Good end to a Phrustrating Week

Well, we had an extremely unproductive, awful week. Sunday was the only day that we had any success. Probably the hardest week of my entire mission as far as the work is concerned. Sister Tune and I are getting along really well. She’s very kind (makes my bed every morning while I’m exercising and stuff). This week was really hard. We have basically started over with our whole teaching pool because no one was progressing. We have done tracting every single day. A lot of our area is pretty wealthy. Not as many people are as willing to listen. We knocked on almost every single door in a whole barangay one day and didn't even get one potential investigator. It was pretty discouraging.

Yesterday, though, we taught 4 lessons. We finally were able to teach brother D again! June 14 is his new baptism date. His family even listened last time. He has an issue with alcohol that we didn't know about, but he agreed to live the Word of Wisdom. We also have been making progress with a less active family. They committed to come to church and to a ward activity on Saturday. Then, yesterday at church, this less active member randomly showed up. No one told us he was in our area. I had never met him. But he wants to return to church and his fiancé wants to learn about the gospel. So we had a great lesson with them last night. I think there is a lot of potential in the fiancé. So we had a good end to a pretty crappy week.

Baguio is basically like America. Well, I guess it's definitely way closer to America here than it is San Fernando. We have had an extremely hard time finding fellow shippers. The members are just not involved no matter how hard we are trying. It makes it so that we cannot teach men as often as we need to. No one in our mission enforced that rule until a couple transfers ago. Those were some great days of just running around teaching whomever you wanted.

For our zone activity, we had a talent show, played games, and had a water fight. Sister Jackson and I taught kickboxing as our talent. Everyone loved it. Also, we were playing a Filipino game kind of like capture the flag and I was trampled to the ground by a couple large Samoan Elders during a game. I think I’m going to have a pretty big bruise.

We had a ward service activity on Saturday. The women were cleaning and picking up trash and whatnot. Meanwhile, the men were clearing a lot that was pretty much jungle with straight-up machetes. A lady was randomly talking about John Groberg at the activity. So Sister Tune of course pipes in and says I’m related to him. Everyone was just in awe. Pretty funny. All the missionaries are always amazed because I get letters every couple weeks from him (they don't know it's just the family newsletter). haha.

You should write me some dear elders. I feel like I haven't gotten mail in a while. I think things are just slow getting to Baguio. We have an address but it's not like a mailing address. I don't think there's a way to send mail directly to me. I guess Baguio isn’t that close to America afterall.

There are stray dogs literally everywhere here, but you just bring your umbrella to fight them off and you're fine haha.

 

I have to go. Love you lots! Thanks for everything and have a good week. Continue to be a good example to everyone around you. Love you!

[These pictures are from San Fernando]

 

Phinding in the Philippines

Easter was good. Sister Jackson and I drew on some hard-boiled eggs with sharpie... haha. I don't really know about Easter here... it was very strange. No one even mentioned that it was Easter in church. Everyone just went out of town because it was Holy Week last week.

This week, we basically just did a whole lot of finding. We found 4 new investigators and 10 potential investigators last week. We straight up tracted this week. I’ve never done that my whole mission. It surprisingly seems effective! We have been a little frustrated with the ward lately. Yesterday, a missionary asked about home teaching and visiting teaching and was flat out told that it was too hard and it would never work, so they aren't going to try. So, we are really trying to find a way to get the members more involved. I have been seeing lately what a huge difference the ward can make.

We taught Sister S again this week. She seems to be progressing. One of the members went with us again. You would think that she would be the wrong fellowshipper for her, but they love each other! She is so nice and seems to be making progress. We’ll teach her again tomorrow.

We haven't been able to teach Brother D. We have been searching high and low for him. His wife says he has this big project so he's been working overtime. It’s kind of discouraging. It feels like everyone has a problem! The super prepared golden guy's problem is that he's never available! His wife said his next day off is Sunday. So hopefully we'll be able to teach him then!

