October 21, 2014

How are you???  Please Use 2 COMPLETE SENTENCES TO COVEY YOUR PRESENT STATE OF BEING!

I am doing good, i found out that i will be TRAINING this transfer, so later today i will be going down to the MISSION HOME to pick up my anak *kid. This week was a little bit harder because our teaching pool has dropped off, and to add to the fun, we had a BAPTISM!!!

How is the work going???

The work is going good, it has been going slow, and it is going to be a rough couple of weeks until we rebuild our teaching pool!!! We are planning to TRACT, FIND, SEEK, SEARCH, LOOK, TALK, and EXPLORE.... well yeah...

What was the highlight of your last week???

We had the BAPTISM of Bethsheva Edralin Fabe, it was different, we had planned that it would start at 3:00, but then no one even showed up until about 3:30, so it started late. Attendance at the baptism was a total of 9 people; 4 missionaries, 1 bishopric(and his wife), the bunyagan*(person being baptized), her mom and lola*(grandma), and our WML(Ward Mission Leader). I was the one who performed the Baptism, lets just say that the water was a little bit cold!!!

So on Sunday, i was texting bishop during sunday school and priesthood, and right before sacrament started, asking who would be the one to confirm her. I told him to have Elder Edoloverio confirm her, but he said that i would be the to confirm her... THAT WAS ONE OF THE COOLEST FEELINGS EVER!!!! I COULD NOT DESCRIBE THE FEELING IF I TRIED MY HARDEST!!!

Will you please share a scripture with us (even just the reference would be ok) that touched your heart this week???

ummmmmmmmmmm..... i dont read still.............. haha dont be angry!!!

JUST KIDDING, I HAVE GROWN A LOVE FOR READING!!!!

2NEPHI28:30 For behold, thus saith the Lord God: I will give unto the children of men line upon line, precept upon precept, here a little and there a little; and blessed are those who hearken unto my precepts, and lend an ear unto my counsel, for they shall learn wisdom; for unto him that receiveth I will give more; and from them that shall say, We have enough, from them shall be taken away even that which they have.

This last week i was asked to give a Workshop for our District Meeting, I gave it on "Improve upon your Talents," and i used that scripture and a quote from President Brigham Young; "President Brigham Young said that the Lord 'gives a little to his humble followers today, and if they improve upon it, tomorrow he will give them a little more, and the next day a little more. He does not add to that which they do not improve upon.'"

It was a really good workshop they said..... that was super fun!!!!

What was the best food you ate in the last week???

MANG INASAL!!! it is a restraunt here, i wish we had it in the states!!!! it is delicious, i got a Pork Barbeque, it is so unreal!!!

What was the WORST food you ate in the last week???

I ate some pan*(bread)... we ran out of Gasul, so.... WE COULDNT COOK THIS WEEK, and we didnt have any dinner appointments planned, so we basically survived of pan*(bread)

Have your taste buds become fire proof???  (A lot of spicy foods from what you have been saying?)

YES, SPICY DOESN'T EVEN MAKE ME BLUSH ANY MORE!!! I love it so much, every time we eat out i always ask for EXTRA sili!!!!

How is your companion???

He is good, super sad that he will be leaving Mandaue, but excited for the new change, and going to Comotez!!! 

Is there anyone in particular we can pray for???

1. The BARANGAN family, they are amazing, they just dont want to accept baptism yet...
2. Sister Frances, she knows it is true, she is just caught up with work, and can't simba*(come to church)

Do you find ways to PRODUCTIVELY use your machetes in the city???  (Do you still have your machetes?)

I have them still, but they are in the bottom of my suitcase right now, they are just waiting to come home!!!

What are your CSP (Community Service Projects) like in your area???

they consist of a new kind of CSP (Companionship Sleeping Programs) just kidding, we dont have any CSP's that are actual CSP's.

I do bumba*(hand pump) water from a puso*(well)

What has been the most surprising thing you have learned so far about the Filipino culture???

