September 23, 2013

Magandang hapon kayo!

Man, another week. I don't know what to tell you, the days are blending. I'll be honest, it's hard and time works weird. It goes so slow but fast at the same time. But you just gotta enjoy it, diba? 

Anyway, this is pretty much how my week went:

Tuesday: We had companion exchanges, so I worked with Elder Ramsay for the day. It was pretty fun and it was cool to see his area and meet some awesome people. One guy we taught was really cool, but he was super philosophical and was pretty confused, but we had a good time teaching him.

Wednesday: We had zone conference in Laoag. It was pretty awesome and I got to see almost my entire MTC batch, so it was fun to catch up with Elder Finch, Elder Hinton, Sister Brewer, and Sister Keith. Then we taught some of our recent converts and had awesome lessons with them. It's pretty fun, especially when non-members are with us and they get to feel the Spirit with us.

Thursday: So our fellowshipper turned out to be unavailable, so we weren't able to teach the majority of our planned lessons (I guess that's where back-up plans come in handy...). We got punted the majority of the day, but we were able to teach a few lessons and they were pretty fun. Oh, and we got chased by a bunch of kids who wanted hi fives. The kids are hilarious. 

Friday: We found out that Elder Del Rosario is being transferred to the Santa Ana area, which is the far end of the mission out in the bukid bukid area! Haha, that's nuts, but it should be fun for him. And we had a lunch appointment and had a good discussion about charity.

Saturday: So the typhoon came in and we weren't able to work all day. It was a signal 2 and signal 3 in some areas, so we didn't have power all day. Basically we studied and cleaned the apartment. But then Elder Ruga and I went out to go buy us chicken for dinner and on the way home, the whole highway was flooded and we were soaked when we got back. Haha, it wasn't fun, but it's funny now. Also, there was a bat in our apartment, but thankfully Elder Ramsay is from Australia so he just used a bag, grabbed it, and threw it outside. Haha, I felt like a little girl because I didn't know what to do about it.

Sunday: After church, we went and taught a couple about baptism, and some kids saw me and so they followed us into the lesson. We ended up teaching the couple, their kids, plus about 18 neighbor kids anywhere from 5-12 years old. That was pretty fun, kind of weird, but awesome.

So in summary, we get punted a lot and do to the weather, and people being "busy," we don't necessarily get to teach as much as we would like. But no worries, it's all good! This week we're going to make some better back-up plans, find, and work harder. It will be good.

Anyway, keep enjoying life with hot water and flushing toilets. Have an awesome week! Mahal ko kayo!

-Elder Oberg

Also, read Alma 36. It's about Alma the Younger telling his story, and it's a great reminder that repentance isn't bad. It's a positive experience and though it's hard, it's always worth it. There are some other insights I got from it as well, check it out!

September 16, 2013

Kumusta!

First of all, I want to apologize for some of my emails last week. It was a pretty rough week, but I'm trying to be more positive. It's hard out here, but I already know that despite the hard times and the homesickness, whenever I look back I only see the good and the fun. I'm trying to focus on seeing that in the present as well. Haha!

Anyway, these are some of the things that happened this week:

Thursday: After district meeting (which was awesome) I had to change the wrist strap on my watch because the leather, mixed with the humidity and my sweat (it's really hot here and we sweat a ton...) it smelt bad. I showed it to a member and she pretty much forgot her name. Haha, sounds gross, but it's true. We thought we wouldn't be able to teach because there was a huge storm and lightning was hitting really close to us, but it calmed down and thankfully we were able to work. We taught some really awesome lessons and on the way back from a less-active's house, Brother Bobby spontaneously invited us to a dinner appointment which was fun.

Friday: We stopped by the house of one of our less-active's (we focus on them a lot.) Anyway, we haven't been able to visit him because he always hides from us, but he finally let us in and we had an awesome discussion. He's a really good guy, he just is shy and has a lot of concerns, but I'm really hoping we can work with him and help him.

Saturday: This was the best day of the week. Tatay Imperial got baptized! It was awesome and he's such an awesome guy. His testimony was so powerful and his wife and one of his sons came! Anyway, then we taught some people in Marcos who are awesome, but it's really sad to see what some of the people here go through. 

