Christmas!!!

Monday, December 29, 2014

Dear Everyone,

This past week started hard but ended good. :) which is great because it's Christmas. :) To start Monday was lame. We did nothing. We didn't even teach a lesson because no one was at home. Lame. :P

Tuesday was lame as well. We didn't teach a single lesson. But there was a ward Christmas party. It was ok. But the good thing is one of our investigators came. :) That was good.

Wednesday was better. We didn't teach a lot but we did teach Edrik and his dad. We talked about eternal marriage and how their family can be together forever but they need to do their part and make the changes in their life so they can go to the temple as a family. :) We also had a fun FHE that night with the Juan family. They make the best food. :) It was super awesome. :)

Toys for Playing Santa

Christmas day was actually really cool. I felt like a tall, white skinny Santa Claus. haha I had a ton of chocolate and presents that I gave to the people I'm teaching. It was a ton of fun to see their faces. haha :D Happy day. We also had some great lessons about the Savior and his birth for Christmas. It was pretty good.

Friday was ok. We taught some lessons but nothing super special. Saturday was a good day. We had 3 baptisms in our branch. The sisters had 2 and one of the members in our branch had an 8 year old daughter bet baptized. It was super fun to watch them. Also we taught a really great lesson to Devera that night. They haven't been doing a lot to progress. But we taught about Joseph Smith again and they committed to learn for themselves if our message was true or not. It was really good.

Sunday was really good to. It was funny because when we went to church we got Karen-Joy a ride to church. But then one of the members from our area brought 5 of her friends to church with her.. haha It was like boom referrals. haha We are going to teach them on Wednesday. Hope that goes well.

Well that's all for now folks. :P mahal kita!!

Elder Christensen



Questions from a Separate Email

* What unique thing did you do to celebrate Christmas?

Well for everyone we taught that day we shared about Christ. The spirit was very strong for those lessons. We also stuffed our faces with food at some members’ houses but I don't know how spiritual that was. :P

More Toys for Playing Santa

But what I did was use the money GnG Bevan and GnG Christensen gave me and bought a ton of presents for the people we teach in my area. I bought about 500 pesos worth of chocolate and handed that out with a ton of presents for my investigators and less actives. It was a ton of fun. haha It was super funny as I walked around all Christmas handing out chocolate and toys. :P

I also gave Elder Ledesma a Chess set. :) I got myself a rubrics cube and a top. :P


* What are the main traditions for the Filipinos on Christmas Eve and Christmas Day?

Pretty much the same as ours. They go visit their families and have a ton of food. Then Christmas morning they open presents. The only big difference is they really don't have much so they only give little toys and presents. But they are always still happy because it's more about families.


* What did you think about your Christmas packages?

They were way fun. Everyone in my house made fun of me a little bit because their families only send food and supplies. But I got a ton of toys. :P haha. It was fun though.

Elder Ledesma, Christmas Dinner

Christmas Dinner with Landlady

This is Mommy (our land lady) she had us over for dinner on Christmas day. When I say over for dinner I mean the next room over because we live in the same house. It's just sectioned off. haha it was pretty awesome. The first time I had stake on my mission. :P

Transfers

Monday, December 22, 2014

Dear Everyone,

Elder Cabase and Brian with Pepito Family

This past week has been crazy. haha To start Monday was pretty normal, except our branch president had us come over for dinner and it turned out to be a huge party for him. His mom who got back from America. It was kinda crazy haha but that was it.

Tuesday was a pretty good day. We taught a lot of lessons but it was kinda sad too. Elder Cabase found out that he was transferring the next day that night. He was super sad. But that's about all that happened.

Wednesday was super strange because they changed transfers. Elder Cabase went by himself to Baguio and got picked up there by the missionaries there. We had a huge mess trying to figure out where everyone was going haha. It all worked out in the end but I didn't have a companion that day because I found out I was training. So I had to go to San Fernando on Thursday.

Elder Ledesma

Thursday I went and picked up Elder Ledesma. He is Filipino and super cool. He is from Laguna. It’s close to Manila.. ish. He is pure Tagalog but he is really good at English. He’s fun to talk to and I like working with him. It should be a good 12 weeks. :P

After we got to the apartment I didn't let him unpack. haha We went out to work instead. We taught a good lesson to Brother Devera but he is still having trouble. He believes what we are teaching but his close friends and family don't want us to teach him and are very opposed to him being baptized. We are working with him on that.

Friday was a hard day. We were not able to teach a lot of lessons but we still managed to smile even though we just did a lot of walking.

Saturday we went to the chapel in the morning because I had to interview a baptismal candidate for the sisters in my district. It was super cool. She was super prepared for her baptism. We should have one this coming Saturday for her. The rest of the day was pretty much a repeat of Friday. :/ but that's ok because Sunday was great.

We taught a lot of lessons with one of the members from the ward who came home from Baguio for Christmas because he is going to School there. We taught a lot of lessons and just had a great day. One that I liked a lot was when we taught about the atonement of Christ. The spirit was super sweet and I loved feeling it. It was just a good day. We also gave a blessing to one of the members in the sisters’ area because they were sick. We do that a lot but every time I feel the spirit so strongly. I love it.

