Week of November 30, 2015

Dear family and friends,

This week was great! On Saturday, I had the opportunity to baptize four people! I'm not going to lie, I was pretty nervous beforehand because I was afraid that I would mess something up. However, thanks to the grace of God, I was able to memorize everybody's names (some of the names are a little peculiar) and everything went great! Three of the individuals I baptized are people that Elder Vicente have been working with since I got here. The fourth one was an eight year old girl who was born in the church. There was nobody else available to baptize her, so I of course was happy to oblige. Oh, and by the way, all of the ordinances, including baptism, are done in English, so that was a relief to find out to say the least!

On the day that I baptized our three investigators, I couldn't help but remember the day of my baptism. I was baptized in April of 2008 as I recall, but it still seems like it was yesterday to me. I still remember traveling to the church with my Dad, being slightly nervous about what I was about to do, and I'm sure my Dad was a little nervous as well now that I've been in his shoes! Haha...Anyway, my Dad told me in that car ride on the way to church that I was making the correct decision, and that things would be different in my life from that time forward in a positive light. My Dad was so right. I am so grateful for the decision that I made, and the fact that I can now help others to have the same joy in their lives as well. Many things in the life of a missionary aren't the easiest, but being able to see the fruit of your labors through baptism makes it all worth it.

Now, a little more about my area. I'm actually in a barangay of Tuguegarao City, meaning that I am in a suburb of sorts. What's interesting about my area is that you can have one block with high density housing while the next block can be a vast corn field. It is very beautiful, and my favorite time of day is about 5:40 in the evening when it is cooler and the sun is going down. The sunsets here are just as beautiful if not more beautiful than the one's in Hawaii! 

On Thanksgiving, we didn't do anything different, so I of course was thinking of the food I wish I could have been eating. Haha...Just as I was thinking about the things I was missing from home, the power went out. And, not only did the power go out, we had no running water. Thankfully, that only lasted for about 5 minutes or so, but I learned a lesson in this. Never before had I even thought about how much I appreciate running water. I think the Lord was teaching me a lesson. Don't dwell on what you don't have, but focus on all the great blessings that are right in front of you. I think we could all apply this principle a little better in our lives.

Have a great week everybody!

Love,

Elder Pulley

Week of November 23, 2015 (Thanksgiving Week)

Dear family and friends,

I have had another awesome week here! This last week, Elder Vicente and I finished preparing three of our investigators for their baptismal interviews, and all three of them passed! It has been great to see the positive changes they have undergone as they have prepared to become members of the church. Two of them are from the same family, a father and a daughter by the last name of Tamayao. I think I have mentioned them previously, but after Saturday, there will only be one member of the family of seven who are not members of the church! The other is a seventeen year old of a recently reactivated family. All three of them have asked that I baptize them, and it is a great honor to say the least. I am a little nervous, as I have never baptized anyone before, but I am so excited to do so as well!

So, something interesting about the Philippines is that they have what they call "brown outs." In the U.S., a "brown out" is only like a minute or two, right? Well here, brown outs last hours at a time. Last Tuesday, the power went out for over twelve hours. Everybody just goes about their business like everything is normal, in spite of the fact that there is no power, which I think is a stark contrast to how people would act in Roseville if the power was out that long! Everyone just pulls out oil lanterns and candles and uses them instead of lights. It's like a scene out of "Pirates of the Caribbean!" Thankfully, right before we arrived at our first lesson after it got dark, the power came back on, and we were able to continue working.

I think I have failed to mention how handy it is for us in regards to proximity to the church. We only have an alley separating our church from our house, and it has been very nice to only have to walk a minute to church! Also, the church's appearance has come in very useful for us. The church building is the nicest property in the area, and everybody knows where it is because it is the largest, tallest, and most beautiful building around. In result of this fact, most people know a little about our church simply because of the attention the meetinghouse gathers. The only thing I think would make the building nicer is if there was an air conditioner in the chapel. It gets a little warm to say the least!

Now, for my philosophical experience of the week! haha.. On Wednesday, Elder Vicente and I were outside on the porch of someone's home, where we were about to teach a group of children about the Plan of Salvation, when we were interrupted by a man walking by. We had just contacted this man the day before, and he approached us, and declared quite loudly that he was sorry, but he could not have lessons from us like he said he wanted the day before. He then started talking about why he didn't want lessons from us, and was going on and on. Elder Vicente was distracted by another passerby on the other side of the porch, so I was left alone to understand what this man was telling me. Thankfully, the Lord blessed me with the capability to understand what he told me. Among many things, he asked me something I don't think I will forget. He said, "Look, you can teach all day, but (pointing to the children on the porch), will your teaching provide these kids food to eat?" I just sat there, not sure exactly what to say, but thankfully, Elder Vicente came and got me and said it was time we left and went to our next appointment.

