Empowering Interfering Processes : Emus and the Proletariat

So this week didn't have any abnormal events or anything. Overall, it's just been another pretty decent week of work I'd guess. We did our typical work, talked to people, taught lessons, etc. We also got another baptism that carried over from last cycle. So yeah, I guess I'll get started on the breakdown of the week.

Tuesday -

This day was pretty typical I'd say. We woke up, prepared, and then had our district council meeting from 9:00-11:00 like every Tuesday. After that, we did our studies and then went out and worked. We taught our investigator named Jun Casuay Cortez. We just kinda did a review of prior lessons to prepare him for his baptism on Saturday. It went well. After that, we did some finding in our area called Fugu. We found this once house of the Bauno family. We kind of asked if we could meet them and stuff and they said yes. The husband was a little drunk (which is SUPER common here) and his wife was in a wheelchair because she had her leg amputated from her diabetes, that we came to find out was actually donated by our church. We talked to them for a while about their family and stuff, and I'm excited to visit them again. We also taught the brother/son of a member family who had previously been taught but wasn't too receptive, but this time it was really pretty good. I think it helps that Elder Areola speaks fluent Ilocano (since that's what they speak where he's from) so he can kind of get a little more personal with some people who don't understand Tagalog great.

Wednesday -

On Wednesday we went out as usual, but ended up doing more service than usual. We went to the house of an investigator/part member family and helped them clean pieces of aluminum that they were going to use for roofing. After that, we walked by some members who were working with someone else to dig holes for posts as the frame of their house. We ended up digging three of the four holes for them. It was nice to do service and we ended up finding a new investigator while doing so. And we ended up teaching like four lessons as well. At the end of the day Elder Areola wanted to make dinner (which is always an interesting Filipino dish) and we needed some ingredient called marunggay (which is just a type of leaf) and we ended up just tearing branches off this tree we found by an elementary school. Which on some level seems like we shouldn't have done that, but he insisted it was alright.

Thursday - 

So we actually had scheduled service on Thursday, rather than on-spot-service, so luckily we could wear some more comfortable clothes that I didn't have to worry about staining. This work just ended up being shoveling a bunch of gravel that seemed to be under their hammock for no reason. We later went out after our studies and taught a lesson to a member. It was actually pretty cool and we were able to help resolve some minor concerns with scripture and things. It kind of shows that everyone needs help from the gospel no matter what point in their life or conversion process. We then did some more on-the-spot service. We were walking to try and re-contact some people we had previously met, and then we saw some old ladies gathering some sticks. We asked to help them and they said no like 76 times, but Elder Areola started helping them and so did I. Sometimes it's difficult for me to do on-the-spot service because the tasks are ones that I'm not usually familiar with, but after Elder Areola started it was easy to help. After that, we were able to help bring the big bundle of sticks to their home and then they said they wanted us to come back later to teach them.

After that, we headed over to the house of a less active priest-aged member named MarJun Juan. We taught him and his non-member sister and friend. We also extended the baptismal invitation to both of them. After that we also visited a less active family, and then taught some people in the park that were referrals from a member.

Friday - 

On Friday all the Ballesteros elders went to the neighboring city of Allacapan in order to withdraw money for the month. That took a while and then we had district exchanges which meant that Elder Butler and I would be companions for the day in his area. We started by going with the zone leaders in order to interview one of their investigators for baptism. That went smooth and the rest of the day was alright as well.

Saturday - 

It was the day of the baptism. I'll describe our convert. So his name, like I said earlier, is Jun Casuay Cortez. Basically, he lives in Fugu (which is kind of far) with our other recent convert Roldan Gaoat. He was a referral, and the whole teaching process went really smooth and he actually seems to have a pretty strong testimony which is what we like. The baptism itself was fairly unorganized which is kind of what we expect here (unfortunately). It was kind of funny because for one, they had two members that were going to do the baptizing instead of the elders. We like to give members here the opportunity to exercise their priesthood power and things, but it turns out that one of the individuals that was supposed to do the baptizing actually didn't hold the priesthood, so the one member baptized the both of them. 

Later in the day we headed to the house of our Branch Mission Leader and all six of us elders had family home evening with their family. There was also food there, so that was nice. During the family home evening we played charades. When elder Mamauag was explaining the rules he was saying something to the extent of "So if I hold up one finger it means one word, and then after that I hold up the amount of syllables. For example, spoon (we were playing with English words) has two syllables, 'ih-spoon'.." Elder Vaea and I just burst out laughing. It was funny because everyone here says an 'ih' noise before words that start with an 's'. Another example that I hear all the time is Joseph (ih)Smith, but this incident was funny because it came to my realization that it wasn't just the inability to pronounce the word spoon, but rather the thought that, that was correct pronunciation of spoon. 

