Short Email (Week 27, Malanday Ward, Malandang Area, Elder Segovia)

Wow this email is not gonna be as good...but i will try to make it good with the short time i have. 

first i feel like some of you dont know what my email is so here it is... adam.wright@myldsmail.net

Anyway this week consisted of a lot! I am not having the easiest of times right now but i am pushing through and really [. . .] i just have to be more christ-like. 

monday we went over to over to do an FHE at a members house which was nice to be able to get food because the cost of travel has burned a hole in my wallet...wow we dont say that in the philippines. Iam so happy that i am in the same ward with another american missionary, sister tanuvasa because we are the only americans in our district and it is always nice to have someone that can relate to you in a different country. plus it makes Family home evenings a lot more funwith a pair of sister missionaries!

Tuesday we had another FHE or family home evening with a rich family! the food was so good! I had talked with a less active and shared with her about my family situation with my and really tried helping her understand why she needs the gospel in her life. The Lord will always bring you to an opportunity to share the gospel if you try and look for one that is what i learned here on the mission.so look for those opportunities love you all!

God Has A Work For All Of Us (Week 26, Malanday, Malandang Area, Elder Sogovia)

I have no idea how to start this email... honestly yeah hahahaa i will just start now.

Monday- So monday after doing the usual on P-Day of emailing and what not, i went to the SM Valenzuela mall for the first time which was fun...but then sometimes people would try to sell me stuff because im white and i guess that means i got money...but the best part was i went to dairy queen, yeee boi! nothing makes things better like ice cream...except for maybe good work in the mission but ice cream is also necessary. We then went over to the Dxxxxa Cxxxz familys house and found out the father has joined some weird organization  that does priestcraft... that was not good, so we tried to help him and he actually went to church this sunday so i think there is progress.

Tuesday- We had a district meeting. before the district meeting started we were waiting for the sisters to show up an then they ended up showing late in a trike or a motor bike with a side cart with music blasting that could be heard from down the block! it was a crack up for all of us because it was the last thing we expected. after we all ate adobo and talked. then we went to work without an umbrella while it was rainy. that was pretty fun spending the day cold and wet...actually it was kind of fun. a lot better than being hot and wet. thank goodness the heat isnt too bad right now. We really dont have investigators i feel are progressing so we have been doing a lot of finding. We then ate at a different Dxxa Cxxz families house then i mentioned on monday with the Sisters in our ward.

Wednesday- We tried looking for a new apartment and did finding for new investigators while we were at it. I talked to a Jehovah's witness and she was really talkative and wanted to preach to me so i ended giving her a Plan of Salvation pamphlet and told her to read. it was really sad because she truly believed that we cannot find peace and happiness in this life. and she didnt want to accept that i knew that she could find happiness and peace through the gospel but hey there is always hope for everyone to accept :).

Thursday- I have been really trying to talk to everyone and listen to unto the promptings of the spirit. I have two good experiences from this day. One was with a less active family that we went to (the Gxxo family). We rtalked with Rxx and we talked about keeping the commandments and why that is important and when it came my turn it was awesome i was filled with the Spirit and i started talking to Rxxy about the importance of keeping the commandments and then i started talkign to him about the work that God has for him right now. and then i felt prompted to turn to his sister who really is not active and then i almost kind of chastized her but not completely because she heard what i was sayig to her brother and then i asked her why she is going to church and then i was telelign her  that being busy is not an excuse and then i was talking about what God has for her and just i cant remember everything that i said but it was powerful! she still didnt go to church but i if you read when Alma went to Ammonihah and preached to the people, they didnt listen to him so you cannot discouraged but you have to find joy in doing God's work like what the angel said to Alma after he was sad because the people. I also had a prompting before a dinner appointment and was led to a less active in a grocery store...just goes to show we can learn something from Thomas S. Monson and always follow a prompting as soon as we get them.

For the rest of the days really the same things are happening, we are trying to find new people and a new apartment. Finally my skills in tagalog are good enough that i can joke with people when they think i dont know how to speak in tagalog or what they call a nosebleed. sometimes they way i find people is really interesting because you almost sometimes act in different ways with different people. like with old woman i put on this kind of goofy silly act but then obviolusly you get serious when talking about the gospel and then with men you havge to keep it more chill. hahaha i wish i could better explain it but i probably look foolish sometimes when i talk with people but the people here really like goofy and dont like serious so when they see an American speaking to them and kind of wiggling around, i think they might be more i guess impacted by it...hahaha i hope that makes sense.

