Baliw Siya

Hello everyone! 

So I am sorry to say that there is not much to say this week... It just starting to get to that point when everything starts getting the same every single week and not much changes because I have been in the same area!

Transfers is on March 13, and at the point I might be transferred but I am not sure if I will be I might go 6 months in this area! phew! thats a long time but thats okay, I really like this area, and I will be sad when I have to go, but I am excited to experience new things. 

I had my first Invterview has a District Leader and it was really awesome! so spiritual! This was a kid who was 13 years old and reminded me so much like Joseph Smith, his story was just like Joseph Smiths. It was remarkable to see the Spirit hit him so strongly and have such a strong testimony about the church! He told me that everyone needs to be baptized and how critical it is that we keep doing what we are doing. Then after asking him why he wanted to be baptized and sharing with me for 20min he asked me a question that I didn't think he would ask. He asked me how did I come to know the truth that the church was true. It was a really powerful experience and I am very excited for him and for his baptism. I believe he will be a leader in the Church here in the Philippines, and serve a great mission. 

Then something funny just to throw in real quick. One of the Investigators of the Zone Leaders proposed to one of our Sisters by letter. We didn't give her the letter we read the letter because we all ready know this guy is a little bit creepy, and he just confesses his love for this sister and how he has a ring for her and want to have kids with her and the whole 9 yards! Baliw Siya! ( He's crazy!) yeah we were just freaking out, and couldn't believe this guy, he has only seen the sister once! So that will be fun for the Zone leaders to deal with haha! 

Sorry everyone, next time I will make sure to have a better e-mail! Love you all and miss ya! 

-Elder Kikel

A Sister in our Ward made this for us. All of us Elders in Lucena! 

My captain Moroni statue!

Thats my desk... oooo.. aaaahhh...

Me and my previous Zone Leaders. Elder Inlayo on the left, he is from Canada but was born in the Philippines. Elder Boyd on the right and he is from Sandy, Utah. He recently just became the new AP in our mission. 

Look at this delecious food I made! (Instagram) 

Us goof balls!

Our Jerseys' that we made in Lucena! Lucenites!

 Me and one of our Investigators Johnathan. ( He use to be a Gangster)

Like a boss. Rice for Dinner.

Elder Strobelt enjoying himself a snack.

The Work Continues

Okay here we are in the land of the Philippines reporting more and more action week by week.

How many e-mails will have have by the end of my mission?

First off, I just want to say that everyone who is sending me letters from home, I am receiving them and I love reading them, they make me smile! I won't be able to send letters back home just because it is soo expensive to send a letter oversees and it takes a lot out of our support that we shouldn't be spending. So i am sorry that I am not writing letters back but I am receiving them and I do read them! Thank you for all of your support and love I really do appreciate it!

Anyways so to start off this weeks e-mail I have been called as a District Leader here in the Lucena. it was pretty random actually because it is half way through the transfer and we all ready had a District Leader, but some crazy things went down and I got a call on Thursday from the APs and they just told me that I am the new District Leader and just to jump right into it haha so okay now I am the new District Leader! I am pretty excited, honestly I have been kind of waiting for this experience. I have been told that Its not to bad, and it is really fun. I just have to report numbers to higher authorities conduct District Meetings, and go on exchanges with everyone in my District. So that sounds pretty fun to me! Looking forward to it!

So the results from  our week of Exact obedience was pretty successful we saw many blessings, and a more sensitivity to the spirit this last week. We had a lot a cool things happen that were just plain weird, but we knew that it came from our desire to be exactly obedient. Of course we are not perfect and towards the end of the week it turned back into our normal routine, which is still obedient of course but we just kind of lost the focus of being exactly obedient! Which wasn't good, but after this week we have a stronger desire to be more obedient as missionaries!

Here was a pretty cool experience:

So we were tracting houses and we came across the 17 year old, and we were just talking to him about the restoration and how it can help him and stuff like that, and after I got done talking to him I asked how he feels about what we have said, and this is what he said to me in English. " honestly man, I can't understand a thing your saying." WELL there goes my confidence in my language skills.... hahahah I laughed pretty hard, the kid speaks perfect English. So I try again in Tagalog to share a little bit about the restoration, saying pretty much the exact same thing. I then again asked him to tell me how he felt about what I was saying and he said, once again in English. " okay... now I feel like i want to go to your church." haha what the heck! ha it was cool to see the spirit hit him and help him realize our purpose. He didn't come to church but we are going to try and follow up with him.

