Thursday

Thursday the 17 of July

Haven’t written for a few days. Our internet server has been unavailable because of the typhoon, Glenda. Apparently, the cable was severed. I am using a “Smart phone connection for a while.

We went to Iloilo Tuesday morning after District/Zone meeting. The Zone meeting was a training actually and it was quite good. We couldn’t stay for all of it, but Elder Ortiz shared his handouts of the part we missed. It was actually the best part . . . We did watch a good video about Brigham Young's conversion because of the testimony of another man. It was to teach us how important testimony is in helping others feel the Spirit. It makes me thing of  D&C 46:13-14, where some know and others believe those that know. I believe that through faith/action of study and keeping the commandments, those that believe others will come to know. It seems we start by believing others until we come to know for ourselves. Makes sense to me anyway. That's how it happened for me.

One handout from Elder Ortiz was on “Meekness”, a talk by Elder Neal A. Maxwell, the master of alliteration. It is a great talk and I know Elder Ortiz was impressed to use it in his teaching. Here are a few quotes:  

 “Meekness is essential to the wise use of agency-and to our recovery when we have misused our agency.” 

In the premortal council, Jesus meekly volunteered, “Here am I, send me. It was one of those special moments when few words are preferred to many.”  

 “Meekness is more than self-restraint; it is the presentation of self in a posture of kindness and gentleness, reflecting certitude, strength, serenity, and a healthy self-esteem and self-control.”  

 “The meek are filled with awe and wonder with regard to God and His purposes in the universe. At the same time, the meek are not awestruck by the many frustrations of life; they are more easily mobilized for eternal causes and less easily immobilized by the disappointments of the day.” 

 Mosiah 3:19 . . .

“Since the Lord has said he will have a ‘tried people’, how can we possibly endure, without meekness, the tutoring experiences of this mortal probation?”

The other focus for Elder Ortiz was a comparison by David J. Bullock, called “Becoming a Sacred Missionary.”  He compared a “Social Missionary” to an “Honorable Missionary” to a “Sacred Missionary.”  In summary, the Sacred Missionary reveres the mission as something sacred, it is holy to them and something they hold in deep reverence. They are pure in heart. 

Sister Sessions and I are not there yet . . . But, we are not Social Missionaries either; more the honorable kind. We love the Lord and have both feet in the mission, but we often think of home and miss our family and the ease of living in the U.S. We have many worldly thoughts.

We drove to Iloilo, did our shopping and attended the Mission Presidency Meeting Tuesday evening. I am the executive secretary for the mission, so I took notes and put in a few comments as we discussed the mission and the mechanics of the mission. President Aquino is a fine leader and bold. I like him and I know the Lord loves him.

We went to dinner at Ocean City resto in Iloilo after the meeting. I couldn’t eat much of what they served, but we had fun talking to President and Sister Aquino. We left a bit early from the meal and drove on back to San Jose. It had rained all day and all night the night before, so the mountain road, especially the new construction, as muddy. The rice paddies are filled with water and all the streams and rivers are full and some rage.

It rained a blew all day yesterday and last evening. We are on the outskirts of Glenda. The typhoon nailed the Manila area and is heading for the coast of Vietnam and China. It is pretty big. There is another to the east of the Philippines and it seems to be heading through the Visayas, which includes the island of Panay.

We were indoors most of yesterday, but did a few errands and I met with President Villavert to give him notes/instructions from the Mission Presidency. Sister Sessions and I had dinner with Elder and Sister Green and the branch/district presidents and their wives, discussing the Perpetual Education Fund and Self Reliance program for the Philippines. It is an inspired program to help victims of weather to come back, get training, improve their lives by finding jobs and making so pesos. It will solve a lot of problems for those that faithfully attend to the qualifications and parameters.

Today is painting day with the boys from Centillion. Thursday is sort of our P-day. P-day is usually taken up with helping others to get ready for another week. Tomorrow is interview day with President Aquino. There are three bridges washed out north of here, so we wonder if all the missionaries will be able to get into San Jose to meet with President. The bridges are in tact, but the floods washed the highways away that connect the bridges to the landmass. 

Just rain, not like Rexburg these last few days, but rain upon rain upon rain. At least it is cool, especially when the wind blows a bit.

Sweet looking beetle Sister Sessions found in the laundry area this morning. It was a bright orange where it looks sort of purply in the picture. the feet were bright orange too.