Week 5 of the Transfer

May 25, 2016

To be honest, its been a good week!  The big news is that brother Billy John will be baptized this Saturday! He asked yours truly to do the honor as well:). I'll send the pics next week! He is doing very well too along the lines of progressing. I am excited for him and know that this will be a huge blessing for him! (Other than the eternal aspects -  haha). 

Me and my companion si Elder Jayme are doing great! He is keeping up with my fast pace and pastilan we had a great last week! We got a referral from a member that... eh it was ok. The first lesson was odd due to our kuyogs (members present) but she did end up coming to church in which we had 5 gators come! Hooray! 

We had this Zone Conference last Monday.  We left the house at 7 a.m and not joking we got home at 7 p.m. Lahug is literally like 20 miles away too. We received some very big news too. Aside from some small changes in the approach to work, the three area 70's have allowed and or will enforce some new fashion styles. I did a fist bump right as the said we can now wear sun glasses. Hats are also now allowed. The sister missionaries HAVE to now wear slacks or a very long dress that covers the ankles.  We all have to spray mosquito repellant AND this insecticide on our clothes because they are the main cause for all these changes! There have been some major outbreaks of insect related sicknesses in this part of the world as well as other 3rd world countries (I would assume 1st world countries too). Due to this a lot of missions in the world are now taking extra precautions in the protection of the missionaries. Sisters’ legs get bit all the time so they have to cover their whole legs now with either a dress or PANTS! It is all for our protection BTW. 

This morning, Elder Gali and I went to the Filipino DMV to change our licenses to Filipino licenses. We left at 7 a.m. and stood out in the rain for AN HOUR trying to flag some jeepney, bus, or taxi to drive us the 10 miles away to the DMV. We spent the next 5 HOURS sitting there, peed in a cup, sat there some more, took a picture, sat some more, and then got this flimsy paper that says I can drive in the Philippines until 2018... cost me 1016 pisos too... that’s 1/4 of our support! PASTILAN! Gawas ana, maayo ang tanan. :)

I got really mad at this one dude. Pastilan I went to this house to follow up with this huge family and one of the daughters husbands confronted me and said "walay tawo sa balay" I'm like "Bie, nagkita ko og babae didto sa sulod." He insisted "WALAY TAWO SA BALAY." I repeat "Bie, naay lalaki nga naglakip og baby!" again I received the same response "walay tawo sa balay." Pastilan I called him out right then and said "OI BAKAKON! Ako nakakita mga tawo sa sulod. Gnano man ang bakakon nimo? Ikaw ang bakakon!" Just like that he walked away like a dog with his tail between his legs... bakakon siya....

"No people in the house"- "Dude, I see a girl inside"- NO PEOPLE IN THE HOUSE"- "Dude I also see a guy holding a baby!"- "No people in the house"- "OI LIAR! I see people inside! Why are you lying? You are a liar!"  Man I hate lying! It really shows how much integrity you have if you try to lie right to someone’s face! Kind of funny - haha. 

Gawas na, all is well! The work will pick up and I am excited for it! It is interesting how things have been and if I train next week then things won’t change a whole ton! I am pretty much leading everything we are doing (and I don’t mind). Work is now picking up and boy will these next few weeks be good ones! I'll stay in touch;).

Oh! I also ate like 3 balot in the past week. The 16 day old is the best cuz the baby duck isn’t fully formed yet. You have to douse it suka (vinegar and chilies). 

Still alive and well! I wish the best for you all back at home! Take care yall!

-Elder Morris

Longest Week

May 18, 2016

So I would like to start this off by saying that this has been the longest week of my mission. There is very little on my mind other than the big news which TBH I’ll probably just share with you all what happened. 

Last Saturday morning, an interesting thing happened. My companion snapped after 10/12 weeks together. I remember saying that I received a bit of inside knowledge from the Lord that this assignment would be my hardest. Well it ended last Monday with an Emergency Transfer. 

After telling my companion to not drink my milk he cornered me in the kitchen and started to throw punches. After being clocked in the head and chest several times and him shouting "I want to go home!" over and over he finally backed away. 

I ran outside to our neighbors to get their phone (because ours was lost only a week earlier) and I straightway called the mission president. I got chastised and told "both of you pack your bags and I'll see you in my office; we will discuss going home then." With that in mind I went in to talk to my companion who had locked himself in a room. Apologies were given and hug as well. Our ZLs and APs came over dayon and we packed a suitcase for 5 days and went to the president’s office. I had an interview in which I was told that I actually did the right thing and that we would be emergency transferred. I then spent the whole rest of the weekend with a ZL on splits in his area and on Monday, my companion went to the other island and I stayed in Pardo where I got a new comp si Elder Jayme. Elder Jayme is a stake missionary who will only be wearing the badge for the remaining 2 weeks until transfers. The work has been really good in the past few days! 

Pastilan… The real problem wasn’t because I told him not to eat my stuff without asking; there are some things back at home that are really upsetting him and I just happened to be right there. I really hope that he can endure these last few months until he goes home in December. 

This morning was actually spent in Lahug at the Cebu Temple. We got to do a session. YAY! It was really peaceful and kind of a short break from things - haha. Also this morning, well let’s just start with last night. Last night I remember praying that we can have water. We haven’t had water in a few days...I haven't showered in a few days... Well the Lord gave us water in the morning! It’s just that this water came at 2:50 in the morning. I woke up to some drizzling from the sink and spent the next 1 1/2 hours filling up water in anything and everything that can hold water! Got back to bed around 4:30 and am very tired. We got a new phone today! Also with brother Billy John. His baptism is pushed back to the 28th so in two Saturdays! 

