9-27-2019

Hello friends! This last week went by so quickly, granted I technically skipped a day of the week coming to the Philippines. I got a new companion, his name is Elder Christensen, we get along great. When we landed in the Philippines I thought we were going to crash and burn, the wind was so strong that the plane was rocking from side to side as we landed, when our wheels finally touched the ground we bounced from wheel to wheel until stable. When I walked outside of the Filipino airport the first thing that hit me was a blast of heat. I immediately started sweating. What is sad is that this is the rainy cool season in the Philippines. The heat here is INCONCEIVABLE. Ten points if you know what movie that is a reference to. I think that it is so hot because of the humidity here. I feel like I could wring water out of the air. Funny experience of the week happened yesterday. Me and my companion were supposed to go teach an interested person out in the garden. We left the class a little early to do so and as we walked through we saw two people sitting on a bench at the other end of the garden. We asked them if they spoke Cebuano and they said yes, so we began our lesson. When we were done we were walking away from the person we had taught about faith and we saw our teacher so we started to walk towards him. He was cracking up, we asked him what was so funny and he said that that was not the person we were supposed to teach, suddenly I realized that we had not taught the correct person in the garden but instead we had delivered a 20 minute lesson to a  Manila MTC landscaper taking a break in the garden. The funniest part is that he was a convert who had been baptized 2 months ago. We even extended an invitation to him to ask god for strength and we closed by asking if we could meet with him same time and place tomorrow. It was an awesome experience and I can officially say I have done my first real lesson here in the Philippines in Cebuano. I would not be surprised if when we go to meet him, same time and place today, if he is there. I will keep you posted...

The people here are so nice, they are the friendliest people I have met. They always are smiling regardless of how poor they are or what they are going through. It is very humbling. I know that 2 nephi 31 is true. It reads, 

3 For my soul delighteth in ^aplainness; for after this manner doth the Lord God work among the children of men. For the Lord God giveth light unto the ^bunderstanding; for he speaketh unto men according to their ^clanguage, unto their understanding.  

 I know that the lord delighteth in being plain and bringing understanding and light to men in their own language. I know that that is my purpose. The coolest scripture I have heard so far here is one from 2 nephi 10 it reads,

8 And it shall come to pass that they shall be ^agathered in from their long dispersion, from the ^bisles of the sea, and from the four parts of the earth;  

This scripture is refering to the gathering of Israel, the gathering of god's lost sheep. Israel shall be gathered from the Isles of the sea. The Philippines consists of isles of the sea so this scripture literally applies to my mission. I know this church is true. I know god wants us to have light and happiness in our life. I know god loves each and every one of us. 

Kita Kites!

Our district before we left the MTC.

Cool scenery from the South Korean Airport.

The ball of many mirrors.

 Me in the ball of many mirrors.

Elder Case and I in our jetlagged glory.

On our way to the Manila MTC.

 Sister Moaei and Sister Quibilan.

Classic modes of transportation here in the Philippines, Jeepney and a motorcycle. I am just waiting for Jason Bourne to run by me any second.

A cool river we crossed.

A couple of the gigantically tall skyscrapers here.

Love you all!

09-20-2019

Week update: The SQUAD is about to take on MANILA

Kamusta Mga Higala! Today is my last P-day in the MTC! I leave for the Philippines this Monday. It is so weird, it feels like I arrived here yesterday We have about 24 hours of flight ahead of us and 8 hours of layovers between Monday and Wednesday. We are flying through Seoul, South Korea which will be really cool. We have to be at the travel office at noon on Monday which is nice because we don't have to be the missionaries who wake up and bang suitcases down the stairs while they are leaving at 4:30 in the morning. (True story) I can't express how grateful I am for everyone who has been part of my experience here at the MTC. I especially cannot express my gratitude enough for my amazing district. I really got lucky with such an amazing group of friends. Shout out to my companion, Elder Case who is by far one of the top three best companions I have ever had on my mission ;) He really has been a blessing though, I am lucky to be able to call him my companion. Not only has he been a faithful young padawan but he has taught me things about the gospel and strengthened my testimony. He has also scared me half to death several times. One of them recently was in the bathroom. As I was exiting the bathroom I was turning the corner when I heard a noise the opposite direction of the corner, I looked but saw nothing and swiveled back around to continue to exit the bathroom and find Elder Case when he jumped out from behind the corner. He made me jump at least three feet of the ground which is impressive because I usually can only jump a couple inches of off the ground normally. Me and Elder Case both have  nouns as last names. We get that a lot at the MTC. We were talking to some sisters a couple days ago and they said that our last names were both things, we just smiled and replied with "Yup, we are thing 1 and thing 2". It was pretty funny. This week nothing new really happened besides Elder Christensen running out in his towel to hug some new missionaries again.

