Subject: a short one. more next week.
hey so this is a really short email. we have to be at a family home evening in a bit and this day has been CRAZY!!! just got into the internet cafe. so today was transfer calls and i am opening up a new zone! i'm a new zone leader in the new zone with elder antanacio. i'm excited about the move, the new zone but not so much the new comp. elder antanacio is INFAMOUS in our mission for being so obedient that he is a jerk about it. and i mean, i'm obedient. but i'm not a stickler. like, he goes out of his way to correct other people. and he is very uptight. maybe the Lord wants me to teach him how to have fun in the mission while still being obedient and effective.
things this week have been alright. no broken hearts. i'm at breaking point with our branch president who refuses to communicate with me or acknowledge my presence. thats his choice. i'm getting transferred at the right time.
sorry that this email is so short. hope you understand. we were stranded in san remegio all day long for a zone activity. i think i saw a caveman over there it was so....whats the word in english for no technology? cuz thats what the place was like.
love you guys.
GO GIANTS!!!!
brandon
Elder Treadway
First baptism in the Ocean
Cebu, Philippines
October 19, 2010
Whats up family!
Remember that family that was like 8 people and super prepped for the gospel? Yeah....well, they are getting more difficult. After our encounter with the husband of one of the sisters who BLEW ME UP with Matthew 16:18 about Peter being the Rock of Christ's church and stuff, we were ready for a comeback. So we went back and it was just the really confused guy and his nephew. So we started talking and stuff. Realized that he just needed to pray to know. So I looked him dead in the eyes and did something that I have never done before. I said, "If you want to know that this is true, you have to pray. So let's get on our knees right now and pray to know if this is true. And I testify to you in the name of Jesus Christ that you will receive an answer.".............WHAT?!?!?!
So we go into the other room and kneel down. Just the four of us. I explain how to pray again. Then I offered up a prayer to give us all the assurance that the Book of Mormon is true, that Joseph Smith is a prophet, and that this is Christ's restored gospel. As I was praying, I felt that fire inside me. It was awesome! It just reaffirmed what I knew to be true. I even opened my eyes a little to see if they were feeling it too. So I ended and Seupule went. He did the same thing. Then brother Roldan offered up the prayer to ask. After his prayer, no one moved. We all just kneeled there in silence. Then I asked, "What do you feel?" He looked at me sincerely and I could feel his desire to know as he said, "Nothing."
.......................wait. What? I thought that my boldness and acting on the Spirit like this was supposed to work! But I realized later that he did feel it. I know he did. He just didn't know what it was. And his questions need to be a little more specific. So the next Elder is going to have some fun with this family.
Its been one heck of a week. Two new committed for baptism with a baptism this Saturday, next Saturday and the Saturday after that AND the Saturday after that. Nice huh? 9 committed in all.
So lets see. I'm getting Christmas questions. So here is a solid list:
~Wembley neckties or similar styles
~Dri-Lux or mesh garments (LS bottoms and L tops)
~"The Great Apostasy" by Talmage and "The Articles of Faith" by Talmage
~Money? Could always use money
~Sour Patch Kids
Thats a good start. I'll add to the list next week. I'll think of some stuff.
Love you guys! We had some rain the other night from the big storm up north but nothing abnormal.
Brandon
Remember that family that was like 8 people and super prepped for the gospel? Yeah....well, they are getting more difficult. After our encounter with the husband of one of the sisters who BLEW ME UP with Matthew 16:18 about Peter being the Rock of Christ's church and stuff, we were ready for a comeback. So we went back and it was just the really confused guy and his nephew. So we started talking and stuff. Realized that he just needed to pray to know. So I looked him dead in the eyes and did something that I have never done before. I said, "If you want to know that this is true, you have to pray. So let's get on our knees right now and pray to know if this is true. And I testify to you in the name of Jesus Christ that you will receive an answer.".............WHAT?!?!?!
So we go into the other room and kneel down. Just the four of us. I explain how to pray again. Then I offered up a prayer to give us all the assurance that the Book of Mormon is true, that Joseph Smith is a prophet, and that this is Christ's restored gospel. As I was praying, I felt that fire inside me. It was awesome! It just reaffirmed what I knew to be true. I even opened my eyes a little to see if they were feeling it too. So I ended and Seupule went. He did the same thing. Then brother Roldan offered up the prayer to ask. After his prayer, no one moved. We all just kneeled there in silence. Then I asked, "What do you feel?" He looked at me sincerely and I could feel his desire to know as he said, "Nothing."