Well that's all for now. mahal kita!!!!

Brian

Christmas Come and Gone

Monday, December 15, 2014

Dear Everyone,

I only say that Christmas has come and gone because for us missionaries it kind of has. haha We had our Christmas conference this past Thursday but I'll explain it later. :)

To start, last Monday was pretty good. We taught Edric and Brother Pepito. Brother Pepito is doing so well. He has not smoked in a long time now and he is going with the branch to the temple this weekend. Super excited for him.

Tuesday was another good day. We had a bunch of great lessons. Brother Devera is still doing alright but he's kinda stopped progressing on his smoking. He only smokes about 6 times a day now but he can't seem to go past that. If you have any ideas that would be awesome.

Wednesday was a little less productive but we did meet a drunk guy who almost got hit by a bus. It was kinda interesting. We were waiting to meet a referral (who actually lived way far away from where we were waiting. Go figure.) and then this super drunk guy crosses the street when a Partas bus almost hits him. We were trying hard not to laugh because it's not funny he almost died. But it was kinda funny. He didn't die so it's all good. But that was the most interesting thing that happened that day.

Thursday was our Christmas Party. We went to San Fernando for the whole day. It was awesome. That morning we had some trainings and I had to give one as well.. yay.. It was alright but after that we all ate great food and we got to watch "How to train your Dragon 2." I was super excited. I really miss movies just saying. But it was a good movie and a good day with all the missionaries. :)

Friday was not so good. Elder Cabase is actually allergic to chicken. Go figure. We eat that almost every day. He had some pretty bad rashes so we just chilled out the whole day and let him rest. He's fine now so no worries.

Saturday was a pretty good day just a lot of walking. Nothing super special happened though.

Sunday was a great day full of the spirit. I taught a super awesome lesson. haha I don't know if it was that awesome but I really liked it. We were teaching a 31 year old single mom with three kids. Her name is Liberty. She has a bit of a hard life and very little to do with God. But she lives right next to one of our members. Her kids want to get baptized but we don't want to baptize them unless she joins them. I liked the lesson because it was about Joseph Smith and it was the first time she accepted a commitment and it seemed like she wanted to. I don't know. The spirit was just super strong in the lesson. We also went to the First Presidency Christmas Devotional. It was pretty good as well.

Wow this was a long letter. I think that means I'm done. Thank you all for the support, love and prayers. I feel it every day. mahal kita!!!

Elder Christensen


Questions from a Separate Email

* The big typhoon made landfall last Monday (probably after you emailed). Did it affect you in anyway?

Not even a little bit. No rain. Nothing.

* Have you received any Christmas packages this year?

Yes! I got the one from GnG Dennis. There was toffee inside and it was awesome. It's all gone now but it was awesome. :) Let them know how much I appreciate their support. I haven't opened the present yet because it's not Christmas but I'm excited. :)

* Are you going to get transferred this week?

I don't know.. isn't that great... I should find out today but the way it's been working lately they might let me know the night before...

* How is your health--in great details?.... (Don't worry. I'm not panicking. I just want to know.)

I'm fine. I'm running a little low on chest medicine so I might need some more of that soon. I get headaches most Sundays but that was happening while I was at home so that's normal. I had a cold last week but it's gone now. I'm now sure what else to say. I take 2 shower's a day now. I'm fine really.

* How are things going with Karen Joy? Does she have access to the scriptures?

We are having a hard time there but I think I'm just going to go buy a flash drive and download them for her because she can listen to them that way.

* When did you feel the Savior's love?

When I teach people the gospel. haha I don't know. I feel the love he feels for them every time I share it with them. Yesterday again we taught Brother Mark about the Atonement and I shared with him a lot of what I shared with you when you asked about the atonement a while back. I really felt his love there.

* Is there a unique food that you've had recently?

Well I ate some pig’s blood the other day but I've been doing that for a while. We also each a lot of chicken intestines.. :P They taste really good. oh I had some balut (not sure how to spell it but it's the duck egg thing with a chick inside) the other day to. Haha

Exchanges Gone Like Crazy

Monday, December 8, 2014

Dear Everyone,

This past week has been pretty good. To start last Tuesday we started teaching our landlord, Brother Manning. He’s a long time investigator who is married to our landlady. She’s an endowed member. He’s cool. He just can't give up smoking or drinking. Other than that he says he wants to be baptized. haha We will see how this goes. We are like the 5th set of missionaries to try and teach him.

Wednesday I went on exchanges with Elder Topou. It was a lot of fun. We got a lot of stuff done to. But that's just where the fun began. We had an FHE that night with the Pepito family. It was a lot of fun and a lot of food. Haha. But it got interesting the next day because Elder Topou went to Manila to get his fingerprints because he goes home after next transfer.

