Week #39 - And Jesus Said..."Come, Follow Me." Luke 18:22

April 27, 2015

Mango Tree

Hi Mom and Dad!  OHHHH!! I can’t wait to meet our new hund! I think you should name him Blitzkrieg and call him Blitz for short—or Jaeger. Jaeger’s cool. I vote against Schnitzel—that sounds way to girlie for a dude. Which, btw, you never get male dogs—what gives? Haha. The baby pigs from last week were our investigators'. Sorry to say but they will be eaten very soon L they were cool though. And I got the Easter package you sent , sorry, I thought I told you before. Thank you for sending my camera instruction booklet and for the other stuff inside! And, thank you for getting me the Gorillapod for my camera too! That will come in handy big time! 



Zone Activity at the beach

This week was transfer week so we weren’t able to get out as much as we usually do and also Elder Faamoe got sick so we didn’t go out that day either. But we did a ton of tracting on the other days, which was pretty fun. Even though I sweat like a freaking pig. It is *SO HOT* here. I’ve never felt anything like it in my life! HAHA Plus I got a pretty good sunburn from the zone activity at the beach last week, so that had me feeling extra warm. I will send you a picture. My shoulders and arms got so red and the rest of me is SO white. haha 

We weren’t able to visit our favorite investigator Wenda this week because she was sick. So we went way out to an area called "San Enrique" where we did a ton of walking and finding people. We did a lot of exploring, which we needed to do anyway to get to know the area. We met these two teenagers who were really polite and they wanted to talk with us. They listened and joined in the lesson, so it makes it more enjoyable to teach. They were pretty cool. There was a funeral in town and when there’s a funeral (namatian) literally everyone in town goes because it seems like everyone is related to the person that died. So no one was home in lots of the houses we tracted, so we just kept walking and getting to know the area better. 

Philippine Carabao (water buffalo) laying in the mud pool to keep cool

 

Sugar Cane Field

 

Cool Clouds

 

Cool Sun Dog

  

Yesterday was an interesting day. I found out how good of a memory my companion has. We were walking down the road and he says "hey that’s that one guy we met last week" and I didn’t recognize him at all and sure enough it was him. Then we walked past another guy who I again didn’t recognize but my companion did and knew exactly who he was.  I felt pretty dumb haha but that’s why I take a lot of notes in my planner. We also talked to a lady in her garden as well who was really nice. She just stared at us while we were looking around the area and when we talked to her she told us she was wondering what the heck is that white guy and big dude doing around here haha which is exactly what we thought she was thinking. 

 

This morning we went to the gym and lifted weights. I sweat so much it was ridiculous! Never do I ever remember sweating this much, ever!!. (Have I mentioned how hot it is? Haha) It felt really good to get some good exercise in though. 

So it turns out I have been assigned as the new Passi District DL (District Leader). I’ll be honest, I’m not looking forward to doing the trainings and stuff haha But it will be good for me and I will have a little more responsibility to improve my skills as a teacher and leader.

Hope you all have a great week! Love you and miss you lots. 

Love Elder Rasmussen

 

Week #38 "Hasten The Work"

Hey Mom and Dad - Thanks for the pictures! I sure wish I was there having fun with you guys! I love hearing about your adventures and seeing your pictures--and no you aren't making me sad! haha I am still loving my  mission! haha It's just great to see pictures so please keep sending them. Your trip Looks like a lot of fun and you got to see some really cool stuff. Darin looks like ZZ Top--his beard is so hard core! haha I can't wait for when I'll get to ride motorcycles with you guys when I get back.

Today we did a Zone Activity at the beach so we are just now getting to email, so that's why you I didn't email earlier like usual. We got up at 4 a.m. this morning and headed to Leganes (suburb of Iloilo) and then to the beach where we played volleyball and walked around in the water and played football and stuff. I was pretty fun, but unfortunately I didn't put enough sun screen on so I got pretty burned. My skin is so white like cool whip!! haha After the beach we went home and got our shopping done and then it started raining really hard and the power went out. We haven't had a good rain storm like this since like December so getting the rain has been great. Plus it cooled things down a lot which is always nice. Nice to have a break from the oven! 

