14 Dec 2009

Hey everyone!

Christmas is right around the corner and I hope everyone is ready for it!!!! ha ha I'm not exactly how they do Christmas over here in the Philippines, but after Christmas I'll let you know!
Last night we went to the Christmas devotional it was awesome, even though I only understood about half of what they were saying. It was really neat to hear the tabernacle choir sing.

This week is transfers and I learned earlier this morning I will be transferred. I'm to be at the Olongapo bus station tomorrow morning at 7 am. early eh! I was a little disappointed. I've been trying to prepare myself for this day, and I thought I had, but it seems I wasn't. As I've had time to think I'm moving because the lord needs me somewhere else and so its alright. Then I talked to president Aquino earlier and he told me my new assignment is to keep my new companion busy. I guess I'm getting assigned with an elder whose time is almost up, so it should be fun.

We had an American couple move into our ward last week and we went out to meet them. Well when we were sharing, we were sharing in English, and I was struggling so bad. Then when I gave the closing prayer I couldn't keep the thoughts going so I had to just talk in Tagalog. I hope that's a sign that I'm getting better in Tagalog cuz it was sure a lot easier to talk in Tagalog than in ingles.

Then last week we had some of our investigators tell me that they could understand me, I've been waiting for that to be said for a long time so it was really cool but I'm still not where I'd like to be.

Yesterday in church we had the primary program, it was really funny. One of the little girls ended up doing a lot of the program and she knew everything by heart it was really cute. Then a few of the girls got up to sing I am a Child of God and forgot the words so the whole congregation started singing with them. It was really neat and the spirit was so strong there! I loved it. Great for my last Sunday in San Marcelino!

Well that's all I've got time for. I love you all, thank you for your support and I hope you all have the opportunity to do something for someone else this Christmas season to make theirs even better!

Until next week
Elder Chase

7 Dec 2009

Hey everyone,

The work is still moving forward here in San Marcelino Philippines. Last Saturday we had the baptism of Sister Jane Fontillas, she was baptized by here cousin, which was awesome, her whole family is iglesia and has been harassing her about her decision but she just told them that she knows the church is true, and she has a special feeling when she goes to church with us. We were very excited. When she bore her testimony on Saturday at her baptism she told us about how she knew that this church is where she's supposed to be. It was amazing.

Then yesterday we had 3 baby blessings, of older children that hadn't been blessed yet, then 1 confirmation (sis. Jane). It was a busy day. oh, funny story, I invited an old drunk guy, he speaks 15 different languages or dialects and he said he wanted to come to church with us. So of course we said that's great! So he came and then during testimony meeting he got up and started preaching about Jesus Christ's Earthly Ministry, it was....interesting to say the least we were listening to false doctrine and I think we only heard a little bit but it was so out there that we didn't need to worry, the branch president was on the edge of his seat the whole time, but it turned out alright. ha ha We were a lil nervous.

Crazy food of the week: are you ready for this?.......last night I had dog yes like the ones that are peoples pets. It actually wasn't too bad. One of the member's had it and I had adobong aso. The meat kinda has a spicy type taste to it. But now I can say that I've eaten dog. ha ha.

This last week we transferred houses into a bigger house that is right next to our old one, its got an upstairs and its a lot cooler. The other house was like a tin can. We were very grateful for the move. The transfer happened because we had the brown out, then the next day we had to go to interviews and we were both out of it cuz we didn't get any sleep so president said "find a new house" then it just so happened that the family next door had moved out. (Blessing)

All my other investigators are doing good, Brother Jonathan (asawa ni Jane) (husband of Jane), we are still working with him, we are thinking we will be able to baptize him before Christmas which would be an answer to our prayers! The members are starting to really help out with the missionary work and we are getting to be a really strong branch I'm excited. We started doing a weekly program for sacrament like we have in the states and everyone loved it. So we will do it again for next week and see if we can't make one for every week.

Well, that's about all I have time for this week. I'll write more next week,

I love you all, and thank you for your support
Elder Chase

30 Nov 2009

Hey everyone!

How was everyone's Thanksgiving? I hope great! I made spaghetti not even thinking about it, then the next day I talked to some other missionaries and they asked what we did for Thanksgiving. I said nothing, then I thought about it and I said oh, I made spaghetti, (we don't usually have spaghetti) ha ha

Things are still good over here in the Philippines, they have been talking a lot lately about the upcoming election. I guess the governor of the Philippines had a bunch of people killed that were gonna run against him in the next election. I was astonished when I heard that, I thought that politics in the US were dirty! ha ha

Oh, then last week we had a brown out (black out) I dunno why they call them brown outs but it was because the workers went on strike because they wanted the manager to step down. They said that it was going to last until Dec 3 and I thought I was gonna die! ah it was so hot that night! then the next evening it came back on! we were all excited!

