Another Letter and Photos From Elder Rubow!!

One last photo of the Provo, Utah LDS Temple and our beautiful flag before leaving the country.

He's arrived!  Elder Rubow is officially in the Philippines!

Edler Rubow and Elder Clarke were the first to get through customs.  

The Manila, Philippines LDS Temple

Happy Birthday Elder Rubow.  The Filipino on the left took Elder Rubow for the day and got him a coconut for his birthday.  He looks so happy!!  First birthday away from home.  19 years old.

Always the thoughtful son.  He knows I am petrified/terrified of snakes.  He took this just for me.  

Hard at work.  Still a boy.

This is how Elder Rubow gets around.  Love the local transportation.  I told The Scout Master to never complain about me packing too much stuff for trips ever again!

Elder Rubow's first baptism! 

The Elder standing next to Trevor Rubow is his companion.  Elder Rubow has written and told me how much he loves this young man and how patient this young man is with him as he learns the language.  

Here is the fun stuff happening in the Philippines!  I cannot believe another week has already passed by!  Its been so crazy these last few days and time just flew away!  And I have been told it will only go by faster and faster.  One of the missionaries in my apartment complex is leaving in 20 days.  He is starting to panic and he tells me all the time he cant go back.  He is a pretty funny guy.

To start off, its been very interesting these last few days but so awesome!  So many miracles have been in work here!  Our numbers are increasing bit by bit and the ward (read here about what a 'ward' is) is really focused on helping us with the work.  It has been such a blessing to us!  We hope that the next few months will bring the ward in more unity.  Right now it is pretty separated sadly.  We have a new bishopric now and a ward mission leader now as well which is helping a ton! Our biggest problem with members/investigators is church attendance.  It is hard here for Filipino people to go to church because to them Sunday is another day to live and survive to the next day.

One of our biggest blessings is a woman we met recently just doing basic tracting and she has followed every single commitment we have given her!  We want to give her a Book of Mormon but sadly we have none.  In fact, we haven't had any Book of Mormons since I got here...It has really hurt our work here in Iloilo.  The whole mission is suffering and we still don't have any!  The Book of Mormon is such a strong witness of the truth and not having it has damaged the work.  I have really grown to love the Book of Mormon here.  Especially reading it in another language.  Its super difficult but so much fun!

We had a baptism on Saturday!!  I was given the opportunity to baptize him as well!  It was such a good experience!

 The rain here!  Oh my goodness!  When they say it floods, it floods!  Its so crazy sometimes!  Last Monday I was soaked!  Then we taught an old lady that kept slapping me and telling me to pray always.  Crazy people here sometimes.

Well, the work is moving forward here and I still love it!  Time is going by so fast and we still have so much to do!  Its very exciting to be part of this work!  

We are so blessed.  We are so indebted to our Savior and for the Atonement and there is nothing we can do to pay it back.  But that is how it works!  All we have to do is 'Come, and Follow Him.'  I am so grateful for His sacrifice for each one of us so that we all have the opportunity to go back to His presence. 

P.S.

My new header.  It's not centered.  That bugs me...........  Don't know how to fix it.  That bugs me even more.....................   Need to go back under the rock I crawled out from under and get out my graph paper, colored pencils, and ruler.  That, I know how to do.

I Bet........

The weather this fall has been so odd!  It is the end of August and already the leaves here in the valley are turning.  This isn't supposed to happen yet!

But then again, neither is this!  Snow.  The SM and I have a bet going on.  I think we are in for a long, cold, and wet winter!  He thinks we are in for a longer summer.  That we'll be fooled by these cooler temperatures and then it will heat up again dragging out the summer.

We all know I'm going to win.  So, we'll just oblige him and when proof comes that I am right, I won't gloat too much as I send him out to shovel snow.  Just a little, maybe, perhaps.

In the meantime, I've this to deal with.  Dark church socks on the piano light.  Perfectly natural, yes?  Every mother walks into the room, sees dirty black church socks hanging from their piano light and finds it absolutely normal.  Doesn't even bat an eye.

Dear Native, Mummy would like it if you would put your dirty socks in the dirty clothes hamper where they go hmm?

The reply:  The socks are placed more firmly on the light as dear native laughs and sits down to play his music.  It's going to be a looong winter whether the weather says it is, or not.  Punk!

Speaking of punks!  Want to know why this one has such a smug look on her face?  It's not because she's just turned 14!  It's because I was busy scrounging around trying to find my camera and told her to waaaaaaaait, dooon't blow out the candle until I get there.  I turn around and find this.

