Letter #102 (July 15th, 2013)

Hey all,
so we are chillin in the office right now. This doesn't seem real yet. I'm sure it will we we get on the plane this Wednesday. We have weighed in all our bags and are waiting for our interviews with President. Elder G is companions with Elder C. They moved Elder C from Toledo 2a and they are putting in sisters in the Toledo 2a area. So many sisters coming in... 23 ka bouk. then elders 6 lang.

So this last week was great. 25 attendance in Casoy and lots of crying happening (the members, not me). Then great testimonies from our investigators. They are so ready for baptism... looking froward to hearing from Elder G. Saw a picture of Elder Holley today... he has a boss beard going. hahaha.

Tomorrow we have ERC then final dinner with President Schmutz. Then Wednesday is the flight... then Thursday... yay!

So just a reminder, cherry ripe mud cake...

Love you all,

Elder Taylor Addison Cox

 

Terri here: Taylor has said the thing he has missed the most is cake, and seeing he will be home on his birthday he want his favourite!!!

Letter #101 (July 10th, 2013)

Hey all,

So 1 week na lng...

see you next week.

Love you all...

Terri here: What a cheeky son I have!!!!

jokes lng

This week was great. We had a 22 attendance of Casoy at Toledo again! and President Schmutz was there to see it! He is so happy about the progression we have seen in strengthening the members in Casoy to start up the group. Hapit na... we think that hopefully by the end of Aug or Sept there will be a group there. Then hopefully by next year they will have a branch there. Exciting!

Also exciting news... we killed a pig this morning for our zone activity lunch after we finish emailing here. Elder U cut the throat and I finished it off afterwards. I got a video of it. Elder U and I went splits on the pig.

 

Well, see you in a week

Love you all,

Elder Taylor Addison Cox

 

 

Terri here again: Most of the stuff in his email this week was just about personal stuff that no one would understand if I put it up on his blog!!

Letter #100 (July 3rd, 2013)

Hey all
This week has been great with some really great work happening. Elder
G and I really pushed ourselves and managed to reach 32 lessons
last week most of them being in Casoy. Then on Sunday we had a great
success. We had 19 people come from Casoy to go to church in Toledo
and they stayed for all 3 hours too. We had the R family and they
even went in an interview with our branch president to goal for the
temple as a couple. We also had 5 investigators attend as well and
they expressed the good feelings they felt at church. We are having
great success with everyone in Casoy at the moment. It has been really
good how the members have really banded together to try to strengthen
the investigators while we are not there especially in terms of
encouraging our investigators to overcome all the persecutions from
their neighbors for investigating the "mormons". I have great hope for
Casoy in the near future. We have 3 baptisms scheduled for the first
week of August (two of them very potential priesthood) and hopefully a
few more in the proceeding weeks. (yes I know I wont be there for them
but that doesn't mean I can't be excited for these individuals).

Elder G is a great missionary and has really shown forth his ability this 
past week in really taking the lead of the area. Last week he did really well 
in leading the area in our exchanges with other missionaries and then this 
week with the application in proselyting being taking the lead in all teaching
situations he has shown forth courage and gone in with boldness. He is
a great missionary and really knows how to apply the things he is
learning. He is hungry for knowledge from the scriptures and always
has great questions about the doctrine and principles we are teaching.
Our District is also doing really well. It was a great district
meeting and we discussed how we can help the members become better at
fulfilling their individual roles in helping members and
investigators. 

I have also been keeping myself occupied by the work to stop me from
thinking about going home in some weeks (dont want to count them....
hahaha). Also have been keeping myself busy in my studies trying to
continue to get the most out of my studies every morning. I have come
across some really interesting passages of scripture and topics lately
which are really exciting me to continue my study efforts after the
mission as well.

And foods that i miss... cereal... real milk... real cheese... Aussie beef 

(well actually we get to eat that now and again here)... tomatoes (the big red 

ones)... potato chips... berries (i dont think they exist here outside of jams and
conserves)... Aussie sausages on the BBQ with BBQ sauce (better tell
Dad to start scrubbin the BBQ... hahaha). Hope that gives you some
ideas. Terri here: I asked him what food he would like to have in the fridge and 

pantry for when he gets home!! That is what he wants!!

So thats all for this week.
Love you all
Elder Taylor Addison Cox

Letter #99 (June 26th, 2013)

Hey all,

Last week was great! The mission conference was great, even though I was so sick. I was suffering through 2 days feeling like my head would explode. I had a fever and whatnot on Tuesday, and with a throat infection, and swollen lymph glands, and upset stomach and it eased up after a blessing from my wonderful companion so we could travel to Cebu that night, only for it to pick up again that night and to ease off until just last Saturday or so. It was good. But all is good now, and Elder G and I strived with all our might to catch up last week on our lessons and managed to succeed in achieving 24 lessons for last week. We were so proud of ourselves and excited for what more we can accomplish this coming week. We are having great success in Casoy, where we are getting most of our lessons, being able to teach straight for 4 hours to lots of different people. It is a great experience there. You really have to push yourself but at the same time the Spirit is so strong there too.

Yesterday we went on exchanges with the Balamban elders. They are doing well. I was with Elder M in Balamban and Elder T worked with Elder G in Toledo 2. Elder M is a great missionary and we had fun talking about our first area... Loon. We were both trained in Loon, he being my puli in the area, being trained by Elder O.
 
Other than that things are doing well for us. We are pushing ourselves to keep up with the 12 week program and to keep up with the work in our area. This past Sunday we tried out having sacrament in Casoy and the result was amazing. All the strong members from Bagakay came to church in Casoy and we had our investigators from Casoy come to church as well. We had an attendance of 29 and we were able to hold it in a house, rather than outside under a tin roof only. We are still struggling with the priesthood in the area, but the progression is slow and steady... at least its steady, now? We are working with Brother R to encourage him to live the Word of Wisdom... the only real problem he has is with "tuba", the local wine made from the coconut juice, but he seemed to start to understand when we taught him on Sunday that it is just as bad as any other alcoholic drink. His family is doing really well,  trying to start doing family prayer, family scripture study and FHE. It has been great working with these members to see them really start to see how much of a blessing it is to actually "live" the gospel in our lives and reap the blessings of such. They are beginning to see the great plan of salvation in action now and don't want to go back to what was before. I love this gospel!

My personal study is great.... I am in Alma 38 in "overcoming/withstanding temptation" and in Omni in "Faith". I am also studying about the seven angels in Revelations in trying to figure out who they all are... very tricky... but fun and exciting! I am so excited for the day I can start to order books from Deseret books when I get home...

 

So yeah, we got that broadcast thingo this coming Sunday. We are all excited, especially since I just read the broadcast to all the Elders here and most of us are going home in the next two transfers and are all disappointed that we didn't get to do that on our missions... not really actually... cause we served "real" missions... hahaha

 

So about me getting home, people can just visit or we go out to catch up.

