Keep Your Shoes On

Tao ko,

Well to start off this spiritual email I would like relate the following experience of how I learned, the hard way, that I need to fear God more than man. 

Last week we had our zone activity with the missionaries. As zone leaders we're in charge of planning the zone activity and there's a lot more at stake then you might think. Missionaries will judge and rate how effective of a zone leader you are by how fun your zone activity is. Knowing this I wanted to have a awesome zone activity that would be remembered. Be careful what you wish for. 

There's a place here in Baguio City called Camp John Hay, it's a old US army base from the 60's and now it's for public use. Well they have this field that is isolated and is surrounded by hills and trees, but there's a huge flat plain in the middle. So if anyone had a real childhood they would instinctively know that this particular venue is perfect for Capture the Flag. Filipinos are not familiar with this amazing game that revels true character and skill. I decided to take the risk of having that as our zone activity. So we met as a zone at Camp John Hay early Monday morning (our P-day). The skies were a little cloudy and a GIANT cloud of fog came across the field and it was AWESOME. I explained the rules and we split up into teams. Elder Y picked all the fast Filipinos and Americans on his team and I had all the Samoans and Tongans on my team. You can obviously see that I'm more experienced in this game. After my team and I did a Tongan warrior dance of intimidation we started the game. Well, as the game went on all the Tongans and Samoans took off their shoes because they could run faster and it's kinda part of their culture. Knowing of the untamed field and the visible sharp rocks and sticks on the ground I decided against it. But my Polynesian team told me to take off my shoes. I know it's really not a big deal but I wanted to be accepted and part of this Island Brotherhood. So, it didn't take long for me to succumb to the peer pressure to take my shoes off.

This was probably the most intense capture the flag game I've ever played my whole life. With the natural elements like the fog and rain and the fact that the losing team will pay for lunch, we played like champions (Tongans will do anything for free food). As the game went on it came down to me and one Tongan elder on my team, Elder T, we were the only ones not in jail. With our fellow brothers in jail I told Elder T to stay and guard the flag and I charged out to the other teams flag. Okay I know we all are aware of my athletic ability but for some reason I ran faster. I was untouchable. I dodged through trees and ran past everyone and grabbed the flag and headed strait back to our side. As I was running back, I felt my foot step on something but maybe it was the adrenaline or maybe the Tongan cheers I heard, I didn't feel anything in the moment. As I dived to our side my team ran over and picked up to celebrate the victory and that's when we noticed my foot was completely covered in blood. (Mom stop reading here)

I sat down and then the pain hit me when I saw the side of my foot. I'm going to spare the details but when I saw the flesh and fat hanging out I wanted to throw up. But of course I'm trying to look tough in front of the sister missionaries and not look like a sissy in front of my Polynesian teammates I didn't scream or cry when they dumped cleaning alcohol on the wound. I went to the emergency room and remind me next time to tell you what hospitals are like in the Philippines. They stitched me up and I was good to go. 

(Mom you can read now)

So now I probably should tie this into some spiritual insight but only one scripture can come to my mind. It's in the Book of Mormon when the prophet Jacob said simply,

"Oh be wise, what can I say more?" (Jacob 6:12)

Obedience brings blessings, that's true. But it also brings protection. When we go to church as a family, when we pray consistently and study the scriptures, we're blessed with more spiritual knowledge and guidance but we're given protection too. Angels will guard us. The Spirit will be there to warn us. Sometimes amidst the busy things of life we feel comfortable not saying our nightly prayers or reading the scriptures everyday. We don't feel that guilty if we miss church or don't do service this, "one time." We get comfortable and fall into the peer pressure of the world and the temptations of Satan....we take our shoes off, so to speak. And we find ourselves walking on dangerous ground. Things that seem innocent at first could cut or hurt us the most in the long run. Samuel Johnson once said, "hell is paved with good intentions." 

