Wednesday, November 28, 2012
•Naga District na! 11/28/2012
Kamusta, tanan! {Hello all}
it's almost December! I totally forgot about Thanksgiving with them not having it here, but then again we should always have a season of thanksgiving in our hearts as we thank the Savior- all throughout the year, and especially as we try to remember the real reason for the upcoming international holiday of CHRISTmas.
Things are going well here in Naga with my new companion, Elder Seumanutafa; his parents are both from Samoa, but he was born in New Zealand and grew up in Australia. It's different having a Polynesian for a companion, but it's also awesome at the same time. Most of the time they assume he's Philippino because of his skin - I guess with how he's gotten skinnier here, he has become Filipino! :) He's doing his best to adjust to his first time being a district leader in a new area, but he's actually doing a great job with that. I'm learning a lot from him with different views and ways to teach and so much more.
So this last weekend, we had 7 baptisms!! I got to be the one to baptize all of them :) We were going to have one of the young men in our ward baptize some of his friends but there wasn't enough baptismal clothes for him to do that. I got a lot of compliments on mine with the white pants, shirt and tie. One of the coolest thing about the baptisms is that for all except the 8 year old girl and one of the guys from Seaside, for the other 5 I was there from the finding them all the way to their baptism! All the rest of them I was only there at the end or beginning. However, It was so cool to find, teach and prepare them for baptism, and then be the one to baptize them. We had one nanay {mother} that wasn't able to be baptized because she got sick that day, but she's going to be baptized this coming Saturday so that's okay. Her name is Rosita Ornacion and she's just a really nice old lady. She was friends with a less-active we were teaching, and joined the lesson at their insistence. She felt the spirit and continued to take the lessons, and when she came to church, she said afterwards that she had tried a lot of different churches, but this one just felt right to her. There was a different feeling there, and she really felt that our church was the one. Despite her memory gap which sort of keeps her from remembering all the specifics of what she's taught, she has a true and strong desire to be baptized and I feel like she has the faith and diligence to endure to the end as long as she keeps praying all the time and going to church every week and having people read to her from the Book of Mormon (she can't read because her eyes are "daot" {defected}). At any rate, she's super solid and I look forward to helping her be "born of water and of the spirit" John 3:5 [baptism on Saturday, and receive the gift of the Holy Ghost Sunday]
The weather here, on the other hand is a lot more unpredictable. Most of the time it's hot, but sometimes it gets super hot, and sometimes it goes from a hot morning to a rainy afternoon - I just make sure to keep my umbrella with me just in case.
So yeah, that's what's going on here! Hope's all well over there! ayo-ayo!
og misyonaryo sa Ginoo, {missionaries of the Lord}
Elder Dallin Carlson
it's almost December! I totally forgot about Thanksgiving with them not having it here, but then again we should always have a season of thanksgiving in our hearts as we thank the Savior- all throughout the year, and especially as we try to remember the real reason for the upcoming international holiday of CHRISTmas.
Things are going well here in Naga with my new companion, Elder Seumanutafa; his parents are both from Samoa, but he was born in New Zealand and grew up in Australia. It's different having a Polynesian for a companion, but it's also awesome at the same time. Most of the time they assume he's Philippino because of his skin - I guess with how he's gotten skinnier here, he has become Filipino! :) He's doing his best to adjust to his first time being a district leader in a new area, but he's actually doing a great job with that. I'm learning a lot from him with different views and ways to teach and so much more.
