Elder Chilson is Home!

Elder Chilson is safely home after 24 hours of traveling and 4 airplanes. 

Naga Airport

Elder Chilson at the Naga Airport.

Mission Home

Elder Chilson with the other missionaries that are 

going home.

Last Full Week as a Missionary

Hello Everyone,

This week was another pretty busy solid week and for those of you who are not yet aware this past week was my last full week as a missionary in the Philippines Naga Mission because my time now or my two years here in the Philippines Naga Mission have now come to an end. I am so thankful to my Heavenly Father for the chance and the calling that he gave to me to serve the people here in the Philippines to be honest if I did not receive this call to serve I do not know if I would ever have the chance to come here to the Philippines and learn about their culture and all that there is here in the Philippines. I have learned so much since I have been here serving as a missionary for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints I have no regrets in accepting this call to serve if anything this special assignment to serve the people that live here in the Philippines Naga Mission has been a great blessing to me and has strengthened my testimony of our Savior Jesus Christ and his church that was restored through a prophet by the name of Joseph Smith and because of that we have a living prophet who leads and guides Christ's church here on Earth at this present time. I am so thankful for all of you where ever you are for your prayers and support, sacrifices etc. that have been made on my behalf anyone who has served a mission knows that it is not easy to serve a mission especially in a country that is not your own, to follow all the mission rules with exactness, to sacrifice everything that you have and all that you were before you served your mission and give that all to the Lord so that he can change you into the servant that he wants you to become. 

I know that serving a full-time mission is not easy but because of Jesus Christ and his Atonement it is possible we can accomplish it we can overcome weaknesses, get past our short comings and put our faith and trust solely in the only one who can help us, because he is the only one that has experienced and gone through what we have and that is Jesus Christ our Savior and Friend. I am so thankful to him and his Father for all of their help strength and knowledge that they have helped me acquire since I have been serving my mission because without then I am sure that I would not have gotten as far as I did or I would have learned as much as I have I know that Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ live and they love us all and I know that through Heavenly Father's plan we can all return and live with Heavenly Father again after our time here on Earth and I know that the Gospel of Jesus Christ changes lives I have seen it change lives since I have been here on my mission and in return I am sure that it has changed me as well because as I have been teaching others about the Gospel and how their families can become forever they are not the only ones that have been learning but I have been learn as well from the people that I have been teaching. 

I know that at whatever stage we are in our lives the Gospel of Jesus Christ can help us and there is always more that we can learn from it especially when the Holy Ghost is our teacher I know that he is the true teacher and as we do our best to be worthy of his help and guidance he will help us know what it is the people around us need and what it is that we need to do and change about ourselves in order to become more like our Savior Jesus Christ. I know that the Book of Mormon is true as well with all of my heart it is my favorite book and I have had the pleasure to read, study and ponder it's words often as I have been here a soldier in the Lord's Army I know that as we continue to ponder and read the words in the Book of Mormon we will learn more of our Savior Jesus Christ and we can draw nearer unto him. I know that now is the time that we have to prepare for the 2nd Coming of Jesus Christ we need to use it wisely and I know that as we do so we will receive heavens help in becoming the Children of God that he expects us to become.

Love,

Elder Chilson            

Simply Doing the Lord's Work

Hello Everyone,

This week was another pretty smooth and busy week for me I did some traveling and I had some fun just simply doing the Lord's Work, there was nothing fancy, no secret tactics or anything it was just as it says in Preach My Gospel that, "Nothing Happens in Missionary Work until You find someone to teach" so as missionaries this is something that we do just about every minute we are outside walking and proselyting and this is something that me and my companion did a lot of this past week so that we can find more people to teach and I would argue that this is sometimes one of the most challenging parts of missionary work as well, I have seen this throughout my mission that sometimes it is difficulty to find the people that are ready to accept the gospel but when you actually find those people and then you know that they are ready to receive the gospel because the Holy Ghost told you that they are ready that is one of the most rewarding feelings as a missionaries in my opinion it is awesome because you know that you found the person or Heavenly Father's son or daughter that is ready to receive the gospel and get on the road that leads back to him and eternal life. I am so thankful for all the blessings and miracles that I have seen and experienced here on my mission I know that I am a part of the Lord's work and that he is mindful of all of his servants and that he loves all of us and I have seen his hand in his work as I have labored here in the Philippines.

Yesterday I had District Conference with all of the branches in the Pamplona District and there was an Area Seventy presiding and his name was Elder Pagaduan (I am sorry I do not have time to explain all of those terms I would if I could) he told a story as he was the concluding speaking the conference and he talked about how he was 1 year old when his parents joined the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints and that his father was a devote Methodist and how his mother was a devote Catholic and I thought to myself and said wow that is exactly how my parents were as well my father was Methodist and my mother was Catholic and so I just thought that was interesting how Heavenly Father is preparing the hearts of his children to accept the gospel I know that there are people all over the world in various countries that are accepting the gospel I will never forget when I was in the MTC Manila and the second day I was there we had a meeting with President Trask (who was the MTC President at the time he is not anymore) and there are gained a witness or in other words the Holy Ghost spoke to my heart and told me that the church was true here in the Philippines just as it is in America and since then and through my service here in the Philippines my testimony has only gotten stronger I know that anywhere we go the church is still true because it is not a church of man but it is Jesus Christ's church and since Jesus Christ is the Savior of the World his church is the same throughout the globe.

