1 Feb 2010
Hey everyone,
Wow, what a crazy week its been! We had transfers and I said bye to Elder Lebbon, almost cried, got my new companion, and came back here to Floridablanca where I'll most likely be for at least 4 and a half more months. Wow!
We have been teaching a lot of lessons but I don't feel like they are as quality of lessons as what I was teaching with Lebbon. But we are keeping busy. My new companion, Elder Alvarez, is 22 and from Batangas City, which is about an hour from Manila. He goes home in 2 transfers so he'll probably be with me until he goes home. I think president likes giving me the trunky prone ones. I don't exactly know what to think about that. He has been a Zone leader for about the last 6-8 months then he said that he asked president for a break so he put him with me to train me as District Leader. Oh yeah. I got the call as a District Leader, all the other missionaries in my district are over their year points. Ahhh. I'm not sure what to think about that either. But one thing that Elder Lebbon told me that's kind of stuck with me is. No matter what the Lord gives you, its because he knows you can handle it. So I've just got to have faith. ha ha. Back to Elder Alvarez, he hasn't had a lot of other missionaries that like him here in the mission, because he is a little self righteous and plastic. That's been a little different but we're getting it figured out. I just focus on the big problems and leave the little ones. As long as he's not offending people its not too big of a problem and he's pretty straight forward on the obedience so I don't have to worry about that either. I just need to keep him from getting Trunky. Wish me luck!
Our Investigators are doing pretty good, not alot has changed with them. We had an inactive member that Elder Lebbon and I started teaching, Sister Linette Penaflor, we started teaching her 10 year old son, we are hoping by teaching him the lessons, with her there, it will strengthen her faith and make her want to come back to church. A long time ago she got offended by her mother-in-law and Philipinoes don't forgive very easily. That is one of their weak points so we are working with her on that, other than that not much has changed.
Hopefully I'll have more to write next week.Thank you all for your support, I love all of you and pray for you too!
Until next week
Elder Chase
Sunday, January 31, 2010
Wednesday, January 27, 2010
25 Jan 2010
Hey everyone,
Well its been an interesting week! I don't know how to explain it. It was full of ups and downs. We didn't have exactly as good of a week as I had hoped but we got Elder Lebbon packed and ready to go home. I'm writing right now from the mission home. The original plan was I was going to go to Olongapo, stay with the Zone Leaders there until tomorrow then get my new companion tomorrow then I'll go back to Florida. BUT we had a member bring us to the mission home last night so I got to sleep in the mission home last night. The mission home has Aircon! AC. Holy cow i almost froze my butt off last night. I'm not used to aircon. ha ha. But it was nice to have a hot shower this morning. then later today I'll go to Olongapo and stay with a missionary down there until tomorrow. Should be fun.
When I got here yesterday I figured out that Elder Erispe, my Trainer got called as Assistant to the President. Ha ha ha its only funny because he really doesn't feel confident in himself as a leader. He told me that he wanted to just be Jr. companion and teach but now he's got more responsibility than he knows what to do with. He'll do good. I'm really happy for him.
Oh, on Friday I don't why but Elder Lebbon was in a real bad mood and didn't want to do anything. I prayed and said Heavenly Father please help me out. Something said go walk down the street. So we did and found a lady to teach it was really neat. Then he was happy again after the lesson. I think it was a test.
Then Saturday we went to a member's house who left to go work in America. We helped give all of his kids blessings and it was really cool. It was really cool to see him bless his kids. That was a highlight of my week.
The rest of it is just kind of happening. In Elder Lebbon's interview last night president told him that my letter is pretty big. and i've been getting tips for my new companion and emials and stuff so we'll see what happens with my new companion so I think my next companion will be a bit of a struggle but I just need to stay positive and the Lord will provide. I'll write more next week about him.
The first thing we will do when I get my new companion is do a companionship fast for the area and see if that doesn't help us find new investigators I think it should. I'll be Sr. Companion but that doesn't necessarily mean anything. Elder Alger, an office elder, said that it just means that President is starting to trust me more. I'm really scared I'm gonna disappoint him.
