Couple old pics from the Mission

Here's a couple mission pictures. My camera got stolen two weeks before I left so my pictures are limited and don't do anything justice. One of these is me my trainer and my 1st child. Another is squid. Another is one of my piano students Kyle, another is a baby I got to name after my trainer and I and another is me with my child and adopted children at a wild monkey park we went to on a Pday and another is the Alao family: an inactive family (that named their dog after me:)) that we were very much led by the spirit to find. Good story.... Okay Fine I'll tell it: So one day when I was still a new missionary with my trainer(ps she's still very much my idol), we were getting punted like none other. We'd gone to all our scheduled appointments and back ups but there was nothing. Suddenly my trainer turns to me, looks at me in the eyes and says,"we need to pray." Just as she said that, this sudden surge of warmth burst through me like "Yeah! We totally need to pray!" So we found this little old abandoned shack thinger and got down on our knees and prayed asking to know where we should go and what to do. After the prayer my trainer looks at me and asks where we should go. I was shocked! I had no idea... I was just a newbie! So after thinking for a while my trainer decided to go visit a family out in the boonies, but no one was home. That ended our morning so we went back for lunch and had a good afternoon. The next day the exact same thing happened in the same area. Just like before we prayed in the prayer shack. This time when we didn't know where we should go we decided to just walk. As we walked we focused hard. Suddenly I was like, "let's go over here."(to some area neither of us had ever been before). There we found a seemingly dead end road, but I thought we should keep going. Then we ran into a little family out doing laundry. They were smiling at us, so I said to my trainer, "...they look nice...?" and she said, "Alright! We're talking to them!" So we started talking to them. Come to find out they were members! They'd been forgotten by the ward for years and had been waiting for missionaries to come visit and reactivate them! Crazy how things work like that. They had a cool son named Fidel you can see in the picture with down-syndrome. He's one of my heroes. Gosh I miss them... A LOT!! But life goes on. Anyway the moral of the story is you don't see miracles till after the trial of your faith. We could've given up the second time we got punted, but we continued to exercise our faith and after it was tested there was a miracle. ... I have lots more mission stories like this, but I'm not sure my blog is an appropriate place for them. Is it?

Homecoming Talk

I know I haven't posted in years. So here's my homecoming talk. It's more like a guide of how I spoke and when to pause etc. I don't write out stories when I talk so I'll have to edit those in for you later maybe. Read at your own risk. Mostly just posting this to remember it.

TALK - Great to be here in the Great Grandview 10th ward. Lots of White people. Big noses. Great to be home. Great opportunity to speak.

- I'm not a perfect speaker, and I know for sure my English certainly isn’t perfect… but I’ve prepared a talk that I hope will help you improve your lives and help you come closer to Christ. But before I start, I’d like to invite you to pray for me while I speak. I believe that this more than anything can help you get the most out of my talk.—Even more than catching up on your sleep. So Please wake up now if you’re asleep and listen to what the spirit wants you to hear today.

-Ensign Quote” Perhaps the most important thing we can do to get more out of sacrament meeting talks is to pray for the speaker, pray that he or she will be able to express his or her message by the power of the Holy ghost. As the doctrine and Covenants declares, “He that receiveth the word by the Spirit of truth receiveth it as it is preached by the Spirit of truth. … He that preacheth and he that receiveth, understand one another, and both are edified and rejoice together.” When we invest in speaker by praying for them, we are in a sense, quietly cheering for them. We desire that they do well. And though our prayers help the speaker, they also help us. We are more receptive and consequently, get much more from sacrament meeting talks.”

- So brothers and sisters I hope that through your prayers, this sacrament mtg can be an edifying experience for both of us. I also hope that you’ve all brought questions in your mind today because my talk is aimed at answering some of those questions.

-Just returned from Philippines Tacloban Mission. Had a kabillion amazing experiences. If you’re thinking about a mission I suggest you inquire of the lord about it and if he says yes then just go for it. For me it was a win win situation. The blessings are Greater than you expect. Anything you sacrifice before your mission will be 10 times better after your mission.

-MARIBOJOC STORY Rosita (Went back and edited this a little for you) I told a story of some people in Calbayog that were inactive for 14 yrs and came back and 11 kids got baptized and they’re about to get sealed in the temple--- wait update: brother got the priesthood and They Did go to the temple ) --what changed them? BOM

-PMG: “The Book of Mormon, combined with the Spirit, is your most powerful resource in conversion.”