I want to bear my testimony that when we do the simple things; pray, read the scriptures, worship at church, and serve our fellow man...we are putting on our spiritual shoes. I love this gospel. I love being a missionary. I know through Jesus Christ anything is possible. I'm humbled that the Lord is trusting me in a small part of the vineyard here in the Philippines. I feel focused and I've never felt this much joy in my life. I love my family and they are in my prayers constantly and I hope they always have their "shoes" on. Keep those prayers coming and I'll see ya'll soon.

Your Valiant Missionary,

Elder Strader 

Dog Does Not Taste Like Chicken

Peeps,

Well the weeks are just flying by so fast. My Tagalog is getting better and I'm trying to learn Cebuano (another dialect here, Elder Y's native language) so I can communicate better with my companion. Well rainy season has officially started and it was really fun the first 2 days...but now I'm sick of it, no I'm literally sick because of the rain. It rains so hard everyday that it puts Texas rainstorms to shame. 

Earlier this week I went on exchanges with a Elder that has been struggling with getting lessons. His name is Elder Flutey-Paramore. I'm not joking that's his real name. No it gets better, his first name is Apollos. Mom why did you give me a boring name like Jaren? Well, Flutey is Samoan and he's HUGE, but he has a even bigger heart. When we opened our exchanges and I had Elder Flutey-Paramore read the definition of what the definition of a lesson is in Preach My Gospel. What is it that you need to have a opening and closing prayer, teach 1 or 2 principles and extend a commitment. It doesn't say we have to teach people in house or teach a long 45 minute lesson. So we decided to focus on teaching short and powerful lessons. Lessons that are simple, clear and they feel the Spirit and then we leave so the investigators feel the difference when we're there and when we left.  So we did that and we had a killer day! We taught people at bus stops, outside their houses (because they didn't want us in their homes), we almost taught a guy in a public restroom. It was a wonderful day and we both learned a lot.

I love you guys. Thank you so much for the emails and prayers. I know this church is true. I know why I'm out here. I know Jesus is the Christ. He is my Savoir. I love ya'll and I'll be home soon. 

Your Valiant Missionary,

Elder Strader

June 8, 2015

My People,

I'm sorry that I couldn't email last week! We had no connection because of a tropical storm...but the good news is that I'm not getting married with a random Filipino woman. See mom, I told you I would take of care of it. 

Well I just had one of the best, most emotionally and physically draining, intense weeks of my life. But it not only changed my mission, but my life. Let me explain why;

After our Mission Tour, President Balledos gathered all the zone leaders in the whole mission for a meeting. President wanted to change the mission. With that in mind, he decided to change our Standards of Excellence, which means our goal of number lessons that we should achieve each week. It's broken up in different categories but its intention is to push the missionaries and make sure we're working effectively and we have a goal in mind. So for our mission the goal was 25 lessons each week. And one of the burden of being a zone leader is you get a crappy area, because President expects that the leaders in the mission should be able to have success in those hard areas. So President told us that he wanted us to get 40 lessons in one week. Now let me back up for a second. Elder Y and I average about 20 lessons a week. When I was in Aringay, I was getting 35+ a week no problem. So, when I heard the challenge and knowing the stats of our struggling area, I'm scared to admit that I kinda doubted that it was possible for our area at that time. And then President told me something that I will never forget. He said,

"Elder Strader I'm not talking about numbers...I'm talking about faith..."

That hit me hard. Feeling a little ashamed of my lack of faith I prayed asking my Heavenly Father to help me to achieve the 40 lessons to help change the mission and my area. I asked him to give me strength and help me with my unbelief. I promised that I would be exactly obedient and I would put my 100% and in return He would bless my efforts and make it possible. So...we went to work.

Elder Y and I worked the hardest, I think the hardest we've ever worked in our lives. We fasted everyday the whole week, we prayed hard, we planned more effectively and we talked to everyone. Every time it got hard I kept saying out loud, "can't stop, won't stop." Once I explained it to Elder Y in Tagalog that became our companionship motto for the week. People were prepared for us and the lessons just kept coming. When we got our 40th lesson late Sunday night, I wanted to cry and shout praises to the Lord because I knew for a fact that we had witnessed a miracle. All the glory goes to Him because through Him...anything is possible. 