I will make my spiritual message short today so that this message isn't super long. I want to talk about the scripture D&C 4:2

It reads,

2 Therefore, O ye that embark in the ^aservice of God, see that ye ^bserve him with all your heart, might, mind and strength, that ye may stand ^cblameless before God at the last day.

Brother Owens who is the young men presiding president talked this Tuesday and one of the things that he said really touched me. He said, 

"To be 100% converted we need to be active and moving forward in the gospel 100% of the time."

This resonated with me because I had a wrestling coach that used to always tell us to give 120% out on the mat. I would always think to my self, how is that even possible? That is the dumbest thing ever you can't give 120% if 100% is everything you have. I realize now that it is not about the silly percentages but about how we serve. As long as we are serving with everything we have, with all of our heart might mind and strength we will be 100% converted. If we are giving 100% we are living the gospel 100% of the time. Brother Owens said if we are doing this we are the message. When we live his gospel we are his message. God wants us to feed his sheep, he wants everyone to have his gospel in their lives. If we love him, we will show his love to others by feeding his sheep. In John 21:15-17 it reads, 

15 ¶ So when they had dined, Jesus saith to Simon Peter, Simon, son of Jonas, lovest thou me more than these? He saith unto him, Yea, Lord; thou knowest that I love thee. He saith unto him, Feed my lambs.

16 He saith to him again the second time, Simon, son of Jonas, lovest thou me? He saith unto him, Yea, Lord; thou knowest that I love thee. He saith unto him, ^aFeed my sheep.

17 He saith unto him the third time, Simon, son of Jonas, lovest thou me? Peter was grieved because he said unto him the third time, Lovest thou me? And he said unto him, Lord, thou knowest all things; thou knowest that I love thee. Jesus saith unto him, ^aFeed my ^bsheep.

Christ asked Peter three times on the shore after he was crucified, peter do you love me?

Peter responded three times yes lord I love you. Christ than said "Feed my sheep". If Peter had really truly loved Christ he would have not been on that same shore having the same conversation with Christ that he had when he met Christ. Christ does not need fishermen, but he needs fisher of men. He needs us to live his gospel and in doing so feed his sheep. Be an example and a light to everyone around you. People do notice the light that is in you. Although exhausting if we live his gospel we will be blessed. I have been exhausted several times in the MTC learning how to best live and teach his gospel, many times I have fallen asleep. (Refer down to the pictures to see me zonked out). I know that when we serve others, we are feeding his sheep, which blesses their lives and ours. For a closing scripture I will leave with you Mossiah 2:17,

17 And behold, I tell you these things that ye may learn ^awisdom; that ye may learn that when ye are in the ^bservice of your ^cfellow beings ye are only in the service of your God.  

Live, the gosepl, feed his sheep, and serve your fellow man. Through these things you will find true joy. I know these things are true. I am so thankful for his gospel. He knows you individually, by name and loves each and every one of you.

In the name of jesus christ, amen.

A few pics:

The MTC at it's prettiest.

Elder Case's drawing skills put to good use.

Me Zonked out:

Our apartment and some friends:

Elder Case and I in the rain:

Elder Case looking like the guy with the guns in Iron Man 2.

Elder Fathers pre-mission looking just like Bucky from Capt. America.

Until next time amigos,

Kita Kites

Jordan

9-13-2019

Kamusta Ka Mga Higala! 5th week was a normal week at Provo MTC for me. Full of all sorts of excitement and shenanigans.

My favorite thing that happened this week in the MTC was a story that our Zone Leaders told us as they were doing their nightly check ins with all the rooms. The zone leaders are some Elders who are designated to make sure all of the Elders are doing good in the MTC every night. When they dropped by our apartment they told us about a prank that their roommate had done to his companion. They told us that their roomate got up that morning with his companion and made a trip to the sack lunch room to pick up his breakfast. When he (Elder Mott) was there he got a chocolate donut. Elder Mott and his companion came back to the apartment to eat their breakfast. Elder Mott decided he needed to use the bathroom when he got back and dropped of his breakfast in his room but brought his donut with him to the toilet. When he was on the toilet he asked the person next to him for some toilet paper because he claimed he was out. The person next to him turned out to be his companion. Elder Mott's companion reluctantly handed some toilet paper under the stall. This is when Elder Mott struck, he was not going to the bathroom but pranking whatever poor soul had answered his call for toilet paper. He had smeared his hand with chocolate donut frosting on purpose and as he took the toilet paper he grabbed his companions hand much higher than where the toilet paper was and wiped chocolate frosting all over his companion's hand as he took the toilet paper. His companion was silent for a solid ten seconds and then muttered to himself, "THAT IS SO GROOOSSSS!!!!!!!" My Zone Leaders and my room were laughing so hard when they told us this story that we all had tears streaming down our faces.

