Sunday, December 29, 2013
Gifts from God
October 28th
Hello from the Philippines family, its seems like there are a few things that your all curious to hear about so here they are enjoy them.
What crazy food have I ate.
Well whats kind of interesting is that I really haven't ate anything to crazy yet, but I've heard of some really wild things, in some of the outer islands people get a little crazy with their food. I've heard of people eating scorpions and lizards, and my companion said that where he lived they would eat cobra.
At most member houses they'll give us food even if we're there for just a few minutes, they almost always pull out a thick glass bottle full of coke, or lime soda they drink here then they'll give us a few different things to eat, here are a few of the things I've ate.
turon- a banna that has been dipped in a bater and fried, then they put a sweet syrup almost like caramel on the outside. Really good, its one of my favorite things here.
Or Halo-Halo its ice and rice mixed up with fruit, another one of my favorite things.
I had one the other day thats a roll except it has coconut jelly on the inside, Masarap, (delicious) its so good. The first week I ate a sweet roll that was almost like a cinnamon roll. So there are a lot of different kind of breads and there all very good. Here in the Philippine there are a lot of bakeries and little stores that sell candy, drinks. and snacks, so you can by food almost anywhere you want. The people that have stores usually work right from there home. They have barred window that they pass the food to you from I'll show you a picture of what it looks like next week its a little hard to explain.
Also there are vendors everywhere that sell fried chicken, fruit and vegetables, I've even some some trikes that are set up almost like a restraunt, the food is already cooked and they'll just drive around and sell it.
Another thing is that there are people who sell peanut butter and corn on the streets. They put a pole or a stick across there shoulder and they'll tie buckets of corn or peanut butter or what ever there selling onto the ends. Then they walk the streets yelling peanut butter! or corn!.
I've had a lot of rice. Every single day rice! But its actually really good when you have chicken or Ulam (Ulam is the name for anything you eat with rice its usally some kind of pork, or beef, there are a lot of different kinds and you buy it at the store in a can and cook it up at home) The rice here is also different then home its sticky rice, very tasty.
I've had a bunch of Filipino dishes its so hard to remember the names though. There all made of some kind of beef or chicken, cut up into small chunks and mixed with vegtables. Very good, there has been a few that i don't like so much, but I've adjusted to where I like some of the things that I didn't used too.
I've seen a lot of things, and there things I'll never forget, the world is so much more than the United States. And its impossible to understand what that really means unless you've been outside of it. Culturally people are very different and what they value in life is very different. Here its all about your family, people do everything for there family, in every Filipino home you'll will find picture of family, usually its pictures of there children. But they also love God very much. I've seen a few jeepney's that have gift of god printed on the side or blessing from heaven panted on the side.
Very busy week this week, went on my first exchanges to the city of Bulihan, where I worked with a zone leader. We did some street contacting so I got to hand out a few restoration pamplets, and in a lesson I explained and gave a book of Mormon to someone. Then in another lesson the zone leader who is Filipino leaned over and told me to ask if they would be bapized. So I did and they said yes. Maybe I make tagalog sound likes it easy its really not, learning a new language i tough. The toughest part is learning to patient and know that with time and work you'll learn.
Got to see the Elders from the mtc this week, it was good to hear their stories and see how here doing, my companion from the MTC has a trainer who doesn't speak any english so thats been interesting for him.
Things are going good family, thank for your emails, I like emails because there easier for everyone but if you want you can write letters to, and I got ashely and dads letter this week, while at follow up training.
Until next week
Elder Creager
here are a few extra pictures found on Sister Tyes' blog and Coreys MTC companions Elder Johnstons Blog
Corey and Elder Johnston
look at that happy face:)
I'm so glad that Elder Creager has found such a good friend in his MTC companion. It sounds like Elder Johnston was a "gift from God," and that Corey being a missionary is a blessing. I know that all missionaries are gifts from God and there helping others see him. Inviting someone to be baptized and testifying of the truthfulness of the gospel is what missionaries do best:) Nice work brother
Sunday, December 22, 2013
Week 2/3- the same goal
Week 2.....no email:( That was sure a sad thing, and my mom may have been freaking out a little but I guess we can forgive him just this once;)
Week three! yes email this week. Corey sounds super excited to see the Elders that he was with at the MTC. He keeps saying over and over how he has made so many friends out on the mission. This just helps you see how strong and powerful missionary work really is. How else would a bunch of 18 year old boys become such great friends and give such a powerful message to the world?
Hello family, sorry I didn't send you an email last week, I was trying to send some pictures, there should be a lot this week. Things are great. We had are first splits with some members yesterday, I went with three people and Elder Villa went with three other people. Taught three lessons. The member here are great, they work with us every day, we have one family that helps us a lot they're the Glori family. They come with us to less actives give us referrals and take us to there nonmember friends. Also the youth in the ward love missionary work they come with us all the time too.
We're having a follow up training this Wednesday for the new batch of missionaries, so I'll get to see Elder Johnston and the other Elders from the MTC. Can't wait to see those Elders again, were all good friends.
Today was P day of course, we spent the morning with study and then it was the half hour Jeepney ride into the city to get food. We love food. You can buy it almost anywhere, there are vendors on ever corner in the cities, and you can go to San Jose for food, they have fish, chicken, vegetable and fruit stands, but its not the cleanest food so we go to puregold it is the store to go to here in the philippines. Most the time I eat oatmeal in the morning, then its rice and ulam for lunch. I don't exactly know why I'm talking about food I must be hungry.
I keep here a lot of songs from home, the music they listen to here is a lot of what is at home. The people are very aware of the United States and what happens there. And they love basketball, they play wherever they can. I've seen hoops nailed to trees, and houses, and they have some cover-courts too. Were going to go play at the church next P-day. Everyone here plays basketball its not even a question, and they watch it too, just last week Brother Glori a member in our ward was telling me how the Pacers and other teams from the U.S. come and play against Filipino teams. He said that the Philippines used to be first place in Asia in basketball until China overtook them last year, he wasn't to happy about that. The members become like a family here, the people in this area are great.
I miss you all, I'm glade Ashley got a dog, and that things are going great for you. So I guess Andy's dogs Rolley, and Ashley get Beary. Is Andy done with Cross Country? how'd he do. Until next week, keep letting me know how I can help you experience these things with me, because I do want you too and I'll do it, enjoy the pictures.
Elder Creager
Here are the rest of the "a lot" of pictures from the Elder...
Week three! yes email this week. Corey sounds super excited to see the Elders that he was with at the MTC. He keeps saying over and over how he has made so many friends out on the mission. This just helps you see how strong and powerful missionary work really is. How else would a bunch of 18 year old boys become such great friends and give such a powerful message to the world?
-see...18 year old boys right here;)
All that I know is that the gospel is true! If not there is no way that missionary work would be so powerful. From this gospel so many people are blessed and so many people come together for one purpose.
Hello family, sorry I didn't send you an email last week, I was trying to send some pictures, there should be a lot this week. Things are great. We had are first splits with some members yesterday, I went with three people and Elder Villa went with three other people. Taught three lessons. The member here are great, they work with us every day, we have one family that helps us a lot they're the Glori family. They come with us to less actives give us referrals and take us to there nonmember friends. Also the youth in the ward love missionary work they come with us all the time too.
We're having a follow up training this Wednesday for the new batch of missionaries, so I'll get to see Elder Johnston and the other Elders from the MTC. Can't wait to see those Elders again, were all good friends.
Today was P day of course, we spent the morning with study and then it was the half hour Jeepney ride into the city to get food. We love food. You can buy it almost anywhere, there are vendors on ever corner in the cities, and you can go to San Jose for food, they have fish, chicken, vegetable and fruit stands, but its not the cleanest food so we go to puregold it is the store to go to here in the philippines. Most the time I eat oatmeal in the morning, then its rice and ulam for lunch. I don't exactly know why I'm talking about food I must be hungry.
I keep here a lot of songs from home, the music they listen to here is a lot of what is at home. The people are very aware of the United States and what happens there. And they love basketball, they play wherever they can. I've seen hoops nailed to trees, and houses, and they have some cover-courts too. Were going to go play at the church next P-day. Everyone here plays basketball its not even a question, and they watch it too, just last week Brother Glori a member in our ward was telling me how the Pacers and other teams from the U.S. come and play against Filipino teams. He said that the Philippines used to be first place in Asia in basketball until China overtook them last year, he wasn't to happy about that. The members become like a family here, the people in this area are great.