I know that Jesus Christ and Heavenly Father know us individually and personally and they want us to succeed and they will do anything for us that is according to their will so that we can succeed I know that when Jesus Christ visited the Americas he visited everyone "one by one" as it talks about in the Book of Mormon and I know that as it was in the days of the Book of Mormon it is still the same now that Jesus Christ visits us one by one as we seek and desire his help the atonement is always available to us if we will just open our hearts to him and to Heavenly Father are all his children and he knows us all by name and we know that Jesus Christ is our Good Shepherd and he knows his sheep. I know that Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ live and love us very much and they rejoice when we choose the right and they are sad when we choose poorly and falter but I know that they will never go so far away that it will be impossible for us to catch up and return and get back on the path that leads us back to our heavenly home because of the Atonement of Jesus Christ there is always hope, and a second chance waiting for us just a short distance ahead from where we are, we need on to take hold and press forward..

Love,

Elder Chilson              

Last Zone Conference

Hello Everyone,

This past week was another pretty busy week for me I did some traveling as well in my zone mostly back and forth from Libmanan for various reasons. I would like to share just a little bit about one of my new people that me and Elder Teisina are teaching I will just call him Mike (Mike is not his real name and his real name is not important) This is someone that a few weeks ago we just sort of met on the street and he actually approached us and tells us that there were Missionaries from the Church of Jesus Christ of LDS that went to his house before and then they after a little while they did not come back and then me and Elder Teisina were like that is awesome we can come to your house and share a message with you about Jesus Christ and then after the last two weeks or so we were not able to visit Mike due to some conflicts in our schedules but a few days ago me and Elder Teisina were able to visit with him and he is a really nice person and I think that he has a desire to learn more about his Savior and Redeemer Jesus Christ and I we will do back to him this week and see how he is doing and I just thought that was a great example of how there are forces seen and unseen that are preparing the hearts of Heavenly Father's children to receive the Gospel of Jesus Christ and I think that is awesome you never can tell for sure on the outside but I know that there are many people that are being prepared to receive Heavenly Father's plan for them, I know that Heavenly Father has a plan for all of his children and that is one of the reasons as to why we are here on Earth to learn and to grow and to find out what Heavenly Father wants us to do in order so that we can become more like his son Jesus Christ so that we can ultimately return into our Heavenly Father's presence and live with him forever.

I also had my last Zone Conference here in my mission here in the Philippines Naga Mission and it went pretty smoothly I helped give some training and sang a musical number as well with 3 other missionaries and I think that all of the missionaries in my zone gained some new knowledge and new ideas of new things that they can apply to their areas and I think that is great and Sister Zapanta as well during the conference gave a great reminder in the form of a quote by President David O. McKay he said " What E're thou art Act Well Thy Part" and this to means that with every task that is placed before us we need to do our best in accomplishing that because that is what Heavenly Father wants us to do he does not us to settle for anything that is less than our best because then we will not learn anything if we continue to do the same thing over and over with only half effort then we are not going to get any where. Heavenly Father wants us to stretch and to give our best in all that we do this is something that I have tried to apply since I have been here in my mission and even before I served my mission while I was in high school etc. I know that as we do our best the Lord will make up the rest but if we do not give our best then why should be expect to worthy of the Lord's help I know that he loves us and he wants us to become successful and I know that he will help us do just that because is on our side and as long as we turn to him in humility he will not leave us.

I know that Heavenly Father's plan is perfect and I know that it is true and I know that all of our families can gain eternal life it we will just follow it, Heavenly Father designed this plan perfectly so that all of his children could return back to him if they wanted, Heavenly Father does not force anything on us he lets us decide as to what we think is best and he is always there so that when the times come that we need his help he is only a prayer away and I know that Jesus Christ is the one who made this whole plan possible without Jesus Christ there would be no plan and I know that because Jesus Christ rose from the grave so will we and I know that death happens it is part of the plan but I know that death is not the end it is only temporary we will see our families  complete once again when the time is right when we are all called back home to our Father in Heaven we will see our loved ones, friends and family members again and all with resurrected bodies all of the pains, sicknesses, and hurt that we experienced in earthly lives will all be gone because of the Atonement of Jesus Christ I know that it is real and I am so thankful for it everyday of my life because I know that in the event that I makes mistakes, or do things that I wish that had not, I know that I am not alone but I know that Jesus Christ felt that as well and he gives us hope to try again and to continue to more forward even though sometimes it is really hard, I know that Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ live and they love us very much and I know that we can always turn to them for help and guidance we are not here alone in this life and they are always ready, willing and waiting to help us in whatever situation we might get ourselves into.

Love,              

Elder Chilson 

Exchanges

Hello Everyone,

This week was another pretty busy week for me with a lot of traveling and having exchanges with different missionaries in my zone, in all honesty when I first got here in the mission I was not that fond of missionaries exchanges because I did not really like being separated from my companion and working in different areas but as I have matured here in that mission my views on missionary exchanges have changed I especially now as a mission leader I have come to see how exchanges are not just required as missionaries but how they are great learning tools as well. This can also be applied to our own lives as well even if we are not missionaries, there are so many different things that we can learn from the different people that we talk to and interact with on a daily basis. I am reminded to a time when I was in 4th Grade and my teacher taught us 3 different ways to solve multiplication equations using the Algorithm, Factoring Method, and the Lattuce Method thought I do not know how to do all of those methods at the moment the point is that as humans we all think different and all or our brains work differently and there is not just one way to do things but that there are many different combinations of ways that we can accomplish tasks that are placed before us and that is something that I have learned from having exchanges with different missionaries that there are many different ways to do missionary work and they are all right because they all accomplish the task at hand of helping Heavenly Father's children return back to him the the Gospel of Jesus Christ. 