 My district and I are getting more nervous the closer we come to the 23rd. One of the Elders in my district is hilarious. His name is Elder Christiansen. To give you an example of his humor, this week when we had new elders coming in to the dorms, he had just got done showering so he threw on some underwear and wrapped a towel around his waste and then proceeded to go welcome the new elders with hugs. They did not look comfortable when he strode up to them and yelled welcome to the MTC. The fact that it looked like he had nothing else but a towel on did not help their comfort levels either. His companion eventually had to pull him off of the new elders and tell him to stop freaking out the new missionaries. When he walked away he yelled I just wanted to welcome them, as he revealed to everyone that he had underwear on under the towel. It was sooo funny.

 He brought a bag of army men to plant in different places in the MTC throughout his stay. So you will be taking a shower and randomly look down and see an army man lying on the soap holder. Or you will be brushing your teeth and look up above the light on the wall and see another undercover army man watching you. One guards our room against unwelcome intruders (such as the Elders in our district when they storm our room). There is another who guards the telephone to call the front desk that is in the hallway. My favorite army man placement is the one in class that has his gun trained on us Elders as we are all learning Cebuano. Sometimes, learning the language is so stressful that there might as well be an army man there with his gun trained on you as you learn the language hahaha. Though it is never really that stressful it is quite difficult at times. Scroll down to see pictures of the placement of these army men.

Regardless the MTC has been an amazing and humbling learning experience. Not only have I had the opportunity to hear one of the lord's apostle's speak, I had the opportunity to hear two. This last Tuesday the MTC had the opportunity to hear from Elder Gary E. Stevenson. He gave an amazing talk about how we can become better missionaries and what tools we have available to us. A quote that he said that really touched me and helped me learn was,

"Let the keystone of our religion (The Book Of Mormon) be the keystone of your testimony."

 It really helped me to understand that there is so much doctrine and truth to a book that I have taken for granted all of my life. I know that as we use this book to it's full potential we will not only learn of Christ and come closer to him but we will gain a testimony of him and his redeeming atonement that he fulfilled for us.

This week in class we have been discussing the Atonement. We have discussed several things but something that touched me regarding Christ and the atonement was,

"Jesus walked that path alone so we don't have to"

He walked it willingly because of his love for us. Through his grace we can make it back to live with god again. Through the Atonement we can be clean of our sins and return to god's presence.

Luke 22 Verse 42 is Christ just before he atones for our sins. Christ is speaking in the scripture,

42 Saying, Father, if thou be willing, ^aremove this cup from me: nevertheless not my ^bwill, but thine, be done. 

 

In D&C 19 verses 16-19 it follows up on that a little bit.

16 For behold, I, God, have ^asuffered these things for all, that they ^bmight not suffer if they would ^crepent;

17 But if they would not repent they must ^asuffer even as I;

18 Which ^asuffering caused myself, even God, the greatest of all, to tremble because of pain, and to bleed at every pore, and to suffer both body and spirit—and would that I might ^bnotdrink the bitter cup, and shrink—

19 Nevertheless, glory be to the Father, and I partook and ^afinished my preparations unto the children of men. 

Christ loved us and endured unworldly pain to atone for our sins so that we might be able to return to live with god again. I know that through the power of his atonement and god's grace we can be redeemed from our sins and be spotless once again. Without the Atonement this would not be possible. Without Christ's redeeming love this would not be possible. I know that my redeemer loves me. Christlike love is something I strive for every day. The depth and magnitude of this love is unfathomable. He loves everyone more than words can say. I strive to be as loving as he was and is today. Through Christ's pain and afflictions we have the ability to become even as he is. He can help us endure our trials, sicknesses, and pain. The atonement though used generally for repentance can be used for our trials, our sickness, our afflictions, and our pains. He is our redeemer and he will walk that path with us so that we do not have to do it alone. Remember if you are going through something and you feel alone, you are not, Christ is walking next to you and carrying the same burdens you are. I know that as we use the atonement in prayer through trials we can receive comfort from the great comforter. In closing I would like to share one last scripture about who Christ his and what he did for us.

In Mosiah 14:3-6 it reads,

3 He is ^adespised and rejected of men; a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief; and we hid as it were our faces from him; he was despised, and we esteemed him not.

4 Surely he has ^aborne our ^bgriefs, and carried our sorrows; yet we did esteem him stricken, smitten of God, and afflicted.

5 But he was ^awounded for our ^btransgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities; the chastisement of our peace was upon him; and with his stripes we are ^chealed.