With the painful past 10 weeks ending in an even more painful last day I can honestly say that I really do love my mission. You know that you are truly dedicated to the Lord and to helping others when you don't even put up a defense to defend as well as worrying about the others and what’s happening to them. Had I retaliated in any way I wouldn't be emailing you this, I would be saying it to you in person. As I recalled this whole past assignment I can definitely see the growth in maturity I've come to. It is interesting how these things happen isn't it? I am excited for these next few weeks because it is truly me and the Lord leading this area; it’s like some one on one bonding time day ba? 

Sorry for emailing late, I hope you are all doing good back at home! Don't worry about me, I'm still alive! Love you all! Amping moha! 
 -Elder Morris

Halfway Point in This Transfer

May 11, 2016

And here we are halfway through this transfer! Pastilan, it is all going by quickly! A few things to make note about this week are:

Last Wednesday, Elder Gali and I went on spits to do the shopping while the other two elders were at the house cleaning. We took a lil break to eat lunch and the picture below will describe how that went! BTW that kind of food isn’t an everyday luxury here in the mission!

I hit my head so hard the other day I was about to DESTROY that sign that was built for short people. My head has a cut on it that was oozing puss :/

We had this FHE at an inactive family’s house. They are rich too so a lot of American style food haha! There was about 20 people there (I’ll send a picture). After the lesson we played a game with our neck ties and pastilan the people DESTROYED Elder Beretara’s neck tie! It was ripped to shreds by the end! The family ended up giving him and me a new neck tie even though mine was fine - haha. 

I left my clothes soaking in a soap solution for three days. It smelled like E.B went to the C.R in that bucket! Ohh SO BAD!

I ate chicken balot. Duck balot is better but eh... I still aint used to it. Oh and at the balot stand, E.B left our phone there so now we don’t have our phone! .... for the 2nd time this companionship..... pastilan...

Monday was election day and it was crazy! There was trash EVERYWHERE!!! All the flyers and such... wow I feel bad for the cleanup crew! This wasn’t just the area I am in but the whole Philippines was in this big mess of flyers and such. We have a new president here too. Si Duterte is the new president. He is very strict and wants nothing to do with government corruption. I feel that he would be good for this nation.

Last Monday I had the chance to Skype my family back at home:) As in... 45 minutes isn’t even enough time! I finished and was like "Pastilan I forgot to tell them all the things I had planned to tell them!" Well looks like in about 7 months I'll be able to see them again! Next month I'll be hitting my year mark too! PASTILAN is all I can say about that.

So far so good; still alive! I am still doing well here. We have a brother, Billy John, who will be baptized here in two Saturdays! I am excited for that!!!

(This is Billy John. Soon to be a member!!!)

Other than that... I hope all you guys back at home are doing good!

Take care ya'll! 

- Elder Morris

PS - Some extra pictures!

(This is how weekly plannings go...most of the time...)

Weekly Update

May 04, 2016

Hmm it’s been an interesting one!  We found this inactive family last week. They moved in from Mindanao and haven’t transferred records or anything like that yet. So we are going to be helping them as much as we can! Hooray! 

We also had a bit of a letdown this week. So we have this progressing gyud investigator, si sister Gena. I FTEd her and we taught all the first 3 big lessons - The Restoration, Plan of Salvation, Gospel of Jesus Christ. We have been teaching her for about 6 weeks now and extended the IBD of May 28 in which she happily accepted. Well last week we went to visit her and she was hiding from us! We then called her out to come out and like a dog with its tail between its legs she came. She later told us how her live-in partner doesn’t want her to be baptized. We waited for him to return home and then we talked with him. We had a very great lesson in which he said that we can continue to teach her and she can come to church. We got a text the next morning with her telling us to not come back. She testified many times of how she knew it was true, of how her life is changing gyud due to us sharing the message of our Lord. She pleaded (and we saw) as she begged her husband to let her continue but I guess the adversary works through many ways. The last thing I want to do is break up this family so we shall leave it up to them and the Lord. 

(This is sister Gena, our friend whose husband wont let her get baptized... BTW that is NOT my hand on her shoulder! She is the one with the BOM.)

On the lighter side we have a brother, Billy John, who will be baptized on May 21! He is doing very good! He comes all the time to church as well as is progressing very well in the lessons. I am excited for him! 

So the difference between these two people is one big thing. Brother Billy John has family and neighbors who are helping him (a fellow-shipper). Sister Gena was left with just us missionaries- haha. It comes to show me just how important the members are in the work. I haven’t baptized a person yet that hasn’t had extensive help from the members. 

Other than that work is work! All is going well and hapit na nga mag-1-year ko! I will be hitting my one year mark next month! Pastilan! Paspas kaayo! I get to Skype home this weekend too! Excited kaayo man ko para sa akong pag-skype sa pamilia nako! I’m excited to Skype my family! 

Hmm I know there are a lot of things I leave out or forget... hmm well if I can remember I'll let you know!

Here is a link to one of my new favorite songs! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pslLsWRPaIk 

I love you all back home and hope that you are all safe! Take care mo! 

-Elder Morris