Sunday: I was really sick and couldn't really walk so unfortunately we weren't able to make it to church. But on the bright side, miracles happened. Part of Tatay Imperial's family came to church to support him for his confirmation! Then, a part member family who is less-active also came, and they want us to come teach them! That was way cool as well.

Anyway, the rest of the week was good and the people here are awesome. They all want me to talk more because I'm kind of quiet, so I'm trying but it's difficult. But this week, I re-found (is that a word?) some scriptures that are way helpful. Mosiah 15:7 talks about how Christ suffered all of those afflictions, and then it says "the will of the Son being swallowed up by the will of the Father." It really shows me that God has His purposes and we need to trust Him, whether or not we see the purpose. Along with that is Mosiah 7:33 and all of Alma 26, especially verses 12 and 37. I really encourage you to study those. They hit me pretty hard.

Anyway, keep me updated, and have a great week! The church is true!

Mahal ko kayo!

-Elder Oberg  

Pictures

September 8, 2013

Magandang Hapon!

I decided that my emails are kind of sounding like journal entries or something, so I'll try to only update the highlights. I'll try to keep my emails shorter. Haha, sorry!

Anyway, the first thing that happened was on Wednesday. We were teaching an investigator about the Law of Chastity, and I accidentally messed up in Tagalog. We were talking about our thoughts and "malinis na mga isip" is clean thoughts, but I said "malinis na mga ipis" which means clean cockroaches... But he understand what I meant and after we made fun of me, everything else went well. Haha. 

Thursday was my first Zone Training which was good and our Zone leaders are awesome. They really stressed 3 Ne 18:21 and Alma 18 which are awesome, and I highly encourage you to read them. 

On Saturday our District Leader interviewed our baptismal candidate. Unfortunately he couldn't pass him, but after Stake Conference on Sunday the mission president interviewed with him and he's clear to be baptized on Saturday! I'm pretty stoked for that and he  is an awesome guy. Also, we went to Marcos and I've never sweat so much in my life. It's flipping hot here and the humidity is crazy, but it's good. 

Oh yeah, another thing: Stake Conference was really inspiring to me because the stake center is really far away, but the members are excited and willing to go anyway. The entire jeepny on the way was full of members of our ward, our investigators and us. It was so cool, and they're faithfulness was a huge example.

So basically, that's it, other than the kids yelling "up here!" and chasing us down the street. Haha, they're pretty fun. But yeah, keep me updated! Mahal ko kayo!

-Elder Oberg

September 1, 2013

Kumusta!

Another crazy week! Haha, so here goes.

Monday: After I emailed we went and got haircuts at the shop, but it was kinda awkward because they were men cutting our hair, but I thought they were women... Anyway, luckily my companion is Philippino and helped me out. Then on Monday night I had my first Balut! Haha, it didn't taste too bad, but it looked nasty and it was difficult to eat because I could feel the feet, beak, and eye in my mouth.. Elder Ruga took a video so I'll try to get that to you.

Tuesday: We went to Marcos! That place is awesome and I felt like I was in Kakariko village or something (Zelda.. I'm a nerd!) There were houses made of mud and flipping chickens everywhere. It was pretty cool, but unfortunately the people we tried to teach weren't home so we did some finding and visiting.

Wednesday: I woke up feeling pretty sick, and it ended up getting so bad that my companion made me text Sister Barrientos (Mission president's wife). I ended up going to the hospital to get tested and to get rehydrated. I was in the hospital until Friday morning, but no worries. It was just a minor bacterial parasite. I go back on Friday to get it checked up. The hospital was really nice too, when I left I got to take a shower and it had a shower head! Not only that, but the toilet flushed. That was a nice bonus.

Friday: After checking up with Sister Barrientos and getting a prescription we did weekly planning which took up the rest of the night. But it was pretty effective, so that's good.

Saturday: In the morning we had a ward fireside on unity. It was pretty cool, it's different here. We played games at the beginning and the adults play as much as the kids/youth. It's actually really awesome. At lunch there weren't plates or anything so everyone gathered around the food (which was on banana leaves) and we all ate with our hands. Apparently in the Philippines they do that a lot! I was grossed out at first, but whatever, it's the Philippines! Then we taught our investigator who is planning on getting baptized soon. It was an awesome lesson and he's really doing well. After him we taught the security guard and that lesson was so powerful! It was only the second time we taught him and he wants to get baptized and he's already trying to prepare! I'm super stoked for him.

