Thought you'd be glad to know. Also it was an okay week. Why do I have no emails though? I got one from Andrea dated last week that was just asking me if I was there ... then another starting from Andrea about something she wanted for Christmas... this is no good. You all have 7 days to write one email to me. Bitter gitter done.
I suppose I'll talk about my week... I think that's mainly the point of me emailing. BUT! before that. I will say the things I wrote down this week to not forget.
1. Mom... those addresses... still need them. Especially Garrett's MTC address and the Taylor's address. Also news on Trevor Taylor if they have any... where he's at.. how he's doing... news of that sort.
2. My question was never answered if it's possible to get an original style book of mormon... like how they printed them originally. OBVIOUSLY not an original copy , but just the same style. I'm wondering if anyone still prints them in that style for people like me that want one.
3. Borocay ... they tell me that's the nicest resort in the Philippines. It's located in the Aklan Region of the Philippines , I think , on the island Panay or something like that. The same island that Ilo-Ilo is on. So (probably Andrea) please do me a favor and just look up rates and stuff and what that place costs. Pilipinos don't really know.... I'm just very curious how much something like that would cost and how far within Brandon's price range that is. We all know he can afford it.
4. If it's at all possible , please obtain some kind of small magic things to enhance my awesome abilities of entertaining kids out here. Something like a trick coin or something small like that ... I continually have to get creative... and I'm not a creative person. Once again , though , I'll tell you how effective it is to win over parents through their kids.
5. Mom - did you get / deliver my letters to Garrett and the market? I have no proof whether or not they got them , so that either means they're still at the house (I'll go ahead and say I trust they got delivered) or there's no love coming to me!
6. Did June get any of my letters? Haven't really heard from her in a long time , so I don't know if she got any of my letters I sent home to her house.
7. Momma - again before you send off that package , if anyone can get some cool little mormon or missionary books that are fun to read and have good tips / I don't know. But .. I mean ... I'm trapped. Ha. I would just love anything from the outside world pertaining to the church or the mission. So any little books or stuff for missionaries would be splendid. Talk to Aunt Debbie , she sent me an awesome little book while I was in the MTC.
8. How is everyone? What's everyone doing? Brandon...Trevor...Courtney? Did they die? I wouldn't know!
Okay , I think that's it really. I'll talk about the week while talking to you guys through the other email.
Monday , was Pday... we were in Tayug and I dropped off my Preach My Gospel to get hard bound , finally. I think that's something unique that only Philippines Missionaries do ... I've never seen it anywhere else. Anyways. The covers had completely come off , so it'll be good to finally get it bound. It cost 300 Pesos though... I thought it was going to be 70. I literally have had no money this week. I've had so many costs that have destroyed my money. So I'm trying to (word? I forget... like scratch together?) some pesos to pay for this internet and then money for bus on wednesday to get to Rosales for District Meeting. We get support on Wednesday... they say. I hate hate hate the money system they have now. It's ridiculous. I have no food in the house , and no money , and I can't buy groceries until next Pday which is monday. I don't know why they can't just set it up so we get it every other monday like we used to do... the guy in charge here in the mission is quite lazy in my opinion. It's so dumb. So yeah.
Alright ... just got a big surge of emails. That is neat.
So anyways , last Monday. After we got home we went to go teach a lesson ... but got punted till later , so went and contacted a referral. Ha... awkward. First off the referral is a friend of a 15 year old investigator of ours. So when at 7 o clock at night two marriageable - aged guys stand in front of a house asking for a 15 year old girl (who ended having a slight... mental... disability) in a nation that is quite used to serranading (sp?) ... it raised a few eyebrows. But it ended up being okay , she had a lot of family there and they ended up being somewhat interested as we shared a bit about the plan of salvation. Tuesday- district meeting in rosales. That was way fun , got to be with the whole zone for once (the occassions are now pretty rare) and so hanging out with other americans is allwwayyss a treat. It was also the last time I would see Elder Podz here in the mission , so that was sad to say goodbye. But afterwards we ate macdo then headed home. Also ... did I tell you guys we're not giving Books of Mormon of 10 pesos each not free? I don't remember if I've said that yet. I reeaalllyy hated it at first , the idea. But after hearing President Jensen talk about it for a while I realized it's a great great way to sift out whose actually interested , and to just peak an interest in them. He quoted someone saying if you're rich or something , never give anything away for free. People will either demean what you've given or take advantage of you ... and it's kind of true. We're giving away a book that costs a loott more to make , and when we give it away for free they're usually just like oh thanks ... and put it aside. But now it's like they're investing in something. I like it now.
Anyways after that it really was a regular week of lessons and stuff ... they're really not exciting. I wish they were. But on Thursday I got to go on splits in San Nicolos , which is an area that was just reopened finally after 8 or 9 years. It waasss awweeesssommmeeee. First I was finally with a companion that likes his mission (not kidding) second we just talked to everyone and it was so much more fun. That's what I was hoping a mission was and not just going from lesson to lesson like my companion likes doing. For being a pilipino ... he hates talking to other pilipinos. So I do all of the talking and stuff. But we just talked to everyone we could and walked around for about 7 hours. Ended up teaching 4 lessons on the street and giving away (for 10 pesos) 4 Books of Mormon. Oh man , a fresh na fresh area is so awesome. So much potential. So that was way way fun.
So , that's pretty much all that was fun about my week , and Callie says my emails are drone (niiiiceee Elder White. that's a good word) so I'll share an insight I had the other day while reading in Alma. So Alma 36:20 - 21. It's Alma talking to Helaman about his conversion story (he loves talking about it) and mentions how horrible his pains were , and then how awesome his peace was afterwards. So it made me think about two things.
ONE! That repentance is a mirror. It's an exact reflection of how we are before and after. So (this is not doctrine , my opinion lang) however deep a person is in a certain sin , his testimony of that repentance process and his joy afterwards will be equal to his sin before. I do not believe someone can have a deep deep testimony of the repentance process if they have never really walked the path. I take as another example President Kimball. I've read a lot about President K while on my mission and most of the Miracle of Forgiveness. I love this man. Wow , he's so good at chastizing. But in my opinion , he has had some experiences in his life that has deepened substantially his testimony of repentance. And it is only because of his experiences that now he feels so strongly about it.
and TWO! This is Christ's measure of Love for us. I've tried to comprehend many times what he felt for us , especially while in the Garden. How much incredible selflessness it would take to do an act like that. And thinking of this act of repentance kind of helped me see how much he actually loves us. He took upon himself the sins , pains , afflictions (Alma 7:11-12) , and so on of everyoneeee. He felt everything. He knows everyone. And because of this , in my opinion , that is his level of Love. He loves us 180 perfect degrees of the pain he felt. So if we can imagine (we can't) what it would feel like to bear every pain ever experiences throughout eternity (keep in mind this atonement satisfied the demands of justice for all worlds ... so there are more than) ... flip that around ... and that's His Love.
So that's what I got out of those scriptures the other day. Mom , I'm consistently trying to get a letter out to you about some other thoughts I had. My personal study is really the most spiritual time of my day , now. Unfortunately. Maybe that'll change when I become a senior , but I am dying for a companion that actually loves his mission and is not counting down the days till he goes home. I really haven't felt the spirit as strong as I did my first transfer for a while. I donno what needs to change.
Okay. Well on Wednesday we find out transfers ... whether I'll be a senior or not , whether Elder Salde will be transferred. So I'll report next week!
Love you all , you're in my prayers!
-Elder White
No comments:
Post a Comment