October 25, 2015

so this week has flown by again, i feel like i was just here emailing.. after email we went and got lunch, we ate pizza hut, it was delicious. on our way out of pizza hut there was a foreigner that just walked up to us and started to talk to us well we found out a little about him, he is from Israel. so Elder Hall was pretty jazzed because he hasn't met anyone from Israel, and he has been reading in the Old Testament about the Israelite people and so forth... he was taught before in Danao by some missionaries. we invited him to church and he said that he would try. but he wasn't sure if he could make it because he is getting ready to go home! well, Sunday came and he wasn't there, but it was still interesting to talk and invite him.

i didn't make a list of things to write about this week so i am not exactly sure what happened.... i know that i did update my journal. i didn't do it for 1 month. but i was reading in D&C 93, and felt impressed to update it and try to keep it current... some days are super hard to do it, for a couple of reasons. 1-nothing worth writing happens during the day. 2-EXHAUSTED from a full day of work... well as you could guess it is usually the 2nd one.

this week we had 2 baptismal interviews, they both passed them. but when we presented it to the ward they weren't too happy, bishop said that they couldn't be baptized because they hadn't been to church... but they have been to church, just not in the ward where they reside, they have been going to Cortes Ward. but now that we told them where they are supposed to go to church they come to the right ward. well, the thing about Ruben is that he has really long hair and a beard. well the ward council talked about how they would like him to cut his hair and be clean shaven before the baptism. so later tonight our bishop, WML (ward mission leader) and EQP (elder quorum president) are going to come with us to teach them.... i don't really get why they didn't put that effort forth in the first place. i have had to force people to come and work with us, but now i can't stop them... i wish it would have been like this for the last 6 months i have been here.

i have texted all of the ward missionaries, as well as all of the other members that would be able to come and work with us, but all of them have said "no, i am too busy" so we haven't been able to work very well, we dont have anyone to help us teach, which means we can't teach some of the sisters, or all of them that we would like to.

on Friday we had our weekly planning, and at the last part it is called Companionship Inventory, well we tell each other the strengths and weaknesses, and try to help each other improve. when it was time for Elder Hall to share my strength, he just said "You will be a great father." he then went on to explain the reasons why, well.. just like my older brother stated in his email, "Dad thanks for going on a mission and leading us by example." The example that i have learned from my dad has greatly impacted my life, as well as other men that have been in my life to teach me how to be the person i am today...

ingat at mahal po ko KAYO!

 

-Elder Larson theYOUNGER

PHILIPPINES CEBU EAST MISSION!!!! OCT 2013-JAN 2016 

October 18, 2015

well last week our P-day ended pretty spectacularly weird... we didn't have any time to shop for food because we played basketball. we also didn't have time to do our laundry, so we did that throughout the week. also we had just gotten home from proselyting so we were exhausted, we also hadn't put away our luggage. Elder Hall was standing and he put his hands on the electric fan -don't jump ahead- and he had just turned it up to the fastest that it will go. well one thing he didn't see is that there was a part of the metal cage that was bent just so perfectly that a finger could fit into it. well he did and hit his index finger with the blades of the fan.. well lucky for him the blades aren't super sharp.. it hit him, and gave him a blood blister and cut his nail, also it sprayed blood across the room. that was super fun to clean up.

well i told you before about our investigator that is from Missouri. well we went to teach him on Saturday and well, Elder Hall taught while i sat there... every time that i tried to teach i just ended up speaking in Cebuano... i literally could not teach him... i was trying to share about why being baptized by proper authority is important and it came out very broken. i then tried to use the scriptures and i couldn't speak at all, my tongue was tied... i was over thinking it.

it has been a challenge with teaching again. going from a companion that was fluent in Cebuano, and Tagalog to one who speaks English and knows a little Cebuano. it is a difficult challange but it is one that is possible. we have just been basically translating the entire Restoration, and hopefully other lessons into Cebuano that way it will be a good language tool. he is learning a ton of words, and hopefully more importantly he is learning the meaning, and also the way to use them.

i wish you could all experience the same things that we do daily... you would all love it!

