He's coming home!!

He is on the home stretch now.

Chase flies into Salt Lake Airport on Wednesday, July 27th at 11:30 am.

There will be an Open House at Grandma and Grandpa Westwood's, 6714 W 9850 N, that evening from 6:00 to 8:00.

He will speak in Sacrament on Sunday July 30th at 11:00 at the Winchester Hill church.

He would love to see everyone, so please feel free to come to either or both.

Dani

18 July 2011

Well its gonna be a week of lasts and full of reminders that its my last week. Its already started. But to be honest it doesn't feel any different and the Lord has blessed me by not letting me get carried away with thoughts of home, work, or family.


Last week was a busy week, we got 2 exchanges in, 1 where I was with a new elder and got to go back to teaching the basics again. That was fun, I realized how much I have actually learned in the last couple years. I'm not the best but I'd say I've gotten better. The other was with a District leader that is assigned to the office. He is a year in the mission and is a really good elder he is gonna be great, definitely a future elder. He has had a lot of trials in his mission with companions and housemates and all sorts of stuff but he hasn't let that get to him. He is one of the most Christlike people I know. I have a lot of respect for people that have mastered the Christlike attributes. I still have a few I'm working on but I have gotten better there.

We ate something bad last week so that knocked us down for a day but we made it through. ha ha We are laughing about it.

Yesterday we (Elder Ragasa and I) talked in Sacrament. My topic I chose was parents showing a good example to their kids, and pushing them to to family scripture study even if its just 1 verse per person per night. I think it was okay and I hope someone was able to take something from it. Elder Ragasa's was like unto mine. Studying the scriptures daily and what can happen to us if we did. He was great too. as usual...

Then next week I'm speaking again. My last week. ha ha I think I will be the concluding speaker, not the first time and I'm pretty sure not the last time.

As I evaluate the area and kind of look at what we have accomplished here I can definitely say that it has grown. One of my goals was to leave the area better than I found it, like in scouting, and I think with the grace of the Lord it happened. I have 1 week left to continue to make a difference in the lives of others and I hope to do it and hopefully I can leave an impression on the people I have worked with here.

I really love this work and want to go on but bigger better trials await me. Like one of our new members said yesterday in the lesson,13 year old Adlrin, enduring to the end is easy as long as we are obedient to the commandments. We were all kind of taken back and it made us think. If we are really applying the gospel in our lives it is easy because we will continually see the miracles of the lives of others and in our lives.

Thank you to all of you that supported/are supporting Caydyn. He is gonna a make a great missionary.

Sorry if its short but that's about all I can think of to write, and my head hurts from speaking English.

Love you all

Elder Chase

PS see you next week.

11 July 2011

Hey everyone,

Well we hit it hard again last week.  And the rain has started up again.  

Yesterday at church was pretty interesting.  While in sacrament we had one of our newly baptized members, Eunice Ayson, from a part-member family, her whole right side of her body went numb and started hurting really bad.  After the sacrament we rushed her outside and blessed her then she was gonna go downstairs and wait for her dad, but she couldn't walk.  So I carried her downstairs and then a member that has a car offered to take them home.  So we did that.  She has a potassium deficiency in her bones so the Dr's told her she has to eat banana's and rest.  When we went there last night she was doing better but not great.  We are praying for her now. 

Saturday we had another baptism, Sister Rhea and Miko Baula, got dunked on Saturday evening.  It was great,  and Sister Rhea's husband Felix even came.  He approved, ha ha.  He will be baptized before too much longer.  They are gonna make great members.  We were supposed to have one more but I don't think it's gonna happen because Sister Loren wasn't able to come to church yesterday so she's not quite ready but hopefully soon after I leave she will enter the waters of baptism.  My joy shall continue to be full even after I have gone home.  GREAT!

Other than that not a whole lot happened last week. We had a leadership training on Wednesday and went down to Orani, and on Friday we had apartment interviews.  They came to our house, the AP's raided the fridge looking for candy...ha ha I hid it all.   The President gave us a report on our zones and told us that they were great.  Then said thank you, and we closed with a prayer.  ha ha it wasn't really an interview but it was cool we just kind of sat and chatted. 

Other than that not a lot happened.  Sorry I don't have a lot to report on this week, maybe next week. 

I love you all

Ingats!!!!

Elder Chase

4 July 2011

Hey guys.

Its only lunch but its been a pretty cool P-day.  When we were walking with our clothes to a members house we saw a Van on its side...then we just got done with a Multi-Zone activity with the 2 zones that we handle. It was fun. But not everyone made it. I won with a score of 116, then following was the other American, E. Schweikert (Sweetheart) score: 111. I'll try and send some pictures.

On Monday we had a Family home evening. That was a blast, it was in Sister Cora's house and we had a bunch of investigators there. I think they had a good time. Especially with the games, we played this game called the boogabooga club ha ha I'll teach it to you guys when I come home.

Tuesday I went on exchanges with the Guagua elders, one of them is new,  Elder Castro. They told me that it was flooded over there but I wasn't expecting what I found. ha ah The water was up to our knees and deeper in some places. I got to work in sandals the whole day ha ha. and my pants rolled up. It was great. Elder Castro, he's a great kid and he's gonna make a great missionary when he has a little more experience under his belt.  He teaches from the heart which is what really needs to happen to be effective.

Then Thursday we had Exchanges again with one of the companionship's here in Gapo.  My 2 brothers are companions in Sta Rita. Its pretty cool, we hiked all over the place and I thought I was gonna die. I'm not used to the hills anymore. I've gotten used to the flat city. I just think...This would be so much easier on a horse. That's coming soon.

Friday we had ZLC with the new President, ha ha it was funny because he really didn't know what he was supposed to do so he was asking us what to do...now there's somethings that we can tell him and somethings that we can't tell him that we used to do because he needs to run things his own way not the way of pres. Aquino. so after everything we said. "...but its up to you...". President Querido is a great guy. We heard that he was very strict.  But he seems to be a lot more laid back than president Aquino. We can play basketball now so that made everyone happy. President is really humble and willing to receive suggestions on how to improve. ha ha The first thing he said to us was "hello, I'm president Querido, I'm your new mission father...and you don't have a choice." ha ha it was funny. I love watching aspiring AP's they are so funny. The Zone Leaders and AP's just kind of ran things at ZLC so that President could see how things run. He's gonna do great.

Saturday was crazy. we came from Subic, went straight to Lubao for a meeting and learned that they want to open 2 new branches over there which is great. It means that they are getting their attendance and membership up. Zion is growing! After that we came back to Gapo and had a baptism. Things were a little crazy until we got there and sorted them out, called some people. But Sister Eunice got baptized and in her testimony after she gave a very great heartfelt testimony. She was moved upon by the Holy Ghost. She is very very shy but she got up there and through tears bore her testimony about how the Lord had helped them and blessed their father that he would get better. Last week brother was hospitalized because of his High Blood Pressure.

Next week we'll have another baptism. Sister Rhea and brother Miko. We are very excited for them and sister Rhea's husband will follow if we can get his swelling down in his foot so he can come to church.

Great things are happening all around and I'm still sprinting.

Love you all

Elder Westwood

27 Jun 2011

Hey everyone,

Well things are back to normal and we got a lot of work done last week.  I'm just trying to sprint to the end.  

I got to teach sharing time yesterday... wow was that an experience but I liked it.  2 weeks ago I taught the Valiant's... they were a lot more behaved yesterday than 2 weeks ago.  I thought that they didn't take anything away from my lesson but they all came up to me last week wanting me to teach them.  So they got their wish yesterday. I'm gonna miss them when I'm gone.  But the branch is planning a Branch Family Home Evening for my last Saturday.  

We had some great spiritual experiences last week that I would like to share with you.

The first is about the power of the priesthood.

We had a sister, Myrna Kaiklian, about 2 weeks ago ask a member to call us for a priesthood blessing, she was taught by the missionaries before.  She's had a pretty rough past year where the doctor pretty much poisoned her by prescribing way too high of a dose of vitamin B.  Her liver is pretty much shot and she was literally Yellow when we blessed her.  She hasn't been able to sleep for quite a while and having a hard time.  Well we went back to her last week and her color had improved and she has been able to sleep a lot better, she said that she went to sleep right away after we blessed her.  It was great.  I read something somewhere that said Priesthood holders are a peculiar people.  It is very true.  We can do things that no one else can.  It just reaffirmed to me how important it is that we live worthy to use that authority.  