Thanks for all your support. I love you all
Elder Chase
Hey everyone,
Well its been an interesting week! I don't know how to explain it. It was full of ups and downs. We didn't have exactly as good of a week as I had hoped but we got Elder Lebbon packed and ready to go home. I'm writing right now from the mission home. The original plan was I was going to go to Olongapo, stay with the Zone Leaders there until tomorrow then get my new companion tomorrow then I'll go back to Florida. BUT we had a member bring us to the mission home last night so I got to sleep in the mission home last night. The mission home has Aircon! AC. Holy cow i almost froze my butt off last night. I'm not used to aircon. ha ha. But it was nice to have a hot shower this morning. then later today I'll go to Olongapo and stay with a missionary down there until tomorrow. Should be fun.
When I got here yesterday I figured out that Elder Erispe, my Trainer got called as Assistant to the President. Ha ha ha its only funny because he really doesn't feel confident in himself as a leader. He told me that he wanted to just be Jr. companion and teach but now he's got more responsibility than he knows what to do with. He'll do good. I'm really happy for him.
Oh, on Friday I don't why but Elder Lebbon was in a real bad mood and didn't want to do anything. I prayed and said Heavenly Father please help me out. Something said go walk down the street. So we did and found a lady to teach it was really neat. Then he was happy again after the lesson. I think it was a test.
Then Saturday we went to a member's house who left to go work in America. We helped give all of his kids blessings and it was really cool. It was really cool to see him bless his kids. That was a highlight of my week.
The rest of it is just kind of happening. In Elder Lebbon's interview last night president told him that my letter is pretty big. and i've been getting tips for my new companion and emials and stuff so we'll see what happens with my new companion so I think my next companion will be a bit of a struggle but I just need to stay positive and the Lord will provide. I'll write more next week about him.
The first thing we will do when I get my new companion is do a companionship fast for the area and see if that doesn't help us find new investigators I think it should. I'll be Sr. Companion but that doesn't necessarily mean anything. Elder Alger, an office elder, said that it just means that President is starting to trust me more. I'm really scared I'm gonna disappoint him.
Thanks for all your support. I love you all
Elder Chase
Monday, January 18, 2010
Chase uploaded picture into Photobucket, I can't get them to copy individually, so here is the link to look at all of them. These are mostly from the MTC and the first few weeks of his mission. He will be putting more on soon, I hope!!
http://s763.photobucket.com/albums/xx275/dcwestwood12/MTC/?albumview=slideshow&track=share_email_album_view_click
http://s763.photobucket.com/albums/xx275/dcwestwood12/MTC/?albumview=slideshow&track=share_email_album_view_click
18 Jan 2010
Hey everyone!
Well its been a little bit of a slow week. We actually had no new investigators so that was a bummer. On thursday we had interviews with President Aquino, that was a great time, except it took all day so we were only able to hit our last appointment for that day. Then Saturday we had a Branch Activity out at one of the members farms (bukid) it was a blast. For the service project we built a barbed wire fence so that the water buffalo would stop getting into his bushes and eating them. ha ha. It was really fun but I got food poisening from that so that wasn't a blast and as a result I was in bed all day yesterday. But we did build the fence there, so that was a blast. Its neat to see how much many of my vocational skills are helping me in this area. Even other things that I learned from living on a farm, like how to stretch barbed wire with nothing but a hammer. Its cool and it helps me build trust with the members here.
But this week is Elder Lebbon's last week and we're bound and determined to make it a good week. So we'll see how it goes. Next week I'll be emailing you from Olongapo because I get to go hang out with the Olongapo Zone, Zone leaders until Tuesday when I get my new companion. Then I will come back to Floridablanca. So not really any changes for me this transfer except a new companion.
We went out to another member's bukid on Friday for our weekly Service Project and I got to ride a Kalabou (waterbuffalo), it was so cool! Except I almost fell off. I don't know how people stay on when the waterbuffalo run! I was sliding all over the place.
