Sounds like a lot of fun at home! I hope WX can take State this year! Well this week has been really well. I've run into many friends and family. Two districts in our Zone left on Thursday morning and a new one came in on Wednesday. I am progressing well in Tagalog and have learned how important it is to always keep your head up when learning is hard and having to have the patience for what you want to become. I set a goal to memorize Joseph Smith's testimony of the First Vision in Tagalog before my 2 week mark and I DID IT:
"Ako ay nakakita ng isang haligi ng liwanag na tamang-tama sa tapat ng aking ulo, higit pa sa liwanag ng araw. Na dahan-dahang bumaba hanggang sa ito ay pumalibot sa akin....Nang tumuon sa akin ang liwanag, nakakita ako ng dalawang Katauhan, na ang liwanag at kaluwaihatian ay hindi kayang maisalarawan, nakatayo sa hangin sa itaas ko. Ang isa sa kanila ay nagsalita sa akin, tinatawag ako sa aking pangalan, at nagsabi, itinuturo ang isa--ito ang aking
Pinakamamahal na Anak. Pakinggan Siya!"
Ang kaloob ng mga wika is real!! We teach a lot more in Tagalog and the investigators understand less English. Our investigators have committed to baptism. An essential piece to trabajo misyonero is to remember how important it is to teach people and not lessons. We watched a Jeffrey R. Holland MTC devotional yesterday and he said, "teaching with the spirit means teaching with understanding," and how we need to watch their eyes and make necessary teaching adjustments to suit their needs. They're human beings, not baptismal statistics.
We are learning a lot about conjugating verbs in Tagalog. I'm grateful to Coach Spencer for being my Spanish teacher one year and making us use this chart that determines what you use to say either "you, your, his/her, they/them, me, my" that kinda thing and if you use it in Ang form, Ng form or Sa form. If you're confused, I'm not surprised but that's the best I could explain it.
I'm eating a lot of food and I'll be very surprised if I'm not 180 lbs by the time I get out of here. We go to the temple to do session every Saturday and I feel strengthened.
I forgot to tell you last week about my senior companion in my tripanionship, has grown up hearing stories about this great faithful man who loved God and others. He heard stories about how he raised his daughter from the dead, having enough faith to walk through fire in the last days. This man also healed Elder Nibarger's grandpa's back after many years of back pain and being bed ridden at times. Before he told these stories he said, "growing up my dad always told stories about this man who was the most spiritual and faithful man he ever knew. His name was Brother Wolfgramm--"being surprised I asked if it was 'Iohani Wolfgramm, and he said yes. I told him that that man is my great grandpa! I couldn't believe that I would have a companion who had heard great stories about my great grandfather. I hope that one day become at least half the man that grandpa was. I think about him a lot now, also grandpa Brown and Muti and Papa's dad, Mosese. I feel bad for not learning enough about my ancestors and the faith they had. I decided to look up the name Wolfgramm on lds.org and I found that Dallin H. Oaks told the story about how 'Iohani used the priesthood to raise Tisina from the dead. I also found one about how Nephi is our 88th great grandfather. So he'd be like my 89th? I thought that was interesting.
If you have grandpa 'Iohani's book, please send it to me please. My companion and I want to read more about him.
I still continue with my workouts but mostly when we are back in the residence and I'll do them in the hallways...#TNDO#GrindNeverStops haha!
Send my love to aunty Leima. She's always so happy and positive and always loving and thinking about others, a very selfless aunty. I will pray and fast for her this Sunday. I have seen God's hand many times here at the MTC.
Alam ko po na perpecto po si Jesucristo at ebanghelyo niya. Alam ko po na perpecto po ang plano ng Diyos para sa atin. Sa pangalan ni Jesucristo amen.
Love,
Elder Brown
P.s....
>Congrats to Pila and Leka. Ask Pila if he knew an Elder Calder on his mission? He's my language teacher and he served in Quezon City, I believe around the same time as Pila.
>Oh has little Mason finished his painting??? Can't wait to see it!
>I have ran into Elder Metai Tu'imoala and Elder Charles Hosea.
>Sorry my usb is having problems, couldn't send pictures, next time sorry:(
>Guess who I ran into? The Fijian family from Laie...Manoa Vuebetau. I met him here the first time but I never really talked to him but he looked so familiar. His older brother, Isi is in the Phillippines, Cebu-east mission and Manoa is going to the Phillippines too, I think the Tacloban mission?? So cool to see him again, he said I looked just like Alton lol
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