Wk 86 June 27, 2011 sipon ag galingy ulo ku

Hey!!

    So Mom Dad I just took out the last of my money in my account. My shoes have big gaping holes in them. Every day the last few weeks my feet have been wet cause it has been raining and I can stick my fist through the bottom of my shoe. We are going to a training in Iloilo tomorrow so I will buy some new shoes.

    This week has kind of been a little bit of a downer. We weren't able to work a few days due to a cold that I caught. Still getting over it.

      Our district has a few changes in it. Elder Solis is now the only Pinoy (Elder Solis says hi). We have three Americans and two Indian sisters. Sister Ganta and Arumugam. They’re fun. Tomorrow I will be doing lessons on Language. I am excited for that. After our district meeting we will head to Iloilo and won’t get back till probably Friday.

    Yeah Dad we were never a really big golf family. I laughed out loud when you said that the grass was so short you could play marbles on it.

     And Hana's mom. I hope that the treatments go well. They are such an awesome family. Tell them that I love them, and Heavenly Father will certainly take care of them.

     Well I am going to keep this email short. Talk to you again next week. Love and take Care.

Kierston! I hope you have a...good...birth. Like things go smoothly and all. haha. Congrats!

=Elder Kirschbaum=

Wk 85 June 20, 2011

 Hey Family,                       

     It is good to hear from you as normal. I caught myself about an inch in front of the screen laughing and thinking about the things you wrote. I never really knew how talented Dad is at writing. I really think you should write a book or something Dad. It doesn't even have to be about anything. It sounds like every one is hanging in there doing awesome. Heidi thanks for the talk, I will print it and read it tonight.

     Well guess what? We went hiking again this morning. haha. It wasn't very long but man it is super refreshing. It’s like working out in the morning, then we get back and still have a lot of time. I love it.

     The work here in Makato is doing pretty well. Sometimes I wish that we had more investigators that were progressing towards baptism. Then I have to remember that first of all that’s not what this is even about. Baptisms. Then I have to remember how awesome the investigators we have are, and how we need to take care of them. We have found some pretty awesome people but getting people to church is a whole different thing. I think Heavenly Father has been trying to teach me some things. And I think I have been able to grasp them better as I ask him what it is that he would have me learn.

     I loved that talk that you sent to me Mom. The John Groberg one. I have been reviewing some past papers and letters I have received. Here are some things I learned. One is from Kyle Naumann. When he would write I would print out his talks and read them. I would highlight the quotes I liked. haha. I am not exactly where it came from in his letters but the jest of it was don't be afraid to ask Heavenly Father why and what He wants me to learn. The John Groberg talk was really motivating also. The 3 steps he gives I believe are: 1. Learn the principle 2. Commit to live it

3. Even when it is hard, trust in the Lord. He is your friend. I liked how you can apply that to just about anything. A mission: 1. Learn why you need to serve. 2. Commit to serve a diligent mission. 3. Even when it is hard, trust in the lord.

     I had been studying Christlike attributes a lot this past month. The Christ like attributes you show to others are SO Important. All the hard times are lightened as we lose ourselves in Christ and others. I learned from Mckay Smith this week too about Diligence. haha the Lord taught him about diligence in a place called Greenwich, New York I believe. The Lord is helping me learn diligence on the other side of the world here in Makato. I have loved learning about Christ and his attributes. They all connect. The more diligence we have the more patience. The more patience the more charity. The more charity the better our virtue is and so on.  Jesus Christ really is (as Elder Austin Adams would say it) the man.

     Brother Antoja is doing awesome. He is a super funny guy.

Well I have to get going but I love you all and talk to you next week.

-Elder Kirschbaum

Wk 84 June 13, 2011

Family!

     Mom and Dad thanks for the letters and for President Groberg’s talk. I will print it out and read it.

