3 July 2011

Hey Family,

This week was real nice. A lot of things happened that really tried my faith.. but you just got to keep working for the things we want. And as we align our will with God's and do our best, we'll see amazing things happen if we really work for them.

So I spent most of the week in Iloilo for Leadership Training. It was pretty fun. After our district meeting on Tuesday we all rode down to Iloilo like 4 hours away. Fun stuff! Training wasn't till Wednesday so I called Elder Ball and went and worked with him. It was kind of cool. I saw some of my old investigators in passing and they were just like, "you're back! yay!" and I'm like, yeah, but I'm leaving in 2 days back to Kalibo. So it was awkward. I wasn't sure what to say, but I just went and taught with them. But it was cool seeing how investigators I taught and found have progressed and actually 2 of them have already been baptized and 2 others we found should be getting baptized this saturday! It's way cool to hear about that! It was kind of sad to see my investigators for a couple minutes and then leave right away.

Tuesday night I slept in my last apartment and it was funny because the DL in Roxas (my last area) brought his area book so I spent some time looking at that. I also looked at my Molo area book too. It was kind of cool to see. I wish we could have done more in Roxas, but we worked way hard everyday, and slowly it's progressing. So Wednesday was a really good day of training. President gave a training on how to give a training and then Elder Misbach, the new AP, :D, gave a training on Teaching People, Not Lessons. I liked the way he did it. I really like Elder Misbach, he's a good guy and hilarious. Anyway, he was teaching us that we should be an archer missionary, not a computer missionary. Like computers just have a program and you put in the concern and get the same answer everytime. (example, investigator doesn't read=teach him scripture study, doesn't go to church=teach sabbath day) But that's not necessarily the way it should be. Archers, they are different. They have all sorts of different arrows, all sorts of different stances they might use (i'm not sure about that one), and just change depending on circumstances. Anyway, that's the kind of missionary we should be. We can't just assume what the problem is or barrier an investigator has, but we have to follow the spirit, discern their needs, and teach them what they really need to hear, which won't always be what they want to hear.

After that Sister Pagaduan gave us a teaching demonstration. It was pretty useful because Elder Quinantoto and I have just been cooking fried fish for lunch. But don't worry, we eat oatmeal for breakfast now because it lowers cholesterol, so it equals things out. Anyway, I might try cooking her things, they were pretty easy.

So in the afternoon at the trainings they assign us to work with missionaries in the Iloilo Zone. And lucky me, I got to work with our AP, Elder Misbach! It was a pretty good experience. He really knows how to have fun in his work. I told him about Jared's phrase, whatever tickles your fancy, and how could I get people to use that phrase here. He said that would be kind of tricky, but he's been doing the same thing with the phrase "Get some!" He's been trying to get people to say it with no success until he told these 2 kids that his name was "Gitsum!" So when he walks past these kids they always yell, "Hey! Gitsum! Hey!" It's hilarious. Sorry Jared, I don't know if it will work with, "watevatiklesufansi!" But I'll see if I can do anything about it. Anyway, Elder Misbach and I really applied what we learned and it was just really powerful. I could see a big difference in the lessons and I just learned a lot. I learned a lot too as Elder Misbach and I planned, I felt the spirit was really guiding us in what we should teach his investigators.

The next day we had another cool day of training. Elder Sellers in the morning taught about finding through members and how we can help them have the courage to share with their friends. Because I bet most members who have a testimony have a desire to share the gospel with their friends, but how can we help members get motivated to do it. It helped me get a lot more ideas how to help members do it. Because when we visit members and share with them they all know at the end I'm gonna ask, "you got referrals?" But we saw a quote by President Monson that that's not too effective. We got to help guide the members to see why it's so important in their lives and help them know how fun it is to share. I ended practicing with the Zone Leaders and Roxas and they showed me a fun way to do it. Like just like me and Elder Quinantoto in our companion study we can practice with members or roleplay how to do it. And it's way fun to do it. The Roxas ZLs told me they like did it with their Ward Missionaries and just pretended to talk to people on a jeepney or whatever and it was way fun. Elder Quinantoto and I made goals to work with members better.

