Beef Jerky and Peanut Butter!! :)

It's has been another great week here in the Philippines. Everything is going good here except I just really hurt my neck this morning playing basketball. I have never felt this way before. I turned my head too fast or something and now I can't really move it without feeling a lot of pain. Oh well I will survive. :(

 

I received your Dear Elder package on Wednesday and it was stuffed right full of jerky which was awesome! I love that stuff and I ate all of it within like 3 days! ha-ha. It also contained a bunch of chocolate bars and a jar of peanut butter and it made me realized that the peanut butter here is very different from home. It is much sweeter. I can eat the peanut butter here with a spoon and it won't even dry out my mouth! ha-ha. Anyways - thanks a lot!!

 

It is getting hotter ha-ha. Actually right now I am in a creepy internet shop, sweating to death in a corner, surrounded by loud, half naked, teenage, Filipino's playing Dota (a video game).

 

Dad asked me to write in some detail about my best mission experience so far. This would have to be the story about our investigator, Josef. It's about the power of fasting and prayer. You know the story of Josef already so I won't go too deep into that. His parents are very active Catholics and didn't want Josef to join the church. We had several really good lessons with Josef and he, through listening, reading the scriptures, and praying received the confirmation that this was the true church and that he wanted to be baptized. His parents threatened to stop funding him through university (one of the best and most expensive universities in the Philippines). Josef is on his last year of accounting and it is very important that he gets through this last year. Josef's parents also wouldn't let Josef even leave their sights, especially on Sunday. When Elder Richards and I found out about the issue we decided that we would fast with Josef that his parent's hearts might be softened and that they would accept his decision to be baptized. Just this last week for no reason whatsoever Josef's mom started asking for scriptures from the Book of Mormon as daily inspirational quotes. Josef's parents have also started to let us teach Josef at his house now and we will hopefully be able to start having lessons with his family. The next scripture we want Josef to share with his mom is Moroni 10:3-5. This experience has definitely increased my testimony of fasting and prayer. 

 

So, transfer day is actually this Thursday but I don't know if I will be transferred or not. There is a good chance I could be transferred because normally you won't be with the same companion for longer then 2 transfers and Elder Richards has only been here as long as I have and he is a district leader. So I guess we'll see what happens this week! I will let you know!

 

Well, have a great week and hope that my neck isn't very serious (ha-ha don't worry, it's not, but it does hurt a lot right now). :(

Well I love you all lots :)

 

Elder Nielson

Here is a picture that was sent to us of Erik with Brother Peterson and his wife. Brother Peterson is the San Pablo Philippines mission president. This picture was taken the morning after Erik arrived in the Philippines. He looks pretty tired after having flown a long ways on a plane! Pretty happy though!

 

 

 

Can't Wait for the Packages! Happy Birthday to me!! :)

Wow! I have been out of Canada for nearly 4 months... That's crazy. I feel like I ate at 5 Guys with all of you like 2 weeks ago. Time here really flies. It has been getting hotter everyday. Mornings give just enough respite to get ready for the day but past that I feel like I am constantly on fire.  I do have a fan in our apartment so that helps a bit. The worst thing about it is that it is supposed to get hotter everyday until mid April... Oh well, if the Filipinos can do it, I can too. Anyways, the good thing about the crazy heat is the crazy tropical fruit that they have here. I will miss the fruit here probably for the rest of my life!

So that investigator that I told you about texted us this week saying that he told his parents that he is going to get baptized, and they didn't take it very well. His family wants nothing to do with the missionaries now and Josef the investigator is going through a really tough time. He wants nothing more than to be baptized but he has to sneak out to go to church and have lessons with us. He has read through the entire Bible and really knows his stuff there. We gave him a quad and now he can't put it down. He loves the cross references and foot notes between the Bible and the Book of Mormon. He also is sneaking out to go to all the activities in the church. Elder Richards and I as well as a few other members here in Batangas had a fast earlier this week that Josef's family's hearts may be softened.

I can't wait for those packages you sent! One thing that you should try to keep in the back of your mind is a shipping company called LBC. They are a Filipino company that only ships to the Philippines but they do it for really cheap. I don't think they have any outlets in Canada but I know they have some in the US. I know there are like 2 or 3 in California and you can send boxes called balik bayan boxes that are huge for like $70. A few elders here get 25kg- 40kg boxes each month with just food, chocolate and stuff like that. Anyways just keep an eye out for LBCs haha.

Well, life here is good except I had a few issues with a really bad cold at the beginning of the week but I am almost over it. I love all of you a ton and the work here is still progressing :) ( I email that to my president every week haha)

Elder Nielson

Interesting! I hope this is not a bathroom! 

Adobo (a dish that Erik really likes to make and eat)! He made this! 

Erik's CTR ring. He does not know how this happened - it just shattered! Could it possibly be from repeatedly tossing it up and failing to catch it - letting it drop to the floor! Hmmmm! Maybe!

 

Just having a good time with a bunch of pretty funny people! :)

Gwapo? :)

Wow I just looked at the Color Run site. It looks great. Good job on updating it! I hope you have a great turn-out again this year!

Thanks for sending me pictures! The pretzels look amazing. I can't wait to try some when I get home. You should be an expert pretzel maker by then!

Guess what? You know how they told us that my tungsten CTR ring would never bend like my other one did? Well it didn't bend, but rather it shattered! I will send a picture to you! Maybe you can send me a new one, one day haha.

