Dear Family-
This week has been a weird week. I do have some stories, but they are all rejection stories. I want to share them cause I think they are a wee bit funny:)
The first one deals with this lady that we had been teaching a couple of times. She lives way off not too far from the boondocks and she seemed receptive when we taught her a little while ago. We taught her about families and about Christ's Atonement for us and she said that we should come back:D So, we went back and her friend was there so we repeated the lesson to the friend and told her that we really wanted to come back and share a message with her because it would change her life. They both agreed and so we returned. Well, we ended up going on splits the day we returned so my companion was Elder Etcitty-a legit native american elder who lives on a reservation in Arizona. Well, we went back and she saw us and started yelling "ayaw ko na" which means I dont want it anymore or I hate it now. Mind you a lot of Tagalog has no direct english translation because there is a lot of stuff implied in the tone and the suffixes that you attach so it is hard to give you the exact meaning. Well, we were just like standing there and she was like "AYAW KO NA AYAW KO NA" and I was like what in the world is this woman freaking out about? So I was like well, can we know the reason why you want to stop our visits? "AYAW KO NA" Well, can you like just tell us the reason and we will leave right away... "AYAW KO NA" Ate (pronounced at-tay) do you want to stop or does your husband or mother want you to stop? "AYAW KO NA" So, we thanked her for her time and went about our way. We happened to be walking by the other day and we saw her sitting next to the road outside of this monastery and she saw us and got all awkward and I was like "ay, kumusta po kayo" which is a really polite way of saying hi, hows it going and she waved us like keep on going so I just thought that was kind of funny. Satan has a way of twisting things and making them look like garbage. That wasnt the first time that that happened and it wont be the last...
On another note, I apparently had a small go at it with this catholic lady the other day. Mind you, some things like dude and slang wasnt said, this is all translated. None of my stories are in english unless I say that they are. Ha I need san francisco to warn me to stop because I always have to get the last word in...always...and it has really gotten me into trouble sometimes. I am working on it I promise:/ Anyways, we had taught this tatay and he told us we could go back to him. We tracted him and he lives like 30 minutes walking away from the main road back in this secluded spot that has like real trees, not coconut trees, and a cool breeze and stuff. So, we taught him and set up a return appointment. When we returned his whole family was there which was cool and we were way excited. Well, I, trying to break the initial "oh my goodness there is a tall white man in my house" ice, started talking to the nanay. I was like nanay, how are you doing? "We arent gonna go to your church" I get this a lot so I was like thats ok, we just want to add to your knowledge of our savior. She was like "well, we are catholic and we are not gonna change" Unfortunately, this is where I, apparently, got a little...apprehensive. I was like, so nanay I am curious, what are you beliefs...she was like "I believe in the catholic church" I was honestly curious so I was like yea, but what are your beliefs about god and Christ and stuff. She was like "I...believe in the catholic church..." At this time, she looked at tatay and he started talking to me in her place. He was like "well, we believe in prayer" I was like really? Hmm...so does every other christian religion in the world. What else do you believe in? He was like "well...uh...worshipping, repenting...faith..." I was like "yea...once again, so do we. Is says in ephesians 4:5 that there is one faith. Which faith is right? What do you all have that makes your religion special; different from all the other ones?" Tatay just turned and stared off in the distance so I was like "nanay, I am still curious about what you believe in" she turned, and right as she did this guy came up and she got all excited and was like "ask him, he knows" and I was like "well nanay, I am sure he knows what he believes in...but I want to know what YOU believe in" And she turned away and elder francisco was like "can I borrow your pen" and I was like yea sure dude shoot for it and he wrote in this scrabbly english "cancel...they not interested" on his hand. Ha I was like yea, thats probably a good idea because nanay has a head as soft as a bowling ball:/ So we gave them the pamphlet and told them to read it and offered a quick testimony and went about our way. That is the whole story. Ha, rejection, but its all good. Whenever I meet people like that it just makes me want to spread the gospel that much more to those who will listen.
My final story has to deal with retarded missionaries doing stupid stuff. You all might remember me mentioning Cebrara-my old zone leader. Well, he is who this story has to deal with. Let me say this-one of the WORST ideas one can have as a missionary is having a girlfriend in the mission. Now, let me clarify what I mean when I say "in." One of the worst ideas that one can have as a missionary is having a girlfriend who lives 2 minutes down the road from you. Yea, so apparently Cebrara has a girlfriend here in Lopez. When he got transferred he decided to take a night off and go visit her...while his companion went to a completely different area. Mistake #1-being alone with a girl AS A MISSIONARY mistake #2-splitting with your companion and being 30 minutes away from him mistake #3-having a girlfriend in the mission mistake #4-being an idiot. So, we came here and his companion went to calawag. Lee got emergency transferred out the next day and got sent to replace a zone leader...cant guess who that could be...oh wait, it is the same area that cebrera got sent to. Hmm...lets connect the dots here...yea. Basic moral of the story-dont be an idiot. Did Cebrera get sent home? I dont know. The mission is full of tsismis (kind of like gossip) about it so while one person has the truth, his companion heard that he hijacked an elephant and rode to manilla so this is als coming from a kid who witnessed it all. Cool huh? Way to represent christ.
