I am the termite-ator!

So this morning I woke up to find that termites had eaten into our ceiling and were falling directly on me and my bed, and then proceeding to eat me too! Well, I had to wash my sheets anyway. Of course, as a missionary, I started thinking about the spiritual implications. The termites are somewhat like our little sins that we think we can ignore because of their seemingly insignificant impact. However, when left alone, those sins add up and eat away at our spiritual sensitivity and leave us with nothing but a bunch of bites (that itch really bad too). 
Through repentance though, we can become clean once again and enjoy the blessings that God wants to give us. Just this last week, Sister Tantiangco and I have experienced many miracles in our work. Our main investigator family is coming to church and is making plans with others to enable them to continue to come. The 14 yr old daughter works as a maid on the weekends and through her faith, asked permission to have Sunday mornings off so that she can attend church. 

The mother, whose work is the only source of income for their family, is also making the sacrifice to take time off too. Even though they walk for about 20 minutes each Sunday morning, it's amazing to see their faith growing stronger and stronger. We recently taught them about the Law of Chastity and the Word of Wisdom. They have a lots of things they need to correct, but since we taught them, they've already made substantial changes. I'm so happy here on my mission and despite all the little critters that seem to always target me, I know that God is shaping me into becoming a better servant of the Lord.

Knock knock! Who's there? The missionaries!

Actually, there are no doors here, so instead people shout "Tao po!" which means "People." I wonder how effective it would be if I shouted "people!" at homes when I come back. Anyway, this week, our mission president gave us a mission wide goal of finding 1000 new investigators. Even though this seemed like a daunting task for Sister Tantiangco and I, we saw lots of miracles in our finding. We found a couple sweet families who are willing to hear from us and even a couple accepted the invitation to be baptized. I'm so grateful to be given the opportunity to gather scattered Israel and be a part of this marvelous work! 

Word of the Week: Swak --- fitting perfectly Ex: My high fashion industrial design crocs are swak!

Budol Fight! Round one! *Ding ding*

When invited for dinner, especially as missionaries, it's important to eat with 
only the most decorum and consideration of the host's hospitality. But this week I got to experience a Filipino tradition of the budol fight meal. Basically how it works is all the food is laid on top of banana leaves and without using utensils, you just dig in and take what you want. No pleases, no napkins, nothing. Just your bare hands and hungry man instincts. It was so fun to fight for the food with the other Filipinos and enjoy this new eating style. To relate this experience to a more spiritual plane, I will compare the budol fight to scripture reading. There are many times where we continually invite others to read, especially the Book of Mormon, but yet it never happens. From my own reading though, I know that when one feasts upon the words of Christ, the experience truly is more masarap (tasty) to the soul. Through diligent scripture reading we can ascertain more spiritual truths that can't be obtained in any other way. So when reading, don't be afraid to dig in and assuage your spiritual hunger. 

Word of the Week: Kamangha-mangha --- amazing. Ex: The food at dinner was so kamanga-mangha

It's a new dawn...it's a new day...it's a new year for me!

Well, New's Years in the Philippines is definitely much maingay (louder) than back home. Everyone goes their hearts out in buying the sketchiest, craziest fireworks and then proceed to start World War III. Especially right after the countdown, we just looked outside at all the big, colorful fireworks that our neighbors were lighting off right outside our house. It was great to see all the excitement people have for the new year. As missionaries, we get to help people change and grow closer to Christ. Whether it be New Years or not, I know that every single person can start and continue their progression in the Gospel. We are all at different levels, but I know that through our faith and obedience, understanding will deepen and love for Him will increase. I'm excited to be a part of those people's conversions to Christ's church and I invite you to do the same.