This week was pretty decent. We did some pretty good work, and we taught some people.
Well that is a pretty
solid explanation of what happened.
Anyways, so these past few
weeks I have been focused on personal improvement and teaching skills. One
interesting part of Preach my Gospel says that all of our efforts as
missionaries, including developing Christlike attributes, being worthy so that
we can have the spirit, and reading the scriptures – all result in our ability
to teach. One of the things I have really internalized as a missionary is that my
goal here is to be a teacher; I am a teacher in everything that I do. I need to
improve myself so that I can better teach people to their individual
understanding. I like teaching and I really enjoy explaining things to others.
One of the results of this
is the book that I am currently writing (to help people learn the language). I
am trying to put many different ideas and teaching styles together to help
everyone that is struggling. I have noticed in the mission that some people are
not taught how to be good teachers or how to speak the language. We need
something that will really help them understand the language.
This comes with a decent
amount of stress because it takes up all my language study and it keeps me
always wondering how to explain teaching skills and language acquisition. Many
wise people have said that you really understand something when you can explain
it properly to someone who is only five years old. Teaching the gospel and the
language are two things that are very hard to explain to other people, let
alone 5-year-olds.
Right now, we are focusing
on working closely with the. We got a lot of support from them and we have
already seen them lead us to friends and family members. Working with the ward
is often a lot more successful than going out in the street and talking to people.
The people the ward have you teach are already familiar with the church and
have a friend there to help them in the learning process. I really like working
with our ward here.
Culture: "I was born
_____. I will die ______" A lot of people are very traditional here. When
asked why they believe in their religion, they will often answer something to
the effect of ‘They are kind of all the same and this is what my parents
believed.’ Family is very important, and some things are hard to get people to
try if they are not willing to listen or act for themselves. One of the most
important parts of missionary work is the invitation to act. You can never tell
someone that they need to do something. And you can’t force them. But, if they
are unwilling to follow the invitation – you need to explain very clearly why,
and what you are inviting them to do. Then they are more willing to try and act
for themselves.
Tagalesson. I will include
a picture of the book I am writing. It should kind of explain some things about
the language that I do not have time to write.
Welp thank you for
reading, or skimming, or at least opening. If you didn’t do any of those things
then you have no idea what I am saying here. So good luck on that one.
I love you all and hope
life is good over where you are.
Love
Elder Faulkner
pictures:
The boots I use
Our baptismal board
Your Tagalesson
The Santa Maria elders.
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