Hello everyone,
First off, p-day was awesome! Because we are so far from President Howard, we have another "Mission President" here whose name is President Thomas. He is just like a mission president but is still a councilor to President Howard. President Thomas picked us up on our p-day and took me and three other missionaries to a place called Taytay. My area is the farthest area north but this place is another hour farther than mine. He took us there to look for an apartment so they can put new missionaries there.
After that, he let us check out an old Spanish fort on the beach. Then, he took us to a place called El Nido which is for sure the most beautiful beach I've seen in my life. That was the extent of my p-day, but I thought I would tell you about it and hopefully you don't get maingit (jealous) haha :) Don’t worry I will send you a few pictures when I get a chance. I had a really good time, but it was also great to do all that stuff with President Thomas and see the spirit that he always carries with him.
We have been really busy this week just trying to find people who are ready for the gospel. The people here are great and always welcome us into their homes but it is a little hard finding people who will seek for the truth and are willing to pray to receive an answer from the Lord. We found a family of twelve who are really receptive so we are just trying to work around their busy schedule to find time to teach them. Despite their busy schedule, three of them came to church and seemed to really enjoy it. They are so busy that it’s been hard to find time to even talk to them; but we have been praying for them and I have faith that the Lord will provide a way for them to listen.
That’s what’s going on in Roxas; thank you for all your prayers and letters. I love you all and I always keep you in my prayers.
Love, Elder Smith
Tuesday, January 11, 2011
Monday, January 3, 2011
Maligayang Bagong Taon,
I can’t believe it’s already 2011! The time is going way fast over here for me. My area is really great; I can see a lot of potential here. Right now we are actually working on two areas about 20 miles apart. We live in Roxas and we go to Magara about twice a week. We are hoping to start building that area and see if we can start a branch. The Magara area is actually where we seem to be having the most success. We are just trying to get the investigators over there to gain a strong enough testimony to be baptized and support a new branch. The funny thing is we have several eight and nine year old children that love going to church but I don’t think they are ready for a church calling in a branch. If you remember, I would appreciate your prayers asking the Lord to testify to the people in Magara. They enjoy learning the gospel and they believe it’s true because we say so, but they haven’t received a strong assurance from the Lord.
This area is very maganda (beautiful) with the ocean and mountains and jungles; it’s really far from city life. Over this week, I’ve wondered if this place is too far from city life because for some reason they like to shut the power off. There has only been one day this whole week where I’ve woken up and we still had electricity. The power usually goes off at about four in the morning and then comes back on at about 8:30. Do any of you know how hard it is to get a good shave while using a candle? Harder than shaving is trying to iron your shirt. Without power, the ironing isn’t possible; I know from experience. We were washing laundry this morning (by candle light) when the water stopped working too. But despite all the temporal stuff, I’m have a great time serving the Lord. I love you all.
Love, Elder Smith
I can’t believe it’s already 2011! The time is going way fast over here for me. My area is really great; I can see a lot of potential here. Right now we are actually working on two areas about 20 miles apart. We live in Roxas and we go to Magara about twice a week. We are hoping to start building that area and see if we can start a branch. The Magara area is actually where we seem to be having the most success. We are just trying to get the investigators over there to gain a strong enough testimony to be baptized and support a new branch. The funny thing is we have several eight and nine year old children that love going to church but I don’t think they are ready for a church calling in a branch. If you remember, I would appreciate your prayers asking the Lord to testify to the people in Magara. They enjoy learning the gospel and they believe it’s true because we say so, but they haven’t received a strong assurance from the Lord.
This area is very maganda (beautiful) with the ocean and mountains and jungles; it’s really far from city life. Over this week, I’ve wondered if this place is too far from city life because for some reason they like to shut the power off. There has only been one day this whole week where I’ve woken up and we still had electricity. The power usually goes off at about four in the morning and then comes back on at about 8:30. Do any of you know how hard it is to get a good shave while using a candle? Harder than shaving is trying to iron your shirt. Without power, the ironing isn’t possible; I know from experience. We were washing laundry this morning (by candle light) when the water stopped working too. But despite all the temporal stuff, I’m have a great time serving the Lord. I love you all.
Love, Elder Smith
Wednesday, December 29, 2010
Hey everyone,
For those of you who don’t already know, I was told on Tuesday to pack my bags and get on a plane. So now I’m in my new area in Palawan! When the plane started to get close to the island, I could see nothing but green mountains and a big blue ocean. This place is so different than my last area. My area is a two hour drive away from the main city and it’s right on the ocean. When we were driving here, it reminded me of driving in the mountains back home to go camping; just a small two lane road winding through the hills. There are some differences though like it’s a jungle next to the road and not pine trees. My new companion is Elder Hopkins and I’m really excited to start working later on and see what the Lord has in store for the people here.
