Week #95 "Never Postpone A Prompting....The Lord Entrusts To Us His Errands..."

June 13, 2016

Kamusta family! Thanks for the emails and deets of the week. You are looking mean in your leather next to your bike Mom, just don't get into any kind of accident you are still my Mom and I want you in 1 piece please. Sound familiar? :) 

This week was crazy fast as usual and super duper hot as usual. We had tons of success this week so it was way better than the previous weeks! We had no investigators the previous weeks and it was really weighing down on us. As a companionship we made a goal to talk to as many people as we could this week. We went tracking in several new places including some really nice subdivisions (only the maids answered the door and talked to us) but because we made that extra effort to talk to people it qualified us for the companionship of the spirit.  Because of our efforts we were led to several new people that are interested in the church and we are actively teaching them :) One man named Bernie was in his house next door to a house we were tagbalaying at (when you go to a house you yell "Tagbalay" to get the people to come out. Tagbalay means "house occupant") Anyhow, Bernie told us there was no one home there, so we started to walk away and I thought I should speak to that guy, but I started to hesitate, and then I got frustrated with myself for feeling awkward and hesitating and in my mind I thought "I need to go back and talk to that guy!" So I turned around and went back to talk to him and it was awesome! Bernie ended up being a really nice guy who said he wants to change his life and maybe we are just the ones to help him. It was so cool! We also found several other new investigators who live near some members and the members referred us to them. This all happened because of the Spirit guiding us to talk to the right people. It's such a great confidence builder and a great testimony builder when you absolutely know in your heart that the Spirit led you directly to the right people. And of course it's so great to have new investigators to teach again! 

We are also teaching a lady named Christy who has 4 kids. The kids are cool but they are young and rambunctious and can be super disruptive during our lessons which always make it an extra challenge since it's hard to feel the spirit. But the Mom is very interested and wants to learn, so we're excited we can teach her. But we had another cool experience yesterday while we were walking to Christy's house. We had some member with us and there was a group of Jehovah's Witnesses who were out doing there thing and when they saw us they came straight over to us and the members got very nervous there would be a problem. But I spoke with the J.W.'s and talked to them and told them they were guapo ("cool"). The one dude was ready to hammer down pamphlets and doctrine on us but I just talked to them and traded our pamphlets for theirs and everyone walked away happy.  I'm so glad I could show that we're definitely not out to argue with people or try and prove them wrong. So hopefully they recognized that and that will soften their hearts in the future:)

Here's the answers to your questions Mom:

#1 - What made you laugh this week? Chatting up with the other Elders in the house this week. We had some good laughs.

#2 - What was your best teaching moment? Teaching about repentance to Bernie. 

#3 - What was your biggest struggle this week? Trying to teach with little kids being loud and trying to keep the spirit.

#4 - What are you studying? The Book of Mormon and the book "Faith Precedes the Miracle" by Spencer W. Kimball.

#5 - What have you been doing on your P-days that has you emailing so much later than you used to? haha no one wants to email in the morning anymore so I just have to go with them.

Today was a zone activity which was fun. Our house is always fun to be in with the 6 of us and this week we had up to 12 in our house because of zone conference. It was mine and Elder Mudrow's last zone conference. Time is flying! 

Love you lots!

Michael

 

Week #94 "If Ye Have A Desire To Serve, Ye Are Called To The Work" D&C 4:3

June 6, 2016

Soft Serve Ice Cream! What a Treat!

Hey Mom and Dad! Thanks for your emails!
Well this week was a reall good and fast one and we did get lots done so I've been really happy. Most of our work has been working with the less active members.  We're still searching and hoping for some new investigators to teach, but in the meantime working with the members has been good.
There were a lot of weak sauce rain storms this week which only intensifies the heat adding humidity. A few highlights of the week were us working with members teaching the LA's and it has been helping us to find investigators, part member families who we can teach and hopefully baptize.
We are teaching Raina, a 19 year old girl who came to church for the second time on Sunday and she is super smart and very willing to learn.  There's another woman from the same house whose husband is a member and we are hoping to get them married and then baptize her at the same time but that will take a lot of work on their part so we're praying they'll make something happen. The Bishop (Bishop Sioatong) has been really willing to help us too which is great because we need it.

