Wow. That's quite the week. Sounds like a ton of fun soon.
All this talk of cooking things reminded me of something. I decided to take a page out of mom's book and write a three week rotating schedule. This last week was the first week, and it was a huge success! Only had to go to the market once! And we got everything we needed for the whole week! And the food was way good. This next week we are trying a new one, a sweet and sour pork recipe I got off the back of a can of pineapple. Should be way good. I'm excited for it. I can't wait to share all the filipino food with ya'll.
This week was an interesting week. Well, maybe not really. It was a pretty regular week... We did really good in applying things that we have been learning in district meeting, which is the whole idea of the meeting. So, Elder Lot'ahea and I have been working on teaching with more unity, and teaching people not lessons. And we excelled in both areas this week. Everything goes so much better when it works like that, guided by the Spirit. All of our lessons have been good, now they are better. Always improving.
Our investigators are all doing well. Mostly. We are having trouble getting some of them to church, but they are making progress.
Being District Leader is great! I absolutely love being district leader. It also helps that its in the district that I have been in for the last 8 transfers. And all the members are way great! There are still problems, but I am learning (as in like 5 minutes ago) that the biggest one is solved! I had really be worrying about it, and about the missionaries involved.
Transfer week is next week... I don't know what to think about it though. It seems like its come so fast, but that's because of the change of companions. When you have a comp for more than one transfer the next one seems much faster. I was looking at the calender and shocked to see that transfer week is next week. I'm pretty sure I'm gonna be transferred this time. But you never really know.
That's all for this week. Love you all!!!
Elder Phelps
Monday, June 27, 2011
Monday, June 20, 2011
The Rainy Season Continues
First and foremost, HAPPY FATHERS DAY DAD!!!! I think that we should get to call home for that too. But no go.
This week was really good. District meeting without the four sisters and the couple turned out like just a big companionship study. We had exchanges with the zone leaders this week. So I got to go hang out with Elder D'addabbo. He's from Arizona and is like my best friend here in the mission.
So we had a blast. The rest of the week went pretty well too. We got a bunch of good new investigators. And overall I would call it a successful week despite some disappointments caused by major rain. Yup, the rainy season continues and we will bring umbrellas along everyday. Saturday and Sunday the rain was pretty nuts. Parts of our area flooded and we had to walk through a lot of water. But it was all good. The major side-effect of the rain is poor attendance at church, for both members and investigators. That was a downer. But all Saturday I was rejoicing inside because San Enrique had their first baptism since I transferred from there in December. There have been really good missionaries there, but they have just been having some tough times.
Not much else to talk about this week. But last night I was once again reflecting on how long I have been in Ayungon. It has been FIVE transfers. That's a long time. I have been here since December 10, 2010!! It's June now! Elder Newman (Zone leader) and I were talking on Tuesday and he said that he requested to President Tobias that I stay here another transfer... He seems hopeful, but I doubt it will happen.
Yeah, that's it. Love you all!!
Elder Phelps!
PS. Coming home isn't that far away. I should be getting my "trunkie letter" soon. In the next transfer or so. It's when they tell you stuff you have to get done before you go home and you make sure info about your home unit is correct and select the airport you will fly into. And unless they send us a week early the schedule indicates that I'll get home December 21.
This week was really good. District meeting without the four sisters and the couple turned out like just a big companionship study. We had exchanges with the zone leaders this week. So I got to go hang out with Elder D'addabbo. He's from Arizona and is like my best friend here in the mission.
So we had a blast. The rest of the week went pretty well too. We got a bunch of good new investigators. And overall I would call it a successful week despite some disappointments caused by major rain. Yup, the rainy season continues and we will bring umbrellas along everyday. Saturday and Sunday the rain was pretty nuts. Parts of our area flooded and we had to walk through a lot of water. But it was all good. The major side-effect of the rain is poor attendance at church, for both members and investigators. That was a downer. But all Saturday I was rejoicing inside because San Enrique had their first baptism since I transferred from there in December. There have been really good missionaries there, but they have just been having some tough times.
