13 December 2010

Hey! hey!

How are y'all!? Since through email I am currently unable to receive a direct response from you all, and will just pretend you answered and asked me back how I am, which you probably would do because you are polite people. So I'll tell you. Even if you were just expecting a simple response like, good, I will still go into more detail because... I guess I want to! But you lives are sounding pretty exciting.

All righty! So this week was pretty excellent. Last monday the Zone Leaders came into town. I think I told you a little about our new zone leader, Elder Hadry. He really is a character and I'm not sure if I understand him. But one thing I like about him is the angle of his eyebrows when he raises them. Like my eyebrows just go into like an arch shape but his just go into like perfect 45 degree angles. Anyway, I can't really describe him to you but he cracks me up. I'll just give an example. On Monday night when I was trying to go to sleep Elder Hadry kept telling me "stop lying Elder Burton, you're not sleeping!" Every single time I closed my eyes again he said that to me again and I was just like, I know I'm not saying I'm asleep I'm just trying to sleep because I'm kapoy!! Anyway, that's his personality if that helps. And he made me cook my spagetti for him, because that's the only delicious thing I can make! I need recipes I either eat spagetti or rice and canned foods. Just more delicious ulam, you know?

This week besides that was good but hard again. It seems in this season people are getting busier and busier and it's harder and harder to make appointments. I don't know if I told you last week, but from December 3rd to 8th was a Capiz (my province) wide festival called Sinadya Sanadaran, so people have been really busy and there have been a lot of drunk people. So it's been a little scary. One day this week we were walking home after our last appointment and we walked past this intersection and like 6 seconds later there was this huge crash. A tricycle and a single motor had crashed into each other right where we had been standing like 6 seconds earlier. It was crazy and scary. I felt like protected or something. We tried to help how we could and like right after it happened like 30 pinoy people came running over and helped the people get into tricycles to get to the hospital. They didn't look to good. One guy who was in the accident was pretty drunk and he just walked away so we talked to him and tried to help him get in a tricycle too. It was weird and scary. I wasn't sure what to do since like no police came but we just helped how we could and left. I hope they are okay. Actually one of the people we talked to near the site of the accident we ended up teaching twice this week, which was cool too.

It's just cool sometimes how just when your put in weird situations how things eventually work out. Like after the 8th of December I was happy because I thought it would be easier to teach people, but on Thursday and Friday there was a huge rainstorm. On thursday we worked with Brother Bermi and taught some good lessons and we went to this one house Brother Bermi remembered who was a former investigator who had a baptisimal date but had moved and now was back again. After we shared with her we left but it was raining really hard. But we left and then we got stuck in a flood thing like just ankle deep in water. So we ran and took cover in front of this bread shop underneath a roof. I ended up spending like 40 pesos on bread for the three of us and we talked to the guy a little bit about the gospel and he said we could come back on Saturday. Sometimes it's just amazing thinking about how things work out and how things happen because of where you are at because of things that happen. Like if we hadn't been working with Brother Bermi, we wouldn't have gone to that area. If it hadn't started raining so hard, we would have just walked straight past that bread shop (unless, I guess if I was hungry) But I think I had bought bread before from there but never shared with him.

I also realized this week just how awesome Roxas is. On Saturday this week I really noticed this. In the morning we ended up walking through rice fields and then later that day we were close to the ocean and talked to some fisherman there, then later that day we returned to the bread shop guy and he was excited for us to teach us and we started, then he said it was kind of noisy where we were and if we wanted to go to his like uncles like apartment thing on the third floor so he could concentrate better. So we ended up going to the roof of this three story building and you could see like all of Roxas and it was also cool because you could see the steep of our church building! The view was magnificent. It was just cool, our area. Like 1 barranggay is city, and then there is bukid area too. It's really sweet and really beautiful.

