Dear Mom, Dad, Ryan, and everyone who reads this
blog,
So, the internet was down in the office all Saturday
and Sunday so I couldn't email. >.< Then I went to a place with internet
and the website was down for maintenance, so President said I can email today! Sorry for the wait, there was nothing I could
do.
>.<
Things have been crazy at the office but slowly
slowing down. Sometimes, I find myself trying to find more things to do just to
keep myself busy until it’s time to close the office and go out proselyting at
night. Anyway, so driving is still the most stressful thing I do. Did you know
that the Philippines is the 3rd worst country in the world to drive
in? Crazy! Mom, I’m afraid that when I
come back home I might get pulled over for driving like I do here. Haha! Joke Lang!
Anyway, so news for this week my new ward has 6
missionaries: 2 sisters, the Assistants to the President (APs), and Elder
Scanlan and I. We elders can only work
at night and the APs work whenever they can. But luckily, we have sisters holding the ward
up. They are great and so hard working!
Sister Repollo and Sister Bowman. These two sister missionaries have provided
the ward with 2 baptisms on Thursday! It was great! It’s been a while since
I’ve seen a baptism. The families are so converted to the gospel. I was able to
teach the two that just got baptized once before so I was able to get to know
them at least a bit before Thursday so it was great. ^_^ The
6 of us sang “When I am Baptized” and “I Believe in Christ” for their program.
I sang the bass line with Elder Waite while the other 4 sang melody. It was fun
to learn but now the bass line is stuck in my head when I hear the song. Haha! Unfortunately, none of my investigators in
Mindoro were able to make the final step to baptism before I left, although,
many were prepared to receive
the gospel.
Spiritual
Experience:
Last Friday we went to visit Brother Jose, a recent
convert of 1 day. Haha! We went to see
how he was doing and he said that he was sick. He had a stomach pain and so he
was slouched over so he couldn't come down the stairs. We went up to his loft
so we could teach him. So we taught him about priesthood blessings, then I gave
him a very nice inspired blessing that had me saying things I didn't know I
could say. Afterwards, we asked how he was feeling and he didn't speak for
about a minute, he was just moving back and forth, standing up, evaluating how
he was feeling and then he started laughing. Then he said, "Elders! It's
like magic! I'm okay!” Haha! He felt
perfectly fine! He said when we laid our
hands on his head he felt this warm feeling come over him and the pain dissipated.
It was a great spiritual experience and
I'm glad I was able to have it. It came at a good time too because I was
feeling stressed out about traffic and how it took us 3 times to go around the
block to find his house. Haha! But the Lord knew we needed to be there to heal
this man. He has such strong faith! For
without faith it would not have worked. :) It was a great way to end the night.
^_^
I have good news and bad news. The bad news is, I’ve
been eating out almost every night, or at member’s houses…so I guess it’s not
that bad. But Good news! I’ve been working out a lot more since I’ve been
eating more. Haha! The missionary handbook says you should exercise 30 minutes
a day after you wake up. It’s been something I’ve been trying to work on, but
I’ve been doing well this past week!
So I just finished watching conference last Sunday. Yeah, we get it late over here so it can be
translated into Tagalog and such. So, I decided to dedicate this part of the email
as spiritual impressions I’ve had about all
of the great and wonderful talks during
conference.
So first off, you guessed it, our Beloved Prophet,
President Monson’s announcement of the new age for missionaries to begin their
mission. 18 for young men and 19 for young women. Excuse me, can I just say…
O.o Oh. My. Goodness!!! I do not think
you realize how HUGE
this is!!!!!!!!!!!!! Okay, so you might have a small idea, but this is gi-normous!
The bar has raised yet again. The Lord needs a lot more soldiers in his army,
more workers in his vineyard, more souls that need to be saved. Can you feel
it? Can you feel the signs of the times moving forward as you read this?
Let me first address the young men. I hope you
watched the priesthood session of conference because that is what this whole
next section will be about. Referring to
Elder D. Todd Christopherson’s talk, “Brethren, as priesthood holders we have
work to do.” I’ll give you an advice as to how you can be
successful in all that you do. DECIDE NOW that you want to be
successful at everything that you do. I
believe the reasons why we do not do as well as we should is because we have
not decided to do our best in all that we do. We tend to think that doing just enough to get
by will suffice, so that we can have more time to do the things we want and not
the things that are required of us. If you want to be great and do great
things, then DECIDE RIGHT NOW that
you will do your best in all that you do. Please understand that with all of your
strength and effort you can probably become a great man, a great person,
however, if you give all of your strength, talents, time, heart, and effort to God,
I guarantee you He can make you more than you can ever imagine you can be.