I am also grateful for the chances that I had this past week so provide various forms of service to members and nonmembers, I think that service is just one of the best things that we can do with our time here on Earth because that is what Jesus Christ did while he was here on the Earth he provided service to everyone that he was around and we can do that too we can provide service to our next door neighbor or anyone that we see might need help carrying something inside or whatever it may be I know that when we serve our fellow man Heavenly Father rejoices because that is what he wants he wants his children to be able to help each other. I am so blessed that at a pretty young age I had several examples in my life of people who love to serve others (I am not going to name names but you know who you are) so I am so blessed as to have inherited this skill or trait if you will. One of the biggest reasons that I wanted to serve a mission in the first place was so that I could serve others because at a young age I was exposed to the joy that comes from helping and serving others and I would say that has not left me but that has just increased throughout my life and especially since I have been here on my mission in the Philippines as well.

I know that Heavenly Father is very patient and loving and he wants all of his children to be able to be able to live with him again eternally, and I know that is one of the reasons why I was called to come here to the Philippines so that I can do just that to help his children find and get on the path that leads back to him to our heavenly home. I know that Jesus Christ is the way that makes this all possible with the Atonement of Jesus Christ we can become cleansed from all of our sins and we can become worthy to once again stand in the presence of our Father in Heaven. I know that Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ live and love us very much and that they are cheering us on to make the right choices and to continue to listen to the words of our prophet and I know that there is safety in the words of the prophets and the words of the scriptures especially the Book of Mormon I know that it true and that it has been given to us at this time for our time and I know that as we continue to read it and ponder its words we will find answers to our questions and we will find guidance, knowledge and refuge in the world that we live in today.  

Love,

Elder Chilson                

Demolish Part of a House

Hello Everyone,

This week was another pretty busy week for me but that is nothing new, I thought that my life was busy while I was in high school and it was I was involved in many different activities and sports at school, but I would say here in the mission I have been more busy and sometimes you really have to make some important decisions because as much as you want to say that you can do it all it is really hard and nearly impossible to do so those are just a few things that I have experienced since I have been here in my mission and that is why I want to share a little bit about our agency and decision making. Our Father in Heaven loves us so much that he gave us the gift of agency or the ability to choose for ourselves this was discussed in the pre-existence before we can here to Earth we all agreed to Heavenly Father's plan where Jesus Christ would come and preform an atonement or pay the price of our sins in the event that we make wrong choices and we sin, we would not be stuck but we would have a way to escape and repent and become clean again so that we can still have a chance to return and life with our Heavenly Father again. Our decision making in this life is really important because the choices that we make now will affect who we become in the future so we need to choose wisely and counsel with our Heavenly Father when we are making important life defining choices he will be there to help us and guide us as to choose the right. 

As we know there is oppositions in all things so of course Satan wants us to make the wrong choices and he wants us to think that we cannot become clean again and return to the presence of our Father in Heaven but this is simply not true as I explained above Jesus Christ came down to Earth and preformed a perfect, infinite atonement for all of us as he was instructed to do so by his father. I know that Satan is always there tempting us to make the wrong choices and to commit the "little sins" in the event that no one will notice and we will not need to repent. I know that we live in a world of confusion and people usually put themselves first before God but I know that if we always put Heavenly Father first and we pray and talk with him openly daily and we study and ponder his words in the scriptures and if we set aside time on the Sabbath so that we can go to church and worship him and partake of the sacrament we will be blessed for our efforts and we will not regret it it says in 3 Nephi 13:33 and Matt 6:33 "33 But seek ye first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things shall be added unto you." I know that this is true and that we will blessed according to the desires of our hearts, it all depends on where our hearts are at. 

Also I had a special chance to help provide some service to a member in the branch where I am serving this past week me and my companion helped the Elders Quorum literally demolish a part of the house of the member because they want to build it up again with cinder blocks so we used hammer ans crow bars and took apart the house essentially it was just some nails and some 2x4's and so we just disassembled it and I enjoyed it and I was just really thankful for the chance that we had to serve a Child of God we should not pass up on opportunities so serve one another especially our friends and neighbors there are people out there that need our help and most of the time we will be sent by Heavenly Father to help them as his disciples and obviously it is inconvenient and we might not think that we have enough time to help but we just need to look past that and identify what is the most important either doing whatever worldly thing that we have planned on our agenda or making a small sacrifice helping a son of daughter of our Heavenly Father who needs our help. Obviously this is a little bit of an extreme comparison but I think that you understand the point. I know that Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ love us very much and that they want us to do our part in helping our brothers and sister return back to their presence. 

Love,

Elder Chilson           

Humility

Hello Everyone,

This week went pretty smoothly with the beginning of another transfer, there were some missionaries that got transferred from my zone and then there were other missionaries that came took their place and they came and got right to work, of course no two transfers are the same so anything can happen at anytime because after all we all just servants of the Lord so as missionaries we need to be humble and ready to submit to his will and to follow the instructions of our Mission President because he receives revelations that come from Heavenly Father as to how we can improve ourselves and become better representatives of his Son Jesus Christ. I know that my Mission President received a call that came from God just like I did to come and to serve here in the Philippines Naga Mission and I know that it is not by accident that the two of us are here at the same time in the same mission, the Lord has a work for us to do and that is what I have been doing my best to accomplish over the time that I have been here in the Philippines that work that the Lord has placed before me. Things have been a little different now that me and Elder Teisina are the only missionaries now in the Sipocot Branch but that is how a mission is I would say because like I said earlier I am not here on a mission to do whatever I think is best on a given day and time, but that I am here to find out what Heavenly Father wants for his children and how that I can help them prepare to return back to him when the time comes that he calls them back home.

