June 21, 2011

Hey everyone!

So to start everything off, HAPPY FATHER’S DAY DAD! I know I wasn’t there which bites for both of us but don’t worry cuz this is the LAST holiday thingy before I come home. I think that they should let us call but they don’t really let that happen for some reason… Hope Father’s Day was great and you enjoyed yourself in Hawaii.

So this was quite a great week! We had Angel's baptism on Saturday which was awesome! It was a short and sweet baptism but we really felt the Spirit and that's what matters. Right as we finished, a storm started coming in to the coast so we thought it best to probably get out of there and not stick around too much. Buuuut missionaries love picture taking. So we hung around for a bit after everyone left and took some pictures at the beach. It felt great to actually be waist deep in the ocean! haha. I can't wait until you guys pick me up so I can actually have a good time in the water.  It was nice and warm Dad. Just to let you know.  She bore a great testimony to us at the end of the baptism. It was really great. Great day for us. After 8 weeks of working really hard we get to see some nice fruits of our labors. We baptize. That’s what we do. Not for the numbers. We do it because that’s how people come unto Christ. Legit.

Then over the past couple of days Elder Culango and I have really put an emphasis on tracting. Yesterday we I2L’d about 80 people on top of the 40 or so we tracted into the other day which puts us at 120 of our 140 goal. We have lots of return appointments too. I’m pretty sure this is my last transfer here though. Its true diligence to work hard to improve an area even when you know you aren’t going to be there to reap the benefits of your labor in that area. But that’s okay. Christ got transferred (to heaven) before he was able to some of the people he taught get converted. But that’s not what mattered to Him. He just did what He was supposed to do, was obedient and then when it was His time to go, He didn’t complain. He’s the best example of everything.

Thanks Dad. To be honest, I am really shy to take money out. But right now we’ve been eating vegetarian! We ate some chicken yesterday for the first time in 2 weeks and it tasted like manna! Haha. Elder Culango and I have really been pounding down the vegetables. We make this mix with lentil beans, coconut milk and some vegetables that is sooooo freaking good! Slap that on some rice and you are feeling good until dinner! Then for dinner you have some vegetables that got boiled in some water and then you put in some meat taste powder, boom! Then you throw that on some rice too! Its delicious! But when things get really tight to where we won’t have any money (aka Emergencies) then I’ll take some money out. Thanks for your concern.

Love you guys! Take it easy! Don’t stress yourselves out. Just stick with the basics and life is easy. Trust me on that one.

I’ll be home for Christmas!

Brandon

June 14, 2011

Hey gang!

So this week consisted of us trying to survive basically. Haha. We had no money up until Friday. We had our Zone Conference in Cebu so each of us had to borrow 500 pesos from the zone fund to make sure that we would at least be able to make it to the Conference. We kept trying to put together plans with the APs that would be cheap for us to get to the Conference once we got to Cebu but certain conditions made it so that we had to drive aaaaall the way to the temple and then backtrack to Mandaue. Not the greatest plan but we kinda had to do it. Thanks for putting some cash into the account. I took out enough to make it back to Camotes and to get us something to eat for the next couple days while we wait for support. Our situation is a dark one here with no ATM. But we must survive!

Sunday we went back to talk to the Seventh Day Adventist, Joel. We sat down and to be honest, we were relying 100000000% percent on the Spirit to tell us what to talk about. Once we finished the opening prayer I knew that we had to talk about the thing that he had NO belief in—Priesthood. So we started talking about it. I told him that our message is that the Church of Jesus Christ has been restored to the Earth through the Prophet Joseph Smith. All of it has been restored—most importantly the Priesthood and he stopped me instantly. He said that Priesthood is a hoax that the Jews believed in so that they could say that they were better than everyone else and a “chosen” people. He said he didn’t believe that. I told him that that was not the purpose of the Priesthood. He told us that any person can be used by God to do His will. I told him that he was correct but nobody can perform the ordinances of the Gospel without the Priesthood. Then I took him on a journey. We took a little journey from Exodus to Deuteronomy and then to Hebrews and then to the Gospels and then to the Book of Mormon and then we threw a little testimony on it for seasoning. DING! He goes, “Okay. I believe in this priesthood thing. But about the Sabbath day—“ Yeah. So we told him that when we come back we’ll talk about the Sabbath Day. Haha. Its great. It all comes back to that for them. We go back on Sunday.

