What an incredible week! This is really the Lords work. He prepares people everyday and then sends them to us as missionaries. Yesterday, we had two less-active families and four investigators attend church. I couldnt help but sit back in awe. I had always talked about being on a mission and bringing investigators to church but now its an action not just words. The spirit was so strong in the meeting I attended. The Lord had prepared them.
The language in amazing. I had a hard time understanding for the first coulple days just because of the speed and the slang words used but now I can understand most of whats being said. The hardest thing now is the responding with speed part. I have been told that im losing my American accent and that Im starting to sound like a native. The fastest way to learn new words is to hear them, write them down, look up the meaning and then go talk with the kids. Lucky for me, right now I have a navive speakers who has helpped me a lot with the lanugage. I am having a harder and harder time with english grammar and spelling because the majority of things are done in Tagalog. Its fun to talk with investigators and try to teach them english as they teach me Tagalog. I've mad some real trust with them that way.
The investigators are awesome. The only way to have real success is to ask and then to put forth the effort and do your part. We spent lots of time studdying and praying for. We planned every night very specific things we would do the following day so that the investigators would feel the importance of church attendance. The biggest thing was teach the ten commandments and emphasize the sabath day. The spirit testified to me time and time again the importance to the sacrament and church.
The Philippines. This is a wonderful country and so are the people. I am a hit here. Everyone thinks I am here to film a movie for Hollywood. They want to touch my skin and see if I feel like they do. They look at my arms and see the hair and say I look like a pig. HAHAHAHA!! I love it here. I will send more and more about it in future emails but for now its hot and humid and the people are wonderful.
Love Elder O'Neil