So that's it for now... let me know how Reilly's kwan goes... send photos.

miss you

Love you tons

Elder Taylor Addison Cox

 

 

Terri here: Sorry this week looks funny, but I think he "copied and pasted" the same letter to a couple of people, then forgot to unclick after he had pasted!!  :D

 

Letter #98 (June 17th, 2013)

Hey all,
Everything is doing pretty good this week since Weds lang. Not much to
talk about to be honest. Casoy is thriving at the moment, and only in
one part still... we haven't even tried the other parts yet, so who
knows the possibilities out there. A lot of potential... I had two
baptismal interviews on Thurs which turned out to be only one. So
their baptisms happened on Saturday evening after the other one got
interviewed by the zone leaders the next day on Fri, while I was in
Cebu with Elder M for the DLC meeting. We had a great workshop by
Pres, Schmutz about effective study of the Book of Mormon, and how we
get more out of our reading. There was one part which was really good
that I really liked that went like this:
Hear>>>Read>>>Study>>>>>>

Search>>>Treasure>>>Feast
It is the process of coming to really get something out of the
scriptures. At first we listen to others read from the scriptures,
then we read ourselves without really getting much from the
scriptures, then we begin to study so as we read we begin to get
things out of our reading through using footnotes and marking our
scriptures as we read. This is the 'beginning process'...
Then as we start to search, we have something in mind we want to get
out of our reading, something we are looking for to receive for
ourselves from our reading, then as we write these things down and
begin to apply them and love them we treasure the scriptures, until we
reach the point of feasting on the scriptures, where we are 'full'
after having read the scriptures. This is the 'revelatory
experience'...

 

It was really inspiring about how we read the Book of Mormon.
Then Sat I had three baptismal interviews in Balamban, who are not
quite ready yet for baptism. Then we caught a bus right back to our
area to work and as we got off the bus at the crossing to Dumlog we saw
the jeepney for Casoy drive away... looy... so we had to wait another
30min to catch the next one up there. When we got up there we had two
new investigators waiting for us to be taught and other investigators
and all the members too. So we taught them all together and finished
up with the hope to catch the last jeep back to Toledo, but it had
already left. So we rode habal-habal all the way back to the Dumlog
crossing and then a trike to the chapel from there to attend the
baptism. Then Sunday we had a great day with 9 members from Casoy come
and simba in Toledo, two of them investigators who are progressing.  

Then today is P-day and we are getting everything done, cause this Wed 

is the mission conference and tomorrow we are going to go to the city in the evening for
choir practice for the conference. Apparently I have been enlisted
into the choir so we will get to do that tomorrow.

So we will be trying sacrament in Casoy probably this next coming
Sunday. Let you know next week how that goes. Then, yes, the X-ray is
for TB, to check that we dont have it before we go home. Definitely
not slacking off... lots of things to accomplish before I leave and
such little time. I have so much I hope to see happen especially in
terms of Casoy and I know I dont have enough time to see it all
happen... John 4:37 "And herein is that saying true, One soweth, and
another reapeth."
So thats about all for this "week"... hahaha... lots more to talk
about next week for sure.
Miss you,
Love you,
Elder Taylor Addison Cox

Letter #97 (June 12th, 2013)

Hey all,
So this weeks been good. It has been better this week kay last week.
Bagakay to be honest has become sort of stagnant. Not much progression
is taking place anymore, which is kind of sad for the members there who
are really striving to do their best. But Casoy is just flourishing at
the moment. We have another investigator with a baptismal date for
Aug, and her husband has gone from uninterested to wanting to learn
the gospel. Sister is hoping he will be ready by Aug so that they can
sabay their baptism. We had another new investigator last week as well
and she just lit up when we taught that the church has been restored
with living prophets and apostles once again. She seemed really
excited about that fact. Then Brother J is doing really well, and has
been to church 3 times in a row now. After sacrament meeting in
Bagakay we taught sort of like a RS, Priesthood classes, and he was
the most attentive out of all the members there at the time. We have
been thinking about moving the sacrament meeting over to Casoy as well
because all the members that are coming to the sacrament meeting are
coming from Casoy. It was almost half-half, and we have more people in
Casoy who would probably simjba as well if we had sacrament there. We
are going to talk to President this week about that.

E was baptised this past Saturday. It was great. Then I had two
more baptismal interviews that night. This week I have 5 more
baptismal interviews... the areas are really flourishing here in the
Toledo zone. Yes, we have some new missionaries.... on of them is a
Sis. Cox... (from America, no relation)... Then Elder P has
followed me again to this zone. so we have now ka-zoned for three
times in a row.

You should tell Reilly that Risk isn't he most appropriate game to be
playing on the sabbath. I can understand chess, or basin Chinese
checkers or something, but Risk?... I feel the same as Dad did before
when i wanted to play on Sundays... definitely not the best thing to
be doing on Sunday. haahaha.... funny how the mission changes you huh?
So me and Elder U got our X-rays today in Cebu for going
home... scary huh?  You can count the weeks on your hands now.
So we did that before coming back to Toledo.
Its samok here cause its fiesta! so we're avoiding everything here...
Next week p'day is supposedly Monday because we have mission tour with
Elder Ardern in Cebu next Weds... so I'll send another email on Monday
with all the pictures i have collected the past few weeks. Tell Reilly
I'm sorry I haven't emailed him for a while, and let him know that I
will email him on Monday.
Love you all,
Elder Taylor Addison Cox

Letter #96 (June 5th, 2013)

Hey all,

This week was kinda rough. The work hit a bump in the road. I was disappointed with the week. But I'm determined not to let it get to me... and at least we had some great successes as well. We had 12 members from Bagakay and Casoy come down for sacrament meeting! We were so happy to see them exercising their faith. And then yesterday when visiting with one of the members she told us how she loves going to church in Toledo because of the Spirit of the members. Its good to see the progress we are having with the members on Bagakay and Casoy.
 Despite problems, I had the most amazing spiritual experience last Saturday with a 10 yr old girl who I interviewed for baptism. E is the daughter of an active member mother and an non-member father, who live in difficult circumstances. She has been taught by the sisters for a while now and a great kid. She did great in he first interview I had with her but her testimony was lacking, or an understanding of testimony was lacking the first time I met with her so we postponed the baptism. Then this past Saturday I met with her again to interview her again, and I really felt like she was prepared to be baptized but couldn't get her to connect the feelings she had praying about the Book of Mormon with her testimony of the Book of Mormon. I thought about it and was impressed to invite her to pray again in the interview to ask if the Book of Mormon was true. She thought about it for a minute or so and then agreed. As we sat together and she prayed, I was also praying with all the energy of my heart that she would feel the Spirit touch her heart with the answer she was asking for, and she would be able to connect the feelings with her testimony. As she got to he end of her prayer, she simply asked "Amahan, tinuod ba ang Basahon ni Mormon?...(Father, is the Book of Mormon true?)" at which point she paused, and we sat in silence for almost 10 seconds. At that point the Spirit was so strong. She then closed her pray and slowly look up at me... At that point in time I knew, without a shadow of a doubt that she knew that the Book of Mormon was true. She tried without success o explain the feelings she had felt.. "Elder, ang akong feelings, morag, kwan man sila...morag gaan..." Then she smiled and gave a little laugh. Then I cried. I had never experienced anything like I did that night. And I will never forget it. I asked myself, "why can a 10 yr old girl receive such a powerful witness of the Book of Mormon, when a 19 yr old young man or a 40 yr old mother, or father cannot?..." Then it hit me... "becometh as a child..." It was the smallest impression but it pierced me. Then in my studies i found these two scriptures. 1 Corithians 2:14 cf. Mosiah 3:19 "and becometh as a child, submissive, meek, humble, patient, full of love, willing to submit to all things which the Lord seeth fit to inflict upon him, even as a child doth submit to his father." That was the key. This girl was willing to submit, and humble herself before her Heavenly Father to receive the answer, and spiritual witness she was asking for, and then even more than that, willing to be meek and patient enough to wait for the answer to come. This now is my favorite experience in the mission, above everything crazy and fun and exciting that has happened, I love this experience the most and will cherish it forever...
 Back to the area, I am really excited for the progress of Bagakay but I worry that the branch will not be able to support the group once it is formed, in terms of training and providing support spiritually and doctrinally. But I hope this next transfer we can help the branch to prepare themselves for that.