.......................wait. What? I thought that my boldness and acting on the Spirit like this was supposed to work! But I realized later that he did feel it. I know he did. He just didn't know what it was. And his questions need to be a little more specific. So the next Elder is going to have some fun with this family.
Its been one heck of a week. Two new committed for baptism with a baptism this Saturday, next Saturday and the Saturday after that AND the Saturday after that. Nice huh? 9 committed in all.
So lets see. I'm getting Christmas questions. So here is a solid list:
~Wembley neckties or similar styles
~Dri-Lux or mesh garments (LS bottoms and L tops)
~"The Great Apostasy" by Talmage and "The Articles of Faith" by Talmage
~Money? Could always use money
~Sour Patch Kids
Thats a good start. I'll add to the list next week. I'll think of some stuff.
Love you guys! We had some rain the other night from the big storm up north but nothing abnormal.
Brandon
October 5, 2010
Hey everyone.
So things are great! Just got out of the temple and just withdrew all my cash to go to the mall. I'M ROLLIN IN PESOS KIDS!!!!! I'm gonna get a new backpack, some new shirts, some socks, some protein mix (on my Christmas list by the way), I just bought some sweet Carabao horn belts, and bought a book at the Distribution Center. I never realized how close my birthday is to Christmas! I would really like copies of 'Articles of Faith' and 'The Great Apostasy' by James E. Talmage. I'm almost done with 'A Marvelous Work and a Wonder' and just bought 'The Miracle of Forgiveness'. What was I reading before my mission? Nothing this good. haha. I guess I could really go for some new garments. The garments here in the Philippines SUCK! I bought a pair and it feels like I have a ring of fire around my chest and...southern hemisphere. So some Dri-Lux is on my list. Aaaaand....idk. I really love Sour Patch Kids. I know you think thats ridiculous Dad but its like the only candy I CAN'T buy here and it just so happens to be my favorite! BTW, Grandma, thanks for the candy package. Got it this week. I shared it with my investigators. They loved it. But their faces when I gave them the Sour Punch Straws was AMAZING!!!! I don't think I've ever seen someone's face get that twisted from sourness!!! hahahaha. And I can always use money. Seriously.
So my investigators are great. Just last night we taught the Conson family. One of the only FULL families that I have taught. Its actually the only one. Its a mom, dad and 4 kids. They are awesome. Sister Alkana is Baptist and Brother Manwill is Catholic. We had a great lesson last night about the Plan of Salvation. Sister Alkana is the spirtual leader of the family and her hangup was that she REALLY has been searching for a long time to know what happens to us after we die. So we skimmed over the plan of salvation and taught from death to the Kingdoms of Glory. They loved it. Looking back I'm cringing that I dropped the ball and DIDN'T invite them to be baptized again. It was perfect. But we're going back to teach it all again as review next time. I'll do it then. The kids were dying because I was on exchanges with the American missionary from another area. His language was AWFUL!!! The 8 year old snorted halfway through the lesson from holding in his laughter. hahahahahaha. I just told the Elder to keep going. Hope to have them come to General Conference this week. That's right. We get it a week later.
Our other investigators the Antilegando family are doing AWESOME!!!! Two of them came to church this last Sunday. (They were 2 of 6!) Its Merly, her two kids Mel-Jed and Joy and her sister Maryjean. Mal-Jed and Jean came to church. We taught them about the Spirit World this last week and when we talked about work for the dead a little. I pulled out my Gospel Art Book and showed a pic of the Salt Lake Temple. Sister Maryjean gasped and turned to everyone else, put her hand over her heart and said, "Do you feel that?" .......yeah. They are that good. hahaha. We're teaching the dad tomorrow for the first time. We just need to get him all buttered up with the Spirit. It'll happen. PRAY FOR HIM PLEASE!!!! I have fasted, prayed, prayed in the temple, put his name on the prayer roll, EVERYTHING to get Heavenly Father's help with him. I'm nervous but have faith that it will be okay.
Then there's the Girls. The four girls we teach nightly. They are 8, 9, 10, and 11. Every night I leave them a Book of Mormon story and then we talk about it. Best idea I've ever had (with the Spirit's help). They pick a picture in the Gospel Art Book and then I give them the story. They have been DYING to hear the Waters of Mormon story. So I gave it last night. Those girls LOVE the book of Mormon. I was going to buy them each a Book of Mormon Reader in Cebuano but they were sold out. Next time.
