tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-74589654143331281992024-02-06T18:07:58.033-08:00Philippine JourneyPhilippine Journeyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10148685361339438671noreply@blogger.comBlogger110125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7458965414333128199.post-84328254509513333812014-11-05T15:30:00.002-08:002014-11-05T15:30:28.559-08:00Next Transfer: Herriman
We taught a lot of lessons and it was a lot of goodbyes. It
was hard. I cried a lot this week. It still hasn't registered that I am coming
home.<o:p></o:p><br />
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
I helped Elder Liquiran set up there area and it will be
good.<o:p></o:p></div>
<br />
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Love you,<o:p></o:p></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
Elder Nielsen<o:p></o:p></div>
Philippine Journeyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10148685361339438671noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7458965414333128199.post-28058840810598682822014-10-28T13:55:00.001-07:002014-10-28T13:55:12.985-07:00Last Baptism
We had a great week. We had the baptism for the Baliguat
couple. They are so amazing. They are going to endure well in the church.
Brother is so strong and has a great testimony. He tells us about how all these
other pastors are going to their house because of his kids and he talks about
how he doesn't like it and some he says won't come back. He is really funny. <o:p></o:p><br />
<br />
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We had a good sacrament attendance for our investigators
this last Sunday. We got 4 investigators there. It was good to get that many
there again. The only problem is none can be baptized at the present. 3 of them
have to get married first before they can be baptized and I think the other
doesn't live in our area. I think they are really a part of the Kabankalan Ward
area so I will have to check to see if we can go there or not.<o:p></o:p></div>
<br />
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We got Elvy to come to church. We have taught her for a
while. Her husband came as well. He is a less active member. They are so nice
and are doing great. They are planning on getting married in January and then
she can be baptized.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We taught the Sa-ad
family. They are a part member that were close to being baptized before. We are
working on getting them to church. They have a baptismal date for November 29.
The grandchildren of Baliguat might be this next month as well.<o:p></o:p></div>
<br />
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We will be working on finding a lot this week to help Elder
Liquiran prepare them for baptism.<o:p></o:p></div>
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I think that is it for this week.<o:p></o:p></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
Love you all,<o:p></o:p></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
Elder Nielsen<o:p></o:p></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
PS I want Christmas music on when I get home and you can
start putting up the Christmas tree now.<o:p></o:p></div>
Philippine Journeyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10148685361339438671noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7458965414333128199.post-84110619274565138492014-10-22T18:10:00.002-07:002014-10-22T18:10:58.860-07:00Time is Just Getting Faster
We had an ok week. It was a little hard because we kept on
having important things to do that is taking us away from where we wanted or
needed to go but it was alright. We are moving forward.<o:p></o:p><br />
<br />
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We should baptize Baliguat this week. They went to Bacolod
this last weekend so we will do their interview on Wednesday. I am excited for
my last baptism!!! We didn't get to many of the other investigators. We were
busy with assignments. Elizar is a new investigator. He is 70+ and is really good.
He wanted to come to church but was sick and didn't make it. He likes to listen
though. We are also trying a lot of former investigators to see if they are
willing to listen again. We hope for the best.<o:p></o:p></div>
<br />
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The weather is good. It rained a few times. For the most
part it was a little bit hot for me. I hope it comes with me. I want the warm
weather not the cold.<o:p></o:p></div>
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This week went by fast. I don't remember much. Time is just
getting faster.<o:p></o:p></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
Love you all,<o:p></o:p></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
Elder Nielsen<o:p></o:p></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
PS Sorry the letters are getting small. I am trying to stay
as focused as I can while here and writing is started to get really hard.<o:p></o:p></div>
Philippine Journeyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10148685361339438671noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7458965414333128199.post-56981559231113064572014-10-15T15:42:00.002-07:002014-10-15T15:42:42.641-07:00General Conference Week in the Philippines
General Conference was amazing!!! I didn't get to see the
last half of the last session because bishop got up and said that we were going
to hold a meeting. It was a little disappointing but I will download it and
watch today. :) I liked Elder Cooks talk and President Uchtdorf's in
priesthood. They were probably my favorite talking about our choices and how we
need to be responsible and go toward our goals. It was all in English. I did
like how some spoke in their own language which was cool. It was a little sad
that our investigators didn't come because lots where busy with their rice
fields getting them planted.<o:p></o:p><br />
<br />
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We got to work a lot this week!!! It was great. Baliguat is
good for the 25th. Brother is way excited. I am excited for them. We didn't go
to Gaston. We think they don't really want to listen so we are setting them
aside. We got some new investigators that will be really good. They want to
listen to our message so it is good. One is the Saad family. They have a son
that is a member. We are working with them to come to church and be baptized.
We taught the Sabico family. We had a great lesson on Sunday with them and
brother commited to come to church himself. We are happy that he wants to help
his family to make it eternal. The others are just coming along. We are working
hard to get them to read and pray.<o:p></o:p></div>
<br />
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We have been getting a lot of rain. This week was full of it
because of Typhoon Opong that went through this week. It was hard to work in
some areas this week because it was to muddy and the rivers were overflowing so
we had to figure out what else we could do instead. We visited a lot of members
to get some referrals. That worked pretty well. We have referrals coming in so
we are doing pretty good.<o:p></o:p></div>
<br />
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Zone Conference is on October 21 so we will be good for a
week. We will get as much as we need to work.<o:p></o:p></div>
<br />
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Sorry, a little bit boring of a week. Next week might be
more exciting.<o:p></o:p></div>
<br />
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Love you,<o:p></o:p></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
Elder Nielsen<o:p></o:p></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
PS: I would like to order 2 jackets, 1 coat, 2 pairs of
gloves, a face mask, beeny, earmuffs, hand and feet warmers and a scarf when I
get home. I would like that in the airport so I don't die. Thanks. I am serious
about this.<o:p></o:p></div>
<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
At the Manila Temple last week</div>
Philippine Journeyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10148685361339438671noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7458965414333128199.post-16639029927661966212014-10-08T15:45:00.001-07:002014-10-08T15:45:07.159-07:00Manila Temple
This was a really good week. Going to Manila was good. I
love the temple!!! I was so happy to go back and do a session. We will get one
more time to go there and do another session so I am pretty excited!!!<o:p></o:p><br />
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
Elder Liquiran is doing great. He is almost fluent in
Ilonggo so it is great. He worked in Kabankalan while I went to Manila. It was
weird because I went with the Tabugon missionaries to Bacolod but I was all by
myself going back to Kabankalan.<o:p></o:p></div>
<br />
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Our investigators are doing ok as long as we can teach them.