I am personally doing okay. My studies are great, and I am on top of things. I have been exercising a little more lately, and it has given me a little more energy too. Elder G is also doing really well. He really enjoys being able to practice teaching in our studies, and has been good to help him to practice his teaching skills. He continually asks lots of questions, so I know he wants to continue to improve as a missionary. He is always asking for scripture references as well, and we have fun finding new scriptures together. We have been able to stay on track with the 12 week program, so that has been good.

I am excited for this transfer. I really want Bagakay to become a group, but we will see how that happens. Maybe the Lord has other plans, but one thing I am sure, that we are here to help these members to really understand and live the gospel of Jesus Christ in their lives and to help them to all gain stronger personal testimonies of the Book of Mormon, of the prophet Joseph Smith and of The Church of Jesus Chris of Latter-Day Saints.

So lots of things going down this transfer... nothing for me and Elder G though... and they are changing things up in the mission, I think its actually worldwide... no more backpacks for missionaries is one of them. Either slingbags or shoulderbags... better prepare yourself Reilly. So that'll be interesting.

Well, that's all from me this week.

Miss you all,

Love you tons,

Elder Taylor Addison Cox

Letter #95 (29th May, 2013)

Hey all,
This week has been good. Yesterday I recon we had the same amount of
rain you have had for the whole week... haha. But it was definitely
NOT 10C. (It;s starting to get cold here) It was flooded along the river in
Bagakay yesterday. We had to go round the bukid to get top the side with all
the members on it. It has been good teaching these members. Something I
realized the other day was that teaching these members is sometimes like teaching
little children. You have to really "show" them what you are teaching
them. So we have got a white board that we take with us to draw
pictures and diagrams and we have begun using the gospel art book
again so that these members can really come to understand what we are
teaching them.
We had 17 at sacrament on Sunday, so not much increase just yet, but
we had some great lessons afterwards with the members and the
investigators we have.
Last Friday we had this one member kuyog us and take us to the middle
of the bukid to find some less-active members. So way claro...
Then we have had some success with the members in Dumlog area, which
go to church in  Toledo. Sis. C, who has many trials right now
(she is pretty much a single mother of 7) , went to church for the
second time now, and made it in time for sacrament on sunday, and
stayed for all the classes... then she shared her experience when she
got home that afternoon. He son came home that evening from work and
was talking with her, and then all of the sudden reaching into his
pocket says to his mother, "I have been saving this, but feel you need
it now". Grabe jud. I know Heavenly Father watches over us and loves
us and works in mysterious ways to bless us in times of need. He is
just waiting for us to obey his commandments so that he can pour out
all the blessings he has prepared for us.
So that was cool...
Sorry this is a short one this week... not really much else to talk
about. This week wasn't anything exciting yet not a boring week
either... just an ordinary week.
Oh, our electric was only P531 (That works out to be $13.10 AUD)for the two
weeks we have been there...(aircon pa jud)... so I was happy about that.
Miss you all,
Love you tons,
Elder Taylor Addison Cox

Letter #94 (22nd May, 2013)

Hey all,
Things are going well here in Toledo 2 and up in Bagakay and Casoy. Elder G and I are having some success with the members and seeing that they are beginning to progress as they come to understand the gospel and how it relates to them in their individual lives. We have one member who has been less-active for a long time now, and as we began to help her realise the power God has over her life in helping her she began to start keeping commitments. We are still working on her getting to read from the scriptures everyday, but I know that that is the hardest thing for every member anywhere in the world. Satan knows jud that if we don't read he has power in our lives... he really does everything he can so we aren't reading everyday. I think every member we visit we have to re-emphasise that principle. But its good... slowly but steadily.

We had a interesting experience with the members in one of our areas . There is this one family that the father is Aaronic priesthood and hopefully will progress to get the Melchizedek priesthood. One of the past B.P's has been pushing him to prepare himself to get the MP and keeps interviewing him whenever he possibly can. Then Brother R, I think just got tired of it, and a little bit offended as well, and stopped coming to church (this is  a long while ago now). Then we visited him this past Saturday, and I realised something... that everyone is pushing these members to get the MP and become a group, but not one of the members of the branch has taken the slightest of time to spend with these members and teach the what is the MP and what not. So we spent an hour taking about that with Bro. R, and helping him to understand what is the MP and how it works. He was really grateful afterwards and I think he really started to feel our love for him, that we wanted him to be able to understand rather than just telling him he had to get the MP so they could be a group. That is something we are going to be working on these next couple of weeks. Just teaching these members about the priesthood and about how The Church of Jesus Christ runs. So that they understand the doctrine and can begin to govern themselves righteously. We are also focusing them towards the temple rather than just to church, so that they can begin to realise the true meaning of the gospel and the ordinances in their lives. I really love these people because I can see how much the gospel can bless them in their simple lives. I really hope and wish that I will be here for when Bro. R gets to MP and they become a group. It wold be a great day for all the members in Bagakay and Casoy, and their progression in the gospel would really accelerate at that point.

Sounds like it will be interesting when I get back to have to get to know all these people who I have never even heard of before and have no idea about. hahaha... and tell Lola the next time she asks when will I get back "malapit na" [mah-lah-pete nah], which means "soon". hahaha (thats tagalog by the way). Sounds like I'll be having lots of fun with the Cruz & Sierra family when I get back.

Well that's all from me also this week.

Miss you all,

Love you tons,

Elder Taylor Addison Cox

Letter #93 (15th May, 2013)

hey all,
this week has been good. We continue to become familiar with the area,
and this past Monday we were able to get a member list for our branch.
It gave us an idea of the members we are yet to meet in the area we
are working in the branch also, in helping the branch to progress as
well as Bagakay. The list shows around 500 members on list of which
there are around 100 in the areas Elder G and I are working at
the moment. We are going to continue to work closely with Elder
Pn and Elder U to help to strengthen all these members
as well. It has been hard to keep track of the members in the areas we
are working in especially since twice a month we have sacrament in
Bagakay and don't get to see if they are at church or not, but we work
with the other elders to get this information. We are beginning to see
some progress in the branch with members starting to come back and
strengthen their testimonies, becoming more converted to the gospel.
The members in Bagakay are doing well. The progress is slow, but
steady. It can be really hard sometimes because they really need us to
explain well the doctrines so they understand, and so the problem we
are finding is we are taking longer to explain the doctrine so they
understand it well and can apply it to their lives, cutting the time
we have to visit more people in a day. It really presses us for time,
trying to balance teaching these people so they understand and
teaching lots of people in a day. I have a feeling it will be a
struggle to reach all or lessons for  the week, but feel
that it is much more important to help these members and investigators
to truly understand the gospel and how it applies to their lives. This
last week we hit 21 lessons which made me feel excited for the work
that it will be possible if we strive everyday.

Elder G is doing great too. His attitude is amazing. He is
really striving to learn from everyone around him and absorb all the
information he can. He is working on learning scriptures by topic and
is always asking for new scriptures about the topics we are teaching.
He is going to become a great missionary and a great leader in the
future. He has a great love for the people around him and he is always
willing to help. We are sort of keeping up on the 12 week program...
not that we are falling behind, but it is a challenge to fit
everything in each week with the schedule we have. We take time for
extra study at every opportunity we have to continue to improve our
teaching skills and practice the skills and doctrine we will teach.
I am loving this transfer. It has been good to see Heavenly Father testing
me in this area, even though it is most probably my last. Especially my patience...
 I have definitely felt him testing my patience with myself and with others.
It has been good.

The district has been doing well too. They seem to be holding up well,
and their work is improving. They are keeping their area books updated
and we are encouraging using the new and returning progress records in
the meetings at church. We hope this will help to increase the member
involvement in the work we are doing.

