Christmas Baptisms

Great week but was also pretty tough. We had our baptism. The kids are Macmac, Jobert, Kyle, Razel, and Carla. It was a great baptism!!! We were excited we held it. On Christmas, we just did the baptism and then tried to go to members that we didn't see at the Christmas party. They hold the Christmas party on Christmas here. We had some nice lessons that day.

After that things got tough. Razel and Macmac didn't come to church this week so they are still not confirmed. Mitchelyn didn't come either. We won't be having a baptism on Jan. 1 as we had planned. Their aunt showed up at their house and they been working like crazy ever since. Sunday is a normal work day for her. We picked up teaching the Bawaan family. The oldest is 24 and then there is some kids after that. They really want to listen to the gospel. They were very excited to start and were planning to come to church but there dad was drunk and wouldn't let them go. Maybe next week. Olga is doing good. She has been busy around the house so we taught her some but she wasn't able to attend church. Villorojo is good. We taught again and she is looking for the truth. She was also busy on Sunday so she didn't make it. We are also teaching the Pericima family. They went to church once and then sister got sick and she thought it was a curse so they stopped going. We had a great lesson this week with them and they know it was true so we talked about following Christ. They would have come to church this week but they had to get their paycheck during sacrament time so they weren't able to make it. Overall, we had great teachings but this was not the week for investigators coming to church. Next week should be a lot better.

The weather has been very rainy lately. The trails are very muddy so that was maybe a big reason that church attendance was low this last week. Maybe it will dry up this week.

I think that is it for the week.

Love you and have a great New Year's. I will see you next year. hehehe.

Elder Nielsen

 

MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!!!!!

MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!!!!!
We had a pretty good week this week. Our number for lessons went up a good amount mainly because we did an event with the branch called a 1 day mission. There we chose some areas to work and then we went there with the members and talked to people that were home and shared a short message. To get in homes is really easy here. You just tell them that you want to share a message about Jesus and they will let you in. That is why we did so good. We will now be going into the hard step, maintaining them enough for them to decide if they want to listen or not. It is hard to get a second lesson in so we will see what happens there. Elder Torres worked in Barangay Paitan. There he talked to the family of some active members. They aren't members and are very devoted Catholic but missionaries haven't really worked in the area. He got us an appointment and we went there. We ended up teaching 15-20 adults that seem pretty interested. The main guy that we taught is a lay minister which oversees a small church for the Catholics. They are kind of like group leaders. He seems interested and we will be going back this next week. We might end up starting a group there because you have to take a single motor in and it can cost 25-40 pesos one way depending on the driver. It looks really good.
As far as baptism, we are for sure going to baptize 4 on Christmas and maybe 1 more. 2 of those are converts. We are looking forward to the baptism of Macmac and Razel. They are looking good. Then we are looking at 1 or 2 on Jan. 1. One is saying she isn't but maybe when we talk to her, she will continue. Mitchelyn is looking good for Jan. 1.
This week, we started teaching Renilo Albao. His mother is an active member. He wasn't baptized before because he smoked and drank coffee. Now, he doesn't have that problem because his health was getting bad from them so he looks good. He didn't come to church on Sunday because he had a fever. Lots are getting it because the change of temperature. One day it is really hot and the next is cold because of the rain. It makes a lot sick. I don't have that problem but they do.
All the investigators are coming slowly. We are seeing a lot of success. I hope that it will continue.
Love you all,
Elder Nielsen