Not much else to talk about this week. But last night I was once again reflecting on how long I have been in Ayungon. It has been FIVE transfers. That's a long time. I have been here since December 10, 2010!! It's June now! Elder Newman (Zone leader) and I were talking on Tuesday and he said that he requested to President Tobias that I stay here another transfer... He seems hopeful, but I doubt it will happen.
Yeah, that's it. Love you all!!
Elder Phelps!
PS. Coming home isn't that far away. I should be getting my "trunkie letter" soon. In the next transfer or so. It's when they tell you stuff you have to get done before you go home and you make sure info about your home unit is correct and select the airport you will fly into. And unless they send us a week early the schedule indicates that I'll get home December 21.
Wednesday, June 15, 2011
Tears Were Shed, My Eyes Watered Up Too
Forgot to do this last week, had a lot to think about. But Happy Birthday Dad and Natalie!!
Well, this last week testified to us all that rainy season is here to stay! There was rain pretty much everyday, and not just normal Philippines rain, but rainy season Philippines rain! Normally when it rains and we go out of Michael's house the ground is just wet. But multiple times this week we went out and stepped right into 3 or 4 inches of rain water! Lots of wading done this week. But at least it hasn't been more that 5 inches. Some members had some bad water problems, like a foot and a half of water in the house! But they are prepared for those kinds of things, so no prob.
The rest of the week was alright. The best part was that it was all pointing that Sunday was going to be a really good day. But our compass must have been wrong... Sunday was a big downer... Had fall from the high on Saturday where we had a baptism.
The baptism was way good. Short and simple. The speakers did a good job, it was decently attended and only had to do each person once! So now the Francisco Family is complete and can go to the temple next year! We are still working on the rest of the Emit family, and that is going to take some work!
As far as district leader stuff goes, I had a really cool experience on Sunday with an interview. Elder Newman texted on Friday asking if we could come on Sunday and interview the person who was supposed to be interviewed last week, of course we said yes. After experiencing trials just to get there (walking for an hour under the blazing sun because all the trikes in the area were carrying people to a funeral, then standing in the rain waiting for a bus) we made it to San Enrique. And it was all worth it after that. The candidate, Cinderella (yeah, that's her real name. She said that when she was born her mom was really into fairy tales), was way awesome. I had such a great time being uplifted by her testimony. She has gone through a lot and made the hard changes. I felt very early in the interview that she was going to pass. Tears were shed, my eyes watered up too. Yeah...
That's about it for the week. Love from the Philippines!
Elder Phelps
PS. Got package. Excited to open later! Love you all so much!
Well, this last week testified to us all that rainy season is here to stay! There was rain pretty much everyday, and not just normal Philippines rain, but rainy season Philippines rain! Normally when it rains and we go out of Michael's house the ground is just wet. But multiple times this week we went out and stepped right into 3 or 4 inches of rain water! Lots of wading done this week. But at least it hasn't been more that 5 inches. Some members had some bad water problems, like a foot and a half of water in the house! But they are prepared for those kinds of things, so no prob.
The rest of the week was alright. The best part was that it was all pointing that Sunday was going to be a really good day. But our compass must have been wrong... Sunday was a big downer... Had fall from the high on Saturday where we had a baptism.
The baptism was way good. Short and simple. The speakers did a good job, it was decently attended and only had to do each person once! So now the Francisco Family is complete and can go to the temple next year! We are still working on the rest of the Emit family, and that is going to take some work!
As far as district leader stuff goes, I had a really cool experience on Sunday with an interview. Elder Newman texted on Friday asking if we could come on Sunday and interview the person who was supposed to be interviewed last week, of course we said yes. After experiencing trials just to get there (walking for an hour under the blazing sun because all the trikes in the area were carrying people to a funeral, then standing in the rain waiting for a bus) we made it to San Enrique. And it was all worth it after that. The candidate, Cinderella (yeah, that's her real name. She said that when she was born her mom was really into fairy tales), was way awesome. I had such a great time being uplifted by her testimony. She has gone through a lot and made the hard changes. I felt very early in the interview that she was going to pass. Tears were shed, my eyes watered up too. Yeah...
That's about it for the week. Love from the Philippines!
Elder Phelps
PS. Got package. Excited to open later! Love you all so much!