Another one is about the Spirit.

Last week we started teaching this husband and wife (I'm having to stop and ask my companion words in English right now, sorry if my English is a little off), and it just so happened that there was an older lady there that was Jehovah's Witness.  Wow she likes to talk a lot,  but after we got her to be quiet we taught to brother Felisardo and Venus. We kind of left sister and didn't really notice her while we were teaching because we didn't want to hear another one of her lectures.  We extended a baptismal date to them and closed the lesson.  We were really shocked yesterday when nanay showed up at church, she came with Sister Cora, her sister-in-law.  But she is really interested now and would like to stay here in Olongapo until she finds out if The Church is for her.  One thing that you guys need to understand is that Jehovah's are one of the churches here that usually will not listen to us and it ends up in a bible bash.  Sister's progress is remarkable and we are way excited for her.  

Last night we watched The Restoration with Felisardo, Venus, the older Jehovah's witness, Rhea, and Felix (Rhea's Husband) at Sister Cora's house.  They are related in some way and staying at sister Cora's house.  But the lesson was so strong, its great to see how the spirit works and softens peoples hearts and how things happen in life.  Sometimes we don't realize it but the Lord is putting us in a situation to receive the message of the Gospel.  The Jehovah sister came from Maynila to help sister Cora with her annulment, Rhea came from Dinalupihan to be closer to her husband that works in SBMA at a Hotel.  Brother Felix has 2 days off every month, but had an accident and had surgery last week because a grinder blade shattered while he was cutting a piece of angle iron.  We met him in the hospital and we are good friends.  He has a 1 month leave from work and we think we can get him baptized in that time.  He is GREAT!!! Rhea was supposed to interviewed yesterday for baptism but she wants to wait and see what happens with her husband so next week she will be interviewed.  We pushed her baptism back 1 week but I think it will be alright.  

We had one other cool experience with a inactive member for 16 years now.

A few weeks ago we taught Lehi's Dream to them as a family and something happened while we taught that caught his attention and he read a little bit from the Book of Mormon that next week and since then he has started to feel the spirit in his life again and all things are falling into place for them to be able to come back to church. With the new month his day off will change and he is really pushing that his boss will give him Saturday and Sunday off because for the last 14 years his day off has been the same.  When he comes back we know that many great things will happen in his life.  

Next week we have ZLC with the new mission President,  on June 30 president and Sister Aquino will go to Maynila and the new president will be here.  Sure gonna miss them.  

That's all for this week

Love you all

Elder Westwood

PS its been raining for almost 2 weeks straight.  

20 Jun 2011

Hey everyone! I have great news! They offered to let me extend until September!!! Yeah, the mission is lacking missionaries so they need some to stay until we can get some more next transfer!! Cool huh?!!! I'm so excited!!!...or would be if that was true. I just wanted to see if you are really reading my email. ha ha ha. I'm still coming home next month... sorry.


Happy Fathers day to all you fathers out there!!! If you were here yesterday you would have been able to witness the relief society singing "Through the Years" to you yesterday in Sacrament meeting. ha ha ha. It was so funny.

Well, we made it through another Transfer week, and we only had one sister go the wrong direction. ha ha She came clear down to Olongapo when she was supposed to go up to the north end of the mission. ha ha. She was a good sport about it.

Sorry, other than that not a lot happened this week. It was kind of sad to see a lot my buddies go home last week. But it happens to all.

So I was feeling pretty spiritually low since 2 Saturdays ago. I couldn't figure out why... it was like everything just shut off? I said to myself...is this what its really like? Your last transfer its like everything just shuts down. Your spirit has a low battery? I knew I was in trouble if it continued. I was doing what I was supposed to do, focusing on the people, the missionaries in the zone, my investigators, the members, my companion. So why was this happening.

This went on till about Thursday. Feeling helpless and alone and down because my companion was leading everything and I was left feeling useless. Thursday our word was great. It was like I hit my second wind again. We were both participating in the lessons equally. What's the difference you ask? I did my personal Study on Thursday. Because of other things that had been going on I had totally neglected my personal study of the scriptures and because of that I was suffering in the work.

So how does that apply to you and why am I taking your time to tell you this? It doesn't matter where you are or how old you are, or how busy you are. In order to be doing your best and qualify for the companionship of the Holy Ghost we have to study the scriptures. EVERY DAY! even if its just a column or a page, or if time will permit a whole chapter or more. I am reminded of the Apostle that said. "Don't neglect the little things" Sometimes we get caught up in other things and forget about it. To put it simply... this is a commandment. When we follow we are blessed, when we don't we are NOT blessed. I am thankful for this reminder and sign of love from our Heavenly Father. See how hard my head is...? it took me close to a week of suffering to actually figure out what was happening. May this be a warning to all of you. Study the scriptures every day.

I love you all and pray for you always.

Until next week
Elder Westwood

13 June 2011

It was such a good week!


I'll give you just a taste of what happened. Imagine if you will...40 Guys with different backgrounds that all have made big mistakes in their lives all sitting on the edge of their chairs listening intently to what you are sharing with them about the gospel. How would you feel? It was awesome!!! We got to go up to 164 again. That's the city jail. Those guys have been drug dealers, I'm sure a couple have killed, there are even innocent ones there. They literally just suck in everything you say to them. You can see it in their eyes that they want to change. We even know that there are at least 4 members up there!

Then I killed a rat in our house the other day. It was fun. We had just walked in from our baptism and I saw something running across the floor. I yelled "A rat, get my itak" ha ha Then I grabbed a broom and trapped it in the bathroom. I found it hiding in a little drainage pipe so I dragged it out but it got loose and ran away so I had to chase him down and he was screaming but I got him. Ha ha Elder Ragasa wouldn't even go into the bathroom he was scared of it! One thing I know is that I'm still not scared of blood, so that's a good thing.

Another great thing that happened this week. Our one investigator, Ariel, He is a single parent, tricycle driver, and has a 4 kids that he supports. He is a really good guy and I met him when he gave us a ride one time, I never imagined that we would continue to teach him or that he would progress this much in the gospel. He works every day just to bring food home everyday. He has been coming to church as well but usually leaves about 11 to go back to work. Last Saturday we taught him Sabbath Day observance and we were worried that he would call it quits and not be able to accept this as a commandment. But at the end of the lesson, he sat there for a second, thought, then looked at us and said "well, if that's the commandment, I guess I better follow it, I need all the help I can get." That was one of the moments when I could have just jumped for joy and done a little dance. When the Investigator understands the importance of commandments and is willing to stop a behavior that is contrary to that commandment, that is some of the happiest moments of missionaries life. Seeing repentance happen.

We also had a Young Man come into church yesterday, we learned that he was a member and had been inactive for a long time. He expressed his desires to start again and showed regret that he had neglected his covenants. It was really good to see him and talk to him and to try and uplift him and encourage him. I hope he will continue to come to church and progress and hopefully we can get him out on a mission before he turns 26.

We also got Sally, Alfroilan, and Andrew Faustino baptized yesterday. So that was awesome. They are now getting ready to go to the temple.

Great things have happened and I hope they will continue to happen in Missionary work.

No unhallowed hand can stop this work!

Elder Westwood

6 June 2011

Well, last week flew by, faster than a...well it was just fast. I couldn't think of what to say.


We had Zone Leaders Council with President Aquino for the last time. Next time we can only say good things about the missionaries ha ha. So we had a practice. ha ha ha. I'm gonna miss President Aquino and Sister Aquino a lot. I used to be scared of Sister Aquino but she is really like a mother to all the missionaries now. ZLC is a fun time to get to visit with her. She could probably be Mission President she is so full of inspiration also.

Last week we got Sally, Alfroilan, and Andrew passed off for baptism so next Saturday we will go swimming and the best part of it! Elder Ragasa gets to baptize them! ha ha. They are going to make such good members I love it. It was quite a trip though getting things figured out. We had to have sister interviewed by president Aquino, and then by the Assistants. Then the kids were interviewed by our district Leader. Then on Saturday we had to go to Gua Gua for a baptismal interview, then hurry back to get Sally interviewed.

