Mission President - Water

Dear Sisters and Elders,

We love you very much!

As you probably know, Sister Ostler,  Caleb and I are from Arizona in the United States. It is a beautiful  place with many faithful members of the Church. For four or five months  of the year the weather is perfect--comfortable temperatures and  beautiful blue skies. For the remaining seven or eight months of the  year, the weather is very hot and dry. The average daytime temperature  in August is 40 degrees (104 F). Sometimes the temperature gets as hot as 46 degrees! (115 F) We learned to love it there, but first we needed to learn how to survive in the heat.

How do people survive that kind of heat? The answer is WATER. Our  bodies need water to be healthy. Our bodies use water in every cell,  tissue and organ. Your body is made up of 55-60% water. Water cleans out  your body. Water helps your body fight disease. Water helps your body  stay the same temperature even when the air temperature is much hotter  or colder. This is important: HAVING ENOUGH WATER IN YOUR BODY ALLOWS  YOUR BODY TO AVOID OVERHEATING.

Your body loses water by breathing, sweating and digesting food. The  higher the temperature, the more quickly your body loses water. If you do not drink enough water, your body will suffer from heat exhaustion or heat stroke. Taking paracetemol, tylenol or ibuprofen can help your heat headache but it won't solve the real problem-a lack of water.

It is now summer in the Philippines. The weather is hot and humid. This week it will be 35 or 36 degrees every day. In order for you to serve the Lord with all of your strength and not be exhausted by the heat, please follow these simple steps:

1. Drink at least 2 liters of water every  morning before 11am. (Why? Waiting to drink water until you are out in  the afternoon sun is too late to save you from getting overheated.  Drinking before 11am gives also gives you the chance to use the CR (restroom) a couple of times before you go out to work.)

2. Check the color of your urine. If it is almost clear, you are  drinking enough water. If it is yellow or dark yellow you need to drink  more water.

3. Use an umbrella to shield you from the intense tropical sun.

4. Drink another liter of water in the evening after returning to your apartment.

SPIRITUAL APPLICATION

We  live in a difficult world. There are many temptations and  distractions all around. As you walk the streets of this mission sharing  the gospel, you use lots of spiritual energy. Just as your body loses  water by breathing and sweating, your soul loses spiritual energy as you  live every day in this world.

Do not wait to read your scriptures and pray until your soul is  empty and exhausted and suffering from spiritual heat stroke. Your soul  needs the water of everlasting life every day. To survive the heat, we  drink plenty of water before going out to work. To survive this world,  we read the scriptures and pray every morning. Then, when the heat of  the day comes, you will feel much better physically and you will be  much stronger spiritually.

"Whosoever drinketh of this water [from the well] shall thirst again; but whosoever drinketh of the water that I shall give him shall never thirst; but the water that I shall give him shall be in him a well of water springing up into everlasting life." (John 4:13-14)

May the Lord bless you to use wisdom in taking care of your body and your soul.

Mahal ko po kayo,

President Creg Ostler

So Long. Farewell. Kabsat.

Well. Last week was my last full week with Elder Macanlalay… Haha I’m going to miss that guy. It’s been a fun and fulfilling time with him… I’ve learned a lot from him and I’m excited to learn more from my next companion. Hopefully he’ll be Filipino because 1: Filipinos are good at cooking, so good cook = yummy food. 2: Ha ha ha. Oh man this language sometimes. Yeah.

Anyway, last week was pretty alright! We had a zone meeting and exchanges.

I’ll start with exchanges. I had an exchange with Elder Cram! I’m one transfer ahead of him, meaning both of us are fairly new at this whole missionary thing and we’re not really that good at speaking Tagalog yet… I’d imagine we look pretty funny to the Filipinos; just us two foreigners walking around, looking semi-lost, trying to speak in our broken Taglish. Oh boy.

But everything worked out! Something cool happened. It was nearing the end of the day and we were tired and hungry and we still had some studies to make up… But we decided to stay out for just a few more minutes and approach a few more houses. At literally the next house we went to, we met an older couple who had been taught by the couple missionaries before. They had a Book of Mormon and the husband said that he had already read it. He also told us that he was sick, and that he promised to the couple missionaries that he would go to church once he was well enough to go. I think he said that now he is well enough, but he doesn’t know many people at church so he’s scared to go. Even so, my hope is that he and his wife get taught soon so they can partake of the blessings of living the gospel and being baptized. But yeah wow, if we had gone home right then, we would never have met them, so that’s awesome.

Hm. Other than that, nothing really stands out this week. Well, nothing more than usual… I mean, I guess we did talk to these too super drunk guys yesterday and they invited us to drink with them, but that’s it. Haha!

I’d just like to share one scripture that we discussed in Zone Meeting, in 1 Corinthians 13:11, “When I was a child, I spake as a child, I understood as a child, I thought as a child: but when I became a man, I put away childish things.” Ha oh man this scripture is great, and very applicable to all people. Sometimes we think childishly, we think and act selfishly, we puff ourselves up pridefully, and we forget what things are important. For my own self-application, I realized that getting frustrated and angry is childish. Being impatient is childish. So, I’m going to try to be more patient and put away anything childish that would hinder the work of the Lord.

