not getting trunky

Monday, October 8, 2012

Molo, Iloilo City, Philippines

Many names in this blog have been changed to protect privacy.

District Meeting was good last week.  It was our best discussion.  I talked about helping people first develop faith and repentance, instead of jumping straight toward baptism.  It was quite a good discussion.  I had been thinking about that for a long time, and knew quite a few scriptures about it.  It was easy to lead the discussion.

I got a little sick this week, with just a head cold and a runny nose and a headache.  I didn't miss a day of work, but I did lie down a few minutes several times.  Man, it made me tired; it just stole my energy.  Also, it made me kind of impatient.  Usually, when I’ve felt tired, I've just shaken it off and gotten on with things.  Considering how much help Elder Maneateata needs, I can't afford to be impatient.  I love Elder Maneateata, I can barely understand his English, and it is a lot of work to teach him Ilonggo.

We had a good FHE last night.  We had it at the Katipunan's house.  They may be my favorite family here.  We invited Lanielle and her grandpa over.  We shared about apostasy and the need for a prophet.  We played telephone line where someone whispers into the ear of person next to them, and they in turn whisper the same thing to their neighbor.  After it passes on through about five people, the message is different.  We talked about how that happened to the doctrine of Christ, and that's why God restored his word again.  We even got into different things that had been changed.  For the games, we just sang songs with either me or Elder Maneateata playing guitar.

Hey, it would cost $150 to bring my guitar home on the airplane.  That's kind of expensive, so I think I’ll leave it with Elder Maneateata.  That way all his future companions will be able to hear him sing his beautiful islander songs.

I went on splits with Elder Galloway this week.  He's a real slow teacher.  I don't really teach slow like him. but because I was working in his area i gave way to his style.  He really listens hard to people, even when they are drifting into different subjects.  He doesn't get many teachings in a day because he takes so long at each one.  That isn't good because then when somebody only has 30 minutes, they won't let you teach.  Still, it is good because he really knows his investigators well.  Most of my lessons are 25 to 45 minutes.  Most of his are 60 to 90 minutes.  I learned some stuff from him, and he said he learned some stuff from me.  He says I know the bible pretty well.  I don't know if I know it well, but I do think the New Testament is way cooler than most other scriptures we have.  If I weren't LDS, I think I'd be Baptist.

I also went on splits with Elder Nunez this week.  He's a great missionary.  He's secretly one of my favorites in the district.  He's way funny, and hard working.  He's the Mission Recorder.  He's not too great at English, so I speak Ilonggo with him.  Our teaching styles are very similar.  He's better at the language than me, though.  It was like teaching with myself.  It was so sweet to work with him.  He would just pause, and I intuitively knew if I was supposed to talk or wait.  We just had that perfect teaching chemistry.  We both talked about how much we loved the split after our work that night.

One of the lessons was absolute magic.  We taught someone for the first time.  We went to this one house by the beach, and the lady we were going to visit wasn't there.  We just taught the lady who answered the door.  We did "How to Begin" and it was the best ever.  We got her to really open up, and then showed her how the gospel was going to help her.  I wish I could be there for the 2nd lesson.

The house there was sweet too.  It was lifted up on stilts, and the wind from the ocean was blowing hard.  The cool ocean air was coming up through the slabs of bamboo.  It was like an air hockey table.  That may have added to the spirit of the lesson, but I’m not sure.

The first time I went on splits, Elder Maneateata had a hard time.  It was his first time leading the area.  He got on the correct jeep, but going the wrong direction.  That meant they headed downtown at 5:00 pm, during heavy traffic.  They missed two appointments.  I laughed about it.  It's pretty funny really.

We gave a blessing to Brother Katipunan this week.  He had gotten pretty sick.  We had left our oil back at the house, and so we had to go get it.  I don't think I've given a Priesthood blessing to a 45-year-old before. It was my first time.

Last Saturday morning, I was still on splits with Elder Nunez and the office elders got invited in to President Pagaduan's office.  Apparently, there was an Iloilo mission reunion in Provo, and he was on Skype with them.  I got to say hi to some people I really miss and love.  Seeing them wearing flannel shirts and stuff made me a little trunky.

Church was okay.  We changed location, and are now attending in Jalandoni.  Most people were informed about it.  We had two investigators come.  It was a better than normal church, although one lady basically screamed at the congregation during her testimony.  It was nuts.  Putting my head down, it was all I could to keep from laughing.  She was being so extreme.  She didn't even close in the name of Christ, she just said "malapit na ang ikaduwa pagabot ni jesus christ". That means. "the second coming is close."

Most of my batch from the MTC is leaving tomorrow.  Elder Lowry is also going.  Man, it's crazy.  I have only six weeks left.  I'm glad that I extended.  It is hard to see some people all excited to go home.  I said goodbye to Elder Light earlier.  That seems weird.  They will all be sleeping at my house later.

I'm not getting trunky, though.  I still have work to do.

I have been asked to help teach Zone Meeting tomorrow.  Elder Naylor's companion is going home.