I’ve seen this... ...

-At one time on my mission we truly applied this promise from preach my gospel. We really wanted to invite the spirit into our lessons and expose people to the BOM so we were required to read 15 minutes in the BOM before we taught each lesson. As you can imagine this was kind of tedious. Especially in the Philippines where there were always animals and insects interrupting your lessons, little kids climbing all over you and the drunk neighbors singing karaoke next door. But we persisted. And we really saw changes in the lives of our investigators. Especially in One family—CASERO FAMILY…(told dramatic story #2 about a family in Alburea that was literally a bunch of beach bums but started reading in the BOM and they changed. The Dad needed glasses to read and the mom was a slow reader so every night their 9 yr old girl read to the family and boom they all got baptized)

-In The Introduction to the BOM J. Smith tells us that the BOM is “the most correct of any book on earth, and the keystone of our religion, and a man would get nearer to God by abiding by its precepts, than by any other book.” (pause)

--So the BOM is the Most important book in the world. Without it we have no religion. I wouldn’t have served a mission in the Philippines and none of us would even be sitting in this room right now if it weren’t for the BOM. Everything we believe depends on the Book of Mormon. It is evidence that we have the exact gospel of Jesus Christ, restored through J. Smith.

-Yet often times we set our Book of Mormon aside and replace it with other books, or with the internet or even our cell phones. We can’t afford to forget the wholesome power of the BOM and the influence it has in our lives.

- Countless things we do can be related back to the validity of the BOM. For many of us it is central to how we make decisions and run our lives. If it is not true, we are basing our lives on another worthless worldly philosophy. It is imperative especially as members of the Church that we have firm testimonies of the truthfulness of the BOM. It is either a book from God or a book from Satan. There’s no in-between. We can’t just go off other people’s opinions; we must test the book personally and decide for ourselves whether it is true. Just as we’re invited to do in Moroni 10 we must first read the book of mormon and ponder about it, then “ ask God the Eternal Father in the name of christ if these things are not true.” And if we “ask with a sincere heart , with real intent, having faith in Christ, he will manifest the truth of it unto (us) by the power of the Holy ghost.”

-Once we know the truth of the BOM windows of opportunity open up in our lives. So it’s very important that we all are personally converted to the BOM. Before we can share our testimony with others, we must gain it. It’s hard to rescue someone when you haven’t yet rescued yourself. Just like you can’t very well pull someone to the top of a hill when you’re still stuck at the bottom. Once we become converted through the BOM the lord will use our experiences to guide others.

-I also learned this personally on my mission—LAPING STORY(some story of how I felt inspired to share how I got my testimony of the BOM with a lady in my 1st area even though my Cebuano was terrible. She ended up having the exact same concerns as I did and her family came back to church) Alma 60:23 “Do ye suppose that God will look upon you as guiltless while ye sit still and behold these things? Behold I say unto you, Nay. Now I would that ye should remember that God has said that the inward vessel shall be cleansed first, and then shall the outer vessel be cleansed also.” –this verse really struck me. I consider this one of the climax times in my life where I truly became converted by the BOM and acted on what I had read. ...

-So the conversion power of the scriptures is very intense. Numerous times in the BOM we learn of prophets and missionaries that use the scriptures to convert nations. Even Jesus Christ was extremely familiar with the scriptures and used them to teach clearly. The BOM testifies of Christ and brings us closer to him allowing us to partake more fully of his atonement and overcome obstacles in our lives.

-- There was one man I taught on my mission who had a lot of obstacles in life. His name was KOSHER-afro gotee nonconformist…(story of a guy who was a complete druggy who called his baptismal date his execution date. But he made it a goal to read the BOM. He’d read it every time he had addiction temptations and boom he finished it and changed hugely and got baptized)

--Also the BOM as I read earlier more than anything else will convert us to the gospel and bring us closer to God.

--As we’re nearer to God, we’re more in tune to the promptings of the Holy Ghost and qualify to receive revelation. When we have concerns, the Holy ghost through revelation will help us find our answers in the Scriptures.

