1 July 2013

Magandang Hapon!

Kamusta!

Heat wave! It has also been really hot here last week, but thankfully it rained about all day and night yesterday to cool things down temporarily. Should be interesting to see what the difference of the heat here with humidity and heat there where everything cracks and dries out. 

Even though I will hit my 2 year mark this week, I still had several firsts last week. For example, I had my first experience of a big cockroach crawling on my arm while praying at my bedside. Needless to say, it caused quite a distraction to my prayer while I started flailing everywhere before smashing it with my sandal. We also caught rat number 2 in our apartment, but unlike the first one that was as big as my foot, he was a small and quick little guy. After getting home at night and walking into the kitchen, we armed ourselves with brooms after hearing it run around and I guarded the escape route while Elder Sison flushed him out to the open. After several attempts, I was able to whack him to death with the broom before tossing him out for the ants to have a feast. I also had the privilege of eating rabbit. Its actually pretty good! Just like they say, tastes like chicken. 

This week was one of those weeks that the Lord must have felt like we needed to be humbled and exercise an extra amount of faith, because everyday we had appointments falling through and even a day of not being able to teach a single lesson. And to top things off, our progressing investigators didn't come to church and we are going to have to push back the baptismal date for this Saturday. But despite the many trials, the Lord always opens up new opportunities to meet new and different people that are interested. For example, one of the first people we talked to on a day with 0 appointments happened to be a barangay captain and said he wants to try coming to church and learn more. 

We also got to watch the re-broadcast of the special "Hastening the work" training, and I couldn't help but be amazed and jealous that missionaries in other parts of the world are able to receive so much support and be so involved with members and leaders. How grateful I am though to be working in this part of the vineyard to be able to help train and motivate people to be more involved. It has certainly broadened my understanding of how important meetings and coordination really are, even if we are sick and tired of going to them.

Well because we had to stand outside the computer shop for a while waiting for the electricity to come back on, my time is shorter. Thank you all for your wonderful support and many prayers offered on my behalf. Enjoy your week and celebrating dad's b-day!

Mahal ko kayo!

Elder Nay

24 June 2013

Magandang Hapon po!

Kamusta na kayo!?

Last week was super crazy with transfer day and having to say goodbye to Pres. and Sis. Carlos. The transfer day was the biggest in the history of Cauayan mission with 23 new missionaries coming in to replace the 8 that left. Except that record will be beat soon the transfer after I leave, when they have 30 coming to replace 14 of us. It is crazy to see how many sisters are now coming in. 12 of the 23 were sisters, and next time around it will be 21 of the 30 Sisters-all American. In my zone right now in Solano, there are 8 Elders and 8 Sisters. I never realized how hard it would be having to say goodbye to Pres and Sis Carlos after them leaving such a big impact on my life. I couldn't help but wonder if I cried saying goodbye to them, how much more will it be saying goodbye to the entire Philippines? They are seriously some of the nicest and loving people in the whole world, and it will be weird not seeing them here. But, like they always say, change is always a good thing. 

I am now with my last companion, Elder Sison. He is from Manila. After doing some reflecting on my mission, I realized that I have not had even 1 American companion. This has allowed me to be exposed to many different cultures, traditions, and behaviors. Because all of my companions in the field except for 2 have been Filipino, in a way I feel like I have turned into a Filipino as well. I consider this to be a blessing because it is part of a Filipino to be more relaxed, unselfish, loving, and more social. Not necessarily realizing it before I left for my mission, these are all things I needed to work on when I first arrived in my mission.

The Worldwide Leadership meeting/sacrament sounds pretty crazy having 5 sacrament tables. Unfortunately, I'm not sure if we are going to get the chance to watch it or not. I haven't heard anything about if it is going to be rebroadcast for us or not. Something tells me though it will be a while though before they start giving iPads to us in the Philippines. Haha.

Last week we weren't able to do too much work because of traveling to and from Cauayan for meetings, but we were able to share with the Pragata family a couple times. They were sealed in the temple as a family about 2 years ago, but Brother has fallen inactive over the last several months, so we decided to start focusing on him. It worked out perfectly that the theme of June Liahona is about Family and what to do to strengthen it. We picked out an article for them to focus on about 9 ways to strengthen them and shared with them the importance of repentance, and they agreed to study it as a family. When we went back for our return appointment, before we even approached their house, we could hear them screaming and laughing at each other. They later said they were busy playing games and having a good time with each other, and had read the Liahona like we asked them to. Just from them reading the Liahona, their family was strengthened and on the way to being fully active in the church again, with Brother on his 2nd week in a row at church.

Salamat po for everything you do and all your prayers. 

Mahal ko kayo,

Elder Nay

17 June 2013

Magandang Hapon po!

