As people come and go! (recieved 04/04/2012)

Things are FREAKING HOT here in the Philippines! haha, here Summer starts a whole lot earlier than it did back home.  It was supposed to start at the beginning of March but it was kinda cloudy and rainy then.  This last week the heat and the sun REALLY picked up and being outside in the middle of the day is not on my favorite things to do haha.  No worries, still having fun out here :)



Elder Febbo Zone Leader







Elder Mika taught me to loosen up

So this last week has been pretty wild.  A bunch of the missionaries that I've been around for the last couple transfers go home tomorrow.  Weird how fast people come and go in your life, especially as a missionary.  My last companion Elder Mika is heading home for Samoa.  Man, even though I was a little frustrated when we were companions I learned a lot of really important things from him.  Before I was companions with Elder Mika and while we were companions I was always VERY uptight and trying to be a perfect missionary.  Having fun for me was not an option if the work we were doing wasn't great haha.  From him I learned to loosen up, have fun, connect with other people, and enjoy the mission.  I'm still working on not worrying about not being perfect but I am having a lot more fun than I was :)
2 other missionaries that had a big impact on me that are headed home this week are Elder Febbo and Elder Latu.  E. Febbo was our Zone leader here and Elder Latu was our District Leader.  Elder Mika is good friends with them and we slept over at their apartment a couple times last transfer (Yes even missionaries like sleepovers:)  Elder Febbo is freaking amazing at Tagalog, teaching, leading, and helping other missionaries.  I learned a TON about Tagalog from him.  I learned a TON about connecting with people from him.  And I learned a TON about being a missionary from him.  We went exchanges a couple times and I learned a ton from his example and his advice.  Same sorta deal with Elder Latu. :)  I'll miss em, like I said it's weird watching people come and go in your life so fast.



Haha, glad to hear Hunter's following in the footsteps of GREATness :o)  Make sure he keeps practicing and growing haha, has he gotten his hollow leg yet? :)
Pretty stoked for General Conference this weekend.  We'll all be going to the Stake Center about 30 minutes away to watch it.  Hopefully we'll have some investigators come with us too! :D  It's really cool to be able to offer people the chance to listen to a LIVING Prophet.  I'm pretty sure that we'll just be watching it in English.  Hopefully I can learn a TON like I did in the MTC but I dunno, the Spirit was pretty freaking amazing there :)  I don't think we'll be having any Easter Party or anything.  No worries :)

That's a pretty scary story about the trailer!  Pretty sure that was MTC time for me.  Pretty ironic that it happened in Tyson's yard haha.  I met a member this week from Bicol (the place Bud served)  and he said that he thinks he might remember him! :)  His last name was Atanante from Ligaw Ward.  He said he's close to the volcano.  Lemme know if Bud recognizes that or served in Ligaw.



Valenzuela Zone



So things slowed down with the work a couple weeks ago but they're picking up again.  We went to church last Sunday and got introduced to 2 people that came with a member and are really interested in the church! :D  One of them is a 15 yr.-old named Jerald and he committed to being baptized in his first lesson.... WOOT! :)  The other is a 60+ lady named Tess who was once taught by missionaries, reads the Book of Mormon a lot, and wants to listen again.... WOOOOT! :D  Haha, so Heavenly Father is placing the people that are prepared in our path :)
Ya know what?  Last Sunday was just great all-around :)  We have another investigator who wants to get baptized but can't because he and his girlfriend (who is a member) are living together and aren't married.  They wanna get married but there's a superstition in the Philippines where if a family member dies or gets married you can't get married in the same year.... LAME.  So that was a problem.  They came to church this week and a member told them that he would take care of ALL of the expenses of their wedding.  Dress, makeup, the works :)  So hopefully they'll change their minds and he can get baptized.  We go to them tomorrow so we'll find out then :)

So this is long and I gotta get outta here :o)  Carl's Gpa wasn't in the pics cuz he was late.  We ran out of support money last week so I pulled out some from my account, haven't used all of it yet.  Clothes and shoes are great.  I LOVE the Merrel's I chose and use them almost every day haha.  They're starting to wear down a bit but they're still good :)

LOVE ya TONS!!!!  Hope y'all have a fantiddlyastic Easter! :)

PS
HAPPY BIRTHDAY JASON!!!  Can't believe you're already driving!  A member here had the same birthday as you so I was thinkin of ya yesterday.  Hope all's well!  Love ya bro! :)

P.P.S
Don't worry about late packages!  A late package and lots of love is better than none! :)
MAHAL KITA!