Hello everybody.
These past two weeks have been great
here in the mission. Last week I went back to Bacolod to finish my
orientation. It is a three hour bus ride to Bacolod and we had to
wake up at three thirty am to get there in time. We learned that there
are 659,000 members in the church in the Philippines, the fourth most in the
world. The problem is only 22% of those members are active or 114,000
people. Because of this we are focusing on rescuing the less active
members in my mission or helping them get their testimonies back. We have
a list of all the members in the ward. Some families are part member
families, some have unbaptized children, some never received the priesthood,
and so on. We focus on the lists and help rescue these members, along the way
we find new people who are interested in the church and we teach them also.
Anyways that is our focus.
It was also cool to see all of the kids at
orientation that arrived the same day as me in the Philippines. On the
bus ride home it was packed and I stood up for this lady. She spoke
Illongo and Tagalog and English. I ended up teaching her about the church
and got three referrals, I was scared at first but decided to not be afraid. We
have been doing a lot of traveling lately though I haven't had a normal day
very often.
On Friday we went to San Carlos for a zone meeting. It is
about an hour and a half drive. I found a CLO - it is something that teaches me Cebuano grammar so I study
that on the bus. We have been back to San Carlos many times for other
reasons so I have gotten a lot of studying in and, also I like the scenic
drive. I have a good view of the jungle and ocean.
On Mother's Day
I was a little lonely and homesick but I know that it will be worth it.
On Sunday we were a bit worried because a lot of the people we have been
working with weren't at church. It was also sad to see that only half of
families were there, with some kids saying how much they love their mom and she
isn't at church. Also we have new leaders here and we haven't been able to have
our weekly meetings. There is definitely a lot of work to do here. Then
it was great to talk to my family on Mother’s Day and Skype them. There
have been a lot of ups and downs this week. It has been kind of hard
because a lot of our new investigators aren't interested anymore. This
one family we were teaching was so open and then the next time they told us they
would never change from Catholic. At least we planted a seed and left
them a Book of Mormon. But a lot of our investigators aren't interested
anymore. But my companion and I are working hard. I am not making
excuses - I know that the people here are good people they just need some help
and I also know that there are people ready to be rescued and receive the
gospel here.
My companion and I have had some disagreements and made some
mistakes but we are working through them and getting better. I have been
getting better at the language, it is coming slowly but the grammar packet has definitely
helped. I have learned to have more faith and patience here and trust in
the Lord. I know that if I am diligent and faithful that the language
will come. I try my best to participate in the lessons. I can
teach, testify, ask questions, and make commitments. The hard part is
understanding what they say back, but that will come over time. Then at
church this week my companion and I spoke in sacrament meeting. I decided
to do what I did in the MTC and do what I do in my lessons, prepare, but once
the time comes, trust in the Holy Ghost. I stood up and talked with only
a Book of Mormon about faith for about five minutes. It went well.
The concern is that our church attendance this week was really low and all of
the less actives we taught weren't at church. I have learned how
important it is to build your testimony every day or you will lose it. I
know that we can make a difference here though. We need to work harder
and have more faith and patience.
I was thinking this week - Why does the
Lord give us trials? Why isn't it always so easy? My answer God gives us trials
to grow, there are always ups and downs in life, you can ask why why why…
or you can trust in the Lord and ask Him for strength and act, attitude is
everything, be patient and diligent because there are trials every day, (There
is always going to be another mountain .. it's the climb ha ha), but I know
that with God nothing shall be impossible, I know I am here for a reason, I can
make a difference, I can learn this language, now it's up to me to make it
happen, I have the Lord's promises, the Lord will provide a way, but we still
must act to achieve our potential. Don't pray for the Lord to take away
your problem, but pray for strength to overcome them. I am excited to
serve here and know I need to be here.
Love Elder Mifflin aka Nature Man
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