working in a branch has given me so much appreciation for my ward back home. There are a lot of hardworking people who really magnify their calling and the strength is so strong. Here, I can see the people working so hard, but because there are so much fewer, it is harder as a branch. I can see more of the full scape of the Church and members and people of all stages of backgrounds.
The goals in our mission here are insane!! 20 Lessons with Members, 20 lessons to recent converts or less actives, 6 baptisms a month, 20 new investigators a week! It's a little overwhelming! X_x Occasionally we've made the goals of one or two, but to make them all would be a miracle. But I believe in miracles... :)
How's your Book of Mormon reading going? I'm in the Isaiah chapters in 2nd Nephi. Agoy... :S
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