Fw: Greetings

 

Kamuschta!  :D

Aww... Last football game... D: I remember that countdown last year...

Richelle, sometimes the judges are morons.  Don't worry about it.  You nailed that run and you know it.  :P

Make sure you guys get a video of Auburn.  :D

A zombie walk, huh?  ...Why do I have the strange feeling that Jeff Sisson was behind this...? >.>  Sounds like it was highly entertaining.  ^^''  I find it more entertaining that it creeped the mall guards out enough for them to say, "Eh... Why don't you go do it over there where there's no people...?"

Also, good job on your talk, Richelle.  :D  I didn't hear it, being on the other side of the world, but I'm sure it was great.

Also looking forward to senior pictures.  :D

Cavite is really pretty.  ...Well, depending on where you go.  Like I said, it's about half-half.  There are parts that are gorgeously beautiful, like the ARC Compound in a subdivision called Soldiers' Hill, and then there are parts that are... well, not so pretty.  Like Villa Esperanza.  Villa Esperanza's not a very nice area... D:  It's a "squatter's" area, with houses just kinda jumbled together here and there, wherever they can.  Finding people is fun there, because you ask them for an address, and they say, "Villa Esperanza."  "...Anything else?"  "Nope.  Villa Esperanza.  Good luck."  :P

I'll try and send pictures next week, since I forgot my USB cord this week.  I've actually been a bit more hesitant to use public computers to send pictures, because I've been told there's always the risk of there being a virus on the computer I'm using, which could get on my memory card and delete all my pictures, which would then probably cause me to go on a murderous rampage and slaughter thousands of people before being restrained by several SWAT teams.

...Or just sulk in a corner of the apartment for a bit.  Whichever.  ^^''

So, anyway, I'm being a bit more careful about sending pictures lately.  I think it's probably fairly safe right here, but I'll check before sending pictures.  :P  So I'll try and send some next week.

My companion, Elder Feinga, has actually been helping me out quite a bit this past couple weeks.  As missionaries, we're supposed to try to talk to as many people as we can, and, well, you know me.  I usually prefer to just sorta keep to myself when it comes to talking to complete strangers.  Once I start talking to them, it's fine, because people in general are super nice here, but it's that ice-breaking moment that's usually the problem for me.  Last Tuesday, we were sitting on a little shuttle-bus type thing (very little.. :P ), and my companion just sorta started talking to the people in front of us, "Kamusta po kayo?"  ...Since he's still new and not so great in Tagalog just yet, my first thought was, "Oh, bugger, he's jumped in the water now... Better go help him..."  It turned out to be a good experience for both of us.  That day we talked to a number of people and got their addresses and set return appointments with as many people as we could.  Then, that next Thursday, we went back to those appointments and gained quite a few really good new investigators.

One of those was Tatay Freddie Magdo.  Actually, we didn't approach him; he called us over from his house.  I've seen few people in such sad circumstances, and that's saying something considering where I am.  He's about in his 60's or 70's, I think.  He lives alone.  His family has kicked him out over some misunderstanding, and so now he lives in this little bitty, one-room house probably about as big as my room back at home (actually, most homes here aren't too much bigger than that, unless the owners happen to be fairly rich).  For food, his wife brings him a bowl of rice every day, which he has to split between three meals.  No ulam (toppings to put on rice), just rice.  So he lives there all alone with nothing really to do all day.  There have been a number of religious groups which have given him all kinds of little leaflets to read, most of which he didn't really understand.  When he saw us, he called us over and asked, "What is the difference?  What's the difference between you and all the others?"  We shared a little with him, and he told us the circumstances he lives in, and he invited us to come back on Thursday (we would've shared a lesson with him right there, but it was dark, and he didn't have any lights).  He said he wanted to know more about the life of the Savior, and he had a lot of questions about Him.  He'd been taught that Christ had no sins, but also that the Pharisees had crucified Him.  He didn't understand who the Pharisees were or why Christ was crucified if He had no sins.  So we explained that Christ was crucified because the Pharisees, who were of the Jewish tradition, didn't believe in Him as the Son of God or as the Messiah, and that through that sinless sacrifice, Christ opened the way for us to the Kingdom of God.  We also left him a pamphlet about the Restoration.  When we came back the next time, he had read the whole pamphlet over and over again (I don't know how many times, maybe six or seven), and we taught Lesson One very simply, saying that the Gospel of Jesus Christ was lost, and that now it's been restored through the Prophet Joseph Smith.  We gave him a Book of Mormon and explained a little about it.  When we gave it to him, he said, "You're giving this to me?  Thank you!"  He then took the book and kissed it, and held it close to him.  I've... honestly never had anyone kiss the Book of Mormon before... Especially not after just seeing it for the first time... o.o  Since then, he's progressed very well.  He received a spiritual witness of the truth as he read the Book of Mormon.  Yesterday, he committed to come to church this week (we'll give him a little help in finding the church and taking him there and everything), and he's accepted a baptismal date for the 20th of November.  The Lord is preparing His people.  The field is white already to harvest, and sometimes jumping right into our sheaves.

That's really the most significant thing that's happened this week.  And it took most of my email time to write it, too... ^^''

On Monday, there was Signal Four Typhoon that hit north of Manila, up in the Isabella region, and the news kept saying it was going to hit us, too.  I saw some footage of the storm from a TV on a bus.  It showed people struggling to stay standing from the wind, a tricycle got flipped over (that was kinda cool and scary at the same time...), and the like.  We prepared our 72-hour kits and waited for the storm to hit...  But it never did... It got kinda windy and rained quite a bit, but that's pretty normal around here... I was like, "What?  That was it?"

Anyhoo, I'm out of time now...  Hope all is well in Oly-land.  :D  Good luck sa inyong lahat, lalo na sa marching band!  KAYA N'YO 'YAN!! Ingatz!

Love,

Elder David Jones