One house, Eight People, One Fan
06/05/11
Wow, really short week for ya'll. It was a good week here. Lots done, but somethings not done.
We'll start with Tuesday, no Monday. So after emailing and getting the info for district meeting we went home and I started preparing for the lesson. It didn't take very long, but I went back to it a few hours later and reviewed everything. And I got what I wanted, I received new revelation that helped the lesson a lot. And then Tuesday came. The meeting went fantastic and everyone said they loved it. I have such a great district. They all like to participate in the meeting. Makes it all so much more interesting than just one person teaching and the others all listening.
Wednesday was leadership training. So Tuesday night a bunch of us stayed at the San Enrique apartment so we could all get a ride with the couple to Bacolod. That was an interesting experience. Eight of us in one house, and only one electric fan... it was way hot and everyone got very little sleep. But Wednesday was great. The trainings were all way good and I'm going to apply it all to help me as a district leader and help the district as a whole progress. Thursday was also a good day, but at the end we found out that Raffy (Michael Tilanas' brother) was admitted to the hospital (which is more of a super doctors clinic) for typhoid fever. Friday was not such a good day, lots of rain and we got really wet. We ended up getting a ride with the Tilanas Family to the hospital to visit Raffy. It was great to see him. And also great to know that when he had been admitted he asked his family to bring his Book of Mormon. We had a good time visiting and then headed home. Saturday was an alright day. At the end we went to the Tilanas house (Raffy was home now), and Raffy shared some experiences he had while in the hospital. It was really cool. Ultimately the whole thing was a good thing for him.
Sunday was District Conference (like Stake Conference). And that was nice. Just had church right here in La Carlota, didn't have to travel to Ayungon so early. After the conference we had two investigators interviewed for baptism. They are two moms of some of our recent converts. One we had been working on for quite some time and now she is WAY ready for her baptism. She is awesome, and now their family will be complete and they can go to the temple next year and be sealed! The father passed away some time ago.
That's pretty much it for the week. This next week will be great!
Love from the Philippines!!
Elder Phelps
Wow, really short week for ya'll. It was a good week here. Lots done, but somethings not done.
We'll start with Tuesday, no Monday. So after emailing and getting the info for district meeting we went home and I started preparing for the lesson. It didn't take very long, but I went back to it a few hours later and reviewed everything. And I got what I wanted, I received new revelation that helped the lesson a lot. And then Tuesday came. The meeting went fantastic and everyone said they loved it. I have such a great district. They all like to participate in the meeting. Makes it all so much more interesting than just one person teaching and the others all listening.
Wednesday was leadership training. So Tuesday night a bunch of us stayed at the San Enrique apartment so we could all get a ride with the couple to Bacolod. That was an interesting experience. Eight of us in one house, and only one electric fan... it was way hot and everyone got very little sleep. But Wednesday was great. The trainings were all way good and I'm going to apply it all to help me as a district leader and help the district as a whole progress. Thursday was also a good day, but at the end we found out that Raffy (Michael Tilanas' brother) was admitted to the hospital (which is more of a super doctors clinic) for typhoid fever. Friday was not such a good day, lots of rain and we got really wet. We ended up getting a ride with the Tilanas Family to the hospital to visit Raffy. It was great to see him. And also great to know that when he had been admitted he asked his family to bring his Book of Mormon. We had a good time visiting and then headed home. Saturday was an alright day. At the end we went to the Tilanas house (Raffy was home now), and Raffy shared some experiences he had while in the hospital. It was really cool. Ultimately the whole thing was a good thing for him.
Sunday was District Conference (like Stake Conference). And that was nice. Just had church right here in La Carlota, didn't have to travel to Ayungon so early. After the conference we had two investigators interviewed for baptism. They are two moms of some of our recent converts. One we had been working on for quite some time and now she is WAY ready for her baptism. She is awesome, and now their family will be complete and they can go to the temple next year and be sealed! The father passed away some time ago.
That's pretty much it for the week. This next week will be great!
Love from the Philippines!!
Elder Phelps
Transfers!....Not.