I miss you all, I'm glade Ashley got a dog, and that things are going great for you. So I guess Andy's dogs Rolley, and Ashley get Beary. Is Andy done with Cross Country? how'd he do. Until next week, keep letting me know how I can help you experience these things with me, because I do want you too and I'll do it, enjoy the pictures.
Elder Creager
Here are the rest of the "a lot" of pictures from the Elder...
UTAH STATE
Haha, so three pictures:) The good news is that he's wearing a great schools T-shirt.
-The Philippines seems like it is such a different place. However, when you think about it we all love the same things. We all care about our families, love food, basketball, music and we all have so much in common. These missionaries all have the same heart and the same goal. Keep working hard Elder Creager! We know you're helping so many and are truly focused on the work.
First week in the Philippines
This kid is so happy! look at that smile:)
We got an email from him updating us on his life and how things are going so far. His companion sounds amazing, district leader, trainer and working in an new area. That's pretty amazing so Corey is learning from the best.
He is already learning so much about the language. Check out his spelling in grammar in this email. You know that missionaries are truly blessed to be able to learn a language so quickly
-Here is the email that he sent in reply to mine:)
October 6th
The Philippines are great, life is much different here than in the United States, but it's a good life. Planning on trying balluet very soon so I'll let you know how it goes.
The people here are very happy, caring and friendly. My apartment is very nice, and my companion is too. He's a district leader, a trainer, this is his last area, and we're in a new area, so he has a lot of responsibility.
Tagalog is going well, I can bear my testimony, and teach portions of the lessons, and can prayer, I'm working on expanding my vocabulary so I can say more. I know that with gods help we can all learn the filipino language, and I know that when we do are best he makes up the rest.
We're watching conference, this saturday and Sunday the 13th and 14th, they watch it English which is nice.
I wish USU would of won, (I told him we lost the BYU game:( sad day) did I tell you that while we were at the MTC they had the BYU Utah game? we all gathered around the back fence behind are building to try and listen to it. We could hear the cheering and the announcer but it was clear enough to understand what was happening.
I'll send the pictures as soon as I can.
Your Brother
Elder Creager
-here is the email reply in response to my mom's email
Your right that we should always work hard mom, the whole purpose of the gospel is Happiness, gods plan is often called the plan of happiness. I know that if we live the gospel we will be happy Alma 27:8, the humble penitent seeker of happiness will find it, and when we look at life happiness is really all we want and true happiness is only achieved through the gospel of Jesus Christ its important that we let people know that.
Sorry about some of the spelling, this tagalog study is messing with my English! joke lang. (just a joke)
Ok, my apartment is very nice inside, nicer than most places in are area: We do, do our laundry in buckets and it is very hard work be thankful every day for a washing machine last week it took me about 2 hours for a week of laundry; My area is GMA, and specifically San Jose in Gma, if you look at a map of Cavite it in the center of the Eastern side of the mission near Laguna bay;
It is true that filipno's use there hands and water for toilet paper, but don't worry I buy T.P. at the store, and sister Tye gave us some for the first week. On p-day we go to the store to buy food, e-mail and we've eaten at a restaurant both of the P-days I've been here. I've seen pictures of people going to zoo's or on hikes so I hope that we'll be able to something like that soon. My companion and I are doing great, like I said sometimes he doesn't exactly understand English but we still understand each other very well, this is his last area, he's a trainer a district leader, and we're in a new area so I"m sure it's a little difficult for him but things are still good.
Mom you wouldn't believe how much different it is hear, but in good ways, the culture is different, and the things that people value the most are also different takes some getting used to, you really accept the culture. I'll try to get you the pictures as soon as possible they're great.
Your son, and your missionary
Elder Creager
-first week! Check done:) here's to many more!
picture with his mission president and mission mom
picture with his first companion
We got an email from him updating us on his life and how things are going so far. His companion sounds amazing, district leader, trainer and working in an new area. That's pretty amazing so Corey is learning from the best.
He is already learning so much about the language. Check out his spelling in grammar in this email. You know that missionaries are truly blessed to be able to learn a language so quickly
-Here is the email that he sent in reply to mine:)
October 6th
The Philippines are great, life is much different here than in the United States, but it's a good life. Planning on trying balluet very soon so I'll let you know how it goes.
sister insert here: bulluet is a nearly developed egg...yummy right? We still don't know if he has tried one yet..
The people here are very happy, caring and friendly. My apartment is very nice, and my companion is too. He's a district leader, a trainer, this is his last area, and we're in a new area, so he has a lot of responsibility.
Tagalog is going well, I can bear my testimony, and teach portions of the lessons, and can prayer, I'm working on expanding my vocabulary so I can say more. I know that with gods help we can all learn the filipino language, and I know that when we do are best he makes up the rest.
We're watching conference, this saturday and Sunday the 13th and 14th, they watch it English which is nice.
I wish USU would of won, (I told him we lost the BYU game:( sad day) did I tell you that while we were at the MTC they had the BYU Utah game? we all gathered around the back fence behind are building to try and listen to it. We could hear the cheering and the announcer but it was clear enough to understand what was happening.
I'll send the pictures as soon as I can.
Your Brother
Elder Creager
-here is the email reply in response to my mom's email
Your right that we should always work hard mom, the whole purpose of the gospel is Happiness, gods plan is often called the plan of happiness. I know that if we live the gospel we will be happy Alma 27:8, the humble penitent seeker of happiness will find it, and when we look at life happiness is really all we want and true happiness is only achieved through the gospel of Jesus Christ its important that we let people know that.
Sorry about some of the spelling, this tagalog study is messing with my English! joke lang. (just a joke)
Ok, my apartment is very nice inside, nicer than most places in are area: We do, do our laundry in buckets and it is very hard work be thankful every day for a washing machine last week it took me about 2 hours for a week of laundry; My area is GMA, and specifically San Jose in Gma, if you look at a map of Cavite it in the center of the Eastern side of the mission near Laguna bay;
It is true that filipno's use there hands and water for toilet paper, but don't worry I buy T.P. at the store, and sister Tye gave us some for the first week. On p-day we go to the store to buy food, e-mail and we've eaten at a restaurant both of the P-days I've been here. I've seen pictures of people going to zoo's or on hikes so I hope that we'll be able to something like that soon. My companion and I are doing great, like I said sometimes he doesn't exactly understand English but we still understand each other very well, this is his last area, he's a trainer a district leader, and we're in a new area so I"m sure it's a little difficult for him but things are still good.
Mom you wouldn't believe how much different it is hear, but in good ways, the culture is different, and the things that people value the most are also different takes some getting used to, you really accept the culture. I'll try to get you the pictures as soon as possible they're great.
Your son, and your missionary
Elder Creager
-first week! Check done:) here's to many more!
Sunday, October 13, 2013
Made it!
Guess who made it to the PHILIPPINES....oh ya look at him:)
The mom got to talk to him at the airport and he was so excited and ready to go. He is so strong in all that he is doing. We also received a call from his mission president presidents wife telling us that he was safe and sound catching up on sleep before meeting his companion. Here's the letter we got from his first week at the Philippines.
Well we made it. The ride to Portland was about an hour, then from there it was a ten hour ride to Tokyo, I have some pictures of signs in Tokyo hope they sent. After an hour in Tokyo we got on our last ride to Manila, Four more hours and we were there. After getting bags we met President Tye and Sister Tye outside, we loaded are bags up and headed for the hotel where we would spend the night. All of the Elders rode with the Assistants in their van, the roads are the craziest thing, they all drive like I do, was a fun ride, motorcycles tricycles and jeepney's are all over the roads. I sent some pictures from inside the Hotel and from the window of the hotel.
The next morning it was back into the van and to the mission office where we meet are companions, Elder Villa is my companion he's from the Philippines, and lives further North on Luzon next to some Mango farms. He has two transfers left on his mission, so after the twelve weeks of training he's mission will be over. He's a great companion and knows a lot of english so we can usually understand each other.
The area we are in is very hilly, with a lot of houses and trees. Some areas have very nice houses but in others the houses are very small and the people very poor. Most of the area we are assigned to are very poor. There houses are made of what ever they can find. If it keeps the rain of they're happy. And when it rains hard.
We're in a new area so things are just getting started up. We taught a few lessons, but mostly we visited members and less actives, my Tagalog is good enough to bare my testimony or teach a little. The people are very friendy if your not comfortable when you sit down in there house you will be by the time you leave.