Humility I think is something that takes a lot of practice and patience to obtain, recently I have been thinking a lot about the Atonement of Jesus Christ, and for me that is a great example of humility that the Savior demonstrated for all us, as we remember when Jesus Christ's ministry was about to end on Earth a few of the last things that he did before ascended into heaven was, first he had the Last Supper with his Apostles he showed his Apostles how to preform the sacrament, how to brake bread and bless it and then he blessed the wine (now we use water) we remember that the bread represents the body of Jesus that he sacrificed for us all and then the wine symbolizes his blood that he shed for us all, the he took a walk to the Garden of Gethsemane to which he suffered for all the sins of the world, he took upon himself all of the sins, pain, sicknesses, everything that we could possible experience here on Earth he experience and he paid the price for all of our sins so that if we repent we can become clean and have the chance to return to live with our Father in Heaven. The Savior of the World even Jesus Christ while he was in the garden asked his Father if it be possible let this cup pass from me nevertheless not as I will but as thou wilt, here we will see the humility of our Savior because he submitted to the will of his Father he asked if there was any other way to accomplish the task at hand but if there was no other way he said that he would do it because that was the will of the Father. Then we know that Jesus Christ was crucified and then we was laid in a tomb and then on the third day he rose from the grave breaking the bands of death for everyone who would ever live here on Earth, because Christ rose from the grave and was resurrected us too will receive resurrected bodies, I think that this is a great example for all of us that whatever Heavenly Father asks us to do we need to be ready to follow his counsel because he knows what we need to become who he really intends us to become. 

I know that Heavenly Father has a plan for all of us and it surrounds the event that I mentioned earlier the Atonement of Jesus Christ I know that as we strive to apply the Atonement of Jesus Christ in our lives we will find that our everyday tasks will become easier and we will see that it will be easier to forgive our neighbors, we will feel the love of our Savior in more abundance in our lives I know that the Atonement of Jesus Christ is real and that it is here to help us as we continue forward on the path that we are on that leads us back to our Father in Heaven.

Love,

Elder Chilson               

Last Transfer

Hello Everyone,

Believe it or not the time has come that I am now starting my last transfer of my mission here in the Philippines Naga Mission and that for me just means that I have to just work super hard and go all out because I will never have another chance like this to share the Gospel of Jesus Christ full time with all of Heavenly Father's children and to bear the name of Jesus Christ on my chest wherever I go for me this has been a very special opportunity. I know that Jesus Christ lives and that he loves us and that his Father who is in Heaven is also our Eternal Father, the Father of us all and I know that he loves us personally and infinitely the way that only he can. I know that all we have to do to feel of this love is to get on our knees and call out his name through sincere prayer and I know that he will answer us in his one time and in his own way, but I know that the answer will come and it will be what we need. 

This week there will be several missionaries that will be transferring to other zones and there will be other missionaries that will be transferred to the zone where I am still serving as the the Zone Leader (the Pamplona Zone) so I am not transferring and I am excited to get to know better some of the other missionaries here in my mission and I am also excited to learn from them as well. There have been some small changes that have come as a result of the transfers as well there used to be 4 missionaries in my apartment but now there is just me and Elder Teisina because of the shortage of missionaries in my mission right now the Pamplona Zone is the smallest zone now in the Philippines Naga Mission which is fine with me that just means that we have to work hard and double our efforts to accomplish our goals and we are so up for the challenge so I am excited to see what the results will turn out to be in July. I know that my mission president is receiving revelation from Heavenly Father to know what steps we should take as missionaries and I am so thankful for that because I know that this work cannot be accomplished by man alone but that as missionaries we are just vessels for the spirit to dwell and instruments in the Lords hands to accomplish the work that he has charged us with. 

I know that the scriptures are a huge help to us and that we should read them often I have for real felt the difference of the spirit in my life from the times that I have been able to read the scriptures as opposed to the times that I have failed to do so, I know that inside the pages of the scriptures especially the Book of Mormon all of the answers that we could possibly want are all there we just need to find them and I know that through our diligence and patience we will find them. I know that Heavenly Father has not sent us here to Earth to fail and I know that he wants us all to be successful and as such he has given us many tools so that we can do just that, be successful in this life like I mentioned above we have a Savior who sacrificed his life for all of us so that we will not have to face all that pain and suffering that is a result of our weaknesses and sins, that is a huge blessing and there are many more like prayer, the scriptures, a living prophet, our families and many more, I know that we have much to be thankful for and that we should not take for granted the gifts, talents and blessings that Heavenly Father has given but that we should use them to help and serve others, to brighten someones day, to lend a helping hand or whatever happens to come along our way on our journey here on Earth and that is what will bring us the most happiness that this Earth has to offer in preparation for the eternal happiness that is waiting for us in the life to come.

Love,

Elder Chilson             

Pineapple and Bananas

Hello Everyone,

This week was a very busy week for me here on my mission, I had two sort of big meetings this week in which I also was selected to sing in some special musical numbers as well. My Zone Conference went pretty well this week this was just for my Zone (The Pamplona Zone) and I conducted and I think that overall it went really well most of what was talked about was obedience and that is a pretty simple thing to understand but when it come to our actions things can get pretty tricky because as much as we want to be obedient and do the right thing, Satan is always right on our heals to steer us in the wrong direction. in the second sort of large meeting is was presided by President Juan A. Uceda or the Presidency of the Seventy (if you do not know who he is I am sorry I do not really have time to explain but you can google him or just ask any Mormons that you know and they would be happy to help you) I really enjoyed his visit he was a pretty animated speaker and I enjoyed that but he also talked about obedient some and how we cannot "Buy the Lie" that Satan is always trying to sell to us and regardless that the context of this was for missionaries I think that this is something that we all can apply to our own lives like I was saying just a little bit ago even when we want to do the right thing sometimes we are put in a tough situation because the "spirit is will but the flesh is weak" sort of thing that is part of our design and that is why Heavenly Father gave us our agency so that we can choose and be tested as to what we do with our time and our lives here on Earth.

