Week 65

Hey Everyone!

This week was amazing! Probably the best yet of my whole entire mission! :D  Our investigator, Brother Romeo... has been listening to the discussions for a couple of months now and hadn't been able to make a decision or recognize an answer.  The week before his scheduled baptism came and he had to finally decide whether or not he wanted to be baptized.  Even though he still wasn't sure if it was true, he decided he liked what he was hearing and was willing to make those covenants with God and endure to the end... so he qualified for baptism.  When our district leader interviewed him, he could tell that Brother Romeo is still a little confused about some of the doctrines, but he said "well... the spirit says he can be baptized."  That made me feel a whole lot better.  If the spirit says he can be baptized, I don't need to worry about it.  The last lesson we taught before his interview was about revelation and the scriptures and we explained to him that there are errors in the bible and showed him some Joseph Smith Translations... I felt like I just told a little kid that there was no Santa.  But he took it well... and he believes that everything we are sharing is true.  The day of his baptism, he was super nervous... he was also super excited and was not turning back.  He was baptized by President Aquino... his special request... which is very rare... but an awesome opportunity.  When he came out of the water he had a great big smile on his face and afterwards he had the opportunity to share his testimony.  When he stood to share his testimony, he just looked like he was glowing.  He was SO happy!  He didn't share that he knows the church is true or that Joseph Smith is a true prophet, but he shared his experience about having to make a decision and about just wanted to find the truth and find happiness.  And I think he has definitely found the happiness he has been searching for.  Yesterday, he received the gift of the holy ghost and was interviewed to receive the aaronic priesthood.  We are very excited for him and admire his faith.  I have no doubt he felt the spirit a lot these last few days and we just need to continue to help him recognize that those feelings and that happiness he feels if from the Holy Ghost that is witnessing to him that this really is the way to salvation. :D  I have no doubt he will gain a true testimony over time and that he will become a great strength to the church.

 

Our other investigator brother Conrado, was also baptized Saturday.  He is amazing as well and although medyo old, he will also be a great strength to the branch.  He is very poor, so we're just trying to do our best to make sure he has a way to come to church every Sunday.  He's wonderful and funny.  He was a little confused when asked to share his testimony... he stood up, folded his arms, and began to pray... oops, haha.  The Branch MIssion Leader helped him out. :D  We love him. And I am just so happy!  

In Sunday School, the man who started the debate last week was there again... and he was at it again.  We watched the Restoration DVD and I'm sure that everyone, including him, felt the spirit.  Afterwards, this brother started saying how it was a work of man and that the catholic church is God's church, but he says he believes that this church is also true... he kept contradicting himself and just wouldn't listen.  Luckily, we had a member from the stake come and got him to be quiet for a few minutes and allowed several others to share their testimonies and what they felt during the video.  I was very proud of all the other members and investigators in that class who shared.  Everything they said was out of love for this man and for God and everyone shook his hand after class.  Of course I want this man to continue to come to church, but part of me is a little worried about what other things he might say that could confuse our other investigators.  It just made me happy to hear all the others defending the church and I know their testimonies were also strengthened through this experience.

Our investigator, Brother Reynaldo, who is more than amazing, was not able to come to church.  We had heard the other day from his wife that he was sick so after church we decided to stop by and see how he was doing.  He really did not look good at all! Apparently the had gone to the hospital earlier that day.  We started to explain about priesthood blessing to his wife because she wasn't there when he received one to help with his Word of Wisdom, and just as we began to explain to her, Brother Reynaldo who was lying on the couch with his eyes closed began nodding and said he would like one.  Ah, his faith is so strong!!! :D  We called our branch president who said to call another brother who lives close by.  We walked to his house and he was so willing to come with us even though he wasn't sure how and I think it was one of the very first times to give a blessing of healing.  He was nervous, but it was a beautiful blessing and afterwards, Brother Reynaldo immediately looked a whole lot better and started chatting with this member and smiling.  It was amazing! I love the Priesthood. :D  That member ended up working with us the whole rest of the night and he was amazing and I could see that the experience really strengthened his testimony as well.

