23 April 2012

Hey Family, Happy Birthday Mom/Anniversary Mom and Dad. Or as Rob used to say, mom slash dad. I hope every thing is great down there! I don't even have my travel plans yet! That's crazy you do before me. Oopps.. I forgot I could have flown to Colorado Springs, I just wrote Denver down. Sorry! I wish I could have seen Jared's play too. He'll have to act it out for me. Right now I'm a senior companion in Da-o. Actually all the missionaries in my batch are senior companions. It's a cool way to end your mission, just focusing on where your at and doing what you can to support your leaders and their vision. It's kind of cool and I really enjoy it. I'm grateful for the leaders I have here in Da-o. They are great elders and working hard to help. I'll start with the best news of the week. It actually was.. this morning. We had the marriage of sister Tueni and brother Edgar Alilio. It was great. It was actually my first time attending a marriage and kind of weird. First we went there are walked around and finished getting a bunch of papers. And then the actually marriage wasn't even like a ceremony. We walked in with them and a couple other members and the mayor and she just had us all sign the marriage paper (Elder Andal and I were witnesses). As I was signing the mayor told me that I had just married her worker! I was slightly alarmed but she told me she was just joking. That's a relief. Anyway, we all finished signing and then the mayor signed it and then we took a picture and then she said, "Well, thanks." And then it was over. I was kind of confused because I thought there were suppose to be like, "I do." and other marriage phrases. I cried out, "Aren't you suppose to say, "You may now kiss the bride?" And the mayor heard and said, "All right then, we'll end it with a kiss. Then they were kind of shy to kiss each other in front of everyone but we convinced them and then we cheered and walked out. After that we worked with a couple members and prepared a snack with ice cream and stuff which they appreciated, because they are pretty poor and couldn't really afford a lot. But I'm happy for them. Edgar is doing way good but we're still working on his Word of Wisdom. But I know he can do it. We're excited for him. Besides that things are going okay here in Da-o. We're still trying to help a lot of members become more faithful and more active. I think I've told you but our Branch President, President Oyong, is like 74 years old. He's great, but he can't do it all by himself, and I won't go into details, but some of our other members are struggling. He loves to serve he told us, "the mind is willing but the body is weak." So were visiting a ton of members striving to help them actually live the gospel. There is a ton of members here. We got a branch list and found out there should be like 60 priesthood holders in our branch. Unfortunately we only have 10 going to church, and then out of the 20 or so endowed members, only a small number of them have a current temple recommend. The members that are active though are working so hard, and I'm really grateful for their service. They are really willing to help. Last week actually at zone meeting the zone leaders were kind of surprised because we taught twice as many lessons to investigators with members than Da-o has ever had. But the members are really willing here to help. I'm really grateful for their example. Our plan is working slightly with our members. We were taking this young man to a older woman we had talked to a couple days before and told him where we were going. He was slightly taken aback and said, "Nanay Esperanza? Isn't she really strong in her religion?" Anyway, we got to go there and talk to her again so it was a good lesson for me as well. I don't know if she'll progress or even test out going to church but I'm glad we had a chance to share our unique message with her. We should have no shame in sharing the gospel. No matter how 'set' someone may be in their ways. I really believe that we plant seeds even by small things we do. I remember a convert telling me that before she saw the missionaries walking around and she was scared to face them, mostly because she couldn't speak English and didn't want to have a hard time. Then she was in a jeepney and heard a missionary speak some Ilonggo and realized they could speak, so she wasn't afraid to talk to them anymore. So when the missionaries knocked on her door, she gave them a chance. It's amazing, God's plan. We just have to do all we can to do our part, and he'll take care of the rest. The group of guys we found last week are doing pretty good. They have a lot of problems. It's mostly 18-22 year olds but one kid that hangs out with them is 14. I don't know why he hangs out with them but he has a lot of problems. He already smokes and has tried drugs. But it's cool to be able to work with them. They are good kids. And I know the gospel will be able to help them. I'm grateful though Heavenly Father has assigned me here. I'm learning a lot about myself and I realize that the Lord has a lot more to teach me. It's hard. But I know it will be worth it. And I'm going to make sure I make the most of it. I love you all! Take care with your luck. Elder Cornnuts