I Will Go and Do What the Lord Commands: March 2015

Monday, March 16, 2015

Week 20 - March 15, 2015

As you read this you may notice that Elder Frandsen has gone a little native on us. :) If you understand it, please feel free to post a translation!

So this week was transfer week. Oo, Malipay ako diri sa San Miguel. Pero may ara ang iban nga kaupod. Ang ngalan nya si Elder Chapman. Haha...Medyo weird sya pero buot kag hard working siya. He is American taga Utah sya. So amo na, excited ako to work with him. He is batch ni Elder Staples, ang trainer sa akon.

Sini Domingo, may ara seven nga mga tawo sa simbahan. So gamay lang na pero tuni next week may investigators dito. Also, so I am the group leader still sa San Miguel and this week I asked a few people to speak in sacrament meeting they said yes. Then at church the people that I asked to speak didn't show up...so guess who had to give a 45 minute unprepared talk? AKO na lang. haha And for those of you that know me know I am not very good at speaking for a long time. But I know that this happened for a reason because right before I gave my talk I prayed and asked for the spirit to fill my mouth with words so that everyone there could feel the spirit. And that was exactly what happened.

Adlow-adlow ang testimony sa akon magstrengthen paagi sang mga experiences. I am so grateful for everything I am blessed with because of this gospel. I know without a doubt that it is true.

So amo na para sa ini week. Palanga ko kamo! And have an awesome week!

This picture if you cant tell is of kids flying kites. The kids here are so awesome they are so creative. Here you can't just go out and buy a kite you go find whatever you can and do your best to make something out of it. If ever I am having a bad day the kids here always cheer me up and put me in a really good mood! :)

Elder Jake Frandsen

Philippines Iloilo Mission

Monday, March 9, 2015

Week 19 - March 9, 2015

This week has been a little interesting and I don't feel it important to share the details. I have written everything down in my journal so maybe I will share it when I get home. :)

This week because of certain circumstances I had the opportunity to work with one of the Zone Leaders si Elder Watkins. We went out and worked super hard trying to find new investigators. We found a place in the Banwa where there was a lot of people that were very accepting of our message and wanted us to come back. :)

Yesterday at church was AWESOME. We had a total of 16 people at church which is the most we've had in a long time. And to top that 4 of them are investigators. The talks that were given were nami gid! The spirit was so strong! I really have learned to love being in a small group. I have grown so close to the members here. Siempre its hard gid at times but I have learned so much from this experience.

Okay so here in the Philippines they have these things called BROWNOUTS. A brown out simply is when the power goes out. But here when the power goes out EVERYTHING goes out. So simply NO WATER and NO ELECTRICITY. Brownouts happen very often at least twice a week and when a brownout happens its usually for a 12 hour period of time. So you just learn to work around them. To cook you just build a fire, to shower...well you just don't haha. But this week we had a brownout from Saturday morning till Sunday night...So yeah when I went to go shower...NO shower. When I went to go iron my shirt...NO electricity. And when I went to go make breakfast...I made breakfast...but the smoke from the fire stayed in my clothes all day. :) So yeah there's brownouts for you.

But I have learned to count my many blessings. :) And I have learned to be grateful for all the many things I go have.

So that's all for this week. Love you all and enjoy the snow! ;)

Elder Jake Frandsen

Philippines Iloilo Mission

Week 18 - March 2, 2015

Hey everyone! This week has had its ups and downs. As does every week. I am still struggling with my companion. And I am really struggling with the languages. I have a pretty good idea why. This week we have done very little work. For reasons i'm not going to list because they don't really matter. We will just say my companion is lazy and disobedient. I have written an email to the mission president about it. So hopefully we will see an improvement soon. I am trying to do my best to learn from my companion so one thing I have learned is that when I get frustrated or discouraged. I can go to my Heavenly Father and ask him for comfort. And through reading my patriarchal blessing and the Book of Mormon I get a huge spiritual boost.

Alright on to a new subject :) this week we had the opportunity to go to Brother Rudy's home with a few members and the Couples Missionaries and have a family home evening. We all had such a great time.

So I found out something interesting this week. And I wasn't sure if I was going to share it with all you but I am. So here in the Philippines there is a terrorist group called the NPA (new peoples army) So I found out that there is a small group of NPA right next to my area. So me being white, I just have to be careful where I go and who I talk to. But no worries because I know that I have been called here to serve the Lord and if I do so and am obedient then Heavenly Father will protect his servants. :)

This week I have been trying to extend more baptismal dates to investigators. But as I do that for some reason I get the same kind of answer "I don't really want to get baptized but can you still keep coming over and visiting us?" It's kind of frustrating but I know that through prayer and faith that as we continue to visit those people and teach them. That they will be able to feel and recognize the spirit and eventually they will make the choice to be baptized.

So that's all for this week. Transfers are on the 13th and I am hoping and praying I will be able to train. :) Thank you all for you prayers and support. I love you all and have a great week!