Yesterday I went on exchanges with Elder P. He and I just sort
of clicked when we met one another, like long lost brothers or
something. We get along really well and he is a great missionary
trying to become better every day. He loves talking to people, even
though he still struggles with the language being fairly new in the mission.
He has such great charity for the people around him.

Monday we tried to work but we just ended up going back to the house
to study. It wasn't very crazy at all here... just a normal
election... sort of the same sort of busy as back home with everyone
lining up at the local school to vote and what not.

Hahaha... if only we had dinner appointments! we have one family that
feeds all 6 of us elders once a week. They are from manila and brother
works as a manager up at the mine in carmen. But our dinner schedule
looks like this... Mon- Caesars (the Aussie guys place), Tues- angels
burgers (take-out burger stand), Wed- dinner appointment, Thur- angels
burgers then Branch presidents house, Fri- we usually cook, Sat-
angels burgers (yes, again... basta we come back from Bagakay or Casoy
this is our dinner), Sun- dinner appointment or cook. So thats that...
and it seems to be doing well cause I'm putting on weight again... up
to almost 60kg. (He's always trying to put on weight! haha)
So not much else to say too... seeing we talked on Sunday. I'll send
the photos to Reilly.
Miss you,
Love you tons
Elder Taylor Addison Cox

Letter #92 (8th May, 2013)

Hey all,

Weeks been great. My anak is great. We struggle fitting in our studies with our hectic schedule in Bagakay. Having sooo much fun. So I should have explained a little bit... a check point is a police stop where they check you are keeping the rules that no one cares about... and then "crossing" is like a road that come off the main highway... for example I would say "I'm going to crossing Dumlog" which means I'm going to the road that goes to Dumlog. And the restaurant is medyo mahal... its about P200 for a meal (so whats that? $5? hahaha). Last Monday I got grilled cream dory.... soooo good! 

So last week we moved into our house... and it turns out that our water pressure is like an old man with prostate cancer... that's how bad it is... if it even comes out at all. So we will be moving again. We found this house with upstairs and downstairs split into two houses, one big enough for 2 and another for 4 so we are all moving in (Toledo 2a and us and Toledo 1a elders). That will probably be next week or so... I'll let you know.

 

Hahaha! Send my Congrats to Joel for his call. (His friend got his mission call to Ghana, Africa) Tell him he's gonna love it! Sounds like Reilly is having fun! hahaha. Good thing hes focused.... jejeje. Tell him to just wait till after the mission. So it'll be an interesting time in the wards again and it'll be interesting who gets called as stake president. (Our ward just got put into a newly formed stake!)

Our work this week has been good. Lots of member referrals and they have some good questions too. No more getting rained on going up to Bagakay, but it has been ridiculously dusty this past week. My shirts were yellow brown jud! so kapoy sa paglaba. We have been meeting lots of people up in Bagakay and over in Casoy across the lake... its a little easier to remember everyone's names because you see the same people every second day. You really get to have a more personal interaction with these people because of that which sometimes really helps the work. I've been eating lots too and putting on more weight. up to 58kg... hapit na 60.

 

Sometimes i sit at the computer and all i can think is Visaya, like right now and just feel like giving a splurge of Visaya, so thats what i gonna do... sorry

So, kadtong miaging friday, nagadto mi ni Elder G sa DLC for district leaders, ug nindot kaayo and gitudlo ni President Schmutz kabahin unsa gyud ang meaning sa "succesful missionary". Unya, gipalit nako ang mga Basahon ni Mormon nga gamay para sa akong personal study. Matag usa nay lain nga topic. Ang usa kay Faith, ug ang lain kay "Overcoming/ Withstanding temptation". Nakatabang jud siya sa study nako. Mas daghan ang gikuha nako sa study kay sa una, kay samtang nagabasa ko, morag nagbantay ko sa mga butang nga related sa topic, ug kuha-on nako ang mga principles nga pwd i-apply nako sa adlaw, or sa mga investigators/ members. Nindot jud siya, ug di samok ang notes/ markings nimo sa scriptures, kay usa ra ang topic bitaw.

Hopefully you can get that translated... hahaha

Well that's all really for this week that's changed or excited.

Miss you all,

Love you,

Elder Taylor Addison Cox

I got the above paragraph translated from a friend of ours..... So, this last Friday Elder Gr and I went to DLC for district leaders, and President S’s teaching on the meaning on what it means to be a successful missionary. Because of this, I bought several small copies of The Book of Mormon for my personal study. Each one of them has a different topic, one can be faith, the other is overcoming/withstanding temptation. It really helped in my personal study. I’ve learnt so much more than my previous study cause while I’m reading I’m looking for things that are related to those topics, I pick the principles that I can apply in my daily life or for my investigators/members. It’s really beautiful and the notes in your scriptures are not all over the place.

Letter #91 (1st May, 2013)

Hey all,
Do I have a story to tell you or what!
I'd just like to start by saying... this area is AWESOME! Wow! I was
not expecting any of this for the area, but it is just great (more
about that later). Elder G, my third anak, (anak means child) is form Davao city
(same stake with Elder R), and is graduated from Electrical
Engineering. He is 22, the eldest of 3 and his family are all members.
He is also very excited for the work and he is an amazing missionary
with a wonderful attitude to the work. He has great base to work off
and his English is very good also. He seems to be adjusting fine and
is really rearing to go all the time. He is not shy at all to talk to
people, and we will be working together to hone in on our skills in
teaching and FTE's this coming transfer. I am so excited for the work we have in
Bagakay. Let me tell you about my assignment right now. So President
has put me into a little area called Bagakay, which is not a ward, nor
a branch, but a little group in the bukid! His goal is we work with
the members there to hopefully eventually open their own branch out
there but its gonna be a lot of work! Let me take you on a bit of a
guided tour here in terms of the area. So to get there you have to be
on a bus at the terminal at 9am in the morning and after 25 pesos and
1 and a half hours of travel (sometimes on the top of the bus cause
its so full of people and the ONLY bus that goes up there) you get to
this little paradise called Bagakay, where there lives about 5
families of members and there are also a lot of people interested in
the church, as well as a lot of persecution from the only other church
there... the Catholics (dili jud ko ganahan). We then usually have
snacks before heading to work to visit with the members and teach the
investigators. At around 3:45 we have to start finishing up to get
back to the waiting shed to catch the last bus out of there back to
Toledo which gets there at 4pm then goes around the lake to Casoy at
which we switch buses to get back to Toledo, getting back at around
6-6:30pm. Then we have dinner before going home to do our 2 hours
companion study before daily planning, getting ready for bed and
sleeping. It is so tiring but so much fun. We plan on going to Bagakay
every Tues, Thurs, and Sat, and the we have sacrament meeting there
every second Sunday. This past Sunday we had 18 attendance at the
sacrament meeting (I got pictures of the place we did it at too). We
are hoping to see some real progress in the work in Bagakay, and we
will be helping Elder P and Elder U with the Toledo 2
branch as well on the days that we don't get to go to Bagakay, because
of District meeting and weekly planning and P'day, so we cant get to
bus up there. So we are still part of branch 2 in terms of assignment
but our focus is in Bagakay.

So our first experience going up there... all four of us elders in the
branch get on this bus. to start out we are all squidged inside
because there is a check point on the main road, and no-one is allowed
on top for that. The when we got to the crossing, we all jump on top
of the bus and... flat tyre!... so they change the tyre (with everyone
still inside or on top mind you) and then we "top ride" all the way up
until... it started pouring down rain, and we got soaked just from head
to toe... as in like you had jumped in the pool with your clothes on.
That's how we looked (luckily my bag is waterproof hey!). So we got
told to get inside. But once we got there the sun came out and we were
dry in about 30mins again. We got introduced to the families by Elder
P who had worked there before, and then headed home that
evening on the bus. It was so much fun!
I have a feeling I'm really going to enjoy this area!

