Mud

Hello Everyone,

I cannot believe that today is the last day of July, July went by so fast it is so unfair. There were a lot of different things that happened to me this week for example I went to the airport three times this week for three different sets of missionaries and that was fun it was a little bit different the transfer/travel schedule that we had this transfer because there were a lot of missionaries that went home and if I may a lot of my friends went home which means that there are a lot less American Missionaries here in the Philippines Naga Mission so that means that a lot of my first friends here in the mission went home as well, the bottom line it was really weird that I drove the missionaries to the airport that picked me up at the airport way back when I got here last October it was just a feeling that I never thought would come I never thought they were going to go home but I handled the mixed emotions with no problem. 

In addition to that I got up about 5:30am almost everyday this week because most of the time the flights that these missionaries have are usually in the morning so we have to be up and ready to go which is great for me because I am a morning person and so that is not a problem for me I am really enjoying my time here in the office it has given me many different experiences that most missionaries do not usually have to opportunity to experience. I also took a trip up to Lubigan this ween which is a pretty mountainous and pretty out there and while I was on my way there to the Lubigan Elders House I got really got the van that I use stuck in the mud and I was like "Oh Fudge" then I just remembered what we do in New York if a car is stuck in the mud or stuck in the snow especially the big Uhal truck that brought my families first ever piano to my house when I used to live in Henrietta (my father and Gary Molinari might be the only ones that remember that IDK) so of course I grabbed some cardboard and not much happened so I was like Elder De Silva I need a favor and mind you he does not know how to drive I dont think he had ever got behind the wheel of a vehicle before and I was like sigge po you just have to use the gas ever so slightly  because to was only one tire that was submerged in the mud and then I was like sigge we got this we can do this and I went behind the van and I was like this is not that bad and I tried to push the back of the van and the cardboard was not really holding the mud was pretty deep but then I was like Elder De Silva just wait a sec and then I was like sigge ulit we got this and I got a little bit lower and was like me legs have got to be stronger then this and then I put my back in it and got some momentum rolling and then of course we got the van out of the deep mud and of course I was covered in mud so thanks for all of that experience Rochester New York weather HAHAHA........

Then me and Elder De Silva had some solid appointments this week which was great especially this one lesson we had last night we had a lesson with an elderly lady that had some misunderstandings with the missionaries that used to teach her long ago and we cleared up her questions and the Spirit was very strong in that lesson and I think that there is a lot of potential for her to be baptized just like her daughters were and her husband has passed a way now so that is tough for her as well but I think that if we continue to work with her she will come to know that Joseph Smith is the True Prophet of the Restoration and that the Book of Mormon is really something that we need in our lives to have a stronger companionship of the Holy Ghost and to help us get closer the Jesus Christ our Savior and I know that these things are true and then I still have a long way to go on my mission here in Philippines before my time is over here in the the Philippines Naga Mission 

Love,

Elder Chilson          

"Elder Chilson!"

Hello Everyone,

This week was sort of crazy but it was also really fun at the same time. So this past Saturday we had a big combined mission and stake activity that was entitled an "Art Show" so this was a big activity and Sister Zapanta kept us pretty busy all week getting ready for this event finding investigators to bring and setting up and etc. So the event was essentially a church tour with at the end was an Art Show, we collected artwork from different members and different missionaries made some art pieces as well if they wanted to and it was a pretty good event I think. There were a lot of investigators and members that came and for me since it was a stake activity, I saw a lot of members from some of my last areas and what is a little scary is that they remember sometimes they come up to me and say things like "Elder Chilson! How are you doing? it is good to see you again" and things like that and I am surprised and thankful because to me it means that I made an impression on the lives of the members and other people in my past areas. Even people that live in other wards that I have not been assigned to people know me and I know probably at least one person in almost every congregation in the stake and that is crazy for me to think about. For me I wouldnt say that I make a big splash when I meet people or talk to them but there is usually something that just brings us together it is sort of weird but it jsut goest o show me again that the Lord is mindful of me and he knows that I am still here in the Naga Philippines Stake and he knows that there is still work for me to do here and that gives me hope and excitement for the future the fun never stops and that is for sure. There is always something more or something new that comes up especially here in the office and it is just continuous fun for me and a big reason for that I think is that I am in the service of the Lord and that for me is the most fun that I could be having right now. 

I also had a lot of fun with all of my travels I went to Goa this week twice which is about 2 hours one way and I went to Tinambac which is like 1&1/2 hours one way and then I went through the whole Iriga Zone and Pasacao as well so in short I did a lot of traveling this week and I spent a lot of time in the van but it was all good fun for me and I enjoyed it I took a very large order to Iriga Zone and then for some other reasons I ended up going to those places and hopefully this upcoming transfer goes a little bit smoother so I wont have so many travels all at once but this past week was the last week of the transfer so there were just a few things I had to do before the end of the transfer and I have happy to get them done and everything worked out, I can honestly say that the Lord has his hand in the work regardless of what anyone says, I cannot deny that, I know that to be true. 

