29 Mar 2010
Hey everyone,
Well this week has been a pretty good one. We had a lot of activities that we did as a Zone up here. We went to a wedding here on Thursday, then Friday we had Zone Conference. Then on Saturday we had a Baptism. It was a lot of fun. Our stats were a lil low this week but it was worth it with what we did. The wedding was for an investigator, and Zone Conference, made me think about everything that I have learned. It was really neat, how I could say almost everything I wanted in Tagalog and the other missionaries understood! Then the baptism... well maybe 3 members came from the whole branch, it was really sad! If us 6 elders and the couple missionaries had not been there it would have been extra hard for the sisters. So we were able to show the baptismal candidates that there are people that care, even if we were the missionaries and the members are going to get a chewing out. The members of this church are so vital to missionary work. Because as missionaries we transfer to different areas and its got to be the missionaries that keep the members active.
I learned an interesting fact yesterday. Last year in the Philippines they had 17000 baptisms!!! But, our sacrament attendance did not change hardly at all! So what does this mean? We are loosing members as quick as we are gaining them. I think its becuase the members aren't playing an active enough roll in the work.. but I don't think its just happening here, I think its happening all over the world. So...everyone reading this, PLEASE help with the missionary work, wherever you are.
Our area is doing so good! We have a baptism next Sunday! Edralyn, he's a 43 year old elementary school teacher and he actually found the church himself and asked to be taught. He is coming from Saksi ni Jehovah (Jehovah's Witness). He just bags on them all the time now its kind of funny but he is so smart and he's really good at english so I can talk to him in english. Then we have 4 others that we will give baptismal dates to this week. I think this is might be my most bountiful area thus far. Its amazing!
Thats about all for this week folks
Love you all
Thanks for your love and prayers
Elder Chase
Monday, March 29, 2010
Monday, March 22, 2010
22 Mar. 2010
Hey everyone,
So this last week has been pretty good and we had some great sucess. Because of time I'll only be able to tell about a couple of them.
Our stats were up this week from last week, not that that's really important to me, and its kinda weird still trying to be Sr. Companion. If I don't have the answer usually we gotta tell them that we will answer the question when we come back. But thus far its been pretty fun handling the concerns of our investigators.
We found a new family that seems to be really willing to learn, Camba Family, they are really knowledgable about the Bible and they asked a lot of questions and usually I get a lil nervous about answering questions but I could feel the Spirit burning inside and it wasn't hard at all. I love it when that happens.
Not a whole lot has happened here this week. Oh, except we had some visitors come and stay next door last Tuesday and then they left today, but they were from London, England, so they had a sweet accent. So Elders Muliaina, Gardiner, and I went and talked to them almost every night, it was cool. They just asked us about the life of a missionary and stuff, we tried to share with them but Elder Gardiner just likes to talk and he made a mess of the lesson, so finally Muls just turned to him and in Tagalog said "Tama na" which means "Thats enough" ha ha. Then Muls tried to patch things back up and fill in the holes but not much luck. It was kind of an eye opener to us because we could evaluate ourselves as teachers in english and Elder Muliaina and I were not very impressed with ourselves. Becuase we always talk in Tagalog. Its just kind of a motivator to be a better teacher.
Dad, you asked about other dialects. I've encountered a few others, Ilocano, Capampangan, Pangasinan, Visiayas and a few others but I haven't picked any up yet. I'm still trying to master Tagalog but I imagine I'll try and pick up a few before I come home.
Last week we helped one of the neighboring areas with a community service project, the investigator is getting married and his future wife is a member so it was a good chance to build a relationship of trust with the missionaries and members as well as help an investigator. We cleaned all the knots and stuff off of the bamboo. I hit my arm once, (I missed the knot) and it kind of hurt but no blood and just a little bruise ha ha.
My branch is so cool they are more than willing to help wiht the missionary work. Especially the YSA and the Youth. Even if we are not with them, they go out and work and visit non-members and our investigators. They really are a great example of how we all should be as members in this church, helping the missionaries out and doing our part as much as possible.
Next week is going to be crazy we have a couple baptisms in the district and the whole district goes to them to support the other missionaries, then we have a wedding to go to, then we have Zone Conference on Friday so that should be fun. I'll write more next week about how it all goes.
Love you all
Elder Chase
Hey everyone,
So this last week has been pretty good and we had some great sucess. Because of time I'll only be able to tell about a couple of them.
