Dear Family and friends,
This past week has been an exciting one! This past week we had 2 bagyos come through central luzon, which means lot's a rain! This past Thursday Elder Tating and I headed into Tarlac so I could conduct an exchange with a member of my district. The rain was really coming down but we thought it would be all good. When we got to the apartment of the missionaries in Tarlac we got a text from the zone leaders telling us we were now in level 2 which meant we couldn't leave our apartments. I ended up staying the day and night in Tarlac and it was a pretty impressive storm. Not going to lie, I really didn't like not working but I got some really good study in. That was the first Bagyo. This past saturday we had another one but luckily the wind wasn't as strong in Burgos so we were able to work. Right now there are a lot of areas in our mission that are flooded. There are some missionaries sleeping in Chapels, but luckily Burgos is higher in Elevation so there are currently no problems with flooding. About a month ago President and Sister Martino really stressed getting a 72 hour kit and I know that for many missionaries it was a great blessing. It helped me realize the importance of Following the council of President Martino.
Besides the weather this past week has been a really good one! Yesterday we had a lesson with Brother Adonis which was awesome. Adonis is the father of 6 children and is the only non-member (besides the children not of baptism age) in his family. We started teaching him last april and teaching him has been a joy for these past few months. He has struggled a little bit with his testimony of Jospeh Smith and the Gospel because he hasn't had some great, wonderful, powerful experience. However last night he told us that he knows that this is the true church and that Joseph Smith is a prophet. I asked him how he knew that and he explained that over time as he read the Book of Mormon, prayed and was taught by us he felt that things were right. "Dahan dahan" or a little bit by a little bit he has felt that this is the true church and he as gained a testimony. This was such a great thing to hear from Him. He has made big sacrifices to attend church, and keep commitments and he wants so badly to be unified with his family. This was a good reminder for me that conversion doesn't happen all at once, neither does gaining a testimony. Conversion is a process of change that usually happens a little bit at a time, but it takes effort on our part and on the part investigators. I like the example of a seed that Alma used in Alma 32. The seed doesn't become a tree with fruit in an instant. There is a process of growth before the tree has delicious fruit. This experience helped me learn how I can help other investigators recognize the spirit and gain a testimony. Side note: Adonis has a baptismal date of October 15!
This past Saturday was a bagyo day as I mention earlier and saying it rained is an understatement. Despite the rain we worked and had a great day! We used umbrellas but it still didn't take to long till we were drenched head to foot. One of the things we were able to do was offer our umbrellas to those who got caught without them when the rain came. It was a great opportunity for little service. Little acts of service make a big difference. It was a good reminder to me to always search for opportunites to serve. No matter how busy I am, I always need to look for opportunites to go about doing good.
For us here in the Philippines, general conference is this upcoming weekend and I am very, very excited! I really love general conference and am trying to prepare myself to listen to words of the prophets and receive personal revelation. I was glad to hear some good things about conference in your emails and am really looking forward to it.
My favorite quote I read this week is from Jospeh Smith,"When the Lord commands, do it". I could go on for a while about this, but it is a great definition of obedience.
I love you all! I love the work and I love being a missonary!
mahal ko kayo
Love Elder Leishman
Showing posts with label obedience. Show all posts
Showing posts with label obedience. Show all posts
Monday, October 10, 2011
Monday, February 21, 2011
MTC Week 5 already?
Goodbye photo with Joe and Elder Tyson Green
We can't believe Elder Leishman has gone for over a month. Time isn't quite flying, but it is coming along nicely! Here's the latest. We love the Monday emails!
Dear family and friends,
It has been a great week at the mtc! I first need to say thank you for valentines and letters. They put many smiles on my face to say the least! So like everyweek so far at the mtc, this past week has been a week of learning. I think that the most important thing that I learned came from the tuesday night devotional. Kevin W. Pearson of the 70 spoke to us and what he told us what just what I needed to hear. For the week leading up to the devotional I really had been feeling like there was something missing in my missionary work. Elder Pearson words helped me find what I was missing through the spirit. Elder Pearson started out his talk by really putting us in our place a little bit. The first thing I thought of was "wow. This is like a spiritual smack in face." It really was. He told us that most of us are boys that are acting like missionaries. We havn't yet become missionaries. He focused on how we could become disciples of Christ. This comes through exact obedience, faith and hard work. The thing that stood out to me the most was exact obedience. Before this fireside I thought myself to be an obedient missionary, but while he talked I realized all the little things I don't do. The thing that I was missing was exact obedience. After this talk I made a promise to myself to be exactly obedient for my entire mission and to never be a missionary that my mission president would ever worry about. I learned that in many ways I havn't become a missionary yet, I am only a boy acting like a missionary. I learned that becoming a disciple of Chirst and the missionary I want to be I need to stop focusing on myself and start looking for ways to serve and love others. I also learned that I choose whether or not I become that missionary. I think I am finally starting to understand the phrase " if it is to be it is up to me". No matter our circumstances we choose our attitude and what we do. We really can do anything with faith, obedience and the help of the lord. On the subject of obedience, I love Alma 57. What a great story of obedience and the blessings that come from it.
