Yesterday we got ready and went to our investigators houses to round them up for church because they are less likely to go if we don't. We had to wait in one family's house until she started getting ready. I'm learning to be a real filipino now in the sense that there is no personal space/privacy. We just walk on in to peoples' houses and are way upfront and way rude by north american standards. Because of all our efforts and a huge help through prayer, we had 12 investigators, 2 Less actives and four recent converts at church!
Great day! In total we had almost 20 investigators at church (between us and the AP's). President and Sister O were there too (they kind of tour around the wards). So the chapel was literally too full (its not small either!). So yeah, sweeeeet day.
We had a very malalim (deep) lesson in priesthood class where the teacher and other older men started discussing opinion as if it were doctrine. Pres. O doesn't speak Tagalog so he didn't catch it right away but one of our investigators spoke up at one point and corrected them with the proper doctrine (he's only been taught 6 times, and we had never discussed those things) but he was right and it was hilarious!
After church we went to the mission home in the AP's apartment as we usually do between church and PEC meeting. We got free pizza - with ranch dressing! What a sweet day. We had to leave early and give two sick people blessings, taught a lesson at someone's home and then went to
PEC meeting.
After PEC, as we were leaving the chapel, we heard yelling and smashing glass. We looked down the hill (as Bantay chapel is essentially a castle on a hill) and the two shacks at the bottom near the junk shop were fighting each other. One drunk guy from one shack had a bottle in his hand and a bit of blood on his arms and the one from the other house was hiding behind a fence. They pretty much had a snowball fight with bottles and the road was covered in glass. They yelled and fist-fought a couple of times too. We don't know how it started. The best part was that it's 2 minutes from the PNP (police) station (campo) and they didn't show up for about 20 minutes. I would hate to see their reaction time if there was something happening in Vintar! They showed up with automatic rifles and everyone freaked out. It was a very interesting Sunday! My first domestic dispute (I was told by the other elders that it's a regular occurance and that they usually use rocks.
Last monday I got a haircut from a bakla and it was terrible! I told him I had 15 minutes and he took 1 hour and it was 60 pisos instead of the 38 it usually is!
We taught a guy named J who had been taught by other missionsries in the past. He said he knew the Book of Mormon was true before and felt his sins being washed away. I'll keep you posted with him.
We realize that too many people just won't commute to Laoag, so we are now trying to teach men with cars so they can bring their families to church and establish a priesthood base in Vintar. I realize now that there is order to everything. We can't teach everyone. We have to start with people that can and are willing to go to church. Anyways, it's going well. We have a few families we are teaching now. We taught the Plan of Salvation to one of them and then the dad asked some very deep questions. It was great though. I learned the importance of only saying what I know.
In Alma 11:22, Amulek only says what he is prompted by the Spirit to say. I love that because one of my goals is to be better at thinking before I speak.
We taught an old tatay who told us he "nag-abroad" (mix of Tagalog and English words - I love it! Means he went or worked abroad) in Iraq in the 80's. He said he built houses for the government. We asked him if he's seen a guy named Saddam Hussein before! He said yes but we doubt he's serious - pretty good dead-panner, that guy.
Also met a drunk guy two nights ago who said he has seen some crazy things when he fought in the Iraq war (I didn't know the Philippines was part of that one!).
We visited one of the families we are teaching. The tatay wasn't there. He was in Manila, but luckily we had R teach with us. The whole family is baptist too except for the tatay. He is the one who let us in. The others are a little hostile. The oldest girl was there though. We had never met her before. We assumed she was hostile too but once we finished teaching about the apostasy and started teaching about the restoration, I explained that Joseph Smith wanted to know which church to join so he went into the woods to pray. All of a sudden, in a whisper on the edge of her seat, she asked, "What happened??" We told her about the First Vision (which I can say in my sleep now and sometimes do) and she was shocked and said, "That really
happened??"
That was so good to hear because people are seldom really interested in it. They seem to assume it was in the Bible and they just never read it so they don't ask questions. They think we will find out they don't really read the Bible.
We taught the girl about the Book of Mormon and that we would give her a copy. She told us that the day before we came over, she had been saying to her mum that she needed to find a religion as she felt lost. She had tried all of them and none felt right. The only one she hadn't tried was Islam and she was thinking of checking it out.
She had tears in her eyes and was so happy and kept saying things like, "This must have been planned!"
She has a three month old baby so maybe my nephew, C, will serve with him in the church at some point! So that was sweet. We teach them again tonight. We taught another guy named J, who asked lots of questions and was great and then when we mentioned prophets he said "teka lang" (just a second) and ran off to get something. He came back reading a Gospel Principles book, looking at the prophets section! Turns out he reads that book all the time AND he has six copies of the Book of Mormom!!! Turns out his brother's a member somewhere.
So much has happened this week! We stayed out until 9 every night and I'm more tired than I've ever been in my life. I reallllly love my sleep now, no matter how short.
This brings me to the real reason for the email subject! I harvested rice this week (naggapas). We asked a family we teach if they would let us help them in their bukid (field). I thought they would wear as few clothes as possible in the heat but they bundle up! I wore jeans and socks and my crocs with a long sleeved shirt I bought (way cheap, way big like it's supposed to be, and it has a big pirate parrot on it and says "Castaway
Bay"....stylin'). Anyway, they gave us each a little hand held sickle that is sharper than all the Subway knives in the world and we harvested rice. It was reallly hard work - so hot and really hard on the legs, arms and back. We finished one of his fields for him though. All the filipinos stopped gapas-ing and watched us. White
people in the bukid is unheard of. It was so messy and rough but I loved it. I would love to do it again and might get to this week.
I''m loving it here, even though sometimes I still really really miss home. On the other hand, sometimes I forget and think Vintar is my home, it's weird. Being transferred will suck.
I think of you guys so much and miss you so much. You are all part of the reason why I am able to do what I'm doing as I know back home before my mission I would NOT have been able to do this - to work in the bukid, work all day until 9 and still get up at 6:30 happy and ready to go. It is great here and I am so happy you all helped me and encouraged me to get here. R gave me a letter yesterday and said he didn't want a repeat of Elder S leaving almost without notice so he gave it to me now while he knows I'm here. It essentially said that he would never ever forget what I've done for him. That is something that I never have felt before, and don't think I could get that kind of satisfaction anywhere else. Because of all you have done for me I was able to do all I could for him. Now he feels the full joy that ONLY comes through the gospel. What an amazing work this is! Anyways, we have a lot of groceries to do today so I gotta get going (I haven't been eating very healthy as we have been eating whenever we get the chance to. It's like being in North America all over again).
Keep up the good work back home - just by your support you are spreading the gospel. You are all amazing missionaries and I love you all. Stay safe, never stop trying your best, and don't eat yellow rice (they dry it on the road and animals pee on it and sometimes poop too.....that also why there's rocks in my rice all the time and it kills my teeth).
LOVE YOU!
-Elder Dustan
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