Our stats were up this week from last week, not that that's really important to me, and its kinda weird still trying to be Sr. Companion. If I don't have the answer usually we gotta tell them that we will answer the question when we come back. But thus far its been pretty fun handling the concerns of our investigators.
We found a new family that seems to be really willing to learn, Camba Family, they are really knowledgable about the Bible and they asked a lot of questions and usually I get a lil nervous about answering questions but I could feel the Spirit burning inside and it wasn't hard at all. I love it when that happens.
Not a whole lot has happened here this week. Oh, except we had some visitors come and stay next door last Tuesday and then they left today, but they were from London, England, so they had a sweet accent. So Elders Muliaina, Gardiner, and I went and talked to them almost every night, it was cool. They just asked us about the life of a missionary and stuff, we tried to share with them but Elder Gardiner just likes to talk and he made a mess of the lesson, so finally Muls just turned to him and in Tagalog said "Tama na" which means "Thats enough" ha ha. Then Muls tried to patch things back up and fill in the holes but not much luck. It was kind of an eye opener to us because we could evaluate ourselves as teachers in english and Elder Muliaina and I were not very impressed with ourselves. Becuase we always talk in Tagalog. Its just kind of a motivator to be a better teacher.
Dad, you asked about other dialects. I've encountered a few others, Ilocano, Capampangan, Pangasinan, Visiayas and a few others but I haven't picked any up yet. I'm still trying to master Tagalog but I imagine I'll try and pick up a few before I come home.
Last week we helped one of the neighboring areas with a community service project, the investigator is getting married and his future wife is a member so it was a good chance to build a relationship of trust with the missionaries and members as well as help an investigator. We cleaned all the knots and stuff off of the bamboo. I hit my arm once, (I missed the knot) and it kind of hurt but no blood and just a little bruise ha ha.
My branch is so cool they are more than willing to help wiht the missionary work. Especially the YSA and the Youth. Even if we are not with them, they go out and work and visit non-members and our investigators. They really are a great example of how we all should be as members in this church, helping the missionaries out and doing our part as much as possible.
Next week is going to be crazy we have a couple baptisms in the district and the whole district goes to them to support the other missionaries, then we have a wedding to go to, then we have Zone Conference on Friday so that should be fun. I'll write more next week about how it all goes.
Love you all
Elder Chase
Monday, March 15, 2010
15 Mar 2010
Hey everyone,
So I'm in my new area. After about 12 hours of travel I came to my new area, it was a really long day. I'm in the 2nd highest area in the mission, called Bani. I actually live in Alaminos which is about a half hour bus ride south of my area. So every day we get to travel up there, its kind of a pain but we are trying to find an apartment up there. I guess last year they had a really bad storm and it ripped the roof off the missionaries house up there so since then we have lived in Alaminos. I heard a lot of good things about my area, everyone was like you are going to a very fruitful area, so I was very excited for that. I have already been seeing the fruits of this work. Yesterday we had 3 of our investigators say that they wanted to be baptized. They used to be Iglesia ni Cristo and they said that they always fell asleep but when they come to our church its different, they are happy and its fun to be there. So its good stuff. Then we have 3 other investigators with baptismal dates. April 3, the day after my birthday! So I'm way excited for them.
My new companion, Elder Cuartocruz, is a 19 year old from Davao. He used to be in a heavy metal band and his favorite band is Metallica (uncle trevor and ty) ha ha. Because of that, he ruined his vocal cords so his voice sounds really funny, especially when we aproach people. But he is such a chill kid, he's got so much patience so maybe I can take a lesson from him ha ha. Last night he was quoting the movie "Restoration" it was so funny because he can switch his voice so it sounds normal or funny. ha ha. His trainor was my companion 2 times ago and he was my favorite companion. Elder Lebbon told me stories about him and so I was a lil nervous when I first heard that he was my comp, especially because he is more new in the mission than I am and the stories were about how shy he was and stuff like that. But he has changed a lot in the last couple transfers, he came up and gave me a hug the first day ha ha. Then it has just been great since then. next week he is going to teach me judo. He's a blackbelt, then I'll know self defense, cool huh!
