Dear Family,
So the new years was a pretty sleepless night. We had to be in at 7:00 pm and we just sat in the house all night. Here in the Philippines it is way different than how we celebrate the New Year. People actually throw fireworks and each other and they have fireworks going off ALL night HaHa!! I guess its really not funny but now that I look back on it, it kinda was.
So around 1 am our neighbors came up and pounded on our door and yelled at us to come down and eat with them. Well I wasn't in any objection to doing that so we went down and ate and then finally came home got some rest.
We have been having a ton of dinner appointments lately and I have been eating a ton because so far I have liked all that has been served to me.(I know I am as shocked as you are).
So this morning I woke up face to face with a giant spider, bigger than the one that you saw in the pictures I sent home. Well all I can say is that he was the first thing I saw and the last thing he saw was a stream of alcohol and a flaming match coming at his face!! Yes one more pyro act on my part and yes I have to say that I did enjoy it Heehee!
So this week we may have had some great food but our work was the worst! We only had like 11 lessons, it was terrible and we got punted from so many appointments it wasn't good. Then me and my companion got in a fight, we are not getting along very well and i know that its affecting our work. I am trying my best to seek inspiration and to find things that we have in common but its pretty tough. Patience is playing a big role in my life right now and I am glad to say that today it has been good so far and I hope it continues to get better with each day.
I hope that you all have a great week, Happy Birthday to me!! Haha Just Kidding Happy Birthday to Paige and Morgan!!!!!! 20!!!!!. I love you all so much and I hope that your week is great. I will try to attach a picture of the spider that i killed. Please send pictures this week some of Christmas and the snow please:)Love Elder Mulliner
Monday, July 26, 2010
Tuesday, July 20, 2010
12/27/2009
Dear Family,
Well it was great to get to talk to all of you finally and to talk to you about my mission and what has been happening to me and what has been going on at home. I can’t believe that this year has pretty much just come and gone especially the last 5 months! I can’t put it into words what its like to be teaching the gospel, to people I don’t know, in a language that I don’t quite understand. It's simply amazing. Some lessons I worry about what I will say and if I'm even saying it right. Then there are lessons where I have no idea what I even said and my companion tells me that I don’t teach what I know about the gospel, I let the spirit do it. Well if that’s true I don’t know, but I do know now, and will never forget how important the spirit is in our lives. We have a guide, a compass, a friend, and most of all something that we are always conscious about. As a missionary it’s a lot easier to feel when the spirit is in the lesson or if its not, and if its not there is no point in teaching. That’s something that our mission president really stresses to us, is that we have the spirit. So I'm always on the look out for if I have it or not. It's very easy to lose that spirit here. There are so many distractions and things that can take away from the work, but I do my best to stay focused, and the lord makes up for the rest. So this morning I washed a ton of clothes that my finger's actually started to bleed. But soon it will turn into a caulis… I hope lol. So then we went up to our church and the ward was having a sports fest with the youth so I played some basketball, and some table tennis, and then we went and ate at a calinderia which is just a place where you go and choose a ulam for your rice( a topping like chicken) and then you go sit down and eat. I had the chicken curry which is really good! Then we came back to our area and I got a haircut, and now I'm emailing, later we are going to go teach an investigator and then contact a referral, so hopefully we will get a new investigator tonight. Speaking of new investigators there is a few Americans that live here and we ran into one that lives in our area and I started talking to him and he and his wife are from Boston. He told us to come over to his house around Christmas time so we went over last night and got talking about the Philippines and the states. His wife is a Filipino, but is from Boston, I told him that I have a friend serving there and he said that he lives about 40 miles away. I cant remember the name of the city but its close to Boston. Then we talked about his life in the military! He was a general for the Air Force and is about to retire form some school board. He comes and goes but he is planning on moving here for good. So then I asked what his religious background was and what he believed about god. He believes that our heavenly father, Jesus Christ, and the holy ghost are three separate beings and that he is a Lutheran. I shared a little bit about the first lesson and asked if we could come back. He said that would be great and that he wanted a book of Mormon for here. He mentioned that he had one in the states and that he reads it from time to time, so we will go back to him sometime and see if we can get him to read and pray about the Book of Mormon, I hope that he will. I feel like he has some potential so we will see. So it wasn’t me trying to call on Christmas, it might have been our land lord who was trying to call, I don’t know what he would want to call for but who knows. So that’s my week and it was great. We had some fun this week and it was a lot better this week then last so I hope that it will get better and better. So it sounds like you all had a great Christmas and that it was fun for Peyton! What did everyone get?? I hope that your not getting to cold over there and your all being safe! I love you all!!! I can’t wait till mothers day! (When is that by the way ha ha) I love you again. Send some pics of Christmas in the next email if you could! :)