This past week at the TRC I walked into to the language task to see Ty Foster standing in my assigned room. Talk about a small world! It was awesome being able to teach someone I knew in Tagalog. I could tell that Ty was getting a kick out of my poor Tagalog but who wouldn't. We also taught our last lesson in English last week. From here on it's all Tagalog! I'll admit it's not amazing teaching but we can do it. It's hard to belive that after four and 1/2 weeks we are teaching in all Tagalog. In fact everything is in Tagalog now: Our teachers speak Tagalog, we read PMG and the scripture in Tagalog in class, we teach in Tagalog and we are supposed to SYL(speak your language) as much as possible. Lots of Tagalog but we need all of the Tagalog we can get.
Thank you to everyone who sent else Tomasi and not or a card or package. It really means so much to him! Seeing him receive letters is on of the best parts of my day. I know the love and the support means so much to him. Elder Tomasi is an amazing person. I am so blessed to have him as Kasama ko.
Mahal kita
Elder Leishman
Dear family and friends,
It has been a great week at the mtc! I first need to say thank you for valentines and letters. They put many smiles on my face to say the least! So like everyweek so far at the mtc, this past week has been a week of learning. I think that the most important thing that I learned came from the tuesday night devotional. Kevin W. Pearson of the 70 spoke to us and what he told us what just what I needed to hear. For the week leading up to the devotional I really had been feeling like there was something missing in my missionary work. Elder Pearson words helped me find what I was missing through the spirit. Elder Pearson started out his talk by really putting us in our place a little bit. The first thing I thought of was "wow. This is like a spiritual smack in face." It really was. He told us that most of us are boys that are acting like missionaries. We havn't yet become missionaries. He focused on how we could become disciples of Christ. This comes through exact obedience, faith and hard work. The thing that stood out to me the most was exact obedience. Before this fireside I thought myself to be an obedient missionary, but while he talked I realized all the little things I don't do. The thing that I was missing was exact obedience. After this talk I made a promise to myself to be exactly obedient for my entire mission and to never be a missionary that my mission president would ever worry about. I learned that in many ways I havn't become a missionary yet, I am only a boy acting like a missionary. I learned that becoming a disciple of Chirst and the missionary I want to be I need to stop focusing on myself and start looking for ways to serve and love others. I also learned that I choose whether or not I become that missionary. I think I am finally starting to understand the phrase " if it is to be it is up to me". No matter our circumstances we choose our attitude and what we do. We really can do anything with faith, obedience and the help of the lord. On the subject of obedience, I love Alma 57. What a great story of obedience and the blessings that come from it.
This past week at the TRC I walked into to the language task to see Ty Foster standing in my assigned room. Talk about a small world! It was awesome being able to teach someone I knew in Tagalog. I could tell that Ty was getting a kick out of my poor Tagalog but who wouldn't. We also taught our last lesson in English last week. From here on it's all Tagalog! I'll admit it's not amazing teaching but we can do it. It's hard to belive that after four and 1/2 weeks we are teaching in all Tagalog. In fact everything is in Tagalog now: Our teachers speak Tagalog, we read PMG and the scripture in Tagalog in class, we teach in Tagalog and we are supposed to SYL(speak your language) as much as possible. Lots of Tagalog but we need all of the Tagalog we can get.
Thank you to everyone who sent else Tomasi and not or a card or package. It really means so much to him! Seeing him receive letters is on of the best parts of my day. I know the love and the support means so much to him. Elder Tomasi is an amazing person. I am so blessed to have him as Kasama ko.
Mahal kita
Elder Leishman
Monday, February 7, 2011
Best Week So Far
Every Monday, I try to go to yoga. Now I am finding myself in downdog, looking at the clock, and wondering if I have received an email yet! Time to get my concentration back. Here are a few words from this week's letter:
This past week has been my best week at the mtc so far. The tagalog is coming slowly and with a lot of hard work and my knowlege of gospel of Jesus Christ is increasing. Some of the important things that I have learned this past week from class, study and meetings have about dilligence and obedience. First speaking of dilligence. dilligence is essential every day of your mission. I have learned that there is no time for coasting in any aspect of your mission. To be the best missionary you can be you always need to be working on improving yourself. One way that I have learned this is from Tagalog and teaching. Right when you start to get comfortable with a part of the language or with a certain lesson there is going to be a curveball thrown at you to make you humble and realize how much you need to work to improve. The second thing that I have learned a lot about is obedience. Obedience to rules will make or break a missionary. There are some little rules that might not make sense but they are there for a reason. It makes me really sad to see a large number of elder's break the "little, or unimportant rules". Every rule is important and as we follow them we will be blessed. One way that I have learned this is through quiet time at night. Every night 10:15 is quiet time. A lot of elder's disregard this rule, but as I have been trying to follow it I have been able to have thoughts of inspiration on impressions from the spirit as I write in my journal, read a letter or just sit and think. If I hadn't had been trying to follow the rules I wouldn't have been able to recieve these thoughts from the spirit.