Now about Toledo... Toledo is to Cebu like Richmond is to Sydney...
that's more like what it really is... (I asked him was the area like Parramatta 
is to Sydney, but apparently not!!) There are three shopping malls,
but they're pretty much empty most of the time. But you know what we
do have! This Australian dude who has a restaurant at which he has
real imported Aussie beef and he also has Dory (the fish). So good...
we had Aussie burgers on monday night with the elders and sisters in
Toledo 1 and toledo 2. And the zone is pretty
big... about 10 companionships, 7 of which are in my district (because
of travel distances siguro...)
I am so excited!
Miss you gamay,
Love you all,
Elder Taylor Addison Cox

Letter #90 (24th April, 2013)

Hey all,

So guess what... we are BOTH transferring! I'm going over to the bukid of Toledo to train again! and to be DL. Then Elder R is stepping down to open up Labangon again...(back for the third time... he hasn't found those brass plates yet! hahahahaha) and train and be DL also. Then Elder D is coming over to puli us with a new ZL Elder R. Was not expecting this... but it is an exciting transfer none the less. I am very excited to be training again. I am also really excited to be back in the bukid. I am really pleased with the work Elder R and I were able to complete in San Nicolas ward and the preparation we were able to make for Elder D and Elder R as they begin in the area this week. The members are sad but also excited for two new missionaries and are readying themselves for this next week of work with the missionaries. Have to say this past week has been great. I feel like everything has been falling into place and running smoothly. I really enjoyed this last week of work and have really felt great improvement in myself. I am starting to fell more power in my nightly prayers and they seem to be more real as a conversation.

We had a great baptism also this past Saturday of Sister D and the members really showed their support again in really being a friend to this individual and fellow-shipping her into the ward. Her boyfriend (an RM) has been a great support also and their next goal is to be married in the temple after one year. I am really excited for them because I know that they will be a strong couple in the church when they finally get to the time they can be married and sealed in the temple.

Elder R is really excited to be training also. I am so thankful to him for these last 9 weeks. I have learned so much from him, especially from his great example. He has really helped me to raise my vision even further. I'm gonna miss him. We had such a great time opening San Nicolas and getting to know all the members. We got fed often, taught always and made some great friends. I'm gonna miss them all too.

This week I have had some interesting mixed feelings which are hard to explain. I think they are partly because I am starting to realize that this is quite probably my last area and companion in the mission and that my mission is fast coming to a close. I am definitely not excited for that prospect just yet. I am much more excited to work hard with my new companion in teaching him and working with the members to have a great success in the Toledo area. I hope that we will be able to leave a great impact on the members there in helping them to progress as a ward and in terms of missionary work in these next 12 weeks of training. We will be back to the 12 week program for training and that is going to be kapoy again but it will be good. I have no idea about the area or the other missionaries over there yet but I'm sure I will find out soon.

We get to skype sometime next month too... will let you know when probably next week.

Missing you all,

Love you tons,

Elder Taylor Addison Cox

***********************************************************************************

 

Terri here: Taylor gets to Skype for Mother's Day!!

Letter #89 (17th April, 2013)

Hey all,

The amazing work has continues this week in San Nicholas ward and it was great to have conference to top off the week. Just a great spiritual high. We have had members work with us everyday again, it has been great and the members we are visiting are really feeling the love and support of the ward that way. 

The zone training went well last Thursday and the missionaries really absorbed the doctrine of the Godhead and really enjoyed it. They didn't have as many questions as I had expected and I was able to really appreciate the spirit of ZLC meetings in that way. There is just a deeper spirit in those meetings with all the ZLs and you get some amazing thought provoking questions. All the missionaries are doing really well and we just went on exchanges with the Capitol elders. They are really good. Elder M is a very observant missionary and what I really like about him is he is quick to apply or use what he observes. He is a very jolly missionary also and has a great spirit about him. Even though he is still fairly new to the mission he has some really good teaching skills which he tells me he has learned from Elder L. They are working well in the capitol ward and we have seen some great improvement this past few transfers. Elder W is the "greenie" over in their house and is feeling frustrated sometimes with the language, especially being in a house with 3 Philippinos, but he is pulling through and we have seen his language skills skyrocket this past transfer.

We have seen great success this past transfer in the zone. The fruits of all our efforts is really present in the baptisms that we have for this month... 6 in total and we really feel they will be strong additions to these wards.

Elder R and I continue to enjoy one anothers companionship, but it is fast coming to an end. Transfer week next week and one of us has to transfer. So we still don't know whats going down but will let you know next week.

That's Dad for you... always fixing things... I think my companions are grateful for that too... (and I am too), because they are always very thankful when things brake and Elder Cox manages to fix it somehow, and they are always like "well its a good thing you know a lot about (object)s". And I just keep quite and don't tell them that I had no idea what I was doing but thought I would try anyways, cause my dad can fix anything so why cant I... haha... thanks dad! (Terri here: We were visiting friends in the country, and Stoo does any odd jobs or fixes things he sees that need fixing!!)

I've been working out alot again (every morning) and Elder K said im looking chubby in the face again... so maybe im putting on weight again. Yay!

The work has been great and I think I might transfer but we'll see.

Missing you all,

Love you tons,

Elder Taylor Addison Cox

Letter #88 (10th April, 2013)

Hey all,

This week has been great, but also challenging at the same time. The work has continued to be great with the efforts of the members in San Nicholas ward, and our coordination meetings have been so effective as well. Every meeting there are members who are excited to work. It is a wonderful feeling when there are members willing to support the missionary work. We also went to church in Labangon this last week and they are doing okay.
The zone is doing well and really improving, especially in terms of lessons and we have really seen an improvement in their work as they have striven to work more closely with the members who are being cooperative in each of their wards.
Elder R and I have had a great experience with one of our investigators at the temple at the temple tour. She was touched by the Spirit in such a way that she gained the testimony she had been asking for. She has been progressing really well, but is still hesitant about baptism because "she doesn't know everything yet"... but we talked about D&C 20:37 with her and explained that baptism is but the first step and allows us to continue to learn. We taught about fasting and invited her to fast sometime this week last night. It was a great lesson and she is really committed to find out for herself if she should get baptized. We have been having great progress with our investigators in San Nicholas as well, with one preparing for baptism this coming 20th and then we have some youth who are really responsive to the gospel and their uncle who is a recent convert is being a great help in supporting them and helping them to realize the importance of the gospel. We do not plan on baptizing them any time soon but feel that the gospel can really bless these youths lives right now, especially because of the environment they are living in.

Not much else to say...

miss you

love you tons

Elder Taylor Addison Cox

Letter #87 (3rd April, 2013)

Hey all,

This week has been great and so much has been accomplished with the San Nicholas ward. Almost every single member we visited this week, active or inactive, came to church this past Sunday and the attendance broke the 100 mark. We have had members work with us everyday and our investigators are progressing. We are excited for this next week also. We had a great workshop on Sunday in our missionary coordination meeting about endurance in terms of the work and it was received really well. The leaders in the ward are functioning well as well in their respective callings and they had a successful PEC meeting without us being in attendance, which has been a great success.
Labangon ward is also starting to pick up. Bishop Sawal worked with us last night and we visited one less-active that really needs member nourishment. It was great to have the bishop of the ward to work with a family in need of spiritual strengthening. Then the Labangon ward now also has a ward mission leader who is a recently returned RM of 2 weeks. It was really sad when we first were pulled out of the ward, because all of our investigators slowly just stopped progressing, but we have tried to enlist the help of some of the members who are willing to work to help to teach and to fellowship.