05/29/11
Well, I guess we'll start out with the important information, what everyone is asking about. Transfers! Certainly another great adventure, just not in the way we were expecting... I STAYED in Ayungon! And now I am the district leader. Yeah, going to be interesting... Elder Reidhead transfered, somewhere in Bacolod. My new comp just came from one of the other areas in the zone. Made transferring easy. His name is Elder Loto'ahea. Yeah, he's Tongan. My first comp that is bigger than me! He is way fun and way funny! So, I might learn some Tongan this transfer. Already learned a phrase or two.
This last week was rather boring other than transfers. E Reidhead spent tuesday packing then we went out and visited the Tilanas Family. Had a good time with them. Everyone was surprised to hear that he was transferring not me. We were surprised too. Going five transfers in one area, eight in the same zone, and seven in the same district. It's pretty nuts. I guess it was too nuts because I got sick... It wasn't like anything way bad, just sick. No fun :(
So we didn't get that much work done this week. But looking forward to next week! Gonna work our butts off!
We were able to get back to a family we found on Sunday. We found them and taught The Restoration. They responded way well and you could tell they were into it. When we went to the Tilanas on Tuesday the mom asked me if we had visited them. So I said yes, and asked why she was asking. She then explained that she had talked to the wife earlier that day and she talked about out visit on Sunday. Said that they were way interested, especially the husband, which we could tell from when we taught them. Then she told us that the husband is Papa Tilanas' second cousin! So we've got some relative fellowshippers for them now. That's really all I have to talk about.
It's been interesting stepping up to the role of district leader. Recieving other missionaries weekly numbers. I got the text of the sisters numbers last night and just looked at it perplexed. Trying to figure out why they sent it to me instead of Elder D'addabbo. But then it hit me. It's going to be interesting. But good. My district is totally awesome and are all confident in my abilities. That helps.
Love from the Philippines!
Elder Phelps
PS. No Package yet.
Well, I guess we'll start out with the important information, what everyone is asking about. Transfers! Certainly another great adventure, just not in the way we were expecting... I STAYED in Ayungon! And now I am the district leader. Yeah, going to be interesting... Elder Reidhead transfered, somewhere in Bacolod. My new comp just came from one of the other areas in the zone. Made transferring easy. His name is Elder Loto'ahea. Yeah, he's Tongan. My first comp that is bigger than me! He is way fun and way funny! So, I might learn some Tongan this transfer. Already learned a phrase or two.
This last week was rather boring other than transfers. E Reidhead spent tuesday packing then we went out and visited the Tilanas Family. Had a good time with them. Everyone was surprised to hear that he was transferring not me. We were surprised too. Going five transfers in one area, eight in the same zone, and seven in the same district. It's pretty nuts. I guess it was too nuts because I got sick... It wasn't like anything way bad, just sick. No fun :(
So we didn't get that much work done this week. But looking forward to next week! Gonna work our butts off!
We were able to get back to a family we found on Sunday. We found them and taught The Restoration. They responded way well and you could tell they were into it. When we went to the Tilanas on Tuesday the mom asked me if we had visited them. So I said yes, and asked why she was asking. She then explained that she had talked to the wife earlier that day and she talked about out visit on Sunday. Said that they were way interested, especially the husband, which we could tell from when we taught them. Then she told us that the husband is Papa Tilanas' second cousin! So we've got some relative fellowshippers for them now. That's really all I have to talk about.
It's been interesting stepping up to the role of district leader. Recieving other missionaries weekly numbers. I got the text of the sisters numbers last night and just looked at it perplexed. Trying to figure out why they sent it to me instead of Elder D'addabbo. But then it hit me. It's going to be interesting. But good. My district is totally awesome and are all confident in my abilities. That helps.
Love from the Philippines!
Elder Phelps
PS. No Package yet.
Some Way Good Investigators
05/22/11
Sounds like a way good week there at home! Man. I wish I could have been there for Stu's wedding... Oh well.
Our week here was pretty good. We got to tech some way good investigators, and a bunch of them came to church! YAY!! That made us sooo happy. The overall attendance at church was good too. 62. Thats a good number.