We haven't had much time since I went to Manila. It is pretty ruff when you
don't get a full week to work.<o:p></o:p></div>
<br />
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Baliguat is doing good. We are excited for their baptism. We
are just pushing them along. We will be baptizing anywhere from 3-5 of them. We
found out this week that Brother Carbadilla is a member. Everyone was saying
that he was baptized but wasn't confirmed but the records said he was so we are
now just trying to get him to church. It looked like it was going to rain and
did on Sunday so they didn't come this week. We had a typhoon pass on Saturday
and Sunday so it was pretty ruff. We got a few more new investigators so we
will see how they go. We did get to Gaston this week. They are really busy with
their rice fields so they aren't home very often.<o:p></o:p></div>
<br />
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We are excited to watch general conference. They will be
watching the Sunday sessions on Sunday so we will attend in Tapi for Saturday
we will be in Kabankalan. We are excited that our investigators will be able to
attend those sessions. It will be good for them.<o:p></o:p></div>
<br />
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Love you,<o:p></o:p></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
Elder Nielsen<o:p></o:p></div>
Philippine Journeyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10148685361339438671noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7458965414333128199.post-62255343760361760982014-10-02T21:04:00.001-07:002014-10-02T21:04:02.994-07:00Training
This was a great week. We had such good experiences this
week. It was a little weird because the batch ahead went home. One of the
elder's parents came here to pick him up and visit his areas. I got to talk to
them and it was weird. They have a very thick accent and I didn't understand
what they were saying some of the time. It was weird. They asked "Where
are you from?" and I said "Utah" and then they said "We
know that but what part?" and it was weird because usually people are ok
with that. I didn't know what to do. It was like culture shock all over again!<o:p></o:p><br />
This week I worked in Tabugon from Monday until Wednesday. I
stayed with them for that time since I didn't have a companion. Wednesday was
off to Bacolod to pick up Elder Liquiran. I picked him up on Thursday and went
back to the area and was finally able to work.<o:p></o:p><br />
Elder Liquiran is from Pangasinan. He speaks Tagalog. We
have fun trying to talk to each other. I try to talk in a ruff Tagalog language
and he tries to do the same in English so we understand each other but it
sometimes takes a while before we get what the other is saying hahaha. He is
really great though. He is picking up Ilonggo really quick. I am surprised. He
is a really quick learner. He is going to be a great missionary.<o:p></o:p><br />
As far as investigators go, we didn't get much teaching in
so it was a little bit hard but we did alright. Baliguat will actually be
baptized on October 25. They wanted to be baptized as one family unit so we
moved them so they can. We needed more time anyway because we are still trying
to help sister with praying. She is struggling learning how to pray so we are
helping her to learn. The Gaston family we haven't taught all week. They found
some work and haven't been home because of work so we haven't taught them for a
while now. We are going to keep trying so that we can continue. Brother Sabico
we didn't see either. He has been busy and we haven't had time to go there so
we will see if we can teach him this next week. We did get to teach Brother
Carbadilla. He is willing to do everything but<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>hasn't come to church for a while so we are working on him again to get
baptized. We are working on finding a fellowshipper for him to help him.
Adrian's and Bryan's mom said that they couldn't be baptized. We still need to
talk to her so we are hoping to do so this week to help them. They really want
to be baptized but we need her permission and it would be great if she would
join as well.<o:p></o:p><br />
We are getting excited for General Conference as well. Our
bishop is going to ask the stake president if we could do a showing in Tapi so
that it would be closer for everyone to see. If that doesn't happen it will be
in Kabankalan which will be hard for the members because it is 64-66 pesos for
1 person to attend which is really expensive. We are hoping it will just be in
Tapi to make it easier for the members and our investigators because they will
want to go attend as well.<o:p></o:p><br />
This week I will be going to Manila. We have to do
fingerprinting there so we can return to the USA and while we are there we get
to go to the temple!!!! I am excited to go to the temple!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!<o:p></o:p><br />
Love you all,<o:p></o:p><br />
Elder NielsenPhilippine Journeyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10148685361339438671noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7458965414333128199.post-72804787965502294672014-09-24T16:25:00.001-07:002014-09-24T16:25:06.068-07:00Birthday Week
Well, it was good bye to Elder Delima this week. He left
this morning about 6:30 to go to Bacolod (by himself) and I am with the<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Tabugon missionaries until I get to go to
Bacolod and pick up the real greenie of the mission. Yep, I am training again
for my last transfer. It is going to be a challenge but President talked to me
about that and said that he wanted to make me tired before I go home. I think
his plan is going to work. I don't know anything about my companion and won't
until Thursday when I pick him up.<o:p></o:p><br />
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
My birthday was good. It was a little sad because it was
also Elder Delima's last day so we celebrated my birthday put in the end
everyone was crying that Elder Delima was leaving. It was ok though.<o:p></o:p></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
We did get a good week of work though. I am excited for the
work that is going to come from our efforts this week.<o:p></o:p></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
Baliguat family is doing great. Brother has stopped his
smoking and they are doing really good. They will be baptized on October 4th.
They are really prepared and love the gospel. Their granddaughter, Macie, is
going to be on the 18th. She is doing good as well. She just needs to come to
church and then she will be good. We are teaching Brother Sabico as well. I
think we got a spark going with him. He seems more interested in what we teach
now and he was a little sad because church was in Binalbagan because it was
stake conference. They didn't have the money to get there so they didn't get to
come. This week they should be coming. The same thing happened with Brother
Carbadilla. He loves to listen but couldn't come this week for the same reason.
Gaston couldn't come as well. They are really thinking right now if they are
going to change religion or not. That is something we are waiting for and
trying to get them to pray about. If they convert they will be really strong.
