First Week of This Transfer

April 27, 2016

Pastilan... I am not sure why I start most of my emails or journal entries with that word, but it seems to sum up most everything. 

Transfers hit and we got a new kabalay (house mate). Elder Gali is now in and PASTILAN! Boy has he changed! He went from disappearing and punching things to very obedient and understanding what’s really important! He has grown so much in the past year and I'm proud of him :'). Seeing him also helped me see who I am right now.... yeah... ask my peeps for that one if you'd like to know. 

The thing that has made my week was seeing 6 of our gators at church! We had our brother Billy John come for the 4th time which means once we finish the lessons he is good for baptism coming here up on May 21! So quick too! We also had my friend’s sister Gena and her daughter come for the first time! If things keep doing well her and her daughter should be set for May 28!  It makes me very happy to see my gators at church! Back in Argao we were losing members EVERY WEEK! Here we are having much more success! 

Nothing really broke last week or houses flooded. Elder Beretara gave his first District meeting.  That was interesting! He made and brought mango float:) MMM... I'll have to make you all it when I'm back! Oh and speaking of that I am also thinking of extending my mission for one more transfer. I shall bring that up with my peeps so it’s not a ''for sure'' thing. Our work has taken a little bit of a toll lately. We've only been 3 days in this transfer with 0 FTEs and 3 lessons... Things are just getting difficult right now. 

I got this neat-o package last Monday! It only took about 4 months to get it:) Got this new BOM study guide book which has some interesting commentaries in it. This cool calendar with pictures I got to show off to the others, new pens, sticky notes, and a bunch of new CDs music! It kind of sucks that our CD player decided to break just barely too... no music for now:'(. 

All is well on the Pacific front! Still alive and well! I do love my mission and my work too! I wish the best for you all back at home! Sorry for no pictures; we are at an internet cafe that doesn’t allow us to plug in cameras. Sa sunod na lang! Next time! 

Love ya'll!     

-Elder Morris 

End of the Transfer

April 20, 2016

So last night we received our transfer calls! OOH exciting isn't it? So my companionship won’t change this transfer but Elder Beretara in going to be the new district leader here in our district. Nothing better than adding to ones responsibilities haha! Also one of my kabalay (like house mate) got transferred to San Carlos and so my new kabalay is... pause for effect... Elder Gali! My MTC companion! I haven't seen him in 8 months! (Pretty much my entire mission minus the MTC). I'm excited to see him again and also for my companion to have this responsibility. It should help him out as well as teach us all - haha!

Last Friday night we woke to one of the most... gah I can’t even say the words... well any way apparently Elder B. left the water running in the bathroom when we all went to sleep and we woke at 3 a.m. to our ENTIRE HOUSE FLOODED! All our beds were dripping water! (cuz we sleep on the floor.) I woke up the next night at 2 a.m. and the water was left on AGAIN!!!!!! PASTILAN! This time, though, the house wasn't flooded:) just wasted water...

We didn’t get our support until after P-day last week so I used my personal moneys to buy food that later just became kabalay food (food for all...). Well I am cooking a ton now and am getting really good a cooking Filipino food. I have this one recipe that I will have to email you guys next week and it is really good! Everyone loves it:).

We have several investigators here that are progressing rather quite well too:) We have a sister Febie and brother Wing. They are live in partners who are close to being married and once they are married they will be baptized like right after; probably in June. We also have this brother Billy John. He was a referral to us three weeks ago and he is... pastilan he'll most likely be baptized this transfer! I am so excited for him too! Like most people here, his life is tough. Orphaned as a child, he and his brother were taken in by the immediate family. He is progressing quite well:).

Work here is still work and all. Nothing majorly new. This past transfer was by far my fastest too. It's as if not a whole lot happened cuz it was so fast! Maayo.

I wish the best for you all back at home. Keep doing good too.

Love ya'lls!

--

-Elder Morris

Still Hangin In! Buhi Ko!

April 13, 2016

So this week was full of meetings! AS IN! Monday we had our district meeting, Tuesday we had a full day to work! Wednesday was P-day, Thursday we had a ZTM meeting, Friday we had Zone Interviews with the president, Saturday and Sunday we had General Conference:), and Monday we had a District meeting. Pastilan! The only days in which we had a full 8 hour day were these past two Tuesdays! And both days we had splits (in which we would split companionship's with our leader companionship's) so I wasn’t even with my tinuod (true) companion.

