"A Thought Popped Into My Hair"

Another great week has gone by. I sure do love missionary work.  Thanks for your emails today. Reading emails from home ranks high on my favorite things to do (right next to seeing women breastfeed and naked kids hugging our legs).  I'm glad to hear that everything is going well in the Promised Land. Elder Hawkins and I have had a wonderful morning finishing up preparations for our Zone Meeting that will be happening this Tuesday.  It's going to be a good one. Following email, we will be headed to our favorite place in town, Mang Inasal.  A restaurant that offers unlimited rice with any combo (only in the Philippines). We are about to stuff ourselves. 

Alright what to say about this week.  We had MLC again this last Thursday. It was a wonderful experience.  It was extra special because I saw everyone from my MTC District on our year mark.  We took some great pictures and had a great time.  I sure do love those missionaries.  We always leave MLC motivated and spiritual uplifted. 

Elder Hawkins and I had a pretty good week this week.  We pulled in 28 lessons and are hoping to do even better in the upcoming week. We have a new drive to make this area the best that we can.  We have set some really high goals for April and are super excited.  Transfer day is coming up here on the 12th so I'm not quite sure if I'll be staying or leaving. I really don't want to leave yet.  I have put my sweat and tears into this area and it's finally reaching its peak.  Plus, Elder Hawkins and I have a good thing going so we're really hoping to keep it going for a couple more months.

We had a great opportunity to go on exchanges with the APs this week. I learned a ton.  It's amazing how much you can learn from one person.  I was with Elder Belnap.  He's from Idaho and we actually have a ton in common.  Turns out he's a soccer player (kinda) and loves sports in general.  We had a good time and taught some great lessons.  He's an amazing teacher and has quite a grasp on the Book of Mormon.  He's a great guy.

We had two less actives reactivate this last Sunday.  It was a great day.  Plus, we had a few less active families show up to church, which was absolutely fantastic.  It doesn't get much better than working with families.  Elder Hawkins and I spend all our time with part member families. There's a special spirit that resides in their homes and they are usually prepared to hear the gospel and make changes in their lives. One of our investigators is named Marlon  (I think I have mentioned him in previous emails). His wife is active in the church and has the strongest desire for her husband to be baptized.  It's amazing how much Marlon's faith has grown in the past couple months through scripture study and prayer. Elder Hawkins and I taught a very powerful lesson about the atonement and it's importance in our lives. I've found that a lot of people understand that there was an Atonement made, but they don't quite grasp the importance nor how to use it. The Lord asks us to do so little and yet we often fall short. We too often lose focus of what's truly important in our lives. Unfortunately, a lot of people here allow pleasure to blind their vision of what truly matters; They seek for happiness among wickedness. I can't think of a better calling than helping others discover what truly brings them joy. 

Had an awesome Tagalog mess up this week.  It was hilarious. We were in a lesson with a man that did not want to believe in the Book of Mormon.  He was pulling out all these bible verses trying to prove that there could not be other scripture nor could Jesus Christ appear to the people in America. I was getting pretty fed up so Elder Hawkins and I just bore strong testimony of the Book of Mormon.  I was really into this testimony.  The moment was cinematic.  A thought popped into my head and I tried to express that by saying "a thought popped into my mind." Well I mixed up the word for mind (Utak) with the word for hair (buhok) hahahaha so yes, I told this man that a thought popped into my hair.  That was embarrassing.  I quickly corrected myself, but the moment was gone.  We got a good laugh out of that one. 

Well this week hasn't been too crazy.  It went by so fast that I don't really remember what happened.  I guess I'll just end with a spiritual thought about one of my favorite characters from the Book of Mormon: King Benjamin.  He's such a great example to us all.  He's a great father, teacher and disciple of Jesus Christ.  I love this verse from Words of Mormon:

King Benjamin by laboring with all the might of his body and the faculty of his whole soul, and also the prophets, did once more establish peace in the land.

He labored with all the might of his body and the faculty of his whole soul.  Because of his diligence, he established peace in the land. He didn't rely on others to do everything for him nor was he lazy. He didn't procrastinate nor seek after that which is wicked. He was an amazing leader and an amazing man because he worked. King Benjamin worked when he didn't want to work and continued when the going got tough.  I hope one day I can labor even as King Benjamin labored.