I have really enjoyed reading Jesus the Christ recently. I am learning a lot about His life. I never realized before that He gradually came to the knowledge that He was the Savior of the world. He gradually learned and grew just like the rest of us and eventually realized to the full extent what His purpose was here on earth. He understood His divinity as the Son of God, but gradually realized through revelation that He would atone for the sins of the world.

Lately, I’ve been realizing a lot that Heavenly Father really cares about us and His hand can be seen our lives. My testimony has also been strengthened that he is preparing people to receive the gospel. Not really any big experiences, just little things here and there.

I asked my companion what I should tell you about what happened this week... she wants me to tell you this story: last week this 11 year old boy kissed me on the arm! What on earth? 11 is pretty old. Thankfully my arm was as high as he could reach. I think he was aiming for my lips. Also, I have become accustomed to people staring at me and I hardly notice it any more. But Sister Tune is freaking out because everyone is staring at us/making all sorts of comments/cat-calling, and the like. Sister Tune isn’t white and she’s never had a white companion before so this is new to her. The cat-calling is at me (the white American). One time, Sister Bircher and I counted in one day and there were 32 different occurrences…mostly creepy men. Last transfer though, Sister Smith and I got harassed by this giant group of women. It was super weird.

Oh, they have these really gross giant gutter things that are about 20% rainwater, 20% dish and laundry water, 10% human urine, 5% human feces, 20% other animal waste, 25% trash. Yep, we totally dropped our phone in one last week. Sister Tune plucked it out really fast. Then we dumped alcohol all over it. I’m surprised it still worked after that!

I’m still walking a lot every day. My calves are getting huge. Sister Jackson and I woke up early today and went to a kickboxing class in the park. It was super fun. I think we're going to try to start going every day.

Well, I don't think I will tell you any scary stories Hahaha. Maybe when I get home ;) don't worry, I won’t forget them and don't worry, I’m safe and am not in danger. I’m perfectly fine.

 The three Americans reuniting at general conference…so so happy. Made us realize how happy we will be to see our families. I love those two so much!

Pictures from San Fernando

 

Love you! Have a great week!

 

 

Pheliz Cumpleanos in the Philippines

Thanks for the birthday greetings! I had a nice little birthday dinner last night, provided by the white people in our ward (the Colons)…complete with a cake and candles. So sweet!

Anyway, I have a new companion-- Sister Tune (too nay), from Kiribati. She's very nice and so far we are getting along really great. She is obedient, humble and willing to work hard. I am really happy. Sister Dial is in la Trinidad. Too bad not Baguio! But we saw her at general conference and it was so happy. The 3 of us were finally reunited. Sister Ackerman even burst into tears, haha.

Sister Kasan [from San Fernando] is so sweet. She rode around on her bike and got ward members and people I used to teach to write me a little birthday message. Then she sent them all to me. It was very thoughtful and I really appreciated it. Also, some members in Sevilla ward remembered my birthday and sent me a little greeting. So sweet!

I thought general conference was really good. I really liked Elder Bednar's talk. He quoted a lot from a previous talk he gave at a BYU devotional a lot of years ago. Also, President Alder [our stake president when Ally left on her mission] is now an area authority!  And yes, President Eyring is Glen Robert Ward. I was so excited for general conference and I enjoyed it so much…such a missionary. I also really liked that talk in Sunday afternoon with the guy [Elder Corbridge] that just talked very simply about the restoration and Joseph Smith. I loved how simple it was. The longer I’m a missionary, the more I’ve been realizing how simple the gospel is and how perfect Heavenly Father's plan for us is. Our area has really been struggling lately, but I am thankful for the opportunity I have to share my testimony with others every day.

In other news, everyone has been telling me that Brother Romero [from San Fernando] gave a 30 minute talk after his baptism (it's usually about 3 minutes), detailing the entire history of the missionaries teaching him. Haha. He announced to the ward that I was his favorite missionary because of all he learned. He has also written me two letters in English. Hilarious! And so sweet.

