29 April 2013

Hey Mum and Whanau,

Another good week here in the Philippines.  Thank you for all your emails and pictures, they are so awesome and it was great to receive all of your words of encouragement because they really are a big help for me.   Mum, you guys look awesome in your pictures, but please don't go pushing dad off any high towers anytime soon!  Hehe!  We've had a good, constructive week in our area and we were blessed to listen to Elder Ardern this week at a Missionary Devotional and it was so awesome.

I loved listening to the New Zealand accents when Elder Ardern and is wife spoke to us at the Devotional.  They came into the Chapel, sat up front and  skimmed over the missionaries and he saw me and leaned over to his wife to probably say, "There's Elder Chadderton!"  Hehe!  Cool aye. It's funny because I think he thought I was the only Kiwi he knew because when he was speaking he singled me out about questions about home and the differences in our accent.  He started speaking and said, "There are only three people here today that, "DONT" have accents.  Me, my wife and Elder Chadderton!"  Crack up, but to make me feel even more special, when he left he came over to where I was sitting and shook my hand.  Just me!  Out of all the missionaries in the chapel he only shook my hand. I felt so SPECIAL!  Hehe.  His messages were great as he talked about how to better fulfill your calling as missionaries and in a way what our calling entails.   Sister Ardern shared four ways to be a better learner.  Great talk too! 

So, our focus for the past week was to find more less active members and possibly old investigators that may have been overlooked.  This was to help boost our teaching pool because of past baptisms.   Our hard work payed off because we were really blessed while working in this one area called Batac.  On our list or planner that we carry,  we've written down that there are a lot of members in this area so we go by the names on the list and pray that we can find these families.   We are walking around our area and turn down this one street.   My companion, Elder Merrill thought that he knew where one of the investigators lived but we must have either past the house or missed it because we couldnt find it.   Anyway, we walked back out to the main road and this guy is just chilling on his trike and calls us over.  We talk to him for a bit and find out that his family are all members except him.  He said that he was taught by the missionaries some time ago but he wasn't able to get baptized because the missionaries were transferred and no one visited him after that so in the end he lost interest and was never baptized.   We talked to him some more and asked him if he was interested to have us share the lessons with him.  He said that it would be fine.  Cool!  We then showed him our list and asked him if he knew some of the names that were written there and if he knew where they lived.  He pointed out a house close by that was the house of another less active family. Cool blessings!

We went and visited the less active family and talked and shared a lesson with them and then asked if they knew any members close by and they too pointed out another family's home that we didn't know about.  The next day we continued our search and by night time we were just about to head home and we stopped by a Tindahan and asked the owner if she knew where a particular family lived that was also on our list.  She pointed out the home and so we pushed our luck and asked if she knew one of the other names and she knew them as well.  It was really amazing because we were able to visit and share a lesson with those families too.  So cool!  It reminds me of the scripture and song, "Be thou humble and the Lord, thy God, will lead you by the hand and give thee answers to thy prayers."  That's what he did for us. He's the man! 

Tomorrow we have Zone interviews and I also need to get my Temple recommend renewed as it expires tomorrow.  Perfect timing or what?  I'm going to go on exchanges with the Zone leaders on Thursday in Teresa - one of my last areas.  Then on Saturday two of our investigators will be interviewed for baptism.  Awesome! Then, "MOTHERS DAY" the following Sunday!  We figured about 2:00 p.m. my time should be the best time to Skype home. Oh and next Monday for our Zone activity we are going to the water falls again.  All goods! 

Busy week ahead and another week to fly by.  Next week it'll just be over two weeks na lang but as for now I am doing everything I can to help our investigators get ready for baptism.  My theory is, "Magtiis hanggang wakas o magsaya hanggang wakas."  Time is to short to screw things up now!

I love you all so much and I can't wait to see all your beautiful faces when I Skype home on Mother's Day - one last Skype session before the mission ends and before I come home.

Elder Chadderton

23 April 2013

Hey Mum and Whanau, 

Thanks once again for the awesome emails and pictures.   It's so good to see that everyone is doing well and you all look so great in the pictures.   Good to hear that the parents are home and safe and that the miracles are flowing.  That's amazing.  I'm doing great here in Tanay.  It's a sweet area but its so far away from the rest of the world and it takes ages to get anywhere from here.

