Hey Everyone.
So another week that went by super fast. We mostly just kept up the same
work we've had going for the past couple weeks and saw some really good
progress with our investigators. There baptisms should be coming up within
the next couple weeks if everything works out. We also had a family of less
actives come to church that haven't been able to come in a long time. The
father had a stroke over a year ago, and is able to walk now, but it's
really slow and he struggles. But They made it to church! And their son
came, and he's about the age to be preparing for a mission, so we hope to
begin work on that with him soon. He had plans originally, but then left to
go work for a few months.
We did struggle with one less active family this week. We aren't really
sure what happened, but they've turned pretty cold all of the sudden. We
went to their house, and saw them in the doorway, but they didn't see us
yet. I told my companion to wait until they were out of sight, because I
wanted to see if they would hide (Filipinos will rarely reject you, they
just hide instead). Well, I was correct. They sent their son out to say
they were gone, then we told him we saw them and he panicked and didn't
know what to do. Then I found the dad trying to escape by crawling under
the wall (He also seemed a little drunk), so I guess they really didn't
want to talk. Hope we can figure out what's goin on there.
I did a lot better this week about trying to be loving, and I guess found
that that's the key to everything. You have to go out with a good attitude
or you're going to have a terrible day no matter what happens. On the other
hand, as you look at people for who they are, and what their potential is,
it makes it a lot harder to get mad at them. Sometimes it's still sad to
see people wasting that potential through drinking or disobedience or
whatever it is, but I do what I can to help them try to work it out.
Well I love you all! Have a great week, and I'll have more next P Day!

"I think when Elder Holland has free time, he goes off and hunts Satan"

Hey Everyone!
So another week down, went by pretty fast. But we saw some super awesome
things, that I can't describe in detail right now, but basically a less
active member has completely flipped his life around within just a couple
days and is working his way towards being active and worthy to baptize his
son. He's so far gone 5 days without smoking, which is huge for him, and he
seems more determined than I've ever seen him to get his family to accept
the gospel and eventually be sealed! We also had a few investigators at
church, so they are staying on track to be baptized on the 29th if
everything else continues to run smoothly (please pray for that). Another
investigator didn't come because she said she was going to visit her Born
Again church for the last time, to tell them she's not coming back because
she's getting baptized with the Mormons. We had a pretty good laugh at that
one, because we just imagined how that conversation might go. After all the
singing and dancing that they do there, when it all quiets down and
everyone is feelin' good, she'll just randomly say to the pastor she's not
coming back and then walk out. She's also kind of old, so I think that just
adds to it.
Besides all that, everything still seems to be going well. Just goin at it
day by day. It's crazy how fast some days fly by, but other days honestly
just drag on, especially the ones where I'm struggling not to throw the
kids into fields. But I've held off on that so far, so I guess my patience
is building. I think I'm just going to try and kill them with kindness or
something. Buy 'em candy or something maybe. I don't know, but maybe
there's something to being Christlike that might do the trick. Just have to
think of what that might be.
Also quote for my week that I heard on exchanges:
"I think when Elder Holland has free time, he goes off and hunts Satan."
Love you all, and I'll talk to ya next week!

