Tuesday August 13, 2019

(We had a discussion earlier in the day about why some missionaries were on a mission & how it related to their mission experience)

          Ya know I think I would have had a waaaaay different mission if that was the reason I started my mission. I can gladly say that's not at all the reason I went on a mission hahaha. Nah I wouldn't have done nearly as much if that was the only reason I was here. I think that's kinda the difference about the trials of different people's missions. I think no matter what kind of missionary you are, missions are still waay hard. The thing is they're just hard for totally different reasons. Someone who might've chose to serve a mission because all they wanted was to find someone to marry, isn't going to feel the same kinda pressure in finding people to teach and in being obedient and diligent and all that, as someone who chose to serve a mission because they love god. Don't get me wrong, I'm not trying to belittle anyone who started their mission without a solid reason to serve. I just think that the trials of why missions are hard are totally different depending on your reason for being on the mission. If all you're doing is trying to go through the motions of serving, the only reason a mission would be hard is just because it's long and you can't do all the things you did before. But if you're serving, and you truly do want to serve god and bring others unto Christ it's hard because you become invested of the lives of sooooo many people. You pray for the lives of so many people. You spend hours and days and weeks and months trying to do everything you possibly can to help people just feel a little bit of what's in your heart and then appointments fall through, commitments are not met, and those people, that you spent so much time with, that you invested so much in, just go away. 

           Yesterday I was talking with an elder and he said that he had a really incredible lesson and that him and his companion (who is still in training by the way) were trying to help someone understand the importance of the things that they were trying to express to him. The trainee asked the guy if he had ever tried Chicken Joy (which is just really good fried chicken) and the guy said ya. The trainee then told the guy to express to them what eating chicken joy was like as if they had never tasted it before. And ya the guy struggled and admitted that he couldn't do it. And then the trainee related that to them trying to share the gospel to him. As missionaries we could go on and on and on and on about the gospel. We could show videos, we could read scriptures, we could bare testimony, and invite others to follow these things to the end of time. But until people try it themselves, until people try to read on their own or pray or go to church, they will never fully grasp for themselves why these things are so important. I wish that I could give some great sermon that would inspire people's lives and that they could see and feel why these things are so great and be converted unto Christ and have faith that would never waver. But ya that's not god's plan. God's plan requires us to act. And more specifically it requires us to act on our own. When we choose to do or follow these things, it has to be a choice we make for ourselves. 

            I won't go a whole lot into why I specifically went on a mission now. But I will say that it was 100% my choice to be here. Before I made the decision to come I told myself I wouldn't go because of others. I wouldn't go because "it was the thing I was supposed to do" or because "I wouldn't be able to get married in the temple" or whatever. I had a testimony and a knowledge that these things were true and that more specifically that this was something I personally wanted and needed to do. I've seen a lot of change of hearts on the mission. I know that whatever reason got us on the mission, isn't the thing that keeps us going through the mission (we need way more reasons to stay), but I know that I'm happy here. I'm giving it my all. And despite how hard everything may be, I'll never have any kind of experience like this again that brings so much joy into my life and that inspires me to care so much about people that just a couple months ago that I didn't even know existed.

Word of the week: Paningkamot = to try (effort)

Love ya!
Elder Shirley

LOTS of Photos!!

Rabies Treatments complete!  :)

I imagine it's difficult to play basketball with this guy ...

Dad told him about getting drinks in plastic bags with straws!

Zumba at Friday Fun night!

I think this is the boy that finally came to church after meeting people at Friday Fun night and getting his sister to bring him ...

Catching up on Spencer's blog ...

Tuesday August 6, 2019

Cge I'm writing this while riding a van so this might be a short email because these vans go waaaaay too fast down some windy roads in the mountains. Soooo ya I'm already getting a headache hahaha. But ya this past week we were pretty limited on work kay there was just a ton of rain. I guess there's like 2 or 3 storms around the Philippines right now. Since we're surrounded by other islands we never get anything bad but it was still really heavy rain and some pretty bad wind. So ya that kinda limited our work and we got pretty soaked to say the least. But ya we finally got a couple of the people we are teaching to come to church! Thats the hardest part about our area here kay everyone lives way far away and theyre all very shy. We really focused on getting a specific sister to church because her younger brother was someone we have been teaching. Basically after talking with her and reeeeeally encouraging her to come to church and to bring her brother to church, they both came! And the even better part was that nearly their entire family came and they brought another person we're teaching with them as well! They were all so happy to be there and it really made me so happy to see them there with us. It didnt really take much. I think i maybe talked with that sister for maybe 10 minutes, but just a simple invitation and a lot of encouragement can really go a long way. If Ive learned nothing else while on the mission, it's that we, as missionaries, cannot do this without the help of members. Members are of way more importance to missionary work than I think we sometimes realize. No effort is ever wasted, even if all you do is invite someone in the middle of the night while it's pouring rain, to bring their little brother to church with them, you might see greater things come than you'd even expect. Dont ever underestimate your impact on others.

Elder shirley

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Tuesday July 30, 2019

so this last week was pretty fun. First off we had a baptism! Nina Mardi, she's a 9yr old part member kid that is probably one of the smartest kids I know. she's waaaay excited about the church and everything. I've never had kids argue over who got to pray before I started teaching her. She's awesome. Gihapon our branch joined the another branch's Friday Fun Night and we did Zumba which was way fun. I must say that was not something I ever really expected to ever do, especially on the mission hahahah. It's honestly so great here. It's been a struggle getting people to progress but it's been really helping me grow a lot. I feel like we have a lot of lack of support here but it's really shaped me into doing more and really giving it my all. Elder Jones has been doing really good to so that's been awesome. He's learning and improving waaaaaay faster than I ever was in my training. He's just so ready and willing to learn and he's just always constantly pushing himself to do better. It's kinda hard here in Toledo but I just feel really blessed to be here.

ya kana lang,
Elder Shirley

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Tuesday July 23, 2019

This week was pretty alright. We actually were sick for a couple days kay Elder Jones's body has still been adjusting to the food here and then ya to be short my body just hasn't been feeling very well in general. So ya a little limited on work but we were still able to have a good week. We've been finding some pretty nice people that say we can come back but we've just been having a hard time actually getting the chance to go back and visit with them again. It's been a little annoying because I feel like I've been working really hard and putting in a ton of effort with little reward. I know I still gotta respect other people's choices and everything, but I just wish I could see more success. I hope working with Elder Jones for these next 10 weeks or so will really make stuff start happening. I just want to help the people here and the branch here so much and I just feel like I keep running into the same things stopping me from doing that. I guess it just goes back to trusting in God though and his timing and plan for each one of us. If I keep trusting in him I'm sure something good will come out of it all.

Love ya,
Elder Shirley

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Tuesday July 16, 2019

Ya so this week I really got to start working with Elder Jones. It's been really cool to kinda be on the other side of things. Like everything that's experiencing now, i experienced before. Struggling with the language, adjusting to the food/culture, trying to figure out what the heck is going on, I've done it all and now i get to help him endure it all. Elder jones is actually doing really good right now for being so new to the field. His bisaya is actually pretty good and he's really eager to do the work and everything. I can already tell that he'll be a great missionary. Right now in our area we just recently met some really receptive people that we're really excited to go back to. It's been hard kay all last transfer we were finding a ton of people that were willing to listen but nearly all of them kinda dropped us. but right now we are kinda finding less people but the people we are finding are really good so hopefully things'll turn around. I'm excited to see what'll happen the next 12 weeks. I'm honestly so happy right now doing the work. The mission has been waaaay hard but right now things are really reeeeeally good. I'm happy.

Elder Shirley