Two Experiences

Well last saturday night I helped dress a deceased member with a white shirt/tie and suit coat... i held up shoulders and arms. So because he is an endowed member, after the service and before he goes to the cemetery, we dress him in temple clothes. But yeah that was a great experience this week, watching the Plan of Salvation give support to a family. So yeah that is about it for the adventure. On the sad note one of our investigators who is supposed to get baptized would not ask God if any thing we have shared and taught is true in order to be baptized. But that is how mission work sometimes goes. So that is about it this week!

A Hike

well we went on a hike.................. I WALK ALL DAY........... I hated every moment of this stupid hike.. and now i have marchers foot... my feet feel really heavy.. so yeah.. it was planned and then all the plans failed and then when we left it was already noon and........ just not how i like to spend my p day's so yeah thats about it......

oh we have been told we cant really talk about investigators specifically when we email home because people are posting blogs and are not taking out names and things (world wide problem) so we cant tell you names of investigators or talk about their concerns.. so yeah our emails are pretty much vague and pointless now! hahaha but every area got DVD players to study PMG DVD's for personal and companionship study that was cool. We will all get cellphones soon so that is a nice help with communicating with other missionaries which is HORRIBLE! Today would not have been so bad if we had cell phones

Not Much to Share

not much to share. week went by pretty fast, nothing new and exciting just talked to some people and taught some others. Investigators are okay.. could be better i hope in the upcoming week here. Also bad news- the New chapel will not be finished until the last week of september [and] transfers fall on the 2nd week of september! and i will probably get dumped in a new area for one transfer and that will just be lame.. but whatever... do not really have a choice or say in the matters about that!

okay well i think i am going to head out. we have some shopping and a meeting to do later today. Love ya!

All is well and happy on this side of the world

awhile back i heard people randomly playing strauss music and just was like oh man i can not escape strauss festival! anyways sooooooooooo yeah all is well and happy on this side of the world... very rainy... i scored this blanket that is a blanket not a bed sheet that was left at the missionaries house.. Now i sleep with an electric fan blowing on me and i am now all cozy in my blanket and bed sheet, I Sleep like a LOG! hahahaha Love it! so yeah what else.... i think that is all i got right now.. i am actually going to go shopping for food and then i have a meeting to attend later on! so i am off! love ya!

New Mission President!

anyways, it is transfers.. i did not get transferred and all the transfers are just CRAZY right now. new president must have received some crazy big revelations because there are a lot of things that are not normal. Like new greenie americans training that do not speak very good yet. So whatever... we had a good laugh at the craziness.

President Martino is nice.. different.. but nice. he actually is learning tagalog he studied before he came he served a mission in italy so he is picking up tagalog really fast. President Martino is from texas sounds like George W. Bush... its funny. Sister Martino is really nice and fun to talk to. All their kids are married and have their own families. That is about as much as i know. Just got to visit with him shortly. They came in on june 30 or something i forgot.. so they are still very new. I have done a lot of english assignments here... i imitate their english very well... and now my english is just as bad as theirs! hahaha

This picture of Elder Declaro and Elder Grow was taken July 27, 2011 at about 11am. (That would be July 26, 8pm for us) This was just a little less than 2 hours before he emailed it.

The signs in the background indicate there is "isadahan here." Elder Grow explains, "they are just like signs from other places in the philippines. they just mean there are fish in the water and if it was a real isdahan you would actually fish for your food."

we went to this place (its like a restaurant) and we walked around then as we left we saw that they have one of those things where you buy plates and stuff then you can break it... so i did i bought a 16 peso plate and frisbee'd it at the wall.. that was fun! [If you play the video frame by frame you can read the signs on the walls.. which say, "for effective release of anger shout tacsiyapo before smashing your plates" and the "targets" say things like "professors, classmates", "mother-in-law", "boss", "mahjong / poker" etc.]

