Hey Dad.
Great to get your email this morning. It’s been a wild past couple of days. Things really got shaken up for me.
On Saturday we had the baptism of Sister Daisy! YES!!! Her and her two daughters were baptized. It was cool because they are the first people that Elder Arbado and I found, taught, committed and baptized together. My first full circle! It was awesome. Sister Daisy is EXTREMELY spiritual! I'm so excited for her future in the Church. She's going to talk to Bishop on Sunday with her daughters for Dedication Recommends for the temple. GREAT STUFF!!! I asked her how things have been going since her baptism and confirmation and she said it feels like my heart is always happy. That was great to hear because when we first met her she was REEEEALLY struggling emotionally because her husband left her and they're separated now. But now she's happy all the time. The Spirit can do that. You know, work miracles.
Then Sunday afternoon Elder Arbado got pulled out of our Ward Mission Coordination Meeting by the zone leaders. After about 10 minutes he came back. Emergency Transfer. Apparently something happened on Negros in Dumaguete Zone and they needed to split up two angry missionaries so they looked at who is the happiest and is having success. Elder Arbado and I. Actually, we're not sure why they picked us but we're pretty sure that’s why. Quite a compliment.
So I found out my companion is Elder Nambio who "hates anything that isn't Filipnio. Especially Americans". I'm like, that’s great. I know I don't look like it but I AM American. I heard horror story after horror story about this guy. So Sunday night I just asked Heavenly Father to help me to magnify my gift of kindness. I think I'm a pretty easy person to get along with and I don't like contention at all. So the next morning Arbado and I went to the mission office and there was my new companion. I just forced myself to forget everything that everyone said about him and just be his companion as if I had no idea who he was. And so
far it’s seemed to work. We've laughed, had a good time together, taught some great lessons, and things seem to be going really well so far.
I had a feeling before I came out that because I get along with people easily that I was going to be receiving companions that have relationship issues or that are tough to get along with. So....here we go. It starts now
apparently.
Nice to hear about the Lord's basketball teams. The Jazz sound like they are doing great. I pray for them every night. Just kidding. But we really needto get some fit healthy guys on that roster that can avoid injury. And thenBYU losing in semifinals...dang. But Florida! That would be a great win. Actually, ANY win in the NCAA tournament would be a great win.
Alright dad. Just realized that I forgot to email President Hansen. I love you and hope that you have a great week.
Brandon
Elder Treadway
First baptism in the Ocean
Cebu, Philippines
March 17, 2010
Hey Mom.
What a week. Elder Arbado is gone. He got emergency transferred to Negros Island in Dumaguete Zone to go and rescue two missionaries. So now I have a new companion Elder Nambio who before I met him I heard everything bad about him. So when I met him I decided to look for all the good that there was to find. Pretty great guy. Loves to work hard--which is all I ask for. We tracted a lot yesterday. Its great. He gets SO excited to see clusters of houses and then asks "can we go tract over there?" So we got lots done yesterday. He's a little quiter than Arbado so I've had to use a different side of my personality with him. Interesting.
Interesting story. So we have this investigator Maya that seems really interested in the gospel. We've only taught her twice. So yesterday we're with a ward missionary Rene. He lives behind them. Now, we start to walk up to the house of Maya and he grabs my shoulder and tells me that he'll go first. So I'm like...sure if you want. So he walks up to the gate and yells "AYO!!" (which is like knocking). Mayas neice comes out and sees Rene and instantly she's scared. I can see it on her face. Rene asks if Maya is home and after the girl thinks for a second she says no. So another ward missionary with us turns to me and whispers "I think she's lying". I agreed. But it was weird. Why would Maya have her lie to us if she was so interested before?
So I tell the girl that we'll be back on Friday and then we head out. As we're walking away, Rene grabs my shoulder and tells me "If you come back on Friday and they aren't home, drop them. Don't go back"
So I got thinking as we were walking. Why would Rene say that? Why was the girl scared? Why would she lie to us? How many licks does it take to get to the center of a Tootsie Roll pop?
Then my lawyer/detective mind started turning and I had a thought. Rene lives relatively close to Maya. Like, they're houses almost touch each other. Back to back. The girl looked like she knew Rene. And she looked like she didnt like him that much either. His comments and desire to go FIRST all started to piece together the puzzle of the situation. So I pulled the other ward missionary aside and explained to him that I thought that Rene's family and Maya's family may not be so friendly to each other (and here in the Philippines if you don't like someone, you really dont like them). So I think that they werent too friendly to each other and Rene would either not like Maya to investigate or just didnt want to teach over there. So I had Romel- our other ward missionary go talk to him. Turns out, the families dont like each other and Rene doesnt want her to go to the same Church as him. So we sent Rene home and went back.
This time Maya was home. (Go figure). We started the lesson about the Book of Mormon when I remembered that last time we had only GIVEN her the Book of Mormon. No reading assignment. But she had all these post it notes sticking out of it. So I asked her what they were. Holy crap...
Turns out that she was really interested in it. She didnt know where to start so she read the Restoration pamphlet over again. But this time, she looked up EVERY scripture in both the Book of Mormon and Bible. She realized that if she didnt recognize the scripture, it was probably in the Book of Mormon. I was so excited I almost cried. Elder Nambio was in shock. Romel was whispering to himself, "Oh my gosh! Yes! Yes!" She was like, "this book is really great! Its got a lot of good things in it." So we continued our lesson.
Pretty cool huh? What if I hadn't listened to the Spirit that told me something was up with Rene? What if we hadnt gone back? What if we had brought Rene with us? I'm just glad that the Lord prepares a way for everything and everyone. Cool thing.
Alright mom, we're going to go do go karts for our district activity. Yeah!!!!
Love you,
Brandon.
What a week. Elder Arbado is gone. He got emergency transferred to Negros Island in Dumaguete Zone to go and rescue two missionaries. So now I have a new companion Elder Nambio who before I met him I heard everything bad about him. So when I met him I decided to look for all the good that there was to find. Pretty great guy. Loves to work hard--which is all I ask for. We tracted a lot yesterday. Its great. He gets SO excited to see clusters of houses and then asks "can we go tract over there?" So we got lots done yesterday. He's a little quiter than Arbado so I've had to use a different side of my personality with him. Interesting.
