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

August 31, 2014

How are you??? (In MORE than 10 words please!)

i am a.... ok.... haha, i am good, there was a ton of stuff that has happened this week that i will have to tell you all about.... This week was FIESTA, which is super awesome, we had 14 meals in 2 days... SO MUCH FOOD, almost all of it was BABOY*pig, and KAN-ON*cooked rice. i was so full!!! it was so much food, we had 4 dinner appointments in a row.

How is your companion???

My companion is super good! we have been rocking it... We have had a ton of good things happen, and some not so good, but all is good.

How long have you two been together???

We have been together for almost 3 months, since about June 8th...

How long has he been out???

He has been out 1 year, this last week, or as known as my SENIOR BATCH. he entered the MTC 6 weeks before i did.

When are the next set of transfers???
transfers are this next week... which means that P-day will be on WEDNESDAY next week..

Are you anticipating staying put and together as before???
We should be separated, i will probably be transferring. but we aren't 100% on that, i just have been here for 3 transfers, so it is about time to transfer.

How is your landlady???  Is she on track with her baptism date???
LONG STORY>>>>>>>>>

SHE is super awesome, her baptism is this Saturday, we taught all the lessons in 2 weeks... the zone leader was over at our house for exchanges, and we were telling him that we were ready to baptize her, and that she just needed the interview then she was ready. right after we told him that he went out to "play with her monkey," then they talked about something. so later in the evening we had the baptismal interview and she passed, then i asked her who would be baptizing her, and she said that the Zone Leader(not going to name names....) had already talked with her about him baptizing her. So then we found out that we have to do a lot more things, like make sure that she is living the L.O.C. because she is not married... lets just say that we have to do the "dirty work" and then the zone leader who had no input gets to baptize our convert. so 3 years down the road when someone asks her who baptized her she can say "Elder ....." but not either one of us that are assigned in the area, and taught her the lessons... but the one that is the baptism robber, he just lives off of other missionaries so he can baptize.....!!! WALAY KLARO!!!! So aggravating

How is the teaching going???

the teaching is going super good, we have some new investigators (14 of them). they are from HALOTANGAN island(probably not spelled correctly) they are so amazing, every time we go over to visit them they all grab a bench, or they just sit on the ground while we visit. we have now visited them 3 times... they are lobster fishermen, they travel where the lobsters do. they are so amazing.

What was the Best thing you ate in the last week???
lechon baboy, a lot of it!!! also a bunch of pork adobo.

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

dugo-dugo. just enough said.....

What was the HIGHLIGHT of the last week???
my highlight is that we had 3 days of FIESTA, and then on thursday, we had 5 lessons total because everyone was partying. then the next 3 days we taught 15 lessons!!!!

also on Tuesday night we got to watch a 98 kilo pig get ihaw-ed, it took about 5 minutes of the pig screaming bloody murder at 10:00 pm until it finally stopped...

EXTRAS:

1. FIESTA!!! 3 days of no lessons, videoke, tons of food, and super drunk people!!!
2. 5 lessons taught in 4 days...
3. I got bit by a monkey on the back of the hand, it was super painful, but now it is ok...
4. Got to help ihaw/kill a baboy*pig. 98 KILOS!!! almost 200 pounds!!!
5. BROKEN BIKE again!!!
6. we saw/met a 10 year old, that was smoking like a chain smoker, he was with 2-16 year old kids that were doing the same, we tried to convince them of the bad that they were doing, it didn't work.
7. we have an investigator that we made a goal to cut down on his dili maayo nga mga kinaiya*bad habits. he went from 15 packs a week to 8, he also went from 8 bottles of alcohol a week to 1, and stopped drinking coffee.
8. BAPTISM ON SATURDAY!!!!

-Elder Larson the YOUNGER

August 24, 2014

How the heck are you???  Please use MORE than 6 words to describe your current state without using "fine" or "tired".

I am really good, this week we had a ton of NINDOT*cool things happen. we have a new IBD(investigator with a baptismal date). she is our Landlady, and has come to church 3 times, before we even visited her... Then she basically gave herself the IBD, we told her the soonest that she could be baptized and then she told us that she wanted that date!!!

I get the feeling that Pangalo Island is mostly rural except for the resorts...Is that true???  What do the people do to make a living there??? 

Panglao Island is very rural except the resorts, there are a ton of PAYAGS*shacks made of bamboo. about 80% of the people make a living by either MANGISDA*fishing or working at a resort.

What was the BEST thing you ate in the last week??? What was the WORST thing you ate in the last week???

i dont know what the "BEST" thing was. but this week is FIESTA!!!! so that means that this week is going to be full of crazy foods and good foods.

this last week pretty much all that i ate was Pancit Canton, and Hard Boiled Eggs...

How many other people live in the apartment building you and the other Elders live in??  Are they interested in hearing what you have to say???

there are 6 different appartment buildings, with all of them being rented by Foreigners!!! there are probably 20 people that live in the complex. we used to have one investigator in the complex. they usually dont stay very long here....

right now there is a couple from Belarus and Greece, and then a ton of Americans. Our Landlady is super awesome!!!

