Alriiiiiight.
So...change. This has been the theme of the Quezon City Mission thus far.
The Quezon City Mission was just split in half this past July, creating the Quezon City North Mission. There were 10 million people, but now we only have 5 million. Only... We also received a zone and a couple missionaries from the Manila Mission. Most of the areas in each zone have been split in half. The number of missionaries in the mission has nearly doubled. This means that we have a very "green" mission. Many young missionaries. President is stretched thin and has been pulling strings to assign trainers for the newbies. Many of the trainers are very young themselves, some having only been here for 4 1/2 months.
This past Thursday was transfer day. President D basically took his deck of missionary name-tags, threw them into a Philippines typhoon and played 120 missionary pick-up. Clearly he's never been to Vegas before. He "white-washed" or "shot-gunned" or "pulled-out" several areas. (There is far too much mission lingo. Jonny Lingo would even be surprised... "80 code words?!" More difficult than paying 8 cows.) This means that the two missionaries assigned to an area are both brand new, neither of them knowing the area or the investigators. Elder B and I stayed in our area, but we received a new tri-panionship as our housemates. 2 new and 1 veteran elder. All American. So now we have 5 white guys in one house. This rarely happens. I have a feeling that this is not going to benefit the progression of my Tagalog speaking. So our entire zone is fresh. Elder B and I were the only companionship in our whole zone to stay together. AND the zone was split in half. "A whole new zoooone" -Aladdin
I was able to attend the transfer meeting because my companion is a zone leader. I was able to see my batch-mates from the MTC. Elder Br and I were able to talk for over 2 hours. He is the man. Every time I get to see him we have great discussions and swap our stories. It will be great to kick it with him after our missions in Utah. After transfer meeting I got to eat at McDonald's with my MTC companion Elder M. It was a momentous occasion.
The next day, Friday, was the new tri-panionship's first day in their new area. Elder B and I accompanied them to show them the ropes. We were an army invading enemy territory. There's no way to fully describe how badly we stood out. 5 towering white men wearing blinding white shirts stomping through ghettos and occupying way too much room. It's like playing Barbies in a Lego house. Just when I thought I couldn't receive any more gawking stares, we become 5 elephants in 1 room.
This week Francis P. is getting baptized this Friday! He has been so strong in overcoming some old habits and making sacrifices to start his progression to Eternal Life. He is a very quick, shy 30-year-old with a wife and a 1-year old girl. We love this family. His wife was a less active member and hadn't gone to church in over 3 years. Now they are fully active and are about to become a completed family. It is our goal as a mission to have 500 completed families this year of 2011. If each companionship has 2 more completed families by the end of the year we will reach this goal. It is great to see how quickly the church has grown in the Philippines. This year is the 50th year of the church in the Philippines. I am happy to be here.
Unfortunately this is a fairly short message this week. We had a service project early today so we don't have as much time in our schedule to write. We moved a family from one home to another using a jeepney as a moving truck. It was an adventure.
I sincerely hope all is well with all of you, my good friends.
Much love,
Elder Stallings
So...change. This has been the theme of the Quezon City Mission thus far.
The Quezon City Mission was just split in half this past July, creating the Quezon City North Mission. There were 10 million people, but now we only have 5 million. Only... We also received a zone and a couple missionaries from the Manila Mission. Most of the areas in each zone have been split in half. The number of missionaries in the mission has nearly doubled. This means that we have a very "green" mission. Many young missionaries. President is stretched thin and has been pulling strings to assign trainers for the newbies. Many of the trainers are very young themselves, some having only been here for 4 1/2 months.
This past Thursday was transfer day. President D basically took his deck of missionary name-tags, threw them into a Philippines typhoon and played 120 missionary pick-up. Clearly he's never been to Vegas before. He "white-washed" or "shot-gunned" or "pulled-out" several areas. (There is far too much mission lingo. Jonny Lingo would even be surprised... "80 code words?!" More difficult than paying 8 cows.) This means that the two missionaries assigned to an area are both brand new, neither of them knowing the area or the investigators. Elder B and I stayed in our area, but we received a new tri-panionship as our housemates. 2 new and 1 veteran elder. All American. So now we have 5 white guys in one house. This rarely happens. I have a feeling that this is not going to benefit the progression of my Tagalog speaking. So our entire zone is fresh. Elder B and I were the only companionship in our whole zone to stay together. AND the zone was split in half. "A whole new zoooone" -Aladdin
I was able to attend the transfer meeting because my companion is a zone leader. I was able to see my batch-mates from the MTC. Elder Br and I were able to talk for over 2 hours. He is the man. Every time I get to see him we have great discussions and swap our stories. It will be great to kick it with him after our missions in Utah. After transfer meeting I got to eat at McDonald's with my MTC companion Elder M. It was a momentous occasion.
The next day, Friday, was the new tri-panionship's first day in their new area. Elder B and I accompanied them to show them the ropes. We were an army invading enemy territory. There's no way to fully describe how badly we stood out. 5 towering white men wearing blinding white shirts stomping through ghettos and occupying way too much room. It's like playing Barbies in a Lego house. Just when I thought I couldn't receive any more gawking stares, we become 5 elephants in 1 room.
This week Francis P. is getting baptized this Friday! He has been so strong in overcoming some old habits and making sacrifices to start his progression to Eternal Life. He is a very quick, shy 30-year-old with a wife and a 1-year old girl. We love this family. His wife was a less active member and hadn't gone to church in over 3 years. Now they are fully active and are about to become a completed family. It is our goal as a mission to have 500 completed families this year of 2011. If each companionship has 2 more completed families by the end of the year we will reach this goal. It is great to see how quickly the church has grown in the Philippines. This year is the 50th year of the church in the Philippines. I am happy to be here.
Unfortunately this is a fairly short message this week. We had a service project early today so we don't have as much time in our schedule to write. We moved a family from one home to another using a jeepney as a moving truck. It was an adventure.
I sincerely hope all is well with all of you, my good friends.
Much love,
Elder Stallings
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