April 29, 2014

This week was pretty interesting, so as everyone knows, last week was my first baptism, and this week was their first week as members. We went and visited them because we had no one else to visit. We had planned on visiting them like the next day, but then we just kinda went there.

while there the youngest one is super happy, because... "Now that we are members we don't have to do that reading thing anymore." well lets just say that talk went pretty well with them, we spent about the next 30 minutes telling them about the importance of ENDURE TO THE END... it was pretty good, we then made sure that they were going to be coming to church, and then the next day they didn't come to church... man, some of the false traditions are super hard to get out of the people....

This last week we also had a CRAZY CSP(community service project) we went up to the bukid(wilderness/forest/mountain) to cut down some trees to make charcoal to cook with, we had to climb about 400+ yards at about a 75` angle, so basically we were rock climbing without ropes to get to the top. The sisters took forever to get to the top, and this CSP was almost pushing the boundaries between being safe, and not. The best part about this is.. i am the only one who brought some machetes... it is a good thing that i went to the public market and bought 3 of them before we left. so as of right now i have 8 machetes. They are super cheep which is super good, and i may have to leave some of them in this area so i have room for the more important stuff.

This week is going to be the last one i have with Elder Durham... it is going to be super fun, and this week i should be transferring.... i have no clue where to yet, but people have been saying Bogo, and others have said Bohol. either way i know i will be going where i need to be, where i can do the most effective work, and help the most people.

This week i also started to get a little sick, i hope it doesn't get too bad, cause that will not be very good, especially if i transfer.

-Elder POGI-Larson

April 22, 2014

well, happy Easter everyone!!!! i don't remember how we celebrated Easter, but i don't think that it was quite like it is in the Philippines... I cant really tell you what really happened here, but if you would like to find out go right on ahead and do some research... "HOLY WEEK IN THE PHILIPPINES," you may find some stuff that could, and should SHOCK THE HECK OUT OF YOU!!!

this week was really super awesome... (notice the emphasis) this week was my first BAPTISM!!! yay!!! We have been waiting for this one for about 3 months... which is about 2 transfers ago... i am super glad that i had the opportunity to see this one through until they were baptized. I was the baptizer of course, Nicka, Kate, and Russell... it was so crazy, i almost had to drown Kate, and Nicka because their hair kept floating to the surface!!! so we had to redo them once more each... After the actual baptism we got to confirm them as well, it was so cool. Elder Durham got to confirm Russell, and we both were in the circle for the confirmations!

so i don't know if anyone knows about the "DIRTY ICE-CREAM" but if any of you decide to come to the Philippines to get some ice cream, make sure you DO NOT get it from the ice cream vendors that ride either a bike down the road, or a motor cycle... it is not the most healthy... and you could possibly get super sick from it... (like dead)... dead is not a good sickness diba?

well this week was a good one, it is crazy how just by being EXACTLY obedient we recieve more blessings, and we receive guidance, and super amazing investigators. OBEDIENCE IS KEY TO HAVE SUCCESS!!! it really works!!!!!! sigi amping mo, wala ko og lain sa makaistoria... gihigugma ta mo!!!! 

April 16, 2014 again

oh yeah... I almost forgot!!!! this last weekend we had our General Conference!!!! it was so awesome!!! I hope you all remember the talks from it!!!!

on saturday we watched 6 straight hours, and on sunday we watched 4 straight hours... in the Philippines they dont like to mess around, they went 6 hour CONFERENCE marathon!!!!!!!!! UNREAL!!!!! there was nothing like getting punched in the face with doctrine and gospel for 6 hours straight without any time to even stand and stretch!!!!

April 16, 2014

this week was super nindot kaayo! it has also been super difficult, the best part about it is that i don't ever remember all the struggles and difficulties. This week we had a TON of tracting, finding, and searching(go figure, right???).... we have been doing a ton of that the last while, our teaching pool started at about 6 people 3 weeks ago and now we are about to 24.

we found a 7 year old, gave him a articles of faith card, we asked if we could come and visit with his family. he said that we definitely could. so of course we went and visited them, they started off when we got there saying "GINOO MAN GIHAPON," that is probably the worst thing to hear when you are a missionary... they kept saying that until we started teaching, and bearing testimony, then they just kinda got quiet... they then decided that what we were teaching something pretty cool, and that they hadn't heard anything like it. we got a good follow up lesson with them as well.