The first thing they'll ask you is where your from then how old you are. When we meet the branch president he joked that they would call me the young Joseph Smith, they all think I look very young. So every once in a while someone will call me the Young Joseph Smith, its pretty funny, I've felt very welcome from the time I've set foot here in the Philippines, the people are all very friendly, most of them can understand at least some English but its always better to learn tagalog, they've told us that we need to learn it, any free time we have I study it, I can put together sentances for lessons but my real goal is conversation, One thing thats different here is the culture the culture is different even in the way people speak, so to speak the language like a Filipino we have to learn whats normal for them, then use the language naturally. Tagalog is easy, but culture and how the language is used will take a little more practice. I'm working hard, and plan on learning it as fast as possible, with the help of Elder Villa.
Some foods I"ve eaten, lets see..lots of rice. And pork, chicken, bread, had a couple different kinds of fruit, just Saturday we had some kind of Bannana soup, all of it is very good, I plan on getting some Ballut later this week, I'll let you know how it is. It's supoosed to be just like chicken noodle soup.
We're leaving in an apartment building that has two stories, we're on the top, there some sisters on the bottom, one of them got here with us and was in a different zone in the MTC she is also getting trained, the Presdent said that the Cavite mission has 131 missionaries right now but by the end of the year there will be about 200, so its possible that the misisonaries being trained now could be trainers after the twelve weeks. I love here, the people help you feel very welcome, they are very honest about everything, they'll tell you what they think, bu there also very kind.
The streets here are very confusing, its hard for us to remember exactly were we are, a lot of members having been showing us around which has helped, with out them we would have no idea were anything is.
The Filipino's love cariokee and basketball, we can almost always here someone singing as we walk the streets, and there are a lot of courts, one of this days elder Villa and will go play a game at one of the courts. Another question people ask is do you play basketball, its a different being the tallest person on the streets but I like it.
To send email we go to a little building, you pay three pisos and then you have the computer for as long as you want. Everything costs very little here compared to America. A trike ride is about 10-20 piso, and a jeepney ride is about the same.
Almost every day we come home from teaching there are aunts on the floor, if you leave food out for a second they'll get it, so one day Elder Villa grabbed a piece of paper, lit it on the stove, tossed it on the ground, grabbed my handsanitizer and set them on fire. One of the coolest things I've seen here. He's says they've done it to roaches and spiders to.
Sorry about the spelling I'm in a hurry, thats all for now.
Elder Creager
...the Young Joseph Smith! I think that fits him pretty well:)
I love this kid!
look he even smiled:)
Well we made it. The ride to Portland was about an hour, then from there it was a ten hour ride to Tokyo, I have some pictures of signs in Tokyo hope they sent. After an hour in Tokyo we got on our last ride to Manila, Four more hours and we were there. After getting bags we met President Tye and Sister Tye outside, we loaded are bags up and headed for the hotel where we would spend the night. All of the Elders rode with the Assistants in their van, the roads are the craziest thing, they all drive like I do, was a fun ride, motorcycles tricycles and jeepney's are all over the roads. I sent some pictures from inside the Hotel and from the window of the hotel.
The next morning it was back into the van and to the mission office where we meet are companions, Elder Villa is my companion he's from the Philippines, and lives further North on Luzon next to some Mango farms. He has two transfers left on his mission, so after the twelve weeks of training he's mission will be over. He's a great companion and knows a lot of english so we can usually understand each other.
The area we are in is very hilly, with a lot of houses and trees. Some areas have very nice houses but in others the houses are very small and the people very poor. Most of the area we are assigned to are very poor. There houses are made of what ever they can find. If it keeps the rain of they're happy. And when it rains hard.
We're in a new area so things are just getting started up. We taught a few lessons, but mostly we visited members and less actives, my Tagalog is good enough to bare my testimony or teach a little. The people are very friendy if your not comfortable when you sit down in there house you will be by the time you leave.
The first thing they'll ask you is where your from then how old you are. When we meet the branch president he joked that they would call me the young Joseph Smith, they all think I look very young. So every once in a while someone will call me the Young Joseph Smith, its pretty funny, I've felt very welcome from the time I've set foot here in the Philippines, the people are all very friendly, most of them can understand at least some English but its always better to learn tagalog, they've told us that we need to learn it, any free time we have I study it, I can put together sentances for lessons but my real goal is conversation, One thing thats different here is the culture the culture is different even in the way people speak, so to speak the language like a Filipino we have to learn whats normal for them, then use the language naturally. Tagalog is easy, but culture and how the language is used will take a little more practice. I'm working hard, and plan on learning it as fast as possible, with the help of Elder Villa.
Some foods I"ve eaten, lets see..lots of rice. And pork, chicken, bread, had a couple different kinds of fruit, just Saturday we had some kind of Bannana soup, all of it is very good, I plan on getting some Ballut later this week, I'll let you know how it is. It's supoosed to be just like chicken noodle soup.
We're leaving in an apartment building that has two stories, we're on the top, there some sisters on the bottom, one of them got here with us and was in a different zone in the MTC she is also getting trained, the Presdent said that the Cavite mission has 131 missionaries right now but by the end of the year there will be about 200, so its possible that the misisonaries being trained now could be trainers after the twelve weeks. I love here, the people help you feel very welcome, they are very honest about everything, they'll tell you what they think, bu there also very kind.
The streets here are very confusing, its hard for us to remember exactly were we are, a lot of members having been showing us around which has helped, with out them we would have no idea were anything is.
The Filipino's love cariokee and basketball, we can almost always here someone singing as we walk the streets, and there are a lot of courts, one of this days elder Villa and will go play a game at one of the courts. Another question people ask is do you play basketball, its a different being the tallest person on the streets but I like it.
To send email we go to a little building, you pay three pisos and then you have the computer for as long as you want. Everything costs very little here compared to America. A trike ride is about 10-20 piso, and a jeepney ride is about the same.
Almost every day we come home from teaching there are aunts on the floor, if you leave food out for a second they'll get it, so one day Elder Villa grabbed a piece of paper, lit it on the stove, tossed it on the ground, grabbed my handsanitizer and set them on fire. One of the coolest things I've seen here. He's says they've done it to roaches and spiders to.
Sorry about the spelling I'm in a hurry, thats all for now.
Elder Creager
...the Young Joseph Smith! I think that fits him pretty well:)
I love this kid!
Sunday, September 22, 2013
Last MTC email!
This is the last MTC email...
I am so excited for Corey and the mission in the Philippines he is about to embark on. He is so so excited and so ready to serve and he knows exactly where his heart is and what he should be doing:) He is ready!
Here are a few district pictures that was taken of District B
Well family the time has come. Two days and counting until liftoff to the land of the Philippines. We'll be leaving early in the morning of the 23rd for our flights, and then after hours of flying the real work and real adventure will begin.Then comes the first Jeepney ride, the first lesson, the first conversation with a real Filipino. I"m not afraid. but I have one desire, which is this to be everything god knows I can be. This is the time for my mission, and I'm going to make every moment count, don't ever doubt that. I believe in success, and that if we do everything we can then there will be happiness and success. I won't become discouraged I won't fear because our Heavenly Father is with us through and through, as long as we stand with him all will be well. I know that if we do all we can and stay close to god he will respect our efforts. I'm feeling really good Mom and Dad don't worry about me, I'm not even worried about me. I'm happy I'm healthy I'm feeling strong and I really hope you are too. There's a short video by president Hinckley called the war in Heaven, please watch it. The reality is that we've already chosen victory we've already chosen to win before this life began, there's no reason to make the choice more than once. There is no reason to doubt, Mormon 9:25, Alma 56:47. One of our teachers had us read Alma 26 with him, it is the missionary chapter.
Last week Elder Johnston and I gave the best lesson we have ever given, everything went perfectly, we taught to our investigators needs we followed promptings we felt the spirit stronger than we had the entire time at the MTC, and we knew that our Heavenly Father had helped us. It felt amazing. Just before that we had taught some other lessons, one of them was to a lady who grew up in the Philippines she told us we had funny accents, and laughed at us a lot, which we didn't mind, we're both pretty funny, but at the end of the lesson she told us that she wasn't laughing at us, it's part of the culture of the people in Philippines to laugh a lot, if they're a little uncomfortable they'll usually just burst out laughing, at least thats what she said. You know the most incredible thing about the Philippines is that the people there are the happiest people in the world and they're are also some of the poorest, it goes to show what matters most. I think everyone could take a real lesson from the people of Philippines. Another thing about filipino's is that to them it's rude not to accept an invitation, so sometimes they'll say yes to baptism or a commitment when they really don't want to do it. Which causes some problems, our teacher told us that we should explain that we are there for them and not for us and that every decision they make is up to them.