I became the district leader here but I'm a little worried, because everyone loved the last district leader and I don't know how to do what he did. But I'm trying to trust in the Lord. They said his work was the best in the mission and they put me here because my work was good and I can keep up the work he did. I have no idea what I'm doing, but I will do my best.
Before I left my old area, we were able to see one more person be baptized. I’m kind of sad that I won’t be able to go back for the baptisms of all my other investigators; it was a really good area and the Lord is really blessing it. That’s about all that’s going on here. I just want to let you know that I know this is the true church and the only way to have eternal happiness. I’ve been blessed to see this gospel change so many peoples' lives for all of eternity.
Love, Elder Smith
For those of you who don’t already know, I was told on Tuesday to pack my bags and get on a plane. So now I’m in my new area in Palawan! When the plane started to get close to the island, I could see nothing but green mountains and a big blue ocean. This place is so different than my last area. My area is a two hour drive away from the main city and it’s right on the ocean. When we were driving here, it reminded me of driving in the mountains back home to go camping; just a small two lane road winding through the hills. There are some differences though like it’s a jungle next to the road and not pine trees. My new companion is Elder Hopkins and I’m really excited to start working later on and see what the Lord has in store for the people here.
I became the district leader here but I'm a little worried, because everyone loved the last district leader and I don't know how to do what he did. But I'm trying to trust in the Lord. They said his work was the best in the mission and they put me here because my work was good and I can keep up the work he did. I have no idea what I'm doing, but I will do my best.
Before I left my old area, we were able to see one more person be baptized. I’m kind of sad that I won’t be able to go back for the baptisms of all my other investigators; it was a really good area and the Lord is really blessing it. That’s about all that’s going on here. I just want to let you know that I know this is the true church and the only way to have eternal happiness. I’ve been blessed to see this gospel change so many peoples' lives for all of eternity.
Love, Elder Smith
Monday, December 20, 2010
Hello family and friends,
Can you believe it’s already almost Christmas?! I thought we were just starting December. I heard you guys got some more snow; that's always one of my favorite things during Christmas. One thing that is really big here is for the kids to go around singing Christmas Chorals. They make instruments out of just about any object such as pop bottles, whistles, or tin cans with rocks in them. The only difference here is you give them a little money when they sing to you. We've had little kids almost chase us trying to get our money. We also have fireworks for Christmas. As missionaries, of course we can't have any, but everyone is starting to light them at night so we get to enjoy them.
We have a lot of progressing investigators in our area thanks to the Lord. We were teaching a lesson to our investigators who are about 23 years old, and when we asked them if they prayed about Joseph Smith like we asked them to, one of them told us he did pray, but just got confused after he prayed. I was a little confused that he would say that and not say the spirit had touched him. We asked why he was confused when he prayed and I think his answer was a little funny. He told us when he prayed, he felt like someone was punching him in the chest. We are now helping him realize how the spirit can touch us and he is now starting to realize that it was the spirit that touched him.
We also have some recent converts in our area who are good active members, but their children haven't been baptized yet so we started teaching them a few weeks ago. One of their daughters just lost her job, but now she has time to listen to the lessons and go to church so I see it as being a blessing. We were teaching her and I asked her why she goes to church and she told us of how she didn't like her family before, because her dad was always drinking and they weren't close to one another. She said after her dad got baptized, her family changed and they are happy now. I've known this family for five months and it's amazing to see the changes that have taken place in their family as the mom and dad accepted the gospel and how their children and cousins are beginning to accept the gospel now too. The gospel has greatly impacted their family and really blessed them. I love you all and Merry Christmas! :)
Love, Elder Smith
Can you believe it’s already almost Christmas?! I thought we were just starting December. I heard you guys got some more snow; that's always one of my favorite things during Christmas. One thing that is really big here is for the kids to go around singing Christmas Chorals. They make instruments out of just about any object such as pop bottles, whistles, or tin cans with rocks in them. The only difference here is you give them a little money when they sing to you. We've had little kids almost chase us trying to get our money. We also have fireworks for Christmas. As missionaries, of course we can't have any, but everyone is starting to light them at night so we get to enjoy them.
We have a lot of progressing investigators in our area thanks to the Lord. We were teaching a lesson to our investigators who are about 23 years old, and when we asked them if they prayed about Joseph Smith like we asked them to, one of them told us he did pray, but just got confused after he prayed. I was a little confused that he would say that and not say the spirit had touched him. We asked why he was confused when he prayed and I think his answer was a little funny. He told us when he prayed, he felt like someone was punching him in the chest. We are now helping him realize how the spirit can touch us and he is now starting to realize that it was the spirit that touched him.