I want to tell my family that I love them. I miss you all so much. I miss mom's cooking and our inside jokes. I miss the random wrestling matches in the kitchen to the deep gospel discussions with dad. I miss Brennan and us watching Netflix till 3am. I'm still not sure if I miss Maddie or not. I'm kidding I miss Maddie and her personality. I miss Donovan and his happy and obedient attitude. I miss playing on piano with Sydnie and Emyrie dancing. There's a lot of people and things I miss but...if I didn't come out here I would be missing out on a lot more. I love being a missionary. I love the Philippines and the people here. I love my Savior and I know He loves me. But I know He expects a lot from me and because of that...I can't stop and I won't stop sharing this restored gospel that has brought so much joy to me. 

I'll see ya'll soon.

Your Valiant Missionary,

Elder Strader

May 25th, 2015

Family and friends, 

First off, don't ever ask old Filipino ladies if they have any single granddaughters as a joke, because there may or may not be a Filipino woman flying from Hong Kong excited to meet her arranged American husband from Spring, Texas. I'm sure everything will work out...Mom don't worry.  

Well after our mission tour with Elder Bowen, from the Seventy, he challenged us, as Baguio Mission, to get 30 testifying contacts (TC for short) each day. What that means is we need to talk to random people and testify about our unique message (Restoration, Joseph Smith, and Priesthood). For a lot of missionaries that's out of their comfort zone, especially for the foreigners because of Tagalog/all the other dialects we have to learn. But for Elder Strader talking has never been a big problem, ask all my teachers from grade school. The problem I have found myself in, is that I can easily go up and talk to people and make them feel comfortable with the Strader charm and smile, but I usually testify about Jesus Christ and about how our message can bless families. I do this because it's usually a nice, non-threatening transition to a return appointment and then we share the "unique message" when we go and have have that first lesson. That's not a bad approach. But here in the Philippines 95% of the population are Christian and a family based country. For example when you go to college and get married you still stay with your parents for the rest of your life because that's just the culture here unlike in America where on your 18th birthday you're kicked out of the house if you like it or not hahaha. So what Elder Bowen said was that my approach lacked faith...ouch. But he's right, I am a missionary and representative of Jesus Christ, I bear His name on my chest. I hold His power and in His name anything is possible. So I repented and decided to do it the right way, even though it might be a little more scary or awkward. I just told myself that I'm not going to play it safe and just go to random people and bear my testimony of the Restoration and if they make fun of or deny me....I'll probably cry. Just kidding, and I'll just do what my idol Rocky Balboa said in RockyVI;

"It's not how hard you get hit, it's how hard you get hit and keep moving forward, that's how winning is done!" 

And that's what I've done this last week. When I say I literally talked to everyone in my path, I literally talked to everyone. Beside drunk people, most of the people haven't responded well to our unique message. I kid you not when I say that I've been spat on, cursed at, hit with a broom (now that's a funny story) told to never come back to their house ever again. Now, you would think I would probably get discouraged or something. Absolutely not! I loved every second. When we're on a jeepney full of over 20 people and I just awkwardly start shouting my testimony that we have a living prophet today and everyone just stares at me. It's the best. I tired to explain to my Filipino companion what, "haters" meant but he doesn't understand haha. I told Elder Y when there's persecution you know you're doing something right. It wasn't easy for the prophets of old. It wasn't easy for Jesus Christ and I'm grateful and honored that it's not easy for me. 

I want to bear my testimony and special witness that Jesus is the Christ. I love being a missionary. I know that we have a living prophet today that can lead and guide our families. Speaking of families, I love mine and I know I can be with them forever. I testify that the Book of Mormon is the word of God and can bring more peace in your life. I've seen it fix broken families. I've seen it heal broken souls. I love ya'll and don't worry I'll be home before you know it. 