I went on a comp exchange with one of the elders in my district named Elder Dean. At first I was worried about having a good day and being able to find people to teach but it ended up being great and I was able to help Elder Dean with some of the things to do and say when talking and teaching to people. That is what makes being a (DL) District Leader so fun. I have 8 Elders in my District and I love teaching and working with them and it helps me learn as well.  I'm hoping to go with Elder Mudrow this week which will be way fun and then more the next weeks.
Time is moving that's for sure! People are coming home and it makes me feel a little anxious to get home but still way happy to be on my mission. Don't worry about me though I'm not wasting anybody's time out here in the next two months :) I'm going to push through till the end and make these last 2 months count!

Love ELder rasmussen

Week #93 "God will guide your footsteps, if you are willing to move your feet"

May 30, 2016

Hi Mom and Dad - Glad to hear everything went great there for Grandma and Grandpa's party. I wish I could have been there! The weather looks like it was great!

I've been really happy the last few weeks with my companion and doing the work. This transfer has been so good with everyone in our house and none of the companionships have any problems we're all just way tight with each other its great!

This week it rained nearly every day. It was super hot in the morning and early afternoon and then around 4 we get some nice thunderstorms and that always makes me happy! 

All of the work we did this week was with less active members which is good but I sure miss have some investigators. I miss teaching them. We walked down a road I had never been down just looking to see where it went and we got to the end and talked to some people and I eventually asked them If they knew any Mormons and one pointed to a guy right behind us and said "yeah him". God lead us right to them he took us to his family who hadn't been visited by missionaries in 4 years and haven't been to church in 3. They were so happy to see us! I've had several experiences in my mission like that getting led straight to people who are waiting for us!

The house is never quiet anymore with the 6 of us we are always talking and  telling stories it has been so much fun. Our landlord has an AC unit he is going to give us which will make our house even more happy and studies will be a lot easier because its been so hot in the house. Elder Andeo is awesome we've been talking a lot while working and just having fun. Time has been going way fast!

Sorry I don't have anything more to tell you about! Time is flying by!

Love Elder Rasmussen

Week #92 - "Jesus Christ is My Savior and Redeemer"

May 23, 2016

Hey Mom! I wish I could be there to celebrate with you and Grandma and Grandpa! It sounds like a fun surprise for them. 

This week was a good and a fast one! The weeks we can tell are going so much faster now that everyone is happy in the house and the work is going well. Every night it has been hard to get to bed on time because we always end up talking and telling stories but that makes coming home each night something to look forward to if the day hasn't been as good as we hoped. in our area we have not many investigators but we've been finding members houses in places that I had never known before. This week Nanay Ramos worked with us a few times and she is always a big help because she knows most of the members which eliminates the awkwardness or shyness of peolpe around us. My companion and I are getting along so great. I love the guy we're pretty darn good buddies!

Whenever I try and think about what happened during the week on Mondays I cant remember anything so I'm sorry if this is boring.
This week was super hot but for the first time in a long time we got some rain and it has been an every day thing now which always makes me happy! I love the dark clouds, thunder, and lighting.

Today we played basketball and I realized how badly I need to practice. haha I suck at basketball. I just miss my motorcycle so much since I'm actually kind of good at that.

Here's the answers to your questions Mom:

 #1 - Tell me one thing that made you laugh this week. Telling stories in the house has been funny and there has been a lot of laughing!

#2 - What have you been studying? A book that Spencer W Kimball wrote. 

#3 - Are you still doing a lot of walking in the City? Is your area as big as your areas where you've been more rural? We are in the city so my other areas were bigger but this one has way more people. 

#4 - What was your favorite meal this week? Fried Chicken at a birthday party.

#5 - What do you do at church on Sundays? Do you just listen or do you ever have to teach or speak in Sacrament? We don't do anything special just the same thing the members do.

Love you all!
Michael

Week #91 - “It’s Not A Race, It’s A Journey.”

May 16, 2016

 Hey Mom and Dad - 
This week was great and there have been a million things that have happened that I will try to remember. Last Tuesday I learned I was getting a new companion, Elder Andeo. He is from Bacolod and speaks only Ilonggo so he's my 3rd pure Ilonggo speaking companion from Bacolod. We also had 2 more missionaries who have moved in our house (now there are 6 of us) one of my batch mates, Elder Mudrow, who is one of my favorite people in the mission and Elder Billings who is a brand new missionary who is super cool too. Our house seems a little more cramped at times now, but that is a-o.k. with me! We have plenty of room and I'm really happy having them with us :)
Elder Andeo when I met him I found to be a super kind and friendly Elder from Bacolod. He is a really small little feller so it makes me look really big when we walk side by side. The work has just been going way better for us and I've been introducing him to all of the members and investigators we have since he got here. Everything is just so much better than last transfer so I couldn't be much happier than I am right now where I'm at as far as I'm concerned :) 

Today we got a chance to head out to Guimaras for the Manggahan (Mango Festival) and we ate a ton of mango that was just delicious. I ate 8 and could have eaten more but I didn't feel like getting sick. Some people ate around 15. While we were there I got to see some of the members from Buenavista that I love! So good to see them and I could speak to them with ease compared to how it was about 18 months ago! Mudrow and I really wanted to see Buenavista but it didn't work out but we're still happy to have gotten over across the ocean to Guimaras again.

