He's Been There Before

By Elder Troy Whittle
Texas Houston Mission

The alarm bell rings at 6:30, I stumble to my feet
I grab my companions bedding and pull off his sheets

A groan fills the room, is it already time to arise?
It seems like just a second ago, I was able to shut my eyes

The morning activities follow with study, prayer and such
When it’s time to leave the apartment, you feel you haven’t accomplished much

“We have a super day planned,” My comp. says with a grin
I lowly utter a faithless breath, “Yeah, if anyone lets us in.”

With the word of God and my faithful Schwinn, we ride off in the street
Prepared to face another day of humidity and heat

It’s 9:30 in the evening, the day is almost through
My companion and I are riding home not accomplishing what we thought to do

We ride up to the mailbox, hoping to receive a lot
Only to look inside and hear my echo reverberate “air box”

We go up to our apartment, the day is now complete
The only thing to show for our work is a case of blistery feet

It’s past 10:30 p.m. My companion is fast asleep
Silence engulfs me all about and I begin to weep

In the midst of sadness, I kneel down to pray
I need to talk to father, but I’m not sure what to say

“Oh, Father” I begin, “What happened to us today?
I thought we’d teach somebody, but everyone was away

My hands, my aching hands- worn, hurt and beat;
If our area was any smaller, we’d have knocked the doors on every street”

“Why on missions are the days so much alike?
The only difference about today was the flat tire on my bike

Will you send some cooler weather? The heat is killing me
I sweat so bad, it gets in my eyes, it’s very hard to see”

“Why do I have to wear a helmet, isn’t your protection enough?
People always laugh at me, and call me stupid stuff

Please send us investigators so I may give them what they lack
I want to give them Book of Mormons, the weight of them hurts my back”

“And what about my family, They don’t have much to say
I’m sick of not hearing from home day after day after day

Oh Father, Why am I here am I just wasting time?
Sometimes I just want to go home, I’m sorry but that’s on my mind”

“My companion, Heavenly Father, what are you giving me?”
The way he rides his bicycle, I don’t think he can see

Now you have it, I can’t go on, I don’t know what to do
That, my Father in Heaven, is the prayer I have for you”

My prayer now finished, I stand up, then jump right into bed
I need my rest for tomorrow, we have another long day ahead

Sleep starts to overtake me, I seem to drift away
Then it seems a vision takes me to another time in another day

I’m standing alone on the hill, The view is very nice
A man walks towards me and says, “My name is Jesus Christ”

Tears of joy well up inside, I fall down to His feet
“Arise,” He states, “Follow me to the shade. You and I need to speak”

My attention’s towards my Savior, total and complete
He says, “Your mission is similar of what happened to me

I understand how you feel, I know what you’re going through
In fact, it would be fair to say I’ve felt the same as you”

“I even know how you felt when no one listened to you
At times I felt not quite sure what else that I could do

I know you don’t like to ride a bicycle, for you a car would be sweet
Just remember the donkey I rode wasn’t equipped with 21 speeds”

“I understand you don’t like sweating, in fact it’s something you hate
I remember when I sweat blood from every pore, oh the agony was great!

I see you don’t like your companion, you’d rather have someone else
I once had a companion named Judas who sold my life for wealth”

“It’s hard to wear a helmet and have people make fun of you
Much like when they put thorns on my head and called me King of the Jews

So you feel burdened down by the weight of your pack
I recall how heavy the cross was when they slammed it on my back”

“Your hands hurt from tracting and knocking on doors all day
I guess when they pounded nails into mine, I ached in a similar way

It’s hard not to hear from home when your family’s not there to see
I lost communication on the cross and cried, “Father, why hast Thou forsaken me?”

“We have a lot in common, but there’s a difference between us you see
I endured to the end and finished my mission, so follow and do like me”

He embraced me with His arms and His light filled me with His love
With tears in my eyes I watched as He ascended back to the Father above

I stood with awe and wonder when a beep rang in my head
Listening I heard the alarm, then realized I was in my bed

My companion let out a groan, “it’s 6:30 already, no way!”
I sat up and said, “Come on, I’ll even carry your scriptures today!”

No matter what we go through, When we feel we can’t take more
Just stop and think about Jesus Christ,  He’s been there before!

 A poem that touched Caitlin's heart.  

She asked that it be posted here.  