As a follow-up from last week. I wrote about one investigator, Luvely, the lady whose husband got jealous and hit her. Well we went back to the neighbors house who is a member and found out that she really wants to be baptized but the problem is she had to move to Angeles for her job. And that is in a totally different mission. So we have to refer her to the missionaries there. Although we have to say goodbye to her, I really like seeing how because we were worthy of the spirit we were able to help this sister have a desire to receive the gospel after only 2 visits. I'm excited to see what happens in the future with her.
Thats about all for this week. Sorry I don't have more to say.
Until next week. Love you all,
Elder Chase
Hey everyone!
Well its been a little bit of a slow week. We actually had no new investigators so that was a bummer. On thursday we had interviews with President Aquino, that was a great time, except it took all day so we were only able to hit our last appointment for that day. Then Saturday we had a Branch Activity out at one of the members farms (bukid) it was a blast. For the service project we built a barbed wire fence so that the water buffalo would stop getting into his bushes and eating them. ha ha. It was really fun but I got food poisening from that so that wasn't a blast and as a result I was in bed all day yesterday. But we did build the fence there, so that was a blast. Its neat to see how much many of my vocational skills are helping me in this area. Even other things that I learned from living on a farm, like how to stretch barbed wire with nothing but a hammer. Its cool and it helps me build trust with the members here.
But this week is Elder Lebbon's last week and we're bound and determined to make it a good week. So we'll see how it goes. Next week I'll be emailing you from Olongapo because I get to go hang out with the Olongapo Zone, Zone leaders until Tuesday when I get my new companion. Then I will come back to Floridablanca. So not really any changes for me this transfer except a new companion.
We went out to another member's bukid on Friday for our weekly Service Project and I got to ride a Kalabou (waterbuffalo), it was so cool! Except I almost fell off. I don't know how people stay on when the waterbuffalo run! I was sliding all over the place.
As a follow-up from last week. I wrote about one investigator, Luvely, the lady whose husband got jealous and hit her. Well we went back to the neighbors house who is a member and found out that she really wants to be baptized but the problem is she had to move to Angeles for her job. And that is in a totally different mission. So we have to refer her to the missionaries there. Although we have to say goodbye to her, I really like seeing how because we were worthy of the spirit we were able to help this sister have a desire to receive the gospel after only 2 visits. I'm excited to see what happens in the future with her.
Thats about all for this week. Sorry I don't have more to say.
Until next week. Love you all,
Elder Chase
Monday, January 11, 2010
11 Jan 2010
Hey everyone,
This week has been kinda slow, we've had good experiences and bad, a little bit of everything.
Lets start out with a good one. So a couple weeks ago we went out to this place called San Pedro and we taught all day and when we were just getting ready to head back to town we had this guy stop and say "Hey you guys Mormon's?" we were like yeah we are, we're missionaries. Then I got brave and asked him if we could come to his house sometime and share with him, he's like "sure." So we finally got out there on Thursday and shared with him. Come to find out he was Iglesia and then he got kicked out for whatever reason, then he hadn't been any religion. But he had devoted time to studying religion. We shared about the restoration and then about the Book of Mormon, and how it was comparable to the bible. It was cool, then we told him he could have it and you should have seen the look on his face. He was sooo excited! Its moment's like that, that make the slow days all worth it. The opportunity to be missionaries all worth it. He said for sure he was going to read it. Then, as we testified about the truthfulness of the Book of Mormon, the spirit was so strong. It was awesome!
Then Last, last week, we went out to a members house on 1 January for lunch. The sister's daughter comes up to us and says mama threw up last night and then one of the neighbors came over and told us that she had been drinking the last night. We could tell because she looked so bad and when we yelled she looked like she was ready to kill us. ha ha Her head hurt a little bit I guess she didn't know that wine was against the Word of Wisdom ha ha. its Kinda culture over here, its sad, cuz everyone drinks. I'm pretty sure there were many other members that night that drank too. Its really sad but really there's not much we can do for it, just try and urge people to do choose the right.