Today is Temple day and as a zone we planned to go to the first session at 7:00 a.m.  So, because we live so far from the Temple,  we woke up at 3:30 a.m. showered, got changed and were out of the house by about 4:15 a.m. to catch a van all the way into Medical city which is close to where  President lives.  We then taxied to the Temple and it took us about two hours in total to get to the Temple.  We made it on time for the 7:00 a.m. session and it was awesome but I was feeling a bit droopy eyed during the session.  My bad, but it was so awesome being in the House of the Lord again and I realized that the next time I go to the Temple it will be the day before I come home.   Oh man!  After we finished up at the Temple we caught a jeep home but it took us about 3 hours to get back .  It was really hot and the pollution was quite strong and we were cramped up in this smallish sized jeep.  But I love it and I'm going to miss it.  Bytheway,  I had to get a chest x-ray as part of my exit regulation requirements just to show that everything is normal.   They just check if we have any problems with TB or stuff like that.  The doctor said that it didn't look like I had any problems so I'm happy.

So, the two baptisms we had lined up went great and according to plan.  However, we did start a bit late because our presiding leader thought it started at 5:00 p.m. instead of 4:00 p.m. but it all worked out.  Both of them have been confirmed and should receive the Aaronic Priesthood next week.  It's awesome to see people enter the waters of baptism and we also found two more potential priesthood investigators to replace the ones we just baptized.  Cool aye.

I am now oficially 21!  WOW!  I'm an old man now.  Hehe!  I was looking at my pictures from my MTC days and I look so young compared to now.  I've had people say to me that I look like I'm  28 or 30 years old mainly because they judge age according to size and because I'm a freakishly large person, they think I'm older... dunno but it's awesome.   So, on my birthday we had our district leader training which was cool because two other Elders from my batch were also there and while the other Elders were doing the workshops and stuff we were just sitting back saying how we've been there and done that and how it feels so weird being the oldest in the mission now.

Yesterday reminded me that I only have one more month to go. CRAZY!   It's all coming to an end too quickly and I know that I've still got a lot of work to do here before I leave.  I'm not excited to leave and I know it's going to be hard because I've learnt so much from these great people that I've grown to love, I've learnt to serve and I've learnt to respect.  It's so important to look on the inside of someone and not just on their physical stature.  I know I've got to apply all these things to my life when I get back.  RMs any tips? 

I received my itinerary and I will be coming home on May 23rd, landing at 12:00 noon.  Awesome!  One concern Mum is that I'm only allowed to bring one 20 kg bag home with a carry on and one personal item.   That doesn't seem fair because it will mean that I will have to leave so much stuff - mainly clothes and maybe some books.  Please make sure I've got some funds in my account for when I travel because if I get charged for luggage I'm going to worry.  I trust that the Lord will help me work it out and I might end up buying an extra backpack for all my books so I can take it on the plane.  I need my books.  It's going to be fun packing and I just had the thought that when I email next week I'll have 3 weeks left.  Man, I am counting down on one hand.

On the flip side of things, Elder Merrill is doing really well and he and I are sweet. No problems and I'm trying to help him with his language so his mission will be a success.  He was happy on Saturday when we had the baptisms.  He said, "Two more souls saved!"  Cool aye!  Those were his first baptisms for his mission and we are hoping to have another two in the upcoming weeks.

The mission is amazing and I'm loving it but I know I'm definitely going to miss it but I also know I have my friends back home to help me keep on track when I get home.  Mum you're right when you say that I will want to visit the mission again one day.  I'm going to plan a return visit and you can come as well Mum.  Hehe.

I love you all so much.  Four more weeks na lang.  Grabe talaga ang bilis ng panahon.. sobra. Ingat kayo lage. Mahal ko kayo.

Elder Chadderton  

15 April 2013

Hey Mum and Whanau,

Another great  and successful week in the mission field and it was nice to listen to the General Conference talks this week.  Thanks for all the emails and pictures.  You all look so great and hugs all round when I get home.

So, I've been transferred and I am happy.  I am in a place called Tanay, Rizal and my new companion is Elder Merrill from Bountiful, Utah.  He's 19 years of age and a really nice guy and he kinda reminds me of Napoleon Dynamite.  Hehe!  He's doing great in the mission and I'm his follow up trainer because he's only been in the area for one transfer and he's still struggling with the language which means I've been assigned to lead the area.   Our investigator pool is healthy and we have some great people to teach.  We have two baptisms next week which is awesome and then we have one scheduled for May 4th and another for May 11th.  That is so awesome.  Our area is huge but the place we work in is tiny because we are trying to focus on teaching the investigators that are close to the Chapel.  Tanay is a little further down from one area I used to serve in called Teresa so it is considered province.   It's a very nice little town and reminds me a little of Kihikihi.  It's cool and the only problem is that there is no MacDonald's!  (jokes). 

