language clicking...

TyBlog10.22.2012

Hello everyone - this week has been a pretty good week. The kid I am training is a way cool kid and we relate in a lot of ways and have a lot of fun and laughs together.  It has been good so far and he is enjoying it. We have just been following the training schedule. He is good at the gospel. The language is just hard for him but will come in time.  By the way the language for me is really clicking now.  During my third transfer with Elder Reyes was when it started getting easier to understand and speak and slowly I keep getting better.  I am still not perfect but can understand most of the stuff that is going on and my teaching is fine and I can joke around and have a good time in the language. Of course there is still room to improve and probably always will be.  I am not sure if I will ever be perfect at the language but it’s ok I don't need to be.  I am having some of my high school kid friends here give me some of their slang language.  It’s not bad, but just to understand them better.  I also am having some members write down for me lyrics of some famous Tagalog songs I have stuck in my head so I can join them.  Also they love doing pick up lines and it is fun to joke with all the members. The members are so sweet and love working with us. So with the training it is a ton of study but it is good to help him learn and also helps me to review.  It is way nice to get out though haha. So this week we continued to focus on some of our investigators. Lea, the one who got married to the less active, will be baptized next week and also one other person in her family as well as one other person who lives by them.  The funny thing here is the people go to bed so early because of their culture and they are farmers so like lately after six we don't get any teachings in so we may start to study at night or something because we need to respect the culture.  It gets dark and they have nothing to do so they sleep ha. So this week one of our members and her boyfriend who recently converted but who never comes to church got married. It was good and we went to the reception party and there were a ton of people and less actives there was a ton of food which was good.  

One highlight lesson was to the Gepiala, Cabungcog, and Flores families that all live together - the recent converts and soon to be baptized. We learned that they had a little child die and also a 26 year old son. We testified of Moroni 8 about how little children don't need baptism and also of temple work for the older one. The gospel is amazing and it reminded me of the similar story in general conference just barely. The spirit was strong and I know that they were comforted and the plan of salvation is true. Also on Sunday that family requested that a bunch of members come up and do a funeral service for this family that they know. They lived far away, but it was a nice hike through the jungle and you could see the ocean. A bunch of faithful members came. We had a service. The guy was 101 - I hope to live that long. We had four speakers and I spoke.  I testified of the resurrection and the plan of salvation and that through the 5 principles of the gospel they could live with their families forever. It was a cool experience and like 30 people were listening. We gave them a bunch of pamphlets and they are interested so we are going back this week. Also I gave a talk in church this week.  It was funny because the president told me like 5 min before, but that is the life of a missionary - always be prepared to teach.  I talked about how much I love the members and had them all laughing from my jokes so ya I can joke around in Cebuano.  Then I taught about Alma 5.  It is such a powerful chapter about if we are truly converted to the gospel and if we are ready for judgment.  It was way busy as usual on Sunday and we had to get some baptism interviews done for next week.  Also this week we got punted a lot, meaning our appointments fail and a lot of our investigators are dropping and not progressing.  It is sad because I can see the potential in them but they just don't understand yet. So hopefully we can get them to come to church this week.  All of their baptism dates have been set way back so we will see if we continue to focus on them.  We have a bunch of referrals that we will go to this week so I hope they are elect people from God.  Then today we had a zone activity at the church in Escalante. We were going to go to the beach but it wasn't approved unfortunately.  It was fun though we played a bunch of fun games and some ping pong and we all brought food and celebrated my birthday.  I cooked the brownies my mom gave me in the people's bread oven next door and it was way good.  I love you all and know that Jesus Christ lives and is our Savior and the church has been restored through Joseph Smith and this is the church of Jesus Christ today.  I love you all and have a good week.
Love Elder Mifflin

