Dear Family and Friends -
We were so happy to get to Skype with Brandon tonight. He wasn’t able to write an update this week because he has a set amount of time on the computer and skyping with us took a big chunk of that time. So, I thought I would just fill you in on some of the things he shared.
First of all, he looked and sounded GREAT!!! He is really loving his mission. It is super hot and he is sweating constantly, but he is loving life! His investigator Edwin is set to be baptized on May 17th. Edwin is married to a good, active member of the church, but until recently wasn’t too interested in the church. But that has all changed and he is really growing in the gospel. He is in Mosiah in his Book of Mormon reading. He told Brandon and his comp that when he gets baptized they have to give him ice cream, so Brandon is bringing a tub of ice cream to his baptism. He had grown really close to Edwin and his wife.
Brandon will be transferred a week from Thursday. They only keep a trainer with their trainee for two transfers, so Brandon will be transferred. He has really enjoyed Tarlac and he is sad to go, but he is excited for what is ahead. I guess the ward that he serves in is planning a little farewell party for him for a ward activity this week. Then the next transfer will only be 4 weeks, because then his mission president goes home and he gets his new president.
He says that when he is walking around, people say random things about him. Like a mom with a child will say, “That’s your father”. Or a girl will say to her friend, “That is my boyfriend”. Filipinos often ask him if they can trade eyes with him. They also ask if they can trade noses with him. Isn’t that funny?
Oh, and he said that he is mailing us a package from the Philippines today. It is for Glenn and I. I can’t wait to get it. And—I can’t really think of anything else--- but he was really happy and doing so well!
He did send me his weekly letter to his mission president, so I will include that here:
Dear President!
In another blink of an eye a week has come and gone. I am still loving my life, loving the people, loving this work, and loving the Lord. Yet again, I think Elder Antoni is brilliant. We had a night where I became frustrated because a few members were frankly wasting our time and there wasn't a whole lot we could do about it, and at the end of the night we fell just short of our goals that in my eyes were very attainable. During our nightly planning, my companion told me what I needed to here. He didn't coddle me like a parent and told me everything is going to be ok, as I probably would have preferred, but he told me what I needed to hear. He told me when that happens, maybe we can't help if members waste our time, but we can still help if we have the spirit with us. And it was true, I had driven the spirit away because of my impatience. He really did help me. He's so awesome. And he's super fluent in English, so that's a bonus because when I get frustrated Tagalog becomes hard for me. He is one amazing companion.
This week the work was good, and we had one experience that I would like to share. It's nothing crazy, but it shows that the Lord's hand is here. To make a long story short, me and a ward missionary were stuck, no appointments close by, and everyone we had tried was busy. I said a silent prayer in my head for guidance. I glanced over and saw a young woman in yellow. I felt I needed to talk to her, the feeling happened twice actually. So we did, and she readily let us in and we taught a 15 minute version of lesson 1 and set up a return appointment. She seems very interested and ready and willing to learn. She even asked if we were coming back! The Lord really does prepare people and lead us to them. It's amazing, this thing we call the Work of Salvation. Thank you so much for everything president!
Elder Christensen
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