Hey all,
so things have been great this week, but I had a funny feeling all
week I would be transferring... so guess what!
Transfer na!
So I'm headed back to Negros in the other zone... I am a ZL now with
Elder Manansala and our area is in Amlan. So that will be exciting and
Ihave to travel there this Fri. Elder Pastor is also transferring to
Mandaue. So white washed is danao2. Elder Baculio will train a new
missionary in danao2, so we're gonna have to leave a bunch of notes
for them to read, and update the area book before we leave. I am so
glad for the opportunity to have had to be companions with Elder
Pastor and to have learnt so much from him in this area. We have had
so much fun working hard in helping the branch and the less-actives to
really strengthen their testimonies, and we have seen so much great
success in the work. We have seen 4 families that have either begun
to or have now returned to church and are headed towards the temple
with the help of the branch president. I have been truly amazed by the
power of the Spirit in the lives of these individuals these last 6
weeks and it has been great to see great blessings being poured out
upon these people.
We had some amazing experiences this past Monday when after District
meeting we went to work and had 3 of our lessons just explode with the
Spirit! The less-active members came out with their problems and
challenges without us even asking them directly. It was amazing to see
the trust they have in us as representatives of the Savior. One Sister
spoke of how her relationship with her husband had been quite detached
but how slowly it has been improving. One brother then came out with
his word of wisdom problem that is holding him back from the temple
and keeps him from feeling worthy to use his priesthood and we were
able to talk with him about that and how the branch president will be
a great help in him overcoming this. And finally we had a family that
was having extended family problems and problems with other members at
church and we were able to give a great lesson to them on how to
overcome their challenges through the example of the Savior. It was an
amazing day and the Spirit was so strong and overwhelming that even
though I felt dead tired we just kept going and going... It was such
an unforgettable day!
So this next transfer will be interesting as a zone leader and a ton
more responsibilities to fulfill... its gonna be some hard yakka! But
I know its gonna be a ton of fun and I have heard great things about
elder Manansala so we well have a great time working hard in Amlan. I
believe that is where the Croppers are as well, so it will be great to
see them again.
Love you all,
Elder Taylor Addison Cox
Saturday, October 13, 2012
Letter #61 (3rd Oct, 2012)
Hey all,
So this week has been great. Things are going well and the branch is
progressing. And for Christmas... I need more vegemite... its almost run out.
We had a baptism in the branch and one in the ward this past
Saturday... it was good.
We have had some good success with the LAs and they have started to
come back. Yay!
Some are still struggling with some problems but others are well on
their way to the temple again.
Yesterday I went on exchanges with Elder Daffon and had a great
learning experience with him. He taught me a lot about teaching by the
Spirit and teaching with unity.
Our newly confirmed member is the 9yr old daughter of a
recent convert, whose husband is an active member working in Saudi.
Complicated a little... but they are all so awesome. Just the other
day Sister asked where they could order scriptures, etc. cause her
husband wants to order them and get them sent home to his family.
Isn't that just great!
Then a story that will make you laugh. We taught a lesson with a
family that the parents are on and off at church but their kids are
always there. One of them is named Kimmy... she is the sweetest little
girl! So we were having the closing prayer and before Elder Pastor had
finished she shouts out "AMEN!"... after Elder Pastor finished the
prayer we all laughed so hard, cause when we all opened our eyes...
Kimmy wasn't there! She hid behind the couch and was so shy, and
wouldn't come out.
So that's all for now,
until next week...
Love you all
Elder Taylor Addison Cox
So this week has been great. Things are going well and the branch is
progressing. And for Christmas... I need more vegemite... its almost run out.
We had a baptism in the branch and one in the ward this past
Saturday... it was good.
We have had some good success with the LAs and they have started to
come back. Yay!
Some are still struggling with some problems but others are well on
their way to the temple again.
Yesterday I went on exchanges with Elder Daffon and had a great
learning experience with him. He taught me a lot about teaching by the
Spirit and teaching with unity.
Our newly confirmed member is the 9yr old daughter of a
recent convert, whose husband is an active member working in Saudi.
Complicated a little... but they are all so awesome. Just the other
day Sister asked where they could order scriptures, etc. cause her
husband wants to order them and get them sent home to his family.
Isn't that just great!