Hmmm. I feel like I talk about patience a lot. Probably because it’s what I need the most right now haha.

Well this is about all I have right now. Once again, no pictures because slow internet and all that fun stuff.

Mahal ko kayo lahat!

-Elder Ahn

PS Once again a day late because well. Internet here in Palawan is a bit slow. As usual.

GENERAL CONFERENCE

President Ostler sent us missionaries an email last week saying that General Conference will be different this time. And the reason is because we are missionaries: we are more in-tune with the Spirit, we are doing the Lord’s work everyday, and we are more matured and ready to receive the spiritual promptings and revelation from General Conference.

Well. It’s all true.

Umma, Appa, I’m sorry that I slept through all the past conferences that we all watched from the comfort of home. Haha! I kept thinking back to past conferences and I was just constantly reminded of how absolutely lazy and stupid I was. Well, it’s taken me 19 years to realize it. Better late than never. Haha!

Anyway, concerning conference… Really just General Conference was unreal. Unfortunately I forgot to bring my notes from home, so I can’t share any of my favorite thoughts from all the speakers, so next time probably. J

Although, I really did love Elder Holland’s talk. His talk was the perfect talk to end the beautiful Conference Session. I think sometimes we all need that reminder, that our Heavenly Father loves us with all HIS HEART, HIS MIND, HIS MIGHT, AND HIS STRENGTH and he wants us to look forward to tomorrow, because it’s another day where we can serve, and another day where we can grow and become greater Disciples of Christ.

As for an update for this week, I can’t really say that anything stands out to me aside from just, General Conference. It was another normal week of learning and growing and working.

Oh wait… now I remember.

*drum roll*

I’M FINISHED WITH MY TWELVE WEEK TRAINING! BOO YAH.

But because of strange circumstances with extending the training time at the MTC, this transfer is going to be 2 weeks longer than usual. So Elder Macanlalay and I are still companions. But all is well! It just means that we have more time together to work and help the people here in Narra, Palawan come closer to Christ!

Well, I really don’t have much else to share.

This church is true. The book is blue. Let’s all press forward without being scared of tomorrow!

Mahal ko kayo!

-Elder Ahn

THE ILONG RANGER

So there’s this old guy that lives close by to us. And he fixes and tailors clothes. And we like to call him the Ilong Ranger….. because “ilong” in Tagalog means “nose”…. And wowie I kid you not, this man has the most MASSIVE NOSE I HAVE EVER SEEN ON A HUMAN BEING.

But hey, he’s kind and he fixes our clothes. So he’s great.

So other things that happened this week…

We encountered that one crazy person last week. *shiver* Yeah she’s still. Hm. Interesting.

Oh this happened. I gave a talk yesterday in Sacrament… that was terrifying. Luckily, I have a Tagalog PMG, so I just read a story from there and tried to connect to and make it flow with my broken Tagalog. The Zone Leaders were like “WOW YOU’RE TAGALOG IS SO GOOD” But I don’t know if they realize that more than half my talk was just a story I read from PMG. So Ssssshhh…. Secret.

We’ve been doing lots of contacting and lots of finding. And I know without a doubt that the Heavenly Father is at the helm of this work and is leading it forward. Many people that we’ve talked to have been receptive to us returning to teach them, and we’ve run into random people that have been taught in the past that want us to return to teach them again. It’s amazing knowing that Heavenly Father is preparing these people for us to teach and talk to.

I don’t know if I’ve already said this, but never in my life have I ever felt the Spirit more abundantly in my life. I massively regret disregarding the importance of many spiritual things and opportunities that I might have missed in the past, because I know now, stronger than ever, the importance of God’s plan. More than ever, I know the importance of this work, the importance of this life, the importance of living the gospel, the importance of reading the scriptures daily, the importance of sincere prayer, and the list goes on. THIS CHURCH AND THIS WORK IS THE PINAKAMAHALGANG BAGAY SA BUHAY NATIN. It's super important.

That would be it for this week.

Mahal ko po kayo!

-Elder Ahn

PS Yeah I'm sending this a day late because the internet was ridiculously slow yesterday and the internet server kept cutting out.... yeah. It was frustrating. Heavenly Father is still teaching me the attribute of "patience".

3/20/2016

I GOT THE PACKAGE! WOOT!

Thankyou for all the food and the materials and the two rolls of toilet paper (not necessary but still <3)!

The Elders in the apartment were like "Why is all the food healthy food? Are your parents, like, health nuts?" So that was funny. Because yeah we're a generally healthy family.

Anyway.

We had Zone Conference! It was truly a blessing to learn and spend time with all the missionaries on the island of Palawan! And it was especially a blessing to hear words of wisdom from our mission president, President Ostler as well as his wife. They're great.