 

-Elder Larson theYOUNGER

PHILIPPINES CEBU EAST MISSION!!!! OCT 2013-JAN 2016 

October 11, 2015

well, i spent the last week listening to all the talks, and was able to listen to all of them before General Conference on Saturday and Sunday, but i waited until we actually watched them to take notes. it was so good! i really enjoyed how most of Saturday was talking about the Plan of Salvation. as a missionary i looked for the similarities to the message that we share daily. it was interesting to listen to the way they teach/give their talks, my goal is to become as effective as Elder Bednar. his talk was amazing, or Elder Holland. (it is going to take A LONG TIME).

oh yeah, so on Thursday there was an Emergency Transfer... we recieved a call from President Tanner on Wednesday morning, he asked first, "How is your knee Elder Larson?" well, every time i see him or talk to him that is his first question. i was super nervous, i didn't know why he was calling, he then said that there was a companionship that wasn't working out and that he needed to ask a favor. well to make the long story short, I SUSTAIN MY LEADERS. Elder Caindoy transfered to Carmen, Bohol. and i am now compaions with Elder Hall. my 16th companion and my 13th foreigner companion... it is so weird always being with Foreigners... he is also 2 months in the mission, so i am still training.

at General Conference there were a ton of members that came over from Panglao, and i got to see them all. it was funny because they all said that i am getting thin, or that i am thinner than i was when i saw them last. well, that is part of my goal. 4 months to thin, and in shape (other than round).

on Wednesday night we were headed home at 9 and we were just about to turn down a street, and there was a tricycle driving all over the road, and then ended up flipping it on its side, well he had his hand on full throttle we biked super fast to go and help him back up. when we got fairly close, probably with-in 10 feet i could smell something that you don't want to smell coming from a driver of a vehicle. the man was drunk as a skunk... he probably had a blood alcohol level of 1.6% or higher... he was beyond intoxicated...

last night on our way home we were at that same corner and my bike decided to have a major malfunction, and the chain fell off. because that happened i hit my knees on the handle bars and fell off the seat... well i was going fast enough that it kept going forward but i ended u sitting on the frame of the bike... lets just say that was SUPER painful!!!! i don't want to experience that again.

i
received a revelation/prompting from the spirit on Monday last week. i was looking at the bikes outside, and i felt a prompting to lock them up or bring them inside. i followed that prompting and locked them up. well in the morning they were still there, but someone had come by and stolen the lights, and also my seat from the bikes... i am glad that i followed that prompting!

 

-Elder Larson theYOUNGER

PHILIPPINES CEBU EAST MISSION!!!! OCT 2013-JAN 2016 

October 4, 2015

well, i say general conference, because all of you have already had the opportunity to watch it... i still have to wait until the 10th and 11th of October, but the great thing is that i am able to download the MP3 version, put it on my USB, and then listen to all the talks before Saturday... i guess in a way "cheat".

well, it has been raining a ton recently... actually this morning we were getting ready to come and email. we headed out the door, and we could hear something in the distance. i looked at Elder Caindoy, and said we need to run or we are going to get really wet... well it was super cool to see a wall of water moving across the sky. the rain drops were about as big as a gum ball, and they felt almost like it was hailing... but it was just rain, (when i tell Filipinos about hail they don't believe me. i tell them it is just balls of ice like rain drops.) well, i haven't ran for a very long time, so it wasn't the most graceful run but we managed to out run it for about 30 seconds until we turned the corner headed to a dry place, then we were hit hard with it. it felt like someone just picked up a bucket of water and splashed us with it. that was so awesome, not everyone gets to experience that, especially on their mission.

so we have a very interesting investigator, i am not sure what religion, or faith he belongs to. the reason is that he doesn't have normal beliefs... we were teaching and we asked just a basic, super simple question... "kinsa ang Dios?" or "who is God?" well his answer was, God is Jehovah... well before i could answer yes, and provide more enlightenment, he continued and said that Jesus is the son, Jehovah is the Father, and Allah is the Grandfather of Christ... well, i honestly have no clue how he came to that answer, or that conclusion... neither do i have any idea how to teach, and help him to understand, who God really is, even though i have told him, testified to him, opened the scriptures to Alma 18, and Alma 22... no success yet.

so on Tuesday last week we went over to Cebu to have a Trainers/trainees meeting at the Mission Home. it was unexpected and very uplifting, it was super awesome to get together with all those missionaries that i have seen come into the mission... (weird as well... mainly because i watched all of these missionaries come into the mission.)

so there has been many things that i have been thinking about, and my dad put it very well "Work hard. Harder you work the more blessings and better you will enjoy the last few months of your mission. You are now there longer than all the others that you went out with. Show them why you are there - to be a great and true leader - not a slacker. Rise up and be true and faithful and great my son." i just keep thinking about the D&C 121:34-36... many called but few chosen. i have also been thinking about how it is a Covenant that we are all under, and not a calling. yes, we may receive callings, but it is you that chooses if you have been called or chosen to serve in that specific role to help progress the kingdom of the Father here on earth.

sorry, no pictures this week.....

 

-Elder Larson theYOUNGER

PHILIPPINES CEBU EAST MISSION!!!! OCT 2013-JAN 2016