Sometimes You Just Need a Bigger Hammer

Hello Everyone,

I cannot believe that it is almost February that means that Elder Watene goes home next week and I will have a new companion soon when I email you next week I will probably know who my new companion will be so you will just have to wait and find out it will be someone probably for sure that I have never met so that will be fun I think that during that mission so far I have gotten pretty good at getting to know people pretty quick because for me that is a big part of the mission is meeting and getting to know new people because I know from mission experience that if you and your companion are not in unity with the Holy Ghost then things will get tough and it will be hard to get the work done that you need to but I would say that for me making friends with other people is not that hard as long as you have an open mind and an open heart then anything is possible.    

I have a officially moved appts now but I am in the same area in Camaligan but we just have to commute now from our appt to our area it is sort of annoying but I am not about to argue with my mission president so that is what I have to do. Living with other missionaries is a pretty different experience as well it is a good thing that I was pretty good friends with the missionaries that we moved in with because they are my Zone Leaders so I have gotten to know them pretty well I really like them a lot IDK if I have said one of them is a Filipino and the other is an American they are pretty cool so that makes things a lot easier. It is pretty fun living with them but at the same time there are challenges too but that is also part of the mission working with other people be it missionaries or ward/branch leaders. I am pretty lucky here in Camaligan because I really like the branch leaders that we have I have had opportunities to work with them on different occasions and they are pretty cool as well    

We recently got a new investigator who is a Baptist Priest of another congregation so that is fun he uses some pretty deep Tagolog and Bicol which makes it a little tough but I am up for the challenge but he is very knowledgeable about his religion and such but we are going to continue to teach him about our message because he is really interested in our beliefs but we will see where it goes IDK only the Lord knows at this point. Also we are just working pretty hard to find new investigators and to get them to come to church and we have had some success with that so hopefully I will have more exciting news in the future with that. I know that this is the work of the Lord and that as we serve him with everything that we have it will be enough even if we feel like we come up short again and again I know that the Atonement of Jesus Christ is real and that it will fill in the pieces of broken glass in the mirror that we are building so that we can see ourselves in that mirror of what we are becoming and how much progress we have made. 

This work is not easy but it is not supposed to be so I will just work harder just like my Grandfather has told me time and time again "sometimes you just need a bigger hammer" or "sometimes you just have to swing a little bit harder" so that is basically what I have done to get me to this point as a missionary and I know that it will help me to return with honor as well. I hope that you all will have a great week and next week hopefully I will have some news for you about what will happen next for me as missionary in the Naga Philippines Mission .

Love,

Elder Chilson