A Day in the Life

Our week was just busy and tiring but nothing out of the normal. a normal day is waking up early, 6 am, because there is a recorded prayer that plays on a megaphone from the catholic church a block over from our house. when that rude interruption is over i tend to go back to sleep and wake up again around 630. i walk around to wake up, go to the bathroom, shower, sometimes i cook (Pancakes or french toast or eggs or noodles or hot dogs just depends). 8 am personal study, 9am companionship study, 10 am work, (here in Anao the only people left home are OLD PEOPLE that only speak ilokano and do not understand us.. or maybe they do but they just speak ilokano to us so work in the morning has never given results because its the time for people working in the fields and they are just not home in the morning) So we just study more just to help elder declaro practice teaching and knowing what to teach. at 12pm its rest and lunch time until 2pm then work again until 9pm so that is a day summed up for ya. we walk a pretty good distance because we just work in like a circle. so we go out one way then circle around and come back. We cover a lot of area that way. Lately breakfast lunch and dinner has been the same foods... elder declaro bought a kilo of chopped pork and he is just trying to be conservative with money.. he is a worry wart about that stuff. So i am sick of eating at home. we have eaten at members and what not. We have had members with anniversaries so that was good food we got to have. we have had a funeral service to attend, that was good food so yeah we get a good variety. So yeah that is about it...

The Work

anyways the work has been picking up here in Anao and its been nice. We are still struggling with some investigators and being able to teach them again [return visit]. Here in Anao people are out working in the fields or Bukid and are just not at home or are asking us to come back a different day. This is nothing new here in the work but it becomes discouraging to new Missionaries that do not have different aspects of Missionary work. The people we are teaching are very good and are interested. just have a few hurdles to work with, like one investigator met missionaries long ago and was not interested at all. but now, after she felt she needed to read the book of Mormon one day and happened to read Alma 32, she has seen how a seed had been planted and is growing now. She can not come to church because of her work schedule and it has depressed her but hope that it is not permanent and it will be changed. We have one investigator that is new and is struggling with changes but she is making efforts like wanting to try to pray and she is making the steps to come to church just has not continued. All in all the area is starting to become great, we are planting and waiting for the Harvest. Well that is how the work is going. as far as the companionship-- it is good. Elder Declaro will be a fantastic missionary once he gets out of his head more and focuses on the doing part. He is trying to obtain every ounce of knowledge but is missing the simple things he needs to teach and share. He does make improvements everyday and has already made changes and is becoming great. He is very enthusiastic about the work but he does get depressed when things do not end up the way he thought and it bothers him. he will need to learn that he does not have control of their [investigators] agency. as long as he knows he gave them a chance and tried his best to share and explain its [the gospel's] importance, then he has successfully done his part in the work. Once he understands that, then his teaching will have so much meaning and feeling behind it and people will feel the Spirit telling them what he is sharing is true. that is what I hope will happen for him and his mission that he is serving, to gain that importance of the Gospel in the lives of others and in especially in his own life, much like how I realized that while I have been here. So yeah that is whats gone on this week in the mission. this transfer has gone by pretty fast and only a few more left.. not that I am counting or anything... but I am getting excited that is for sure!

Rice & Training

i am good... And yeah i am amoeba free! i just do not like eating rice anymore... i have loved it my whole life! but now it makes my stomach hurt.... so i just eat it at lunch only and a little at night. rice is great and i love it... i just cant stomach it now... but i am sure i will want rice once again

what do i do as a trainer... i try not to make him [Elder Grow's companion] want to go home. I have to teach him how and what to teach. I have to teach him how to talk to people and just be normal. Its a whole lot of stuff i am not good at because i also cant just go and do everything myself. i have to let him try and then of course he fails and gets depressed but he keeps on trying to do things he just is not an adjustable person. He is a busy-body [always working] (which apparently he was not before the mission). and that is causing him to stress a little, because he is trying to do everything at once. He is homesick and can't get it out of his mind and he just does not always focus in lesson and annoys me a little. But i do my best to keep him occupied and sometimes it works and other times it doesnt but the members are helping as well. so i just do my best not to tell him to just go home because he is not ready... but then i have to think that one day he will be ready and if he just gets out of his head and follows the Spirit more, then he will finally understand everything he needs to know, do and feel in order to teach people. so yes that is what is going on with my companionship... that is training apparently

our work here is just slow and its rough but its not discouraging just normal so it doesnt bother me

Rain

so we just ended a WEEKS worth of rain. It has rained non stop and it was like super strong rain and would not stop. So yeah we were not in the storm but the storm was pulling all the clouds and rain and it was passing all over us. But all was good. work was very slow for us but we were at hitting it hard and just getting wet and doing our best to try and find people who would let us teach them. That is still not going well its always come back another day and they are not there on that next day! So yeah but my new comp is getting a lot of good practice with trying to talk to people.. but he is doing his best to get work done. So yeah that is what is the newest news here from Anao, Tarlac, Philippines!