I also just want to make a quick side not to anyone that likes pineapple I have for sure had some really delicious pineapple since I have been here on my mission and I think that we had some of the best pineapple for lunch at my zone conference last week, it was so sweet and it was just perfect and I am so thankful for that. I eat just about any fruit, except for bananas of course which is sort of hard for the Filipinos to understand because most of the Filipinos basically grew up on bananas and I have only met a few Filipinos that do not really like bananas that much but that is okay I just tell that that most of my whole life I have not really eaten bananas which is true and then that is usually enough but of course there are some certain situation which to avoid offending someone sometimes you just have to put all emotions aside and just eat it even if you know that you wont like it you I have experienced that on occasion as well because here in the Philippines if you do not eat when food is placed before you the Filipinos (most especially the women) will get sort of anxious and they will get straight-up offended if you do not eat their food so that is not all bad but sometimes you just have to be on your guard but I have not had one dish here in the Philippines that I have not liked I eat anything but when it comes to bananas almost all bets are off. 

This upcoming week should be pretty smoother than last week and I am just so thankful for the chance that I have had to serve the people here in the Philippines, they are such a nice, faithful people there are not too many people here in the Philippines that have not yet met Jesus Christ and I just want to testify that Jesus Christ's church is here on the Earth hat this very moment and that is was restored through the Prophet Joseph Smith I know that this happened for real and that it was all part of Heavenly Father's plan for all of us and because he loves us so much he has given us a prophet who at this time is Russell M. Nelson and I know that he is called of Gad just as I was to come here to the Philippines I have studied the words of President Nelson and I know that as we continue to follow the words of the prophets in the scriptures and the words of the living prophets we will not get lost in the world of confusion that we live in now and I know that what ever you are going through at this time in your life the Book of Mormon can help you I know that it is true and that is has answers to all of our questions and we just need to continue to read it and ponder on the words that are written on its pages and I know that Jesus Christ is our Savior and Redeemer and he loves us so much that he sacrificed everything that he could for us so that in return if we are prepared when the time comes we can receive all that the Father has waiting for us in the next life. 

Love,

Elder Chilson    

   

Solid Work Week Again

Hello Everyone,

This past week was a pretty solid work week again, but I just want to share with you a little bit of an experience that I had this past weekend so we went out Saturday with a pretty strong focus to invite as many people to church as we could we brought invitations that we had made and we were pretty excited to see what would come about because of our efforts and once we left our apartment I feel like time just sped up big time me and Elder Teisina were just battling the clock all afternoon it was as if Satan did not want me and Elder Teisina to talk to anyone but we did all that was in our power to talk to as many people as well could we covered a lot of ground and we did our best with the time that we had and we invited many people to come to church and we thought that we had worked pretty hard and we were excited to see the results of our labors inside of the church the next day and that is where the miracle come in all of this so we got to church on Sunday and we did not see any of the people that we had visited the previous day but we did see two former investigators that come with one of my recent converts (newish member of the church) I thought to myself that was the answer to my prayers because me and Elder Teisina have been searching all over the place just to find people that Heavenly Father has prepared to receive the Gospel of Jesus Christ and I think that was a miracle and a witness to me that no effort is wasted anyone who has served a mission before knows what I mean by this that the Lord is preparing the hearts of his people to receive his message and so we just have to be patient and help our friends prepare for that time. 

I would also just like to share a little going on with this about faith our faith in Jesus Christ is so important and not just because it is the first principle of the gospel but because if we do not have faith I think that our lives would be lonely, I have not yet seen Jesus Christ face to face but I know that he lives and has a resurrected body because of the faith that I have built up over time, sometimes we just need to put faith in Christ because sometimes we have no where else to turn sometimes there are things that we cannot do alone and we need the help of our Father in Heaven and that is where our faith is vital because everything revolves our our faith we cannot repent and be forgiven of our sins if we do not have the faith to be forgiven, as I have been here in the Philippines I have seen my faith grow in Jesus Christ and I have also seen other peoples faith grow as well because of the Gospel of Jesus Christ and I know that as we turn to the Lord in prayer he will send us many faith building experiences so that we build upon the faith that we have. As we continue to study the scriptures and listen to the words of the prophets and attend church I know that our faith will increase and we will draw nearer to our Father in Heaven and we will truly become more like him, his eyes will be our eyes, our thoughts will be his thoughts and we will continue to progress on the road of eternal progression that we are on that leads back to our heavenly home above with our Heavenly Father and our Savior and Redeemer even Jesus Christ.

I know that I am so blessed to have this opportunity to be a part of the work of the Lord here in the Philippines and I know that the missionaries cannot do this work alone I know that the missionaries need the help of the members so that we can all become one coordinated or so that we can work hand in hand in the work of the Lord and I know that as we continue to do our best to help others to Come unto Christ we will be blessed and helped by the Lord he will help us accomplish his work I know that we are not alone in this but that he wants to help all of his children come back and return to him so that they can all have eternal life and live forever with their families.

Love,

Elder Chilson           

English Class

Hello Everyone,

This week was another solid work week for me nothing that special happened, I am just working hard in helping other missionaries achieve their goals and to help them become better missionaries as well to the best of my ability I am of course far from perfect but I do my best in the leadership position that I have been asked to serve in. Sometimes being a leader is super fun and sometimes it would be more fun not to be the leader but to give all the responsibilities to someone else, but I know that Heavenly Father prepares us for the assignments and for the tasks that he gives us he will not send any of his children blindly into a situation that they cannot handle but he gives us experiences so that his children can learn and help other learn as well. I know that Jesus Christ set the perfect example for us when he was here on Earth was the a great teacher and I think one of the reasons why was because he know his students just that well, when you know what is in the hearts of your students and you know what they really need then you can teach them in accordance to exactly what they need in order to become successful. I know that Jesus Christ is our light even when sometimes we feel that we are stuck, there is no way out, we do not know where we should go or what we should do, when we feel lost of lonely he is there to help us every step of the way as long as we keep putting forth the effort the is required I know that we will be able to get out of any situation that we are in. We just have to keep trying we cannot give up in the face of Satan because that is what he wants, he wants us to think that we are tired, we have given our all (when in reality we have only given half) he wants us to give up and go home and hide. I know that whenever we are feeling this way all we have to do is stop what we are doing and say a prayer to our Father in Heaven and I know that he will hear us, I know that if we ask for help in faith it will come and we will be rescued and returned home safely so to speak to where we are supposed to be.

