Saturday, January 26, 2019
January 13
Mommy and Daddy and People,
Yes I remember that poem! And yes I have received some letters, thank you! Yes, the Come, Follow Me Program is an amazing and inspired resource that every family should be using. I testify that it is inspired of God, and that by using it you can grow spiritually as individuals, and as a Family. We had an area wide "stake conference" here this week President Holland spoke to us. The Area Plan in the Philippines is "Obey, Covenant, and Establish" and he talked about obeying. He said that for him, of all the things Jesus Christ said, His most important words were, "nevertheless not my will, but thine, be done". Elder Holland said that even though the Savior "did not necessarily ,not want to, but most certainly preferred not to" he did the Fathers will in all things. He ultimately subjected himself to the most humiliating circumstances that he had could have had complete control over, none of what he went through was he powerless to stop, he did it willingly and he did it for us. I thought about this. There's so much I could say about this but I'll just try one. Nana was an exceptional example of willingly submitting to the will of the Father. She was, like the Savior, composed and graceful even a terribly humiliating, horrible disease slowly drained her life. She, like the Savior, comforted those around her even when it was she that was suffering immensely. And, I think, She, like the Savior, understood, even while her children and husband did not, the reason for her suffering and disease. She is an exceptional example of love for the Savior, and glorifying him. We should be more like her. We should always be striving to be kind, and obedient, and meek, and submissive, like her, and like our Savior. I testify that there is a kingdom for those like Nana. The Savior, Jesus Christ, and our Heavenly Father, live there. We can live there as well if we stay on the Covenant Path. I love this Gospel, and I love this work.
Love,
Elder Chan
January 6, 2019
Dear Mom, Dad, Emma, Adam, Kyle, and whomever else this letter reaches,
You mentioned that you would be in Lapu Lapu for one more transfer but we didn't pick up why- or how you knew this. Can you tell us again please? Yes, I can. Nothing is for sure of course, it all depends on the will of the Lord. But usually the pattern is that the trainee(Ako) will be left to lead the area, and the trainer(Elder Narciso) will be transferred. This could be false, I could be transferred. We'll find out on the 23rd.
You have repeatedly told us how much you love the people! We love hearing this! Can you describe a family you have visited with this week? Just a few details about them? We would love to know about the people you are with. We have a family in our ward, the Pinales Family, and they are awesome. Brother Pinales is a taxi driver, Sister Pinales cooks Ochenta and Puto and sells them. It's actually turned into a business for her and now she's getting some pretty heavy orders. Yesterday she had over 150 boxes of Ochenta to make, she and her family stayed up all night to finish. Crazy! Elder Hoffman and I actually helped make a few batches while we were visiting last night. There should be a video in the Drive somewhere. They have 3 kids I think, girl, boy, girl. 16, 13, 11 respectively. The boy, Daren, reminds me so much of Adam its weird.
I'm still loving the Philippines, it's hot and my face is breaking out again.
Thank you for this great activity and including me in family scripture study! I know that these changes that have been made to church and home study are hard, and it may be challenging sometimes. But the changes are inspired of God, and I promise that we will be drawn closer together as a family in Christ, all of us. This scripture brought to my mind some interesting thoughts. I hope this is inspired of the Spirit. In "Jesus the Christ" James E Talmage takes a chapter to explain the significance and importance of the Parables of Christ. This is one of the reasons I'm so excited that the new program is focusing on the New Testament! The Masters Parables are so simplistic and beautiful, and yet each hold an eternal perspective. I won't bring out any specific parable now, I just want to focus on the effect of them. Please excuse any confusion you may find, I'm still trying to fully understand this concept myself. By teaching in parables the Master separated those whose hearts were true and those who were hard-hearted. Those who ponder and look with a true desire to know will be given the truth, while those who will not only find a story. By giving the people stories that related to their lives, as they went about with their tasks they would be reminded of the parables, and ponder on them. Maybe a short paragraph from the book would help...
"Many a peasant who had heard the little incident of the sower and the four kinds of soil, of the tares sown by an enemy at night, of the seed that grew though the planter had temporarily forgotten it, would be reminded by the recurring circumstances of his daily work; the gardener would recollect the story of the mustard seed whenever he planted afresh, or when he looked upon the umbrageous plant with birds nesting in its branches; the housewife would be impressed anew by the story of the leaven as she mixed and kneaded and baked; the fisherman at his nets would think again of the good fish and the bad and compare the sorting of his catch with the judgment to come"
In short, I believe that one way we can take responsibility for our learning is by applying it to our lives, and living by the precepts that we learn. And, if we bring the Holy Ghost into our learning experience, our attempts will be multiplied upon. This I bear testimony of, that the through the power of the Holy Ghost, we can know the truth of all things.
Love,
Elder Chan
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