Elder Seupule is calming down. He's starting to joke around a little more. Its good.
Love you all.
See you later Mountain Faces,
Brandon
So things are great! Just got out of the temple and just withdrew all my cash to go to the mall. I'M ROLLIN IN PESOS KIDS!!!!! I'm gonna get a new backpack, some new shirts, some socks, some protein mix (on my Christmas list by the way), I just bought some sweet Carabao horn belts, and bought a book at the Distribution Center. I never realized how close my birthday is to Christmas! I would really like copies of 'Articles of Faith' and 'The Great Apostasy' by James E. Talmage. I'm almost done with 'A Marvelous Work and a Wonder' and just bought 'The Miracle of Forgiveness'. What was I reading before my mission? Nothing this good. haha. I guess I could really go for some new garments. The garments here in the Philippines SUCK! I bought a pair and it feels like I have a ring of fire around my chest and...southern hemisphere. So some Dri-Lux is on my list. Aaaaand....idk. I really love Sour Patch Kids. I know you think thats ridiculous Dad but its like the only candy I CAN'T buy here and it just so happens to be my favorite! BTW, Grandma, thanks for the candy package. Got it this week. I shared it with my investigators. They loved it. But their faces when I gave them the Sour Punch Straws was AMAZING!!!! I don't think I've ever seen someone's face get that twisted from sourness!!! hahahaha. And I can always use money. Seriously.
So my investigators are great. Just last night we taught the Conson family. One of the only FULL families that I have taught. Its actually the only one. Its a mom, dad and 4 kids. They are awesome. Sister Alkana is Baptist and Brother Manwill is Catholic. We had a great lesson last night about the Plan of Salvation. Sister Alkana is the spirtual leader of the family and her hangup was that she REALLY has been searching for a long time to know what happens to us after we die. So we skimmed over the plan of salvation and taught from death to the Kingdoms of Glory. They loved it. Looking back I'm cringing that I dropped the ball and DIDN'T invite them to be baptized again. It was perfect. But we're going back to teach it all again as review next time. I'll do it then. The kids were dying because I was on exchanges with the American missionary from another area. His language was AWFUL!!! The 8 year old snorted halfway through the lesson from holding in his laughter. hahahahahaha. I just told the Elder to keep going. Hope to have them come to General Conference this week. That's right. We get it a week later.
Our other investigators the Antilegando family are doing AWESOME!!!! Two of them came to church this last Sunday. (They were 2 of 6!) Its Merly, her two kids Mel-Jed and Joy and her sister Maryjean. Mal-Jed and Jean came to church. We taught them about the Spirit World this last week and when we talked about work for the dead a little. I pulled out my Gospel Art Book and showed a pic of the Salt Lake Temple. Sister Maryjean gasped and turned to everyone else, put her hand over her heart and said, "Do you feel that?" .......yeah. They are that good. hahaha. We're teaching the dad tomorrow for the first time. We just need to get him all buttered up with the Spirit. It'll happen. PRAY FOR HIM PLEASE!!!! I have fasted, prayed, prayed in the temple, put his name on the prayer roll, EVERYTHING to get Heavenly Father's help with him. I'm nervous but have faith that it will be okay.
Then there's the Girls. The four girls we teach nightly. They are 8, 9, 10, and 11. Every night I leave them a Book of Mormon story and then we talk about it. Best idea I've ever had (with the Spirit's help). They pick a picture in the Gospel Art Book and then I give them the story. They have been DYING to hear the Waters of Mormon story. So I gave it last night. Those girls LOVE the book of Mormon. I was going to buy them each a Book of Mormon Reader in Cebuano but they were sold out. Next time.
Elder Seupule is calming down. He's starting to joke around a little more. Its good.
Love you all.
See you later Mountain Faces,
Brandon
September 28, 2010
So happy birthday to me huh? haha.
Its been a good week. and its gonna be a great day. no one should be worried about my birthday not being awesome. you know that i can make a party out of anything. heres what we're doing. one of the kids in the branch had his birthday yesterday so we're celebrating tonight at his family's place. its gonna be great. LOTS of food. i'm buying. and we're gonna watch the testaments and go sing karaoke. i invited about 8 of my investigators that live next to them. the testaments will be a good way for them to feel the spirit. even though they already know the book of mormon is true. we have about 19 investigators now. and they all are getting towards baptism. its awesome. the lord is finally blessing me for my work in my last area.
um..thank you all for sending me the things you have. thanks for the cash deposits. i'm gonna try and do thank you notes. it'll happen. i promise.