Love,
Elder Mulliner
Well it was great to get to talk to all of you finally and to talk to you about my mission and what has been happening to me and what has been going on at home. I can’t believe that this year has pretty much just come and gone especially the last 5 months! I can’t put it into words what its like to be teaching the gospel, to people I don’t know, in a language that I don’t quite understand. It's simply amazing. Some lessons I worry about what I will say and if I'm even saying it right. Then there are lessons where I have no idea what I even said and my companion tells me that I don’t teach what I know about the gospel, I let the spirit do it. Well if that’s true I don’t know, but I do know now, and will never forget how important the spirit is in our lives. We have a guide, a compass, a friend, and most of all something that we are always conscious about. As a missionary it’s a lot easier to feel when the spirit is in the lesson or if its not, and if its not there is no point in teaching. That’s something that our mission president really stresses to us, is that we have the spirit. So I'm always on the look out for if I have it or not. It's very easy to lose that spirit here. There are so many distractions and things that can take away from the work, but I do my best to stay focused, and the lord makes up for the rest. So this morning I washed a ton of clothes that my finger's actually started to bleed. But soon it will turn into a caulis… I hope lol. So then we went up to our church and the ward was having a sports fest with the youth so I played some basketball, and some table tennis, and then we went and ate at a calinderia which is just a place where you go and choose a ulam for your rice( a topping like chicken) and then you go sit down and eat. I had the chicken curry which is really good! Then we came back to our area and I got a haircut, and now I'm emailing, later we are going to go teach an investigator and then contact a referral, so hopefully we will get a new investigator tonight. Speaking of new investigators there is a few Americans that live here and we ran into one that lives in our area and I started talking to him and he and his wife are from Boston. He told us to come over to his house around Christmas time so we went over last night and got talking about the Philippines and the states. His wife is a Filipino, but is from Boston, I told him that I have a friend serving there and he said that he lives about 40 miles away. I cant remember the name of the city but its close to Boston. Then we talked about his life in the military! He was a general for the Air Force and is about to retire form some school board. He comes and goes but he is planning on moving here for good. So then I asked what his religious background was and what he believed about god. He believes that our heavenly father, Jesus Christ, and the holy ghost are three separate beings and that he is a Lutheran. I shared a little bit about the first lesson and asked if we could come back. He said that would be great and that he wanted a book of Mormon for here. He mentioned that he had one in the states and that he reads it from time to time, so we will go back to him sometime and see if we can get him to read and pray about the Book of Mormon, I hope that he will. I feel like he has some potential so we will see. So it wasn’t me trying to call on Christmas, it might have been our land lord who was trying to call, I don’t know what he would want to call for but who knows. So that’s my week and it was great. We had some fun this week and it was a lot better this week then last so I hope that it will get better and better. So it sounds like you all had a great Christmas and that it was fun for Peyton! What did everyone get?? I hope that your not getting to cold over there and your all being safe! I love you all!!! I can’t wait till mothers day! (When is that by the way ha ha) I love you again. Send some pics of Christmas in the next email if you could! :)
Love,
Elder Mulliner
Wednesday, June 16, 2010
Thursday, June 10, 2010
12/20/2009
Dear family!
So I guess I need to apologize for opening my Christmas packages early (I am sorry). The assistants to the president brought them over and within the following couple of days I had to be preparing to pack if I got transferred. Which is probably the reason they brought the packages over when they did. So I had to open them so that I could situate everything in my suitcase. I am sorry for opening them early, but it had to be done! But again thanks to all who sent me something! It was great fun even though it was early.(and still is)
So we had our baptism on Saturday and we ended up baptizing 4 people. It was so amazing to play a part in all of it. There should have been 5 but something happened to one of our investigators and she ended up not showing up. Tonight we are going over to check it out and I hope that she still has a desire to be baptized.