Next Saturday we have 4 Companionship's in our zones that will be baptizing 1 or more people. That is really good. We have been trying to increase the effectiveness of the missionaries for a while and I think its is starting to happen. We have been pounded with trainings but we are starting to see the fruits of our labors and hopefully they will be able to keep it up and keep baptizing.

We had one investigator, Ariel, usually we go to him 2 times a week but last week because of our hectic week of running between Subic and Gua Gua we weren't able to go to him. Often when that happens the investigators won't come to church or anything but Elder Ragasa and I were both shocked when he walked into sacrament meeting. Early! he beat most of the members there. ha ah. So It was awesome. I love it when you can see the change happening in people and they are growing closer to the Lord. He will be baptized I think the end of this month.

I had a friend that before my mission said, for the first year and a half of your mission you will be worthless, not literally worthless but you will still be trying to get the hang of things then about the last 6 months you will be sure about what your doing but you will be headed home. ha ha I can see that happening. I kind of spent the first bit figuring things out then now I feel that I am really being effective.

Well its been fun though I can't lie there.

I gotta run. I love you all, hopefully I'll have more to report on next week.

Elder Chase

30 May 2011

Well it was another quick week full of trainings, exchanges, and teaching.

We had one investigator, Sister Sally Faustino, when elder Rags and Elder Ledesma went to their house she said that she wasn't ready to be baptized, brought out a lot of concerns, so Elder Rags decided that they should watch this show called "Treasure in Heaven: The John Tanner Story"  They hit the nail right on the head.  They said the Spirit was so strong in the lesson and after they had watched the movie sister said "I just changed my mind.  We'll be baptized on June 11 (Happy birthday Cheyenne).  Like so many others, Sister Sally was touched by the Holy Ghost and by the story of one of our pioneer ancestors that sacrificed so much so we could worship like we want to.

If you remember Rey, the brother that we baptized back in February, he came back to Olongapo, and he gave us a bunch of referrals. Just people he knows he asks them if they want to listen to the message. Then he has also come and worked with us when we teach our other investigators.  He has grown so much and I love how, since his baptism, he has been fulfilling the calling of a member missionary.  He tells everyone he knows that he is a member and His Family wasn't happy at all with him and his grandma who raised him said, "as long as your Mormon, I won't talk to you or even see you." Its sad but he is so happy with his new life. It is a small disappointment and he has faith that she will come around.

His referral to us last week was a family that has a deaf daughter.  Its was a little rough because I don't know sign language so we just used scriptures and text what we wanted to say to her, but it made it a little rougher when he found out that she was English speaking (ASL) not Tagalog.  That made things a little fun.  I had to keep asking people what words were in English.  But we got it done and she was very excited.  I need to find all I can at the mission home about ASL or English so we can give it to her.  

We had a good week in finding.  I don't know why I have a lot of people I know here, friends of the members and family of the members but I never thought about asking them if they wanted to listen.  Great things have been happening since Elder Ragasa got assigned here.  He is a great elder.  

Well I gotta run.

Love you all

Elder Chase

23 May 2011

Hey everyone,

On the work end of things, it was slow, we had a lot of appointments fall through, so we didn't teach a lot.  Because of all the trainings and stuff going on last week, we didn't really have a lot of time to work.  

Ha ha ha one fun thing that is happening. We have 2 ladies that are related by marriage, Their husbands are brothers.  Well them and the 2 brothers sister are in a big fight and guess who's in the middle of it... US!!!! ha ha. On Friday I think, we went to one of them, and as soon as we had sat down the tears started flowing, and we just sat there listening. Brother Faustino's mother came down from a neighboring Barangay, and for a while she stayed with one of the families, they say because of neglect they brought her to the others house, then because of what happened, and Brother is out of the Philippines he heard what happened and called his sister and chewed her out.  One says the other is lying, and the other is saying that the other was taking advantage.  I don't remember all of the details. 

Anyways we taught about forgiveness and the Atonement,  These people have a hard time forgiving one another.  Its something I have been battling the whole mission.  It made me thing about what they said that the gospel of Jesus Christ is the only thing that can tie the people together. Despite cultural differences, beliefs, differences in attitude, The gospel can make up for all of it as long as we let it work in our lives.  

We just got done with a Community Service Project but I don't have any pictures from it.  We went to an Elementary school and fixed the desks, and cleaned up and stuff. Rey came back last week so he has come with us to some lessons and helped us with the CSP.  It was a lot of fun.  

Yesterday we had a member give a great talk about keeping the Sabbath Day holy.  I was so happy.  There were so many people that I'm sure had a guilty conscience.  He is a very bold speaker and talked about coming on time to church, then talked about not buying on Sunday and standing up for your faith and telling boss's that you will not work on Sunday.  I was so happy I was laughing at the end, hopefully we will see a difference in the members.  

Not a whole lot happened this week. Sorry.  We had exchanges and trainings, that was about it. In the next few months, President Manglicmot, the Branch President will be working with us a bit more because his family went home to Bicol.  They are trying to save some money and with them not here he will be able to save some money.  We are excited to have him work with us but we do feel kind of bad that he will be separated  from his family.  

Until next week

Elder Chase

16 May 2011

Hey everyone,  

I don't have a lot of time because of computer problems and email problems with other missionaries so I'll just have to tell you the highlights of this last week...

We got Sally Faustino to agree to a baptismal date, But the only problem is I got so excited to give them one again that I set it too close so we are gonna have to reset it for the 25th of June not the 11th but that will be okay I'm just glad she finally committed.  While we were teaching her mother-n-law piped up and said "What do I have to do to get baptized?" We asked her if she wanted to really.  She replied "I really really want to,"  So that gave Sally the courage to set a date.  She said that they would get baptized.  

We had a Specialized training.  We were a little nervous because it was never made very clear what we would be teaching so we just decided we would wing it.  Then in the end, we didn't end up getting to do anything.  It was sad.  

This last Saturday we celebrated the 50th anniversary of the Church here in the Philippines.  We got pictures and stuff so it was fun.  The only problem was it was way too long and they saved the dancing till the last but by the time that came people had gotten bored and gone home, including our investigators.  It was sad but if they are still alive in 50 years they'll get to see it again.  

I bought a copy of the movie, "Joseph Smith: Prophet of the Restoration" from Philippine Distribution center for 20 pesos, which was like 50 cents and we have been using it in teaching. It has worked wonders! The Spirit is so strong when we are watchin it and it is amazing to see the different things that the investigators pull out of the movie.  The different things that stick out to them.  Depending on their needs in life at that time.  The Spirit is an awesome teaching tool, learn how to use it.  

We had exchanges and were running like crazy this week but it was crazy.  There was one day, I think Friday when I got out of bed I was just dead! I had no energy.  But I just forced myself to do it and it was cool to see, that even though I was exhasted and struggling to stand by my own strength, the Spirit gave me strength like Nephi when he grabbed Zoram.  And you couldn't tell at all in the teaching that I was pooped.  

Well I gotta run. This week is gonna be nuts! We have stuff going on every day between trainings and exchanges and service projects..

The church is true.  Strengthen your testimonies in every way possible and everything else will follow as you apply the principles in the Book of Mormon. It has power to change people.  I know cuz its happening to me.  

Love you all

Elder Chase 

9 May 2011

It was a busy week, with transfers, sending missionaries home, a baptism, orienting a missionary that is new to the area, fixing water tanks, and finding new investigators. But of course it had fruits!

I guess I'll start with Transfer day, 6:30-3:30 we had missionaries coming and going, and for some reason there were an unusual amount of other people that decided that they should travel on that day too. We had about 8 missionaries coming from the south going to the north. My companion, Elder Buckmiller got transferred down to Balanga, he left about 7:00 so I got to run the transfer point by myself. What a rush. But I put my back out. For the new missionaries or future missionaries. When you are lifting suitcases, use your legs not your back. It hurts when you pull muscles in your back.

My new Companion was one of the last 2 people to get here, because he was coming from the northern part of the mission. He is great! About 16 months in the mission and has been a Zone leader for a while. We were house mates in his first area up in Alaminos, so I knew him from there and saw his potential and he is a fun companion. I am so happy to have a Filipino companion again.

On Thursday, Brother Alberto and Aldrin Faustino were baptized. Then the next day brother went to Maynila; where he waited to go to Singapore. He left yesterday. The next day we went out to their house to teach them and Brother gave a powerful testimony to his Sister and mother who were both there visiting. We were so happy.