So last night we taught these girls that are committed for baptism. we finished teaching the first lesson to them and they were BEGGING for me to give them the next pamphlet. the girls are 8, 9, 10 and 11 years old. they came to church on sunday and loved it. they love reading the book of mormon and pretty much anything i give them. they wanted to know what was up with the old guy on the boat in the book of mormon pictures. i told her it was lehi and said the story was in there. they BEGGED AGAIN for me to give them the story. so i left them the story in 1 nephi 17 and 18. they are awesome girls. they KNOW the church is true and think the book of mormon is the coolest thing ever. they have a baptismal date on october 30 but maybe sooner. we have to wait 4 weeks in the philippines instead of the usual 2 so that we can make sure they are truly converted.
I want to tell you about ALL my investigators and how well they are doing but i just dont have the time! they ALL have a goal to get baptized. its soooooo great! I'm the happiest I have ever been in my life. this is better than seeing spider man 3 at midnight in a costume! SERIOUSLY!!!!
about the whole dear john thing. um...its not that bad. i'm kinda over it. i emailed her and told her how i felt and then it feels like she's freaking out a little and telling me how much she loves me and that me and him stand in different places for her. whatever that means. i didnt email back.
next week im going big time shopping to buy some things that i need. i need better shirts again. i've been working out and these shirts are too small again. apparently there are better shirts at the mall.
love you all.
GO GIANTS!!!
GO COOGS!!!
stay sweet. brandon
Its been a good week. and its gonna be a great day. no one should be worried about my birthday not being awesome. you know that i can make a party out of anything. heres what we're doing. one of the kids in the branch had his birthday yesterday so we're celebrating tonight at his family's place. its gonna be great. LOTS of food. i'm buying. and we're gonna watch the testaments and go sing karaoke. i invited about 8 of my investigators that live next to them. the testaments will be a good way for them to feel the spirit. even though they already know the book of mormon is true. we have about 19 investigators now. and they all are getting towards baptism. its awesome. the lord is finally blessing me for my work in my last area.
um..thank you all for sending me the things you have. thanks for the cash deposits. i'm gonna try and do thank you notes. it'll happen. i promise.
So last night we taught these girls that are committed for baptism. we finished teaching the first lesson to them and they were BEGGING for me to give them the next pamphlet. the girls are 8, 9, 10 and 11 years old. they came to church on sunday and loved it. they love reading the book of mormon and pretty much anything i give them. they wanted to know what was up with the old guy on the boat in the book of mormon pictures. i told her it was lehi and said the story was in there. they BEGGED AGAIN for me to give them the story. so i left them the story in 1 nephi 17 and 18. they are awesome girls. they KNOW the church is true and think the book of mormon is the coolest thing ever. they have a baptismal date on october 30 but maybe sooner. we have to wait 4 weeks in the philippines instead of the usual 2 so that we can make sure they are truly converted.
I want to tell you about ALL my investigators and how well they are doing but i just dont have the time! they ALL have a goal to get baptized. its soooooo great! I'm the happiest I have ever been in my life. this is better than seeing spider man 3 at midnight in a costume! SERIOUSLY!!!!
about the whole dear john thing. um...its not that bad. i'm kinda over it. i emailed her and told her how i felt and then it feels like she's freaking out a little and telling me how much she loves me and that me and him stand in different places for her. whatever that means. i didnt email back.
next week im going big time shopping to buy some things that i need. i need better shirts again. i've been working out and these shirts are too small again. apparently there are better shirts at the mall.
love you all.
GO GIANTS!!!