Then yesterday we got shut down by our investigator. He was super good every time that we taught him. He was asking all sorts of questions, making it an actual convo, all the good stuff you want. We hadn’t been able to teach him much but he had a Book of Mormon and told us that he was going to read it. Then yesterday we get there and he comes out with his Book of Mormon. He’s like, “Thanks! I don’t want this!” Then he basically insulted us to our face and told us that they Book of Mormon was as worthless as trying to harvest corn with wood rather than a scythe (Wow. Witty right?) and that he thinks its just a joke. He apparently got healed in his church and that was good enough for him. So I wasn’t going to argue with him. He can do what he wants. Is the Book of Mormon true? Yeah! Too bad he won’t read it.

Things are going alright. Angel’s brother Dominic is getting less shy of us so things are getting better there. We’re stoked for Angel’s baptism this Saturday. 10 am in the ocean! She asked me to do it so I’m pretty stoked. I haven’t been able to baptize in the ocean yet.

 Talk to you guys next week. Love you guys. See you guys for Christmas! And Thanksgiving puhon. Haha.

Brandon

May 24, 2011

Hey dad.

So to be honest, this week went a lot better. My comp had a chat with the mission president and they discussed the things that were making him irritated. Apparently there were some things going on back home that had him kind of ticked off. So once he was able to talk to the President about them, things made a U turn. So thats good. We are able to end well cuz now I have a new comp. Elder Culango. He's a kid from Davao. Interestingly enough, we were already living in the same house. He just stepped up from DL to ZL. So I get to train him as a ZL. Its great cuz we're already good friends and we had kind of talked about this being our situation. We're both stoked.

Its cool when I get to hear that you guys are doing missionary work back home too. Sometimes I just get discouraged out here because sometimes members forget that we shouldn't have to go tracting! We should be getting at least 2 referrals a week! When we get a referral its like a baptism in a nice little basket ready for us. Every baptism I had in Lilo-An was a referral. They're all still active and have callings and the priesthood. It just makes everything so much easier.

Speaking of which, we held a Family Home Evening at a members home not too long ago and the daughter invited one of her friends, Angel, to come to the FHE. Well, she was really touched by the Spirit that she felt and requested from the family a Book of Mormon and some Liahonas. She started reading and we started teaching her. She came to the first lesson with 10 or 12 questions about Joseph Smith and the Restoration. We answered them and then left her with 3 Nephi 11 and the commitment to pray about it. We came back for the second visit, discussed 3 Nephi 11 and baptism. We asked her how her prayer went and she said that she felt that Joseph Smith, the Book of Mormon and the Church were all true. We testified, reviewed a verse about baptism in 3 Nephi 11 and committed her to baptism. She said yes. JUNE 25 BABY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! THATS WHAT I'M TALKIN ABOUT!!! PRAYER! FASTING! MORE PRAYER! HARD WORK! AND NOW I GOT A BAPTISM SCHEDULED!!!! She came to church on Sunday, loved it. Then Monday, we had another Family Home Evening at her house and got to meet her family. NOW THEY WANNA BE TAUGHT!!!! WOOOOOOO HOOOOOOO!!!!! THATS THE GOOD STUFF KIDS GO FOR!!!! We go back tonight. Plan is to commit them to baptism for the same day as Angel. The Church is true. That's all I can say.

Then Elder Gertge and I were using some of that delicious money that I was able to withdraw to get some burgers at this American's joint out here in Camotes. He had made a couple references to his family's religious background but nothing really concrete. His wife is Tagalog so I have a little difficulty communicating with her but the guy, John, finds it fascinating that I'm fluent in Visayan. So we started talking a little bit about how I learned the language and then he says, "You know, its a shame that we can't tap into the Gift of Tongues like the Apostles could." I kind of chuckled a little bit and asked him why we couldn't. He said because nobody knows how. Well, then I started talking to him a little about the Gift of the Holy Ghost, one thing led to another and then we were on Joseph Smith. He was so fascinated. Elder Gertge and I were bouncing questions off him and adding to his answers, he said he would like to see some of our literature and I said we'd get him a Book of Mormon. Well we went home, grabbed one and rushed it back to him. We told him we'd follow up with his reading on Friday and see what he thought. He seems pretty interested. I'm praying pretty hard for this guy. He's pretty confused about religion overall.