So this last weekend, we had 7 baptisms!! I got to be the one to baptize all of them :) We were going to have one of the young men in our ward baptize some of his friends but there wasn't enough baptismal clothes for him to do that. I got a lot of compliments on mine with the white pants, shirt and tie. One of the coolest thing about the baptisms is that for all except the 8 year old girl and one of the guys from Seaside, for the other 5 I was there from the finding them all the way to their baptism! All the rest of them I was only there at the end or beginning. However, It was so cool to find, teach and prepare them for baptism, and then be the one to baptize them. We had one nanay {mother} that wasn't able to be baptized because she got sick that day, but she's going to be baptized this coming Saturday so that's okay. Her name is Rosita Ornacion and she's just a really nice old lady. She was friends with a less-active we were teaching, and joined the lesson at their insistence. She felt the spirit and continued to take the lessons, and when she came to church, she said afterwards that she had tried a lot of different churches, but this one just felt right to her. There was a different feeling there, and she really felt that our church was the one. Despite her memory gap which sort of keeps her from remembering all the specifics of what she's taught, she has a true and strong desire to be baptized and I feel like she has the faith and diligence to endure to the end as long as she keeps praying all the time and going to church every week and having people read to her from the Book of Mormon (she can't read because her eyes are "daot" {defected}). At any rate, she's super solid and I look forward to helping her be "born of water and of the spirit" John 3:5 [baptism on Saturday, and receive the gift of the Holy Ghost Sunday]
The weather here, on the other hand is a lot more unpredictable. Most of the time it's hot, but sometimes it gets super hot, and sometimes it goes from a hot morning to a rainy afternoon - I just make sure to keep my umbrella with me just in case.
So yeah, that's what's going on here! Hope's all well over there! ayo-ayo!
og misyonaryo sa Ginoo, {missionaries of the Lord}
Elder Dallin Carlson
Tuesday, November 20, 2012
•Transfer day sa Biyernes! katapusan na! 11/21/2012
Hey Everyone!
The reason my letters have changed and gotten a little longer is because I found a better way to manage my hour I have for emailing my mission president and my family: type one message about the area and people we're working with and send it to President and family! That way everyone can hear about how I'm doing and how the area is progressing.
So.. I may have forgotten to mention this, but I got hit by a car a couple weeks ago. .... okay, so I was barely nicked by a side mirror that could fold so it did right away and got all smashed in but I wasn't even bruised. It just goes to show how the Lord protects those on his errand. If I weren't a missionary I would have been seriously injured but as it happened, after awhile it barely even hurt.
Anyways, with the teaching, a few of the things that's tricky to teach is Sabbath Day and Tithing because with the economy, they often barely have enough money for food and so it's hard for them to set aside money for tithing and plete to get to church Sunday, much less not working on Sunday and not getting that pay.
lucky for me, I already have a story that's perfect for both keeping the Sabbath Day holy and tithing! for Sabbath day, I tell them about how it was hard for my dad to decide not to fish on Sunday, but he focused on the fact that it's a commandment and so we never go fishing on Sunday - then I tell them about that one time that we returned from fishing and another member who had gone fishing Sunday asked us how many fish we had caught, and we told him, and he said "I knew it! I knew you'd catch more fish today than we did Sunday and Monday combined!" That story is perfect not only because of the fishermen who are poor and go out in their little boats whenever it's not windy, but it shows how the blessings don't come until after our "obedience to the law upon which it is predicated" (Doctrine and Covenants 130:20-21)
The story that I always use for tithing also shows that principle - I tell them how my dad's family when he was still young bought a piece of land and started building a house and were trying to build a house before winter arrived but the money slowly ran out (from the building and feeding the large family) until only the tithing remained. It was really hard to make the decision, but they paid the tithing anyways because they had strong faith that the Lord would provide and bless them for their obedience to the law of tithing. The next day, a notice arrived in the mail that the price of the land had gone down and they received all the extra money from buying the land! It was much more than what they had given for tithing, and was exactly what they needed to get to the next paycheck. they knew it was a blessing from God, and they were very blessed for their faith and obedience.
I am so thankful for the examples my parents and grandparents have set for me - their examples of enduring to the end are enduring sources of inspiration for me and now for many investigators and less-actives and members in the Philippines.
So we have 7 people ready to be baptized on Saturday! I'm super excited, we have some super converted people and it's cool to see their desire to enter in this covenant with God by being baptized by someone holding the proper priesthood authority of God! Speaking of that, on the tenth we had three baptism and I got to baptize one of them! It was my first baptism and a super cool experience. I'm even more excited for these people we will baptize because there's a group of five of them and four of those, I was there from finding to teaching, and now to baptizing them!! All the other baptisms have been taught by the missionary mostly before I arrived, but this is totally different! It's too bad that my companion can't be there for it, he's being transferred Friday, but I know that the Lord has great things in mind for him as a zone leader in lilo-an. My next companion is Elder Seumanutafa and he's batch with Elder Deschepper, and he's going to be district leader here!