We also have some recent converts in our area who are good active members, but their children haven't been baptized yet so we started teaching them a few weeks ago. One of their daughters just lost her job, but now she has time to listen to the lessons and go to church so I see it as being a blessing. We were teaching her and I asked her why she goes to church and she told us of how she didn't like her family before, because her dad was always drinking and they weren't close to one another. She said after her dad got baptized, her family changed and they are happy now. I've known this family for five months and it's amazing to see the changes that have taken place in their family as the mom and dad accepted the gospel and how their children and cousins are beginning to accept the gospel now too. The gospel has greatly impacted their family and really blessed them. I love you all and Merry Christmas! :)
Love, Elder Smith
Monday, December 13, 2010
Kamusta po kayo,
Another week down that flew by for me. We were busy all week teaching people and getting ready for a baptism of one our investigators. On Saturday, we were able to see Melanie get baptized which was great. We had been teaching her for a few months, but she was having trouble gaining a strong enough testimony to be baptized. Of course we can't give her a testimony, so we really focused on prayer and reading the scriptures so she could know for herself.
We decided to do a review lesson about Joseph Smith to help her. When we finished the lesson, we asked her if she had any questions. We were a little surprised with the questions she asked us. She asked us how many times she would need to go to church so she could get baptized. We were shocked so we asked her if she wanted to get baptized and she said yes. She had already heard all the doctrine and been to church four times so we just had to get her interviewed. She hasn’t been confirmed yet because of Stake Conference, but she was really excited to get baptized. It amazes me how quickly the Lord will bless our investigators with a testimony if they are willing to ask sincerely.
We had one day this week that didn't go too well. No one was home for our appointments, and we felt like we had just walked around all day without getting a lot accomplished. Both of us felt completely drained of energy so we were heading home for the night, but still had about 15 minutes before the end of the day. So I tried to keep working just a little longer.
I tried talking to a few people on the street but they didn't want to hear anything which is always very discouraging. I tried a group of people as a last attempt before going home. To my surprise, they invited us to come back in a few days. They didn't seem too excited, but we went to our appointment with them and to our surprise again, one of the men had read everything we gave him and he basically taught us the restoration. I also take it as a good sign when they can explain the two types of priesthood to you. We have only taught him three times but he wants to be baptized if he receives a testimony. He is definitely someone whom the Lord has prepared.
Love, Elder Smith
Another week down that flew by for me. We were busy all week teaching people and getting ready for a baptism of one our investigators. On Saturday, we were able to see Melanie get baptized which was great. We had been teaching her for a few months, but she was having trouble gaining a strong enough testimony to be baptized. Of course we can't give her a testimony, so we really focused on prayer and reading the scriptures so she could know for herself.
We decided to do a review lesson about Joseph Smith to help her. When we finished the lesson, we asked her if she had any questions. We were a little surprised with the questions she asked us. She asked us how many times she would need to go to church so she could get baptized. We were shocked so we asked her if she wanted to get baptized and she said yes. She had already heard all the doctrine and been to church four times so we just had to get her interviewed. She hasn’t been confirmed yet because of Stake Conference, but she was really excited to get baptized. It amazes me how quickly the Lord will bless our investigators with a testimony if they are willing to ask sincerely.
We had one day this week that didn't go too well. No one was home for our appointments, and we felt like we had just walked around all day without getting a lot accomplished. Both of us felt completely drained of energy so we were heading home for the night, but still had about 15 minutes before the end of the day. So I tried to keep working just a little longer.
I tried talking to a few people on the street but they didn't want to hear anything which is always very discouraging. I tried a group of people as a last attempt before going home. To my surprise, they invited us to come back in a few days. They didn't seem too excited, but we went to our appointment with them and to our surprise again, one of the men had read everything we gave him and he basically taught us the restoration. I also take it as a good sign when they can explain the two types of priesthood to you. We have only taught him three times but he wants to be baptized if he receives a testimony. He is definitely someone whom the Lord has prepared.
Love, Elder Smith
Monday, December 6, 2010
Hello po sa inyo lahat,
It has been an amazing week! I wrote last week about a referral that the spirit prompted us to go to and this week they are progressing really well. We taught them about knowing if this is the true church and they said they want to get baptized if they receive a testimony. The Lord is really blessing us with our investigators and guiding them to us or us to them.
About a month ago, a guy was riding his bike as we walked past his house and he stopped to ask us who we were. We taught him a few lessons then he invited his brother to listen with him; they are both very interested in the gospel now. They enjoy it so much that they referred us to their sister and bother who is the family we were prompted to go to last week. They came to church yesterday and the mother said she couldn't stop crying. They already see the blessings in their life as they have listened to the gospel, and I'm almost certain they will be baptized.
We had so many investigators at church on Sunday that we could only sit with a few of them. The Lord has helped us a lot this week, and I know that without His help, we couldn't do this work. We have one family, the Ulans, who also came to church this week. Their son is 13 years old and he got up and bore his testimony in front of the whole church. It was probably the shortest one I've ever heard but very heartfelt and sincere. In his testimony, he said, "I know this church is true. Even though I haven't been baptized I know it's true." He has a lot of faith for being so young but he was a big example to the people at church on Sunday.