We are just waiting to see what happens with them.<o:p></o:p></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
Hmmm... what else happened this week. It went by so quick I
am having a hard time remembering.<o:p></o:p></div>
<br />
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I think that was about it.<o:p></o:p></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
My birthday was good. I bought a cake and we ate it. It was
pretty good but not as good as a carrot cake. I am still expected one of those
when I get home.<o:p></o:p></div>
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<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
Well that is about it.<o:p></o:p></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
Love you all,<o:p></o:p></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
Elder Nielsen<o:p></o:p></div>
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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Philippine Journeyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10148685361339438671noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7458965414333128199.post-68456001602723359582014-09-17T19:27:00.000-07:002014-09-17T19:27:33.212-07:00More Rain and Mud
First of all, we got a little scaried because Baliguat said
they were going to Manila for a couple of weeks. We didn't know why but they
were going. We found out later that is was because brother wants to stop
smoking so he thought he could do it easier in Manila. They are going to stay
here now but we will have to wait for their baptisms until he stops. He didn't
smoke on Saturday so he might have started already. We still aren't sure when
the baptism will be. We are teaching Adrian and Bryan. They are doing great and
love the gospel but we will have to wait a few months before they can be
baptized. Our bishop wants to make sure that they stay active so we will have
to see if they continue coming to church after their fellowshipper has gone on
his mission. We don't know when that will be either. The Gaston family is doing
great. They love to listen and we have a good relationship with them. They
really wanted to come to church this week but didn't make it. It would have
been hard for them this week because it rained really hard on Saturday and
Sunday making it really muddy and hard to bring the kids to church. Maybe next
week they will come. We are also working with Brother Sabico. He is probably in
the same position. That was a lot of our week.<o:p></o:p><br />
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
It was a little hard to work. It rained so hard that we
couldn't go out at some points because it rained so hard and then some places
we coudn't go because the mud and one area flooded. It was a little bit trying
but we should be good for this next week. The rain is hard but it should be
better this week.<o:p></o:p></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
Elder Delima is still working very hard. He is great and is
a great missionary. I will need a new cook when he goes home. He cooks so well
that I am gaining weight!<o:p></o:p></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
Love you,<o:p></o:p></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
Elder Nielsen<o:p></o:p></div>
Philippine Journeyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10148685361339438671noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7458965414333128199.post-32616906187560775292014-09-09T16:20:00.001-07:002014-09-09T16:20:15.724-07:00In the Mountains
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">This has been a very good week and I am very tired because
we are always walking. It takes a long time to go from house to house and it is
a very mountainous area. Mabini wasn't even close to this. To get to Kabankalan
it takes 3-4 hours and then it is another 30-40 minutes to get to Tapi. It is </span><span style="font-family: Calibri;">fun!<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">Elder Delima is great. We were in the same apartment for a
short time while we were in Escalante. He is a great companion and has already
taught me a lot. I am kind of sad that he is going home in 2 weeks.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<span style="font-family: Calibri;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">The weather has been a lot of rain. We are high enough in
the mountains that we get fog sometimes. It has been pretty cold were we are. I
just have to say the water is freezing. I am looking forward to that warm
shower waiting for me when I get home!!!<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">Tapi is a very good ward. Everything is set up and the
bishop is great. He is an return missionary and does everything he needs too.
Tapi became a ward last March is it is a pretty new ward.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">We have lots of good investigators. Lots of families. It is
amazing to see the work happening here. We had a baptism on Saturday of
Reynaldo Rose (Roo- see). He has a great testimony. His wife was a member so it
really helped him. We will be having a baptism on September 20th. The Baliguat family
has been preparing and are doing great. They are an older couple and brother
wanted to be closer to God so when the missionaries went to him he was so
prepared to listen. They also have a grandchild that will be </span><span style="font-family: Calibri;">baptized on October 11 named Macie. Then we will be having
Adrian and Bryan being baptized on September 27. They are 9 & 8. Our ward
mission leader is really helping them. He is their support to come to church
and they love it. He says they ask him if they are going to the church everyday
they are </span><span style="font-family: Calibri;">so excited to be at the church. We also have a lot more
investigators. I will tell you more when I can remember them more and can tell
you more. I don't know the area very well yet so it is a working progress. I
will send you pictures of a family that we are teaching. They were making smashed
bananas with sugar which was really good. I will show you how they make it. We
are also working in one area called Balicotoc. It is pretty far. We have to
walk 30 minutes to get there after a 10 minute motor ride. They motors are
called habol-habol. It is a pretty fun ride. In that area we are having a
special sacrament and are hoping to start baptizing there so we can have a
group there. A group will allow </span><span style="font-family: Calibri;">missionaries to be there so they can then progress to be a
branch. It was an amazing week. I look forward to the coming weeks to see what
the Lord has in store for the area and for us.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">Love you all,<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">Elder Nielsen<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">PS I just want to be the first to wish you all a Merry
Christmas. The season has started here in the Philippines.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;">PSS I expect to hear Christmas when I get home!<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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Philippine Journeyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10148685361339438671noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7458965414333128199.post-90834925339344614202014-09-03T12:56:00.000-07:002014-09-03T12:56:05.177-07:00Week Full of Surprises
Well this was a better week and it was full of surprises.
You will never guess but I am transferring today! I wasn't expecting it but it
happened. I am with my new companion right now. Elder Delima is my companion.
He is pretty new in the mission. I think about 23 weeks and 1 week. Yeah he
goes home in about 3 weeks. He is the district leader so I get to be junior for
the next couple of weeks. By the way I am in Tapi in Kabankalan zone. I can't
tell you where I live, I haven't been there yet.<o:p></o:p><br />
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
This week we did a lot of good work. It didn't show all the
way but that was alright. We found a part member couple. Brother Jonathan is a
member and his wife and her sister aren't. We started teaching them and they
were very receptive. We gave them a date for October 6. They will probably
continue for that date. We were so excited to find them. Then we went to some
formers that were pretty interested. They just stopped because the missionaries
got transferred and no one returned. We were going to go back to them this week.
Spencer was going to come to church this week but his head was hurting. We gave
him a blessing. He will be baptized soon. Sister is no longer working so they
will be able to come to church. Earljon got shy right before church so he
didn't come. He needs member support in order to progress. Jona has work now.
