Hey Family!
This week was pretty good, but a lot of funny things happened. Oh yeah, my shoes have holes all the way through them, so those aren't very good. The tops are still good, so I'm going to take them to the store next Monday and see if I can get them fixed. I sent the pictures though just because I know they have a 2 year guarantee, even though they only lasted 5 months, if you want to see if we can get some free shoes. I wouldn't worry about sending it, because I can probably get a really good pair of shoes for 1000 pesos ($20) or I'll probably buy some shoes from a Ocayocay for like 300 or 400 pesos, if they can't fix my shoes next week. But I still have one good pair, so I'm fine. Plus it shoes I work hard. Elder Jenkins saw my shoes and said he wants his to be like that by the end of his mission. I don't know why mine got destroyed so fast. Elder Eror said if Sister Pagaduan saw me in those shoes she would be mad. So I don't really wear them right now.
So about being awkward while tracting. I don't really feel awkward myself, I just think I am awkward for others. Or I did earlier, until what Elder Jenkins did this week. So we were tracting these houses in this area called Brgy. Kuko and we went to this house. We went up to the door and introduced ourselves and told him our names. We asked him what his name was and he told us it was Kano. (Just so you know, the word Kano means American in Ilonggo.) So that was his name and Elder Jenkins said "Abao! Kami man! Kano kami!"
Or like yeah we're Americans too! Just a funny joke or something. The guy laughed and said, "Oh yeah, my name is American, but I'm a Filipino." Or "Akon ngalan si Kano, pero pinoy ako." Then Elder Jenkins said, "Oo! Ako man! Pitoy ako!" The two people at the doors faces just were like, "what the..?" and then I started laughing a little bit. After I started laughing, Elder Jenkins realized what he said and just like stepped to the side and hid a little bit and started laughing. What happened is the word for Filipino is "Pinoy". But Elder Jenkins said "Pitoy", which means, well... the private part of a little boy. So instead of Elder Jenkins' joke being, oh yeah, me too, I'm a filipino, he said, "oh yeah, me too, I'm a pitoy."
Yeah, needless to say, I don't feel awkward anymore. We kind of saved the situation though. I told them that Elder Jenkins is new to speaking the language so he didn't know what he said and we talked to them a little about the Restoration and gave them a pamphlet. Maybe we'll follow them up this coming week.
The other funny thing that happened was on Sunday, after church. We had a hard time at church because we had like 12 people give firm commitments to come to church, and not one of them showed up. The good news is that Sister Sanz came again, her 2nd time in 18 years. Hopefully she can become active, maybe receive a calling soon. But we were kind of beat because we worked hard this week. We taught a ton of lessons, but no one came to church. We were a little discouraged, but we'll keep working on it. But that afternoon after church, we followed up on people and why they didn't come and then we taught a couple lessons and then we went tracting. After talking to a couple people we finally came up to these 2 old ladies. One of them was 87 years old. It was intense. We talked to them and they were nice and said we could share with them. We talked to them a little about their families and about why were here as missionaries and then we asked if we could say a prayer. I was the one saying the prayer and as I was praying one of them yelled out to us, "Brad, where you guys from?" Then the other lady said, "Hey shh, they are praying." Then the other lady said, "Hey where is your church?" And then the other lady said, "They are praying!" And the other lady said, "yeah, gani". or "yeah, obviously." And then they were just whispering to eachother and I kind of just couldn't not laugh so I ended my prayer. It was just kind of funny. But we taught them a little and they were really nice.
Later that day after having a hard day and tried a squatter again that we had tried a couple weeks ago. This time a different person answered the door and we talked to him for a while. He told us the guy was over somewhere else right now but we felt that we should talk to that guy at the door. So we talked to him for a while and his name is Jayr. He was nice and let us come in and teach him. He was really good and it was just a really good lesson. Like I felt really good about it. We teach lesson 1 a lot. Sometimes it's hard like not to get into a presentation and teach it different or according to needs. But that's what happened. I just felt it flow really well and he answered and as he talked we just felt what we should say. So I'm excited for him.
It is hard to see or hard to know exactly what all our investigators need. But I know God knows. I just need to continue to trust in him and know God will put words into my mouth. Right now, the general problem I see with people here is people don't understand that yes, it is a sacrifice to follow Jesus Christ. It isn't always going to be easy. There will be times when you see the success of others who aren't living worthy lives and you'll be an active worthy member, but your life is hard. It's not convenient to always follow him. But the eternal blessings that come from it will be worth it, even if you don't see them in this life. We had a lady tell us this week that she wouldn't come to our church because we do it wrong. She told us that her church had a meeting every day, so you could just go whenever you want. But our church does it wrong because we aren't as convenient as others. We also had a member tell us that it's hard because like thieves have money, bad people have money. But he's been working hard and keeping the commandments but his life hasn't been easy. I know it's not going to always be easy. We shared with him about Jesus Christ and how his life wasn't easy at all. Even though he lived a perfect life he had tons of trials. Later we shared with him about Joseph Smith. How after seeing the First Vision he didn't understand why people persecuted him for telling the truth, but they did. He was persecuted and eventually killed. But he knew what he was doing was right, even though it was a sacrifice. And how great will be his rewards in heaven? I know that this church is true. I know God's plan is perfect. I know as we continue to teach, but more importantly, as these people read the scriptures, pray, and go to church, they will have a greater desire to sacrifice in order to follow Jesus Christ.
Well. I guess that is mostly it. I know each of these investigators are different and their needs are different. But I know in the long run they all need the same thing, the gospel of Jesus Christ in their lives. And I know that that is why I am here right now. And I know that is also the duty of all the members of the Church. To help build the kingdom of God here on the earth.
So, take care all of you. Good luck. And Mom too, good luck with your new call. I actually talked to president this morning and he told me that the Lord makes very clear the calls we receive, and we receive them for a reason, and he knows what he's doing. So I love all of you. Have a good life. I hope you continue to see good things happen in your life.
All right.
Love,
Elder Burton
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