First Training Assignment, new companion, same area

TyBlog10.15.2012

Hello everyone - this week has been a crazy week.  First, on Tuesday morning I had to go to Bacolod which was a three and a half hour ride so I ended up being late to the trainers’ meeting but it was ok - I was filled in.  I was assigned to work in Bacolod 5th ward with two other kids who would be training too. They are Elder Albalate and Elder Domingo. They are both Filipino and are cool.  Most missionary Filipino are good at English.   Over in Bacolod they speak Illongo which I haven't learned yet - some of the words are the same as Cebuano but some are different.   I was able to understand some people but not everything and picked it up a little bit while I was there and taught in Cebuano but mixed in a little Ilongo.  I already knew some because it is a little mixed in my area and it was in Canlaon and all of my companions were from Ilongo speaking areas so they are a little mixed.  It was a good three days.  I was way way tired though.  One day we ate at this place that is all you can eat rice but the meat was pretty expensive.  I had five cups of rice, could have done more but didn't want to buy more meat.  One night we watched a sweet sunset by the beach.  It was way cool.  That area is right by the ocean but it is kind of dirty there.  There are some cool bamboo homes right by the ocean and all the homes there were so close to each other.  The people there were nice too ha ha - it was funny I got attacked by like ten kids because I am American.  Then on Thursday we got our new companions.  Mine is Elder Agustin from Isabella by Luscon or Cayuaon mission.  He is native in the Ilocano language and speaks Tagalog too.  At first he was way shy and wouldn't speak English, so I thought o crap I need to learn Tagalog again but he is actually really good at English so we have been able to communicate.  He doesn't know Cebuano so I have been teaching him.  He is a cool kid, he is happy and excited to work, and loves his family a lot, and is here for the right reasons.  He loves basketball so we plan to go play right now. He also likes to hike and we went earlier to a mountain that is in my area that we usually go to.  So when you train you need to study one hour personal and two hours of companion study and one hour language every day but Monday and Friday.  Monday is P day and just one hour companion study and can do language if you want because Friday is weekly planning.   It is good to help the new person learn how to be a missionary.

General conference was amazing, I got it a week late and it was weird because I felt like it was still live but it wasn't.  It is always so good and I took notes on all the talks and feel spiritually renewed and want to become a better person and missionary.  I could feel the Spirit and the love of our Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ and know the talks are true and the word of God.  It made me think of all the times I watched conference with my fam and had some way good breakfast.  I also missed some good old Carls Jr.  after priesthood session.  Since the people have no money hardly anyone came Saturday.  They had service jeeps on Sunday just for the morning so that is the one session a lot of people went to.  It is funny they can choose Tagalog in a way small room or English and most choose English.  A lot of the kids from high school understand and some others but a lot don't and it was way funny but they just wanted to sit in English.  They are way funny.   I also gave some of the members some of my American candy and some beef jerky which was way funny because they are like "this is cow, where is the rice? He has cow in a package?" ha ha but they loved it.  Anyways for all who listened to conference apply it and all who didn't, read all the talks and apply it.  So I am just trying to teach my comp Cebuano and how to be a missionary so we hope to have a good week.   It is a test of patience to be a trainer but hey, that is where I was when I got here so I just need to be loving and patient and help him have fun and get adjusted to this life.  We plan to have a good, fun, week.   After conference ended it showed the BYU football game for like a minute until they turned it off and it made me miss football so bad, but it’s ok I will be home before you know it.  Also we got a toaster oven and it is heavenly - it makes the bread so much better and I plan to make my cookies and brownies you sent me so I will let you know.   It is also fun to chill with Elder Hagen each night and talk to him.  I have started working out and am getting him to join and Elder Delos Santos and my new companion.   So I love you all have a good week and I know that this church is true and Jesus is our Savior and it is important to have living prophets like we do for guidance.  I know they are called and inspired of God.

Love Elder Mifflin aka Nature Man

baptisms in the ocean...

