The OYM Challenge! Received-8-20-12

Wow!  We had another pretty good week.  Elder Wu is a really cool, nice, funny dude and we're having fun together.  I'm glad you're liking listening to my spiritual experiences cuz I had a couple more pretty AWESOME ones this week :)

Elder Wu talking to the cows!

One of the things our mission is trying to get better at right now is Opening Our Mouths and talking to more people about the Gospel and getting more new investigators.  I love messing around and being with people but I have a hard time meeting new people cuz I'm really shy around people I don't know.  On top of that some people want nothing to do with us because we're missionaries.  Because of all this, I've had a bit of a hard time Opening My Mouth so far on my mission. Our Zone Leaders challenged us this last week to OYM to more people and start handing out at least 5 Books of Mormon each week. (Sounds like a  good challenge for all of us, huh?)  I was a bit nervous about it but knew that it was the right thing to do.

So the other day we went to an appointment but they weren't ready for us yet, so we said we'd come back in a bit. When we left their house I saw a 45-50 yr. old lady pumping water into 2 buckets so I offered to help.  She said no thanks and that she could do it herself.  So I introduced us as missionaries and told her about the Book of Mormon and how it helps us come closer to Christ.  I told her we'd like to give her one and she seemed happy about it.  After I gave it to her I offered to help take the buckets back and she still refused.  I told her she had 2 buckets and 1 book but only 2 hands so she let us take them home with her.
When we got to her house she introduced us to her family and asked us to teach them a lesson! :D  She has 8 kids and they're Catholic but don't seem to believe in statues and stuff.  They said they'd read 2 Nephi 31 and let us come back on Wednesday.

WOOOT! :D  It was amazing!  Heavenly Father definitely guided my words with the Spirit.  There were a lot of things I said that I couldn't have thought up on my own.  Not only that but this was my first time trying to open my mouth in a long time.  On the first try Heavenly Father blessed us with success.  Most of the time I just hear about missionaries getting rejected.  I really felt Heavenly Father's love and encouragement in this experience :)  (YIPPEE, it worked!!)

Wow, TP!!  Happy Days!

Sounds like you guys had a pretty great, busy week too.  You're kinda the coolest parents ever taking care of us kids so well and doing such great stuff on our birthdays haha.  Wow!  You got seats in the Orchestra section?  That's pretty up close and personal! :)  Glad you had a great time.  Sounds like everyone, especially Chelsey, loved it :)

That's a pretty awesome idea Bishop Sanford had for y'all to get together. (Missionary families got together to share about our boys.) I hope you all had fun showing off to each other and talking about and missing us hehe :o)  Really crazy that you'll only have one more of those parties before I get home eh?  I'll hopefully get that HUMP/Bday package next week.

Sounds like you're keeping plenty busy and still running like a chicken with it's head cut off :)  Don't worry Mom I know you're doing a lot and you're doing it all very well.  They love you at work, they love you at home, and we love ya here in the Philippines :)  In our District Leader meeting with President Sperry last week he talked about delegating our responsibilities with others.  Don't forget that those kids back home can get a lot done for ya ok?

Also don't forget an AWESOME talk by Elder Matthew O. Richardson in Oct. 2011 Gen. Conference.  He said he climbed a Mtn. with his young kids.  When they were near the top it got really gravelly and steep so his daughter was having a hard time.  They felt like for every 2 steps forward they had at least 1 back sinking in the gravel.  His daughter wanted to be carried but he was tired and weak and couldn't.  They decided to take breaks every once in a while to turn around and look how far they'd come.  We should do that too when times get tough or we feel inadequate. I love that talk, it's helped me a lot of times on my mission :)

Yup!  We still have a baptism this Saturday :D  MJ, Manuel, and Jastine Brillantes are getting baptized.  Pretty excited.  I'll send pics.

Again Elder Wu's awesome :)  Learning a little Chinese from him.  He's struggled a TON with the language on his mission though.  Hopefully it won't bother him too bad.



Elder Wu



Transfer Day was changed to August 10 instead of  9 because of the floods.  The next one is Sept. 20.
DL's still ok.  I have 4 sisters, me, and Elder Wu in my District now.  The sisters are RIDICULOUSLY hard working.  They're great :)  Giving workshops is stressful sometimes but I'm excited to give one on finding tomorrow after my experiences with it last week.

Elder Hicken's awesome and he's still here.  The apartment's pretty quiet without Elder Miller and Elder Blotter, but Elder Hicken and I started talking and laughing and messing around a lot more. No weather problems... Just HOT :o)



HUMP day was great! :)  We burned a shirt and tie in the middle of street.  All the Philipinos that passed had "Crazy Americans..." written all over their  faces haha :)



Can't believe it's already been a year!



Don't ever be sorry for being long winded!  I LOVE getting news! :D
LOVE YA!
BJ