I am so grateful for the gospel in my life.  I know that it is true.  I know that The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints is the only true and living church on the face of the whole earth and that if we live by its teachings until the end of our lives, we will fulfill our purpose here on earth and return to live with God again and receive a fullness of joy in his presence.  I know that the Book of Mormon is the word of God.  I know that Joseph Smith is a true prophet of God and that through him, the Church that Jesus Christ himself established, was restored to the earth.  I know that if we don't endure to the end... and if we don't keep the commandments... we will not reach our full potential and will be miserable.  We taught a less active man the other day and really just explained it to him very simply.  Sister Butler and I called that lesson "Operation POS Smackdown."

We shared Mosiah 2:36-41 and I think he understood.  He came to church for the first time since I've been in this area and I think he intends to stay and finally fulfill his calling... we've been struggling without him for a while.  His calling is kinda important... :D  The work is hastening... we can't afford to waste time or go astray.  We need to continue to hold fast to the iron rod and press forward.  If we don't, we'll fall and it will be too late to come back.  Anyways... I love you all so much!  And you are all amazing!  And... I am so lucky to have such a great family.  I can't express how much I love you all.  And I can't express how much I want to live with you all again for eternity. hehe. :D

BYE!!!!

Sister McClellan

 

 

PS HI! This is Sister Butler. I'm Sister McClellan's awesome companion. I'm just adding a bit on here...because I want to. So I have a request for all of you. I know that you LOVE Sister McClellan SSSSOOOO much...and I know that it would be just awesome if you would SHOW her your love by sending her a HAND WRITTEN letter by the end of August.  None of you are exempted. Each of you (little children included) should send her a letter. It would mean the world to her and it would make her very happy. Please do it. :) Thanks! you're all awesome! I love you...even though I don't know you. :) Have a great day!
 



At the baptism

 

 

My district
 

Week 64

Good Afternoon! (Is this a normal greeting? I can't remember...)

This week was great! Tuesday we had the BEST Zone Meeting I can ever remember... probably because Sister Butler and I were the ones teaching... we were definitely inspired. We had been trying to think of ideas for a week beforehand but ideas weren't really coming until the day before.  We fasted and prayed and the revelation started to come.  We decided to teach about faith to move members in seeking the upper class.  We created an awesome analogy about an airplane emergency and had all the missionaries act it out... we prepared a long room, with chairs aligned and numbered like in a real airplane and taped face masks to the bottom of every chair.  It was an awesome analogy... if I do say so myself.  We had emergency exit personnel who had additional assignments taped to the bottom of their chair. President and Sister Auino were the pilot and co-pilot.  We gave them instructions and passed out peanuts and began out flight.  A few seconds into the flight there was an emergency... the airplane started to lose pressure and all the passengers needed to put on their oxygen masks and they only had 30 seconds to do so. Each missionary however had a color on their chair that determined whether they were an adult or child.  The children could not put on their own masks... and the adults had to first put on their own before they could help anyone else.  The trick was... that some of the masks were either missing or broken... it was up to the emergency exit personnel to follow their instructions in helping their fellow passengers to either retrieve new masks from us, the flight attendants, or to help them fix their masks.  It was awesome.  3 people died in that emergency... which was perfect.  No matter what the conclusion was, it would have made for a great discussion.