Yesterday (Sunday), we went to visit one of our investigators that didn't come to church. He was sick. On our way back down we talked to a father, and taught the family. They were way accepting and understood it all pretty well. Which was nice because we had talked to some very interesting people earlier that day... Got one of them's life story and her view on agency. And all we did is ask if she knew a guy named Elmer. Then she just went off. Either way, Junior Santina and family are good. They accepted the invitation to be baptized! It was way nice how they just recognized some important things.
As far as transfers go... Don't know who yet, but we are pretty sure that it' gonna be me. It's a kinda sad thought. ALL the members are saying that neither of us should transfer...again. That means they love us. When we talk to them about why they think we shouldn't they start listing all the good that has come from our work. And this area really has progressed since I got here. The branch is stronger, and bigger... They all understand that missionaries come and go, they just don't want us to.
I'm not really sure what else to talk about. This week was good, but i already told you about the stuff that stood out.
Love from the Philippines!!
Elder Phelps
Sounds like a way good week there at home! Man. I wish I could have been there for Stu's wedding... Oh well.
Our week here was pretty good. We got to tech some way good investigators, and a bunch of them came to church! YAY!! That made us sooo happy. The overall attendance at church was good too. 62. Thats a good number.
Yesterday (Sunday), we went to visit one of our investigators that didn't come to church. He was sick. On our way back down we talked to a father, and taught the family. They were way accepting and understood it all pretty well. Which was nice because we had talked to some very interesting people earlier that day... Got one of them's life story and her view on agency. And all we did is ask if she knew a guy named Elmer. Then she just went off. Either way, Junior Santina and family are good. They accepted the invitation to be baptized! It was way nice how they just recognized some important things.
As far as transfers go... Don't know who yet, but we are pretty sure that it' gonna be me. It's a kinda sad thought. ALL the members are saying that neither of us should transfer...again. That means they love us. When we talk to them about why they think we shouldn't they start listing all the good that has come from our work. And this area really has progressed since I got here. The branch is stronger, and bigger... They all understand that missionaries come and go, they just don't want us to.
I'm not really sure what else to talk about. This week was good, but i already told you about the stuff that stood out.
Love from the Philippines!!
Elder Phelps
Mother's Day
05/08/11
It was great to call you all! I stinks that that that is the last one, but in December when everyone else is calling I'll be talking to ya'll in person! But that is still a long time away... And at the same time only 5 transfers away!
Not too much to talk about this week. We worked hard and got a lot accomplished. We got a new branch presidency, and once everyone gets over the change, it will work out well. Now we have a president that has active counselors, so it wont be just him doing everything.
We have a bunch of investigators and mos are progressing. There is one family that is doing way good. The Sison family. we found them a couple of weeks ago and they are just awesome. Great desire, always reading, and most important of all, understanding and believing it's true! Always feel good after a lesson at their home.
Another way progressing family is the Emit family. Two will be baptized on Sunday, and one we are trying to get married. That one is doing way awesome. Probably best in the family. She is almost done with the Book of Mormon, at first they were having trouble understanding, but she said that once she just read for so long it came to her and she was able to understand the deep words. The two getting baptized are really good too.
I don't really know what else to say. Seems like we talked about everything else on the phone... So short email this week, but awesome phone call.
Happy Mothers Day to all you mothers out there! Especially to mine who has done so very much for me!
Love Elder Phelps
It was great to call you all! I stinks that that that is the last one, but in December when everyone else is calling I'll be talking to ya'll in person! But that is still a long time away... And at the same time only 5 transfers away!
Not too much to talk about this week. We worked hard and got a lot accomplished. We got a new branch presidency, and once everyone gets over the change, it will work out well. Now we have a president that has active counselors, so it wont be just him doing everything.
We have a bunch of investigators and mos are progressing. There is one family that is doing way good. The Sison family. we found them a couple of weeks ago and they are just awesome. Great desire, always reading, and most important of all, understanding and believing it's true! Always feel good after a lesson at their home.
Another way progressing family is the Emit family. Two will be baptized on Sunday, and one we are trying to get married. That one is doing way awesome. Probably best in the family. She is almost done with the Book of Mormon, at first they were having trouble understanding, but she said that once she just read for so long it came to her and she was able to understand the deep words. The two getting baptized are really good too.
