This week has been a really good one. After I emailed and
P-day'd (yeah, I just verbed that word) last week, we went and taught M and E
and then the A family. The A's pigs are getting big, and I couldn't help it so
I pet one. They are pretty cute.
Saturday was a great day. We were all excited for it because, for once, we had nothing else to disturb our work so we were to get a solid 5 hours of work in. Right off the bat we got punted over and over. But we met lots of people that we could teach other times. We spent 10 minutes just explaining to a group of people near the house of one of our less active families, who we are and what we do . Turns out one of them is their cousin and we are going back tomorrow.
We went out to Gabu, the farthest barangay west in our area. It's right out by the ocean and is where the airport is. We get yelled at a lot in Gabu. It's kind of a scary place. We then found out that the member we went to visit there moved to Cagayan (farther than Camalaniugan). Our next plan was to visit a less active member. Brother T is an returned missionary and served in stake callings before. He has a really nice little family and he does fairly well for himself. He served inQuezon City
Brother T is very kind to us but never ever opens up about what's really bothering him. We went out and just chatted at first. I found a talk here in the office from Elder Clayton M. Christensen from a YSA Summit onAugust 6, 2011 at
the Salt Lake Institute of Religion. It really changed the way I see things in the
church. He talks about establishing the church and that a religion that doesn't
require the sacrifice of all things can't produce the power sufficient to provoke and
provide the faith necessary to gain salvation. He talks about how often we tell
people, "You need the church. You need it to be happy" etc., when
really it is more effective and also very true that the
church needs them.
He gives examples, like when his dad was assigned as home teacher to a man who would never let him in and would always kick him out of his yard. But every month he went back and tried to home teach him. Then one day a storm hit and blew the roof off of a local church building. This guy was a roofer, so the home teacher went to him and (before he could get kicked off the front step) said, "We just need your help."
He invited him to supervise a group of members and help them fix the roof. Paul agreed and afterwards said that he hadn't felt that good in years and he came back to church. Now Elder Christensen thinks, "How can I help the church need this person?" That hit me so hard.
So when we went to the T's, where in the past we have tried to get them to prepare to go to the temple (again, because they NEED the blessings of the temple), we just said, "Brother, we need you to help inspire the youth to serve missions. They don't realize that the blessings of a mission are a reality to Filipinos too - not just foreigners. Then we asked if his wife could help the young women too. They were taken aback a little but also a little flattered, I think. Brother T didn't come to church. But he did tell us exactly what has been stopping him - which is a HUGE step, and all because we, through the spirit, showed him how needed he is by the church in a very specific way. That was the only lesson we got in during those 5 hours of work - a day which would be called a failure if you look at the key indicators but that one lesson was such a huge step.
We found a new part of our area that is where the really rich people live. It's kind of hidden, but just off the highway is a huge neighbourhood full of mansions. MANSIONS. There was one guy with a house that is at least 3 mission homes big and he has a porsche!!!! He couldn't talk because he was on his way to a meeting with the mayor.
We gave out 11 copies of the Book of Mormon on Saturday. We also found the house of the governor of Ilocos Norte! She was inManila
Our ward is doing well. The numbers are going up, people are progressing and we have 2 young men about to send in their mission papers. We had a half-day mission on Sunday after church. A bunch of members met at the mission office. We shared a quick thought (which came from that same talk I just told you about) and we split into groups. I went with the M family and we taught a recent convert about the priesthood and committed him to pass the sacrament this Sunday and then we taught a less active family and found a few other less actives. It was a great day.
When we got back to the mission home, President and Sister B had made spaghetti for everyone and had them all go inside and eat. President watched the kids while we all went and worked and I think he enjoyed it even though he was exhausted. It was really touching to see how excited everyone was about missionary work. They all said, "We should do this every month!" There were about twenty members that showed up for it.
We got caught in a HUGE thunder storm on Tuesday. We can see the storms on Google Earth and it was the tail of typhoon Jelawat which was a super typhoon that barely missed us and is now going to smash intoOkinawa .
It did hit Cagayan though).
We knocked at one house and a 30-40 year old guy came out and, in pure English, chatted with us. He was way nice and invited us to come back some other day at an earlier time because he was just going to bed... but then he didn't stop chatting. Then finally he said, "Do you guys want to come in?" So we taught him about the Book of Mormon. Turns out he lived in LA since 1998 and then came back last year. He is now the chief nurse at the hospital down the road from us.