A Good Feeling

So there is nothing new to add from last week except my new companion is Elder Declaro he is fresh from the MTC excited and Nervous about a whole lot of things. He is running way too fast and trying to just know everything within one week so that he will not hinder the work. He is a really nice guy born in the church and is just wanting to serve and be a missionary. So happy father’s day to dad totally forgot about fathers day really.

JUST FIND OUT THE FAMILY I WAS TEACHING IN MY LAST AREA WAS BAPTIZED! The Father, Mother and one of their Children! man that is a good feeling. Now just hope they stay strong in the church!

well yeah that is about all we have, a lot of work to do this transfer in my area. so that is whats up now

Still in Anao

its transfers tomorrow so we had a sleep over and that was just fun. you go over to the elders house and sleep... normally you mess around all night then on p day you are tired all day! its awesome! so anyways i am sleepy

i am still in Anao. What i know about the transfer is that elder abuan is going to my second area which is very close to our area so he will not be going far (but he will be traveling to far places to go back the other direction).

i will probably have a whole lot of new things next transfer to talk about. there is nothing to talk about now because i do not have investigators or anything

Big Bowl of Popcorn

yeah i am good now!

so... i got a letter that i will be training this next transfer... i am staying (in Anao)

i cooked a big bowl of popcorn on friday night... i always get this crazy look when i am like, “no i am just going to eat popcorn tonight or in the morning”.. i have to explain that is what i learned from my dad hahahaha

i think i have described it [Anao] before... its got a lot of houses that are next to each other and its kinda like downtown sacramento... but its not really a city, its just out on the outskirts of Paniqui city... its a nice little place. We just have no investigators and its reallly annoying. all of our investigators are like old investigators that are like done listening and are not reading or coming to church.

we have to go to Paniqui every monday, so we shop here. its like 30 minutes by tricycle [Go to blog entry December 2009 "Pictures" to see photo of a trike, then imagine 2 Elders in the sidecar on a 30 minute ride!!]

well i am off ... it is waayyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy HOT here!

Healthy Again

I am healthy again. i got some drugs to flush out amoebas and after i took it i got energy and my poo normalized again the next day. so either it was an amoeba or just got healthy again the following day

sister puzey gave [the medication] to me after i complained some more. i asked her if it could be possible if i had an amoeba and she said she don't think so.. i responded (respectfully) you do not think i do but youre not positive if i dont. She then said she was going to give me medicine. and now i am okay!

[while sick and confined to home] i learned a lot of cool verses to teach with from the bible about apostasy and other principles with the bible... i rarely use the bible in teaching so i just do not have my scriptures marked up like my BOM is... so yeah i gained knowledge there.. my sickness made great conversation with people... “what do you think i have?”... anyways i do not know exactly what i learned [from this experience] but i really hate just being in my house not being able to work!

the meetinghouse [in Anao] is actually a house turned into a chapel. [The meetinghouse being built] just got the steeple and its coming together. it will be finished maybe in august. Yes i have gone to the site i have walked around it and looked at all the blueprints. They just asked locals who have experience that live near the site to work [on building it]. Members and non members [work together and we] help share the gospel with them.

[regarding recent tornado activity in California] what is going on over there!!!!! that is not normal! and actually our weather is not normal as well. its more relaxed than normal around here. But we have been having rain a lot at night! OHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH I SAW LIGHTENING STRIKE THE GROUND!!!!!! i did not see the bolt but i saw the splash of electricity. i was watching this crazy storm that appeared in minutes through a crack in the wall from inside a house. and BOOOM it was about 10 yards or less from the house. then lightening struck a few more times close to the area!! it was awesome!!!!!! i saw this BIG OLE BAD BOY STRIKE but i was behind trees a good ways away so didnt get to see it actually hit [the ground] but it was awesome!!

nothing really new to talk about but i am loving this area so i am happy!