Those are my stories for right now. Not too impressive, but stories nonetheless. That is awesome that the people received my letters. I still have tons to get out to people like Mr. Rubeling, Jules, and tons of people in my batch in the mtc. It is free if I pouch it to them cause they are here in the Philippines haha! I am so busy writing letters cause I am still trying to catch up to everyone. Please tell Leah that I am gonna try to start emailing her. I am gonna ask President tomorrow (tomorrow is zone conference which means SM WOOOOT aka the mall) is I can and if he says no I will just write her a letter. Ha we have been trying to get communication but my katamadan (or laziness) has been hopping in the way:/ I will see what is going down with that. Ha that made me smile about scott. He is such an awesome guy and I learned a TON from him. There is so much he taught me about life and the church he was such an answer to my prayers. That is way exciting about the ogden temple. Are they doing anything to the Provo one as well? I am way stoked to see what it looks like. Apparently the Logan one, when it was renovated, flipped 100 % on the inside and became something completely different so I am stoked to see how they change the Ogden temple.
As for the amazon thing-that works. Hopefully none of the office elders will freak out about how it says amazon on the side haha. I really appreciate that, and I have another favor to ask you. Can you send a few more gold dollars? ha sorry to ask, but I gave my other one to elder Banawan and I really want to give one to this family that we baptized a bit ago. Tatay and his son are advancing through the priesthood and they are going strong. It is so AWESOME to see how the gospel affects peoples families. Oh man oh man ha!
Please take tons of pictures for me to see of your trip. If you want, when you get back sent them back on my memory card. My camera lens is broken, but my screen still works. Speaking of which, I am taking a whole bunch of pictures from Elder Etcitty's memory card so I have a TON of pictures to send now! I hope you guys absolutely have a blast! Haha man, no Brady, Samuel, or Ben to fight around you and peace and quiet. Sounds awesome! You should go through the Temple while you are there (haha thats totally coming from a missionary:/) Be sure to take tons of pictures and I will look at them when I get back!! But, of course, send some of them too!
Transfer day is coming up fast. Less then 3 weeks left in lopez. That also means that march 2 is coming up fast-the 6 month mark. I cant believe that I have been out for 1/4 of my mission. It is way sad to think about it. I think about how much I have grown and how much I love the Philippines and it makes me sad to think about how I will be leaving in 18 months. But, all the more reason to go out and kick some butt!!!! Elder Francisco and I have become good friends actually. It made me really think about the words to the last verse of the hymn the hymn"should you feel inclined to censure." I can understand his tagalog now, I just had to speed up my brain to 455% its normal speed haha! I speak to president tomorrow at zone conference. He is such an awesome guy and he lives in Kaysville. I told him I would take him to burger bar when I get back cause its his favorite restaurant and he laughed and said it was a deal. He is one of the most amazing men I have ever met. He is absolutely awesome. We have an area seventy coming to speak to us tomorrow so that is gonna be cool too. To answer the hot season question, the napakainit, or hottest, time starts in march. Holy cow, I dont understand the Philippines. This morning we got up at 5 to go play basketball at the chapel and it was FREEZING. We rode a trike and I was almost shivering. It was SOO cold. At night I will have to turn off my electric fan and either curl up in my top sheet or put on my sweatshirt. BUT, with this said, the days are INSANE. The Filipine sun is UNFORGIVING. Plus, everyday there isnt a cloud in the baby blue sky so the second it hits you it gets like 20 degrees hotter. Right now, it is only 33 degrees, which is like 90 degrees farenheit, but on insane days it bumps up to like 40 or 42 degrees Celsius which is like 105 degrees farenheit and you can most definitely feel it. But, it is all good. I am starting to look like a Filipino haha cause of all the stinking sun. It is funny cause I was talking to one of our members yesterday and trying to explain a tanning bed and she was appalled. You see, here in the Philippines, everything is whitening. Skin whitening soap, skin whitening lotion. In the Philippines, you are beautiful if you are pale. I told her that in america, people think you are beautiful if you are tan and she was like "oy, pangit" which literally translated means "WHAT? Ugly..." haha so basically, dont feel bad if you are pale cause you would be seen as gorgeous in the Philippines, which means I am becoming more and more ugly haha:D
I do have one more story though. If I were to give anyone advice...it would be dont drink and drive...a scooter. Last night I was coming home from a way far area when we came upon a gathering of like 200 people with a bus on the side of the road and glass covering every square inch of the street. We were like what in the world... So, let me lay out an area for you. This road goes up a steep mountain, then pulls a SHARP 45 degree turn and goes down just as steep. If you arent careful, you will smash into people coming up the other side. Well, as to be guessed, the guy had been drinking and decided to pull a back to the future and try to get up to 88 miles an hour...and smashed into a bus. We drove by and he was dead and his body was all contorted into this weird shape that most definitely was NOT natural. Half the road was covered in the guys blood and the stains are still there. Just goes to show you that life isnt something to be played with. Poor guy's family now has to deal with his loss because he decided to get drunk and go do something stupid.
Anyways, that is life. I hope you all are doing well and staying safe. I will ask president about leah, and such. Keep on going and magtitiis hangang wakas (endure to the end).
Remember, the church is true, the book is blue, and Jesus is with the Mormons!!
Love,
Jake
aka Elder Muller
Monday, February 22, 2010
Monday, February 15, 2010
Happy Valentines Day!
Dear Family-
First off, happy valentines day!!!!This week was a cool week. I have learned some skills that I am obviously meant to have, but I will get to that. I have some stories, some lame, and one cool, that I want to share. I guess I will start with those first.