This last week lesson wise, and numbers wise was the same but just with more spirituality, which helped a lot. It ended pretty sad though which wasn't fun to deal with but our Investigators Sisters Anabel and Elinor who were suppose to be baptized January 25 are just going downhill and were probably going to have to drop them here pretty soon. They say they know everything is true, and they read, and pray everyday. But they just want the baptisms to be "THE DAY"and they are just not ready to prepare for that because they have family problems, and they are to busy. They stopped coming to church and it just... sad. It was heart breaking to hear those words come out of their mouths. Just to see something that Elder Strobelt and I have been working so hard to help these people obtain salvation and happiness in their life, to help them be happy, and to know their savior in a more personal sense, and to see them kind of turn it down, is heartbreaking. Elder Strobelt and I pray for them everyday, and I pray for them so hard that they might be able to overcome their trials and challenges, but I guess its just not there time. So we will see what happens with them In the future.

The work must go on!!

So I can't think of anything funny that I did this week. I will try and remember to write stuff down thats funny and just plain different, to give you guys more of a laugh in my e-mails. but for now this is all I got! Thank you everyone!

-Elder Kikel

Just us Elders trying to be buff! The tall Elder next to me (Elder Crockett) is from Tacloban Mission, he is probably going to be back soon.

Obedience brings blessings, exact obedience brings miracles

Well everybody its that time of week again,

 

I know I say it all the time but I swear P-day comes around so fast! It just blows my mind every time when we are reporting our numbers Sunday night going through what we need to do better and improve on, what we did good and need to continue to do. It just hits me that the next day is P-day! It's always exciting for P-Day. But, if you use your P-day right it still should be a busy day. Only sometimes do you get some time just to lay down and relax. Doesn't sound fun at first but then it kind of nice, cause then you never get to lazy.

 

So this last week has been better for me personally. Of course through the Atonement and the Lord giving my Daily Bread that I need to work day by day, I have felt peace and contentment in my life as a missionary. Upon some serious reflecting while I was in sacrament meeting, I really stepped back and looked at the big picture of what I am doing out here, and who I represent. The thoughts I had come to my mind helped me tremendously once again. It seems here in the Mission field, at least for me, that every time when you think you just can't take anymore, can't go any further, work any harder , or do anything more to improve, they Lord just oh so gently gives you a little boost of Spiritual Energy to get keep on going. I have a learned a lot these last couples weeks and I have come to a more full understanding of the Gospel and the Atonement in my life.

 

Our Mission President last week had us print off a talk by Tad R. Callister about being a consecrated missionary spoken at the MTC in 2008. Oh man was that a good talk, it has inspired me to go beyond Obedience, and to reach Exact Obedience on my mission. To be one of those missionaries who has left everything on the Alter of sacrifice, and to be eye single to the Glory of God. This is something we can not achieve instantly, it takes a lot of work and evaluation, and re-evaluation in your personal commitment to serve the Lord. Anyone who is planning to serve a mission soon should read this talk, it is really good, and will help you prepare for Missionary work. As Elder Strobelt and I were Inspired to act on the message of Tad R. Callister, and to strive to become consecrated missionaries. This week we are doing what we call a " Exact Obedience Week" were we are going to exercise every ounce of Obedience that we have to bring for the blessing from heaven to improve this part of the Lord's vineyard that he has put us in charge of. I have Faith the we will witness miracles this week if we will exercises all the we have as servants of the Lord.

 

We are going to go forth with Faith, and preach Repentance to these people. Whither the choose to accept it or not is up to them, but we will do all that we can to make sure everybody hears the Gospel! I am excited for this week, and looking forward to another year and a half of this stuff. Just imagine how much I have changed now, and I think how much I have learned, and I still have another year and a half! That is so cool, and I am so grateful for this opportunity in my life! Thank you for all the support everyone has give to me, I feel you prayers, and I love you all!

 

-Elder Kikel

Footprints

So this last week was a rough one, but instead of telling you why it was so rough I am going to tell you what I learned from it, because I think this is something we often forget to do when we go through such hard times in our lives.