So there's a lot of changes here but they're all from the Lord so I'm super excited to see what he has in mind for us to learn and do in these new circumstances.
The reason my letters have changed and gotten a little longer is because I found a better way to manage my hour I have for emailing my mission president and my family: type one message about the area and people we're working with and send it to President and family! That way everyone can hear about how I'm doing and how the area is progressing.
So.. I may have forgotten to mention this, but I got hit by a car a couple weeks ago. .... okay, so I was barely nicked by a side mirror that could fold so it did right away and got all smashed in but I wasn't even bruised. It just goes to show how the Lord protects those on his errand. If I weren't a missionary I would have been seriously injured but as it happened, after awhile it barely even hurt.
Anyways, with the teaching, a few of the things that's tricky to teach is Sabbath Day and Tithing because with the economy, they often barely have enough money for food and so it's hard for them to set aside money for tithing and plete to get to church Sunday, much less not working on Sunday and not getting that pay.
lucky for me, I already have a story that's perfect for both keeping the Sabbath Day holy and tithing! for Sabbath day, I tell them about how it was hard for my dad to decide not to fish on Sunday, but he focused on the fact that it's a commandment and so we never go fishing on Sunday - then I tell them about that one time that we returned from fishing and another member who had gone fishing Sunday asked us how many fish we had caught, and we told him, and he said "I knew it! I knew you'd catch more fish today than we did Sunday and Monday combined!" That story is perfect not only because of the fishermen who are poor and go out in their little boats whenever it's not windy, but it shows how the blessings don't come until after our "obedience to the law upon which it is predicated" (Doctrine and Covenants 130:20-21)
The story that I always use for tithing also shows that principle - I tell them how my dad's family when he was still young bought a piece of land and started building a house and were trying to build a house before winter arrived but the money slowly ran out (from the building and feeding the large family) until only the tithing remained. It was really hard to make the decision, but they paid the tithing anyways because they had strong faith that the Lord would provide and bless them for their obedience to the law of tithing. The next day, a notice arrived in the mail that the price of the land had gone down and they received all the extra money from buying the land! It was much more than what they had given for tithing, and was exactly what they needed to get to the next paycheck. they knew it was a blessing from God, and they were very blessed for their faith and obedience.
I am so thankful for the examples my parents and grandparents have set for me - their examples of enduring to the end are enduring sources of inspiration for me and now for many investigators and less-actives and members in the Philippines.
So we have 7 people ready to be baptized on Saturday! I'm super excited, we have some super converted people and it's cool to see their desire to enter in this covenant with God by being baptized by someone holding the proper priesthood authority of God! Speaking of that, on the tenth we had three baptism and I got to baptize one of them! It was my first baptism and a super cool experience. I'm even more excited for these people we will baptize because there's a group of five of them and four of those, I was there from finding to teaching, and now to baptizing them!! All the other baptisms have been taught by the missionary mostly before I arrived, but this is totally different! It's too bad that my companion can't be there for it, he's being transferred Friday, but I know that the Lord has great things in mind for him as a zone leader in lilo-an. My next companion is Elder Seumanutafa and he's batch with Elder Deschepper, and he's going to be district leader here!
So there's a lot of changes here but they're all from the Lord so I'm super excited to see what he has in mind for us to learn and do in these new circumstances.
og misyonaryo sa
Ginoo,
Elder Dallin Carlson
Elder Dallin Carlson
Wednesday, November 14, 2012
•Hapit na human sa transfer - usa ka semana! 11/14/2012
Kamusta!
another week in Naga Ward with Elder Deschepper! I've been learning a ton about the language and how to say stuff without an accent and say stuff right from my companion and the people here. The work has been going really well, three of our baptisms came through this last week! The rest of them were mostly some groups where some close friends or some siblings joined and wanted to be baptized - the ones that joined needed more preparation and teaching so they needed to wait for Nov. 24th. However, they wanted to be baptized on the same day so we're going to have seven baptisms on that day!
I just asked Elder Deschepper how much the attendance was before and he said it used to be in the 50s before even though there's over 500 in the area including all the inactives. Right now, from missionary work alone in visiting and fellowshipping and bringing back less actives, the church attendance is reaching 130.
My companion said we have ten minutes left before we need to leave for the district activity, so I guess I'll just have to keep this a little short.