Fourteen.  Yes, you counted correct.  There is only one candle there because as usual, I am so prepared that the candles that I did buy are, somewhere.  I'd blame it on, "The Borrower's" but I'm afraid even The Native's are cluing in that, "The Borrower's" have a name.  It's called, senility.

Elder Rubow Letter August 24, 2014

Well, here is the cool stuff I have been doing as of late!  It has been crazy here still!  I absolutely love it!  The people are so nice here!  I have been struggling expressing my feelings toward others but the people here will kindly correct you and help you through.  My companion is extremely patient with me.  He is a Filipino from a different island.  

The work here is moving along!  This week we gained 12 new investigators.  Hopefully soon they will start moving toward progressing.  One of them has already accepted the invitation to be baptized!  Her name is (name edit for privacy).  I know she has been prepared by the Lord to receive the message we had.  There are so many blessing we receive every day!  The tender mercies of the Lord are just all over if we just take the time to look for them.  

I am finally teaching a lot which has been hard but bit by bit I have been getting better.  The Gift of Tongues has been such a blessing to me already in many cases.

The food here is so good!  I love it so much!  Most of it anyway.  Liver and Chicken neck isnt the best really.  But other then those two its been great!  The fruit here is to die for!  It is so good! 

The people here are so kind!  They will feed you even if they are half starving themselves.  And if you do not eat it they will be extremely offended.  So yeah I feel super bad eating at other peoples homes.  

The weather here is more unpredictable then Utah!  Crazy right? Its true though.

Well, I dont really know what more to say.  The people are so funny!  Haha, they all think they know english (Which some do).  I realized why they always laugh at me when I speak Illongo.  Its just funny. :)

To end this week I just want to say how much the Lord loves us as individuals.  The amount of blessings He gives us and twists it to fit everyones needs is the most spectacular thing.  He knows us individualy and our needs. 

On Sunday I gave a talk on 'Ask in Faith'  which is a talk by Elder David A. Bednar.  I have really come to love his talks in so many ways.  I cannot wait for General Conference in October!

So yeah, thank you for all the prayers and for writing!  I cannot wait to see what challenges and fun activities will be happening this week!  

Elder Rubow Letter August 17, 2014

There's my boy!  Elder Trevor Rubow is in front on the left in his suit holding the corner of the Welcome sign.
He looks so happy!!!!

I seriously do not even know what to talk about right now....ITS CRAZY HERE!!  Ive been here in the Philippines for a bit over a week now and every time I walk out its a new crazy experience.  So I guess I will start at the top.  I arrived in Manila airport at around 1 AM and was taken to the Manila MTC.  Our group stayed for about 5 days except for Elder (editing name for privacy) who got sick and had to stay for a couple more days.  Driving here is a joke!!  There is no real speed limit, no lanes or any laws.  I saw a sign that said 'GET YOUR DRIVERS LICENSE HERE IN ONLY 5 DAYS!'  Crazy people...  Everyone here has a mortercycle though too so those are always whipping by.  Im surprised more people do not get hit.

  After 5 painful days of being in the Manila MTC we flew once again to Iloilo!!  I said goodbye to most of my friends who left to another mission and my Birthday experience had begun.  It was a pretty crazy day.  All of the office missionaries (Assistants to the President) and President Aquino and his wife picked us up from the little airport.  That was also the last real time I have both heard/spoken true English.  We then dodged cars and made it safely to city of Iloilo.  Once there we went through basic training and received resources for our missions.  I then proceeded to go teach my first family of whom I cannot remember their names...Ill find out later.  Elder (editing name for privacy) was my companion for that day and he was awesome!!  Very few people speak english here though so it was pretty hard to communicate effectivly.  The next day we finally split and I met my senior companion, Elder (name edit).  He has been incredibly helpful!  He is a Filipino from another island.  Pretty chill dude he is.  His laugh is so funny!  We get along fairly well, I just wish I could talk to him... Haha, its awesome!  

Before coming on my mission I was told I would learn both Illongo (Hiligaynon) and Tagalog.  I was not told I would be learning three more languages other then those two!  They are all different so I do wish for your prayers in this aspect.  Iloilo has 5 languages spoken here which is the most of any other mission.  I've mostly just been sharing my testimony because it is so hard to listen and follow the languages here.  Thankfully I am in a Illongo area so I can get by.  Um...yeah, its challenging but so worth it.  The people here are so positive!  In all the languages it is such a positive dialect.  There isn't a way to say I hate or dislike.  Its just a up beat positive language.

