June 15, 2014

well hello again to everyone, i really hope that everyone is going good this week!!!

this week was one of the craziest that i have been here so far, mainly because of how hard we worked, with everything. so i told you all about our American investigator named Brother Hope right...? well if not, oh well, so this week we taught brother hope and his Filipino friend (JEFF) about the Word of Wisdom. last week brother hope told us that he had been smoking since he was like 7 years old, and had never had a cough, but since he has been in the philippines breathing in the NOT CLEAN air he has developed a cough... so we were at brother hopes house, and he was super busy talking with someone trying to get a deal on a car, so we taught his wife (filipina) in cebuano, and then told him that we would be back to teach him later... so when we got back, we started to teach, and we taught about it, then about 10 minutes into the lesson, they both told us that they had just been talking about quiting smoking and drinking!!!! and that just before we had gotten there they had made an 'action plan' to stop and to live better lives/more healthy lives.

so we told them that we WILL and WOULD LOVE to do anything to help them with their action plan, so we made a plan to come over and workout at 4:30 every morning except sunday so that they would change their morning habit..... well, that was probably one of the hardest things.... (mainly because we dont go to bed until 10:30, then we got up at 4:00 to get ready.... it felt so good in the morning because there was no smoke, and it was almost cold!!!!

this week we also got our first IBD.... that was our good friend ROBERTO(the ex highered killer)

we also did a ton of tracting/finding and got 8/16 lessons.... it was crazy awesome! also this week we were "KILLING IT"<--no pun intended... we got 21 other lessons and 4 Less Active lessons!!!! we also got 7 new investigators!!!!

TRANSFER WEEK IS THIS WEEK!!! so i could, or couldnt be in a different area, or have a new companion!!! i guess we will find out tomorrow night!!!!

-Elder POGI-Larson

June 8, 2014

kini nga email, gusto ko pagsulat sa poros nga Cebuano, apan kay kahibalo ko nga walay nasabtan ninyo. but, i know that none of you will understand what i am saying so i will write it all in English.

so this week i will just answer some questions about random stuff, so if you want your questions to be answered, just email me and ask!!!

What area your living arrangements?? 
it has 3 rooms, a living room connected with the kitchen. then we have a bedroom with 2 sets of bunk beds. There are no actual closets, so we bought the fabric ones that you can just set up.
we just barely got 2 desks to study on, we are still missing 2. i spent the first 3 weeks studying on a couch... it wasn't half bad, i miss my couch
How big is your apartment? about 400 square feet... maybe smaller....
How do you handle who bought what food???
usually we just put it in our own separate corners, mine goes under my desk, or on the top shelf of the fridge, usually we aren't too picky.
Do you eat much pineapple???

I eat as much pineapple as i can, i love the stuff, especially when i can walk out and pick it myself... it is so good, occasionally it is expensive, but nevertheless it is still delicious

OH YEAH!!! i almost forgot, we have a new investigator this week, that used to be a CONTRACT KILLER!!! what the!?!?!?! we just ran into him, his health is super bad, and he was saying that he really wants to find religion, i don't know how this will turn out, but it will hopefully be pretty good!

This last sunday i also gave a 30 minute talk on the Godhead, lets just say that was super hard, i was so nervous, because the other speakers didnt show up for church, so the group leader (Elder Caycayon) asked if i would talk for a little bit longer than he had told me to speak... so i stalled as much as i could and explained everything in Cebuano, and then again re-explained it in English.

I also have a question, so ELDER LARSON THE OLDER in the Omaha Nebraska mission is my junior batch, and i was wondering if it would even be possible that him and i could arrive home at the same exact time to go down the escalator together, i know that it is still 1 year and 3 months away, but i have been thinking about how cool that would be for us.

-Elder POGI-Larson

June 1, 2014

well hello again, this week was pretty kool. this last week we went to a place called Garden Cafe after district meeting. there we ate some of the best food that i have ever eaten in the philippines!!! they were authentic western food, so i bet you cant guess what i got...