His wife told us that she won't commit to a date to be baptized but will continue to be taught and investigate the church. We are trying to figure out what is holding her from baptism. She said before that it was because she was scared of not being able to magnify a calling. We have taught to handle that concern, 2 times now. Last night when we came out of the lesson; Elder Ragasa said that maybe she thinks that if they get baptized, no one will continue to visit them. So we will try that route and see what happens.

Saturday, We were in the middle of Personal Study and one of the Assistants called and told me that the sisters had a problem. The drain pipe of their reserve tank had fallen out and was spraying water everywhere. So as a temporary fix they shoved plastic bags into the hole to slow the flow of water. Their old pipe was so rusty, there were no threads left on it whatsoever. It was fun to fix it. Even though it was just a small things.

Yesterday in church President Manglicmot called for a coordination meeting to figure out why the Branch Missionaries were not working with us. So he sat there why we scheduled the whole week out and got members to work with us. There are 2 really big events happening this week with the Jubilee (the celebration of 50 yrs of the church being here in the Philippines), and the Youth Conference with will happen at the church on Wed, Thur, and Fri. Then the Jubilee on Saturday.

I don't know why but it seemed so much easier to find people this week. We found people that were just interested. The Lord really just placed them in our path. Part members, friends of members, people sitting on the side of the road that looked at us as we walked by and we felt impressed to stop and talk to them. President Aquino talked about 2 types of finding

Finding can be describe in two ways.

One, finding can be like the rays of the sun it is scattered and as you plant everywhere eventually it will grow and at the same time plants needs the light to bear fruit and those fruit bearing trees are the ones we need to find. Just like an olive vineyard, you have to go every tree and check on the fruit if it is good or not. This is the type of finding we always do, talk to everyone, knock on doors, referrals from members.

Another is the laser, the light of the laser is pencil point or sometimes pin point it depends on the lenses used. Just like a laser pointer used in presentation finding can be like that also, pin-point accuracy. But how do you do that? Take note of the scriptures 2 Nephi 4:34, Alma 37:34-37, Alma 21:1, 1 Nephi 4:6, D&C 9:8, 8:2-3, 6:22-23.

All Future missionaries, study those scriptures and take note of what you need to do in order to use the more effective of these 2 methods.

One other sad thing that happened last night,we went to a members house to see if I could use her phone to call home. (Happy mothers day to all you mothers out there). What we found we were not expecting. One of the members that has been a member for less than a year was sitting at her cousins house. She had been beaten very, very badly by her husbands cousins. Sister was drunk and smoking, but we took care of that. When she wasn't looking and with the help of the sister Marilyn, I hid her beer in my bag and dumped it out when we had left. And I took her Cigarettes. We were really sad to see that some men will result to beating a woman just for a good time. We heard the men were on drugs, if you can call them men. It was really sad and I can't really explain what I felt but my first thought was Jesus Christ and his suffering for this woman. Its up to us to use his suffering and Repent and put away our childish things, grow up and focus on the things that really matter as we work out our eternal salvation with fear of God.

Let us all do all we can to be a happy family and show our love those we love and "do unto others, as we would have done unto us.

This is my prayer

Until next week

Elder Chase

2 May 2011

Oh man. I know I say this every week but time just needs to take a break!!!!


Well another busy week has come and gone. We had 2 investigators get interviewed yesterday for baptism and they both passed so on Wednesday they will be baptized and it will be great!!! Brother Alberto, will be going abroad on Saturday or Sunday and he really wants to get baptized before he goes abroad. His family will be baptized within the next couple weeks. The Lord is so great!!! He always works in ways that we don't understand, or uses people that we don't think he would use in order to accomplish his purposes.

ZLC is always a great place to receive revelation! Its neat to see all the new ideas or revelation that the Zone Leaders receive when we are trying to make the mission more effective. I feel kind of inadequate sometimes in those meetings but I guess the Lord has a reason that I was called. We learned that in July they will be changing the curriculum of the MTC. So all you new/future missionaries: Master the concepts of chapter 10 That's your assignment for this week.

Then we had an investigator, Elena, she is single, takes care of her niece, and lives with her aunts that are members. We started teaching her a few months ago. She is coming to church every week, reading the scriptures, praying, doing everything that we are asking her to do. Even that sometimes has not seemed to be enough, she has not recognized an answer of confirmation from the Spirit saying that we are teaching her is true or that the Book of Mormon is true. It has been of a trial trying to figure out what she is not doing or what is making it so she can't recognize the Spirit. Well Saturday we had a lesson with her. We were coming off of a spiritual high because we had just come from ZLC and she started to ask inspired questions. That is one of the signs that her understanding is growing. We have faith that she is really close now. With a little more work and help and inspiration from the Lord we will have her and she will be able to feel the full love of the Savior's atonement in her life.

Yesterday we had Area Conference, thru satellite they had Sister Beck, Elder Christofferson, and Elder Packer speak to us, they told some great stories, about their past experiences in the Philippines. It was nice. Saturday night we had a Jubilee Celebration in Maynila that was broadcast thruout the Philippines. They did a lot of dancing and singing and stuff. Its cool to see the native dances of the people here in the Phils. Come to think of it, it was a lot like what we saw when they did the Temple Dedication of the Cebu temple. The Philippine Islands have over 630,000 members I think they said. In 50 years only that is amazing and it is growing every year. If we could just get the gospel culture to override the Philippine culture we would be in good shape and this place would flourish.

Oh some sad news, one of the members, that we had met in Floridablanca, the 1st councilor in the District Presidency of Dinalupihan, President Suyam, well we can just say like the Anti-Nephi-Lehi's, he was ready to do his calling in the next life. He was such a great man, probably one of the few that I knew that actually lived every part of his life in accordance with the gospel. He is a father of 2 little kids and a Major in the Philippine Air Force. He was training someone as the story goes, they had experienced some problem with the aircraft when the plane exploded over Bagac, a little town in the mountains of Bataan. One of the sisters said that he gave his talk last week in church about the resurrection, and they even said that his countenance was different. We just feel bad for his wife and kids that he left behind, it will be hard for them but they are lucky because they have the gospel in their lives. Like mom said, when my Great grandma died, "Don't cry because they have passed, cry because they are not physically with us anymore." But their memories and achievements will live on.

That's All I've got for this week

Love you

Elder Chase

25 April 2011

Time really should slow down!!!!


This is ridiculous. My batch that is an AP showed me my travel itinerary for when I go home. It blows.

I almost got stopped by the adversary this week! But I won! I got a nasty cold a few weeks ago and haven't totally gotten over it. I've been trying to drink lots of water and get rid of it, but I forgot my water one day and that's all it needed. So on Wednesday we had Exchanges with the Assistants and Elder Erickson made me go to the Dr. So I went and he just gave me a bunch of drugs and we'll see if I get better. But that's not the funny part. On Wednesday, I lost my voice totally. The investigators were laughing at me. But we didn't really get to teach a lot that night.

The next day we had exchanges in Morong and I had to pray really hard that my voice would come back, guess what! It did! Miracles that come through prayer never cease to amaze me. Although a little weak still, I was able to talk and to teach. Then the next day I had to go do 2 baptismal interviews, on Friday it was the holiday called Mahal na araw. Its where the Catholics take and beat themselves on the back with bamboo and it put cuts in their backs so that its bleeds, its all supposed to be in representation of the Atonement, then they have people that nail themselves to crosses and all sorts of stuff like that. Its a pretty gruesome sight. It makes me sad to see. I only saw the people carrying crosses around and whipping themselves. I didn't see anyone getting nailed to any crosses.

We finally got Faustino Family to commit to baptism. We were so excited for them. On May 21st they will be baptized if not sooner. We are worried a little about sister. I think she is a little nervous about moving religions. We heard that she gets bored at church so she really needs an assignment or a calling but she's got to get baptized first. Brother is so ready and so are their kids. One of the blessings that he has received because he has been showing his faith to the Lord is he got called to go abroad to Singapore. We are excited for him.

We taught this new investigator on Saturday, first lesson.  At the end of the lesson we asked him to pray for us.  It was crazy, he really wasn't very sure of how to pray but we patiently taught him how to, then when he did it was such a great prayer.  The spirit came in so strong while he was praying.  Then after a little pause after we had said Amen, I asked him what he was feeling. He said that its like there was something big inside of him, and like all his cares were gone.  We told him that was the spirit. It was great.