This week I learned something that will stick with me for the rest of my life. It is funny how you learn skills that you need when you need them. I am planning on passing the lesson that I learned the other day down to my children and to their children’s children. This week… I learned how to cut a mango. There is this cool Filipino slice and dice way that they do it and it is the most efficient way that I have seen to peel fruit in my life. It is so cool!!!! I plan on utilizing this skill and mastering the way of the Filipino mango cut.
I also have a cool story. So, I was walking talking with Elder Richens (he is American and 6’6”…we were a sight…) and I looked in the garage of one of the houses we were walking by and low and behold what did I see? No, not popcorn popping on the apricot tree, but a sports bike. I asked them to turn it on and they did and I had…fun on such a thing. It really really made my day!
Another random story…I learned how to propose in Tagalog this week. How is it relevant? Cause it uses a new conjugation that I am trying to learn!
Another story…how I don’t fit in the Philippines. Now, I need you to remember that the Philippines are built for Filipino people. The houses are small, and the people are smaller. Well, a couple days ago (last week actually but I forgot to tell you all:/) I went into the house of a less active family. When I say family I mean like a nanay and a tatay. Well, tatay is like 80 and he cant see and doesn’t work (for obvious reasons) and nanay can see, but doesn’t work. Well, we taught gave them a quick spiritual thought and decided to leave. Well, as I was leaving we were climbing down these stairs that were held into the house (which was up on stilts) by a few itty bitty nails. As I was about to climb down I thought to myself “watch, I am gonna rip these stairs out of this teeny house…” sure enough, the second I stepped down onto them YANK out comes the stairs and down I fall to my imminent doom…which was only like 2 feet down but still. I felt so bad because they obviously had been ripped out before and the nails were all bent and retarded looking cause they couldn’t fix it. Yea…kind of looked less than dignified on that one…
I have actually a kind of cool story from one of our family home evenings. So, if you all remember, the Largo family is this amazing family in which the gospel is flourishing. Tatay was baptized a bit ago, and his son followed a week after. Jayson (his son) is definitely living it up by attending every single SA (single adult) activity that we can organize ha. Well, we have shifted our focus onto nanay cause she still isn’t a member. We actually went to them last night and I told them that more than anything I wanted to see them getting sealed in the temple, but they needed Nanay to be baptized first. Tatay will be able to be endowed next year, and, well, Jayson is a complicated story. Anyways, at this family home evening I was like you know tatay I just want to thank you for your kindness. We get rejected, spit at, yelled at, bit by dogs, and swore at, but you have always accepted us. For this I thank you. Then his eyes got a little teary and he was like “ibinagay mo ang lahat sa akin” which means you have given everything to me. It really made D&C 18:15-16 stand out on my mind
15 And if it so be that you should labor all your days in crying repentance unto this people, and bring, save it be one soul unto me, how great shall be your joy with him in the kingdom of my Father!
16 And now, if your joy will be great with one soul that you have brought unto me into the kingdom of my Father, how great will be your joy if you should bring many souls unto me!
It made me realize that I am like the stone thrown into the pond. A simple splash may seem insignificant, but the ripples extend farther than the eye can see. The Lord works miracles through people and it is so so obvious. I just hope with every inch of my being that Nanay will realize that what we have will change her life for ever.
As for the companion thing, it definitely gets frustrating. I tract by myself because he hates tracting so he refuses to do anything. You see, when you tract you don’t just run up swords drawn and say “hi, im elder muller LET ME SHARE A MESSAGE IF YOU WANT TO KEEP YOUR LIFE” You get to know them and talk with them cause they are people not numbers. Well, san Francisco (his name is elder Francisco, but I have names for everyone…) will go up and be like “hi, we are missionaries and we have a message. Can we share it with you” and I am like what in the world champ where did you learn that? If a short stubby Filipino and a creepy lanky American came up to you and was like let me share a message or we will eat your first born child…I don’t think I would let them in either. Anyways, we butt heads because I want to work and tract and teach and he wants to sit, cook, and chill at members houses. It is ok though I guess. I realize that he probably sees me the same way that I see him and that I probably do more things that annoy him than he does to annoy me. But, he was given to me for a reason so I will see what I can do to learn from everything that has, is and will happen.
Side note, when are you sending that package with those books that I asked for? Did you get them in yet? Are they legit? Like full color and everything? Not weak sauce-pretty much the stills of the cartoon. Please make sure they are the right ones.
Please tell grandma and grandpa muller that I am so very grateful for their willingness to facilitate my needs. It is SO good to get mail. I don’t have insane needs I just enjoy…candyJ I
Speaking of mail, I have a small insert for my little friend Casie Perdue. Casie-I am from Frederick, Maryland…not Fredericksburg Virginia haha but thanks for thinkin’ of me!! Reading such a story tickled my buttons (and I have a lot seeing as I have like 8 dress shirts…and like 12 total buttons on each…plus pants…and my book bag…) but yea…kind of off on the place of upbringing…by like 2 hours…
This week, I had kind of an eye opening. I was reading this story about this sister who was frustrated with her day. She felt as if she was a failure and she imagined her at the Lord’s feet crying because she didn’t have any lessons taught. It is a long story, but she then had an image come into her head of Christ crying right next to her saying “please father, I love her so much. Please, let me make up for everything that she is lacking” Ask people who are your friends-tell me the 3 most important things that you have learned in your life. See what they say. For me, it isn’t which pokemon evolves into who, how to heel-to-toe shift, the breathing technique while running 12 miles uphill, or the engine size of a mv agusta f4 rr 312 1078. It is
1)Christ lives!