Christmas Celebrations in the Philippines

We had a better week this week. It was sad a few times but good the other times. We had to move 2 of the Christmas baptisms yesterday because they didn't come to church =(. We were sad about that. Mitchelyn and Jessica will now be baptized on Jan. 1, 2014 the first baptisms of the year. They were ok with that but they were a little sad that they didn't come to church. You could tell that Mitchelyn was sad about it but she held strong was tried act excited for Jessica. Russel and Macmac are still good for the 25th. We are looking forward to those baptisms. We started teaching Joffrey this week and he brought a friend to our second lesson. He likes the teachings and he believes it is true. He had to work Sunday so he didn't make it to church this week. We are hoping for next week. Averina is good. We are only teaching 2 of them. One came to church 2 weeks ago. We started teaching her. She seems to like the teachings. We are also teaching the grandmother but I don't think she fully understands what we are saying and it seems like she just wants to listen and not do anything. We will see what happens the next few weeks. We also started teaching the Villarojo family. They were a referral from one investigator that is pretty much a member that just can't be baptized right now. They are a good family. They love Christ. They have been to lots of religions and doesn't like that they are informal and other things. We taught them the restoration and invited them to church. They said they would come but couldn't make it because one of the kids got sick. Maybe next week.
Christmas is a lot different here than in the USA. Santa really isn't that big and about the only big thing about Christmas I have seen is the Christmas lights, which some people leave up all year. Other then that, Christmas is present with some caroling and people giving but it isn't a big rush. Christmas focuses a lot more on Christ here. They celebrate it for him so Christmas is celebrated more on the 24th and the sign rather then on the 25th. The 25th will be a branch celebration and then other churches go to church on the 25th. It is pretty relaxing compared to the USA.
That was about the week. It was good but went by really quick. We look forward to the coming weeks and days as Christmas approaches.
Love,
Elder Nielsen

Potential

Merry Christmas!
These seemed like a very good week for us. We taught a lot and did pretty good but we looked at our success at the end of the week, it was not really that great.
We had very few teachings this week. Now I look back, people were pretty busy this week. I don't know why, but the normal investigators where gone whenever we went there. We did end of teaching a lot of member lessons which is pretty good. We also did a lot of street contacted at the end of the week. We have a few potential investigators so we are going to teach them this week and see what happens there.
As far as investigators, Mitchelyn, Macmac, Jessica, and Russel are right on tract for their baptism. We are looking forward to their baptism and sharing a great Christmas with them. We went to Olga but apparently she is staying at school in Cadiz until the Christmas break, Dec. 20, then we should be able to go there and teach. We are looking forward to teaching her again. Johnell is about the same. He has a great knowledge of the gospel but we haven't been able to get him to church yet. We might start teaching the Averina family. The daughter is a recent convert that was taught in a different place. We went to her and her family was there so we started teaching them on Saturday. We didn't get a firm return appointment so we aren't sure yet if we can teach them. We are hoping and praying that we can. We also have a potential investigator named Jeff. His girlfriend is an active member but he is shy to listen to us. We are hoping to start this week. Lots of potential right now.
As far as transfers, nothing happened. We are in the same area, same companion. It is a good thing, so that we can get more done. It rained a few times this week. It makes things very muddy. Other then that, everything is good. We will see the First Presidency Christmas Message on Dec. 17 when we have zone conference.
I think that is it for this week. We are working hard trying to get things going. No referrals yet. Maybe this week.
Love you all,
Elder Nielsen

Maayong Paskwa! (Merry Christmas!)

Maayong Paskwa!
It has been Christmas here since September!!! You are all slow there.
We haven't got back to our house yet. We are about the same distance anyways in the Escalante apartment. Our last apartment is in Escalante also. We have to take a jeepney to get to our area everyday. That is why we e-mail later now. We go and work in the mornings on Monday so we don't have to try and catch a bus to Mabini and back during the night.
We were short on lessons this week but I think we have almost made the breaking point so that people are going to give us referrals. We have been going to them for a few weeks now, teaching them how to do missionary work and they are now looking for some opportunities. Some of them have people in mind so we are now waiting for them to talk to them and then let us know. We are looking at 3 convert baptisms on Christmas. That is our next baptisms. They are 3 kids ages 12, 9, and 8. They are really excited. Their names are Macmac, Jessica, and Russel. They are doing great. They just need to keep coming to church and pray. The older ones read so they are doing good. Macmac and Russel's sister, Mitchelyn, was suppose to be baptized too but she didn't make it to church this week. She still might be able because we don't know the reason but we are thinking we are going to move it. We didn't make it to Olga this week and she didn't come to church. She was busy this weekend. We started teaching Leah Diana this week. Her uncle is a member and she wants to listen. We will see how that goes. The Alverez family is doing good. We are still teaching them and see if we can convert them to the point that they just have to wait for baptism.
Glad that Thanksgiving went well. I actually had an upgrade for dinner. A member feed us canned sardines with noodles and rice. I am sure you all are jealous.
Love you all,
Elder Nielsen