So you asked that I write about a funny experience or two! ... Well, let's just say that it is really hard to teach girls here. The reason why is cause they all think I am "Pogi" or Gwapo"  and they make sure to tell me that every time they see me. ha-ha! :) We were helping this guy fix his bike late one night but we couldn't because the baring that connected the gears to the tire was broken. Anyways a super drunk guy came out to help him. We couldn't fix it, so the biker starts rolling down the hill and Elder Richards asked the drunk if he had brakes and the drunk says bahala sila which means" it's up to him now" and we couldn't stop laughing. I know its not really funny but it was at the time. :)

I am super glad that Canada is doing well at the Olympics! Thanks for the update!

We met a new investigator this last week that we actually tracted. His name is Joseph. His family is very active in the Catholic Church. He speaks perfect English but has never been out of the Philippines. He claims to have learned English through watching lots of American cartoons as a kid. :) Anyways we were able to teach him in English and invited him to read the Book of Mormon and now he is an incredible investigator. He actually studies the Book of Mormon with the Bible and cross references things in order to answer his own questions. That is what we call a golden investigator. He has been to church 2 times and has a baptism date but the only problem is his family.

Time does fly in the mission field. I feel like I just got off the plane but in reality I have been here for over 2 months now haha. We do a fair amount of service, - for example, we helped to build a new bathroom for a very poor member.

Batangas is probably the safest place in the Philippines for storms so when the Tacloban storm hit they only got a little bit of rain. There is an incredible large shell oil refinery here and they own a golf course, bowling ally, beach volleyball pits and basketball courts that I think I will use on the next zone p-day. That should be fun.

I am glad your reading the Book of Mormon  You should try to read it in Tagalog haha. Just have English beside it and then read them both out loud. Also right down the words that are commonly used and it will eventually make sense

Another thing, the next food thing I want you to look up and try to make is a halo-halo. It would be really a big challenge to make one of those in Canada. Also Ube ice cream is super good (look up what ube is ha-ha).

Anyways I love your emails too. I always look forward to your updates back at home and I hope you never stop. Love you all lots.

Elder Nielson  

Mangoes on the brain!

Sounds like life is moving on there without me! ha-ha. I am so glad that you all email me every week. I love that so much. It is weird to think about the Olympics because we don't hear anything about the Olympics here. If I was back home everyone would be talking about it and we would get to watch the daily updates.

Well right now I am sweating to death in a creepy computer shop. It is so hot here!

I love that you made some Filipino food! Wow - Pan De Sal and Leche Flan in one night! When we cook we never make anything like a regular sandwich. We go out to the market and buy what we need each week and then make food throughout the rest of the week. The most common dish we eat is Adobo. The only thing about Adobo is that you can never make the same tasting Adobo twice! ha-ha. I am almost sure it is impossible. I love being here though. I can't get my mind off of mangoes. They are so good. A member made mango shakes for us today for lunch and I drank like five! Hopefully there won't be any consequences to that! ha-ha.

We tracted some new investigators this last week and one is really good. His name is Joseph and he went to church on Sunday with us and worked with us as well.

 My health is pretty good. Actually, I have been doing all those things you were reminding me to do. Vitamins, flossing and wearing my retainer! Everyday I see some of the worst teeth in the world here in the Philippines and it makes me feel terrible and also reminds me of what I need to do to take care of my teeth. That reminds me, because students get out of high school when they are only 16 there are doctors here who are only 22. They get the same level of university education but it just seems crazy to be a doctor at 22. There is a sister in our ward who is almost 21 and only has 1 year of university left before she becomes a dentist!

My biggest problem with the language right now is confidence in speaking. I understand it and I have been able to read it for a while but I guess I just get scared when I try to speak.

Anyways, everything is going great. I had some trouble with my computer so I probably won't have enough time to send very many emails out. Love you lots, Mom thanks for keeping me updated on everything.

Tell Tori and Kenzie that I love them lots. Have a great week :) Oh and Kenzie - good luck with that drivers test and basketball. Tori, so glad your team did good this year - keep having fun!

Elder Nielson 

Hot Heat and Mangoes and Pictures!! :)

Wow - I can't believe how well the Rosemary basketball teams are doing! Sounds like the Sr. Girls had a great weekend (good job Kenzie!) and the Sr. Boys have been great from the get-go! The fact that Dad's team is that good almost makes me mad! ha-ha. The best part about his team being that strong is that the other players will get a lot of playing time in games where they are like 40 points a head.

 

It is way too hot right now. Even the Filipinos think that it is too hot. Yes I am glad to be out of the -30C stuff, but right now we are having super hot days and it's not even summer yet! ha-ha  - I may die... 

 

Beverly's baptism went really well besides a few issues ha-ha. The font door was locked and the only way to get to it was through the font itself. So a member just jumped the guard rail and waded through the water to open the door. Elder Richards did the baptizing.

 

Not fair! I am reading about your food for the home basketball tournament kitchen and I haven't eaten lunch yet. The smoothies sound great! One thing to note about your mango pineapple smoothie is that the mangoes in Canada are not real mangoes. Real mangoes are only found in the Philippines ha-ha. Elder Richards didn't like mangoes before and he finally tried one and he can't stop.

 

Don't worry Mom - I am trying to not burn in this extreme heat! I have found that it is really hard to even tan here much less get burnt. I have an okay tan but nothing special.

 

Well I hope you are feeling better and that the rest of the week goes great. I sent some pictures! Hope you like them!

Elder Nielson

My kitchen! A toaster oven, rice cooker, and hot plate! :) Nothing fancy but it works!

 

Cookies!

 

Dinner!

 

Local Shopping Mall

 

Our Laundry Room! A variety of washers too!

 

Our chapel

 

 

What I see every day!! :)