So, I guess I'll explain what each thing means... The flight attendants (me and sister butler) were representing all the missionaries.  We are trained and know what everyone needs in order to be saved... and are equipped with the tools in order to do so.  The Emergency Exit Personnel represent the members... they know the people around them and what they need and are able to help them get what they need.  They were given special instructions in which they could work through us to help the others.  And they are SO important!  The adults represent the upper class... who have the ability to help others once they have been saved themselves... and the children represent the lower class... who are just as important as everyone else and also need to be saved... but can't really do as much in building the kingdom of God.  In our analogy... there were a whole lot more children than adults, which is accurate for here in our areas.  We have been encouraged by our amazing leaders in the church to seek the middle and upper class, people who can really help build the kingdom of God... and once the church is strong... everyone else will much easier be able to live the gospel.  As it is... when all the members don't have enough money to get to church, they can't really hold a calling, and the church doesn't get any stronger.  (D&C 58:9-11)

Anyways, it was an awesome training and we had an amazing discussion afterwards where the missionaries came up with even more amazing insights about things that happened in the activity and about things that they have been seeing and experiences they have been having in their individual areas.  Participation in meetings is amazing and really brings the spirit.  I am so grateful for God's help in this and in our work every day.  I really had a good time!  

I had a really cool experience yesterday at church.  We miraculously had 7 investigators at church!  We were hoping for about 15.... but it's okay... 5 of those were potential priesthood holders and they doubled the elders quorum class, haha.  Anyways, in our gospel essentials class, the topic came up about whether God has a body of flesh and bone or if he is just a spirit.  It became quite the debate and the branch president got involved and then President Aquino even came in and shared.  Our investigator Romeo, who will be getting baptized this Saturday was still confused about this issue and he wasn't sure what to believe... he was sharing all these scriptures from the bible that proves God is just a spirit... he doesn't know yet about JS Translations, haha.  I know though, that you can't prove anything with the bible... there are errors in the bible! You need an additional witness. The situation was starting to get kind of intense, and I could just feel something welling up inside me... I knew I needed to say something.  I raised my hand and waited to be called on... I don't know why, but my heart was pounding so hard and I felt really hot and shaky... when I was finally called on, I just shared my simple testimony of the restoration of the gospel and the church and about prayer in order to know the truth for yourself.  I never felt the spirit so strongly.  The classroom got quiet again after that and soon ended. I will never forget that experience... My testimony of the restoration of the gospel increased a ton with that experience.  Even though I've been testifying and teaching about it for months, this time it was just a little different.  It felt good. :D

There are a lot more things that happened this week... we went on exchanges which was super fun, lots of great new investigators, getting soaked again from rain... opportunities to serve and more.  I love missionary work SO much!  I will never ever ever regret this chance that I had to come here to the Philippines and serve these people and God for 18 months.  It is the best thing ever and I am learning SO much!  I will never be the same again.

I love you all.  Take care always.  Choose the Right.

Love,

Sister McClellan 

 

 

Week 63

This week I learned about the power of reading the Book of Mormon.
We have an investigator, Brother Conrado... he is 70+ years old and should be getting baptized on July 27. He is really poor and sometimes has a hard time coming to church because he doesn't have any money to pay for transportation. He is a fisherman and sometimes he doesn't get any fish... so it's a hard life for him... but we recently saw a change in him. He came to church 3 times in a row. We always follow up on his reading when we visit him and he's been reading the Book of Mormon every day... sometimes for hours on end. After he's been reading the Book of Mormon, his faith is so strong and he's sure he wants to be baptized and that everything will work out. Last week he didn't come to church because he didn't have any money and when we asked him how his reading was, he said he hadn't read since the last time we had visited him which was several days before. He also said he wasn't sure about his baptism because of course he wants to be able to keep his covenants by coming to church every Sunday and he just wasn't sure he could. We taught him a lesson about faith that day and encouraged him to continue reading the Book of Mormon. When we went back to him later that week, he had read 30+ pages!!! and he was like... I'll find a way to come to church because God will provide a way. He went to go fishing Saturday night... his last chance to make some money. We were praying for fish!!! When we got to church yesterday and saw him sitting there, we were overjoyed!!! We asked him if he got some fish and he said none. We haven't followed up to see exactly how he made it to church, but I definitely know that God provided a way because of his faith and he
did everything he could to be there. And reading the Book of Mormon really increased his faith.