Also this week at the request of some members here in the Sipocot Branch this past week I started teaching an English Class so that has been an interesting experience because I would say that my English skills have sort of been diminished since I have been here in the Philippines speaking Tagalog/Bicol but in probably all of my areas I have helped people with English but this is the first time that I am teaching an official class, because the Filipinos most of the time like to take advantage of the chances that they have to learn English from Americans or Australians because they learn English in school but like any language if you do not use it you lose it so if they do not speak English at home then they will not really improve at it because most of the time they speak Tagalog/Bicol at home or whatever language their parents speak but that is just a quick little run down. I have been very happy to share all the talents that Heavenly Father has blessed me with since I have been serving my mission here in the Philippines. 

I am sure that most of you are busy with graduation plans or parties or working on summer plans or vacations and that is awesome that is what summer is for but the funny things is I am not sure if you guys are aware but the Filipinos school vacation just ended and they just went back to school so everywhere you go there is something different going on and there is always something new to learn even though I have been here in the Philippines for sort of a long time I have not stopped learning yet, just like with anything there is always more that we can learn and apply to our lives and I hope that whatever your plans are you stay safe and try to spend time with your family because that is what the Gospel of Jesus Christ is all about it is preparing our families to become eternal in the new life and living together forever and I am so thankful for the knowledge that I have of that and for the countless chance that I have had to share that message with the people of the Philippines. 

Love,

Elder Chilson        

Solid Week

Hello Everyone, 

This week was a pretty solid week for me, nothing really huge happened but it was just a lot of consistent patient effort that I gave this week and as a result I have a short story to share with you. Yesterday I had an investigator come to church that I met roughly 2 months ago and I am going to call her Sarah (but her real name is not Sarah the name is not important) and a long while ago she used to be taught by Sister Missionaries that used to go to her house and taught her about the Gospel of Jesus Christ and she also went to church as well before and then she moved to sort of a far away place from the church so she lost contact with the missionaries but she had a strong desire to become a member of the Church of Jesus Christ but over time it sort of faded because that is what happens over time but about 2 months ago another sister in my branch she gave Sarah's name to me and Elder Abrigo as a referral and so of course we went and contacted that referral and it turns out that she still had a Book of Mormon but the other things that the Sister Missionaries taught her before she sort of forgot but that we okay because me and Elder Abrigo started over and we helped her remember the things that the Sister Missionaries had taught he before and the best part is for about 2 months I have been going back and forth to her house and teaching her about the Gospel of Jesus Christ and how much our Father in Heaven loves us and last Thursday we went to her house and we taught here about Heavenly Father's Plan for her and it was a good lesson and our member present added a strong testimony as well and at the end Sarah prayed and she promised to Heavenly Father that she was going to come to church on Sunday and then we said great we will see you on Sunday and we left and then the best part is what happened yesterday so she came to church just as she promised and she did not only come to Sacrament Meeting but she came to church for the whole 3 hours and for me that was just a great blessing for me to see that the last 2 months of work was not just for nothing I know that Heavenly Father has a special plan for all of his children and so that is why I do not give up on Heavenly Father's children because I know that there is a time that is right for them for accepting the plan that Heavenly Father has for them and that is what I do as a missionary I just help his children know for themselves just how much Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ love them because I know that he loves us all very much and I know that he will not lead us astray but he wants all of us to be able to return to him and all that he has prepared for us there.

I know that we are all here on Earth for a reason and that he has work for us to do and I know that as we search that out we will be able to know for ourselves through prayer and personal revelation what it is that our Father in Heaven would have us do. Prayer and personal revelation are two powerful tools that we have here on Earth along with the scriptures to really find out and know of a surety of the the love and the guidance that our Father in Heaven gives us. I know that Heavenly Father lives and loves and that Jesus Christ also lives and loves us and I know that as we continue to seek out or ask of God in prayer what it is that he wants or needs us to do he will tell us and he will help us accomplish all that he needs us too I am so thankful for this chance that I have to be able to share the Gospel of Jesus Christ with all of Gods children here in the Philippines and I know that many blessings will come to all of us as we continually seek to follow Jesus Christ's example and become more like him so that we can be ready in preparation for when he comes again.

Love,

Elder Chilson        

My Brother Samuel

Hello Everyone,

So this past week we had transfers and Elder Abrigo got transferred and I got a new companion which means we now have a new Zone Leader as well here in the Pamplona Zone so that is very exciting because my new companion is Elder Teisina and he is from New Zeland and he is super nice I know him pretty well because he was part of the first group of missionaries that I met while I served in the Mission Office. We also have several new missionaries here in the Pamplona Zone and that is exciting as well even though it is really hot right now here in the Philippines we are still working hard and doing our best to fulfill our purpose as missionaries for the Lord.