Then at lunch we had a way cool experience. This Returned Missionary from like 12 years ago and his dad came back to visit the mission. So before lunch President gave them some time to speak to us. The Dad was a way powerful speaker. He told us what it would be like to go home. He told us everything that would happen, we'd go to the office, get our plane ticket, see new missionaries coming in, but know in our hearts it was over for us... then we'd fly home, read our scriptures a little, get bored, sleep a little, wake up, then get off the plane, see your family, probably go home and eat a big dinner, and then go to bed, and then it's all over, gone just like a dream, your two years, it just ends like that. He talked about how we have to live in the moment. Stop thinking about home, or whats coming next. Don't just wait till you get a new companion or go to a new area. Do your best always. Work your hardest, and you will go home with no regrets. You might have things that you wished you did differently, but you won't regret it. We are here, sacrificing two years for our Heavenly Father, but we got to make sure that the sacrifice is acceptable. He said like 4 times, "If the sacrifice is not acceptable, the man is not acceptable." If we're going to give two years for God, we got to make it worth it. We have to make it a good sacrifice.

After that the son talked to us, the return missionary. He loved his mission so much. He loved the people so much. I hope that I get increase my love to be the same as his for these people. I mean I do love them, but I want to love them more. He spoke of experiences on his mission. He told us to keep working until the end. He's a football coach and he says he always asks his players, "What are you saving yourselves for? 4th quarter?!" As missionaries we should be giving it our all every single day. We don't need to save ourselves but we should be dead at the end of every day. I remembered when I first became a senior and my voice was dead every day because I had to talk to so many people. But we kept working, we gave it our all. And I'm trying to do better at that again. Talk to everyone, invite everyone to hear the gospel. I shouldn't get lazy at all. I don't know who is ready, and I got to give it my best, or my sacrifice isn't worth it. But I got to make it worth it. After that Elder Aquin (ZL in Antique) gave a training on Setting Goals and Planning. It was really cool, I learned a lot, and how to really focus and work towards something. Then we got on a bus and took a four hour trip to our areas again.

Elder Quinantoto and I then had some great experiences teaching and talking to as many people as we could. I felt a new excitement again for missionary work and pumped to do everything I can. Sometimes I don't really get when I feel the spirit so strong and I know the investigator does too. Sometimes they just seem so scared to change, or they just want to stick to the traditions of their fathers. It's just the hardest thing to see. I always get so excited about people, how they can change. And it's the hardest thing ever to see them stop, or just not act, because I know they know!! It tests your faith a lot, when your working, sweating gallons, hungry the first week of the month, and you hear 2 of your investigators love dropping you, or seeing them walking off to some other church when they told you they'd come. It kills man. How can we help these people progress? How can we help the ward become strong and hold onto our fruits when we leave? There has to be people prepared to receive the gospel, but how can we find them? Why aren't we finding them?

Anyway, I was reading in D&C 64:33 this morning and I found my answer. That we shouldn't be tired of doing good. Because we are laying the foundation. Maybe we don't always see the results of our works, but they'll come. The RM shared a story because he visited his old area in New Washington, Aklan, and saw that the bishop was the son of a guy he baptized. The guy he baptized after he was baptized was angry one day and ran this RM of the road and he crashed his bike. The RM said he would have never imagined this mans son to become a missionary but it happened! And now he's the bishop! I hope I can help and find those prepared though and lay a strong foundation and make this area real strong. It's a lot to do, but we can do it. Maybe I can't along. Maybe just Elder Quinantoto and I can't alone. But with God's help and your prayers, we can lay a strong foundation here, that nothing can stop it, nothing can slow it down.

Anyway, Carlito is doing sweet. I love him. He paid tithing yesterday before he was even baptized. I'm excited for him. We really need to find some investigators right now though. ANyway, your family reunion sounded sweet. Who is winning at risk?

Anyway, I love you all.
Take care,
Elder Burton