I told Elder Vicente what he asked me, and how much I wished I could help the people in a temporal manner as well as in a spiritual manner. Elder Vicente then relayed some things about his life before the mission. For the first 21 years of his life, Elder Vicente lived in a home that wasn't even equipped with electricity, and was extremely poor. He told me that he spent much of his childhood wondering why he was born into such a poor family, but one day realized that it didn't matter at all. That whether people lived in wealth or in extreme poverty, it doesn't matter. Elder Vicente then told me he never wants to become wealthy like people in other countries, because then he would have to worry about staying humble. I still didn't feel much better, but on the way to our next appointment, we bought some ice cream for the family we were visiting. When we arrived at the family's home, and they saw we had ice cream, the children were ecstatic. The kids were five years old and younger, but they thanked us multiple times. I would have never shown such gratitude for ice cream at their age, and then what Elder Vicente told me earlier made a little more since. What the people here lack in temporal items is compensated for in their humble, and genuinely grateful demeanor at all times. I will never look at ice cream quite the same way again.

Thank you all for your emails and prayers on my behalf! Have a happy Thanksgiving!

Love,

Elder Pulley

Week of November 16, 2015

Dear friends and family,

I am happy to say that I have had another great week! This last week, I had the opportunity to go down to the mission home for the "first five weeks." It was nice to see some familiar faces, and that everybody was alive and doing well! President and Sister Rahlf had great messages to share with us, and I left feeling rejuvenated and ready for more missionary work.

On Thursday, I had the opportunity to go on splits with my Zone leader and another American who is one cycle ahead of me. I was a little nervous at first to go on splits with my Zone Leader, as he seems to be a very serious and curt individual. However, I actually enjoyed the day very much and learned quite a bit. I enjoy seeing how other missionaries teach, and to incorporate the things that I like into my own teaching. It was also nice to hear some feedback from him for my own teaching.

Our investigators are doing well, and we have been working with a part member family for the time that I have been here. The mother, Sister Tamayao, and three of her daughters were baptized about 2 months ago. However, we have been working on reteaching them the lessons, and getting her husband and other daughter ready for baptism. As of now, they are scheduled to be baptized the 28th of this month! It is great to see the change that has occurred in this family and the Spirit that dwells in their home because of their righteous desires and choices.

The Lord has been working on my patience this last week, and that is great. I knew that when I came on my mission, I needed two things to occur within myself. One, I knew I needed to be humbled and two, I knew I needed to acquire more patience. The Lord gives us some challenging instances in our life so that we might grow into the individuals that we are to become. I have learned that when I experience feelings of "the natural man" that it is best to just tell the Lord how I am feeling, and ask the Lord for His Spirit, which can allow us to "putteth off the natural man." For example, the computer just shut down as I was in the middle of writing this sentence, haha! I know that if we respond to our challenges in the manner that is pleasing unto Him, we can all become the people we want to be.

The language is coming along, and it is great that I can actually carry on some simple conversations with people at this point! I am thankful for Elder Vicente, who has been essential for me in my learning of the language. I have been blessed with a very intelligent and patient companion.

I hope all is going well at home! Things are getting better for me every day! I know I could be doing no better thing in my life right now.

Love,

Elder Pulley

Week of November 9, 2015

Dear friends and family,

I had another great (and hot I might add) week in the Philippines! At the request of my mother, I will talk more about the details of where I am living and such this week. I live in a two story house, which I estimate is about 1000 Square feet. It's definitely not fancy, but it does the job. However, I do miss having an oven and microwave! I share the house with another set of missionaries, so there are just four of us in the house. Because of the fact that the only appliances we have are a rice cooker and a cook-top, my diet is a little bit different than it was before. Many meals consist of some vegetables, some sliced ham, sauteed onions, and of course, rice! However, because I don't much care for cooking, I have been eating a lot of peanut butter and jelly sandwiches. Although it's not exactly a fancy dish, I have been making triple-decker sandwiches, and with the really good bread that the Philippines has (it's more moist and sweet), it makes a great dinner for me nonetheless. In the mornings, I eat oatmeal with some fruit, which is a nice way to break up the rice, and fills me up.

