Christmas in May, Chicken Feet, And the Spread of the Gospel

The arrival of the smart phone has come! Last week President Hughes asked us to come over to pick up the first one and get used to the functions so that we can train the other missionaries on how to use it. I felt as if I was a kid again opening my Christmas present that contained a Nintendo DS. There is no better time for Christmas than May. Though now this gadget is not for playing Pokemon, but for hastening the Lord's work. It just feels so foreign to hold a smart phone because it has been about... lets see 18 months since I have used one. I kind of forgot how to type and operate a smart phone. 

In our mission right now we have a large focus on finding more people. Our goal is to find and teach fifteen new people every week. As an Assistant our time is limited so it has been difficult to hit this goal. However as leaders we need to be the example so we aimed to hit this goal. On Monday, we had zone interviews still but we had two hours where we could go on splits with two members and find people to teach. I set a high goal of finding ten new people in these two hours. While that was an obscure goal, I knew that it was possible. Lo and behold, we found in the first couple minutes a large family of people just wanting to come unto Christ. On our way home a teenager called at us saying "Oy! Elders!" We went over and talked to him for a while. He is actually a member but has not been to church in a while. He invited us inside and we taught his family and his friends. When we have the faith to find and set high goals, God will prepare the way.

A funny experience this week was when we went over to our Ward Mission Leader's house. He fed us Arroz Caldong Paa ng Manok, which is this Rice soup dish with chicken feet. Elder Olpin, my companion, has gone 22 months in the mission and has never tried chicken feet, and it was not in his agenda to try it any time soon.. but after relentless persuasion and teasing he finally tried a tiny piece of the feet. Lets just say by the end of that meal my companion was not happy with me. It was truly an experience of a lifetime!

Here is another miracle that we just experienced in this mission. On Sunday, Baliwag was organized as the 110th stake in the Philippines. Baliwag is this area in our mission that is the least populated and has many rice fields. In my entire mission, I have heard about it but never had the opportunity to be assigned there. Pretty much all of my areas have been in the city so this was my first time to see rice fields. At this conference there were two men who were the first missionaries in Baliwag which at the time there were only five members. Now about 40 years later it has become the newest stake with over a thousand members. The gospel is spreading quickly and will continue to grow with our increasing efforts to find those people who are ready to change and come unto Christ.

It is an amazing time to be alive and see the world changing. I wonder what the world will be like in 40 more years?

-Elder Cadayong