Hello everyone - so this week has been such a good week. It started off way good with a family home evening at the Gepiala, Flores, and Cabungcog families’ home. They are our investigators we found through a less active member and some of them had baptisms on Saturday. So we invited a bunch of the other investigator families around and some came. But it was way way fun and we played the usual games and used charcoal. But this family has fed us dinner like three times and to help you realize that is a huge deal here because they are so poor but they love us so much. So this week we continued to focus on our recent converts and on our investigators with baptismal dates on Saturday. It was a good week and went by way fast - when you are busy time flies. We also started working out every night and I am going hard so I can stay strong haha. But the first night I went way too hard and got sick the next day.  I wanted to die ha ha but I pushed through and didn't let it stop me.  I still taught the lesson in district meeting and worked that day, so I know that God gave me strength - the work is too important to be laying around.  On Friday night we went to a birthday party of the president of Mabini's daughter.  It was way fun - the people here are all just so loving and kind. Then Saturday was the best day of my mission so far. It was such a spiritual day and I felt the Spirit so strongly all day and received a sure witness that this is the work of the Lord Jesus Christ. So way early we went to the church where we had a wedding for Alberto Cabungcog and his live in partner Lea.  He is the less active we found in July and where all of the baptisms are coming from.  It was way cool and they were so happy to be married and his wife will be baptized this month and we hope to have Alberto do it. They also want to be sealed in the temple one day.  Then after the wedding we planned for three baptisms of the family members but the water in Stop was broken and smelled so so so bad. So we tried to go to the Toboso chapel which is nearby and we had a big service jeep from the wedding so everyone came along, but the water there was broken too.  So I suggested to just go to the ocean because it was way close and that is my dream to baptize in the ocean. They said ok and I was so excited because they wanted me to baptize them.  So I baptized them in the ocean and it was such an awesome experience.  Then later that day we were supposed to have one more baptism in Stop, a way cool old guy who is kind of slow but has so much faith and was way excited.  We couldn't go back to the ocean so we just brought him along to Mabini and added him.  So in Mabini we baptized a mom and her two kids and the guy from Stop. They were all way excited and also wanted me to do it.  So I baptized seven people that day and I could feel the love of the Savior Jesus Christ so strong and know that this was helping them to receive forgiveness and prepare for eternal life.  Then later to make the day even better I received my birthday package early and enjoyed all the American food and candy especially the chips ahoy and the cheesy mashed potatoes.  Then on Sunday I was still filled with the Spirit way strongly and bore testimony in both Mabini and Stop that Jesus Christ is the only way to salvation and true happiness.  Also some of our new converts bore testimony and gave such powerful witnesses of the truth.  They also shared their testimonies after they were baptized and I know they know that this is true.  They said they felt so happy and alive they were floating. Also Tatay Gepiala said that this is the fourth time he has been baptized but he knows without a doubt that this church is the true church of Jesus Christ.  Also Alberto bore his testimony and it was awesome.  Also some of the kids I have been encouraging forever too.  So today we hiked Mt Lunay again and had a picnic with some members from Stop and Mabini and weren't sure if we were going to be transferred.  It was way fun.  Then later the zone leaders text us and said I would be transferred to Mabini and Elder stay in Stop.  My heart dropped and I was so sad because I love Stop so much, but later we found out it was a mistake and I will stay in Stop and Elder will go to Mabini. We are still in the same house and his new companion is Elder Hagen my comp from the mtc so I am so stoked.   I will be training a new missionary so I go to Bacolod tomorrow to find out who and learn how to train.  I am excited and nervous. We get general conference late, so this weekend. Also James and Garrett update me on the sports. So I need to go.  It was a great week and I know that Jesus Christ is the Savior and brings true happiness and salvation.  Have a great week and I love you.
Elder Mifflin aka Nature Man