Are the bikes holding up??  Did you get the tool kit so you can fix them yourselves???

Bikes broke down again!!!! i fixed 12 flat tires this week, and then on friday the bike broke down for the week, the rear gear shifter broke again!!!!! it didnt even last one week..... also ALL the rear gear pieces broke off... PASTILAN!!!

Do you hear any news about what is going on in the world or throughout the Philippines???

we hear NO news at all, and we dont even know the weather until it is hitting us... we have no clue that there is going to be a BAGIO*typhoon, until it hits us... it is super fun!!!

You said your Sunday services are at a members house.  How far is it to her house???

it is about 50 maybe 70 yards away from our house, it is super close!!!

Have you been able to get any investigators to church???

We have, there are a few of them that simba*worship/come to church, but they usually arent very frequent... they will come for a week, then not come again...

So how does that work meeting in someone's house.  Do you have the traditional 3 meeting block??? 

we do have the 3 meeting block, so for us SACRAMENT IS FIRST, then after sacrament we have the sunday school, and occasionally we as missionaries have to go and teach the primary class. or we go to the GOSPEL ESSENTIALS class. 

Are there member Priesthood leaders to conduct and bless the Sacrament or do the Missionaries do it each week???

we have about 5 priesthood holders in our group. they usually do it unless they dont make it to church... then we do. lets just say that the Sacrament prayers in Cebuano is SUPER HARD!!!! but it is possible

Is church all in Cebuano or a mix of English and Cebuano???

it depends on where we are, or if the people are wealthy, usually if they are wealthy they speak a ton of english.

How far away is the Mission Office??? 

it is about 5 hours maybe 6 away from our house. we would need to get on an hour long Jeepny drive, then get on a 30 minute motorcycle ride, then ride a boat for about 2 hours, then about an hour to hour and 30 minute jeepny ride over in Cebu...

So is it the Bohol Zone?? It is called Tagbilaran Zone, that i am in now. it is one of 3 zones in Bohol.
How often do you have zone conference???

We have one this week.... tomorrow actually. this is the 2nd one since president tanner got to the Philippines.

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

We met an RM, he served over in the Bocolod mission... we had a chat and told him how to get back to Tagbilaran City. He was super funny, we saw him pass by and he was super white, and he yelled out "KAMUSTA ELDERS?" and we both looked at each other... because no one ever speaks cebuano other than the locals to us....

Is there anyone we can pray for besides you, your brother, your companion, his companion, and missionaries in general???

i dont know, i would say no...

Any special names for the Temple??? 

nope, not this week

ADDITIONS:

1. we met a man from the Czech Republic, he was super kind to us.
2. I have one question... so if we have a Bayut*(homosexual cross dresser) investigator, IS IT OK TO "FLIRT TO CONVERT"? haha just kidding that is super bad... right???
3. OUR HOUSE FLOODED THIS WEEK!!!! WE CAME HOME EARLY FROM WORK, AND THE FLOOR WAS ALL FLOODED!!! WE SPENT 2 HOURS CLEANING IT UP then went back out to work.
4. BROKEN BIKE AGAIN!!!
   

-Elder Larson the YOUNGER

August 17, 2014......love hearing from him

How are you??? (Try to express something besides "fine" or "tired") 

Well since i need to express myself other that just "fine" or "tired" i will... a couple of adjectives.... i am REALLY tired;) or in Cebuano *kapoy kaayo man ko! But in all actuality i am good, this week was pretty good, there wasn't 

really anything that was over bearing.

What was your favorite scripture in the last week???

So my "favorite scripture in the last week was/is... 1 Nephi 5:2-4.

 2 For she had supposed that we had perished in the wilderness; and she also had complained against my father, telling him that he was a visionary man; saying: Behold thou hast led us forth from the land of our inheritance, and my sons are no more, and we perish in the wilderness. 3 And after this manner of language had my mother complained against my father. 4 And it had come to pass that my father spake unto her, saying: I know that I am a visionary man; for if I had not seen the things of God in a vision I should not have known the goodness of God, but had tarried at Jerusalem, and had perished with my brethren.

this is a good part, because instead of arguing and saying that he is not a visionary man, he totally fessed up to it and then consoled his wife by giving his testimony.

How is the teaching going??? 

the teaching is going slow still, we have gotten 0 new investigators the last 2 weeks, and our teaching pool is slowly getting drained. so we only taught 20 lessons this week, we had 3 days of 2 or less lessons taught, (which is really rare)

Can we pray for anyone specifically???

i can think of one for sure, Sister Rosalee Bonita, she is amazing, she has a solid testimony of the book of mormon, but... (there is always a but) she said that she has already been baptized...... (CATHOLIC of course), we are slowly trying to work through it...

Are there any names you would like put in the Temple???

There are...