The Golden State Awaits! (I know that was cheesy just roll with it)

Last week at the MTC boys and girls! That flew by faster than a Thanksgiving turkey if I do say so myself. I'm still alive too and I even drank the orange juice! (Weird MTC joke that I didn't understand until yesterday :))

So here's the big news! Only one sister in our whole zone got her visa! So the rest of us were temporarily reassigned- I'll be going to Irvine California ! I'm really excited!! They have tacos there :) AND people who are ready to hear the Gospel of Jesus Christ! I'm confident that I'll learn something amazing that will bless me throughout my mission and my life in California. And I know there will be someone Heavenly Father will use me to bless and help. And I'll have a chance to adjust to missionary work before I get hit with the culture shock and the language shock! 

One of our "investigators" is and "83" year old man who loves the Bible. He was having a hard time reading the Book of Mormon because he wanted to relate it to the Bible and get as much as he could out of it. But the Hiligaynon Book of Mormon doesn't have footnotes so he was having to do it on his own. To help him I made a list of like 50 or something times that the Book of Mormon and the Bible match up and support each other. It was so fun and it really opened my eyes so how much they work together to establish the full Gospel of Jesus Christ. And he loved it !! My teacher still has the list in his scriptures which it kind of cool. I hope it's blessing his life as well as "Jose'" Missionary work it the most fun work! 

Our Sunday devotional speakers were the MTC President and his wife- President and Sister Martino. They were both converting to the church as teenagers and they showed us this amazing family tree thing about how many lives those two missionaries have influenced on both sides of the veil- through their missions- their children's missions and their family history work they've helped over 4,000 people receive the gospel. Never underestimate how much good you can do! God will consecrate your efforts above anything you could imagine!

 

We watched Mountain of the Lord for our Sunday film! The pioneers truly understood patience! I've been actively working on patience for like 6 months now and maybe I've made a drop in the bucket! They worked on the temple for 40 years!! They had to start over! And stop to build the railroad! That's how important it was to have a temple that would stand as long as it is needed. They gave it all to God! They lived truly consecrated lives. I'm going to consecrate my mission like a pioneer!! Anything I gotta do! 

On Monday we did a successful English Fast! I probably only said 40 English words all day! It was so cool . The gift of tongues is real. 

I met a Zollinger at the store the other day! She was an employee! We're both related to Albert Zollinger Sr. but I was in a rush and didn't have time to figure out the connection beyond that! She was from either Minnesota or Michigan or Wisconsin ( Sorry by brain is devoted to Hiligaynon) So if anyone knows the connection you should let me know! 

Tuesday devotional was in one word a Gift. Our speaker was Elder Rasband. All day on Tuesday my companions and I had so many assurances that God knew and loved us. At the beginning of his talk he shared that we all have a special bond with an apostle because they assigned our mission call- and then he said that every mission call was perfect - "all full time missionaries, senior missionaries, AND REASSIGNED MISSIONARIES" It was like he was talking to directly to our the Philippines missionaries (Out of 40 missionaries that were supposed to leave for the Philippines on Wednesday only 5 got their visas) I know that Heavenly Father is 100% aware of our situation and He loves us. One of our Branch Presidency- Brother Taylor told us during district review that during all of his years in a district presidency he's gone to hundreds of Tuesday night devotionals and he's never heard and apostle say "Reassigned missionaries" Also our Branch Presidents wife Sister Mullen said that God can't always give us what we want but it usually isn't a flat out no if our desire was righteous it's more like 'I can't give you that but I can give you this instead' I feel like my heart is wrapped in a nice warm blanket. I feel so much peace. 

 

Yesterday my companions and I had to teach our investigator lesson in front of our whole district. We were kind of nervous before but as we started the lesson and focused on "Panfilo" and on the spirit we forgot they were even there and the lesson went amazing. If the lesson is about you you'll be nervous and it won't go well. But if it's about the person you're helping and about helping them feel the spirit it works and it goes well :) 

 

Also yesterday I memorized the first 8 articles of faith in Hiligaynon! Once again the gift of tongues is real!! Crazy raisins. 

I'm still reading Jesus the Christ and this morning at the temple I was amazed at how much it influenced my temple experience! I definitely recommend adding that to your personal study reading list if it isn't already! I promise it's not as daunting as it seems. It's just fun stories about our Savior Jesus Christ. It helps you understand the doctrine and make connections you wouldn't usually think about on your own :) 

Do something nice for someone else today!

Palangga ta kamo!!! Dios mangin sa inyo! (God be with you) 

Sister Zollinger 

One Month Down!!

I'm healed! It's a Christmas miracle! I was so excited I created a dance for reciting the first vision in Hiligaynon. I was jumping up and down like a lunatic :) it was awesome. I was on doctor's orders not to talk so I got to listen to my companions teach a few lessons. I could see the spirit and the gift of tongues working through them. That was a huge blessing to me.  ALSO WE HAD TACO BELL FOR DINNER. So TWO blessings in ONE DAY!!!  I'm not allowed to exercise until I stop coughing so everyday I get 1 full hour of uninterrupted reading Jesus the Christ. It is amazing how much light a full hour focused on learning about the life of our Savior brings into my life. 