Interesting story. So we have this investigator Maya that seems really interested in the gospel. We've only taught her twice. So yesterday we're with a ward missionary Rene. He lives behind them. Now, we start to walk up to the house of Maya and he grabs my shoulder and tells me that he'll go first. So I'm like...sure if you want. So he walks up to the gate and yells "AYO!!" (which is like knocking). Mayas neice comes out and sees Rene and instantly she's scared. I can see it on her face. Rene asks if Maya is home and after the girl thinks for a second she says no. So another ward missionary with us turns to me and whispers "I think she's lying". I agreed. But it was weird. Why would Maya have her lie to us if she was so interested before?
So I tell the girl that we'll be back on Friday and then we head out. As we're walking away, Rene grabs my shoulder and tells me "If you come back on Friday and they aren't home, drop them. Don't go back"
So I got thinking as we were walking. Why would Rene say that? Why was the girl scared? Why would she lie to us? How many licks does it take to get to the center of a Tootsie Roll pop?
Then my lawyer/detective mind started turning and I had a thought. Rene lives relatively close to Maya. Like, they're houses almost touch each other. Back to back. The girl looked like she knew Rene. And she looked like she didnt like him that much either. His comments and desire to go FIRST all started to piece together the puzzle of the situation. So I pulled the other ward missionary aside and explained to him that I thought that Rene's family and Maya's family may not be so friendly to each other (and here in the Philippines if you don't like someone, you really dont like them). So I think that they werent too friendly to each other and Rene would either not like Maya to investigate or just didnt want to teach over there. So I had Romel- our other ward missionary go talk to him. Turns out, the families dont like each other and Rene doesnt want her to go to the same Church as him. So we sent Rene home and went back.
This time Maya was home. (Go figure). We started the lesson about the Book of Mormon when I remembered that last time we had only GIVEN her the Book of Mormon. No reading assignment. But she had all these post it notes sticking out of it. So I asked her what they were. Holy crap...
Turns out that she was really interested in it. She didnt know where to start so she read the Restoration pamphlet over again. But this time, she looked up EVERY scripture in both the Book of Mormon and Bible. She realized that if she didnt recognize the scripture, it was probably in the Book of Mormon. I was so excited I almost cried. Elder Nambio was in shock. Romel was whispering to himself, "Oh my gosh! Yes! Yes!" She was like, "this book is really great! Its got a lot of good things in it." So we continued our lesson.
Pretty cool huh? What if I hadn't listened to the Spirit that told me something was up with Rene? What if we hadnt gone back? What if we had brought Rene with us? I'm just glad that the Lord prepares a way for everything and everyone. Cool thing.
Alright mom, we're going to go do go karts for our district activity. Yeah!!!!
Love you,
Brandon.
March 9, 2010
Hey Mom.
Hope that everything is going well for you guys back home. Sounds like Ben and Brian are doing well. They are always in good spirits when the season starts. And then they slowly diminish as the season goes on. Hahaha.
Things are going really great. We had zone conference yesterday. And Saturday we are going to help in the temple! Can't believe it! We're gonna be moving in and arranging furniture. The temple is going to be done in 2 weeks. Its cool to get the same feeling that I felt as the Sacramento Temple was going up a few years ago. Its the same temple as ours too! Crazy huh? Same look and floorplan.
Cool thing this last Sunday. This lady came to our ward with her family to bear her testimony and share with all the members about how much her son who had served his mission there 5 years ago and her brother who had served his mission there 900 years ago had loved the mission, people and the culture. Then she shared a little about how they both were doing. And what do you know...they're from Sacramento! They're from the Carmichael Stake. So we didnt know any of the same people. But...kinda cool.
There's this guy in our ward who thinks we're lazy missionaries for some reason. That reason happens to be that we were smiling instead of laughing at the TERRIBLE piano playing in sacrament as we were sitting on the priest's bench. Its not as if the whole ward was cracking up as silently as they could. I think part of it has to do with the fact that the piano player was his sister in law....??? Anyway, he thinks we're lazy. So we're gonna ask him to work with us and instead of taking the motorcycles all the way up to the top of the mountain to go teach lessons...we're gonna walk all 3 miles and contact along the way. We'll see how lazy he thinks we are after that.
About the Vans, I would definitely prefer my blue ones. I dream about them on my feet. So soft. So comfortable. Also, if I could get some money to get pants made that would be great. I'm down to one pair of pants. All my other ones are too tight and hot for the Philippines. Missionary Mall failed us mom. We've been dooped. The shirts are WAY TOO thick for the Philippines. I dont even wear them anymore. I found a shirt from a past Elder in our house and had bought one in the MTC. I cycle between those two and wash them each after each use. Its a terrible life to live. So I need pants and shirts money. I dont know if you can work something out with Missionary Mall but this is awful. I was so discouraged when I had to put on one of their shirts this morning and was just sweating like crazy.
Anyway, besides that, could I have the mailing address for Jessica Goold and Lindsey/Heidi? I haven't written any of them and lost Lindsey's address.
No strange food this week.
I've been using toilet paper and the Lord has blessed me with a timed bowel that only wants to poop before breakfast, after lunch, and around 9:30. All times that we are home.
Alright, we're going to play golf. Time to show these kids whats up. Love you mom.
Elder Treadway alias Brandon
Hope that everything is going well for you guys back home. Sounds like Ben and Brian are doing well. They are always in good spirits when the season starts. And then they slowly diminish as the season goes on. Hahaha.
Things are going really great. We had zone conference yesterday. And Saturday we are going to help in the temple! Can't believe it! We're gonna be moving in and arranging furniture. The temple is going to be done in 2 weeks. Its cool to get the same feeling that I felt as the Sacramento Temple was going up a few years ago. Its the same temple as ours too! Crazy huh? Same look and floorplan.
Cool thing this last Sunday. This lady came to our ward with her family to bear her testimony and share with all the members about how much her son who had served his mission there 5 years ago and her brother who had served his mission there 900 years ago had loved the mission, people and the culture. Then she shared a little about how they both were doing. And what do you know...they're from Sacramento! They're from the Carmichael Stake. So we didnt know any of the same people. But...kinda cool.
There's this guy in our ward who thinks we're lazy missionaries for some reason. That reason happens to be that we were smiling instead of laughing at the TERRIBLE piano playing in sacrament as we were sitting on the priest's bench. Its not as if the whole ward was cracking up as silently as they could. I think part of it has to do with the fact that the piano player was his sister in law....??? Anyway, he thinks we're lazy. So we're gonna ask him to work with us and instead of taking the motorcycles all the way up to the top of the mountain to go teach lessons...we're gonna walk all 3 miles and contact along the way. We'll see how lazy he thinks we are after that.
