Thursday, June 18, 2015

The Power of Proselyting

Family and friends! Kumusta! This week was absolutely amazing. Along
with the usual learning for a bajillion hours a day, we had the
opportunity to proselyte in the Philippines. And let me tell you, it
was probably the best experience I've had here so far. Now let me tell
you why.

So we left the MTC and drove for about an hour and a half to the
Quezon City North Mission where we met up with other missionaries who
have already been serving in the field for awhile. So we went on
splits. I went with Elder Welch and my teacher Brother Aracena. So we
left the church and we just started walking. We took a Jeepney (If you
don't know what this is, look it up. It is the pinnacle of all
Filipino transportation.) about a kilometer or two down the road to
where we were supposed to teach. We got off and just started walking.
We entered into this neighborhood, if you can even call it that. This
place is poor. The houses left and right were nothing more than cement
walls and sheet metal roofs. Anyway, as we're walking through these
neighborhoods kids left and right are giving us all high fives. And at
that point, Brother Aracena commented, "You know? Did you ever think
about this? In the scriptures, children just flock to Jesus Christ. As
we walk through these streets, kids do the exact same thing." When he
said that, everything in my world just stopped for a moment. My heart
skipped a beat and I realized that he was right. And that made me more
excited than ever to just bring joy to people's lives. So we went to
an investigator's home and taught her a quick lesson. During the
lesson, it started to rain. It was so hard that we couldn't really
hear each other speak because the sound of the water dropping on the
roofs resonated not only in my eardrums, but in my thoughts as well.
So the lesson ended and guess what. We forgot umbrellas. So we wrapped
all our valuables in plastic bags and briskly walked to the nearest
T\tricycle (Look this up too. Tricycles are amazing) station which was
about a half a kilometere away. We were drenched. The rain fell so
hard. We walked and laughed and enjoyed every second of it. We finally
reached the tricycle station and fit three grown men (two and a half
if you don't consider me a full-grown man. I don't even consider
myself a grown man. I'm like the size of a twelve year-old.) We
finally got back to the church and went on our way back to the MTC.

What I learned while proselyting is this- In everything that you do,
in every circumstance that you experience, there is always joy to be
found. No matter what you do there's always something to smile about.
That's why I love being here. No matter how challenging it is, there's
always something to laugh about, something to smile about. These
people here in the Philippines, despite their lack of a majority of
the things we take for granted in America, can cump for joy when
there's rain. Little kids can find happiness in two young men wearing
white shirts and ties sharing a simple message. The work and service
that I'm about to embark on is amazing. Challenging? Yes. Fulfilling?
More so. Life-changing? Absolutely.

Anyway, I'm sorry if this email doesn't really have a specific topic.
Wishing you all the best and thank you so much for your emails! It's
so great to hear from you personally. And Happy Fathers Day to all the
dads out there, especially mine! I love you Dad and know that your
example has taught me so much here in the Philippines. You inspire me
every day. Wishing you all the best and please if anyone sees my Dad
in person, please hug him for me! (And perhaps a friendly punch or two
in the shoulder.)

-Elder Bondoc

1 comment:

  1. Elder Bondoc (Doy), you are such an amazingly mature missionary even though you are not even in your mission area yet. Thank you for updating us and reminding us about how it is in the Philippines and how people find joy in the simplest of things. It's a great reminder of how blessed we are as well. Also, don't forget your umbrella especially during the rainy season and take warm baths as soon as you get home so you don't get sick. Keep up the great work. We love you and pray for you each day.
    Love,
    Tita Elna and Family

    ReplyDelete