Well that's about all I can think about this week. We have ZLC this week and will be having some new zone leaders coming in. We are excited for them.

Love you all. Thank you for your support.

Elder Chase

18 April 2011

Hey everyone,

 

I'll have to apologize at the first because this will not be very long because we have an appointment in like 15 minutes.

 

Things went great last week.  We got to work, we weren't together for more than 2 full days the whole week. 

We had exchanges with 2 of the missionaries in the zone.  I never cease to be amazed how great the new missionaries are.  The rising generation here in the mission really has some potential to make things great happen.  They are almost all leaders.  I’m excited, it puts into perspective how much quicker the Lord’s work is going, and I’m sure that people are seeing it in other parts of the world as well. 

We have the one missionary that I mentioned last week.  The one that goes home this transfer,  Him and his companion are making remarkable progress.  Their work has picked up a lot and I just might get my birthday wish that he will finish his mission with no regrets and he can say he sprinted to the end. 

Yesterday I gave a talk in Sacrament, it was fun.  It got even more interesting when President Aquino showed up ha ha.  Turns out that they were coming back from Maynila. They had training and our church was the closest one to where he was at 9:00, so we got a visit from him.  It was funny how everyone gets so nervous when he gets around.  They all want to make an extra good impression on him. 

We also had 3 missionaries from the mission come to our church because they were on their way to Maynila for a check-up.  2 have epilepsy and 1 had a problem with his foot.  President told us that we were to feed them, then send them to Maynila.  Normally that wouldn’t be a problem, but we had no food at our house on Sunday.  So it made it a little rough.  I don’t know how but we made it work.  3 cups of rice for 5 people.  It made me think of the pioneer story about the flour barrel that never ran out.  It was neat. 

Well I wasn’t lying earlier.  I gotta run.  Love you all. 

Elder Chase

11 April 2011

Hey everyone,


Well another week in the books and boy was it a busy one! We had another missionary come down with Dengue Fever so he got admitted to the hospital. We were running around like crazy taking care of him. He started to not feel good last Monday but he didn't say anything, then Tuesday he still had a fever so we gave him some medicine and sent him home. He just gradually got worse until Sister Aquino told him to go get a check-up and we found out that he had Dengue, all the nurses were commenting on how so many of the missionaries seemed to be getting sick. With Dengue and Amoeba's. ha ha We just smiled and said "opo" or "yep" Poor Elder Duco, he was going nuts in the hospital doing nothing but reading so we exchanged companions yesterday morning and let him go to a session of conference. Then we went back and let him go work with Elder Buckmiller and I stayed at the hospital. It was fun chatting and telling mission stories about our companions and such.

We also had Leadership training last week. I can say that things went a lot smoother this time than the last time. A lot more organized because we were more sure on what we should be doing.

The work last week was alright, We had Exchanges and did some more training for the new district leaders. Also one older District Leader. The old one, his key indicators have always been consistent, but consistently low, so we have been trying to work with him and get his effectiveness up. He goes home this transfer and we would really like to see him end his mission on a high note. We talked a lot about goal setting, him and I, and I had him set some goals of what he could do before he goes home.

We have an investigator that we committed to be baptized last week. Sister Loren is a part member whose husband we just reactivated. They are great and such a great couple. We told her that Brother Jerome (her husband) could baptize her and the expression on brothers face was great ha ha. He was shocked but I think he's liking the idea more and more. Faustino family, a family of investigators, they are so close and the kids and sister all want to get baptized but brother is still not sure. He has had sign after sign, so we are trying to help him recognized the signs now. The time is coming and they will be great members. Future leaders. One of the kids, Aldrin, 13 years old, got a job to help his family because his dad didn't have a job at the time. Aldrin paid tithing and the next week he earned more. Its great!

Well that's about all I've got for you this week

Love you all

Elder Chase

Future missionaries: Go to Mormon.org and load a few profiles of "I'm a Mormon" then play it thru just listening then when it gets done, write down everything you can remember, then listen to it again and see how much you missed or how many things you got right. You should get over 10-15 things. This is a listening activity that we did here in Zone Conference. Then repeat the activity with a different clip and write down all the things you observed while watching (write it after you have viewed the clip). Then do another one and write down everything you felt while watching, impressions you got about that person. Things unsaid and unseen that the Spirit told you. Do this activity once or twice a week.

You should progressively get better at listening and remembering things people said.

4 April 2011

Hello, hello, hello,

It was a great week. I kept my birthday a secret the whole week. And I didn't get stuck in the hospital. Well I should say it was a secret until we got to ZLC, then I found out its hard to keep secrets from the mission presidents wife who has access to that kind of information. But she made it an awesome birthday for me. We had great food and she made my favorite cookies, these really really big homemade oreos. They were great. Even though I had a cold it was good. I found out that water will drive a sickness away you just have to drink a lot. I drank probably 4 gallons that day, it was easy because all we were doing was sitting in the mission home discussing what was happening in the mission. We went straight from the mission home in Subic to Lubao where we had a meeting with the Branch Presidents. We got there and there was only one that showed up but he was one of my favorite people from Floridablanca when I was assigned there, Brother Pangan. His family is awesome!!!!

On Tuesday and Wednesday I went up to this little place called Morong and did exchanges while the District Leader and Elder Buckmiller stayed in the area. It seems that the new missionaries are getting better and better. They are quicker to understand, apply new teaching skills, better with the people (well almost all of them) We have some great missionaries that are going to make great leaders.

This week we have a leadership training down in Orani, and exchanges tomorrow, and Friday. Saturday and Sunday we get to watch GENERAL CONFERENCE. We are so excited. I can't believe how fast time flies.

Oh, and we had another member pass away this week. Brother Ceperes (pron: seperez), this was an inactive member that we were planning on doing a Family Home evening at their house last Monday but it didn't happen for some reason. It was sad because Monday night he got put in the hospital because of a ruptured blood vessel in his head. Thursday we got the news that he had passed away. We had a service there last night, Elder Buckmiller and I gave a team talk about the Plan of Salvation. It turned out alright.

Well that's about all I have to report on this week. hopefully I'll have more next week. Love you all

Elder Chase

PS future missionaries: get familiar with the events that happened in the life of the Savior and familiarize yourselves with them in the bible. Where they are, the purpose of people, (i.e. john the baptist, 12 apostles, Mary, etc.)

28 March 2011

Hey everyone,

Well it wasn't quite as big of a week as we had last week. As far as transfers go, we lost our Filipino Companion, Elder Adriano, it was sad, I didn't wanna see him go because he was a great part/equalizer for me and Elder Buckmiller. We are still doing good. We got to work almost a full schedule this week.

We had an old lady pass away in the branch. Mami Mora. It was sad but she is happy again, she's with her husband again. Wednesday, we went over and did a service. On Friday she was buried. It is always great to see members that really understand the Plan of Salvation. Because we saw both, one lady about passed out/fell over a few times as she was bearing her testimony at the service because she was crying so bad. Sister Marivic, who took the deal the best asked us to go help her husband dedicate the grave before everyone else showed up, so we showed up at 2:30 like she said, but the catholic priest showed up early so we missed it. It was kind of funny to see 4 guys with white shirts, ties and bags running down Tabacahuan St. ha ha.

My tip this week for all the people going out on missions: Study as much as you can about the Atonement, it is also known as Grace in the scriptures. Then start applying it in your lives as much as possible. As soon as you do, you will become a lot better missionaries, a lot more effective.

Last Wednesday we had a Zone District meeting where Elder Buckmiller and I did the workshop. We had all the missionaries last week write down what every principle in lesson 1 means to them and how the atonement applies to that principle, then they shared that in District Meeting. We had tears flowing in both district (not from me) and the spirit was so strong cuz they were all teaching from the heart and they weren't really teaching they were bearing testimony about the gospel. So we are going to try and help them become more effective by applying the atonement better. You all should do the same.

We baptized Brother Milan yesterday. It was great. He was so happy and so was his wife!!! Next week he will get confirmed and I am so happy for him. When we were there on Saturday night there were 2 mel. priesthood that came to do their home teaching. That makes the 2 time that I've seen home teaching happen in my whole mission. I was so happy, especially because brother has some more friends that are mel. priesthood.