The longer I am in the mtc the more i am begining to realize how much I am learning from my companionship with Elder Tomasi. I feel that we are companions for a reason and we both have many things learn from one another. A day doesn't go by that I am not amazed that Elder Tomasi is on a mission. He has only been a member of the church for a year, most of his family hates him for joining the church and going on a mission. Still he has an incredible testimony and works hard to always serve and love others. It has made me realize what's important and how blessed I am to have the family that I have. A fun fact about elder Tomasi - He boxed in the olympics in China! I love Elder Tomasi.
Speaking of Elder Tomasi, He needs mail really bad! If any of you could send him a little note I know it would mean the world to him! This week a letter to him is more important than a letter to me. Well my time is almost up. I will write you another letter and send it today with some pictures, some fun stories, and with some good tagalog phrases. I wish I could write you more than one time a week.
I love you, Mahal Kita
Elder Leishman
Elder Tomasi
MTC Mailbox #148
PHI-ANG 0321
This past week has been my best week at the mtc so far. The tagalog is coming slowly and with a lot of hard work and my knowlege of gospel of Jesus Christ is increasing. Some of the important things that I have learned this past week from class, study and meetings have about dilligence and obedience. First speaking of dilligence. dilligence is essential every day of your mission. I have learned that there is no time for coasting in any aspect of your mission. To be the best missionary you can be you always need to be working on improving yourself. One way that I have learned this is from Tagalog and teaching. Right when you start to get comfortable with a part of the language or with a certain lesson there is going to be a curveball thrown at you to make you humble and realize how much you need to work to improve. The second thing that I have learned a lot about is obedience. Obedience to rules will make or break a missionary. There are some little rules that might not make sense but they are there for a reason. It makes me really sad to see a large number of elder's break the "little, or unimportant rules". Every rule is important and as we follow them we will be blessed. One way that I have learned this is through quiet time at night. Every night 10:15 is quiet time. A lot of elder's disregard this rule, but as I have been trying to follow it I have been able to have thoughts of inspiration on impressions from the spirit as I write in my journal, read a letter or just sit and think. If I hadn't had been trying to follow the rules I wouldn't have been able to recieve these thoughts from the spirit.
The longer I am in the mtc the more i am begining to realize how much I am learning from my companionship with Elder Tomasi. I feel that we are companions for a reason and we both have many things learn from one another. A day doesn't go by that I am not amazed that Elder Tomasi is on a mission. He has only been a member of the church for a year, most of his family hates him for joining the church and going on a mission. Still he has an incredible testimony and works hard to always serve and love others. It has made me realize what's important and how blessed I am to have the family that I have. A fun fact about elder Tomasi - He boxed in the olympics in China! I love Elder Tomasi.
Speaking of Elder Tomasi, He needs mail really bad! If any of you could send him a little note I know it would mean the world to him! This week a letter to him is more important than a letter to me. Well my time is almost up. I will write you another letter and send it today with some pictures, some fun stories, and with some good tagalog phrases. I wish I could write you more than one time a week.
I love you, Mahal Kita
Elder Leishman
Elder Tomasi
MTC Mailbox #148
PHI-ANG 0321
Wednesday, February 2, 2011
Letter 2 Week 2
On Monday (pday) Joe wrote a quick note which arrived TODAY! :) Here's a few words from Broseph:
After I wrote the email, I thought to myself I hope you don't think that I'm playing too much and working too little. Well I promise I'm working hard! I am trying to study very hard and learn all that I can. Sometimes I get frustrated because I am trying very hard and am seeing little results. I know that these things take time and the Lord will hlep me when I need it. I just need to have faith, keep working hard and be obedient. The hardest part is learning Tagolog, but you just keep working at it.
If there is one word of advice I can give to you it would be to pray often and try to have the Spirit with you always. It makes all the difference.
After I wrote the email, I thought to myself I hope you don't think that I'm playing too much and working too little. Well I promise I'm working hard! I am trying to study very hard and learn all that I can. Sometimes I get frustrated because I am trying very hard and am seeing little results. I know that these things take time and the Lord will hlep me when I need it. I just need to have faith, keep working hard and be obedient. The hardest part is learning Tagolog, but you just keep working at it.
If there is one word of advice I can give to you it would be to pray often and try to have the Spirit with you always. It makes all the difference.
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