This past week we had the National Day of Service here in the Philippines and  I was excited for that and we were able to provide some community service so to speak we worked with some of the members here in Sipocot and we cleaned up garbage along the roads and we also cleaned at the church as well we ended up cleaning some of the windows and and basically the outside of the church for me I just enjoyed being able to work with the members here in the Sipocot Branch all unified in one specific cause. Unity is something that is sometimes hard to find in a large group of people especially a lot of people coming from many different walks of life but I know that Heavenly Father sees us only one way as his children it is not important to him if we have to most expensive car or the largest house and we have a lot of ice cream stocked in our freezers what is important is that we love our neighbors we help them when they need help and we comfort them when they need it that is what Jesus did when he was here on Earth he helped those that were in and right now I would like to share a scripture from the Old Testament because I think that it will be a good reminder for all of us and this is one of my favorite scriptures in the Old Testament and it shares the name of my younger brother Samuel so of course that makes it special for me it is found in 1 Samuel chapter 16 verse 7 and it reads, "But the Lord said unto Samuel, Look not on his countenance, or on the height of his stature; because I have refused him: for the Lord seeth not as man seeth; for man looketh on the outward appearance, but the Lord looketh on the heart." I think that if everyone would remember this then we would have less problems here in the world and we would more easily be able to become like our Savior and Master Jesus Christ because Heavenly Father sees a lot more that we can that is something that I think I have gained more understanding about since I have been here on my mission that Heavenly Father's perspective is a lot broader and clear than our perspective so we need to continue to do our best to become like his son Jesus Christ so we can prepare to receive ultimately Eternal Life or the life that our Father in Heaven has I know that is what he wants for each and everyone of his children and I am once again so honored and blessed for the opportunity that I have received so that I can help his children become ready to return back to their Father in Heaven, I know that he loves us very much and that as we turn to him in prayer often he will come running to our aid and he will be there to help us and support us in whatever we might be going through at that time. 

Love,

Elder Chilson       

No Time to Waste

Hello Everyone,

Well time does not seem to be slowing down for me here in my mission because another transfer has passed I think that this past transfer was one of the fastest transfers of my mission since I have been here in the field me and Elder Abrigo worked hard this week we made a lot of progress with some of the people that we have been teaching about Jesus Christ and his gospel or Heavenly Father's Plan for all of his children here on Earth. All of the other missionaries in my zone are doing well also I feel that almost all of the missionary's work as well improved over this past week and I think that had to do with the zone fasting that we had this pasted week, after last week me and Elder Abrigo had a little chat about what some of the things that we can improve upon in the Pamplona Zone and we both agreed that we could have a zone fast in order for us to receive some spiritual strength and revelation so that we could find some more answers to some of the questions that we had about the people that we have been helping and teaching. This leads into miracles, something that we have been focusing on there in my mission is miracles and really taking the time to notice and give thanks to our Father in Heaven for the miracles that happen in our lives and especially in the lives of us as missionaries in the Lord's service. I know that the Lord's had is always never too far away from us I have seen his hand in my life countless times and that has not changed since I have been here in my mission I know that Heavenly Father loves and protects all of his missionaries wherever they are serving all over the world. 

I will also be receiving a new companion tomorrow because Elder Abrigo will be transferred tomorrow I do not know yet who my new companion will be but I ma not worried about that because I know that whoever it is is supposed to be here in Sipocot with me and I am sure that we will accomplish many great things together and for the record I have not yet had an American companion here in the mission field so I have had almost all Filipino companions in my mission thus far and I have had one companion that was from New Zeland so we will see what the Lord has in store for me I am just excited to work hard and go all out because I have no time to waste everyday for me is so important because they go by so fast but I know that Heavenly Father is mindful of me and I know that will accomplish what ever he needs me to because he will help me and I know that his Only Begotten Son even Jesus Christ loves us very much as well so much that he gave his life so that we all can have the chance to live again as well and I know that his atonement is real and powerful. Also a quick side note I was able to speak with my family again for the last time while I am here in the Philippines and they are doing well. I know that as we continue to do the things that Jesus would do if he were here then we will all prepare more fully to enter into the presence of our Heavenly Father when he is ready to call us back home.

Love,

Elder Chilson    

Last Skype with Elder Chilson from the Philippines 

Earthquake!

Hello Everyone, 

May has arrived so wherever you are that means that there should be Spring now except for where I am where summer started in March we sort of skipped over Spring here in the Philippines but that is okay there is not much that I can do about it I am just living it up under the sun day in and day out. This past week I saw that some prophecies were fulfilled to be exact it was Saturday afternoon roughly 1:30pm me and Elder Abrigo were outside in a forest type setting in the middle of a lesson and then I experienced for the first time in my life a real live Earthquake! Now please do not worry it was not a very big earthquake the Earth did not split open in two but I did feel the Earth shake beneath my feet and I was sort of taken off guard and Elder Abrigo told me that it was an earthquake and I was like wow this is cool and then he asked me if I felt it and I said yes I do and it was only like 5 minutes I think it was not very big but strong enough to feel it and I do not now if it was in the whole Philippines I think that it was only where I was at the time because I do not know if you are aware but I am close to a very large volcano the Mayon Volcano in Legazpi so that is what the people were saying here was because of the volcano the earthquake occurred as a result here in the Bicol Region and overall I though that it was an interesting experience. 

Now I said at the beginning that prophecies were fulfilled because when I entered the MTC in Manila that is what most of the leaders told us missionaries when we were there was that we should prepare for an earthquake because the Philippines was overdue I guess for an earthquake I am not real sure on the science behind all that but that is what they told us so I sat there thinking to my self wow I might be able to experience an earthquake while I am on my mission but what ended up happening was 2 Christmas ago we had the Super Typhoon and the last week the small earthquake occurred so that is what normally happens I guess when you live on islands the people here are pretty used to it the natural disasters do not phase them at all they just roll with whatever come but for me it has been pretty interesting for me especially me being a boy from New York where the only natural disaster that occurs is the occasional blizzard and ice storm and now I am here in the heat and opposite of snow, but I now that Heavenly Father is in control of it all and that he sent me here to the Philippines for reasons that I have discovered since I have been here and for other reasons that I probably will not find out until I return to America. 