 

This week my companion got sick twice so we had to stay in for a day and a half. We are still exploring new areas and meeting lots of people. We're hoping they will turn into progressing investigators but most of them don't unfortunately but we continue to persevere! Our lesson a couple of days ago with Wenda P. was awesome. We talked about the Book of Mormon and Joseph smith. She is super nice and very educated so we love visiting her and answering her questions. She asks really great questions and she watched the Restoration video on lds.org and you could tell she was very touched by the spirit. We are hoping and praying things will work out there for her and her family. They are a way cool family and her husband knows about dirtbikes and like supercross and stuff . We have a lot in common, so he's awesome to talk to. They are just really nice people and I've really loved teaching them.

 

It has been miserably hot haha sorry to be dramatic but holy cow I've never sweat so much in my whole life. Seriously! The sun just cooks us, so we're way happy when its cloudy or were in the bukid with lots of trees. Looking forward to "cooler" season which should start in July.

 

Transfers are this week.  I'm not expecting any changes until next transfer so no big deal for Elder F. and I. 

Love you lots! Stay safe and have fun on the bikes. 

Love Elder Rasmussen

Week #37 "Be Found Doing The Work of the Lord" President Thomas S. Monson

April 13, 2015

 

Hey Family!

 

Thanks for your emails. I hope you have fun on your motorcycle trip to Arizona Mom and Dad and be safe! That trip sounds like a blast! I can't wait to see pictures. I was a little homesick last week, but I guess that happens every week at some point for the most part. It comes and goes throughout the week--it's just part of the process I guess.

 

This week was fast but I got sick on Friday and Saturday so we didn't get as much work done. We also had General Conference on the weekend, so Saturday morning we traveled to Leganes (Iloilo) to stay the weekend with the Zone leaders to make traveling to Conference easier.

 

We had a really cool lesson earlier in the week with our investigator named Wenda. We are teaching her about Joseph Smith. Every time we go there she actually listens and wants to learn but this time was extra cool because she told us she is very interested in Joseph smith and wants to go really slow through that part of the lesson so she can really understand. She is a teacher so she can speak fairly good english and understands quite well so we can use a little bit of English if there's something hard to explain in Illonggo. We had a lot of fun in the lesson. It's so much easier teaching people who are sincerely interested in learning.

 

The rest of the week we spent lots of time tracting to find new people and new areas so we don't have to keep going to the same over-tracted areas.

 

I taught the district meeting on Tuesday which went ok but not as good as I hoped since I wasnt able to prepare as much as I would have liked.

 

 

 

 

On Saturday when we were to head to Leganes, I thought about staying home since I still wasn't feeling well, but I really didn't want to miss Conference, so I decided to go. Conference was really good, I just wish I could have felt better. I must have had the flu or something because I had a fever so I would be really hot and sweating, then I would get super cold and shivery. I felt pretty lousy, so that was a real bummer. During the Sunday sessions the Stake center in Lapaz was packed full of people. There were lots of talkers around us so it was hard to hear at times but I still really enjoyed the conference talks.

 

I'm feeling a lot better now. We stayed over in Leganes again last night and today we went to SM (the big mall in Iloilo). I haven't been to SM for so long, it was nice to get to hang out at the mall (with the air con!! LOL). I ate McDonalds which was really good since I havent had a burger since January 5 haha. Time is fast though, so I feel like we were just there even though it's been over 3 months! Now we are in Jaro (suburd of Iloilo City) and when were done emailing we'll go catch the bus for the ride home to Passi which is about an hour bus ride from here.

 

Sure do love and miss you tons! 

Love Michael

 

#1 - Tell me something that made you laugh this week- We spent some time last night playing Uno since it was 6 of us in the house. We had some funny moments and lots of laughs.  There are a lot of funny elders in our mission haha

 

#2 - What is your favorite smell in your area now? 2 stroke exhaust! It makes me homesick, but I still love it!  What is your least favorite smell? Every now and then we get a whiff of one of the city gutters. You can almost taste it! bleh!

