week 13

Geeeeze. I am a tad in shock of those pictures. First off- how is it possible for us to have that much snow? Second off- how is it possible that snow is not still on the drive way?
I'm sure Dad wasn't do much about that , so Mom- kudos on a nice black drive way! And third... that trapeze picture was ridiculous , ahah. I wonder how scared you were , Mom , and how hard Courtney was laughing. That's not something everyone can say they've done , ha. I doubt I'd do that.. I'm not a big fan of heights.

Quick Note- tell June she better write me soon! No letter two weeks in a row isn't acceptable , and please tell her to let Dagan know that I can't write him back through email :\ but if I can get his address I'd love to send him a letter.

ALSO! New Segment I'm installing in this week's letter.. maybe next week's too.

BACKWARDS CULTURE TIME!
- First this week. Fun Fact- The word " ho " here is incredibly respectful. I kid you not. It's like a step down from po which is equivalent to sir or ma'am.
So that was BACKWARDS CULTURE TIME!!

Sooooooooooooooooo about my week. Today I'm in San Carlos with a Zone Leader because my companion and his companion are going home next week and so they're at a "career workshop" in Dagupan. I guess learning how to get a career when they get home, not really sure. So we've been hanging out here today and I've bought some cool stuff for the family. I'm going to amass a lot of stuff and then send it home in a few months. I've already got some stuff I'm excited to send home.

So highlights of the week- not too too many. We've had a crazy busy week , like I said last time , so didn't have that much time to work. Still got a lot of lessons in and a few New Investigators which is always awesome. Tuesday was District Meeting , so we didn't get home until like 4 or 5. Wednesday we had to leave the area at 3:30 to go do Baptism Interviews for Bayambang in Bayambang. Thursday we had Weekly Planning Session until 2 , Friday we had to help the Warding Elders move in until 12 and then I went on splits in San Carlos with the other Zone Leader. And Saturday we had to attend a wedding and two baptisms , so didn't get home until 5. So... so much time spent not in our area. The lessons we did teach , though , went pretty well- as always. Really , we haven't had that many investigators lose interest in us.. only progress , ha. It's been a blessing. But the best part of the week came last night. So our baptism we had at the beginning of this transfer was Rafael Tulagan. He was found because originally his wife was referred to previous missionaries. So they had taught her a few times , and then she lost interest and didn't care for the lessons anymore. But her husband was kind of listening and ended up being the focus after she stopped being there for the appointments. So they taught him for about 6 weeks and then we baptized him. So after he was baptized , I was in the area now , we went back a few times to visit him and see how he was doing , because you need to do that obviously. And his wife was there for the last one or two times of us teaching and she really started to like us. So, our focus then switched to her and she allowed it. She kept being there for appointments and eventually started giving us marianda , which means like snacks or something polite you serve to people when they come over. Which is crazy , because my comp says he's never gotten one there before. So we taught her about 4 times and everything was so positive and we committed her to baptism a week ago and she said yes. That was awesome. Then we came back a few days later and she wanted us to push up the day into February , because her date stands at March 5 right now. So we were like if you meet the requirements , there's no problem with that- we just wanted to give you a little time. That was awesome. But last night, our appointment was at 7 , we get there and she already has dinner for us.. ha. She's so nice. So we eat dinner and then we only had like 20 minutes left before our next appointment , so we were like um what should we teach. Elder Lefler goes , "bahala ka". Which means like you're the boss. So I'm like umm maybe faith , so I look through Ether 12 real quick , thinking I'm going to share 12:6 , which.. Mom + Dad .. common verse. As you know , obviously. But I read a little further and was like woah Ether 12:12 is waay cool. Show my comp , and he's like wow I'm writing that down. And so as we read it and he's talking about it and entire flood of thoughts come to my mind about what to say. So , as the missionary I am , I wrote it all down as fast as I could before I forgot. And then after my comp spoke I did as best I could to translate all of my thoughts into Tagalog and they came out waay clear. Very , very clear. Because Ether 12:12 is about the correlation between miracles and faith , I said something along the lines of reading the book of mormon is a miracle. Because as we read it we feel the spirit. We have feelings from READING A BOOK. I didn't yell that , ha , but that was my point. That our body triggers emotions because of something external telling us what we are reading is of God , is of a power outside of our comprehension. Now my words could never be that deep , so I phrased it much differently. But I was saying how we must first have faith. Because as it says in 12:12 , there's no way to see a miracle if we lack faith. That miracles ARE free but REQUIRE faith , and all of that plus much much more came all at once to me as I was reading this verse and trying my best to write it all down. So. That was awesome. But not even the best part. We then finished our lesson and as we were walking out and thanked them a million times and told them magandang gabi and all , as we are about to get on the tryke (because me and E. Lefler had to head to San Carlos last night to sleep at the ZL's house because of the career workshop they had to leave way early in the morning) , their little son runs out and goes 'Elder White, sulat para sa iyo' which means , Elder White here's a note for you. So I told E. Lefler because we figured it was for both of us and we're like oh that's awesome , we'll read it when we're on the bus. So as we're waiting for a bus by the highway to pick us up I remembered it and opened it up and started reading. And I was just blown away by it. Here I'll write what it says.