2)We are children of a loving father in heaven and no one can take that away from us
And,
3)The Lord’s will NOT OURS (this I have found out the hard way…)
I wonder if Sister Altenan (spelling) realizes that because of her I am on a mission. I wonder what she would do now if you got back in contact with her and told her that I am serving. Man, she must be like 38 by now. Cool stuff!!
In a few weeks, it will be 2 months until I call you all!!!!
How is Brady doing? He still hasn’t emailed me back so I am still waiting. I send my love to you all 10x over!
Love you all and keep safe!
Love,
Jake
Aka Elder Muller
Ps-this gospel is the single most important thing on this entire earth!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Monday, February 8, 2010
My everyone email
> Dear Family (and friends)-
> I am sorry to say that I have no cool stories here in Lopez for this week. In all honesty, it was kind of a stressful week. My companion speaks so fast it is almost impossible to understand him, and when I ask him to slow down he just smiles and keeps going. He is kind of a lazy kid-I want to get out there and work and such and he just goes to the appointments and sits. I have to literally call on him to teach in order for him to say anything. It kind of sucks because I will be the one doing all the talking and he just sits there so after I have exhausted my whole tagalog word well supply it is silence…until I speak again. He seems like the kind of kid who likes to sit around when there is stuff to be done only because there is stuff to be done. Ha I used to be that kid and now I cant stand not doing anything its weird. I need to make decisions and constantly be on the move. I have also become a lot cleaner. Ha gotta love living on your own and what it does for you!!
> As for the how long I have been gone, this I know haha. My little countdown has circles shaded in and markings of important dates all over the place. My 6 month mark is on March 2. Man, I look back at how my mission has been and I almost wish I could slow down time. I cant believe I am almost ¼ of the way through my mish. Haha well, as of March, only 18 months left. I have decided I want to eat at outback steakhouse when I get back as the first thing that we do. I want a fat enormous disgustingly expensive steak as my first food in America. Rice and spaghetti gets…old…
> On a cool note, Tatay Largo and Jayson Largo have been ordained to the office of priest. It was way cool cause I am way close with that family and they mean a lot to me. Its gonna kind of suck leaving, but I am WAY excited to get a new area. Think of it as a little area trunky haha.
> That is so insanely exciting that Ben got baptized. Ha I am so stoked to get the pictures.
> Jake Peterson went out for basketball with me Junior Year at Roy. He is a cool kid and he is gonna make an amazing missionary!! Tell him I say hi.
> I sent 7 things out in the mail today (both sets of grandparents included) so people should be getting responses fairly…well, in less than a month. That is cool stuff about your anniversary. Where did you guys go? Haha Happy Anniversary. Sorry about my…forgetfulness. I have 10000 things on my mind daily and so it is easy to forget important things. Sorry sorry sorry!
> It is so cool how my testimony has exploded in growth in these past 2 months. I have become more self reliant, diligent, and smelly (the water smells…that’s the reason I promise…). I am gonna have to make a bold statement by saying that serving a mission was the single most important decision that I have made in my life. My priorities have shifted. For example-before my mission, the first thing I wanted to do when I got back was get a gsxr (a bike that I want.) Now, I want to eat a steak, get a job…THEN get the bike. Ha yep mom, its still up there:) Plus, the bike that I want is not in the Philippines, but yesterday I saw two of them that these guys imported and it only reawakened my burning desire. Mmm hmm, gsxr, here I come:D
> Anyways, that is all for this week. Sorry-nothing amazing at all. I will try to have some cool things happen this week.
> Until then-love always,
> Jake
> Aka Elder Muller
> I am sorry to say that I have no cool stories here in Lopez for this week. In all honesty, it was kind of a stressful week. My companion speaks so fast it is almost impossible to understand him, and when I ask him to slow down he just smiles and keeps going. He is kind of a lazy kid-I want to get out there and work and such and he just goes to the appointments and sits. I have to literally call on him to teach in order for him to say anything. It kind of sucks because I will be the one doing all the talking and he just sits there so after I have exhausted my whole tagalog word well supply it is silence…until I speak again. He seems like the kind of kid who likes to sit around when there is stuff to be done only because there is stuff to be done. Ha I used to be that kid and now I cant stand not doing anything its weird. I need to make decisions and constantly be on the move. I have also become a lot cleaner. Ha gotta love living on your own and what it does for you!!
> As for the how long I have been gone, this I know haha. My little countdown has circles shaded in and markings of important dates all over the place. My 6 month mark is on March 2. Man, I look back at how my mission has been and I almost wish I could slow down time. I cant believe I am almost ¼ of the way through my mish. Haha well, as of March, only 18 months left. I have decided I want to eat at outback steakhouse when I get back as the first thing that we do. I want a fat enormous disgustingly expensive steak as my first food in America. Rice and spaghetti gets…old…
> On a cool note, Tatay Largo and Jayson Largo have been ordained to the office of priest. It was way cool cause I am way close with that family and they mean a lot to me. Its gonna kind of suck leaving, but I am WAY excited to get a new area. Think of it as a little area trunky haha.
> That is so insanely exciting that Ben got baptized. Ha I am so stoked to get the pictures.
> Jake Peterson went out for basketball with me Junior Year at Roy. He is a cool kid and he is gonna make an amazing missionary!! Tell him I say hi.