This past 7 days has been a huge learning time for me (tungod kadtong mga meeting [because of the meetings]). I am very uplifted(?).... kwan I’m not sure the word I really want to use. Either way it was a great week! Now... we did have a week of almost no teaching and working... We had 14 lessons and 46 FTEs... that is really BAD! Mission standards are 30 Lessons and 100 FTEs. We didn’t even get half! Sad thing is it isn’t because of our meetings. E.B had LBM and wasn’t feeling so well this week….a lot of sick days.

What the Spirit told me last transfer, "the next assignment would be my hardest of the mission", is proving itself more true every single day. Let me give the advice to all those out there who come upon this email that was taught to me this past week (or more like reiterated) -- God loves you. He knows you individually. Even if you don't want to accept Him, He still loves you. He is there.

I like to envision my own personal dissension from heaven to this earth. Heavenly Father hugging me real tight as we part for this time being. Me being scared if I will make the choices and chose His path for me and return to Him. Oh the fear that must have been with me, with each of us as we said goodbye for the time being. We knew and we all accepted that we would have to walk be faith and NOT by sight. Did we ever fear not having faith and thus being blind? I am not so sure about what happened up there before I came here but I do know that the path that our Lord Jesus Christ has revealed to us all and that we HAVE is the path we were told about in premortality. We have this path here in front of us. Why is it so hard to follow it? The Gospel we have is very simple. VERY simple. The reward is very high too, so this brings us to the advice given. We all accepted what we will face here in this life even before we came here. We have been blessed with the path to our salvation given to us. Why do we not follow it? Do we not know that not following this path brings pain? Understand what we signed up for and what is at stake. If you can truly understand what we have coming to us than NO ONE would ever fight against the higher law. Know this: being in the service of your God and King is the greatest thing ever given to us. As we do what He asks He is BOUND to bless us. D&C 82:10- I the Lord am bound when ye do what I say, but when you do not what I say don’t expect any blessings! (italics and rewording added.) Never give up. If your faith is diminishing then get on a path and slowly increase it. You are not to feel like you have to make a huge leap in faith going from little (or none) to a huge testimony. Start small and grow. Start with this: You have a Father in Heaven and He loves you more than you can comprehend! I promise that He will bless you as you strive to do your best. You are not expected perfectness. All that is expected is your best!

So this morning I finished the Book of Mormon for the 3rd time in my mission. Pastilan! My new thing to do is think about these individuals and what they were going through when they wrote the book. I'll send an email next week with a more detailed explanation of what I mean. Just know that I do testify that the Book of Mormon is the word of God for our time and age. It is a sad ending, a lot of people suffered just to serve the God they love and in return God did bless them with what was promised. I do encourage anyone and everyone to read that book and never stop. If you do question anything, ask me. I will answer any question given me because that is the ministry I am called to; to help anyone and everyone to understand the love God really does have for you.

My favorite part from last Conference in Sunday session: "Prone to wander, Lord I feel it. Prone to leave the God I love. Here's my heart, oh take and seal it! Seal it for thy courts above!" We are all subject to wander and stray from our God and King. Recognize when you do and get back in line. To be honest, I'm tired of seeing those I love reject our Savior and chose pain instead. It hurts my heart. He has healed my depressed and breaking heart. I know He will do the same for you. Just come unto Him! read Alma 38:5 (my favorite scripture) and take out the name "Shiblon" and input your name. It will teach you a truth that needs to be understood in our days.

Know that I love you all out there! If I have anything you need, any help, just send me an email. I will respond to you with all the authority given me of our master Jesus Christ. I know what is waiting for you and me in time to come. If you do not know then I'd be glad to help you know.

Amping!

-Elder Morris

Oh wait… I forgot to tell you that we went to a zoo. I saw alligators and cool birds and a Tarsier. Look them up! They are this cool little monkey thing ikatandi sa Ai-ai. They are so small that they fit into your palm! They have these huge bug eyes too!  A pic is attached.

It's Already April!

April 6, 2016

Pastilan! It is already April! Where is 2016 going? I am still alive here in Pardo, peeps are still alive here in Pardo and school just got out last Saturday so all the little kids are out for summer break (summer break is April – June 1). Every day is a new challenge, especially this transfer.