Elder,
Thank you for everything!!!
Thank you for walang sawang pagtuturo niyo sa akin , tungkol sa Book of Mormon...
I thank God because naging masaya ako this past few days...
Thank you because of you, Elder White. Ang nagbigay ng liwanag sa aking isip!!...
Ngayon ko lang nararamdaman na ang Book of Mormon ay totoo...
So again and again... , thank you and God bless!!!

-Mayette


It was the highlight to my week! Haha. I'll translate. Roughly says.
Thank you for everything , thank you for not giving up on teaching me about the book of mormon. I thank God because I have been so happy these past few days. Thank you because of you , Elder White. You have given light to my thoughts. Now I feel that the Book of Mormon is true. So again and again , thank you and God Bless!

I was so so happy! Hahaha. I've wondered so much lately even what our relationship was , because when my companion goes home next week I'll get a new companion and if there's not a strong bond between me and the people I'm teaching the ties can be unloosed so easily. But when I read that I was so so so happy. Oh man , I LOVE missionary work. Nothing , nothing , nothing is more joyous than this work. I think about stuff back home all the time. How good life is back home. How much I miss hot showers , and driving , and different food , and my friends and family. But nights like last night are just thousands and thousands times better than home. Just seeing the change in somebody from a BOOK and from a couple of americans explaining what that book means to them , is just incredible. In the end it is just a BOOK. But because that book is true , that means every word inside the blue covers is true. Which means every promise and every story and every event is true. And when they hear that and really really UNDERSTAND the significance of that , true true change occurs. Pure doctrine changes everything. It kills me when people here ask us to not meet with them or don't show up for appointments because they're not interested. But when I get a note like that and see the change in somebody it makes everything worth it. Every sacrifice. I feel like the motto of my time is Alma 26 , because no chapter in the book of mormon hits me harder than that. But the last few verses especially. The last 3. But when he says "there never were men that had so great reason to rejoice as we." Oh man! I'm convinced that is an impossible scripture to understand without the experience of missionary work. Without being able to witness the joy in someone's eyes when coming unto the gospel and the joy you feel when you bring them there. I think she's going to be the first person I baptize here , and I am so happy for that chance.

The people here are just incredibly humble , and I love every minute of my time. Every spider I have to hunt down and kill in my dungeon of an apartment , every mystery meat I see staring up at me from a member's dinner. This work exhausts every bit of you mind body and soul , but I would feel so empty without it. Mom and Dad , THANK YOU for not letting me be stupid , hahaha. Thank you for always pushing me in the smart direction.

I need to get going , but here's the last couple things I wanted to add. I heard this talk last night that is absolutely incredible. Please search it. Youtube , google , doesn't matter. But listen to it , don't just read it. It's called The Mortal Christ by Jack Christenson. Odds are you've already heard it or read it , but if not go search it out. Wow. I've grown a testimony of too many things to count , here on a mission. But if there was a top two it would be the Book of Mormon and Christ. Together that can change the life , mind , personality of any person on Earth. When someone truly understands this message and His Gospel... miracles occur. And no book can bring about more meaning to our lives than this book. It shouldn't be compared , but it really is so so so much better than the Bible. The Bible has caused so much trial through other religions in this world , but the Book of Mormon is so simple and so unique , that there's no way people can sit down and change doctrine and meanings to their liking. This Gospel is simple , and people have distorted it into the most confusing thing possible. That's a shame.

So that's all I have for this week. The rest of my week just didn't really compare to last night so I didn't feel like writing too much about it , haha. Mom and Dad , start sending me your favorite verses in the Book of Mormon. I'm way curious what they are. I already told you that Alma 26 is mine. Specifically 12 and the last three.

Love you all and miss you all.

Talk to you next week!