She is 2 months pregnant. We didn't get to go to her because she is working 7
days a week now. It makes things hard for us. Hopefully it will work out for
her.<o:p></o:p></div>
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I don't know what else to say. I haven't gone to the new
area yet. We are e-mailing then we will eat and then head down there I will
tell you a more next week when I know more about the area. I hear it is in the
mountains so I am pretty excited for the area. I like the mountains better then
the city.<o:p></o:p></div>
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<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
Love you all,<o:p></o:p></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
Elder Nielsen</div>
Philippine Journeyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10148685361339438671noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7458965414333128199.post-2726714928136310322014-08-27T16:46:00.002-07:002014-08-27T16:46:32.985-07:00Full Week
This week we got to do a lot more than last week. We had a
full week to work and no distractions. It was nice but it turned out to be a
very challenging week.<o:p></o:p><br />
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
We spent a lot of this week trying to talk to people and
find some less actives. We did a lot of that. We talked to a lot of people and
contacted some less actives but we had little success with both of them. We
couldn't get any return appointment with our contacting and the less actives
weren't willing to let us in or to really talk to them. It was a bit ruff but I
guess it wasn't their time.<o:p></o:p></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
As far as investigators go for this week. Jona is doing
alright. Still reading and praying but she didn't come to church again this
week. She might have been in Bago so that might have been why because she went
there on Saturday and might not have come back. She has been struggling lately
because of the pregnancy. She says that it is causing her teeth to really hurt.
It has been a trial for her. Earljohn seemed so sure he was going to come to
church this week. He has been reading and was excited on Saturday. We went to
pick him up and he said that his head was hurting so he didn't come again. That
has been a struggle as well. Satan sure does like to make that poor kid sick.
Spencer is also doing pretty good. We didn't get to teach him much this week
because they have been busy. He went downtown on Sunday so he didn't make it to
church. They say this week they should be good. They had to take care of some
stuff for his grandmother because she isn't around right now. We did find a new
investigator this week. His name is Leopoldo. He seems pretty interested and
might be pretty good. He was sick when we found him so it was a little hard. We
will be going back to him this week to continue teaching him.<o:p></o:p></div>
<br />
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That was pretty much this week. Lots of trials but that is
ok. There has to be an opposition in all things to help us and them to improve.
If there was none, we would be the same as Adam and Eve with no improvement or
development.<o:p></o:p></div>
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Love you all,<o:p></o:p></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
Elder Nielsen</div>
Philippine Journeyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10148685361339438671noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7458965414333128199.post-57564125226079676472014-08-21T15:22:00.002-07:002014-08-21T15:22:56.929-07:00Teaching for Understanding
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
We did have transfers this week. Elder Monzales went off to
his second area and I am now with Elder Alfeche. He is from Marikina City in
Manila (same as Elder Paaño). I have known him for a long time now. He is a
great missionary and I am happy that I get to work with him. He is really good.
I have gone on exchanges with him before in the past and so I am really excited
that he now is my companion.<o:p></o:p></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
So this week . . . It went by very quick it is hard to
remember what happened this week.<o:p></o:p></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
Tuesday was a day of saying goodbye for Elder Monzales and
Wednesday was picking up Elder Alfeche. The rest of the week was about normal.
Jona is doing the same. She didn't come to church this week and we don't know
why so we will follow up with her. Earljohn is still struggling to come to
church. We will probably have to take another approach to help him. We didn't
make it Spencer this week. We were very busy with some mission assignments so
we didn't get to do as much work as we wanted or could. It made things a little
bit ruff this week. If you remember Anafe, she is doing really great. She loves
to talk to others about the gospel and share her testimony. We are working with
her to get a referral so that should be coming soon. We are still working with
the Turuel family. Sister isn't there anymore. There was some things that she
has to do somewhere else so we won't see here for a long time. Other than that
we have been working with members and less actives to help them come back or
continue to enter the fold.<o:p></o:p></div>
<br />
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I would just to tell you a little bit about what I have been
studying lately. It our district meetings, where I give my lessons, we have
been focusing on chapter 10 of Preach My Gospel which focuses on how to teach
and improve your teaching skills. Last week I gave a training on Teaching for
Understanding. I was thinking about that last Monday on how I would present my
lesson and I thought about it for a long time. I finally figured that I would
focus on language and about not giving too much information as we teach. A big
concern in all teaching is that we want to be so clear that we share everything
making a disturbance and a change of focus. That causes things to be very
unclear so we need to give the needed information and a couple extras that that
person can understand. The Spirit is the guide for how much we can give. That
is been a big help in my teaching is focusing on what they can understand and
teaching a simple understandable manner in the language they speak. In this
language, there are lots of old terms the people don't understand that we are
taught to use. But as we simplify it, they receive a greater conversion.<o:p></o:p></div>
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I think that is important in all teaching whether religion
based or not.<o:p></o:p></div>
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Love you,<o:p></o:p></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
Elder Nielsen<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></div>
Philippine Journeyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10148685361339438671noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7458965414333128199.post-2638409800416017602014-08-14T13:24:00.002-07:002014-08-14T13:24:20.566-07:00Strong Testimonies
We had a pretty slow week this week. It seemed like we were
doing so well with teaching and then we came to look at what we got done and it
was very little. Oh well, we made a lot of progress this week on figuring out
what needs to be done.<o:p></o:p><br />
<br />
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Our investigators are about the same. They love to listen
but are struggling with their commitments. We will have to see how they
continue to go.<o:p></o:p></div>
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Jona is still holding out strong.
Earljohn is still listening but still struggling to get to church. We went to
pick him up for church but he was too tired to come. I guess he needs a
stronger testimony of the gospel. The Elisa family is doing good. They have
such strong testimonies. They still haven't come to church and we were able to
find out their concern so now we get to focus on that to help them overcome
that hurdle. We were able to get back to Mylene Villarosa. She is doing good.