Our ward here is really small...i wish i could say more but really there is some work i need to do here to help this ward be strengthened.

People here seem more used to Americans unlike in my old area. i felt a little harassed sometimes in my old area but here i feel more in the culture and of the people which is nice.

I dont use the washing machine shop anymore i just handwash which...is not fun hahaha

Some of our area has almost more green areas with the houses and stuff i will have to send more pictures but this area is not as condensed ad my old one but it is huge!

Every morning i just eat chocolate instant oatmeal because i cannot get enough of that stuff!

I have also got a craving for chicken curry and will eat that a lot during lunch.

back to yesterday i spent a lot of my time trying to find and then helping a ward member being bullied...i think the problem is going to stop but that was sad to see. we also found a new investigator who i have great hope for. we had a really good lesson and i as tried to focus on helping him understand, the spirit really guided me. 

Really if there is something i am learning on my mission is the guidance of the Spirit and why we are placed in certain posititions or areas. We all just need to really not question why things can be different in our lives and really think "okay now sense i am here, Heavenly Father what can i do" and then work. that is something i could have done when i first got here but as now i am here working i see more of why i am here and my importance of needed to help this ward strengthen and find those that are here ready to make covenants with God to be eternally happy.

I love you all, God has a work for all of us, so find out what you need to do!

Elder Wright

Dalawang sakey na lang? ang layo! (Week 25, Malanday Ward, Malandang Area, Elder Segovia)

Sobrang astig ang malanday ward! sa unang linggo ko dito, alam ko na ito ang magandang area. anyway thought i would throw in tagalog but i am done now hahaha my new area is big! a lot bigger than my last one! and even though it is only dalawang sakay na pumunta dito mula sa dating area ko. ( two rides to get here from my old area) it is different. its like the people are way different too. or maybe i am already different...change can be good!

Tuesday- did not have much time to say goodbye to people but i said goodbye to Gxxxn and he made a favorite of mine and it is this omelet with mixed vegetables and ground pork meat. it is bomb people...bomb! after that i went and ate another member's house. and then i packed everything and went over to the malanday apartment.

Wednesday- my companion left and then now i am with elder segovia. we started the day pretty late because i had to get things from the old apartment and then i had to unpack and spray my stuff because we have the beautiful problem of BED BUGS! WOOO! love that...but there is a pro and con. the pro is that they have been really biting me..the con is that my companion is getting all the blood sucked out of him, he might turn into a bed bug at this rate. anyway maybe filipino blood is more delicious than american blood. after that we did studies and headed out and i met members and some people we are teaching.

Thursday- I cant remember if it was this day or the day before but i forgot my journal at the computer shop i went to to email on tuesday! the worst but iwas able to get it from other elders on sunday. i met more members and we have been taking time to find new people. We met one lady named myyy ayyn and i had a good experience with the importance of teaching people and not just lessons meaning...listen to the spirit and to waht the people are saying and find out from there what you need to do to teach them and help them. as i was listening to her we found out that her dad died and so it gave me the perfect opportunity with knowing how to help relate the gospel to her. i shared a bit with her about my dad died and told her i wanted to share with her why i am still happy and it really helped make the restoration of the gospel and the true church meaningful to her. it was awesome. we really need to listen and hearken to the spirit and really try to find out how we can help people come to know the truth all of those around. missionary or not a missionary. us members have been baptized and have become disciples of christ and it is in us to be God's servants here. i encourage all of you to AT LEAST talk to ONE person and share the testimony. but before you do that think of someone and think of even how to relate it to them.

Friday- not much was done because of meetings and weekly planning

Saturday- We had another good day, sorry i am running out of time basically as i have opened my mouth and stop worrying about my Tagalog i have been able to be an instrument in the lords hand i am so grateful for the confidence he has given me.

i love you all and i hope you all strive to be servants of the lord always

PAALAM GEN T DE LEON (Week 24, Gen. T. de Leon | Elder Pajarin | New Area first transfer)

this week i am leaving my first area! crazy! i have been there for four months but i a moving only to the nexy area so not to far from where i was "born" in the mission!