Thursday was pretty good we had to pick up elder Marcantano at 6 so Elder Topou could go to Manila. So more exchanges. haha. It was an ok night. But Friday morning Elder Marcantano got sick so we couldn't work. But I called President Balledos and he was awesome and gave us permission to go on splits with Arjay Pepito so we could still work. So I stayed at the house and Elder Cabase went out with Arjay in the morning. Then we switched for the afternoon. It was super wired just working with Arjay and not with my companion. haha.

Saturday was good in the morning. We went to Bato and taught 2 lessons. They were both very good. But the rest of the day was a little hard. We did a lot of walking. Sunday was good but I was a little sick, still am a little sick but that's ok. The only sad part was we met with brother Devera and he relapsed into smoking and drinking a lot. But I had a good talk with him and we should get started again on getting him back on track. But we will keep working with him.

Well that's all for now. mahal kita!

Elder Christensen


Questions from a Separate Email

* Can you buy chocolate where you are? What about peanut butter?

Yes I can buy Chocolate and peanut butter here they are just super expensive, as far as pesoes go. haha So I don't really buy them. Also it's a limited selection. I can't get a Symphony [candy bar] to save my life here. :P

* Nikki wants to know if you want M&Ms?

I think the better question is when are you sending them? ;)

* We heard about a big typhoon again. How did the typhoon affect you?

We felt nothing. It didn't even rain here.

* What type Christmas preparations and decorations are you seeing in your area?

Lots of lights and lots of decorations. They also have a night market thing that they started in the street. It’s really fun. They blast Christmas music all over the place too. :P

* Tell us about a good teaching experience you had this week?

Well when we taught Sister Karen Joy again it was pretty good. I love teaching her because she is so smart. I mean she obviously can't read but she just straight up remembers everything we teach her, word for word. It’s super crazy. She is super sweet. The only trouble we are having is her mom won't listen to us and that makes things difficult for getting her to church.

* What was a time when you felt the Savior's love this week?

Well I've been sick the past few days but I've felt his support as well. I mean I've been sick but I'm still strong enough to keep working even though I’m sick. I count that as a blessing.

Another Week Down

Monday, December 1, 2014

Dear Everyone,

Well to start this week was a pretty good one. We taught a few good lessons on Monday and had a family home evening with the Juan family. They are super cool. :) But nothing super exciting happened.

Tuesday we had exchanges with the Zone Leaders again. This time I stayed in Naguilian. It was a really good day. We had six lessons which is a pretty good day. We ended up at Devera for the last lesson and it was a good one. We taught about faith and Brother Devera was telling us that he didn't think he would be able to quit smoking but after we explained that faith is something that you can't see and that even though he doesn't see himself quitting we told him to put a little faith into it before he gave up. He really took that to heart and said he would start again. :)

Wednesday was kinda slow but we still did all right. Nothing crazy happened though it was just a normal day. Thursday was a hard day for us. We just walked around for a long time. We had some really good appointments set but we couldn't teach any of them because Arjay couldn't work with us and then the others weren't home. :( We only taught Devera. It was another really good lesson though about repentance.

Friday was another kinda hard day. I don't know why but we had a lot of return appointments in one of our areas but all of them punted us. Most of them were hiding from us. :/ But that's life. haha The rest of the day was all right but again nothing special just a lot of walking and work.

Saturday we went to a new part of our area. It was a lot of fun and we started finding some new people to teach. I'm excited to go back there. :) That night we went back to Devera yet again but it was the lesson about baptism. It went really well. They understood the three things needed for baptism to be valid. 1. right age (8) 2. by immersion (your whole body goes in the water) 3. proper authority. After that we invited them to be baptized and they said... no. :P but only because before Brother is willing to be baptized he wants to be sure this is the right church because he said if he joins the church he's never going to leave it. So we are still super excited there. :)

Sunday was pretty good. I really liked church and all in all it was just a good day. We taught some good lessons and just got stuff done. Those are the days I like the most. Well that's about it for this week.

mahal kita!!!

Elder Christensen


Questions from a Separate Email

* What did you think about the contents of your Thanksgiving package?

[Favorite?} The chocolate because it's super easy to share with a lot of people. Also it's my favorite kind [Blue Symphony candy bar]. I actually have not opened it yet because I'm trying to decide who to share it with. And yes it is very worth sending more. :) :P [Was the package damaged?] Nope everything was good. The chocolate was a little melted but you can't win them all. :P

* How did the food turn out? [Michelle sent the fixings for a Thanksgiving dinner.]
It was good. But I think I would like things that are easy to share with my investigators more. Like chocolate. they always ask me if I have chocolate for them haha. It was kinda sad though because a cat broke into our house and ate the instant potatoes. I was super sad.

* Did you celebrate Thanksgiving at all?

No not really. For me it was just another normal day.

* What kind of Christmas preparations are you seeing now?

Well there are Christmas lights and Christmas trees everywhere. Christmas music all over the place. It’s actually pretty crazy how much they do for Christmas. The thing I miss the most though is the snow. I really miss snow. But it's all good because I get to see the snow next year. :)