Kamusta!

What a pleasure it is to be able to write an email this week rather than in the subject bar! Haha good times. Last monday was pretty intense. We actually didn't go down to the Banaue rice terraces, although we did see them from the road, but we went to the Batad rice terraces which is about an hour away from Banaue. There is a tiny little village in there which is still part of Banaue city. The road getting there is crazy and still under construction, and in some places, just wide enough to keep the jeepney we rented from tumbling down the steep mountain. Mom would have loved it. :) The hike down into the village was really steep, and once we got to the village we had to ask a bunch of people where the trail was because it winds around through people's houses, but most people got upset and told us that is why we were supposed to pay the 2,000 pesos for a tour guide. I might be white, but I don't have STUPID written across my forehead to pay for a scam like that. We finally met some nice person and pointed us the right way, and trekked across the rice terraces to get to the waterfall. The trail was really steep and reminded me of Angels Landing in Zions, with tons of high steps. The waterfall was beautiful and such a shame we couldn't go swimming and cool off, but I guess that will have to wait until we go back next year. The hike back up was fun because we got lost in the rice terraces. Haha we didn't see the trail and went up about 6 terraces too high, so by the time we got halfway across and ran out of trail, we had to do some sketchy climbs to get back down. It took us forever because some of the "larger" people we were with just about threw in the towel and called it quits and were dying of exhaustion before we even made it halfway. I think everybody that went said that was the first and last time going, but that won't stop me from doing it again if I come back. When I woke up the next morning, I could barely walk straight because my calfs were burning and the back of my neck got roasted in the sun (who would of thought that sun screen doesn't work if you don't actually bring it with you?). We didn't even get back til about 6pm, which made for a long day since we got up at 4, and by that time we were getting phone calls from our appointment to see if we were still coming, which is why I couldn't really write last week. 

Last week was also Zone conferences, and I got to see Bro. Tapitan, who I baptized in Cabagan and now serving part time. He also opened his mission call afterwards, and he is leaving on Aug. 16 for the Naga Philippines mission. He told me he doesn't really have anywhere to go home to seems how his parents kicked him out and disowned him after he told them he was serving a mission. I asked him if he had everything he needed, and he said he was only able to take 2 pants, 2 shirts, and 2 white shirts, and a couple pair of normal clothes when he got kicked out. I told him to not worry and I would give him all of my stuff when I left, so I should be going home pretty light. Speaking of which, Sis. Laker told me my travel plans were all done, but I still haven't seen them yet. I'm not even sure what day I get home.

Lamut is officially my last area because Elder Sogari is getting transferred this week. Transfer day will also be my last time to see Pres. and Sis. Carlos before they go home. But they are going to live in Salem, so they aren't too far away and already invited me over for a barbecue. :)

That works out nicely that I will be able to go to Lake Powell afterwards and fry my farmers tan before school starts. 

Glad you could all celebrate a good Fathers Day. THANK YOU DAD FOR EVERYTHING!!!

On Sunday we had great success as we left for church early in order to pick up some investigators and an inactive that hasn't been to church in years. We have taught him several times now, and every time we go there his wife conveniently turns busy and doesn't want to listen. But after teaching him about the Sabbath Day and Sacrament last week, he was the one to suggest that he goes to church this Sunday. It is clear why he has had this sudden desire to come back to church-he has been reading from the Book of Mormon in his free time. As a result, his wife (who is 6 months pregnant with their first child) saw the Book of Mormon laying out on the table and said she got curious about it and what she could learn from this other Scripture. When we went by on Saturday to remind him we were coming to pick him up for church, his wife decided to drop what she was doing and come and talk to us-which was a first. She is now anxious to listen, all because of the power of reading the Book of Mormon. The lesson we had prepared for them that day was perfect-importance of reading the scriptures.

We were finally able to teach to a lady I met in the Jeepney several weeks ago on our way back from Solano. I started talking to her because I heard her speaking English to her 4 year old boy, and it turns out she lived in the U.K. for 6 months and came back to get her kid and permanently move to U.K.  After talking to her for a while, she asked where our nearest church was and I pointed to it as we drove past it. After pointing it to her, she said she wanted to try going to church there. After teaching her, she still has a lot of questions about what the difference between our church and other Catholic churches, and committed to go to church. Even though she is leaving in a couple weeks to go back to U.K., we are trying to plant the seed so that missionaries in U.K. can follow up with her and get her baptized.

