December 19

I have had a good week, but we don't have tons of time today. We're back in Laoag today for a Christmas party with all the missionaries.  Earlier we had some games and then later this evening we will have a dinner.  Its fun!  Tomorrow we will have a Mission Conference, and it is only once a year that we actually get all of the missionaries together in one place, so it's good times.

We have had some success as well in the field.  We found some really nice new people.  One day we were finding, and we were guided to a lot of people that were really ready for the Gospel.  We actually found a lot of people who had a lot of good experiences with the missionaries or other members of the church, and they seemed like they were ready to accept the invitation to learn more about the church.  Hopefully we will see some progression in them in the next couple of weeks.

There was also some big changes in the mission this last week.  Until now, the schedule for the mission was work in the morning, studies from 1 until 4 and then work again, but starting this last week we all changed back to the normal schedule.  So studies in the morning and then work from 12 until 9.  It was good, but a little bit hard on some investigators.  A lot of them were clear in the morning or in the evening, but when it was around lunchtime, a lot of our investigators were not around.  So we did lots of finding!  So it was a blessing as well.

Christmas here in the Philippines is mostly just family time!  There are a lot of Catholic traditions, but the other than that there isn't a ton.  They just do family stuff.  We will probably have to be in the house at 6 oclock because sometimes Christmas can get a little crazy in the Philippines.  Especially with all of the alchohol.

Other than that it was a good week!  There isn't much else to say.

Elder Childs

Sunday Lunch with Some Members

December 11

Questions and Answers:

We want to know about your new area!

o Tell us about your apartment

My apartment is set back from the road, and its a nice apartment.  The water all comes from a well (but has an automatic pump so we still have running water) which means that we don't have any water bills, and the water is pretty clean too.  Its a good apartment.  It has 3 rooms, a kitchen and a living room.  I like it.

o Tell us about where you do your shopping

We usually do our shopping at the Market, which is just where everyone goes to sell vegetables or fruit or meat or whatever kind of thing they want to sell.  Its really fun, and really cheap too.  We also do some shopping at  a supermarket called two brothers.  Its basically walmart a tenth of the size (:

o Tell us about where you do chores like laundry

There is actually a member here that does my laundry for me. She picks it up every monday and then brings it back on tuesday.  She is really nice.

o Where do you typically eat?

We usually eat at the house, but if we're going to eat out, its usually at places called carenderias.  Its basically just homemade Filipino food.  I like it more than any fast food there is.  And its cheap which is always a bonus.


Hey Everyone!

I have had a good week.  We were busy, but it was good.  We had our monthly Zone Training Meeting on Thursday and it was good.  We talked about a lot of good stuff that will hopefully help us become even better missionaries.  Me and Elder Roche also had exchanges with the APs after the ZTM.  It was really good.  I got to be with Elder Earnest, who is one the best missionaries in the mission (Makes sense he's and AP (:) It was fun I learned a lot.

We had one cool experience. Me and Elder Earnest were walking.  It was already past dark, but as we passed one house, we both just looked at it was we walked by, and even a little after we had passed it.  We both felt something, and so Elder Earnest said, "lets go talk to those people."  So we did!

They were super nice!  Both the Father and Wife came out, which is a rarity here in the Philippines.  The men usually take  a little more warming up.  They seem really excited to learn about the Gospel, and accepted our invitation to let us come back to their home.  It will be fun to see where they go.  Listening to the Spirit really does work!  It was a really good exchanges.  I really love being a missionary.

That's about all I've got for this week.  I have felt a need to have better goals.  I don't always do the best job of looking forward to see what God wants me to be in one month, or one year or however long.  I want to be better at that.  Its my new focus this year.

I love you all!

Elder Childs

December 6

Hello Everyone!

I have really enjoyed this last week. There were two great things that happened this week.  The first was that Jerome and Lydia both got baptized!  They had their baptism Saturday evening and it was a wonderful experience.  There is nothing like getting to see someone cleaned of all their sins, and then hearing their testimony afterwards.  They always amaze me with the heavenly things they say.  

The second was that we had interviews with President Andrada.  He really is an inspired man.  He always knows just how to help me be a better missionary.  For these interviews he had prepared a little slideshow with some questions entitled "Becoming a lighthouse missionary."  It was really good.  He asked a lot of questions about my efficiency as a missionary, and gave me a lot of good suggestions on how to improve.  One of my favorite things that he said was about magnifying callings.  He said that magnifying your calling means doing things that are not written in the manual.  If you want to magnify your calling, you need to do those things that are written in the manual or handbook, or whatever sort of guide is given, and then you need to find other ways to serve those you are called to.  Find more things that you can do to make the world a better place.  We need to remember the counsel that the Lord has given that  "He who is compelled in all things... is a slothful and not a wise servant; wherefore, he receiveth no reward."

If we stop at what the leaders of the church have given us, we can't yet say that we are being wise servants.  The Lord has entrusted us with our agency and he expects us to use it to make this kingdom a better place.