As for the camera, the packaging looked pretty good. It was in good condition. I'll just say it was being watched over. I haven't taken many pics yet. Maybe 2 or 3 but I'll get some done this week. As for some of the food I was able to get: PopTarts (DANG THAT STUFF IS GOOD!) and some Chips Ahoy! White Chocolate Chunky... The nacho cheese is in and I got some Tostitos. I think I need to boil some powdered milk to make the cheese more saucy. Got some socks, some Old Spice, and now I'm loving life!

As for sports, thanks so much for the updates. Looks like the blessings of my service are extending beyond my family. The Giants are on a run and the Jazz have a sweet lottery pick. That's what I'm talking about!

Love you guys,

Brandon

PS. Christmas. I'll be there!

May 17, 2011

Hey mom.

The weeks just fly by for you guys but they are soooooo slow around here sometimes. Especially when the work is moving in the direction that it has been. But this last week we've been getting all four of us tracting in one solid area and seeing where that is taking us. So far its been great.

You guys deserve a nice trip to Hawaii and no. The weather is not the same. Its just hot here. Its like if Arizona was muggy. Well, maybe not THAT bad. But you'll see when you get here.

THE CAMERA IS IN!!!! I pick it up tomorrow morning when we go into Cebu for leadership training. Super excited to be able to get back to taking some pics! Its been tooooooo long. I'll also be withdrawing. I prayed for the best way for me to use the 100 bucks you put in my account and I felt like there were some things I needed to buy to last me the rest of my mission. For example, socks. haha. I have 4 pairs of socks without holes and 10 pairs with holes. Planning on making some substitutions early on here in the 4th quarter. See if these socks can close out this game for me. hahaha.

Things aren't so amazing with my companion. We're struggling a lot with our companionship and its pretty much only me who is trying to keep things together for our investigators sake. He just doesn't want to be around me much. So. We'll see. Transfers is in a week.

I have seen one monkey on my mission. In a zoo. hahahaha. But there might be lots of monkeys in other places. hahahaha.

Sorry this letter is so short. A super uneventful week here in Camotes.

Love you alot mom.

Brandon

April 26, 2011

Okaaaaaaay. So lets start off this email by first off thanking you for the camera. Second off, lets hope it gets here. Haha. But I'm hopeful. I want to believe that there is one nice person in the postal service who is willing to do a good turn daily for a brotha in the Philippines. So worst case scenario is that it gets returned to you, or that it gets lost in the mail? Or someone steals it? When do you want me to let you know what happened so that you can know what to do?

As for the work, man ALIVE!!! Imagine an island full of people that don't care at all about what you have to say--even though you know its the most important thing that they can hear.....okay. That's Camotes. haha. This last two weeks have literally been the hardest two weeks of my mission. I am giving my seroius 200% to the work and doing my best to not be trunky. I'm not trunky yet. Dont worry about that. But I have been really relying on Heavenly Father alot through prayer. Prayer has been a struggle for me through my entire life. I didn't pray for a loooooooooong time back home. Not every nite for sure. But here on my mission I've really tried to make my prayers MEAN something. They mean something here. I've felt comfort through my prayers. I get home every day and before I go to bed I just lay it all out there. The first week it was more me complaining and whining but I quickly turned it into me asking him what I need to do and I have gotten the answers. I know I have. Sometimes the answers have changed though as the circumstances have changed. But prayer has really been a part of my life these last two weeks.

So next week we go into the FINAL 6 MONTHS!!! As such, I have decided to abandon my reading of the Old Testament (I'm in Chronicles and thats the worst book I've had to get through. I'm drowning in boredom...) to focus my last 6 months on really studying the Savior. I mean REALLY focusing on Him. I'm reading Jesus the Christ again and I'm going to read the Gospels again for a third time. Man, I love the scriptures. READ EM PEOPLE!!!!

Love you guys, thanks for all your prayers and support.

Brandon

April 19, 2011

Subject: MY CAMERA IS TOAST!!!!

Somehow, I dont know how, my camera casing blew up, the screws are gone, the screen is cracked and the lens is jammed. It is gone. To get it fixed will cost more than getting a new camera. So I dont know what to do. THIS IS AN EMERGENCY!!!!

So here are some ideas.