> I sent 7 things out in the mail today (both sets of grandparents included) so people should be getting responses fairly…well, in less than a month. That is cool stuff about your anniversary. Where did you guys go? Haha Happy Anniversary. Sorry about my…forgetfulness. I have 10000 things on my mind daily and so it is easy to forget important things. Sorry sorry sorry!
> It is so cool how my testimony has exploded in growth in these past 2 months. I have become more self reliant, diligent, and smelly (the water smells…that’s the reason I promise…). I am gonna have to make a bold statement by saying that serving a mission was the single most important decision that I have made in my life. My priorities have shifted. For example-before my mission, the first thing I wanted to do when I got back was get a gsxr (a bike that I want.) Now, I want to eat a steak, get a job…THEN get the bike. Ha yep mom, its still up there:) Plus, the bike that I want is not in the Philippines, but yesterday I saw two of them that these guys imported and it only reawakened my burning desire. Mmm hmm, gsxr, here I come:D
> Anyways, that is all for this week. Sorry-nothing amazing at all. I will try to have some cool things happen this week.
> Until then-love always,
> Jake
> Aka Elder Muller
Monday, February 1, 2010
The email of domination
This past week was the week of change for many people. I don’t have any cool should-be-made-into-a-steven-spielburg-movie stories from this week, but I do have some…average coolness stories. So, here goes.
>
> I got to baptize Jayson Largo (the son of Tatay Largo who was baptized last week) on Saturday. The cool part-it was in the ocean. Our plumbing is about as effective as the road construction crews in Utah so, once again (it has happened like 32532 times) we had no water whatsoever at the church. So we went to the ocean. Now, I thought it was gonna be cool, like some other side of heaven stuff cause I had been to islands here before and the water is crystal clear and more blue than my eyes…but we picked the land of desolation instead. It was low tide…extremely low tide…so we had to wade out for like 20 minutes to get up to waist deep water. The thing that made it challenging was it was a part of the coast that has no sand-just mud. So, I decided I was gonna accept the challenge the mud was presenting by hitting it head on…failure. I went in with my crocs on and I took like 15 steps before I could go no further cause of the depth of the mud. So, I took them off and threw them at the pier (and they missed and landed in the water and our ward missionary had to go speeding after them cause they floated away down the shore haha) and continued barefoot. It was way gross cause with every step I sank down in the mud like 6 inches and under the mud was all this sharp stuff (sticks, shells, rocks, etc.) so it hurt half the time and creeped me out the other half. But it was cool. It was difficult to walk because of the depth of the mud so I was going slow and the bishop came floating past on a boat and had this big smile on his face and said “hello elder!” (he speaks English) and then told me to hurry up obviously making fun of the fact that I had almost fallen over like 20 times haha. Thanks bishop. After like 20 minutes of wading we got up to, well for him, waist deep water and so that is where it happened. The first time his stupid knot was out of the water so I did it again and after wards he said I practically pushed him down in the mud ha-gotta love shallow water.
>
> I have an update to the whole Ate Maylin story. Remember-the whole bus incident with the crash and the cut off leg? Well…he died. Doctors said he was lucky to even have lived 3 days. Elder Francisco and I visited her and she was in the middle of a nervous breakdown-which seems almost justified. She has 2 kids and no job and now no husband. She is 26 and so she seems able to be able to get a job but there are other factors keeping her back. She is in perfect health and mentally stable-no problems but she doesn’t have a job. Anyways, while she was crying uncontrollably she turned to her kid and was like “mundi, ask elder muller to take us to America with him. ASK HIM” and so that is when Elder Francisco and I were like “uh…oh hey look some investigators. Well come back later” and we ran away, but in a nice way. Her husband was the obstacle keeping her from listening to our message so it was sort of nice (in the midst of all the turmoil that was going down) to hear her say “elder I want to listen to your message now, just not at this second” so we will see what the future holds for her.
>
> Now, onto my new companion. His name is Elder Francisco, and he is a Filipino. The only itty bitty problem that we have is the unimportant trivial fact that he speaks…absolutely NO English. Communication with him is interesting. He would make an American auctioneer cry 1000 tears cause he speaks at 5 times the speed of sound. For almost everything that he says I have to ask him to repeat it but at a much slower pace. It is really hard sometimes but its ok I guess. I can talk with him and teach the lessons and stuff, I just need to make sure I know all the words that I am gonna use for that day cause he cant translate for me. He has been out for 10 months and is a quiet but nice guy. Elder Bernard got a new companion too-one of the guys in his class at the MTC ha so they are living life and having a blast!!! Haha do you remember the whole situation with Elder David-the crazy elder who was in the zone leaders apartment 2 transfers ago? The one that I got a little angry at? He is now Elder Banawan’s companion haha. Looks like its time to learn patience!
>
> I have written both grandparents and President Jensen and plan on writing more and sending them out this week hopefully so they should get them in like 2 weeks or so. How is Derek doing? Is he tearing it up?
>
> I got to see Elder Harris, Johnson, and Sister Andreason at transfer day. It was fun, always fun to see batch mates, but I was kind of disappointed that I didn’t see Elder Hansen. He wasn’t at transfer day cause he caught his companion…well we will leave it at that. So he got emergency transferred, his comp got sent home, and now he is at another area. We can “pouch” letters to anyone in the Philippines so its really easy to send out 10 letters a week to friends serving here. That’s how I know. We left at 4 in the morning and hopped on a bus, and we got to the mission home at like 8:30 or so. We FLEW on that road. We have a switched up zone now so it will be interesting to see everyone and get to know them at district meeting. Elder Banawan is now Sister Andreason’s zone leader. Lucky duck.