     We had an exciting week this week. Lots of hard work, and then we started this week with an awesome hike up into the Makato Mountains. We just got back, our whole district, from hiking to a place called Salimuno Falls. It was really beautiful and pretty nice for a change. Haha the sisters did awesome hiking.  Our Indian sister decided to do the entire hike bare footed. She survived. (I had less faith in her than I should have:). This morning it rained really hard so as we hiked the sisters slipped and fell about 5 times each. They had a blast though.

     This Friday is transfers.  Nothing new happening there.  I will be staying with my companion Elder Solis for another transfer.  I like him so I am glad we will be together still. We work together pretty well.

     So Heavenly Father's hand has been in our work a lot this last week. First off for me, he is teaching me the personal lessons that I need to learn in my life. I have been studying Character, Nature, and Christ-like attributes this past few weeks. It’s really awesome how tightly wound those principles and topics are. As we gain faith in Jesus Christ, our charity increases, as our charity increases we increase in patience and diligence. As we increase in diligence, our virtue increases along with our knowledge. It’s all just one big web of gospel character traits.

     Last week as we were doing a little tracting "by the spirit" :). We met an awesome guy. He is the cousin of one of our branch members. We set up a time to teach him and his family and he accepted. We went over to their house on Saturday. Well it turns out that the non-member son lives in this house with the man we met and his wife. He helps take care of their Grandpa. We taught all of them.  It was a great lesson and they were all really touched. I realized again how Heavenly Father loves this branch and is helping them.

     This special sister shared her testimony in our Branch missionary correlation and once more the branch got to see the miraculous results of faith and the miracles that are happening in their branch.

     We are super stoked to teach this family. I know that Heavenly Father loves each and every one of his children. He knows what is best for us.  We just need to have a little faith in him.

     I love you all, and talk to you again next week.

- Elder Kirschbaum

Wk 83 June 6, 2011

Hey!                             

     Don't worry about the pictures mom. I just ran out of space on my SD card so I went and got it transferred onto a DVD that I will be sending home. There is a few videos too. :) And your package came. Our sisters texted us and told us I had a package. I will get it tomorrow at Zone Meeting. :)

     We had a good week this week. We invited Brother Alfonso Antoja to be baptized. He said that he wanted to but he just wasn't ready yet. We still have to work with him a little bit. He has a desire though and it is just a matter of "a little bit of time" :).

    This week we had lots of members work with us. Every day we had a member working with us. It was a good experience for them and for us. We have 5 Returned Missionaries in our Branch. So we are trying to work with them to keep their missionary fire alive. We have a lot of potential investigators at this point. This week we will be following up with a lot of them. Our branch attendance is still around 30 people every week. It’s pretty small but the Branch is awesome. They have big faith and awesome testimonies. Next week on P-day we are going to try to get some of the other Elders and our ward to play basketball at the church. We are hoping to start a tradition of every week have members come to the church and play, so that way it can give them an opportunity to invite their friends.

     I think I have figured out the language thing. My language skills are like a Liahona that Heavenly Father has given me. When I am righteous and working hard, the language works, but when I slack a little the Liahona breaks. So I have no choice but to work as hard as I can or else I am done for :). It has been going good though. Elder Solis has been helping me a lot to learn Tagalog. I am starting to loose some of my Illango. I tried speaking Illango to a lady the other day and kept switching back to Tagalog. She probably thought I was crazy.

     It has been raining a whole lot lately here and we walk everywhere - really far sometimes. So every night when we get home we are pretty muddy. My shoes have taken a hit. The outside edge of my shoe is falling off. BUT I WON"T LET DOWN. These shoes will hold out till the end even if they are as stinky as Kyle’s shoes were when he got off his mission. ;).

     Let’s see what else. Oh the other night we came home to a bloody gutted rat in a few pieces on our floormat that our lovely house cats placed for us. I took a picture for you Kyle. It’s on the DVD I will send home.

Well cge. I will go now. Talk to you again next week.

Love you.

P.S. I am not exactly sure what John was talking about but it sounds like what they wear to church - Sandals, untucked polo, and no tie.