About the Vans, I would definitely prefer my blue ones. I dream about them on my feet. So soft. So comfortable. Also, if I could get some money to get pants made that would be great. I'm down to one pair of pants. All my other ones are too tight and hot for the Philippines. Missionary Mall failed us mom. We've been dooped. The shirts are WAY TOO thick for the Philippines. I dont even wear them anymore. I found a shirt from a past Elder in our house and had bought one in the MTC. I cycle between those two and wash them each after each use. Its a terrible life to live. So I need pants and shirts money. I dont know if you can work something out with Missionary Mall but this is awful. I was so discouraged when I had to put on one of their shirts this morning and was just sweating like crazy.
Anyway, besides that, could I have the mailing address for Jessica Goold and Lindsey/Heidi? I haven't written any of them and lost Lindsey's address.
No strange food this week.
I've been using toilet paper and the Lord has blessed me with a timed bowel that only wants to poop before breakfast, after lunch, and around 9:30. All times that we are home.
Alright, we're going to play golf. Time to show these kids whats up. Love you mom.
Elder Treadway alias Brandon
February 24, 2010
Hello from the future!
How is everyone? Things this week have been very bland believe it or not. The only thing that was really different is that transfers happened this week. What a difference! We lost three missionaries (all of which were the only sources of arguments and contention in the house) and got three new missionaries! Elder Prado, a guy from West Valley, Utah. Elder Roberts a Samoan from Riverside, California and Elder Siga from the Philippines. The Spirit has come back into our house as we all love and enjoy each other's company and willingness to obey the rules of the mission. Just a little switch changes so much!
The only new thing that I ate this week was chicken feet. It was pretty good! And no, Mom. That isn't saying that your food that I say is "pretty good" can be compared to chicken feet. It was pretty good as far as chicken feet go. hahaha.
I spent the last 2 days with a cold. I know. A cold in the Philippines. I think our AC was up too high and my hair was still wet when I fell asleep. Thats my story. But yesterday I stayed home. It was not something that I would want to do again. I missed being out there! I got really homesick! I started reading letters that I had saved, looking at pictures, wondering what was going on at home. Not good. So I threw together a rigorous study schedule and spent 6 hours of straight study. Wasn't homesick after that! Then I went outside when I was feeling better and played a little basketball with my temporary companion. I felt REALLY good after that.
Just got done bowling. Didn't do so great. Basically terrible.
Glad to know that Brian stepped up to the plate (crap. no pun intended) and told his coach about pitching and 2nd base. Have Courage! For the Lord is on our side! That's what I always say out here.
And Ben! Nice job dishing out Book of Mormons left and right. There is great power in that book. You can't read it and NOT feel something different. Remember that...
Well, my time is almost up. We waited tooooo long to come and email today. We spent all day cleaning our apartment. It went from really dirty to SUPER clean. OH! Story time. So last night I go to do my laundry and I see these two really big rabbits by the dryer. I turn on the light and they aren't rabbits. They are rats. Nice huh? Rats. That are big enough to snuggle with. Just huge.
Alright. I gotta go. We have to show a new member family how to hold Family Home Evening. They asked me to sing. Great. I don't even know what to sing.
Alright, take care!
Peace, love, turtle power....it's morphin time.
Elder Treadway
How is everyone? Things this week have been very bland believe it or not. The only thing that was really different is that transfers happened this week. What a difference! We lost three missionaries (all of which were the only sources of arguments and contention in the house) and got three new missionaries! Elder Prado, a guy from West Valley, Utah. Elder Roberts a Samoan from Riverside, California and Elder Siga from the Philippines. The Spirit has come back into our house as we all love and enjoy each other's company and willingness to obey the rules of the mission. Just a little switch changes so much!
The only new thing that I ate this week was chicken feet. It was pretty good! And no, Mom. That isn't saying that your food that I say is "pretty good" can be compared to chicken feet. It was pretty good as far as chicken feet go. hahaha.
I spent the last 2 days with a cold. I know. A cold in the Philippines. I think our AC was up too high and my hair was still wet when I fell asleep. Thats my story. But yesterday I stayed home. It was not something that I would want to do again. I missed being out there! I got really homesick! I started reading letters that I had saved, looking at pictures, wondering what was going on at home. Not good. So I threw together a rigorous study schedule and spent 6 hours of straight study. Wasn't homesick after that! Then I went outside when I was feeling better and played a little basketball with my temporary companion. I felt REALLY good after that.
Just got done bowling. Didn't do so great. Basically terrible.
Glad to know that Brian stepped up to the plate (crap. no pun intended) and told his coach about pitching and 2nd base. Have Courage! For the Lord is on our side! That's what I always say out here.
And Ben! Nice job dishing out Book of Mormons left and right. There is great power in that book. You can't read it and NOT feel something different. Remember that...
Well, my time is almost up. We waited tooooo long to come and email today. We spent all day cleaning our apartment. It went from really dirty to SUPER clean. OH! Story time. So last night I go to do my laundry and I see these two really big rabbits by the dryer. I turn on the light and they aren't rabbits. They are rats. Nice huh? Rats. That are big enough to snuggle with. Just huge.
Alright. I gotta go. We have to show a new member family how to hold Family Home Evening. They asked me to sing. Great. I don't even know what to sing.
Alright, take care!
Peace, love, turtle power....it's morphin time.
Elder Treadway
February 15, 2010
Good morning cadets!
This week has been perhaps the hardest week of my mission. I have been called "Joe" over 50 times, I've hard some trouble with the language, the contention in our home continues to grow because of other companionships and their difficulty to get along and the culture clash of Filipinos and Americans that is tough to get over for some. Luckily, I've immersed myself in the culture already. But it was rewarding week at the end. First off, we had an excellent zone-wide FHE at a members house where I was complimented on my Cebuano several times by the members and by the other missionaries. That was a boost of confidence.
I'm sure that you remember when I told you the story of how Elder Arbado and I took the long exodus out to the far side of our area to teach those former investigators who didn't get taught again after their first lesson. Well, after returning over and over to teach the Sister up there, we have been receiving impressions that she really isn't all that interested. She is VERY Catholic and she seems very bored and disinterested with what we are doing and sharing with her. So we decided to drop our visits to her down from 3 times a week to 1 a week. But we have had hidden fruits up there and we now understand the purpose of my prompting all those weeks ago to head up there. Its wasnt just to teach Sister Jimenez. We have been teaching lots of inactive members up there after our teaching appointments and one by one they are all coming back to church. Last week 5 out of a family of 6 came to church. The one who didnt come, their seventeen year old daughter Jennalynn seems somewhat defiant to come to church. But we're sure that through our continuous prayer, planning, and showing of love for her that she will see that the church is where she belongs.
