1 Nephi 3:7

"And it came to pass that I, Nephi, said unto my father: I will go and do the things which the Lord hath commanded, for I know that the Lord giveth no commandments unto the children of men, save he shall prepare a way for them that they may accomplish the thing which he commandeth them."

Sunday, December 21, 2014

First letter from the Philippines December 21, 2014

Wow. Okay so this has been a crazy week! We arrived in Iloilo on Wednesday. We were picked up by the mission president and his APs. (Assistants to the President) We went by jeepney to the mission home where we did some orientation stuff. That night we slept in a hotel (no showers or flushing toilet or drinkable water) But it was alright. Then the next morning we went back to the mission home where we got our assignments. My companion is Elder Staples from Utah. I am in the Iloilo central zone in San Miguel. It's a new area that just opened 3 months ago. My trainer has only been here for 12 weeks. We are the only missionaries in this area. We don't quite have a branch yet because we only have 4 members. But we hope to grow quickly. On Sunday I got set apart as the 2nd assistant to the group leader and my companion got set apart as a group leader aka bishop. So yeah it's interesting to be the person running the group (small version of a branch) here. 

The language is super crazy hard and it gets really frustrating at times like when I am trying to talk to talk to little kids and I just can't understand them :( The language in this first area in ilonggo mixed with Tagalog and karay-a. But I will just keep praying for the Gift of Tongues and work hard and I know I will get it. 

We are teaching the Cemral Arogona family. They have tons of kids! I love them so much. Hopefully they will be a family baptism pretty soon. The members here are great! 

I am so grateful for everything I had at home! Here there is no running water. No dishwasher. No shower. No Washing machine. No air conditioning. But yet the people here make up for all that! They are so amazing! 

It's kind of funny. So my companion and I are both Americans. So anytime anyone see's us they yell "Hey JOE!" or "Hey friend!" or "KANO!" Haha They are just trying to be funny. 

But yeah so that's been my first week in the Philippines! :) Thank you everyone for all your prayers and have a MERRY CHRISTMAS!!  

-- 
Elder Jake Frandsen
Philippines Iloilo Mission
Elder Frandsen's first area Iloilo Central Zone in San Miguel with companion Elder Staples.

Jacob is always making new friends.  Looks like the kids love him there too! :)


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