Doing Better

okay i am doing better but i am not fully okay. i am able to get out and do work but i get fatigued really quick. so yeah i do not have any idea what it is... yesterday i literally hurt all over my body and drank so much water then sweated a whole lot. i do not know if i have a fever because i took Tylenol so that would have reduced my fever if i had one. Sister Puzey has given me all the advice she has for me.. tomorrow maybe i will get permission to go to get a check up and find out. oh and no other missionaries are sick like me."

My comp is great. he is new and just happy all the time.. we are out teaching people so yeah work is going slowly but it is still going.

The Mother's Day Call

Elder Grow was able to make his "Mother's Day" phone call on May 13th (May 14th in the Philippines). Here is what we learned:

Elder Grow has been ill for over a week and is confined to his apartment. Sister Puzey (the mission president's wife) thought he might have a type of stomach flu. He is in good spirits, laughing and joking but is anxious to get out and work. His new companion has only been serving about three months and is enjoying Elder Grow's poor health because he has a keyboard from the church and can practice his piano playing (he was worried he would not have any time during his mission to practice!)

The city of Anao (pronounced An now' ) where Elder Grow serves is in the Tarlac area. He arrived there on May 5. Here is a link to a google map: http://www.maplandia.com/philippines/region-3/tarlac/anao/

You can zoom in and see the houses and the street names! Since Elder Grow has not been able to get around the city, he is not exactly sure where in the city he is located! He thinks he is close to the Cuyapo side of Anao. Anao has a ward but there is no chapel yet, it is being built. If you are interested in learning about this city visit Wikipedia at: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anao,_Tarlac

Of course we had Elder Grow on speaker phone, so when Dad asked him to speak in Tagalog we all heard him. I must say, he speaks quickly and confidently. We were impressed. Many words in the Philippines are Spanish words and many Filipinos have Spanish ancestry. Elder Grow also has some Spanish ancestry and the people have noticed how his hair, eye color and skin tone is similar to theirs. But they don't understand why he has such a long nose! You would think his height would be the most noticeable difference, but no, it's his nose.

What new adventures in eating has he had? Dog. He said it tasted VERY good. How was it cooked? Adobo, of course! Actually there is a law against cooking dog, but some people do it anyway.

What made Elder Grow laugh the most during our conversation? Our "American accents" as we tried to pronounce the names of cities or streets or anything else Filipino. He thought Ryan's idea of naming the twins "Luke and Leia" (if they are a girl and boy) was very funny. (Uh, I don't think Chelsea was laughing!) What made us laugh? When I asked if he needed us to send him anything, like razor blades for instance, he replied, "No, I have about 10. That should last me to the end of my mission." Wondering how 10 blades could last 5 months, Ryan asked, "How often do you change blades?" The reply: "About once a month." Ryan's retort: "yeah, I guess you can do that when you only shave your upper lip and chin!" Then, surprise..."hey, I've got hair growing on my cheeks now... kind of blotchy.. but yeah, I shave [more than he used to]." The Grow brothers aren't really good at growing full beards or even sideburns!! So we had to laugh at Elder Grow's new found whiskers.

What does he expect when he returns on October 19th? Well, before he leaves the Philippines, he should arrive in Manilla on the 18th and hopes to go to the temple there. He will leave the Philippines on the morning of the 19th and arrive here on the 19th due to crossing the International Time Line. He is looking forward to: Mountain Mike's Pepperoni pizza for dinner, A big birthday party with bar-b-qued food, and beef that doesn't come from a dairy cow! He has often written that he really misses In and Out burgers. Oh, and he hoped the twins would not be born on his birthday... not his actual birthday... the day of his birthday party!!!

Ps to Jordan-- Thanks for receiving the call and conferencing us through!!