-My mission president knew that answers to any of life’s questions can be found in the BOM. Once he challenged us to write down any questions we had and place them at the front of our Book of Mormons, then read every day and see if those questions weren’t answered. I tried his experiment myself and found it to be true. For every concern I had, there was an answer in the BOM. I know there is a power in the BOM. So I too challenge you all to try writing down your questions and see how they’re answered through your BOM reading. After all, every revelation received in the Doctrine and Covenants came while someone was studying the Book of Mormon.

-The Book of Mormon is also special because we can learn new things every time we read it. As we read the BOM we can incorporate its principles to fit any stage or happening in our life. We can read it as a teacher, as a mother, as a missionary, as an investigator, as a historian, as a bus driver or anything else. Nephi did this with his family in 1 Nephi 19:23 “And I did read many things unto them which were written in the books of Moses; but that I might more fully persuade them to believe in the Lord their redeemer I did read unto them that which was written by the prophet isaiah; for I did liken all scriptures unto us, that it might be for our profit and learning.” The Book of Mormon is from our loving Heavenly Father who knows us better than we know ourselves. When we sincerely read the BOM and apply it to our lives, he will make sure that we find the information needed for whatever circumstance or trial we’re facing.

It’s good to think of the BOM as an instruction manual for life. When you buy a new car or TV, of course you read the instruction manual before you operate it. When you don’t read the instruction manual and decide to just wing it, lots of problems can occur. Just like in our lives the BOM is our guide to greatness. When we forget to read the instruction manual for life, or we forget to read the BOM, things can be a lot more difficult. It’s important that we make reading the instruction manual a priority in our hectic lives.

Sometimes it’s hard to find time to read our BOM but it makes a difference. When we seek first the kingdom of God, all things are added unto us. One time in College I tried putting this to the test (Told another dramatic story of how I saw results reading my scriptures before I did my schoolwork.) When we put holy habits first in our lives, everything else falls into place. BOM reading is an essential holy habit. Through the BOM we can become truly converted.

So how can we become more converted through the BOM? -We must read the BOM Daily. Drink daily from the fountain of truth. Or as Nephi puts it, “feast upon the words of Christ.” Just like our bodies need food and water every day, our spirit too needs nutrition. When we go without food or water for a long time, our bodies become weak. Our spirits too become weak when we don’t nourish them with the good word of God. The prophet Lehi learned this in 1nephi 1:12 ‘and it came to pass that as he read, he was FILLED with the spirit of the lord.” When his soul was hungry, he read his scriptures and got the spiritual strength he needed to direct his family in the wilderness. We too can gain spiritual strength and direction as we read the BOM.

---If we give more attention to the word of God, God will give more attention to us. And we can be filled with his spirit and gain the knowledge we need to be successful in life. - Success comes from knowing and following the doctrines of Christ. Lately in the media our religion is getting more and more attention... People will question us and We must know what doctrine we believe. When we don’t know the doctrine, we don’t follow the doctrine and deprive ourselves and the next generations from receiving blessings. The exact doctrine is found in the Book of Mormon

-In the Philippines like many other 3rd world countries the retention rate is low because people aren’t gaining full testimonies of the BOM, Or in other words They don’t understand the doctrine. … I can’t tell you how many trainings we had about this on my mission. When people don’t understand the doctrine, they don’t read their scriptures. When they don’t read their scriptures, they don’t endure to the end and stop going to church and stop receiving blessings. So we need to make sure that we and the people we teach are learning the doctrine, and going to the source of the doctrine. Like drinking water from a spring. -Analogy of spring (I used an analogy from my mission pres about a spring coming out the mountain with animals in it and people doing laundry (and I added diapers) floating in … Where do you get a drink? Right next to the source of spring or after the water buffalo has played in it, people have washed their clothes in it and swam with diapers)…the question to ask yourself is… --If we want to know the true doctrine of Christ, we need to go to the source. Drink directly from the spring or the Scriptures... Want a clear testimony and be truly converted? we must read the BOM --There’s a saying somewhere that no one goes inactive when they’re regularly reading in the book of mormon. If we want to stay strong and converted we must read our BOM consistently.

I know that reading the BOM is just a small thing, but I also know that it will make a Huge difference in our lives. By small things great things are brought to pass. So I’d like to encourage us all to rediscover the BOM. Find it’s converting power for ourselves and share it with others. … … …