So transfers came and I didn't get transferred, but Elder Hanks did. My new companion is a Filipino and his name is Elder Alcoy. So its going to be good that i have a Filipino comp to learn the language better. But I have to say that I do miss having an American haha, it's just so different. Wish me luck and pray for us both. We had a ward Christmas party on Saturday and it was fun to go and watch all the kids have a good time with there activities and games. A lady that owns a really good restaurant brought some spaghetti over and it was sooooo good! Then this other lady had some cheese flavored ice cream, home made. Its not exactly what you would call ice cream lol, but it was still good.
So i should be calling from a cell phone and the time you suggested is perfect to call and I will call around 11:30 and talk to all of you! (Oh I can't wait) It doesn't really seem like its Christmas to me because I am not with all of you. Also its like a billion degrees here and I wish I could see snow lol!!! Still as hot as it is everyone says that they are cold and they all have jackets on. All the American missionaries are still sweating and dying of heat. At night I use a fan and my companion thinks I am a nut case. Its funny to see his face as he shakes his head as I stand in front of the fan to cool off.
So the annual Polar Express night was Sunday night? It looks like you all were having a good time from the picture! Hey Happy Birthday Dad!!!!!!! I hope you have a great day! I cant wait to call on Friday!!! I hope you all have a great week! I love you all very much! We will talk soon!!!!
Elder Mulliner
So I guess I need to apologize for opening my Christmas packages early (I am sorry). The assistants to the president brought them over and within the following couple of days I had to be preparing to pack if I got transferred. Which is probably the reason they brought the packages over when they did. So I had to open them so that I could situate everything in my suitcase. I am sorry for opening them early, but it had to be done! But again thanks to all who sent me something! It was great fun even though it was early.(and still is)
So we had our baptism on Saturday and we ended up baptizing 4 people. It was so amazing to play a part in all of it. There should have been 5 but something happened to one of our investigators and she ended up not showing up. Tonight we are going over to check it out and I hope that she still has a desire to be baptized.
So transfers came and I didn't get transferred, but Elder Hanks did. My new companion is a Filipino and his name is Elder Alcoy. So its going to be good that i have a Filipino comp to learn the language better. But I have to say that I do miss having an American haha, it's just so different. Wish me luck and pray for us both. We had a ward Christmas party on Saturday and it was fun to go and watch all the kids have a good time with there activities and games. A lady that owns a really good restaurant brought some spaghetti over and it was sooooo good! Then this other lady had some cheese flavored ice cream, home made. Its not exactly what you would call ice cream lol, but it was still good.
So i should be calling from a cell phone and the time you suggested is perfect to call and I will call around 11:30 and talk to all of you! (Oh I can't wait) It doesn't really seem like its Christmas to me because I am not with all of you. Also its like a billion degrees here and I wish I could see snow lol!!! Still as hot as it is everyone says that they are cold and they all have jackets on. All the American missionaries are still sweating and dying of heat. At night I use a fan and my companion thinks I am a nut case. Its funny to see his face as he shakes his head as I stand in front of the fan to cool off.
So the annual Polar Express night was Sunday night? It looks like you all were having a good time from the picture! Hey Happy Birthday Dad!!!!!!! I hope you have a great day! I cant wait to call on Friday!!! I hope you all have a great week! I love you all very much! We will talk soon!!!!
Elder Mulliner
12/13/09
Well all I can say for myself is WOW!!!! 133.56 ounces of peanut m&m’s, 14 boxes of mac and cheese and a grand assortment of tasty treats!!! Yes the smile on my face is gigantic! I hope that the treats last me at least two weeks or more!!!! JK - Thank you all so much for the packages and especially to all who wrote me letters, that was my favorite part!! Tyler’s and Ashley’s made me laugh pretty hard I am still laughing about some funny cartoons and humor they sent to me. Thank you all so much for taking the time to write me, it really means a lot.
OK so the One thing that I really need is the time zone difference so I can know when to call. I really have no idea what it is so please try to figure something out with that.
Well this week went by really fast its most likely my last week with Elder Hanks which is sad because we have had some great times and so many funny times together. We have a few elders coming in from Utah. I know that one is from Lindon, his name is Elder Ellis. (So close to Home!)