I know that sometimes we need to exercise patience in the one who knows all I know that Heavenly Father knows each and everyone of his children perfectly and individually and he knows what we really need and what is best so sometimes we may feel that we are worthy of certain blessings and we will be expecting certain blessing to come to us but sometimes they do not come and sometimes we can ask ourselves over and over why this happened or why did we receive these results but I now that as we continue on the road that we are traveling on (the road that leads us back to our Father in Heaven) with faith in Christ and patience we will see the hand of the Lord in our lives and in time we will see the things that we could not see the first time if you now what I mean I know that as we always turn to our Father in Heaven in prayer he will come and comfort us and rescue us from whatever situation that we might be in and he will never leave us alone. 

Love,

Elder Chilson           

Zone Conferences

Hello Everyone,

This past week was very busy for me but now I am so happy because of the results that came out of our work this past week. We were able to reach some of our goals this past week in the Pamplona District (It is not a Stake yet) so my District President I think will be happy about that when I see him and I am very excited about our progress since I have come here in the Pamplona Zone almost everything has increased and I think that the missionaries here are working very hard despite some difficult circumstances they are responding nicely. I would just like to share with you that I know that Heavenly Father is mindful of each and everyone of us because we really are his children and I know that he loves us perfectly. I have seen Heavenly Father over the past month help us through some tough times as a zone and as a result of that I think that we have come closer together and we have become more unified in the work of the Lord I know that is true for me and Elder Abrigo I think that every time we have something that we have to work out in the zone we always grow closer together because I know that the Lord gives us trials not to bring us down or tear us apart but to help us and mold us into the people that he wants us to become I know that Heavenly Father is always on our side regardless of the things that we have done in the past and the mistakes that we have made he will never leave us and his son's atonement in infinite and it will never run out.

This past week as well we had Zone Conference and I enjoyed it very much and me and Elder Abrigo also took the assignment that was given to us by President Zapanta to teach a workshop or give a training to 3 Zone the Pamplona Zone Daet Zone and Canaman Zone which adds up to more than 50 missionaries and I was excited for this teaching opportunity because I have never taught that many missionaries before in one setting but it went well we gave a workshop or lesson about the Book of Mormon and so now I feel that me and Elder Abrigo were able to help the other missionaries strengthen their desire to use the Book of Mormon in every aspect of the Missionary Work that we are doing and I know that the Book or Mormon is true and that it has the power to help anyone come to truly know who their Savior is and what he has done for us I know that as I have been serving here in the Philippines Naga Mission my testimony has been strengthen about the Book of Mormon on various levels and I hope that we will take all the spare time that we have to read the Book of Mormon because I know that it will help us in ever aspect of our lives there is nothing that the Book of Mormon cannot do or cannot help it has all the answers and it has all that we need in order to prepare in this life to return to live with our Heavenly Father and our Savior and Redeemer even Jesus Christ again forever.

Love,

Elder Chilson        

Pasacao

Hello Everyone,

This week was a pretty fun week for me because I took a temporary assignment in Pasacao which is an area inside of the Pamplona Zone of which I am the Zone Leader of because a companionship needed some help so I of course was happy to serve then and help them with whatever they needed, I was with Elder Mafi in Pasacao and he is a missionary from Tonga and he is really funny and I really enjoyed working with him but now I am back in Sipocot with Elder Abrigo and we are preparing for the Zone Conference that we have this week. I am so thankful for the opportunities that I have to be able to help and serve the missionaries that are in my Zone, you never know how Heavenly Father will work through his servants to help his children or in this case missionaries with whatever they may be in need of at that apparent time it is such a great feeling when you have the chance to be an instrument in the Lords hands and to be able to work through him to accomplish the work that he has prepared for us to perform. 

I have a sort of quick story to tell that you might think is funny so this past Saturday I had the chance to provide some service for a member in the Pamplona Branch and it was a lot of fun we worked in a rice field I dug some trenched for water to pass through and I moved dirt and we also cleaned out some other greenery that was getting pretty high and the funny part was that after we provided the service we were invited inside to have a quick snack so here in the Philippines when they say lets have a snack that means they have some sort of pasta prepared so we said sure we ate some pasta and I was pretty full then another thing here in the Philippines is that they usually always have rice at every meal so after we had that snack the father of the family to which we gave to service told us in so many words okay are you guys ready for lunch because it was lunch time at the time and then I looked at my companion and said didn't we just eat and then we were like yes but that was just a snack he said so now we are going to have lunch well that is pretty hard to have lunch we you are already full but the worst thing that you can do is when a Filipino gives you some food to not eat is so of course we have some rice and the other food that was prepared so we were really full when we left that house and those are basically the two main food groups here in the Philippines pasta and rice that is what they eat mostly everyday.

I really love the hospitality of the Filipinos they are so nice they will basically invite anyone into their houses even if it is really inconvenient because it is in their culture they will go out of their way to give the missionaries food and anything that you may be in need of they will get it for you they really do love their missionaries here in the Philippines and that is ultimately how the Gospel of Jesus Christ got here to the Philippines in the first place was because of missionaries and I am so thankful for being another missionary here in the Philippines to keep the work of the Lord moving here in the Philippines this is such a chosen and prepared land for the Gospel of Jesus Christ, Heavenly Father is preparing his children everyday to receive the Gospel of Jesus Christ and as his disciples we need to be ready always to share that special message that we have in whatever setting we are in because there are people out there that are waiting for us to open our mouths and share it with them because they do not know where to find peace in this life and I know that we can find peace and safety in this life because of the Gospel of Jesus Christ.

Love,

Elder Chilson