Everyone in our district knows that the language we'll be difficult and there's going to be some tough weeks, when we first get there. Our teacher Brother Mauzey gave us a challenge, the challenge is to try to be the missionary you want to be at the end of your mission on the first day of your mission. Whatever you see yourself being at the end be it at the beginning. I had some doubts about how much I can really give the first few weeks in the field, one of the other elders and I were talking about, he told me he had the same question. But a friend of his told him that even if you can't speak the language well or contribute to a lesson you can still always serve others. If we do all we can god will always respect our efforts.
One of the sisters in our district was playing volleyball with us during gym time and broke her thumb. My companion rapped it for her and then she went to the MTC clinic. Turns our she has to wait ten weeks before she can go to the Philippines, and if Elder Johnston hadn't of wrapped her finger it could of ended up being even longer.
Thanks for the package food is always good. I'm about half way packed right now, I'm going to finish tonight, then there's Sunday and then we're off. I'll let you know as soon as possible how everything goes. Good luck to all of you in everything you do, talk to you soon.
Elder Creager
.....and we got a suprise second email:)
Got a little more time so here's some more.
The whole purpose of the gospel is to find happiness and peace. And the real way to peace is through the Atonement. Through the Atonement we can be cleansed from anything, every regret every disappointment every pain every weakness every sorrow anything that has caused us disappointment or guilt can be cleansed by the healing power of the atonement. Each day as we begin and end a day we can ask forgiveness of our mistakes and of the weakness and sin that causes misfortune, we can literally cast our burdens upon the lord and be freed from them. Each day is a new clean slate because of the atonement. Alma 42:24 only the truly penitent can be saved. D&C 131:6. Without the Atonement there is no hope, no joy, no happiness. There's a CD of a book called the infinite Atonement down in my room, if you get a chance listen to it.
The Atonement is central to our religion, without it literally nothing works. Christ could have chosen to die at anytime but he suffered through everything in the event of Crucifixion even after he had suffered every feeling of sadness, pain, and misery the world had or ever would endure. To add to the pain Christ had never sinned he had never felt guilt or misery, which adds a whole other amount to how much he really did for us.
Even with the Atonement being essential to the existence of our religion, and our purpose on earth it seems to be the least understood of almost any doctrine, this is almost certainly because the adversary himself desires us to live this life lonely and alone, separated from the joy and power of an infinite atonement. Sometimes we don't truly understand everything it can really do for us. Let's not let him dampen the power of the atonement or our belief in this power. We don't walk this life alone we walk side by side with the savior he is are master, our friend, our teacher, he's the life and the light of all things. Every thing that compelith to believe in god and do good is of god.
If you have a chance watch "only a stonecutter" its an inspiring story of a man who was a stoncutter for the salt lake temple and carve the words "Holiness to the lord the house of the lord" in gold on the side. Dad I think you'll especially like it.
It makes me ask the question I'm I really doing all I can?
Will I look back on this moment from eternity and have no regrets?
Will I be able to stand before god and say I gave it all, every opportunity every moment, every chance, and I did it for you?
One of the gems of teaching is to ask soul searching questions, there is nothing better than a question that searches the soul. Whats interesting is that the best teachers the wisest the greatest and most spiritual, teach through questions, a question prompts others to think and to teach themselves while the teacher is just a director of the learning. It's interesting that in the our purpose statement for missionary work, it says "help others come unto Christ" it does not say teach. It is my strong belief and conviction that we as missionaries help the spirit to teach others. He does the teaching we our but an aid to his great work. Through faith miracles are wrought, through faith the gifts of the spirit our obtained, (Moroni 10) Wo be to those who doubt miracles, miracles cease because of unbelief. I believe in miracles.
I know I'm not perfect but I do my best,l I want you to know I love you, and when I think back on you and the experience's we've had I'm inspired and lifted to "be something more"
Alma 26 really is a great chapter, lets glory in god just as Ammon. I believe in all of you, I hope we all believe in greatness, I believe each of you our great.
One other video I think its called "spreading doubt" by presidnt Hinckley is also very powerful, his video's our the best I've seen. They've really helped me.
We'll I've written a lot, I've shared how I fill about some things. One of my biggest desires is for all of you to be as happy as you can possibly be. So believe in yourselves and if there's anything I can do for you if there's a question you have let me know. We're not always promised happiness but are promised "peace in this life" which is to me pure happiness.
Let's enjoy life keep on keepin on, and have a good time. Until next time. And hoping I've helped you and wanting you to know I'm happy.
Your boy:
Elder Corey James Creager
We're excited for him! As you can tell he has such a strong testimony of the gospel and his mission. I'm remembering his desire and making it mine.
"I have one desire, which is this to be everything god knows I can be"
I am so excited for Corey and the mission in the Philippines he is about to embark on. He is so so excited and so ready to serve and he knows exactly where his heart is and what he should be doing:) He is ready!
Here are a few district pictures that was taken of District B
*Funny picture
Here's a good one:)
Last week Elder Johnston and I gave the best lesson we have ever given, everything went perfectly, we taught to our investigators needs we followed promptings we felt the spirit stronger than we had the entire time at the MTC, and we knew that our Heavenly Father had helped us. It felt amazing. Just before that we had taught some other lessons, one of them was to a lady who grew up in the Philippines she told us we had funny accents, and laughed at us a lot, which we didn't mind, we're both pretty funny, but at the end of the lesson she told us that she wasn't laughing at us, it's part of the culture of the people in Philippines to laugh a lot, if they're a little uncomfortable they'll usually just burst out laughing, at least thats what she said. You know the most incredible thing about the Philippines is that the people there are the happiest people in the world and they're are also some of the poorest, it goes to show what matters most. I think everyone could take a real lesson from the people of Philippines. Another thing about filipino's is that to them it's rude not to accept an invitation, so sometimes they'll say yes to baptism or a commitment when they really don't want to do it. Which causes some problems, our teacher told us that we should explain that we are there for them and not for us and that every decision they make is up to them.
Everyone in our district knows that the language we'll be difficult and there's going to be some tough weeks, when we first get there. Our teacher Brother Mauzey gave us a challenge, the challenge is to try to be the missionary you want to be at the end of your mission on the first day of your mission. Whatever you see yourself being at the end be it at the beginning. I had some doubts about how much I can really give the first few weeks in the field, one of the other elders and I were talking about, he told me he had the same question. But a friend of his told him that even if you can't speak the language well or contribute to a lesson you can still always serve others. If we do all we can god will always respect our efforts.
One of the sisters in our district was playing volleyball with us during gym time and broke her thumb. My companion rapped it for her and then she went to the MTC clinic. Turns our she has to wait ten weeks before she can go to the Philippines, and if Elder Johnston hadn't of wrapped her finger it could of ended up being even longer.
Thanks for the package food is always good. I'm about half way packed right now, I'm going to finish tonight, then there's Sunday and then we're off. I'll let you know as soon as possible how everything goes. Good luck to all of you in everything you do, talk to you soon.
Elder Creager
.....and we got a suprise second email:)
Got a little more time so here's some more.
The whole purpose of the gospel is to find happiness and peace. And the real way to peace is through the Atonement. Through the Atonement we can be cleansed from anything, every regret every disappointment every pain every weakness every sorrow anything that has caused us disappointment or guilt can be cleansed by the healing power of the atonement. Each day as we begin and end a day we can ask forgiveness of our mistakes and of the weakness and sin that causes misfortune, we can literally cast our burdens upon the lord and be freed from them. Each day is a new clean slate because of the atonement. Alma 42:24 only the truly penitent can be saved. D&C 131:6. Without the Atonement there is no hope, no joy, no happiness. There's a CD of a book called the infinite Atonement down in my room, if you get a chance listen to it.
The Atonement is central to our religion, without it literally nothing works. Christ could have chosen to die at anytime but he suffered through everything in the event of Crucifixion even after he had suffered every feeling of sadness, pain, and misery the world had or ever would endure. To add to the pain Christ had never sinned he had never felt guilt or misery, which adds a whole other amount to how much he really did for us.