Many times it is a temptation and from the natural man inside us to ask " Why me?" when faced with adversity in our lives. The worst of things can happen to the best kind of people in this world. Some are able to handle it better then others, and some just do not know what to do, or why or what purpose contains in such calamity. In our relationship to our Savior Jesus Christ who knows all of our pains, weaknesses, and strengths, we should ask him, " What can I learn from this?". This is the reason why we face such challenges in our lives, is to learn from our experiences, and to gain experience in this life that we can take with us into the next. That is why a knowledge of this Gospel is so important to us in our lives, because it is the only thing we can take with us after we leave this mortal world. Everything that happens to us in this life is for our good and our experience (D&C 122:7) God knows us better then anybody else, and he will not give us anything that we cannot handle in this life. Sometimes, believe it or not we are given these hardships, challenges, and trails  in our life from God to be tested of our Faith, and to be Humbled. ( Mosiah 23:21)

In the hardest trials, and adversity in our lives we need to always remember the Lord, our Savior and Redeemer Jesus Christ, and his Atonement. Since he has felt all the pain, sorrow, and tears, he knows it for himself and he has compassion on those that have to go through some of those things. But we must remember to humble ourselves and to think how completely helpless, and nothing compared to his Glory we are. (Mosiah 4:11) We are absolutely nothing with out Him in our lives. Absolutely nothing... and yet we still tend to forget Him, and all that He has done for us. I find this very offensive. After everything Jesus Christ did for the entire world, and some chose to continue to reject and ignore him, well they will be brought to judgement at the last day. This is why missionary work is so important, so that we can help people to come to know the greatness of their Savior and study about his life and his teachings, and come to know him in a more personal sense. We need to always remember Jesus Christ for their is a reason he is called the Savior, he saved us. He made it possible, for all of us, to be redeemed, to be clean, and to enter into his presences and the presence of our Heavenly Father with our Families forever. Now that is a pretty sweet gift after being so disobedient all the time, that's because he loves us so much. If you really take a step back and look at the big picture, you will see that he asks of us very little compared to others like in the Book of Mormon, and the Bible.

My dearest family members, and friends. I learned that in the biggest trials of our lives there is only one place to turn, and that is the Lord. We need to remember him and his Glory and his capability to give us strength and help us through his Atonement. Humble ourselves always, and to beware of pride in our lives.

I would like to share a story that a Sister missionary shared with me that I really loved. I get emotional every time I share it. I don't know where she got it from, but if some one said it somewhere all ready I'm sorry.

"There was a young man who had a dream. His dream what about him standing on a beach with the Savior next to him. He looked at the beach and where he was at, he could see a very long shore line, with the waves coming in and out, with beautiful mountains in the background. Your classic paradise. He then thought that the beach was a representation of his life and all the things that happened to him. There were footprints in the sand, and there were two pairs of footprints. He figured one was his, and the other was the Saviors. He smiled knowing that the Savior was with him in his life. Then he saw sometimes in his life there were only one one pair of footprints, and it was at the time of greatest hardship, and struggle in his life. He then turned to the Savior and said." Why did you abandon me in my greatest time of need? When I needed you most in my life, and you weren't there?". The Savior turned to him and said," Those are not your footprints, they are mine. Those are the times in your life where I picked you up and carried you through you trails and hardships." The young man began to cry when he realized how many times there were only one pair of footprints in the sand."

I testify to you all that if you will just only take a short time each and every single day to study the life and teachings our our Savior and Redeemer, you will begin to have a personal relationship with him, stronger then you think it could be without physically being able to see him. I know that if you will do this you will feel his love, recognize his spirit, and appreciate more for everything that he has done for all mankind. As I have started to do this slowly but surely in my mission which is just about 15 min a day I have all ready felt my relationship with Him grow stronger, as long as my Faith, and Testimony. I know that this Church is true and that is stores the Restored Gospel of Jesus Christ. I know that Joseph Smith is a true prophet of God, and that Thomas S. Monson is our living prophet now, in our time. I know that the Book of Mormon has the power to change lives, and that it is true, for it has changed mine. I know that Jesus Christ is my Savior, my Redeemer, and my Brother, and I say all these things humbly in his name, Jesus Christ, Amen.

Phew! You all better be crying after that one! I have spent my entire E-mail time typing out this letter!!

Okay, now for the more relaxed stuff.