Yesterday we were out tracting and we passed a house with a woman and kids inside. I grabbed Arbado and we went back to the house. Turns out that the woman's husband was home. He all too eagerly accepted us into his home. And as we sat down, I felt the Spirit tell me to not say anything. Which was weird. But it was a very powerful prompting to just sit, listen, and nod with interest. As I listened, he unfolded to us that he was a Born Again Christian who served a 10 year mission for his church. As he started to unfold his beliefs to us, the Spirit told me that the reason that he had so eagerly invited us in was to challenge us. He began to quote Bible verses to us in order to establish Spiritual dominance which as I listened, I realized that the verses had no applicance to the situation. He was just quoting random verses. Which was really funny. So we continued to listen as he told us that certain parts of our religion were not necessary (which of course is funny because every part of the restored gospel is necessary) in today's world.
He started to explain that baptisms for the dead was false and that God clearly stated in the Bible that man cannot get to heaven without baptism. "So why would God contradict himself and let the dead be baptized?" Elder Arbado responded that baptisms for the dead was mentioned in the Bible and as soon as those words left his mouth the man jumped on them with his response. "Where? Do you know the book, chapter and verse?" It was clear to me that the Spirit was prepared to leave if this got any more confrontational. So Arbado told him that he didnt know and I told him that I would be happy to look it up and show it to him. We continued to listen further and when it was time to leave he told us that he enjoyed our conversation and that he looked forward to talking with us again. He said that we would just discuss--not teach. And that eventually, one of us would be converted to the others' religion. As we left, Arbado and I chuckled to ourselves. Because we knew who will eventually be converted. :D
A sad thing happened this week that was pretty tough. As I have been striving with all my heart, might, mind and strength to be obedient to every rule that I can, my eyes have been opened to discrepencies in others' conduct that is hindering their conduct. One of the biggest problems has been an Elder that has fallen HARD for a girl. He has gone on a number of activities with her and his companion that could be considered dates, called her on the phone for hours, and conitnuously told me that he has serious feelings for her. Although I love the Elder, I love him too much to let him make a big mistake and ruin not only his mission, but his area, the area that SHE lives in, his companion's work, and the missionary work in the area in general. Especially with a temple coming in. So I called President and asked to meet with him. I told him everything that this Elder had told me. I told him that I just wanted to help him and that I didn't want him to think I was "tattling on him" but rather looking out for him. President told me that this was a huge problem and that he has sent quite a few missionaries home because of girl trouble. So this morning we received transfer calls and he is being tranferred. I felt really good. I know I did the right thing. Even if he finds out, I know that eventually he'll understand why.
OKAY! FOOD STUFF!
Last night I was on exchanges with Elder Clark again and I ate blood on my rice! An investigator gave us this bowl full of brown sauce with chunks of stuff in it. We asked the ward missionary that we were with what it was and he told us that it was blood. He said that it was pig blood that is boiled until it turns brown and then they chop up its liver and throw it in there to boil in the blood. Yummy huh? To be honest, it wasnt that bad.
The other night I also ate pig mask. Which is the head of the pig and they scrape off all the meat and fat off the pig's head until its just a skull and then they sautee it! Its actually pretty good with rice. Its a little chewy. Especially the snout. Thats got some chewing involved.
That same night a member scooped this greasy gray stuff out of a fish and slapped it on my plate. He promised me that it was good. I told him that thats all he needed to say and to tell me what it was after I swallowed. Yeah...its the fat from the fish's stomach. Its really soft and it has the consistency of watery mashed potatoes. Its a little salty. But its not tooooo bad. Luckily there was cake for dessert. Chocalate. Not fish cake or anything.
Last Wednesday we went bowling again. I still suck. Hopefully I can pull out a better game today. Last week we played pool too. Gosh. Its heaven.
Here's a great story. So the other day Elder Arbado and I planned really hard for Monday. We planned something for every half hour which we have never done. So our day was stacked. We PLANNED to tract. Which is usually our backup plan. So as we went about our area tracting with all we had, we reached our 20 people tracted goal. We were done and heading to our next appointment as we saw these two people sitting under a tree in their little manmade shack. We made the split second decision to stretch our goal and just talk to them. We walked over and began to chat with them. It was obvious that they were very poor. As we talked, I couldn't fully understand everything but I could definitely feel the Spirit very strong as we conversed with them. We set a return appointment to teach and left. As we were walking away, I asked Arbado for a full recap of what happened.
He told me that they see us walking by all the time and were very curious about what we did. They had heard that we talked about God and thats all that they really knew. So when we came and talked to them, they were really excited and were super stoked to hear our message the next day. We then commenced high fives and continued our walk. Nice huh?
We taught them yesterday and they LOVED it. We go back tomorrow.
Alright...lets see...anything else?
Oh! I didnt budget my money very well this last support and I had 400 pesos left with two weeks to go. But guess who made it until this support period with 2 pesos??? THIS GUY!!!! Yeah! Our companionship made it with a total of 26 pesos. Sweet. We decided to budget better this time.
Hope that everyone had a good week. I love and pray for you all. Sounds like people are doing really well from what I've heard.
Stay safe. Turtle Power.
Elder Treadway
This week has been perhaps the hardest week of my mission. I have been called "Joe" over 50 times, I've hard some trouble with the language, the contention in our home continues to grow because of other companionships and their difficulty to get along and the culture clash of Filipinos and Americans that is tough to get over for some. Luckily, I've immersed myself in the culture already. But it was rewarding week at the end. First off, we had an excellent zone-wide FHE at a members house where I was complimented on my Cebuano several times by the members and by the other missionaries. That was a boost of confidence.
I'm sure that you remember when I told you the story of how Elder Arbado and I took the long exodus out to the far side of our area to teach those former investigators who didn't get taught again after their first lesson. Well, after returning over and over to teach the Sister up there, we have been receiving impressions that she really isn't all that interested. She is VERY Catholic and she seems very bored and disinterested with what we are doing and sharing with her. So we decided to drop our visits to her down from 3 times a week to 1 a week. But we have had hidden fruits up there and we now understand the purpose of my prompting all those weeks ago to head up there. Its wasnt just to teach Sister Jimenez. We have been teaching lots of inactive members up there after our teaching appointments and one by one they are all coming back to church. Last week 5 out of a family of 6 came to church. The one who didnt come, their seventeen year old daughter Jennalynn seems somewhat defiant to come to church. But we're sure that through our continuous prayer, planning, and showing of love for her that she will see that the church is where she belongs.