 

#3 - What is the scariest thing that has happened to you so far as a missionary that has made you feel protected? I'm not sure I understand the question haha but nothing too scary has happened. I guess I'd say when Elder B and I got hit by the motorcycle back in October (Nov 4, 2014 blog post). That was pretty scary.

 

#4 - How are your clothes holding up to the bucket washes? Your white shirts still look pretty white--I'm impressed! They're good. Filipinos have mastered the handwash! I am becoming a pro at it. haha It works really good, but the only thing that sucks is how labor intensive it is.

 

#5 - What are some of the local sayings or things people say pretty often there? Kabalo ka mag visaya?? (do you guys know how to speak visaya?) and they always call us tall (Taas gid sia) and of course the "hey joe!" and cano! 

Week #36 - "Because He Lives" - Happy Easter!

Monday, April 6, 2015

 

Hi Mom and Dad - Thanks so much for your emails and the pictures. It looks like things are going good for you! I've been thinking about how much I miss all of Mom's cooking. It's on the top of my list for things I will want immediately when I get home! haha I surprisingly haven't gotten sick from any of the food here (yet?) but I'm really careful about what I eat. And you're right! I haven't had a singly bloody nose since I got here, so there is something to be said for extreme humidity!

 

Sounds like you all had fun riding dirt bikes on Saturday! I honestly don't mind that Hayley rode my bike (as long as she's super careful! haha) It needs the exercise, so thanks for taking care of it for me. I can't believe the Jeep may be dead! That is so sad! I hope the mechanic is able to weld the engine back on. I feel like you may be bluffing Dad when you say that you let Hayley take your Tacoma back to USU instead of my truck! Are you sure you really did that? haha. Speaking of engines, I'm a little worried about my plane engines and not starting them for so long. Hopefully they'll be alright, but if you think about it, may you can start them up every-once-in-awhile?

 

Our week went pretty good. There was a lot going on most of the week with the Catholic churches because of Easter, but I didnt see any of the extreme crucifixion or flagellation stuff you asked about, but I know that goes on here. Last Friday (because of Good Friday) there were no people in the streets of Passi and it was the weirdest thing I've seen here. Usually there are a million people and bikes crowded in the streets, but everything was closed down and there were no people. It felt like Sunday in Utah! haha It was actually kinda nice having the streets to ourselves!

 

We met a lot of nice people this week to teach. One family in this new area we've explored (The Panes family) live up on a hill in a pretty nice house. We saw it and thought what the heck? Let's try it out. Come to find out the husband worked in Texas for 4 years so they speak a little English. They are the coolest family and by our second visit they were calling us their friends! and we've continued to build a pretty good relationship with them.

 

On Saturday we went to our baptism of Gina Amestoso who we've been teaching for the past 7 weeks. We also started teaching a new woman named Cena who told us she would like to serve a mission someday, so that was really neat. 

 

For some reason this week we had a few problems with trike drivers trying to rip us off. Most of the trike drivers are very nice and honest, but when you get one who thinks that just because you're a foreigner they can rip you off, it really ruins the moment. Most people are nice though, but every-once-in-a-while you run into some dishonest people, just like everywhere else I guess. But it's a real bummer when it happens since it really ruins the spirit.

 

Sunday we worked with a member named Sister Marites. She's an RM and very good at missionary work, so she really helped us out. One of our new investigators is friends with her, so it was a pretty cool coincidence.

 

It's been unbearably hot this week! Especially today. We didn't get anything out of the storm and it actually seemed like it made things feel hotter if that's possible! haha

 

Here's the answers to your questions Mom:

 

#1 What made you laugh this week? Elder Faamoe bought a lechon chicken (roasted chicken that is seasoned Filipino style). While walking home he was so happy and excited and just kept talking about how he's going to devour the chicken when we get home haha he was giddy over it and it had me cracking up.

 

#2 Did anything make you cry this week? Not this week!

 

#3 Have you ever tried the fresh sugar cane yet? Yeah, its alright. Are you still enjoying the fresh pineapple? Yes its way good! Anything else you've found that you like to eat? Filipinos chocolate candy bar. It's super unhealthy but very good!