Then a story that will make you laugh. We taught a lesson with a
family that the parents are on and off at church but their kids are
always there. One of them is named Kimmy... she is the sweetest little
girl! So we were having the closing prayer and before Elder Pastor had
finished she shouts out "AMEN!"... after Elder Pastor finished the
prayer we all laughed so hard, cause when we all opened our eyes...
Kimmy wasn't there! She hid behind the couch and was so shy, and
wouldn't come out.
So that's all for now,
until next week...
Love you all
Elder Taylor Addison Cox
Saturday, September 29, 2012
Letter #60 (Sept 26th, 2012)
Hey all,
This week has been a great week and has been very interesting (as
every week seems to be...). Elder Pastor and I are doing well and the
work is great. We managed to achieve 31 lessons this past week with a
district CSP, and we have a baptism this coming Saturday. Our focus
has definitely been on our investigators this week, working with some
towards baptism and others we have just begun teaching, but all are
doing really well and are progressing (some faster than others). We
also have 2 new referrals that we will get to contact this week. We
have continued to work with our investigators and have some very
interesting excuses given to us. But the best story happened just
yesterday...
So we have this one inactive member who is afraid to leave his house,
he just will not go out side and he won't even open the door for you
unless he knows who you are. So we were trying to figure out what the
situation was with him and share doctrine with him. And yesterday I
went on splits with Elder Rasing bringing him to work in our area, and
we visited this member. So first thing we say is "It was a shame you
weren't at church on Sunday" and he replies with, "I've already
explained to you my situation and you haven't told your President...
so you keep coming back here and asking me to go to church." I've
visited with this member so many times with Elder Pastor now and to be
honest doesn't make much sense sometimes so I was just bold and
upfront with him and said, "Look, Brother V, there are no excuses
valid in the eyes of God..." and he said, "Yeah that's true, but..."
and then said a bunch of stuff that made no sense. At this point Elder
Rasing was totally confused at the situation and asked Brother Victor
what his situation was... So he proceeded to tell us about this one
family who is really rich in the area, who owns likes tons of property
and started listing off this guys property and lands... so Elder
Rasing is like "So, whats this got to do with you...?", and he
proceeds to tell this story about how this family supposedly killed to
get some lands and properties... and we are still like... "So what has
all this got to do with you and not going to church?"... so it turns
out at the end of his 45min rambling about this family, that he is
somehow this long lost child of the family who is the true inheritor
of the property (or so he says), that he tried to take it to court,
but supposedly received death threats, and the whole thing is
completely hearsay in my point of view... then we tried to teach him
about the scriptures in Jacob 2 and 3 Nephi 13 about seeking first the
kingdom of God and not riches... we encouraged him to drop the whole
matter so he didn't have to worry about the matter and get back to
church. Then he got annoyed with us for saying that... he was so
obsessed with getting this property that nothing else was worth
considering. Then we even tried the Alma technique of inspired
questions about standing before God. We asked him if he was ready in
that very moment to stand before God, and he answered us he wasn't
ready, because the issue with the properties wasn't resolved (WHAT!?
O.o).
Honestly this man has become so obsessed with the issue that I believe
he has gone a little crazy. From where I was standing and putting
myself in the same situation I could see a glaringly obvious
solution... give up the riches and trust in the Lord to help you
provide. But for this brother, it was not an option. The only thing he
could see was all this property that was supposedly his, and he wanted
it all. Then AFTER he got it he would come back to church and help his
fellowmen, or so he said... yesterday, I saw how someone can become a
slave to money, or worldly possessions and how someones life can be
completely destroyed by them. I truly realized how worthless all that
property was, in compared with peace of mind, a free life and
opportunity to worship God. I pray for this brother that he may come
to realize as well how worthless all that property really is, and will
come back to church and be blessed by the Lord for it.
Now... about our exchanges. Elder Rasing is a great missionary! He
really knows the doctrine and can explain in clearly in simple terms.
He is always studying and his scriptures are an explosion of color on
every page almost. I am amazed by his enthusiasm for the work and his
desire is great.
Then this past Monday, we had a great CSP in the Danao 1st area
which we built a kitchen and dug up a ton of dirt. Tatay Penas was not
expecting us to complete as much as we did and was amazed at the end
of the CSP.
So we also had Elder Perez of the Seventy come and visit our branch
and it was great!... cause hes a joker and had us all laughing in
sacrament and then again in the training meeting he gave in the branch
council meeting.