we had another pretty cool lesson, it was later in the evening, about 7 pm. we were on our way to another teaching appointment, and elder Durham and I walked by a little place on the side of the road where they have a barbecue, and then about 10 seconds later we looked at each other, and both said, "Lets go back to them." it turns out they have been "searching for the true church" they have tried basically every other church... and they had just started to give up hope!!! well lets just say, we were led to them, just at that exact time.

well today we went to the TEMPLE, that makes it 6 times now going to the CEBU TEMPLE, i was super lucky to be put where i was for my first area!!!! i am so happy that i got to go... i don't know if you all know, or if you have seen it, but there is a BRAND NEW, newer than the last one 6 months ago, temple video!!! all i can say really about it is... I CANNOT FALL ASLEEP DURING IT, THE OLD ONE I COULD, BUT I CANNOT!!!! IT IS SO AMAZING!!!!

well i just want to do a couple of shout outs!!!

1-ELDER LARSON THE OLDER: MAAYO MAN!!! I am so glad you got a glimpse of the heat that i have spent the last 6 months in without getting a break!!!!! also nindot ang imong WEEKLY LETTER!!!!

2-THE SANDY 2nd WARD: THANK YOU FOR THE VIDEO!!! That was pretty cool!!! i wasn't expecting anything like that!!!

3-FOR MY PARENTS (Janel, Rachel, and Harvey): KAMO *y'all ARE SO AMAZING!!!! i love you all!!! i dont know what i would be without all the time and effort you put into me!!

 !

April 8, 2014

April 1, 2014

well, i always say this, but TIME GOES BY TOO FAST!!!! well in about 6 days i am officially at my 6 month mark, my companion suggested that we but ice cream and burn a tie, the cool thing about my companion right now, is he is only 3 months older than me in the mission, so he just went through this a little while ago!!! this week was a little more different, it was in some ways harder, and in other ways it was super easy!!! right now i am basically being retrained how to teach effectively, and properly, PMG(preach my gospel) is one of the best teaching tools, and resources!!! i have really underused it! my new companion and i have gotten a nickname from everyone in the mission, we are "THE POWERHOUSE COMPANIONSHIP." it is just about one of the best companionship's in the mission right now... we have the best area, and we are teaching like PMG... it is amazing how effective it is! o n Thursday i brought 3 new missionaries to the Consolacion 1 apartment, i then spent Thursday and Friday showing them around their area, and introducing them to some of the members and the investigators... their area was basically DEAD, they are resurrecting their area now... it is super hard, and right now we are rebuild/resurrecting our area too... ummmmm.. ASK ME QUESTIONS PLEASE!!! THAT MAKES IT SO MUCH EASIER, I CANT JUST THINK OF RANDOM STUFF DURING THE WEEK TO TALK ABOUT!!!! it is super hard to do!!!! April 8, 2014 well, i hate to say it but THAT WAS THE FASTEST 6 MONTHS. well this week was super fast because we were working hard... (OF COURSE) on Thursday we went on exchanges with the zone leaders, we were down in a place called "DECCA HOMES" it is almost right in the center of our area, and while there we saw a white man looking up at what looks to be a very expensive home, that has been being built for the last 4 months... we stopped and talked to him... lets just say IT IS SUPER HARD TO SPEAK IN ENGLISH AFTER 4 MONTHS OF JUST TRYING TO SPEAK CEBUANO!!!! but we were talking to him about his life and everything, he is from LONDON, ENGLAND... so we couldn't talk about the gospel too much, so we asked him about the house he was having built... it is a 6.2 million peso house or about 139-thousand USD... it was so crazy, he was then talking about how he is going to be putting up 16 Filipinos from the streets in it. on Thursday we also saw a bunch of kids playing basketball, and they challenged us to a game... so of course 2 6'+ missionaries said yes to play against them. we challenged them to a game to 10, if we won we got to teach them for 5 minutes and if we lost, we had to go, they thought that was good because there were 4 of them so... to make the story short we won 10-2... then we taught them... it was awesome, they all actually seemed pretty interested. this week has also been super rough!!!! we have been doing a lot of "FINDING, TRACTING, SEARCHING, LOOKING, SEEKING etc." this week we have probably walked about 140+ KM. it has been super hard, but we have been pulling through... we are also having a TON of success, well and of course i am getting in better shape now... well my companion is super legit, and i am so glad to have him, he keeps me from going crazy and killing the other missionaries. so it is super helpful!! for the last 4.5 months i have done dishes EVERY DAY, it has turned into a workout in the morning, it is kinda fun... in a way. we have all been eating healthy.. vegetables, and fruit, and just eating all the food groups!!! basta, kita ta sunod semana!!!