Tuesday devotional!! We got to see the trailer for the new Book of Mormon videos they're making and it is SO GOOD!!! It was better than any movie trailer I've ever seen. Everyone in the room went nuts. They're making 60- 15 minute videos about the Book of Mormon. I'm so excited. The speaker was Kevin R Duncan and he's on the Book of Mormon committee. He talked about the power of the Book of Mormon. If you have a habit you want to change or something you want to get better at - Read the Book of Mormon everyday and allow it to change and heal you. The Book of Mormon has and continues to change my life. There is so much power in daily personal study. It will change your desires, your thoughts, and your ability to do good. 

We did the coolest activity this week! At the end of class we went outside and practiced testifying to people in Hiligaynon and we had our companions translate for us! Even though everyone we talked to was already a member of the church and a missionary or a teacher it was still so cool because I could feel the spirit helping know what they needed to hear. 

Also we had "transfers" this week! We traded investigators with the Elders and we got to experience what it's kind of like to pick up in the middle of their conversion. It was cool. We love our new guy already and he is so fun to teach. ( It's still our teacher but he acts like different people for each new investigator) 

In one of our evening classes we split up into groups and read Alma 5 which has the greatest spiritual checklist of all time :) We talked about how asking ourselves those questions can bring us closer to Christ and how we can look and our behavior and figure out what we need to do to become better. 

Yesterday I got to lay in the grass in the sunshine and read the Book of Mormon. I don't know if there are many things more peaceful than that :) 

We listened to conference talks in Hiligaynon yesterday to see how much we understood and it was amazing how much we could get out of it! Good news folks I'm learning the right language!!!!! 

The time is flying by here!! We only have one more P-Day in the USA! We're so excited. We got our travel itinerary today! Heading out on the 30th! 

Palangga ta kamo!!!! 

Sister Z 

We're going on an adventure!... "Can we get snacks first?"

Maayong Aga! (Good morning)

This week was quite crazy.. hold on to your seats.

Saturday morning I woke up feeling like a basurahan (trashcan)- I couldn't stop coughing. So I asked my companions if we could go to the doctor.. The MTC doctor was closed to we had to go on the shuttle to urgent care. We were there for like two hours and then they looked at my throat for like 7 seconds and said I had allergies (definitely wasn't allergies). So we went back to the MTC and I bought loads of cough drops and some cold medicine. It kind of helped. ( This story will be continued)

Sunday we were released as STLs and called as the music directors! Yay. We had testimony meeting and I shared Alma 27:17-18. For Choir this week we sand Lead Kindly Light.. Which is one of my favorite hymns. Brother Eggett always makes sure we understand the meaning of what we're singing. That hymn is all about letting Heavenly Father be your guide and following His will instead of your own- doing what He wants you to do.   For the devotional Trey Martino and his son told the story of Joseph Smith through folk songs. I was dancing in my seat a bit :)

Monday we had TRC again and the coolest thing happened! So last week we invited one of the sisters to think of a friend that wasn't reading the Book of Mormon everyday and to remind her of the importance of it and invite her to start reading everyday... and she did it!!! She texts her friend every night and they both share what they learned through the scriptures that day. It made me so happy :) We're real missionaries! 

Tuesday night our devotional speaker was Elder Anderson! We're so spoiled here. He talked about President Nelson's talk from conference about receiving personal revelation. I thought a lot about exact obedience and what that really means.. I think it also means heeding to the council of the prophets and being meek enough to make changes in you life when invited to do so. 

Wednesday we got to be new missionary hosts!! I got to help 4 new sisters! They were so excited and happy- I had no criers haha.. It was a fun opportunity to be able to show them around a little bit and see their reactions when they found their rooms and got their name tags. 

Funny story--- So I like to look up extra vocabulary words and such outside of class and I had looked up the word failure earlier in the week... so in class our teacher asked if anyone knew what failure was.. So I said " Kalabasa " .... um that was incorrect.. Kalabasa means squash- like the vegetable-- So I've probably called myself a squash like 5 times this week :) My teachers died laughing. It was awesome. We also challenged our investigator (our teacher) to baptism this week and he said yes!! That was a really cool experience 

And the story continues! So all week I've been coughing so much like to the point where I can't eat because it makes me cough too much so we went back to the doctor at the MTC and he told me that it definitely wasn't allergies! I got two prescriptions and then he told me that I needed to walk across the street to the BYU health center to get a chest x-ray. So I went and told my companions that we were going on an adventure- I had to get a chest x-ray! And they said "​​Oh! Can we get snacks first!" It was hilarious. They help me keep things light- hearted. 