Sunday: Fast sundays are long here, holy crud! We don't eat dinner until usually 8 or 9, so it's a little tough for me because I love food. But it was good. We walked a couple miles to go teach some families and none of them were home! Haha, it's all good though, I made chicken adobo when we got back.

Anyway, that was my week. It's crazy, it's hard sometimes, but it's awesome! Keep me updated, I love hearing what's going on with everyone. Have an awesome week and thank you all for everything!

Mahal ko kayo!

-Elder Oberg

August 26, 2013

Magandang Hapon!

Wow, I don't even know what's new anymore everything as I know it is different! 

So on Tuesday, it was flooding and apparently two missionaries in the Mania mission or somewhere close to there got electrocuted. They should be ok, they're recovering, but we had to stay inside all day so we couldn't work. That was a bummer, but oh well, it is what it is.

Wednesday was pretty fun. Brother Alvin is a member and actually served his mission in Manila. He was able to fellowship with us so we went and taught a few lessons. Our investigator we wanted to visit wasn't available because she was sick, so instead we went finding. We found a guy named Rex, who was really cool, but we can't tell how interested he is yet. We'll visit him again and find out soon! And if he isn't now, he will be! Haha, then we visited some less-actives and found two new investigators. Brother Alvin is awesome and he's really good at English and Ilokano even though his native language is Tagalog.

Thursday: We had a district meeting and interviews with the President. That was pretty cool. We only worked a half-day because of the storm. Apparently typhoons come close to here. Haha! But we were able to teach a  less-active family and it was really awesome. The daughter who usually doesn't join us came. And they explained how they want their mom to be baptized so we talked about how it's important for them to set the example by coming to church and such.

Friday: We got to teach a recent convert, Nanay Pillos who is pretty quiet, but awesome. Her husband likes to talk a lot, but it's all good!

Saturday: We attended a funeral for a nanay who passed away. Funerals are really different hee because they mourn for days before it and then celebrate on the day of the funeral. They had a marching band and stuff. During the service though, because nobody else knew how, I had to play the piano.. That was a fun experience because I'm not very good. But oh well. If you haven't yet, learn piano! You never know when you'll need it! 

We got to teach Tatay Imperial! He is so awesome! He is planning on getting baptized on September 14th. He's struggling with coffee, but his family (even though they are strong Baptist) are going to help him with it! It was awesome and they are super cool! Tatay gave us a referral who is a really nice guy too. 

Sunday: Tatay Imperial and his referral, Jerry came to church! And we found out that it's going to change from a branch to a ward! That was awesome. We're really trying to promote the missionary effort here. We had dinner at Brother Alvin's house and part of it was fish, but it was strange to me because it was all together. The head, the fins, everything was there. So you just pull the meat from the bones. It was weird, but didn't taste bad! Then we taught another investigator family about the atonement. They're awesome, but we need to help them understand the difference between Christian churches and such. Anyway, then we taught the security guard outside our apartment! He told us he was curious about what our purpose was, so we taught him the Restoration. It was awesome and the Spirit was so strong! We're going to teach him again on Saturday. Elder Ruga is awesome, he's such a good teacher/trainer/companion, to me and all the people.

Anyway, as far as Tagalog goes.. It's hard, and I have a hard time understanding the people because of their accent. But I know the concepts and I'm learning. I'm not too good at it now, but I know that with God's help, I can learn it to accomplish righteous purposes!

Oh yeah, and Elder Ramsey is back from the hospital. He had Denggai (no idea how to spell it) as well as some other things. But he's ok now, he's pretty fun. 

Anyway, that was long. Sorry. One more thing:

My current mailing address is this:

Elder Christopher Ryan Oberg

Philippines Laoag Mission Office

Brgy. 50 Buttong, Airport Avenue,

Junction Tangid Road, Laoag City

2900, Ilocos Norte, Philippines

The rumor is that it takes 6 weeks or so to deliver, and if you don't put pictures of Jesus on packages, they'll get robbed. Haha, we'll see!

Anyway, Mahal ko kayo!

-Elder Oberg