We were surprised to see the Blance family, who we found by tracting and has been slowly progressing, already at the church and waiting for Sacrament to start when we got there. We had planned on picking them up too with the member's van, but they said we took too long so they went ahead. Haha. Too bad it was only the husband and wife, but they said they had a great experience and they felt good as they went. They even ended up seeing several people they knew at church as well. When we went by after church to teach them, we also found out why they were so anxious to get to church. After teaching and telling them for weeks to read and pray to know if what we are sharing is true, they said they tried it and gained their own testimony.

We are continuing to work with Mackbilly, who is now scheduled to be baptized on July 6, which will be my exact 2 year mark in the field, so that will be an excellent way to celebrate.

Hopefully I could make up for 2 weeks of email. Salamat po sa lahat.

Mahal ko kayo,

Elder Nay

10 June 2013

This should be interesting because I can only type in the Subject bar of the email.  Not a good day with a computer.  I'll have to keep this really short because we are late for an appointment and we got back from Banaue rice terraces pretty late, which is one of the most popular tourists spots in the Philippines.  I promise to write more next week to make up for this, but just know I'm still alive and the church is true.  Keep on keeping on! 
Mahal ko kayo
Elder Nay
Sorry again for sending a boring email.  No time and computer problems mixed together. 


 These pictures are "borrowed" from Sister Carlos' mission blog.

 Banaue rice terraces

This is a typical home for the people in this part of the country. They are called buhay kubo and they are up on stilts.

3 June 2013

• Magandang hapon po!

  
  

  Kamusta na kayo!?

  Sounds like a very exciting and busy week celebrating with Dr. Nay! A big congrats to Kyle for all of those years of busting his butt off at school. 

  So far about every P-day here, we meet with a bunch of other missionaries in Solano to play basketball/football, then get something to eat at McDo. Today after playing some football in the blazing heat and eating, me, Elder Sogari and a couple other Elders from the Zone decided to get haircuts. As we were walking around the streets looking for a barber shop that wasn't full of gays, we found a cheap 40 peso one, but I was selected as the test rat to be the first one and see if the people actually knew how to cut hair. I explained very clearly that I needed a number 2 on the sides, 4 on top like usual. He said ok and started up the buzzer. As soon as he made the first cut on the sides, I knew it was going to end up a very interesting haircut because I'm pretty sure it was a 1 he used. Then without asking about my sideburns, hacked them away at top of ear. Then he pulled out the scissors, snipped a few times on top and said I was done. Not wanting a muffin top with the soldiers cut on the sides and a long hair on top, I asked him to take more off. He snipped a few more times and called it good. Meanwhile, the 3 Elders I was with just started laughing and thanking me for taking one for the team. One even felt bad for me and payed for the haircut. After seeing how terrible my hair looked, they decided to find somewhere else, and I decided to get another haircut there (after making someone else go first, haha) to try to fix the terrible haircut just minutes before. Oh well, hair grows back. Haha. As they always say here, it's more fun in the Philippines!

  Our one investigator Mackbilly is still doing awesome and on schedule to be baptized in a few weeks. Even though we have been to his house several times, we still havn't met his parents. Then on Sunday we were walking down the street when some lady stopped us and said, "Are you the ones Mackbilly are with?" Then she introduced herself as his mother and thanked us for being able to get him to go to church, because she is super active in a local catholic church and said even though our churches are different, it is still important that he goes to church to worship God.

  We have another family that we have taught several times and still helping them to understand what the Restoration and Priesthood really is, but after some convincing them that if they really wanted to find out, they needed to read more from the Book of Mormon, pray about it, and go to church, they committed to going to church this Sunday. It is slightly annoying because the most interested one in the family just gave birth 2 weeks ago and said she wants to read the Book of Mormon to find out more but can't because of a tradition they have of not being able to read until after a month of giving birth or else her eyesight will go bad. I told her straight up that there is no truth to that and it was just a false rumor, but she still "doesn't want to take any chances". Oh well, time will come that they will know.

  Well, thanks for all you do and have a good week!

  Mahal ko kayo,

  Elder Nay

  
  

27 May 2013

Magandang araw sa inyo!

Kamusta!

It has been yet another week of us taking showers in the rain outside as we walk. Even though we have umbrellas, everything from the waist down gets soaking wet. I think it rained literally every afternoon last week. It always starts out hot and no clouds around lunch, then we hear the thunder rolling in. I just keep all of my stuff in a plastic bag now to keep from getting wet. And of course with every rainstorm comes a brownout! I don't think I've experienced this many brownouts since Mallig. It will be weird going home and not ever experiencing a brown out. 

It is also the time of year where there are many fruits everywhere, so we have been pounding down the fresh pineapple like nobody's business. The pineapple here is so sweet and juicy, I can eat a whole thing in one sitting. 