>
> As for me, I haven’t moved at all. I am still in the same area, ward, apartment, and bed! I am excited however for next transfer day cause it means, maybe, that I will be transferred to a city with cool malls and mcdonalds and stuff haha. Fun times. I don’t know where I am going cause its not my decision ha but I am still excited. With this said, it is kind of bittersweet. I love lopez a lot and the members are amazing. I hope to come back some day. There is a nanay in the area (the one who does my laundry haha) who is so anxious to get her husbands temple work done, but she cant submit it cause the system here is all messed up. Temple trips are EXPENSIVE for members and they happen, at most, once a year. Maybe, if I return, I will be able to do her temple work. That would be way way cool!
>
> Man I cant believe Benjamin is turning 8 that little punk. Exciting stuff! Tell dad to baptize him like this:
>
> “Bilang naatasan ni Jesucristo, Binibinyagan kita sa pangalan ng Ama, at ng Anak, at ng Espiritu Santo, Amen”
>
> That’s the cool way to do it haha. What an amazing day. Oh man-Chelsea is going to the baptism. Ha I always made fun of her because I got to go to her sisters sealing and she didn’t, so she always responded with “oh yea, well guess who gets to go to your little brothers baptism…and who doesn’t” haha oh man. Now I need to find another way to one up her…but anyways tell Benjamin I say happy birthday. I would send a package but the last time Elder Lee sent a package it cost him 3000 pisos. That is just under ½ the money we get for the whole month so my packages might be in short supply. Tell him, once again, that I am really proud of him and excited to hear how it went (even though he always stole the love sac when I wasn’t looking…that butt.
>
> As for the question about the sharing time, I have a story that I heard here. It is relevant here cause people always use computer shops here, and they always have brown outs. It is kind of a cool story so just thought I would share it. It is kind of harsh, and rough at times, but just go with the flow.
>
> Christ and Satan were in an internet shop one day. They all had the records (names, ages, birthdays, desires, etc.) of all the people who follow them. Christ was calmly putting in the records while Satan was hurridly smashing the keys to get as many records in the computer as possible. Christ has a calm, loving smile on his face. Satan had a frown of anger. All of the sudden, a brown out happened. Satan became angry and started screaming. Christ sat in solemn dignity waiting for the electricity to come back on. When it did, Satan had no one he had typed. Christ had everyone. Why? Cause Christ saved all his records. Every one meant everything to him so he made sure to take the extra time and ensure their safety.
>
> Yea, different than what you would hear in the states, but effective none the less. There is another one that I want to share but it is kind of, well, violent (gotta love stories in the Philippines) but it gets its point across. The characters are a little weird, but it works.
>
> There was a boy that lived a long time ago in a place far far off. He attended school and was just like everyone else. At this school that he attended, there was this girl. Now, this girl was the most attractive girl in the entire country; every single guy wanted to go on a date with her. Knowing this, she gained an advantage over everyone else. Boys asked her out on dates all the time, and when she didn’t want to go on a date with them she would say “I will go on a date with you if you bring me a red red rose” In this place that the boy lived, there were no red roses at all, and everyone knew this. One day that boy decided to muster up the courage and ask this girl for a date. Walking with his head held high and his boots buckled tight, he went up to the girl and asked. Almost on cue, he got the response “I will go on a date with you if you bring me a red red rose” The boy was crushed. He went home that day and was sitting out in his yard. One of his friends, a small loving hummingbird, noticed his sadness from far off. The hummingbird lived in a pure white rose bush off in the corner of the yard. He flew up to the boy and asked what the matter was. “I need to find a red red rose so this girl will go on a date with me, but I don’t know where to find one.” The boy started to cry. Heartbroken, the hummingbird flew back to his bush-destined to find another way. “Father, I want the boy to be happy but I don’t know what to do” The bush responded “you know what he wants do you not?” “Well yes, but where do I find a red red rose?” “There is no place where you can find a red red rose anywhere near that I know of, but there is a way to make one.” To this the hummingbird was astonished. “How?” “In order to make a red red rose, a willing heart needs to sacrifice itself for another-thus paying the toll with blood.” “Is there any other way?” “There is no other way” The hummingbird thought and thought and came to his decision. He loved his friend so very much and could not bear to see him in agony. Spotting a thorn down below, the hummingbird stuck out his chest, flew as fast as he could, and drove the thorn into his chest. Three small drops of blood fell on a white rose below and it turned a magnificent, deep red. The rose then, along with the small, lifeless body of the hummingbird, fell to the ground. The boy immediately noticed that the red rose had fallen and ran over and picked it up-failing to notice the body of his dearest friend laying next to his prize. “Oh man, now I can get that date!” The boy, handling the rose carefully, started the walk to the school. A little bit down the road his friends were playing basketball. “Boy, come play with us” they called. Boy looked at the rose sitting there in his hand gleaming…then to his friends…then to the rose…then to his friends. He threw down the rose “oh well. I didn’t want that date that bad after all!”
>
> Intense, but it strikes up thought. Ha don’t share that with your primary class but I wanted to share it all the same. It makes a point of what the human race does (on a much smaller scale) daily.
