May 30

Hey Everyone!!!

This week was the end of the transfer, but I've got good news!!  This next transfer I get to train, and I am super excited!!!! I was really hoping to train, but didn't think that I would be able to, because President usually calls Sunday evenings if you have a calling such as trainer, district leader, zone leader etc, and I didn't get a call. But this morning when we were playing basketball he called and asked if I was willing to train!  I'm super excited!  I will get to meet my trainee on Thursday, and I can't wait!  We're going to open an area in Gattaran, and it should be fun!  Its a pretty rural place I hear, but has a lot of pretty places!  Its the rainy season right now and in Cagayan that means that every day we get rained on.  I can't wait!

Other than that it was a pretty boring week.  That was probably the most memorable moment.  I ate some cool food though that was fun.  Its called Abul Abul, and they are tasty.  You guys should all try them!  I won't even explain.  Just look at the picture (:

One thing that has really hit me recently came from this video.  I would highly recommend watching it.  One thing that really hit me though is that what Satan wants for us it to look backwards.  To look at all of our life and say, what could I have changed here.  What could I have done different, or why didn't I do this, or that.  

But that isn't what God wants for us.  He wants us to live our life forward.  To every day, say, what am I going to do today, to become more like the Savior.  We obviously have many things to learn from our life, but no one ever got anything done from moping about yesterday.  It is important to learn from our mistakes, but what we learn means nothing if we don't ever learn to actually apply what we learn.  

I have seen a lot of people who get stuck in the past.  In things that they have done or that have been done to them, and to be honest, they are never happy.  I have also seen a lot of people who always look to what they can do, what they can change NOW, and they are the ones who are happy with their lives. 

I know that everyone who learns to apply this principle, will find happiness in their lives, and will see the Savior carry their life farther than they could ever imagine.  That they will accomplish wonders.  I hope you have a wonderful week!  Please pray for me that I will know how to help my new trainee (:

Elder Childs

Abul Abul - It's TASTY!

Me with some members.

A returning less active family that we've been working with.

I'm going to miss all of these members!

May 23

Hello Everyone!

I have had a really good week this week!  We had a stake conference this week, and it was super good!  We had Elder Pangan come and visit us, and it was really good!  They talked a lot about service, and our responsibilities as members.  One thing that I really liked was a video that Elder Pangan showed.  It was the bible video of John 21.  The story of John going fishing again.  A message that we can learn there is how important it is to serve others.   It reminded me of something that I heard a week or two ago.  There were a couple of missionaries in a different mission, and it started to rain, and it was coming down pretty hard, so the two missionaries texted their mission president and asked?  "Should we still work today?"  And all that they recieved in reply was, "If you think that the rain is stronger than your faith, don't work."

In life, there are a lot of times that we don't have the ideal situations in our life.  Sometimes, like the first apostles, we face loss and being lost.  Sometimes it isn't sunny.  But the thing that we have to remember is, that we can decide if we are going to keep doing the Lords will, keep finding His lost sheep, or if we are just going to fall back into the same routine that we always had before we came to know our Savior.

Jeffrey R Holland said, "The crowning characteristic of love is always loyalty" and if we love the Lord, we have a work to do.  It does not matter what happens to us, we must continue doing His work.  We must show our love for the Savior.  And I know that if we do, if we continue to serve, we will recieve the Lords help.  We will see miracles in our life, and we will find peace and joy in our life.  I know that that is what God wants for us.  I know that is what God will do, if we will do our part.

I have truly seen that.  That the time when you feel you cannot go any farther, that you cannot do any more, and you try and take one more step, that is when you see the most help.  The time when you see the miracles that God has waiting. I have seen that help time and time again, when I feel like I have hit my wall.  When I feel that my body or my emotions or my intellect cannot take any more.  That when I try and make that one more step, God gives me help that I did not know that I could receive.  I know God will do that for you too.

Elder Childs

Lunch at Rafael's

May 16

Good Morning!!!

Or afternoon or night.  Depends on when you read this.  But my week has been really good!  Our area here in Laoag is really progressing right now, and it is so fun to see.  We have some really good investigators that are really progressing right now, and there will probably be 4 or 5 baptisms next transfer!

I think that I'll tell you about just one right now though.

Her name is Marigi and she is 22 years old.  She is studying to be a doctor in manila, but she's here for her vacation.  She really wants to know for herself if this is the true church, and she is doing everything that she needs to to find out.  She has that faith that God will answer her prayers, and so she makes sure she reads every day and that she is at church every week, and she prays with all her heart to know, and I have seen her testimony growing. It is so fun to teach her because she really likes to learn, and she always has good questions that make us think.  

All the others are doing good as well!  Maybe I'll tell you about some others next week!

Yesterday though, we talked about sacrifice at church, and why it is so essential.  Ever since the world began, sacrifice was a part of God's law for His children.  Before Christ came, it was in the form of an animal sacrifice, but after he came, he fulfilled the Mosaic law, and gave a new law for us.