I've been trying to keep my birthday a secret but its not very good when your companion likes to tell everyone its hard. ha ha

Well that's about all for this week.

Love you all

Elder Chase

21 March 2011

Hey Friends and family.

Well it was another good week here in Olongapo. We had the transfer meeting earlier and that was fun. We always make things a little suspenseful...and the other missionaries always get mad at us. Well we will be loosing our Filipino companion, Elder Adriano, I will really miss him a lot. He made our companionship so much fun, but I guess it means that president is trusting him enough to send him out on his own. We'll know tomorrow where he goes.

I told all the members that I was transferring...but I'm not so they will be so shocked when they see me again. he he he.

If you remember the Elder that got admitted to the hospital last week, he got to come out on Tuesday but he couldn't work. His body was drained. So I got to go over and work with his companion while a member sat at the missionaries apartment and watched Elder Christensen. He got a whole lot of language study in ha ha. As for his companion, he was not an Elder that I was particularly close to or had any desire to be close to because he is a little on the femme side, but for 3 days I worked with him and it really changed my view of him. He has epilepsy and took his rests for way too long and the area was suffering really bad, we interviewed them a few weeks ago and his whole attitude changed. I was having a hard time keeping up with him. He will be alright. Friday Elder Christensen was able to go out and work again so I came home and finished the work in the area.

As for the investigators, we had one pass his baptismal interview yesterday, Milan, he'll be baptized next Sunday. He has had so much stuff to change and remove from his life. He did it!!! The saying, "True doctrine, understood, changes attitudes" We are working with some others that are moving closer, Faustino Family. The whole family is listening and the kids are so smart it's ridiculous. They ask some of the deepest questions that I have ever encountered in my mission. ha ha Sometimes we have to go home, research, and teach that the next time we go to their house. They are doing good though.

Things have been pretty interesting with the whole Japan deal happening. I just keep singing "Its the end of the world as we know it... and I feel, fine...." ha ah its fun. One of our new members Rey, has a brother that's in Japan and they haven't heard anything from him since the earthquake so that's a little nerve wracking for them. We're praying for all of them.

Oh, one funny thing that happened. Yesterday morning we were cooking and our propane ran out!! We had half cooked lasgne on the stove, so we needed another heat source. We got the iron from the ironing board and plugged it in and cooked on it. It was pretty ingenious, ha ha ha, and I had to fix the light out back of our house and I didn't even get shocked!!!

This week looks to be an interesting one. A whole bunch of new missionaries in the zone and one sister will be training so we'll meet the new sister.

Love you all, thanks for everything.

Elder Chase

14 March 2011

Hey everyone!


What a great week! Our area got demolished by the Tsunami!!! We've been doing service projects for the last few days!!!! Awesome!!!! Nah just kidding, we got warned about it but nothing happened. Dang it. But we did have Specialized Training, Leadership Training, CSP (service project), an elder admitted to the hospital, a one day mission, news of black market dealers here in Olongapo selling human organs, and a CSP in a river where there was sewage. it was AWESOME!!! I could stop right here and let you all wonder but I'll guess I'll put some explanations behind everything. ha ha.

First of all Tuesday, the Leadership training, met with all the district leaders in our zone as well as Pres. Aquino and the AP's. We were told that we had to do a workshop, so we prepared one. My companion and I heard 2 different things but I figured its easier just to let him have his way that fight him so we went with his plan... our workshop was totally off!! It was so funny. So we "winged it" it turned out alright though. we were able to merge some of the stuff in from our workshop that we prepared so it turned out alright. That's what we call TBS Teach by the Spirit! ha ha. Then we went out and worked.

Wednesday, we had a workshop at Specialized training, That was okay...not much to complain about. Yes another TBS moment, President just asked for questions that the missionaries had and we had to answer their questions, as best we could. Then we worked for a bit.

Thursday we got a call from one of the missionaries that he was sick. We told him to take some medicine and drink more water (the universal answer for when you are sick). Thursday night we went over to their house and funny enough he had puke that looked like mine when I had amoeba and he had a lot of the same symptoms. But we called Sister Aquino said what should we do, and she said go buy some stomach ache medicine and some headache meds. Then said if the next day nothing has improved he should go to the hospital. So we left him with meds and Gatorade and I with a empty wallet ha ha. Then a member called and wanted a blessing too. We literally "ran" from place to place it was a good workout.

Friday we went to a CSP where we were cleaning a river. There was so much garbage!!! Then things really got exciting when one missionary saw poop floating in the water and they all ran for the hills! or the sides of the river and were scared to keep going. I just kept cleaning... yeah. That's me! We cleaned up really good after that CSP. And the Elder that was sick got admitted on that day to the hospital. It was fun running around. He has Dengue and amoeba.

That night we heard news of a cult that was running around the city and the 2 attacks that we had heard were kids that were kidnapped... then their organs were sold on the black market it was kinda gross. So we called Pres. Aquino who ordered an immediate 8 o'clock curfew for the zone and we just saw earlier it will be for the whole mission. Its awesome!!!

Saturday we had a one day mission where we went around to the inactive members and asked if they were gonna come back to church. We went to 400+ places that day. Ouch... I just cut my finger open tryin to punch my comp... in a nice way.

Yesterday we had a surprise baptismal interview for the sisters whose district leader is in the hospital.

All in all it was a great busy week. I hope we can keep it up.

I love you all. Thank you for all your support.

Elder Chase

7 March 2011

Well its a very Bitter sweet moment right now!!!!

Ahhh with Caydyn leaving I'm excited but I don't like that he leaves only 8 days before I go home!!! What is this!? ha ha ha.

Well happenings for the week. I went over to do exchanges with the District leader in Dinalupihan Zone and helped him find some new investigators. This missionary is a great guy he just is a little shy. It was fun. We knocked on a few doors and I really see it as too big of a deal but I was just being my goofy self and making jokes about chasing people, or hiding until they came back out then suddenly jumping in front of them and talking to them. Its kinda like what I always do so nothing new, then later that night we had some teenagers that I think were kinda drunk that yelled, "hey friend, where are you going?" I said "I'm going over there! where you going?" he said, "I'm staying here." so I said, "that's good diyen ka muna" which is like, okay you stay there. Everyone was laughing, then we went to a member and they were doing a family home evening so we got invited and ended up doing the lesson. It turns out that a lady there that I thought I had seen was a member from there that I met way back when I was companions with Elder Lebbon, Nanay Presy. It was fun to talk to her, they told me the news that Brother Lebbon had gotten married and she told me to punch him when I see him again for not keeping in contact with his nanay. ha ha ha. Magingat ka lebs!!!

When we were doing the evaluation at the end of the night I found out that because of continual let-downs one of the missionaries was kind of discouraged, but he was very thankful that it had been a good day of finding. He said that I was the reason, even though I hadn't done anything different or important, I just did the work, and was happy, I showed him something about diligence, and doing the work with a smile. I have kind of been thinking about that lately, how people watch things that we don't know they are watching. So its important, especially as missionaries/leaders in the church, our attitude is a good one, one of a disciple of Jesus Christ.

After the Exchanges, we worked one day in the area, then went to the mission home Thursday morning until Friday afternoon for ZLC, again, it was full of the Spirit, revelation, great stories, and good food. Sister Aquino cooked, so it was great. The only problem I really have with ZLC is we evaluate the key indicators of the mission, or the stats, then talk about them. yeah... I'm not very good with numbers and I usually end up lost in the end. But the other stuff about it is great, especially getting taught from President Aquino, that guy is amazing!

After ZLC we went to our area and got Elder Adriano whom we had left on a special assignment with a companionship in the zone. He was to evaluate them and keep them working hard and making sure they got out on time and everything. It is really nice to have an assistant. We were supposed to be making sure he doesn't do anything bad and isn't disobedient, but he has done wonders for our companionship and I told President that I'd like to help him get up to where he can lead a district by the end of his mission. Based on what I've seen lately he can do it, we're just building his self confidence and helping him realize that its easier to obey than to regret later.

Saturday, we went to a meeting with the Branch Presidents of Dinalupihan district, only 2 showed up because it was raining. It was muddy too because its farm land over there so I got muddy. It was fun. Then we found out one of the sisters in that area was sick so we ran over, gave her a blessing then hit the road to come back to Olongapo. It was a crazy week, but very rewarding. The work is starting to progress more. This week we have training for 2 days so that should be fun and keep us busy as well.