Fruits of the labor... TyBlog10.1.2012

Hello everyone.  This week has been good. We have been continuing to focus on our recent converts and they have continued to come to church so that is good.  I am glad that they will be true converts.  We also have plans for 9 baptisms on Oct 6th so we continued to focus on all of them and prepare them for the baptism interview questions.  Unfortunately two of them missed their interview because one is a little kid and was scared and the other didn't come for some reason.  So we plan for 7 baptisms next week, 3 in Mabini and 4 in Stop.  The 3 in Mabini have been investigators for over a year and didn't know they could be baptized because they were living together but can't be married because it is very to divorce when there is a previous marriage.  I knew the new rule though because I had situations like that in Stop too.  So I told her she could be baptized and she was way excited and we got her interviewed this week and her two kids too.  Elder Natural, my trainer, taught her so it is cool that I can help her get baptized.  The baptisms in Stop are coming from the Gepiala family - the sweet family in the jungle by the river we walk through.  We have been teaching them since July and they are way good.  We are also focusing a bunch of new investigators in that same area.  They are referrals and friends of one of the moms being baptized on the 6^th.   I think she will be future relief society president or something haha. There are a ton of them though that are interested and want to be baptized.  We may actually make a meeting house up there in a nearby school since it is pretty far and the people have no money for transportation.  We will see though -  it is possible for them to come to church because our other investigators do.  It is cool because I think we are the first missionaries ever in that certain area. There were no members there - we found them from a less active who moved there with his live in and now we have a ton of work and are doing miracles there so it is cool.  The people here are way good and we have a lot of people interested.  My companion and I are trying to work on our unity and get quicker more powerful lessons so we can get as many teachings as possible in.  We had splits this week too and Elder Moody from Bountiful came here.  He is American.  It was way fun and I hope I get an American companion in the future - we would do good work because just in one day the people were lovin it two Americans.  We went to that area where we cross the river and it was night and we saw a huge snake in the river… but it was dead.   I carried it around on a stick all night and scared people - it was fun. Also a family up there has a pet monkey and I let it crawl on my shoulder and got some pictures. This week was the family week celebration in the Philippines and on Saturday there was a celebration.  We went to both in Stop and Mabini. We invited a ton of people.  Unfortunately all didn't come but we found a couple new people to teach. It was once again just to see how these people enjoy such simple things.  So this month has gone by fast.  It is crazy how fast time goes when you are busy and we have been way busy this month working in two areas.  We mainly focused on Stop though and are harvesting my and Elder Reyes work from last transfer.  We had four baptisms earlier this transfer - 3 in Stop and 1 in Mabini. They were from less active and part members. One of the kids was way way shy but we invited him to play basketball and then he started coming to church and now he is baptized and a branch missionary.  So by small and simple things are great things brought to pass.  We also work with less actives cause it is a huge problem here so it is important to endure not just be baptized.  Every day I am out in the nature and it is sweet.  Just going to each home which is usually bamboo sometimes concrete, is an adventure.  We cross rivers often so I am taking off my shoes and socks and rolling up my pants. It rains a lot and you should see how muddy it gets.  It is crazy and way slippery.  I am always hiking and love it.  There is a bunch of sugar cane here and hills and palm trees.  The people here are way poor and never have money but are good people.  The members are way good.  The food is good but gets old.   I love getting fast food in Bacolod and we went this month I got some pizza hut.  The members are way good and I hope to stay here in Stop for a while.  Transfers are in a week so we will see.  We play basketball on Mondays with all the kids here and I ball them up.  We play ping pong sometimes and it is too easy.  Yo Nate my boy I need a challenge bro – let’s play the day I get home and I will take your marbles.  I got some Filipino marbles ha ha they are ok.  So anyways I love you all and just continue and do your best each day and I will see you all soon.  I have learned that it is not always easy and there are a ton of temptations and stuff on the mission but just remember why we are here and how blessed we are and that families are eternal and we can all have eternal happiness in the kingdom of God and all people need this.  It is just a short time in eternity but important.  I know this work is true and true happiness comes from the gospel of Christ.  It isn't always easy but it is always worth it to live the gospel.  Love You. 

Elder Mifflin aka Nature Man