GO COOGS!!!
stay sweet. brandon
September 21, 2010
Hey everyone! now that our email time is cut short and you all want to hear about how awesome things are going for me. so here you go. tell me if this isn't all good.
so things for me this week went alright. we had a crazy incident with elder seupule last saturday. we were doing a service project with the branch and so we were using pretty big knives called sundongs. so this car drives by and elder seupule is acting like he's stabbing the car. but he's a good 6 feet from the car. so no one saw this but me and i'm like thats not too awesome. so the car stops. and it clicks. oh crap. so the guy gets out and starts talking to a member and i see him point at seupule. so i'm like oh no. then he turns to seupule and yells "whats your problem kid?" in cebuano. so elder seupule doesn't understand. so he starts walking towards the guy asking, "what? what?" but the guy is scared of the grizzly bear coming at him holding a machete/sundong. so he gets in his car and seupule walks up to the window and taps on it asking him what the guy said. then the guy locks his door and starts to drive. seupule, wanting to know what he said, keeps tapping. eventually the car is about to take off and so he chases it and smacks the back...kinda hard. the guy drives off but seupule follows him.
so we decide to go home. on our way back to presidents house to grab our bags we see the car come back. and it stops in front of us and out gets 4-5 guys in their 50s with HUGE sticks of bamboo. and their tapping them in their hands like baseball bats. so its 5 on 2. actually 5 on 3 cuz we have the spirit on our side. so i turn around and tell them we dont want any trouble. and they tell me they want my comp. not me. so i tell them he's not filipino and he doesn't understand the language. so then they tell me that they want to take us to court. them against us. so we went to court.
the best part of this is that they have neighborhood courts. if there's a problem in the neighborhood, the neighborhood captain is the judge. turns out the neighborhood captain is the brother of the guy in the car. so i become the lawyer for my comp. i was soooooooooo stoked!!! i finally get to do some practice and get to debate! so long story short, i school this guy. in his language. i proved to him and to the court that my comp was not liable for his actions because his culture is so far off from this one. then the guy said he thought that he thought seupule wanted to hurt him. i told him that wasn't an excuse because we thought he was going to hurt us with his Outsiders band of bamboo wielding bad boys. (hahahaha. thats an awesome sentence.) so we got off. it was great. case closed. another case won by me.
other than that this week was lame. hahahaha.
we went back to our 8 investigators and they weren't home. we were bummed. too bad. not much time. i had to report the incident to president which took a lot of time.
everyone else......i love you too.
alright!
see you later mountain faces!
elder treadway
so things for me this week went alright. we had a crazy incident with elder seupule last saturday. we were doing a service project with the branch and so we were using pretty big knives called sundongs. so this car drives by and elder seupule is acting like he's stabbing the car. but he's a good 6 feet from the car. so no one saw this but me and i'm like thats not too awesome. so the car stops. and it clicks. oh crap. so the guy gets out and starts talking to a member and i see him point at seupule. so i'm like oh no. then he turns to seupule and yells "whats your problem kid?" in cebuano. so elder seupule doesn't understand. so he starts walking towards the guy asking, "what? what?" but the guy is scared of the grizzly bear coming at him holding a machete/sundong. so he gets in his car and seupule walks up to the window and taps on it asking him what the guy said. then the guy locks his door and starts to drive. seupule, wanting to know what he said, keeps tapping. eventually the car is about to take off and so he chases it and smacks the back...kinda hard. the guy drives off but seupule follows him.
so we decide to go home. on our way back to presidents house to grab our bags we see the car come back. and it stops in front of us and out gets 4-5 guys in their 50s with HUGE sticks of bamboo. and their tapping them in their hands like baseball bats. so its 5 on 2. actually 5 on 3 cuz we have the spirit on our side. so i turn around and tell them we dont want any trouble. and they tell me they want my comp. not me. so i tell them he's not filipino and he doesn't understand the language. so then they tell me that they want to take us to court. them against us. so we went to court.
the best part of this is that they have neighborhood courts. if there's a problem in the neighborhood, the neighborhood captain is the judge. turns out the neighborhood captain is the brother of the guy in the car. so i become the lawyer for my comp. i was soooooooooo stoked!!! i finally get to do some practice and get to debate! so long story short, i school this guy. in his language. i proved to him and to the court that my comp was not liable for his actions because his culture is so far off from this one. then the guy said he thought that he thought seupule wanted to hurt him. i told him that wasn't an excuse because we thought he was going to hurt us with his Outsiders band of bamboo wielding bad boys. (hahahaha. thats an awesome sentence.) so we got off. it was great. case closed. another case won by me.
other than that this week was lame. hahahaha.
we went back to our 8 investigators and they weren't home. we were bummed. too bad. not much time. i had to report the incident to president which took a lot of time.
everyone else......i love you too.
alright!
see you later mountain faces!
elder treadway
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