Even with the Atonement being essential to the existence of our religion, and our purpose on earth it seems to be the least understood of almost any doctrine, this is almost certainly because the adversary himself desires us to live this life lonely and alone, separated from the joy and power of an infinite atonement. Sometimes we don't truly understand everything it can really do for us. Let's not let him dampen the power of the atonement or our belief in this power. We don't walk this life alone we walk side by side with the savior he is are master, our friend, our teacher, he's the life and the light of all things. Every thing that compelith to believe in god and do good is of god.
If you have a chance watch "only a stonecutter" its an inspiring story of a man who was a stoncutter for the salt lake temple and carve the words "Holiness to the lord the house of the lord" in gold on the side. Dad I think you'll especially like it.
It makes me ask the question I'm I really doing all I can?
Will I look back on this moment from eternity and have no regrets?
Will I be able to stand before god and say I gave it all, every opportunity every moment, every chance, and I did it for you?
One of the gems of teaching is to ask soul searching questions, there is nothing better than a question that searches the soul. Whats interesting is that the best teachers the wisest the greatest and most spiritual, teach through questions, a question prompts others to think and to teach themselves while the teacher is just a director of the learning. It's interesting that in the our purpose statement for missionary work, it says "help others come unto Christ" it does not say teach. It is my strong belief and conviction that we as missionaries help the spirit to teach others. He does the teaching we our but an aid to his great work. Through faith miracles are wrought, through faith the gifts of the spirit our obtained, (Moroni 10) Wo be to those who doubt miracles, miracles cease because of unbelief. I believe in miracles.
I know I'm not perfect but I do my best,l I want you to know I love you, and when I think back on you and the experience's we've had I'm inspired and lifted to "be something more"
Alma 26 really is a great chapter, lets glory in god just as Ammon. I believe in all of you, I hope we all believe in greatness, I believe each of you our great.
One other video I think its called "spreading doubt" by presidnt Hinckley is also very powerful, his video's our the best I've seen. They've really helped me.
We'll I've written a lot, I've shared how I fill about some things. One of my biggest desires is for all of you to be as happy as you can possibly be. So believe in yourselves and if there's anything I can do for you if there's a question you have let me know. We're not always promised happiness but are promised "peace in this life" which is to me pure happiness.
Let's enjoy life keep on keepin on, and have a good time. Until next time. And hoping I've helped you and wanting you to know I'm happy.
Your boy:
Elder Corey James Creager
We're excited for him! As you can tell he has such a strong testimony of the gospel and his mission. I'm remembering his desire and making it mine.
"I have one desire, which is this to be everything god knows I can be"
We love you so much Corey! Good luck with everything:)
Voice of the Spirit/Flight Plan:)
Here we go only 10 days left! We received a few more pictures from the Elder that I would like to share with you.
Here are the classy MTC rooms he has been living in...and he Loves them:)
Companion picture with Elder Johnston
Typical Corey picture right;)
"Another week at the MTC has past, and in ten days district 16b will take off from the Salt Lake airport to Portland, and then from Portland to the land of Tokyo. Then from Tokyo to the Philippines.
Mom and Dad I know things are going to be a lot different then they are here, and I can't tell you exactly how I'll react to them, but one' things for sure its not going to be easy. Maybe some people might be afraid to fly out to the other side of the world, and it would be a lie to tell you that I'm not nervous, because I am a little nervous, but I'm not afraid.
I've heard that missionaries can call there families from the airport so I'll let you know when I find out more about that. If I can call it will be between 5:00 A.M. and 8:00 A.M.
Thanks for sending letters its always great to get mail. Tell Andy to keep running, it's cool that he's doing Cross Country, my best high school memories come from cross county meets, football games and bon fires, so don't miss out on them. The bon fire is right before the Homecoming game they might of already had it, Andy will know about it for sure. One other thing, you know that when you loose your lunch at the end of a race you gave it your all. I hope you have fun with cross country Andy and keep getting better at it, give the team a hello for me.
I hope everything else is going good at home. Its great to hear about people getting mission calls, so let me know when they do. Sorry I don't have much to write, this week the weeks go so fast and then you can hardly remember whats happened. If you have time you should watch the Mormon message called "The voice of the spirit." One thing is for sure without we can't do much.
On Thursday of this week our district tried out for a musical number, they have one at every devotional, we tried out in front of the MTC presidents wife which was interesting, I played the piano, a sister played violin and a few others sang, its a great song, called Savor redeemer. They already had a musical number for this Sunday but not for the next, so we might be playing then. I forgot how much I like playing the piano, its a lot of fun.
The real works about to come. The MTC is pretty easy, but in ten days we'll be in the Philippines. I love being a missionary, there's no greater opportunity or responsibility, keep letting me know whats going on at home. I really like to hear about what each of you are doing. Thanks again for the time you take to write me."
Elder Creager
Here is the voice of the spirit video Corey was talking about. It is so true that "without (it) we can't do much" The spirit tells us so much in our lives and is something that we can always count on and cling too. I know that throughout my life it has been one of the few stable things that has kept me going and focused on what is important. I know that Corey has learned so much about the spirit. He know that the spirit is the teacher in all things and I know that he will trust it in all that he does.
Here are the classy MTC rooms he has been living in...and he Loves them:)
"Another week at the MTC has past, and in ten days district 16b will take off from the Salt Lake airport to Portland, and then from Portland to the land of Tokyo. Then from Tokyo to the Philippines.
Mom and Dad I know things are going to be a lot different then they are here, and I can't tell you exactly how I'll react to them, but one' things for sure its not going to be easy. Maybe some people might be afraid to fly out to the other side of the world, and it would be a lie to tell you that I'm not nervous, because I am a little nervous, but I'm not afraid.
I've heard that missionaries can call there families from the airport so I'll let you know when I find out more about that. If I can call it will be between 5:00 A.M. and 8:00 A.M.
Thanks for sending letters its always great to get mail. Tell Andy to keep running, it's cool that he's doing Cross Country, my best high school memories come from cross county meets, football games and bon fires, so don't miss out on them. The bon fire is right before the Homecoming game they might of already had it, Andy will know about it for sure. One other thing, you know that when you loose your lunch at the end of a race you gave it your all. I hope you have fun with cross country Andy and keep getting better at it, give the team a hello for me.
I hope everything else is going good at home. Its great to hear about people getting mission calls, so let me know when they do. Sorry I don't have much to write, this week the weeks go so fast and then you can hardly remember whats happened. If you have time you should watch the Mormon message called "The voice of the spirit." One thing is for sure without we can't do much.
On Thursday of this week our district tried out for a musical number, they have one at every devotional, we tried out in front of the MTC presidents wife which was interesting, I played the piano, a sister played violin and a few others sang, its a great song, called Savor redeemer. They already had a musical number for this Sunday but not for the next, so we might be playing then. I forgot how much I like playing the piano, its a lot of fun.
The real works about to come. The MTC is pretty easy, but in ten days we'll be in the Philippines. I love being a missionary, there's no greater opportunity or responsibility, keep letting me know whats going on at home. I really like to hear about what each of you are doing. Thanks again for the time you take to write me."
Elder Creager
Here is the voice of the spirit video Corey was talking about. It is so true that "without (it) we can't do much" The spirit tells us so much in our lives and is something that we can always count on and cling too. I know that throughout my life it has been one of the few stable things that has kept me going and focused on what is important. I know that Corey has learned so much about the spirit. He know that the spirit is the teacher in all things and I know that he will trust it in all that he does.
17 Days
Guess what! He's half way done being a the MTC! wow who would have thought that would come and go so fast.
Here is official missionary badge, doesn't that look great? He's doing so good and is getting more and more excited everyday to serve the people of the Philippines. Here is this weeks email.
We've got 17 days left before our district leaves. The district who got here two weeks before us leaves tomorrow. Then we'll be the oldest district in our zone which is awesome. Yesterday our district was on some computers doing language study, and a sister told me she new Amy, turns out it was Malarie Hanson whos going to the San Jose California mission.
Weeks go by so fast here that sometimes its hard to remember what happened. I got your letter and saw that Calebs (Corey's best friend from Roy) going to Dallas let him know that thats great. He'll probably be in the MTC for about two weeks, and then he'll be out in the field, teaching the gospel.