We can just get it fixed at a camera shop here in the Philippines.....not safe. At all.

IF WE WANT TO REPLACE THE CAMERA:

We can have a new camera be my really early birthday present or something and have you guys can send it to me in a package or something like that.

Or you can put enough money in my account to get a new one here. The problem with that is that to get a quality camera, it costs alot because it also includes the cost of the shipping to the Philippines that got the camera here in the first place.

Thing is, it would be cheaper to get a new one back home and you guys send it to me.

I dont know what you want to do but I really need a new camera. This place here in Camotes is amazing. I need to take pics.

Love you guys alot. Please come up with something and tell me what I need to do in your next emails.

Brandon

April 19, 2011

Hey you guys.

Here's your answers mom:

Did you take a plane or boat over there?

So in order to get to the Camotes Islands, we took this little barge thing. We paid the extra 20 pesos for the nice Air Conidtioned room with cushioned seats and a big plasma tv. I'm not saying that the TV was the main reason that we took that option. It was mostly the air con. They showed Indiana Jones and the Alien that Built the Maya Civilizations Crystal Head. I liked it more the second time. But I guess anything is delicious in a famine...

Are you enjoying your new companion?  

My new companion is Elder Hikila. He's quiet but me and him joke around alot. I think he's hilarious. Him and I have had some pretty good conversations about how some people are just out to make the Elders look bad. He's very good at controlling his temper. He said that he's had to work on that his whole mission...that makes two of us.

Did I understand you right that there are only four of you on the whole island? 

That is correct.

How do you get food? 

We eat garbage. Not literally but almost. I haven't been happy with the food yet but its one of those things where I need to understand that I won't be satisfied with what they have to offer. Its just not enough to sustain my large, muscular build and attractive composure!

How are the circumstances different than what you were living in before. 

There are no jeeps. Just scooters so the air is a lot cleaner. Not to mention that the island is really small so we see the ocean all the time. That's pretty cool. Plus I have a car. Yeah. It feels great. And to top that off, it smells like my car back home. That made me miss home quite a bit. Also the fact that there is only 4 of us is different. Our house is the District AND the Zone. haha.

How is the new ward? 

Its only a branch and its very small. Like 30 members. Maybe. Its mostly kids. But in the next 10 years this place is gonna blow up and be a strong ward. Glad I can be a part of it.

Do people seem to be receptive to your message?  HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!! No. Not at all.

But things are going alright here in Camotes. Elder Hikila and I are really looking at things in a good light and just taking each day as it comes. We follow up with everyone and drop those who don't care. I hate dropping investigators but we have to sometimes. We had one tell us that she prayed to the Lord to stay in the Catholic church. I just gave her this blank stare and wanted to ask her, "then why in the world would you even have us come back?!?!" And then we finished up a teaching appointment with this family and I asked how they liked our message and she said, "Its great! Its just like the Catholic church but you guys do Bible Study." So Elder Hikila and I looked at each other, smiled and left them 2 Nephi 28. I told her, "This is the answer to whats different between the two churches." I really hope they read it. They deserve to know. Then we taught this middle age guy yesterday that said if we could tell him when "our Bible" was put together, he would join the church. So I said, "okay. Well first of all, we use the same BIBLE. So of course, you know when that was put together right?" He didn't answer but I took his silence and rolled with it. "As for the Book of Mormon, it is another testament of Jesus Christ translated by the Prophet Jospeh Smith trhough the gift and power of God. It was written by ancient prophets who lived on the American Continent starting at 600 BC and covering roughly 1000 years until 421 AD when it was buried by the prophet Moroni. Then, Joseph Smith retrieved the record, translated it and then it was published in March of 1830." Needless to say, he didn't commit to baptism since he didn't think we could answer that. But since this is the true church, we could. haha.

Its Holy Week here in the Philippines so things are going to get crazy here in the next few days. We've seen some people dressed up as Jesus covered in fake blood walking down the street getting whipped by guys dressed up as Romans and Elder Gertge saw three guys get crucified earlier this week. Its not even Holy Thursday yet. Thats when things start to pick up but Good Friday and Black Saturday are the biggest. Easter Sunday isn't as big as the other days though. They really focus on the death alot. Which is sad since, you know, Jesus was resurrected and all. I'm excited for this Easter. Love the season.

All right, I gotta go. Love you all.

Brandon