Now for the people, I can now see how everyone has different challenges in life.  The people here are so stinking humble you cannot help but love them!  I seriously love being here even though it is so different.  You can talk to anyone here and have a good discussion (if you can understand them).  The hard part is keeping their interest.  The people here are sadly very lazy and are very short sighted.  I have yet to see a strong minded person.  Its super easy to get someone to come to church but to keep them in church is near impossible.  To put this in perspective: Lapaz city has about 400 members of the church.  Strong right?  Sadly not, about 330 are less active and no longer come to church.  It is the same everywhere here.  Its so hard for them to think about the future and to see how the gospel blesses their lives.  Yes they will try but once the missionaries stop visiting they vanish.  There are very very few leaders here in the Philippines.  And finding them is even harder.  Before leaving on the Manila MTC I was charged to 'find the Amuleks' or people willing to lead the church here.  The next hardest thing is not offending people here.  They can have such a strong testimony here but if they are offended by some stupid reason they will leave.  And they feel quite reasonable in doing so.  Our Elder's Quorem leader left recently because the bishop 'offended' him.  Its pretty sad.  So, it is our job to "Rescue" the Philippines.  To go out and find the people who have left and bring them back.  It's a challenge I am willing to take.

As many of you probably know, the Philippines are not known for being clean, thats for sure.  Its a dung heap here and it smells pretty bad.  All over the sides of the roads you can see burning trash piles.  Its really sad.

So good news!!  On my second day I was able invite Sister (edit name) to be baptized and she said yes!!  It was such a good feeling to be able to do something like that already.  Apparently it happens a lot actually, the hardest part is retention.  This Saturday was supposed to be two baptisms but sady after 3 weeks of going to church, Sister (name edit) and Brother (name edit) did not come to church.  So hopefully they will come next week and will be baptized on Aught 30.  We will be having 3 baptisms on that day.

So now I am in the area of Lapaz, Iloilo.  It is the city center of the island and is also the hardest of all the missions here.  Its awesome to be here doing the work of the Lord.  The blessings I see every day are just so amazing!  Its incredible to be a part of this work.  As in 2 Nephi 10, we are bringing in the lost tribes on the isles of the sea.  Thank you so much for the prayers in my behalf.  God truly does answer them, the Philippines truly are proof of that. I cannot wait to go home and tell you all the adventures I have been having but at the same time I do not want to leave.  Thank you and may God be with you till we meet again!

So how is everyone doing at home?  I can see it has changed a lot!!  Sorry about leaving the big mess!!  I had a work to do! :)  I knew there was a few things I was missing...

Thank you so much for the happy birthday wishes and such!  It was a fantastic day. :)Thank you for the pictures!  they were pretty great!  Levi looks just like a Levi should. :)  Henny Penny's room though!  Thats a big change.  Keep me posted on everything!

And no I have not received any letters yet but I hope they are coming soon!

I love you nanay (mom)!

July 25, letter from Elder Trevor Rubow!

Nice to see that my son is very serious and studious at all times.

Here is whats been going down.  

The language is coming!  I am actually now able to have a decent conversation with people.  The vocabulary is growing and the grammar is clicking.  Just yesterday I taught an awesome lesson using pretty well 95% Hiligaynon.  I cannot thank the Lord enough for this blessing.  I know it is through him I am able to do this. It is amazing how the Lord has prepared me to serve.  A lot of missionaries here are having difficulties because of problems they either did not resolve them or could not leave them.  I really believe this is going to be the best two years!!  Glory be to God forever!  I put my trust in Him forever!  

I've also had the opportunity to have a lot of bonding time with the other missionaries.  I hope we are friends for life!  They are super cool!

Other then that it hasnt really changed much here.  soooooo yay!  Two more weeks till I leave! (mom note:  leave the Missionary Training Center for the Philippines)

The scripture of the week is Mosiah 4.  I love that one!

Finally I end with my testimony....in Hiligaynon

Kabalo ako nga matuod ang ebanghelyo ni JesuKristo.  Naga polangga ako ang Libro Ni Mormon.  Nagapasalamat kami para sa mga pamilya.  Kabalo ako nga pwede pagtuo maghatagan kalipay kita.  Sa ngalan ni JesuKristo, amen!

So I am trying to send you pictures and its not working right now.  ill try again later!  I miss you so much!  Seriously I do!  Do take care and know that God loves you!  I cannot wait for next week!

Love Elder Rubow

Question??

I think vegetables are funny.  I get a kick out of the funny shapes they grow into that you don't see in the grocery store.  The 'misfits'.  I do NOT how so ever get a kick out of certain disgusting slithery things that I am told are taken far far away only to find evidence that they have not in fact, been taken far far away... shudder.