Speaking of food, I ate some interesting things this last week. Remember how I said I wasn't going to try dugo (blood) again? Yeah, well that did not come to pass. Last Monday, we ate at a members home, and intestine, cooked pork blood, and cooked worms were served. Now, I don't know if the Lord just blessed my taste buds, but it actually all tasted good to me. The dugo over rice wasn't bad, the intestine just tasted like regular pork, and the worms, to quote the warthog from the Lion King, "tasted like chicken." Now, I'm not saying I will miss this type of food when I get home, but I will eat it if it is put in front of me again.

There is one humbling experience, out of many, that I would like to share with you all that occurred this last week. On Monday, on the way home from that interesting meal I mentioned earlier, I was riding on a tricey. I felt somewhat cold, which is not something I feel very often, so I checked my watch to see what temperature it was. It turns out that it was 29.9 degrees Celsius. Due to the fact that I'm not that familiar with Celsius, I took out our phone to convert the temperature. It turns out it was 85 degrees, and I was cold! However, to make a long story short, I didn't put the phone back in my pocket as well as I should have, because it soon slipped out of my pocket and was run over by the rear wheel of the tricey. I was a little perturbed to say the least, but my companion was very calm, and didn't seem the least bit concerned. The other missionaries could have laughed at my stupidity, but instead, they comforted me and didn't make a big deal of it at all. My companion told me that "that everything happens for a reason", and the next day we bought a new phone (which consisted of a lot of bartering I may add). 

My companion and I have a good teaching pool, and we have 6 investigators with a baptismal date! We also have been making a lot of good contacts while we are walking around as well. That is where my Caucasian ethnicity has come in handy. On a regularly basis, we have a group of teenagers approach us, and ask if they can take a picture with me. I of course say yes, but tell them before I do so, if we can share a quick message with them and share our purpose as missionaries. They always seem happy to oblige in return for a picture! The other day, we had a group of 20 kids approach us! Don't worry, my head is not growing bigger, my abilities regarding Tagalog keep me quite humble! Haha...I'm moving in the right direction though. I figure if I just keep learning new words every day, I eventually will be fluent.

I hope all is continuing to go well at home! Thank you for all of your emails!

Love,

Elder Pulley

Week of November 2, 2015

Dear friends and family,

I have had a wonderful week here in the mission field. This week, all the missionaries in my mission had the privilege to travel to the mission home to hear from Elder Schwitzer, a member of the Seventy, and his wife, Sister Schwitzer. Elder Schwitzer centered his remarks on repentance, and helping our investigators understand the importance of it. Elder Schwitzer told us that the plan of salvation "is simply a road map" while repentance is the vehicle in which we can return to live with God again. After his remarks, I have begun to think of repentance of being something different than before. Prior to serving my mission, I thought of repentance as being a necessary process, but not being something of great joy. After all, it is hard to accept our weaknesses and then change as a result. However, as Elder Schwitzer pointed out, repentance is a wonderful gift from our Savior that can free us from our transgressions, and help us become progressively better in our lives. I have learned that repentance isn't a topic to treat like ripping off a band-aid, but something to be appreciated at its true value for the rest of our lives and beyond.

Sister Schwitzer centered her remarks on some anecdotes in her life that she felt prepared her to serve as a Mission President's wife a few years ago. She shared some challenges she had in her younger life, which when she became a Mission President's wife, realized were preparatory experiences for her to serve effectively as a missionary of the Lord. Sister Schwitzer told us that we all had experiences in our lives that led us to be called to the specific missions we are in, and she challenged us to look for those experiences and reasons as to why we were called to the Cauayan mission. I have been looking for those experiences in my own life, and have found some interesting things. In the particular ward I am in, a very small fraction of people attend church. My companion and I have been working hard to reactivate these individuals. As I have done so, I have been able to share the reactivation of my own family, and the blessings that came along with it, many times. I am happy to report that the efforts of my companion and I have not been in vain, as we have had some individuals return to church, including a previous Branch President. I will continue to look for preparatory experiences in my life and will share them with you all as I find them.

My Mission President and his wife gave some wonderful talks as well at the mission home. In addition, they put on some minion goggles for Halloween and allowed us to "trick-or-treat" out of a basket of candy they purchased. They really are wonderful people, and I will be sad to see them go next year.

Today, as a P-Day activity, we had the opportunity to travel Callao Caves, located a little southeast of where I live. The caves were amazing, and we also had the opportunity to take a little boat ride on an adjacent river. It was awesome to see some untouched rain forest; it looked like something you would see in an Indiana Jones movie!

I hope all is going well at home! Know that I am doing well, and that things are progressively getting better for me! Thank you for all of your prayers on my behalf.

Love,

Elder Pulley