Most suprising, well seeing that i cant tell you that because then i would become BUGOY*(disobedient) i will just keep that one a secret, maybe i will tell you when i get home... if you want some advice, read the BOM about the APOSTACY in 4Nephi.

TRANSFER WEEK!!!!1 - WHERE are you???

I AM IN A COMPUTER/INTERNET CAFE, in MANDAUE CITY!!! JAJA!!! I am going to be here for a couple more transfers, because i am going to have a KID!!!!!!

2 - Did you two get separated???

YES, ELDER EDOLOVERIO is going to Comotez Island, one of the most desired areas in the mission... His new companion is so amazing!!!

-Elder Larson the YOUNGER

October 12, 2014

How was your "Half Way" Celebration???  What did you do???

It was just like any other day, we did missionary work... we also did have dinner at one of our Investigators houses. In which i bought the food, i bought 2 kilos of Pork Chops to feed us... which is surprisingly cheep here!!! I spent about 400 pesos to buy 2 kilos of pork chops, 2-2 liters of coke, and some cookies... it was super cheep!!! Sister Jingle added a ton of SILI*(small pepper SUPER SPICY) halang gyud*very spicy. but then Elder Edoloverio(my wonderful companion) challanged me to eat one raw, well last week at the Perez family i ate one, and i felt like i was going to die from the spicy. But this one that i ate was no terrible, i ate it and i only cried a little.... haha, i blamed it that i was so happy that i was at one year!!!

What (other than the Half Way Celebration) was the highlight of the last week???

The highlight is that on saturday and sunday we had GENERAL CONFERENCE!!! that was so awesome to listen to all of them!!!

How is the work going???

The work is going well, we have a baptism this Saturday, she is from a Part Member Family. SISTER BETHSHEVA FABE, she chose me to be the one to DUNK her, i feel super honored but at the same time i feel bad for Elder Edoloverio, cause he has been here longer. so i was trying to convince her to choose him...

What (other than emailing US) is the best part of P-day???

well, i dont really know... some weeks are a ton better than others, but usually the best part is being able to go and work at the end of the day and to start the week off with a couple of lessons....

Do you have anything special planned for the next week???

This week we have our one baptism on saturday, but other than that we do not have much planned... we just have lessons, and then we come home and sleep... that is about it!!!

Today is supposed to be pretty good weather in your area.  Do you see much sunshine in between the rainstorms??? 

Good weather?! as in no rain?! that will be a first in a while!!! usually if it is rainy we dont see the sun for a couple of days... it is super awesome

Is the rain constant or just bursts of really hard rain with nice in between???

It is usually HARD RAIN with no breaks, so CONSTANT HARD RAIN!!! it makes life a little me more basa*wet. but it is more interesting.

Do the flooded areas just keep filling up, or have they drained???

The flooded areas drain, but then the next storm they are filled right back up with super dirty water!

Have you heard of the movie "Meet The Mormons" in your area???

I have not heard of it, except through LDS.org... how is it?! have you seen it?!

Please list FIVE adjectives to describe your current state.

I AM GOOD, TIRED, EXCITED, and... i dont know. i forgot what adjectives are... just kidding. i just dont know what else i am right now... libug na lang ko!!!

GOOD-this last week has been one for the records....

TIRED-waking up at 5:00 to play basketball is super exciting, but towards the end of the day is no fun!!!!

EXCITED-this week we have a baptism, and it is only 12 days until TRANSFERS!!! ahhhhhh

Please use FIVE adjectives to describe your companion.  (We would like to get to know him better too!!)

UMMM, gwapo, buotan, HARD WORKING, KUGIHAN and PAGKAMASULUNDON...

GWAPO(HANDSOME)-he looks good

BUOTAN(NICE/KIND)-he is super kind to everyone

HARD WORKING/KUGIHAN(DILIGENT)-every day he is ready to go out and work

PAGKAMASULUNDON(OBEDIENT)-he makes sure he follows mission rules always!!!