So this is the most embarrassing thing that has happened to me on my mission so far. So of course me and my housemates are all doing Insanity and eating super healthy and all the jazz, and were looking pretty good right? So we taking pictures with our shirts off with ties on to be funny, and stuff like that ( Stupid Idea ) but one Elder forgot to delete all of his and when he was visiting his recent convert she was going through his pictures and saw all of them!!! oh no!!! Wow... I can't believe it.... I was so ashamed... haha The Elder told me that her exact words  when she saw it was. " Why is Elder Kikel half Naked?" ( I had pants on) and they told me that she went on about how Macho I am hahahah freak. Thats not good. So now every time I go to church and see her she just giggles and laughs at me cause I am so embarrassed but she just loves to make fun of me. So moral of the story! DON'T DO STUPID THINGS! Especially on your mission hahah well I learned my lesson from that one.

Anyways I hope you all have a good week!

-Elder Kikel

The Prevail

Good week my friends!

I just can not believe that I am coming up on my 7th month here on my mission. The last 3 months here in Lucena have just flown by so fast! I can't believe, and I don't want it to go by that fast, Elder Strobelt and I are doing great together and we are just loving it here in Lucena Philippines! It is true indeed that it is a hard area, but I can honestly say I love it here. We are starting to get a ton of help from the members and working more closely with out Bishop. Our Bishop is awesome right now, he just got called as the new Bishop and he is fixing a ton of things in our ward. He is literally going by the RED handbook and it is SWEET! He is just getting work done and making sure everything is going the right way. Making sure everything is done how they are suppose to be, and it is really helping.  We are starting to receive a ton of referrals from members and investigators that we have, and they are very progressing so we have goals and plans to extend baptismal goal dates and really help these people come to know their Savior. I hope I am not transferred! We will find out if we are transferred tomorrow. It is unlikely that I will be transferred because I am training Elder Strobelt and training is 12 weeks. We are only at 6 weeks. But, it has been known that anything can happen in this mission. 

Speaking about our Savior, I have had these thoughts these last few days that I really want to start working and striving to become a Master Teacher. I have thought a lot about what I am doing to help my investigators to progress and how I can do this. I thought that obviously I need to become a better teacher. Then I thought, why did the Apostles of Jesus Christ have so much power and Authority to teach in a such a short period of time. Of course they were blessed to do the work to which they were called.  " Who the Lord calls to do his work, the Lord qualifies" -I don't know if thats the right quote- Then I often thought how did the Missionaries in the times of Joseph Smith do such miracles and teach with such power, even when they had none of the tools as we do now. So I started my quest on learning how to become a Master Teacher. What better way to start off by Studying the Bible of the Teachings of Jesus Christ and his apostles. I am also following a Study Guide which is called, " The Life and Teachings of Jesus Christ and his Apostles." It is a really good manual and I am learning incredible amounts of information. I just hope that I can obtain many teaching skills on my mission but I believe become a Master Teacher, come through time. Just think... Before Thomas S. Monson was called to be a prophet, he was a member of the quorum of the twelve for 50 years. That is a life long journey. That I am willing to take. 

Not much to say this week, just still working hard and being obedient. Nothing this week really happened that was of unusual interest. One of our Zone Leaders here in Lucena became AP yesterday so that was cool, I got to know him pretty well, we talk about hanging out after the mission all the time. He name is Elder Boyd and he is from Sandy. Anyways I hope you all had a good week, and are trying hard to remember your nothingness compared to God's Glory. 

Thanks for the Love and Support!

-Elder Kikel

Rain or Shine the work must go on

Every week there is just something that spices things up a bit in the mission field eh!?

This week our work was a lot better in getting lessons wise. But, we had a few unfortunate things happen to us that just wasn't the most enjoyable thing to go through. Our investigator Sister Anabel and Elinor didn't come to church last week, again... So now the count has to start over again and they can't be baptized for another month. Sigh... Then on top of that they are having doubts and don't really want to talk to us right now, soo.... that has been kind of depressing. So close to my first baptism and it slips right out of my hands. Yeah it was sucked, and I haven't felt that sad in a very long time. I love these people and truly have the desire to help them and I would get butterflies every time I would think about their baptisms. You know it really wasn't fun to see this all fall apart, but it is a part of missionary work, we just need to keep on working hard, and hope and pray for the best. We watched a broadcast the other day for the entire Philippines. It was a broadcast for the yearly goals for the Philippines given by Elder Neilson the Area President. I like a story that he shared in the broadcast. He shared a story about the Pioneers, and how in their long journey they mostly had flat plains all the way, but at the very end they had a huge mountain to climb and get over. He also said the some people say that people share way to many pioneer stories, and why they always share them. He said, that is because they showed what hard work was and showed the sacrifices that needed to be made to establish this Church and to find true Happiness. I feel this experience is the start of my Mountain, and I am making my climb, how fast I am going to get over it? I don't know, but I do know that I can try my best to get over it with the tools that I have. Also through the Enabling Power of the Atonement I am given strength to keep going even if I don't get any sleep, and I am super tired. I am so grateful for this knowledge of the Gospel and I am so grateful to have the opportunity to spend another 18 months to learn it ever more.