Well,  with my birthday being tomorrow and everything and being in a new area I figured I'm just going to shout the Elders to dinner and then buy a cake and munch it back.  That will definitely be one of the highlights for this week along with our two baptisms. 

Story, "We have an investigator named Randell and he is 23 years of age and looks like he could be my little brother. Hehe!  We gave him a reading assignment in the Book of Mormon last Wednesday -  3rd Nephi chapter 11 focusing on baptism.  We visited him again on Friday expecting him to have read the chapter we'd assigned him and so we ask him if he has read it and he had not only read chapter 11 but he carried on and read chapters 12, 13 and 14 too.  I was shocked but he said he really enjoyed it.  We then invited him to share what he liked from the chapters he read and if he had any questions.  He asked us so many questions and shared a ton of scriptures.  I caught a glimpse of his scriptures and he had highlighted so many of the verses.  I believe he really liked those chapters because he talked about the commandments and how important the law of chastity is and he talked about prayer and how we need to pray from the heart and not use repetitive prayers and heaps of other things. It was amazing to see how a person can receive personal revelation for themselves and build their testimony when they read the Book of Mormon."  

Another cool experience happened yesterday when we went and visited an investigator named Michelle.   She has a baptism date set for May 11th.  So, before we start the lesson we follow up on how she liked General Conference.   She said she liked what she understood and then asked us about tithing and what it is.  We briefly explained it to her and then gave her a pamphlet.  We continued with the planned lesson about the Plan of Salvation and the atonement.  I taught about our life on earth and my companion shared the atonement of Jesus Christ.  It was a great lesson and towards the end of the lesson I asked her if there was anything we could help her with.  She started thanking us for teaching her, for being patient with her and for helping her to change her life and then she started to cry and told us how her family is improving a lot and that she feels peace in her heart and comfort when trials come.  When she was crying one of the other members present, looked at her and said perfectly, "Look, look at her, she's feeling the spirit!" and then she started crying too. It was amazing to see how we as missionaries are just instruments in teaching the gospel and we don't do the teaching we just set up the environment for the spirit to come in and let him do the teaching. 

Five weeks left in the field and I'm counting on one hand now.  I'm going to miss it Mum!  I love you all heaps and  hope you had a good week listening to the prophets voice.  I've had an awesome week and I hope this new week will be just as good.  Mahal ko kayo.

Elder Chadderton    

9 April 2013

Hey Mum and Whanau,Hope you are all well.  I'm doing good.  This past week has been very busy but spiritually rewarding. We've had Temple day, Zone conference, Temple tour day, Zone leader Council and today is P-Day where we are doing some Zone training too.  It's been great and health wise I'm doing good.Well, we found out about transfers today and sadly,  I'm getting transferred.   I really thought that I was going to finish out my mission in this area, but the Lord needs me elsewhere so I will go where He wants me to go.  I'm not sure if I will be Zone leader in my new area as yet.Well, the good news is that I got my package.  Thank you so much. It was funny because we had ZLC(zone leader council) on Monday, so after the meeting we caught a ride to the Mission office with the AP's because we had to grab a DVD from the office for our zone training on P-Day.  Anyway, while we were waiting for the DVD, the mail man walked into the office and he asked, "Is there a Sir Elder Chadderton here?" PRESENT!  I heard my name and walked over and literally grabbed the package straight away because I knew what it was and I was a little bit excited.  (good timing on my part being at the office).  Anyway, the office Elder's tried to take it off me because they said that I couldn't have it until transfer day.  Aye? That wasn't going to happen because I wasn't giving it up to no one.  Hehe!  Upon opening it I found that all the chocolates had melted because of the heat.  I'm kinda glad I didn't give it up to the office Elders because the chocolates could have been worse by the time I did get it so,  when we got home I chucked everything in the freezer then we went back out to work and taught some great lessons.  We had dinner at Bishop's home and when we got home later that night we had a feed of CHOCOLATE!  Mate, I couldn't handle it aye!  Because we don't have a lot of sweets here, eating rich NZ chocolate in one go gave me a bad stomach ache. Haha!  Dahan, dahan din pag may time Elder Chadz!Other good news included learning so much at our Zone Conference.  Stuff like having Christ like attributes, studying and staying with ones companion.  It was really nice and unlike Sister Chadderton, we had a good feed afterwards.  Loved it!Yesterday, we had ZLC and it was good. We discussed some of the issues in the mission then watched  a talk by Elder Holland and he is the man.  If you want to be chastised as a missionary then that is the right talk to watch.  It was great because he talked about why PMG came about and why the lessons changed.  He also talked about some of the weaknesses of missionaries and how to overcome them. Towards the end of his talk he gave the, "DO YOU LOVE ME" talk where he explains about the story of the apostle Peter after Christ died and how Christ questioned Peter three times if he loved him more than his worldly things. Amazing talk.Well, I'm still a bit sad that I'm getting transferred but I know the Lord knows what is best for me so I am remaining positive.Thanks for everything family. I love you ALL heaps and heaps.  Dad, I'm a bit short on time but I want you to know that I love you heaps.  Thanks again whanau.Oh, yes, I received my flight details and sadly dad, I won't be arriving home on your birthday as I had originally thought because I don't  leave the Philippines until 12:30 p.m. on May 22nd (your birthday) where I have a  two hour flight to Hong Kong and then another 10 hour flight to the Auckland International Airport (home) which means I arrive on May 23rd!  Woohoo!  It's all good.Elder Chadderton