...CHEESEBURGER!!! AND FRIES!!!

OH MY GOODNESS THAT WAS THE BEST BURGER I HAVE EVER HAD I BELIEVE!!! it was PERFECT, and then i also split an order of fajitas with Elder Ewell!!! it was so rediculously amazing!!!

so i am not sure if this is how it is for every american, but for some reason the american investigators that we have are super BRAYT*smart, i dont know if it is just them being american, or what but this last week we got another 2 american investiagtors, both of them with Filipina wives... but the one is our neighbor named Rick, we showed him, "The Restoration" video, and then at the end he asked some awesome questions, that honestly i have never really thought about!

​1. What​ is different about the "MORMON" church?

2. Why is religion/God important for our lives?

3. What is the importance of The Restoration in this day and age?

I don't know why but those three questions have really been sticking with me, if anyone has any sound ideas, or some help, i would love to hear/read about it!!!

So we have another investigator that is super awesome, we know that she is gaining a solid testimony, but then there are people hired by the Catholics to go and not let the people change religions, by almost hazing them and asking questions, and forcing them to stay... (I hope that makes sense) so this investigator told us that they had been coming and talking and interrogating her... so we told her that the only reason that people don't want her to listen is because they know that it is true, and that the adversary doesn't want us to receive it. for those of you that have read the book "Fahrenheit 451" you will know what i am talking about, for those of you that haven't, you need to read it!!!

well, today i woke up at 4:30 to go play basketball with some of our investigators, it was super awesome, then we went to CHOCOLATE HILLS, the TARSIER PARK, MAN MADE FOREST, and a bunch of other sweet things!!! that was so awesome, i loved it, all i can say now is that i am EXTREEMLY TIRED...!!!

um, i think that is all that i have for this week!!!

BUT PLEASE TRY AND HELP ME WITH THOSE 3 QUESTIONS!!!!!!!

May 26, 2014

do you all get sick of hearing about how amazing this country and this area is?! cause i don't get sick of saying how amazing it is!!!!

It is now week 3 of the transfers and it feels like it just started last week, our house is super amazing, mainly because we have 4 Americans that are all from UTAH!!!

This week was pretty awesome, we had a bunch of awesome lessons but we only got about 15... our "MISSION STANDARD" is 25. but we did have something super awesome happen! we had the first Investigator come to church in the last 3 years!! It was super awesome, he is one of our "Joe" investigators, and lets just say that was a crazy experience for him, as it was for us, he took a TON of notes and seemed like he was in shock for a little while because everything was in Cebuano, so he barely understood anything, other than the stuff that was obvious and clear in English!!!

this week we had a super cool CSP, we got to go and cut a path through the bukid to someones house. what was even cooler about this is that i got to see some of the people from my last area because we were helping their family here in bohol!!!! that was super awesome, it was almost like i never left!

I dont really have too much to write about today... next week we will be going to Chocolate Hills, Tarsier park, the Hanging Bridge, and making sundangs, and other stuff like that... so hopefully in a couple of weeks i will have some cool stuff to write about, it almost just seems like it is the same old same old stuff each week...

-Elder POGI-Larson

May 19, 2014

May 18 at 9:28 PM

Can anyone really tell me how long i have been out on my mission?! i honestly am to the point where i have no clue, i know i have been out somewhere between 6 months and 12 months or about 6 transfers!

Oh yeah so i guess i still need to finish up the letter from last week! So last week we were walking to an appointment from "Tangnan" which is about an hour long walk. we were walking along the highway, and there was a car that went speeding by and as it going by we heard someone from the car yell "ELDERS!!!" so we started running to the car because it was obviously someone who knows us, or at least who we are. so we got to the car and it was a young couple from America, the sister from Vernal, Utah. and the brother from Billings, Montana. They were here on their honeymoon, because that is what this island is used for... they then offered us a ride and we accepted, so our hour long walk got turned into a 5 minute ride in a car, because of how fast they were driving.