What language did you watch Conference in???  Who did you watch Conference with???  Where did you watch Conference???

We watched it in English, and Cebuano. i downloaded it to my SD card. so i have heard the conference in english, and cebuano now. i think i might try and download it in Tagalog today...

-Elder Larson the YOUNGER

October 4, 2014

How are you? (Please use 2 complete sentences.)
I am good, my knee has been super sore, but mainly because there has been some major storms rolling through. Also i had a case of LBM, my stomach is not feeling too good, but it is starting to feel better slowly!!!

How was your week?
This last week we were killing it! We went on splits a couple of times! and we finished the week with 23 lessons... the only problem with our area is we have one entire part that no one wants us to teach them. (TIPOLO) on Friday we went on splits and ended up teaching 1 lesson total, even though we were both with a ward missionary. Today we went to the TEMPLE (i believe that this is #22 or #23 of my mission going to the temple

What was the best thing about the last week???
WE HAD THE BEST DINNER APPOINTMENT!!!  we had a very dato/Kwartahan (rich/wealthy) member take us out to eat. we went to an ALL YOU CAN EAT restaurant, and ALL YOU CAN DRINK (FREE REFILLS {over here there are no free refills}) I ate 4 plates FULL!!! I ATE crab, fish, pork, shrimp, sushi, rice, squid, octopus, ginamus, lobster, clams.

it was all so good, i know... dont be judging

I MADE SURE TO EAT MY 300 pesos worth of food... really it was super cheep for an all you can eat....

How often did you eat at members homes?
it depends some weeks we eat every night, right now we are trying to figure out a calendar or some type of schedule so it is even. the main problem is that all the active members and all the dinner appointments are in the sisters area...

Do you feel more settled in the city yet???
I feel more settled but... IT IS A VERY EXPENSIVE AREA!!! It is unreal and scary how much more money i have spent in this area so far... it is so sad how being in a city and being able to walk by an ATM. in Panglao there was 1 ATM, and it was in the other area. here i could pull money if i had it (and if i needed it) whenever.

How are things with your Comp???  Is the language getting easier for both of you to understand each other???
language is not a problem anymore, i just speak cebuano all the time, and i will mix in some english... it is super crazy living in a house with all Filipinos, and what is worse is they think that i am super DATO (KWARTAHAN)*rich because i am an American... as i said earlier in the letter, this area is expensive....
I HAVE SPENT 5,532 pesos in the last 13 days, our support is 3,900 pesos...

So are you in a 2 floor apartment in an apartment building???
yes, we are in a 2 floor building, we in an amazing house/apartment complex.. they are almost like town houses.



-Elder Larson the YOUNGER

October 1, 2014

How are you? (Please use 2 complete sentences.)

I am good, my knee has been super sore, but mainly because there has been some major storms rolling through. Also i had a case of LBM, my stomach is not feeling too good, but it is starting to feel better slowly!!!

How was your week?

This last week we were killing it! We went on splits a couple of times! and we finished the week with 23 lessons... the only problem with our area is we have one entire part that no one wants us to teach them. (TIPOLO) on Friday we went on splits and ended up teaching 1 lesson total, even though we were both with a ward missionary. Today we went to the TEMPLE (i believe that this is #22 or #23 of my mission going to the temple

What was the best thing about the last week???

WE HAD THE BEST DINNER APPOINTMENT!!!  we had a very dato/Kwartahan (rich/wealthy) member take us out to eat. we went to an ALL YOU CAN EAT restaurant, and ALL YOU CAN DRINK (FREE REFILLS {over here there are no free refills}) I ate 4 plates FULL!!! I ATE crab, fish, pork, shrimp, sushi, rice, squid, octopus, ginamus, lobster, clams.

it was all so good, i know... dont be judging

I MADE SURE TO EAT MY 300 pesos worth of food... really it was super cheep for an all you can eat....

How often did you eat at members homes?

it depends some weeks we eat every night, right now we are trying to figure out a calendar or some type of schedule so it is even. the main problem is that all the active members and all the dinner appointments are in the sisters area...