In 3 Nephi Chapter 9, verse 19-20 we read,

“Ye shall offer up unto me no more the shedding of blood, … and your burnt offerings shall be done away. … And ye shall offer for a sacrifice unto me a broken heart and a contrite spirit”

To be honest, a broken heart and a contrite spirit is really hard to give.  It means that we feel true sorrow for all of our sins, and that we are willing to humble ourselves before the Lord, and submit to His will.  And that can be a tough thing many times. But that is where we really see who is truly converted and who is just going through the motions.  When living the Gospel no longer becomes easy, but becomes a real sacrifice, what do you do? Do you choose to continue to do what is right, even in the face of great opposition, or do you give up and give in to the temptations of Satan?    That is where we really learn about ourselves and our conversion. 

Here in the Philippines I have seen the sacrifice of many wonderful members as they try and live the Gospel.  There is a recent convert who instead of selling her goods on sunday, she chose to keep the Sabbath day Holy.  There was  another who canceled his plans to go work in another country to accept a calling of the Lord.  Another closed his store every sunday.  Many others paid the fare to get to church, out of complete faith, trusting that God would provide, and still others have walked for miles to just get to church.  

Not all of our sacrifrices will be the same, and God does not require the same of everyone.  But my question for each one of you, is what sacrifice does God want from you right now.  What do you need to change in your life to live more in line with His teachings, even if it may not be easy.  I know that if you really think about that, the Spirit will tell you what you need to do, and you will be able make that change.  As you strive to make those changes, the Lord has promised that we will be blessed with more blessings than we imagine.  The Lord will honor those who sacrifice for him.

Have a marvelous monday!

Elder Childs

May 2

Hello Everyone!

I have had another good week this week!  It has gone by super quick again.  But it has been really good!  We got to talk to a lot of people, and we met some really cool new ones.  My favorite maybe is sister Ismile.  She is super nice.  She was the one that found us!  We were walking and she stopped us and asked about us and what we taught and how long it would be before she could get baptized.  Then she promised that she would go to church, and yesterday she showed up with her four grandchildren!  She is super nice!  I am excited for her. We've set up a return apointment with her later today, so I'm excited!

I have been learning again, about how important doing service is.  Yesterday one of our RCs got her personal progress book so that she can get started on that, but she asked us a couple of questions about what she should do with it, so we talked about it, and then I was just flipping through it looking at the different value experiences and projects that it has, and I really liked one of them.  This is what it said:

Learn why service is a fundamental principle of the gospel. Read Matthew 5:13–16; 25:34–40; Galatians 6:9–10; James 1:22–27; Mosiah 2:17; 4:26; and 3 Nephi 13:1–4. Others often give service you may not notice, such as preparing meals, reading to or listening to younger children, repairing clothing, or helping a brother or sister. For two weeks record in your journal the quiet acts of service your family members and others perform. Acknowledge their service in some meaningful way.

I thought about that and how important it is.  It is so easy to just take things for granted.  But I realized that just because someone always does something, it does not become less valuable.  It may become more valuable because it is repeated over and over again.  And it is so important for us to say thank you and acknowledge it in a meaningful way.

It is also important for me to be the one giving service as well.  And not just serving to serve, but serving out of love. I sometimes catch myself serving to be noticed, and as such, I would get annoyed if I wasn't thanked.  But I felt God chastising me a little bit whenever those thoughts came to my mind.  I felt Him questioning what my reason was for serving.  If I was serving for recognition, or because I wanted to help those around me.  And I realize, that if we serve for the right reasons, we will not worry about whether or not they say thank you, or seem to appreciate what you have done for them, but you will just be happy that you were able to help them.  Two scriptures came to my mind as I thought about this. Its from Matthew Chapter 5.

44 But I say unto you, Love your enemies, bless them thatcurse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray forthem which despitefully use you,

and persecute you;

 45 That ye may be the children of your Father which is inheaven: for he maketh his sun to rise on the evil and on thegood, and sendeth rain on the

just and on the unjust.

 46 For if ye love them which love you, what reward haveye? do not even the publicans the

same?

 47 And if ye salute your brethren only, what do ye morethan others? do not even the publicans so?



The second was this.  Also from Matthew, but in chapter 6

 16 ¶Moreover when ye fast, be not, as the hypocrites, of asad countenance: for they disfigure their faces, that theymay appear unto men to fast. Verily I say unto you, Theyhave their reward.

 17 But thou, when thou fastest, anoint thine head, andwash thy face;

 18 That thou appear not unto men to fast, but unto thyFather which is in secret: and thy Father, which seeth insecret, shall reward thee openly.

I really like both of those scriptures, and I feel they really embody the way that we should serve.  We should serve even those that don't serve us, especially those we don't like, and if we do it to be seen of men, we won't recieve our reward in Heaven, but if we do it because we love them, they will feel that love, and we will feel so many more blessings because of it.  I know that that is true, even if I'm still not very good at it (:

Have a marvelous week,

Elder Childs