Your Valiant Missionary,

Elder Strader

Mom,

Please don't ever say swag ever again. Thanks for your emails and it was so great to see all of you! The rash is about the same but I'm strong. Things are going good. We had Elder Bowen, from the Seventy, visit our mission and it was kick butt. He literally just chastised all of us and it was awesome. He changed my mindset of the mission and I'm on an attack mode more then ever.  One thing he said really stood out to me, "be the missionary that your mother thinks you are." Meaning if our moms saw our apartments or saw if we really were obedient or not. That had a big impact on me. Because I want to make the Lord proud but I want serve honorably to respect my family's name. I want to make you and dad proud. And maybe you wouldn't approve how I kill rats with nerf guns or flirt with old ladies in relief society to get dinner appointments, but I can't be perfect, right? I would love it if you were here with me. I have no regrets so far and I work as hard as I can everyday. I want you here to feel the Spirit in the lessons that we teach. I want you to meet the amazing people I get to meet. I relate to Nephi, that I too have been, "born of goodly parents." Thank you for everything. Thanks for not medicating me when I thought I was a dog. Thank you for your patience and confidence in me. Most importantly, thank you for teaching me and living the gospel. I love you and dad so much. Send my love to the family and keep me in your prayers. I'll see ya'll soon. The Church is true! 

Your Valiant Missionary,

Elder Strader

Family, 

Happy Birthday Mom! I guess technically your birthday is tomorrow but it's May 4th here. I will say mushy stuff about you when I skype on the family on Mother's Day. 

So short email. Things are going great. My Tagalog is improving at a fast rate and I think I forgot how to speak English. Our area is slowly progressing too. We've found some awesome families. I love teaching families. Also I shaved my head. Haha me and the other American elders in our zone did it to have unity or something. I'll send some pics. 

Well I love this gospel and I love you all! I'll see you next week when I skype! The church is true!

Your Valiant Missionary,

Elder Strader

Family and loved ones,

This last week was one of my favorite weeks of the mission. Let me explain why;

We had our Zone Interviews. That's when President Balledos comes down and interviews all the missionaries and checks apartments, ect. So our zone met at the stake center where we did a series of workshops while president interviewed all the missionaries. The workshops were awesome and the Spirit was strong. President interviewed me last once everyone else left. Elder Y and I had to stay last to lock up the church and clean up. So I go in one of the classrooms with my mission president. Even though I love President Balledos I still sometimes get a little nervous when I'm around him. I don't know why. Anyway, so I sat down and President Balledos and he expressed his love and gratitude for me. That I never turned down any assignment he has given me and that I was always ready to serve and not afraid to have fun. Probably the nicest things someone has ever said to me because I really have tried to work hard and do my very best. Then he said," So you want to open Mountain Provence?" Stop there and let me explain some background. Mountain Provence is a area in our mission that NO missionaries have EVER been, let alone American missionaries. It gets its name because it's high in the mountains and the people aren't that civilized yet. They speak their own dialect and in some area's its really dangerous, especially for foreigners. So, of course when I heard about this place I wanted to go there. To be one of the first LDS missionaries in a area, deep in the mountains, this is a chance of a lifetime! I was made for this. Just the name "Mountain Provence" sounds cool. So back to the interview, President Balledos read in my weekly emails that I wanted to open Mountain Provence, whenever president received the revelation to open it. So when president brought it up I started to laugh because I honestly didn't think president was going to open it for a while. But then he said, "Elder Strader I have full confidence in you. And maybe if the time comes, I will inquire of the Lord." That was good enough for me. Still not sure if that means I'm opening Mountain Provence but I'll be patient. 

I love you all! I love being a missionary. I know that families can be together forever. I know that Jesus Christ lives and He is my Savior. He's always been there for me and because of His eternal Sacrifice I have a chance to live with Him again. Keep those prayers coming and I'll be home before you know it!

Your Valiant Missionary,

Elder Strader