>
> I am glad to hear that grandma and grandpa clark are doing well. When they stay at our house when you guys go on your trip tell grandma and grandpa they can use my bed. It is MOST DEFINITELY more comfortable than the bed in the guest room, and it is bigger. Plus it’s a serta (I miss my bed SO MUCH). Enough said. Tell them I am sending out a letter to them this week and that the village room looks AMAZING. I explain a lot of stuff in my letter so tell them I say they should be excited haha.
>
> I hope you all keep dominating life the way you are. Elder Muller’s spiritual thought for the day-read a chapter of the BOM a day. I promise you in no time you will feel like you are walking on a cloud. That is way sick about the basketball. Three dominatory kids dominating on three dominatory teams. Tell them to continue-who knows, one day they may play for USU ha!!
>
> Love love love,
> Jake
> aka Elder Muller
>
> I got to baptize Jayson Largo (the son of Tatay Largo who was baptized last week) on Saturday. The cool part-it was in the ocean. Our plumbing is about as effective as the road construction crews in Utah so, once again (it has happened like 32532 times) we had no water whatsoever at the church. So we went to the ocean. Now, I thought it was gonna be cool, like some other side of heaven stuff cause I had been to islands here before and the water is crystal clear and more blue than my eyes…but we picked the land of desolation instead. It was low tide…extremely low tide…so we had to wade out for like 20 minutes to get up to waist deep water. The thing that made it challenging was it was a part of the coast that has no sand-just mud. So, I decided I was gonna accept the challenge the mud was presenting by hitting it head on…failure. I went in with my crocs on and I took like 15 steps before I could go no further cause of the depth of the mud. So, I took them off and threw them at the pier (and they missed and landed in the water and our ward missionary had to go speeding after them cause they floated away down the shore haha) and continued barefoot. It was way gross cause with every step I sank down in the mud like 6 inches and under the mud was all this sharp stuff (sticks, shells, rocks, etc.) so it hurt half the time and creeped me out the other half. But it was cool. It was difficult to walk because of the depth of the mud so I was going slow and the bishop came floating past on a boat and had this big smile on his face and said “hello elder!” (he speaks English) and then told me to hurry up obviously making fun of the fact that I had almost fallen over like 20 times haha. Thanks bishop. After like 20 minutes of wading we got up to, well for him, waist deep water and so that is where it happened. The first time his stupid knot was out of the water so I did it again and after wards he said I practically pushed him down in the mud ha-gotta love shallow water.
>
> I have an update to the whole Ate Maylin story. Remember-the whole bus incident with the crash and the cut off leg? Well…he died. Doctors said he was lucky to even have lived 3 days. Elder Francisco and I visited her and she was in the middle of a nervous breakdown-which seems almost justified. She has 2 kids and no job and now no husband. She is 26 and so she seems able to be able to get a job but there are other factors keeping her back. She is in perfect health and mentally stable-no problems but she doesn’t have a job. Anyways, while she was crying uncontrollably she turned to her kid and was like “mundi, ask elder muller to take us to America with him. ASK HIM” and so that is when Elder Francisco and I were like “uh…oh hey look some investigators. Well come back later” and we ran away, but in a nice way. Her husband was the obstacle keeping her from listening to our message so it was sort of nice (in the midst of all the turmoil that was going down) to hear her say “elder I want to listen to your message now, just not at this second” so we will see what the future holds for her.
>
> Now, onto my new companion. His name is Elder Francisco, and he is a Filipino. The only itty bitty problem that we have is the unimportant trivial fact that he speaks…absolutely NO English. Communication with him is interesting. He would make an American auctioneer cry 1000 tears cause he speaks at 5 times the speed of sound. For almost everything that he says I have to ask him to repeat it but at a much slower pace. It is really hard sometimes but its ok I guess. I can talk with him and teach the lessons and stuff, I just need to make sure I know all the words that I am gonna use for that day cause he cant translate for me. He has been out for 10 months and is a quiet but nice guy. Elder Bernard got a new companion too-one of the guys in his class at the MTC ha so they are living life and having a blast!!! Haha do you remember the whole situation with Elder David-the crazy elder who was in the zone leaders apartment 2 transfers ago? The one that I got a little angry at? He is now Elder Banawan’s companion haha. Looks like its time to learn patience!
>
> I have written both grandparents and President Jensen and plan on writing more and sending them out this week hopefully so they should get them in like 2 weeks or so. How is Derek doing? Is he tearing it up?
>
> I got to see Elder Harris, Johnson, and Sister Andreason at transfer day. It was fun, always fun to see batch mates, but I was kind of disappointed that I didn’t see Elder Hansen. He wasn’t at transfer day cause he caught his companion…well we will leave it at that. So he got emergency transferred, his comp got sent home, and now he is at another area. We can “pouch” letters to anyone in the Philippines so its really easy to send out 10 letters a week to friends serving here. That’s how I know. We left at 4 in the morning and hopped on a bus, and we got to the mission home at like 8:30 or so. We FLEW on that road. We have a switched up zone now so it will be interesting to see everyone and get to know them at district meeting. Elder Banawan is now Sister Andreason’s zone leader. Lucky duck.
>
> As for me, I haven’t moved at all. I am still in the same area, ward, apartment, and bed! I am excited however for next transfer day cause it means, maybe, that I will be transferred to a city with cool malls and mcdonalds and stuff haha. Fun times. I don’t know where I am going cause its not my decision ha but I am still excited. With this said, it is kind of bittersweet. I love lopez a lot and the members are amazing. I hope to come back some day. There is a nanay in the area (the one who does my laundry haha) who is so anxious to get her husbands temple work done, but she cant submit it cause the system here is all messed up. Temple trips are EXPENSIVE for members and they happen, at most, once a year. Maybe, if I return, I will be able to do her temple work. That would be way way cool!