My personal study has been great, from the account of Mormon and the final destruction of the Nephites because of their wickedness. I have learned a lot about repentance and the pride cycle of the Nephites recently. It is crazy to think about the numbers in the Book of Mormon of the people that we wiped from the face of the earth for their own wickedness... makes you think about what the second coming is going to be like, huh!?

We had a surprise visit to the Capitol ward also this Sunday and it went really well. We could really see the great work of their Bishop there in trying to get the members in the ward to fulfill their responsibilities and duties. They had a good missionary coordination meeting as well, in which Elder L and Elder M gave a great workshop on the importance of scriptures, especially in bringing them to church.

The mission is going so fast! Noooo! Looking forward to some of that sticky date when I get home, haha. It seems that as it gets closer to that last day I have less and less to say. So that's all for this week...

Miss you,

Love you all tons,

Elder Taylor Addison Cox

Letter #86 (27th March, 2013)

Hey all,

This week has been great in really being able to start to focus in the San Nicholas area and getting to know the area and work with the members. They are very excited to have missionaries. We have seen a great attitude towards the work and our work has greatly increased. Our lessons went up to 30 this last week, and I can confidently say it was because of the assistance of the members. I really see now the inspiration President Schmutz had to move us from Labangon to San Nicholas. We had an interesting day on Sunday working with both wards, and officially announcing to the leaders in ward council that we had been pulled out.
San Nicholas is progressing well... we have a work schedule with the ward missionaries and other members and are even getting fed sometimes too (yay!). The only problem that we have found is that our apartment is relatively far from our area and it makes it hard for us to work in the evening because we have to finish work earlier so we can get back to the apartment on time. We are going to talk with Elder E about the possibility of getting an apartment closer to our area... maybe, we'll see. But both Elder R and I are excited for the work in San Nicholas.

I have had a really good week this week, apart form being really tired at then end of each day, it has been great. I have started to exercise more in the mornings, trying to exercise every day. It has been good and it helps me in the mornings I find. There have been some mornings recently that nave been a struggle to get up, but I try to push myself out of bed and get downstairs so I will start to wake up. 

We have had real success in the work with the members as we continue to focus on reading the scriptures each day. We have members thanking us all the time for reminding them of the things they need to be doing... sometimes that's all the members need, just a simple reminder of scripture study.

I have had a really good week this week, apart form being really tired at then end of each day, it has been great. I have started to exercise more in the mornings, trying to exercise every day. It has been good and it helps me in the mornings I find. There have been some mornings recently that nave been a struggle to get up, but I try to push myself out of bed and get downstairs so I will start to wake up. 

We have had real success in the work with the members as we continue to focus on reading the scriptures each day. We have members thanking us all the time for reminding them of the things they need to be doing... sometimes that's all the members need, just a simple reminder of scripture study.

Some elders in the zone were talking to me on Monday after district meeting about their ward and they said that it feels like they are forcing the members to fulfill their responsibilities and meetings. So I told them that they are there to remind, invite exhort, encourage and warn, but they should not force the members to have their meetings or do their callings. They said they will try this week and see how things turn out. All the missionaries are doing great despite the struggles and challenges here in the central zone... just this past week our average lessons per companionship per week got up to 28. I was so happy and proud of the progress we have made, and am positive we will continue to improve.

I'm loving the work right now. so much progress and it is just great to see people happy from them following the simple gospel principles of prayer, scripture study and church attendance.

Miss you gamay, (jujuju)

Love you tons

Elder Taylor Addison Cox

 

 

Letter #85 (20th Mar, 2013)

Hey all,

This week has been challenging personally but great in terms of the work. The zone is really progressing at the moment in terms of work and the missionaries are excited for this transfer. We have had great success with our new ward. San Nicolas ward has been so good and willing to work... everyday we have had someone work with us. Another miracle. The ward mission leader worked with us and also held MCM with us to find out our expectations and to let us know how we could help the ward to progress.

My filling fell out of my tooth last Thurs... and so we went into the dentist (mums cringing... "oh no, all that money on the braces...") who turns out lived in Australia for 15 years and was in Harbor ward under Bishop Hamilton and had studied dentistry there... and she filled it back up nice a new. (yay!). so 15mins and 500pesos later everything was all good. (yes, 500 pesos lang for a filling! thats liek what? $10? hahaha).

Then on Saturday we were in the office for most of the day waiting for the sisters...  but the missionaries had lost their luggage... (as in all the missionaries)  and so they were trying to figure out where it was and so we got them back to their apartment late around 6pm right as the adult session of stake conference was starting. So we had a mad rush to get to the chapel and so forth but it was all good in the end.

Our IBD's are doing good and progressing well. Dorisa is asking lots of crazy good questions about baptism and the priesthood and the temple... its great. And then our other IBD went back to the Catholic church with her parents when they visited her last week from Leyte, and she said her experience was strange and weird like she felt she didn't belong and it just wasn't right at the church,a d that she couldn't force herself to pray there with her parents or anything like that... I was just like "YES!" inside my thoughts. It was great to see that the church is true. hahaha.

I have a feeling this week is going to be a great week. I'll try to write more next week about things that have been happening...

Love you all,

Elder Taylor Addison Cox

 

Letter #84 (13th Mar, 2013)

Hey all,
So transfers were a surprise again... Elder R and I are getting
pulled out of Labangon ward... and put into San Nicholas. hahaha
President Schmutz feels that this is what needs to happen to help
Labangon realize that having missionaries is a privilege and not a
right, so they stop taking us for granted. So we wont be moving house
or anything but will just shift our work over to San Nicholas ward.
Transfer calls got changed to Mondays and transfer day to Thursdays
from now on. So on Monday when we got the call we were surprised to be
pulled out but then we went in to the office (we can do that now being
so close... hahaha) and talked with President, and got his permission
to keep working in Labangon with our progressing LAs and investigators
and then we will just monitor everything else when we go to church in
Labangon ward and also in San Nicholas ward... this could become very
kapoy very quickly, but President feels we can handle it.
We are having some great success in our work at the moment. We had 6
investigators at church this past Sunday and now we have 2 with
baptismal dates this upcoming months. We will be continuing to work
with them and help them to learn. She is an amazing investigator with curious
questions... just amazing! We are teaching her with the help of B
L, an amazing RM in our ward (pinakabuotan nga tao) at their
house and B is kind enough to feed us too... so now we have
dinner every Tuesday and Thursday evening. Yay!
We are continuing to work with all the members encouraging them to
read their scriptures everyday.
We also have sisters coming into the Basak ward, so they'll have two
sets of missionaries now because they are progressing so much. Then
yesterday we got their house set up... we managed to get our old house
again. Nanay (the tagiya) was very happy to see us back again and more
than happy to rent us the house again. So we met up with Elder
E on Tues morning and put in all the things they need like fans
and beds and ref and desks etc.
No photos yet this week. Hopefully nest week when things have started
to calm down. This week has been hectic because of everything that we
have been doing and getting ready.
Almost finished the BoM in Visaya... only 49 chapters left to read...
then im gonna start again in English again.
Just want to remind you all... don't forget to pray and read your
scriptures daily... and don't forget FHE...
Miss you all...
Love you tons,
Elder Taylor Addison Cox

Letter #83 (6th Mar, 2013)