6 All we, like ^asheep, have gone astray; we have turned every one to his own way; and the Lord hath laid on him the iniquities of us all.

I know that we feel his love and light every day of our lives. If we follow him, have faith in him, and draw close unto him we can again live in god's presence.

Until next time,

Kita Kites

Sincerely, Jordan

 

9-6-2019

Kamusta Ka Mga Higala! This week was my 4th week in the MTC. I am settling into the schedule here but I am excited to go to the Philippines as well. The closer we come to September 23rd  the more excited I get to go. This week was fairly straightforward, nothing to out of ordinary happened. It is President Nelson's birthday today so the MTC is putting on the first ever MTC dance tonight! ;) Our zone leaders jokingly told my companion that and he was so enthusiastic and happy that when someone told him it wasn't true his heart almost broke. He said after that usually he doesn't fall for stuff like that but he wanted to believe it so bad that he fell for it. I hear at least twice a week. "Elder Belt,... I miss women". When he looks out the window with a blank and dismal look you can tell that the sister less district is really taking it's toll on him. 

Last night during class I was drawing on a white board to show Elder Case my amazing artistic abilities, I flipped the whiteboard around with the marker uncapped to show him what I had drawn. Unfortunately as I did this I accidentally left a inch long streak of expo marker on Elder Case's shirt. The worst part was he didn't know, after I told him he was very upset as you can imagine. I felt terrible, even though I had not done it on purpose I had left a huge black marker stain on his shirt. Than I had the brightest idea ever, to fix the problem I would take an "eye for an eye". Five minutes after I had drawn on his shirt while he was still mad about it, I took the same marker and marked my shirt on the opposite arm in the same place. It worked perfectly. We both now matched with expo marker on our white shirts. To fix our problem we asked to be excused from class and raided the janitor's closet for stain remover, rubbing alcohol, and joy soap. We went into the bathroom and proceeded to scrub out the expo marker for the next hour and a half. It was a party, every elder that walked in the bathroom asked what we were doing. Me and my district had a good laugh about that experience. My favorite part was when my companion turned to me and said in a sarcastic voice, "You know metaphorically speaking, sometimes we are all scrubbing stains out of our white shirts in the bathroom in our lives". I didn't think I could be in a situation like that and learn something that related back to the gospel. Me and my companion had a good laugh about the entire ordeal.

Last night as I was sitting talking to some friends of mine outside a snack shop before bedtime. We happened to be sitting in rocking chairs that had three flat pieces on the bottom. As I was talking I leaned back in the chair. I realized to little to late that I was not on any of those legs of the chair. As I fell backwards I just said, "Oh there I go". All of my friends watched as I fell slowly in the rocking chair directly backwards and crashed to the earth. When I hit the ground I just started laughing with everyone else. It was the slowest fall I have ever experienced. At least I provided a show for those watching. 

The devotionals this week were amazing. One was given on a growth mindset and the other was given as a direct talk to the missionaries advising us on how to become better missionaries. My favorite quote was

 "God does not answer prayers to satisfy curiosity." 

Elder Martino who is one of the Seventy said that as a convert when he asked God questions in prayer he would not receive answers to his questions because he was not sincerely and earnestly asking asking. He was only asking to satisfy curiosity. God will not answer you just because you are serious, he will only answer you if you come with a broken heart and a contrite spirit asking humbly and sincerely for an answer to your question.

This reminds me of a scripture in D&C 9:8-9

it reads, 

8 But, behold, I say unto you, that you must ^astudy it out in your ^bmind; then you must ^cask me if it be right, and if it is right I will cause that your ^dbosom shall ^eburn within you; therefore, you shall ^ffeel that it is right.

9 But if it be not right you shall have no such feelings, but you shall have a ^astupor of thought that shall cause you to forget the thing which is wrong; therefore, you cannot write that which is ^bsacred save it be given you from me.

We can take this scripture and apply it in our lives when we pray. When we ask for answers from god in prayer, not only do we need to be humble and sincere about what we ask, we also need to come with a plan to move forward. As you study it out in your mind and in prayer if it is the right thing for you to do you will be able to feel it in your heart, if it is not you will not get any such feeling. I know that this is true. With prayer it is so important to come prepared, to say a sincere prayer, not one that is memorized and barely different than the one you said yesterday. I of all people and not perfect at this, I fall into the bad habit of saying prayers that aren't sincere. As I have studied in the MTC I have learned how to make my prayers not only more sincere but meaningful through praying for others. As we pray for others we forget about ourselves and lose ourselves in the service of our neighbors and our god. I know if we do these things we will be blessed.

The MTC is treating me good so far, hope you all are having a wonderful time, be safe out there

Until next time (Kita Kites)

Jordan