Tranfers.... ish :P

Monday, October 28, 2013

Dear all,

We had transfers this last week and they were interesting to say the least. We had this way fun transfer nearness meeting, and we played musical chairs to find out if we were getting transferred or not. As it turns out, I was not transferred and my companion was not either. but both the other two elder in my apartment were transferred. We now have new elders, and they are pretty fun, Elder Jones and Elder Dela Cruz.

On Friday we had Elder Jones with us because he was waiting for his companion to come up from San Fernando. It was pretty cool. We went finding. While we were out we went to this really nice house, and I was very surprised when they had us come right in. We didn't even say anything until we got inside the house. That was pretty cool. We had a pretty good lesson with her.

Also one of the coolest things that happened this week was my progress with Tagalog. this week was actually a turnaround for me. I was having a hard time knowing what to study and making that time effective, but I started doing it a little different. I'm translating the Book of Mormon verse by verse, and it has been so cool to see how much more I remember. After about 20 minutes of that I go to work on learning new Tagalog words. It works so much better when I invite the spirit at the beginning of my study time. I've started approaching it with a lot more trust in the lord and I have found that when I do that I learn so much better and faster. When you put your trust in the Lord, even the hardest things that you have to do in life become easier. It's really a testimony that the gift of tongs is real. :)

I know that this is the true gospel of Jesus Christ. I know that when I put my trust in the lord he will support me in my struggles though out my life. I have found that with his help I am happier throughout the day, and I am much more capable and bold with my teaching. I feel it is such a strength to have the Lord on my side.

I love you all.
Mahal Kita!!!!

Elder Christensen

Additional Questions and Answers from a separate email:

* What has been the biggest culture shock you've had so far?
Brian: Well the same one that Brandon had really. We were teaching this family, and the mom just started breast feeding right in front of us. It was very different, but then again I've just gotten used to things like that happening. Haha I don't get surprised any more.

* Will you tell us more about your spiritual teaching experience from last week?
Brian: We were teaching Sis. Iva. She is a really sweet single mom who wants the best for her daughter. She has a hard time setting time aside for us to teach her, but we taught her about the importance of prophets and the great apostasy. She really understood it, and I just really felt the spirit in everything I was saying to her. It was a cool experience. I haven't worn the tie yet but I think I'm going to soon. [The spirit tie was given to William by one of his Priest Quorum advisors. The instructions were that you couldn’t wear the tie until you really taught by the spirit. Will gave the tie to Adam; Adam gave it to Brian.]

This is a typical Sari Sari Store
Very often these stores are on the outside of a home
(Picture was taken in 1994 when Michelle was in Philippines)

* Can you tell us a little about your investigators?
Brian:  ~~ I told you about Sis Iva and her daughter, Ana.
~~  Sis Lyn is 17, and she runs a little store in front of her house so we teach her. She seems very interested.
~~  Leon Ramos is one our investigators who is actually one of the assistants to the Catholic priest who helps with the sacrament... but he is still very interested and open to listening to our message.
~~  The Bahug family--They have a really hard time reading the B.O.M. but they really like having us come over.
~~  Sis Elizabeth is our investigator with a baptismal date. Shee is really sweet even though she is a little hard of hearing.
~~  We also teach Sister Jenifer and her husband Brother Jericho. They are way cool. They are less actives.