Our other investigator, Brother Reynaldo... is amazing. We are so excited for him. He just has a word of wisdom problem. He recently got a priesthood blessing to help and he said it's helped. He's been coming to church as well and is really doing well. When we asked him about his reading, he said that when he's reading the Book of Mormon, he has absolutely no desire to smoke. He forgets that he has that problem and says he just feels peaceful and happy. When he's tempted, he remembers to go and read the Book of Mormon and it's been really helping him a lot. There's power in reading the Book of Mormon. I know that is true. We had the opportunity of teaching an active family recently about missionary work and showed them how to give a Book of Mormon away. We had them practice on each other. We gave each of them a Book of Mormon and had each of them commit to give them away to a friend. I'm excited to see what happens. :D Even the little girl who's like 7 years old committed to give it to her best friend at school. It was so cute and when she practiced on me, she even shared the cutest little testimony about how the Book of Mormon helps her in her life and said that it would also help her! It was adorable! Sister Butler and I decided we would also do the same thing. Neither she or I have ever just given away a Book of Mormon before... I did once in high school I think... and here, usually it's part of a lesson when we introduce the book, so this was new to both of us. We wrote our testimonies inside and  marked some of our favorite verses and wrapped it and just gave it as a gift to a couple who works at the fruit stand by our house who we've offered to visit before but they don't have time... so hopefully they'll at least have time to read!

I love the Book Of Mormon! It's really my favorite book ever! And the more I read it, the more I LOVE it! How blessed we are that we have it. I hope I never take it for granted ever again. I wish I had more time to read it! I only have 1 hour a day for personal study and I spend most of that time preparing for the lessons that day and only have a short time to actually get some good Book of Mormon reading in. Of course I'm super grateful for this hour that I have... but I would sure love a little bit more time!!! :D And more time outside proselyting as well. We have a very good problem! We have so many investigators with baptismal dates! ha ha. We've stopped extending dates recently because we are encouraged to visit investigators with baptismal dates three times a week, and we just don't have enough time! We aren't trying to find new investigators at the moment... but somehow they keep coming! It's great! We got 11 new investigators this last week without even really trying! It's been crazy, ha ha. We've been focusing on getting our lessons shorter, but still effective and spirit-filled in order to have more lessons in a day... but in our area, there's a lot of walking no matter what, so we still can't have as many lessons in a day as we would like to have. It's a challenge... but a good challenge. :D

Anyways... that's about all that's going on with me right now! Thanks everyone for your love and support and prayers. I'm discovering more and more the power of prayer. Please include also my investigators and branch in your prayers... oh and also our zone meeting this coming Tuesday because Sister Butler and I will be doing an EPIC training for all the missionaries. Thanks! :D Love you all!

Sister McClellan

Week 62

Hello Family!

 

So... the events of this week... this has been an amazing week!  There have been a lot of little miracles and tender mercies and we are very excited about the work.  

 

Sister Butler and I go jogging almost every morning.  It feels so great to really be exercising.  I always exercise, but rarely to the point where I sweat... :D  I'm so grateful to have a companion who enjoys that kind of thing.  She's the first one who really enjoys any kind of physical activity. :D

Our investigator, Brother Reynaldo, who is really progressing a lot, shared a cool experience with us the other day.  We followed up with him about his church experience and he said that before sacrament meeting, his 8 year old granddaughter was complaining about being hungry... but after she took of the sacrament, she said she felt full.  He compared it to when Jesus fed all those people with the bread and fish.  It was definitely a testimony builder for him. :D We are so excited for this guy.  His whole countenance has changed since we started teaching him. He loves, loves, loves the book of mormon and we frequently find him reading it when we come to visit him.  It's so great!