Well that's my report for this week

Elder Chase

28 Feb 2011

Ouch it hurts to write that date! Cuz every week that passes means I'm closer to ending my part of this great work! ahhh. I don't wanna come home.

Well this week was pretty good, taught a bit, found a bit, talked to some members, made plans to cast out a devil of someone/someones house. Ya know, the regular...

Oh and on Friday we had Zone Conference. It was fun. President talked about grace and our investigators, and the assistants talked about teaching our investigators the lessons, not teaching the lessons to investigators. I know kind of confusing but simply, its teaching people according to their needs, not lessons because that's what we have to teach in order to get them baptized. That is probably one of the biggest weaknesses of the missionaries right now. Its kind of sad but when they actually do it, it gets a lot funner and you actually look forward to teaching them because you don't know what exactly you are gonna say it just comes like it says in D&C.

The mental health coordinators came to our zone conference too. All the missionaries were teasing each other about how the other could finally get help. ha ha . But I asked her questions about my worrying, and insomnia, she told me that Tylenol PM is not addictive, I still need to be smart, but don't wait next time till the 3rd day to take it. ha ha I know now!!! ha ha

Brother Rey is on fire! He went to Manila on Friday night and he went to all his friends in Makati and got them to listen to the missionaries all the time, he was texting people here in Olongapo, getting them to listen too. He was texting us so much just forwarding numbers and names and addresses. Then he expressed his feelings about how much happier he was and all the blessings he is seeing like, he fixed things with his family (they weren't talking to him). Then just he has a whole new outlook on life, he even told us that he missed working with us. He hasn't even started doing it a lot. It is so great to see him as excited as he is. I wish every person could be like that.

We weren't able to teach Milan this week but he still is coming to church and we are working on building his self confidence. He just barely started attending all 3 hours of church in class. He is really shy and was scared of the priesthood class. In Sunday school he was called on to answer a question and his voice was shaking so bad he was sooo nervous but he did it and we just encouraged him. I was so happy for him!

This week we have ZLC coming up and it should be fun. We have a bunch of things coming up that we will be planning and we will get to eat really good food.

I love my mission and I am excited for everyone that is serving and preparing to serve, Go get em.

Gawin ang Gawain anak (do work son/daughter)

Love you all

Elder Chase

21 Feb 2011

Hey everyone,


Well we got a ton done last week with doing splits every day with the new missionary training here in Olongapo. We had a couple inactive members come back to church and we even managed a baptism on Saturday!!!

Rey got baptized!!!! It was awesome, as usual it started Filipino time, but we got it done. Then yesterday he got confirmed and the priesthood. Then I got to teach in Priesthood. The teacher didn't show up so they asked me to because my 2 companions had to speak in Sacrament meeting. We ended up having a little debate in class...actually it wasn't small at all. There were a few people that got offended, my companion being one of them and I think it shook up some of my investigators. So note to all: GOSPEL SHOULD BE PLAIN AND SIMPLE,

OKAY SO THE CAPS LOCK IS STUCK ON SO THE REST OF THIS LETTER IS GONNA BE IN CAPS. SO AS I WAS SAYING LIKE NEPHI SAYS IN 2 NEPHI 31 IT SHOULD BE SIMPLE, ESPECIALLY IF WE HAVE INVESTIGATORS. IT REALLY DOESN'T MATTER HOW MUCH YOU KNOW IN THE GOSPEL IF YOU DON'T USE IT THE RIGHT WAY. THE CHURCH IS NOT A PLACE TO DEBATE IT IS A PLACE TO DISCUSS THE WELFARE OF OUR SOULS.

We had some (hey it changed back) inactive members come back to church, who'da thunk it, all they needed was an invitation.

I don't really have much to report this week.

One of our investigators, Milan, hopefully the next baptism, is really shy and is scared to say no to people and that is his weakness. When his friends say lets drink he will refuse for a bit but if they keep inviting he will eventually give in. So yesterday was his 3 week point and he hasn't gave in, we've seen a lot of progress in him, because he is now saying that his urge to drink is not strong at all. But yesterday his friends came after him again and he almost gave in, but we showed up suddenly, and not a moment too late. He was so excited when we came because it meant that he could leave. I got mad at one of his buddies the other night for busting in a few times while we were teaching so they don't like me and don't mess with me too much. I know, "be careful..." I've lost all patience it seems with Satan's devices and I don't hesitate to stop them pretty quick. But we talked to brother Milan about being strong and telling them that there is not much that they can do for him and he'll miss more if he doesn't get baptized than if he withstands and looses those guys' friendship.

Well I'm outta time this week. Sorry

Love you all

elder chase

14 Feb 2011

Hey everyone,

Well to my surprise I have 2 new companions!!! One is from Utah and the other Maynila. Elder Buckmiller is my companion from Taylorsville and he's younger than me in the mission by only 1 transfer, we met when we were in our first areas because we were in the same district, he is also the other Zone Leader.  The other is Elder Adriano,  we were batch coming into the mission and I haven't seen him my whole mission until now.  He had some things happen last year so he we are helping him to get back on track.  He really hasn't been too big of a problem but it is a little weird having 2 people always with you and not just one. 

Transfer day went through pretty well seeing that I really didn't know what I was doing all the way.  I just kind of watched Elder Gerbs last transfer day.  I let Elder Buckmiller do more than I did last time so that in case I transfer he'll me be more sure on what he's doing.  Then on Thursday we went to the bus station again to pick up our new companion, who we took right over to another missionaries house and dropped off until Saturday.  He couldn't come up to ZLC with us so he worked with the District Leader.  A new missionary last transfer transferred down to Orion, which is pretty close to Balanga, my last area, but we had to go drop him off with some other  missionaries in the zone so that he'd have a place to go till ZLC was over.

ZLC was a blast.  There is no way to diet up there at the mission home they feed you until you literally can't anymore.  Holy cow!  But Thursday night we went had banana splits which was awesome! I got put in charge of cutting the banana's up ha ha.  After discussing the mission and learning a ton from President Aquino about leadership we came home on Friday night.  Some of the stuff he said was so great for me!

Friday night when we went home we ended up having 7 missionaries sleep at our house that night.  The Assistants brought us down from the mission home.  It was crazy and I didn't get much sleep (that's not from a lack of trying).  We had missionaries everywhere, on the back cushions of the couch and everything ha ha.  And we had to leave our companion at the District Leaders house because there wasn't room in our house. 

Saturday was the day we had to work for the first time with Elder Adriano.  He is an alright kid, he's willing to work hard and do what needs to be done.  And Elder Buckmiller, my how he has changed since I first met him. 

Yesterday we had District Conference.  There were a ton of people there.  President Aquino talked about getting ready or the things that need to be done before Olongapo can become a Stake.  Then they had talks about Tithing, which is a big problem over here.  Then about sustaining leaders and stuff like that.  Then we went straight to Lubao for a meeting with the District President over there. 

I love being this busy.  It is so much funner running around and being involved in everything.

Oh pala,  I got a package and a ton of Christmas Cards.  Thank you so much for all of you that sent them.  They were great to read and to hear how everyone is doing. 

Oh and Ray, he is going to be baptized next week!!!! We were so excited.  President said on Tuesday, go harvest them Elder Westwood, don't worry so much about planting. That night we made the plans for his baptism.  He is so excited and so are we!!!

Ha ha on a side note. I saw my first hell, fire and damnation preacher the other night it was hilarious!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I love you all and I love the mission.  And I am also excited for all of you that are headed out on your mission.  Study the standard works and get study the PMG really well.  Especially chapter 3 practice teaching what you know to your friends.  and then read the BOM that will be your sword when you get to the field. and your testimony your shield so make it a strong shield.  and make your sword sharp. Prepare every needful thing and strip yourselves of Pride.

Until next week

Elder Chase

7 Feb 2011

Hey everyone,


Well I don't have a ton to report on this week. We walked around a lot and faced a lot of rejection. That was kinda sad because it was Elder Gerbolingo's last week, but he didn't let it get him down, and I feel comfortable saying that he finished his mission. He worked and was testifying until the last place we went last night and we stayed out until curfew. It was great and I love it when missionaries show their love to God by finishing their missions.