I'm Not German

Another week that went by super fast. We were busy with exchanges and
everything, but it all turned out well and ended up great last night when
we got to watch a Special Area Broadcast for the Philippines in which Elder
Ardern, his wife, Bishop Cousee, Elder Robbins, And Elder Oaks and his wife
all spoke. Elder Oaks used to be the area president here 10 years ago, so
he really knew a lot of the problems that we face here with membership. One
of the things I like that he really emphasized was that the Gospel is all
about change. A lot of members here get into the church, but often aren't
really fully willing to make the changes that will bring them to full
activity and help them receive the fullness of the blessings of the Gospel
that are waiting for them. They always hang onto something. Another problem
is that a lot of members don't really want to put anything into their
membership in the church. Refusing callings and talks and all of that. But
all in all, they were really great talks, that I got a lot out of, but
almost nobody there could understand Bishop Cousee's accent...
We've also seen some good things with our work. We gave out a few more
baptismal invitations, that were accepted, but may take some time before
they work out. One of them pretty much asked us to be baptized, so we were
really happy to set a date with him.
This week I've been working really hard to be more loving. I've gotten
frustrated a lot lately with people lying, and hiding, and kids yelling
vulgar English at us. I've just really been working on stopping and
thinking that they don't know what they're saying, and they don't know what
they're missing out on. I've been trying to think how Christ would react to
a situation like that. What I *want* to do is throw the kid into a rice
field. What I *should* do is try to compassionately explain to him what
he's saying. But if he persists, I guess the rice field is still an option.
Well that's mostly it. Also a follow up on that whole me being German
thing. I tried explaining my choice to my Filipino companion later that day
and all he said to me was "Wait, so you're not really German?" I've been
with him for 7 weeks haha. Another housemate has been telling everyone that
I'm half. Half-what? I don't know. Just half he says.

I'm German???

Well conference was waaaay awesome. I wrote down a ton, but haven't had
time to go over it all yet, so I think I will talk more about that next
week. But Elder Uchtdorf's talk in Priesthood (we watched that first),
really helped set the tone for the rest of Conference for me. I went in at
first thinking about all the things I needed to find answers for for
investigators, less actives, members of my district, and so on. But he said
some really great things that helped me realize that I can't help others if
I can't help myself first. So while of course I still looked for answers
for others, I really tried hard to see what I could learn too.
One of the other things I felt from conference was something I've been
thinking about a lot lately. When gaining eternal life becomes our greatest
desire in this life, we will achieve it. And by that I don't mean simply
wanting something. Of course when something is your *greatest* desire,
nothing will get in the way of you working towards that. There were quite a
few talks about distractions and let things get in the way of ultimate
goals. But when will we decide that eternal life is something to work for,
not just some distant dream?
Besides all of that, I think I've given up on trying to explain to people
where I'm from. I always get asked that, and I answer the U.S. Then they
ask where. So I say Utah, and that confuses them because they have no idea
where that is. "Is that in California?" is a usual reply. The question that
follows is along the lines of, "Then why is your last name German?". I
don't try to explain that it's Dutch anymore. I say that's where my
ancestors are from. "Oh so your father and mother immigrated to the U.S.?"
No, we've been in the U.S. for generations. "Then why is your last name not
American?" I try to explain that everyone in the U.S. is descended from
immigrants, so last names vary. Now, they are really confused because they
think the U.S. is currently full of Northern European immigrants. After all
of this explanation, the question usually comes again: So you're German?
Too frustrated at this point, I just answer yes. Then, occasionally, they
say, so your a Nazi...
So I think I will just start to tell people I'm German to save time and
energy.
Well I hope you all have a great week! Love y'all.

20 in Libmanan

Well I'm 20 now. So that's pretty cool.

But enough about that.

Everything here in Libmanan is going really great! Last week a big river flooded about 15-20 feet so that was fun. We had a really good attendance the yesterday at church, and 9, yes 9, investigators came to church. Some of those are now pretty much qualified for baptism! Along with that, we had 15 less active members come, some of them for the first time in a loooong time. This was accompanied by some great lessons about the Restoration, and many other things. 

Getting a ride in the dump truck

One thing we also taught a lot this week was the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Really helped me to learn that it's not just some check list (faith, repentance, baptism, gift of the Holy Ghost, endure to the end), but a process of becoming something. All of these things, as grand and beautiful as they are, mean absolutely nothing without any application in our lives. So the question is: who am I now? Who do I want to be? And what am I going to do to become that? Of course the obvious answer is I want to be like Jesus. But also an important step is to recognize the special talents and gifts we've been given, and what we want to make of those. How do we apply the Gospel of Jesus Christ, and the blessings we've been given (along with the trials) in our lives? Never forget what He did for you, and always remember what you can do for Him. For me, just going through the motions doesn't make you any more of a Christian than simply putting on scrubs makes you a doctor or putting on a nametag makes you a missionary. It's all about effort, and becoming something, and becoming something for the right reason.