 

#4 Have you had any service opportunities lately? No, not lately, but we've been looking for them.

 

#5 What was your favorite "spiritual" moment this week? Teaching the Panes family. They are way cool. 

Have a wonderful week! I Love you! Elder Michael

Week #35 ". . .Love is the motive, the spirit is key, and Christ is the reason."

March 30, 2015

Hey Mom and Dad! Thanks for your emails and for sending me pictures. It looks really nice there except the mountains have no snow on them so that's not good. :/ It is hard to believe it is spring there already. I loved the pic you sent me from our snowmobiling trip. ohhh man that powder was so much fun to ride in! I remember that day so well!! I miss winter so much but it helps to know I'm not missing out on a good snow year. haha

It has been so hot here but luckily a few little storms came in this week and kind of cooled things off a little. Yesterday we had 2 members come work with us and one of them (Kevin) just about died when we walked to our appointments! It was so funny! He was complaining about the heat and kept hinting that we should catch a ride haha He was falling behind like a dying hiker in the desert. LOL I didnt think the Filipinos felt the heat but he sure did! The girl that came with us was just fine and kept right up with us.

This week we didn't do as much finding as the week before. We were disappointed yesterday when our investigators with a baptism date didn't show up to church when they had told us they would. We visit them 3 times a week and they are great and follow along really well, but they struggle with committments. We handed out 10 Book of Mormons this week which is a record for me so far in the mission. A lot of the time we struggle just handing out 2 or 3, but not this week!

We taught a lady named Lani and she told us about this guy named Jose who she said is a member of the church. So Elder F and I went looking for him and found his house and sure enough he is a member! We talked to his son because Jose wasnt there and he was super nice. We found the new area and will keep going back to it becasue we also started teaching another family who live in the same area. The Tatay (Father) of the house I could tell wasnt very happy his wife let us in the house haha and so I started talking to him about basketball and he loosened right up and joined in our lesson. Basketball really helps get a conversation going - Filipinos love their basketball! When I mention the Utah Jazz they always say like "ahhhh Utah Jazz yeah Karl Malone!" haha 
This mission is incredible and the time is flying by so unbelievably fast. I've learned so much in just 8 months, it just blows my mind. I was talking to one of my housemates last night about how much of a difference our families are going to notice in us when we return home. I'm doing things that I would have never even imagined doing and thought I could or would never do in a million years! I have received so many huge blessings from serving and I know my family is being blessed as well.

 

Here's the answers to your questions Mom:

 
#1 - So have you gotten a more adventurous palate yet and started trying more "Filipino" style foods? I haven't really tried anything too exotic. I love the regular foods they eat here but dont really have any desire to eat balut or anything like that haha (Note from Mom: For those of you who don't know what Balut is, it's a boiled, partially developed duck fetus (fertilized dug egg)--a very common street food in Asian countries - and it looks completely repulsive!

#2 - Do you have an exercise program you are keeping with each day or does all the walking you do enough to keep you feeling fit? I do pushups and situps and run up and down the stairs, in addition to the miles and miles of walking we do each day. We also get some basketball games in on P-Day.

# 3 - What has become your favorite missionary-type activity thus far? (Tracking, Random OYM moments?, Member referrals?, speaking in church?) Sometimes its fun to tract. I'm getting a lot better at teaching so that's cool.
 

#4 - What does Tigulang gid ang nanay ko mean? You said it in your email last week and I forgot to ask you what it meant. Google translate says it means "very elderly mother", so you better have something *really* good to say about that!  Haha Mom, Google is right ;) I was just teasing you on your birthday!
 

