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