Transferred

i am getting transferred!

i am going to be transferred to the Paniqui area and that will be fun i hear the area has a brand new chapel and the area is really nice, so yeah that is about all the news i have other than may 8 or around may 8 i get to call home and talk to everyone for mothers day my last phone call home!

well monday will be pday again so i will email again and talk about what we are going to do about the phone call! yeah i am one day ahead of you! your sunday is my monday! so i will email you on monday and call later that day or week. We have one week after may 8 to call home on any other day because of the time change... This has been the same thing we have done the last 3 times i have called home... I have one week to call like always

okay love ya

Q&A

Question from Dorothy:

I just found out that this is the 50th anniversary of the Church in the Phillippines.....I wonder if [Elder Grow's] mission is going to do anything special in recognition of that?

Answer from Elder Grow:

“I do not know if they are doing anything special for it.. i do not think so.. I have known about it since my first area”

Question:

Missionaries that return from poor areas tell us about church members who have very little but are still happy. Do you experience that in your area?

Answer:

“Yeah we have families that live in very very SMALL houses but they still have a tv, cell phone and what not. Sometimes they do not eat great food just veggies or canned sardines but i think if they did have money for food they still would eat those things with their rice cause they like to eat that. some houses just have dirt floor or rocks. They are happy for the most part but will always complain about rich people.. so yeah desires of the heart play a big role around here.”

Question:

Anything in your area that you will miss when you leave?

Answer:

“There will be a whole bunch of things that i will miss around here hands down. Most likely the things that we do not have in america but life will go on! There will also be a lot of other things i will not miss. Anyways i still have a good amount of time to enjoy life here thats for sure!”

Question:

Have you had a Halo Halo? Is it the season for that delicious drink?

Answer:

“yeah its that time of year and yes we did have them. We have been eating mango and making shakes “

Question:

What is Easter like in the Philippines?

Answer:

“it is a big day in the Philippines they do weird things... like whip themselves or some will puncture their hands and feet.... they do this in remembrance of Jesus.... yeah i can not see one thing that is good about doing that. it is so sad that they do not understand”

Conference was good

Conference was good... We did have investigators came to church on Sunday morning session.. They struggled with the english [Conference is shown in English to the Philippines wards and branches] but still stated that they did notice or felt a difference in the way their [conference speakers] voices sounded and facial expressions. Most people when they hear that leaders of a Church are going to speak [they think that] it will be a Chastisement Sermon with Shouting and Condemning, also with the need to be scared of God and prepare. That is always one thing i do not like when parents tell their children to fear God and obey. I always share that we should not fear God but Love him by following his Commandments and following his teachings. I normally will ask, if they would like their children to fear them and be forced to say I love you, to them. They all say no They would like them to just do the things which would help them and would want them to do with out having to ask. I then ask, do you not think Heavenly Father would want the same things from his Children? And of course they will agree and probably think of things that they said or commanded their children to do and ended in bad results. I always hope this will make them want to do and keep commitments because it is what Lord would want them to do. I think that one thing i realized in conference was the way Apostles and Prophets teach us is with Love and how much they Care for us because it is how much the Lord loves and cares for us. We have a choice to Show our love by following what they are teaching us (which is coming from the Lord). I shared the story of The Sons of Mosiah to a less active member. I shared the part about how they wanted to do whatever the Lord asked them to do to be forgiven of what they had done. He told them to Go amongst the Lamanites and teach them. They were scared but the Lord Comforted them and told them to go and have patience and bare the afflictions because your work will be worth it later. Then i continued to the Story of Ammon where the Flocks of King Lamoni where being scattered and unable to drink the water. Now i had no idea why i was teaching this.. Why did this part of the Story enter my mind and how can this story help these people. After reading an explanation or expounding of these things enlightened me maybe more than them. In the Story we have Ammon the servant who wants to help. We have the servants of the king who failed and are scared to return to the king because of Death. We have the sheep who are scattered and can not drink the water. We also have the enemies of the king who are scattering the flock. Now we can find ourselves in this story so very simply. Most people will say i am the sheep that is lost because of the robbers or temptations from satan and Need to be found. But i noticed that most of us are the Servants who are scared to return because they will die. Few of us are the Ammons who will go and do things to save our fellow brethren (who he just recently met and calls them his Brothers) and helps them to find the sheep and bring them back to drink the water (or our desires to follow the Lord and partake of his offering repentance) Now who would you want to be, Ammon the one who helps save the people with inspiration from the Lord, The Servants who are to afraid of death, to just go find the sheep that they have lost, so they can be welcomed back, or the Helpless sheep that have no choice but to just run and be lost waiting to be found. There are people that DO [want to be like Ammon] and people that DO NOT, we know that. But there are People who DO things not for themselves but to help their "Brethren". Such a great insight that was given to me by the Holy Ghost. So which one are you and which one do you want to be?? and what are you going to do-- be that one or not be that one? The simple little stories that have great values.. most of the time we will just focus on the Awesomeness of Ammon chopping off the Arms of the enemies which is just awesome! hahaha Well love the work and the simple insights i have gained.