Remember that in order to serve the Lord you will
have to be more clean and more obedient than you are right now. You cannot
afford to lose the Spirit when the memory of an unsolved sin comes or regret in
your heart creeps up when you are bearing your testimony. Get those things solved and get those things right
because the Lord needs you! He sent out
the call through our Prophet. Like Elder Holland said last year, “If
you are not active and you are not clean, then get active, and get clean!”
Make the decision NOW. You have the choice.
“Though
you have the freedom to choose, you cannot control the consequences.”
(Much
like the Story of John from Japan as shared by Gary E. Stevenson)
Now to all of you, young women, mainly the ones I
know at BYU…when I heard of the change in age for sister missionaries, I could
not help but think of the ways you helped strengthen my testimony of the Gospel
through the examples you’ve set and the many adventures we’ve had. I imagine the impact you can have on the lives
of many young men at school, out on the field, and the lives of many that need
this gospel. Now you have a choice. Of course, you do not have the same
priesthood responsibility as the young men do to serve a mission, but can I
just say a few things as one who has seen and worked with Sister Missionaries?
Sister Missionaries are GREAT! Everyone
loves Sister Missionaries! They just have a way of getting things accomplished
and getting things done right. They bring a certain air of reverence that
invites inspiration when we are in our meetings and their insights and
testimonies inspire change in even the hardest of hearts. Pretty much the
people we worry the least about in the Office are the Sister Missionaries. They
do great miracles and they can make things happen. We definitely need more of
them.
Now heed this next message…my mission is THE most
difficult thing I’ve ever had to do in my life, emotionally, spiritually,
mentally, and physically. It is draining and it can get to you if you are not
prepared. But trust that through the Lord all things are possible and He will
be with you at all times. The call has been given. What will your answer be? Many are called, few are chosen. Would you
like to join the few? The choice is
yours.
Of course, being 100% biased in this situation, let
me just say, “Going on a mission will NEVER
be the wrong decision!” I could list all
of the reasons why but that would be cheating you out of a great experience.
You’ll just have to find out for yourself what I have found through constant
prayer, study, and service dedicated to our loving Heavenly Father. I suppose I
could tell you, but you would have no idea as to what it means unless you have
sacrificed all for the Lord. Unless you
have labored with all your might, walking exhausted down miles of sun-beaten
road. And unless you have given your
all, and then given more, will you realize how close your Father really is to
you, and how much he knows each and every one of his children.
Do not fear the future, my friends. Do not fear the unknown, for fear is the
opposite of faith and comes only from the father of lies. I love missionary
work because there is nothing to fear when working for the Lord. I love
missionary work because all I have to do is tell people what I know to be true!
I promise you that with everyone you meet, every question they have, the
answers can be found in the scriptures. Every problem they face can be solved
with faith; every sin they have ever committed, no matter who they are, or what
they have done, can be cleansed by the gift and power of the Atoning Sacrifice
of Jesus Christ. And you can be the one
to give them this awesome truth, if you accept the call that was given by
revelation.
I close this with a spiritual thought for everyone and
especially my brother Ryan ;p : realize now that no matter how prepared you
are, there will still be trials and oppositions. But be not discouraged, for it
is my belief that the Lord is always with us and wants us to be Stronger, in the name of Jesus Christ,
Amen.
Doing
you Proud,
Elder
Froude ^_^
P.S.
Hey,
I just saw the video and it was great! I loved it. Best ending ever! So
everyone in the office was watching the video with me and they all think Laney
is the cutest thing ever! They were all laughing too that my relatives were all
having trouble speaking Tagalog and such. Haha! It was nice! I loved it! ^_^ I
really did, konte lang trunky na ako! Haha!
^_^ Best gift ever!
Hey,
so I guess I'm going out to with the APs and President and Sister Delamare
(mission president and his wife) for lunch :) They haven't had a birthday in the office in a
while so this is a great opportunity for them to relax and enjoy a good meal
with the Elders :) I feel honored.
Have
a good night! I love you! Bye! Thanks for the great gifts and the Love
and the Video; it all made this a great birthday! ^_^ I love you all!!! Talk to you both Saturday,
okay…if the internet is on. Haha!!!
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