Hey all,
Elder R and I had an amazing week last week! It was great... even
though it seemed like nothing went according to plan, the Lord
definitely provided a way for us to accomplish the work He had planned
for us instead. We were amazed at the success we had last week and the
zone has felt the great spirit of the work too, with all areas really
pulling up their work from previous weeks. There is just a great
energy in the central zone at this time.
We are still struggling with the wards here though in the central zone
and Elder R and I had talked about implementing the same ideas
that President Schmutz started bringing forth in ZLC yesterday. It was
great to see we were on the same revelation wavelength. hahaha.
So the focus of the mission has changed again... its been redefined so
that the rescue mission includes all members in the church... not just
those less active/in- active at church, but all members in helping them
to be worthy for a celestial glory. We are now beginning to visit the
"active" members in the ward too. We have already seen come
improvement in the members working with the missionaries but the
problem we need to solve is the members doing their part without the
missionaries right next to them. We really feel that as we begin to
implement the new redefined rescue mission that we will see a great
improvement in respects to that.
In Labangon ward this week we had already received 3 referrals that we
have started to teach and who are also showing some real good signs of
progression. We have also seen the great effect of having active
members present in these lessons as well. The investigators respond
really well, especially when their member friends are encouraging them
to pray or to read or to come to church. It really helps with the
teaching process and the trust of the investigators.
I have put on more weight again... yesterday I weighed in at 58kg. It
is a combination of bad foods and being fed so often be members. we
have also started working out with Elder K every morning in the
house... we are getting really buff.  We had another great
temple session this morning. Love it in the city...
I feel like the last part of my mission is slipping through my fingers
very quickly... I don't like it.
Don't know what else to write this week... lots of work, lots of unique
problems and challenges.
Miss you all,
love you
Elder Taylor Addison Cox

Letter #82 (27th Feb, 2013)

Hey all,

Yeah I got my box. It is awesome! packed full of yummies. Still have to get the Cherry ripes to the C's... next week that will happen. This week has been great and successful. Elder R is an amazing missionary and has taught me so much this past week. He is from Davao city. He is batch with Elder H and has a great teaching style which I have learnt so much from. 4 missionaries in a house is fun. Elder K is from Fiji, but went to college (or high school?) in the US some where. we are starting to get fed more and we don't really cook much anymore in the new house. We just eat fast foods.... no good.

The mission getting split is the most exciting news here in the mission right now. It will happen on July 1st and will be split as such. North of Cebu and Bohol is Cebu east... south Cebu and Negros is Cebu Mission. And President Schmutz has promised my batch that we will not be put into the Cebu east mission, but will all leave together from the same mission.

We are working to help our less actives be retained in the ward when they come back and have been working on helping the members and leaders to become truly converted themselves so that they can help their brothers and sisters to stay in the church once they come back, and then also on getting the home teaching and visiting teaching happening in the ward. We still don't have an EQ pres and then our second counselor in the bishopric had a stroke a few weeks back and is paralyzed on his right side, so he is on the path to recovery at the moment. Lots of challenges but we are doing what we need to to get things happening so that the work continues to move forward.

Not much else really to share this week. Spent most of my time writing to President...

but miss you all,

love you tons

Elder Taylor Addison Cox

 

 

******************************************************************************************** Terri here: I asked Taylor some questions in our email to him, and his responses are in the first paragraph....just in case you are thinking it reads a bit strange!! hahaha

 

Letter #81 (20th Feb, 2013)

Hey all,

So guess what... Elder G is getting taken from me tomorrow... and being replaced with Elder R. President Schmutz felt they needed to be switched, so thats whats happening. It was quicker than I expected... but if that is what the Lord has deemed to happen then so be it. It was a great week while it lasted. Elder G and I just clicked straight away and had some amazingly spiritual lessons these past week. We taught this one member about repentance and she really changed from the beginning of the lesson to the end. By the end we could really see that she understood the true process of repentance and the things she needed to do to get back on the straight and narrow path. It was the most powerful lesson I have been in and it really touched me. I really gave me inspiration for me as well. It really helped to re-emphasize the fact that it is easier to be obedient to the commandments than to have to repent after disobeying. My studies have moved from the new testament back to PMG. I have gone back to chapter 2, about effective study and how to really help myself to learn to teach the doctrine. It has also been an interesting experience in really leading the area, and will be exciting to do so again with Elder R.

We were able to get some help form the ward again this week in the ward, which has been really good especially for fellow-shipping the less-actives and helping them come back to church. We continue to see a great success in the rescue mission here in the Labangon ward. We have also seen a great improvement in San Nicholas ward, with the ward now really beginning to function in their responsibilities, with HT and VT really starting to get underway. We are working with the bishop of San Nicholas so that they will be ready for missionaries.

Our missionaries in the apartment are Elder K... an Australian(quarter)/Fijian(quarter)/Togan(half) who looks just like Obama. Then his greenie companion, Elder B, a big American from Utah. They are both pretty cool missionaries. We are having fun together in the house and all get along really well.

Still haven't got the box yet, so probably next week pa. we'll see... and then I sent a ton of photos to Reilly this week... so hope you enjoy. He'll explain what they all are.

I really enjoyed this week... and I feel so tired from everything we have been doing too. But I feel so excited about the work everyday. Its a good feeling.

Love you all

Miss you too,

Elder Taylor Addison Cox

 

Letter #80 (13th Feb, 2013)

Hey all,

Another week, another transfer again. So this transfer Elder H is abandoning me for Lilo-an zone where he will be with Elder D-S as zone leader there and my new companion will be Elder G... pinoy, from north luzon dapit. We're good friends already in the mission so this is gonna be a great transfer again. We have almost finished setting up our new huge house and Basak is moving this Friday. I'm excited for this transfer!

This week has been a very busy week for Elder H and I, with all the meetings (ZLC and zone training), and temple tours (with one special tour on saturday with 70 students from the University of Bohol) and moving house and getting the house ready for Basak and transfers . I feel so exhausted from this past transfer but at the same time excited to be able to have another chapter begin. I am sad to be saying goodbye to Elder H and we have had so many very wonderful and spiritual experiences together. I am going to miss him a lot. At the same time I am excited to be able to work with Elder G and to learn from him this next transfer.

Elder H and I had some real challenges with our ward this week after the progress we began to see then the progress returned just yesterday again, with the Young Women s Presidency and the Ward Clerk working with us to rescue some individuals from this one area we had tracted out with young women in the families. We had some challenges and it was really disappointing because they were making so much progress before and then it was like they all just gave up on the work they were doing... it was very frustrating. We have been talking with President M about the missionary work in each of the wards and he has been trying to really help out and emphasis the role of each member in each of the wards... the progression is very slow but its coming. It is definitely a struggle to try to work areas with little or no member support, especially here in the city. I have come to gain a great appreciation and understanding for each calling in a ward. It has really opened up my mind this transfer of how important each individual is in their own calling, especially that if one is not doing their part, all suffer with them. It has given me a real resolve to magnify whatever calling I may receive later after the mission and to do everything I can to fulfill my part. I am hoping that we will see a continue of progression within the wards of the central stake, so that eventually we may see the opening of San Nicholas and Sikatuna areas... but that is going to take a lot of effort to see that happen.

Work has been good and we have seen improvement in the members as they begin to read the scriptures daily... you can just tell when someone has read or not during the week. It just shows on their countenance. I've almost finished the Book of Mormon again but this time in Visaya! Then I'm going to start again in English. I have also almost finished the New Testament again (but only the epistles this time, not the gospels...). Learning so much about the scriptures... so much fun. We have 16 come in this transfer (11 of them are sisters), and one of the elders is gonna be in our house being trained in Basak!

Oh, and we went to Cebu zoo today... it was cool (for P25 lang it was a bargain) send you pictures next week(I know i have been pretty lazy with the pictures lately...)

so that's all the exciting stuff from this week... until next week

miss you all,

love you tons!