One of the elders in our room got a package yesterday there was some food and a article about the Philippines. It turns out that Manila is having some serious flooding because of typhoons, the philippines gets hit with about 20 bad ones a year, so the pilipinos are used to it, but they still cause a lot of damage. I honestly can't wait for a typhoon, call me crazy but I think there awesome. Because of the Typhoons missionaries end up doing a lot of service during typhoon season, serving others is what I'm most excited for we'll be able use what we are learning for real situations.
I'll have my flight plan by next week so I'll let you know what the plan is. There's still a lot of learning to do here, but it will be great to get out in the field and get to work.
Our temple day is here again, and then another Sunday with a devotional. Last Sunday we had a speaker come who is the president of the Philippines MTC. He talked about the building and what it was like to serve there as president. It's always great to hear about the Philippines.
One thing about the MTC that we've all noticed is that is completely separates you from the outside world, the only information we get from the outside usually come in letter or articles. I think it helps us focus on the work, but sometimes I wonder if anything news happened since we've been in here.
We should have new zone leaders this Sunday so everyone's interested in who they'll be. I'm still trying to figure our how to send pictures, its not all that easy here, but my companion and I are working on it.
Thanks for the letters and sorry if I haven't answered some of your questions, I forget to take your letters with me to the lab so I forget what you've asked. If you've got questions it would be great if you sent them in an email. Things our going great, hope its the same for all of you. Until next week
Elder Creager
We finally got some pictures from the Elder! He always talks about how he loves going to the temple so here are a few from that.
Sisters in his district
Elders in the district
Just like Corey, I know that the Temple is not only amazing, it's the place we can go to find peace. It's place we can go to serve others in a way that you can't anyway else. I'm so glad that he gets to experience the blessings of the Temple know and that he is loving every minute of it.
Sunday, September 1, 2013
#3 Sacrifice
I can't even believe it! He's been out for almost half of the time spent in the MTC. In about 3 weeks he will be going here:)
What use to be an at least 9 week amount of time spent in the MTC has now been cut down to 6! Can you even believe that these young missionaries are able to learn so much in so little time? The spirit is truly with these missionaries. In the next few emails we will probably learn about his flight plan. As Elder Creager said, "It's like a mini mission call" so that will be super exciting for him. Here's what was going on this past week.
Well day 17 of the MTC has begun! The MTC experience for district 16b is almost halfway over. Here's some crazy stuff that's happened since last week.
Elder Neil Anderson the apostle came and spoke to us on the Tuesday night devotional at the Marriott center. Gave a great talk that was of course on missionary work, the title of the talk was love and sacrifice heres a few quick lines form his talk. "we sacrifice what we love, and love the things we sacrifice for", "you might never know what impact what you say has on people" As missionaries sometimes we never see the results of the work we do, and sometimes its that way in life to. Its just a witness to me that you always do your best because you never know what impact your words might have on the lives of others. At the end of the talk, the MTC presidency told us to stay in our seats because there was a thunderstorm outside with some lightning. So for about twenty minutes we sat inside the marriott center and sung hymns. Elder Anderson got up and started shaking some hands. Some sisters in our district were one person off from shaking his hand, and some other sisters in our district got to shake his hand. It was really cool. Now it is just a handshake but an apostle is a special witness of Jesus Christ there are only a few of those on the entire earth. After Elder Anderson shook some hands they let us leave, it was still raining outside so we got pretty soaked on the walk back to the MTC.
Our building here at the MTC is very old, there going to be tearing it down in a few weeks, so we might have to move buildings, which could be interesting, there were some workers at the res. yesterday talking some measurements but hopefully we're out of here before they tear down the building. (That way we won't have to switch buildings) We got a new district in this week, and the districts who have been here 4 weeks got there flight plans. Time goes by so fast here.
The language is actually getting much easier. I was struggling a bit this last week everyone in our district was. But after some prayer and some lessons on sentence organization I'm feeling really good about it. Something that I never understood until now is that sentences are organized differently in other languages, memorizing words isn't all that hard but forming sentences is what takes a little more work. I"m shooting for memorizing 40-50 words a day, we'll see how it goes.
I'm looking forward to the Temple, we go every Saturday as a zone, the temple is really a place where we can learn. It's one of my favorite times of the week.
One more thing, In the time my companion and I have been here we've seen two of the Elders who our in "The District" and our now returned missionaries, both of them work at the MTC. People might not recognize them outside the MTC but there famous inside it.
I hope I'm writing some things that will help you. The MTC is something you can't understand unless you've been here. Tell Grandpa Kelsey thanks for sending a me a dear elder, mail is always great. *(shout out to Grandpa)
Until next week:
Your son and your brother
Elder Creager
"we sacrifice what we love, and love the things we sacrifice for", "you might never know what impact what you say has on people"
map view
landscape view
Well day 17 of the MTC has begun! The MTC experience for district 16b is almost halfway over. Here's some crazy stuff that's happened since last week.
Elder Neil Anderson the apostle came and spoke to us on the Tuesday night devotional at the Marriott center. Gave a great talk that was of course on missionary work, the title of the talk was love and sacrifice heres a few quick lines form his talk. "we sacrifice what we love, and love the things we sacrifice for", "you might never know what impact what you say has on people" As missionaries sometimes we never see the results of the work we do, and sometimes its that way in life to. Its just a witness to me that you always do your best because you never know what impact your words might have on the lives of others. At the end of the talk, the MTC presidency told us to stay in our seats because there was a thunderstorm outside with some lightning. So for about twenty minutes we sat inside the marriott center and sung hymns. Elder Anderson got up and started shaking some hands. Some sisters in our district were one person off from shaking his hand, and some other sisters in our district got to shake his hand. It was really cool. Now it is just a handshake but an apostle is a special witness of Jesus Christ there are only a few of those on the entire earth. After Elder Anderson shook some hands they let us leave, it was still raining outside so we got pretty soaked on the walk back to the MTC.
Our building here at the MTC is very old, there going to be tearing it down in a few weeks, so we might have to move buildings, which could be interesting, there were some workers at the res. yesterday talking some measurements but hopefully we're out of here before they tear down the building. (That way we won't have to switch buildings) We got a new district in this week, and the districts who have been here 4 weeks got there flight plans. Time goes by so fast here.
The language is actually getting much easier. I was struggling a bit this last week everyone in our district was. But after some prayer and some lessons on sentence organization I'm feeling really good about it. Something that I never understood until now is that sentences are organized differently in other languages, memorizing words isn't all that hard but forming sentences is what takes a little more work. I"m shooting for memorizing 40-50 words a day, we'll see how it goes.
I'm looking forward to the Temple, we go every Saturday as a zone, the temple is really a place where we can learn. It's one of my favorite times of the week.
One more thing, In the time my companion and I have been here we've seen two of the Elders who our in "The District" and our now returned missionaries, both of them work at the MTC. People might not recognize them outside the MTC but there famous inside it.
I hope I'm writing some things that will help you. The MTC is something you can't understand unless you've been here. Tell Grandpa Kelsey thanks for sending a me a dear elder, mail is always great. *(shout out to Grandpa)
Until next week:
Your son and your brother
Elder Creager
"we sacrifice what we love, and love the things we sacrifice for", "you might never know what impact what you say has on people"
Work hard Elder! You will have an impact on others without even knowing it...You've already impacted us:)
#2 Realization
He's been out a full week! Look at how fast the time is flying. He's singing, playing the piano, shooting hoops, learning Tagalog and turning into a spiritual giant:)
Graduation May 2013
Well, first full week of the MTC is over and it flew by. Last Tuesday I actually went and sung in the choir for the Tuesday night devotionals. Elder Johnston and I aren't big fans of singing but our whole district was doing it so we went along. Was actually a cool experience we didn't sound very good (Elder Johnston and I) but it was great to be a part of it. The speaker at the devotional was a seventy who had been been president over some Filipino missions, he talked about missionary work and about being connected with our purpose which is to bring others to Christ through faith in Jesus Christ, repentance, baptism, the gifts of the holy ghost and enduring to the end. As missionaries it becomes easy to look at what your mission can do for you, but in reality a mission is all about others. Missionaries are a tool that brings others to the gospel.
The weeks and days here fly by so quickly that its difficult to find free time. And when there is free time I usually like to spend it relaxing or shooting basket on our res. Nerf hoop. So sorry for not sending you letters. I wrote one but you probably haven't got it yet so expect to get it soon. I've got a load of pictures just for you mom, I've just got to figure out how to put them on, so they should send with this email I'm hoping, if not next time for sure.