After that, we also taught our new investigator Juliet Juan lesson one. It was pretty cool because she cried during the teaching of the first vision. That surprised me a little because initially she didn't seem to interested, but the spirit touched here which is cool

Sunday -

Of course, this was the Sabbath day. After church, we had our MCM meeting with the Branch Mission Leader. Later we went out and worked. We went and contacted referrals and taught a lesson to a less active member as well. One of our referrals is named Bryan Tabyous and he knew lots about the Bible and had lots of questions. It was really cool though and you could tell he was sincerely looking for truth. 

Pictures - 

my companion and I on a weird small motorcycle we saw, a big tree in Abulug when I went on exchanges with elder Butler, me in a waiting shed, and pictures from the baptism.

New Companion Elder Areola

So this week has been pretty good. My new companion is named Elder Areola. He's 22 years old and lives in the boundaries of the Philippines Baguio mission which is just south of mine. He only has two more cycles left before he goes home as well. He's really a pretty hard worker and it's nice to have a companion that's actually willing to put some work in. I'm also learning a lot about paper work type things that my previous companions didn't even acknowledge the existence of. So on some level, it's like I'm still in some level of training. 

Monday -

We'll just skip Monday and Tuesday in this email because it was with Elder Perez which constitutes a lack of work.

Tuesday -

Skip..

Wednesday -

Nothing all day with Elder Perez except for sending him of to his new area. Later, after being in a tri-some with Elder Butler and Vaea for a couple of hours, we went to pick up my new companion Elder Areola. I picked him up, brought him to the apartment, got him settled in, and then we went out. Basically, I just showed him around and let him meet some of the nearby members so he could get familiarized with the area a little bit.

Thursday - 

On Thursday we really wanted to work, but also we had to wait for the two new Elders coming to Ballesteros. So we ended up hanging around close-ish to our apartment and doing a lot of finding. We found like 20+ people. We talked to a lot of people and gave out a lot of pamphlets after sharing a short message about them. Also, while we were in the apartment for lunch I was in the bathroom doing some of that urination thing, and then a magnitude 5+ earthquake happened and it shook open the door and it bumped me. Like nothing really bad happened but you could feel it and it kinda made a weird noise. Later Elder Prusse and Elder Mamauag (the new elders in the area) came and we showed them their new apartment and stuff, which is just adjacent to ours. It's part of the same building actually. They're both pretty cool. Elder Prusse is from Arizona and is training Elder Mamauag. Elder Prusse is 19 and Mamauag is 26 and actually grew up in Ballesteros. His grandparents even live here still. So it's funny because he's serving on his mission, in his first area, in his home  town. Also I got 2 packages sent from my family that Elder Prusse and Mamauag brought from Laoag.

Friday - 

We went out and did a lot of work in our area, even though we realized that our area might be changed for the new elders. We just kinda went around and visited some members, less actives, recent converts, and did some more finding. We were also able to help resolve a concern of a member that had become less active.

Saturday -

On Saturday we did a lot of trying to reorganize our area so that the new elders could have an area. We basically gave them parts of our area, and the Ballesteros B elders (Butler and Vaea) gave them part of their area as well. It was kinda difficult to divide the area up because if we didn't do it carefully, it would mean that a couple of the companionship would never be able to work close to the apartment and would have to pay for a tricey to go out far every day. After getting that organized we walked to a further area called Palloc and had a dinner appointment with some members.

Sunday -

It was pretty typical of what a Sunday should be. We went to church, had a meeting with all the missionaries and the Branch Mission Leader, and then went out fellow shipping with lots of members. It was good and we got some work in and helped Elder Areola get more familiar with a different part of our area. And that was pretty much our week. I look forward to more work which was rare last cycle.

Pictures - 

pictures of me and Elder Areola, and then pictures of our whole Ballesteros district with the new missionaries as well.

Mission-ish

So once again this was a HIGHLY unproductive week.. but I'm not sure what I expected otherwise.

Monday -

So our p-day was the same as usual with emailing and laundry. Elder Butler and I also were eating at this place called Ramdent's, and there were a ton of workers there sitting there staring at us the entire time. They would just laugh and giggle at everything we did. One of them was a bakla and called us handsome. So basically, we were just sitting there uncomfortable the entire time while there was a crowed of workers just sitting around doing nothing because there's a strange amount of over employed companies and things here. In lots of stores and stuff there's often people just standing around doing nothing which is kind of weird.

Tuesday - 

Elder Butler and I went out and worked while our companions did nothing the entire day.

Wednesday -

Another day where not much happened...

Thursday - 

On Thursday we had district council and then for Elder Butler and I, lots of studying. I read in Alma 24:27 where it says "thus we see that the Lord worketh in many ways to the salvation of his people." The story of the righteous Anti-Nephi-Lehies being slaughtered is a sad but powerful one. The Anti-Nephi-Lehies were willing to put away there weapons and not defend themselves because of the covenant they mad with God. As a result of their slaughter, it helped many Lamanites realize the error of their ways and as a result many were converted. It was cool to realize that while the Anti-Nephi-Lehies weren't necessarily physically protected from danger despite of their faith, "we have no reason to doubt...[that] they were saved" and it was truly for the good purpose  of bringing the Lamanites closer to Christ.