Elder Taylor Addison Cox

 

Letter #79 (6th Feb, 2013)

Hey all,
Things are doing great here in the city. After a 4 hour planning session last week everything just went so smoothly this week (with a few normal hiccups along the way). Just back from the temple... it was great! I miss the temple. It feels great every time I go there. Elder Harris and I have had an interesting time trying to fill up our teaching pool again this past few weeks and its been great to see the  blessings from our Father in Heaven as we have received referral after referral this past week. Even just yesterday and again this morning. Our work has been filling up slowly as we continue to look for all the less-actives on the ward list. But we also have some frustrating days every now and again. Just this past Monday we got punted at every lesson except for our last one... so we went looking for the less-actives in  the area, and ended up getting led around in circles until we met this one guy who actually knew people from the area, and told us this brother had been dead for 9 years now (where were his home teachers?...) but we are having success with the list finding those members that have been lost for a long time and want to come back. These past two weeks we have contacted over 10 individuals that we had never heard of before (or even the members have heard of for that matter). We still haven't found that guy that's 107 years old, but when we do ill let you know... jujuju
We are having some more success with the members in the ward again, with lots of appointments actually being confirmed, and the people actually being in their houses waiting for us when we go to  visit. Also the youth are really pushing the rescue the one in the ward and are leading the other quorums and auxiliaries in fulfilling their area goals. We have some young men been helping us to visit the less-active youth in the ward and it has really helped. The ward mission leader has really taken it on hi m to really help out with coordinating our work with the ward and we are beginning to see some really good progress in terms of information getting to and from the auxiliaries and quorums. Speaking of which, San Nicholas ward has really started to pick up their game with preparing for missionaries, getting their ward mission plan started and trying to get the home teaching and visiting teaching up and running. It will be good to see the progress they begin to make this month and this next transfer, to see if they are really prepared for the missionaries.
Oh, by the way, this next transfer is the short one when we sync with the other missions for the transfer day. We will be preparing the Basak house this week and furnishing it for the incoming missionaries and moving in ourselves... yup! moving house again... it sucks... but the new house is huge...  send you pictures when we furnish it up. The house is still in our area though.
Elder Ernstrom, the office elder (hes absolutely hilarious), said we should put in Elder McHale and Elder Afu in the area so no one will mess with the elders... cause these two elders are huge beasts of pure muscle... no joke... ill try and get you photos... jejeje. We are excited and so is also the Basak ward for the new missionaries. Basak ward has put forth so much effort to get missionaries back in the ward and even have 5 investigators or so, coming to church every week and being taught by the ward missionaries. The bishop has really pushed the leadership to really get into gear to help the ward to progress, and we have really seen his efforts this past month. We are excited for the progress we will see in the Basak area this next transfer.
The boundaries for the zone are all figured out... they just haven't been updated by the area yet... and they are planning on changing them again but haven't put the changes in for approval... typical problems in the pines.
Having a great time in the city!

Not much else happened this week that was exciting enough to tell you... just the normal missionary work. Looking forward to that package... ^.^

Miss you all,

Love you tons,

Elder Taylor Addison Cox

Letter #78 (30th Jan, 2013)

Hey all,

We are all doing good here in the city and in central zone. This week has had some interesting experiences. We started out getting punted a lot in the work, but we learned a lot of patience and perseverance... then we had some fun looking for more people on the ward list of 646 members. We found this one guy while we were searching for less-active members, that we thought was a member and started visiting with him only to find out from members that he was never baptized and is still an investigator. Yay! Investigator! He seems to still be really interested in the message and we are trying to visit with him more to teach the Restoration again. Then we had a really weird experience on Monday with trying to visit with this brother. We went to his house because we had scheduled to come back but it turned out that he wasn't there but had taken his son to the hospital. So we sound out which hospital and decided to go there and visit. We even felt strongly that we should go there. So when we get to the hospital and start looking for where his son is admitted, it turns out they aren't even there! We went from on ward to another in the hospital being led around by the nurses trying to find this man and his son, but they just weren't there. We were so confused about why we were there and why we had felt so strongly to go, but as we were walking back to catch a jeepney home we both acknowledged how we both felt a sense of peace. We have no idea why we were prompted to go when they weren't even there but maybe it was to keep us from something else. Also that night while we were waiting for a jeepney to catch home, this one lady who looked like she was homeless walked up to us, reached into her cooler bag and pulled out a perfectly ripe banana and handed it to Elder Harris, saying (in perfect English mind you) "One for you". Then after walking away about 20 feet or so, she turned around, came back and gave one to me also saying "And one for you too" (or something very similar which i cant quite recall). It was a very strange experience and we both just looked at each other and the bananas we had both received. That night before I ate that banana I prayed for that lady that she would always be fed by the hand of the Lord for her act of kindness to us that evening. The strangest thing though, was that she didn't give a banana to anyone else that was sitting next to us or near us, but just passed them all by. It was an interesting day that one.

Then while we were having sacrament meeting there was some jeepney driver who tried to pick a fight with a member who was coming in during the opening prayer. The member had told the jeepney driver off for stopping in the middle of an intersection to let off passengers (which is bawal jud), and the jeepney driver was so boang he followed the member down to the chapel, go out of the jeepney (leaving all his passengers sitting inside) and started to yell and scream at this member and try to fight him. I don't know what was on this jeepney drivers mind, cause he was this scrawny little dude and the member was a big fella, with long hair in a ponytail, who rides a motorbike. I wouldn't even dare to pick a fight with this member... especially if i was that jeepney driver. So that was a strange day as well.

Elder Harris and I are having some great success with the members as well. We are getting the young men working with us as well and have found so many less actives from the ward list... at the moment we know about 290 members on the list. We still have quite a bit of work to go but we are excited with the progress we have made. We have met about 10 new individuals this past week and have return appointments with some as well. We are really focusing on the rescue mission at the moment and involving the members in the work so that they can begin to work on the area goal of rescue the one. We have been teaching the active members at church about reading the scriptures everyday, and about how to become effective fellowshippers and we have begun to see some improvement in the efforts of the ward.

Elder Harris and I have worked so hard this past week to get everything happening in the ward and the zone, encouraging meetings to happen and explaining more to our ward mission leader about his role and responsibilities. We had the greatest weekly planning ever and went for almost 4 hours planning everything for out work, working with members, meetings, the needs of our less-actives, how to get more investigators in our teaching pool, and so much other stuff. It was an amazing experience. Elder Harris and I have also had some fun trying to find a house for the Basak missionaries and had some great success with that on Monday also, right after district meeting. We have definitely seen the efforts of the Basak ward to prepare for the missionaries and feel that they are very much ready for missionaries to be put in the area there. San Nicholas ward has also begun to progress with the ward mission leader in the ward coming up to us and talking to us and asking us about what he needs to do to prepare for missionaries to be put in their ward. It came as a surprise as we had heard from the bishop that the ward mission leader had not been going to the ward but then he comes up to us on Sunday and asked what he needs to do to fulfill his part. So it will be good to see what begins to happen these next coming week in terms of the preparation of San Nicholas ward in getting ready for missionaries in their ward.

The city is definitely a different experience, but the biggest shock for me was going from the bukid where you talk about "the acacia tree", and the "big rock", to the city where its all streets and route 12L and 6B and 10G... it just took some getting used to and having to switch my mind back over to street names and things like that. So the "city" i am in right now is probably the same level of "cityness" as Blacktown... down the road we have our "Westfield" and similar traffic to Richmond road, except Pinoy style (more samok). Then if we need anything, we can get it. It makes it so much easier than living in the bukid, with everything so close and available. I can definitely see the benefits to both ends of the scale. But other than all that crazy stuff nothing much has gone on this week... jejeje... just the typical missionary work.

Miss you all,

Love you tons,

Elder Taylor Addison Cox