So here in Narra, I think there's a festival going on for a couple days or something...? Because there are a lot of booths and events and lot's of random things happening that don't usually happen. Also, either these events have caused people to sing more karaoke as part of the festivities, or our neighbors just bought a new karaoke machine. Because from 7:00 AM until 11:00 PM, they're singing drunk karaoke... Ah they're gems. Sometimes it's difficult to study, but all is well.

Hm another random thing: I made a baby cry in a shuttle by looking at it. So apparently I look scary.

This week I'd like to stress the importance of just loving everyone. Sometimes it's easy to look at people and find all the things that we "don't" love about them... because as mortals, we're imperfect. But if we take a step back and ask "Okay, who are we... we're Children of God... these people are my brothers and sisters..." it's easy to cast out negativity.

There's a very good reason why we're commanded to first: Love God. Then Second: Love our neighbors. Because if we do just those two, there wouldn't be any need for other laws, because we'd all just be happy and we'd all be doing the right thing.

So it was a good week. The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints is true. The Book of Mormon is true. This work is real.

Alright, I'm out.

Mahal ko kayo!

Elder Ahn

- I <3 Narra

- A BABY CARABAO

- I got the Package and I am Happy.

"DO YOU WANT TO BE PUNCHED!?"

^^^ Real quote from a lady when we were trying to go door knocking, or "tao po'ing" in Puerto Princessa.

So that was great. Haha!

Anyway, we had Zone Meeting last week in Puerto! We rode in a shuttle for a few hours, so I tried to study, but then I got carsick because reading + bumpy road = No. It was nice seeing the Zone and to receive training from the Zone Leaders. Our focus was on getting investigators to come to church because that has lately been our weak spot when it comes to helping our investigators enter the waters of baptism. Much fun and much practice teaching.

We also had a fireside with Elder Snow and the Church Historian and some other General Authorities. They talked about what they do as part of the Church History department and all the rad stuff they have in the Church History Vaults. Also they said they still don't have the Sword of Laban so that still answers that question.

We're hoping to see some baptisms this coming April! So prepare yourselves for that!

We have 2 investigators who are showing genuine interest and desire to live the Gospel and become baptized! In lessons they're answering questions and truly thinking and trying to understand and internalize the doctrine we share with them. We are trying to stress Eternal Marriage with them because they need to be married before they can be baptized, so we're cheering them on and praying for them.

Also sometimes I'm not the best at teaching... okay scratch that. I'm really not good at teaching because I end up getting flustered and forgetting a lot.  But I'd just like to quickly testify of the power of bearing short and simple testimonies. Bearing my testimony in Tagalog is one of the first things we learned at the MTC, and that it such a blessing because even if our teaching isn't very eloquent at times, our investigators can feel the power of our personal witness that the message we share with them is true. So short, simple, and powerful statements.

Alright, I'm out.

Much love,

-Elder Ahn

PS  APPA HAPPY LATE BIRTHDAY! SORRY I DIDN'T WISH YOU A HAPPY BIRTHDAY EARLIER. I HOPE YOU STILL LOVE ME (PSH OF COURSE YOU DO). <3

THE SUPER SCARY LADY

Alright, are you guys ready for a really weird experience? Holy cow, okay. So to start off, we had exchanges this week, and I was paired up with a new elder, named Elder Cram who is even newer than me. He's been in the field for like a week? And I've been in the field for like 7 weeks? So that was a difficult exchange, but it was also amazing because I was able to fully lead our area and I realized that my progression in teaching and just speaking Tagalog in general has really really increased. So I am eternally grateful for 1: The Gift of Tongues, and 2: For Heavenly Father hearing my prayers and sending me the comfort and strength I needed. Alright so during our exchange, we also met this lady. She was right outside our investigators house and we had just finished teaching.... and right when we walked outside she beckoned us over and starting talking to us and she was saying lots of stuff like "I read the Book of Mormon and I was crying and crying" and "Do you have an English Book of Mormon? Aren't you going to give me an English one?" and "When is my baptism? Aren't you going to baptize me?" So normally this would be happy news right? Because she's expressing interest right? Well wrong, because the Spirit was NOT present there. Everything about the encounter felt very very wrong and she was either drunk or just... not fully there... But it was definitely interesting! And we're still safe here so that's also a good sign right? Haha! Ah, I know. Brad Wilcox and his talk on Grace. Everyone should hear that talk, because it is awesome. He explains grace perfectly, and it helped change my perspective on just how much our Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ love us. They know we're going to make mistakes and they know that we have weaknesses, but through the ultimate expression of love, Jesus Christ atoned for our sins and he makes ALL the difference for us. Well, I think this is all for now! Oh yeah, here are some pictures. I'll try to send more pictures more often... Haha. -Elder Ahn -The Old Narra District before transfers -More Balut. But this time it was older (24 days) so yeah. Bones & feathers and all. -Elder Macanlalay and I because we're awesome.