Excited for the upcoming week and who we will be able to help!

Well I love you all and hope you have a great week!

8/21/14

4 Baptisms Last Week

Hey everyone.
Well we had 4 baptisms last week, so that was really great. My companion
baptized the four of them and I conducted and we had some pretty good
attendance! We hope to start a couple of them in preparing to serve a
mission in a couple years, so that will be pretty exciting too. We also saw
some less actives at church that haven't attended for a really long time.
So, to put it simply, everything is goin pretty well here in Libmanan. I
also found out that neither my companion or I will be transferred, which is
great because I feel like we've been working really well together.
We've also had some disappointments with Less Active members. We try again
and again with some of them, but they never seem to make real progress. I
guess I've learned a lot about agency in the past little bit. It's one of
the greatest gifts we've been given in this life, the ability to choose
what we want to make of it. We are all born with weaknesses, or challenges,
physical, mental, or emotional. But we also have a potential that no one
can take away except ourselves. That potential is always there, but can
only be unlocked through the Atonement of Christ, through following the
counsel of modern prophets. I like to think that our potential is exactly
what Jesus thought of as he suffered through the Atonement. On the other
hand, it can only be held from us by our own disobedience, not by the
dictations of anyone else. But no matter what path we may have taken in the
past, or what others around us may be doing, there is always healing
available for us and them. The world is dark. Life isn't easy. It was never
meant to be. That heaviness can be compounded by the decisions of others.
But in the end, we can *always* bear up that weight and carry on to a
better future and a brighter day. I may not be able to make someone come to
church. I know I can never force a man to pray or to believe in modern
revelation, or do any number of other things. But I can do that for myself.
I will close with a favorite poem of mine.

Invictus by William Ernest Henley



Out of the night that covers me,

Black as the Pit from pole to pole,

I thank whatever gods my be

For my unconquerable soul.

In the fell clutch of circumstance

I have not whined or cried aloud,

Under the bludgeonings of chance

My head is bloody, but unbowed.

Beyond this place of wrath and tears

Looms but the horror of the shade,

And yet the menace of the years

Finds, and shall find, me unafraid.

It matters not how straight the gate,

How charged with punishments the scroll,

I am the master of my fate:

I am the captain of my soul

Birthday Week!!! 20 years old!

Well I'm 20 now. So that's pretty cool.

But enough about that.

Everything here in Libmanan is going really great! Last week a big river flooded about 15-20 feet so that was fun. We had a really good attendance the yesterday at church, and 9, yes 9, investigators came to church. Some of those are now pretty much qualified for baptism! Along with that, we had 15 less active members come, some of them for the first time in a loooong time. This was accompanied by some great lessons about the Restoration, and many other things. 

One thing we also taught a lot this week was the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Really helped me to learn that it's not just some check list (faith, repentance, baptism, gift of the Holy Ghost, endure to the end), but a process of becoming something. All of these things, as grand and beautiful as they are, mean absolutely nothing without any application in our lives. So the question is: who am I now? Who do I want to be? And what am I going to do to become that? Of course the obvious answer is I want to be like Jesus. But also an important step is to recognize the special talents and gifts we've been given, and what we want to make of those. How do we apply the Gospel of Jesus Christ, and the blessings we've been given (along with the trials) in our lives? Never forget what He did for you, and always remember what you can do for Him. For me, just going through the motions doesn't make you any more of a Christian than simply putting on scrubs makes you a doctor or putting on a nametag makes you a missionary. It's all about effort, and becoming something, and becoming something for the right reason.

Excited for the upcoming week and who we will be able to help!

Well I love you all and hope you have a great week!

9/21/14