The biggest Barangay

So I got here in Bagong Silang and met my new companion, Elder Kauffman. He is a great guy. He runs track and was on schedule for a very large track scholarship back home. He has given up a lot to serve a mission and I am here to make sure that his time is used effectively. Right now, we are learning a lot about Tagalog and stretching him to speak more and more. One thing that stops people from truly learning the language is a fear of speaking. When people do not allow themselves to speak as much as they need, it stops them from learning the language. People often limit their potential when they don’t push themselves as much as they could. I have been called on many times to help other missionaries push themselves. When they lack the confidence to speak, I push them a lot.

Speaking is just a way to be able to express yourself; language is just a means to the end of expression. When people understand this idea, they are empowered to speak a different language. That is one thing that helped Elder Bromley. We have been doing a lot of language study.

I finally got a copy of my book in a binder, there are still a few more things to fix and then we can start making it into a more solid product. I have even used it a little bit to help Elder Kauffman. He has been making good progress and we will see where he is in 5 weeks. I have high hopes for him. 

This area is very small compared to every other area in my mission, we can walk across the whole area in around 30 minutes. We hardly ever take any form of transportation. It is a whole lot different from the other places I have been, but I also really enjoy it. We are working hard to create a solid teaching pool.  We are also visiting and getting to know all of the members in the branch. We have high hopes for the branch and the area; we might even see it become a ward soon.

General conference was an amazing time to seek personal direction from God and I feel like I received a lot. I will just reiterate what the prophet said about preparing ourselves to receive personal revelation, he said that it is impossible to live without it in the coming days and to get it we need to train our minds to work with the spirit in some very specific ways. Go back and read what he said and then follow his advice you will be blessed as you do these things.

I love you all and I appreciate your time in reading this.

Love,

Elder Faulkner