This morning we tried something we heard from Elder Herbst (former zone leader here in Talisay Zone, current AP!) after the last Zone Training meeting - put three packets of Ariel brand laundry soap in the bucket and soak the whites overnight in that and almost everything's clean already - it worked! Which is really good because washing all the clothes from the week takes a while otherwise. We heard that right in time, because tonight after our district activity we have two investigators we need to teach before 6:00 when P-day ends so we needed all the time we could get today in order to get anything done to prepare for the rest of our week.
looks like it's time to go! Hope all's well with you and yours!
another week in Naga Ward with Elder Deschepper! I've been learning a ton about the language and how to say stuff without an accent and say stuff right from my companion and the people here. The work has been going really well, three of our baptisms came through this last week! The rest of them were mostly some groups where some close friends or some siblings joined and wanted to be baptized - the ones that joined needed more preparation and teaching so they needed to wait for Nov. 24th. However, they wanted to be baptized on the same day so we're going to have seven baptisms on that day!
I just asked Elder Deschepper how much the attendance was before and he said it used to be in the 50s before even though there's over 500 in the area including all the inactives. Right now, from missionary work alone in visiting and fellowshipping and bringing back less actives, the church attendance is reaching 130.
My companion said we have ten minutes left before we need to leave for the district activity, so I guess I'll just have to keep this a little short.
This morning we tried something we heard from Elder Herbst (former zone leader here in Talisay Zone, current AP!) after the last Zone Training meeting - put three packets of Ariel brand laundry soap in the bucket and soak the whites overnight in that and almost everything's clean already - it worked! Which is really good because washing all the clothes from the week takes a while otherwise. We heard that right in time, because tonight after our district activity we have two investigators we need to teach before 6:00 when P-day ends so we needed all the time we could get today in order to get anything done to prepare for the rest of our week.
looks like it's time to go! Hope all's well with you and yours!
Og kakugihang misyonaryo sa Ginoo, missionaries of the Lord
Elder Dallin Carlson
Thursday, November 8, 2012
•Tapos uban ang splits/exchanges! 11/07/2012
Another week done in
the work of the Lord! I just finished doing temporary splits with Elder Rayos
for two days - he's basically a stud, working hard and loving the people. I was
with him in Lilowaan (not sure if I spelled that right) - it's way bukid and has
some huge hills, but when you get on top of those hills it's a pretty awesome
view! It reminded me of how so many prophets had to climb mountains, but when
they climbed the mountain as the Lord directed, at the end of the climb they
were humbled and teachable. In some ways, that reflects the scripture Ether
12:6 - The witness does not come until after the trial of our faith. In other
words, we sometimes need to have or obtain faith, hope, and patience to get
through some things.
So the plan for the combined baptism never got beyond the idea stage; that's okay because some of our baptisms had to be delayed because we couldn't get to them often enough (kuyog og lalaki nga may edad) but with Lloydgess/Sonnyboy/Mcsylvis/Anthony/Graham, or as we have unofficially dubbed them, seaside boys, a couple of them are ready while the others haven't been attending church or lessons enough - When they found that out, the ones who were ready wanted to wait a couple of weeks until the others were ready, so we have five or six planned for November 24! I think it's really good for them because this means that possibly throughout their lives, they'll have a tightly knit support system with each other. so combine that with having to postpone others so we can finish teaching everything, we have 3 baptisms set for this Saturday - Their last name is Jorolan. Their mom used to be a less active but now she came back and her kids are taking the lessons so they can be baptized - they're Reymart (10), Jey(12), and Romar(14). I think we finally got Reymart to remember the name of Prophet Thomas S. Monson! They have been progressing really well and Elder Magtanum interviewed them yesterday while we were on splits, so it looks like they'll be ready for their baptism Saturday! We have a YSA in our ward who is super good about going with us whenever we need him and has a really strong testimony, so we're trying to get him to baptize at least one of them. I may get to baptize for the first time in my mission! I have the baptismal prayer in Cebuano in my Cebuano handbook so I'm going to see about memorizing that so I can do my first baptism in Cebuano, because that'd make my first baptizing that much cooler!
well, I need to go to the apartment and start washing stuff by hand! Love you all!
og kakugihang misyonaryo sa Ginoo,
si Elder Dallin Carlson
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