We had a very rough week. I was in a threesome for 3 days with Sister P because her new companion hadn't come yet because her old companion's father just died and they went to the funeral (she happens to live inside of our mission boundaries because she submitted her mission papers in Manila). So we had to split our time between our areas and we mostly taught people in her area. We have stopped teaching some investigators. One of our investigators told us that missionaries in Gisad were teaching her because that's where she lives (we teach her at her restaurant in our area). She even gave me an Elder’s name. I asked him about it and they've never met. Then we were so sad. Yesterday, we had the perfect fellowshippers for Brother D and then he wasn't home. I don't know what happened. But, we did find a man and taught him one lesson. He seems very serious, but hopefully interested. We’ll see where that goes.

Also, Sevilla C [my first area] got turned into an Elders’ area this transfer…partly because it is a little bit dangerous.

Have a great week and I am so proud of all of you! Remember what they say in Baguio,
#youcannotgettoheavenwithoutyourbishop.

Phun and Pheathers in the Philippines

Hi everone! I can't wait to watch general conference next week. We watched the Relief Society thing on Saturday.

Brother D is getting baptized on May 17! Hooray! We also did have another investigator with a baptismal date.... but then we found out she was a special case, so that's going to be delayed. Brother D is the best. We taught him yesterday and immediately he just starts asking what the requirements are to be baptized. He totally knows this is true and he has been searching for the truth for so long. He asked specifically about Word of Wisdom and chastity so we taught it to him. He pretty much just accepted it right off the bat, although he was a little surprised about coffee. We are so excited for him!

We had a very unique experience last night. So, there are 2 white people in our ward. He works for Texas Instruments so they are here for 6 months. Until yesterday, we knew them as "the white people." Turns out they have a name and last night they invited us over for dinner with some of his coworkers (3 guys just barely older than us. Awkward!) Anyway, the friends are atheist and liberal and such. Then we had to share a message. Man, I’m glad I’m in the Philippines where everyone is nice and believes in God. It was good though. And it was good to have some American food and some American company. Anyway, they have taken a liking to us and are taking us out for burgers tomorrow! Hooray!

Yesterday, there was quite the disturbance in Relief Society over visiting teaching. This lady raises her hand and says, "I have been a member since 1989 and not once been visited by a visiting teacher!" Then all these people were chiming in and yelling at each other. It was not good. Finally, this one sister took control and said something like, "We're all in relief society. We all have the same purpose and we need to work together."

I just heard from Sister Bircher in San Fernando. Brother Romero was baptized! Hooray!!!! I’m so happy he was baptized!!!!! Sister Bircher said that Brother Romero said I was his favorite missionary. I wish I could have gone. I'm so happy! Doesn't he look so happy in those pictures? I'm so proud of him! Oh no, I'm just crying over here in this random computer shop.

[Editor’s Note: This is a message I received from a member that works closely with the missionaries. Disclaimer: If you’re not her mother, it may be too much, but I loved it. “Brother Romero was baptized April 5. Brother Romero mention Sister Mortell a bunch of time in his testimony. He also said that Sister Mortell's his favorite missionary because he learned a lot from Sister Mortell. I witnessed his miracle changes because of Sister Mortell and the former missionaries who taught him. Sister Mortell's just sooo amazing.”]

Anyways, it happened. I ate balut. Well, it didn't taste that bad…pretty good actually. You could see the feathers and the little shape of a bird. Sister Smith says mine was huge compared to the one she ate before. I was chewing it and like "oh, that's interesting... but not that bad." Then I swallowed and involuntarily gagged. It’s the texture. I think I’ll try it again though. Now the balut man always sees us and laughs and says "balut, ma'am?" and laughs and laughs. People just walk around on the street selling balut…yelling "baloooooottt! baaaloooot!" I wish you could hear my impression. It’s dead on.

[From google: A balut is a developing duck embryo that is boiled alive and eaten in the shell. It is commonly sold as streetfood in the Philippines.]

 

 

 

Have a wonderful week and thanks for everything. I love you.