So funny story… My companion, Elder Beretara, will pray for about 10-15 minutes on end, walay katapusan! We tell him to not take so long cuz it literally is done just to be funny and waste our time. Well last Wednesday as we left to go to email (idk if I shared this already) E.B was praying forever. So the other five of us just started walking down the road and waited over there until he was done. After a while he opened his eyes and noticed we all weren’t there... OK so it may not be so funny if you just read it, but it was funny being there.

We got a call to go up to Lahug (where the mission home is and the temple) to get our new phone (because the old one was lost when E.B fell into the sewer). It is the new 2016 model and the first of these models to enter the mission as a mission phone. It is very nice:). It makes me remember the joy of when I got my Droid Maxx - haha.

We haven’t had our water for like three 3 days! It is on and off all the time and it makes me a little mad. Well we found out the problem. Our neighbors keep turning it off!!! Pastilan!

Last Friday we did splits with the ward missionaries. I went to the White Road and met the sister whose husband was arrested. As we talked I came to learn that she had to sell EVERYTHING she owned (motorcycle, jewelry, everything) just to pay the 37000 piso bail. She was very distraught and upset. We shared a very simple verse (Alma 38:5) and immediately she was brought to tears. The quick visit ended quite well with her receiving a BOM and return appointment. Return appointment: So after praying a lot for her and fasting specifically for her and preparing a message we returned. Right as she saw us she was like "Oh I'm busy! Next time." and shoed us away like nothing happened. :/

We have this family that has pretty much dissented from the church (as in baptized into another religion too) that we are teaching. They were even sealed in the temple and they are also very rich. Like VERY rich. We finally got their main concern and they told us to return the next day to answer their big question. I spent the next night praying for them, praying for help on how I was going to approach this as well as pondering this thing ALL MORNING LONG! Well we returned. Spent 30 minutes waiting for tatay to finish his massage and then taught him and his son in law about repentance for an hour while the main peeps we went to teach were getting... MANICURES! They were in the next room over too:/ Didn’t even bother to tell us they were busy. Right after the lesson they came right out with all this food and spent a very long time talking to us about nothing to do with the previous night. It took another hour too. Two and a half hours there and, to be honest, a waste of time. I know no effort is wasted but we lost valuable appointments we could have been at.

What I am getting from these experiences is that the harder I try the harder it actually gets. Yesterday we went on splits the whole day with the District Leader. I worked in my area and for the first time in 4 weeks we actually left the house ON TIME! I was so excited!! Then we got punted from EVERYONE!  We had a very long day on this day when we actually had the full 8 hours of work... The stress hits at these points. It makes you wonder, "Am I actually doing what I should be doing? Praying and fasting for others? Doing your best to serve?" I was not quite sure what the answer was until this morning in personal study. In my fourth time reading the Book of Mormon from cover to cover, I finished the book of Mormon (the one before Ether). My favorite chapters in the Book of Mormon are 2 Nephi 25-29 but my favorite part in the whole book is those last four books (4 Nephi, Mormon, Ether, and Moroni). As you further read up on Mormon and understand who he is (you can tell by his writing style, and yes, it is different) you can see how he was the ONLY ONE in this entire nation of Nephites and Lamanites who is in tune with the Spirit (in exception to his son Moroni). He talks about how much he loves the people, how he prays for them, leads them to battle and tries his best to call them to repentance but no one listens to him. In the end they are all hewn down and killed and he is left to observe it. He cared for the people and yet they still rejected him all the way to their utter destruction. Not to mention he being born in 310 AD and his nation falling in 385 AD. For 75 years this man had to endure the pain of losing those he loves to the devil. He had to watch all those he loved reject him and in the end die. Moroni then continues and lives nearly 40 years after the destruction of the Nephites in isolation, all alone. These two guys had to face all this rejection their WHOLE LIVES and here I am enduring it for a few hours? Days? It just gives me peace that if people have endured these kinds of pains I can too. If those I love and pray for and plan for reject me then I should at least be able to endure it to since people have spent their whole lives doing it. Another good lesson from the Book of Mormon…  

This week has been long. If you would like to know how long just ask my mother in the email I will send to them.

I hope all of you are having a good time back at home or on your missions! Take care moha!

-Elder Morris