Sometimes we don't understand why certain things happen or for what purpose, but I know that if we are faithful, good things will be brought about through God's plan, regardless of our understanding and reasoning at the time.

Friday -

So on Friday we didn't do much except go to the house of this member  named Sister Caroline (who seems moderately mentally handicapped - and also has a kind of deformed skull) because she was having her wedding with this guy who's not a member. It was kinda weird.

Saturday - 

Nothing happened.

Sunday - 

We had church and a meeting with us four missionaries and our new Branch Mission Leader. After the meeting we headed out on splits and did work. Each missionary went with another member of the ward who holds the Melchizedek Priesthood and went off to a bunch of different areas. I went with our Branch Mission Leader (who just received this calling) named Nino. He's actually a returned missionary. Anyways the work went alright and we went and worked in this place called Palloc.

Later at night we received transfer texts because the cycle is over. So it turns out that the only person transferring is Elder Perez out of the four of us. This is good, because even though I kind of wanted a new area, I will at least get a new companion who is probably more willing to work. 

Pictures -

A picture from when Elder Butler and I went out to work together, some "tag pictures" that my mom desired, a dead bloated cat on the street that no one has bothered to pick up for a couple weeks even though it's right by the market and tons of people have to walk by it, some piglets, and another picture with Elder Butler and I.

Preaching to the Dead

Well unfortunately, with my companion Elder Perez, I can't say that it has been a super productive week which is pretty frustrating. On some level it's kind of difficult to realize that I only have control over myself when we're supposed to have the same goal in mind. Though there wasn't a ton of work, the little work that was done was good and I'm glad it happened.

Tuesday - 

We had our district council.. and then the companions of Elder Butler and I just went off and did there own stuff until we had a dinner at the home of a member named Brother Nical. Elder Butler and I ended up doing a decent amount of studying.

Wednesday -

This day also included a lot of studying. I also saw an old white dude with a thick mustache on a very rusty old bicycle which was interesting. It's always weird to see white people here. Later when we went out to actually work we saw a whole bunch of kids around the age of 10-12 smoking tobacco (which isn't unusual) and they all had tattoos. We asked them about their tattoos and they said some adult dude just gives them tattoos for free. So that's pretty messed up, but not unusual either I guess. We ended up teaching 4 lessons. We taught two people that I've been visiting almost my whole time here in Ballesteros and then also found this elderly couple that we talked to and visited with for  awhile. 

Thursday - 

Today was potentially the least productive day so far. There was more studies and then Elder Butler and I started trying to figure out how to play our harmonica's we both have. It was kinda funny.

Friday - 

We went out for a little while and saw two of our investigators.

Saturday - 

Some teaching was done on Saturday. We ended up going to some investigators and also to Fugu to teach my convert Dan-Dan. Then later we had to re-baptize the 9 year old named Wayne that we baptized last week because the baptizer said the incorrect middle name, so that ended up eating most of our day away.

Sunday - 

This was probably the most busy day and it felt nice. The day started at 10:00-12:00. There was a live area broadcast from Elder Holland to the whole Philippines that replaced stake conference. It was a really cool talk and he hit on the topic of our job as members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day saints. He basically said that our job as members is to prepare the earth for the second coming of Christ and we need to be prepared to present the church to him when he comes again. He also taught about how the first law of the gospel is obedience which was awesome as well. Obedience brings forth blessings truly. 

Later we went out on splits with members of the ward. Apparently this is allowed as long as the missionaries split with another Melchizedek Priesthood holder. I ended up going with a member and fellowshipper named Rence that will leave on his mission in March. We ended up teaching to a few people and it seemed to go very well.

After a while we met back up with my companion Elder Perez and his fellowshippers. There was this long time investigator named Brother Oandosan(?) and he invited us to teach at the home of his sister. Their father had recently passed away at 101 years of age. In the Philippines it is tradition for whole extended families to gather after the death of a loved one. For 10 days they mourn with the body of the deceased person in their home in a coffin with a glass lid so you can see the body. Anyways, we went in there and taught a fairly large group of people about the Plan of Salvation and how families can be together forever while standing next to the dead body. We stood up in the front and gave a sermon like lesson as they were expecting and people were crying and things. It was a very interesting experience, but I'm very glad we were there.

Pictures - 

I don't have many pictures this week because of lack of work in all honesty but the few that I do have should include... the less amazing Filipino version of the White House, a couple pictures of a decent meal I had called "Grigliata del giorno" which is Italian for "Barbecue of the Day" (very delicious by the way even though I don't know exactly what meat it is), a picture of Elder Butler's mini-statue of Jesus that I used to explain idols which there are so many of here in the Philippines, a picture of Wayne that we re-baptized (clearly he didn't want a picture taken of him), and finally this notebook that says "Turkey" with the Turkish flag but also elements of Thanksgiving pilgrim stuff mixed in which was just hilarious to find.