I'm not saying that we need to devote our whole day to doing things for our calling.  The Lord knows that each one of us has a busy life.  He does expect that we do put a little bit of extra effort into our callings.  They don't have to be that difficult.  I have a couple of examples to help express some things that can be done.

The first example is of a stake leader who decided to memorize the names of every youth ages 12 to 18 in his stake.  He made little cards with their names and faces on them, and carried them with him to work and other places.  He quickly memorized all of their names.  He was magnifying his calling.

The second is of a sister who was called to serve teaching a class every sunday.  Instead of limiting her studies to the material in the teachers manual, she sought out other materials that would compliment those given by the leaders of the church and help impart increased understanding to those in her class.  She was magnifying her calling.

The third is that of a home teaching companionship.  Under the leadership of the Senior companion they would make the monthly visit to each of their assigned family, but would also remain in contact with the family throughout the whole month.  Following up their needs and offering help.  Often times visits would be repeated within the same month to help these family with needs ranging from fixing a DVD player to helping with landscaping.  They were magnifying their calling.

The last is of a man called to be the Secretary of a young mens presidency.  He fulfilled all of his assignments and also made himself available to his brethren in the Presidency and found little ways to make their loads lighter.  He was magnifying his calling.

My brothers and sisters, Magnifying your calling need not be difficult, but I promise each and every one of you that as you try and expand your service to the Lord, every small deed of goodness that you do will be noticed by the Lord and will be returned unto you ten fold.  It was once said, "You cannot give a crust to the Lord without receiving a loaf in return"  I want to leave this as my testimony to you.  I love you all.

Elder Childs

November 28

 Answers to a few questions:

(We asked about seeing where he lives on Google Earth) We don't have an exact address for our house.  All you will be able to see is the roof, but it you find two brothers in sto domingo, go down the street to the south east until you see a house with a blue roof on the corner.  Behind that house is a house with a green roof.  Thats us!

We speak Ilokano a fair amount here.  I won't say I'm fluent yet, but I can communicate on a basic level with people.  Sometimes we have to teach lessons in Ilokano to older people and I make it through.  Hopefully I will get it down though before I go home.  Elder Roche is teaching me a little bit of bisayas as well. (thats his native language.)

There are 4 missonaries in Sto Domingo.  Us and then the STLs.  Its good!  There is lots of progression.  We attend District meeting in Cabugao most of the time, but every once and I while we go south to Vigan to visit the Vigan district.  Zone meetings are held in Sto Domingo.

Hello Everyone!

Happy Thanksgiving!

I have had a normal week!  We had some good finding and a fun FHE with a part member family in the ward.  It was another good week!  The members in Sto Domingo are really nice and ready to help the work go forward.

I hope you all had a wonderful wonderful Thanksgiving!  I really did enjoy getting to think about all of the wonderful thing that God has done for me here in the Philippines and I hope you all were able to feel the same peace that I did from remembering our blessings.

This week we have seen lots of miracles as we have been helping people come unto Christ.  One thing that was an especially large blessing for me was with Brother Jerome Dominguez and Lydia Bautista.  They are two of our investigators that we have been working with to help them prepare for baptism and they have been really progressing!  They were interviewed yesterday by our district leader and they were both passed!  They will be baptized this coming Saturday.  I'm so very happy for them!  It is such a blessing to see people receive the Gospel.  There isn't anything that I would rather do.

I have also been thinking this week about how important it is that we are always acting in such a way that we can be guided by the Spirit.  It is our effective Golden Ticket that will help us pass anything that we need to do in life.  There are some missionaries who really struggle to learn to teach with power or connect with their investigators, and the thing that I have noticed is it ends up being a problem with their spiritual sensitivity. They don't follow all of the commandments that God has given to prevent our sensitivity from being dulled, and they feel the effects of it.  But when we do everything in our power to stay in line with the Lord's perfect plan for us, we will be able to accomplish everything the Lord gives us.  It is really just as simple as that.

I hope that we all can always find ways to be more receptive to the promptings of the still small voice, and I pray that all of you will come ever closer to our beloved Heavenly Father.

Elder Childs

November 21

Hello Everyone!

We have had a really good week here in Sto. Domingo.  It is a really fun area with lots of really nice people.  I have had a lot of fun getting to work in the area for the first time this week.  I have met some really nice people here.  Lots of investigators (some of them new to just me, and others new to both of us) and lots of members too.

As for our investigators, they are all doing really good.  We have found some new people with real potential.  One former investigator that we have been working with.  His name is Jerome, and he is only 14, but he is wise beyond his years.  He really wants to be baptized, and all that he is waiting for is that spiritual confirmation that this is God's church.  He is such a cool guy.

One other family that we have been working with is the Bautista Family.  They are so nice and ready to accept the Gospel.  We taught them the Word of Wisdom this week and they accepted it so readily without any questions.  They commited to stop drinking coffee, and the father comitted to stop drinking alcohol and smoking cigarrettes.  They are really coming closer to our Heavenly Father, and it is so fun to see.

