Week #34 - "By Helping Others Come Unto Him, You Will Find That You Have Come Unto Him Yourself"

March 23, 2015

HAPPY BIRTHDAY MOM!!! Glad your day was good and you had a lot of fun!! Yesterday was Elder Gomez's birthday too. I still haven't made those pizza things you sent me, so I think we'll do that tonight! Tigulang gid ang nanay ko. :)

 

Thanks as always for your emails! This week went by super fast here and we had a lot of fun finding and teaching people. It's been hotter than July in St. George here this last week and is supposed to be like that for another 3 or 4 months. The heat makes it hard to want to go out of the house and work, but usually by 4 or 5 in the afternoon the sun goes down and it cools off a little and it is such a relief, and life is good again! haha The sun shining on you feels like constantly being under one of those heater lamps you use for baby chickens! haha

 

I have really enjoyed training! Luckily my companion Elder Fammoe is way relaxed and has been doing really well! I had a hard time those first couple of weeks after I arrived in Iloilo, but he honestly seems like he's been here as long as I have--he just doesn't have the language skills yet. Mom, you're right! My leading is better than I thought haha So we get around pretty well and have a lot of fun working together. We committed 4 people to baptism this past week: Febbie, John Paul, Sonalee, and Megryan. They are a family that have had missionaries teach them in the past. We are hoping and praying for them that they will keep their commitments and continue to learn and progress.

 

O.M.'ing on a log

We had 2 times this week where we sat down on a bench or log and started talking to 1 or 2 people and then as we are talking more people gather around us and listen to what we are saying. It is so cool when that happens! Most people are willing to let us talk to them when we just sit down and take the time to get to know them.
 

Yesterday was the funnest day! We had a member named April work with us after church and that's when we OM'ed (made contact) with some people sitting on a log. We had some really spiritual lessons on the plan of salvation. Having members work with us is fun and people are more likely to talk to us.  They are more comfortable when it's not just 2 foreigners trying to talk with them. A couple of days ago we had a few people (Catholics) that wanted to throw down on us a little on what we were teaching. I don't like (and thankfully we are encouraged) not to argue or try to prove them wrong. Sometimes they can be very hard headed and hard hearted. I just stick with encouraging them to pray sincerely to ask if what we are teaching is true. The Spirit always is the best teacher!

 

I finally got some pictures of my house! I know it doesn't look like much, but it's very comfortable, and honestly I'm so tired after working in the heat all day that I could drop anywhere! haha

Yes, this is our laundry room!



Home Sweet Home in Passi



Kitchen

Bathroom

Living Room

Here are the answers to your questions Mom:

#1 - What's your favorite thing about training a new missionary? I get to practice speaking and teaching a lot more.

 

#2 - What/who made you laugh this week? We walked past these dudes sitting on a trike and said the usual "maayong hapon" (Good morning/Good afternoon) to them. As we walk a little further past them, I hear one of them say "bakla ka!" (bad word, like a homosexual slur) so I turned around and gave them the dirtiest look I could muster up, and one of the guys points at his friend shaking his head like "it was him not me". It was so funny! I just busted up laughing. hahaha

 

#3 - How much do you walk vs. riding trikes or jeeps?  We ride a trike occasionally but mostly we walk between appointments. We usually ride home at night. There aren't any jeeps here like Guimaras. Here its all trikes.

  

#4 - How are the bugs these days? Are you pestered a lot? They're not bad because it hasnt rained in forever.

 

#5 - I know you work hard - but what do you do for fun or just to goof off when you have the chance? If we see something cool we'll go take a look and take pictures haha but nothing too crazy. We didn't get to see the sugar factory last week :( it turns out they do not offer tours, so we struck out. Today for P-Day we don't have much planned except getting a haircut (yah...pretty wild I know! haha), but we will see what we have time for.

 

Love you lot and I sure miss you Mom and dad. Have a great week!

Love, Elder Rasmussen