We have been busy teaching our new investigators and preparing them to commit to baptism. One of them is 18 yrs old and progressing really well, and even planning on attending the district YSA activity this week. It is nice to have an investigator that is progressing and missionary age. I was super excited last transfer day when I saw someone I baptized in Cabagan because he was waiting for his mission call and wanted to serve as a part time missionary while he waited. He has a pretty crazy story to tell because he was kicked out by his parents when he told them he was going to serve a mission. 

It is interesting teaching all of these new investigators and asking them a simple question after finding out they have done our commitment-How did you feel as you prayed? All of them say it was something different, saying it made them feel happy or peaceful. That is when I teach them the fruits of the spirit in Galatians 5 and help them realize that what they feel that is "different" is the spirit working on them, and it would be impossible for them to feel that if it wasn't true. Feeling the spirit is something we are all entitled to, as long as we allow it.

Well, thanks for all you do and ingat kayo palagi!

Mahal ko kayo,

Elder Nay

20 May 2013

Magandang Hapon po!

Kamusta na kayo?!

Maganda pa rin dito sa Lamut! I am happy I am assigned to the more mountainous area of the mission because it really does feel fresher and not as scorching hot. The scenery everywhere is a good switch from the flat rice and cornfields everywhere. The rain and lightning storms have been pretty relentless the last week and of course that means plenty of brown outs. The ones in the middle of the night are fun because I wake up hot and kicking all the sheets off.

We also have a rat problem in our apartment, which has been fun trying to catch them. I had my first encounter the night I got here and the first time I looked in the bathroom I saw a big fat rat staring back at me. I was almost able to stomp on it as it was running away, but he was too good. Sometimes when I get up in the middle of the night to go to the bathroom I can hear them running away before I can turn the lights on. We ordered a rat trap from the mission home and it was hard to even set it because the springs on it are so strong, but they have still managed to set it off in the middle of the night without facing the rath of the rat trap. The battle continues.

We had a wonderful week as much faith was tested and we spent most of our time looking avidly for new investigators. At first,  we had one of "those days" as a missionary in that seemingly everyone we talked to and every house we tao po'ed was not interested. Everybody was always "too busy" to meet us and told us "next time na lang", and some people just looked at us with disgust and waved us away without even saying a word. Because I have had days similar to this before and am not a person to take things personally, rather than ask the inevitable questions of "Why me? What did I do to deserve a day like this? Why won't people just open their hard hearts and let us help them?".  I just felt bad for all the people that rejected us and know that in order to enjoy the good days, you need to have bad days too. We have been focusing on only tracting people with cars and nicer houses, and it turns out that what Elder Nielsen (area presidency) taught about is true-you get what you go for! At the beginning of the week, we had really no investigators. After pushing through a few hard days and realizing that we needed some extra help some above, we decided to try fasting and more earnest prayer that people would soften their hearts to talk to us and we would be guided to finding the people that are being prepared. During our first day at work after fasting, we texted someone that Elder Sogari had met in a jeepney several weeks back to see if we could schedule a time to visit. He later called and asked if we could come over that day. He told us where we needed to go to find a tricy, and we went off to find his house in a really far away barangay that we had never been to. After riding about 7 kilometers on a rough dirt road and crossing several bridges and asking people to point us in the right direction, we arrived at this Tatay's house, where he was more than anxious to talk to us about who we really were and what we had to share. We were able to share a lesson with him and some of his relatives close by and answer many of their questions. He is fairly familiar with the Bible and has strong faith in Jesus Christ, but one of the concerns he brought up after inviting him to church was that he didn't have to go to church to show his faith as long as he just said a prayer at home, because he argued that "church" means people, not going to a building. I told him he was right in that it is up to us to live our lives like Jesus did, but reminded him of the Sacrament that Christ had instructed us to do "in remembrance of him". He then said he would most likely be able to try going to church on Sunday because he had to make the trip down to Solano anyways.

We also started teaching 2 house maids of one of the members here, and even though they are still shy and don't know much about the Gospel, they committed to attending the baptism and confirmation of the son of their employer/member who just turned 8 and attending church on Sunday. We were also able to teach the boyfriend of a member from Bayombong, and he is really receptive too and committed to going to church on Sunday as well, as long as we picked him up. When Sunday came, we were very happy to see that our 4 new investigators that we had only taught once were all at church! It kept us rather busy trying to make sure everybody had someone to sit by and talk to and getting them to Sunday school classes. It was a terrific way to end the week.

It has been fun with Elder Sogari and I am still getting used to being with a companion that doesn't know Tagalog because all of my companions have been Filipino, except for my trainer. He is really funny and reminds me of that one black guy in Rush Hour haha. 

Salamat po sa inyong lahat at patuloy lang kayo maging matatag at masaya!

Mahal ko kayo,

Elder Nay