On Saturday night we had Branch Family home evening, it was a blast, even if it started an hour late. We combined with Branch 2 because they had 1 missionary that leaves this week to the MTC, we have 4 in our Branch 3, then Elder Gerbs who was headed home. So it was neat. We watched the show "Only a Stonecutter" it was great. We had few tears, it was great. Brother John Rowe Moyle had such great faith that nothing was gonna stop him from fulfilling his calling until the day he died. ha ha Some of us now a days think because we are a little sore or have a headache or have a little trial we are now exempted from our callings but we are not. He said " Callings seldom come when they are convenient." So true.

Tomorrow I will get a new Companion and I'm excited to see who. I think he will be a new Zone Leader which is a little overwhelming because I'm not totally sure what I'm doing yet but this is the time I really have to rely on the Lord for what I do and don't do.

Sorry I don't have much to report on this week. We'll be really busy this week with ZLC coming up and transfers and everything else, so hopefully I can make up for it next week

I love you all

Thank you so much for your support.

Elder Westwood.

31 Jan 2011

First and Foremost! I want to wish a Big HAPPY BIRTHDAY to my father who will be turning 40 on Feb 1st.  Yeah baby the big 4.0.!!! ha ha I'm gonna get in trouble for that one ha ah.  Everyone wish him a Happy Birthday too ha ha. 

It was a good week.  We got to work in our area this whole week and we had almost all of our appointments cancel. That was kind of a bummer.  But we had a ton of new investigators, but it was all wrong.  We found them through our own efforts, its better if its thru the members; thru referrals.  But its okay, we stayed busy. 

Ray left for Singapore last week and he'll be there for a couple weeks.  Him, Elder Gerbolingo, and I all hiked up to this place called 3 crosses last Monday evening and watched the sun go down.  He told us a lot about himself and the change that he has seen in himself, he confessed that when I first gave him my Book of Mormon with all my marks, the first thing that went thru his mind was "Yes, I can use this against him and prove that what they are teaching is wrong,"  Then he said that every time we were there to teach he forgot all his questions.  That is what will happen to someone when the Spirit is in the lesson. 

We had a family referred to us last week that is great! Brother felt that he had something missing in his life and wanted to be taught.  So we taught him.  They are way interested in what we taught them and were excited when we told them we would be back on Wednesday to teach them again. 

On Tuesday we had an emergency call from President Aquino, the sisters in Dinalupihan had an investigator that they were teaching, and Both Sisters had a really bad feeling about him, then they saw him pretty close to their house and they got worried.  They called president, then he called us and sent us out there to put extra locks and secure the house.  It was fun.  And he took the sisters to the Mission home for the night.  It was probably the most exciting thing that happened last week. 

Last night we had a Member Missionary fireside we watch Pioneers of Africa. Wow the faith of those people was great! If everyone was like that in the church there would be no problems. 

Well, that's about all I can think of tell you this week.

Next week hopefully will be better.

Love you all

Elder Chase

24 Jan 2011

What a busy week. We went all over the 2 Zones that we cover for exchanges.


The find is on, we have 4 Zone Leaders going home this next transfer, so the heat is on to find 4 new ones. So we've all been evaluating them and trying to help them. We've found 2 potentials but we'll see. It was supposed to be that we talk about it next week in Zone Leaders Council but they just sent an email that says its just gonna be next transfer so they won't know our suggestions. It was fun though getting to work with other missionaries. So it wasn't a total waste.

Then on Friday we had Interviews with President Aquino, he told us a while ago to "expect the unexpected" and that the interviews were gonna be long this transfer so I was getting all ready and practicing my teaching and stuff. When we got into the interview, he asked me if I had any questions or concerns. We talked a bit, he asked me if there were any more, I said, no. He said, okay, lets close. ha ha. Then they told me that because we're the ZL's he's not worried about our teaching.

If you remember brother Ray, he was gonna leave this week and go to Singapore then get baptized in the States. So I prepared his records so he could give it to the missionaries so he could get baptized. I rewrote it in English and cleaned it up, then he text us and told us that he changed his plans. He's gonna go to Singapore for 2 weeks then come back and get baptized by us! We were so excited when he told us that. He said "I started with you guys, and I want to finish with you guys." We are still planning the trip to Adam-Ondi-Ahman when I get back. He is an awesome guy and he thanked us for helping him remove the anger from his heart that he had towards the cop that arrested him for nothing. It has really been amazing to see the change in him as he has progressed in the gospel. He is not on Logic anymore but now he is listening to his feelings. He asked a question the other day. He said so after your a member, if you have a grocery store or a business like that, you should be closed on Sunday and you shouldn't be selling stuff like Alcohol or cigarettes, or wine or tea or stuff like that right? Ha ha I said, "well, the Lord lets us use our agency on that one." He replied "For me, its not right to sell that kind of stuff." He is awesome. He'll be baptized in like 3 weeks. The only sad part is that Elder Gerbolingo won't be here. Sad day.

Then another of our investigators, Noy, they are getting ready to get married. They got a little freaked out last week when the RS presidency started getting all excited about them getting married. I kind of sensed it, and he opened up last night and told us that he just wants to get it done quietly, like from a judge or some thing like that. His drive is right, because he wants to do it so he can go to the temple and do baptisms for the dead for his son that died a while ago.

I love the mission, there's nothing like it.

I'll try and think up another fun story next week.

Love you all

Elder Chase

17 Jan 2011

Hey everyone,

Well it was another pretty good week.  We stayed busy and it flew by faster than I wanted it to. As for the Investigators, they are doing good as well.

On Tuesday we went and did exchanges with the office elders.  That was fun.  I got to go to their area and work, we were up in the mountains.  up and down and up and down.  It was a nice change and to get out of the city.  Elder Layugan, a relatively new missionary, I think about 6 months here in the field but he is magaling! (I think in English it means he's got Skills!)  And I got to hang out with the AP's who I am pretty tight with.  Then on Wednesday morning I came back to the area and worked for a couple days.

Friday we went down to Orani for District Leader Training.  It is a little different being at those things when you are on the other end of the presentation.  When you are in the teaching position not the being taught to.  It went relatively well, except they only have us a half hour to do our workshop,  I needed another 30 minutes.  It was funny because before my mission, I wasn't a fan of doing stuff like that but its so much easier when you have someone telling you what do say through the whole thing.  Except when you have dumb elders that like to contradict you say.  Its part of the game I guess. 

One of our investigators, Ray, the one that just got out of jail, has been growing and his knowledge of the gospel is flourishing.  We've started teaching him at the church to minimize the distractions and in his eagerness to learn more about the gospel, he started coming to institute, held every Saturday night, right before the coordination meeting with the branch missionaries and the branch presidency. I think this is probably the best organized branch I've been assigned too.  After Institute Ray saw us eating Ice cream at a place pretty close to the church and came and broke the news to us.  Because of his situation of just getting out of Jail for 3 years, he literally has nothing, no money, he does have the clothes on his back.  He has been staying with a family friend here in Olongapo.  He was going to try and get his brother to come to the Philippines to help him out but his brother doesn't want to so Ray has to got to Singapore.  He will be leaving on the 28th which means that he will not be baptized.  But the good thing is that one of the members here has a friend in Singapore so she is gonna call her friend so that Ray can still go to church and stuff over there.  Ray said he'll come back to the Phils.  if his case goes thru.  I hope so but me and him are planning a trip to Adam-ondi-ahman when I get back to the states. He heard about it in Institute and got way interested.  That should be fun.

In another cool experience. Last night, because of a mix up in the schedule we took 4 members with us to one appointment.  I thought it was a lot, but it ended up being alright.  One of the members works for the court system so she's all up on the laws and stuff.  Our investigator's 1 problem is that they are not married so they can't get baptized. They said because sister had petitioned to go abroad to the states they couldn't get married because she petitioned.  But luckily they said it to sister Cora last night she told them as long as they can prove that they weren't married when she petitioned they can get married. It was awesome! MY heart leaped for joy when she said that!  So things are falling into place for many good people that deserve the gospel. 

I gotta run.

Talk to you all next week

Elder Chase

PS I hope none of you are feeling neglected because you haven't got a letter from me.  I honestly haven't had time to write.  I'm sorry.  Just know I love you all!