Philippines Cauayan Mission

Tuesday, December 18, 2012

17 December 2012


Magandang Hapon po!
Kamusta!
Elder Lasay and Elder Nay unloading their new fridge.
Well, between transfer week and moving apartments, I think we have spent more time traveling and sitting in meetings than actually working in our area. My new area and companion is really awesome. Believe it or not, I am still here in Tuguegarao Ward 2 and still with Elder Lasay! Haha I think I am destined to stay long periods of time in my areas and with my companions. By the end of this cycle, I will have been in this area for 6 months. I love staying in areas though because I get to know people a lot more and see their progression. The good news is that I get to stay in our new apartment that we found! We are almost all settled in by now, and it is a much better place. Now we actually live in our area and within walking distance to a lot of our appointments. And we don't have to try to go to bed with drinking parties right outside our bedroom window all night and living in the hot and stuffy city. It really is a miracle that we were able to find our new apartment. Finding potential apartments here is a lot different than from back home because it is 100% off of people knowing other people that are renting, or seeing it yourself-definitely no real estate agents or any kind of public advertisements. We had been asking everybody we saw and asked all the members to help us look for several months, but nothing was working out. We even made it a conversation starter in our tracting efforts, "Excuse me, do you know of any houses for rent around here? Oh really? Thats too bad... By the way, we're missionaries...." Haha. Eventually, President Carlos even politely reminded us that we NEEDED to find a new apartment sooner than later, so one night we set our entire schedule for just looking and asking people for a place we could rent. Before we left, we prayed that we would be guided to find an apartment we could rent. As soon as we got off of the tricy about halfway into our area, we went to the first house we saw which happened to have people on their front porch. We were surprised when they told us that there was one just a couple houses down the street. On our way to check it out, we joked among ourselves that it would probably be like all of the other ones people had told us about that were far from church standards-no running water, unsealed roof, sketchy surroundings, etc. When we saw it, we were shocked because it was a legitimate rent-able place, and even had a contact number on the front door. We immediately texted the number and they agreed to come and meet us within a few minutes to check it out. The landlord is even super nice and easy to work with, which is another rare thing here. After a few days, the Shaners came with the paperwork and final approval, and the rest is history! We definitely had a little extra help from above finding that one.
First off, that is way cool that Aimee is pregnant again! And I should actually be home to meet my new niece/nephew after birth (just barely...haha)! 
I had to give a talk yesterday in church, and it is weird to see how used to speaking I am now in front of people. I remember the good ol' days of Young Men's, and getting assigned to talk in Sacrament meeting was the worst nightmare ever. Now it is surprisingly easy and not nearly as intimidating. 
Just yesterday, we were blessed to find a great new investigator. Even more exciting, it is a male so we don’t have to worry about not being able to teach him if there is nobody else present. We found him by making our usual rounds of follow up visits with some of our last contacts, and getting the same usual result of them not being home or not being able to teach because they are busy or there is no other male present. After following up with one of our last contacts, he said we couldn’t teach him, but just as we were leaving he told us to go to his friend’s house across the street because he was interested in learning more. He told us we had talked to his friend before, but Elder Lasay and I knew neither of us had talked to anybody else in that area with his description before. Nevertheless, we were happy to have a new and unexpected referral and contacted him immediately. When we arrived, a young man fitting the description saw us and immediately stopped what he was doing and let us into his home. After some conversation, we realized that he had been taught by missionaries several years ago and had apparently seen us walking around his friend’s house and mentioned to his friend that he wished we would visit him too. We only taught him a simple first lesson and focused on the How To Begin Teaching, but he was eager to set a return appointment. It is interesting to realize that even if we are walking around and seemingly being “punted” all day, no effort is wasted and the Lord is still preparing people for us. The Lord's work is hastening and it is a pleasure to be a part of His army of restoring Christ's church on the earth. He hears our prayers, and is always there to help us despite our problems. The best way to serve Him, especially at this time of year, is going about "feeding His sheep" and doing good deeds for other people.
Well, it is time to head, but I am looking forward to our skype on my Dec. 26 about 8:30 in the morning. Hopefully I will get to talk to every one! 
Salamat po sa lahat,
Mahal ko kayo,
Elder Nay

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