It's been raining a TON lately! and hard!  The other day, it was raining really hard and even with our umbrellas, we were getting wet.  While walking to an appointment, I saw a woman quite a ways ahead of us, walking without a payong, soaking wet!  I felt impressed to go run and catch up with her and give her mine!  I brushed the thought off - she was really far away!!! We were walking faster than her though and kept getting closer.  I kept feeling that same impression... finally, we were almost caught up with her and I decided to talk to her. I said "basa ikaw!!!" or in other words... "you're wet!" haha. She was super friendly, actually accepted my umbrella, and she said we could teach her ANY time!  We set up an appointment for the next day which went well and I got my payong back.  And... she and her daughter both came to church yesterday... :D  We should follow the promptings we receive... immediately... :D

That rainy day just kept getting better.  We were soaked completely... and got even more wet as we shared one payong.  Because we were so wet and couldn't go home until the evening, ALL our investigators that we visited prayed for us that we wouldn't get sick.  One of our investigators, Sister Nelia, prayed that we wouldn't get any more wet than we already were... and it didn't rain on us any more after that... only during lessons and after we got home.  We went home that night and boiled some water and I took my first hot shower in the Philippines (why didn't I think of that before???)... and neither of us got sick!!! :D Prayer works.

We also used the opportunity of being wet to tract at a rich home. (how could they turn away two freezing cold, soaked, little American girls in need of a bathroom?? ;D)  It totally worked!!! We got in their house!!!  Unfortunately, we couldn't get a return appointment because apparently they are always busy!! but at least we got past the front gate... which is progress! :D  It's very hard to OYM at rich houses.  But we're not letting that stop us from trying! :D

 

Yesterday was amazing!  We were a little disappointed because we were expecting about 10-15 investigators to come to church... as in we were confident and excited for ALL of them.  Only those 2 new investigators came... which was COOL!  but ALL the others did not come. :'(  We don't know why yet... but the amazing part was that Sister Butler and I did a 2 hour training for the ward council members and it was amazing.  I am excited to see this branch really progress. We've been using our companionship studies the last couple days to prepare and really were able to receive inspiration and the training was way smooth!  Sister Butler and I were perfectly unified and the council members actively participated.  The practice went well, and I think they are feeling motivated!  We taught about establishing the church through retention, reactivation, and conversion.  What I loved most was how relaxed and confident I felt.  I wasn't nervous and I never had to wonder or worry about what I was going to say. God really helped us and the spirit was the teacher.  We did our best to prepare and God took care of the rest.  Now we just need to continue to follow up with them and see that they are applying these things.  We had a ward council meeting afterwards which was one of the best I've ever been to.  We have so many plans... like a branch family home evening.. branch fast for specific people... and many other things... It's going to be great!

The ATTACK of the CENTIPEDES!

I think it's centipede season here or something.. there have been centipedes all over our house!  It's really gross... usually it's lizards, cockroaches, an occasional giant spider... sometimes a mouse or rat... but this is the first time we've gotten centipedes... they're EVERYWHERE!!! And they're especially gross when we squish them :D  Did I ever mention, we also have a dog and a kitten??? they're not ours... not allowed unfortunately... but they belong to the owners of the house or something and they are stinkin' cute and love me to death... sometimes the dog runs up to me when I come home at night and jumps up on me and gets mud all over my shirt... :\  and sometimes the cat gets stuck in the tree or on the roof and cries until we can save her... I love animals :D

Yep... that's my life right now!  Our new mission President is awesome.  We had a fireside with him the other day and we already love him.  He's also mentioned some changes that will be happening in the near future... including us using facebook.?.?.  we'll see what happens there.  Anyways.. I think that's it for now.  It's great being a missionary and great being a leader as well.  I'm lovin' it!

Love you all,

Sister McClellan



Our district activity at the beach last week where we played ULTIMATE! :D

 

Walking across a bridge the day it rained... it was flooded BIG time!  The bridge is about 7 feet high maybe?? the water is usually very, very low... like 1-2 feet high... this was fast flowing water! crazy! At first we weren't sure if it was safe to cross... but the guys there assured us it was okay... and we were already soaked from the rain... so...