Just last week one of our new converts had a friend at her house and we taught her the restoration, the lesson was great. We taught with the spirit as our senior companion delivered all the information, recited the first vision, said prayers, and committed her to read the pamphlet we left with her. Then we said our goodbyes and Elder Lebbon and I left, then we went back on Friday and she had told us how she sat down to read the pamphlet her friends were giving her crap, but she read it anyways. Then she prayed later that night to know if it was true. She said, "I had this really great feeling, it was very comforting, I felt like I was loved, and I had hope for my life." then she asked heavenly father help her find a job. Then the next morning SHE FOUND A JOB!!!! It was a true answer to her prayers and ours. So during the lesson we gave her a Book of Mormon, she said she knew the church was true and we invited her to church. She said she was going to come. Our new member came to church but no sister Luvely, come to find out that her husband got jealous and punched her. So now we can't teach her anymore, its truly saddening to see how much of an influence Satan has on the people here.
We'll keep working hard and finding the golden investigators and doing our best. Satan has no power over the power of the priesthood. That I know to be true.
That's it for this week,
Love you all.
Elder Westwood
Hey everyone,
This week has been kinda slow, we've had good experiences and bad, a little bit of everything.
Lets start out with a good one. So a couple weeks ago we went out to this place called San Pedro and we taught all day and when we were just getting ready to head back to town we had this guy stop and say "Hey you guys Mormon's?" we were like yeah we are, we're missionaries. Then I got brave and asked him if we could come to his house sometime and share with him, he's like "sure." So we finally got out there on Thursday and shared with him. Come to find out he was Iglesia and then he got kicked out for whatever reason, then he hadn't been any religion. But he had devoted time to studying religion. We shared about the restoration and then about the Book of Mormon, and how it was comparable to the bible. It was cool, then we told him he could have it and you should have seen the look on his face. He was sooo excited! Its moment's like that, that make the slow days all worth it. The opportunity to be missionaries all worth it. He said for sure he was going to read it. Then, as we testified about the truthfulness of the Book of Mormon, the spirit was so strong. It was awesome!
Then Last, last week, we went out to a members house on 1 January for lunch. The sister's daughter comes up to us and says mama threw up last night and then one of the neighbors came over and told us that she had been drinking the last night. We could tell because she looked so bad and when we yelled she looked like she was ready to kill us. ha ha Her head hurt a little bit I guess she didn't know that wine was against the Word of Wisdom ha ha. its Kinda culture over here, its sad, cuz everyone drinks. I'm pretty sure there were many other members that night that drank too. Its really sad but really there's not much we can do for it, just try and urge people to do choose the right.
Just last week one of our new converts had a friend at her house and we taught her the restoration, the lesson was great. We taught with the spirit as our senior companion delivered all the information, recited the first vision, said prayers, and committed her to read the pamphlet we left with her. Then we said our goodbyes and Elder Lebbon and I left, then we went back on Friday and she had told us how she sat down to read the pamphlet her friends were giving her crap, but she read it anyways. Then she prayed later that night to know if it was true. She said, "I had this really great feeling, it was very comforting, I felt like I was loved, and I had hope for my life." then she asked heavenly father help her find a job. Then the next morning SHE FOUND A JOB!!!! It was a true answer to her prayers and ours. So during the lesson we gave her a Book of Mormon, she said she knew the church was true and we invited her to church. She said she was going to come. Our new member came to church but no sister Luvely, come to find out that her husband got jealous and punched her. So now we can't teach her anymore, its truly saddening to see how much of an influence Satan has on the people here.
We'll keep working hard and finding the golden investigators and doing our best. Satan has no power over the power of the priesthood. That I know to be true.
That's it for this week,
Love you all.
Elder Westwood
Monday, January 4, 2010
4 Jan 2010
Hey everyone.