On Sunday night we also had a devotional, by someone with the last name sikehema can't remember his first name. He played in the miracle bowl with Jim Mcmann, and in a couple of pro bowls, in the NFL, and is now a news anchor for NBC and has covered several Olympics with NBC. But he said that none of the experiences he had through sports or media ever matched up to the experience of serving a mission. He talked about one special experience in Kansas City (where he served) He and his companion we're going to the sports store to buy some Tennis Balls, and the store owner asked them why they were both named elder. That started a conversation that led to lessons and then baptism. This man (his name was Bob) and Sikehema became good friends, they're still friends this day and it has been 30 years since they first met. pretty sweet story. What was even cooler is that bob spoke at the devotional to, so you had a missionary and someone he had helped convert speaking together 30 years after it all happened it was great.
The Tagalog is coming slowly. Were doing our best to get as far ahead in the language as possible. One of our teachers said that it took him 4 months living in the country to be able to speak comfortably with people and 8 months before he felt like he could speak to anyone. So there is definitely a lot of hard work ahead. But we put are trust in god, because we know he can do all things if we will believe. The greatest lesson we've learned so far is that we can not under any circumstance rely on ourselves, we can not teach without gods help the spirit has to be with us. D&C 42:14 "if ye receive not the spirit ye shall not teach" We don't say what we want to say we say what Heavenly Father would say we act as he would. Throughout my day I often ask myself what would the savior do? How would he act? How would he respond?
It has been said that its hard to have a negative attitude when your life is centered on Christ, and boy is that ever true. Give it a try sometime, after all it has always been said and always will be said that we should follow the example of Jesus Christ.
I may sound like I'm perfect or I"m doing fantastic (which is true) but I still have much to learn, I know the direction I should go, I know the fathers will and this is the time to do it. Here' a story of a realization.
About Tuesday night I started to get a sore throat which went from, soreness to a cough through the next three days(don't worry mom now i"m fine) I went to the clinic and got some medicine to take, but I never really understood why I got sick, it made it difficult to focus on the work and was sort of a distraction, i asked myself why would our Father in Heaven let me get sick in the MTC? I know its really just a small and minor thing but why, I felt like it hindered my growth for a few days. But I think that being a little sick helped come to a realization of purpose, it slowed me down a little, took me from a focus on fun,(which is just fine) and brought me to some spirituality. If you have time look up the Mormon message by the apostle Christoferson that talks about the little current bush and the Gardner you should be able to find it, do it for a family home evening or something. "God love's us enough that he is willing to cut us down"
One last thing before we rap it up. Dad you'd be happy to know that I played the piano for our district meeting. They asked for someone to play and I wasn't going to, but the other elders in district sold me out. So I played. Till next time, Your son, your brother, your missionary. Love you always, and always yours.
Elder Corey James Creager
"God love's us enough that he is willing to cut us down" What a great statement that is. Heavenly father always knows what is best for us! He will challenge us and push us in our lives but only to help us grow. One of my favorite quotes that is such a great life message relates to what Elder Creager was saying here.
We have to trust God! He know's what he is doing and he will never let us fall! Just as it says in Alma 38:5 "As much as ye put your trust in God even so much ye shall be delivered out of your trials, troubles and afflictions" Cling to God and everything will work out:)
There you go week number two in the MTC sounds pretty successful! Corey is growing and learning so much so quickly that we can hardly keep up with him!
p.s: We ended up not receiving any pictures this week...and have yet to. So hopefully sometime soon we will have some pictures up for you!
Wednesday, August 21, 2013
#1 MTC time:)
Guess what? Elder Creager sent us his first email! Yeah best news ever. Just reading through it gives me the chills...and shhhhh, don't tell but it definitely made my mom cry. He's doing good so far, writing in Tagalog and meeting all kinds of great people. Here it is for you:)
Alright I've got a few stories to tell that are pretty cool. Right after you dropped me off here I was walking with my host along the sidewalk with my bags and the first person I saw was Thomas! I mean Elder Day. He was saying goodbye to his family. So Elder Day and me went through the lines and got our missionary badges and cards together. Then after that my host took me to my room where we met our companions and room mates, they are all great elders and we're already becoming good friends as I told you Elder Johnston is my companion he's from Bowsman Montana and we've been friends from the beginning. The other set of Elders rooming with us are all form Utah, who could of guessed that? About a half hour after getting here they threw all of us straight into class, where our Teacher Sister Scotts spoke one hundred percent Tagalog the entire rime, so we couldn't understand a thing. It was really tough. But is the best way to learn.
One cool thing about our branch is that there are six Elders and Six Sisters in it. The Elders and I love the sisters because there so good at the language. We always go to them for help with the language and pronouncing words, a few of them learned a lot of it before they came here so we could say that they know a lot more than us. All of the Elders in are res. our going to the Same mission Cavite, this means that we'll probably be future Mga Kasama (companions) and it is basically a known that we'll fly out together, which is great. I found out that we leave form the MTC on September 23 not September 25.
Later on in the day we met our zone leaders and had a branch conference where we met the branch presidency. At this meeting district leaders were going to be assigned. Elder Johnston and I didn't know that we were supposed to where are suits to the meeting. So right as we walked in the door the branch president sent us back to get them. We joked on the way back that because we forgot our suits we were probably ruled out as district leaders. We were right! The Elder assigned as our District Leader was Elder Burbidge and he's the right Elder for the job.
The great thing about the MTC is that every day gets better than the last. The first two days here were definitely the hardest and longest. It's hard to know exactly what to tell you because every day is full of classes and study, and the language just fries your brain. So much memorization and study and repetition. We have learned how to bare are testimonies and pray in Tagalog. and we have basic greetings down. To me the language is one of my favorite parts of the MTC learning new words and being able to say new things is fun, and it makes me feel Masaya (happy). We gave our first lesson in Tagalog yesterday to an "Investigator" who is really an R.M. who works here. We taught about prayers and faith, and had him read a few scriptures like Alma 22:16, we struggled with the langauge and had to have a script for most of what we said, but overall I believe we did the bests we could, with what we knew at the time. We paid attention to his needs and helping him. It was one of my favorite experiences so far and we'll continue to have more and more of them.
I hope that I can help you understand whats going on here and how I feel, but its a feeling and expierence that no one can understand fully unless they've been here. This is honestly the happiest place in the world. No one can keep from feeling happy especially after the first few days have passed and you've settled in. Even though this expeirence is hard to relate to you I"ll do my best to help you share in this experience. Last night I was thinking about how I've felt just in the past few days of being here. I can honestly say that I wish the rest of my entire life could be spent as a servant of our Heavenly Father and sharing his gospel. This is the greatest most Totoo (true) message you could ever share with anyone. So through out the next weeks each time I write I"ve decided to share what I see to be the most important experiences I've had at he MTC feel free to ask question about what its like here, or about anything I would love to answer them. If Ashley, or Andy or Amy or any of you has a question please ask.
The book store has anything and everything you could possibly need. You know how I didn't bring any hangers. We'll I looked in the closet expecting there to be hangers there but.. there weren't! I thought this is going to be a long six week, but I was saved by the bookstore and got a handful of hangers for like 90 cents. Here at the MTC we have cards that you use to get into the the residence building or classrooms, and to eat. The greatest thing about his card is that the Training Center puts six dollars a week on the card, so the hangers cost me nothing. But if the six dollars isn't spent it keeps building on your card every week. A lot of the districts save up there card money and then buy snacks from the Book store to have a party. That's on our plan of things to do.
One exciting thing here is flight plans, a flight plan tells you of course where you'll fly from and what countries you'll go to, and who you'll fly with when you take off for your country. Elder Johnston and I have seen people opening them, to me it's like a mini mission call, everyone is so excited when they see where they get to fly to and the friends they get to ride with its awesome. We won't get those for at least a few weeks.
The food here is like eating at a restaurant for every meal. The burgers here are the best you can't beat them, and I tried Bryson's Cookies and Cream milk it's fantastic. So know that I am being fed well.
Also make sure Amy knows that I got here letter, tell her thanks! Yesterday I met some one else I know from highschool Elder Hughes. We talked for a bit.
I'm doing great, feeling good, and am masaya, couldn't be better. Can't wait to here whats happenin at home! Inga po (goodbye) We'll hear from ya soon.