A family that we were able to find this week as well was the Takla family.  They are super nice as well.  We met Franklin first, the father of the family.  He was in front of his house drinking some alcohol and he was the one who actually called us over.  At first I thought he just wanted to talk about useless things, but it turned out he wanted God's help.  In his words he wanted to "Change his bad attitude."  We were able to set a return appointment to come back later in the week and when we got there, we met Franklin's wife Josie as well.  She had been exposed to the missionaries before 2 years ago when her family was being taught, but was too shy/busy before to talk with the missionaries.  Josie is also looking for God's help because their family life is not always ideal, and she really wants her children to be happy.  They committed to pray as a family, and they said they would come out to church next week.

Life is going really good.  I am really progressing a lot with Elder Roche's help.  He is a really good missionary!

Have a wonderful week,

Elder Childs

P.S.  The area is good.  It is about 2 hours away from Laoag but only half an hour away from Vigan (a big tourist spot in the Philippines).  We do have lots of investigators, but we still find a bunch because finding is super fun and really easy in the Philippines.  Everyone is usually at least willing to listen to your message.  Finding is my favorite.  The branch is really good.  They are supportive of the missionaries.  Which is always a bonus.  There have been some really good missionaries who have left the area, so the members have trust in the missionaries.

November 14

Hello Everyone!

I have had a good week!  This week was a good week.  It was also transfer week, and I got transferred!!!  What??  I was super not expecting that.  I thought I was going to be in the office until February.  But I guess I was either a bad office elder or God needs me here in Sto. Domingo.  I'm half glad and half sad that I'm leaving.  It will be nice to be able to  just focus on inviting others unto Christ full time again, but I will miss all the nice people in the Laoag 1st Ward.  My new companion is Elder Paulo, and he is super nice!  He is really good at playing the Piano!  He is a Filipino from Cagayan De Oro (in the south of the Philippines.)  

Not much exciting happened last week in Laoag.  We got audited, so we had an accountant (President Ardon) in the office all  week looking through everything in the finance stuff.  He was a nice guy, and we got some free food out of it, so I guess it was alright.

One cool insight that I had during my scripture study this week was from 1st Nephi in Lehi's dream. After Lehi went and partook of the fruit himself, he began to look around, and one of the first things he saw was his family "Standing as if they knew not where to go"  He obviously wanted them to taste the fruit as well, and so he called to them, and soon they were there with them.  One thing that the Spirit whispered to me as I read that was the importance of the role of fathers in families.  They really are supposed to be the leaders of their family, and the other members have a responsibility to listen to him, and give him the respect he deserves.  It has changed my view about teaching families. A lot of the time in the Philippines the wife will want to listen and learn about the Gospel, but the father is busy, and to some degree indifferent.  But this week that I realized that that is not God's way.  

One of the strongest RC families that we have in Laoag was baptized because the father first had a desire to investigate the Gospel, and then he invited the family to come with him.  I hope that I can help more families be like that, and so I have now decided to place more of an emphasis on helping the father's see the importance of the Gospel in their lives as well. 

Have a good week!

Elder Childs

November 7

Hey Everyone!

We have had a really busy week this week in the office, but it was good too.  I told you last week that Elder and Sister Kohls left last week right?  Which means that me and Elder Nuada are stuck in the office by ourselves, and that makes for busy lives (:  We got stuck in the office a lot this week.  Right now the biggest thing that Ive got to work on (that Im really dreading) is a video that the mission makes for all the departing missionaries with some pictures in it and such.  I am not creative enough for that kind of stuff.  But Im sure it will work out.  They're not expecting a professional quality job hopefully because I don't know if I've got that kind of a job in me.  Pray for me :)

We also got to go get our drivers licenses yesterday and it was good!  It was a really easy process.  We showed up around 8 o clock, and they first had us take a little 40 question test about signs and rules of the road.  (My favorite question was:  What should you do if you come up on produce (IE corn, rice, etc) being dried right on the pavement. Its a real problem in the Philippines (:)  When we finished that they gave us the pass without even looking at the test.   Then they asked us if we had brought a vehicle to the office, which we had so they told us to go get it.  Elder Nuada drove taking it there, and when we got to the back of the office, (less than 100 meters from where we had parked) and when we got there, they told me to drive and then they passed us off on our driving.  Then we were done!  We got our licenses!  Cool right?  I thought it was fun (:

One thing that Ive been thinking about a lot this week is how very very vital it is for us to read in the scriptures every day.  We were really busy in the office this week, and my scripture study ended up taking a back seat.  I didn't read as often as I should have, and at first I didn't really notice, but yesterday, I was just feeling really off.  I just didnt feel like I could function as normal, and after I pondered for  a little why,I realised that I had not been giving the importance to my scripture study as I should have.  I soon found some time to read,and after I had done so, I immediately started to feel better.  I really have a testimony that scripture study should always be a priority.  It will make whatever else that we have to do so much easier. 

I love you all!

Elder Childs