Yesterday in church I spent the day in Primary! Can you believe it!? I can't believe I made it through. Holy cow there were some rowdy kids in there! ha Elder Erispe ran the stuff then I just kinda helped and tried to keep my cool!

On the bright side we had 8 investigators at church yesterday! it was so great! One of them was Sister Jane Fontillas, the sister who will be baptized this upcoming Saturday! We are so excited for her.

I had the opportunity to go on splits last week with an elder who I wasn't really fond of, we used to live with him before we transferred to our San Marcelino apartment, he was always joking and I didn't think he knew how to take anything serious then when we were working I saw a totally different side of him! It was amazing and I learned a lot from him! It just goes to show that you can't judge a book by its cover. I went into that split with an open mind and hoped for the best and it turned out great.

The crazy food for this week was chicken head, it wasn't that great. Its far to boney for my taste. I'll stick with the other stuff. ha ha.

Well I'm outta time! so I love you all! take care and until next week.
Elder Chase

23 Nov 2009

Hey everyone,

Things are going great here in the Philippines. I'm still teaching and teaching and teaching some more ha ha. My companion, Elder Erispe, got called as the district leader and as the district leader he goes on splits with all the other missionaries in the district and as his companion, i get the elder who he is not evaluating. The other day we did the first one, and I learned so much it was a great experience! Just seeing how other missionaries teach and do things different than I learned. It is a blessing at least for me. ha ha.

Our next transfers are on Dec 15 so Elder Erispe and I are trying to figure out who will be transferred. It will be weird if I am because he has already been here for 4 1/2 months but he is the district leader so that could keep him here. Only time will tell and its up to the Lord.

Interesting food for the week: Chicken Intestine or Esaw is what they call it here, it was actually really good. ha ha Elder Erispe said its so good that it'll make you forget your girlfriend, ha ha, it was funny. They grill it then put this spicy sauce on it! ha ha MASARAP! (DELICIOUS). We'll see what i can come up for next week, I'm thinking chicken head or foot.

Our Iglesia couple are still progressing but Brother Jonathan said that he's not ready, so he may not be getting baptized on the 5th with his wife Jane, we are fasting and praying for them. Jonathan really is ready, but I think just because he is coming from Iglesia it is a big change, so he's just a little nervous. We'll see what happens. They have a little boy named Santi and he is so dang cute, he'll shake hands and every time I say Kamusta he always says Ayos Lang ha ha he is the only little kid I know that will answer me. ha ha

Our President gave us a Book of Mormon challenge and we are supposed to have it read by like January 15 it is amazing how much I am taking from it. He has us look for different things and highlight it. Example, every time it says a name that refers to Jesus Christ, or every time it mentions Christ-like attributes, or anything like that we have to highlight it. It is great, and he is doing it with us. Even better, Elder Teh of the 70 and the area presidency is doing it with us, he is such a great guy.

Because it's harvest season things have been kinda slow. A lot of our investigators are busy, between cutting the rice and the whole harvest process we've had a pretty good chance to find new investigators. We are teaching the people next door and the kids have been coming to church with us, and they bring their friends, its pretty cool.

Then, the drunks are great too because they always say yes, so you can get a return appointment. And we actually have found several good investigators like that. Every Sunday Elder Erispe and I do splits and we have the branch missionaries be our companions but one of the kids who was with me was so nervous when I started talking to one yesterday, he was like Elder, lets go, i don't like drunks, but I have an appointment with him on Thursday. They are all so nice here! ha ha I love it. Maybe my past friends were a blessing in disguise ha ha. They prepared me for this. Oh, then Elder Erispe got a big hug from a drunk Bukla (gay guy) the other day, then he asked for Erispe's number. It was hilarious, I laughed about that the rest of the day.
The gay's here take gay to a whole new level like short shorts and low cut shirts and well WOW!!! I thought I knew some gay people, they were nothing compared to philippino gays, its nuts! But its part of the culture I suppose.

I love how industrious everyone is here, most have literally nothing but its amazing what they can do without the advancements like we have in the U.S. like I saw a drill rig the other day, they had a tripod and a deal at the top that kept the pipe straight up and then with a rope and a pulley attached to the weight at the top they drove a pole into the ground it is truly amazing here. And its not like the quality is bad either I have seen some amazing work done here without machines. I love it.

Well I'm outta time, thank you all for everything, for your prayers and support. I love you all.
Elder Chase

16 Nov 2009

Hey everyone,

How is everyone. I'm great, we had another baptism last Saturday and now I have a little bit of a break until December 5, and that will be my Iglesia couple, who are golden investigators. We would have gone for the 28th but she has the board exam for nursing. Everyone here goes into nursing, I guess its because there is such a high demand for it abroad. Its pretty cool because they are all very smart. ha ha.