We went to a bakery yesterday and got some bread and after I ate it, I found a bugs leg stuck in my teeth! The bread was good though.
Anyways, that's my week. Really good week, and very rewarding. Take care everyone. Love you!
Elder Dustan
Saturday was a great day. We were all excited for it because, for once, we had nothing else to disturb our work so we were to get a solid 5 hours of work in. Right off the bat we got punted over and over. But we met lots of people that we could teach other times. We spent 10 minutes just explaining to a group of people near the house of one of our less active families, who we are and what we do . Turns out one of them is their cousin and we are going back tomorrow.
We went out to Gabu, the farthest barangay west in our area. It's right out by the ocean and is where the airport is. We get yelled at a lot in Gabu. It's kind of a scary place. We then found out that the member we went to visit there moved to Cagayan (farther than Camalaniugan). Our next plan was to visit a less active member. Brother T is an returned missionary and served in stake callings before. He has a really nice little family and he does fairly well for himself. He served in
Brother T is very kind to us but never ever opens up about what's really bothering him. We went out and just chatted at first. I found a talk here in the office from Elder Clayton M. Christensen from a YSA Summit on
church needs them.
He gives examples, like when his dad was assigned as home teacher to a man who would never let him in and would always kick him out of his yard. But every month he went back and tried to home teach him. Then one day a storm hit and blew the roof off of a local church building. This guy was a roofer, so the home teacher went to him and (before he could get kicked off the front step) said, "We just need your help."
He invited him to supervise a group of members and help them fix the roof. Paul agreed and afterwards said that he hadn't felt that good in years and he came back to church. Now Elder Christensen thinks, "How can I help the church need this person?" That hit me so hard.
So when we went to the T's, where in the past we have tried to get them to prepare to go to the temple (again, because they NEED the blessings of the temple), we just said, "Brother, we need you to help inspire the youth to serve missions. They don't realize that the blessings of a mission are a reality to Filipinos too - not just foreigners. Then we asked if his wife could help the young women too. They were taken aback a little but also a little flattered, I think. Brother T didn't come to church. But he did tell us exactly what has been stopping him - which is a HUGE step, and all because we, through the spirit, showed him how needed he is by the church in a very specific way. That was the only lesson we got in during those 5 hours of work - a day which would be called a failure if you look at the key indicators but that one lesson was such a huge step.
We found a new part of our area that is where the really rich people live. It's kind of hidden, but just off the highway is a huge neighbourhood full of mansions. MANSIONS. There was one guy with a house that is at least 3 mission homes big and he has a porsche!!!! He couldn't talk because he was on his way to a meeting with the mayor.
We gave out 11 copies of the Book of Mormon on Saturday. We also found the house of the governor of Ilocos Norte! She was in
Our ward is doing well. The numbers are going up, people are progressing and we have 2 young men about to send in their mission papers. We had a half-day mission on Sunday after church. A bunch of members met at the mission office. We shared a quick thought (which came from that same talk I just told you about) and we split into groups. I went with the M family and we taught a recent convert about the priesthood and committed him to pass the sacrament this Sunday and then we taught a less active family and found a few other less actives. It was a great day.
When we got back to the mission home, President and Sister B had made spaghetti for everyone and had them all go inside and eat. President watched the kids while we all went and worked and I think he enjoyed it even though he was exhausted. It was really touching to see how excited everyone was about missionary work. They all said, "We should do this every month!" There were about twenty members that showed up for it.
We got caught in a HUGE thunder storm on Tuesday. We can see the storms on Google Earth and it was the tail of typhoon Jelawat which was a super typhoon that barely missed us and is now going to smash into
We knocked at one house and a 30-40 year old guy came out and, in pure English, chatted with us. He was way nice and invited us to come back some other day at an earlier time because he was just going to bed... but then he didn't stop chatting. Then finally he said, "Do you guys want to come in?" So we taught him about the Book of Mormon. Turns out he lived in LA since 1998 and then came back last year. He is now the chief nurse at the hospital down the road from us.
We went to a bakery yesterday and got some bread and after I ate it, I found a bugs leg stuck in my teeth! The bread was good though.
Anyways, that's my week. Really good week, and very rewarding. Take care everyone. Love you!
Elder Dustan
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