Do you feel more settled in the city yet???

I feel more settled but... IT IS A VERY EXPENSIVE AREA!!! It is unreal and scary how much more money i have spent in this area so far... it is so sad how being in a city and being able to walk by an ATM. in Panglao there was 1 ATM, and it was in the other area. here i could pull money if i had it (and if i needed it) whenever.

How are things with your Comp???  Is the language getting easier for both of you to understand each other???

language is not a problem anymore, i just speak cebuano all the time, and i will mix in some english... it is super crazy living in a house with all Filipinos, and what is worse is they think that i am super DATO (KWARTAHAN)*rich because i am an American... as i said earlier in the letter, this area is expensive....

I HAVE SPENT 5,532 pesos in the last 13 days, our support is 3,900 pesos...

So are you in a 2 floor apartment in an apartment building???

yes, we are in a 2 floor building, we in an amazing house/apartment complex.. they are almost like town houses.

-Elder Larson the YOUNGER

September 21, 2014

How are you??? (Please use at least 4 (four) adjectives)???

I am really honestly quite very good, i am super sore, my right leg/knee area is starting to act up again. I am doing good other than that though!!!

Are you adjusting to city life again???

Slowly but surely, the real difference in city life is there is a ton more food options, and we pass by stores every day, so if we need any food we just buy it. Also it is super dirty, so i am struggling with bugas*acne because of the dirt.

How is your new companion???  He is a native Filipino, but speaks another language.  How are communications between you going???  Does he match your great work ethic???

My companion is doing amazing, ELDER EDOLOVERIO!!! He is a native Filipino and speaks Cebuano, Ilongo, Tagalog, and English. he is a native Ilongo speaker... here in the philippines there are 438+ different languages/dialects, so the only real language that everyone speaks are TAGALOG, and ENGLISH.

We do good at communicating, i mainly just speak to him in Cebuano and he understands it most of the time, and if it is deep Cebuano i just speak english, and then he understands that.

Does your companion have the support of his family???

Semi, his mom and dad are not members, and he is the first of 5 to serve a mission, he has been a convert for about 4 years now... 

Did you put in the request for bikes in your area???  Lets hope if they get you bikes, they are better quality than the last ones!!!

I havent yet, i dont know if i will, they would be nice and everything, but it might be overkill, and they are a little bit dangerous for the city...

Which floor of the apartment building do you live in???

we have a 2 floor apartment building, we study in the bottom in the kitchen area, and the other two elders study upstairs in a room by the bedroom. so we sleep upstairs.

Is it a 2 bedroom apartment again for the 4 missionaries???  Are you on bunk beds again???  It is a really good thing you have brothers and have been on bunks beds much of your life!!!e

we have bunk beds, i sleep on the bottom bunk now. It is not much different except now i need to wake up at 6:30 or earlier, before i could just roll over until 12

Are you appreciating the "real" shower even if it is all cold water???

It is pretty nice because i actually started to work out, so right after the work out i go and get in the shower and ice down... it is pretty relaxing, and after being in the shower for so long the water starts to feel a little warmer...

Do you have a oven in your kitchen in this apartment or is it just the usual sink, cook top and tiny fridge???

we have a gas stove, that half of it is broken and doesnt work, we have a medium size fridge, but is super tiny compared to the ones in america. and we have a toaster that we dont use...

Since there is an actual ward in your area, do the members feed you guys???

YEAH!!! it is amazing, we have 5 dinner appointments scheduled for the week already, this ward is so amazing, the members are all willing to help, the bishopric is also on top of everything, as well as his counsilors. Yesterday while we were sitting in PEC(priesthood executive council) i got a good look at how ready they are for progressing. they have amazing goals, and they are amazing!!!

What was the best thing about the last week???
the rain, i dont know if you all saw what happened, if not, you should go and look it up now, it was so much rain and so much fun!!!! we didnt go out to work until evening because our area was FLOODED so super bad!!!