Yesterday we were out tracting and we passed a house with a woman and kids inside. I grabbed Arbado and we went back to the house. Turns out that the woman's husband was home. He all too eagerly accepted us into his home. And as we sat down, I felt the Spirit tell me to not say anything. Which was weird. But it was a very powerful prompting to just sit, listen, and nod with interest. As I listened, he unfolded to us that he was a Born Again Christian who served a 10 year mission for his church. As he started to unfold his beliefs to us, the Spirit told me that the reason that he had so eagerly invited us in was to challenge us. He began to quote Bible verses to us in order to establish Spiritual dominance which as I listened, I realized that the verses had no applicance to the situation. He was just quoting random verses. Which was really funny. So we continued to listen as he told us that certain parts of our religion were not necessary (which of course is funny because every part of the restored gospel is necessary) in today's world.
He started to explain that baptisms for the dead was false and that God clearly stated in the Bible that man cannot get to heaven without baptism. "So why would God contradict himself and let the dead be baptized?" Elder Arbado responded that baptisms for the dead was mentioned in the Bible and as soon as those words left his mouth the man jumped on them with his response. "Where? Do you know the book, chapter and verse?" It was clear to me that the Spirit was prepared to leave if this got any more confrontational. So Arbado told him that he didnt know and I told him that I would be happy to look it up and show it to him. We continued to listen further and when it was time to leave he told us that he enjoyed our conversation and that he looked forward to talking with us again. He said that we would just discuss--not teach. And that eventually, one of us would be converted to the others' religion. As we left, Arbado and I chuckled to ourselves. Because we knew who will eventually be converted. :D
A sad thing happened this week that was pretty tough. As I have been striving with all my heart, might, mind and strength to be obedient to every rule that I can, my eyes have been opened to discrepencies in others' conduct that is hindering their conduct. One of the biggest problems has been an Elder that has fallen HARD for a girl. He has gone on a number of activities with her and his companion that could be considered dates, called her on the phone for hours, and conitnuously told me that he has serious feelings for her. Although I love the Elder, I love him too much to let him make a big mistake and ruin not only his mission, but his area, the area that SHE lives in, his companion's work, and the missionary work in the area in general. Especially with a temple coming in. So I called President and asked to meet with him. I told him everything that this Elder had told me. I told him that I just wanted to help him and that I didn't want him to think I was "tattling on him" but rather looking out for him. President told me that this was a huge problem and that he has sent quite a few missionaries home because of girl trouble. So this morning we received transfer calls and he is being tranferred. I felt really good. I know I did the right thing. Even if he finds out, I know that eventually he'll understand why.
OKAY! FOOD STUFF!
Last night I was on exchanges with Elder Clark again and I ate blood on my rice! An investigator gave us this bowl full of brown sauce with chunks of stuff in it. We asked the ward missionary that we were with what it was and he told us that it was blood. He said that it was pig blood that is boiled until it turns brown and then they chop up its liver and throw it in there to boil in the blood. Yummy huh? To be honest, it wasnt that bad.
The other night I also ate pig mask. Which is the head of the pig and they scrape off all the meat and fat off the pig's head until its just a skull and then they sautee it! Its actually pretty good with rice. Its a little chewy. Especially the snout. Thats got some chewing involved.
That same night a member scooped this greasy gray stuff out of a fish and slapped it on my plate. He promised me that it was good. I told him that thats all he needed to say and to tell me what it was after I swallowed. Yeah...its the fat from the fish's stomach. Its really soft and it has the consistency of watery mashed potatoes. Its a little salty. But its not tooooo bad. Luckily there was cake for dessert. Chocalate. Not fish cake or anything.
Last Wednesday we went bowling again. I still suck. Hopefully I can pull out a better game today. Last week we played pool too. Gosh. Its heaven.
Here's a great story. So the other day Elder Arbado and I planned really hard for Monday. We planned something for every half hour which we have never done. So our day was stacked. We PLANNED to tract. Which is usually our backup plan. So as we went about our area tracting with all we had, we reached our 20 people tracted goal. We were done and heading to our next appointment as we saw these two people sitting under a tree in their little manmade shack. We made the split second decision to stretch our goal and just talk to them. We walked over and began to chat with them. It was obvious that they were very poor. As we talked, I couldn't fully understand everything but I could definitely feel the Spirit very strong as we conversed with them. We set a return appointment to teach and left. As we were walking away, I asked Arbado for a full recap of what happened.
He told me that they see us walking by all the time and were very curious about what we did. They had heard that we talked about God and thats all that they really knew. So when we came and talked to them, they were really excited and were super stoked to hear our message the next day. We then commenced high fives and continued our walk. Nice huh?
We taught them yesterday and they LOVED it. We go back tomorrow.
Alright...lets see...anything else?
Oh! I didnt budget my money very well this last support and I had 400 pesos left with two weeks to go. But guess who made it until this support period with 2 pesos??? THIS GUY!!!! Yeah! Our companionship made it with a total of 26 pesos. Sweet. We decided to budget better this time.
Hope that everyone had a good week. I love and pray for you all. Sounds like people are doing really well from what I've heard.
Stay safe. Turtle Power.
Elder Treadway
February 10, 2010
Subject: Round 3
Good afternoon Cadets!
So Elder Arbado didn't think that it was very fair that I spend all my email time typing and not being able to get a single email out. So this is try number 3.
Things have been really great in Cebu this week. We have taken up bowling and pool now every p-day. Its pretty cheap. You pay by the hour too. Pretty sweet. Bowling is coming pretty slow. I'm not that good. But by the end of my mission I ought to be pretty pro.
Last Thurdsday, Elder Arbado and I stopped by the Cebu Zoo. It was more of "the place with the most animals" than a zoo really. I've never seen a zoo that invites you to hop into a pit with a giant crocodile and pet it. Not the best idea. But of course, I did it anyway.
We also pet a tiger and I got to hang out with a pretty awesome little monkey. When it first jumped on my back I was like "oh man. There is a monkey on my back". But it was pretty sweet.
And this hideous bird is a 90 year old cockatoo. You're probably saying to yourself "there's no way that a cockatoo would live to 90". And you're right. Because every other cockatoo on earth kills itself when it starts to get as ugly as this thing. hahahaha.
The work is going really really well.
This last week we committed Sister Daisy and her daughter Crysta to pray about the message of the Restored Gospel of Jesus Christ. On our return visit, they hadn't done it yet but the next day when we returned they were so excited to tell us that they had in fact both prayed about the gospel message and that they had felt the same feeling that we had told them that they would receive. Seeing their progression has just been awesome.
