9/18/12
Elder Rau and I almost had to move out today. I guess they wanted to take out the extra bed in our residence and move it somewhere else. It was kinda sad cause we didn't want to leave our Tagalog speaking roommates. Our lesson didn't go so hot today either. The devotional was good though it focused on the importance of temples and the gift of the Holy Ghost.

9/19/12
I can't believe it's only been three months since my birthday. It feels like that was forever ago. Today was an interesting day. We got a new teacher because our old one is going to teach the new Hilyguynon speaking district coming on Wednesday. Sister Burton is really nice, and her investigator is a lot nicer than our old one Robert. Our first lesson with her went okay.. I feel like it could've gone better if we asked more questions. Today we actually did have to move out. Elder Rau, Elder Reynolds, Elder Garner, and I all had to move up a floor. The cool part was we were all put in the same room and the room is a ton more roomier ha. We inherited a mini nerf basketball hoop which was a nice touch to our humble abode. I'm going to miss our old roommates, but we've been with Elder Reynolds and Garner since our first day here. So were all basically family now. One of our old roomies asked me to give him a blessing because he wasn't feeling too hot. That was a good experience for both of us. He's doing a lot better now.

9/20/12
Waking up was wala kasadyahan (NO FUN) today. Hardly got any sleep because we stayed up too late moving, playing with our mini hoop, and talking. It ended up being a good day though. Elder Rau and I bore our testimonies to some random elders and I got a package from my mama! It's funny how Letters and packages make or break a day here. I love my family and friends.

9/21/12
IPhone 5? What?? Elder Garner said his dad just ordered one. Pretty crazy.. I bet the IPhone 9 is going to be out by the time I'm off my mish. Today we taught Sister Burton's investigator again. This lesson was tons better than the last one. I memorized the First Vision in Illongo and used it during the lesson. I learned something cool about the word humility in Illongo today. The word for humility is "pagkamisinulundon" Directly translated it means without pride, or to lose pride. I thought that was pretty cool.

9/22/12
Nothing too special happened today. Joel's lesson went great. Overall great day with my district. I feel a lot more confident with the language and doctrine now that there are new Hilyguynon learners that we help teach. Just shows me how much we've grown in such little time.

9/23/12
We got to watch the Brigham City temple dedication today. That was pretty cool! There are 138 running temples in the world today! Pretty sweet! I finished my little tabbed out Book of Mormon project too. It has taken me a whole six weeks, but it looks great and is going to be a huge help to someone someday. It was a great Sunday spent listening to conference talks and firesides. We also got to watch the Joseph Smith video tonight. Most action I've seen in a LONG Time.

Kamusta ang mga pamiliya kag mga abyan ko!!

9/11/12

I didn't even know it was September 11th until the devotional at 7:00pm when the speaker talked about the day. Nothing too exciting happened during the day. Had a good study sesh.. and a good workshop. We had to teach investigators how to pray. One of the role plays I had to do was with a lady who was addicted to meth. I used Alma 7:11-12 to teach her about the atonement and Christ's love for us. During class we learned some shortcuts with the language that I wish I knew earlier! They would've helped out the last 6 weeks! I had to conduct my last district review meeting today. My three weeks were up and I was released as district leader. NO MORE MEETINGS. Halellujah!

9/12/12

Pinaka-dabest day! We got to go to the outside world!! Elder Rau and I used our get out of jail free card this day. I had to get my permanent retainer glued back on, and we decided this was the day to do it. This was our first time out in the Real World for 5 weeks. Excited Gid Kami. Getting in a car felt wierd.. We were in it for a whole 6 minutes and Elder Rau and I both felt car sick. When we got to the orthodontist we were able to hear REAL music playing out of the office! It was great!! Heard some Andy Grammar, Jack Johnson, John Mayer, Carrie Underwood, I was even stoked to her Call me maybe! Made me realize how much I've missed music and my Iphone. We also got to talk to REAL people! Not all the MTC robots we see everyday. We were actual missionaries walking around the city.. It was kind of wierd. We could've proselyted and handed out Book of Mormons if we wanted to. The procedure cost $72 for them to glue something to my teeth.. 5 Weeks ago I would've complained, but on that day it was soo worth it! The only sister in our district left for the field this day too. She helped our district a lot and will do great. It was such a nice break from the normal routine to see what outside of the MTC looks like.

9/13/12

Thursday was a good day. Started the day off with gym then study then class. I started the book "Our Heritage". It's an interesting book about the pioneers and all the past prophets. If you haven't read it. Do it! I've read more than I've ever read in my entire life here.. It's kind of the only thing you can do tho hah. I got a wedding invite from the Harts. Congrats Scott! Hope you have an awesome wedding. Sucks i can't go even though it's only twenty minutes away. TRC was tight. I learned a new slang word from a BYU student who served in Iloilo. Ooso... or something like that. It means "new style". "May ara ka sang ooso?" Do you have style? He told me thats the phrase all the teenage filipino's would tell him. The lesson we taught him about church went really well! Maayo Adlaw!