Oh yeah... and cultural note... people here do not like to get their heads wet.  It's common to see someone walking around with their hand on their head if it's starting to sprinkle... or book or towel or anything they have.  Even if they are already soaked... you'll see them bring their hand up to their head occasionally.  It's kind of funny. :D  Of course it's because they don't want to get sick.  I guess I just never had to worry about it before in America because it wasn't as humid? Also, it's very common to see people with towels inside their shirts, to keep their backs dry... or paper... or pieces of cardboard... especially parents do this for their kids... so they don't get sick. It's very smart... just took me by surprise the first few times I saw it.  It doesn't look very comfortable... :D

 

 

 

Week 61

Oh my goodness.... last night I was able to watch the Worldwide Leadership Training Broadcast thing... and it was AMAZING!!!!! I've never felt so good! It was also exciting to see just how many sister missionaries there actually are in the MTC right now!!! crazy! When I was there, we were definitely a minority!  Now... not at all! After that was over, Sister Butler and I went home and got straight to planning a training we want to do with the leaders of our branch.  We plan on meeting with them and discussing some of the things that we learned as well as teaching them and practicing with them how to invite others to come to church and/or meet with the missionaries.  We are super excited about this training and are praying and fasting that it will be a huge success for our branch.  In the past few weeks I've already seen a huge change in our branch. The attitudes of the members seem to have been changing... we're not sure what caused it, but they are getting more and more excited about doing missionary work and more desirous to help us.  We've had a couple of the most productive branch counsel meetings and correlation meetings I think I've ever had.  So, they have the desire and we're hoping this training will help them to learn how to act and build on those desires that they have.

This week has been one of the best yet.  We were a little disappointed because Brother Vicinte... our sure candidate for baptism... didn't come to church!!! we don't know why... but... he won't be getting baptized this week... but he's solid... We have really been focusing on fathers lately.. I was so excited that so many potential priesthood holders came to church this last sunday... and the topic in Sunday School was about the Priesthood! :D  It was perfect!  I am so excited to see them ALL be baptized and receive the Priesthood, and in a year or so... there will be enough Melchizedek Priesthood holders to make a ward.  The work is hastening and it's wonderful.  I love that I'm here during all this excitement!  Things are changing here.  More and more missionaries are coming, standards are changing regarding how technology can be used and things are becoming more strict as well.  Today is our first day with a new mission president.  We had the opportunity to meet him last night and he seems awesome!  I am going to miss President and Sister Pagaduan, but President and SIster Aquino are really wonderful and I am excited to be working with them.

We've really been seeing the Lord's hand in the work and in our lives... every day.  There are little things we've been noticing, just the way things have been happening.  I really know that he is very much involved in this work... and this work is very, very important.  I hope that each and every one of you are also involved in this work... there is nothing more important that the salvation of souls! :D School, work, play... nothing is more important.  Family is super, super important... but what's a family if they can't be together forever?  We have so many investigators who say they can't come to church because they have to work... to support their family... and yes, that is very important... but... I know God blesses us as we keep his commandments and that the salvation of souls is really the most important thing... so that we can live as families forever.  We each have the responsibility to help our brothers and sisters as well come to the knowledge of the gospel.  The work is hastening and we need to get EVERYONE involved.  This isn't just a full-time missionary effort.  We need your help! :D  Each and every one of you should think of someone this week who you could invite to church or meet with the missionaries, or maybe someone who hasn't been coming to church who should be and then do something about it!  This last month we almost lost a very important member of our branch. We don't have a lot of active priesthood holders and one of them stopped coming for a few weeks.. he was having family problems and started getting addicted to computer games.  Sister Butler and I got the branch president and his wife and a friend of his and we all basically bombarded his home and taught him a lesson and told him we need him!!! He came back this last Sunday and we just need to make sure that someone continues to make regular visits to him and everyone else.  Visiting and Home teaching is also crucial to this work.  We as missionaries can't do this alone.  Even if those you are visiting are strong and active... don't slack.  Every responsibility and calling is inspired of God and necessary.  :D  Okay that's all for my rambling right now. :D

I hope you all have a wonderful week!

You're all awesome!

I got to play frisbee this morning on the beach!  :D

Love you,

Sister McClellan