Merry Christmas! 

It's great to be at this time of year again! And people here in the Philippines love it too! I'm grateful to have the opportunity to meet these people. A few cool things happened this week. 1) our mission got together to have a Christmas Party, and that was super fun. We sang songs, danced a bit, ate roasted pig, and other foods, had a bit of training too. A great time, felt like a missionary family. Not the same as your actual family, but we still made it fun. 2) My Tagalog is getting to the point where they can understand me, and I can actually contribute more than 10 seconds worth of lesson in a lesson, which is just so awesome because I want to share with these people, but the language was a small barrier, and I'm not yet fluent, but it's just nice to know I'm speaking the right language. So our lessons overall have been getting better, becuase 2 teaching is more powerful than 1 teaching. I'm loving it here, it's way hard, but as soon as we have a good lesson, or meet someone new who is interested, the joy overcomes the sorrow. That is the truth of life. or at least a truth. There are many hard times in this llife, but having a joyful experience makes it seem worth it, and worth moving forward. Especially this time of year, when there is a lot more goodwill than usual, I would encourage you to take advantage of that. Make someone's day better. Smile more, laugh more easy, and really focus on reaching out, so that you can find yourself. Spend time with your family, for they will be with you forever. I love this Gospel, because it has turned my family into a place where I want to be for Eternity. Merry Christmas!

Elder Miklich

Happy New Year!

Hi guys! 

This has been a pretty crazy week, (this is coming from a missionary). We ate a lot of food, shared Christmas messages, a bit more, and then shared a bit more. It is interesting how everybody seems to become more nicer around this time of year. We will go up to people to talk to them, and they offer us some of their alcohol. People here are super nice, but they don'tseem to know quite yet that we don't drink. Still super nice people, just a few problems, but don't we all have them? One of the things that I'm learning here is that most people don't want to sin, but they don't know that they are. It's our job to help them learn and grow and change. I say most because there are a few wacky people out there. it's sad, but true. Anyways, one cool experience I had this week is one of our investigators, Ronalto, started to cry during a lesson we had with him, because we keep stopping by, wanting to teach him, even though he is drunk most of the time, and he never keeps his commitments. So we committed him to Church on Sunday, I even wrote it on his calendar for him. He didn't show up, but it was still nice to see that our visits, even though they don't seem to go anywhere, are impacting him in some way. (He is the guy that made the altar\shrine with our pamphlet a while back) So i guess that is my commitment I leave with you this week. Try to go out and visit someone you wouldn't normally visit. Just for a few minutes, it doesn't have to be long. make their day better, leave them smiling, something. I know that by small and simple things great things can come to pass. You might even surprise yourself. Don't worry, I'll do it to. I hope you had a wonderful Christmas, and a happy New year!

Elder Miklich

Hey everybody!

It's getting closer to that time of year! People here in the Philippines love Christmas, and it's super exciting! This past week went by fast. We found a ton of new people, many of them aren't quite as excited as we are but they will be soon! We were teaching this one family on Friday, and they were super excited when we taught them the Restoration, and were excited to come to church, but they didn't make it that far. They are a young family so it must've been some kid troubles or something. Anyways, the Spirit was super strong that lesson, and I can't wait to go back there on Tuesday.

 On Sunday, we had the Primary program, and my companion can play a little piano, but not much, but the Primary President still asked him to play two songs on Saturday night, and he was super nervous. So when Sunday came around, he told me he said a quick prayer before he played to either bless his hands, our our ears. We were talking after, and it sounds like He blessed our ears, because it actually didn't sound to bad. 

So the lessons learned this week are that there is a plan for everything, because if certain things did not happen we would not have found that family, and God answers prayers, though sometimes not the way we expect it to. 

I hope you all have a great week, and remember that in the spirit of Christmas, we remember the best gift of all, Jesus Christ. Just take a minute and ponder on what His life means to us, and what we can do because of Him. 

Until next week,

Elder Miklich

Hi everybody!

Hope all is going good for you! Things are great over here in Naguilian. Some of the things that happened this week are: 1) We had an FHE almost every night because our branch is very sociable like that. That's been fun, and also a great place to bring investigators to. They get to mingle with members outside of the Church building and they love it. It really helps them a lot. And it has helped us too because my companion broke our fridge on accident last week, and as of now we still haven't got one. So we didn't have to buy as much food last week which was nice because it didn't go bad. 2) A family got baptized, a mom and her 3 kids. The dad is interested but it is hard for him to get Sundays off but hopefully we can teach him soon. They are a cool family, kids are high energy kids but they are still fun to be around. 3) Its December already! Christmas is near! Everybody here is pumped, but I hope we can all remember the true reason for Christmas. Christ, our Savior, was born into this world, where he lived a life in such a way as to save us. I love the gift giving and all of that, as long as we remember the best gift of all. Don't forget Him, and what He did for us. I love you all and until next week!