So I cannot believe it now but I am going to start another transfer here in the office time is really going by fast it seems like have been here for a long time now and now with Elder Go leaving I am feeling older because my companion, Elder De Silva is new but he is catching on and he will do fine, it will just take some time to get settled in like it did for me as well it took me about one week and then I was on the ground running and it has been awesome and I know that only good things will come because the Lord is at the center of all of the missionary work and I know that this is his work and right now I am his full time servant and I am so blessed to have this opportunity and I hope that all of you continue to fund opportunities to share the Gospel of Jesus Christ to anyone that you can find in any situation big or small the Holy Ghost will tell the people what they need to do, they will know with clarity what they will have to do to keep the Holy Ghost with them and I know that they will want that because they will notice a difference in their lives that they will never want to go back to how their live used to be and I hope that everyone is still enjoying their summer.

Love,

Elder Chilson   

New Companion

Hello Everyone, 

This week was a pretty good week it was a zone conference week so I was pretty busy coordinating things and I also got a lot of deliveries this week which was awesome for me because I really needed them so now it is good that I have a lot of supplies for all of the missionaries. I also was able to go and check out some other suppliers this week with Elder Miller and we went and compared some numbers and such so now we just sort of have to negotiate and such to make sure that everything is to terms with how we want it and how our process works here in the Philippines Naga Mission because we cannot really just agree to anything but it has to meet our requirements so we will follow up on that and we will see what happens. I also really enjoyed my zone conference this week because President Zapanta gave some great workshops but at the same time the Philippines Area Doctor was here as well he came with his wife from Manila to be here for our zone conferences as well which was nice they are really cool as well and it was cool to meet them. 

So I filled a lot of orders this week as well so that means that I will have a lot of travels this week and that is true I have a lot of deliveries scheduled this week before the end of the transfer and it is nice that I do not really have any life or death deadlines to meet but I have some person deadlines so I will do my best to keep those and get supplies out to the missionaries as fast and as efficient as possible. I also have a new companion this week as well Elder De Silva is here now and he is going to be my new companion because Elder Go is on his way out now of the office or at least his time is up so he will be training Elder De Silva and then when the transfer is over it will be just me and Elder De Silva and I do not really know him that well right now but I am sure that we will get to know each other very well here in the office but he seems pretty nice.

Also I had my first baptism this week in Cararayan which was really cool we had two actually and they were both part member families so it is awesome now that the part member families are now becoming full member families and then are now on their way to the temple and becoming a sealed family for time and all eternity and to be able enjoy and receive eternal happiness and that is one of the best feelings for me is just knowing that because of the decisions that these people have made to be baptized then I know the blessings and opportunities now that they have because of the companionship that they have now with the Holy Ghost that is one gift that is indescribable to me, it is so priceless and that is something that I wish everyone could receive or at least have the opportunity to receive and that is another reason why I am here in the Philippines to help God's children prepare to receive the Holy Ghost one of his priceless gifts that he gives to us freely. I know that I am a part of the Lord's work right now and that he is cheering me on along with all of you I know that he wants to do well and be successful just like all of you do and I know that as we do our best to share the gospel with everyone that we meet we will be blessed for that and we will see miracles and receive blessings more that we could have ever expected.

Love,

Elder Chilson     

Food Pictures

Here are some picture of food that I am eating here in the Philippines the one is a hearty breakfast that I made myself and yes that is real bacon and then one is another mashed potatoes and meat meal that Elder Miller made and then the other one is called "Bicol Express" it is a signature dish that is famous here in the Bicol Region of the Philippines because it is very spicy that is probably the spiciest thing that I have eaten on my mission and I can take the heat it is actually really good (I had that at a members house)  

Love,

Elder Chilson 

Office job vs. Working in the Community

Hello Everyone,

I hope that everyone is enjoying their summer, I am doing well and my week was pretty uneventful I didnt have any travels and nothing really that big happened, I spent a lot of time in the office and on the phone actually which is a little strange you might be thinking but that is what ended up happening. So I spent a lot of time this week contacting missionaries that had gone home already because what happens is that the Filipino's only have so much weight in their suitcase that they can take with them on the plane so they usually end up with too much stuff and they go over their 20kg limit and so they leave their other things with me and then I will ship it to them the trouble is before I can ship their stuff to them is that I have to have the money to do so they have to send me the money so I ship to them so to keep a long story short I spent a lot of time tracking down these now RM's and they did not leave any contact information so I have been talking to friends that I have here in Naga that met these missionaries when they were here I have been calling Mission Offices, Branch Presidents, Bishops, etc from where ever they live to try to track down these RM's but I managed to track down most of them and of course I filled orders and helped out with different activities that we have coming soon.