This week I Had to get my suit pants let out. Yep, I have gotten a little rice belly going on and I just stand in front of the mirror and look at myself in disgust, haha just kidding its not that bad its just funny.
Finally there has been a few more people put up Christmas lights and little kids go around caroling for money. Its really sad when they come up to us and ask us for money because we aren’t allowed to give them any. We say we don’t have any money which is awkward when we have just walked out of the local drug store or market that we have clearly spent money in.
I was able to watch the Christmas devotional last night in our stake center and it was great and the music was awesome! All the talks were great and I especially liked Pres. Monsons talk it was my favorite. (can you believe this is me saying these words to you?) My mission has really changed me!
The language is slowly coming along and I think it would help if I had a Filipino companion but I am doing okay.
That’s good news that there is finally some snow on the ground. The people here think that our weather is cold and everyone is wearing jackets and stuff. We walk into their house sweating to death and its really funny when they look at us sweat while they freeze. They ask us what snow is and what it feels like and what do you do with it. Oddly its hard to explain snow to someone who has never seen it before but we try to do the best we can.
That’s crazy that we have 7 missionaries out from our ward. Are there anymore planning on going out anytime soon or are we done for a little while?
Its funny that you mentioned Grandma Jeffery because I have been thinking when the last time I saw her was and it has been a while. Be sure to take pictures of her and send them my way. Also send pictures of the snow and Peyton building the first snowman of the year.
I hope that everyone is doing well and that your all having a great time do what ever it is that you do each day. I am loving it here and there is nowhere else I would rather be! Yes I do miss the little things and all of you very much! But I know that there are people that need what we have and with the Lords help, me and my companion can give them that. It has been hard, but my life has changed so much in the past year I cant even explain it. This gospel is the only way to have true happiness and joy.
w
Well that’s my report for the week. I love you all so much and miss you! I hope you have a great week! Don’t get too cold!! Haha
Love Elder Mulliner
OK so the One thing that I really need is the time zone difference so I can know when to call. I really have no idea what it is so please try to figure something out with that.
Well this week went by really fast its most likely my last week with Elder Hanks which is sad because we have had some great times and so many funny times together. We have a few elders coming in from Utah. I know that one is from Lindon, his name is Elder Ellis. (So close to Home!)
This week I Had to get my suit pants let out. Yep, I have gotten a little rice belly going on and I just stand in front of the mirror and look at myself in disgust, haha just kidding its not that bad its just funny.
Finally there has been a few more people put up Christmas lights and little kids go around caroling for money. Its really sad when they come up to us and ask us for money because we aren’t allowed to give them any. We say we don’t have any money which is awkward when we have just walked out of the local drug store or market that we have clearly spent money in.
I was able to watch the Christmas devotional last night in our stake center and it was great and the music was awesome! All the talks were great and I especially liked Pres. Monsons talk it was my favorite. (can you believe this is me saying these words to you?) My mission has really changed me!
The language is slowly coming along and I think it would help if I had a Filipino companion but I am doing okay.
That’s good news that there is finally some snow on the ground. The people here think that our weather is cold and everyone is wearing jackets and stuff. We walk into their house sweating to death and its really funny when they look at us sweat while they freeze. They ask us what snow is and what it feels like and what do you do with it. Oddly its hard to explain snow to someone who has never seen it before but we try to do the best we can.
That’s crazy that we have 7 missionaries out from our ward. Are there anymore planning on going out anytime soon or are we done for a little while?
Its funny that you mentioned Grandma Jeffery because I have been thinking when the last time I saw her was and it has been a while. Be sure to take pictures of her and send them my way. Also send pictures of the snow and Peyton building the first snowman of the year.
I hope that everyone is doing well and that your all having a great time do what ever it is that you do each day. I am loving it here and there is nowhere else I would rather be! Yes I do miss the little things and all of you very much! But I know that there are people that need what we have and with the Lords help, me and my companion can give them that. It has been hard, but my life has changed so much in the past year I cant even explain it. This gospel is the only way to have true happiness and joy.
w
Well that’s my report for the week. I love you all so much and miss you! I hope you have a great week! Don’t get too cold!! Haha
Love Elder Mulliner
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