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
Wednesday, June 5, 2013
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.
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
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
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
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