Words from Elder Ryder Nielsen in the Phillippines

 

"I have been thinking about what i could write about today and i will be honest i am struggling to think of an experience that i could share. On Tuesday my companion and i were using a list of names we received from the ward to try and find and contact less active members. While searching for addresses and house numbers i remembered a house that i had gone to with my last companion. The man's name is Mark Dumaran and he works as a security guard for the Temple. We went to his door and yelled out Tao po! Tao po translates into english People! hahaha it makes no sense in english but in Tagalog it makes perfect sense. In this culture no one knocks on doors they simply yell out Tao po multiple times until some one comes outside the door. In manila all the houses are crammed together really tight so has we were calling out Tao po many of the neighbors began poking their heads out of the door and windows to see if we were calling to their home but once they saw we were calling to a different house they would go back to what they were doing. It is really quite entertaining for me to see about 5 heads poking out of windows and doors. Well after many times of crying out Tao po brother Mark didn't seem to be home so we went outside the gate. I decided to stand in the shade to rest for a little and also to decide were we would go next. As we were pondering on what we should do, we heard a voice from behind us. We turned to see a man we had never before met. He began to ask us many questions like what are you doing walking around in this heat? Once we told him we were missionaries he began to ask questions like do you guys get paid? Was it your choice to serve in the Philippines? How long is your mission? After answering all of his questions this man was in complete shock of the sacrifice that we give to the Lord. He was especially suprised that we received no payment of any kind. He invited us to his home to share our message. We shared the restoration with him and he seems pretty interested. We are scheduled again this week to teach him . My heart was full of gratitude for a small miracle the Lord provided us. That was one of the few times i have ever had a person approach us and start the conversation. Any way just a short experience. To answer your question i have been taking pictures. I gotta run! I love you!"