April 21, 2013

Hello Everybody,
Alright so I am a little jealous right now that Kelly ran a ragnar without me and that dad got to go to a free car show right on the water. I think the nicest car that I have seen here is probably and 85 honda civic, and the exhaust was dragging on the ground. It sounds like you guys are having a lot of fun and have a lot more coming up. I know you guys need to get away every once in a while and I am glad mom and dad get to spend some time together in Philly. Good news, my package came and the card was in it! I was so surprised because the package was ripped open when I got it. Thank you guys so much for being there and for sending that to me so fast. I am in Bacolod right now so hopefully the card works and I can replace some of the things that got jacked. This last week has been pretty crazy and has gone by really fast. There is a huge storm here right now and the wind, rain, and lightning get pretty crazy some times. My companion and I had a baptismal interview in a place called Colonia Divinia, which is the furthest place in our area, Its pretty much just a huge mountain. I will try to upload some of the pictures off Elder Solis's camera and I will have exchanges in Colonia again this week so I will take some more. That should be really fun because most of the people in the bukid(jungle) are really nice. Oh ya, earlier this week on wednesday 13 guys broke out of the jail in my area. They killed the night guards and took a bunch of guns. They still haven't found them all so the last couple days my companion has been freakin out walking home at nights. That is probably my biggest struggle right now is trying to communicate with my companion. He is a really good missionary and his Illongo is really good but he doesn't understand or speak any English and when he tries, I don't understand it... But, all in all, its a blessing because I am speaking my mission language a lot more. I am also trying to focus on picking up Cebuano too, I think I am just getting confused. But, there is no doubt that I am progressing and it is true what you said about challenges mom. That is the fastest way to learn and if we rely on the Lord. There are host of angels there to hold you up. Sometimes I go to sleep and don't think I am gonna be able to get up in the morning but some how I wake up with the energy and the drive to take on any challenge that is put in front of me. I know that that is not me, this is the Lords work and if we try, there is nothing we can not do. We had a baptism on saturday of a part member whos parents have been less active and not come to church for years. After the baptism of her son, and some encouragement on my part I got her to bear her testimony in front of everyone. She started balling immediately and her testimony really didn't even make sense, but the spirit filled the room and I know that everyone felt it. It was a really good experience for me to see firsthand that the spirit is the teacher here and not us. If we have the courage and faith to open our mouths, they will be filled, not always with the perfect words, but the spirit will manifest to the people exactly what they need to hear. Well thats about all my inspiration for this week but I love you guys and I really and so grateful for your support and the ability that I have been given to serve a mission and especially for the next package that comes. I miss you and hope that you all keep on keepin on until next week.
Much LOve,
Elder Pulsipher 

April 14, 2013

Hello everyone,

This week was rough and I am sorry but, I don't have a lot of time to write you today because our support hasn't arrived yet so my companion and I have money to email and no food and we are living off of 50 pesos for the moment. Yeah, that's 1 dollar. I was so greatful to be able to watch at least one session of conference because here, the missionaries are not allowed to attend saturday or priesthood session, and there was no jeepney sunday morning so I missed the morning session. I was still really greatful to be able to hear the prophet speak and I especially loved Elder Hollands talk. I was surprised how much time they spent talking about families and marriages. I am so greatful how much love we have for each other in our family and how close we all are. Anyways, this week went super fast. I don't know why but I felt like I struggled a lot in the language this week but I am starting to communicate with my companion a lot easier. Which is good because I finally got him to open up a little bit. On monday we had a FHE at a members house which was super fun and I ended up having to do the gundum style dance in front of everyone. It was pretty fun, I reminded me ofd the days I used to tear it up at the wedding receptions. Marcie knows what Im talking about... On tuesday we had a service project. I built a fence for a member in our ward but it wasn't exactly Shields fencing style. We cut down a bunch of bamboo and then it up into little pieces then built the fence. I tore the crap out of my hands because our tools were machetes and tree branches. They don't have shovels, saws, or hammers in the jungle. That made it pretty fun. But Mathew, you should tell your dad that i'm gonna teach him a few things when I get back... This week we also baptized the Catalan family and a kid named Aldren, Ill try to post the pictures on dropbox. I was amazing to me, to see the change that the gospel made in there lives and how grateful they were to have the blessing of the gospel and the support of the members. I think that we, a lot of the time, become accustomed the blessings that we have as members of the church. I felt really bad because after that baptism we had a party at the Catalan families house and Sister Catalan spent all of the money they had( literally, all of it) on food for us and the members because they were so grateful for what we had done for them. That meant a lot to me. Well, for some reason people keep asking me how they can receive more revelation and understand the scriptures better. To be honest it is still really hard for me, but hear are some things that I do that help me. Don't read for distance, if you don't understand, stop, reread and footnotes and cross references help a lot. What else really helps me is after every personal study, my companion and I talk about what we read and try to teach each other short lessons about it and how it applies to our lives. But most of all, I feel like I receive the most revelation when I try to apply it to other peoples lives. I know that that sounds kind of weird, but when I am with members trying to help them understand how certain scriptures apply to them, that is when I receive revelation for my own life. I know that's kind of backwards from the whole, "first seek to obtain my word, then seek to share my word". But hey, I'm trying. I feel like I am at such a lack of knowledge hear in the mission field and that is probably my biggest struggle is trying to understand the doctrine and have the spirit with me when I teach. But, it amazes me how when the spirit is there, everything seems to come out perfectly and I can see the spirit touching our investigators. I loved all of your letters and I am really sorry that I don't have time to write you all back personal letters. I am so grateful for this gospel and that my family has such great faith and is so rooted in it. Thank you so much for your prayers and I love you all and miss you all so much.