We are doing really well and the Lord is definitely preparing the people here. Love you guys :)
Love, Elder Smith
It has been an amazing week! I wrote last week about a referral that the spirit prompted us to go to and this week they are progressing really well. We taught them about knowing if this is the true church and they said they want to get baptized if they receive a testimony. The Lord is really blessing us with our investigators and guiding them to us or us to them.
About a month ago, a guy was riding his bike as we walked past his house and he stopped to ask us who we were. We taught him a few lessons then he invited his brother to listen with him; they are both very interested in the gospel now. They enjoy it so much that they referred us to their sister and bother who is the family we were prompted to go to last week. They came to church yesterday and the mother said she couldn't stop crying. They already see the blessings in their life as they have listened to the gospel, and I'm almost certain they will be baptized.
We had so many investigators at church on Sunday that we could only sit with a few of them. The Lord has helped us a lot this week, and I know that without His help, we couldn't do this work. We have one family, the Ulans, who also came to church this week. Their son is 13 years old and he got up and bore his testimony in front of the whole church. It was probably the shortest one I've ever heard but very heartfelt and sincere. In his testimony, he said, "I know this church is true. Even though I haven't been baptized I know it's true." He has a lot of faith for being so young but he was a big example to the people at church on Sunday.
We are doing really well and the Lord is definitely preparing the people here. Love you guys :)
Love, Elder Smith
Wednesday, December 1, 2010
Kamusta,
How is everyone doing over there? Sana mabuti. Hopefully your Thanksgiving was good with lots of snow. Thanksgiving was surprisingly really good here, but no we still haven't got any snow but I still have faith it could happen. Our Bishop knows about Thanksgiving so he invited us over for dinner; he even had a ham and mashed potatoes. I found a few people that have turkeys but that is for Christmas. Christmas is really big here so we have already had 4 offers for a Christmas dinner :)
My companion had a great idea this week to start looking for a lot more referrals. We started asking everyone for referrals and it's really helped us in doing the work and we have received a lot of referrals from members and investigators. We find a lot of new investigators knocking doors, but it's so much more effective if we get referrals.
On Sunday, we had a really busy day of work. While heading to one of our appointments, my companion said "Elder, we need to go to the referral." We had plans for other stuff but when the spirit says something, that's what you should do. We dropped what we were doing to try and find a referral we had received a few days earlier. We eventually found their house but no one was there. My companion was really disappointed because he was sure that that was what the spirit wanted us to do. I suggested another referral that we had and when I did, my companion got really excited and said "that's the one." We went and found them and they were "the one" that the spirit was guiding us to.
The person who gave us the referral just arrived at their home minutes before we arrived otherwise the people wouldn't have let us in. I was able to start the lesson with a prayer and as I did the spirit filled their home. The spirit told us exactly what to say and I know it touch them. Right as I finished the prayer, before we had taught a single principle, I asked them what they felt. With a few tears in her eyes, the mother replied, and I could tell she was feeling the spirit. It really is great serving the Lord!
Love, Elder Smith
How is everyone doing over there? Sana mabuti. Hopefully your Thanksgiving was good with lots of snow. Thanksgiving was surprisingly really good here, but no we still haven't got any snow but I still have faith it could happen. Our Bishop knows about Thanksgiving so he invited us over for dinner; he even had a ham and mashed potatoes. I found a few people that have turkeys but that is for Christmas. Christmas is really big here so we have already had 4 offers for a Christmas dinner :)
My companion had a great idea this week to start looking for a lot more referrals. We started asking everyone for referrals and it's really helped us in doing the work and we have received a lot of referrals from members and investigators. We find a lot of new investigators knocking doors, but it's so much more effective if we get referrals.
On Sunday, we had a really busy day of work. While heading to one of our appointments, my companion said "Elder, we need to go to the referral." We had plans for other stuff but when the spirit says something, that's what you should do. We dropped what we were doing to try and find a referral we had received a few days earlier. We eventually found their house but no one was there. My companion was really disappointed because he was sure that that was what the spirit wanted us to do. I suggested another referral that we had and when I did, my companion got really excited and said "that's the one." We went and found them and they were "the one" that the spirit was guiding us to.
The person who gave us the referral just arrived at their home minutes before we arrived otherwise the people wouldn't have let us in. I was able to start the lesson with a prayer and as I did the spirit filled their home. The spirit told us exactly what to say and I know it touch them. Right as I finished the prayer, before we had taught a single principle, I asked them what they felt. With a few tears in her eyes, the mother replied, and I could tell she was feeling the spirit. It really is great serving the Lord!
Love, Elder Smith
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