We have also been teaching this guy Yung Yung. He's 20 years old. He's seemed pretty interested in what we've been teaching but when we asked him to pray he forgot. So we decided to change our lesson to the importance of prayer and the importance of asking Heavenly Father in prayer if this message is true. Elder Arbado started to talk to him about prayer and stuff. He went on for quite a bit and then turned the time over to me to bear my testimony about the thing that we taught like I usually do. But this time, I ended up teaching.
I told him that he really needed to pray. I told him that this was the most important thing that he has ever heard whether he knows it or not and that he needs to ask to see if its true. Because its one of two things. Either we are lying to his face or we are telling him the truth. And thats something that he needs to know. Its something that he deserves to know. And its something that Heavenly Father is dying to tell him once he goes to him in prayer and asks with a sincere heart with real intent. I told him that he can't go kind of believing that he will get an answer. He has to KNOW he will. It was really cool. I dont think that he knew that I knew that much Cebuano. He was really intent and focused and the Spirit was definitely there allowing me to be bold but not overbearing.
Then a couple nights ago I went with Elder Clark my zone leader to teach one of his investigators he's been teaching since October that knows that everything in the Church is true but can't quite seem to make that step into baptism. So he asked me to come with him and help him to try and commit them. Before we left the house I went to my desk and got on my knees in prayer. I asked Heavenly Father to please give me the Gift of Tongues and the Gift of the Interpretation of Tongues so that I could aid these people in making that last step of committing to baptism. I told Him that I had done everything that He asks for me to do in order to receive these gifts as promised in my mission call. I was studying the language diligently and I was living my life in such a way that was pleasing unto Him. So I plead with Him to bestow me with those two gifts.
We headed over to the house and I greeted them and they greeted me. We had a nice meal of chicken and rice and then we sat down to have our lesson. I said the prayer and we started to teach. Elder Clark and I bounced off of each other. We shared scriptures from the Book of Mormon and bore our testimonies. As Elder Clark finished up bearing his testimony, I took over. Well, rather the Spirit took over. I felt very compelled to be bold with them on what they were missing out on by not being baptized yet. I told them of the blessings that I have received from baptism and membership in the Church. I told them that yes, you receive blessings for reading the scriptures, saying your prayers and going to Church but you can't receive the full blessings from those things or all the other blessings that Heavenly Father wishes to bestow upon you without making the sacred covenants of baptism. It's just impossible. I told them of Sister Ceniza who we baptized on January 23. How before her baptism, her house was a circus with her three young children running everywhere and being obnoxious as we tried to teach her the truths of the gospel. However, after her baptism her home became a place where the Spirit was ever present. Her kids were much more mellow. They recognized the Spirit there. She was much more loving towards her children. She recognized the Spirit there. And we were able to teach the gospel to her on a level that we had not been able to do yet. We recognized the Spirit there. I continued to tell them of the countless blessings that were waiting for them once they were baptized. I then asked them each if they wanted those blessings. They each did and then I asked them if they knew what they had to do. They each said that they needed to be baptized. Then Elder Clark asked them to be baptized. My heart sank a little when they said that they weren't quite ready yet. We challenged them to prepare, ended with a prayer and left.
Although they didn't commit to making those important sacred covenants, the appointment was a success. To me at least. They felt the Spirit. And I felt the Spirit. And they now KNOW that they have to be baptized. I know that the Spirit manifested that truth to them there. Also, it was a personal success for me as well. I had taught my entire portion of the lesson, engaged in small talk, and got to know these people all in Cebuano. No English at all. I truly had received both the Gift of Tongues and the Interpretation of Tongues. On our way home Elder Clark told me that I did great and even made him look bad. I told him that it wasn't me that made him look bad. Heavenly Father made him look bad. Haha. That was pretty funny.
A funny story happened last night. We were at Shobee Bakeshop and I was talking to this really old lady. She was about 85 years old. She was talking to me in English and asked me where I was from. I told her that I was from California. Then she told me how her sister lives in California and that she loves it there except for all the black people! I was shocked! She went off on how black people are condemned to Hell because they are a sinful, godless people and that they are so hateful to anyone who isn't black. Then she asked me what I thought. I said that I have lots of black friends who are really great, friendly people and that there's good and bad types of everyone and that she might have just met a mean person. Then Elder Arbado said it was time to go. So I shook her hand and immediately she raised it up with her palm facing me and started yelling to God. She told him to protect us in all our journeys and to keep us safe from murderers and all manner of beasts. Then she started speaking Tagalog. But I didn't know what to do. So I looked to Arbado, to the woman and then at her hand. And then I knew what to do. I gave that old woman the most awesome high five she probably ever has received in her life. It felt so good. It had its own little clap and when I turned around to leave I realized that everyone in Shobee had been watching this. They had just seen my high five an ancient old woman who was praying for my protection. Yeah. That was definitely a culture fail. Or a culture win. I'm not really sure.
Well, I've got to head out. I've got Family Home Evening at a member's house tonight with my district. Hope that everyone is doing well. I love you all.
Love,
Elder Treadway
Good afternoon Cadets!
So Elder Arbado didn't think that it was very fair that I spend all my email time typing and not being able to get a single email out. So this is try number 3.
Things have been really great in Cebu this week. We have taken up bowling and pool now every p-day. Its pretty cheap. You pay by the hour too. Pretty sweet. Bowling is coming pretty slow. I'm not that good. But by the end of my mission I ought to be pretty pro.
Last Thurdsday, Elder Arbado and I stopped by the Cebu Zoo. It was more of "the place with the most animals" than a zoo really. I've never seen a zoo that invites you to hop into a pit with a giant crocodile and pet it. Not the best idea. But of course, I did it anyway.
And this hideous bird is a 90 year old cockatoo. You're probably saying to yourself "there's no way that a cockatoo would live to 90". And you're right. Because every other cockatoo on earth kills itself when it starts to get as ugly as this thing. hahahaha.
The work is going really really well.
This last week we committed Sister Daisy and her daughter Crysta to pray about the message of the Restored Gospel of Jesus Christ. On our return visit, they hadn't done it yet but the next day when we returned they were so excited to tell us that they had in fact both prayed about the gospel message and that they had felt the same feeling that we had told them that they would receive. Seeing their progression has just been awesome.
We have also been teaching this guy Yung Yung. He's 20 years old. He's seemed pretty interested in what we've been teaching but when we asked him to pray he forgot. So we decided to change our lesson to the importance of prayer and the importance of asking Heavenly Father in prayer if this message is true. Elder Arbado started to talk to him about prayer and stuff. He went on for quite a bit and then turned the time over to me to bear my testimony about the thing that we taught like I usually do. But this time, I ended up teaching.