Elder Miklich

(Againg no pics this week...his church building doesn't have WiFi and it takes a long time to upload his photos at the internet cafe where he emails us and he just runs out of time each week...so I added these pics from before he left on his mission.  I just needed to see his smile on the blog :)  He says that he is taking a ton of pictures and that he will upload them when he goes to the bigger church building for his Zone Conference.  He is thinking they have WiFi in that builinding)

Hello Everybody!

Sorry I didn't get to you last week. Been busy. Life here in the Philippines are good. Some interesting experiences that I've had. We have an investigator that we taught like my first day here, and he was drunk. But then like yesterday we went to visit him again, and he made like a shrine/altar thing for Jesus, and he put the picture of Jesus ordaining Peter, from our L1 pamphlet, right in the center. It was so funny, because it was his birthday, and he was so proud of what he did, and he does believe in Jesus, but I don't think he gets it quite yet. Hopefully he will be able to understand. There was also like a Nativity picture and like a small statue, but in the center was our pamphlet that we gave him. That was my funny experience. A really spiritual experience we had was yesterday too. We are preparing this family for baptism this Saturday, and we actually pushed it back a week because the kids are super nice, but they had a really hard time praying and they wrote the steps down in their BoM and they used that to help them. So we were kinda worried about it. So we went over the Baptismal Interview questions again, and yesterday they knew how to pray, the answers, and were actually excited to get baptized. It was spiritual for me because I knew that they didn't study it as individuals. I'm positive that as a family, they helped each other out, which is awesome because that what our message is about. Families, helping each other to live the Gospel down here on Earth so we may live with them for all eternity after. This church is true, it blesses families. I've seen it change my family, and I can't imagine life without them.  

Take care, 

Elder Miklich

Q&A

Q:  Where are you?

A:  The Naguilian area of the Baguio Mission.  

Q: What's it like, weather, surroundings, city, town, country? 

A:  Weather is humid, so we are always sweating, but thats ok. No rain yet, but the hot season is just starting.

Q:  What are the people like?

A:   The people here are so awesome! They are super nice and while they live humbly, they will share anything that they have. 

Q:  Can you understand the people? 

A:  When we talk about Gospel stuff, yes, most of the time. Conversational wise, 15%. 

Q:  What is your apartment like?  Do you have clean water? 

A:  Their is 4 of us in our Apartment, its actually pretty roomy, I'll get pictures soon. I did misplace my charger for they camera though. I'll let you know if it was just in a suitcase or something next week. Yes we have clean water, and our shower is a bucket and a smaller bucket. It's so awesome. 

Q:  Who is your companion?  Where is he from?

A:  Elder Smith. he is from Utah, and has been out 4 months, and can speak the language really well. He wants to work hard, which is awesome. 

Q:  How does it feel to be out in the mission field?

A:  It feels more real, and it is more hard in a way, because you can't understand the investigators questions or needs. Nor can i answer them the way I want to. it is getting a little bit easier. Don't worry about me, I can do it!

Q:  What is church like? 

A:  Church is awesome. Our branch had about 60ish members come, but it should be way more. Lots of reactivation work here. The members are so kind and they understand that i can't speak very well, but I'm learning. 

Hello everybody!

This week has been pretty eventful. on Friday, we had the opportunity to meet with two apostles, Elder Redland and Elder Neilson. They are both super awesome. We got to shake hands with them and everything. They talked about how we can be better missionaries, and gave us some advice. Super cool. I've never felt the Spirit so strong. The whole Baguio mission was sitting in the chapel, so there were like 120 something missionaries too. it was awesome. I know that our Apostles and Prophet are men called of God. They are so humble and will only do the Lord's will. Never doubt them. I love you all and I want you to know that the Lord is hastening His work. I know that through the book of Mormon, we can recieve the inspiration and guidance we need. Have a great week!

Elder Miklich

Hello everybody!

So this has been our first week in the field and it's awesome!  The people here are so nice and everybody helps each other. It's a Filipino habit to, when walking between two people talking, duck down. Everybody does it here, even the "cool" guys walking down the street. 

We having been teaching a few lessons everyday, and I'm starting to get used to hearing Tagalog, and our areas and such. It's way cool. I'm so happy to be here, even though i usually have no idea what's going on. This one family we are teaching, are so nice, and they are accepting the Gospel. We last taught them about the Word of Wisdom, and the husband, who usually drinks and smokes, committed to live it! We will see next time, but he seemed to understand why why don't intake of those substances, so it can happen. miracles are possible. 