2 April 2013

Hey Mum and Whanau,

Thanks again for the emails and the pictures, it has been a good week and super hot, but the work continues to go forward.   I can't believe it's April already!  Thanks for putting the birthday package together Mum and Dad.  Hopefully, I'll get it on transfer day which is on April 10.  I am just looking at the calendar and I know these next few weeks are going to pass by super fast, but I hope not too fast.  I only have a short number of days left in the Pines to do all the good that I can. 

Well, it was our Temple day today and it was great because I felt like all my worries left me when I was there and my mind was so clear.  I was thinking on what I would do when I come home. I had some good thoughts come to me so will write them down and plan it out a little more.  Hopefully, I will hit the ground running when I get home.  

Anyway, one good experience that we had this week was to do with a less active member who knocked on our door while we were studying.  She had offered to work with us as a fellow-shipper so we invited her to come by at 2:00 p.m. where she would come with us to an appointment with one of our investigators.   We had a great lesson and the spirit that the member brought to the lesson - despite her being less active was amazing.  Our investigator was so grateful for the lesson.  Fortunately, we were able to visit a lot of our less actives this week and really find out what it is that they specifically need.  It's been great!

We received our April calendar today and we have a Fireside with Elder Ardern this month so I am looking forward to that.  It'll be good to see another familiar face from home. 

We have a busy week ahead of us because despite having Temple day today, we have Zone conference tomorrow and on Saturday we have Temple tour day.  Monday we have Zone Leader training and P-Day will be on Tuesday as we have transfers on Wednesday and Saturday and Sunday will be General Conference.   Hey, and then the following Tuesday it's my 21st birthday!  We have an appointment set up for that day and I learnt that one of our recent convert families has a son whose birthday is on the same day as mine so they have invited us over for dinner on the Saturday.  Cool aye!  And before you know it, Mum, I'll be calling home for, "Mother's Day!" 

Noon bago lang ako sa mission binahagi ko sa inyo about sa kahalagahan ng ating pagtitiis hanggan wakas.  Ngayon nanaranasan ko na kung gaano yun mahalaga.  Matatapos ko na ung mission ko at nararamdaman ko na parang gusto ko tumigil na gusto ko sana magpahinga, pero di ko talaga pwedeng gawin yun dahil narerealise ko na hindi ito ung time ko na hindi ito para lang sa akin pero naglilingkod ako para sa diyos.  Para tulungan ang kanyang mga anak makabalik sa kanya. instrumento lang ako sa kamay ng diyos at tulad ng lahat ng mga instrumento, minsan, kailangan ko din ng 'tuning'. hondo pwedeng mag 'give up' hindi pwedeng mag 'quit'. kailangan ko magtiis hanggang sa wakas.  At kahit dumating ung wakas alam ko meron pa akong magagawa pag uwi ko.  Gagamitin pa ako ng diyos para maisakatuparan ung mga gawain niya. 

I love this work and while it hasn't been easy it has been worth it.  I love you all.

Elder Chadderton