Lots of questions about the gospel. She is extremely busy with school but we
were able to figure out her schedule so we can now make plans to help her and
to continue teaching her and her sisters. <o:p></o:p></div>
<br />
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Elder Monzales got sick again this week. This has been a big
trial between us because he has been getting sick a lot so we haven't been able
to work as much as we would like. I got to clean the house and we were able to
find some old records that could help us in the future to find more
investigators. That has also been a trial. We have been searching but haven't
found very much and when we do find, we go back and they aren't there. It is a
working progress but I am sure that we will get more success in the coming
weeks.<o:p></o:p></div>
<br />
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As far as rain, there hasn't been any rain this week!!! It
has been nice weather for the most part and the other part it has been
extremely hot. We are sweating a lot. It has been a quick change but I am ok
with it.<o:p></o:p></div>
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Love you all,<o:p></o:p></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
Elder Nielsen</div>
Philippine Journeyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10148685361339438671noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7458965414333128199.post-31228534180340809842014-08-05T07:53:00.000-07:002014-08-05T07:53:43.059-07:00We are just His tools
Here is the update this week, it has rained 26/28 days this
past month!!! We had some sunny days but it ended up raining later but that was
alright. The sun did dry up some of the rain so it isn't as bad as it use to
be.<o:p></o:p><br />
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
As far as this week, we had a good week even though Elder
Monzales and I were both sick. We took a day rest and are now both fine. We did
a lot of finding this week and it came up with some new investigators so we
will see how that goes.<o:p></o:p></div>
<br />
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Jona is doing great as always. There is nothing really to
teach her anymore. She understands everything and has a great testimony. She
reads everyday so we just have to wait for the marriage. We hope it is soon but
it doesn't look like that will happen. It might be another 3 months before that
goes. We went back to Sister Droa and she is doing great. She says that her
husband wants her to wait for when he is ready to get baptized. We are ok with
that but she wants to go ahead of him because she believes it will be a while before
he is prepared because he hasn't listened to us yet. When we go, he always gets
up and leaves. We are hoping he will come along soon. Earljohn was so sure that
he was going to go to church this week and we even went there on Sunday and he
said he was going to but he never showed. We don't know how else to help him
because he isn't helping himself. That is the hard part of it. We will keep
working and maybe next week he will come. We started teaching a boy named
Spencer Elisa. His parents are members and he is really great. He is loving the
gospel and is very smart. We gave him a baptismal date for August 30. We hope
to continue it. It will be hard to get him to church because the parents always
goes to her mother on Sunday mornings so we will see what we can do to get them
to church. We also got a referral from an investigator in the sister's area for
their children. We contacted Mylene and Mariel Villarosa. They are really nice.
We didn't get much time with them but we did invite them for baptism on August
30th. Their schedule is very hard but he hope to continue with them. It will be
hard to get them again but we will keep trying.<o:p></o:p></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
We did some talking to people where members were present and
we shared a little to them and got return appointments with them. We are going
to contact them again and see how we can help them to progress.<o:p></o:p></div>
<br />
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Lots of good things are happening. We are just struggling to
get them to church. We don't know the problem but the Lord does so we have to
trust in him to convert them. We are just His tools.<o:p></o:p></div>
<br />
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Our area is very urban. It is all houses and stores. It
makes things pretty hard to be in the city because it is hard to get people
while outside of their houses. We don't do any door knocking so we jump on the
opportunities we get to talk to people. It is better that way so they are more
receptive.<o:p></o:p></div>
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Love you,<o:p></o:p></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
Elder Nielsen </div>
Philippine Journeyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10148685361339438671noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7458965414333128199.post-54897513810097340572014-07-31T20:12:00.003-07:002014-07-31T20:12:31.605-07:0020 out of 21 days of rain
We had an interesting week that didn't turn out just as we
thought it would. Lots of promptings and going to houses to get bad results. Oh
well, it has to happen sometimes.<o:p></o:p><br />
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
First of all, Sister Droa didn't get baptized. She came
across a family problem that we couldn't control. We are waiting to visit her
to see what is going on and see if we can help to get her baptized. We are
hoping for next week but she might not be able. It was sad to hear but we
understand her situation. Jona is doing great. Very receptive just need the
marriage. That is going to be awhile so I will let you know what happens there.
Earljohn still won't come to church. We don't know his concern. He is always to
tired so we are promoting him to go to bed early so he won't get tired. We didn't
see Pingping because she went to Talisay and so we weren't able to teach her so
we will try to connect with her this week. We got some new investigators that
look like they might be good. The Amante family is very nice. Very willing to
listen. We haven't been able to teach them because their daughter-in-law is a
member and they want her there to listen. She has had a sick child so hasn't
been able to do much. All others is a slow process.<o:p></o:p></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
It has been raining like crazy here. We are now at 20/21
days of rain. Lots of typhoons coming through. We hope it dries out this week
and gives us some warm days.<o:p></o:p></div>
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<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
Sorry short letter. Not much this week. Lots of walking
around.<o:p></o:p></div>
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<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Love you,<o:p></o:p></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
Elder Nielsen<o:p></o:p></div>
Philippine Journeyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10148685361339438671noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7458965414333128199.post-31802963896817108262014-07-23T07:29:00.002-07:002014-07-23T07:31:38.945-07:00Wonderful ExperiencesIt rained everyday this week except Friday
making 13/14 days of rain the past two weeks. We held Anafe's baptism this
Sunday. It was really great. She has such a great testimony. She has
investigated a lot of churches to find out which one is true and she says that
she felt this was the true one while the others where good but felt like
something was missing. It was such a wonderful experience to be with her for that.
As far as investigators go, Sister Droa's interview will be on Tuesday because
the zone leaders are far away so they will be doing it on Tuesday. We are
excited for that so we can prepare for her baptism this next Sunday. She is
doing really great and we are very excited for her. Jona came to church again
which we were excited about. She is loving the church and has had some really
good experiences. We haven't given her a date because we still have to check up
on somethings before we can let her be baptized but she is really looking
forward to that date. Earljohn still hasn't been to church. He always has an
excuse. We are working to strengthen his testimony so he will come to church
and his excuses will fade away. We are also still working with Bella Consulta.
We learned a lot about her this week and it is going to difficult to help her
but through a lot of faith we will be able to. We contacted a new investigator
this week named Pingping. She is a former investigator that stopped because she
moved places. She is very interested and we were able to give her a baptismal
date for August 31. She was a little shocked but I think it will be good.
Sister Teruel is doing great. Still waiting for them to process their marriage
papers so she can be married but they are suppose to do it this week. We are
also teaching Gemma Mag-usara. She is very interested and she wants to be
baptized but can't because she isn't married. Her husband doesn't want to marry
so we have a problem. It might be because of money because he has no identification
so it is more expensive but their is a law we can try to help them with so they
can be married. We will have to see how he accepts it.<o:p></o:p><br />
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
I had to laugh this week. I was transferred her 2 weeks ago
and just last Monday, one of the sisters from Bacolod 2nd got transferred here
as well. It was funny that we both came from the same ward and got put here. <o:p></o:p></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
Love you all,<o:p></o:p></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
Elder Nielsen<br />
<br />
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<o:p></o:p> </div>
Philippine Journeyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10148685361339438671noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7458965414333128199.post-68243865524485816212014-07-15T13:03:00.001-07:002014-07-15T13:03:08.295-07:00Very Wet
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
This was an ok week. We had a good teaching week and lots of
time to find. That made things a little interesting for us.<o:p></o:p></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
First of all, Anafe is doing great. She will be baptized on
Sunday. We are very excited for her because she was so ready. We have gone
through the commandments with her very quick and she readily accepted all of
them. She is so great. We are also expecting a interview this Sunday with
Leonida Droa. She is such a wonderful woman. She readily accepts everything and
is very excited for her baptism. We are getting excited for that. We also got
Jona to church this week!!! We were excited about her coming because we wondered
if she would because her siblings told us that she was in Bago and was coming
back on Sunday. We stopped by her house just in case to invite her to church
and she came!!! She doesn't have a baptismal date yet because we are waiting
for her to be married first. That is a big step for her to prepare for baptism.