Rosalee Bonita (*Badge[nickname])

Vitaliano Bonita (*Alky boy[nickname])

Pablita Arbolares

Saturn Nino (*Turning[nickname])

Waren and Gorgonia Guirit

and i think that is about it.

What was the highlight of the last week??? 

so as i explain later, my bike broke, so we were on our way out to work and then we had the bike brake, then we had some rope, so we just tied it between the bikes and towed each other to the next area... it was super lo-oy.... or kalooy(pitiful).... but it was super fun!!!!

How long is the "rainy season" there???  You said there were 2 per year as well as 2 "dry" seasons.  Are they 3 months each???

Yes, they are about 3 months ish each, it really depends, usually right now is when it is going to be the HOTTEST, there are 2 SUMMERS, and 2 WINTERS(or BAGIO*typhoon SEASONS)

How is the coconut tree climbing going??? 

The coconut (LUBE) tree climbing is going good, we are going to go later today to climb them... it is super fun!!!!

Do you eat a lot of fresh coconut???  How do you know which ones to pick???

we do sometimes, some weeks we eat fresh coconut every second, for every meal. others we go on a dry streak and dont get it for a week or so... we dont really know, we just kinda let the Filipinos tell us which ones are good... we are slowly learning though!!!

Is there any other fresh fruit on your island???

there is a ton of it!!! there are watermelon, pineapple, apples, star apples, lychee, other native fruits that i cant remember their names.

 Is the fresh local fruit less expensive???

the local fruit is basically given away, the apples and foreign fruit is super expensive and not worth the price we have to pay...

OTHER NEWS:

1. we have had a ton of successes with our investigators this week.
2. i kicked a rat, got bit by a "TUKO", and crushed a crab walking across the street.
3. my bike BROKE (go figure) the rear shifter broke off!!! it sucked so bad because we were in the furthest part of the area... about 1 hour away from home!
4. Elder McQuiston and i decided to come back to the Philippines with our wives and make a Jeepny, and him and i will be the driver/conductor... you need to know the culture to really get this one....

-Elder Larson the YOUNGER

August 10, 2014.... Hearing from him fills my heart with love

How was your week? my week was SUPER FREAKING LONG!!!!! i dont know what it is but the last couple of weeks has been ridiculously long!!! I feel like i got munched, and punched and scrunched, and i just really wanted to use the ending UNCHED... just me being random as always.

What was the spiritual highlight of the last week?

i honestly cant think of one, mainly because we didnt really have one. i guess the highlight was me giving another talk on sunday, i gave a talk on TEACHING THE GOSPEL. it was super difficult because i was super unprepared... i think that is talk number 8 or 9 on my mission so far. actually maybe more... i lost count!

OH YEAH WE DID HAVE SOMETHING SUPER COOL!!! we have a new investigator, we told her to read and pray about the Book of Mormon, and the next visit we followed up on that and she said that she did do it, and that she knows that the BOM is true, and that Joseph Smith was called to be a Prophet!!!! she was super awesome!!!(98% of the time they didnt even open the book to the assignment let alone prayed)

Did you have any adventures or fun activities in the last week?

well, we did sorta, elder McQuiston and i are working on climbing coconut trees, it is super difficult and scary as well! we also do a little bit of a race on our bikes....... if they are working.............

How are your investigators? 

our investigators are doing good, there are very few of them now...

You have been through 4 typhoons now, what is that like?

these typhoons (bagios) are just super small so it is just a ton of rain and a little bit of rain!

What do you do to keep safe?

we go out and do missionary work gihapon(as well), even though there is rain and what-not...

Are your bikes holding up or are you back to walking?

bikes are broken as always, i need to buy some tools today so i can just fix it myself so it is quicker than taking it all the way to tagbilaran every week....

With all the rain and mud is it more muddy to walk or bike??

it depends on the day, but most likely biking gets us more muddy... mainly our backs and pants....

how much the island you are on compares to Hawaii??

well there are a ton of Filipinos, and a ton of Koreans... i think that our area is pretty close to what it is like in Hawaii, the culture is just a ton different!!!

SO... this week we dropped brother Hope as an investigator, for many reasons... it was super hard to do it, mainly becasue we have grown so close to him, we will continue to visit him of course

Last night we had some fun with a ton of drunk people... it is crazy how many people "DON'T HAVE MONEY TO COME TO CHURCH" but then they have money to buy alcohol. we have 1 investigator that spends 6,000 pesos ($138.68) on alcohol every month.... their average salary is about 300 pesos ($6.82) a day.... so that means 2/3 of his money is going to his drinking...

So elder McQuiston and i were changing a light bulb in our house, and the ceiling is about 12 feet tall so he was standing on a table changing it... lets just say, long story short, these tables in the philippines arent made to hold a 200 pound american missionary... and the table is no more!!!!

also the last thing is in the last 3 days i have popped 10 holes in my bike tires, 8 of them at one time!!! that is so crazy!!!!

-Elder Larson the YOUNGER