#5 - What is your favorite scripture reference right now?  I like 2 Nephi 31:10 "And he said unto the children of men: Follow thou me. Wherefore, my beloved brethren, can we follow Jesus save we shall be willing to keep the commandments of the Father?" and James 2:20 about Faith without works is dead and also Matthew 16:24, "Then said Jesus unto his disciples, If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me." So many people think they have faith and say they worship Jesus Christ, but they actually know very little about Christ, about his life and his love and sacrifices for us and almost nothing about the atonement.  #BecauseHeLives

 

I love and miss you all so much! Have a great week! Love, Elder Rasmussen

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

 

 

Week #33 - "Life is not about how fast you run, or how high you climb, but how well you BOUNCE! " Tigger

March 16, 2015

Hey Mom, Dad and Hayley!  Thanks for your great emails! I love the pictures! Thanks for sharing about staying positive Mom. I had a kind of a downer day yesterday so it was a good reminder that I need to stay positive.
Transfer day finally came on Thursday! On Wednesday I waited all day expecting a call telling me I was going to be training a new missionary. But I never got a call and the text about transfers never came... so towards the end of the day I was really bummed that nothing was going to happen. At like 10:45 p.m. we finally got a text that my comp Elder M. was on the transfer list, but nothing about me, so then I was getting more bummed! Then around 11:00 p.m. the AP called me and told me I would be training a new missionary and I was to report to the Mission Home early the next morning!! I was pretty pumped!  So the next morning I had to go by myself to the Mission Home in Arevalo at 5 in the morning so that was interesting ha! But I made it there all right. There were only 14 new missionaries this batch. I met my new companion - his name is Elder Faamoe. He is a Samoan from New Zealand. He's a super cool guy and he's got a really interesting story!

Elder Rasmussen and Elder Faamoe

He's a professional rugby player and made a ton of money playing rugby before his mission haha. I was a little nervous going out to work the next day with him since he's obviously not very good at Illonggo, but man he is just as happy as can be and was totally ready to go out to work! So we went to work and we had such a great day! These two little girls (members) followed us around most of the day. We had such a great day! I found that I actually can lead and my language skills are plenty good enough to get us around, so that was a huge confidence booster for me. Elder Faamoe is just a spiritual giant and he is adjusting to mission life super quick. He's going to be awesome!


Elder F and I and our little shadows....

So, like I said, yesterday was a little bit of a hard day for me. I just felt really exhausted and was having a hard time with teaching. Just one of those days, you know. So Elder F and I were heading home and our neighbor lady was out cleaning her house. So I decided to say hello and I started talking to her (yes, I was showing off a little haha) and she was so surprised! It turns out she thought I didn't know how to speak Ilonggo (Elder Meneses always spoke Tagolog to her). The conversation led to her inviting us to teach her! And it turned out to be a great spiritual lesson! She told me she's wanted to talk to me for a long time but because I never really said much she figured I didn't understand the language. Anyhow, the other Elders joined in the lesson when they came home, and it was just a really great way to end and otherwise hard, exhausting day.

 

So, that was pretty much my week. Today we might go to the sugar factory and take a tour if we can. It looks like a really cool place, and I've been really curious about how they turn the sugar cane into sugar, so hopefully that works out. I will take pictures!
Oh hey! By the way, I had a trike driver give me change and Filipino pesos look a lot like U.S. quarters, and I looked down and he had given me a brand new Utah quarter! Imagine that! Cool huh?

Love you lots Mom, Dad and Hayley. Have a great week!

Love Elder Rasmussen

Here's the answers to your questions Mom:

 #1 What or Who made you laugh this week? Just talking in the house at night with the other Elders. We usually have some pretty interesting conversations, with lots of laughs!

 

#2 Who did you teach this week that you felt inspired by? Our neighbor lady I told you about. It just proves that people are being prepared for us to teach.

 

#3 What do you eat for lunch each day? Do you eat at home most of the time or on the road? I mostly eat at home unless a member feeds us. I eat a lot of pasta, sandwiches, tuna, peanut butter, etc.

 

#4 Are you sleeping well? How do you stay cool at night? I actually sleep pretty well. I just have a fan, but it works pretty well to keep me cool. I think I'm really adjusting to the weather here, because I even sometimes have to turn it off if it is a cool night!

 

#5 What is the best advice you've received from your Mission President? Learning to live 24/7 with a companion isn't always easy....President advises us, like you Mom :) to concentrate on the positives, and just let the negatives go.

 

Lots of pictures this week!!

Fun Family Home Evening

You know me...can't pass up sitting on a moto!

Just me hiking up the road!

Filipino Weiner Dog!!