We are teaching a boy named Earljohn. He is doing alright just having a hard
time getting him to church because he is so busy!!! It is weird that kids can
get so busy that they don't have time for anything else! We are working with
him and he has a desire to be baptized but church is keeping him from baptism.
We gave him a date for Aug. 10 for his baptism. We are also teaching Bella
Consulta. She is a long time former investigator. She is very receptive and
wants to follow Christ. We gave her a baptismal date for Aug 24 because she
wants it close to her birthday, Aug 25. Sister Teruel is doing good as well.
Still waiting for her to process her marriage papers. They are planning on
doing it this week so we will see how that goes.<o:p></o:p></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
I just got to tell you it has rained all week!!! I am very
wet! We had a typhoon pass through this week which just brought a lot of rain
and they say that today or tomorrow another one is going to come through. It
makes my area very muddy. My area is very city making things very hot when the
sun comes out. Lots of the area is just dirt roads so it is dirty. There is a
lot of big houses and businesses in our area. The big houses are hard to get
into if there is no referral given so we are trying to talk to them when they
are out of their houses but that is hard because they usually aren't. It is an
interesting area and is going to be a challenge but it is good. We walk a lot
in circles in our area but it is good.<o:p></o:p></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
Sorry still getting to know the area. I will try to write
more next week.<o:p></o:p></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
Love you,<o:p></o:p></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
Elder Nielsen<o:p></o:p></div>
Philippine Journeyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10148685361339438671noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7458965414333128199.post-78244056416932239342014-07-11T07:56:00.000-07:002014-07-11T07:56:02.331-07:00Surprise Transfer
Well, I have something to tell you . . . I was transferred
on Tuesday so I don't know how the investigators are doing in Bacolod 2nd even
though I am right next door in Alijis (All-eh-he's). Sorry trying to help you
pronounce it.<o:p></o:p><br />
I was shocked when I got the call on Monday during a family
home evening that I was being transferred so it was interesting and very
unexpected.<o:p></o:p><br />
I am in a good area. My companion is Elder Monzales. He is
from Isabella, same place as Elder Lapitan and Elder Bermudez. I am follow-up
training him right now and am a district leader of 10, 2 elders (us) and 8
sisters. It is going to be an adjustment for sure.<o:p></o:p><br />
Our area is pretty small but we do good work. Our next
planned baptism is July 19. Her name is Anafe. She has a strong testimony of
the gospel. She was suppose to be this week but we moved it to give time to
finish teaching the lessons to her because we have quite a bit more to do. The
next planned on is Sister Droa. She is very strong in the gospel. She is to be
baptized on August 2. She loves what we teach and is willing to go all the way.
We also have some strong investigators. Pamela Teruel is a good investigator.
She just needs to get married for baptism. Her two kids just got baptized last
week so we are just waiting for them to process their papers. They went one day
but there was a big line so they didn't wait. We are also teaching Jona. She is
really good. She loves to listen and is having great experiences in the Book of
Mormon. We are just working on getting her to church for her to be baptized.
She often attends another church with her cousin so we are working to get her
to come to the church she knows is true.<o:p></o:p><br />
After that we have a lot of potential. I will tell you more
when I get to know the area better.<o:p></o:p><br />
I am excited to serve here. I think it will be my last area
so I am going to work hard. The members are willing and we are getting referrals
so I think that it will all work out.<o:p></o:p><br />
Just so you know, it is very rainy here. The last 3 days, it
has just been pouring water. It is crazy and hard for our area because there
are rivers and they have flooded because of all the rain. It is ok. We are
making it and it isn't causing to many problems.<o:p></o:p><br />
Love you all,<o:p></o:p><br />
Elder NielsenPhilippine Journeyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10148685361339438671noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7458965414333128199.post-25898039835753206542014-07-02T20:33:00.000-07:002014-07-02T20:33:05.946-07:00Finding New Investigators
We had an ok week. We had our problems, as normal but we are
coming. We are still working on finding new investigators which is the hardest
part because like you said, we are struggling with getting new investigators.
It makes it hard to teach if we don't have anyone to teach. We have been
working a lot with former investigators to try to find new people to teach. We
didn't get much success this week but we are coming.<o:p></o:p><br />
<br />
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It is also very rainy. We try to stay in member or
investigator's houses during the heavy rain but when it is light, we go out and
go the next closes house. It makes things interesting and fun.<o:p></o:p></div>
<br />
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This week, Carmela is coming along pretty well. She still is
about the same but she was a lot more open when we taught her last time. We
started teaching her the commandments so we can help her to repent of her sins
or to try to find out her concern. It was a good lesson. She is doing great
with her reading, she was in 4Nephi last Wednesday and we probably expect her
in Ether when we go there on Wednesday. We are hoping she will just have a
great experience in the Book of Mormon and will tell us she is ready for
baptism.<o:p></o:p></div>
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We started teaching a kid named Marvin. His mom is less
active because she works in Ilo-ilo so she isn't home to come to church and she
usually is traveling back to work on Sunday (she comes home on Saturdays). He
is a little bit hard but I think he will come along just fine.<o:p></o:p></div>
<br />
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Manuel was so excited for us to teach him on Wednesday and
we had a good lesson but he didn't come to church again. We don't know what is
going on so we will see what happens.<o:p></o:p></div>
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We didn't see a lot of our investigators this week. Some of
them dropped us or are too busy to listen so we are working a lot with members
to get new people to teach and then are talking to people on the streets to
teach them. That is our work for the week. We will also work a lot on finding
less actives because we have 500+ members but only 130 comes to church. That is
a lot better way for finding new investigators then knocking on doors.<o:p></o:p></div>
<br />
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Love you all,<o:p></o:p></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
Elder Nielsen</div>
Philippine Journeyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10148685361339438671noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7458965414333128199.post-56159986639962311362014-06-26T12:32:00.001-07:002014-06-26T12:32:36.713-07:00Rainy
We had a pretty fun week trying to balance everything but I
think it turned out alright.<o:p></o:p><br />
First of all, Tony Nobleza was to be baptized with Irish
before he died. The ward sure does miss him because he contributed so much even
before he was baptized. God does have a plan for him though and it must have
been his time. They say he died while reading the Book of Mormon.<o:p></o:p><br />
It is raining a lot lately. There is hardly a dry day here.