I told him that he really needed to pray. I told him that this was the most important thing that he has ever heard whether he knows it or not and that he needs to ask to see if its true. Because its one of two things. Either we are lying to his face or we are telling him the truth. And thats something that he needs to know. Its something that he deserves to know. And its something that Heavenly Father is dying to tell him once he goes to him in prayer and asks with a sincere heart with real intent. I told him that he can't go kind of believing that he will get an answer. He has to KNOW he will. It was really cool. I dont think that he knew that I knew that much Cebuano. He was really intent and focused and the Spirit was definitely there allowing me to be bold but not overbearing.
Then a couple nights ago I went with Elder Clark my zone leader to teach one of his investigators he's been teaching since October that knows that everything in the Church is true but can't quite seem to make that step into baptism. So he asked me to come with him and help him to try and commit them. Before we left the house I went to my desk and got on my knees in prayer. I asked Heavenly Father to please give me the Gift of Tongues and the Gift of the Interpretation of Tongues so that I could aid these people in making that last step of committing to baptism. I told Him that I had done everything that He asks for me to do in order to receive these gifts as promised in my mission call. I was studying the language diligently and I was living my life in such a way that was pleasing unto Him. So I plead with Him to bestow me with those two gifts.
We headed over to the house and I greeted them and they greeted me. We had a nice meal of chicken and rice and then we sat down to have our lesson. I said the prayer and we started to teach. Elder Clark and I bounced off of each other. We shared scriptures from the Book of Mormon and bore our testimonies. As Elder Clark finished up bearing his testimony, I took over. Well, rather the Spirit took over. I felt very compelled to be bold with them on what they were missing out on by not being baptized yet. I told them of the blessings that I have received from baptism and membership in the Church. I told them that yes, you receive blessings for reading the scriptures, saying your prayers and going to Church but you can't receive the full blessings from those things or all the other blessings that Heavenly Father wishes to bestow upon you without making the sacred covenants of baptism. It's just impossible. I told them of Sister Ceniza who we baptized on January 23. How before her baptism, her house was a circus with her three young children running everywhere and being obnoxious as we tried to teach her the truths of the gospel. However, after her baptism her home became a place where the Spirit was ever present. Her kids were much more mellow. They recognized the Spirit there. She was much more loving towards her children. She recognized the Spirit there. And we were able to teach the gospel to her on a level that we had not been able to do yet. We recognized the Spirit there. I continued to tell them of the countless blessings that were waiting for them once they were baptized. I then asked them each if they wanted those blessings. They each did and then I asked them if they knew what they had to do. They each said that they needed to be baptized. Then Elder Clark asked them to be baptized. My heart sank a little when they said that they weren't quite ready yet. We challenged them to prepare, ended with a prayer and left.
Although they didn't commit to making those important sacred covenants, the appointment was a success. To me at least. They felt the Spirit. And I felt the Spirit. And they now KNOW that they have to be baptized. I know that the Spirit manifested that truth to them there. Also, it was a personal success for me as well. I had taught my entire portion of the lesson, engaged in small talk, and got to know these people all in Cebuano. No English at all. I truly had received both the Gift of Tongues and the Interpretation of Tongues. On our way home Elder Clark told me that I did great and even made him look bad. I told him that it wasn't me that made him look bad. Heavenly Father made him look bad. Haha. That was pretty funny.
A funny story happened last night. We were at Shobee Bakeshop and I was talking to this really old lady. She was about 85 years old. She was talking to me in English and asked me where I was from. I told her that I was from California. Then she told me how her sister lives in California and that she loves it there except for all the black people! I was shocked! She went off on how black people are condemned to Hell because they are a sinful, godless people and that they are so hateful to anyone who isn't black. Then she asked me what I thought. I said that I have lots of black friends who are really great, friendly people and that there's good and bad types of everyone and that she might have just met a mean person. Then Elder Arbado said it was time to go. So I shook her hand and immediately she raised it up with her palm facing me and started yelling to God. She told him to protect us in all our journeys and to keep us safe from murderers and all manner of beasts. Then she started speaking Tagalog. But I didn't know what to do. So I looked to Arbado, to the woman and then at her hand. And then I knew what to do. I gave that old woman the most awesome high five she probably ever has received in her life. It felt so good. It had its own little clap and when I turned around to leave I realized that everyone in Shobee had been watching this. They had just seen my high five an ancient old woman who was praying for my protection. Yeah. That was definitely a culture fail. Or a culture win. I'm not really sure.
Well, I've got to head out. I've got Family Home Evening at a member's house tonight with my district. Hope that everyone is doing well. I love you all.
Love,
Elder Treadway
February 3, 2010
Hey everyone!
Alright. So this has been an awesome week!
So we had our baptism service on Saturday. We baptized 6 instead of the scheduled 7. Sister Hintica was sick so she couldn't come. But we planned ahead this time and so we were able to get the font filled all day with a hose instead of going about it with manual labor. Smart huh?
Last Wednesday for P-day our district decided (with a great amount of lobbying on my part) to go go-karting at the local go kart track. After 3 months of not being behind any kind of wheel I was desperate to feel some adrenaline. The rush from eating a balut only gets you so far. Hahahaha.
So we go to this go kart place. I'm expecting sub-Scandia go karts. Maybe 10 miles an hour. We got there and the track was really sweet! Long track, sharp corners, plenty of passing spots. Then I noticed that you had to wear racing helmets. It cost 300 pesos for 8 laps which is like 6 bucks. All the Elders get in their carts and as I sit down I realize that this is a pretty nice cart. Then he starts it up.
Oh my gosh.
VROOOOM!!!! Those karts were just as fast as RPM's karts! It was sweet! We were flying! Drifting every turn! High speed action! High-octane(thats one of those things that people say but nobody knows what it means)! Just awesome. It was so fun that we went twice.
Sunday was a pretty good day. The only problem was that one of the kids that we baptized showed up late for church and so he didnt get confirmed. Crap! But next Sunday I'll make sure it happens.
The ward missionaries here are awesome! They are all Young Single Adults. We just love them! Last Friday we went over to Binggi's house with Romel and the four of us put together the program for the baptism. Then Binggi's cousin Angelina came home. She lives with them but she isn't a member. So Elder Arbado and I tried to see if she wanted to come to the baptism. She did. But when we asked her to come to church on Sunday she refused. Well, we are determined now to teach the lessons to her. But Sunday I learned from Binggi that Angelina got all the way to the plan of Salvation already and told the missionaries that she didn't want to learn more.