DUGANG*additions

1. possible broken nose from playing basketball
2. rained so hard that we couldnt work

-Elder Larson the YOUNGER

September 14, 2014

How is the new area???

The new area is A TON different than my last area, lets just say i went completely opposite, in my new area there are 7 malls, (that is just in my area), there are another maybe 5 or 6 big ones in the zone... it is in need of work, because our area just got split with sisters, and of course they are the lucky ones, and they got the area with all the Investigators.

We have had quite a bit of success so far, we taught 11 lessons in 3 days, and had 10 new investigators(now i am not sure if they are investigating the church or just Elder Larson)...

Do you live in an apartment???  How many of you are living there???

No.... i live on the street... ;) joke!!! i do live in an apartment, it is about a rocks throw away from Andys Hotel(where we spent our first night in the PI). there are 4 of us living in the apartment, ELDER LARSON, ELDER EDOLOVERIO, ELDER JANDOQUILLE, ELDER CODAVAR... I AM THE ONLY AMERICAN/FOREIGNER!!! and in our zone there are 3 of us (foreigners)...

What is your neighborhood/area like???

my area is A TON DIFFERENT, it has some bukid, but is mostly city, which makes it hard to do tracting/finding because everyone is at work in the city during the day, and then there are so many businesses around our area... it is pretty big and weird shaped...

Do you miss your bike???

i do kinda miss my bike, i am thinking about putting in a request for bikes in this area, maybe get some good ones! it should be an every area thing!!!! they make getting places super simple!!!

Tell us about your new companion....

OH MAN!!! MY NEW COMPANION (ELDER EDOLOVERIO) is awesome, i am his follow up trainer, so i have quite a bit of responsibility on my shoulders (making sure he doesn't get corrupted and what not...). He is also from Negros Occidental, so his native language is Ilonggo, so he isn't quite BIS-DAK yet. he is 20 years old, and is THE FIRST MISSIONARY from his FAMILY ever to serve a mission. his parents are not members, and he has 4 siblings. there is a little bit of a language barrier between us, but it will all work out, he is already starting to get better at English.

WHAT ELSE DO YOU WANT TO KNOW ABOUT HIM?

Is there a ward there???

it is a ward!!! it feels so amazing to be back in a ward!!! i mean, i miss the group of Panglao, but over here everything is established, the leaders are amazing and know what they are doing, this is one of the best wards that i have seen in the mission, let alone at home as well!!! they have an amazing outlook on everything. I did everything i could to BRT with them from the start, it helps that i am ok or i guess decent at the language now...

How many members???

there were 130 at church yesterday... but there are a ton of less actives in the ward, so yeah. A LOT MORE THAN OVER IN PANGLAO!!! and their 30s...

How far are you from the mission home???

we are about 1 hour away.... but if needed we could get there faster!

Now that you are in the city area, are the motorcycle taxi's your prime form of transport other than your feet???

we use the tricycles for transportation a lot, but we still use our shoes quite a bit!!!

How is it being the SENIOR Companion???

there is no difference really, i just know the language a little bit better, and if anything happens it is on my shoulders.... but, the only difference between the senior and junior companion is who goes first in the interviews...

What was the best thing about the last week???

I have already had 4 dinner appointments since i got here to Mandaue... On Friday there was a birthday party for one of the primary kids, so we went and helped set up and then they told us to stay and eat there...

What was the strangest thing you ate in the last week???

I ate Bangus last night at a members house... or in English, milk fish... there was so many bones in the fish!!! yes... I ATE FISH AND I LIKED IT (OTHER THAN THE BONES)

MGA DUGANG*additions:

1. BROWN EYES!!! THEY ARE TERRIBLE!!!
2. I ALMOST FORGOT HOW BUOTAN*kind THE FILIPINOS IN CEBU ARE!!!!
3. I learned something very important from my last companion (Elder McQuiston), it is great to be a joker, and it is one of the best tools in being a missionary in the Philippines. It is one of the best BRT tools around.
4. Friday we played basketball at 4:30 A.M. at Consolacion chapel (where i basically lived for 6 months) FIRST AREA TRUNKY!!!