It is nice because it isn't hot but it is also hard because it is hard to catch
people home during the rain. They are trapped somewhere or they are sleeping.<o:p></o:p><br />
Training is going well. Elder Vinoya is starting to get the
language down. He is also getting really good at teaching so everything is
going well.<o:p></o:p><br />
We taught pretty good this week do to zone conference taking
away Monday from us going out to teach at night. Also Elder Vinoya got sick so
we missed some work there but it is good.<o:p></o:p><br />
Carmela is doing pretty good. She believes the church is
true but she isn't ready to accept a baptismal date. She just wants to observe
for the time being. In Preach My Gospel it says all concerns are based on not
having a testimony of the Restoration or not willing to commit to the
commandments. We are lead that she is still scared of some of the commandments
so we plan to teach her about that this week. We haven't seen John Paul this
week so we don't know how he is doing. He is very busy playing when he gets the
time. Manuel is coming. He is getting rid of his vices right now. That is the
hard part. We have a new investigator named Dino. He is doing very good. We
were planning this week to give him a baptismal date but we didn't get the time
to do that. We will try this week. He came to play basketball on Saturday with
us. It was good.<o:p></o:p><br />
We are just trying to solve the concerns right now and
continue to find.<o:p></o:p><br />
Love you all,<o:p></o:p><br />
Elder NielsenPhilippine Journeyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10148685361339438671noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7458965414333128199.post-25838431057140459802014-06-19T19:33:00.002-07:002014-06-19T19:36:24.839-07:00Father's DayWhat a good but challenging week this week.<o:p></o:p><br />
<br />
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We had Irish's baptism this week. It turned out very good
experience and was very nice. I thought something was missing probably because
I was thinking of the sisters' investigator who died the day before the
baptism. It was pretty sad but it must have been God's will. He sure does work
in mysterious ways.<o:p></o:p></div>
<br />
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We stayed pretty busy this week. Our key indicators are
getting bigger every week so we are doing some things right but we are still
struggling getting our investigators to church.<o:p></o:p></div>
<br />
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As far as investigators, Carmela is doing about the same. We
got busy so we didn't make it to her this week. We will be visiting her next
week. We had a great experience with Miguel Javier. We were teaching him, and
he didn't read the Book of Mormon so we decided we would read with him to try
to get some background of it so he would maybe be more excited about reading
it. We read it and he said "This isn't the same as the Bible is it?"
It gave us a great experience explaining what the Book of Mormon is. We think
it is helping him to be more interested in what we are saying instead of just
listening to what we are saying. He seems curious so we will see what happens
this week. We started teaching April Mana-ay. She is a security guard. Her
sister was baptized a couple of months ago. She has been taught before but
wasn't ready to listen. We started again and was able to commit her to a
baptismal date. It is still a long ways away but she wants some time to
prepare. We are excited to teach her and help her to understand and accept the
gospel. We also have taught her brother but it isn't the easiest to catch them
home.<o:p></o:p></div>
<br />
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Manuel is doing alright. We have set up a plan for him to
stop his vices so we will see what happens there. We also have been looking and
have found some fellowshippers for him to help him stop his vices. We hope this
will help him to see what he is doing is possible.<o:p></o:p></div>
<br />
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John Paul didn't come to church so we need to move his
baptismal date. We aren't sure when because we want to make sure that he is
prepared and understands what we are teaching him first.<o:p></o:p></div>
<br />
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This week in our studies we have been studying about working
with members. It is so important that members are working. It is very hard if
it is just us so we need all the help we can get. Members are the key to
conversion because it gives us the people that are ready to listen and then
they have a friend to help them on their way.<o:p></o:p></div>
<br />
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Love you lots,<o:p></o:p></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
Elder Nielsen<o:p></o:p></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
PS Happy Father's Day to all the dads.<br />
<br />
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Philippine Journeyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10148685361339438671noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7458965414333128199.post-91836716951251309842014-06-10T20:58:00.001-07:002014-06-10T20:58:11.554-07:00A Wonderful Week
We had such a wonderful week this week. We were a little
worried at first but it turned out alright.<o:p></o:p><br />
Irish had her interview and we will be having her baptism
next Saturday. We weren't sure if it was going to happen because we were
waiting and about 20 minutes after the schedule timed and then he said I am on
my way. We think he forgot so it was a good thing we text him.<o:p></o:p><br />
We still aren't sure how the funeral will effect John Paul's
baptism. He got back yesterday. We hope that it will continue but we still have
a lot to teach him for only having 2 weeks to prepare him for his interview.<o:p></o:p><br />
Manuel is coming. He is coming very well. We are just
waiting for a few things and then he is good for baptism.<o:p></o:p><br />
Carmela is doing well. We found out she believes that all
churches she believes is true as long as they talk of Christ. We are working on
finding a way to help her realize that Christ built one church and gave
authority for one church. It is a working progress.<o:p></o:p><br />
We had a miracle find this week. We have been going to a new
area called Malapitan. We were looking for a less active member there that was
on our member list and as we were looking we couldn't find her. We asked all
the people around if they had meet her and no one new her. We were going to
leave the area when we heard "hello elder." We went back and it was
her!!! She works in Ilo-ilo so she only comes home about once a year. The Lord
put us there for a reason. Her son is there on the weekends and hasn't been
baptized yet. We will start teaching him this next week. It was a miracle.<o:p></o:p><br />
We had a great week. The Lord truly blessed us. We found
some more investigators and we will be working on them this week. We will see
how that goes.<o:p></o:p><br />
Love you all,<o:p></o:p><br />
Elder NielsenPhilippine Journeyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10148685361339438671noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7458965414333128199.post-75745291973670073282014-06-03T07:13:00.003-07:002014-06-03T07:13:34.534-07:00Interesting but Fast Week
We had a very interesting but fast week. Everything seemed
good this week so I can't say much. Let me think what was going on this week.
huh. . . <o:p></o:p><br />
Well we found out that Irish needs a special interview
because of somethings that she has done in her past. We aren't sure when she
will be baptized any more because of that but we are hoping it will be soon.