My chest is fine though and I think my cough is getting better. I'm not allowed to talk, sing, or run today so my companions wrote a sticky note for my name tag that says  "Sorry I can't talk today- doctor's orders. Please leave a message with Sister Schenk or Sister Thedell. Thanks!" I'm so grateful for them they've been so patient this week. We couldn't go to the temple this morning because my coughing was out of control so they sat in our room and studied while I slept all morning. I also have to go to bed at 8 pm for a few days and they're being super nice to me like moms haha. They have lots of selfies with me sleeping. :) 

My companion was practicing her special musical number for Sunday and I fell asleep

I'm still loving it here. I'm happy and I feel so lucky to be serving. Do something kind this week. 

Love,

Sister Zollinger

Alma the younger

Happy Friday!

Hello,

Sorry if you didn't get my email last week! It didn't send for some reason. If you want it I think my mom put it on my blog.. sisterzolliebacolod.blogspot.com 

On Saturday I was reciting the missionary purpose in Hiligaynon while we were walking to class and someone from the Philippines was walking behind me and I didn't know. They ran up to me after and said Maayo Gid!!! It made me so happy. Hiligaynon has my heart. 

I memorized Joseph Smith's First Vision in Hiligaynon this week. When I recited it to my teacher I got kind of emotional because it just hit me what I was saying. Nothing can bring the spirit faster than those words especially when you're relying on the Gift of Tongues to know how to say it. 

Sundays are happy days at the MTC. They're so peaceful and filled with so many peaceful spiritual moments. For our training meeting we talked about Matthew 14- the miracle of the 5 loaves and 2 fishes. We talked about how that miracle was more for the Apostles than the people. If we bring what we have to the table and try our best Christ will magnify it with extra to spare. Also Christ performed that miracle right after His best friend was killed. The character of Christ is to turn outward and serve- always- especially in times of personal trial. I'm working on being better at that. My zone went for a Sunday walk together. We have such a good time everyone is really close and we laugh so much. Our choir song this week was More Holiness Give Me. Brother Eggett told us and incredibly sad but touching story about the composer--- He was on a train ride with his wife and their two boys were left with a family friend. The train was crossing a bridge and the bridge collapsed. He was able to escape but when he looked around for his wife he couldn't find her anywhere so he ran back up to the bridge and got back on the train. The coal from the engine car had started a fire and the car that they had been in was burning. He found his wife trapped under some metal and he couldn't get her out so he sat with her and let himself burn so she wouldn't have to be alone-- :'( It was the saddest story I've ever heard but the song had so much more meaning to me and you could feel a strong shift in the attitude of the choir. I think we often forget that everyone has trauma and hard times in their lives even when we haven't heard about them or even if they hide it really well. We need to think more about being compassionate first without having to have a reason. Treat everyone as the Savior would. 

 

Brother Eggett was also our devotional speaker on Sunday- He is hilarious. He said  "What do you think it was like to Jesus' little brother? Imagine having your big brother 100% absolutely perfect and having to grow up behind that. I bet Mary would say 'Why can't you be more like Jesus?' and that's probably where the primary song comes from.. 'I'm TRYING to be like Jesus!'"

 

We watched legacy for our Sunday movie and every time there was a kiss all the missionaries cheered. Silly :)

We had our first TRC this week which was so fun! We met two returned sister missionaries who served in Bacolod and Iloilo. They gave us good advice and we got to practice speaking Hiligaynon with someone other than our teachers! 

On Tuesday we walked around one of the classroom buildings as a zone and looked at all the pictures of Christ. It filled my heart so much I overflowed lots and lots and lots of tears. I feel so incredibly lucky to have this opportunity to be a representative of Christ. It really made me think about my name tag and why I'm really here. It's so excited to have the calling to invite others to come unto Christ. I feel how much He loves me and I can't wait to give that gift to sweet people in the Philippines. I made a goal to think about both names over my heart every time I do something- So I can make my family proud and I can make Jesus Christ proud. I love this opportunity. I can't emphasize enough how lucky I feel. 

We're teaching a lot more now and it's hard work but it's so rewarding. We learn something new every single day and we improve every single day with the help of the Spirit. Missionary work is Work but it's fun. 

I love it here. I love this Gospel. I love Hiligaynon..

Palangga kamo!!!! 

Sorry I didn't really take pictures this week but this is probably my favorite mural here. It's Nephi looking at Jerusalem trying to figure out how to get the plates from Laban.