Oh yeah so i was going to say more about Brother Hope, our American investigator, from Atlanta, Georgia. Last week we just really started teaching him, we taught him the restoration and then this week we taught him the Plan of Salvation. It is so amazing having one of the people we teach actually understand what we are saying, and then they are also willing to do stuff, like read, and pray, and just anything we really ask.

This week we are planning on giving him an IBD, and if we end up baptizing him and his wife, they will be the 2nd and 3rd baptisms in Panglao, Bohol in the last 4 years... And this is just about the only area in the mission that we could potentially baptize an AMERICAN!!!!

oh yeah so this week we were looking for new investigators and we ended up wandering into the bukid..(on purpose) because we wanted to get some exploring in, and we got lost for about 3 hours wandering in the bukid, and of course that day was the one day that i forgot to take my camera!!! it was so AMAZING!!!

 i cant even describe how cool it was, and how amazing this country is!!!

it is so awesome being here!!! i hope you all are having even half as much fun and enjoying life half of what i am right now!!!! this is so amazing.

NAHIGUGMA KO KANINYO!!! MAHAL TA MO!!! OR I LOVE YOU ALL!!!

-Elder POGI-Larson

May 11, 2014

Oh My Goodness, today was super awesome, i got to skype my parents, hopefully they had a cool experience listening to me talk to the people here! WOW, i cant believe it, that was probably one of the coolest experiences ever, i can finally speak Cebuano, and i am pretty fluent... or at least i feel fluent, you have to ask my family what they thought. This week was also super awesome, i am now finally in my second area!!! that was the longest first area EVER!!!! 

This week i was transferred to Panglao B, Bohol, it is totally different than my last area, we basically live on the beach. Which could potentially be a major problem, but right now we are doing pretty good...

lets just say this... MARAMING NG MGA MAGANDA!!! if you don't understand Tagolog, in Cebuano it is... DAGHAN NGA MGA GUAPA!!! and if you really don't understand either in english it is... MANY/A LOT OF BEAUTIFUL!!! everything here is just so much more different than it was in Cebu.

I love my new comp, his name is Elder Wright from Springville, Utah. He is my senior batch, and spent his first 6 months in Comotes, which is almost one of the coolest islands in the mission. Right now we are in the smallest house in the mission, we have 4 missionaries in about the same amount of space as a mini-van.... it is ridiculous!!!

So right now in our area, there are A TON of foreigners because there are so many beach resorts and everything. It is so awesome, one of our BEST investigators is a "Joe" he is from Atlanta, Georgia. he has lived here since about 2009, and he has a Filipina wife. They are so amazing, he has no real religion other than "LOVE." we have been teaching them for the last few days....

well i will finish this next week... OUT OF TIME!!!! 

May 4, 2014

Do i transfer or do i not, that my friends is the question!!!! This coming up transfer is going to be kind of weird, my companion right now (E. Durham) has a very good chance of becoming a ZL next transfer, and  that means that he could transfer, leaving me here for one more transfer, which wouldn't be the worst thing to happen... but then i have been here for the last 6 months, so it is about my time to move on, and transfer to another area, but... we wont know until tomorrow night who will be transferring this week.

This week was pretty fun, we had a HUGE CSP (community service project) at one of the members house (TATAY QUINTEN-83 years old) he has been paying tithing even though he is super poor(5 pesos), even though he works a full time job and everything... this CSP we rebuilt his entire house/payag, it is just kinda a hut, it started at about 6:45 am, and finished at about 6 pm... it was super long, but now we have some new investigators from it... one of them is super bright(SMART) and she really likes to read, she came to church this Sunday, and she is the apo(grandchild) of Tatay Quinten.

It is crazy how "elect" she is!!! she really has a desire to learn, and to know everything!!!

Well, i guess i will let you all know what transfers are like next Monday!!!! love you all!!!!!

-Elder POGI-Larson