What I'm learning is that people need the Gospel, of course, but they need to understand why it is important for them, and how it can help them. Don't be afraid to Open your Mouth. people somehow understand me whenever I speak, and it's in a different language. This church is true, and it can bless the lives of all God's children, if we let it. 

Elder Miklich

Hey guys!

I'll jump right into it. We had an awesome opportunity to go proselyting on Wednesday. That was an eye opener/wake up call. We proselyted in the Quezon City North Mission, which is what most of our group is going to go to. My and my kasama (companion) were paired with a Filipino who has 9 months left and spoke super good English. We had an appointment set up but it fell through. So we talked to people on the streets. 

My Tagalog is hindi mabuti, and here's how it went down. Our senior kasama introduced us, and then said that we had a message for them. Then we tried our best to explain the First Vision, which a had a few people laughing for sure. Then after we finished, the Filipino guy fixed our mistakes and it went smooth from there. So it really wasn't that bad. 

What was really eye opening was how the people lived, but how happy they were. Do you remember those WW2 photos that show London's buildings that were bombed? Many live in places like that, and if they don't, it is roof metal sticking out of a fence in a box shape. However, these people, at least the ones we talked to, were really nice and smiled easy. 

We met a Muslim, young mother, these guys waiting in line in front of a barber shop, the guy driving the trike, everybody. So cool though. One of the ways people get around is called a trike I think. It is basically a low box attached to the side of a dirt bike.it gets tight with two people in the box though. We get to go proselyting again next Wednesday, but in manila I believe.

One thing that came to mind this week is that this church is a church of action. Repenting takes action/initiative on our part, faith without works is dead, missionary work. This church is living and thriving because our members continue to act and progress. just a cool thought. This church is true and don't be afraid to let people know it. Hope all is going well for you. 

Elder Miklich

Wassup guys!

I love hearing from you guys! It's awesome to hear about what you guys are doing out there. I'm having a great time here. By small and simple means can great things come to pass. Back in the first week, when gym started, there was only one guy juggling a basketball/volleyball because he kept getting out in speed. (the basketball game) The next thing you know, somebody put out a soccer ball, and then there were like 4 of us in a juggling circle. And now we are having full on 5 vs 5 games. Most of those guys never played soccer but it is still super fun. Many missionaries will probably tell you that the MTC experience is long and boring, and it sometimes is. But what is great about it is that you can see your improvement when your are practicing teaching investigators. 

Me and my companion are getting along pretty good, and there have been a few experiences when I'm trying to follow the Spirit and go the direction He will have me go during the lesson, but I get stuck because I can't remember a scripture or something, but then my companion picks up right where I left off without any communication between us, and then makes the exact commitment or reads the exact verse that I was trying to think of. Way cool. My companion is pretty chill, and our district is like super close. 

The power of the Priesthood is real, and there is work to be done. The language is coming along pretty good. i still have a hard time speaking it but I can mostly understand our investigators when they talk about church stuff. Its going to take work though. I also found out that i'll have to learn a different dialect called Ilokano, but i don't have to learn it, but they speak it a lot up in Baguio so i'm probably going to pick up that to. So cool! Exercise is alright, not as much as I'm used to but i sweat a lot during gym so its all ok. Filipinos are so cool, and super nice! I'm super excited to get out in the field, then you will get more pictures. The days are like personal study, language study, companion study/teach investigators, (we almost have them committed to baptism, (they are just teachers role playing as investigators but they are good actors), language study, language study, gym, eat sleep. 

Ang ebanghelyo ni Jesucristo is true, and don't be afraid to share it. Talk to ya next week!

Elder Miklich

Kumusta po kayo! (That means how are you)

The MTC down here in Manila is awesome! There are so many people here from different countries like India, Pakistan, Philippines, Indonesia, America, Australia, New Zealand, Tonga, Samoa, and even a few from Vietnam and Korea I think! Some of the funniest times our district had so far was going around trying to get people to say stuff with an American accent while we tried out theirs. There must be some Aussie in me because I had a guy from Australia thinking I was from Sidney or something like that. Like full on. It was hilarious because when I switched back to American he freaked out. 

Some other different things that I have noticed is that in order to cross the street, just do it. Cars stop and will go around you, but they don't do it with heavy traffic. Driving is insane here. I thought we were going to crash like the whole hour and a half drive from the airport to the MTC. Talk about reflexes. And the driver also told us that it is better to honk if you are going to cut off someone. 1 honk means that you are going left and 2 means you are going right or something like that. It was Awesome! 

The language is weird because everything is backwards. The coolest word I learned so far is pananampalataya, which translates to faith. Anyways, I'm super pumped to be here even though we have had rice for every meal here, except twice, because the work is going forward, and I get to be a part of it!! There are tons of chill guys here that are ready to go and share! The church is true, so let Everyone know it!

Elder Miklich