My Trainee Elder Strobelt is doing really good, and we are having a blast out here. Though it is stressful and tough, it is super fun! I mean come one... I am in the Philippines! It is going to be a sad day when I have to see him leave. Today we went and designed, and bought, custom jerseys for our Area. They are sweet and it is going to take a couple weeks for them to get finished.

Nothing really weird or strange happened this last week, so I will try and remember this next week, and share more cool funny stories with you guys.

Lastly, I just want to share some scriptures that I read in my personal read that I felt impressed to share with you all. They are found in Jacob 1: 17-19. These scriptures talk about magnifying our calling, and how important to remember that what ever calling that we are given is from God, and he has trusted us with that work. There are many blessings to receive from diligently working in our callings what ever sacrifice it takes. We had a member in our ward that was called the 2nd counselor in the Bishop brick, and he ended up quitting his job so that he can fulfill his calling. That is what I call faith, and magnifying your calling. He was a huge example to me. I hope you will all ready these scriptures and the words the Prophet Jacob has said, and think how we can magnify our callings.

Thanks again for your love and support!

-Elder Kikel

The Power of Prayer

Hey everyone!

Nothing much to report on today, this last week has been very similar as last week. Elder Strobelt and I are just trying to pull through, evaluate, and Improve. It has been tough, and I have just been so stressed lately. I have just been so worried about our Investigators Anabel and Elinor. They didn't come to church this last week, and one of them are having doubts. We all ready had to push back on their baptismal goal dates but we had a lesson with them that I will tell you later that I think really sealed the deal with them.

Nothing really exciting happen this week that I could share that you wouldn't really see in America. Right now is just one of those times where we need to really humble ourselves and recognize the struggles we are going through and look for why we are going through them and what can we learn. (D&C 122:7)

So I share a pretty cool experience I had yesterday that really gave me a spiritual boost.

We were in a lesson teaching our baptismal candidates Anabel and Elinor. We were teaching about Baptism once again because we wanted to absolutely make sure that they know what they are preparing to do and the commitment they are going to take. So we read 2 nephi 31 with them explaining more in depth what Nephi is saying to us. After we read the feeling was that it was just a review and it didn't really help them. Sister Elinor who is the one who is having doubts and says she is not ready for baptism told me she wasn't ready still. So I went ahead and asked her the first few baptismal questions. She believes it is all true everything, she has just been to ten different churches and doesn't know which is the one she should devout too. She told me. If I could prove to her that this Church is the only true church here on earth, she will read every assignment that we give here, she will read the entire Book of Mormon, and go to church every Sunday, and become baptized. I felt a very strong impression to tell her that if she was to kneel down and pray at this very moment that she would receive an answer to her prayers and know that this church is true. At first I was really scared and didn't want too cause I thought what if I tell her that and nothing happens, then what do I say. I said a quick prayer in my heart asking for strength and courage, and saying that I am doing this in faith. So I Sister Elinor to do this, to my surprise she was willing to do it. Everyone in the room knelt down on the dirty floor and began to pray. Her prayer has probably been the most powerful prayer I have heard. You could feel and hear that she knew that she was talking to God, and that she had sincere desire to know. The Spirit was stronger then ever. After the prayer everyone was in tears, and there was nothing to be said. She told us that this has been probably one of the best days of her life, and that she will be baptized, and start reading the Book of Mormon. Phew! I was spiritually drained! Just so much power in Faith, and Prayer.

I am grateful for this opportunity to exercise my faith and build my testimony once again. Brothers and Sisters. When you receive a prompting from the Holy Ghost, You Do It. Don't ask questions, and just do it.

I thank you all for the constant support you give to me, and I hope you all had a very merry Christmas and New Years.

and that your all getting skinnier....

-Elder Kikel