I don't really know what else to say. Seems like we talked about everything else on the phone... So short email this week, but awesome phone call.
Happy Mothers Day to all you mothers out there! Especially to mine who has done so very much for me!
Love Elder Phelps
Pasalamat Festival in La Carlota
05/01/11
Well, this last week was way interesting. Found it way hard to sleep most of the week. This week was Pasalamat Festival in La Carlota. It centers around the city plaza and had multiple parades during the week. Our house is way close to the plaza so we could hear everything, and it was loud! Wednesday night there was a stage set up right in front of our house and a live band preformed until nearly 2 am. It was a very rough night of sleep.
The festival made work just a bit more difficult. Everyday tons of people would go to La Carlota. So finding was down. Those we did talk to did not want to listen, at all. We found a lot of hard hearted people this week....
Our lessons that we did have were great though! We found this one family last week, and we taught them twice this week. They are way good. They are reading from the Book of Mormon and have way good questions. One of the sons will be returning to Manila on Tuesday and asked if it would be ok for him to take one of the BoMs we gave them. Naturally we said "of course!" They are a way great family. The father attended our second lesson with then. We gave them a Book of Mormon. He had good questions too and was interested. This last time he wasn't there, but the rest told us about things that he said after we left and how it was way different than his reactions to missionaries from other churches. Can't really restate what he said; doesn't translate well, but it was good! They want to progress as a family. They said they will come to church next week. As for the one going to Manila, he said that there is a church close to his house there. We told him that if he sees the missionaries there to not be shy and flag them down.
That was the good experience of the week. Everything else was pretty normal. This week was area conference though! but we found out all the details last Monday, so it wasn't announced in church.... So we told every one we saw about it. And we actually had a good turn out! Pretty much everyone we told came! The people that we kinda expected the branch president to tell, didn't...
Area conference was way good. Elder Teh spoke, counselor in the area presidency, then Sister Julie B. Beck, Elder Cook, and President Packer all spoke via satellite from Church Headquarters. It was all really good.
Yeah, that's pretty much it for the week. It was good, looking forward to the coming week. Especially the phone call home! I'll call Monday morning here, so Sunday night there. Between 8 and 10 here. Not sure what that is back home...
Love you all!
Elder Phelps
Well, this last week was way interesting. Found it way hard to sleep most of the week. This week was Pasalamat Festival in La Carlota. It centers around the city plaza and had multiple parades during the week. Our house is way close to the plaza so we could hear everything, and it was loud! Wednesday night there was a stage set up right in front of our house and a live band preformed until nearly 2 am. It was a very rough night of sleep.
The festival made work just a bit more difficult. Everyday tons of people would go to La Carlota. So finding was down. Those we did talk to did not want to listen, at all. We found a lot of hard hearted people this week....
Our lessons that we did have were great though! We found this one family last week, and we taught them twice this week. They are way good. They are reading from the Book of Mormon and have way good questions. One of the sons will be returning to Manila on Tuesday and asked if it would be ok for him to take one of the BoMs we gave them. Naturally we said "of course!" They are a way great family. The father attended our second lesson with then. We gave them a Book of Mormon. He had good questions too and was interested. This last time he wasn't there, but the rest told us about things that he said after we left and how it was way different than his reactions to missionaries from other churches. Can't really restate what he said; doesn't translate well, but it was good! They want to progress as a family. They said they will come to church next week. As for the one going to Manila, he said that there is a church close to his house there. We told him that if he sees the missionaries there to not be shy and flag them down.
That was the good experience of the week. Everything else was pretty normal. This week was area conference though! but we found out all the details last Monday, so it wasn't announced in church.... So we told every one we saw about it. And we actually had a good turn out! Pretty much everyone we told came! The people that we kinda expected the branch president to tell, didn't...
Area conference was way good. Elder Teh spoke, counselor in the area presidency, then Sister Julie B. Beck, Elder Cook, and President Packer all spoke via satellite from Church Headquarters. It was all really good.
Yeah, that's pretty much it for the week. It was good, looking forward to the coming week. Especially the phone call home! I'll call Monday morning here, so Sunday night there. Between 8 and 10 here. Not sure what that is back home...
Love you all!
Elder Phelps
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
