Monday, November 17, 2014

Week 19 (Nov. 17, 2014 San Leonardo, Philippines)

Hello Mother :)

I think I'll just email you from now on, and you can be in charge of deciding what you do and don't want to include in the blogpost. Our time on the computer has been cut to 2 hours, and that include filling out reports and writing the Mission President, which usually all takes about an hour, so... :P

Anyway, remember the names I told you about last Week? Mary Rose, Jessica, Richard, and Jefferson? Well last week, if I had time to tell you, I would've said something like this:
"Woah! We've pretty much got the coolest investigators ever! They're all reading the Book of Mormon, attending church, and have really great testimonies! :D "
A lot can change in a week. So can an alot. But that's besides the point. Mary Rose is still going strong, thank goodness, but the others..... All I want to do is cry sometimes, even just thinking about it. Here's what I've got to say about it now:
Jessica Talana: She has a Testimony. She knows this Church is True. She knows Joseph Smith is a Prophet. She is reading the Book of Mormon, and knows it's from God. But she's afraid. Her family is Catholic, and she doesn't want to leave them. She is no longer taking lessons from us...
Jefferson Kagurangan: He has a Testimony. He knows this Church is True. He knows Joseph Smith is a Prophet. He is reading the Book of Mormon, and knows it's from God. He has attended Church 3 weeks in a row. But he's stressed. He has 8-9 hours of school, not including homework, 6 days a week. He's not home at night, and we as missionaries are studying in the Morning. He is no longer taking lessons from us...
Richard Berlis: He was supposed to be baptized in two weeks. He's attended church twice. He's been reading the Book of Mormon. But he doesn't pray. He has no testimony. He doesn't want to leave his all Catholic family. He is no longer taking lessons from us...

Satan's not joking around. He's been playing this game a lot longer than any of us have, and he plays dirty. Sometimes it seems hopeless. So we keep working until it doesn't. I think these 3 have affected me so much because they're the first few people I've taught that have really progressed, and then flipped a U-ie all of a sudden. I'm not depressed, and I'm not giving up, I'm just a little frustrated is all. It's not all bad though. We still have a few really great investigators, like Mary Rose and her niece, Shiela. We met Denmar yesterday, and he seems really interested and ready to commit. We'll see how it goes and we'll continue to push forward :) We've also found two more Less Actives! We actually found them the same way. We OYMed a non-member, set an appointment, and followed up. The non-member wasn't there, but the person who was is a Member! It was quite an adventure trying to find one of them actually; it was about 6:30 PM and cloudy, so pretty much pitch black without a light. We OYMed Jelina a few days before, but not at her house. She gave us the general direction but that was it. We got lost for about 45 minutes trying to traverse a dirt path in the middle of a jungle like place with a cell phone flash light :P We heard a voice and started moving towards it. We found a random little hut in the middle of a jungle. Coolest thing ever :P Anyway, we asked the man inside if he knew where Jelina lived. In a really high voice (he has a really voice), he said he was her dad. SUCCESS! :D 'Cept she wasn't home :P
Anyway, her dad, Julius, is a member, and her brothers, Jason and Jerry both have BGDs! Now just to teach them how to get to the meeting house :P

In random unrelated words, I have met a lot of Color People. Not colored people, you racist, Color People. Red, Pink, Purple, Green, Blue, and Grey. Those are their legal names. Yup... Philippines...




​We found this cool Robot Spider Graveyard Place. I'ma go 'splorin.

Love you!!!
Elder Syphus

No comments:

Post a Comment