Doesn't he sound great? We love that kid. This cute girl told him that she would be writing him in Tagalog (by using her dictionary given to her by her big brother) on one side of the letter and in English the other side. Pretty soon I think he wont need that English translation at all. Keep going little brother!
Alright I've got a few stories to tell that are pretty cool. Right after you dropped me off here I was walking with my host along the sidewalk with my bags and the first person I saw was Thomas! I mean Elder Day. He was saying goodbye to his family. So Elder Day and me went through the lines and got our missionary badges and cards together. Then after that my host took me to my room where we met our companions and room mates, they are all great elders and we're already becoming good friends as I told you Elder Johnston is my companion he's from Bowsman Montana and we've been friends from the beginning. The other set of Elders rooming with us are all form Utah, who could of guessed that? About a half hour after getting here they threw all of us straight into class, where our Teacher Sister Scotts spoke one hundred percent Tagalog the entire rime, so we couldn't understand a thing. It was really tough. But is the best way to learn.
One cool thing about our branch is that there are six Elders and Six Sisters in it. The Elders and I love the sisters because there so good at the language. We always go to them for help with the language and pronouncing words, a few of them learned a lot of it before they came here so we could say that they know a lot more than us. All of the Elders in are res. our going to the Same mission Cavite, this means that we'll probably be future Mga Kasama (companions) and it is basically a known that we'll fly out together, which is great. I found out that we leave form the MTC on September 23 not September 25.
Later on in the day we met our zone leaders and had a branch conference where we met the branch presidency. At this meeting district leaders were going to be assigned. Elder Johnston and I didn't know that we were supposed to where are suits to the meeting. So right as we walked in the door the branch president sent us back to get them. We joked on the way back that because we forgot our suits we were probably ruled out as district leaders. We were right! The Elder assigned as our District Leader was Elder Burbidge and he's the right Elder for the job.
The great thing about the MTC is that every day gets better than the last. The first two days here were definitely the hardest and longest. It's hard to know exactly what to tell you because every day is full of classes and study, and the language just fries your brain. So much memorization and study and repetition. We have learned how to bare are testimonies and pray in Tagalog. and we have basic greetings down. To me the language is one of my favorite parts of the MTC learning new words and being able to say new things is fun, and it makes me feel Masaya (happy). We gave our first lesson in Tagalog yesterday to an "Investigator" who is really an R.M. who works here. We taught about prayers and faith, and had him read a few scriptures like Alma 22:16, we struggled with the langauge and had to have a script for most of what we said, but overall I believe we did the bests we could, with what we knew at the time. We paid attention to his needs and helping him. It was one of my favorite experiences so far and we'll continue to have more and more of them.
I hope that I can help you understand whats going on here and how I feel, but its a feeling and expierence that no one can understand fully unless they've been here. This is honestly the happiest place in the world. No one can keep from feeling happy especially after the first few days have passed and you've settled in. Even though this expeirence is hard to relate to you I"ll do my best to help you share in this experience. Last night I was thinking about how I've felt just in the past few days of being here. I can honestly say that I wish the rest of my entire life could be spent as a servant of our Heavenly Father and sharing his gospel. This is the greatest most Totoo (true) message you could ever share with anyone. So through out the next weeks each time I write I"ve decided to share what I see to be the most important experiences I've had at he MTC feel free to ask question about what its like here, or about anything I would love to answer them. If Ashley, or Andy or Amy or any of you has a question please ask.
The book store has anything and everything you could possibly need. You know how I didn't bring any hangers. We'll I looked in the closet expecting there to be hangers there but.. there weren't! I thought this is going to be a long six week, but I was saved by the bookstore and got a handful of hangers for like 90 cents. Here at the MTC we have cards that you use to get into the the residence building or classrooms, and to eat. The greatest thing about his card is that the Training Center puts six dollars a week on the card, so the hangers cost me nothing. But if the six dollars isn't spent it keeps building on your card every week. A lot of the districts save up there card money and then buy snacks from the Book store to have a party. That's on our plan of things to do.
One exciting thing here is flight plans, a flight plan tells you of course where you'll fly from and what countries you'll go to, and who you'll fly with when you take off for your country. Elder Johnston and I have seen people opening them, to me it's like a mini mission call, everyone is so excited when they see where they get to fly to and the friends they get to ride with its awesome. We won't get those for at least a few weeks.
The food here is like eating at a restaurant for every meal. The burgers here are the best you can't beat them, and I tried Bryson's Cookies and Cream milk it's fantastic. So know that I am being fed well.
Also make sure Amy knows that I got here letter, tell her thanks! Yesterday I met some one else I know from highschool Elder Hughes. We talked for a bit.
Doesn't he sound great? We love that kid. This cute girl told him that she would be writing him in Tagalog (by using her dictionary given to her by her big brother) on one side of the letter and in English the other side. Pretty soon I think he wont need that English translation at all. Keep going little brother!
Thursday, August 15, 2013
He's off
We made it! Elder Creager is at the MTC...were going on 33 hours...and counting...haha I know, I know...let's just go with we have two years left:)
Wednesday we dropped him off at the Provo MTC. Let's just say the drive there was probably the longest of all of our lives. Especially Coreys.
The good news is we made it! On time and everything:)
The MTC is amazing. I still can't get over how cool it was to see all of the Elders and Sisters working together to make sure that all of the incoming missionaries were taken care of. We were in awe at the organization and the spirit surrounding that beautiful place.
Elder Creager jumped out and he's off:)
We're excited for you Corey! He're is to serving the Lord for the next two years with all of your heart. We are so excited to hear all about your experience and we're by your side every step of the way.
Missionaries are amazing the power they have and the spirit that is with them is so strong. Through them the holy ghost touches lives and changes hearts. Through all that they do, they are making a difference in someones lives in someway right now. This video by Al Fox is just one testament of how huge of a blessing missionaries are
Of course we'll miss him! But two years isn't so long right? The blessings that surround a mission are worth it and mean so much more.
We love you:)
Wednesday we dropped him off at the Provo MTC. Let's just say the drive there was probably the longest of all of our lives. Especially Coreys.
The good news is we made it! On time and everything:)
 |
| final goodbye from the little sis |
Elder Creager jumped out and he's off:)
Missionaries are amazing the power they have and the spirit that is with them is so strong. Through them the holy ghost touches lives and changes hearts. Through all that they do, they are making a difference in someones lives in someway right now. This video by Al Fox is just one testament of how huge of a blessing missionaries are
Of course we'll miss him! But two years isn't so long right? The blessings that surround a mission are worth it and mean so much more.
We love you:)
Tuesday, August 13, 2013
Last Day
Well here we go!
See this guy?
Doesn't he look good?
Yes! He is leaving for a mission...tomorrow.
Elder Creager received his call back in May. His call came unexpectedly as a sneaky bishop and stake president sent his papers in while telling us he still needed to wait. Can you imagine our reactions when this big white envelope came in the mail?
Let's just say the texts and multiple calls I received while at school that day were fantastic! So the call was answered and the results were....
The Philippines Cavite mission August 14th tagalog speaking. Cavite is a new mission that has just barely been open in the Philippines in July. Corey actually had the opportunity to meet his mission president and wife before they left for the Philippines. Some how we are now here. August 13th one day left. How did we spend it? Only at a place that draws us closer together.
It was great to spend the day together around temple square. The spirit there is amazing. As we went throughout the day it was nice just being together as a family. Two years is a long time and we will miss Corey like nothing else. However, knowing that he will be doing great things and is doing exactly what our heavenly father wants is priceless. The people of the Philippines are very lucky to have Elder Creager. Be ready for one outstanding missionary:)
See this guy?
Doesn't he look good?
Yes! He is leaving for a mission...tomorrow.
Elder Creager received his call back in May. His call came unexpectedly as a sneaky bishop and stake president sent his papers in while telling us he still needed to wait. Can you imagine our reactions when this big white envelope came in the mail?
 |
| Salt Lake Temple |
It was great to spend the day together around temple square. The spirit there is amazing. As we went throughout the day it was nice just being together as a family. Two years is a long time and we will miss Corey like nothing else. However, knowing that he will be doing great things and is doing exactly what our heavenly father wants is priceless. The people of the Philippines are very lucky to have Elder Creager. Be ready for one outstanding missionary:)
Luke 9:24 "And whosoever will save his life shall lose it: but whosoever will lose his life for my sake, the same shall save it."
Go lose yourself Corey! We love you:)
P.S. Here is some final advice Ashley gave to her big brother. How much better can it get?
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)