Dear Family and Friends,
Well this week has been a good one! Been smooth, and things are progressing here in Malasiqui. We also saw some rain this week! It came and went very fast but it was a big storm compared to the ones in Utah. If I had to discribe it, imagine this: the wind is blowing so hard that when you look at the rain it looks like its falling at a 45 degree angle. The rain drops are so big that when it hits the roofs it sounds like pebbles being dropped on the roof. I asked my companion if its normal and he shrugged and said that it was actually small compared to others. Let me just say its been one of the strongest storms I've ever seen.
Now who is Frog-Zilla? Of course he is no other than one of my new animal friends! I found him while I was outside getting ready for a shower! At first I thought he was a big rock, but rocks don't jump. eventually he hopped right into the rice pot and it gave me the chance to show you how big he actually was. That rice pot is big enough to cook 8 cups of rice, so yeah kinda big. NOw, it says above that he knows Alibata, what's that? This week I came across a section in my language book about certain symbols that the first inhabitants of the Philippines used to write with. I decided I would try and learn it! Its way fun! If you haven't looked at it before, you should, its pretty!
On a more spiritual note I had a neat experience with the Book of Mormon. I was reading in 1 Nephi, and I was thinking about how we receive guidance through prayer. I had some things that were troubling me, and I read about the time that Nephi was bound when they were traveling across the ocean. IT says that he gave thanks and praise to God. And it hit me just barely that prayer is an actual conversation with God. I can compare it to talking to a best friend when you're sad. Sometimes it helps just talking to someone, not necessarily finding a solution, but just talking. I think that that is how prayer works most of the time for me. It helps relieve a lot stress knowing that someone is listening to me, and it helps me organize my thoughts and move on. For me personally, the times I feel the worst, are the times I think about something too much, or I over complicate a problem. A saying states "If you are a hammer, you'll see everything as a nail", and maybe what this is saying is that if we think too much, we'll see everything as a problem. It's so easy to point out the problems around you, but hard to point out our own. I think that often times problems will fix themselves when we decide to focus on what we are thankful for.
I hope everything is going well and that everyone is happy, if you aren't, let me know if you need something to cheer you up!
Mahal ko kayo!
Elder Trevor Kent Johnson (TWMYK)
Well this week has been a good one! Been smooth, and things are progressing here in Malasiqui. We also saw some rain this week! It came and went very fast but it was a big storm compared to the ones in Utah. If I had to discribe it, imagine this: the wind is blowing so hard that when you look at the rain it looks like its falling at a 45 degree angle. The rain drops are so big that when it hits the roofs it sounds like pebbles being dropped on the roof. I asked my companion if its normal and he shrugged and said that it was actually small compared to others. Let me just say its been one of the strongest storms I've ever seen.
Now who is Frog-Zilla? Of course he is no other than one of my new animal friends! I found him while I was outside getting ready for a shower! At first I thought he was a big rock, but rocks don't jump. eventually he hopped right into the rice pot and it gave me the chance to show you how big he actually was. That rice pot is big enough to cook 8 cups of rice, so yeah kinda big. NOw, it says above that he knows Alibata, what's that? This week I came across a section in my language book about certain symbols that the first inhabitants of the Philippines used to write with. I decided I would try and learn it! Its way fun! If you haven't looked at it before, you should, its pretty!
On a more spiritual note I had a neat experience with the Book of Mormon. I was reading in 1 Nephi, and I was thinking about how we receive guidance through prayer. I had some things that were troubling me, and I read about the time that Nephi was bound when they were traveling across the ocean. IT says that he gave thanks and praise to God. And it hit me just barely that prayer is an actual conversation with God. I can compare it to talking to a best friend when you're sad. Sometimes it helps just talking to someone, not necessarily finding a solution, but just talking. I think that that is how prayer works most of the time for me. It helps relieve a lot stress knowing that someone is listening to me, and it helps me organize my thoughts and move on. For me personally, the times I feel the worst, are the times I think about something too much, or I over complicate a problem. A saying states "If you are a hammer, you'll see everything as a nail", and maybe what this is saying is that if we think too much, we'll see everything as a problem. It's so easy to point out the problems around you, but hard to point out our own. I think that often times problems will fix themselves when we decide to focus on what we are thankful for.
I hope everything is going well and that everyone is happy, if you aren't, let me know if you need something to cheer you up!
Mahal ko kayo!
Elder Trevor Kent Johnson (TWMYK)