Oh, the other night we had dinner at an inactive members house, and we had steak! it was my first steak in about 4 months. and she was apologizing because she said it was a bad meal. But I was soooo excited! ha ha. She was sick, she had some wine the other night and had an allergic reaction to it. It was her first time drinking and it was her last too. But we talked about blessings from God and about the Word of Wisdom and about life, it was really fun.

I have had a fun time this week talking to drunks, I don't know why this week but we seemed to run into drunks everywhere, they are very nice! ha ha It is amazing how good they can speak English when they have a little liquor in them, so before we'd leave we would give them a Word of Wisdom pamphlet and figure out where their house was so we could go visit them again and stop their drinking! It's what we do. Then we ended up debating a guy for a while the other night who was drunk and a catholic. He was very knowledgeable about the bible. That was kinda fun. The whole conversation was in English. ha ha. Usually they were construction workers. I was watching them work the other day and it is amazing to me how they use everything around to do things. They are so industrious and because most of them have never seen the "easier" way or the American way they are totally content with it. Really its how life is over here, with everyone, it is really amazing to see what they can do with their limited utilities and with what little they have they do great things.

We had a new missionary come in this week, I met him briefly in the MTC then today we went to Pundaquit as a zone and I got to visit with him. He's gonna have some challenges, but I hope I will be able to help him. He has been spoiled all his life and never had to work for anything but we talked about that today and I think he will come around as soon as he realizes what his mission is. I'm sure I was (am) the same way in some aspects. ha ah

Well I gotta run, Thank you all for your prayers. And thank you to all of you who make it possible for me to be here

Love you all
Elder Chase

9 Nov 2009

Hey everyone,

Today I got to really one of the beautiful places in the Philippines we went over to Pundakit which is a resort and its on the edge of the South China sea, it was awesome, and I got SUNBURNED gosh dang it. ha ha I forgot my sunscreen.

We were out proselyting the other day and we were visiting a member and I found out that her next door neighbor is a veterinarian so we got talking about vet stuff, it was really fun, ha ha then we got taking about vaccines and he said that if we have parvo vaccine in America he was going to call me. It was funny, then he offered his services to the church if the mission ever needed anything for an animal service project, it was really neat, oh, and he showed me how they neuter dogs it was pretty crazy! no sedatives! but I won't go into the details.

Investigators, we have a baptism this coming Saturday and then 1, hopefully 2 next Saturday, the one this week is sister Arlene, she has one little girl and is a single parent. A great lady and helps me all the time with my Tagalog. then next week we have the golden Iglesia couple, Sister Jane and Jonathan Fontillas, Jane consented right off but Brother Jonathan is a little hesitant because he doesn't think he will be ready, so we will keep working with him but they are a great model of how a family should be, they are raising their son definitely in love and righteousness even though not members. And they are members of a great and abominable church right now ha ha.

Oh, earlier when we were at the beach, my companion (Elder Erispe) who is a nurse saved an old guy's life, he couldn't breathe and was having a bad asthma attack and so Elder Erispe knew exactly what to do, it was cool seeing him in action, then the ol' boy blacked out! that just added to the intensity of the situation then he came out of it and started breathing a little better, it was cool. Definitely a miracle from God because if we hadn't of been there he might have died. Count your many blessings!

Other than what I've mentioned it was kind of a slow week.

Oh, last week I didn't have time to mention that we went to a rice mill which was owned by a member. Those who know me know I like to see how things work so I made the operator give me a tour of the machine it was SOOOO COOOOL! ha ha but yeah.

Its been really neat to see how many little miracles happen every day, like if we get off at the wrong place or turn down the wrong road, there is someone there that needs to hear our message, I love those moment's and look for them always, I know this church is true without a doubt!

Thank you to all of you that make it possible for me to be out here, I love you all
Elder Chase

Hey everyone,

I ate bolout the other day for the first time, it really wasn't that bad! ha ha It does taste just like chicken broth then the embryo isn't too bad either. ha ha

I went to my first Philipino viewing on Tuesday, it was at one of the investigator's house, her nephew was working as a security guard in Manila and got stabbed, he was only 19 years old. It was sad, but a good teaching experience. We taught about the plan of salvation.

I made it thru transfers and both Elder Erispe and I are still here in San Marcelino, I'm so excited! and to make it even better, we have a house here now too. We transferred apartment's today, I'm so excited to actually be here. We will save so much time and money on travel now.

We had a baptism on Saturday, Mark (13) and Bernadeth (12) Peralta, it was really neat. We have been teaching them since I got here and this day has been long awaited. I was so happy for them. We will probably have another baptism in 2 weeks I'm excited for that too.

Sunday was all Saint's day and that is a very big deal, the whole town was out at the cemetery all day so we couldn't teach in town. So we went out to the cemetery and taught plan of salvation and talked with some of our investigators. It was an okay day, but not really productive, but oh well, as a missionary you have those sometimes.

I'm really sorry this is so short but I had a big email then the internet kicked me out and I ran out of time, I'll write more next week

Love you all
Elder Chase