So we came up with a plan. We are going to start going to Binggi's house more often to "share with her and her mom" the lessons in preach my gospel. And we're just gonna have Angelina join in. She's gonna be taking all the discussions again and not even know what hit her.
So lets see...there's been some pretty funny stories these past couple of days.
So there's a golf course in our tracting area. And yesterday we had to walk through the golf course from Top Hill, a pretty big jungle neighborhood to get to our next appointment. Top Hill is DIRECTLY adjacent to the golf course.
So on our way back from the appointment, this kid was carrying five golf balls and a 3 iron. We ran into him at the bottom of this really tall and steep hill that leads to one of the greens. We asked him if we could each take a swing. So Elder Arbado gets up and takes his swing. The balls hits the hill and rolls back down. So its my turn. I take the club just as a couple of women look down from the top of the hill and back up as they realize what I am about to attempt.
PAUSE
For those of you who do not know but can probably imagine, my father has been training me my entire life to golf--much to my chagrin. I really have never liked it until this last year. And my ball distance has improved...significantly.
UNPAUSE
I take my stance, and swing the club back, and come down on the ball like I'm in the tee box. BOOM!!!! The ball goes rocketing up into the air right where I had accidentally aimed--for the huge throng of women and children playing outside their houses RIGHT NEXT TO THE GOLF COURSE!
Silence...only broken by Elder Arbado half yelling-half laughing, "Oh my son, you're such a fool!" I dropped the club and looked at the kid who appeared to have just seen a ghost or realized that someone at the top of the hill very well may have been killed by little white bullet. I handed him the club, grabbed my things and took off running the opposite way. "Elder! Run! We need to get out of here!" But he called back, "No! We have to go get the ball!"
So terrified that I may have killed one of the many children playing in the neighborhood, we trudged up the hill just expecting a crowd of people circled around a bleeding child.
When we finally reached the top of the hill and stood on the green that I had COMPLETELY missed, the first thing that greeted me was the solemn shaking of heads from the two women who had seen me grab the club. Next, I saw a group of children still huddled covering their heads with their hands. I can only imagine their fear as a golf ball shot like a missile up the hill nearly killing one of them. Elder Arbado turned to me and whispered in his best English, "Act like you're casual." His version of 'act casual'. We just kept walking not wanting to look back. We got to our next appointment without having to pay any hospital bills. But someone or something got ROCKED by that ball.
Alright. My time is about up. Hope that everything is going well with you all. I miss and love each one of you even though I am still able to remain focused.
Love,
Elder Treadway
Alright. So this has been an awesome week!
Last Wednesday for P-day our district decided (with a great amount of lobbying on my part) to go go-karting at the local go kart track. After 3 months of not being behind any kind of wheel I was desperate to feel some adrenaline. The rush from eating a balut only gets you so far. Hahahaha.
So we go to this go kart place. I'm expecting sub-Scandia go karts. Maybe 10 miles an hour. We got there and the track was really sweet! Long track, sharp corners, plenty of passing spots. Then I noticed that you had to wear racing helmets. It cost 300 pesos for 8 laps which is like 6 bucks. All the Elders get in their carts and as I sit down I realize that this is a pretty nice cart. Then he starts it up.
VROOOOM!!!! Those karts were just as fast as RPM's karts! It was sweet! We were flying! Drifting every turn! High speed action! High-octane(thats one of those things that people say but nobody knows what it means)! Just awesome. It was so fun that we went twice.
Sunday was a pretty good day. The only problem was that one of the kids that we baptized showed up late for church and so he didnt get confirmed. Crap! But next Sunday I'll make sure it happens.
The ward missionaries here are awesome! They are all Young Single Adults. We just love them! Last Friday we went over to Binggi's house with Romel and the four of us put together the program for the baptism. Then Binggi's cousin Angelina came home. She lives with them but she isn't a member. So Elder Arbado and I tried to see if she wanted to come to the baptism. She did. But when we asked her to come to church on Sunday she refused. Well, we are determined now to teach the lessons to her. But Sunday I learned from Binggi that Angelina got all the way to the plan of Salvation already and told the missionaries that she didn't want to learn more.
So we came up with a plan. We are going to start going to Binggi's house more often to "share with her and her mom" the lessons in preach my gospel. And we're just gonna have Angelina join in. She's gonna be taking all the discussions again and not even know what hit her.
So lets see...there's been some pretty funny stories these past couple of days.
So there's a golf course in our tracting area. And yesterday we had to walk through the golf course from Top Hill, a pretty big jungle neighborhood to get to our next appointment. Top Hill is DIRECTLY adjacent to the golf course.
So on our way back from the appointment, this kid was carrying five golf balls and a 3 iron. We ran into him at the bottom of this really tall and steep hill that leads to one of the greens. We asked him if we could each take a swing. So Elder Arbado gets up and takes his swing. The balls hits the hill and rolls back down. So its my turn. I take the club just as a couple of women look down from the top of the hill and back up as they realize what I am about to attempt.
PAUSE
For those of you who do not know but can probably imagine, my father has been training me my entire life to golf--much to my chagrin. I really have never liked it until this last year. And my ball distance has improved...significantly.
UNPAUSE
I take my stance, and swing the club back, and come down on the ball like I'm in the tee box. BOOM!!!! The ball goes rocketing up into the air right where I had accidentally aimed--for the huge throng of women and children playing outside their houses RIGHT NEXT TO THE GOLF COURSE!
Silence...only broken by Elder Arbado half yelling-half laughing, "Oh my son, you're such a fool!" I dropped the club and looked at the kid who appeared to have just seen a ghost or realized that someone at the top of the hill very well may have been killed by little white bullet. I handed him the club, grabbed my things and took off running the opposite way. "Elder! Run! We need to get out of here!" But he called back, "No! We have to go get the ball!"
So terrified that I may have killed one of the many children playing in the neighborhood, we trudged up the hill just expecting a crowd of people circled around a bleeding child.
When we finally reached the top of the hill and stood on the green that I had COMPLETELY missed, the first thing that greeted me was the solemn shaking of heads from the two women who had seen me grab the club. Next, I saw a group of children still huddled covering their heads with their hands. I can only imagine their fear as a golf ball shot like a missile up the hill nearly killing one of them. Elder Arbado turned to me and whispered in his best English, "Act like you're casual." His version of 'act casual'. We just kept walking not wanting to look back. We got to our next appointment without having to pay any hospital bills. But someone or something got ROCKED by that ball.
Alright. My time is about up. Hope that everything is going well with you all. I miss and love each one of you even though I am still able to remain focused.
Love,
Elder Treadway
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