9/14/12

We taught Robert about tithing today. The word for envelope is amot.. and the word for monkey and boss is amo... During the lesson I kept leaving the "T" off the word, so I'm pretty sure he thinks that every month he has to give a monkey to his bishop. He was super confused... (good thing he's not a real investigator). I'm going to try my best to not make that mistake in the field.

9/15/12

Saturday's are long because we have six hours of class. Most of the day was spent studying and teaching. I learned some awesome phrases and words tho that I used during volleyball and basketball. "ano gusto mo" what you want! " ano ka himo " what you going to do. and the word takalan-Cocky. Haha

9/16/12

Sunday was so nice because I didn't have to go to any district leader meetings. The whole day was spent listening to talks, studying, and watching mormon messages. The CES talk that Elder Holland spoke in last week was really good. I learned that in this dispensation as Latter-day Saints were done running. Were ready to fight Babylon. Really inspiring. The speaker at the Fireside told us about the Mormon Play that made misisonaries look like idiots... He showed us a clip and you could tell the entire MTC wanted to turn it off. It was pretty bad... But then he told us how the church was using it to its advantage. Just another testament to me that the church is true. Why else would satan try soo hard to atttack it??

Kumusta ang mga pamiliya kag mga abyan mo!?

I've been at the MTC for over a month now! Five weeks this Wednesday. Just a few more weeks left and I'll finally be shipped off into the field. I have grown a lot spiritually during this time at the empty sea (MTC). I love my district!! I have met so many great Elders from all over the world. We all have different stories and backgrounds, but we all have the same purpose: to invite other's to come unto Christ. I've grown really close to these Elders and Sisters. Especially with my Companion Elder Rau. He's from Calgary Canada and enjoys skateboarding and snowboarding. Together we are basically the pinaka-dabest teachers! It's been a crazy month, with a lot of adjusments and setbacks, but it's been a blast and there isn't anywhere I would rather be.

 

9/3/12

Monday = P-day! This was a much needed day. It was so great to just relax, spend time writing letters, exercising, getting laundry done, and catching up on sleep. I wrote Grandma, Elder Thork, and Elder Clay. Elder Clay has been doing great! I can already see the impact his mission has made in his life! I can't wait to get to the point where I'm fluent in the language, in the field, already a year in, and reaping with all my heart, might, mind, and strength. During class today we learned more about sentence structure and how we can use it to teach about the three kingdoms. I learned one of my favorite phrases today. "amo lang na siya" (It's just the way it is bro).  Maayo Gid Adlaw.

 

9/4/12

Tuesday = early morning gym day. Tuesday's aren't really my favorite in the morning. Gym isn't fun when everyone is all tired and cranky. I just spent the hour shooting around with Elder Choi. I was on fire though. I don't think I've drilled so many three's in my entire life. I got a package from my parents and Kailey. It was awesome to get pictures from home. It made my day! We had workshop today where we learned about how to effictively teach about the Book of Mormon. I learned sometimes you need to just pause and wait for revelation to come. During class we taught our investigator Robert. The guy is kind of a hard-head. We focused on repentance, and I think the lesson went really well. Teaching is getting a lot more easier in Hilygaynon. It was Budlay Gid at first. (REALLY FREAKING DIFFICULT).

 

9/5/12

Wednesday = Service day! Service day is a bitter sweet day for our district. It's a downer because we have to wake up before 6:00 and clean the huge MTC gym. My companion and I were the first ones there, but we still got stuck with the crappy job. Literally.. We had to clean all the bathrooms in the building. I didn't even like cleaning the bathrooms at my house. Oh well I still served with a smile ;)  It wasn't that bad... It wasn't too fun either tho. During class, Elder Rau and I taught our investigator Joel. This guy is my favorite. He is 18, and loves to have fun. We taught him about the Atonement. Elder Rau shared a story and I shared some scriptures and bore my testimony. We got him to commit to baptism on the 22nd of Sept. One of our best lessons by far! Today the highlight was seeing my buddy Elder Sweeten and Elder Barnes. Elder Barnes is in the room right next to me, so that is pretty sweet. Elder Sweeten and I have a lot of the same schedule. It's was way awesome to see him and to share all our new experiences over the past month.

 

9/6/12

Nothing too exciting. We had TRC today, which is like hometeaching on steriods. That was fun. I also started taking sleeping pills because my Australian roommate snores like an elephant. So earplugs and sleeping pills = a good nights rest for me.

 

The weekend

The weekend was great a lot of great lessons and talks. Robert committed to baptism on the 29th, so Elder Rau and I feel accomplished. I'm running out of email time. We took pics with all the Rexburg missionaries, that was pretty tight. Anyways I'll write back next week. Pallanga taka!! (I love you) Salamat Gid para sa mga pagpangamuyo. (Thank you for all your prayers!)

 

-Elder Sparks