Dear Pamilya at mga Kaibigan,
Well this week was hot! it was a nice break though of all the rain we had 2 weeks ago. We finally got time to dry our clothes outside instead of using the fans we have inside the apartment. We are getting increasing better at fly hunting, and now since we cleaned the apartment we don't have any "game" in the apartment. Oh well.
This week we received news that all the water in town was going to be shut off for 3 days, about 2 hours before the shut-off time. Luckily we were able to fill up in our water before it happened but it was awfully close. Now some of you may wonder, "did you shower?". Short answer, yes, but only once, here's why. So even though they shut off the water, we still have what's called a "deep well pump". We never use it because its dirty. Well I was feeling super gross and I smelled awful so I tried to filter the water with a sock ( its a miracle it kinda worked), and then had myself a bucket shower. Well after I noticed that I felt super itchy, it was really bad for like 2 hours so instead of taking another shower I decided to wait until the water came back on.
Now for the road side prayer thing. We were walking on the highway one afternoon when soem guy on a motorcycle parked his bike near us and asked us to talk to him. Well when we got close enough he grabbed one of my hands and put it on his head, held my other one and said in Tagalog "I need guidance, give me a blessing from Jesus", I looked at my companion, but he didn't know what to do, so I tried to talk to him about what he exactly wanted and that I couldn't exactly do what he wanted me to do. But he insisted saying "I know you're young, just bless me". So I told him we could say a prayer. After we finished he said thanks and drove off like nothing happened. Kinda weird, but I'm glad that I was doing the right things and he recognized us as representatives of Jesus Christ. I learned that even though the man was not a member of our faith, he knew that Heavenly Father answers our prayers. It also made me think, when someone not of our faith sees us, what do they see? Do they see another average Joe? Or do they see someone living what they believe? Do they see a "retired Mormon", or a return missionary? Whether we like it or not, people are watching us every minute, or as President Monahan used to say "Waldo is always watching". Do we show people by our actions that we are trying to live a higher life, or that we follows the motions of the world? As it mentions in the Missionary Handbook, we all make first impressions before we talk to people. But like the man I mentioned earlier, he saw someone who could help him even before we talked to him. As we strive to follow a higher law, our countenances change. We show that world we mean business when we regularly attend the temple, we show the reality of Jesus Christ as we follow his example, we become children of God as we live to our heritage. We prepare ourselves to help others when they need us, Mormon or not. Never take your example for granted.
Pushing forward as usual! Love it here!
Mahal ko kayo!
Elder Trevor Kent Johnson (TWMYK)
Well this week was hot! it was a nice break though of all the rain we had 2 weeks ago. We finally got time to dry our clothes outside instead of using the fans we have inside the apartment. We are getting increasing better at fly hunting, and now since we cleaned the apartment we don't have any "game" in the apartment. Oh well.
This week we received news that all the water in town was going to be shut off for 3 days, about 2 hours before the shut-off time. Luckily we were able to fill up in our water before it happened but it was awfully close. Now some of you may wonder, "did you shower?". Short answer, yes, but only once, here's why. So even though they shut off the water, we still have what's called a "deep well pump". We never use it because its dirty. Well I was feeling super gross and I smelled awful so I tried to filter the water with a sock ( its a miracle it kinda worked), and then had myself a bucket shower. Well after I noticed that I felt super itchy, it was really bad for like 2 hours so instead of taking another shower I decided to wait until the water came back on.
Now for the road side prayer thing. We were walking on the highway one afternoon when soem guy on a motorcycle parked his bike near us and asked us to talk to him. Well when we got close enough he grabbed one of my hands and put it on his head, held my other one and said in Tagalog "I need guidance, give me a blessing from Jesus", I looked at my companion, but he didn't know what to do, so I tried to talk to him about what he exactly wanted and that I couldn't exactly do what he wanted me to do. But he insisted saying "I know you're young, just bless me". So I told him we could say a prayer. After we finished he said thanks and drove off like nothing happened. Kinda weird, but I'm glad that I was doing the right things and he recognized us as representatives of Jesus Christ. I learned that even though the man was not a member of our faith, he knew that Heavenly Father answers our prayers. It also made me think, when someone not of our faith sees us, what do they see? Do they see another average Joe? Or do they see someone living what they believe? Do they see a "retired Mormon", or a return missionary? Whether we like it or not, people are watching us every minute, or as President Monahan used to say "Waldo is always watching". Do we show people by our actions that we are trying to live a higher life, or that we follows the motions of the world? As it mentions in the Missionary Handbook, we all make first impressions before we talk to people. But like the man I mentioned earlier, he saw someone who could help him even before we talked to him. As we strive to follow a higher law, our countenances change. We show that world we mean business when we regularly attend the temple, we show the reality of Jesus Christ as we follow his example, we become children of God as we live to our heritage. We prepare ourselves to help others when they need us, Mormon or not. Never take your example for granted.
Pushing forward as usual! Love it here!
Mahal ko kayo!
Elder Trevor Kent Johnson (TWMYK)