Tuesday- Day after new year! we had district meeting and it was good! it was about sharing the gospel and always sharing something new and what we have to offer. really we need to think about what this gospel offers that other churches dont teach. families can be together forever, there are living prophets of God, temples, there are three kingdoms, etc. and we need to share these things with people because people are waiting to hear something new not something they already have heard. after that we ate at a burger place that had awesome fries and that is when i saw everyone eat with gloves on! hilarious! i was so confused when i saw them wear the gloves to eat the burgers. we went to this new family Mxxaricel and her husband was there and we taught a little bit about the plan of salvation and then about the Restoration and there family is really interested in the Gospel. 

Wednesday- we taught an old investigator the wife of the Rxxosales family and she did not seem too interested when we were talking it got me pretty baffled when we taught about the plan of salvation because she lost her daughter recently but she still wasnt interested it was sad. we also returned to another old investigator and then taught them and it was good because they have goals to be happy really and we connected to the gospel. 

Thursday- we didnt have too much success today with our teaching but we got potential investigators. we also tried to help Ayyye again []

Friday- We had exchanges so i went to Malanday which is now my new area tomorrow...and i worked with the District leader who helped me with a new perspective on teaching the gospel which has helped me.

Saturday- We had the baptisms of the Sxxxl family which was awesome! We taught Txxoto and his family again and it was a good lesson on the Plan of Salvation.

Sunday- i said goodbye to people and i also tried helping a member of the sxxxo family, a less active, to understand why he needs to follow the gospel and do things like reading and praying and going to church to receive guidance from God.

sorry i was short on time. i love you all so much and i hope you guys are having a good week and didnt already give up on your new year resolutions

LOVE YOU

Happy New Year! (Week 23, Venzuela City, Gen. T. de Leon Ward, Elder Pajarin)

Man people here love New Year's Eve! so many fireworks and the sky was filled with the smoke from the fireworks! It was really loud especially with not having any windows you can close shut.

Monday- we had another day of curfew so we ended up just staying inside the rest of christmas and didnt do too much. the church movies help to keep you from being bored, like the restoration and legacy. so taht is really nice to have

Tuesday- We worked with a ward member, jxxxx again. and that was good. we went to Ryyyy (their baby just died) and the visit could have been better. we also met with this other girl myyyyy and tried helping her out. earlier i had a prompting to talk to this one lady and then i decided to follow the prompting and then it turns out that she wasnt the person that we needed to talk to but this other lady that we sparked conversation with who has just been sitting on a bunch of questions just confused and wants answers! the Lord works in mysterious ways. we also visted the Cxxxxx family again and taught the restoration and temples to a nonmember in their family who we are teaching. We went back to the Syyxxxx family (less actives) and we visited with them and they didnt have time to do a lesson so we were gonna come back on the 31.

Wednesday- We had our district meeting and a gift exchange there. we visited Cxxxxx family again because they are stuggling and we talked about goals and then we went to Syyyyyy to teach tithing and fast offering.

Thursday- Elder Pajarin and i had better studies today which really made an impact on our day. We went back to Myyyyyy's house ( a new investigator) and she wasnt there but her kids were and we taught the Restoration. We got potential investigators and the Gxxxx took us to two people who ended up having a lot of questions. We also went to a new investigator Jyyyyyyine.

Friday- We had weekly planning again which went good setting goals for this new week and then we taught the Cxxxxxe family again with teaching the one member in their family who is an investigator about the Word of Wisdom with new year's eve coming up...we will see how that went.

Saturday- We taught Myyyyl and had teach her the Restoration and so her kids listened again. they are a good family and i hav e hope for them. they really are  kind to so it is fun going over there. We then had a baptism which Eyyyyy showed up like an hour or an hour and a half late to her own baptism. so we started at 6:30 or somewhere around there instead of five. 

There were good things i was able to learn like from the importance of unity to the Lord. Jesus Christ and God are perfectly unified. their unity is so perfect that they are referred to as being one even when they are two separate beings. in all of our companionships or relationships with our families or spouses, we need to be unified and the gospel is what truly unifies. so we need to live it.

Love you all and a Happy New Year!

Elder Wright