CEBUANO WORDS

1. awit - sing
2. bakon - bacon
3. pagsulay - trial
4. gugma - love
5. kasingkasing - heart
6. hugot nga pagtuo - firm belief/faith
7. kalipay - joy
8. ba-ba - mouth
9. basahon - book
10. simba - church

TAGALOG WORDS

1. mabuti - good
2. aklat - book
3. mahal - love
4. puso - heart
5. pagsubok - trial
6. pananampalataya - faith

-Elder Larson the YOUNGER

September 9, 2014

well, it is that time again, the beloved TRANSFER DAY. This last transfer has been so amazing with Elder McQuiston!!! I just cant even tell you the adventures that we have had in the last week, let alone the last 3 months together!!! Just his example is exemplary! i am going to be leaving Panglao... but before i tell you all where i am transferring i figure i will tell you about what has happened in the last 9 days....

so last Tuesday, we were going out to work, on our bikes, i decided to be a little bit of a show-off, and i pulled a giant wheely. well, my back tire was super flat so it slid out from underneath the bike, and me.. and i fell straight on to my stomach/chest. lucky for me, nothing on my body got hurt.... but my camera did get broken pretty bad, it still takes pictures the screen just doesn't work.

on Wednesday morning at about 6:10 elder McQuiston got up to take a shower, and when he was on his way out of the bathroom he couldn't get out... it wouldn't activate the unlocking mechanism. so he climbed out the window pretty simply... other than the whole it being about 7 feet up off the ground and whatnot... so i climbed into the bathroom and used my magic skills, and 2 knifes i unlocked and opened the door and got out... it was such a fun time at 6:30 in the morning.

we had another flood in our house on Friday! the stupid sink keeps getting the hose loosened from it, so we had Sister Grace the landlady come over to fix it. about 30 minutes later it was good as new, we just had to clean up the water everywhere...

OH YEAH!!! this week we also had a farewell party/get together for one of the members who leaves on his mission, TOMORROW. it was so amazing, because we invited sister Grace(landlady) so she could get acquainted with the members from Panglao Group. there was a little bit of a cake icing fight! it was super legit, except for the sugar granules in the icing which kinda cut a little bit!

SO SATURDAY!!! we had our first baptism in Panglao B EVER!!!! we baptized Sister Grace Cadao! That was such an amazing baptism, the planning was amazing, and the follow through was awesome, after all the hard work that we had to do, it was amazing to see her be baptized! the only bad part is that it wasn't me doing the baptizing... but it is all good, we figured it all out and she is now a R.C. in Panglao B area....

SUNDAY!!! Sister Grace finally came to Panglao to go to church (she usually goes to Tagbilaran). The members were so amazing!!! she was also confirmed and given the gift of the Holy Ghost, lets just say........ 10 minutes later (no exaggeration) it was finally closed. Elder Caycayon (senior couple missionary) did the confirmation. it was so long, and the hand pile kept shifting because we all got super tired of holding our hands on her head for that long... needless to say we all needed to be in shape for it!

Last night (Tuesday) we received the transfer call on our way out to Dauis on a 20 minute hable-hable (motorcycle) ride. it was so weird, because of course i didn't receive the call, that was Elder McQuiston, we were both super excited. So the call came in as we were flying down the highway going about 50 KM/hr... (not lightning speed) but we recieved the call and got news that I AM TRANSFERRING to MANDAUE 1A and i will be the SENIOR COMPANION, i cant remember the name of my new companion, but he is a Filipino from ILO-ILO.

I HOPE YOU ALL LOVE ALL THE PICTURES!!! I TRY AND TAKE AS MANY AS POSSIBLE (USUALLY WITHOUT ME IN THEM!!!!)

-Elder Larson the YOUNGER