We had a new sister come from Salem, Utah last Tuesday. ha ha We were talking to her in Tagalog, and it is so fun to listen to american's accents as we speak Tagalog. I'm sure I still have an accent when I speak but its still funny to listen to others. I'm sure she will do great! As soon as she gets into the swing of things. ha ha
Yesterday I got to give my testimony in sacrament and it was awesome, the most I've felt the Spirit in a while. It is so obvious why the spirit is important in this work. I love it!!
Thank you all for your support
Until next week
Elder Chase
Hey everyone,
So I'm in my new area. After about 12 hours of travel I came to my new area, it was a really long day. I'm in the 2nd highest area in the mission, called Bani. I actually live in Alaminos which is about a half hour bus ride south of my area. So every day we get to travel up there, its kind of a pain but we are trying to find an apartment up there. I guess last year they had a really bad storm and it ripped the roof off the missionaries house up there so since then we have lived in Alaminos. I heard a lot of good things about my area, everyone was like you are going to a very fruitful area, so I was very excited for that. I have already been seeing the fruits of this work. Yesterday we had 3 of our investigators say that they wanted to be baptized. They used to be Iglesia ni Cristo and they said that they always fell asleep but when they come to our church its different, they are happy and its fun to be there. So its good stuff. Then we have 3 other investigators with baptismal dates. April 3, the day after my birthday! So I'm way excited for them.
My new companion, Elder Cuartocruz, is a 19 year old from Davao. He used to be in a heavy metal band and his favorite band is Metallica (uncle trevor and ty) ha ha. Because of that, he ruined his vocal cords so his voice sounds really funny, especially when we aproach people. But he is such a chill kid, he's got so much patience so maybe I can take a lesson from him ha ha. Last night he was quoting the movie "Restoration" it was so funny because he can switch his voice so it sounds normal or funny. ha ha. His trainor was my companion 2 times ago and he was my favorite companion. Elder Lebbon told me stories about him and so I was a lil nervous when I first heard that he was my comp, especially because he is more new in the mission than I am and the stories were about how shy he was and stuff like that. But he has changed a lot in the last couple transfers, he came up and gave me a hug the first day ha ha. Then it has just been great since then. next week he is going to teach me judo. He's a blackbelt, then I'll know self defense, cool huh!
We had a new sister come from Salem, Utah last Tuesday. ha ha We were talking to her in Tagalog, and it is so fun to listen to american's accents as we speak Tagalog. I'm sure I still have an accent when I speak but its still funny to listen to others. I'm sure she will do great! As soon as she gets into the swing of things. ha ha
Yesterday I got to give my testimony in sacrament and it was awesome, the most I've felt the Spirit in a while. It is so obvious why the spirit is important in this work. I love it!!
Thank you all for your support
Until next week
Elder Chase
Monday, March 8, 2010
8 Mar 2010
Hey everyone,
So the results of the transfers are in and I will be transferred tomorrow morning. My instructions are to be at the Olongapo Bus Station at 7:00 am. which means we get to leave Florida at about 4:30 ha ha. Lucky me! ha ha
This is yet again another bitter-sweet moment. I've really come to love the people here and the area, but I know that the reason I have to leave is because the Lord needs me somewhere else to continue his work in another area. So that makes it okay. This could be one of the hardest parts of being a missionary, transfers.
Happenings for last week: not a lot. We had 1 day last week where we didn't have any other places to go because all of our apointments canceled. Well we just started walking and we knew of a member in the area that hadn't been to church in a while. He is a very nice brother. Well we got to asking and found out where his house was and went down and talked to him for a while. It turns out that he had been the branch mission leader for a while and worked with the missionaries a lot! He turned in his mission application and then becuase of financial problems he wasn't able to go. If I stayed in this area I was going to work with him to get out on a mission because he is so spiritually strong its crazy! He has got an amazing testimony! But I'm sure some other missionary can help him better than I can.
Other than that not much has happened, just more of the regular.
I'll write next week about where my new area is and how my new companion is.
Love you all
Elder Chase
Hey everyone,
So the results of the transfers are in and I will be transferred tomorrow morning. My instructions are to be at the Olongapo Bus Station at 7:00 am. which means we get to leave Florida at about 4:30 ha ha. Lucky me! ha ha
This is yet again another bitter-sweet moment. I've really come to love the people here and the area, but I know that the reason I have to leave is because the Lord needs me somewhere else to continue his work in another area. So that makes it okay. This could be one of the hardest parts of being a missionary, transfers.