So that's pretty much it this week... oh wait
This week I realised why they call Danao "gun city"... so there was
this one day that we were going to our appointments and I saw four
different people making guns and bullets, as in the REAL ones!
Whoa! It was CRAZY!
But I miss you all,
And love you tons,
Elder Taylor Addison Cox
This week has been a great week and has been very interesting (as
every week seems to be...). Elder Pastor and I are doing well and the
work is great. We managed to achieve 31 lessons this past week with a
district CSP, and we have a baptism this coming Saturday. Our focus
has definitely been on our investigators this week, working with some
towards baptism and others we have just begun teaching, but all are
doing really well and are progressing (some faster than others). We
also have 2 new referrals that we will get to contact this week. We
have continued to work with our investigators and have some very
interesting excuses given to us. But the best story happened just
yesterday...
So we have this one inactive member who is afraid to leave his house,
he just will not go out side and he won't even open the door for you
unless he knows who you are. So we were trying to figure out what the
situation was with him and share doctrine with him. And yesterday I
went on splits with Elder Rasing bringing him to work in our area, and
we visited this member. So first thing we say is "It was a shame you
weren't at church on Sunday" and he replies with, "I've already
explained to you my situation and you haven't told your President...
so you keep coming back here and asking me to go to church." I've
visited with this member so many times with Elder Pastor now and to be
honest doesn't make much sense sometimes so I was just bold and
upfront with him and said, "Look, Brother V, there are no excuses
valid in the eyes of God..." and he said, "Yeah that's true, but..."
and then said a bunch of stuff that made no sense. At this point Elder
Rasing was totally confused at the situation and asked Brother Victor
what his situation was... So he proceeded to tell us about this one
family who is really rich in the area, who owns likes tons of property
and started listing off this guys property and lands... so Elder
Rasing is like "So, whats this got to do with you...?", and he
proceeds to tell this story about how this family supposedly killed to
get some lands and properties... and we are still like... "So what has
all this got to do with you and not going to church?"... so it turns
out at the end of his 45min rambling about this family, that he is
somehow this long lost child of the family who is the true inheritor
of the property (or so he says), that he tried to take it to court,
but supposedly received death threats, and the whole thing is
completely hearsay in my point of view... then we tried to teach him
about the scriptures in Jacob 2 and 3 Nephi 13 about seeking first the
kingdom of God and not riches... we encouraged him to drop the whole
matter so he didn't have to worry about the matter and get back to
church. Then he got annoyed with us for saying that... he was so
obsessed with getting this property that nothing else was worth
considering. Then we even tried the Alma technique of inspired
questions about standing before God. We asked him if he was ready in
that very moment to stand before God, and he answered us he wasn't
ready, because the issue with the properties wasn't resolved (WHAT!?
O.o).
Honestly this man has become so obsessed with the issue that I believe
he has gone a little crazy. From where I was standing and putting
myself in the same situation I could see a glaringly obvious
solution... give up the riches and trust in the Lord to help you
provide. But for this brother, it was not an option. The only thing he
could see was all this property that was supposedly his, and he wanted
it all. Then AFTER he got it he would come back to church and help his
fellowmen, or so he said... yesterday, I saw how someone can become a
slave to money, or worldly possessions and how someones life can be
completely destroyed by them. I truly realized how worthless all that
property was, in compared with peace of mind, a free life and
opportunity to worship God. I pray for this brother that he may come
to realize as well how worthless all that property really is, and will
come back to church and be blessed by the Lord for it.
Now... about our exchanges. Elder Rasing is a great missionary! He
really knows the doctrine and can explain in clearly in simple terms.
He is always studying and his scriptures are an explosion of color on
every page almost. I am amazed by his enthusiasm for the work and his
desire is great.
Then this past Monday, we had a great CSP in the Danao 1st area
which we built a kitchen and dug up a ton of dirt. Tatay Penas was not
expecting us to complete as much as we did and was amazed at the end
of the CSP.
So we also had Elder Perez of the Seventy come and visit our branch
and it was great!... cause hes a joker and had us all laughing in
sacrament and then again in the training meeting he gave in the branch
council meeting.
So that's pretty much it this week... oh wait
This week I realised why they call Danao "gun city"... so there was
this one day that we were going to our appointments and I saw four
different people making guns and bullets, as in the REAL ones!
Whoa! It was CRAZY!
But I miss you all,
And love you tons,
Elder Taylor Addison Cox
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