So for this week. Haha, please don't slay me, but I forgot
to list down what happened. It was a good week. In my defense, it was a short
week. But, sayang, that's an excuse. I should have written things down. Alas.
But, I did have my trusty, handy dandy camera with me which can fill in some
blanks nicely.
First order of business. A funny story for you all, and a
killer of pride for me. Kind of. I love children. That is a well known fact.
And for the most part, kids love me. I'm like a star here. Kids come running in
packs to get high fives from the American that speaks Tagalog. It's a blasty
blast! But sometimes, my skills are not enough or in other words I fail hard
core. As in the falling flat on your face, skidding, crashing and burning with
a nice big mushroom cloud kind of failing. That happened this week. We were
teaching a less active family. They have relatives everywhere by their house!!
Seriously, every time we go, there will be a bunch of little kids that show up.
Who are these kids? Oh they are our cousins. Cool cool. Who are these kids?
Cousins. Who are....wait, I know, they are cousins. Kind of like that. It's
pretty much like walking into a crazy bunny breeding ground. They are just
popping out from everywhere! Anyway, we head over, as usual and as usual, there
is a new little face. A 5 year old girl, who's name I couldn't say and I can't
remember, but I do remember that if I shortened it to Faye, that was deemed
acceptable. So we began teaching this family and Faye, the cousin. Elder
Sumagaysay goes on a little teaching streak. Really quiet like and the fam
seems to have fallen asleep. When this happens, people start to not pay
attention and forget what you've been talking about. So to bring everyone's
attention back, I formulate a plan. I'll be my same goofy and slightly loud
self when I come back in, to remind them not to be asleep but to pay attention!
I put the plan into action and execute it with perfection. Little Faye suddenly
gets this uncomfortable look on her face like she has a sick stomach. I teach
for a minute and then ask if she is feeling ok. She sinks back into her chair
and her eyes get a little watery. Oh man, Houston, we have a problem!! So we
all begin to investigate. Are you feeling ok? What's wrong? Suddenly, she has
tears in her eyes. Next thing you know, they are running down her face. And
then she is sobbing!! Oh no! Are you scared? Yes? Of the Elders? Yes? Of Elder
Sumagaysay? No? Of the American?? Affirmative Queen Eagle, we are now locked on
target. Snap!! This girl is bawling! I am not sure if it is because of my
slightly loud entrance or if it was because she was focused on my handsome
companion and then she switched her attention back to my face and was appalled
by what she found. But, in the end, she was crying. Luckily, with some
sedatives, we were able to calm her down. Na, joke lang. She did calm down and
we were able to finish teaching but man. Confidence = Target. Target =
Destroyed. Mission accomplished. Quote of the day, "My ship!!! Blast, this
will take weeks to repair!" Moral of the story, fix your teaching or fix
your face. Don't make the children cry.
So we did other things this week, besides destroying the
lives of young, innocent children. We did some service projects. Those are my
favorite! The one day, we helped a sister fix up her house. One of our members
that is trying to get out on a mission is temporarily living in this 'house'.
Man, it needs some serious help. We are very spoiled in the good old US of A.
Anyway, we went to help her out. We started by putting in some real supports
underneath her house so it doesn't fall down. Anything else we could do would
be worthless if the house fell down. We then re-did the flooring so she didn't
fall through the newly strengthened foundation. We fixed up the doors so she
could close and lock them. And then we fixed the walls so that the doors
actually had purpose. If you can go through the wall, what's the use of locking
the door? Her house is still a bit on the sad side, but it's a lot better! And
we had a killer fun time doing it! Do service folks. It makes everything else
in your life seem ok. I think Heavenly Father eases our burdens as we ease the
burdens of others. And personally, I'd rather fix other people's problems than
my own, so that sounds like a good trade off to me. Anywho, I have a picture of
the side of this ladies house below, pre-fixing.
So I don't have a ton of killer spiritual experiences to
share this week. But I do have something that isn't just funny to share. So I
teach loads of less actives. I have two beloved families that I'm teaching that
I have been teaching since I got to this area that have never once been to
church while I've been here. The one family...I have no idea why. The other
I've talked about in recent emails, but they just have tons of problems. We
solve lots but for some reason, they still weren't coming. We taught the Law of
Chastity this week. Sister finally came out that she doesn't think her clothes
are modest enough for church. Ah, finally!!! We were able to advise her on how
she can live the law of chastity more fully and about how she would be able to
come to church. The other family told us they were bad at waking up on time.
They are in the farthest part of our area. It's a 30 minute jeep ride out to
them and then 30 minutes back to the church. But we told them we would go to
their home before church and bang on the door, wake em all up. And then we
would go to church with them. They just needed a little motivation. We showed
up and they were all ready. So for the first time in the 15 Sundays that I have
been in this ward, both families came to church. It was a wonderful day!!
Normally if someone can't progress to church in 15 sundays, they will probably
be dropped. Just remember that as you work with people to help them return and
receive the blessings of the gospel that we need to be patient. Sometimes it
seems like there must be a huge problem stopping their progression when it
might turn out to be something very simple. Sometimes people may seem
impossible to get through to when really all they need is a little
encouragement, a little push and a little sign that you care. So don't give up
on the friends, brothers and sisters that we have that need our help.
"Through small and simple means are great things brought to
pass".
Pics. I saw a rainbow over the church. Who can deny that?
Took a pic with a cool kid that we are starting to teach. The area by his house
is cool business. Picture worthy. Snapped a photo with the 5 of Rainbow House
Crew and a few ward missionaries and the ward mission leader. Catch a child
picking their nose and you know the camera is coming out. I caught the cutest
of little girls red handed. And she knew it. Looked at the camera and
everything. That's actually the real reason for the subject line. We were
joking about her digging for ginto. I just had to make up the introduction at
the beginning of the email to make it seem like I'm not as immature as I still
am. But I confess. It's all because of boogers. Go figure. And the last pic I
took is at the same buffet we always take pics at. It is the best food in the
mission. It is all you can eat and it is almost american. We took one of our
ward missionaries with us today and treated him. The man is incredible. He
helps us soooo much!! And all he ever does is serve people! It's crazy. The man
has become a role model for me. Never complains. Never says anything unkind.
Just always willing to do whatever he can whenever he can to help someone out.
The man is also one of the Three Nephites, along with David G. Woolley. These
cats think that they are fooling me, but I know who they are. Just gotta find
the third and I'm golden. That's it for the pictures!
Well, I am sorry to say, I believe I am out of things to
say. It was a short week. Therefore, a short email. Sorry about that. But next
week will hopefully be better. Have a good and wonderful week. Do good
things.
Much love,
Elder Christensen
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