Happenings for last week: not a lot. We had 1 day last week where we didn't have any other places to go because all of our apointments canceled. Well we just started walking and we knew of a member in the area that hadn't been to church in a while. He is a very nice brother. Well we got to asking and found out where his house was and went down and talked to him for a while. It turns out that he had been the branch mission leader for a while and worked with the missionaries a lot! He turned in his mission application and then becuase of financial problems he wasn't able to go. If I stayed in this area I was going to work with him to get out on a mission because he is so spiritually strong its crazy! He has got an amazing testimony! But I'm sure some other missionary can help him better than I can.
Other than that not much has happened, just more of the regular.
I'll write next week about where my new area is and how my new companion is.
Love you all
Elder Chase
Monday, March 1, 2010
1 March 2010
Hey everyone,
This week has been pretty good. Remember the lady I told you about last week? Nagsimba sya kahapon! (she went to church yesterday again) it was awesome!!! I was so excited. Ever since she's patched things up with her mother in law she seems so happy now! She kind of Glows now! Its a beautiful thing to see!
We have one investigator with a baptismal goal date for next Saturday. Sister Cyrene, her mom is a member, she was supposed to have a interview last Saturday but her mom came and said she said that she went to Manila so we've got to try and reschedule with her and see if she has concerns about being baptized. I'll write more next week about what the latest is.
I ate 3 crazy foods on Friday! 1 Dilis: which is a really really small dried fish, about the size of a girls pinky. ha ha so really small. They dry it then you eat it with suka, or vinegar. 2. Tahong: dried seashells, it was kinda weird but not to bad tasting ha ha. then 3. I can't remember what the tagalog word is for it but it was dried squid! it was really really really Chewy! I probably chewed for about 5 minutes. ha ha Its hard to find the squid here in the philippines, but one of the members when to his hometown last week because his dad died. He brought some back with him. ha ha He was laughing as I ate it. ha ha
I got to see some Tigers, and Aligators, and a big ol monkey! Take that... okay I know it doesn't compare to a NASCAR race, but it makes me feel a little better.
I think thats about all I've got for this week. Next week is transfers so we'll see if I stay in Florida or if I go to another place.
Hey everyone,
This week has been pretty good. Remember the lady I told you about last week? Nagsimba sya kahapon! (she went to church yesterday again) it was awesome!!! I was so excited. Ever since she's patched things up with her mother in law she seems so happy now! She kind of Glows now! Its a beautiful thing to see!
We have one investigator with a baptismal goal date for next Saturday. Sister Cyrene, her mom is a member, she was supposed to have a interview last Saturday but her mom came and said she said that she went to Manila so we've got to try and reschedule with her and see if she has concerns about being baptized. I'll write more next week about what the latest is.
I ate 3 crazy foods on Friday! 1 Dilis: which is a really really small dried fish, about the size of a girls pinky. ha ha so really small. They dry it then you eat it with suka, or vinegar. 2. Tahong: dried seashells, it was kinda weird but not to bad tasting ha ha. then 3. I can't remember what the tagalog word is for it but it was dried squid! it was really really really Chewy! I probably chewed for about 5 minutes. ha ha Its hard to find the squid here in the philippines, but one of the members when to his hometown last week because his dad died. He brought some back with him. ha ha He was laughing as I ate it. ha ha
Regarding that member, brother Ronquillo. He was supposed to go to Malasya to work abroad for about the last 4 months and he's just been waiting. So maybe 3 weeks ago I shared with him about trials and how sometimes we don't know why we have trials and why we have to wait forever to leave. Why one thing after another thing happens, 2 weeks ago he had his plane ticket and everything. The boss called him the day before and said don't come yet, you need to wait for some more people. Then like 2 days later he got the news that his dad had gone into a coma and might not live. So he's been in his hometown for the last couple weeks. I went to his house on Friday and he said, I guess we know why I haven't gone abroad yet. I just smiled and said it's all according to the Lords timetable. Your dad needed you at his side when he died, he need to hear your voice one more time. If Brother Ronquillo would have gone abroad he would not have been able to be there for his dad. It was crazy to see how everything worked out. That was a cool experience.
I got to see some Tigers, and Aligators, and a big ol monkey! Take that... okay I know it doesn't compare to a NASCAR race, but it makes me feel a little better.
I think thats about all I've got for this week. Next week is transfers so we'll see if I stay in Florida or if I go to another place.Love you all, and thank you for your support and prayers
Elder Chase
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