Well,
wow, how can I summarize this past month of January. It consisted
primarily of...work! Good ole fashioned, roll up your sleeves, hop in
the van with a duffle bag, and heading out to "GET SOME!" It was more so
than anything...very educational! I loved going on splits while I was a district leader and a zone leader because I learned a ton about teaching and I met my team,
got to know them, laughed with them, gave em a boost like my ZLs had
done for me in the past. And now as an AP, it has only been intensified
since then. I learn so much from every single companionship I work with.
Different methods, different approaches, which ones work in which
situations etc. I could write a never ending book on it all. I can't
believe how amazing people in general really are once you get to know
them. How often a first impression, or preconceived judgement is utterly
wrong, and how everyone has something to offer you. From the greenie to
the veteran. We had a lot of success, and had an amazing time. I've
gotten to work in every zone now in the mission. And might I just say,
the missionaries here are incredible. Now, it is not all seen through rose
colored glasses. There are issues that need to be resolved, but
everyone has weaknesses that we all struggle with. It's just about
providing all the service you can in order to assist, but in the end it
is their agency. We are grown men and women here, I don't need to tell
them what to do, and honestly it is not my place. Its about showing the
love, setting the example, and providing assistance.
[One thing I loved about my mission, was the principle of Spiritual Self-Reliance that our Mission President taught us for his entire ministry there. I was a strong believer in that. Missionaries are adults, given rules that are meant to protect and help them. Everyone knows what the rules are, and I am not one to justify dis-obedience, on the contrary, but there are instances where improvisation and exceptions are made for the bettering of the work. It is being led by the Spirit, but there are many that abused this principle, but you could tell the difference between the Disciple and the follower. The obedient understanding loving individual who did what was right at the right time, and would not be concerned with swallowing gnats, while others with self-righteous pride were swallowing camels. (reference to Jesus' criticism of the Jews). Then there was the other extreme, the blatantly rebellious like my trainer. My point in all this is, that those who were spiritually in-tune, knew what to do, all the time, and it was never a question if it was right or wrong when in the eyes of the law or the eyes of the judgmental it was deemed controversial. When missionaries were disobedient, to the point where we as APs had to get involved, they were very far away from self-reliance, and we would try to teach this principle instead of just slapping wrists, but, in the extreme case, their hearts were too hard, and they were tossed from area to area until they were either sent home or had that change of heart.] 
So with all that fun and hard work, the transfer
came to a close, and my follow-up trainer/third time companion Elder Olsen
went home. It was tough, I won't lie. Elder Olsen taught me a lot. I
hold a very high respect for him. We didn't constantly agree, background
wise we could hardly relate on anything; but I love Olsen, he is the
man, and I'm grateful he helped me figure out a lot of things that I
needed to in order to prepare me for this position all the way back in
Sta. Cruz 2009 until now, Feb. 2011. He's been a big part of my mission,
and I salute you my brother. Good luck out there.
Along with the people who went home came in the
greenies. All the new kids from the Manilla and Provo MTC. This batch
was AWESOME! They tore it up in Tagalog, and the foreigners and
Philippinos were instant friends. They got along and had fun, that
night after the orientation we set up a volleyball net and played for
about an hour. Man, it was amazing getting to know them. They are so
fired up, so antsy to get out and "thrash the nations". I've never
trained, and had only one companion my entire mission younger than me in
field, and even he was only six weeks behind me. So seeing that "new guy high
aspiration and high expectation" kind of rubbed off on me.
That, and
with Elder Palacio stepping down, President pulled in two new boss
A.P.s. Elder Cannon and Elder Fonbuena. I won't lie, I was very
very skeptical about Cannon. He is by far the most die hard perfectly
obedient missionary, and he is unquestionably the hardest working. A
letter of the law kind of guy. I was worried he wouldn't be respected by
the zone leaders because of his "iron fist", but if there is one thing
I've learned on my mission, is not to judge, Especially off of
what others say. President felt right about it, so he pulled him in (just wait till the next epistle).
Granted it has only been a week since then, not even, but hey, things have
been great in the office, and I feel with the three of us here as well,
we can make sure that an example of love is portrayed over the gridlock
police (which sadly was the image portrayed in the past). It will be interesting to see how things play out.
It is impossible to really guess or see what will
happen tomorrow, so I'll just focus on what is happening today. I've been
in the office the longest now out of the four of us with Olsen going
home. New responsibilities, new challenges, but it is all just more
opportunity to grow and spread the love. Share the good news. And get
work done. I have a few projects I'll be working on to leave behind. I'm
re-organizing all the computers so that access to important files is
simpler, we replaced two of the old comps, and one of the hard drives
failed, so that's been a chore. But God set me up big time pre-mission to
learn how to take care of all that stuff [Quick side note here: God most definitely trains, instructs, and teaches you things that might not really seem "Spiritual," but they most assuredly will help in building up the kingdom, even in small ways like being able to fix a computer].
That along with updating the direction book with tons of new apartments,
10 zone interviews, 3 zone conferences, and then sending Trebas home.
It is going to be a busy transfer. Perfect to keep my mind on the work.
Love you all,
-Elder Mace
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