Sunday was a really good day too. In the morning we talked to two recent converts, Ianjay and Arjay, and asked them to work with us. They are too, really cool, young men. I really like them and like joking with them. I worked with the younger one, Arjay. (we went on splits) and we just worked around. Actually they were some really cool lessons. We got "punted" a lot with Arjay and ended up just inviting some people to church. Then I decided to visit this one investigator, who we had just taught once. It was really cool. We had taught him about like the great apostasy last time and left him the pamphlet to read about the restoration. He had read and we taught him about Joseph Smith's experience. As I was teaching Brother was telling us about how he was catholic and I was trying to teach him about knowing about truth through the holy Ghost and his prayer and desire to know. As I talked he seemed unwilling to change but Arjay just pipped in and told about how he used to be catholic but then the missionaries taught him about the Book of Mormon and to pray and when he did he knew that it was right. The the man finally seemed comforted and committed to pray and try it out. Arjay is a really nice, cool young man in our ward. I loved working with him. We ended up teaching 2 other lessons with him too in the morning. One was with a Sister who has been an investigator forever! She only had a little bit of time so we talked about her scripture reading and she always reads so I tried asking her why she always read from the book of mormon. After that I understood a little more and asked her about some of the blessings she's received from reading it. She said some and I asked her if she believed that the book of mormon was true and she said she kind of half believes. We talked about that and I finally realized her concern isn't really with the doctrine at all. She told me how it was hard for her to change her religion because she's the only one in her family and that it's hard to change what she had been taught her whole life. I think she knows it's true but she won't admit it since she is just so scared to change. But I shared with her about how if we know it's true and I know some people who have lived there lives, and they have come to know it's true, and they did it, even though they didn't have support from their families and friends. I told her about missionaries who went on missions even though their family didn't necessarily support it. I told her I don't really know about it, because I have support from my family and friends, and I'm so lucky for that. But there are people out there who know it's true. There's other missionaries in the world who don't have the same support, but they are doing what they are doing because they know God's love for each of us, and how important the work is. Even Arjay, his parents aren't members yet, but he comes to church every week and even works with the missionaries. And most importantly, Jesus Christ knows each of us, and can help us to over come. So it was cool, and I hope she can overcome that concern. It's harder because she still won't admit she's received an exact answer. I think because she's committed when she does, she'll be baptized. Hopefully with her desire and faith, God will help her overcome that and be able to progress. It was cool working with Arjay, like actually leading lessons too, but my voice is always tired at the end of the day!

Church was slightly disappointing with attendance, after last week, I thought everything was just going perfect. But everyone still has their choice, and our investigators made excuses again not to come to church. I was wondering what happened to them, and why hadn't they come, and what had we done wrong. But then I remembered the words of our zone leader a couple weeks ago, about still trying to make church a spiritual experience for us, even when investigators don't come. If we do that, then we'll truly be able to testify to these people why it's so important that they go to church. So I did try, and I listened carefully to the speakers, instead of being lost in my own thoughts. The first speaker spoke on "patience" which I felt was directly towards me. It was just something I really needed to hear to be more patient with myself and with my investigators, and just trust the Lord is working in them the way he has promised me. And I need to be patient with the Lord himself too. So I really enjoyed sacrament meeting. I think it's important I always have a good experience at church. If I don't, why would I be inviting so many people to go to church every week? I remember someone saying once most people go to church to have spiritual experiences.

So this week, all in all, was really good. I find days going by wayyyy fast now that I'm actually like understanding more and talking a lottt more. In District Meeting this morning we practiced teaching as usual but I practiced teaching english because I practiced with a newer sister in the mission and she was asking me to speak english to her. It was so weird! I found my self saying Ilonggo phrases in my head and translating them into english. It was just weird. Even like my first weeks here with Elder Tiamzon I always practiced in Ilonggo just saying really really simple sentences.

Anyway, that's it. I'm hungry. So take care kamo tanan. And enjoy your lives. I'm looking forward to calling you in less than 2 weeks! Holy Toledo, time is flying very fast.

Well, Love you all,
Elder Burton

P.S. Actually I didn't eat Thanksgiving at manginasal because I didn't have a companion (he was in Iloilo for training) So I just at rice and canned tuna adobo. It was okay. But for rob, Manginasal has unlimited rice because.. that's just what they offer. It's just their business. I don't know.