New Investigators

my week has been good. we will watch conference on [next] saturday and sunday sooo that will be nice days

This week we taught and found [investigators] and had a lot of successes. We did not however have investigators come to church. We followed up with our investigators who were positive that they would come to church and ended up having personal things to keep them from attending. We did have some great spiritual lessons earlier this week that really helped our investigators in keeping commitments about reading and praying. They explained their feelings when they had read and prayed and how they felt something different. We helped them understand that what they had felt and they have started to be more direct with wanting to keep commitments, especially like wanting to come to church. We have found a good amount of new investigators that are continually becoming more and more interested. They are interested in the Book of Mormon and have a lot of questions about Church and Baptism. Most of our investigators in certain areas are acquaintances of each other, so hopefully that will help them have someone to come with them to Church. I think some of the hardest parts [of serving a mission] is when you slowly move away from old investigators that have just stopped in progression, because of [their] personal issues or [they are] just too busy, to teach new investigators that are becoming interested. There is always that moment when you walk by the house of an old investigator and you are not going to visit and it’s just hard. But I know that there will come a time when they will be more ready for the Gospel. Elder Tandas is an awesome teacher and is really good with talking to people. At first he was a little hesitant a few times but now he just talks to people more openly. He does a really good job with helping people understand why we are here and what they expect from us. Well hopefully we will see the fruits of our labors in the up coming weeks with lots of investigators who want to come to church. Well still having fun out here loving my area i am in. The members help keep things fun even though we are bummed about our investigators struggling to come to church. Well thats about it for this last week Love ya all thanks for the support as always!

A New Companion

We had rain this morning which was nice. It has been really hot in the afternoons but it gets cold at night and i am waking up every morning blowing my brains out! and then i will sneeze for like 10 minutes.... so i do not know what the deal is... it is only in the morning..

Well my new companion [Elder Tandas] is a very good companion. He is very nice and a very good teacher. He talks to people very nicely which helps with new people letting us teach. We have a lot of new investigators that i like to call TIME EATERS they just eat up our time which is good and bad... because they end up asking way too many questions that just end up distracting the lesson and trying to get them back on track. All of their questions are great, our lessons will give them the direction they are looking for but we continually have to explain to them that we will answer their questions another time because it is part of another lesson we would like to share in a later visit. (Insurance that we have a return appointment). Well we are working in two different sides of our area every other day and then in the mornings we go to another area and work. Sometimes in one of our areas we end up walking for about 40 minutes to our last appointments because there are no more jeepneys. some times we catch a tricycle which is normally when we are about half way to the last area. Well sadly we did not have the success that we should have had with investigators coming to Church because of situations that had occurred. 2 of our investigators who committed to come to church, even if they were going to come by themselves, ended up having something happen with their dad, which didnt allow them to return later that night to come to church the next day. 1 of our other investigators, his fellowshipper (who was going to come the morning of and take him to Church), got Shingles. He is in pain and didnt believe me when i told him he has shingles. 2 other investigators promised to come next week because they plan to have people over for her birthday on [this] sunday so they did not come of course. We did have one investigator who is 11 years old that is a part member family who did not get baptized because she is too shy to answer questions and did not answer any of the baptism questions when she was interviewed. She has started to answer simple questions that i ask now which is good. So hopefully when the time comes she will be ready for her baptism. So that is about what is going on in the work around here. we have a lot of new people and some that we havent been able to revisit because of loss of time at appointments or they just have not been at their house. So we are just going to try and get down to business with these people and teach them.