Elder Pettit's Thanksgiving Duck!

"As for us, we had a wonderful thanksgiving dinner!  The other Elders picked up a duck Sunday night from a member, and she stayed the night in the bathroom. The following morning, we took her outside for some fresh air, and she enjoyed her time playing with the 3 little kids that live upstairs as we prepared the cement-block oven and purchased other necessary ingredients. It was sad to say goodbye, but at length we sent the children upstairs and prepared our friend for dinner. It was a little messy, and a little heart-wrenching after the time we had spent together, but we were pretty hungry. After the eulogy we began plucking it, but soon got tired of that, so just skinned it, took out its innards, and prepared it for the oven! We made it like a tinfoil dinner, and in a matter of an hour or so we had a tasty addition to our meal. It tasted good. Duck tends to be a little tough, but it had a good savor. In short, we had a very full-of-thanks thanksgiving."

New Assignment!

Elder Pettit informed us in his last email that he has been assigned as the new Assistant to the President beginning in December.  He was transferring immediately to begin training for his new assignment.  He will miss his current area and the people there, but he is excited to be working with the missionaries in the Iloilo mission! 

Surprise for Elder Pettit!

Surprise! I’m staying in Mandurriao for another transfer! I was actually quite startled when I heard. This will be my first companion I’ve been with for 3 transfers. But luckily we get along well so it shouldn't be a struggle.

Last night was kind of emotional for me. After stake conference, we headed home and ate then had our studies. As we headed to our first appointment, about 5 o'clock in the afternoon, we got a text from a different area saying that they had a member in the hospital in Mandurriao that was in critical condition that we should try to stop by. So after an adventure in the hospital of trying to find him, we located him in the ER. From the moment we saw him we pretty much knew that there wasn't much hope. He was about 54, and he laid on his bed w/ his son at his side, manually pumping air into his mouth to keep him breathing. It just so happened that I had met his son, Julious, and his sister a couple times while I was on Guimaras. I asked him what there was left to do and he said, "nothing," that the manual pump was the only thing keeping him alive, and that they were just waiting for their youngest sister to show up before stopping. But he said something that lifted my spirits: "but it's ok, right Elder? Because we're sealed." he was incredibly calm as he sat there, which I initially thought may be due to a little bit of shock, but I felt like it was more due to the peace and assurance he felt knowing where his father was going and that they'd be able to be together again in the future. The rest of the family was outside, and we talked with them for a little while and tried to help comfort them as best as we could. Then we assisted Julious in giving his father a blessing, the first one he's ever given, before the other elders showed up and we headed to an appointment. This morning I read in Mosiah about "the sting of death" being "swallowed up in Christ" and was again very grateful for the knowledge and peace the understanding of the Plan of Salvation brings.

An Excerpt From Sam's Email 9/25/11

This is the first area I have been in that I’ve got fed…we enjoy it. The members are very nice. Plus it leaves us with more money to buy tasty snacks. Depending on who it is, they will normally cook lots of rice (too much most of the time) and then a couple of "sudan"s (which, being translated, means pretty much "something ate on rice") such as chicken adobo, fried chicken, fish, pork adobo, pork estufado, vegetable soupish dishes, etc. our tagia, or owner of our apartment, took us out to eat this week at a seafood/chicken restaurant that is apparently very well known. There we had lechon chicken, lechon pork, chicken liver (I’m not a big fan,) and squid (imagine eating chunks of tire...) and then we had a fresh cut open coconut for a drink. I have a picture of us eating a week or so ago after Maricel's baptism, where we ate chicken butt... ha-ha. So, overall, we eat pretty normal stuff, that I love! I have really come to enjoy soy sauce. And we'll always have the occasional weird thing that I don’t really love, but isn’t too bad, like liver and squid, and chicken butt. Ha-ha.

This week was a little bit slower with the work because we had some leadership trainings, but the trainings were very inspirational and motivating. I love learning from other Elders and our mission president. But the biggest success of the week was the baptism of Rolando and Minerva. They had a great experience, and their testimonies were so powerful afterwards. Minerva pretty much told the story of the restoration, taught the gospel of Jesus Christ, and bore her testimony of the truthfulness of the church. We were very impressed! Rolando was full of gratitude for the missionaries in the church and the work we do, because, in his words, "because of them, I found the true path that leads to the Kingdom of God." everyone that attended had a very spiritual experience.

Yesterday we held our wards "first ward missionary training" which was a great success. Even President Pagaduan was able to attend. We invited all of our ward missionaries, our ward mission leader, and the auxiliary leaders to attend. We shared parts talking about what a ward missionary is, how we are all missionaries, the purpose of missionaries and members, and our responsibilities. Bishop shared about the importance of ward missionaries, and president talked about how we all need to be united, as leaders, members, and missionaries if we want the work to progress well. The ward missionaries had a great time, and were very inspired by President Pagaduan. Afterwards, we took them on splits in our areas, and they had great experiences tracting and teaching with us. We are excited to hold another meeting the following Sunday, and to see the ward mission get up and running a little more than it has been in the past.

 

Update on Mysterious Photo and Latest News

Apparently the Filipino people love to play games and have challenges. They also like to have "penalties" for the losers. The brown stuff on their faces is their "penalty" for losing--mud on their face.
Sam is working hard and finding much success in Iloilo. He met a woman the other day who said she went to the LDS church as a young girl, and was happy to have them come and discuss the gospel with her. She had had a dream that 2 men in white shirts came to visit her--this was just before Sam and his companion came into her neighborhood. Experiences such as these are strengthening Sam's testimony as well as our own. He has met and baptized some wonderful people, helping them overcome challenges and repent and come unto Christ. He is loving every minute of it.
He said a nightly ritual is taking off their soaking wet shoes and socks and putting them in front of the fan to dry out over night!

Mysterious Photo

We are not sure what the brown stuff is all over the faces--can't wait to hear the story!

Sam's Stitches, August, 2011

Apparently, someone went up for a lay up during basketball and the result was Sam getting stitches above his eye. We will be happy if this is his most serious accident while in the Philippines! He said the stitches are already out and he is back to playing basketball!