>
> Man I cant believe Benjamin is turning 8 that little punk. Exciting stuff! Tell dad to baptize him like this:
>
> “Bilang naatasan ni Jesucristo, Binibinyagan kita sa pangalan ng Ama, at ng Anak, at ng Espiritu Santo, Amen”
>
> That’s the cool way to do it haha. What an amazing day. Oh man-Chelsea is going to the baptism. Ha I always made fun of her because I got to go to her sisters sealing and she didn’t, so she always responded with “oh yea, well guess who gets to go to your little brothers baptism…and who doesn’t” haha oh man. Now I need to find another way to one up her…but anyways tell Benjamin I say happy birthday. I would send a package but the last time Elder Lee sent a package it cost him 3000 pisos. That is just under ½ the money we get for the whole month so my packages might be in short supply. Tell him, once again, that I am really proud of him and excited to hear how it went (even though he always stole the love sac when I wasn’t looking…that butt.
>
> As for the question about the sharing time, I have a story that I heard here. It is relevant here cause people always use computer shops here, and they always have brown outs. It is kind of a cool story so just thought I would share it. It is kind of harsh, and rough at times, but just go with the flow.
>
> Christ and Satan were in an internet shop one day. They all had the records (names, ages, birthdays, desires, etc.) of all the people who follow them. Christ was calmly putting in the records while Satan was hurridly smashing the keys to get as many records in the computer as possible. Christ has a calm, loving smile on his face. Satan had a frown of anger. All of the sudden, a brown out happened. Satan became angry and started screaming. Christ sat in solemn dignity waiting for the electricity to come back on. When it did, Satan had no one he had typed. Christ had everyone. Why? Cause Christ saved all his records. Every one meant everything to him so he made sure to take the extra time and ensure their safety.
>
> Yea, different than what you would hear in the states, but effective none the less. There is another one that I want to share but it is kind of, well, violent (gotta love stories in the Philippines) but it gets its point across. The characters are a little weird, but it works.
>
> There was a boy that lived a long time ago in a place far far off. He attended school and was just like everyone else. At this school that he attended, there was this girl. Now, this girl was the most attractive girl in the entire country; every single guy wanted to go on a date with her. Knowing this, she gained an advantage over everyone else. Boys asked her out on dates all the time, and when she didn’t want to go on a date with them she would say “I will go on a date with you if you bring me a red red rose” In this place that the boy lived, there were no red roses at all, and everyone knew this. One day that boy decided to muster up the courage and ask this girl for a date. Walking with his head held high and his boots buckled tight, he went up to the girl and asked. Almost on cue, he got the response “I will go on a date with you if you bring me a red red rose” The boy was crushed. He went home that day and was sitting out in his yard. One of his friends, a small loving hummingbird, noticed his sadness from far off. The hummingbird lived in a pure white rose bush off in the corner of the yard. He flew up to the boy and asked what the matter was. “I need to find a red red rose so this girl will go on a date with me, but I don’t know where to find one.” The boy started to cry. Heartbroken, the hummingbird flew back to his bush-destined to find another way. “Father, I want the boy to be happy but I don’t know what to do” The bush responded “you know what he wants do you not?” “Well yes, but where do I find a red red rose?” “There is no place where you can find a red red rose anywhere near that I know of, but there is a way to make one.” To this the hummingbird was astonished. “How?” “In order to make a red red rose, a willing heart needs to sacrifice itself for another-thus paying the toll with blood.” “Is there any other way?” “There is no other way” The hummingbird thought and thought and came to his decision. He loved his friend so very much and could not bear to see him in agony. Spotting a thorn down below, the hummingbird stuck out his chest, flew as fast as he could, and drove the thorn into his chest. Three small drops of blood fell on a white rose below and it turned a magnificent, deep red. The rose then, along with the small, lifeless body of the hummingbird, fell to the ground. The boy immediately noticed that the red rose had fallen and ran over and picked it up-failing to notice the body of his dearest friend laying next to his prize. “Oh man, now I can get that date!” The boy, handling the rose carefully, started the walk to the school. A little bit down the road his friends were playing basketball. “Boy, come play with us” they called. Boy looked at the rose sitting there in his hand gleaming…then to his friends…then to the rose…then to his friends. He threw down the rose “oh well. I didn’t want that date that bad after all!”
>
> Intense, but it strikes up thought. Ha don’t share that with your primary class but I wanted to share it all the same. It makes a point of what the human race does (on a much smaller scale) daily.
>
> I am glad to hear that grandma and grandpa clark are doing well. When they stay at our house when you guys go on your trip tell grandma and grandpa they can use my bed. It is MOST DEFINITELY more comfortable than the bed in the guest room, and it is bigger. Plus it’s a serta (I miss my bed SO MUCH). Enough said. Tell them I am sending out a letter to them this week and that the village room looks AMAZING. I explain a lot of stuff in my letter so tell them I say they should be excited haha.
>
> I hope you all keep dominating life the way you are. Elder Muller’s spiritual thought for the day-read a chapter of the BOM a day. I promise you in no time you will feel like you are walking on a cloud. That is way sick about the basketball. Three dominatory kids dominating on three dominatory teams. Tell them to continue-who knows, one day they may play for USU ha!!
>
> Love love love,
> Jake
> aka Elder Muller
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