They shortened our time again for email so I'm not sure how long it will be before every one starts to head out but that's about it for the week. 

Here's to answer your questions Mom0 !Love, Elder Rasmussen 

#1 - What made you laugh this week? Conversations in the house with everyone 

#2 - What was your best teaching moment? Teaching a lady named Micky about fasting./ 

#3 - Describe your companion in 3 words! Kind, Small, Ilonggo

#4 - Describe the Philippines in 3 words! Jeepneys, Air conditioning, friendly people

#5 - Describe your mission in 3 words! Testimony, challenge, fast. 

Week #90 - Happy Mother's Day

May 9, 2016

Happy Mother's Day To Me!!! I have missed this face! It was so awesome to get to Skype with our Elder tonight and to know that it's our FINAL Skype with him! He'll be home in 85 days!! But who's counting??

Week #89 - "Pray With Our Eyes On God..."

May 2, 2016

Hi Mom and Dad!

Looks like you sure had a good time riding with the Seeds and Martinsons.  You guys are all so bundled up in coats! It's looks like it was really cold! I wish I was there to soak up that cold air!! haha

This was a long slow week that wasn't much different than the weeks before companionship wise. I'm hoping for a miracle that a transfer will happen this week for us but it may not be until next week so I'll just have to battle it out :) I don't have much to say about what's been going on but I'm ok and we're still working in our area so that's all that matters I guess.

One highlight of the week was going with Elder Talactac this last Tuesday working in my area and we had a blast! Nanay Ramos, another super nice lady in the ward, took us around to meet some members I had never been to before and she got us into their houses for which we are thankful because without her it wouldn't have happened! She is a very sweet lady! That is so nice that she sent you a note on Facebook. I felt really comfortable talking to people with Elder Talactac and we found some really cool people. We happened upon 2 of these college aged girls while we were walking down a road looking for a way to get back onto the main road. I feel like we were led right to them because they were in the middle of a very quiet neighborhood that I had never been to before and they just happened to be walking down the road and they wanted to talk to us.  They ended up being super friendly and kept asking really good questions about the gospel. Lots of things like that have happened in my mission that convinces me that missionaries are led to certain people and certain times!

The rest of the week was super slow (you know why) except for Sunday which I was actually nervous about because we went on a split again and I always worry about having appointments and places to go when members work with us. It ended up working out great though and it was a lot of fun working with them and of course a relief to be around other people. My confidence in leading was really brought out to view to myself which is good because I doubt myself sometimes. I had lots of great experiences that help me overcome my weaknesses even though sometimes it seems like the opposite!

I was able to do a little service this week for the local members.  At the church there was a lock on the gate that some little kids put a piece of plastic in so it was jammed and nobody was able to fix it for like 4 weeks.  I decided to spend some time working on yesterday and it took awhile but I was finally able to get the lock un-jammed and fixed it! I really enjoy doing little jobs like that! The leaders were so happy to have the gate open again, and I was happy I could help fix it for them.

Here's the answers to your questions Mom:

#1 - What made you laugh this week? Working with members and visiting some of the youth that made me laugh with the things they said. Elder Talactac cracked me up when I was working with him too. 

#2 - What was your most favorite teaching moment this week? teaching those 2 college girls about the BOM. They were way surprised when I told them a resurrected prophet showed Joseph smith where the plates were and that we would be resurrected too!

#3 - What lesson do you enjoy teaching the most? The Restoration. 

#4 - What are you doing for PDay today? Are you playing any sports? Not much. I will sometimes go running at the church. Today after emailing we will eat then later we have an FHE where we'll probably eat again!

#5 - Have you had any zone activities or district activity in Molo yet? Not yet. We may go to Guimaras in 2 weeks which I'm way excited for! I'll get to eat Mango and see my native land. 

Well, that's about this for this week. I thought of a couple things if you end up sending me another package. Please Send some pop tarts (whatever flavor) and can you send those taffy cookies we always got when we were camping? I've been thinking of those a lot lately! Thanks mom :) Love Michael