Love Elder Pulsipher

April 7, 2013

Hello Family,

This was a really good week for me, but I am jealous that you already got to watch conference. I still have to wait till next week. But good news, yesterday I finally got to baptize the mute that we have been teaching. It was actually a really awesome experience. Just for the record, my companion is not that poor. He has a pillow and sheets but he just doesn't want to use them, I don't know why. I am super jealous that you guys are still going to the beach and riding bikes and I am bummed that my whole family, except maybe Jeff is getting super ripped, I feel like I will come back and be the only fat one. Its all good though because my spiritual body is about to be shredded. But I did love the pictures and you guys should send me more. I loved all of your letters and I hope that you keep them coming even though I don't always have time to write all of you back. I had a pretty sweet experience fasting yesterday, I have a completely new appreciation for the pioneers. I opened my fast on saturday afternoon and then after church on sunday we didn't eat lunch because we had to walk straight to binaguhan(about 12 miles) with no water or food. I thought I was gonna die but it's all about the blessings. My scriptures came so I was stoked this last week and thanks for the journal too. I have actually been writing in my journal everyday even though sometimes its kind of lame what I write because I am dead tired every night. I can't really figure out why I get so tired because all we do is walk and sit. I have been trying to snag pictures on other missionaries cameras so I will load some in dropbox right now. In other news, right now we are trying to find a new apartment right now because our landlord decided to start charging us up the rear for our electricity. Last week when we got our bill I had to give him a piece of my mind and tell him that we were going to move out if he didn't get us our own meter. He is charging us triple what it should be and we are only there in morning and at night. I am so excited for May because its finally gonna be Amy's birthday! But also because I get to call home! I don't know how or when yet but here in Bacolod mission we only get to call home on mothers day and christmas. Well this month will be my one quarter mark and I can't believe that its going by this fast. It makes me kind of nervous because I know that I am not nearly as far in the language or as good of a teacher that I would like to be. But now that I have my own scriptures again hopefully I can learn pretty quick. But it definatly gives me a lot of confidence have the help of the Lord and the holy ghost with me every day. I really cant explain the strength power and comfort that I feel everyday, no matter what happens or trial that I go through here. I always have the undoubting knowledge that there are angels round about me bearing me up. I testify to what you said about worthiness and obedience, there is so much power in doing the simple things that the Lords asks us to do. But also that faith is a principle of power. If we show our faith by keep our covenants and the commandments that God gave to us then he is bound. He has no choice but to bless our lives. Mom, I love your spirit and testimony and I almost start crying every time that I read your letters. I am a little worried about the debit card in the package but I guess we will just have to wait and see. Thank you guys so much for the stuff that you are sending me, the rice is starting to get a little old but most of the other stuff is pretty good. We usually eat breakfast and lunch in the apartment and we can pretty much cook what ever we want but any kind of american food here is really expensive so I usually just have rice and sardines or tuna. Ya its pretty gross but I get by. Thats why I love your packages so much. Anyways I love you all so much and I am so grateful for the examples that you all have set for me and how much you push me to be the best missionary and the best person that I can be. Alright, I got to go, keep livin it up in the US and Ill keep trying to figure out whats going on here. I love you

Elder Pulsipher