Happy NEW YEAR!!! I gotta say that the holidays here in the Philippines are not very eventful. We have to go home at 6 and watch everyone get drunk outside our apartment and listen to the fireworks... it was kinda funny to watch everyone, we went to sleep about 10pm but I woke up about 11:30 until 12:30 and I watched the fireworks out of the window in our bedroom. They were sooo LOUD! Wow!
The work, well its been a bit slow the last week. We had P-day on Monday, then Tuesday we had Zone Conference and that was in Olongapo, then Wednesday Elder Lebbon was sicker'n a dog; I got a lot of studying in that day! :) Then we worked our rears off thru the rest of the week.
I've found out that the people of this tribe here in Pampanga are pretty hard headed. Thus teaching is a little difficult. But, the ones that we are teaching are golden, its awesome! We have this one lady named Annalee, every time we go to her house she has lots of questions, and every time we go to her house she wants to go to church more and more. Its neat, I think we'll get her to church in the next couple weeks. She's well on her way to having a strong testimony of our church. She says she knows its true, we just gotta keep answering her questions. Then we found this lady named Lorma, she's married to a guy that's Iglesia thus she has to be "Iglesia" but she doesn't believe it. She was very excited about the gospel. Every time we go out there she feeds us so much food, she is way nice. Another plus is that President Aquino says we need to find people that WANT to learn and everyone we teach WANTS to be taught. So its awesome, even if it is slow going.
Sorry, I haven't had a lot of weird food in the last couple weeks. I haven't eaten much weird food since i came to Floridablanca but if this will gross you out I'm gonna eat Balout tonight. (the half formed duck embryo, its really good:) )
Oh, yesterday in church I found a member who is studying to be a veterinarian so we were comparing about how they do things here and in America like AI-ing and stuff, it was cool then he gave me some tips on how he used his experience in veterinary medicine in his mission, it was cool.
I think that's about all for this week.
Thank you all for your support in my mission. I love you all,
Until Next week
Elder Chase
Hey everyone.
Happy NEW YEAR!!! I gotta say that the holidays here in the Philippines are not very eventful. We have to go home at 6 and watch everyone get drunk outside our apartment and listen to the fireworks... it was kinda funny to watch everyone, we went to sleep about 10pm but I woke up about 11:30 until 12:30 and I watched the fireworks out of the window in our bedroom. They were sooo LOUD! Wow!
The work, well its been a bit slow the last week. We had P-day on Monday, then Tuesday we had Zone Conference and that was in Olongapo, then Wednesday Elder Lebbon was sicker'n a dog; I got a lot of studying in that day! :) Then we worked our rears off thru the rest of the week.
I've found out that the people of this tribe here in Pampanga are pretty hard headed. Thus teaching is a little difficult. But, the ones that we are teaching are golden, its awesome! We have this one lady named Annalee, every time we go to her house she has lots of questions, and every time we go to her house she wants to go to church more and more. Its neat, I think we'll get her to church in the next couple weeks. She's well on her way to having a strong testimony of our church. She says she knows its true, we just gotta keep answering her questions. Then we found this lady named Lorma, she's married to a guy that's Iglesia thus she has to be "Iglesia" but she doesn't believe it. She was very excited about the gospel. Every time we go out there she feeds us so much food, she is way nice. Another plus is that President Aquino says we need to find people that WANT to learn and everyone we teach WANTS to be taught. So its awesome, even if it is slow going.
Sorry, I haven't had a lot of weird food in the last couple weeks. I haven't eaten much weird food since i came to Floridablanca but if this will gross you out I'm gonna eat Balout tonight. (the half formed duck embryo, its really good:) )
Oh, yesterday in church I found a member who is studying to be a veterinarian so we were comparing about how they do things here and in America like AI-ing and stuff, it was cool then he gave me some tips on how he used his experience in veterinary medicine in his mission, it was cool.
I think that's about all for this week.
Thank you all for your support in my mission. I love you all,
Until Next week
Elder Chase
Subscribe to:
Comments (Atom)