I do not really have that any fun stories to tell and anything to share like that right now so I thought that I would share a question with all of you that was asked to me by one of my friends and I think that it is applicable to all of you if you have any questions like this or anything at all you can always ask me so this person asked me. "Would you say that you prefer your office job or working in the community?" I thought that was a great and fair question so this was my response, "I would say that I love both of them they both have pros and cons because in the office I help all of the missionaries that are here in the Philippines Naga Mission and if I work in the community then I am helping all of the people that live in the community so for me it is a win-win because regardless of the outcome I am helping people in various ways and that is what I want to accomplish while I am here serving my mission for 2 years just nonstop helping people because I know that when I am helping people I am pleasing God at that same time and that is what makes me the most happy and I am so thankful for this opportunity I have been given to do just that in the Philippines."

I hope that gives a little bit more perspective to my work here in the Philippines, this week we got a lot of work done as well in Cararayan which was awesome. Hopefully we will have a baptism this Saturday if everything goes through last time we had some trouble with parental consent but now things should be okay you will all fine out next week. We had a great lesson this week where we went to a house of an investigator and then we brought some members with us and we met up at the house of the investigator and we had a great lesson the power of members is so real and it is awesome and we also had some other great visits with members that live in our area and we had 6 investigators which was awesome but honestly I thought that we were going to have more than 10 so we will try again next week and see what happens but I think that there are some big things that are going to be happening in Cararayan and I am excited about that. I know that this church is true and I know that this the work of the Lord and I am so blessed to be a part of it in more ways than I can count. 

With Love,

Elder Chilson    

Happy Early July 4th

Hello Everyone,

First off I would like to wish everyone a happy early July 4th I hope that all of you stay safe and enjoy some family time if that is possible. This week went by really fast I did a lot of traveling and delivery of supplies so different missionaries and that was fun I went to Goa twice and I went to Pamplona as well and that was all pretty smooth and I was supposed to go to Iriga as well but somethings came up and I was needed in the mission office so I wasnt able to go but it was fine everything worked out so this week was not as much work inside the office for me but more work outside of the office which was fine with me and that is how the office is something different all the time. The rest of the time that I had in the office was just spent filling orders and reporting the mileage on the mission vehicles here in the Philippines Naga Mission because June is over now but no problem I got everything done and this week I will be in the office most of the week I do not have any travels planned right now and I probably wont have any maybe one. 

Aside from the office, me and Elder Go worked a lot in our newish area in Cararayan we have found a lot of new investigators which has been good granted they have all been 14 years of age and below which is a little tough because we have to talk to their parents and get consent but that is just an example of how the families work here in the Philippines sometimes it is hard because for some of them their parents have already made it on beyond the veil and they have passed away which is very hard and some of the other ones the parents are just so busy with work they dont really have time to become close as a family because they have to use all the time they have to make money so they can have food to eat for tomorrow an example of that we also found a family and we have been focusing on the oldest who's name is Erika and she is about 14 years old and she really has a desire to learn but it is tough because here other siblings are always there and they are so rambunctious and loud but it is okay it is just hard to see what happens because when her siblings around it is hard to teach but when it is just her in the lesson then she is a different person she is so intent and wanting to learn. Yesterday when she came to church, we thought it was just her that was going to come to church but it ended up being all four of them it was Erika and her two younger sisters who are like 9 and 6 and then her little brother who is like 4 or 5 years old and they all came to church because their mother was gone at work Sunday morning and their father was not really capable of watching the children so since Erika was in charge they all came which was fine. 

It just took me back to when I was little and we used to bring "church bags" to church when me and my siblings were younger inside the church bags were a snack and different church related activities to do during sacrament meeting and then I just thought back and said to myself I wasnt prepared for these little children I dont have any "church bags" what are these little children going to do during sacrament meeting but no worries we made it through and they went to nursery as well so we made it through and next week we will see what happens. I had 9 investigators come to church yesterday so that was great I thought hopefully they will come again next Sunday. 

I dont really have any other stories to share right now but I also did help Elder Miller clean out any old apartment this week that we are in the process of getting rid of so that was a dirty job but it was a fun job as well we cleaned and took out some of the supplies that they had left in the apartment and by the end of the week that should be done as well. But above all I know that this church is true and that anyone who will take the time to read the Book of Mormon they will come to know that it is true in every form and from every angle it is the most perfect book upon the face of this Earth and I encourage everyone to read it and if you do not have a copy that is not a problem all you have to do is find some missionaries they will have some and they will give them to you and for sure there are a set of missionaries either elders or sisters where ever you live and I promise that they will be more than happy to talk to you and I know that Joseph Smith is a true Prophet of God regardless of what anyone says about him and I hope that all of you have a great first full week of July.

Love,

Elder Chilson