Dinner with the Romero's

Dinner with Members

The members in Paglaum take very good care of their missionaries. One member of their ward often sends me pictures on facebook so that I can see things I might now otherwise see. These are pictures of an activity they had and I enjoyed seeing the various reactions that C.J. had to the food placed before him.

Oct/Nov 2010

So, the outcome of the lizard they found. Apparently, one of the Elders suggested "let's do what the Filipino's do, light it on fire!" So....not sure what happened. Grateful to be spared the details.
They had a zone activity at Mambukal resort and saw bats, went throug a butterfly garden, saw some waterfalls and really enjoyed the day. Most of their investigators have been baptized and they're out searching for new ones.
C.J. became a trainer and has started training his first trainee, Elder Groves. He's realizing how exhausting it can be because of all of the work involved. He's teaching him to wash his clothes by hand and just trying to make sure that he develops good habits from the start. Elder Groves is from No. California and I think C.J. is taking this responsibility very seriously so I think he's in good hands.
Right now C.J. is struggling with some perceptions in the area of how the missionaries should teach. The past Elders used a lot of flattery to get people to come to church. They also developed strong relationships with the investigators. The problem was, once those elders left, the investigators lost interest. The instruction the missionaries are given right now is to teach so that the investigators feel the spirit and that will carry them through when the elders are gone. They aren't supposed to focus on building relationships, that's for the members to do. But, he's meeting some resistance in that which is making it very difficult at times.

October/November 2010

Now serving in Paglaum Village, the smallest area in the mission, encompassing about 20 blocks:
The apartment has air conditioning..and there are 4 elders in the apartment, oh, and one additional guest (see pic). He also had his first experience at using a machete. It was a service project cutting down tall grass and he said the experience was "sweet."