One of President Lopez's councilors will be coming over on Thursday to do the
interview with her. We hope that everything will go alright. I am sure it won't
be to much of a problem. If everything goes good we might baptize her on June
14. John Paul is doing alright as well. He is coming along but his grandpa died
this week so we aren't sure what will happen with that. We hope it won't effect
his baptism but it might just because funerals take about 10 days here. We
might have to move his baptism because of that. Manuel is doing great. We hope
that he will continue. Carmela is coming very slowly but I think she is
starting to realize that the church is true. We asked if she prayed if that
church was not true and she said that she felt nothing but when she prays if it
is true that she feels peace. We didn't have much time to teach her so we will
be focusing on that next time we go to teach her. We are just hoping that she
will accept that as her answer because she wants to know not just believe. The
rest of this week was just trying to build some relationships with some of the
people that we have taught before or that we were referred too. I hope that we
can teach more this next week but it might be a little hard with school. School
just started today for the elementary and high school students and then college
starts next week. It will be interesting to see what happens.<o:p></o:p><br />
We teach about the same as when I was zone leader and maybe
a little less just because we have extra studies that we need to do since I am
training. It is better help the new missionary to understand what missionary
work is and how it is best performed. It is hard to put in the schedule but it
is alright. We make it happen.<o:p></o:p><br />
I have to agree with Elder Holland when he said missionary
work was never easy because it wasn't easy for Christ when he performed the
atonement. <o:p></o:p><br />
Salvation isn't easy but it can be easier if we follow
Christ.<o:p></o:p><br />
Love you all,<o:p></o:p><br />
Elder NielsenPhilippine Journeyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10148685361339438671noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7458965414333128199.post-52012146397424562972014-05-29T07:43:00.004-07:002014-05-29T07:43:34.103-07:00Training!!!!
I am still in Bacolod 2nd Ward. Elder Paaño moved out and I
stayed to train a new companion. Elder Vinoya has a great testimony and really
is excited for this work. He is from Quezon City, Manila. I am excited to train
because it is helping me focus more on the work. I need to train him correctly
so it doesn't leave me any time to do anything else except focus on the work. I
have been going home a lot more tired then any other time in my mission.<o:p></o:p><br />
This week has been a lot of studies for us. While training
we have 4 hours of study instead of the normal 3. It has been very different
but has taught me a lot more. Then it has been off to the members and others so
that Elder Vinoya can meet the members and we can start helping the members do
missionary work. We are hoping we can do a lot more with our investigators this
week. Lots of people are very busy right now because school starts next week
June 2 so they are getting ready and are spending lots of time doing things. We
hope they will relax this next week so we can teach them.<o:p></o:p><br />
As for this week, Irish is doing great. Her interview should
be next week so we are preparing her for that. She should be baptized on June
7. We then gave a baptismal date to Chenna's brother John Paul for June 28. He
will be our next baptism. He is turning 8 on June 24 so we thought it would be
good to do so. We are trying to get their mom involved so that she can listen
to the discussions. We hope to convert her in the process of teaching John
Paul. We didn't make it to Carmela this week because bishop's father-in-law had
a stroke so we didn't go there this week. She came up to us in church and asked
why we didn't go there so think that is a good sign. We also went to Eden this
week.She is doing really good and she likes what we teach. We are working on getting
her to read the Book of Mormon and we are still trying to get her to church.
That is the hardest part. Armando went back to Cadiz so we are going to teach
him. Hopefully the missionaries there will continue to teach him. Everyone else
it about the same. We meet a few more people this week that are potential. We
will be working to contact as many of them as we can.<o:p></o:p><br />
Hope you all are doing well. The Lord is hastening His work.
We see it everyday as we work. Lots of hearts are changing. Hope you are participating
in this great work.<o:p></o:p><br />
Love you,<o:p></o:p><br />
Elder NielsenPhilippine Journeyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10148685361339438671noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7458965414333128199.post-74467993936123892502014-05-20T06:18:00.002-07:002014-05-20T06:21:48.771-07:00Working Progress
We had an exciting week this week. It started very good but
it turned out we didn't do as good as thought we would but that is ok. We did a
lot of good working with the people of the ward.<o:p></o:p><br />
First of all, We had Chenna's baptism!!! It was so good. We
ended up baptizing 3 primary aged kids that week, (2 from the sisters). It was
a nice baptismal service. We are going to miss a couple of weeks before our
next baptism. The next one will be on June 7. Irish will be baptized that day.
She is really progressing and loving the gospel. We have seen a lot of changes
in her for good. Her temper has become longer, she is a lot nicer, and she
loves more to listen to the gospel rather then to us. That is true conversion.
We are excited for that baptism to happen. Our next planned is on June 14 but
we still aren't sure if that will happen. Armando is suppose to but we haven't
talked to his sister yet to see if he can be baptized. We will have to find out
this week when he goes to Cadiz to find out. We got a new investigator named
Manuel. He has becoming to church for a while now and the sisters were teaching
him but they didn't want to continue so we took him from them. He is very smart
and has lots of potential. He has lots of problems though so we are really
trying to help him with those. I hope he will progress well. Right now he is
doubting if there is a God so that is something we will talk about with him
this week. Carmela is doing great. Still reading and coming to church. She
still isn't ready to accept her answer so we are still working on that with
her. This might take us a while to do so we are hoping to know what to say.<o:p></o:p><br />
That was about it for the investigators. We ended up
spending a lot of time trying to help struggling members and working with our
leaders to better help the ward to progress. It is a working progress. I hear
we will get a new ward mission leader this next Sunday so we are pretty exited
so that we can work with him and make more plans for the work here.<o:p></o:p><br />
Love you lots,<o:p></o:p><br />
Elder Nielsen<o:p></o:p><br />
PS You might have heard there was an earthquake here. We
barely felt it. Nothing happened at all with it.<o:p></o:p><br />
<br />
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