Many Lessons Learned

This past week was extremely busy for us.  It seemed like every day we were going somewhere or doing something.  We were able to get some solid work done, even though our proslyting hours were lower than usual.

Monday we had a zone activity that ran long, so we were late getting home from grocery shopping.  We were only able to go tracting for an hour.

Tuesday was the day of the chicken!  We had a district meeting in Mansilingon, which is 30 minutes away.  There are these three chickens that always come into our yard and dig through our garbage.  I always clean it up, and I was particularly mad when we returned home and found that the mess was bigger than usual.  When the chickens returned later in the day, I decided to do something about it.  I picked up a rock, crow hopped, and threw it at one of them . . . right in the head from about 10 feet away.  It just fell dead before I even knew what had happened.  I was pretty excited and went into the house to tell Elder Paano about it.  Panicked he said, "Elder Wilstead, what have you done?"  I told him I had just killed the wild chicken. He then informed me that the chicken had an owner.  In the Philippines, the owners just let their chickens wander wherever they want.  We put the chicken in a plastic bag and hid it until after our work that day.  When we returned home, we looked for the owner and couldn't find one.  We tried all the houses and nobody claimed to own it.  Anyways, I then disposed of the chicken and counted it as a funny story.  It could have been really bad though, so I am lucky!!!!

We had a training meeting at the Mission Home on Wednesday. I got to see Elder Doane, so that was awesome.  Him and I are going the opposite directions in the weight category.  I'm losing it and he is gaining!  He jokes about it, so it's okay.  He said if he decides to play football for BYU when he returns, he won't have to gain anymore weight because the mission did it for him!!!!

Thursday was a full day of proslyting.  It was also the day I found a cure for pink eye!  We walked into an apartment to a mom squirting breast milk into her 6 year old's eye.  I was dying!  It's a good thing I know the family well so they didn't get offended by my non-stop laughter.  It was a little tough to feel the spirit during the lesson because I couldn't stop laughing.  That image is burned in my mind!!!!

Saturday we had the opportunity to baptize Rudy Lachica.  I had baptized his mother and brother, but he wasn't interested at first.  Then we started teaching him, but he had a problem attending church because of his TB which had returned.  We taught him for four months and many times I was ready to drop him, however we kept going back.  One night he asked me for a blessing, and I remember feeling the prompting to promise him a full recovery of his TB and that it wouldn't return if he would abide by the principles of the gospel.  He still didn't come to church the next couple of weeks and his condition worsened.  One night he said he was praying and the words came into his mind very clearly to "listen to my servant, Elder Wilstead".  When he told me this experience, it was all I could do to hold back the tears as the Spirit testified to me about the power of the priesthood we hold as members of his church.  I know that there is nothing more real or more powerful than this priesthood.  I don't for one second claim to have healed him from TB, because that was from God.  All I did was say the words.  Anyways, being able to baptize him was a great opportunity and a lesson on endurance for me!

This is the chicken we had to dispose of.  At least it
won't be getting in our garbage anymore!!!

We were out proslyting and came across a cock fight.  We only stayed
long enough to snap this photo.  We definitely stood out in the crowd!

Don't Drink the Water

We didn't have any baptisms this week, but we were able to get one of our investigators interviewed yesterday so we will be looking forward to his baptism this week.

During our companion study this week, Elder Paano and I were discussing some of our investigators who weren't really progressing.  As I though about it and as we talked, I came to the realization that I have been worrying about the "numbers" way too much.  It is a mistake that I promised myself I would never make.  I haven't been truly focusing on the fundamentals of Preach My Gospel, which I am supposed to be teaching to Elder Paano.  I started a special fast on Thursday and I feel like I was able to do some good soul searching.   I need to remind myself of my true purpose as a missionary.  It is not to log the most teaching in a week or anything like that.  I will measure my success by whether or not I am actually helping people, not just being  a preacher holding a bible study in their house.  I need to figure out what I can do to help people overcome their trials or addictions.  The word of wisdom is a big one that a few of our investigators are struggling with.  Elder Paano and I have come up with a few ideas on how to make it more relevant in their lives.  We might even tell them we will stop visiting if they don't at least show some effort to make the change.

We had zone training meetings at the mission home last week.  I got in a little bit of trouble because President Lopez though my haircut was too short!  It's too bad, because it is so hot and it feels so good with a nice buzz!!  I didn't realize it was that short, but I will do as I am told!

I don't carry a water bottle with me while we are out tracting because I was under the impression that the ice water they sell at tsungi's (chungy) was filtered.  Elder Estevez never warned me about that, so I though it was all good.  They put the water in a plastic bag thing and put it in the fridge.  They sell each bag for 1 piso, which is way cheap!  So, on an average day, I buy and drink 5 or 6 of them to keep me hydrated.  When I told this to Sister Lopez at our zone training last Wednesday, she about had a heart attack!  She told me that they are filled up from the ground water wells and are filtered with socks.  I started laughing and told her it explains a whole lot of what has been happening with my stomach!  She told me not to drink that water anymore, but it tastes so good and I am already used to the water, so I may just cut down my intake.  We will see--maybe I will pray about it!

Being a missionary is great.  The things I am learning every day will help me so much in my life.  It honestly scares me to think of where my life would go if I hadn't decided to serve a mission.  I am sure it would still have been great, but it wouldn't have been the same as it will be.  I know what my purpose is not only for right now, but what it will be as a father, husband, priesthood holder, and as a human being.  I know the reality of our relationship with Heavenly Father, and how involved He truly is in our daily lives.

I love and miss you all.

PHOTOS PRESIDENT LOPEZ TOOK AT TRAINER/TRAINEE MEETING

First Week of 2013

We had a great first week of 2013!  We went out and taught a lot of people. Even though we seem to do the same things every week, it amazes me that it is so fun.  Usually you get bored doing the same things over and over, however, I really am having a lot of fun.  I am truly convinced by this point in my mission that you control your own mood.  If you want to be happy and if you want to be having fun, you will.  That is something that I didn't understand very well early in my mission.  I was always looking for that one thing that would make me have fun, when in all reality, that one thing is yourself.  You are in full control of the situations you are in and you can either have fun or you can be miserable.  To be honest, everything goes much smoother and you seem to lose track of time when you are just having fun!

This week we taught the word of wisdom to a man who we knew had some very serious issues with it.  I was very nervous about how he would take this lesson, and I thought he might quit taking the lessons from us.  However, the spirit was very strong during the lesson and he was very humble and expressed a deep desire to quit.  I was quite shocked to be honest.  He then made a plan of sorts for how he could stop.  He asked us to visit three times a week and read from the Book of Mormon with him.  When we returned to visit him, he said he hadn't drank or smoked since our last visit.  He did say he had a cup of coffee that morning though.  We will see how he is when we return, but we are praying for a small miracle.

A very tender mercy from the Lord this week was that we had eight investigators at Sacrament Meeting.  We actually had to switch the classroom we have our investigator class because it was to small!  I was so excited that it was tough to control it.  Even people we had never expected to progress are now progressing and I am so thankful for that.

I love you guys and I am so thankful to have such wonderful people in my life.